This Do In Remembrance of Me

I want you now to turn back to
the book of Luke, chapter 22. Let me repeat the text, verse
19, Luke 22, 19. Luke 22, 19. And he took bread,
and gave thanks, and break it, and gave it unto them, saying,
This is my body, which is given for you. And I meet with two
simple words. This do. This do. That is, take bread, give thanks,
break it, and eat it. Likewise, verse 20, also the
cup after supper, saying this cup is the New Testament, the
covenant in my blood which is shed for you. This do. Very simple. Take the cup, fill with the fruit
of the vine, give thanks, and drink it. This do. No more, no less. It is this do. Exactly as our
Lord did it in simplicity, in sincerity, in solemnity. But the mind of man must change
it. He can't this do. He must always
take the means of grace and make them the object of faith. He
can't this do. His natural, logical, religious
mind won't let him this do. And so the supper of the Lord
has become the sacrament. The supper of the Lord has become
a grand display. Men dress up in gaudy uniforms. and gaudy robes, they form processionals. They lift up, they stoop down,
they wave the cups, they utter magic formulas, and they try
to change these elements into what they can never be. And our
Lord just said, this does. They're simple. Take the bread,
give thanks, break it, and eat Take the cup, fill with the fruit
of the vine, give thanks, and drink it. This does it. But no,
the mind of man has got to change it. It can't be just the Lord's
table. It's got to be the church's supper. It's got to be authority. It's got to be overseered. It's got to be disciplined. We
can't even let the Lord preside himself at his table. We must
preside. We must decide who will come
and who will eat. I remember reading years ago
something that made a most profound impression upon me when I was
a very, very young pastor. We served the Lord's table at
the church of which I was pastor. And we, according to tradition,
had followed what they call closed communion. We couldn't just leave
it at the Lord's table. We had to decide whether it's
closed or open for you or for you or for somebody else or for
us or what it was. My father was visiting with me
from Alabama. I was sitting up here in the
chair, not this church, another church. I was sitting in the
pastor's chair. The deacons were passing the
Lord's table. And after the service was over,
I paid no attention to what was going on, but after the service
was over, I went home, I shook hands and bested and went home
and walked in the living room. My dad was sitting in the living
room, weeping. And I walked in, I said, what's
wrong, Pop? He said, why can't I take the
Lord's table? He said, I'm a believer. Christ
is my Lord. He died for my sins. I've confessed
Him in baptism. I can worship in your church.
I can fellowship with your people. But your deacons won't serve
me the Lord's table. They wouldn't let me take the
bread or the wine. You talk about making a pastor
sit down and do some reconsidering. And I began to read, and I found
a story. This same thing happened to Roland
Hill. Some of you men know who Roland
Hill was. Great servant of God. Outstanding
preacher of the gospel of God's grace. Well, like my father,
he was visiting a church one Lord's Day, and he was the visiting
speaker. As Brother Bob is visiting with
us tonight. He's a pastor, dear friend, child
of God. He's visiting with us tonight.
Roland Hill was visiting with his church. He was sitting down
at the front, and they were having the Lord's table. The pastor
was presiding, the church was going through the motions of
passing out the bread and wine, and they came to Roland Hill's
pew. And he reached out to take the bread when the deacon held
it in his hand, and the deacon pulled back the plate and looked
at Mr. Hill, and he said, you can't
come to our table. And Roland Hill spoke some words
that settled this whole issue for me. and ought to settle it
for you. He looked at that deacon and he said, I beg your pardon. I didn't know it was your table.
I thought it was the Lord's table. That ought to wind it up. That
ought to decide who comes. It's not my table. It's the Lord's
table. And he very simply said, this
dude, don't complicate it. Very simply, very sincerely,
with solemnity and thanksgiving, take the bread, give thanks,
break it, and eat it. Take the cup, give thanks, and
drink it. And I notice four other words
right after this. He said, this do, and then he
said, in remembrance of me. Now he's given us our instructions.
