The following communion meditation
was delivered on Sunday evening, November 5th, 1995 at the Trinity
Baptist Church of Montville, New Jersey. Now unless you are a visitor
amongst us who has never or rarely attended a communion service
that at least in some measure captures the simplicity of the
New Testament order instituted by the Lord Jesus for this supper,
then surely you would agree with me when I say that one of the
most familiar phrases in conjunction with this table is found in the
words, in remembrance of me. We have heard some of us over
the years, now probably hundreds of times, the words of institution,
central to which are the words in remembrance of me. They are found in several places.
I'm quoting them as they are found in 1 Corinthians 11 and
verse 24. And surely one of the marks of
every true child of God is that he desires to please the Lord,
who has loved him and died for him. And if ever the desire to
please his Lord throbs as a conscious longing in the heart of a true
believer, it is when he comes to the Lord's table in obedience
to the Lord's words, this do in remembrance of me. But it is precisely at this point
that the child of God experiences some of his most intense spiritual
agony, anxiety, and sometimes frustration that leads even to
a sense of guilt. Both in his preparation for and
his actual participation in the Lord's table, he struggles with
the question, if I am to do what I am doing in remembrance of
Him, what should I precisely remember about Him? What thoughts should fill my
mind? If the table is rightly observed
only when it is observed as a supper of remembrance, then surely the
conscious ordering of our thoughts at the table is central to our
right coming to the table. I know that I'm to remember Him
Christ is to be the explicit focus of whatever acts of remembrance
I engage in, and because the cup and the bread are a communion
in the body and blood of Christ, I am to remember Him in conjunction
with His dying love, His body given, His blood shed. But precisely
how am I to do this? In what category shall I channel
my thoughts? Should I seek to relive the events
that surround his giving up of his body in death and the violent
shedding of his blood? Should I seek to recall the specific
scenes recorded in the gospel writers? the horrible, the unspeakable,
the mysterious agony and bloody sweat of Gethsemane. Should I
seek to call that to remembrance? Should I seek to bring before
my mind the scenes before the high priest, before Pilate, in
Herod, and back before Pilate? The mock coronation, the buffeting
with fists and with wreaths, the crown of thorns pressed upon
his brow, are these the things that I should call to remembrance? Or should I seek to envision
him as he is now in heaven, pictured for us in the book of the Revelation
as the Lamb in the midst of the throne? the object of the worship
of the spirits in heaven, the object of the adoring wonder
of the multitudes that surround the throne and sing, worthy is
the land that was slain to receive blessing and glory and honor
and power. How shall I order my thoughts? Yes, I come to the table in obedience
to my Lord. This do And he has told me that
I'm to do it in remembrance of him. Therefore, I must order
my thoughts in such a way that I fulfill his revealed will with
respect to this, his table. And so I say the right ordering
of the thoughts of a believer at the table of the Lord is a
matter of deep concern. And in order to help every earnest
believer who struggles with this great question, how shall I order
my thoughts at the Lord's table, let me offer the following suggestions
for the ordering of your thoughts as you come to the Lord's table.
Now these are only counsels and suggestions. They are not exhaustive. They are not to bind your conscience
so that you would feel to think any other thoughts in any other
category is sinful. I am simply seeking to take the
posture of a shepherd to God's sheep a pastor, teacher to you,
the Lord's people, and to offer some suggestions for the right
ordering of your thoughts at the Lord's table. And in the
25 minutes that remain to me, let me suggest three categories
of thoughts that surely will fit the injunction of the words
of institution this do in remembrance of me. Let me suggest first of
all that you seek to engage in thoughts leading to a renewed
appreciation of the love which compelled him to die for us. Engage in thoughts leading to
a renewed appreciation of the love which compelled him to die
for us. Now the close conjunction between
the death of Christ and the love of Christ is explicit in many
texts of scripture, but let me cite just two very familiar ones. Galatians 2 and verse 20. Here the apostle says, I have
been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live Yet not
I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, now notice
how he's going to describe him, who loved me and gave himself
for me. There's the close conjunction
between his love and his giving of himself for me. And in Ephesians
chapter 5 in verse 25 where husbands are called upon to love their
wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it. And so there is this close conjunction
between the death of Christ as the acme, the epitome of His
self-giving love, and the love which compelled Him so to give
Himself for us. And we know from 1 John chapter
4 and verse 19 that we love because He first loved us. And that the
way to increase our love to Christ is not to look upon the meager
measure of our present consciousness of love to Him. to look upon
our love to Christ is to cause whatever measure we have to shrivel
and to become even less. But it is by the contemplation
of His love to us that our love to Him is kindled, expanded,
and increased. And then surely, as we come to
the table in remembrance of Him, the ordering of our thoughts
