Let's begin tonight in Exodus
chapter 12, Exodus the 12th chapter. The Lord God is giving Moses
a type, a picture of redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ. A picture
that he experienced, a picture that he vividly saw, but a picture,
a type of true And that picture was the Passover lamb and the
deliverance of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt. On the
beginning of months, on the 10th day of the month, they were commanded
to take a lamb, a male of the first year, either of the sheep
or of the goats, and to shut it up for four days until the
14th day of the month to examine it and make certain that that
lamb was without spot, without blemish. so that it would be
a perfect type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of
God, who was to come and take away the sins of the world. And
so the pictures given of that Lamb being shut up. And on the
14th day of the month, the Lamb was to be taken and slain. Slain
that innocent victim so that the guilty, vile sinner might
be set free. That's how salvation comes. God
has taken his son, the Lord Jesus, the innocent victim, the just
one, and slain him in the place of the guilty, the unjust. His
blood being shed, these guilty ones are set free. His blood
being shed, our debt has been paid. His blood being shed, justice
is satisfied for us. And the Lord told Moses to take
the blood and to take a hyssop and dip it in the blood and put
it upon the doorpost and upon the lintel of every house in
Egypt. And every man was required to do so. Every man was required
to apply the blood to his own house. And in precisely the same
manner, you and I, if we would have this life, this salvation
that's in Christ Jesus, we must, by faith, apply the blood ourselves,
to ourselves, by the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit.
In other words, you must believe. You must call upon the name of
the Lord. You must seek Him. You must trust Him. You must
rest in Him. If you do, you have a life eternal. If you do, you're saved by His
grace. If you do, it's because He redeemed
you. It's because He chose you. It's
because He called you. But you must apply the blood. You must believe the gospel for
yourself. And then God gave this promise.
He said, when I see the blood, when I see it, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Oh, I like that. I like that. He saw the blood before I did.
He saw the blood when I did. And he sees the blood when I
can't. You understand what I'm saying? There are times when
because of my own sinful unbelief, there are times when because
of my own looking to myself rather than to him, because of my looking
to my hands rather than his hands, I questioned whether or not the
blood's here. He said, when I see the blood, he didn't say, Merle,
when you see it, he said, when I see it, I'll pass over you.
And before the world was, God saw the blood, the blood his
son shed for me, and he passed over me. And when the Lord Jesus
Christ died in my place at Calvary, when He satisfied the justice
of God in my stead, though I had not yet even been born, the Lord
God saw the blood and He passed over me. And when I came then,
and by His grace He revealed the blood to me, and I saw it,
and I trusted Him. He passed over me. And looking
now to the blood, He sees it, Bobby, and He still passes over
me. Judgment passes over my house. Judgment passes over my head.
Judgment does not come nigh me, for God sees the blood. And where
the blood is, no plague shall come. That's what this whole
picture says. Whenever you read the Scriptures,
look for the teaching. There is a house in Israel. Here's
a cottage. Here's a house in Egypt, a house
of one of the Israelites. Here's a house of one of the
Egyptians. There's blood here. What's going
to happen when judgment comes? Nothing. Nothing. Can't. There's blood there. There's
blood there. Nothing can happen. Not when
God says where blood is, no plague will come now. Here's the house
of the Egyptian. There's no blood. What's going
to happen? Judgment falls on that house. Do you see the picture?
Where the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed sinners, no judgment
shall fall on us. The judgment's over. The judgment
of God fell on our substitute. And no judgment shall fall on
those for whom Jesus Christ has died. Not possible. Not possible. That's one reason why we so earnestly
and vehemently contend, no, no, a thousand times no, Jesus Christ
did not shed his blood in vain for the multitudes who perish
in hell. No, sir. No, sir. Not on your life. Our God's no failure. And where he shed his blood,
no judgment shall fall. The satisfaction of divine justice
is in that blood. He says where the blood is, no
plague shall come nigh thy dwelling. And then after this was given
to Moses, he gave it to the children of Israel. And he tells them
that they're to celebrate this Passover perpetually throughout
their generations. And in verse 26, he says, it
shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you,
what mean ye by this service? That is, you kill this lamb and
you eat the Passover and you do it once a year. What's this
mean? What's the significance? Why are you doing this? Why are
you so meticulous in the details on this thing? And the Lord says,
you shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. Now,
the whole thing is typical of our redemption by Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ, our true Passover, who has been sacrificed for us.
