The Lord's Table, A Memorial

The Text

I have a different type of message today. It may be that you have never heard a message on this subject — the Lord's Table. It may be that you have many questions in your mind and heart regarding the Lord's Table or Communion. This is my subject today: The Lord's Table, a Memorial.

This is a key phrase mentioned twice in these three verses: “This do in remembrance of me.” Not do something else; this do — just exactly as our Lord said, as he gave it to us. Not something else, not whatever you think is best. This do. And this is the purpose and the reason for it: in remembrance of me. It is not a church fellowship supper. It is not a sacrament. The Lord's Table has no saving power whatsoever. It is a memorial.

The Passover: Type of Christ

This Lord's Table was instituted and ordained by our Lord himself. He met with his disciples before he went to the cross to observe the Passover — and 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.

When Israel was in Egypt, in captivity and in slavery, God determined to deliver his people. On the last night in Egypt, God told Moses that he would pass over the land — and in every home where the blood was not on the doorposts, the firstborn would be slain. So Moses told the people: Take a lamb.

Christ is called the Lamb of God throughout the Scriptures. He is called the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. In Isaiah 53 he is called the Lamb led to the slaughter. And when John the Baptist saw Christ coming toward him on the shores of the Jordan he said: Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

This lamb was to be without spot or blemish — how does this picture Christ? He was without sin. He knew no sin. Neither was guile found in his mouth. Pilate said, I find no fault with this man. Christ was without spot or blemish. Not only that, it was to be a male in full strength — and Christ our Lord was a young man in full strength and in full health.

This lamb was also to be kept in a pen for four days — tested and tried. Our Lord Jesus Christ lived here 33½ years. He was tried by the law, by civil governments, by the courts, by Satan, and by the heavenly Father. Tried in every way — tested and tempted in every point as we are, yet without sin. And then the lamb was slain, its blood shed — and our Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for our sins. The blood was to be applied to the doorposts, and God said: When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

Every year Israel kept the Passover in remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt — from slavery and bondage and Pharaoh's power. Our Lord Jesus Christ, born a Jew, subject to all the Jewish laws and ceremonies, fulfilled them all. Just before his death as the Passover Lamb — the fulfillment of every type and promise of the Old Testament — he met with his disciples and said to them: There will be no need for you to observe another Passover. The Passover ends tonight. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

We do not sacrifice a lamb anymore. But we do observe this Feast — the Lord's Table — just as Israel kept the Passover every year to remember their deliverance from Egypt by the mercy and grace of God. We observe the Lord's Table in remembrance of our deliverance from sin and darkness, by the blood of Christ, by the mercy of God, and because of the love of God.

For Whom Is the Lord's Table?

The Lord's Table is not for every son of Adam — just as the Passover was not for all the sons of Adam but only for Israel. It is for believers. Our Lord handed the broken bread to his disciples and said: This is my body broken for you. He handed the wine to the believers and said: This is my blood which is shed for you.

You cannot remember one whom you never knew. You cannot remember an event of which you are not aware. You cannot remember an event in which you have no part. This is for believers: This do in remembrance of me.

Paul warned us plainly: He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, not discerning the Lord's body, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. If you want to play church, you had better play with something else besides the Lord's Word, the Lord's body, the Lord's cross, or the Lord's blood. This is serious business.

What the Lord's Table Shows

When the church of the Lord Jesus Christ gathers and the unleavened bread and the wine are served, eating the bread and drinking the wine shows three things:

First: It shows the Lord's death. His body was broken for us just as this bread is broken and distributed. His blood was poured out just as the wine is poured from the pitcher into the cup. His blood was shed for the remission of sin. It makes atonement for our soul. It cleanses and purifies.

Second: It shows our dependence upon him. He is our sacrifice, our sin-offering, 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. When we sit down at the Lord's Table and take the bread and wine we are saying before God and the congregation: This is my hope.

Third: It shows we have received Christ into our hearts. Eating the bread and drinking the wine represents the act of faith by which we have received Christ. The same way we eat this bread, we have by faith partaken of Christ. The same way we drink this wine, we have by faith partaken of the blood of Christ.

When I eat something it goes into my body, is digested, and goes into every part — it is the nourishment, the life, the strength, the power. And that is what Christ is to the believer. He is our life, our very nourishment, our spiritual life.

It Is Simple

The Lord's Table is simple. We have complicated it in this day — added so much to it. It has become a complicated ritual, a ceremony, a formality. But there are only two things present: bread and wine. Find anything else in the Scriptures — no uniforms, no candles, no soft music, no eloquent speeches, no exterior means. Just bread and wine. To add anything other than bread and wine is to destroy this simple feast.

Our Lord sat down with his disciples, took bread and brake it, and said: This is my body broken for you. He took wine and said: This is my blood; drink ye all of it. No background music. No candles burning. No uniformed priest. No hocus-pocus or superstition. Just these two elements — and that is all Paul gave to the church in 1 Corinthians 11.

It Is Universal

Our Lord said: Drink ye all of it — every one of you. The Lord's Table is not just for the priest. It is not just for the mature Christian, the most spiritual in the church, or my particular 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 there and took the bread and the wine though he was soon to doubt his Lord. But he was there.

I have heard people say: I am 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 is 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.

Roland Hill, the great English preacher, was once invited to a church to preach and they were observing the Lord's Table. As the deacons passed the bread, they came to Mr. Hill — a visiting preacher, not a member of that congregation, but a believer, a child of God. He reached out to take the bread and the deacon pulled it back and said: You can't come to our table. Mr. Hill looked at him and said: Oh, I am sorry — I didn't know it was your table. I thought it was the Lord's Table.

That ought to answer any question about who may come. Believers — believers. It is a memorial supper. It will not save, but it remembers him who does save. The bread and the wine cannot make atonement for my soul — but they represent him who did. The wine does not take away my sins — but it represents the blood of Christ who takes away sin.

We come to the Table of the Lord — weak and unworthy. We come 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 very reason we need his broken body and his shed blood. We come not with resolutions, not with regrets, not with rebukes — but we come with rejoicing.

We shouldn't need anything to remind us of our Lord — but we are human and we do. The heavens declare the glory of God. His law written on my heart reveals his holiness. Creation reveals his providence and care. But this Supper represents his broken body and his shed blood.

The Lord's Table — a Memorial: This do in remembrance of me.