One of our great responsibilities in the Lord’s Supper is to look around. By this I mean looking around metaphorically and looking around actually. We would encourage you not to stare at the bread and the wine, and we would encourage you not to curl up into a little ball of pious thoughts. Look around. …
Sacramental Synecdoche
One of the great doctrines of Scripture is the doctrine of union with Christ. The phrase in Christ or related phrases occurs in Paul’s letters over 170 times. It occurs in the book of Ephesians over 30 times. Now for those who are Christ’s this union is the case all the time. But Scripture also …
Room and Board
When Nicolas Ridley was Bishop of London, he undertook the important reform of “stripping the altars.” Churches then had multiple altars, in the front of the church and in many side alcoves. Ridley ordered these all be removed, and replaced with a wooden table, a “decent table.” He referred to this as the “Lord’s board,” …
The Axis of Regeneration
As the Old Testament saints looked forward into the future, as Abraham did, rejoicing to see the day of Christ, they were looking forward to the times of refreshing, the times of the regeneration. But we must not think of this regeneration simply as an event, or the arrival of an era. There is a …
All Kernel, No Shell
Faith sees. Faith knows. Faith apprehends. We know that without faith it is impossible to please God, and the converse is also true. Whenever genuine faith is present and active, that faith is a gift from God, and God is always pleased with His own gifts. If He stirs us up to something, then He …
You May Put Them in Your Mouth
This Supper is all about the future. This is an eschatological meal at the end of the world that we are privileged to share in now. Just as the Spirit of God escorts us all into the heavenly places so that we may partake of the living Christ there, so also the Spirit unites past, …
A Table, and No Altar
We have before us a Table, and not an altar. The distinction is not a slight one. We have gathered to offer a sacrifice, but it is a sacrifice of thanksgiving—not a sacrifice of propitiation. Propitiation is accomplished on an altar, and in God’s purposes that altar was the altar of the cross—prefigured throughout the …
Continuing to Receive
When we come to this Table to receive the elements of bread and wine, we are coming here to receive Jesus Christ Himself. We do not do this because we have not yet received Him, but rather we do this as part of our ongoing and lifelong reception of Christ. Of course, when we first …
Where He Offers Himself
There are many aspects to this Supper, but one of them is that it is an expression of loyalty. In this meal, the Lord offers Himself to all who come to Him in faith, and all who come to Him in faith offer themselves in return, in a devout imitation. Christ offers Himself. We may …
A Personal Work
The sacraments are not a thing in themselves. The sacraments are what they are because they are an instrument or tool in the hand of God. And the way God wields His instrument or ministry of this Supper is through the agency of the Holy Spirit. There is therefore no blessing here apart from a …