Now, this evening, I want to try to answer this question with
regard to this ordinance we have. What mean ye by this service? I've answered it so many times
in so many different ways. I want to just give you a simple
clear outline. But let me say this to begin
with. In spiritual worship, in spiritual worship, everything
must be understood. Everything. When we come to baptize
someone, a man comes to me or a woman comes to me and says,
I want to confess Christ in baptism. My first thing, these folks who've
been baptized can vouch for it, the first thing I do is I tell
you what it means. Because unless you understand
what you're doing, the baptism's a mockery. Unless you understand
what you're doing, it's silly, it's absurd, it's ridiculous.
That's one reason we don't baptize children in this place, that
we're letting God save children. I don't know, I don't know, but
I know this, nobody's to be baptized who doesn't understand what baptism
is, that commitment of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
spiritual worship, everything must be understood. The mere
religious ritualist, that man who's just, he's satisfied with
the ceremonialist, the religious. He's content with the form. He's
content with the ceremony. The Jews, with the many outward
symbols of the Lord's worship, the many outward symbols that
God had given them, the tabernacle, the temple, the priesthood, the
sacrifices, They had a terrible tendency toward empty, meaningless
religious ritualism. And therefore, the Lord carefully
instructed those Jews with regard to the meaning and the significance
of their ordinances. But this tendency toward religious
ritualism must not be tolerated. The observance of any ordinance
merely as a religious ritual without recognizing and understanding
the meaning of that ordinance, is nothing less than idolatry,
and God will never accept it. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 1,
I'll show you. Isaiah chapter 1. The mere observance of a religious
ritual, no matter how meticulously it is observed, the observance
of a ritual without understanding is idolatry. It's idolatry, nothing
less than idolatry. In Isaiah 1 and verse 10, Hear
the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law
of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Who on earth is he talking to?
Who's he talking to? He said, well, Sodom and Gomorrah,
he destroyed them a long time ago. He's talking to those who
worshipped in his name, the children of Israel who were mere ceremonialists. He says, your religion reminds
me of Sodom and Gomorrah. God has no use for religious
ritualism, none whatever. He says in verse 11, to what
purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the
Lord? I'm full of burnt offerings. Offerings of rams and the fat
of fed beast. And I delight not in the blood
of bullocks and of lambs or of the goats. When you come to appear
before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my
courts? They might say, well, you did.
You did. You told us to do this. Surely
God's with us because we observed his ordinances. Oh, no, no. God
didn't say just keep the ordinance. God said do it with a heart of
faith. He didn't say just do these things, but do these things
in a true heart worship of me. In verse 13, bring no more vain
oblations, incense is an abomination to me, the new moons in the Sabbath
days, the calling of assemblies I cannot away with. It's iniquity,
even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed
feast, my soul hateth. They are a trouble unto me. I'm
weary to bear them. I'm weary to bear them. Preacher,
do you mean that God looks upon religion, religious
sacrifices, and religious ceremonies as abominations before Him? Yes, sir, that's what I mean.
That's what I mean. You'd be just as well out, out
somewhere tonight, drunk in a ditch, or somewhere in a brothel, or
somewhere in prison, serving time for murder, as to be here,
if you're here, going through nothing but a religious ritual
without any heart, faith toward God. That's what I mean. Is that
clear enough, David? Is that plain enough? You say,
well, Don, you can't say things like that. I just said it, and
I mean for you to understand it. Oh, God, let me not merely
go through the form of godliness. Religion's a stench in God's
eyes. A stench in his nostrils. It's
an abomination to it. Oh, it impresses me in stained
glass, big cathedrals, such a beautiful building, such a lovely choir,
nice robes. Somebody was telling me the other
day in this place, the choir came out, They all had on red
robes and white crosses down the road, you know, and said
they had a good choir, impressive choir. God says it's just in my eyes
like Sodom and Gomorrah, like Sodom and Gomorrah. You mean
all fires are that way? No, no, I don't mean that at
all. I mean any religious ceremony without faith is abomination. That's the reason I want you
to understand clearly what we do when we observe the Lord's
table. We must know the meaning of what we're doing. Otherwise,
our worship and our observance of the ordinances of the Lord
are vanity. Therefore, I thought it would
be profitable for us this evening if I could find in the scriptures
a brief answer to this question. What mean ye by this service?
