Dining at the Table of Assurance

Food is an interesting subject to consider. Families are called in from their long and busy days to unite once more around a table of chicken and dumplings that spans back multiple generations. We’re passionate about it, cultures are built around it, we take pride in it and there’s just something special about enjoying the same recipes that your family has kept around for generation upon generation. It is with that in mind that I say that South Carolina’s mustard based barbecue is the best that earth affords and the fact that most of you disagree with me proves my point about how passionate we are about food.

Well, far more fascinating that granny’s biscuits which called us an individual families to our tables is the meal set forward by Christ in His Table which has called not only a few people together, but has beckoned believers from all ages and places in from their weary loads to fellowship with Him and with each other.

Growing up in South Carolina, I was accustomed to the people of God having an insatiable love for His word. However, one thing I was not accustomed to was a love for the ordinances, specifically the Lord’s Supper. I recall Communion services being lightly attended and heavily frightful events growing up and, when I assumed my first pastorate, I realized it was not a geographical phenomenon in that I would often find the same people slipping out time after time whenever I would announce that we would be partaking of the Table together. Concerning the Lord’s Table, a few years ago I recall speaking with a friend of mine who belongs to the assembly where I was baptized and as I spoke with him, I discovered that it had been over eleven years since they had partaken of the Lord’s Supper at that church. Why do I mention this to you? I mention this because I believe that churches are plagued with a malnourished understanding of the Lord’s Table that has left many seeing it as either unbearably frightening or, to some, simply irrelevant. It is my desire, therefore, to take us to the word of God tonight where we will find that in the Lord’s Table there is great assurance to our souls as it is in this sacrament, which means a visible sign communicating something greater than itself, that we see the beauty of the Christian faith openly illustrated before us all. So, if you find yourself here tonight and you harbor great fear concerning the Lord’s Table, this sermon is for you. Or if you find yourself here tonight believing that this is nothing more than an empty memory, this sermon is also for you.

In Song of Solomon 2:3-4 we read, “Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in His shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love.” In this passage, we read of the Shulamite woman’s love for her beloved as she states that he is like an apple tree among the woods, or to put simply, there isn’t anyone like him and she could sit and drink in how wonderful. It is in this that we find him inviting her into the banqueting house to experience deeper and sweeter fellowship.

As believers, we have pressed through a long week walking in the love of God in Christ as believers should amid the temptations and trials of this world. We have arrived here wearied, worn and beaten yet we have rested in the One who is like no other. He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother, He is the lily of the valley, He is the Rock in a dry and thirsty land, He is, according to the Song of Solomon, as a sweet apple tree in the midst of a forest. We have enjoyed daily fellowship with Him beneath the shade of His glory yet tonight Christ calls us into a richer, sweeter communion with Himself as before us sits the means of grace, specifically, the Lord’s Supper. We are, as the second chapter of the Song of Solomon teaches, called in from the beauty of daily fellowship into something more intimate. We are called into the dining hall and there the banner over us is love and tonight, beloved, as we feast upon what He has provided for us, let us lift our eyes to gaze at the assuring love of Christ

So, with that said, as we gaze upon His assuring love in the Lord’s Table, we will find four things for our assurance in Luke 22, as well as a few select passages in 1 Corinthians. These assuring truths are: First, Be Assured in Christ For You. Second, Be Assured in Christ With You. Third, Be Assured, Christ’s Church Affirms You. Lastly, Be Assured Christ is Coming For You.

Be Assured in Christ for You.

As we look at our passage for the evening, we must immediately take note of the fact that the institution of the Lord’s Table is taking place on the Passover. Now, if we’re not careful we will merely read this as a simple coincidence of dates, or some unnecessary bit of information. But in reality, what Jesus is doing here is taking the bread and wine that would be present in the Passover feast and He is going to communicate the reality of His death and, likewise, institute the Lord’s Supper. But what is it about the Passover that’s so significant?

