The Lord Jesus has left us 2 ordinances…namely, the ordinance of baptism, and the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper; both of which picture our identification and union with Christ (a topic we have invested significant time in as of late). Baptism, of course, accents of our salvific initiation into the body of Christ. The Lord’s Supper, on the other hand, accents the sharing/participation of our life in the body and life of Christ.
At Legacy Baptist Church we observe the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of every month. It ought to be more frequent than that, I think, but in any case it is fitting and proper that we observe this great memorial regularly and frequently, as was urged by the Lord and the apostles. On this coming Lord’s Day, when we gather to commemorate Christ’s dying love by way of this sacred ordinance, I want to remind us that it is the disposition of our hearts that requires more needful examination than the issue of frequency. “Do this in remembrance of Me” is the plain, reasonable, and solemn command of the Lord (1 Cor. 11). To that end, it is a cold heart -or a cold church – that does not soberly, thoughtfully reflect upon His table.
To aid us in that regard, perhaps we do well to closely consider the setting in which our Lord instituted this ordinance. Citing 1 Corinthians 11 again, Scripture reveals plainly that this observance was inaugurated “…in the night in which He was to be betrayed”. Now that, for me, begins a string of sobering thoughts. Here stands the Son of God before His disciples and on the eve of Calvary….. Judas has departed to invoke his betrayal. Soon Christ will see the sufferings of Gethsemane and the scandalous indictments of a mock Jewish trial. Thereafter, awaits the relentless torturings of blasphemous Roman soldiers and finally the horrors of the cross… all of this looming quite vividly before Him as He institutes this ordinance. Here stands the innocent, immaculate Savior about to bear the incalculable load of the sins of millions; about to interject Himself between God’s elect and God’s offended justice; about to come under the awful “rod of Jehovah” (as the old Hymn says)…and all of this, mind you, is to be precipitated before the setting of the next sun. Yet, here stands the adorable Christ, fully aware of every detail but choosing instead to lay aside the awful contemplation in order to… what? To minister to His flock. He graciously breaks the bread and pours the wine, and thus institutes the emblems of our irrevocable union and identification with Him… while He Himself stands at the very precipice of the crushing reality of the cross. Cold indeed is the heart that comes ill-prepared and thus irreverently to this table.
Beloved…what thankful remembrance our Lord deserves. Christ has opened heaven for you…having purchased peace for you…having bore upon Himself incomprehensible agonies for you. He was made the curse, He is your propitiation, He is your righteousness, He is your hope, in Him you are made complete. Every mercy flows through the adorable Christ and the blood of His cross. And will you not come before the table this Lord’s day with ears and hearts echoing His words “Do this in remembrance of Me.”? Friends, may our very hearts forget to beat, may our very life leave us before we ever forget Him who yielded up His life for the eternal salvation of your once destitute soul. What a privilege is ours to have been invited to His table. Consider very closely what you are doing this Lord’s Day, if you have been called a guest there.
Grace to you, today,
