5 View from the Communion Table [video]

The Inward Side of the Communion Table

Preached at Northwest Christian Church                                                                             David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, April 1, 2012

1 Corinthians 11:17-24, “Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.  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. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.  Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.”

Someone has said that the examined life is the only life worth living.  Now, I’m not exactly sure where the person who came up with that statement is coming from, but as a Christian, as someone who claims to wear the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, as someone who would dare to take part in a weekly celebration of His sinless life, His bruised and battered body, the broken, unleavened bread, and of His shed blood, the full and final atoning sacrifice for my sins, the fruit of the vine, as a Christian, someone who claims to wear that name and who dares to partake of this weekly supper, I must – no ifs, ands, or buts here – I must live an examined, a fully examined life.  For two weeks now we have been getting ready to rejoice in the events we look forward to commemorating this weekend on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  And the way in which we are preparing ourselves this year revolves around our look at what we do - what and how and why we celebrate every Lord’s Day at this Table.

So far, with this Table as our reference point, in light of what this Table means, considering whose Table and Supper this is, we have looked first of all at this sacred celebration through the lens of history.  We have looked back at how from eternity past, God, in His infinite mind, God, by way of His mouth and mouth pieces, the prophets of old, and God, through the moving of His hands, has prepared for us, spread for us, a Table wherein we can praise Him for what He’s done for us in Jesus Christ.  Yes, we’ve looked back at this Table and what we are to do at this Table through the lens of HISTORY.  Then, last week, we took our divinely-inspired ‘lens’, the Word of God, and aimed it HEAVENWARD.  And, in looking that direction, we learned or re-learned that at this Table - we recognize - must recognize that the Source of our salvation is not ourselves, who we are, what we’ve done, what bench we sit on in this sanctuary, but who He is!  At this Table, looking at it through the lens of Heaven, we see the Source of our Salvation, God the Father, and the seal of our salvation, God, the Holy Spirit, God’s ‘engagement ring’ placed around our hearts so as to say, ‘Wedding Day’s coming!’  I’m going to come for My Bride!  And then, perhaps best of all, through the lens, the perspective of heaven, we see the Sacrifice of our salvation, the One who laid down His life to make His own, Jesus Christ our Lord!  That’s the second side of the Communion Table.  The upward look, the perspective of HEAVEN.

Now, however, we come to what is likely the most sobering side of the Table, the least enjoyable vantage point we are called to take when we step to this Table and our time with Jesus there each Lord’s Day.  I’m talking about the inward look, the heart-ward perspective, the lens of self-examination.  Consider again my opening statement:  The examined life is the only life worth living!  Now, look again at what Paul had to say about this.  Set in the center of what he teaches us regarding this sacred meal is this astonishingly sober passage:

1 Corinthians 11:27, Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”

What does Paul mean by what he’s saying to us here?  What’s his point?  Well, before we answer that, allow me to run just two or three other passages of Scripture by you that have very much the same message for us.  

Psalm 14, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?  Or, who shall stand in His holy place?”  Answer: “He that has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to any idol nor sworn deceitfully.  He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”  

1 Corinthians 3:16-17, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles that temple God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”  

1 Corinthians 6:18-20, “Flee sexual immorality.  All other sins that a man commits are outside his body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins again his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s!”

So what are we suggesting?  That the examined life is the only life worth living.  Now hear James chapter one:

James 1:21-25, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Back to 1 Corinthians 11 and to this third view from the Lord’s Table - the inward look - the examination of our hearts.  Why would Paul say these things?  What’s his point that we need to know and act upon?

