I love and admire the old-time
preachers of God's grace. I never get tired of reading
the writings of these men. I'm a debtor. That's what Paul
said one time. He said, I'm a debtor. I'm a
great debtor to a lot of people. When I was preaching in Lexington
for about 12 weeks, when Brother Norbert was sick, so seriously
ill, and he asked me to preach for him while he was out of his
pulpit. And I considered it a great honor.
I enjoyed preaching for that congregation for about 12 weeks. And every week, I would pick
up some of these old writers and read something special. that
they wrote, something very special. I called it, A Voice from the
Past. And every time I got up to preach,
I read something that these men wrote, A Voice from the Past. And the one I'm going to begin
with this evening is one written by John Newton. And he wrote
a very simple word about this subject. What is grace? What is grace? And this is what
he said. All of us, everybody here, believes
in God's grace or you wouldn't be here. Everybody here believes
in God's grace and everybody here has a pretty good idea of
what grace is. Oh, the common definition that
people give is this, grace is unmerited favor. And it is unmerited
favor. He went on, he said, grace is
God's goodness to the unworthy. And indeed it is. Grace is God's
goodness to the unworthy. But we need a definition for
our present needs. And he said, I'm going to give
it to you. What is grace? Grace is forgiving. It's not
just only unmerited favor, God's goodness to the unworthy. It's
actually to forgive people. To forgive the unfaithful and
to forgive the unforgivers. Just forgive them. That's grace.
That's grace, pure and simple. is to forgive. Secondly, grace
is receiving. Grace is receiving the prodigal,
taking him back, whatever their fits. That's grace. Grace is counseling. Counseling
the unpaid debt with no reconciliation or recompense. Just wipe it out. Forget it. Grace, fourthly, is
forgetting. Forgetting? Yep. Forgetting the
offense, forgetting the unkind words, and forgetting the unkind
action. Just forget them. That's grace. Grace is unending. Grace is unlimited. It's unlimited pardon. Peter asked the Lord, said, shall
I forgive my brother seven times? The Lord said, how about seventy
times seven? Grace is unending. Newton went on, he said, because
grace beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things, and grace never fails. That's grace. And here's the scripture that
our Lord gave. I'll just read it to you. at
the end of this writing. Matthew 5, verse 43. You have heard that it hath been
said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say
unto you, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do
good to them that hate you. Pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven. For He maketh His Son to rise
on the evil and on the good. He sendeth rain on the just and
the unjust. And that, He said, is grace. All right, I've selected as my
text tonight, Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. And here's the
title of my message. This do in remembrance of me. This do. Our Lord had gathered
His disciples in the upper room. And this is the last Passover.
There's not going to be any more. This is the last Passover. The
Jews have been keeping the Passover for 2,000 years. From Moses to
this night when our Lord got the disciples together. This
is the last official Passover for anybody because this week
the Lord Jesus would die at Calvary. This week, the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world would be crucified on a cross. This
week, the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies for the
last time. No more going into the Holy of
Holies with a blood sacrifice. The separating veil of the temple
would be torn in two and discarded. This is it. This is the last
Passover. No more blood shed. no more offerings for sin, no
more blood on the mercy seat because Jesus, the Lamb of God,
has died, opening the gates of heaven wide. All who believe
right now are justified freely from all their sins. Now, when the disciples gathered
that night to observe the Lord's table, they were doing four things. They were doing what the Lord
commanded them to do. He said, this do. He commanded
them, this do in remembrance of me. It was taught by the apostles
later on. The apostle Paul said, I received
of the Lord that which I delivered unto you. That's where I got
it from him. It was taught by the apostles
It was observed by the early church. They broke bread from
house to house in fellowship. And I'll tell you this. It has
been observed by your fathers and your mothers for many, many
years. And by us as a church. We've
met together many, many times as we've met tonight to observe
our Lord's table. As far as I can see, in the Word
of God, our Lord gave His Church two ordinances, and only two. Two ordinances. Both of which
set forth His death on the cross for His sheep. One is baptism,
and the other is this one, the Lord's Table. Just two ordinances.