This do. Now he clearly states the purpose
for this do. He said do it in remembrance
of me. He did not say do this as another
sacrifice. The very thought of this bread
having any saving power is blasphemy. The very thought of this wine
having any cleansing power is blasphemy. Their thought that
we can change this bread and this wine into the very body
and blood of Christ and offer again here another sacrifice
is blasphemy because the scripture said after he had offered one
sacrifice for sin, he sat down. And by one offering he hath perfected
forever. I don't need this to perfect
me. I am perfect in Christ. I don't
need this in any way, shape, form or fashion to add to my
sanctification or my redemption or my salvation. I am complete
in Christ. And the very idea that this has
any saving merit is blasphemous. It takes away from the perfect
sacrifice of our Lord. He never said this dude has another
sacrifice. He never said. This do as a means
of disciplining your church. I've heard preachers say that
it sounds good and all that if people don't come to the Lord's
table they're excluded. They do come, they can stay in.
Christ didn't say this do to receive members or to exclude
members. He said this do in remembrance
of me. I'm coming to the table of the
Lord tonight to remember what he did for me. who he is, what
he is to me. He didn't say this do as an indication
of the unity and morality of the church. I remember hearing
one pastor say one time, Someone asked him how long he'd been
since he'd had the Lord's table at his church. He said, it's
been a while because you know we've got division in our church
and I don't think we're worthy of taking the Lord's table. You
know, strange that the most explicit description of the Lord's table
was given to the most divided church of all time, the Corinthian
church. Huh? The most explicit description,
Paul said, what I have received of the Lord, I deliver it unto
you, how the Lord the same night in which he was betrayed, took
bread, break it, and gave it to his disciples, and so forth.
The most plain description of the Lord's table is found in
the book to that church of which Paul said, you're full of strife
and division. If I wait till I'm perfect to
come to this table, I'll never come to the table or to the Lord.
The Lord died not for the perfect, but for the guilty. I need him. I need Christ's blood and Christ's
broken body and Christ's grace as much as I ever needed him.
I started at the cross. I hope I remain at the cross.
I pray by God's mercy I die at the cross. He didn't say this
do as an indication of the unity of your church or the morality
of the church or the dedication of the church. He said this do
in remembrance of me. Nor did he say this do in order
to be saved. He said this do in remembrance
of me. We can't remember one we do not
already know. You see that? You can't remember
one whom you do not know. Do you know Christ? You say,
Preacher, who is invited to the Lord's table? Those who've been
to the Lord's cross. Those who've been to the Lord's
throne of mercy. Those who've been to the Lord's
throne of grace. They're the ones that are invited
to the Lord's table. There's no magic in these elements.
There's no power in these elements. These elements simply represent
the one in whom the power has been vested, our Lord Jesus Christ. The power is in Him. The saving
grace is in Him, not in these elements. There's a great old
missionary who came back from Burma, Judson. He'd been over
there for many years. He was an old man. Now he buried
his wife over there and buried some children and preached the
gospel for many years. He was now famous. People all
over the world who professed to know Christ knew about Judson. And he came back to America to
speak in one of the large cities to a large congregation of people.
The word had gone out and the church was packed. Huge building,
huge congregation, great crowd. They had quite a program. They
had representatives from all the churches and religious organizations,
mission boards, and the key speaker was Mr. Judson. They went through
all their preliminaries, their singing and so forth, and then
one of the young men got up and gave about a 10 or 15 minute
introduction and talked about Mr. Judson's call to the mission
field, his work and his success and his suffering and his trials
and all of these things. And then he introduced this great
missionary. And the old man walked up, opened the Word of God, and
for about 20 or 25 minutes told them how Christ died for sinners,
and shed his blood for the guilty. And he finished, and they dismissed
the crowd, and the young man was walking to the hotel with
Mr. Judson after the service. They
were walking along together, and the young man was quiet. He didn't say a word. Finally,
Judson stopped and turned to him, and he said, young man,
he said, what's your problem? Oh, he said, nothing, nothing.
He said, something's wrong with you. And he said, I want to know
what it is. What's bothering you? You haven't
spoken a word since we left that auditorium. Well, he said, Mr. Judson, the people were disappointed
tonight. And the old man said, disappointed?
Why were the people disappointed? Well, he said, they thought that
a man who had been in the jungles of Burma for all these years,
a man who had been preaching to the heathen and to the to
these Indians and natives all these years, and a man who had
gone through so many trials, would have something exciting
to tell, something thrilling, something of great interest. And that old man looked at him
and he said, It's true. I've been to Burma
for years. It's true. God's been pleased
to send me many dark clouds and many bright clouds. But he said
I don't know anything more thrilling than the word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. I don't know anything more exciting
than Christ died for our sins on the cross of Calvary. I don't
know of anything more interesting than God himself was robed in
human flesh and the sinless was made sinful that folks like us,
the sinful, might be made sinless. And son, I hope by God's grace
that nothing in this world shall ever become more thrilling and
more exciting and more interesting to me than the death of my Lord
for my sins." Have we learned that? This do in remembrance
of me." The object of the table is to remember our Lord. How?
