Well, please turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. We're going to be looking at several texts this evening, specifically with reference to the three tenses used in connection to the Lord's Supper. The Apostle calls us to engage in past reflection, a remembrance of events that occurred in the past. There is present blessing associated with the Lord's Supper and as well there is anticipation for the coming of glory. right here in 1st Corinthians chapter 11.
I'll just read verses 23 to 26. I'll pray and then we'll look at each of these tenses that are used with reference to the Lord's Supper. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat.
This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Amen. Let us pray. Our blessed God and our Holy Father, we thank You for the supper.
We thank You for this ordinance given to us by Jesus Christ. And we pray that You would fill our minds and our thoughts now with the Word of Truth, cause our meditations to soar Christward, cause us to consider Him who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. And even now we pray that You would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions. We ask our Father that You would cleanse us afresh in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our God, we pray that the ministry of the Holy Spirit would be at work, that He would guide us, that He would direct us, that He would bless and strengthen and nourish us, confirm our faith, and cause us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We come to You, our great God, our glorious God, through Christ our Lord. And it's in His name that we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Yes, there is a past aspect, a present aspect, and a future aspect concerning the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper as Memorial Ordinance
The first instance is it is a memorial ordinance. The Lord's Supper, we are called to remember specific facts. Paul says that here specifically in 1 Corinthians 11 at 24 and 25. Do this in remembrance of me.
In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me. So the bread and the wine, they show forth, or they symbolize, or they set us, or point us to the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think it's always good to remind ourselves that when we gather for the supper, there is no change in the elements utilized.
Our particular confession says, the outward elements in this ordinance, duly set apart to the use ordained by Christ, have such relation to Him crucified as that truly, although in terms used figuratively, they are sometimes called by the names of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ. Albeit in substance and nature, they still remain truly and only bread and wine as they were before. So as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we're not ingesting physically the body and blood of our Lord. Of course, the Confession is arguing against the position known as transubstantiation.
They go on to write, That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood, commonly called transubstantiation, by consecration of a priest or by any other way, is repugnant, not to scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason, overthrows the nature of the ordinance and has been and is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatry. So the symbols, the elements, the bread and the wine, they serve as a means to hopefully help us to reflect back on an event that occurred. Now specifically defined here in verses 24 and 25, Jesus says, do this in remembrance of me. So the supper is a memorial ordinance, but as we proceed through the other two tenses, we'll see that it's not just a memorial ordinance.
But surely, as we gather here this evening, we need to reflect upon what these things point us to. Specifically, we need to consider the Lord Jesus Christ. John Murray said, it is the Lord we are remembering. So frequently, believers become so introspective that preoccupation with themselves excludes preoccupation with Christ.
Reading of Isaiah 53
Turn back to Isaiah 53 for just a moment. We ought to be preoccupied with our Lord Jesus Christ when it comes to the supper. There is this remembrance of something that occurred in the past. Now certainly as Isaiah is writing it, it is in his future.
He is writing concerning the suffering servant of the Lord, which is Jesus Christ. The New Testament certainly evidences and manifests that all these things were indeed true of our Lord in His earthly ministry. It's thought for continuity since Pastor Cam read this. This would be a good place to fuel our thoughts, to consider the Lord Christ, and to remember Him accordingly.
Christ's Humiliation Remembered
Notice specifically in verses 1 to 3, what is indicated there is the humiliation of Christ. It's good for us to remember that concerning Him. He is the man of sorrows. He is the one acquainted with grief.
He is the one who was despised and we did not esteem Him. We need to consider what Christ went through on our behalf. Yes, the physical suffering and the shame of hanging on the cross and certainly divine wrath. He is satisfying divine justice when He dies upon the cross, but His whole life was characterized as the state of humiliation.
Says very clearly, he is despised and he is rejected by men. I wonder if we would go through what he went through on our behalves. And I can almost absolutely say, no we wouldn't. We like to be liked by men.
