Sometimes people tend to think that the Lord’s Supper consists simply of the bread and the wine, and then the eating and drinking. But more elements are involved than just that. There is the prayer of consecration, there is the word that sets these elements apart to a holy use, then the breaking of the …
Engaged to Fresh Obedience
By the time we come to this point in the service, we have already confessed our sins. We did that at the beginning of the service, which means that we have already lamented and repented any disobedience. We wash up before we come to dinner, and dinner does not consist of constant introspection, trying to …
Obligated to Receive
As we learn from Tertullian, our word sacrament comes from sacramentum, a term that was used to describe the oath of enlistment that a soldier would take. This is a covenant meal, and covenants are God-given bonds and obligations. These bonds are not burdensome—His yoke is easy and His burden is light—but His bonds are …
Seven Courses
Not only is this a covenant meal, with all the parties to the covenant alive and present, Scripture gives us another image to use with our grasp of the word testament. “For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” (Heb. 9:17). …
No Faithy Sensation
As we heard in the message today, we are called to live from faith to faith. The just shall live by faith. But living is an all-encompassing verb. Living by faith means walking by faith, singing by faith, fellowshipping by faith, eating and drinking by faith, reflecting by faith, and meditating by faith. And faith …
Meditation and Prayer at the Table
As we come to this weekly meal, we are to come in order to meditate and pray. And as Matthew Henry put it, meditation is conversing with yourself, and prayer is conversing with God. Both are necessary, but whenever you converse, whether with yourself or with God, it is necessarily to converse intelligently. In other …
A Wall of Water on Each Side
We are instructed by Scripture to think of this meal in multiple ways. It is not just “one thing.” And four of the central aspects of this meal should be treasured in our hearts regularly. First, it is a commemoration. Jesus Himself established this pattern when He said that we were to observe the meal …
Images We Must Have
Just as it is false to say that the tabernacle in the wilderness had no artistic representations of spiritual things, so also it is false to say that new covenant church has no portrayals in it. From blue pomegranates to cherubim covering the mercy seat, the tabernacle contained such images. But they were prohibited from …
A Meal With No Biting
Let us begin by acknowledging an unfortunate reality. The apostle Paul warns Christians not to bite and devour one another (Gal. 5:15), and he does this because this is what we are sometimes tempted to do. Christians are never warned off sins that were never going to be an issue. The warning says that we …
Hot Food or Cold
A popular salvation text is Rev. 3:20. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” But this is not the door of an unconverted man, deciding whether to ask Jesus …