Why have we come to observe the Lord's table? What's the meaning
of this ordinance? Some people call this service
Holy Communion. Some call it the Eucharist. Others
call it the breaking of bread. Generally, we refer to it as
communion or the Lord's table. What does it mean? That's the
question I want to answer tonight, if God will enable me. In order
for us to truly observe the Lord's Supper, we must know why we observe
it. We must understand its spiritual
significance. I want to encourage you to observe
the Lord's table, you who are believers. If you're born of
God, if you truly trust the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't want to
do anything to discourage you from receiving the bread and
wine, but I want you to understand what it means. I want you to
eat and drink with knowledge and with understanding so that
in our observance we may worship our God. What mean ye by this
service? Let's look to the Word of God.
I'm going to show you seven things with regard to this Lord's table,
which are plainly taught in the scriptures. Let me say two things
it is not. First of all, it is not a sacrament. That is, it is not a means of
grace and salvation. I could hardly believe it. Some,
oh, several years ago, I turned on the television one Sunday
morning after I came to Danville. I had never I'd never been to
an American Catholic worship service. I've been to some in
Mexico, and you wouldn't believe they were the same places. But
anyway, I didn't understand what was going on when I was down
in Mexico and watched them. But this fellow on that, I think
they called it communion of the air, he held up a chalice of
wine, and he held up a piece of bread, a wafer, and he said, our Redeemer." Those were his
very words. They believe that the bread and
the wine actually becomes, by some kind of a hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo
the priest says over it, it actually becomes the body and blood of
Christ. And that there is virtue and
saving efficacy in eating the bread and drinking the wine.
No, sir. No, sir. There is no merit in
eating the bread and drinking the wine. That's just bread and
that's just wine. Nothing more. Nothing more. He
bought the wine somewhere in Lexington, I guess. Charlotte
made the bread. There's nothing there. There's
no change. It doesn't change in its substance.
And eating the bread, drinking the wine won't do one thing for
you insofar as your relationship and standing with God is concerned.
It will not do one thing for you. But it is not a mere ritual
of Christian religion. It's not something that we just
do because it's there to do. It's not something we go through
without understanding, without heart, without faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, what does the service mean?
Let me give you seven answers. Number one, turn over to the
book of 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. When you want to understand what
the Word of God teaches about any subject, go to the place
where that subject is dealt with. You want to understand what the
Bible teaches about the Lord's Table, the place to go is 1 Corinthians
11. This is the first answer as to
what the Lord's Table means. The Lord's Supper is, number
one, an act of obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians
11 and verse 24, the apostle is quoting our Lord. When he
had given thanks, he break the bread and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. This do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also, he took the cup when he had such
saying, this cup is the New Testament or the new covenant in my blood.
This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." Now,
the first principle reason for observing any ordinance, for
establishing anything as a part of our worship of God, is the
commandment of Christ. We observe baptism precisely
as our Lord requires it because He commanded it. It's the answer
of a good conscience toward God. And we who believe observe the
Lord's table precisely as our Lord ordained it because He commanded
it. That's reason enough, Bobby.
We don't have to have any other basis for it. He commanded it,
we do it in remembrance of Him. Why don't you observe foot washing?
He never commanded it. I know there are those who practice
foot washing. They call it high communion.
Our Lord never commanded us to wash one another's feet in a
physical sense. The ordinance that he gives there
is that we with heart observe this thing of humbly serving
one another. And nowhere in the New Testament
do we see anyone repeating that as an ordinance in the church.
So we observe the Lord's table because our Lord commands it,
because he's given it to us in his word. If he's commanded a
thing, we dare not ignore it. Now this is what he said as he
broke the bread with his disciples and gave out the wine on the
night before his crucifixion. He said, this do, this do. You know, until I started pastoring
myself and studying the scriptures and preparing to minister to
other people, I always looked upon the Lord's table, Lindsay,
as something that our Lord would have said, this, be careful how
you do. But he didn't say that. He didn't
say, don't do this. He said, do it. This, do. If
you're a believer, this table's for you. And he bids you to eat
the table. Not to eat the Lord's table is
not a holy thing. It is not some kind of... We've
been conditioned to think that by not eating the Lord's table,
we kindly show ourselves to be sincere, humble, self-abased
Christians, and we don't think that we're worthy to eat the
table. Now, I'll come to that in a minute, but just get this
for right now. If you believe, God commands
you to eat the table. He says, this do. This do. And I'm saying to you who believe,
if you're God's children, eat the bread and drink the wine
in remembrance of Christ. That means that we're to do it.