We like to be enjoyed by men. We like to be praised by men. Jesus, the Bible says, came to His own and His own received Him not. He humbled Himself.
He came into this world of shame and lowliness and He took on our nature and He identified with us. and He became something that He was not in terms of His essential deity.
Christ's Solitary Suffering
Notice it goes on in Isaiah, the prophet 53, as we remember the Lord Jesus, His suffering. His suffering. And one of the things that we need to understand is that Jesus suffered in a solitary manner. There was no one to help Him.
There was no one, obviously the Spirit was there with Him, but there was no man that went alongside of Him and upheld Him in this great hour of trial, in this great hour of difficulty. His was a solitary assignment. He alone was the one who was able and equipped to save His people from their sins. The indication here, surely He has.
All of this is indicative of what Christ alone has done on our behalf. It jives with what the angel pronounces in Matthew 1.21. You shall call His name Jesus. Yahweh is salvation for He.
I believe it's emphatic. He alone will save His people from their sins. And all that is indicated in the remainder of this chapter and fleshed out in the Gospel records, Jesus did on His own.
Christ's Substitutionary Death
Notice the element of substitution with reference to His sufferings. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions.
This element of substitution is that we can hang our souls upon. Christ stood in the stead of His people to satisfy divine justice on their behalf. Christ didn't go to the cross simply as an example. He didn't go to the cross simply as a display of love.
He didn't go to the cross for any other reason than to be set forth as a sacrifice to receive in Himself the punishment that was due for us. You see, when He says, do this in remembrance of Me, when we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we are not doing it as a reward for our own good behavior over the past week. When we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we do not do it as an outward signification that we're good people or good guys or good girls. We do it because our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, took the punishment that was due for our sins.
And notice, just in verses 4 to 6 there, the comprehensive nature of the Savior's suffering on our behalf. Look at how many things the prophet writes that Jesus did. He has borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows.
He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. The Lord Christ in His earthly ministry, the Lord Christ in His role as mediator, the Lord Christ as the surety of the better covenant, certainly confirms or affirms or carries to completion everything that was laid upon Him by His Father for the good well-being of His elect.
Summarized in verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to His own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. This is what Paul has in mind in 2 Corinthians 5.21. God made Him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The Father takes all the sin of the elect. He heaps it upon the Son. He punishes the Son who stands in our place and receives the wrath of God for us. And as a result, we are forgiven.
As a result, we have a righteousness imputed to us and received by faith alone. So we see as we consider this idea of do this in remembrance of me, his humiliation, his suffering. Notice thirdly in the prophet Isaiah, beginning in verse 7, his death. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. What does this indicate to us concerning our Lord? The idea here, at least the type or the analogy, he was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Certainly that is the case.
He is the anti-typical lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But this suggests his willingness. So we do this in remembrance of me, Christ, as we consider this bread and this wine, as they point us to the Lord of Glory. We need to understand that He willingly undertook on our behalf.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He did not resist. He did not seek to stay this procedure. He did not seek to derail it or to upbraid it.
In fact, suffering in the garden, He says, He prays, according to His humanity, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. The Lord Christ knew exactly what was in the cup. It was the wrath and the fury and the judgment of God Most High. That would cause any man to shrink back.
Jesus says, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. But He resigns. He's resolved to do the will of God. Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.
He doesn't stop the procedure. He doesn't try to find an easier way out. Rather, as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He willingly undertook on our behalf.
As we consider the sacrifice at Calvary, it was not put up, or it was not engaged in, in some resentful and bitter fashion. You know how many times we are asked to do things, and there are times when we agree to do something, but in our hearts, we don't really want to do it. Kids, I want to encourage you that your parents are on to you. If you children are like my children, your parents know when you're not really willing to do something.
You may go through the motions, you may go through the procedure, but there's a bitterness that exudes. There is this unhappiness that comes out. I'm not saying or suggesting that Jesus whistled ditties on His way to the cross, but there was a willingness for the glory of God and for the salvation of His elect. He went all the way for us.
His death.