in a category in which we seek to call to remembrance, call
to our minds with a view to a new appreciation of the love that
compelled Him to give Himself for us. is a remembrance of Him
that will both honor Him as our hearts express their appreciation
for that love which compelled Him to give Himself for us. and the contemplation of that
love in turn increasing our love to Him. So let me urge you in
times of confusion that lead to a kind of mental paralysis,
and I doubt there's not a one of us who has not experienced
that in coming to the Lord's table, when you're in such times
Seek to marshal your thoughts and focus them on what measure
of love was in the heart of the Son of God that He would be willing
to do all that is involved in the words, Give Himself for you. And then you can bring in the
scenes of Gethsemane and Gabbatha and Golgotha and all the horrors
of that which he bore when he died the just for the unjust
and felt the arrows of the Almighty in his own holy breast on behalf
of our sins. I would urge you in seeking to
make this a supper of remembrance, doing what you do in remembrance
of Him, to seek to engage in those thoughts that will lead
to a renewed appreciation of the love which compelled Him
to die for us. But then secondly, I would counsel
you to engage in thoughts leading to a renewed appropriation of
the benefits procured by his death for us. Engage in thoughts
leading to a renewed appropriation of the benefits procured by his
death for us. Christ died to procure an amazingly
broad spectrum of spiritual blessings for his people. And when we turn
through the pages of the New Testament, we find that again
and again we are pointed to manifold blessings procured by His suffering
on our behalf. To name only several of them,
the full pardon of all of our sins, Ephesians 1 in verse 7,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
our sins. The language becomes trite to
us, but we need to pause and reflect upon the wonder of full
and free and irreversible forgiveness and pardon of all of our sins
procured by the death of Christ. The acceptance of our persons
as righteous in His sight, 2 Corinthians 5, 21. He who knew no sin was
made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God
in Him. By His death upon the cross,
He has secured an acceptance of my person as righteous, as
I am hidden in the robe of His perfect righteousness. Furthermore,
he procured the provision for the continuous cleansing from
the ongoing sin in the life of a believer. 1 John 1.7, we read
that the blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses us from
all sin. It secures for us uninhibited
access to God. He died the just for the unjust
that he might bring us to God, verse Peter 2 and verse 18. And because on the ground of
his death, he carries on his ongoing work of high priestly
intercession and his work of advocacy, he secures my access
to God by him we are told let us draw through him therefore
let us draw near to God by his death he has secured the provision
of everything I need to take me safely to heaven Romans 8
in verse 32 he that spared not his son but delivered him up
for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things. Now that's only a suggestive
and not an exhaustive list of the benefits secured for us by
the death of Christ. Surely then, in coming to the
table and ordering our thoughts in preparation for and while
we are at the table, it would be glorifying to God to engage
in thoughts leading to renewed appropriation of the benefits
procured by His death for us. Nothing brings more glory to
God than when His people exult in the blessings procured for
them by the bloodletting of His own dear Son. It does not glorify
God. When through timidity and unbelief
and false humility we say, those blessings are too high and too
glorious for the likes of me. No, they were all made for sinners
in all of their undeservingness. And God is most glorified when
He looks down upon a company of His people who, in spite of
their own felt consciousness of inherent unworthiness, their
own felt consciousness of their hell-deservingness, nonetheless
exult and rejoice in the provisions secured by the bloodletting of
the Son of God. And so I would urge you as the
Lord's people in ordering your thoughts at the table to engage
in those thoughts that will help you to a new appreciation of
the love which compelled Christ to die for us Engage in thoughts,
secondly, leading to renewed appropriation of the benefits
procured by his death for us. But then thirdly, let me urge
you to engage in thoughts, leading to a renewed consecration of
ourselves to the person and to the ends for which he died for
us. to engage in thoughts leading
to renewed consecration of ourselves to the person and to the ends
for which he died for us. What are those ends? Again, I
cite only several. We read in the scriptures that
Christ died to make us his very own purchased possession. so
that in the deepest recesses of the heart of all of Christ's
redeemed ones, there is a joyful acknowledgement that they are
not their own, that they have been bought with a price. 1 Corinthians
6 and verse 19, Know you not that your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit who is in you, which you have from God, and
you are not your own? All that makes you, you, every
part of it, from the topmost hair on the top of your head
to the nail on your little toe on your right foot, all that
makes you, you, none of it is yours. You are not your own. All of your mental power, All
of your faculties, all that you possess, all of your capacities,
all of your energies, all that makes you, you, you are not your
own. Every, over every part of you
is written, purchased by blood, ownership, Jesus Christ the Lord. You are not your own for you
were bought with a price. How much of you was bought? All