The Lord's Supper is a perpetual ordinance established by Christ
himself. It is to be observed often, frequently,
and regularly. Now, he nowhere tells us how
often. But as you read the book of Acts,
you cannot help noticing that every Lord's Day, when the disciples
came together, they broke bread. Every time they came together.
And that's the reason we have done it that way here. We observe
the Lord's table every Sunday evening. We observe it in the
evening because it's the Lord's supper, not the Lord's breakfast.
We observe it every Sunday evening because that's the way it was
done in the New Testament. And obviously, that's the way
those early disciples understood our Lord to mean that they should
do it. We come together at the Lord's table and break bread
often, regularly, in remembrance of Christ Jesus. And this observance
is to be observed by all of the Lord's people, every true believer.
I dare say, is obliged, obliged to observe the Lord's Supper
regularly in the manner in which our Lord Jesus himself has ordained
it. Yes, there are some naughty children
in the Lord's family, and the Lord will chasten them for their
naughtiness. But God never forbids his children
to have their supper. He never does. My mother and
dad are here. I don't mean to embarrass either.
I remember there were a few times when possibly the best punishment
for me was that I'd be sent to bed without my supper. And looking
at me now, maybe you'd think that was the best way to punish
me. Our Heavenly Father never tells His children they can't
have their supper. Never. He chastens them. He chastens
them. But He never... Now listen to me. Listen to me.
I've read this book through a few times. I don't find anywhere
in the Word of God where God forbids one of his children to
sit at the Lord's table. I don't see it anywhere in the
scriptures. Nowhere in the scriptures. Our Lord gives us this ordinance
by which our Lord Jesus Christ himself is represented. And I
dare not refuse any to receive the table which the Lord God
himself has given to his children. I dare not say to those, if a
man has Christ represented, I dare not tell him he can't have the
bread and wine which represents him. If he has the substance,
I dare not tell him he can't have the symbol. I dare not,
in other words, set up a fence around the table. I've got books
in my library, hundreds of pages that deal with
fencing the table. Set up a fence around the table.
Let's protect it. Keep everybody away from it that doesn't belong
there. And those old Puritans, and I respect them, I have lots
of admiration for them, but those old boys would set up a fence
and build a wall so high that nobody but a Pharisee could dare
come to the Lord's table. Nobody could do it. I'm telling
you, there are no fences around the table. There are no barriers
around the table. Only one, if you don't discern
the Lord's body. That is, if you have no faith
in Christ, Don't you eat this bread and don't you drink the
wine. But if you know him, Bobby, the table's set for you. If you're
born of God, the table's set for you. We observe the Lord's
table because our Lord has commanded it. We observe it with all of
the Lord's children. Our worthiness to receive the
bread and wine is not in ourselves. I know that in this very chapter,
Paul deals with eating and drinking unworthily. But I'm going to tell you something,
the worthiness is the worthiness of faith. It's faith. Oscar Bailey,
who are you to dare even call God your father and speak to
him in prayer? Oh, I'm not worthy to pray. I
know you're not worthy to pray. I'm not either. But you're worthy. Because Christ has made you worthy. You follow what I'm saying? No,
I'm not worthy to eat this bread and drink this wine in remembrance
of Christ and worshiping Him, but Christ has made me worthy.
Christ has made me worthy. In Him, I'm perfect. In Him,
I'm righteous. In Him, I'm made meet to inherit
the glory of God Himself. Read the book of God. Read the
book of God. Well, you dare not do it with
any unconfessed sin. Anybody here ever confessed all
their sin? Don't raise your hand, you'll look like a fool in this
crowd. No, you don't even know what all your sin is. No, you
don't. No, you don't. We confess our sin honestly.
We confess our sin sincerely. We confess our sin universally.
