I have a different type of message
that I want to bring to you this morning. It may be that you've
never heard a message on the subject, the Lord's Table. Well,
that's my subject today, the Lord's Table, a memorial. It may be that you have many
questions in your mind and in your heart regarding the Lord's
Table or communion. Well, I want you to listen carefully
to the message. I'd like you to follow in the
scriptures I read. I'm going to be reading a passage
from 1 Corinthians, chapter 11. We'll begin our reading with
verse 23 and read through verse 26. That's 1 Corinthians, the
11th chapter, verses 23 through 26. And our subject, the Lord's
Table, a memorial. Now, this message will be on
cassette tape recording. along with the message that I'll
be bringing next Lord's Day on how to obtain saving faith. But
you listen to this message, follow along in God's word, it may be
the Spirit of God will be pleased to speak to your heart today
in regard to this important subject, the Lord's Table. Now let's read
the scripture, 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23. Paul said, I received
of the Lord that which I delivered unto you. that the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and break
it, and gave thanks, and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which
is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me."
Now remember that statement, this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he
took the cup, and when he had saying this cup is the new testament
in my blood. This do ye as oft as you drink
it," remember that, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance
of me. There's that statement again.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
do show the Lord's death till he comes. Now this is a key phrase
mentioned twice in these three verses. This do in remembrance
of me. It's not do something else. It's
this do, just exactly, our Lord said, as I have given it to you.
This do, not something else, not whatever you think is best. But you do this. And this is
not a church fellowship supper. It's not to rally people together
around the cause. It's in memory of me. This due,
not something else and not whatever you think is best, adding to
it or taking from it, but this due, and this is the purpose
of it, this is the reason for it, in remembrance of me. It's not a sacrament. The Lord's
table has no saving power whatsoever. It is a memorial. It is this
due in remembrance of me. The hymn writer put it this way,
in memory. of thy cross and shame, I take
this supper, Lord, in thy name. This juice of grape and flour
of wheat my outward man doth drink and eat. O may my inward
man be fed with better wine and better bread. May thy pure flesh
and precious blood supply my spirit's daily food." Now this
Lord's table or we call it communion. This Lord's table was instituted
and ordained by our Lord himself. He met with his disciples before
he went to the cross. He met with his disciples to
observe the Passover. He told them to go and prepare,
and he would eat the Passover with them. While eating the Passover,
our Lord instituted the Lord's table. The Passover is a type
of Christ. The Passover gave birth to the
Lord's table, because our Lord was the fulfillment of the Passover. In 1 Corinthians 5, 7, Paul said,
For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Now, Israel was down
in Egypt, and you've seen the television programs, the Ten
Commandments and Moses the Lawgiver, and so this is fresh in your
mind. The people of Ispher were down in Egypt, had been there
400 years. They were in captivity, they
were in slavery, and God determined to bring them out of Egypt, to
deliver his people, to set them free. And on the last night that
they were in Egypt, God told Moses that he would pass over.
God would pass over, and the firstborn in every home, where
there was no blood on the doorpost and on the lintel, the firstborn
in every home where the blood was not put on the door, the
firstborn would be slain. So Moses told Israel, the people
of Israel, he said, take a lamb. Christ is a lamb. He's called
the Lamb of God throughout the scriptures. He's called the lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. In Isaiah 53, he's
called the lamb that was led to the slaughter as a sheep before
her shearers is dumped. And then the announcement that
John the Baptist made on the shores of the River Jordan when
he saw Christ coming toward him, he said, Behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. Israel slew a Lamb. Christ, our Lamb, our Passover,
sacrificed for us. And this Lamb was to be without
spot or blemish. Moses told the people of Israel,
Take a Lamb, a Lamb for each household. If the household be
too small for the lamb, then you put two households together.
But take a lamb without spot or blemish. How does this picture
Christ our Lord? He was without sin. He knew no
sin. Neither was guile found in his
mouth. Pilate said, I find no fault
with this man. He said, which of you convinces
me of sin? God the Father said, this is
my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Christ was without spot
or blemish. Not only was this lamb to be
without spot or blemish, but it was to be a male of the first
year, not an old sheep, not one whose life was almost over, but
one in full strength and one in full health. And Christ our
Lord was a young man in full strength, in full health. And
not only was this lamb to be without spot or blemish and a
male of the first year, but this lamb was to be put in a pen.
and kept there for four days. Moses gave them plenty of time,
several days' warning. He said, put this lamb in a pen
and observe it, keep your eye on it, look at it, test it, try
it. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down
to this earth and lived here 33 and a half years. He was tried
by the law, he was tried by the civil governments, he was tried
by the courts, he was tried by Satan, he was tried by the Heavenly
Father, he was tried in every way tested, tempted in every
point as we are, yet without sin. And then this lamb, after
the fourth day, was to be slain. Its blood was to be shed. Our
Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for our sins.
