But don't open your Bible just
yet. I want to make some opening comments
before we read my text. We are gathered here tonight
to worship, to praise God. We are gathered here to hear
a message from his word, but primarily we have met together
to observe the Lord's table. which he commanded us to do.
He said, this do, this do in remembrance of me. He commanded
us to observe the table of the Lord. And this was faithfully
observed by the apostles and early believers. In fact, Paul
wrote to the early church in Corinthians and he said, I have
received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that
the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took
bread, and when he had given thanks, he breaketh, and he 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 supped, saying, This cup is the new covenant
in my blood, this do ye, as often as you drink it in remembrance
of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord's death till he
come. I can only find in studying the early Church and the epistles,
I can only find the early Church observing two ordinances. That is, baptism. Our Lord commanded
the disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel
and baptize those who believe. He said, go make disciples and
baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And when we follow our Lord in baptism, we're showing the same
thing that we show observing the Lord's table, his death,
burial, and resurrection. And then the Lord's table, he
said he commanded us to keep this ordinance. That's the only
two ordinances I can find anywhere in the New Testament that the
early church observed. the many religious holidays and
holy days and special occasions that are going on today, which
churches observe. I cannot find them in the New
Testament. I cannot find Christmas in the
New Testament anywhere. I cannot find them celebrating
a holiday and calling it Christmas. and observing some sort of celebration
in memory of our Lord's birth. I can't find it. Easter, the
word Easter occurs only one time in the scriptures, one time. And it's not talking about what
we talk about today when you use that word. The word Easter
is the Passover. That's what it, one time it's
used. So that, there's no commandment to observe. Good Friday, the
early church knew nothing about that. The early church knew nothing
about that. Sunday mass, sunrise ceremonies. The women
went to the tomb early that Sunday morning to anoint his body, and
he wasn't there. And the angels said, why are
you out here in the cemetery? Are you looking for the living
among the dead? He's not here, he's risen. So,
but our Master did command the early church, which they did. They obeyed his commandment.
It says here in the book of Acts talking about the early converts,
people at Pentecost. Now listen, when Peter finished
his message at Pentecost, then they that gladly received his
word were baptized. And the same day there was added
unto them about three thousand souls, and they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' teachings and fellowship and breaking bread."
They were baptized, preaching of the Word, fellowshiping together,
they broke bread. In Acts 20 it says this, let
me just read it to you. And you say, when did they meet
generally? Well, verse 7 says in Acts 20, And upon the first
day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread,
to observe the Lord's table, Paul preached to them. They met
together to observe the Lord's table. And it's a very important
time that we have before us tonight. Now turn to Luke 22. And let
me give you some thoughts, some thoughts about the Lord's Supper
in Luke 22. Verse 14, the first thing I note
is this. Those present to observe the
Lord's table were believers. Believers. It says in verse 14,
And when the hour was come, he sat down and the twelve apostles
with him. Believers. And that's what we're
exhorted to do when we sit down at the Lord's table is examine
ourselves for one thing, whether we discern the Lord's body. Do we understand what we're doing?
We're observing the Lord's table. The bread represents his broken
body and the wine his shed blood. And we discern that he gave himself
for us, believers. We can't remember what we don't
know. Our Lord said, this do in remembrance of me. Well, we
can't remember what we don't know, what we've never experienced.
So this is an ordinance for believers. It's not to be served to unbelievers. We can't show what we haven't
seen. And then I noticed this about these early believers.
Read verse 14 again. And when the hour was come, he
sat down and the twelve apostles with him. No one was elevated
above the others. No one was lifted up above. They
all sat down with him. They're not even on their knees
in front of him taking the table. They're sitting about the table
with him. Isn't that what it says? They sat down with him,
all believers, and they're all brethren. And they sat down with the Lord.
Now, verse 15. This is the last Passover. You
know what the Passover is. Israel was down in Egypt. God
would lead them out of Egypt into the promised land. And it's
a picture of our being saved from sin translated into the
kingdom of God. And God told Moses to take a
lamb without spot or blemish, the first thing of the flock,
one year old, put it up for four days, observe it, without spot
or blemish, and then kill the lamb, roast it with fire, take
its blood, and put it on the little and the doorpost. Go in
the house and stay there. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. When I come through the land
of Egypt tonight to slay the firstborn in every home, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over, pass over, the Lord's pass over."
This is the last one. The Jews have observed it now
for 2,000 years, from Moses to Christ. Why stop? Listen to 1 Corinthians 5. This
is why they stopped. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul said,
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump as
ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover
is sacrificed for us. That lamb is a picture of our
lamb, Christ Jesus, the firstborn, the firstborn of every creature.
That lamb without spot or blemish, Christ is holy. That lamb put
up and observed and tested and tried, Christ was tried. That lamb slain, its body roasted
with fire, a picture of his. I thirst, he cried on the cross,
burning. under the judgment of our sins,
his blood, not on the doorpost, but on the mercy seat of glory
in our place. This is the last Passover, and
that's what he's saying. Verse 15, he says, with desire, I have
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. I will not any more eat thereof.