Christ's Triumph and Exaltation
Notice, though finely, as we consider Christ, because we do this in remembrance of Him. Notice His triumph. Isaiah 53, verse 10, Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has put him to grief.
When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." This seems to be the direction that the Apostle is going in Hebrews chapter 12, when he sets forth Christ. as that paradigm for whom believers ought to look. It says, "...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Christ went willingly.
Christ suffered on the cross. Christ was crucified. Christ rose again the third day. And Christ exalted on high to the right hand of the majesty of God on high.
He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. You see, we do this in remembrance not only of the one who suffered and died, but of him who rose again. of Him who is exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords. So as we consider the present or the pastness of this supper, we do this in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Present Communion at the Supper
But secondly, there's a present blessing associated with the supper. A present blessing, present communion, present fellowship. Turn back to 1 Corinthians and you can go specifically to chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Notice beginning in verse 14.
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" Now, that word, if you have the New King James, in the marginal reading it is fellowship.
It's the word koinonia. I'm sure that's one Greek word that everybody in America and Canada knows. Koinonia. I'm sure you've heard that word.
I'm sure that either Pastor Cam or I have used that word. Notice what he says. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
Or is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? You see, what the Apostle is indicating in this particular section is that as we engage in the Lord's Supper, there is that remembrance, that reflection upon the past event. We consider Christ in His humiliation. We consider Christ in His suffering.
We consider Christ in His death. We consider Christ in His exaltation, His triumph, His reign, His rule. But primarily we focus on the substitutionary atoning death. That's what the bread and the wine typify and signify for us in particular.
So you see that. We are remembering. There's a memorial ordinance involved tonight. You are to think, you are to listen, you are to pay attention, you are to look at texts, you are to recall in your own heart that I'm not here because I'm a good guy or I'm a good girl, but I'm here because Christ is a great Savior, because Christ laid His life down for me. and Christ rose again so that I might have everlasting life.
You need to think, you need to remember, you need to reflect. Do this in remembrance of me. But Paul in verses 16 and 17 here, or verses 15 and 16 rather, in this particular passage indicates there is present communion, there is present fellowship, there is present enjoyment of the exalted Lord.
The Spirit as Bond of Communion
If we ask the question, how in the world can this possibly happen? It is by the Word to be sure, but it is by the Spirit. The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit is the Spirit of God.
And He comes, and He takes these things, and He makes them alive, and He makes them real, and He makes them powerful, such that our confession of faith can actually talk about the reality that there is a spiritual nourishment in the act of the Lord's Supper. It is a memorial ordinance, but as my dear brother has written a book, it is more than a memory. It is a means of grace. And look at verse 16.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? He's talking to the Corinthians that are celebrating the supper. Now, the Corinthian church was established after the resurrection, after the ascension on high, after the fact that Christ assumed his position of authority at the right hand of the Father. So Christ is exalted Lord, and the Apostle is writing to the Corinthians, and he says, "...the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ?" Again, there's a mysterious element to be sure, but what the Apostle is highlighting is true. That God, in a special and peculiar way, working in and by and through these particular things, is encouraging, is strengthening, is nourishing, and is confirming our faith. There is present communion with the risen Lord as we gather together here to do this ordinance. Yes, through preaching that is there.
The preaching of the Word. I'm sure I've mentioned before Pastor Albert N. Martin's illustration concerning biblical preaching. He says that when a man of God, qualified by God, called by the Church, stands before the Lord's people and preaches the Word by the Spirit, it's as if there is this triangle effect going on.
The Spirit comes and blesses the man who preaches the Word. And as that Word goes forth, the Spirit works in the heart of the recipient, so that they may in turn receive that Word and be benefited. As Lloyd-Jones once was asked, or once said, he said, I don't know what anction means, but I know when I don't have it. I know when the Spirit is not present.