First off, let’s answer with this simple observation: the Lord’s Supper, those who claim to wear the name of Christ, those who dare to partake of the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine, believe me, if we’re not careful, we can make this time of  the worship service into a lot of things, a time to listen to some quiet music, a time to look around and see what someone else is doing or wearing, a time to check our text messages, a time to let your mind wonder and your mouth water about what you’re going to eat when you get home.  We can make this sacred time into a lot of things, we can, and perhaps we do.  But, listen.  If we make it into anything other than what Jesus meant for it to be, a proclamation of Jesus’ death until He comes again, a celebration in remembrance of Him and His love for us, we are putting ourselves into real, serious spiritual jeopardy!  The Corinthians of Paul’s day were turning into a time of gluttony and drunkenness for the ‘haves’ and a time of depravation and rejection on the part of the ‘have nots’.  Instead of drawing fellow Christians closer to each other and to Jesus, the way the Corinthians celebrated this Supper actually was serving to split Christ’s church! 

As those who claim to be Christians and who dare to take part in this sacred Meal, what are we making of it?  And, is God pleased with what we are making of it?  “Let a man examine himself, and so, in this self-examined spiritually-prepared clean hands, pure heart, sort of way, let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup…” 

What’s Paul point?  Self-examination.  To look into this ‘mirror’ – God’s Word - and quickly forget what kind of person I am, before my utterly holy God - such a thing opens the door for me to reduce this Meal into nothing more than 5 minutes of silence in the service!  But, sincere, self-examination - what does it do?  But to look into this ‘mirror’ and continue therein, as a doer of what it says, opens wide the door for me to draw near into the Holy of holies, to the throne of grace, to the foot of the cross, to the empty tomb, to our Savior, Jesus Christ! 

Why does Paul soberly and rather sternly call us to self-examination before we participate in the Lord’s Supper?  Verses 29, 30 and 31 – My friends, do we realize what we’re dealing with here?  What we’re taking part in here?  What we may be opening ourselves up to here?  Anybody ever had a mother or dad exhort you, instruct you along these lines, “David, you’d better be careful, now, looks to me like you’re playing with fire!” 

Beloved, the reason for the very sober tone of this text is obvious, isn’t it?  Nadab and Abihu, priestly sons of Aaron, died playing with the holy fire of God’s altar (Leviticus 10:1-7).  Ananias and Sapphira conspired to lie to God, to cheat the church, thinking that would help them get ahead financially, over they fell – dead – struck down by God for daring to play around with Him (Acts 5:1-11).  Paul warns us to examine ourselves because to fail to do so, to fail to rightly discern what we are doing here, and, then to take part in an unworthy manner, is to eat and drink God’s judgment to oneself, to open the door, not for God’s blessing and righteousness from the God of salvation, but to swing it wide open for dreadful things like sickness, weakness, even death!  Wow! 

Let a man examine himself.  The examined life, searched out fully and sincerely by this heavenly Search Light - it is the only life worth living, it is!  How do I know that?  Anybody ever had a ‘guilty’ sentence hanging over his head?  I have.  Who robbed the cookie jar?  Who ran the stop sign?  Who broke his promise to be faithful till death?  Who claimed to know something or be something that he isn’t or doesn’t?  Who?  We might as well all raise our hands, right?  We’ve all been guilty, perhaps still are guilty of some crime, wrong doing or sin. 

Look one more time at our text, especially verse 27.  Imagine.  Is it hard to imagine being guilty of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ?  In a similar, very sober vein, the writer of the Book of Hebrews has this to say:

Hebrews 10:26-31, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Imagine.  I can hardly bear the thought, can you?  Imagine failing to properly and sincerely examine myself, and do whatever I need to do, to ascend to the hill of the Lord, to stand in His holy place, with clean hands and a pure heart.  Imagine failing to do that and then being guilty of trampling the Son of God under foot, guilty of counting the blood of the new covenant, His sacrifice of love, as if it were a common thing, guilty of insulting the Spirit of Grace!?  Can you imagine that?  Paul’s words of warning here are not to be taken lightly!  The cost is too high!  The consequences are way too painful!  We must examine ourselves!  We must!  But how?  How? 

To find out how to examine yourself properly, and therefore, to discover how to prepare properly for this Supper, I urge you to study two passages.  Psalm 26, a text that expresses a deep, abiding commitment to truth and sincerity before God.  And, Psalm 139, a prayer to guide you as you examine yourself before God. 

