The Lord's Supper

by Thomas Watson

To Thomas Watson, the Lord’s Supper was a visible sermon, a mirror in which to gaze on the sufferings and death of Christ. ‘God, to help our faith, does not only give us an audible Word, but a visible sign.’ But more than this, the Supper was a time in which to partake of the benefits of Christ’s death by faith, to be fed and cherished by the Lord in his own banqueting house, and to obtain a foretaste of the glory which will be fully realized only in heaven. Watson's aim was to stimulate greater love to Christ in His people, and to enhance their appreciation of the Supper as a spiritual feast for all believers. His fine exposition shows the rich provision made in the Supper for all who love the Lord, while it also lays bare the emptiness of all mere sacramentalism.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Church, Religion, Faith, Christian Living

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1665

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Thomas Watson (c. 1620 - 1686) was an English, non-conformist, Puritan preacher and author. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was noted for remarkably intense study. In 1646 he commenced a sixteen year pastorate at St. Stephen's, Walbrook. He showed strong Presbyterian views during the civil war, with, however, an attachment to the king, and in 1651 he was imprisoned briefly with some other ministers for his share in Christopher Love's plot to recall Charles II of England. He was released on 30 June 1652, and was formally reinstated as vicar of St. Stephen's Walbrook. He obtained great fame and popularity as a preacher until the Restoration, when he was ejected for nonconformity. Not withstanding the rigor of the acts against dissenters, Watson continued to exercise his ministry privately as he found opportunity. Upon the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672 he obtained a license to preach at the great hall in Crosby House. After preaching there for several years, his health gave way, and he retired to Barnston, Essex, where he died suddenly while praying in secret. He was buried on 28 July 1686.

(Information from wikipedia.org)

Reviews

[Matt Pitts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. In spots really good. More pastoral than theological.

[Nate DeRochie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are in need of having your heart stirred to love Christ more in His Supper, read this book. And if you don’t think you do, read this book. Lord willing, I will be returning to this treasure again and again.

[Andrew Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for Communion preparation. It’s a very short book and could easily be read the week leading up to coming to the Lord’s Supper as it has a specific focus on preparation. Very edifying.

[Amanda Lackey Delaluz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by Thomas Watson and was very beautiful written with not only doctrine, but meditation on the death of Christ. How he was broken and poured out with such depth and I will never come to the Lord's table the same after reading this book. I would highly recommend this book to every believer as a have to read before coming to the Lord's Supper. It will be one I read more then once.

[Kristen B · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Our weakness should send us to Christ; his blood is mortal to sin, and vital to grace.”

A beautiful Puritan book encouraging meditation on Christ’s sufferings and love through the ordinance of Holy Communion. Watson expounds with passion on the glories and benefits of the sacrament, describing it as a rich feast that increases the faith and transforms the hearts of believers.

A great book for evangelicals who have been brought up viewing the Supper as a mere memorial :)

“Oh, that such a lustre and majesty of holiness may sparkle forth in the lives of communicants that others may say, ‘These have been with Jesus!’, and that their consciences may lie under the power of this conviction, that the sacrament has a confirming and a transforming virtue in it!”

Powerful little book.

[Alex McEwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s nothing quite like having actual responsibilities to spur on some leisure reading.

At just over 80 pages, this was a delightful and accessible read. Among the Puritans, this work is notably low on dense theology and high on pastoral exhortation, making it easy to engage with.

Watson encourages readers to come to the Lord’s Supper and experience union with the resurrected Christ. He defends the classic Reformed view of real presence while arguing against transubstantiation. What sets this work apart from more theological tomes is Watson’s deep longing for intimacy with Christ and a heartfelt desire to truly know our risen Lord that permeates every page of this text.

I was surprised to see Watson include a quote from Bernard of Clairvaux on the Eucharist in his title page. Even more surprising was how profoundly insightful this contribution from a Roman Catholic scholastic proved to be.

As always, Banner of Truth delivers an easy to read and attractive typeface. While the Puritan Paperbacks series isn’t known for the highest paper quality, you can’t complain when you’re paying less than $7 for a book.

[Alyssa DeLeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a friend wrote, this book will “…stir the heart,” and it surely did mine. I appreciated the outline of how to approach the Lord’s supper. We must come with self examining hearts, with serious hearts, with intelligent hearts, with longing hearts, and we must consider the magnificence and royalty of this supper.