And then the blood was to be applied. The blood was to be
put on the lintel and on the two side posts. And God said,
when I pass through the land of Egypt, when I see the blood,
the blood that was put on the doorpost by the blood of the
Lamb that was without spot or blemish, that was tested and
tried, that was a male of the first year, the blood on the
door, when I see it, I'll pass over you." And then the people
of Israel, when they came out of Egypt, they kept this feast. Every year, on a certain day,
they kept the Passover in remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt,
in remembrance of their deliverance from slavery and from bondage
and from Pharaoh's power. They kept this feast every year.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was born a Jew. He had a Jewish mother
and a Jewish father. He was the heir to the Jewish
throne, the throne of David. Our Lord was circumcised when
he was eight days old. He was subject to all the Jewish
ceremonies and all the Jewish laws. He kept those laws. He
said, I didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. His
parents took him to the temple when he was a certain age every
year to do unto him after the law of Moses. And just before
his death, as the Passover lamb, as our Passover, as our sacrifice,
as our sin offering, as the fulfillment of every type and promise of
the Old Testament, Christ is the priesthood, Christ is the
tabernacle, Christ is the atonement, Christ is the sacrifice. You
better learn these things because this is the scripture. Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried
and rose again according to the scriptures, fulfilling what the
scriptures said about him. And our Lord Jesus Christ, before
he went to the cross, met with his disciples to observe this
Passover. And he said to them, there won't
be any need for you to observe another Passover. The Passover
ends tonight. This is the last Passover, because
Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed first. Christ, our Lamb, is about
to die. And his blood will totally and
completely and effectually put away all sin, will deliver us
from the Egypt of darkness and sin and the slavery of sin. He'll deliver us from the curse
of the law. Christ, our Passover. And that's exactly what he did.
We do not sacrifice a lamb anymore. We do not every year, like Israel
did, take a lamb without spot or blemish, a male of the first
year, put it in a pen, keep it four days, and put the blood
on the doorpost or the blood in a basin on the altar, mercy
seat, because Christ, our Passover, and our sacrifice and our lamb
is sacrifice for us. But we do observe this feast. We do have the Lord's table. And just as Israel kept the Passover
every year to remember their deliverance from Egypt by the
hand of God, by the power of God, by the mercy of God, by
the grace of God, we observe the Lord's table, we observe
the Lord's table in remembrance of our deliverance from Egypt,
from sin, from darkness, by the power of God, by the blood of
Christ, by the mercy of God and because of the love of God. We
don't keep it on a certain day of the year. Our Lord didn't
tell us to. He said, as often as you eat
this bread and drink this wine, as often as you do it, you do
it in remembrance of me. It's not kept on a certain day,
but as often as we feel led of God's Spirit to observe the Lord's
table. Something else about it. It's
not for all the sons of Adam. It's for our believers. Just
like the Passover was for Israel. It wasn't for all the sons of
Adam. It was for Israel. Our Lord handed the broken bread
to his disciples and he said, this is my body broken for you. He handed the wine to his disciples,
to the believers, he said, this is my blood which is shed for
you. And Paul in the scripture I read
to you a moment ago from 1 Corinthians 11 says, let a man examine himself
and so let him eat. I can't examine you and you can't
examine me. Because I don't know your heart
and you don't know my heart. I don't know whether you believe
in Christ or not. You don't know whether I believe in Christ.
You've got to examine yourself. I've got to examine myself. What
part? Why should we examine ourselves
before we come to the Lord's table? To see if we discern the
Lord's body. What does the word discern mean?
Understand, if we judge correctly, that Christ's body was broken
for us. that his blood was shed for us.
Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat." Now, the Lord's
table is a memorial. Christ said, this do in remembrance
of me. It's not for every son of Adam,
because you can't remember one whom you never knew. You can't
remember an event of which you're not aware. You can't remember
an event in which you have no part, in which you had no part. So this is for believers. This
do in remembrance of me. It's a memorial for believers.
We know who Christ is. As Peter said, the Christ, the
Son of the living God. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. He is none
other than God himself. That's what he said, I and my
Father one. He is the express image of the
Father. He is the brightness of his glory.