of you was bought by the giving of all of himself. He gave all
of himself to purchase all of you. And that's the reality. And what a blessed time to remember
that with delight. engaging in thoughts that lead
to a renewed consecration of ourselves to Him, and the ends
for which He died, to remember, as I take the bread, His body
was given, as I take the cup, His blood was shed, that I should
no longer be guilty of a kind of continual thievery, taking
from God that which He made for Himself. that I may afresh consecrate
all that I am and all of my powers and all of my faculties unto
God through Christ, because it is his purchased possession. Further, according to the Scriptures,
he died that we should be made a holy people, zealous, literally
boiling up with zeal to perform good works This is the clear
teaching of Titus chapter 2. Look at the language of the apostle
as he writes to Titus after exhorting him to teach the believers practical
matters of Christian living in many facets of life. He says
the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. Titus 2.12 instructing us to
the intent that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts We should live
soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, looking
for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God
and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, to what
end? In order that he might redeem
us from all iniquity and purify to himself a people for his own
possession, zealous of good works. You see, not only are we to engage
in thoughts leading to a renewed consecration of ourselves to
Christ himself. That was the emphasis of 1 Corinthians
6 20. And of the first part of this
verse that I've quoted in your hearing, he gave himself that
he might have a people for his own possession, but what should
characterize them as his own possession, that their devotion
to him should find expression in zeal to do good works. that is, works that are determined
by the standard of His own Word and Law, works that are done
not to gain His favor, but out of gratitude for His favor, works
done to His glory and in the strength of His Spirit. Christ
died to have in Trinity Church not a people who merely glory
in the once-for-all sacrifice that He offered unto God, not
to have merely a people who will revel in the blessings procured
by His death, but a people whose lives make it evident that the
end for which He died is being realized in us. We ought to be
a company of people like one massive boiling pot of zeal for
good works. That's what He died for. And
may I say it reverently, it's here at the table that the temperature's
turned up. And if we've begun to grow tepid,
and our good works are the manifestation of a lukewarmness here at the
table, realizing, Lord Jesus, you died, you gave yourself that
I might be yours and as yours, zealous of good works. Oh, Lord
Jesus, remembering All that you gave for me, and all that you
procured for me, and all that awaits for me at your coming,
then surely, Lord Jesus, with whatever time and energy I have
left, I want to give myself to the performance of works that
will glorify you, that will validate my professed love to you. And
then one third element of this concern, and I say again, I'm
just as if we're almost picking up at random these strands of
biblical truth. He died according to the scriptures
that we should no longer live for ourselves. Look at second
Corinthians five in verse 15. A text could not speak more clearly
to this issue. The apostle says in verse 14,
the love of Christ constrains us. That is, Christ's love for
us holds us in its vice-like grip because we thus judge. It holds us because we think
a certain way. You see, it doesn't hold us because
we've had flights of mystic experience. It holds us because we think
rightly about the purpose for which he died, because we thus
judge. that one died for all therefore all died that is in
him well if what we were was so bad that it demanded his death
and he died for us then surely he died for us living the kind
of life we were living that if he did not die for us we should
have been cast into hell then surely His death on our behalf
spells the death knell for the lifestyle that we were living
when He died for us. And that He died for all in order
that those who live, that is, those who receive spiritual life
through the virtue of His death and His resurrection should no
longer live unto themselves. No longer should self be the
focal point of their lives. No longer should self-interest
and self-aggrandizement and self-promotion be the focal point of life. They should no longer live unto
self, but as surely as self was the terminus of all of their
motives and goals and purposes before the virtue of the death
of Christ, touched them, now there is a single focal point
in what is it, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose
again. You see, the intention of Christ
in his cross, in dying for his people, was not to make a few
cosmetic changes in the way they lived. Change them from outwardly
immoral to polite, moral, respectable people. Change them from those
with foul mouths to those with clean mouths. Change them from
those with slippery fingers and deceitful tongues into honest,
upright, truth-speaking people. Those can all be cosmetic changes. He died that a change far deeper
and far more pervasive might be wrought in all of his people.
They should no longer, in the deepest recesses of their being,
live unto themselves. Yes, when they change their patterns
of speech and their patterns of thought and their patterns
of life, these are the outward manifestations that in the citadel
of their being, there's been a radical transformation. They
no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes
died and rose again. When we come to the table to
remember our Lord Jesus, how should we order our thoughts?