Now let me show you that. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
28. Matthew chapter 28 verse 18. Matthew 28 verse 18. And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.
Now, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." That's
baptism. That's an ordinance which everybody
who believes Him believes and observes, baptism. Now turn to
Luke 22. our text. And this is the next
ordinance. Only two. Baptism and the Lord's
Table. Luke 22 verse 19. And the Lord
himself took bread and gave thanks and break it. He gave it to them
saying, this is my body which is given for you. This do in
remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper
saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for
you. The table of the Lord, some people
call it. Communion, some people call it. The Lord's Supper, some people
call it. But I tell you this, whatever
name is called, all we need to know, all we need to know in
order to observe this table tonight, is what's set forth right here.
That's all we need to know. We don't need to buy, get a bunch
of books and a lot of study material and teach them just right now. What the Lord Jesus said right
here. That's all we need to know. And I'm going to leave with you
four vital truths. Now here they are. The first
one is this. Those who should participate. Those who should
participate. Secondly, the only host. There's just one host. Number
three, the only elements. Two, bread and wine. And number four, why do we do
it? The reason, by remembering our
Lord. Some of the old hymn writers
said, according to His gracious Word in meek humility. This will we do, our Savior Lord,
we will remember Thee. When these failing lips grow
dumb, and my mind and memory flee, when Thou shalt in Thy
kingdom come, O Lord, remember me." That's what the thief said. Remember me. Remember me. All right. Here's those four
things now. First of all, those who participate in this table,
who are they? His disciples. His disciples. They knew Him. He said to them
one day, said, whom do you say I am? And they said, the heart
of Christ. We know who you are. We know
who you are. The heart of Christ. Thou art
the Son of the Living God. They knew Him. They believed
Him. We believe and are sure. Isn't
that what Peter said? We believe and are sure. Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We believe Him. We know Him. We love Him. We do love Him. Lord, You know
all things. You know. And those who come,
they've got to sit this down. It's not for the multitude, it's
not for every Tom, Dick, and Harry, it's not to send out invitations
to come and take the Lord's table with His disciples. Now what's
this? They were not perfect men. No,
they weren't. They weren't men without sin
who assembled in that upper room. No, sir. They were chosen men. They were called men. They were
believing men. They were men taught by the Holy
Spirit, but they were not in themselves perfect men. They
were sinners. Old Peter, he was there. Just a little while later, he
said, I don't know that man. Thomas was there. Just a little
while later, he said, I don't believe he's risen. I'll have
to reach my finger in his side and touch him. He was there. James and John were there, and
a little while later they were calling down fire from heaven
on people that didn't believe. And you know something else.
Look down here at verse 24, just two verses from where we were
reading. Verse 24, and there was also a strife among them
about which of them is going to be the greatest. They were disciples. They loved
Him. They believed Him. They worshipped Him. But they were mean. I tried. But I remind all of us here,
and I want to encourage all of us here who believe Him, who
love Him, who trust Him, who look for Him, remember. And somebody wrote this. If I'm
made fit to come to Christ, I'm also fit to come to this table.
Let's read that in Colossians. Colossians chapter 1. If I'm
fit to come to Christ, I'm also fit to come to this table. In
Colossians chapter 1. I know you, I'm sure you're familiar
with it. Let's look at it. Colossians
1.12. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us Meet. That means qualified, fit. The heaven of the Father has
made us fit, qualified to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints of life. That's what this man said when
he said, if I'm fit to come to Christ, I'm fit to come to the
table. Somebody gave this to me one
time. I jotted it down to see if I could find it. A fellow
asked this question. He said, you know, friend, he
said, suppose I ask a professing believer who's coming to the
table of the Lord, I ask him this, have you sinned today at
all in word, thought, or deed? And he'd have to say, I have.
Well, come to the table, because it's the sinner's. But suppose
I say to somebody, have you sinned today in word, thought, or deed?