Two quotes I appreciated:

“A great faith can bear great delays. Faith knows that the most tedious voyages have the richest returns; and the longer mercy is in expectation, the sweeter it will be in fruition. The more the heart is kept waiting, the more sweetly it rejoices.”

“…when Christ was in the human nature suffering, he was in the divine nature triumphing.”

Would definitely recommend reading this short, powerful sermon.

[Brendan Westerfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some gold in here. The Puritans always have such a vivid way with language. For example:

“The cross, says St. Augustine, was a pulpit in which Christ preached his love to the world.” – 23.

“The musician first puts his instrument in tune before he plays. The heart must first be prepared, and put in tune, before it goes to meet with God in this solemn ordinance of the sacrament. If we come not worthily, we do not drink, but spill Christ’s blood.” – 39.

“It is hard for a man to look inward, and see the face of his own soul. The eye sees everything but itself.” – 41.

“The more bitterness we taste in sin, the more sweetness we shall taste in Christ.” – 46.

“Christ gave himself a sin-offering for us, let us give ourselves a thank-offering for him.” – 74.

Well worth the read!

[Kaylea Smithson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Christian should read this book. It has completely changed the way I take communion. I have walked away from this book with both a greater understanding of the Lord’s supper and a greater affection for Christ. What a beautiful gift this sacrament is to believers!

[Ryan Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

A bit more pastoral, some good encouragements and reminders at times.

[Isaiah Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sacrament is incredibly important in the life of the Church - even today. Thomas Watson explains, in his own image-rich way, what a source of strength it can be to the believer, its Gospel-richness, and the many ways that we are reminded of Jesus through it.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent look by Watson on the Lord's Supper. He really gets to the heart of what it is, why we take it, and gives us many ways in which we can prepare ourselves for it. This was a fairly short read and I know I'll be coming back to it.

[Daniel Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. just so good.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me to help with some questions and confusion I had about the Lord's Supper. It is a very smooth read, that frequently takes a "Q&A" approach to some very important questions surrounding some of the key themes of the book.

Ultimately, Watson strives to help the reader see that the Lord's Supper is a visible "sermon", that is partnered with the preached sermon, and is vital to believers as a means of receiving the grace of God through faith.

The two extremes of transubstantiation and pure symbolism are dealt with early in the book, and the remainder of the book aims to fill the reader up with a deep look at the work of Christ, and our right response to it, all in terms of receiving the sacraments of the bread and wine. How we respond with hearts full of gratitude to the grace and mercy that was poured out for us at the cross, which we are commanded to come to feast as remembrance. And in that feasting, we are prompted to deeply reflect on the broken body of Christ, and the spilled blood of Christ; to examine our own hearts in light of this, to observe if our heart posture is humble or arrogant.

The exhortations and pleadings by Watson for the reader to see Christ's love pouring out are compelling, and call the reader to a deeper desire to humility and to exalt Christ.

I was not expecting to be so richly rewarded with such deep and meditative views of the work of Christ for my salvation, but it has helped me to see the importance of a somber and serious approach to the Lord's Table, combined with great joy and exultation and the cleansing work done on my behalf, that will hold for all eternity.

Do I receive grace from partaking rightly of the Lord's Supper? Indeed! By faith (no matter how small), I believe in Him, I submit myself to Him, I examine my heart as I remember His work, and by grace, I continue to be molded and shaped into His image. I come and bring my life to lay at His feet; He mercifully and gracefully strengthens me in faith.

An eye-opening read that seems foundational in my on-going life journey of preparation for eternity with my King.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely give books 5 stars, but this one earned every one of them. This was also the first book of Thomas Watson (an English Puritan) that I've read. Thoroughly enjoyable. Watson has a wonderful way with words. He's a skilled writer, and has keen spiritual insight.

"In the sacrament, Christ bestows all good things. He both imputes his righteousness, and imparts his loving-kindness. He gives a foretaste of that supper which shall be celebrated in the Paradise of God. To sum it all up, in the blessed Supper, Christ gives himself to believers; and what more can he give?" (26).

"Let us pray, that as Christ was 'cruci-fixus', so he may be 'cordi-fixus'--as he was fastened to the cross, so may he be fastened to our hearts" (31).