He had observed all the Passover since he walked this earth, four
with them. No more. No more. No more. I will not any more eat thereof
till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. That's the last Passover. For Christ, our Passover is sacrificed
for us. Now verse 17. And he took the cup. And he gave
thanks, and he said, take this and divide it among yourselves.
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine,
unto the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread. This is unleavened bread. How
do you know it's unleavened bread? This is the feast of the unleavened
bread. Back in verse 7, that's the first thing we read when
we came in here tonight. This is a day of unleavened bread.
This is wine and unleavened bread. that our Lord took. There was
no leaven in a Jewish home during Passover. Leaven is evil, a picture
of evil. Verse 19, He took bread and gave
thanks and break it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my
body, which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me.
Now, two simple elements, wine and unleavened bread. The Lord
and His disciples observed this table table of the Lord at a
common meal. No uniforms, no grand function,
no complicated ceremony. Here the Lord is sitting about
a table with his disciples. They just finished the Passover
meal. There's bread on that table,
plain, simple, unleavened bread, baked bread, and there's a jug
of wine. And our Lord took this common
unleavened bread and this common table wine and instituted the Lord's supper. Now here's the representation.
The bread and the wine, he said, this is my body and this is my
blood. The bread and the wine show our
Lord's incarnation. I have a body and I have blood.
That's what he said. God is spirit. As God, he has
no body and blood. God is spirit, and they that
worship him, worship him in spirit and truth. But as the God-man,
he's got a body and he's got blood. See, that's his incarnation. He's saying here, this bread
is my body and this wine is my blood. Now, the unleavened bread
and the wine shows his holiness. This supper cannot. accurately
be observed with anything but unleavened bread and wine. Because if I have bread up here
that's leavened, it can't represent the holiness of Christ. And grape
juice or some other kind of juice which spoils because of the bacteria
and because of whatever's in it can't represent His blood. He had no sin, he's perfectly
holy. And he does not, even his body
saw no corruption in the tomb. That's the reason that I'm careful
about the bread and the wine. Because that's what he, that's
what he used. He said this bread is my body,
this wine is my blood. And then thirdly, this bread
and wine show his suffering. How does it show his suffering?
Well, the bread was broken, his body bruised and mangled, and
he suffered as no man. His countenance was marred as
no other man. But the main thing here that
we see his suffering in the bread and the wine is it's separate. My body and bread is one. But if my body's over here and
my blood's over here, I'm dead. And when you've got the wine
in a pitcher and the bread over here on a platter, it's separate.
He shed his blood. He gave his blood. He's separate. Break the bread. The wine's poured
out. Somewhere else talked about how the bread is made. It's made
in fire. Roasted. It's ground. He walked
the winepress, the grape has given up its liquid and is crushed
and bruised. And this wine represents our
Lord's suffering. He walked the winepress alone
and his body was bruised and broken as bread goes through
a mill. And then the bread and the wine
is eaten, received in us. That's our union
with Christ. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. I stand and look at the bread
and the wine. I stand and look at Christ. I
may have a lot of information about him, and I may give consent
to some of this information about him, but when I receive him into
my heart by faith, that's what I'm saying. That's what he said
in, if you'd like to turn to John 6, That's what he said over
here in John 6, verse 48. He said, I'm the bread of life.
John 6, 48. Your fathers ate manna in the
wilderness. They're dead. But this is the bread which came
down from heaven that a man may eat of and not die. I'm the living
bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he'll live forever. And the bread which I give is
my flesh which I give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore
strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his
flesh to eat? Then he said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,
drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh,
and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life. I raise him up at the last
day. So when believers come to this
table, and we receive the bread, we eat it. We receive the wine,
we drink it. That's we have with picture and
we have received Christ by faith into our lives and hearts and
innermost being We're one with him a union with him now. He's
within me Christ in you the hope of glory Verse 19 I want to look
back at that a minute if three of the most important statements
in this whole thing and He took bread and break it gave thanks
and break it, and he said unto them, This is my body, this is
my body. And he said down there, Lady,
this cup is my blood. Now that's not literal. He was
standing there holding the bread. He was in his body, wasn't he?