There is something very unique that happens when the Word of God is opened accurately, it is exegetically sound, it is attended by the Spirit, there is encouragement from the heart of the believer, there is conviction, there is reproof, there is instruction in righteousness. There is that element where heaven kisses earth through the means ordained by God through His servants. The same is true in this instance. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? You see, there is something more going on in this particular ordinance than we just do this once a month because that's what Christian churches do. No, we get the privilege to obey our Lord Jesus and to commune with Him in a special way. Yes, through the Word is special, but through the bread and the wine, these are elements given.
Again, they're not changed, it's not magic, it's not hocus-pocus, but God in His condescension comes to our physical mass and gives us these things so that we can recall the Lord Jesus, we can remember Him effectively, but in the very act of eating and drinking these things, we commune with Him.
Communion Contrasted with Idolatry
Note the contrast that follows. Notice what Paul goes on to say in verse 18. Well, let me just finish verse 17. For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread.
There's an expression there of the unity of the church, the unity of the saints. You see, this was not given to private Christians. This was given to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a covenantal meal.
This is interesting, or at least has an analogy or a parallel in the Old Covenant. Remember in Exodus 24 when God ratifies the covenant through Moses. They sprinkle blood. They see God.
This is on the Mount. And then they eat together. There's a covenantal meal associated with the Old Covenant. There is a covenantal meal associated with the New Covenant.
Now, I'm not suggesting that we can't eat by ourselves. I mean, my lunch here consists of standing at that counter for about six minutes. I get as quick as I can, typically because it's cold up there, and typically because I don't want to stand up there for any longer. So I'm not saying we can't eat on our own.
When you talk about eating, though, there's a familial element involved, isn't there? There's a social dynamic. There's a fellowship. Even in the scriptures, you trace out this whole idea.
Feasting is a blessing. Coming together for a meal is a joy. When the Church of Christ comes together for the supper, the bread and the wine, we are exhibiting our oneness as the body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He's presiding over this.
He, by His Spirit, is blessing. He, by His Spirit, is nourishing. He, by His Spirit, is encouraging and confirming our faith. Again, the idea in the supper is that God is serving His people these good things so that we can remember our beloved Redeemer.
This isn't first and foremost our service to God. God is the householder here. God is the owner here. God is laying out the banquet here.
God invites us to come to His table. God calls us to do this for His glory and for our edification and our nourishment and our strengthening. So many times we look at our church services as our service to God. More often than not, it's God's service to His people.
It's God providing the bounty in the Word. It's God providing the bounty in the bread and wine. It's God laying out these things for the good of His saints. It is God who is giving to His people.
Notice this contrast that evidences there is something more going on at the supper than simply this memorial aspect. As important as that is, the past is essential when we come to the supper because we do this in remembrance of me. We need to consider the present. Now note the contrast.
We have verse 16, the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? Now verse 18, observe Israel after the flesh. are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar." What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?
Rather, now notice verse 20, that 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. This is not just a memorial aspect involved in verse 20. It's not just a conscious remembrance that there are demons out there, but it's fellowship with demons. It is communion with demons.
Isn't that what Paul says positively occurs? For the Christians, when they eat this bread and drink this cup, there's fellowship, there's communion, there's enjoyment, there is nourishment. Rather that 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. You go through this particular procedure.
You make yourself open to these evil influences. You participate with the Gentiles as they engage in this manner of sacrifice. And do you know what the end result is? You will have fellowship or communion with these demons.
You see why the supper is more than a memory? Yes, we remember Christ, but we presently commune with Christ as we eat this bread and we drink this cup. Listen to Hodge. He says, it is here assumed that partaking of the Lord's Supper brings us into communion with Christ.
Is that how you view the supper? Is it more than a memory? I hope that it is. It is a present means of grace for the people of God, gathered as the Church of God, for their nourishment, for their encouragement, for their confirmation in the faith.
In fact, verse 16 is an assumption upon which verse 20 is the necessary conclusion. Paul doesn't argue that the supper is a means of grace. Paul doesn't give reasons as to why we ought to consider it that way. He simply states what is in verse 16.
When we engage in this cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? This is something we assume. This is something we know.
