The Lord's Table and the Lord's Supper According to the Scripture
Gordon Henry Hayhoe
Table of Contents
The Lord's Table and the Lord's Supper According to the Scripture
AND
THE LORD'S SUPPER
ACCORDING TO THE
SCRIPTURE
THE TRUE CHURCH—THE LORD'S TABLE
AND THE LORD'S SUPPER
In order for us to learn the truth of God we need to acquaint ourselves with God's precious Word, the Bible, for "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3:16,17, and we are exhorted to "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. 5:21. The way we prove that what we hear is the truth of God is to be like the Bereans of old, who when they heard Paul preaching, "they searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so, therefore many of them believed." Acts 17:11,12.
There are many true born again children of God who have come to the Lord Jesus Christ as guilty sinners and have believed the wonderful truth of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." They know they are saved by the assurance of God's Word, "These things I have I written unto you that believe on the Name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life." 1 John 5:13.
Now what we desire to show, is that the same Word of God, the Bible, which tells us the way of salvation does not leave us to choose, and "Go to the church of our choice," for it also shows us what the church of God is, how we become part of it, and how we should gather together as believers in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is one very simple verse, spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself in Matt. 16:18, that tells who is the Builder of the true church. He said, "I will build My church." He spoke these words to Peter, and we learn from Peter's epistle that the church is composed of "living stones", true believers who are "built up a spiritual house." 1 Peter 2:5. When a person is saved by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior, then he or she does not have to choose and join a man-made church organization, having some chosen name in order to become a church member. We read in Acts 2:47, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." The moment a person is saved, the Lord adds him or her to His church, and such persons become living stones in the church that Christ is building.
We know that we are saved on the authority of the Word of God, and we know also that we have been added to the true church which the Lord Jesus Christ is building. Now the next question is in what Name should we gather? The Lord Jesus Himself, the true Builder of the church, answers that question for us. He said, "for where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them." Matt. 18:20. It is His church and the Spirit of God would seek to gather us together in His Name. Could we have any more wonderful Name than His, for He is "Head over all things to the church which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." Eph. 1:22,23.
The church of God, then, is a spiritual building composed of living stones, and it is also spoken of as the body of Christ, "For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free: and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." 1 Cor. 12:13, "Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular." (1 Cor. 12:27)
The Bible also shows us that as gathered together to the precious Name of the Lord Jesus Christ we can give expression to the truth that the church of God is one—the body of Christ. This is brought before us in 1 Cor. 10:15-21. This is the one and only Scripture in the New Testament that speaks about the Lord's table. We read about the Lord's supper in 1 Cor. 11, but the Lord's table is brought before us first by the Spirit of God, for surely it is very precious to be at the Lord's table to partake of the Lord's supper.
There are some precious things about the Lord's table that the Spirit of God brings before us that touch our hearts as we lay hold of them. We notice that "the cup of blessing" is mentioned first in chapter 10, while in chapter 11, the cup is second. Surely the Lord would remind us that our title to be at His table is only through the precious blood of Christ, as we read in Heb. 10:19,20, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way." How wonderful to be at His table, "holy and without blame before Him in love." Eph. 1:4.
Then the one loaf is brought before us next, and in this chapter it is given to us as a symbol of the spiritual body of Christ of which every believer is a member. We are told about this in 1 Cor. 10:17, "For we being many are one bread (loaf) for we are all partakers of that one bread (loaf)." It is also instructive to notice that at the feast of Pentecost in Lev. 23:17, they kept the feast with bread "baken with leaven,"
because when the loaf, as in 1 Cor. 10 is a figure of believers (the one body), we still have the old nature in us, but it is not to be active, as yeast (leaven) is not active after the bread has been baked (see Rom. 6:11).
We now come to 1 Cor. 11 and as we have already noticed the subject in this chapter is the Lord's supper. We are therefore reminded here that it was on the night of the Lord's betrayal that He Himself instituted the Lord's supper, the remembrance of the glorious work of redemption accomplished at Calvary. The loaf comes first here, a symbol of His physical body and the remembrance of all that He suffered when bearing our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). In those hours of darkness, He was made sin for us, "that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). Then it was after He had borne all the judgment for us and cried, "It is finished," and had dismissed His spirit (John 19:31), that the soldier pierced His blessed dead side and the precious blood flowed forth. The work was finished, and His precious blood cleanseth us from "all sin." (1 John 1:7). It is in the Lord's supper that we remember the cost of our redemption. God would keep it ever fresh in our minds, when on the first day of the week we come together to break bread (Acts 20:7) and He has asked us to continue with this remembrance until He comes (1 Cor. 11:26).
Now we have already noticed that the Scriptural way to meet together is in His Name as members of the body of Christ of which all true believers are part. We learn in 1 Cor. 10:6-22 that it is in separation from all that is contrary to truth and holiness, for holiness is the eternal principle of God's house, as we read in Psa. 93:5, "Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh Thine house, 0 Lord forever." As believers we are responsible to examine ourselves and confess any sins that have been allowed in our lives (1 Cor. 11:28, 1 John 1:9). There are some sins that are to be judged by the assembly, for God's assembly is responsible to maintain holiness. Careful instruction as to this is given in 1 Cor. 5:11-13 and 2 Tim. 2:18-21, so that there is to be separation from moral and doctrinal evil, because if it is allowed it defiles the whole assembly for "a little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump." This is spoken of as to moral evil in 1 Cor. 5:6, and as to evil doctrine in Gal. 5:9.
It is popular and accounted respectable in the religious Christian world to have a church name, but the Word of God is to be our guide and in Christianity "Christ is all and all" (Col. 3:11). We are exhorted in Heb. 13:13. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp bearing His reproach." We all know that there is a reproach when we confess Jesus as our Lord, and there is often a further reproach when we confess that we meet in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, not as a members of some man made church organization, but as members of the one body of Christ according to His Word.
God has one Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, His own beloved eternal Son, whom He delights to honor, and Who is the only gathering center for the members of His body,—the church for whom He gave Himself. "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Eph. 5:25-27.
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