And the Father said to him, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Why did he come into this world?
Well, the angel told Joseph and Mary he shall save his people
from their sin. That's why he came. And he said
the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost. And Paul
wrote of him, this is a faithful saying, that Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners. That's why he came. In the fullness
of time, God sent his Son into the world, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were born under the law.
That's why he came. What did he do? He died on the
cross. He gave his blood. He made his
soul an offering for sin. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
He was a substitute, just like down in Egypt. That lamb was
a substitute for the people. But he was a picture of Christ
the substitute. He was a type of Christ the substitute. And they sacrificed the lamb
in anticipation and in expectation of the coming of Christ who is
the effectual substitute. We know why he must die. He must
die that God might be just and justify the ungodly. That's the
question that Job asked. How can man be just with God?
How can he be clean that's born of a woman? Behold the moon,
it shineth not. The stars are not pure in God's
sight. How much more vomitable is man
that drinks iniquity like the water? How can man be just with
God? Only one way, a substitute, someone
to take his place and bear his iniquity and be wounded for his
transgressions and bruised for his iniquities and be healed
by that substitute strike. He died that God might be just. and justify the ungodly. And
we know where he is now. He's on the right hand of God.
The man, Christ Jesus, is seated on the right hand of the majesty
on high. What's he doing? Making intercession
for all believers. So this feast, this memorial
feast, this large table, it's not indiscriminately for every
son of Adam. It's for believers. Paul said,
let a man examine himself, and so let him eat. For he that eateth
and drinketh unworthily in an unworthy manner, not discerning
the Lord's body, not understanding the significance of this table,
listen carefully, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. If you want to play church, you
better play with something else besides the Lord's word or the
Lord's body or the Lord's cross or the Lord's blood. This is
serious business. You better not come to the Lord's
table. You better not take the bread and the wine if you do
not discern or understand or have some understanding of what
it's all about. That's what the Lord said. That's
what Paul warned us about. Now, what's the main object of
this Lord's table when the church of the Lord Jesus Christ meets
together and the Lord's table is served, the unleavened bread
and the wine is served? What is the meaning? What is
the main object? Well, listen to Paul. As he quotes
the Lord Jesus, this do in remembrance of me. As often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord's death till he
comes. Now, words can mean anything
at all. You understand what that means, at least in your head.
This do in remembrance of me. You show the Lord's death till
he comes. As I said, this supper has no saving power. There is
no saving efficacy in the bread. The bread is just bread. That's
all it is. It does not become the body of
Christ. The wine is just wine. That's
all it is, nothing more. It does not become the blood
of Christ. It does not actually turn into
the body and blood of Christ. That's an impossibility. It is
representative. It represents his body and his
blood. This bread and this wine, they
are symbols The bread is symbolic of his body that was bruised
and broken for you and me. And this wine is symbolic of
his blood that was shed on that cross, this do in remembrance
of me. He didn't say this do in order
to go to heaven, this do in order to be saved, this do in order
to be forgiven, this do in order to be cleansed, this do in remembrance
of me. All right. Secondly, eating the
bread and drinking the wine represents the act of faith. by which we
have received Christ in our hearts. I eat the bread and I drink the
wine, and that picture, the act of faith by which I receive Christ
into myself," listen to what he said in John 6, verse 54,
"...whoso eateth this bread, whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh
this wine, this my blood, hath eternal And I will raise him
up at the last day. The same way that we eat this
bread, we have by faith partaken of Christ. The same way that
we drink this wine, we have by faith partaken of the blood of
Christ. Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. Paul said, till Christ be formed
in you. And when I eat something, it
goes into my body, it's digested, it goes into every part of my
body, It's the nourishment, it's the life, it's the strength,
it's the power, and that's what Christ is to the believer. He's
our life. He's our nourishment. He's our
spiritual life. And then eating the bread and
drinking the wine by a believer shows three things. Now, you
remember these three things. If you don't remember anything
else, I'd say. But when we come to the Lord's table and eat this
bread, which represents our Lord's body, and drink the wine, which
represents his blood, it shows three things. It shows the Lord's
death. His body was broken for us, just
as this bread is broken and crumbled up and distributed to every believer. And his blood was poured out,
just like the wine is poured from the pitcher into the cup.
It's poured out. His blood was shed for the remission
of sins. It makes atonement for our souls.