This is something that we experience. This is something that we agree upon. Rather, the argument in context is to caution the Corinthians to flee from idolatry. Chapter 10, verse 14.
Chapter 10, verse 20 indicates that when one opens himself up to this degree, he is going to end up in fellowship with demons. And that brings him to his conclusion in verse 21. You cannot drink the cup. of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.
Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? In some he says essentially what Spurgeon says. You can't entertain Jesus in the parlor and the devil in your basement.
You can't, on the one hand, bless the cup of blessing and eat the bread of blessing and commune with and enjoy the fellowship of the exalted Lord by His Spirit, and then, on the other hand, go and sacrifice these things along with the Gentiles and fellowship with demons. Simply incomprehensible. So Hodge says, it is here assumed that partaking of the Lord's Supper brings us into communion with Christ. If this be so, partaking of the table of demons must bring us into communion with demons.
This is the apostles' argument. So you see, he is urging upon us to consider, yes, we remember the past, but we enjoy present communion with the Lord as we eat this bread, as we drink this cup. John Gill said, the apostles view in this instance, and his argument upon it is this, that if believers, by eating the bread and drinking the wine in the Lord's Supper, spiritually partake of Christ, of His body and of His blood, and have communion with Him, then such who eat of things sacrificed unto idols have in so doing communion with them, and partake of the table of devils, and so are guilty of idolatry which He would have them avoid. So you see, the reality of present communion with the exalted Lord by the means of this ordinance called the Lord's Supper is assumed as true in verse 16.
This is not the point of the apostle in this section in chapter 10. He is not striving to prove that the Lord's Supper is more than a memory. What he is striving to prove is that the Corinthians ought to flee idolatry. And their participation with these Gentiles, who are offering sacrifices to demons, opens up the Corinthians to fellowship, to communion, to this ungodly bond with these demons themselves.
You see, it is an analogous statement. The analogous is, we have communion with Christ. We have union with Christ. We have nourishment from Christ in the ordinance that we celebrate when we gather together as a church.
Jeffrey Wilson said, partaking of bread and wine is union or sharing with the heavenly Christ. And this is the present communion that we enjoy. So there's a memorial ordinance. Do this in remembrance of me.
There is present communion. We enjoy fellowship with Jesus as we eat this bread and we drink this cup.
Eschatological Anticipation at the Supper
But there is eschatological anticipation. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. You see, here are the three tenses, the past, the present, and the future, connected to the supper. We need to empty our minds or rid our thoughts of this idea that this is just something churches do because they have to do it.
This is something churches do because Christ, their gracious Lord, gave it to them. Christ, their gracious Lord, loves them. Christ, their gracious Lord, wants to nourish them. Christ, their gracious Lord, wants to commune with them by His Spirit and Word.
Christ, their gracious Lord, meets them in this ordinance. Again, He meets us in the preaching of the Word. He'll meet you in your reading of Scripture. He'll meet you in times of prayer, to be sure.
But this is another means by which He meets you. The Church has identified the means of grace. That doesn't mean we go out and do a good thing, and as a reward, God gives us grace. No, means of grace means those things God commands that serve as conduits by which He meets us with gracious deposits of His mercy to us.
I'm not suggesting you cannot commune with and enjoy the presence of God while you're mowing your lawn. The New Testament never says go out and mow your lawn and do this in remembrance of Christ. The New Testament does say, as you eat this bread and as you drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. This is something we are commanded to do, something we are privileged to participate in, something that has a past implication, a present blessing, and future anticipation.
So 1 Corinthians 11, 26, 4, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death, till he comes.
Reading of Matthew 26
Turn back to Matthew 26. Matthew chapter 26. Verse 27, Then he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
The same thing is enjoined here in 1 Corinthians 11, 26. There is anticipation. There is a future orientation here in the supper. Yes, the idea is that as long as the church shall gather, she shall proclaim the Lord's death in this.
