How Should I Remember Him? – Communion Meditation

The Believer's Struggle to Rightly Remember Christ at Communion

0:01 The following communion meditation was delivered on Sunday evening, November 5th, 1995, at the Trinity Baptist Church of Montville, New Jersey.

0:14 Now, unless you are a visitor amongst us who has never or rarely attended a communion service that at least in some measure captures the simplicity of the New Testament order instituted by the Lord Jesus for this supper, then surely you would agree with me when I say that one of the most familiar phrases in conjunction with this table is found in the words, In remembrance of me. We have heard some of us over the years, now probably hundreds of times, the words of institutions, central to which are the words, In remembrance of me. They are found in several places. I am quoting them as they are found in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 24. And surely one of the marks of every true child of God is that he desires to please the Lord, who has loved him and died for him.

1:29 And if ever the desire, the desire to please his Lord throbs as a conscious longing in the heart of a true believer, it is when he comes to the Lord's table in obedience to the Lord's words, this do in remembrance of me. But it is precisely at this point that the child of God experiences some of his most intense spirit, spiritual agony, anxiety, and sometimes frustration that leads even to a sense of guilt. Both in his preparation for and his actual participation in the Lord's table, he struggles with the question, If I am to do what I am doing in remembrance of him, what should I, what should I precisely remember about him? What thoughts should fill my mind? If the table is rightly observed only when it is observed as a supper of remembrance, then surely the conscious ordering of our thoughts

2:54 at the table is central to our right coming to the table. I know that I am to remember him. Christ is to be the explicit focus of whatever acts of remembrance I engage in. And because the cup and the bread are a communion in the body and blood of Christ, I am to remember him in conjunction with his dying love, his body given, his blood shed.

3:27 But precisely how am I to do this? In what category shall I channel my thoughts? Should I seek to relive the events that surround his giving up of his body in death and the violent shedding of his blood? Should I seek to recall the specific scenes recorded in the gospel writers, the horrible, the unspeakable, the mysterious agony and bloody sweat, the perfect of Gethsemane?

4:03 Should I seek to call that to remembrance? Should I seek to bring before my mind the scenes before the high priest, before Pilate in Herod and back before Pilate, the mock coronation, the buffeting with fists and with reeds, the crown of thorns pressed upon his brow? Are these the things that I should call to remembrance? Or should I seek to envision it?

4:32 As he is now in heaven, pictured for us in the book of the Revelation as the lamb in the midst of the throne, the object of the worship of the spirits in heaven, the object of the adoring wonder of the multitudes that surround the throne and sing, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive blessing and glory and honor and power. How shall I order my thoughts? Yes, I come to the table in obedience to my Lord. This do.

5:07 And he has told me that I'm to do it in remembrance of him. Therefore, I must order my thoughts in such a way that I fulfill his revealed will with respect to this, his table. And so I say the right ordering of the thoughts of a believer at the table of the Lord is a matter of deep concern. And in order to help every earnest believer who struggles with this great question, how shall I order my thoughts at the Lord's table?

Three Categories for Ordering Thoughts at the Lord's Table

5:42 Let me offer the following suggestions for the ordering of your thoughts as you come to the Lord's table. Now, these are only counsels and suggestions. They are not exhaustive. They are not to bind your conscience so that you would feel to think, any other thoughts in any other category is sinful.

Category 1: Renewed Appreciation of Christ's Compelling Love

6:06 I am simply seeking to take the posture of a shepherd to God's sheep, a pastor teacher to you, the Lord's people, and to offer some suggestions for the right ordering of your thoughts at the Lord's table. And in the 25 minutes that remain to me, let me suggest three categories of thoughts, that surely will fit the injunction of the words of institution, this do in remembrance of me. Let me suggest, first of all, that you seek to engage in thoughts leading to a renewed appreciation of the love which compelled him to die for us. Engage in thoughts leading to a, renewed appreciation of the love which compelled him to die for us. Now, the close conjunction between the death of Christ and the love of Christ is explicit in many texts of scripture, but let me cite just two very familiar ones, Galatians 2 and verse 20. Here the apostle says, I have been crucified with Christ.