But my soul, what I'm doing right here tonight, is full of sin. Full of sin. If it wasn't, I
wouldn't be concerned about how you're looking at me. or what
you're thinking about it, or how Shirley's reacting to it,
or how Shelby's reacting to it, or how my dad and mother are
reacting to it. I wouldn't have any concern with it. I'd be concerned
only, only, only for the glory of God. Oh, I'd like to do something
just one time, just for His glory, wouldn't you? But as far as our
worthiness is concerned, it's not in ourselves. No, no, no. It's in Christ. And because I'm
in Christ, I have made fit sit at his table and eat the bread
and drink the wine in celebration of redemption. The only person
who's not worthy to receive the Lord's table is that person who
does not believe Christ, the person who does not discern the
Lord's body. That is the person who does not
understand the necessity of the incarnation of Christ as the
sinner's substitute. Secondly, what mean you by this
service? The Lord's Supper is a memorial
feast. These same two verses, 1 Corinthians
11, 24, and 25. Our Lord says, this do in remembrance
of me. He says again in verse 25, as
often as you drink it in remembrance of me. We observe the Lord's
table as an act of remembrance. We eat the bread and drink the
wine in remembrance of our Savior. I can't conceive of a better
way of remembering Him than having Him vividly set before us in
picture, in type. I wish we didn't need it. And
the day's going to come, the day's coming, day over, we don't
need it. We're going to see Him face to face. But as long as
we're in this flesh, we need a reminder. We need a reminder. We need a picture. We still have
to lean on crutches here. We still need some props here.
We still need some support here. And our Lord's given us the bread
and the wine so that we may vividly have Him set before us once a
week, every week, broken, crushed, put to death in our place. We come to the Lord's table to
remember our beloved friend. who's absent from us for a while.
It was expedient for us that he go away, but he hasn't left
us comfortless. He's given us his spirit. He
sealed his love to us by the spirit that he's placed within
us, and he's left us with the bread and wine as tokens of his
love and grace. I carry pictures of my wife and
daughter with me. And when I'm away from home, Just several times during the
day, for one reason or another, I'll look at those pictures. So you forgot what they look
like? No, I hadn't forgot what they look like. My soul. No,
I just left them a couple hours ago. Got a picture sitting on
my desk. Every now and then, I just look
up, think about them. Like that, I'm with them. Like
that. Just like that. You mean, how'd you get with
them? In here. You know what I'm talking about?
In here. It's a heart matter. And I eat the bread, drink the
wine, and I'm reminded of Him. And I need that. I need that.
We come to the communion table primarily in remembrance of our
Lord's great deeds of love for us. This is a memorial supper
of what Christ did for you and me while He was upon the earth.
As you eat the bread in just a few minutes and drink the wine,
in your mind, in your heart's memory, go back to Calvary. As
you remember the place of his sufferings, remember his great
love, the reason and the cause of his agony. Greater love hath
no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
He loved me and gave himself for me. Children of God, even
as you prepare to eat the bread and drink the wine, Remember
His great love for you. In love, the Son of God volunteered
to take your place. He volunteered to take your place
under the curse of God's holy law. In love for you, He actually
came in the fullness of time, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law and stood in your
place and died as your substitute. under the wrath of the Almighty
God. In love for you, the Lord Jesus Christ has ascended up
to heaven, and there his great heart of love ever pleads the
merits of his blood and righteousness with God Almighty for you. And in love for your soul, the
Lord Jesus sovereignly rules all the universe, governs all
the affairs of the world for your everlasting good. and his
eternal glory. Thirdly, what mean you by this
service? Look at verse 26 of 1 Corinthians
11. The Lord's Supper is an exhibition
of the Lord's death. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he come. Let me be brief here. but I want
to be perfectly clear. We observe this blessed ordinance
with unleavened bread and fermented wine exactly as it was done in
the New Testament for many reasons. Number one, because that's the
way it was done in the New Testament. So wouldn't it be just as well
to have loaf of bread and grape juice? No, it wouldn't. That's
not the way it was done in the New Testament. Wouldn't it be
just as well to have Crackers and soda pop? No, it wouldn't.