But that's not all. It's not just a reminder that Christ is coming again, but it is a reminder of what's going to happen when He comes again. He's going to come in His glory. He's going to come in His majesty.
He's going to come to usher His church in to His special presence, world without end. You see, as we eat this bread, we do so in remembrance of Christ. We presently enjoy communion with Christ, but we look forward to that day, that day typified or foreshadowed by the Mount of Transfiguration, that day when we shall see Christ as He is, That day when we will enter into His presence. That day when this world and all the wickedness and the evil and the wretchedness will be remade.
Behold, I make all things new. There'll be a new heavens and a new earth. There'll be a time where there's no more sorrow and there'll be no more pain. There'll be no more suffering.
There'll be no more death. That is the last enemy that is vanquished by our conquering King, the Lord Jesus. There is death, and mayhem, and suffering, and trial, and prevail, and all sorts of things. And that happens as we come to the supper in this generation.
We come burdened. We come heartached. We come sorrowful. We come tried.
We come sore. We come vexed. But when we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. He is going to come again.
He will render to every man his due. He will take his bride and bring them up into heaven. And they shall be with Him forever and ever, world without end. Amen.
As we eat this bread, and as we drink this cup, let us never forget, not only the past, the present blessing we enjoy, but the reality that our beloved Savior is coming again for His church. John Gill says, it, the supper, leads forward to expect and believe He will come again to put us into the full possession of the salvation He is the author of. Does that ever just make you want to shout and sing and do holy jigs? Can you imagine there is a day coming when you will serve the Lord without sin?
I'm sure that everybody who comes to this church, morning and evening, your minds are always focused on everything the preacher is saying, right? Show of hands. Just kidding. Won't it be nice to stand before the Lord day and night without sin?
Won't it be great to stand before the Lord confirmed in righteousness? Won't it be great to stand before the Lord with no more free will? I agree with Whitefield. Free will got us into the mess that we are in.
When we get to heaven, God will confirm our will. God will solidify our will. God will so work in us that we will only will the good eternally. Can't even imagine such a thing in this age.
So Gil says, into the full possession of the salvation He is the author of, when there will be no more occasion for this ordinance, nor any other, but all will cease and God will be all in all. We won't eat the supper in Evet, because we will be seated at the marriage supper of the Lamb. We will be with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We will be with all the elect from all ages, gathered before the King of kings and Lord of lords.
And we will with one refrain say, Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne. The Lord's Supper points us to that reality. Your heart is vast. said, when Paul enjoins his readers to proclaim the Lord's death until he shall come, this certainly is not intended as a mere chronological remark concerning the perpetual validity of the observance of the supper in the church. As I mentioned before, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.
It's not just chronology that is involved, but there's anticipation. When you eat the bread, when you drink the cup, think back to the crucifixion of our beloved Savior. Think back to the resurrection from the grave. Think back to the ascension on high.
Consider the present communion that you now enjoy, the fellowship with Christ and with His Church. Isn't it beautiful to be with the people of God? Have you not yet learned that, how important the people of God are? How important it is to be connected, not in community, but in church.
To be with other saints and believers so that we may indeed exhort one another daily while it is called today. In the supper we have vertical communion with our beloved Christ. We have horizontal communion. That's why Paul joins upon the church in 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
You cannot come and celebrate the supper if at your love feast or at the times when you are engaging in meals, the haves neglect the have-nots. It cannot be. Men are eating and drinking. The gluttony and drunkenness and others among you aren't getting any food or drink whatsoever.
Whatever it is you're doing, he says to the Corinthians, it is not observing the supper. There is a present communion with our beloved Savior. There's present communion with one another as well. But brethren, remember the future.
Anticipate the coming age. Vos says, it suggests rather the idea that when the Lord shall have come, the necessity for further observance of the sacrament will no longer exist. It will no longer exist. And this in turn gives rise to the thought that in the present observance of it, There is an anticipation of what the eschatological state has in store for the believer.
