IT’S ABOUT TIME!

 

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.  (1 Corinthians 11:26)

“It’s about time!”  You’ve heard that—usually as an expression of exasperation or relief.  You may have also heard, “Time is money.”  It is more valuable than that.  If you lose money, there is the possibility of recovering it—or gaining more.  Every tick off the clock, however, is gone forever.  Are you squandering time, spending time—or investing it in that which has eternal significance?  Each opportunity to meet and share the Lord’s Supper is an important time on the calendar.  That family meal is about time.

It is A TIME FOR REMEMBRANCE (1 Cor.11:23-25).  The phrase, “in remembrance of Me,” is used twice.  When we take the time to take the bread, it is a reminder of Christ’s body—beaten, bruised and bloodied for us.  When we drink the cup, it is a memorial to His blood—the cleansing fountain that flows from Immanuel’s veins.  It is time to recall the greatest gift to meet our greatest need.  “It is finished!” (John 19:30) as to the work to be done on the cross, but we will never cease to worship Him for what He did.

It is A TIME FOR REFLECTION (1 Cor.11:27-32).  We prepare to partake of the Lord’s Supper with a season of self-examination.  A spiritual inventory is to be a regular feature of the believer’s life.  Where are you today in your walk with Christ?  How does it compare to this time last week, last month, or last year?  Are you making progress?  Questions we should consistently consider:

• Are there any sins to confess?
• Are there any relationships to mend?
• Are there any commitments to honor? 

The Lord’s Supper is a TIME FOR REDEDICATION (1 Cor.11:26)  There is not only the past dimension of remembrance—Jesus came and died for us—and the present aspect of reflection—Jesus is here by His Spirit and wants communion with us—there is, further, the promised season of return—Jesus is coming again and that challenges us to rededicate ourselves to live in light of eternity.  There will be a time when the Lord’s Supper will be superseded by the Lamb’s Supper (Rev.19:7-10).  There will be no need for the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper, for we will actually be in His visible presence in Heaven!  So we look to the future with anticipation—and that calls us to consecration.  Right now, I will redeem my time; I will rededicate myself to serving Him, so He will find me busy when He returns.

It’s about time!

THE HOPE OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST: A Personal Connection

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26)

We are commanded to take the bread and the cup in our hands and consume it—symbolically testifying that we have a personal connection with Jesus Christ and His church.  If we do not, then it is a sham—we have eaten a sliver of unleavened bread and downed a bit of grape juice—that’s it, and we have confessed a lie making us worse than we would have been had we refused it.

Today, on this Good Friday, there is opportunity to say,

King of my life, I crown Thee now,

                                    Thine shall the glory be;
                                    Lest I forget Thine thorn-crowned brow,
                                    Lead me to Calvary.
                                    Lest I forget Gethsemane;
                                    Lest I forget Thine agony;
                                    Lest I forget Thy love for me,
                                    Lead me to Calvary. (Jennie Evelyn Hussey)

Those who nailed Jesus to the cross crowned Him with thorns—will you reject Him as they did, or will you crown Him Lord of your life today?

Can you recall a past conversion—has there been a time that you received Jesus Christ by faith?  If not, this is the day to make that choice.

Perhaps you have received Him—praise God!  But what about this:

Is there anything between your soul and your Savior that would hinder communion with Him?  Are you in fellowship with your fellow believers?  The Lord’s Supper is meant to be a time of solemn self-examination and repentance that brings cleansing.

Are you living in light of eternity?  Are you thrilled with that hope of heaven, or are you too drawn by the things of the world?  Yes, the hope of the cross takes us beyond the suffering of this present time to the glory that shall be revealed.  C.S. Lewis said it this way, “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

 

THE HOPE OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST: A Promised Consummation

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26)

We are told to observe the Lord’s Supper until Christ returns.  As we look to the past and Christ’s death on the cross, and look about us in the present communion we share with the Savior and the saints, we must also look ahead and above for the King who will return—not crowned with thorns, but glory; not with spikes in His hands, but the scepter of universal dominion.  What a day that will be!