That's not the way it was done in the New Testament. Why do
you have unleavened bread and fermented wine? Because that's
the way our Lord did it and because of what it represents. And this
is the more significant thing. That bread represents the body
of Emmanuel. Holy. Harmless. undefiled, separate
from sinners. That's because it had no leaven
in it. There's no element of corruption in the bread. That
bread, unless something has gotten into it that we don't mean to
be in there, that we don't intend to be in there, can sit right
there on that table week after week after week after week and
never decay, never rot, never mold, never become defiled. There's no leaven in it. There's
no leaven in it. That's the reason we use it.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down from heaven, assumed a real
human body in which he lived in our place in perfect righteousness. And he knew no sin. He's holy, harmless, undefiled,
except the consenters. And that bread is broken. crushed in pieces just as our Lord suspended between
heaven and earth had the wheel of divine justice roll over his
holy body and crush him to death in our place so that he was bruised
for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. The
scripture says in Isaiah 53, it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. The word is crush him, to crush
him. Weal of God's justice rolled over his holy soul with
no mercy. With no mercy. Didn't God pity
him? None eye pitied him. Didn't God
have compassion upon him? He cried, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? He was made to be sin and God
treated him as sin and God crushed him. The wine represents his holy
blood. The blood of one who is himself
God in human flesh. Blood not corrupted by the fall.
Blood not corrupted by sin, blood not corrupted by man's defilement
by nature, but that blood that's created in his holy body by the
Holy Spirit that came to him even in the womb of the Virgin,
that blood is representative of the wine and that's the reason
it's fermented wine. That wine will never decay. It'll never grow. It'll never
become vile. It'll never become rancid. It'll
never become useless. That wine has all the elements
of corruption fermented out of it. You follow me? All the elements
of corruption have been fermented out of it. And the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ had no corruption. You see, it's only one whose
blood is both the blood of a holy man and the blood of one who
is himself the holy God who put away your sin. And now the blood
is separated from the body. You know what that means, don't
you? That means death. Death. The bread and the wine
aren't mixed together, they're separated. The bread and the
wine are separated because our Lord Jesus just as the juice
of the grape is squeezed from the grape by crushing the grape
in the winepress. The Lord Jesus Christ, while
he voluntarily poured out his blood for us, his blood was squeezed
from his life under the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath
of God Almighty. And he died under our, under
the penalty of sin as our substitute. And so we observe the Lord's
table to exhibit our Lord's death. You who do not know Christ, watch
us, will you? You young people, pay attention
to me, pay attention to me. Pay attention to these believers
as we observe the Lord's table in a minute. You watch us every
week, every week, when mom and dad take the bread and the wine. They're showing you the hope
of life everlasting. They're showing the Lord's death.
Mom, how do you hope to live forever with God? Through the
broken body and the shed blood of the Son of God. That's what
we're doing every week, showing forth His death. You sure are
a stickler. You bet your boots I'm a stickler.
This is the way we're going to do it. We're going to do it this
way from now on. Somebody asked me one time, what
would you do if you went to pastor a church where they use grape
juice? They'd use wine the first time I served communion. First
time I served, wouldn't you vote on it? Vote on the word of God?
No. No, we just do it. That's all. We just do it. And
that's the way we observe things. Why? Because it shows forth the
Lord's death. It's a picture of Christ. And
we're going to picture him right. Fourthly, the Lord's Supper. is a table of communion. Look
in chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, verse 16. The cup of blessing
which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body
of Christ? For we being many are one bread
and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread,
the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. This is a place of communion
between Christ and His people. What does it mean to eat at the
Lord's table? It means that we're at peace with Him. It means that we're under His
protection and His care. It means we're friends. The Lord
Himself reveals Himself to His friends at His table. Jan Bolton
came over today. had dinner at my table. That
means we're friends, Jan. We're friends. I don't eat with
my enemies. I don't eat with my enemies. They're not welcome
at my table. You're welcome. We're friends.
I'm here eating with the Lord Jesus at his table of peace. We're friends. He's got no quarrel
with me, and I got no quarrel with him because he put away
all calls for strife. He put an end to all strife on
my behalf. I was thinking about this this
afternoon. Best picture I could think of is that of Mephibosheth
and David. David brought Mephibosheth in,
who was his natural born enemy, that old deformed cripple, and
he set it down under his table. He said he's going to eat there
all the days of his life. That's what Christ has done for
me. He set me down at his table. He says, you're welcome here.
You're welcome here. We're reconciled. But there's
more than that. It means that He is one with
us, and we're one with Him. Not only friends, but truly one. All that He is is mine. All that He has is mine. And if I truly know Him, all
that I am is His, and all that I have is His. This also is a place of communion
with one another. As we're one with Christ, we're one in Christ. We being
many are one bread and one body, but we are all partakers of that
one bread. I'm afraid that far too few of
the Lord's people are able to enter into this blessed truth.