Let me suggest that you engage in thoughts leading to a renewed
consecration of ourselves to the one and to the ends for which
he died. As we take the broken bread,
ask ourselves, has this bread symbolizing the body given up
in death for me? Has this cup given, taken now
in symbolizing the blood violently shed for me are the ends for
which the body was given and the blood shed. Are those ends
being realized in me? Am I living unto myself in any
area? Am I seeking in every area to
live unto him who for my sake died? and rose again, if not
to say, even as we take the emblems, O Lord Jesus, in the taking of
these emblems, send your Spirit with fresh and copious measures
of power, not to give me tingles up and down my spine, but to
crucify in me this wretched remnant of living for myself, living
to my own ends, to my own purposes, to fulfill my own plans. Lord
Jesus, where I am tepid instead of zealous of good works, may
the fresh remembrance of your body given in your bloodshed
cause me to be zealous of good works. Lord Jesus, as I take
the bread in the cup in any area where I'm acting, thinking, reacting
as though there were some part of me that belongs to me, that
over all of me I have forgotten is written, purchased property,
purchased by blood, redeemed by the very precious blood of
Christ. I say, dear child of God, it
is thoughts such as these that surely fulfill the intention
of our Lord Jesus when he said, this do in remembrance of me
and may I encourage you then as you seek to obey the Lord
in coming to his table to seek to order your thoughts in one
or two more other categories but certainly these are legitimate
categories that may be helpful to some of you engaging in those
thoughts that first of all will bring renewed appreciation for
the love that compelled him to die for you. Engage in thoughts
leading to renewed appropriation of the benefits procured by his
death for you. Engage in thoughts leading to
a renewed consecration of ourselves to the one and to the ends for
which he died. Fresh appreciation of his love. Renewed appropriation of the
benefits, renewed consecration of ourselves to him. Now surely
my unconverted friends, young or old, you can see that for
the child of God and in the purposes of God, it is the death of Christ
that is the central issue in our whole life. It is that cross
that has radically transformed us, that's turned us inside out. It's lifted the burden of guilt.
It's lifted the horrible pressure of a galling, condemning conscience. It is that death which has given
us the confidence of full pardon of all of our sins, acceptance
of our persons as righteous in the sight of God. The confidence
that there is continual cleansing as we confess our sins unto our
God. There is uninhibited free access
to God. There is the assurance of the
procurement of everything needed to take us safely to heaven.
And when you ask, how can you be so confident of all these
things? We say, because Christ died. Christ died and therefore with
joy and love we remember Him in the way of His appointment.
And my unconverted friend, you will never come to the enjoyment
of sins forgiven, of a good conscience, of the confidence of the acceptance
of your person before God with any foundation that is worth
its salt until Christ crucified becomes the object of your confidence
and the one to whom you commit yourself. And when you wonder
why we live such what you consider strict and restricted lives,
and according to your standards, we have no fun. Well, you see,
it's because we live by a totally different standard. We've been
bought by another. And the one who bought us is
so changed us that what we once regarded as fun we now see was
nothing but the slippery road to hell, the very one you're
on. And in the cross of Christ, we've
seen self-centeredness and self-will as ugly and heinous. We have
seen sin, at least in some measure, for what it really is. And we
therefore desire to be a holy people, no longer living unto
ourselves, but unto him who, for our sakes, died and rose
again. So as we come to the table, what
better time, my unconverted friend, And for you to say, is the Spirit
of God is pleased to take these elementary truths of the gospel,
which we continually bring to remembrance. And if he enables
you to see it, to lay hold of Christ and is surely as the plate
is passed and others break off a piece of the bread. So with
the hands of your soul, reach out and lay hold of Christ himself
by faith. and say, Lord Jesus, I take you
to be my own. I take you to be my savior, to
be my life, to be my salvation. I take you to be all you've promised
to be, to believing and to penitent sinners. Let us pray that God
will then bless us as we come to the table seeking to be obedient
to our Lord, doing what we do in remembrance of him. Let us
pray. Our Father, we thank you that,
knowing how often the world of spiritual reality becomes dim
and fuzzy because of our remaining sin in the influence of the world
and of a vicious devil, we thank you that you've instituted this
simple ritual, this simple meal of remembrance. We pray that
the Holy Spirit will attend our response of obedience to the
Lord Jesus, that as we take bread and eat it and take the cup and
drink in remembrance of him, that these blessed spiritual
experiences and exercises will be known by all of your people,
and that some who have yet to lay hold of Christ may even hear
this night Lay hold of Him and know the benefits and blessings
of His salvation. Hear us and answer us, we plead,
in His worthy name. Amen.