As we come to this Table this morning, remember—as you should remember always—that this is the Table of the new covenant. We talk a great deal about what is meant by covenant—a glorious word. But we should also reflect on what is meant by the word new. How can a ritual that we perform every week remain fresh? The answer is found in that word new.
One sense of the word new means that it just arrived. It is a chronological term. If you bought the dress or the book yesterday, you say that it is new. Or if you bought a used car, you say that it is new to you. But if something is three hundred years old, very rarely will you call it new.
But the new covenant is two thousand years old. When will it turn into an old covenant because of its antiquity? If the time of the new covenant extends for thousands of years more, such that it becomes older than the old covenant ever was, will that change anything?
The answer is no, it will not. This is because in Scripture new can refer to the quality of something, and not just quantity, as measured by the extent of time. For example, in the vision of heavenly worship, what are they singing before the throne? It is described in two ways. It is called the song of Moses—“And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints” (Rev. 15:3). But Moses lived a long time ago, and that does not keep them from singing the new song (Rev. 5:9; 14:3).
We are here at the Table of the Lord, and He is the one with the power to make all things new. Indeed, that is why He came. “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful” (Rev. 21:5). His mercies are new every morning. He has given you a new heart, and that heart is getting newer every day, as your inner man is being renewed (2 Cor. 4:16). So, come to this Table weekly, as your inner man is being renewed, knowing that the new covenant, and the cup of the new covenant, and the bread that is broken as the manna of the new covenant, are not intended to ever get old. As you come in faith, these blessings come to you as new, and are experienced by you in that way.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.