[Nathanael Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The Word brings us to Christ, the sacrament builds us up in him.’

‘Let us weep for those sins which shed his blood, yet rejoice in that blood which washes away our sins.’

A real joy and delight to meditate up this work. I feel a deep sense of encouragement. Watson so masterfully expounds the richness of Christ’s love. He calls for careful and diligent examination and preparation, and in such a way that you feel drawn to it. In chapter 9, he beautifully and tenderly deals with worries and concerns that may be had in regards to ones being fitted for the sacrament. A real spiritually uplifting book.

[Matthew Burst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baller. Awesome meditation on the sacrament, breaking down Matt. 26:26-28 at first but then just meditating on Christ’s death and resurrection. He offers his thoughts on believers coming to the table despite living in sin. Definitely some good sections that have affected how I approach communion.

Pretty easy read for a Puritan too.

[Eamon Marlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most accessible and heart-changing literature to blossom from the Puritans pen. May we never approach the lords supper with a heart of indifference, for our Saviours blood is offered unto thee.

[Caleb Click · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book.

Watson’s work is deep, pastoral, and full of Christ. He’s easily one of the better Puritan writers. I found myself highlighting almost the entire book.

[Logan Almy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent devotional work on the Lord’s Supper!

[Jack Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ambrose, Augustine, Calvin, Grudem etc can hold that. Watson has by far the best Eucharistic theology I’ve ever read.

[Taylor Franchuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The more bitterness we taste in sin, the more sweetness we shall taste in Christ.”

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise presentation of Reformed Eucharistic spirituality

If you've ever delighted in that pithy Flannery O'Connor quote re: the Eucharist, "If it's just a symbol, to hell with it," perhaps like me you've also assumed that only Roman Catholics (and Orthodox) affirm the doctrine of the Real Presence. And if, like me, you were raised a Catholic and equate "Real Presence" with transubstantiation, you may be particularly prone to this assumption.

If you're a Lutheran, or at least familiar with the Lutheran understanding of Real Presence (Christ's body and blood are "with and under" the bread and wine, though the elements remain) along with the dispute between Luther and Huldrych Zwingli on this topic, you might assume that those in the Reformed tradition must hold to a strictly memorialist ("just a symbol") view of the Lord's Supper. (In which case, if you've read Marilynne Robinson's novel Gilead, you might wonder how it is that the narrator, a Calvin-quoting Congregationalist minister, can display such profound, even mystical, reverence for the Eucharistic elements.)

Even if you're broadly Reformed, you may assume that your own tradition subscribes to a kind of Zwinglian memorialism. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't; it seems there's a range of opinion here, and in any case, on the subject of the Lord's Supper there may be nearly as much confusion among lay Protestants as among Catholics. Be that as it may, it is indisputable that Calvin himself, along with theological descendants of his like Thomas Watson (not to mention Thomas Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer), held to a high view of the sacraments, rejecting bare memorialism in favor of Real Presence – just not the Real Presence of either Luther or Rome.

As it turns out, the way Rome defines "Real Presence," like the way it uses "Catholic," is not the only option on offer. Just as Reformers like Luther and Calvin, and Puritans like Watson, identified as catholic but not Roman (or orthodox but not Orthodox), so too did they take a high view of the Lord's Supper, affirming the Real Presence (and all that this entails for our spiritual lives and our approach to the Sacrament) while rejecting Roman transubstantiation. And so, as this book so ably and succinctly demonstrates, a devoutly orthodox, catholic "mere" Christian need not, like O'Connor, submit to Rome's many distinctive doctrines (e.g., the Treasury of Merit, indulgences, the Marian dogmas, etc.) in order to say with her, "If it's just a symbol, to hell with it."

Many thanks to Dr. Gavin Ortlund and his Truth Unites podcast for putting this excellent little book on my radar.

[Landon Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little book on the Lord’s Supper from a Reformed perspective. It’s full of good teaching on the sacrament, while being simple and clear. It is also written in a very pithy and devotional style (which is normal for the author, Thomas Watson), and is plenteous in application. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

[Jeremy Counts · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the finest works on the Lord's Supper. Watson beautifully argues for the Reformed view, commonly known as the Spiritual Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, which teaches that the Lord's Supper is a means of grace by which, Christ nourishes and strengthens the spiritual life of believers when they partake and receive Him by faith. The Puritans at their best here.

