In this sermon, Pastor Babij examines the importance of the Lord’s Table ordinance. Pastor Babij explains how the rite is designed for baptized believers in that it causes the participant to look backward at what Christ accomplished, look inward at one’s own present walk with Christ, and look forward to a glorious future with Christ at the end of the age.
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okay I’m going to do something a little different today in this sense that I’m not in Mark today and actually the message that I was going to preach today I’m not going to preach uh but because it’s the Lord’s table I think that I want to look at the Lord’s table I haven’t done that in a while and um I think it’s a good exercise to be reminded again why we come together and partake at the Lord’s table and to look at what the scriptures do teach on that so I’m going to be looking at 1 Corinthians 11 verse 23-29 and so why don’t we turn there and let me read that and then I’ll be looking at also passages in Exodus just uh being looking at the significance of the Lord’s table for us so let’s look at that 1 Corinthians chap 11 verse vers 23 it says for I received from the Lord that which I also deliver to you that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way he took the cup also after supper saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord but a man must exam exine himself and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup for he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly for this reason many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep but if we judged ourselves rightly we would not be judged but when we are judged we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world so then my brethren when you come together to eat wait for one another if anyone is hungry let him eat at home so that you will not come together for judgment the remaining matters I will arrange when I come let me pray Lord this morning as we think of the Lord’s table I pray Lord that you would again remind us of something that we do often so Lord it does not become just something that we don’t even think about or consider why we do it so this morning I pray Lord as we look at this passage that you would remind us again of the central truth of the significance of the Lord’s table and I pray this in your name amen now we teach uh here in our church that the purpose of the church is to bring glory to God by building itself up in the Faith by instruction of the word by keeping actually the ordinances by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world and by living out the truth of scripture in its corporate identity when we gather together we come to worship the Lord we teach also that there are two ordinances that have been committed to the local church baptism which we’re going to see in a few weeks uh we have five people being baptized in a few weeks so you’re going to see that if you haven’t witnessed that before and then there is the Lord’s table which we do in our church once a month uh the first Sunday of every month we give to the Lord uh to remember the Lord’s table all right the Bible doesn’t doesn’t say that we should do it uh it it kind of says in scripture do it as often as you do meaning that it’s up to the church to decide when they do it but they should do it some Churches do it once a year some Churches do it every Sunday we decided to do it once a month uh and so that’s what we’re going to do so from time to time it’s my duty as a pastor uh in God’s Church to expose you to the teaching of the Lord’s table now some of you have a good understanding of it because you been around for a long time others have never heard what the Bible teaches on the subject still others have not yet grasp the significance of the ordinance of the Lord’s table and the meaning of an ordinance is an ordinance is an outward and visible symbolic right commanded by in the Bible to be practiced by the church which sets forth a central truth of the Christian faith now we believe from scripture the view of the Lord’s table is that of a memorial Feast whereas Believers we eat and drink the cup as Christ says in remembrance of me so the proper understanding of the Lord’s table is that it is a memorial uh which teaches the bread and the wine are mere symbols uh to remind and Aid Believers in observing both the first and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ it says in scripture remember till I come so when we as Believers obedient Believers participate in the communion service we manifest the mutual faith and fellowship in his death for us therefore communion is a time that we can remember and thank God for what he has done for us in the 1 Corinthians 11 passage of scripture in verse 23 it says for I received from the Lord that which which I also deliver to you that the Lord Jesus in the night that he was betrayed took bread now in verse 24 and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do in remembrance of me in the same way he took the cup also after supper saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me so the Lord in his infinite wisdom has designed this ordinance to have several beneficial effects on the believer as we participate in it the first one is in verse number 26 it is kind of a backward look uh to the Passover because if you notice it says as as often as you eat in verse 26 and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death now of course the Lord did this on the night of course the Passover feast was taking place so the Lord’s table is more than a memorial it is actually a message of God’s Redeeming Grace in Christ Jesus that through this ordinance we bear public testimony of our faith in Christ who died for our