We saw in chronicle #2 that there was to be a gathering center,
a place where was the name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone:
the NT house of God. The term “Name” has to do with
God’s presence and conveys authority, unity and glory unto
Him. In Chronicle #3 we saw that in the place of God’s dwelling
one learns the fear of God by being in His holy presence and
observing His ways. It was also where the best is reserved for
God.
In our study so far we have progressed to the fifth major
activity in the house of God which is highlighted below.
A Place of Remembrance:
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice
the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd,
in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
... that thou mayest remember the day when thou
camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life
(Deu. 16: 2,3).
In Deuteronomy 16:1-8 the subject of celebrating Passover
at God’s place is brought before us. What the passover was
to Israel, the Lord’s Supper (breaking of bread, communion)
is to the church. Not only is the ordinance of passover taught
in the Old Testament, but also its character. Character
is the manner, style, or way it is to be done in order to be
compatible with the desires and nature of God.
For example, if you tell a child to wash the car, you not
only want it to be clean but you also care how it gets clean.
You don’t want him to wash it with sewer water or a scouring
pad.
Seven characteristics were to accompany Passover. Understanding
Passover’s character will shed light on the keeping
of the Lord’s supper. We will look at both in the following
characteristics.
Passover
Who was to partake of
it?
Keep the passover unto
the LORD thy God: for ... the LORD thy God brought thee
forth out of Egypt by night (16:1).
The instructions for passover were not given internationally
but only to those who experienced the deliverance from Egypt.
Israel had been redeemed (delivered) by the blood of the lamb
and through the waters of the Red Sea. God had made it clear
that “no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof” (Ex.
12:48). Circumcision was the sign of a covenant relationship
with God. Passover participation was limited to the redeemed.
Lord's Supper
Who is to partake of it?
Unto the church of God
which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and
ours (1Cor 1:2).
The instructions for the Lord’s Supper are given to those
“in Christ Jesus,” not the world at large. It is limited
to those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (the
Lord Jesus) and have declared so with the confession of water
baptism like the Corinthians did (Acts 18:8, 2:42,42). How can
you remember someone you have never met?
When 1Cor. 11:28 tells a man to “examine himself, and
so let him eat” it is not talking about any person deciding
for himself if he has the right to the Lord’s Supper. It
is to someone already saved and in the church to be sure he knows
what he’s doing. A church is not being legalistic but rather
godly when it limits the Lord’s Supper to the redeemed
who confess the Lord Jesus.
Passover
What was it for?
Keep the passover unto
the LORD thy God: ... sacrifice the passover unto the
LORD thy God (16:1, 2).
Though God’s people participated in the memorial of passover
it was to be “unto the Lord.” It was not designed to
please Egypt, the world nor even Israel. It was for the delights
of God’s heart to see His people delivered and thankful
unto Him. It was called the “Lord’s Passover”
(Ex. 12:11) not the people’s passover.
Lord's Supper
What is it for?
The Lord’s supper
... in remembrance of me (1Cor 11:20, 24).
The Corinthians were guilty of misunderstanding and so the
Lord’s apostle called it their “own supper” rather
than “the Lord’s Supper.” They were using the
assembling time for their own social, emotional and physical
needs. The apostle has to point them away from self and show
that they were to focus on the Lord and what He did for them.
Some things are for God and God alone. It is His
supper, not ours.
The Lord’s supper and the
church are not designed to be user-friendly or seeker-sensitive
– but unto Him.
Passover
What was the main activity?
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice
the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the
herd ... And thou shalt roast it and eat it (16:2, 7).
Israel was not to focus here on teaching, personal problems,
victories or the proselytizing of Gentiles but the eating of
a sacrificed lamb. Simple, but this memorial lamb spoke
volumes. It was the blood of the spotless lamb that was put on
their doors, which when God saw, He “passed over,”
sheltering them from judgment. Passover drew them back to the
source of their national salvation to honor God alone as their
Savior.
Lord's Supper
What is the main activity?
For as often as ye eat
this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show
the Lord’s death till He come (1Cor 11:26).
The Lord’s Supper involves taking bread and wine (the
cup). It’s not occupied with entertaining dramatizations,
musical performances or dynamic sermons, but the Lord and His
death. Here there is liberty for the men (orally) and women (silently)
to worship and thank God for His great salvation and Savior (1Cor.
14).
Till He come we take the bread,
Type of Him on whom we feed,
Him who liveth and was dead! We give thee thanks O Lord.
Till He come we take the cup;
As we at His table sup,
Eye and heart are lifted up! We give thee thanks O Lord.
Passover
Why was it done?
That thou mayest remember
the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the
days of thy life (16:4b).
God designed this feast for a remembrance or a memorial. “This
day shall be unto you for a memorial” (Ex. 12:14). God wanted
to keep before His people their deliverance. This recollection
of the past was meant to keep them focused on their Savior and
Sustainer.
Lord's Supper
Why is it done?
This do in remembrance
of me (1Cor 11:24).
