Reprinted from an excellent book, The Church of God: a Symposium, available from Everyday Publications.
There is something plaintively beautiful about the words from the old paraphrase of Matthew 26:
‘Twas on that night when doomed to know
The eager rage of every foe;
That night on which He was betrayed,
The Saviour of the world took bread.
Yet no record could be more beautiful than the act itself. How very far away has Christendom travelled down the road of religious ingenuity in the celebration of this simple institution!
The Lord’s Supper is surely the central function of a local church from which all service takes its character. It is the zenith of assembly fellowship, the one unique gathering of saints when all spiritual exercise is directed Godward. The Father is seeking worshipping children (Jn. 4:23). The heart of the Lord yearns for the expressions of the first love of His beloved: “Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely” (Song of Sol. 2:14). The Holy Spirit seeks to direct the hearts and minds of the redeemed to a more intelligent apprehension of the Lord.
God does not assess the spirituality of His people by the activity of their service alone, nor by the eloquence of their preaching, but by the quality of their worship. This is brought to our attention in the book of Ezekiel (chs. 8–11). The Lord brings the prophet to see the reluctant departure of His glory from the midst of His people because their worship had degenerated to the point where the Lord could no more identify with the center of their religious activity.
In the forty-fourth chapter of the same prophecy we see another principle. In different days, it is true that forms, ceremonies and order for the worship of God have differed somewhat, but the nature, principles, and priority governing that holy exercise never change. When lsrael went astray after idols, many of the priestly family, the Levites, continued in that office, but to serve the people before their idols. Be cause of this behavior, the Lord forbade them to enter the most holy place when the proper order was to be re-established. However, God extended His mercy towards them and did not cut them off altogether, but said of these, “I will make them keepers of the charge of the house.” They were permitted to minister to the “house” but not to the Lord.
The sons of Zadok, of the priestly family, however, did not give themselves to idolatrous practices, and for that, the Lord said, “They shall come near to Me, to minister unto Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer unto Me…” Their ministry was not to the house but to the Lord Himself. Surely this shows the distinction we have in 1 Peter 2—the two aspects of priesthood: the holy priesthood entering in with spiritual sacrifices unto the Lord, and the royal priesthood going out to the people to display the virtues of a risen Christ. Of course it is only illustrative, not an exact parallel, since all believers have the privilege of engaging in both of these spiritual activities. The distinction must be kept clear, however, between that service which is directed to “the house” and that which has God Himself for its object.
If this was clear in the minds of the saints, it would be a preservative to keep the Lord’s Supper from being reduced to “sharing” meetings, where subjective experiences take up the attention. These, while good in themselves, are not the purpose of the gathering. Nor is the purpose of that meeting to gain some approval from the Lord; nor to obtain by the keeping of it some means of grace by which our standing before God is improved.
An apprehension of the truth concerning the institution and instructions given concerning the Lord’s Supper will greatly aid the earnest believer as he or she engages in this high spiritual privilege.
INSTITUTION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
1. When it took place historically. Matthew 26:26-30 clearly shows that it was instituted just before the Passion of the Lord and just after the Passover supper. Being instituted before the Passion might well, at first, have reminded the disciples of the Old Testament usage of the bread and wine. Picture the scene. The Passover supper is ended. Bread and wine are still before them. Then the Lord reaches out again and takes the bread and the cup.
In Jeremiah 16:7, nkjv we read, “Nor shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; Nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink.” This custom had to do with the comfort of the bereaved. We have something like this with us today. After a funeral, friends of the bereaved usually meet and share refreshments. The atmosphere is different than that prior to the funeral. It is lighter, as comfort and encouragement are poured out on the mourners to face their new life. So here is the Lord Jesus, the One about to die, ministering comfort to those He would leave behind, giving them hope.
Occurring after the Passover, it signified that it had to do with a new covenant, as the Passover had to do with the old. Indeed the Lord so states it in verse 28, that His blood is of the New Covenant.