7:31 Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, now notice how he's going to describe him, who loved me and gave himself for me. There's the close conjunction between his love and his giving of himself for me. And in Ephesians chapter five and verse 25, where husbands are called upon to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it. And so there is this close conjunction between the death of Christ as the acme, the epitome of his self-giving love, and the love which compelled him so to give himself for us. And we know from First John chapter four and verse 19 that we love because he first loves us. And that the way to increase our love to Christ is not to look upon the meager measure

8:55 of our present consciousness of love to him, but to look upon the meager measure of his love conciselessness of love to him as a result of others' human love. At that time, man's self-loving has no justice As we have Catherine speaking, he says that because faith may be sophistry every day, Our love to Christ is to cause whatever measure we have To shrivel and to become even less But it is by the contemplation of His love to us That our love to Him is kindled, expanded and increased And then surely as we come to the table In remembrance of Him The ordering of our thoughts In a category in which we seek to call to remembrance Call to our minds with a view to a new appreciation Of the love that compelled Him to give Himself for us Is a remembrance of Him That will both honor Him as our hearts express their appreciation For that love which compelled Him to give Himself For us And the contemplation of that love In turn increasing our love to Him So let me urge you in times of confusion That lead to a kind of mental paralysis And I doubt there's not a one of us

Category 2: Renewed Appropriation of Benefits Procured by His Death

10:17 Who has not experienced that in coming to the Lord's table When you're in such times Seek to marshal your thoughts And focus them on what measure of love Was in the heart of the Son of God That He would be willing to do all that is involved in the words Give Himself for you Then you can bring in the scenes of Gethsemane And Gabbatha and Golgotha And all the horrors of that which He bore When He died the just for the unjust And felt the arrows of the Almighty in His own holy breast On behalf of our sins I would urge you in seeking To make this a supper of remembrance Doing what you do in remembrance of Him To seek to engage in those thoughts That will lead to a renewed appreciation Of the love which compelled Him to die for us But then secondly I would counsel you To engage in the remembrance of God To engage in thoughts Leading to a renewed appropriation Of the benefits procured By His death for us Engage in thoughts

11:44 Leading to a renewed appropriation Of the benefits procured By His death for us Christ died to procure An amazingly broad spectrum Of spiritual blessings for His people And when we turn through the pages of the New Testament We find that again and again We are pointed to manifold blessings Procured by His suffering on our behalf To name only several of them The full pardon of all of our sins Ephesians 1 in verse 7 In whom we have redemption Through His blood The forgiveness of our sins The language becomes trite to us But we need to pause and reflect upon the wonder Of full and free And irreversible forgiveness and pardon Of all of our sins procured By the death of Christ The acceptance of our persons As righteous in His sight 2 Corinthians 5.21 He who knew no sin Was made sin for us

13:10 That we might become The righteousness of God in Him By His death upon the cross He has secured an acceptance Of my person as righteous As I am hidden in the robe Of His perfect righteousness Furthermore He procured the provision For the continuous cleansing From the ongoing sin In the life of a believer 1 John 1.7 We read that the blood of Jesus Christ Continually cleanses us From all sin It secures for us Uninhibited access to God He died the just for the unjust That He might bring us to God 1 Peter 2 and verse 18 And because on the ground of His death He carries on His ongoing work Of high priestly intercession And His work of advocacy He secures my access to God By Him we are told Let us draw through Him therefore Let us draw near to God By Him we are told By His death He has secured The provision of everything I need To take me safely to heaven Romans 8 and verse 32

14:39 He that spared not His Son But delivered Him up for us all How shall He not with Him Freely give us all things Now that's only a suggested And not an exhausted list Of the benefits secured for us By the death of Jesus Christ By the death of Jesus Christ By the death of Jesus Christ By the death of Jesus Christ By the death of Jesus Christ Surely then in coming to the table And ordering our thoughts In preparation for And while we are at the table It would be glorifying to God To engage in thoughts Leading to renewed appropriation Of the benefits procured By His death for us Nothing brings more glory to God Than when we are at the table Than when His people Exalt in the blessings Procured for them By the bloodletting Of His own dear Son It does not glorify God When through timidity And unbelief And false humility We say those blessings are too high And too glorious For the likes of me No, they were all made for sinners In all of their undeservingness In all of their undeservingness Most glorified When He looks down upon A company of His people Who in spite of their own

Category 3: Renewed Consecration to Christ and His Purposes

16:06 Felt consciousness Of inherent unworthiness Their own felt consciousness Of their hell deservingness Nonetheless Exalt and rejoice In the provisions Secured by the bloodletting Of the Son of God And so I would urge you As the Lord's people In ordering Your thoughts at the table To engage in those thoughts That will help you To a new appreciation Of the love Which compelled Christ To die for us Engage in thoughts Secondly leading to renewed Appropriation Of the benefits procured By His death For us But then thirdly Let me urge you To engage in thoughts Leading to a renewed Consecration of ourselves To the person And to the ends For which He died for us To engage in thoughts Leading to renewed Consecration of ourselves To the person And to the ends For which He died for us What are those thoughts? What are those ends? Again I cite only several