And he would reply, no I haven't. Don't come. That's just beautiful
isn't it? That's just beautiful. Well, why did Paul say examine
yourself? Let a man examine himself and
so let him come. Well, the examination is not
to find out if you did anything wrong today or thought anything
wrong today or said anything wrong today. Here's the examination.
Examine my mind. Do I know Him? I know if I know
Him. I know you. I know you. I've known you for years. I know
Him. I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded He's able to keep that which I've committed to
Him. I know Him. Secondly, examine my heart. I
love Him. I love my Savior. I love my Savior
most of all. Peter said, Lord, you know I
love you. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. You do too. I know you
do. The third thing is examine my
commitment. Now, examine my mind, examine
my heart, and examine my commitment. Other refuge have I none. Hangs my helpless soul on thee. Leave or leave me not alone. still support and comfort me.
That's my plea and yours too. That's it. That's who's to come. Now, here's my second question.
The only host is not me, or Brother John, or
the elders, or Deacon. It's the Lord. It's the Lord's
table. Oh, Roland Hill. I love Roland
Hill. Lived and died years ago. But
back Back in those days, and back here in Kentucky, for a
long time, a lot of people were Baptists. Baptists is my name. I will be till I die. And the
reason I'm a Baptist is because my kinfolks all lived and died
Baptists. And they don't let anybody come
to the table of the Lord but Baptists. Well, Roland Hill was
preaching. in a church, a Baptist church. This is a true story. Roland
Hill was preaching at a Baptist church, and when he got through
preaching, he sat down, and they were going to serve it on his
table. So he was sitting over here, where Dan's sitting, and
the elder had the plate, the cup, and the bread, and walked
by. He walked by Mr. Hill. Mr. Roland Hill reached up to
get the bread, and he pulled it back. The elder pulled it
back and said, you can't come to our table. This is our table. You can't come here. Oh, he said,
I beg your pardon. I thought it was the Lord's table.
I don't want to come. Pollard Baptist Church, believe
that very same thing. When Brother Don Wells went there
as pastor. He did exactly the same thing.
It's the Lord's table. It's the Lord's table. When Jesus Christ was here in
the flesh, the man Christ Jesus, he observed the Passover. He
was circumcised. He attended the synagogue. He observed the feast. And he
came to this table, because right here, let me show you in verse
11. In verse 11. And you shall say to the good
man of the house, the master saith unto thee, where is the
guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover of my disciple?
He's going to eat it. This is his last time because
he's going to die tonight. But he's going to eat that Passover.
Just like he ate the Passover for 33 and a half years. That's
right. I read it also at verse 14, 15. He said this, And when the hours
come, he sat down the twelve apostles with him, and he said
unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer. But here in verse 19, he says,
I'm the Passover. See, I'm the Passover person. He took the bread and break it
and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, this is my body. My body which is broken for you,
this do in remembrance of me. This is my blood which is shed
for you, this do in remembrance of me. And listen, I would have
you remember this. It's the Lord's table now, the
Lord's table. We would do well to remember
some things. To add anything to it is to corrupt it. That's
right. It was a common house. It was
a common room. It was a common meal. It was
a common food, bread and wine. The disciples brought nothing
to the table. The Lord gave it up. He supplied
it up. The disciples were not kneeling. I remember when I was in the
Navy, 18 years old, before we had a battle or invasion, we'd
all go to the Lord's table and we'd all kneel. Priests would
come by and take out our tongue. The disciples weren't kneeling. They were sitting. They were
sitting. Is it common meal? Common table? Common room? Common meal? There were no officials. There
was no priest with a robe. There was no robes. Nobody was
elevated above the others. They were all sitting. And He
said this to them. This to them in remembrance of
Him. Lord, at Thy table I behold the
wonders of Thy grace, but most of all I rejoice that I have
a place. I'm there. One of them. Just
glad. So thankful. So rejoicing. Alright, the third thing I want
to talk about is the elements. The elements. Bread, unleavened