We have no idea what lay in our future. I mean, we read the Bible, we read those texts, probably as you get older, you read them more closely, attentively. I'm not saying I do that yet, because I'm not that much older, but I would imagine as you get older in your Christian life, as you proceed upon that trajectory, you're getting closer to the end. You're more curious about the end.
You're more studious about the end. I remember doing a gospel message at a businessman's gospel breakfast one time, and this one old brother said, every morning I wake up, check the obituaries to see if I'm in there or not. There's a closeness in the reality that no man lives forever. I'm not Elijah.
I am not going to get caught up in the whirlwind. I'm certainly not Enoch. I am not that godly that I walk with the Lord, and then I am not. I'm going to die like everyone else.
And as we move on in years, as we move on, hopefully in grace, we are studying those texts, we are looking to see what the Lord has for us, and the supper proclaims this. Do this, or as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Anticipate the future. Look forward to the end.
Look forward to that time when Christ will come for His bride, for His church, to bring them into consummate glory. Revelation 22, beginning in verse 1.
Reading of Revelation 21
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more seed. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.
God Himself will be with them and be their God." That is the consonant Blessing of all covenantal dealing. I love the forgiveness of sins. As a great sinner, I love the fact that I am forgiven by a great Savior. I love the fact that God internalizes the law.
I love the fact that He writes His law upon the heart. I love all that stuff that is specified in Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34, and I'm sure you do as well. But it's, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. this closeness, this covenantal union, this blessed bond, this intimacy. God made man upright for communion with Him.
Remember, when Adam sinned, he ran from God. God would come to Adam and Eve in the cool of the day to commune with them. What manner of God is this, who wants communion with us? But He does.
They shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And He said to me, It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." I suspect some readers in our modern age would get to verse 8 and say, wow, that's a real bummer.
Boy, why does he put that there? I mean, verses 1 to 7 is a glorious picture, a glorious representation, a glorious description of what we will enjoy in the new heavens and the new earth. Why? Include verse 8.
Probably to vet those who have deluded themselves. probably as a call to examination for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot claim participation in covenantal blessings if you have not, by the grace of God, forsaken these particular sins, you see. But I think it serves another function as well. Doesn't it encourage you to realize that in the New Jerusalem there will be no murderers?
There will be no sexually immoral. I'm sure if you were in Syria or in Iraq or in one of these other countries, Nigeria, if you had felt the burden of Boko Haram, you would delight in verse 8. It, like verses 1 to 7, portray the glory of the New Jerusalem. You see, it's not only the reality that God the Father and Christ the Spirit are present, it's not only the reality that there'll be no more tears in our eyes, it's not only the reality that there'll be no more sorrow or death, but the reality that there cannot be.
The reality that in that age to come, it will not be the case that the righteous, like Lot, are vexed day by day by the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. You see, brethren, this is a means of encouragement. You are going to a place, the supper anticipates a reality where there is no more unbelieving, cowardly, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and liars. God, the Lord Most High, so structures the New Jerusalem that there is no unrighteousness there.
The people who participate are confirmed in righteousness, and those who have rejected God will be rejected by God. And their part will be in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is indeed the second death.
Summary and Application
To summarize what we've said, past remembrance in terms of memorial ordinance, present communion in terms of means of grace, and future glory, the anticipation of the age to come. Pastor Barcelos in his little book on the Lord's Supper says, the Lord's Supper reminds us of the past blesses us in the present and looks to future eating, future feasting with the Lamb in all His glory. May God indeed encourage our hearts and cause us to do this in remembrance of Him, to enjoy present communion with Him and to anticipate that blessed day when we shall see Him as He is. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You for this ordinance that You've given. I pray that You would bless and nourish and encourage Your church in this place. We thank You for Jesus. We thank You for His broken body and His shed blood.
We thank You for His humiliation, His suffering, His death at Calvary and His ultimate triumph and His current session at the right hand. And we look forward to that day when He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. We look forward to that day when we will enter into the New Jerusalem, when we will participate in all that You have secured for us. God, we pray that You would encourage us now, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.