It cleanses and purifies our souls. The second thing it shows,
it shows our dependence upon him. He is our sacrifice. He is our sin offering. He is
our only way to God. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. And when we sit down around the Lord's table and take this
bread and this wine, we're saying before God and before the congregation
of God's people, this is my hope. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and his righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. I can't in the flesh keep
God's law, but I can believe on Christ. I can't in the flesh
meet to perfection God Almighty's commandments, but I can believe
on Christ. I cannot in the flesh please
God, that's what Paul said, but I can believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's all I can do. But
yet that's enough, because our Lord said, he that believeth
on the Son hath life. And then the third thing, when
we take the Lord's Table, it shows the third thing. It shows
we have received Christ into our hearts. Christ dwelleth in
me. He's not just a creed, he's my
life. Now I want to show you some important
things about the Lord's Table. And I wish every one of you would
listen carefully to these things. First of all, it is simple. The
Lord's Table is simple. We've complicated it in this
day. We've added so much to it. It's become a complicated ritual. It's become a ceremony. It's
become a formality. It's become to the point where
people don't even know how to act, when to stand, when to sit,
when to speak, when to be quiet. The Lord's table is a simple
ceremony. There are only two things present,
bread and wine. That's all. Find anything else
in the scripture, bread and wine. That's all. No uniforms, no candles,
no soft music in the background, no eloquent speeches. None of
these things, no exterior means, just bread and wine. And to add
anything other than bread and wine is to destroy this simple
feast. It's a simple feast. Our Lord
sat down with his disciples, he took bread and break it. He
said, this is my body, broken for you. He took wine, and when
he had supped, he gave thanks, and he said, this is my blood.
Drink ye all of it. Simple ceremony. There was no
background music, there were no candles burning, there was
no uniform priest, there was no hocus-pocus or mumbo-jumbo
or carrying on or superstition or signs, just these two elements. And that's all Paul gave to the
Church in 1 Corinthians 11. And I'll tell you something else,
it's universal. Our Lord said, drink ye all of
it, every one of it. It's not just for the priest
and the minister. The Lord's table is not just
for the mature Christian. The Lord's Table is not just
for the most spiritual people in the church. The Lord's Table
is not just for my organization. The Lord's Table is for every
believer. Peter took the Lord's Supper, though he was soon to
deny his Lord. Thomas was present and took the
bread and the wine, though he was soon to doubt his Lord. But he was there and he took
it. I've heard people say, well, I'm not worthy to come to the
Lord's table. You never will be worthy to do
anything. You never will be worthy to unlatch
his shoelaces. That's what John the Baptist
said, the greatest man born of woman. But you come because you
are unworthy. You come because you have a need.
Drink ye all of it. One time Roland Hill, a great
English preacher, was invited to a certain church to preach
for them. and they were having the Lord's
table. And he was sitting there with the congregation while they
were observing the Lord's table, and the deacons took the bread
and the wine, and they began to pass it around to the congregation.
They came to Mr. Hill, and he reached out to take
the bread. He was a besting preacher. He was not a member of that congregation,
but he was a besting. But he was a Christian. He was
a believer, a child of God. He knew the Lord. He reached
out to take the bread, and the deacon pulled it back. And he
said, You can't come to our table. And Mr. Hill looked at him and
he said, oh, I'm sorry. He said, I didn't know it was
your table. I thought it was the Lord's table. That ought
to answer any question you have about who's to come to the Lord's
table. Believers. Believers. It's not
for the priest only. It's not for the minister only.
It's not for the mature only. It's not for the most spiritual.
It's for every believer. Let a man examine himself and
so let him eat. It's a memorial supper. It will
not save. but it remembers him who does
say. The bread and the wine cannot make atonement for my soul, but
it represents him who did. The wine does not take away my
sins, but it represents the blood of Christ who takes away my sins. Come ye weary, heavy laden, bruised
and mangled by the fall, if you tarry till you're better, you'll
never come at all. We come to the table of the Lord,
weak and unworthy. We come to the table of the Lord,
not to judge others, but to judge ourselves. Let a man examine
himself and so let him eat. Our weakness and our unworthiness
is the reason we need his broken body and his shed blood. And
we come not with resolutions and we come not with regrets
and we come not with rebukes, but we come with rejoicing. Now, we shouldn't need anything
to remind us of our Lord, should we? But we're human and we do. We're The heavens declare the
glory of God. I have to look ever once in a
while and remember that the glory of God is there. His law written
on my heart reveals his holiness. Creation reveals his providence
and care. Life and reproduction reveals
his power and wisdom. But this supper represents his
broken body and his shed blood. The Lord's Table, a memorial,
this do in remembrance of me.