We have to distinguish between real presence and local presence. Christ is certainly present in the administration of the Lord’s Supper (it is the Lord’s Supper), but we limit things drastically by asking whether He is locally present in the bread and wine, as they sit there on the altar (or table). And, having limited things in this way, if we answer a certain way, additional questions about the veneration of the elements naturally arise. If Christ is present there, then should we not do what we would all do if Christ were there? Wherever Christ is, Christ should be adored. But Jesus did not tell us to watch and adore. He told us to take and eat, take and drink. And in our obedience, Christ is with us. Christ inhabits the obedience, and the bread and wine are not obedient. Christ is in the participles, in the eating, and in the drinking. Christ is present in His body, and we are that body. As we take the elements and do what we were told to do (which did not include bowing down to them, adoring them, etc.) we are taken by the Holy Spirit and are knit together with Christ and the rest of His body. The elements sitting on an altar by themselves are nothing, and do nothing. But the elements are the instrument that God uses to accomplish His purposes.

Douglas Wilson, 'Papa Don't Pope: Why I'm Not a Roman Catholic' (and Why the Future is Protestant)

 

“For the most part, the people who are currently in Satan’s kingdom don’t realize where they really are, because it is a kingdom of darkness, and they can’t “see” it. In contrast, the kingdom of God is the kingdom of light; therefore, those who are in His kingdom know where they are.”

-Derek Prince

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”   John 3.3

The universe is a book which reveals the Creator to those who can read it. Those who have no faith, when observing the material world, cannot see in it the reflection of a higher non-material Beauty; for them the world contains nothing miraculous, everything is natural and conventional. But for believers the beauty and harmony of the universe is a most powerful testimony to the existence of God.

-Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, The Mystery of Faith

 O Thou who camest from above,
 the pure celestial fire to impart
 kindle a flame of sacred love
 upon the mean altar of my heart.
There let it for thy glory burn
 with inextinguishable blaze,
 and trembling to its source return,
 in humble prayer and fervent praise.
Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
 to work and speak and think for thee;
 still let me guard the holy fire,
 and still stir up thy gift in me.
Ready for all thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death thy endless mercies seal,
and make my sacrifice complete.        

-Charles Wesley

 

This is my Father's world
Oh let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the ruler yet
This is my Father's world
The battle is not done
Jesus, who died, shall be satisfied
And earth and heaven be one.