2. What it signified spiritually. What was the blood of the old covenant? In Exodus 24, Moses rehearses to the people, all the words of the Lord … The people respond, An the words which the Lord hath said will we do. The next morning, Moses reads the book of the covenant to all the people. The people respond, All that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient.
At this point, Moses took the blood that had been shed, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant.” That blood had already been sprinkled on the altar, so it bound the people figuratively to the altar of sacrifice. It bound them also to the word of their own promise. It was of course limited to the nation of Israel alone.
A great deal more could be considered with regards to the sprinkling of blood and the shedding of blood. The sprinkling of blood has to do with the imparting of the power of the life to the recipient for specific need. In Egypt it was for preservation. To the leper it was for purging. For the priestly family, it was preparation for service. In Exodus 24, it was with a view to obedience, as they had promised.
The blood of the New Covenant, the precious blood of Christ, links the believer to a completed work, “for by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14), a sacrifice that can never, and need never, be repeated. It binds the people with His promise, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” It has no national boundaries, but is for all men—for the sins of the whole world.
3. Why it was instituted? “This do in remembrance of Me” (Lk. 22:19). It is not to be a preoccupation with our benefits as a result of His death, although we will be appreciative of all that Christ’s death has accomplished. But it is rather the stirring of the mind to recall the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, in the light of who this was that died, and what was accomplished in that great work on Calvary. While the Holy Spirit may direct us to think about any aspect of the person and work of Christ, it will always be in the light of the cross, for the participants at the Lord’s Supper are primarily remembrancers.
INSTRUCTIONS RE. THE LORD’S SUPPER
There would seem to be seven salient movements in the carrying out of the Supper.
1. In 1 Corinthians 11:28 there is examination. “But let a man examine himself.” When we do engage in honest heart examination, what do we find there? Most of us find to our sorrow that the heart is indeed desperately wicked. Our immediate reaction would be to stay at home and not partake. But the Lord has made a way for forgiveness and renewal of fellowship if needed (1 Jn. 1:9).
2. In that frame of heart we then are to “eat.” That is participation. To discern the Lord’s body is not simply a matter of thinking that the portion of bread we break and eat speaks of the Lord’s body. It is to recognize the force of the words of the Lord when instituting the feast, “This is My body, which is given for you.” That is, given for you as you have discovered yourself to be by examination—nothing but an unworthy sinner with no claim upon God at all. The heart made conscious of its true condition, and made aware by the Spirit, of the Person and work of Christ on our behalf, will respond in worship and in praise.
3. Thus the Supper becomes a proclamation of the value of that wondrous death for sinners (v. 26).
4. The feast is to have continuation. But how often? It seems clear that Paul’s visit to Troas was extended over the first day of the week so that they could attend the Lord’s Supper; then they were ready to depart the next day. Had it been the practice of the early church to hold the Supper on any and every day, there would have been no need to wait over to the first day of the week, “when the disciples came together to break bread.” The first day of the week is most eloquently the day of the new beginning and of the new covenant and of a new order of priority.
We must avoid legalism like the plague, where outward habit and form are exalted above inward condition. But another great danger of the day is a liberalism where anything goes and submission to the principles of Scripture can become very subjective and made a matter of convenience.
5. Anticipation is a hallmark of the Supper. “Till He come” are the words that remind us that the Supper is not only retrospective but prospective, when the emblems will no longer be required, for the Lord’s people will be forever with the Lord Himself.
6. Of course it is primarily a Supper for recollection of the Lord in His suffering and death for our sins. Such continual remembrance ought to stir the heart in love to the One who died for us. As the letter to the church of Ephesus (Rev. 2) reminds us so forcibly, all our sacrificial service, steadfast patience, suppression of evil, spiritual discernment, and firm stand against error cannot make up for that great lack: “thou hast left thy first love.” It is at the Lord’s Supper that the heart is warmed and love inflamed. Then things are seen in proper perspective.