sins and we scripturally observe this Feast is a solemn uh and kind of a silent sermon it is even a great preacher because of the elements that we partake of when we partake of the Lord’s table so let me just investigate uh and look at some of the Old Testament Roots uh to this ordinance uh and see how it coincides that these communion right were done during the Passover meal that the Passover celebration was instituted by God when he promised to deliver his people from 400 years of slavery and bitter bondage in Egypt all right so the Passover meal celebrates the death Angels passing over the houses of those whose doorposts and lentil were smeared with Lamb’s blood now to get that I want you to turn your Bibles to Exodus 12 verse 11-4 just to remind you the significance on when the Lord instituted this it does keep in mind what happened there in the Old Testament in Exodus 12 verse 11 it says now you shall eat in this manner verse 11 with your loins girded your sandals on your feet your staff in your hand and you shall eat in haste it is the Lord’s Passover verse 12 of Exodus 12 for I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and Beast and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment I am the Lord verse 13 the blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you live and when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt now this day will be a memorial to you and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord throughout all throughout your Generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent or ordinance now he’s giving this to Israel so we first see here that it is God word first it is the Lord’s Passover the Lord will provide a lamb and then of course secondly it is usw I will pass over you it says there it shows God is merciful toward his people and Sovereign over all powers both evil and good able to be bring Deliverance at any time now according to uh some they believe that the order of service for the Passover was four cups of wine or the fruit of the vine and four promises were given now if we look at Exodus we find uh if you go back a few chapters actually six chapters to Exodus chapter 6 and verse number five you will see there that in verse chapter 6 verse number five it says furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage and I have remembered my Covenant so the F first cup of wine would be the cup of remembrance not that God has to be reminded of anything that’s not the point the point is that God said that he would deliver his people now it was time to do that so he remembers his Covenant that he made with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and so he says there in verse number five of chapter six I I have remembered my Covenant the host pronounced blessing in the service over the first cup of the fruit of the vine or the red wine and passed it around and the first promise found in verse number six of Exodus chapter 6 it says this for therefore I to the sons of Israel I am the Lord I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will deliver you from their bondage I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgment so see as they did this and as they were ready for God to remember the Covenant then they were to eat a Passover meal then bitter herbs dipped in a fruit sauce was eaten and a message was given on the meaning of Passover and again Exodus 12 verse 26 you can turn there as I move back and forth in verse number 26 it says and when your children say to you what does this right mean Exodus 12:26 verse 27 you shall say it is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the house of the sons of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians but spared our homes and the people bowed low and worship and then in Chapter 13 in verse number eight it says you shall tell your son on that day saying it is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt so see after drinking this first cup they actually went out and they sang A H Psalm song in Psalm 14 uh verse 1-8 where it says something to this effect when Israel went forth from Egypt the house of Jacob from a people of strange Lang strange language Jud his Sanctuary Israel his Dominion the sea looked and fled the Jordan turned back the mountain skipped like Rams and then onward it says tremble o Earth before the Lord before the god of Jacob the rock into a pool of water and Flint into a fountain of water just giving praise to the Lord for him remembering uh them and taking care of them then a second cup of wine would be passed of course in Exodus 66 and that would be the cup of Deliverance where it says in Exodus 66 I deliver you from I will deliver you from their bondage so this second cup was the host broke uh and passed around the unleavened bread and then a meal was eaten of roasted lamb where it says in Exodus 12 it says in verse number three Congregation of Israel saying on the 10th of this month they are to eat they are each one to take a lamb for themselves according to their father’s household a lamb for each household and then verse five your lamb shall be an un blemished male a year old you may take it from the sheep or from the goats you shall keep it until the day of the same month then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at Twilight verse 7even moreover they shall take some of the blood and put it on the doorpost and on the lentil of the houses in which they eat they shall eat the flesh that same night roast it with fire and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with rather roast it with fire both the head and its legs along with his entrails and you shall not leave any of it over until morning but whatever is left of it until morning you shall burn with fire now