Well, I remember him tonight, and you do, I believe, with gratitude
as our representative. He said, this is my body. This
is my body. The Word was made flesh. Christ
actually, the living God, the ancient of days, actually became
an infinite of days. He actually came to this earth
in human flesh. Scripture said in the likeness
of sinful flesh. He was born of a woman. He was
made under the law. He was subject to the law. He
actually thirsted and wept and knew pain. He was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. This bread here tells me that
my Lord actually became a man, the God man. God in human flesh. And then this blood, I remember
him as my substitute, not only as my representative in the flesh,
he met the law head on and obeyed it in every jot and tittle. He
met the wrath of God. He met the wrath of God. He met
God's judgment against my sin. Head on. And the sword of God's
justice pierced his heart. And his blood flowed out of his
veins. There's a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, drawn from his veins by the wrath
of God, by the judgment of God, by the righteousness of God.
And the presence of this Wine in this cup indicates that his
blood was shed. Now watch this. The bread and
the wine are in separate containers. When Christ came down here and
took on himself this human body, that blood and that wine were
in the, that blood and that body were in the same container. His
body contained his blood. But when He went to the cross,
that blood was separated from that body, just like the sacrifice
was brought to the altar, and it was slain, its throat was
cut, and its blood poured out in a cup. And here is the body,
and here is the blood. And the only way you can have
the body and the blood in separate containers is to have death.
The life of the flesh is in the blood. And when that blood is
separated from that body. But that's the wages of sin.
That's what my sin deserves. Death. This is what our dear
deceived people believe, who believe in salvation by works.
That they don't see this. They don't understand that sin
merits death. That God's justice must be satisfied. The soul that's in it must die.
Somebody's got to die. Either me, under God's eternal
wrath, or my substitute. And that's what this is saying
to me. I remember him. The bread says this is my body.
I came down here and took on myself a human body. And here's
the blood in a separate container. Meaning that the blood has been
separated from the body in death and God is satisfied. I remember Christ as my mediator. I want you to turn to Psalm 39.
We were in the study tonight and the men were meeting there
together and we have such a blessed time. I appreciate these dear
men. They pray for me and pray for
you and pray for the service. We're reading the word of God
together. And here in Psalm 39.11, one of our elders was reading
tonight and he came up on this verse, listen to it, Psalm 39.11,
When thou with rebukes doth correct a man for iniquity, in other
words, when God points out my sin, what a day that is. You know what Spurgeon said,
wait I'm not through with that verse, stay with it. You know what Spurgeon
said one time? A man takes the first step toward
heaven, not when he sees Christ as his Savior, but when he really
sees himself as a sinner. That's the day he takes his first
step, when he realizes that he is lost. Because the Lord saves
lost people. Christ died for sinners. And
when that man realizes, and so when God, when God with rebuke,
Doth correct a man for iniquity, doth make known his sins, doth
reveal to him his lost state, his inability. What's he do? Thou makest his beauty to consume
away like a moth. You know what that word beauty
is? That's right in the margin of your Bible. If you have a
marginal Bible, it has a reference there. Mine says 16. I look over
to the left and it says the word beauty there is that which is
to be desired in him. You know what God does when he
convicts a man of sin? He reveals to that man, not just
his drunkenness, not just his iniquity of outward deeds. He reveals to him that the best
he's got is filthy rags. God picks out that which is most
prominent to men, and that which is recognized as his strong point
to the flesh. And that's what distinguishes
him as perhaps an outwardly honest man, or a moral man, or something
of this nature, or a talented man, or a wealthy man, or a gifted
man. God picks out the best thing
about him, his beauty. That which is most commendable,
that which is to be desired in him, and shows him there's no
good, it melts away. You see that? I hope you do. Most folks don't. Most folks
don't. Well, you know, I know preachers. I know we all do wrong. No, you're
wrong. You're wrong about that. We don't
all do wrong. None of us do right. None of
us do right. There's none good. No, not one.
There's not in you, in your flesh, one good thing in the eyes of
God Almighty. Now, maybe in the eyes of people.
