It was
on Sunday, April 5th 1959
when I, for the first time,
sat with a number of saints
to remember the Lord in the
breaking of the bread and
drinking the cup. That
means in round figures I
have been at that spread
table approximately 3,500
times. I say that because
it never ceases to amaze me
the solemnity of the
responsibility of being a
guest at that table and the
honoured privilege of being
fitted by God’s grace to
partake of those emblems.
Recently the Lord brought
before me in a fresh way the
significance of the holding
in my hands the bread and
then partaking of it. It
was not in my reading of the
institution or Paul’s
teaching, but from 1 Samuel
9:23-24, where it is
recorded, “And Samuel said
unto the cook, Bring the
portion which I gave thee,
of which I said unto thee,
Set it by thee. And the cook
took up the shoulder, and
that which was upon it, and
set it before Saul. And
Samuel said, ‘Behold that
which is left! Set it before
thee, and eat: for unto this
time hath it been kept for
thee since I said, I have
invited the people’. So Saul
did eat with Samuel that
day.” That which I was
impressed by was Saul was in
an honoured place and set
before him was the shoulder,
and he was commanded to eat.
As I pondered on why note
was taken of the shoulder
and it being set before
Saul, it was evidently a
mark of honour but was there
more to it? A little
research showed that in the
law of the peace offering it
is recorded, “The right
shoulder shall ye give unto
the priest . . . and . . .
shall have the right
shoulder” (Lev. 7:32, 33).
That which Saul was given
was not his naturally, it
was the priest’s portion.
This raised a very major
truth which Saul ought to
have understood the
significance of. He should
have realized that since
this was the priests
portion, he was being doubly
honoured. He was being
honoured by those gathered,
but more importantly, it was
to be a practical object
lesson. By partaking he was
to live a priest like life.
Sadly, Saul was very far
from being priestly in
life. He was a coward when
it came to Goliath, he had
fits of temper in which he
sought to kill David, and he
would use conciliatory
language when caught. Saul
failed to live up to that
which he partook of and ate.
Application To Us
Across the world on Sunday
mornings there are thousands
of gatherings who meet for
the greater glory of God. On
a table there is bread (1
Cor. 10:16, 17; 11:23,
26-28) and in the language
of 1 Samuel 9:24, it is “set
before” those gathered. As
in the case with Saul, it is
both a solemn but joyful
occasion. The Lord said,
“This do in remembrance of
me” (Lk. 22:19), and Paul by
inspiration wrote, “Ye do
shew the Lord’s death till
he come” (1 Cor.11:26). On
an occasion after the
children of Israel were
released out of Egypt, the
elders went up to the top of
the mount and there sat and
ate and drank with God (Ex.
24:11). That was a very
sacred moment, sitting with
the God of Glory eating and
drinking. I am sure there
would have been no allowance
for any intrusion of earthly
responsibilities there, no
idle
gossip,
and a great deal not only of
reverence, but previous self
cleansing.
When
that table of the Lord is
set before us and we see on
it priestly food, the bread
symbolizing the body of the
Lord and the cup symbolizing
the covenant ratified by His
blood, we can thank God for
the fulness of the salvation
provided, however, the
purpose is not for us to
think of our blessing, but
to exalt and extol His
wonderful person and work.
Then there comes a point of
time when each individual
takes the bread in their
hands. They hold that which
is an emblem of the body of
the Lord. How dare anyone
treat this holy emblem as
just a piece of bread. Some
years ago a so called
Christian
editor wrote concerning the
Lord’s supper that it was
little more than a religious
frat get together. That is
utter blasphemy. If the
symbolic feasts of ancient
Israel were called “holy
convocations” (Lev. 23:2, 4,
37), how much more holy is
this feast, and how solemn
to take into ones hands and
hold the holy
emblems.
Isaiah wrote words which
shadowed the words of Paul
when he wrote, “Be ye clean
that bear the vessels of the
Lord” (Isa. 52:11) and “let
a man examine himself” (1
Cor. 11:28).
When The Remembrance Supper
Was Instituted
Paul
is very careful to make note
that it was on the same
night when the Lord was
betrayed He took bread (1
Cor. 11:23). Why such
importance? Why was it
not
instituted on the Holy
Mountain at transfiguration;
or when the crowds wanted to
make him king; or when He
was with loud
acclamations
that He was the son of
David; or when He was
baptized; but on the night
he was betrayed? It was on
that night and the next
morning the full blast of
satanic spite and hatred was
vented upon Him by sinful
men. The coming of the
chief priests etc. to take
Him for the six
false
trials were only hours away,
the nailing to the cross was
perhaps only 12 hours away,
and the suffering for sin
perhaps 15 hours. The next
hours were to be hours of
painful flogging, verbal
despising, vocal hatred and
eventually nailed to a Roman
stake. The message was
clear, to eat that bread
that is set before us is to
live life before God for His
pleasure and consequently to
know the rejection of the
world. It means to be
willing to give our bodies,
even to suffering and death,
for the greater glory of
God.
What Partaking Of The Bread
Means
When I take and eat that
bread, which I repeat is the
priestly portion and which
symbolizes the Lord’s body,
it indicates that my body is
to reflect the beauty and
character of Christ. In
what ways was the Lord
beautiful? He never went
anywhere He would not have
been in full fellowship with
His Father, He never said
anything that He had not
heard from His Father, He
never did anything contrary
to God His Father. His
beauty was seen in at least
thirty-two ways, such as:
the beauty of His
compassion, composure,
fidelity, godly fear,
gracious speech,
thoughtfulness, censuring,
unbiasedness, reputation,
zeal, and accuracy of
teaching.
In the context of His body,
one considers the beauty of
His disfigurements (Isa.
52:14). It is an aspect of
the Lord which had never
been brought to my attention
until some forty-four years
ago. My Dad had come to
visit us and kindly papered
the hallway. However, at
one point the paper tore,
and since there was no more,
he fixed it as best he
could. That torn piece
meant more to me than all
the rest for it told me of
his sorrow in what had
happened and of his loving
kindness to do that which I
could not do. As I look on
the bread and break it,
deliberately I break it,
then I think of His sorrows
in Gethsemane and the
fulness His love for me.
Suddenly His nail scared
hands and feet, the bruised
body, the buffeted face are
so beautiful to me and I
just want to reverently bow
at His feet in spiritually
broken emotion and worship.
I take that bread and muse
on the words,
“His
visage was so marred more
than any man, and His form
more than the sons of men”
(Isa. 52:14)
and I can do nought else but
say the words of Frances
Ridley Havergal:
Take my hands, and let them
move, at the impulse of Thy
love;
Take my feet and let them
be, swift and beautiful for
Thee.
Take my voice, and let me
sing, always, only, for my
King;
Take my lips and let them
be, filled with messages
from Thee.
Take my will, and make it
Thine, it shall be no longer
mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine
own, it shall be Thy royal
throne.
Take my love, my Lord I
pour, at Thy feet its
treasure-store,
Take myself and I will be,
ever, only, all for Thee. |
