Word of Salvation – Vol.17 No.24 – June 1971

 

This Do In Remembrance Of Me

 

Preparatory sermon for Lord’s Supper
            by the Rev. P.G. Van Dam on 1Corinthians 11:24,25.

Scripture Readings: I Corinthians 11:23-29.

Suggested Hymns:

PSALTER HYMNAL: 77; 55:2,1,3 (with law) 491 (with creed) 438:1,2,4; 424:1,2,3,5; 493 (doxology)

 

Brothers and Sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Our text speaks
            (1) of a COMMAND,
            (2) of an ASSURANCE, and
            (3) of COMFORT.

Of a command; for it says: “Do this”.

Of an assurance; as it says: “This is my body for you”,
            and again: “This cup is the new testament in my blood”. 

Of comfort, when it says: “Do this in remembrance of Me”.

(1) It speaks of a command:

When we think of partaking of the bread and wine at the table, the Lord says: “DO THIS”.

It is true that these words also mean that WHEN you partake of the Lord’s Supper you must do it in remembrance of the Lord Who gave His body and blood for a complete remission of all our sins.

But, nevertheless, they do not just ONLY tell us HOW we must observe the sacrament; they are also meant to be a command THAT we must observe it.  True, when – unlike recent translations – the King James has the words, “Take, eat (this is my body)…” then these two words probably were not part of the original text.  But nevertheless they do indicate how we must understand that command: “This do”.

And so we may say that our text does speak of a command and of an assurance: “Do this; take this bread, take this cup, for they are my body and my blood”.

It speaks of a COMMAND and an ASSURANCE, rather than of an OFFER and an INVITATION.

For if it were an OFFER, it would be up to us to decide whether or not we should accept it.  And, to be true, is not that the way we sometimes look at the Sacrament?  And then in response feel or think this way: could I go this time?  Am I good enough to come?  Was, or is, my faith good enough?  Did I, or do I, really love the Lord?  Do I really feel sorry for my sin?  Have I really tried to live with and for My Lord?  But asking these questions is answering them.  To each one of them I must say: NO!  But if that is so, does that mean then that I should not come?

But the truth is that coming to the table IS NOT an offer, it is NOT an invitation; it is a COMMAND.  So it is true: you are not good enough; you HAVE NOT loved the Lord as you should have; you HAVE NOT served Him as you should have.  True, yes, but then you should remember these words of Paul – of Paul, who calls himself the chief of sinners: “O wretched man that I am.  Who shall deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God, through Jesus Christ”.

Yes, the coming to the table is a command, because what is decisive in my coming – whether I should come or not – is, after all, NOT MY WRETCHEDNESS, but WHAT JESUS CHRIST DID FOR ME.  And that is why I MUST come.

In coming to the table we must clearly see WHAT COMES FIRST.  And then the MAIN thought and knowledge that must guide us is NOT that of our wretchedness, not that of our unworthiness – true though they are! – but it is IN WHAT JESUS CHRIST DID!  HE comes first.  ALSO in my coming to the table.

The more I am busy WITH MYSELF, the more difficult it is to come, I AM completely unworthy.  And in that way I will NEVER come.  For when would I be worthy to come?  Never!  But the more unworthy I feel, the greater is HIS urge for me to come.

You may remember the parable of the marriage feast.  In the first instance, those who had been invited earlier were BIDDEN to come.  When they did not want to come, the servants were sent out into the streets and the lanes to BRING in the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind.

And when there is still room left at the table, the servants are sent out again, to go out into the highways and hedges – that is to say, there where the most unworthy types lived – and these were COMPELLED, FORCED to come in.

The Lord’s Supper is there precisely for the comfort, for the assurance of those who KNOW the HOPELESS plight of their sinfulness.  It is to them that Jesus says: This do; take, eat.  And that IS a command – HIS command.  And He gives this command because He does not want us to live in the hopelessness of OUR sin anymore, but in HIS salvation.  Therefore, in coming to the table I must not think of myself, but I MUST THINK OF HIM.  This do IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.

(Maybe it is here that we should mention the remark that someone might make when he feels he is not worthy to come.  He might say: but does not the Word of God say: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord?” But these words ONLY speak of the unworthy MANNERS of which some people in Corinth were guilty while seated at the table.  But not of the condition of the heart; for when it concerns our coming to the table, we must indeed know that we are unworthy in ourselves.)

And if I do not come when HE tells me to come then, yes, whether we like to hear it or not, this would be self-righteousness.  It would be disobedience; a denial of the SUFFICIENCY of His work for Me.  And therefore it would be a denial of my salvation….  Yes, it would be.

What must govern me are not MY feelings, not what I think of myself.  True, I MUST know my sinfulness; I MUST repent of my sin.  Otherwise the sacrament would be meaningless for me.  And to come without the awareness of my utter sinfulness would be just a formality and no more.  And God tells me that such a formality is an abomination to Him.  Why?  Because then I do not take the sacrifice of Christ seriously.  And that would be a very grave sin indeed.

So, I must examine myself.  Oh yes, I MUST.  But I must not STAY with myself.  I must LOOK AWAY from myself and see the CROSS of my Saviour.  And when I do this, yes I must know who Jesus is for me.  SEE, there is one truth which comes before knowing who Jesus is for me, and that is this: WHO I AM FOR HIM.  For it is because of what I am FOR HIM, that He died for me.  And so I MUST come, yes because of what I am for Him.

Remember, we just sang the hymn which reads: “THY love TO ME, O Christ: not mine to Thee”.  He – in His grace – wants to give us assurance and comfort, no, not just because I repent, but – IN THE FIRST PLACE – because HE loves me.