All of God's elect are one. His church is one. His kingdom
is one. His family is one. All of God's children, wherever
they are, are one with me and I with them. That oneness implies
a readiness to help, a willingness to serve, a heart of care. One with one another. One in
Christ Jesus. And being one in him, all of
God's children are welcome at the table. We don't observe this
ordinance merely as a local church ordinance. We observe it as a
local church, but we observe it with all believers and all
our brethren. Somebody comes this way, I don't
care who they are, where they're from. If they believe the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace, if they worship our sovereign
Savior, our sovereign Redeemer, they're welcome to eat this bread
and drink this wine. Whoever they are, black, white,
rich, poor, bond-free, male, female, it doesn't matter. God's
children are one. One in Christ Jesus. I got a
call this afternoon from this new congregation. Just reporting in. He said, I
thought you might be interested. Yeah, I'm interested. I'm interested. I'm one with them. And you're
one with them. We're one in Christ. Their burdens
are our burdens. Their cares are our cares. Their
joys are our joys. Fifth thing. The Lord's table
is a token of His covenant. Turn over to Matthew 26. Matthew
chapter 26. Verse 27, He took the cup and
gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for
this is my blood of the New Testament, the new covenant, which is shed
for many for the remission of sins. You see, the blood of Christ
being shed for us put into effect the covenant of God's grace made
between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
before the world began. The blood of Christ being shed
at Calvary was the ratification and the seal of that everlasting
covenant. And by that blood, all the blessings
of the covenant freely flow to all God's elect. That's what
it means when we eat the bread and drink the wine. We're celebrating
the covenant, a covenant made on our behalf before the world
began. between God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit, a covenant ordered in all things
and sure, an immutable and everlasting covenant, a covenant of free
grace, a covenant by which salvation and all the blessings of Christ
flow down to us through the stream of his precious blood. The blessings of God are determined by and dependent
upon only one thing, only one thing, the obedience of Lindsay Campbell.
No. Our prayer life, no. Our faithfulness,
no. Our devotion, no. A preacher,
what's the blessing of the covenant dependent on? the obedience of
Christ, the covenant head, the covenant servant. And all that God has, he's given us in Christ before
the world began. And it flows to us through the
merits of his precious blood, the power of his spirit. I told
our ladies this morning in the Bible class I know we're living
in this charismatic age and you're going to hear preachers, some
who you would think ought to know better, talk about, well,
we need something more than just faith. They talk like this, you know,
those apostles had something we didn't have. They had something
we don't have. They had a different spirit.
We need another baptism in the spirit. We need to be filled
with the Holy Spirit. And what they mean by that is
we need to come to church, get pumped up, kind of hooped up
into some kind of an ecstatic frenzy of emotional religion,
and they call it spiritual religion. Let me tell you something. Let
me tell you, you listen carefully to me. Anything anybody offers
you in addition to Christ that's supposed to be better than Christ
is of the devil. Anything. I don't care who offers
it, and I don't care what it is. Anything. Fellas, we're living
in an age of deception. We're living in an age of delusion.
And Satan's going to shoot you a curve every time you turn around.
