The table before us is set by God Himself. He invites us to it, and as we sit down with Him (in the person of the Lord Jesus), He deals with us. We cannot prevent this, we cannot manipulate it, we cannot turn it to our own ends. This table means what God says it …
Partaking in the Covenant
The world is covenantal. This is because the God who Himself is eternally covenanted, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the Creator of this world. He could not fashion a world in which He was not the God of it, and the heavens declare His glory. In other words, the universe must display the characteristics …
For All the Saints
The Lord’s Supper was instituted by the Lord Jesus Himself the night He was betrayed. The next example of it being observed was over a month later, on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples broke bread together. In the first, Jesus was alive and physically present with His disciples. In the second, He had …
Distinctions Within the Covenant
God makes distinctions between particular congregations. He does not divide the world into two great categories, the baptized and unbaptized, and treat them all accordingly. But neither does He treat everyone according to their individual status alone. It is true that everyone stands or falls at the Last Day one at a time, and God …
Come One, Come All
As we approach this Table, we have to be careful. One the one hand, we are encouraged to come gladly, putting away all false scruples and morbid introspection. On the other hand, we know that coming to this Table is inconsistent with stark unrepented sin. How can we teach against one error without encouraging the …
Bitterness and Baptism
You are not here at the Table by yourself. Seated here with you are all the saints of God, throughout the world, and throughout history. We are called upon to discern the body, and not just the body here in this room. But this does not exclude those who are here in this room. And …
Symbolism Creates
The Word is prior to the world. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This means that everything about that Word was prior to everything in the world. The world does not constitute reality; rather, the world reflects reality. Unlike the materialistic scientist, we do …
What God Is Like
The way God reveals Himself in time and history is a revelation in some way of His eternal nature. As God created the world, He was not composing some sort of ultimate free verse. We look at the world, and unless we are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, we see His eternal power and majesty. …
The Lord’s Supper and Priestcraft
As we develop a right approach to the Supper, which includes a weekly approach to the Supper, we have to be careful to avoid distractions. One such distraction is the charge that this “high view” of the Supper is somehow incipiently Roman Catholic. In considering a historical debate as we come to the Supper is …
Stay, and Believe in Jesus
Several years ago, we began observing the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis. Quite a bit went into that discussion beforehand, but one of the striking things about our preparations for it was the warning I got from a wise minister. He said that when we went to weekly communion, we should expect a great …