17:35 We read in the scriptures That Christ died to make us His very own Purchased possession So that In the deepest recesses Of the heart Of all of Christ Redeemed ones There is a joyful acknowledgement That they are not their own That they have been bought With a price First Corinthians 6 And verse 19 No use to them Not that your body Is a temple Of the Holy Spirit Who is in you Which you have from God And you Are not Your own All that makes you you Every part of it From the topmost hair On the top of your head To the nail On your little toe On your right foot All that makes you you None of it is yours You are not your own All of your mental powers All of your faculties All that you possess All of your capacities All of your energies All that makes you you You are not your own Every over every part of you Is written Purchased by blood Ownership Jesus Christ The Lord You are not your own For You

19:04 Were bought With a price How much of you was bought All of you was bought By the giving of all of himself He gave all of himself To purchase all of you And that's the reality And what a blessed time To remember that with delight Engaging in thoughts That lead to a renewed Consecration of ourselves To him And the end for which he died To remember As I take the bread His body was given As I take the cup His blood was shed That I should no longer be guilty Of a kind of continual Fevery Taking from God That which he made for himself That I may afresh Consecrate all that I am And all of my powers And all of my faculties Unto God through Christ Because it is His purchased Possession Further according to the scriptures He died That we should be made a holy people Zealous Literally boiling up with zeal To perform good works This is the clear teaching Of Titus chapter 2 Look at the language of the apostle As he writes to Titus After exhorting him

20:32 To teach the believers Practical matters Of Christian living In many facets of life He says the grace of God Has appeared Bringing salvation to all men Titus 2.12 Instructing us to the intent The denying ungodliness And worldly lusts We should live soberly And righteously and godly In this present world Looking for the blessed hope In appearing of the glory Of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ Who gave him Self for us To what end In order that he might Redeem us From all iniquity And purify to himself A people for his own Possession Zealous Of good works You see not only Are we to engage in thoughts Leading to a renewed consecration Of ourselves to Christ himself That was the emphasis Of 1 Corinthians 6.20 And of the first part Of this verse That I've quoted In your hearing He gave himself That he might have a people For his own possession But what should characterize them As his own possession That their devotion to him Should find expression

21:59 In zeal To do good works That is works That are determined By the standards Of his own word and law Works that are done Not to gain his favor But out of gratitude For his favor Works done to his glory And in the strength of his spirit Christ died to have In Trinity Church Not a people who merely glory In the once for all Sacrifice that he offered Unto God Not to have merely a people Who will revel in the blessings Procured by God By his death But a people whose lives Make it evident That the end for which he died Is being realized in us We ought to be a company Of people like one Massive boiling pot Of zeal For good works That's what he died for And may I say it reverently It's here at the table That the temperature's turned up And if we've begun to grow tepid And our good works Are the manifestation Of a lukewarmness Here at the table Realizing, Lord Jesus You died You gave yourself That I might be yours And as yours Zealous of good works Oh, Lord Jesus Remembering All that you gave for me And all that you procured for me

23:27 And all that awaits for me At your coming Then surely, Lord Jesus With whatever time and energy I have left I want to give myself To the performance of works That will glorify you That will validate My professed love to you And then one third element Of this concern And I say again I'm just, as it were Almost picking up at random These strands of biblical truth He died According to the scriptures That we should no longer live for ourselves Look at 2 Corinthians 5 In verse 15 A text could not speak more clearly To this issue The apostle says in verse 14 The love of Christ constrains us That is, Christ's love for us Holds us in its vice-like grip Because we thus judge It holds us Because we think a certain way You see, it doesn't hold us Because we've had flights Of mystic experience It holds us Because we think rightly About the purpose For which he died Because we thus judge That one died for all Therefore all died That is, in him Well, if what we were Was so bad That it demanded his death

24:53 And he died for us Then surely he died for us Living the kind of life We were living That if he did not die for us We should have been cast into hell Then surely His death on our behalf Spells the death knell For the lifestyle That we were living When he died for us And that he died for all In order that Those who live That is, those who receive Spiritual life Through the virtue Of his death And his resurrection Should no longer live Unto themselves No longer should self Be the focal point of their lives No longer should self Interest and self-aggrandizement And self-promotion Be the focal point of life They should no longer live Unto self But as surely As self was the terminus Of all of their motives And goals and purposes Before the virtue Of the death of Christ Touched them Now there is A single focal point In what is it But unto him Who for their sakes Died and rose again You see The intention of Christ In his cross

26:21 In dying for his people Was not to make A few cosmetic changes In the way they lived Change them from outwardly Immoral to polite Moral, respectable people Change them from those With foul mouths To those with clean mouths Change them from those With slippery fingers And deceitful tongues Into honest, upright Truth-speaking people Those can all be Cosmetic changes He died that a change Far deeper And far more pervasive Might be wrought In all of his people That they should no longer In the deepest recesses Of their being Live unto themselves Yes, when they changed Their patterns of speech And their patterns of thought And their patterns of life These are the outward Manifestations That in the citadel Of their being There's been a radical Transformation They no longer live Unto themselves But unto him Who for their sakes Died and rose again When we come to the table To remember our Lord Jesus How should we order Our thoughts Let me suggest That you engage in thoughts Leading to a renewed Consecration Of our life To the one And to the ends