Psalm 26:1-7, “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.  For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.  I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will I go in with hypocrites.  I have hated the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.  I will wash my hands in innocence; so I will go about Your altar, O Lord, that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of  all Your wondrous works.”

Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

The examined life (including the self-examined celebration of the Lord’s Supper) - indeed it is the only life worth living!  Let’s pray.

The Heavenward Side of the Communion Table

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, March 25, 2012

Romans 8:28-39, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:  “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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In just two short weeks, the Lord-willing, we will again celebrate the most significant events yet to occur in the history of this world.  We refer to those events, those special, sacred days as Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  On those days, in our minds’ eye we will witness the tragic and cruel death of Jesus of Nazareth, His burial in a borrowed tomb, and His stunning appearance after His resurrection from the dead.  And, we’ve been this way before, haven’t we?  I know for my family and me, it will be the twenty-first Good Friday and Resurrection Day in a row that we will celebrate here at Northwest Christian Church.  Yes, we’ve been this way before.  And, we can almost recite the flow events by heart, can’t we?  The betrayal by Judas in Gethsemane.  The 3-fold denial by Peter. The trials before the Sanhedrin, Herod and Pilate.  The statement Pilate placed above Jesus’ head, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  The seven sayings of Jesus from the cross, the scoffers, the soldiers, the sight-seers, the saddened friends and family, and, yes, of course, the Savior. 

Yes, we’ve been this way before, some of us every year, for a lot more years than twenty-one in a row, and the Lord-willing, for a lot more years to come. 

But, listen, as we look forward to those special, sacred days, to those universe-altering events, and to our joyous celebration on them and of them, listen, let’s remember one very, very important thing: as Christians, we don’t rejoice in, we don’t celebrate and commemorate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus our Savior and King only once a year, and that’s all!  No!  At this Table, with the words of our Messiah and Lord engraved on the front for all to see, at this Table, we participate in, we reflect on, we thank God for every one of those events and all that they mean for us, each and every Lord’s Day!  Even if we didn’t do anything extra, anything special, like a Resurrection Day Sunrise Service, like a Resurrection Day breakfast, on that weekend, we’d still have this Table and this weekly time of communing with our Lord and Savior to take us back to Calvary. 

Someone has said that there are five ‘sides’ to the Communion Table, that when a Christian celebrates and participates in the Lord’s Supper with Jesus, he or she should look at the events of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday from at least five different vantage points.  First of all, there is the look BACK, the Historical perspective or vantage point we must keep in mind.  We examined this ‘side’ of the Communion Table last week, and we learned that as we look back, we have to return, we ought to go back in our mind’s eye, and through the avenue of Holy Scripture, not only to those sacred events which culminated Passion Week, but way back beyond that.  Remember? 

Where, when, did the Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday events, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ originate?  Remember what we learned?  In the mind of God, in the infinitely wise and powerful and gracious mind of almighty God, before the foundation of the world, before Genesis 1:1, God, in His mind planned for the events we will celebrate two weeks from today, and that we commemorate at this Table each Lord’s Day! 

And, then, there is the mouth of God, His words spoken to and through His holy prophets, people like Adam and Abraham, Moses and Samuel, Isaiah and Jeremiah, centuries, millennia BEFORE Calvary, before Easter morning, God spoke to these men and through these men and said, ‘This is what’s going to happen!  This is how I am going to carry out My plan to redeem sinful men and women and boys and girls.  Yes, the look back, the historical vantage point, this ‘side’ of the Communion Table, takes us back, way back to the Mind of God and to the mouth of God, but it also takes us back to the HANDS of God, His powerful, compassionate HANDS, step-by-step, carrying out His eternal plan of redemption, in the lives of, through His leading of men like Adam, and Abraham and Moses and David and Isaiah, God through His gracious and powerful HANDS orchestrated all the events and people of four thousand years of world history, to lead up to and culminate in the things we celebrate right here each week.   Wow! 