you shall eat it in this manner with your loins dirt it your sandals on your feet your staff in your hand and you shall eat it in haste it is the Lord’s Passover so so from this passage we can see the meal was to be eaten until nothing was left the meal was to be eaten in a hurry it was to be eaten with your clothes on with your sh your shoes on your feet your staff in your hand meaning it was to be eaten to leave all right they were going to be delivered from Egypt so it was really an Act of Faith too how did they know after 400 years they were going to be delivered from E Egypt it seemed like God wasn’t speaking to them and yet this is what the Lord says to do so this was an act of to trust that at this very moment the Lord was going to do something for his people so the second promise was I will deliver you from bondage that was the promise that he gave to the people and then in Exodus chapter 6 verse 6 which I read already there was a third cup and that was the cup of redemption it says in Exodus 6 I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments that God was going to step in and he was going to redeem his people he was going to buy his people back and snatch them from the Egyptians and he was going to do it with great judgments along with his Deliverance so this third promise was I will redeem you and of course the rest of the Hillel Psalm was sung uh in Psalm 115 to 1118 Psalm 116:13 it says I shall lift up the cup of Salvation and call upon the name of the Lord and the Hebrew term of course for salvation is the is that of re Redemption the cup of wine was the cup of Deliverance or the cup of Salvation and then in Exodus chapter 6 in verse 7even there was a fourth cup and that was the cup of acceptance where in Exodus 67 says then I will take you for my people and I will be your God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians so that fourth promise in verse 7 of Exodus 6 I will take you for my people and I will be your God so in each case we see that this particular order of service had God’s remembering the Covenant secondly God saying that I will deliver you thirdly that God says to them I will redeem you I will deliver you I will provide salvation to you and then ultimately through this I will accept you now that was the message that was coming and every time a Passover meal was done in a Hebrew family that was in their mind that God that’s why that’s such a significant event in the Bible you find it all over the place so the order of service for the Lord’s Supper that we partake of today is there’s one cup of wine the fruit of the vine and there are of course all the promises go with that one cup that this cup that we drink is actually the third cup and this third cup has become the Lord’s cup that we drink at the Lord’s table the third cup has become the communion cup the cup of redemption it’s actually in uh the Gospel of Luke 22:20 Jesus took this cup and blessed it and instead of this cup representing the blood blood of an unblemished lamb it now represents his blood for it says in Luke 22:20 in the same way he took the cup and after they had eaten saying this cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood so now Jesus was saying that he is the Passover Lamb he is the one who will remember the Covenant he is the one who will provide salvation and will pro pro provide Deliverance for his people so Jesus gave some brief words of warning rebuke and instruction and then a meal was eaten now the elements of the meal that we partake of at the Lord’s table are the bread and the bread that represented The Exodus now came to represent the body of Christ through his death he brings deliverance from sin sin’s condemnation from sin’s curse and from sin’s bondage we were born into bondage every one of us were born into bondage the day we came into this world we were under the bondage of sin we had a sin nature that was transmitted to us because of Adam’s sin and so we were ultimately going to sin because we were Sinners by Nature Jesus of of course sin separates us from God sin brings the condemnation of God upon us and so therefore if we die in our sin we die separated from God for all eternity so the Lord had to do something about that he had to provide something that would Deliver Us from the greatest bondage that we couldn’t deliver ourselves from and that’s sin’s bondage and so that’s what he does and then the cup that had represented the Lamb’s blood smeared on the doorpost and lentils now came to represent the blood of the Lamb of God for the Salvation of lost Sinners that his blood does not just provide covering of our sin like it did in the Old Testament they had to do that year after year after year after year the day of atonement it provided for those who know Christ a complete and a total washing way of sin a wiping away of sin forever never having that sin come back up and judge you before God because Jesus Christ is the one who bore all the Judgment for all our sin every single last one of them and even the ones you forgot about so the bread and the wine which is eaten remind us of our Salvation that our Salvation is achieved through Christ’s death alone and his resurrection secures our salvation for all eternity so under the old Covenant based on the law of Moses that just brought condemnation but under the New Covenant based on jesus’ blood blood frees from all condemnation therefore the Passover was into the Lord’s Supper which of once a month and so what they did in the Old Testament they ended again with uh a Psalm and at the end of Psalm 136 it says for his loving kindness is Everlasting the loving kindness of God would be a that is Everlasting that is for sure now thinking of that let’s turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and