The Lord’s Supper does not re-sacrifice Christ or help
obtain salvation any more than observing Memorial Day wins a
battle that soldiers fought 200 years before.
Observing the Lord’s supper does more than jog our memory.
It is an act of remembrance – which induces a memorial.
One observes Memorial Day not just to remember that soldiers
died, but to honor them. One goes and speaks at a memorial service
not to be reminded a loved one died but to honor them. Partaking
of the Lord’s supper is the remembrance of the Lord Jesus
that He requested. Thus He is honored in the portrayal of His
great sacrifice.
Passover
Where was it observed?
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice
the passover unto the Lord thy God ... in the place which
the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name there ... Thou
mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates
(16:4b, 5a).
When Israel settled in the land of their inheritance God chose
a place where His presence and Name would be. First it was the
tabernacle in Shiloh and then it became the permanent temple
in Jerusalem.
Israel did not have the liberty of individually expressing
their remembrance to God in a place that was closer, or more
convenient for the family. They were not to go to the place
of their choice but the place of God’s choice. There,
at the place of God’s dwelling, they would remember the
Lord’s deliverance in Passover. At God’s house would
be a collective gathering which, along with the priesthood, would
preserve the feast from being corrupted unto the Lord.
Worship is sacrificial and has
feet to it. God wants His people to come together.
Lord's Supper
Where is it observed?
When ye come together
in the church ... When ye come together therefore
in one place, ... to eat the Lord’s supper (1Cor 11:18,20).
When the Corinthian believers would come together in one place
they were the assembly (church) and temple of God. There, God’s
presence dwelt among them collectively. There, they owned and
called upon the Name that God chose, the Lord Jesus Christ. There,
would be the liberty of the priesthood of all believers to function
in the assembly (1Cor. 1, 3, 14).
Only in the collective church setting does the NT epistles
show the Lord’s supper observed. Yes, it is a “sacrifice”
to come together. But there is a gospel dynamic when believers
of all backgrounds, together glorify the Lord with one mouth
and one mind (Rom. 15:6).
Passover
How was it observed?
Thou shalt eat no leavened
bread with it ... there shall be no leavened bread seen
with thee in all thy coast seven days (16:3, 4).
Yes, the lamb was to be sacrificed and eaten. But did it matter
to God how it was eaten? It did. The Lord specifically
commanded that there was to be no leaven (yeast) in the bread
eaten with the lamb at the feast. The feast was to be leaven-free.
Of course, yeast is something that spreads and permeates the
whole. It is a picture of sin. Therefore, His people were reminded
to be set apart from sin as the Lord is.
Lord's Supper
How is it observed?
... Christ our passover
is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with
old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and
wickedness ... (1Cor 5:7, 8).
In the New Testament it is not the literal leaven the Lord
is concerned about at the feast, but what the leaven represents:
sin. The feast is not Israel’s passover but the fulfillment
of it in church life. The assembly who owns “Christ our
passover” is to be sin-free, like Him.
The Corinthian assembly was glorying in the liberty of grace
and love but ignoring a sinning believer in the fellowship. The
Lord’s apostle said their glorying was not good. Rather
than glorying they should have mourned. The godly solution was
to excommunicate the sinning person (until repentance, 2Cor.
2). This act was viewed as removing leaven from the feast –
the leaven of malice and wickedness. Thus the feast would now
be unleavened with sincerity and truth (1Cor. 5).
It is possible to be eligible
for God’s heaven by the gospel, but not be holy enough for
fellowship in God’s church because of its testimony unto
the Lord on earth.
It is possible to be eligible for God’s heaven by the
gospel, but not be holy enough for fellowship in God’s church
because of its testimony unto the Lord on earth.
Passover
When was it observed?
Thou shalt sacrifice the
passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at
the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt (16:6).
It was God who decided when passover remembrance would be
kept. The people’s choice did not enter into it. The time
would coincide with the time of year God delivered them and the
time of day. It was in the evening the spotless lamb was slain
and the blood applied (Ex. 12:6, 21, 22). And so the congregation
would collectively sacrifice the passover at evening.
Lord's Supper
When is it observed?
As it began to dawn toward
the first day of the week ... He is risen. ... Upon the
first day of the week, when the disciples came together
to break. ... For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup ... (Matt. 28:1, 6, Acts 20:7, 1Cor 11:26).
It was at the end of the sabbath, at the dawning of the first
day of the week when the crucified Lord Jesus rose from the dead:
the dawning of a new age. It is on this day God records that
the New Testament believers in various cities assembled together
in one place to remember Him and edify one another (Acts 20:7,
1Cor. 16:2).
Notice in John 20:19 that the disciples assembled on the first
day (Lk. 23:33-36). It was at that precise time the risen Lord
chose to come in their midst and reveal Himself. However, Thomas
was missing and thus received no understanding and fell behind
the others. He did not get more understanding until the following
first day.
May you be encouraged to remember Him–His way. Is the
Lord Jesus Christ worth it?