[Justin Andrusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a very short work, the content is rich in wisdom and grace in relation to the seriousness of having a scriptural view of the Lords Supper. I would highly recommend this book to other Christians.

[Márcio Sobrinho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pequeno clássico, recheado de frases lapidares que resumem de maneira maravilhosa a confortante doutrina da Ceia do Senhor.

[Phil Cotnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watson's little book argues for a sacramental Protestant understanding of the Supper, what some have called 'Spiritual Presence'. The first few chapters are devoted to this but the balance of the book is a series of extended reflections, in the inimitable style of the Puritans, on the themes of the Lord's Supper more broadly. It is devotional and edifying.

It remains a mystery to me exactly why the bulk of evangelicalism, heirs of the Reformation and supposedly a bulwark of supernaturalism amidst a culture steeped in materialistic atheism, discarded the more supernatural understanding of the Supper for the more natural interpretation that it is a collective exercise in remembering. I have yet to find where and when this change was argued out in the open. I see that in the 1600s and 1700s, and even in the 1800s with a figure like Spurgeon (probably an anomaly by then, a late-blooming Puritan), the predominant view was sacramental. And I can see that the doctrinal statements written more recently tend to be explicit in affirming a merely memorial view.

So is it just the pressure of the enlightenment at work? I could see how "right-thinking" people in the 19th and 20th centuries would feel it slightly embarrassing to affirm that some genuine spiritual power was at work which was impossible to demonstrate empirically. At the height of the scientific mindset, that kind of thing would invite scorn.

It seems to me that the church is overdue for a re-think of this question. And I think the distance between memorialism and spiritual presence is not very great. The resistance among evangelicals is towards the strangeness of transubstantiation, and the suspicion that anything other than memorialism falls into that same kind of error. If it can be demonstrated that 1) this isn't the case, and 2) that spiritual presence was the predominant view among the early reformers and most Protestants for the next couple hundred years, which it was, then I think we find ourselves in a moment of opportunity to course-correct and recover something which was lost.

[Chris Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Let us pray, that as Christ was cruci-fixus', so he may be 'cordi-fixus'- as he was fastened to the cross, so may he be fastened to our hearts.'

As someone who was only ever encouraged to interpret The Lords Supper as a mere act of remembrance in my then IFB church, I often struggled with this notion (potentially due to my being brought up catholic) and couldn't quite accept that this was all it was.

Enter Thomas Watson.

This was a great primer and introduction to this whole theological topic. There is a clear desire to unite the authority of scripture and the love of Christ in coming to a biblical and reasonable view of what it means to partake in the breaking of bread and drinking of his cup. I would dare to say, even in my continual study of this matter, that I found myself agreeing with Thomas more often than not, and that this was the correct historical view of the church and the reasonable view that would be deduced from a thorough reading of the scriptures.

If you agree that we are partaking in the spiritual feast at the table, if you believe that it is purely a symbolic memorial act or even if you agree that it goes further than these two views, I would encourage you to read this book. It is a quick read, and by no means the only authority on such matters (that comes from scripture alone) but should leave you having a better understanding of this view point and allow you to interact more charitably with it if engaging with a brother or sister who holds to such a view.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent study on the importance and the rich meaning of the Lord's Supper by Thomas Watson (ca. 1620-1686). I choose this book in preparation for sermons on this vital ordinance and it has been a worthwhile endeavor; such great insight that will surely require a second read. While I do not agree completely with Watson's analysis (I still hold that the Lord's Supper is a memorial ordinance and not sacramental in nature), I would still recommend this book.

While taking away many things from this reading, I would like to note one that does not often get mentioned: the study and preparation that obviously went into this presentation. Without question, the Bible is central--as it should be--and every paragraph has no less than one scriptural reference, and in most cases several.

In addition to the author being soaked in God's Word, you can tell how widely read he was. No surprise that he quotes Reformation and Puritan writers, but he also included the early Church fathers (ECF). In the very first paragraph, Watson cites John Chrysostom (347-407), the "golden-mouthed" Bishop of Constantinople, and he does so elsewhere in this study. Actually he references the ECF far more than his contemporaries. This depth of study should be an example for all pastors and theological writers.