We have said many times that the structure of a covenant renewal worship service is built around the pattern set by the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Our corporate confession of sin corresponds to the guilt offering, fulfilled in the death of Jesus. Our psalm singing and listening to Scripture read, and hearing the sermon, …
The Father and Fat Souls
God is our Father, and one of the things that fathers are called to do is provide. “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Prov. 10:22). Now this meal is the blessing of the Lord—we are told explicitly that the cup is the cup of blessing. Now …
And We Are That Loaf
Now as we speak of the mysteries involved in the Lord’s Supper, and they are many and deep, we need to occasionally speak a word of caution against a superstitious approach to the Supper. In short, the difference between superstition and evangelical faith is a difference between an unthinking acceptance of impersonal magic throughout all …
Exactly So
Last week we considered the truth that we do more than consume in this meal—we are consumed as well. If the entire congregation is the loaf, as St. Paul plainly teaches, then we are—all of us—both eating and being eaten. We consume and are consumed. Christ gives Himself to us, certainly. But we also surrender …
To Be Consumed
The apostle Paul plainly teaches us that when we partake of the bread in this Supper, we are partaking of the body of Christ, and by this he includes the entire congregation. “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). But …
Wine of Astonishment
In Psalm 60:3, the judgments of God are described as making Israel drink the “wine of astonishment.” That astonishment was the result of seeing God shake everything. God makes the earth tremble and shake, and those who observe are undone. The wine we drink here at this Table is also the wine of astonishment. The …
Bread and Wine From Salem
In Genesis 14:18, Scripture tells us that Abraham was met by Melchizedek. “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” We are expressly taught in the New Testament that Melchizedek is a type of Christ. If we take that type and apply it …
Growing Up Into Gladness
This is a meal of gladness, and not of gloom. We see this in many different ways, but one of them can be seen in the elements that the Lord chose for us to remember Him by. “And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and …
In the Midst of the Throne
This meal that we are privileged to have before us is a meal of foreshadowing. God is directing all of human history toward a glorious culmination, and that culmination will be a feast. We see a glimpse of this in how the martyrs coming out of the great tribulation were received by God. “Therefore are …
Not Too Young to be Carried
How does God feed us? In that great passage from the servant songs in Isaiah, the prophet says, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” (Is. 40:11). Notice that God does …