In a nutshell, that’s the Look Back, the Historical vantage point, the first ‘side’ of the Communion Table.  But, then, as we meet around this Table, as we commune with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, reflecting on all that has to do with these events and people of the past, that has to do with God’s mind and mouth and hands, what do we do?  What response does that look back elicit from us?  It prompts us to look UP, doesn’t it?  In humble gratitude, with joy-filled thanksgiving, a long and thorough look back, ought to cause us to joyfully and gratefully look UP. 

Yes, my Brothers and Sisters, look up, and, may I guide your eyes?  May I suggest to you, that, as you look up, as you examine the Lord’s Table and our time with the Lord from this HEAVEN-WARD perspective, may I suggest to you that you, first of all, focus your eyes, your attention, on the Source of our salvation.  Who is the Source of your salvation?  Many religions teach and believe – and the enemy of our souls, the Devil – would have us incorporate into our being, the thought that if there is such a thing as salvation, forgiveness of sins, a place called heaven and so forth, it won’t be God getting me there, but it will be ME getting me there!  That’s what many false religions, and many mistaken people you and I know and love, believe and teach.  But, what does this Book say?  Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast.”  ‘Look!  Look!  I saved myself!’  Who IS the Source of your salvation? 

The Apostle Paul put it like this:

Romans 8:28-33, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”

My Loved Ones, if reading, studying, contemplating that passage doesn’t make it abundantly clear, then, allow me to clarify it for you with this simple statement: when you come to this Table, don’t look at yourself, at how consistent you’ve been in attending worship services, at how much you’ve placed in the offering plate, at how many lessons or sermons you’ve spoken or shared in, at whose son or daughter you are!  Don’t look at any of that.  Why?  Because none of that will save you!  No!  Don’t look at yourself, look up!  To the Source of your salvation, God the Father!  And, remember: if He isn’t for you, if He isn’t your salvation Source, my friend, you don’t have any salvation!  

Secondly, look up, when you come to this Table, and this special, sacred time of communing with Jesus, look up to SEAL of your salvation, fix your eyes on the Seal of your salvation.  Who is the SEAL of our salvation?  This is one aspect to the HEAVENLY vantage point of the Lord’s Table that you may not have considered before.  We didn’t read it earlier, but take a look at what the Apostle Paul tells us about the seal of our salvation:

Romans 8:9-17, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

Do you understand what it means to be SEALED, to have received the gift of God’s Spirit as a seal of your salvation?  The world seal, found in places like Ephesians 1:13-14, testifies to this one very powerful and incredibly meaningful fact: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, when God gives Him to a genuinely repentant believer in Jesus Christ, when he or she is baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of sins, when God gives His Spirit to you, He seals you with this promise: ‘The inheritance I intend to give you, I will give you and My Spirit is my down-payment, my earnest money, my engagement ring for your finger, to say that one day very soon I’m going to complete the transaction, on day, I’m going to come for My Bride!’

My Loved Ones, this Table, and what we are all about at this Table, oh listen, it ought to cause us to look UP, to look up to the Source of our salvation, God the Father, and to the Seal of our salvation, God the Holy Spirit.  But then, last of all, look up, make full use of this heavenly vantage point, to gaze upon the SACRIFICE through Whom we have received salvation.  For centuries people have been enamored with Jesus, with His saying, His miracles, His compassion, His humility, His great moral example.  But, then they run up on His cross, and what His death there means, and what does Jesus’ death on Calvary’s cross mean?  It means that you and I have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.  It means that the wages of sin is death, physical death and eternal death, it means that before an utterly holy God you and I are shut up under sin, under its guilt, under its condemnation and under its punishment.  And that there is no way out, no deliverance from this body of death!  None!  Not in the sayings of Jesus, not in the miracles of Jesus, not in the compassion of Jesus for the sick, the blind, the lame, none even in the humility of Jesus, serving the outcasts, ministering to the tax collectors and prostitutes, washing His disciples’ feet, in all of those things about Jesus with which people are enamored, so in love, there is no help, no hope, when it comes to dealing with our biggest problem, the problem of sin!  But listen, listen to these words: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are being justified freely by God’s grace THROUGH the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an atoning sacrifice.”  By His blood there is hope, help, at the cross.  Or, how about this: “for the wages of sin is death,” no hope or help there, right?  Oh, but keep looking, keep looking up, for the rest of the verse says, “but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  There is hope and help at the cross.