notice that when we this ordinance there is definitely a backward look we are looking to what happened in the Old Testament but there is also an inward look this particular ordinance if you notice in 1 Corinthians 11: 27 and that means there’s a present aspect to it therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an shall be guilty of the body of the Lord but a man must examine himself in so doing his he is to eat of the bread and to drink of the cup so see this this present aspect is that is an to your own heart because our hearts were riddled with sin our emotions our will our desires were riddled with dis and wanting to go the other way of the way in the way that God wanted us to go so here self-examination is part of what we do here at the Lord’s table it’s to be practiced Faithfully before participating of the element of the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine the realization that we are coming to think about his death for really should be an ample cause to search our and lives and to confess any selfishness or any greed or bitterness or uncleanness or Rebellion or anything you are doing that does not please God that you are not doing that you should be doing to confess sins of any sort and then turn to the Lord that before we partake of the Lord’s table so you see it’s the Lord’s Supper that calls us again and again to this scripturally healthy exercise you are never commanded to stay away from the we are command examine ourselves with a heart searching examination then partake of the Lord’s table that’s what we’re to do and so always this inward aspect of meeting together of the Lord’s table there’s also this you know this pass aspect to it but there is also a future aspect to it we’re looking forward to something because in in a very real sense our deliverance Complete because we’re still in these bodies there’s no way we can go into the presence of God in these fleshly bodies we need a resurrected body to be in the presence of God of course before we get that resur Souls will be in the presence of God but if you notice in verse 2 it says this for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes so there is this forward looking aspect to the Lord’s table Lord’s coming points forward to Christ’s sure return three words point to this until he comes so when we sit at the Lord’s table declare our belief in the return of the Lord to the world that we believe in a future day when we shall eat and drink with Christ in his eternal Kingdom if you just verse number 25 of 1 Corinthians 11 it says in the same way and also after supper saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this as often as you drinking in rem me so anyone who drinks this is a partaker in the New Covenant in my blood so in the Passover meal this was known as the third cup the cup of redemption drinking the cup of communion symbolizes that we are with God because of his shed blood on our behalf that God has remembered that God delivered that the Lord has redeemed us and so a forward look is a reminder of our Lord’s coming again for he tells us Proclaim his death in this way until he comes so we’re to partake of this ordinance as a and all biblical churches are until the Lord comes coming I don’t know but he’s coming all right and it looks like our day that it’s even closer than ever he is coming so in other words it keeps us to to partake of the elements in this way we are where we have this past understanding of it that the Lord does keep his promises that we have this present understanding of it that we are to examine our hearts because sin still causes problems in a believer’s life so we’re to caness it repent of it and bring it to the Lord because remember the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us all our sins and to Cle cleanse us from all our unrighteousness it tells us in first John so we’re to practice confessing our sin knowing that the Lord has already taken care of that sin and covered it and washed it away so a forward look means that we desire and are making ourselves ready for his presence we’re aware of this we understand this and by the way we have drunk the third cup the cup of redemption but according to the way it falls out we have not drink we will not drink the fourth cup and the fourth cup remember is the cup of acceptance yes we have been accepted in the Beloved But ultimately where it says in Revelation in other places that God will be our God and we will be his people when will that take place remember I usually use use Matthew 26 uh when I when we have our communion service and I say but I it says in Matthew 26:29 but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my father’s Kingdom so see we have a forward look that someday we will all be together in the father’s Kingdom and we will be drinking with him the cup of acceptance and in that we will know that God has taken care of everything he needed to for our salvation and that we will be he will be our God and we will be his people and there will be nothing that to divide us or keep us from fellowship with him ever again we will drink it in the father’s Kingdom and it will be new as never having existed before also tense of the verb used there is for drinking is translated be drinking for the feast shall never end it’s going to be an ongoing feast and that’s why after that they got up from the Mount of Olives and they went out and sang A Hymn all right they probably sang in Old Testament Hill L praise him giving God the praise and the glory for all that he has promised all that he has done and all that he will do so there is an already and not yet aspect of partaking of the Lord’s table at least not in its fullness so we’re looking forward to full Redemption