This morning is the time when we have all come together, not primarily to receive. Oh, how we have received during this week from the Lord. But there is a time when we ought to return whatever He has given us, and to learn to give unto Him, who alone is worthy.
And this is the whole idea behind this time around the Lord’s table. This is the time when we remember Him—remember His sufferings, remember His agony, and remember the price that He had to pay in order to bless us and give us all His wonderful gifts.
I do believe that if a lot of people do not really understand the price—what it cost—their lives will, in the end, be superficial. They will be careless.
Today, we see in many ways that many people are careless with the things that they have because they have come so easily to them. Isn’t that true? We live in a rich part of the world, and we receive many material blessings and benefits. We are wealthy people, and that could very easily spoil us. We could very easily tend to be careless because we do not understand the price.
So now we are together to remember only one thing, and that is how much it cost the Lord to bring us into eternal life.
Let us turn and read from 1 Corinthians, first from Chapter 10, verse 16.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?
Seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread.
And let us read from the next chapter, from verse 17.
But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better but for the worse.
For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and I partly believe it.
For there must be also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you.
When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord’s supper:
For in your eating each one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, This is My body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of Me.
In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till He come.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.
For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
I do think that the Lord really wants us to come to His table in a worthy manner. What is it to partake at this table in a worthy manner?
I do believe we need to watch that it does not easily become a tradition, a ceremony that we do Sunday after Sunday. We need to come today to the table as if it were the first time ever in our lives that we were invited to partake of the Lord Himself.
A worthy manner—what is the worthy manner? First of all, to partake at this table in a worthy manner is really to remember the Lord. The Lord said, “Remember Me.”
Now, we have been sharing on great matters of God, and we have been sharing on prayer and ministry. This is the time when we even put that aside for a moment and remember the Lord. He did not say, “Remember My word.” He did not say, “Remember My truth.” He did not say, “Remember My blessings.” But He did say, “Remember Me.”
And He wants us to remember Him as the One who died. Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus died. He died.
We are not just now remembering Him in His resurrection, nor in His glorious ascension. We are now remembering Him as the One who died for us and took all that awful load of suffering upon Him because of our sins, and opened up the way for us to enter into the presence of our Father.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus, He died. He suffered. He wants us to remember that. He wants us to understand that He had to pay the price.
May the Lord help us, that we are not sleeping like Simon Peter. When the Lord went through His agony in the garden of Gethsemane, he slept. He was not aware of the great burden that was upon his Lord and Master.
We know that throughout all eternity, the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself as the Lamb of God, newly slain. We will never, ever get away from remembering that the Lord was slain.
In His body alone will be the remembrance that there is something called sin. His nail-pierced hands and the hole in His side will never be removed. He will be recognized in eternity as the Lamb of God, newly slain.
Oh, brothers and sisters, have you forgotten that the Lord died? Have you forgotten that He suffered? As truly as it is that His blood was separated from His body, this is what we are reminded of. Everyone who has his blood separated from his body is truly dead. He died.
How can we remember Him in a worthy manner? Only by bringing Him the sacrifices of praise; only by going out to Him, as we learn in Hebrews 13.
Let us leave the city and go out through the gate and meet with Him outside the gate, where He died as a criminal. Let us bear His reproach.
You see, the reason why we do not really know how to worship the Lord in a deep way is that we are not going out of this city. It speaks of the business of our lives, the many things that we care for, the many things we are occupied with, the whole society; and it speaks sometimes also of all the things we are occupied with in our fellowship.
The Lord wants us to leave, go out from the city, and meet with that lonely Person for Himself, bearing His reproach. And there it is, out there, brothers and sisters, that we are able to offer up sacrifices of praise through Him.
Remember the Lord. Oh, let us worship Him. Let us come to Him. Let us concentrate on Him. Let us leave anything—everything else—and just go out and be with Him.
Let me close this little word by turning to Hebrews, Chapter 13, and read a few verses from verse 8.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and for ever.
Be not carried away by divers and strange teachings: for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by meats, wherein they that occupied themselves were not profited.
We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat that serve the tabernacle.
For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned without the camp.
Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered without the gate.
Let us therefore go forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.
For we have not here an abiding city, but we seek after the city which is to come.
Through Him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to His name.
Now, it is put here in verse 9 that we are not to be strengthened by food. But as we partake at His table, we are to be strengthened by grace.
Remember that, brothers and sisters. When we come to this table, we come to this place of grace. That is why it speaks here of an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
Because we have no part in what He did. We have not helped God. We could not do a thing. He went out alone.
And in His last days, they all left Him. All His disciples turned their backs on Him, and they left Him, and He was alone. He alone could do it. No human hand could help Him.
We have no part in the work of salvation. It is all His work—one hundred percent. And as we come to this table, we must realize that it is all by grace. He did it.
You and I are stripped naked of everything and anything. We have not got the slightest part. He had to take the burden—remember that—the whole burden, the full burden. We could not do one little tiny thing. We could not atone for anything.
We have no right. We have no part in this altar. It was only the dear Son of God, and Him alone, who was able to carry that burden.
Oh, brothers and sisters, do remember: He died. He died for us. We are remembering His death. His blood was separated from His body as a token of His death.
But we are invited, nevertheless. Although we have no part, He made us partakers of His life. He made us share in the outcome of His sacrifice.
He has become the bread of life. He has become the very life in which every one of us who has met Him as our Savior partakes.
Oh, brothers and sisters, forget about all your spiritual knowledge. Lay aside all your questions, and, for that matter, lay aside all your burdens. Get out of the camp this morning and come and meet with Him.
Let us concentrate and remember Him and His death. And now there we shall be able this morning, I trust, as never before, to open up our mouths and offer up sacrifices of praise.
Oh, may the Lord help us. May we truly see that afresh. May we see the Lamb of God, newly slain, and may we join, brothers and sisters, the heavenly hosts this morning around the throne, who are singing, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb who was slain.”
This has become the center of heavenly worship. It will never, ever be forgotten that He sacrificed His life. This is the center of everything.
Oh, I do pray that the Lord, by His Spirit, will reveal afresh the death and the sufferings of our Lord.
Lord, we praise You and thank You. We now can leave the camp, all of us, Lord, and we can willingly and consciously go out of this city to meet with You this morning.
Lord, we have come once again to look upon You, to bear Your reproach, and to fellowship with You in Your sufferings; to marvel and wonder that You were willing, Lord. You were willing to carry the burden. You were willing to die.
Lord, we do thank You and praise You this morning. We have come to offer up sacrifices of praise. Lord, enable us by Your Spirit. We are so empty, Lord. We are so cold. We are so emotionless. You know that we are so dead, Lord.
Lord, sustain us with Your Spirit, that we may truly worship and give praise to Your precious Son this morning. Thank You. Amen.