The Lord's Supper

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:23-24)

What is to be had at the feast of the Lord's Supper? What is to be had that is not to be had in other places and in other means of grace? I believe part of the answer is - the felt presence of Christ; not always, I grant you, but sometimes. Sometimes at the Lord's Supper, there is a special communication of grace to those at the Table; it registers in a sweet inward quietness of soul. It issues sometimes in tears of unspeakable gladness.

 Dear Christian friends let us not allow the troubles of this world to cloud our joy as we prepare to come to the Lord's Table. It is a very evil world, a very evil generation and there are many things to trouble us in church and state. Why should these things spoil our enjoyment of Christ? He lived in a troubled time, just as we do. Christians have, more-or-less, always lived in a troubled time. When was this world not a troubled place since Adam took from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; it has been troubled ever since. Therefore, let us seek to lay aside our anxieties, fears, worries and troubles. Let us seek to forgive one another and to love one another, and to realize that very soon, you and I, by grace, will be feasting at another table.

There are churches where everybody takes the Lord's Supper without a thought or qualm, because nobody ever told them that it is for believers only - for born again believers only. It is for those who are justified and sanctified, and kept and preserved by Christ, for those whose lives are holy, for those who live by faith in Scripture, who are dead to the world and whose hope is Christ crucified. Some congregations are never told these things; they are, tragically, eating and drinking to their own condemnation as the apostle Paul told us was happening in Corinth. It is a terrible thought and the principal cause of their ignorance is the preacher himself, and he will answer to God for his errors one day.

We mustn't carry a good thing too far. We are always in danger of extremism as fallen men and women. Whilst it is true that the Lord's Supper is for believers only, yet, at the same time, it is for all believers - not just a few choice elite believers. It is not just for strong believers or advanced believers. It is for all believers.