Well, if we look back in the book of Exodus, we will learn that the Jews are enduring Egyptian captivity. A new Pharaoh is reigning that didn’t know Joseph and he sees the prospering of the Jews living in Egypt and decides to enslave them. Well, the Jews cry out to God for deliverance, He hears them and sends forth Moses to declare to Pharaoh that he must let the people of God go. But Pharaoh will not listen, he hardens his heart and God sends forth 9 plagues to persuade Pharaoh to no avail, though God hardened his heart. Now comes the tenth plague and God commands that each house is to slay a lamb and apply its blood to the doorposts and lintels of their homes. They would also be expected to go into their homes, roast the lamb and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. On that night, the Lord would pour out judgment upon Egypt, slaying all first born sons except for those homes with the blood of a lamb on the doorpost. We might say that the judgment of God was appeased by the blood of the lamb here.

Nonetheless, this event granted a period of time where the people of Israel were able to escape Egypt. Later on, to memorialize this event, the Passover feast was held but the lambs were now slain by the Priests instead of fathers and the blood was no longer placed on door posts but sprinkled on the altar. After the lamb was sacrificed, without having a bone broken in its body, it had to be totally roasted and would be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs by everyone. However, instead of it happening in homes, it took place in the sanctuary which we find in Deuteronomy 16:2. Why do I bring all of this up? Well, it’s because this event was not only sacrificial, but was also a meal. We find this throughout the Old Testament where only part of a sacrifice would be consumed on the altar and the rest would be saved for the priest or the family to eat. Bavinck put it well when he said, “The significance of these meals was that God met with His people and, on the basis of the sacrifice made and accepted, united Himself to His people with joy.” He continues, “He is the host who relinquishes a part of the sacrifice brought to him and invites His people to dine with Him.”

And as we fast-forward to our passage for tonight, we find that Jesus takes the cup and the bread but leaves out the meat from the Lamb. This is because He Himself is the Lamb who would be sacrificially slain. It was Abraham in Genesis 22, who, when asked by his son where a sacrifice was, responded, “God will provide Himself a lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” It was Isaiah who prophesied in Isaiah 53 that, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” It was John the Baptist in John 1:29 who saw Jesus approaching and shouted, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” and in Revelation 5:6-10 we read, “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

Beloved, in Christ Himself is bore the sacrifice of the Passover and now we see the communal aspect of the Passover meal being developed as we will forevermore come to the Lord’s Table to commune with Him. Why am I bringing this out for us tonight? I am bringing this out because Jesus says that it is the cup that would symbolize His blood for us and it is in that blood that the New Covenant is made for us. The New Covenant is all that is necessary for our reconciliation unto God and it is made wholly finished by the work of Christ. The reason that I spend so long cultivating this truth tonight is because it seems that many approach the Lord’s Table and look to themselves to see whether they’ve done enough to be allowed to commune with Him as though the nature of the New Covenant somehow changes when it comes to the Lord’s Table.

Are you fearful in coming to the Lord’s Table, worried that you might take it unworthily as your mind rehearses Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 11:27 which reads, “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?” Listen to the words of David Dickson who wrote this concerning Paul’s warning, “Paul shows how easy it is to prepare to receive the sacrament in a worthy manner. He says that people need only to examine themselves, being aware of the seriousness of their sin and their great need of Christ’s remedy for it.” (David Dickson, An Exposition of All St. Paul’s Epistles) Furthermore, Tom Aschol writes, “Paul’s warning, then, should not be misconstrued to mean that really bad sinners are somehow unworthy to come to the Lord’s Table. Those are the only kind of people who are legitimate candidates. Worthiness is not to be found in some kind of supposed level of personal righteousness in the communicant. Rather, a sinner comes to the table ‘worthily’ when he soberly remembers his sin and the great cost that Christ paid to redeem him from it.”