Maybe in the eyes of your comrades or your fellow citizens, but
not in God's holy eyes, because He measures every deed by the
deeds of Christ. He measures your righteousness
by the righteousness of Christ. He measures your good works by
His glory, and you come short. And to fail in one point is to
be guilty of the whole thing. I remember Him as my Mediator,
who pleads for me. And then I remember him with
expectation as my coming Lord. The disciples were told when
they stood on that mountain and watched the Lord ascend back
to the Father, the angel said, this same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you've
seen him go. In remembrance of me. He's my
everything. He's my all. Let the babe forget
its mother. Let the bridegroom forget his
bride. But true to him I'll love no
other, I'll cling closely to his side. This do in remembrance
of me." And these elements preach to me the way of life. The cup,
he said, is the new covenant. Now you read that testament if
you wish, that's what it says here, testament, that's all right.
But you'll be nearer the sense of the text if you read it covenant.
There was a covenant of works made with Adam, it's broken,
disannulled. Thank God there was another covenant
made. The very fact that he instituted
this table preaches to us that there's another covenant. There's
another covenant. There's a covenant which God
made with his dear son. There's the covenant of which
Brother Bob spoke in his prayer. There's that eternal covenant
which God made not with man, but with his son when he gave
to him a people to be loved by him to be redeemed by him, to
be saved by his sacrifice. And then these elements preach
to me the way of life in this. Now watch this and I'll close. How is the bread and the wine
received? How is it received? This tells
me how God saves sinners. The bread is his body, the wine
is his blood, It's in two different vessels. So death has separated
the blood from the body. He died for my sins. God is satisfied. But how do I receive it? Number
one, I receive it freely. Now you didn't bring your own
bread with you tonight. It's here waiting on you. You
didn't bring your own wine. It's here waiting on you. And
when you reach out your hand in a minute, you'll receive freely
without any obligation. that which has already been prepared. And that's the way I come to
Christ. In my hands, no price I bring. Lord, I'll serve you
if you'll bless me. Salvation is not for sale, my
friend, especially not for pittance. The salvation that God gives
costs a whole lot more than what you can do. It costs the death
of his beloved. The price has been paid and here
you come and want to offer a nickel and it costs 10 million worlds.
Let me say this to you, you can't afford salvation. You can't afford
it, it's too expensive. You can't pay the price. You're
a beggar, you're empty handed, you got holes in your pockets.
You're broke and hungry and weary and despised and depressed and
you couldn't, if heaven was for sale, One good deed for a thousand
acres, you could not enough land stand on. That's right, you can't
afford it. Christ paid the price. He paid
the price. Freely. In my hands, no price
I bring. Sent to the cross of Christ,
I cling. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These for sin could never atone. Christ must save. I get it free. I'm a beggar, I admit that. I'm
a poor old beggar. I'm standing at the door of mercy
and I'm saying, Lord, if you will, make me whole. Secondly,
you receive it freely, and when we hand you this bread and this
wine, And this is what the world can't see. You receive it internally. You eat the bread and you drink
the wine. And Christ said, he that eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath life. No, he's not talking
about cannibalism. He's talking about my faith.
I receive Christ into myself. I receive Christ as my Lord,
my life. I receive Christ as my hope,
as my heart. Cut into the heart of the child
of God, and you'll find love for Christ. Christ dwells in
his heart. He's received Christ in himself. Paul said, he didn't say, God,
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal
his Son to me. He didn't say that. He said he
revealed his Son in me. In me. Cut into the mind of the
child of God, or you'll find a lot of vanity, too much flesh
and all that, but you'll find thoughts of Christ. You cut into
his mind, you'll find ripe thoughts about Christ. You cut into his
soul and you'll find a dependence on Christ. His soul's anchor,
his soul's refuge, his soul's hope, it's in Christ. So this
supper points us to us. We receive it freely. Freely. That's the way you receive Christ.
Don't offer anything. Don't make any vows. Don't make
any promises. You don't have anything to bring.
You don't have anything to pay. You don't have anything in the
future to pay. Anything you ever know, God will teach you. Anything
you ever are, God will make you. Anything you ever see, God will
give you. So you don't have anything promised in the future. It's
all by grace. It's not I, it's Christ that
liveth in me. This day in remembrance of me. God bless you if you receive
it.

This Do In Remembrance of Me

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This Do In Remembrance of Me

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