bread. And I've tried to hold to that,
John, all these years. Unleavened bread. And real wine. The bread And the wine shows
three or four things. Number one, it shows our Lord's
incarnation. Our Lord Jesus Christ became
a real person. This is real bread. This is real
wine. He was a real person. He was
a real person. He took on Himself a human body
with material flesh and with blood. Secondly, the bread and
the wine not only show His incarnation, it shows His holiness. The unleavened
bread says bread that will not spoil, will not rot, will not
fade away. The unleavened bread, it shows
His purity, His holiness. He's without sin. And the wine
will not become corrupted. You can sit it there on and on
and on, still the same. And he's pure, without sin. Our master is without sin. He's man in the flesh. He's without
sin. And the bread and the wine show
his suffering. His suffering. How is bread prepared? Well, you go out in the field,
get the wheat, or you get the corn. And you bring it in and
you grind it up. And then you put it in the furnace
and you cook it. This is my body broken for you. This is my body broken, bruised
in the fire of God Almighty's wrath on Calvary's cross. His
body was broken. And the blood, the wine, how
is wine prepared? The grape is secured and squeezed
from the vine and separated from the body like the wine is here
and his body tied there. The wine and the body are separated. Here's the bread which represents
his body. Here's the wine which represents
his shed blood. And what's this? His incarnation,
his holiness, his suffering, but the bread must be eaten. It must be drunk. It must be
received. To receive Christ is to receive
Christ in us. That's right. He's not to be
sprinkled on you. He's not to be held by you as
a book and a doctrine and a catechism. He's not to be worn by you as
a garment He is to be received in you.
Christ in you, that's the hope of glory. I'm crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, Christ lives in me. I eat his flesh and drink his
blood. And the life which I live in
this flesh, I live by the grace and love and mercy of the Son
of God. who loved me and gave himself
for me. That's what we have here. The bread, unleavened. His holiness. Wine, his blood. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Blood
separated from his body and he died under the wrath of God.
Alright, here's the fourth word now. The reason for this taking. Let's look at it again. In Luke
22, 19, he took bread and gave thanks and break it. And he gave
it to them saying, this is my body which is given for you,
this do in remembrance of me. Likewise, the cup after supper
saying, this cup is a new covenant in my blood which is shed for
you. This do in remembrance of me. We don't do it to be saved by
it. We don't do it to be sanctified
by it. We don't do it in order to feel
religious. We don't do it to feel holy and
special. We don't do it as a religious
ritual or ceremonies. We do it in remembrance of him. He loved us and gave himself
up. Who is he? Who is this whom we remember? Who is this in whom we believe
and trust and hope? Well, he's got seven names. The
sevenfold name. They called him Jehovah-Jireh.
The Lord will provide. They call him Jehovah-Raper. I'm the Lord that healeth thee.
They call him Jehovah-Neeser. He's my altar in the desert. My banner. Jehovah's Salem. He's my peace. Jehovah Rea. He's my shepherd. Jehovah said
Kinu. He's my righteousness. Jehovah
Shammah. He's always present. This do
in remembrance of me. Our Lord said, as often as you
eat this bread and drink this wine, you show something. As
often as you eat this bread and drink this wine, you do show
something. The Lord's death till he comes.
Show it to whom? To ourselves. I say in my heart,
he's my all in and of. I show it to me. I do this because
I need it. Secondly, I show it to the Lord's
throne. We have no other hope but Christ.
And we stand before God complete in Him. I show it to God. Thirdly,
we show it to one another. He said, you'll be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, Judea, Uttermost Possible. You're going to be
a witness of this sacrifice. And then we're going to show
it to our children. Show it to our children. Moses
said, what mean ye by this service? Well, it's the Lord's Passover
who delivered us from the bondage of slavery and sin in Egypt,
took us to the promised land. And we show it to our children.
We show it, the Lord who delivered us from sin, put away our transgressions,
was bruised by our iniquities, chastised when our peace was
thwarted by His stripes, with you. We show it to our children. And trust that the Lord will
make it as special to them as it is to us.