The Lord’s Table is like a King writing a letter to the poorest beggar in his kingdom to say that this poor beggar is invited to enjoy fellowship with the King and not only this, but the inheritance of the kingdom now belongs to him. So, he writes the letter, folds it up and seals it with his mark. The beggar receives the letter, quickly opens it and while reading he thinks to himself that these promises are too good to be true and so, to reassure himself of it’s authenticity, he closes the letter and looks at the front to see the stamp of the King which assures of its authenticity. This is what we find in the Lord’s Table. In Christ, all that is needed, is found. And it is in His Table that He invites us to be assured of His promises to you and me. So you who thirst from wondering in that parched land of your own self-righteousness! Come! And be satisfied with that wine wherein is known the blood of Christ which soothes the demands of the Law for you. And you, who find yourself weakened from the cancerous condemnations that plagues your mind. Come! Find strength for your souls in the body of Christ for you! He is given for you.

Be Assured in Christ with You.

As we continue in our consideration of Luke 22 tonight, we find, in verse 19, “He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Is the Lord’s Table more than a memorial act? Is there something more in it than meets the eye? Well, in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22, Paul begins the section by stating that the Lord’s Table is communion or participation in the body of Christ and continues in stating that in the pagan culture, where these Corinthians were saved, there would be sacrifices in meals dedicated to their idols and he further argues, in verse 20, “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and i do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” What Paul is arguing is that in the Lord’s Table, we are spiritually, presently communing with Christ in a manner that is not elsewise known. In Luke 22:19 which we’ve read, Jesus calls us to have the Supper in “remembrance of me…” and if we glance at that we might think, “Yep, case settled, it’s just a memorial.” But what’s the context that we’ve been considered together? The Passover, and in Exodus 20:24 we read this, “An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.”

Herman Bavinck, in his Reformed Dogmatics, writes, “Besides being the inaugurator of the Supper, He is also the host and administrator. He Himself takes the bread and wine, blesses them, and distributes them to His disciples…He remains the host and administrator of it always and wherever His meal is celebrated…The Lord’s Supper is a meal whose host is Christ” (Bavinck 562-563). It is in this Table that we spiritually feed on Christ for us. So, as you take the Lord’s Table, you might think to yourself, “Just as surely as I can taste this bread and wine so surely has Jesus died for me.” And in the same vein, just as bread and wine nourish our physical bodies, the Spirit comes and as we spiritually feed on Christ for us, we are strengthened in our souls as well. Let me clarify, that this is not unto the justification of a lost man, but to the sanctification of the believing sinner. It was Robert Bruce who said, “You do not get any different Christ in the Lord’s Supper than you get in the preaching of the word, but you may get the same Christ better.” Before we hurry on to our last two observations, let me highlight what a beautiful thought it is, that Jesus, acting as Prophet prophesying and interpreting His death in the institution of the Lord’s Supper, “gave thanks.” He gave thanks for the sweet fellowship He would have with His disciples. He gave thanks for the benefits that they would receive in His death for them. He gave thanks that they would know that just as surely as they could taste the wine and bread so surely did Jesus die for them. He gave thanks. Jesus is not ashamed of us and He did not begrudgingly suffer in our place, but went thankfully and He is pleased to commune with us, His blood-bought people.

Be Assured, Christ’s Church Affirms You.

Our third observation in Luke 22, is in verse 17 which reads, “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves…” In 1 Corinthians 10:14-17 we find communal language as we read, “The cup of blessing which we bless….the bread which we break…for we,though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” It is obvious here that the Lord’s Supper is not an individualistic event, but an ordinance belonging to the local assembly. Now, where is the assurance found in this reality? I find it back in 1 Corinthians 5 where Paul calls on the Corinthian church to remove from themselves a member who is apparently having an affair with his mother in law and is unrepentant in that sin. Now, in verse 7 Paul says, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Do you hear the language connecting this to the Passover, Christ’s saving work and the Lord’s Supper? What I find encouraging to us in light of this passage is that as when a church takes discipline seriously, yet lovingly, the Lord’s Table is a time of assurance as we find that our elders and our brothers and sisters, affirm our testimony of our love and devotion to Christ. We are not under discipline, we are in right standing with our church family, and seeing that the Table is a family matter, we are welcomed into the meal.