One more Romans 7:24ff: “O Wretched man that I am!  O miserable man that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?”  Look up!  My friends, look up, to the Sacrifice provided for your salvation, “who will rescue me from this body of death?”  Here’s the answer: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

The five ‘sides’ to the Communion Table.  Looking back we see the mind of God, the mouth of God and, yes, even the HANDS of God, leading up to this point, the point that ought to cause all of us to look UP like Jesus did when HE blessed the Bread and distributed the Fruit of the Vine.  Yes, at this Table look up, to the Source who originated your salvation, the Seal who secures your salvation, and the Sacrifice, the precious sacrifice of His own dear Son, whom God did not spare, but gave Him up, so that you and I might experience salvation. 

The Historical Side of the Communion Table

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, March 18, 2012

1 Timothy 2:1-7, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”

As most of you know, this past week several members of my family and I had the opportunity to travel with my mother to Arkansas to assist my mom in sorting through her mother’s possessions.  There, in a little town in Northeast Arkansas, at my grandmother’s home, we had the opportunity to sort of go back in time, for me, to recall many happy memories of visits to her home, and for us, especially my daughters, to learn a great deal more about the roots of my mother’s family.  The Lord willing, we will be continuing that process with my mother over the next several months, and certainly, we covet your prayers as we do.

Image credit: Allenscottwalker

We live in a world that is almost obsessed with the future.  Whether it be the Monday through Friday, nine to five crowd living for payday or for Fri-day and the weekend, or whether it be the younger folks among us, on the edge of their seats, awaiting no just the announcement of some new gadget, the latest technological advancement that will supposedly enhance their lives, but biting their nails in anticipation of the arrival of that gadget or gizmo in the retail stores.  Rushing off to be the first in line to have in their hot little hands.  As I said, we live in a world, a culture, that is almost obsessed with the future, with what will be.  And certainly, there’s some good to that interest, that fixation on the future.  I mean, anybody ever try to drive your car on central expressway, looking only, ONLY in the rearview mirror, and never out the windshield in front of you?  We have to look ahead, don’t we?  We have to have at least a little bit of interest in and concern about the future, right? 

But, listen, before we, as followers of Jesus Christ become too caught up in the future only mindset, I think there is also a great deal of wisdom bound up in the statement that goes something like this: to know where you are going, to accurately discern the present and the future, you must be sure certain, well-acquainted with where you have been.  Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to our time at this Table each Lord’s Day.  As Christians, living not days, not weeks, not months or even years, but over two millennia, TWO THOUSAND years after the events we celebrate each Good Friday and Resurrection Day season, as Christians living that far removed from the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it’s easy to forget that this Table, the Lord’s Table and what it stands for, what is represents to us as Christians has a history to it.  It has a ‘side’ to it that is visible to us ONLY as we look in the ‘rear view mirror’ of the Word of God.  Let me explain what I mean. Going back as we did last week, to my grandmother’s home in Northeast Arkansas, I did sort of relive many good memories from my past.  And that was a blessing.  But, listen, here’s what blows my mind: though, like you, I live in the present – you know, Sunday, March 18, 2012 – and though, my birth certificate tells me, my life in this world had a beginning on Father’s Day Sunday, June 18, 1961.  Listen, when you start uncovering, as we uncovered at my grandma’s home, your family roots, you realize that your life or what led to your being here today, goes back a lot further than that date listed on your birth certificate.  The same is true for us as Christians.  In our mind’s eye, we go back to the first Good Friday, and we see Jesus, our Savior carrying His cross, we see Him hanging on that cross, loaded down by our sins and our guilt and enduring our punishment, that we might receive the benefit of that incredible sacrifice of redeeming love.  And we’re humbled, and we praise God for what Christ did for us.  But, listen, have you thought about it?  Is that as far back, is 30 A.D. on a hill outside Jerusalem, as far back as the Saving plan of God, the redeeming work of Christ goes?  Is it? 