There is this dimension of the meal—that looks to the future and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  That is when communion will be complete.  One of our church members, Harry Scruggs wrote a poem that speaks of this reality in a powerful way:

WHEN COMMUNION WITH HIM IS COMPLETE

            When you’ve dipped in the blood that was spilled in your stead

            And you’ve drunk from the cup and eaten the bread
            When your sacrifice of praises is laid at His feet
            Then communion with Him is complete.

            When the power of the Word scales the walls of your heart

            And breaks down the barriers that keep you apart
            When beams from the Son cause the shadows to flee
            Then communion with Him is complete.

            When you drink from the well and your thirst finds relief

            And trust in the Word changes doubt to belief
            When your hope and your faith overcome your defeat
            Then communion with Him is complete.

            When the cares of the world all have been laid aside

            And love for the Savior has diminished your pride
            When His will for your life of Him you entreat
            The communion with Him is complete.

            When the King of the Ages you’ve met face to face

            And knelt in His presence and His glory embraced
            When “To God Be the Glory” you forever repeat         
            The communion with Him is complete.

THE HOPE OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST: A Present Communion

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Paul is taking us back to the Upper Room where Jesus shared a meal with His disciples.  Together they observed the Passover.  All that lamb of the Old Covenant symbolized was being fulfilled in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God, who would take those same elements and institute the New Covenant. 

We call this time together in our worship, “communion.”  As we meet here, we are in the Presence of Christ and have fellowship with Him, and we share this together as a church so that we have communion with each other.

It is thrilling to know that as we come to the Lord’s Table, there is present an honored Guest taking the seat at the head of the Table—Jesus Christ Himself!  He is unseen, yet very much there.  As we look around this Table, we see His family—a banqueting hall filled with royalty—princes and princesses seated about us in sweet company, breaking bread with one another!

THE HOPE OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST: A Past Conversion

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

When we come to the Lord’s Table, and take the elements in our hands, we are directed to look back to the source of our hope.  Some 2,000 years ago a real Man hung on an actual cross and suffered a literal death and ushered in an eternal salvation!  Therefore, twice Paul records in this text these words that Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” 

We are to never forget what Jesus did for us on a hill called Calvary!  He made it possible for us to be reconciled to God.  Engrave Him on your heart!

As we personally receive Christ we are converted—from saints to sinners.  It is always good to remember where God has brought us from—or where without Him we might have been.  Some of us have been as I was, spending years manifesting the depravity of the heart—the fruit of sin within in full display by our actions.  So, as I look back I see I was rotten to the core, and how everything changed when He saved me!  Others were converted as children, and may have never exhibited the same sinful deeds to the same degree, and yet were just as evil in heart as the vilest sinner.  The fruit may not have developed, but the root contained all the latent wickedness that destines one for hell just as much as an obvious sinner.  But, in Christ, we are made new and changed from the inside out.

No wonder we all who have a past conversion can sing with enthusiasm and conviction:

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.” (John Newton)

THE HOPE OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

In the first century, when the Roman government sentenced someone to be crucified, it was a hopeless future for the condemned.  They would suffer a brutal agonizing death.

But isn’t it just like God to take a symbol of violence and turn it to victory—a cross that meant hopelessness transformed into a message of hope?  What made the difference is the Person who hung on that cross—not a criminal, but Christ.  With His sacrifice, God has lifted us from darkness into light, out of death into life and from despair to hope! 

The Lord’s Supper is meant to remind us of this truth.  It is to be done repeatedly to embed the image of the cross indelibly into our minds and hearts. 

Paul will describe this symbol of hope in three dimensions.  Our hope rests in a past conversion, a present communion and a promised consummation.  So, at the Lord’s Supper we look back, we look around and we look ahead.  The past dimension points to the historical fact of Christ dying for our sins and as we have received that transaction by faith our own historical fact of a conversion experience.  The present dimension moves us to share a communal meal with our Lord and His people, even as Jesus sat down and ate with His disciples in that upper room.  The prospective dimension reminds us that we are to come to the Lord’s Table “till He comes.”  He is coming and then the Lord’s Supper will be supplanted by the Lamb’s Supper—the marriage feast of Christ and His bride in heaven!