All the blessings of God are in Christ. All the promises of
God are in Christ. Not you, not your experiences,
not your doings, but Christ alone. Trust Him. And all that God has
to give, He freely gives to all who trust Him. In fact, He gave
it before the world was. In this covenant, our Lord bestows
upon us his free love. He shows us by this bread and
wine, a token of that covenant love. It's as though he says,
will you listen to me? I wrote some things down. Part
of it, direct quotes from scripture, part of it, implications. When you eat the bread and drink
the wine, listen for the voice of the Son of God. He's saying,
by this bread and wine, the tokens of my redeeming love for thee,
I betroth thee unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in
mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord. Thou shalt
abide with me for many days, and thou shalt not be for another,
so will I also be for thee. I have redeemed thee by my precious
blood, and thou art mine. I will love thee, nurture thee,
feed thee, clothe thee, protect thee, and preserve thee. And
at the last, I shall bring thee to be with me forever in my glory. That's the token, the bread and
the wine. And when we receive this bread
and wine, the tokens of his love, we testify of our love to him
and we renew our devotion to him. It's as though we said in
response to him, Lord Jesus, I take the token of your love
and taking it, I vow that I belong to you alone. My beloved is mine
and I'm his. I will not be for another. I
will not be for another. Every Sunday evening, we conclude
the previous week and begin the next one, eating the bread, drinking
the wine. As you do, renew your heart vow
of commitment to your bridegroom. Renew your heart, vow of commitment
to your King and your Savior. Lord, by your grace, I'm yours. By your blood, I'm yours. By
your mercy, I'm yours. And by your sustaining power
and grace, I will not be for another. I will not be for another. Sixthly, the Lord's table is
a feast of thanksgiving. We won't turn there, but you
can read it at your leisure, Luke 22, verses 15 through 20. Our Lord offers thanks as he
distributes the bread and the wine. And this is a thanksgiving
service. We're approaching that season
of thanksgiving. We celebrate as a nation. It's
a good season. Unlike most holidays, it's not
pagan. But here's our thanksgiving service. We come with reverence. Don't ever miss that. But don't
come with terror. Don't eat the bread and drink
the wine as though it's something you've got to be afraid of. My
soul, this is a celebration of redemption. We're here to celebrate. I'm redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. It's no time for mourning. This
is time for joy. This is no time for sorrow. This
is time for laughter. The Savior is mine. Pardon is
mine. Christ is mine. Heaven is mine. Eternity is mine. All things
are mine. I'm redeemed. You follow me? This is a celebration of redemption.
And it's a picture of hope. The Lord's Supper is a symbol
of hope. Our Lord said in 1 Corinthians
11, 26, as oft as you do this, do it in remembrance of me. And
Paul says, in this you do show forth the Lord's death until
he come. You remember how the Israelites
were commanded to eat the Passover? Look at it, Exodus 12. Just briefly,
look at it, just a minute. Exodus 12, verse 11. Thus shall you eat it with your
loins girted." Now, that's talking about a belt tied around your waist.
Those old customs were that men wore long garments and they when
they were about to take a journey or to fight a battle, they would
tie up their garments and they would strap themselves with a
belt tied firmly around their waist to support their backs
and to give them strength, as well as to keep their flowing
robes out of their feet. He says, you eat it prepared
for a journey, prepared to leave this place with your shoes on
your feet and your staff in your hand. and he shall eat it in
haste. It's the Lord's Passover. Moses
said, as he gave the command from God himself, he said, now
boys, when you go home tonight and you roast that lamb, God's coming through. God's coming
through. Put your shoes on. Pack your
bags. Get your staff in your hand.
While you're chewing on that leg of lamb. You chew on that
leg of lamb in a hurry because you're leaving this place. You're
leaving here. And so they, I can just picture,
with the coats on, the lawn girded about, the sandals strapped tightly
to their feet, the packs on their back, staff in their hand, children
all dressed just like them, even their robes too. And out they go. That's the way
we eat for Lord's sake. When you eat the bread and drink
the wine, remember, soon you're gonna eat it for the last time.
We're leaving here. We're leaving. We're leaving
here. Soon he shall come for whom we
hope will seem as he is. And when we do, we're gonna be
like him. You know why? Because he gave
us his body and shed his blood and by that put away our sin
and satisfied God's righteousness. There's one more thing this picture
shows forth. It shows sinners How we receive
eternal life and salvation? By faith. Our Lord said, except
you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you shall not inherit
eternal life. How on earth are you going to
eat his flesh and drink his blood? Not in the Lord's table, no.
I've already shown you that. And certainly not literally.
But by faith. By faith, we take his life of
obedience. and receive it, and it becomes
ours. It's mine. It's mine. Trusting
Him, He is mine. By faith, we take that cup of His holy blood, not this communion
cup, but His blood, His death, His sacrifice, His atonement,
and we drink in His blood. And His death is mine. It's mine. Really it is. Really is. Nobody can take it away from
me. It's part of me. I draw life and nutriment from
it. Oh, I pray that tonight God the
Holy Spirit has taught some of you the gospel and that now,
maybe for the first time, you discern the Lord's body and you
say in your heart, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner in need of righteousness. but
I trust your righteousness. I'm a sinner, deserving wrath,
judgment, condemnation. Hell ought to be my fortune.
I have no right to live. But Lord Jesus, you died a sinner,
and your blood makes atonement. and you satisfied God's law of
justice for sinners, I trust your precious blood. Can you
do it? Can you do it? If so, eat the
bread and drink the wine in remembrance of him who loved you and gave
himself for you. Amen.