The prophet Habakkuk tells us in a certain place that though earthly food may fail us, God will remain our portion. He says it this way: Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The …
Bread and Wine Multiply
The Lord Jesus enacted the true nature of the world for us when He fed the 5,000 and the 4,000. In both cases, He refuted the central tenet of unbelief, which is that resources are scarce, and that God must be a skinflint. Zero-sum thinking is the idea that more for one person means less …
A Large Bowl of Mercy
When we think of manna, we tend to think of daily provision, or the fact that manna was the Lord Jesus in a type. This is all good, but there is a good deal more. Recall also that when the manna was gathered, it was to be gathered for that day—sufficient unto the day is …
Communion as Comfort Food
Our God is the God of all comfort. His Table is the Table of peace. We know that we are to confess and set aside our sins before we come, but we also need to be reminded that we should confess and set aside our fears. This is a holy Table, and so we know …
Setting Down Your Disputes
This Table is a place where you should set aside all disputes when You come. In the first place, set aside any disputes you have with God. If you dispute with God, you will be confounded. Will the one who is made say to Him who is His maker, why have you made me like …
A Two-Fold Virtue
The principle of new life is given instantaneously. There is no middle ground between death and life. Once a man is regenerated, he is no longer dead in his sins. Until he is quickened, he is entirely dead. There is no gradation between death and life. This is why the Scripture teach us plainly that …
Name Tags and the Lord’s Supper
This is the Table of the Lord, just as the Bible is the Word of the Lord. Both the Table and the Word contain great and precious promises. But here is the question, one that has troubled many (in one sense) and not troubled near enough (in another). Are these promises for you? Is your …
A Body That Could Die
The body that was broken for you was a body broken on the cross. But the body that was broken on the cross was the same body that was formed in the womb of the virgin. And that body was taken on by the eternal Word in order that it might be broken. The blood …
Christ Is Not at the End of a Supply Chain
The Puritan William Bridge noted that it is “man’s disposition to come to God at the second hand.” As we approach the Supper, we are sometimes tempted to think of God as the wholesaler, and the minister of the particular church as the retailer. But that is not how this is at all. God is …
Repentance Within
The accounts of the Lord’s behavior in the gospels tell us repeatedly that He would eat with outcasts. This included Gentiles outside the covenant of Israel, and we sometimes might assume that this was the point. But while Jesus did have “other sheep” that were not from the Jewish fold (John 10:16), He also would …