27:48 For which he died As we take the broken bread Ask ourselves Has this bread Symbolizing the body Given up in death For me Has this cup Given Taken now And symbolizing The blood Violently shed For me Are the ends For which the body Was given And the blood shed Are those ends Being realized In me Am I living Unto myself In any area Am I seeking In every area To live unto him Who for my sake Died and rose again If not to say Even as we take The emblems O Lord Jesus In the taking Of these emblems Send your spirit With fresh and copious Measures of power Not to give me Pingles up and down My spine But to crucify in me This wretched Remnant Of living for myself Living to my own ends To my own purposes To fulfill my own plans Lord Jesus Where I am tepid Instead of zealous Of good works May the fresh remembrance Of your body Given in your blood shed Cause me to be zealous Of good works Lord Jesus As I take the bread In the cup In any area Where I'm acting Thinking

29:17 Reacting As though there were Some part of me That belongs to me That over all of me I have forgotten Is written Purchased property Purchased by blood Redeemed By the very precious Blood of Christ I say dear child of God It is thoughts such as these That surely fulfill The intention of our Lord Jesus When he said This do In remembrance Of me And may I in my heart Encourage you then As you seek to obey the Lord In coming to his table To seek to order your thoughts In one or two Or more Or other categories But certainly these Are legitimate categories That may be helpful To some of you Engaging in those thoughts That first of all Will bring renewed appreciation For the love That compelled him To die for you Engaging in those thoughts Leading to renewed appropriation Of the benefits Procured by his death For you Engaging in those thoughts Leading to a renewed Consecration of ourselves To the one And to the ends For which he died Fresh appreciation of his love Renewed appropriation Of the benefits

The Centrality of Christ's Death for Believers and a Call to Unbelievers

30:44 Renewed consecration Of ourselves to him Now surely my unconverted friends Young or old You can see That for the child of God And in the purposes of God It is the death of Christ That is the central issue In our whole life It is that cross That has radically transformed us That's turned us inside out It's lifted the burden of guilt It's lifted the horrible pressure Of a galling Condemning conscience It is that death Which has given us The confidence Of full pardon Of all of our sins Acceptance of our persons As righteous In the sight of God The confidence That there is continual cleansing As we confess our sins Unto our God There is uninhibited Free access to God There is the assurance Of the procurement Of everything needed To take us safely to heaven And when you ask How can you be so confident Of all these things We say Because Christ is God Christ died Christ died And therefore with joy and love We remember him In the way of his appointment And my unconverted friend You will never come To the enjoyment Of sins forgiven Of a good conscience Of the confidence Of the acceptance Of your person before God With any foundation That is worth its salt

32:13 Until Christ crucified Becomes the object Of your confidence And the one To whom you commit yourself And when you wonder Why we live such What you consider strict And restricted lives And according to your standards We have no fun Well you see It's because we live By a totally different standard We've been bought by another And the one who bought us Is so changed us That what we once regarded as fun We now see was nothing But the slippery road to hell The very one you're on And in the cross of Christ We've seen self-centeredness And self-will as ugly and heinous And we have seen sin At least in some measure For what it really is And we therefore desire To be a holy people No longer living Unto ourselves But unto him Who for our sakes died And rose again So as we come to the table What better time My unconverted friend Than for you To say as the Spirit of God Is pleased to take these Elementary truths of the gospel Which we continually bring To remembrance And if he enables you to see it To lay hold of Christ And as surely as the plate is passed And others break off A piece of the bread

Prayer for Obedience and Salvation

33:39 So with the hands of your soul Reach out and lay hold Of Christ himself By faith And say Lord Jesus I take you To be my own I take you To be my Savior To be my life To be my salvation I take you To be all you've promised to be To believing And to penitent sinners Let us pray That God will then bless us As we come to the table Seeking to be obedient to our Lord Doing what we do In remembrance of him Let us pray Our Father We thank you that Knowing How often The world of spiritual reality Becomes dim and fuzzy Because of our remaining sin And the influence of the world And of a vicious devil We thank you that you've instituted This simple ritual This simple meal of remembrance We pray that the Holy Spirit Will attend Our response of obedience To the Lord Jesus That as we take bread And eat it And take the cup And drink In remembrance of him That these blessed Spiritual experiences And exercises Will be known

35:08 By all of your people And that some Who have yet to lay hold of Christ May even here this night Lay hold of him And know the benefits And blessings of his salvation Hear our prayer And answer us we plead In his worthy name Amen