So, finally, my coming to the table is a matter of FAITH.  No, not because I think my faith is so strong or so good.  But I come in faith nevertheless, because it is my faith which tells me that – although I am hopeless – it is PRECISELY BECAUSE OF THAT HOPELESSNESS that YOU, my Lord, now WANTS me to come TO THEE.

Therefore, I come;
            JUST AS I am without one plea,
            but that Thy blood was shed for me,
            and that THOU bidst me come to Thee;
            O, Lamb of God, I come.
            JUST AS I AM Thou wilt receive,
            wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve.
            Because THY promise I believe,
            O Lamb of God, I come.

(2) And when we come we will have this assurance: “This is My body for you”.

Again, this is NOT an offer.  We MUST come to eat, to drink.  And it is in the eating and in the drinking that we then also receive assurance for our faith.  And because JESUS wants to give us that assurance we MUST come,

See, we are not coming to church because we feel right.  Instead, we come in order that we may be strengthened, and be comforted again in the message and promise of the gospel.  And the same motivation holds for the coming to the table.  The same!  Should we go; should we come?  Yes, because HE wants to reassure us, and to seal unto us the promise of HIS Word.

This do; because I died FOR YOU, and I want you to hear and to see this again for yourself.  Yes, I know your sins.  In fact, you think you are no good, but the fact is that you have no idea yet just HOW utterly sinful you are.  But remember, the first one to enter heaven with Christ was a murderer.  And the words which Jesus spoke to him are ringing in our ears, too, when we are with our Lord at His table; these words: “This day thou shalt be with me in paradise”.  Yes, YOU, hopeless one, unworthy one.  Yes, YOU.  Because of who you are for me in My love for you.

So we come to the table; no, not BECAUSE we believe, but IN ORDER THAT WE BELIEVE.  In the weakness of our faith let us remember the words of the father of the demoniac son: “I believe, Lord; help Thou my unbelief”.  Yes, Lord, I come, I come.  But it is so hard to accept the fact that it is for me.  Still I come Lord, because THOU art wanting me to come.

Yes, the proclamation of the Word comes first; the proclamation of the gospel of the Lord Who died for our sins.  ALSO for the sin of our unbelief.  It is sometimes said that the sacraments are an illustration of the promise and assurance of the gospel.  But they are more than an illustration, they are a SEAL.  At the table, the promise of the Word is SEALED unto us.

But if we feel we should not come to the table, this would bring up the question whether we have a right understanding of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Of the Saviour Who died – no, not because we were good enough – but because He loved us and it was BECAUSE He loved us that He died in our place, bearing the punishment of ALL OUR SINS.

All this is true, no matter HOW bad I feel.  Only because He loved me.  Therefore, I must come – precisely because I do not feel right at all.

(3)  Yes, Christ wants to COMFORT us.  Just because we are so bad.
            He says: “This do IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.”

In remembrance of my death for you.  Yes, you must remember ME, in my death FOR YOU.  Especially in our days.  There is so much in the life of to-day that wants to separate us from God.  That wants to make us live a life without God; a secular, a worldly life.  So much that wants to make us believe that our satisfaction is in our gains and in our standing in this world.  In this world of business, pleasure and education.  It is no wonder really, that in this kind of a life our faith suffers; and that we find very little time for being busy with God’s Word and the strengthening of our faith.

And if that is what is happening to us, should we therefore not come?  No, it is all the more reason why we should come.  For it is precisely because our faith is suffering that we need the re-assurance and the comfort of remembering the Lord’s death.  For it is IN THAT REMEMBRANCE ONLY that our life has meaning and contents and hope.  Remember, we do not come to the table just BECAUSE we are right with Him, but IN ORDER that we might be right with Him.  And in that way know the comfort again which we need, which we are in need of so much!

This is what we need to hear, EVERY TIME AGAIN: I DID die for you.  Therefore you must come, JUST BECAUSE you are so poor in your faith.  It needs that re-assurance.

There are always members of the church who say: yes, but the Lord’s Supper: it is too good for me.  Well, we have already heard that that is wrong thinking altogether.  Because in that case we put ourselves in the centre and not Jesus Christ, who tells us that it is precisely when we feel that way that we must come.

But also, think of the sacrament of baptism.  In that sacrament, our children receive the seal of the promise of salvation.  How come that those who feel that the Lord’s Supper is too good for them, want to have their children baptized and receive the same seal which they themselves do not want to receive at the Lord’s table?  What makes them say that the seal of the forgiveness of sins is too good for them, while at the same time they do not think that it is too good for their children?

Once again, do we understand the gospel correctly?  Of the forgiveness of SINS?  That gospel, and those sacraments: they are there FOR SINNERS ONLY.  It is the sinner only who can and may say that Jesus Christ is His true hope and comfort.  Hope and comfort: nevertheless.

The Bible teaches us that we must be like children.  Therefore, we must come as children.  Yes, knowing that we have done wrong.  That we are not right at all.  Yet, a child – although it has done wrong – will nevertheless come to its parents because it knows that, no matter what it has done, all its hope still is with its mother and father, because it knows that its father and mother love him, in spite of his wrong-doing.

See, that is the way we must come to the table.  As a child.  Having done wrong.  More so perhaps than anybody else.  YET COME with expectation.  Why?  Because we have deserved a surprise?  No, not at all.  But because we know that Jesus Christ loved us so much that He wants to tell us again: I did die for you.  Yes, PRECISELY FOR YOU.

Therefore we must come, brothers and sisters.  No, it is not an invitation; it is a command.  Not to be right first and then come.  But to come.  AND THEN be comforted and strengthened.

We will end with the words of Ps.34 (verse 8a): “O, TASTE and SEE that the Lord is good!”

Do you notice the order in which the text puts it?  First TASTE.  Do it.  Take, eat.  And THEN see; see that the Lord IS good.

Amen.