His blood was still in his veins. So when he held the cup out and
said, This is my blood, it wasn't. Not literally, it was his blood
figuratively. See that? And there's been a
lot of bloodshed over this now back through the centuries. When
the Catholics and some others say that the priest blesses the
bread and blesses the wine in it, literally actually becomes
the body and blood of Christ. And when you eat the bread and
drink the wine, you are literally eating the flesh and the blood
of the Son of God and receiving salvation. That's the reason
they call this a sacrament. a saving ordinance. That's the
reason they call it a sacrament. It's not a sacrament. Don't ever
use that term. It's not a sacrament. It's not
a saving ordinance. It doesn't save anybody. When
our Lord stood there in his body with his blood still in his veins,
and he said, this bread, what he's saying is, it represents
my body broken for you. And this wine represents my blood
shed for you. What he's saying to them And
when he died on that cross and shed his blood and rose from
the tomb and we observed the Lord's table, we're doing exactly
what those disciples did. We're taking bread which represents
his body and blood, wine which represents his blood. Second
statement. This is my body which is given
for you. For you. Verse 20. This cup is
the new covenant in my blood shed for you, for you, in your
stead, for your redemption, for the forgiveness of your sins,
to put away your guilt, to cleanse you and sanctify you and redeem
you. It's for you. He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid upon Him by His stripes, we're healed. It's for you. It's
the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Two words, blood
for. This is my blood shed for you. My body broken for you. The third thing now in Luke 22,
verse 19, This is my body. It's given for
you. This do. Not something else. Why would we do something else? Why would we do it some other
way? Why would we dress it up and make it gaudy, and put a
lot of ceremonies around it, and change the elements, and
change the prayer, and change the way it's done? Do! Simple supper. This do. It's not hard to do. There it
is. Not hard to do, is it? The bread, the broken bread,
and the wine. This do. In remembrance of me. It's not a fellowship supper
for the church. It's not a saving ordinance to
put away sin. It's not a means to discipline
the church. I know people that won't observe
the Lord's table because the church is not in perfect harmony
or something like that. This is not a harmony meal. This do, for what purpose? In remembrance of me. In remembrance of me. This do.
in remembrance of me. If we know Him, love Him, this
too, in remembrance of Him. Remember who He is. Our Lord,
our Savior, our Representative, our Federal Head, the God-Man,
Son of God, Son of Man. Remember who He is. Remember
what He did. He suffered the just for the
unjust to bring us to God. That's what I'm remembering. Remember why he did it. God has
sent forth his son, made of a woman, to redeem them that were born
under the law. He sent him forth as a perpetuation
that God may be just and justify. That's why he suffered. That
God might save folks like us. Remember where he is. Brother
Jim read it. He ministers not in tabernacle
and places made with hands, heaven itself, there to appear in the
presence of God for us, our mediator, our advocate, our intercessor. One hymn writer said, in memory
of thy cross and shame, I take this supper in thy name. The wine of grapes, the flower
of wheat, my outward man doth drink and eat. Oh, may my inward
man be fed with better wine and better bread. I thank the Lord
who died for me. Oh, may I live in God with thee. In conclusion, our Lord lovingly invited all
of his disciples to take this bread and this wine. This was
a critical time. There sat Peter, a very weak man, but a believer. Peter, the Lord prophesied, in
just a few hours would deny the Lord, but he didn't send him
away from the table. He said, all of you drink it,
all believers. There sat Thomas, When the women came and told
Thomas the Lord had risen, he said, I don't believe it. That's
right. He said, unless I put my finger
in the nail prints, I won't believe. That's strong language, isn't
it? But he didn't send him away from the table. I'm glad the
Lord's not like some of my brethren. who send folks away from the
Lord's table for various reasons. He said, all of you fellas, they
were all believers, you drink it. And in just a little while
they would fail so miserably. And he knew it. I'm not serving the table to
unbelievers anywhere. But I'm not sending believers
away anywhere either. Let a man examine himself, so
let him eat. Our Lord invites all who truly
know Him and love Him to come to the table, even those who
have forgotten Him too often. And He knows our frailty. He
said He remembers our frame. He knows where it does. He knows
how forgetful we are. That's a good reason to come
together and remember Him, isn't it? We're so prone to forget. We may come to the table, though
others will not come, and do not come, and have not come,
but we're not here to judge them. We're here to remember Him. We're
not here to judge other people. So-and-so shouldn't come. Well,
that's his business. If you ever wait till you're
worthy to sit down at this table, you better never sit down at
this table. Because when you feel worthy, it's not... That's not the way. We're here
because he's worthy. Not because we're worthy. He
was found worthy. And we may come though weak and
unworthy and scarcely able to do anything but remember him. Come to the table. And I'll tell you this in closing
before we serve. This is a picture of that marriage
supper in Revelation 19. Turn over there and let's read
it. I come to this table because I expect to be at that table. In Revelation 19, after these
things, I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying,
Hallelujah, salvation, glory, honor, and power unto the Lord
our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath
judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her
fornication. He hath avenged the blood of
his servants in her hands. That's false religion. And again
they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up forever and ever.
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down
and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen, Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne,
saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear
him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed, this is us, in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of the saints. And he said to me, Write, Blessed
are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he said to me, these are the true sayings of God. Well,
we're called to the marriage supper of the Lamb because we've
been called to this table. Because His blood was shed for
us and His body broken for us. God bless you as you receive
the bread and the wine tonight.