7. A proper preparation of heart beforehand, and a right attitude at the Supper will lead to adoration. “In remembrance of Me,” said the Lord. The Supper is not for the exhibition of gift nor for the recounting of our subjective experiences during the previous week. It is for the satisfaction of the Lord Himself.
In Luke 24, the risen Christ has a hunger! “Have ye here any meat?” He asks. It was not a hunger of necessity but of desire. Doubtless He desired to show them that His body was real and capable of eating. But more, He desired a token of fellowship. What did they have for the risen Lord of the universe, into whose hands all things had been given? A piece of cold fish and of an honeycomb! But, says the record, “They gave it.” Not very much, but it was what they had. Then we read, “He took it…”
PERSONAL PREPARATION
While it is true that worship is in the realm of the spirit and according to truth, that does not mean that the body and the soul are left behind. It only means that they are subservient to the spirit. Thus we can see the necessity of definite preparation of the whole person in view of engaging in this highest exercise of the human personality.
There should be physical preparation. We must be rested. Living in a society that is bent on pleasing self, it is little wonder that there is a constant call for self indulgence. Late Saturday nights can rob the saint of freshness on the Lord’s Day morning. Long Sunday lie-ins can add rush and pressure to getting to the meeting on time, putting the mind into a state of excitement not conducive to high and worshipful thoughts. There is in this day of total demand a great need to control our involvements. The Lord recognized this need in the lives of His own. Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile. Someone has truly said that there is sometimes a connection between busyness and barrenness.
There must be mental preparation. Today there is a concerted attack of the enemy on the minds of God’s people, for as a man thinketh, so is he. The worldly mind is not likely to give much to the Lord at His Supper. It is worldly because of a pre-occupation with the playthings, pastimes and pleasures of the world and readily becomes defiled. The Holy Spirit is thus grieved and has no liberty to lead that soul into the holiest for worship.
The wandering mind will make it difficult to concentrate on holy things. Often the cause is lack of self-discipline. Brother Lawrence in his letters said, “One way to recollect the mind in time of prayer, and preserve it more in tranquility, is not to let it wander too far at other times.”
The weary mind is often burdened with the cares of this life and ready to faint. The blessed remedy for this is found in Hebrews 12:3, “Consider Him,” that is, think about Him. It is not only that such thoughts are good. By the act of bathing the mind with thoughts of Christ, He Himself becomes the balm for the weary mind, putting it into a frame more conducive to worshipful occupation at the Lord’s Supper. This gives the capacity to be able to say to the cares and burdens of life, as did Abraham long ago to his servants, “Abide ye here while I…go yonder and worship.”
Of course there must be spiritual preparation, a distinct apprehension of what we are engaged in at the Lord’s Supper. As holy priests we are expected to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God. We need a clear understanding of the One to whom we gather: He is not now “Jesus only.” A great deal has happened since that lonely Stranger walked the shores of Galilee. “God hath made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ.” It is the Lord Jesus Christ whom we now worship, while we remember Him as the lowly Man of Sorrows.
Daily communion at the Lord’s Table is assumed in the life of each believer. The measure in which we enjoy the Lord and His provisions all week long will largely affect our responses at the Lord’s Supper.
A devoted attitude and reverent decorum is expected as we enter “the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” The sanctuary of the Old Testament was a holy place, and no irreverence was tolerated—at the risk of death! It was a fragrant place and it was a privileged place. Surely, under Grace we should not enter the heavenly sanctuary with flippant thoughts, careless attitudes, cheap slang, or scruffy decorum, when this holy privilege was purchased for us at such a cost.
If now, with eyes defiled and dim
We see the signs, but see not Him,
Oh, may His love the scales displace
And bid us see Him face to face!
Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,
Thy present smile a heaven imparts;
Oh, lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let every saint Thy beauties see!
—C. H. Spurgeon