someday where we are delivered from this life and this world and this body into the presence of God where there will be a new Heaven and a new Earth where all righteousness will dwell well we have a a resurrected body to fellowship and stand with in front of the glory of God without being consumed we’re going to see God in a way that we never could see him and only God’s people will see that everybody else will be cast out that’s why hell is often referred to as Darkness because there would be there will be no glory of God there there’ll just be the wrath of God there so let me just mention at this point that the the only people who can make such a bad backward look an inward look and a forward look are those who are his blood bought children consequently no one has the right to parti participate in this service who does not believe that he or she is Redeemed by the precious blood of Christ in fact the only ones who should participate in the Lord’s table are those who are saved observably no one who does not know Christ can remember him at the Lord’s table to be saved through faith in him means at least four things that I mention all the time that that person faces realis istically the problem of their own personal sin that they are in sin they are born into sin and they are under judgment and condemned because of their sin once they realize that they have to come to the conclusion well if I’m under God’s condemnation because of my sin who can take care of my sin well that brings them to God’s remedy for sin and that’s Jesus Christ he’s the remedy for sin he is the one who sheds his blood he is the one who washes away our sin with his blood and then once they do that and well how can I receive Christ as my Lord and Savior well by obtaining this provision you have to repent of your sin and your unrighteousness and your unbelief and by faith alone not trust in the church not trust in your good works not trust in some kind of ordinance not even the Lord’s table we’re not trusting in the ordinance we’re trusting Jesus Christ to save us us to wash away our sin and then of course after that then of course that person becomes a candidate to now T partake of the Lord’s table but remember this that no unsa person should uh should partake of the Lord’s table in fact they should refrain from part partaking of the Lord’s ordinance of communion until they believe but there’s something else only those who are baptized should partake of the Lord’s table because baptism logically proceedes the Lord’s table although no one verse in the word of God commands this order the apostles baptized promptly after conversion so those who came to the Lord’s table were already baptized so furthermore Union with Christ proceedes communion with Christ as baptism symbolizes the believer’s union with Christ so the Lord’s Supper symbolizes his communion with Christ so the symbols of these facts belong in logical order and therefore those who have not yet been saved or baptized should not participate in the Lord’s table be because it is for God’s children in summary the Lord’s table is the commemoration and proclamation of his death until he comes and should be always preceded by Solomon examination and in the end a praise celebration a singing of the hand of of a hymn the rejoicing of the heart the thanking the lord again for what he’s done and the reason for this is because it is a picture of us sitting down having a meal with our Lord in whom we remain in peaceful Fellowship even today with him now and forever awaiting the day when we will be with the father in his kingdom drinking the cup of acceptance the cup of full acceptance both in the promise and then of course in the reality so that’s in in a in a sense giving to you this morning an quick overview of the Lord’s table so that when we come to it this morning which we’re going to do right now so if the men who are serving you can come forward right now and that you can now know that when I come to this ordinance it a lot of stuff a lot of theology is encompassed in US participating in the eating of the bread representing the body of Christ and the drinking of the fruit of the vine representing the blood of Christ and so I look backward I look inward to my heart and I look forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and in that way I can answer those questions too that I am a believer I’ve trusted in Christ as my own Lord and savior I’ve repented of my unbelief and received Christ and called upon him as my own Lord and Savior and after that I obeyed him by walking in the waters of baptism which baptism is that picture that we now come into Union with Christ when we’re in the water we are saying that to be buried in the water is to be have our old life buried and to raise up from the water is to have our new life we were raised up to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus so it’s that picture so these two ordinances are no mistake and so connected to each other in scripture and the Lord that’s all the Lord left us these are the commanded things that the Lord’s given us so they become very important so I I wanted to remind you again my year and a half reminder of the Lord’s table and as we partake take of it that we can um again have a little bit more understanding of what we’re doing so why don’t we uh just take a few minutes uh examine ourselves if we haven’t done so and uh just look at where you’re at with the Lord confess your known sin he’s faithful and just to forgive you of those things and then come with a joyful heart a solemn heart uh partake of the Lord’s table and thank him that he’s coming back again he’s going to complete this plan that he started amen okay let’s do that and I’ll come back and um we’ll look at the word of God