An old hymn by John Newton says, “May the grace of Christ our Savior/and the Father’s boundless love/with the Holy Spirit favor/rest upon us from above. Thus may we abide in union/ with each other and the Lord/and possess in sweet communion/ joys which earth cannot afford.” Beloved, as we make our way toward the partaking of the Supper, it is of great benefit to our own encouragement to look around and see our brothers and sisters openly reaffirming their vows of faithfulness to Christ that you saw them make at their baptism and you’ll find your heart stirred as they unite with you in walking together with our Lord.

Be Assured, Christ is Coming For You.

Finally, we notice in Luke 22:16 that Christ says, “I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Verse 18 reads, “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” and in 1 Corinthians 11:26 we read, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” As we consider these passages together, we come to realize that the Lord’s Table is not simply an act to remember a previous event, and it’s not only a present communion, but it is a foreshadowing of a future feast.

James Renihan writes, “Baptism signifies new creation life and the Lord’s Supper signifies our right to that new creation and ongoing nourishment until we reach it. Even more so, however, the Lord’s Supper is the rehearsal dinner of the great marriage feast of Christ and His bride. Partaking in one is anticipation of another.” (Renihan 205) This future meal is spoken of in Revelation 19:6-9 which reads,

“6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said[a] to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Within the Lord’s Supper is found a testimony of all that is central to the Christian faith. We, the redeemed Church, partake of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf only by the miraculous act of the Spirit through whom our souls are nourished. It is through this means of grace that the Father is reminded of, as the bow in the sky after the flood, His Son’s covenant death and of His covenant faithfulness to us. The climax of this all is the foreshadowing of the day where all of the promises come to pass and we shall see Him as He is and, on that day, we will dine with Him. So, tonight as we enjoy the Table together, we come to enjoy the Rehearsal Dinner.

Conclusion:

Terry Johnson wrote, “The communion table became the point at which commitment to Christ was either refused or ratified, and the people came to understand that if they were to do business with God it would be at the table. If you were a non-believer, Christ was beckoning you to His table. The Supper was a poignant reminder that one was outside of God’s covenant family and thus not a recipient of His saving provisions. If you were a baptized but non-communing child of the church, confirmation would take place at the table. The table for you was a reminder that though a covenant child, you had unfinished business with God. If you were a back-sliding Christian, rededication would take place at the table. The fenced table, excluding the unrepentant, was like a divine cannon-shot over the bow, warning you to get right with God. If you were a faithful believer, reaffirmation of the covenant with Christ would take place at the table. The table for you was a blessed spiritual meal, a reminder of the gifts of grace, and communion with the risen Christ Himself. The table was the Reformed altar-call. At the table, one was to deal with Christ, for there He was present, there He was most clearly seen, and there He issued His invitation to “take, eat,” “take, drink,” and enjoy His benefits.”

Tonight as we prepare to take of this Table, and as we are called to examine ourselves, we will find that we are sinful people. But we must lift our broken hearts to rejoice in what Jesus has done for us. So, you believers who feel condemned in your sin because you feel you have fallen too harshly this week. Look to Christ and rejoice. You who feel as though this is a pointless ordinance, repent of taking it unseriously and come commune with Him. You who are lost, this sermon and the act of the Lord’s Table calls you to come to the Table as you trust in Christ and follow Him through the waters of baptism, He will wash you and feed you as He has faithfully done so with us. Tonight, what is to go through our minds in the Lord’s Table? A few things:

I am a great sinner, but Christ is a merciful savior.

As surely as I can taste this wine and bread, so surely has Jesus died for me.

I am reaffirming my commitment to following Christ.

My three year old daughter, Ella’s favorite song at the time is Jesus Loves Me. I frequently ask her what she wants them to sing in toddlers and her anthem is always “Jesus Loves Me.” Well, as I heard her little voice singing it throughout the house last week, I began to think on the love shown to us as He has invited us into His banqueting table and His banner of us is love. And as He has done that, I believe we would be correct in saying, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for His Table tells me so.” Let us gaze upon His love for us tonight.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.—Hebrews 13:20–21