This ‘side’ of the Communion Table, the Look-Back, as some have called it – talk about blowing your mind!  Knowing what I know; what this Book helps me to know about what we celebrate each Lord’s Day at this Table, we realize or should realize, that the saving plan of God, the John 3:16-intention of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, goes back farther, way, way farther than you and I could ever dream!  Take a look with me, at this, will you? 

This side of the Communion Table, the ‘Look Back’, how far back do we have to go to find out about the ‘Roots’ of our Redemption?  Revelation 13:8 – What does the Scripture say there about the ‘history’ of the saving plan of God, in the mind of God?  It says simply, does it blow your mind, like it does mind?  It says simply that God’s plant to save lost sinners, in His mind, that plan goes back even further than Genesis one, one!  Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, in His Father’s mind, He was slain, crucified, put to death for us BEFORE the creation of the world!  Wow!  The apostle Paul, in our text we read a moment ago from 1 Timothy 2, tells us that the man, Jesus Christ, the One Mediator between God and men, gave Himself for a ransom for all, in due time (see Galatians 4:4ff), at the precise moment God the Father had planned going all the way back to before Genesis one, verse one.  Wow!

Before we move one, let me read for you from two other passages from Paul’s letters, to undermine this point. 

2 Timothy 1:8-10, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Titus 1:1-3, “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior.”

The ‘Look Back’, this first side, this first ‘view’ or ‘view-point’ pertaining to the Lord’s Table, and the discovery that in His mind, God’s grace was given to us, in Christ Jesus, BEFORE time began!    Wow!  Wow! 

But, then, we look further into this subject, and we find out that not only was what we celebrate, today, at this table, prepared before time began, in God’s mind.  Listen, through His mouth, through God’s mouth, God’s saving plant was proclaimed to and through His prophets centuries – millennia – BEFORE Christ came to live and die and rise again. 

What do you mean, preacher?  Here’s what I mean: take for example, God’s promises made to Abraham, two thousand years before the birth of Christ.  (See Genesis 12:7; 13:15; 24:7, etc. and Galatians 3:16).  Through His mouth, God spoke to His prophet, His servant, His human instrument, Abraham, and said, “In your Seed (through a Descendant of yours, Abraham) all the nations of the world will be blessed.”  Who is that ‘Seed’, that ‘Descendant’?  Jesus Christ!  He is the One all those dusty, old genealogies from the Old Testament were leading up to! 

2 Samuel 7:12 – The Covenant Promises of God, God putting His reputation on the line, this time the prophet, the servant of God, the human instrument is not Abraham, but a great, great, great, great… grandson of Abraham, a man by the name of David.  Again, spoken by the very mouth of God, the promise has to do with a future ‘Seed’ who would rule and reign.  Who is that future ‘Seed’?  Solomon?  I mean, he was tee one born, soon thereafter, to David.  No!  The ‘Seed’, the Promised Coming King of kings was not merely David’s son, but God’s Son, Jesus Christ (see Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:21-38). 

Or, how about Isaiah 53 - Through His mouth, and human mouth-piece Isaiah, more than 700 years ahead of time, God foretold the coming of a Servant, a Suffering Servant Savior, who would be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  Who is that Suffering Servant Savior?  The nation of Israel?  Isaiah, the prophet? No!  Look again at His stretched out arms on that cruel tree, and you will see, the Suffering Servant Savior of Isaiah 53 is Jesus! 

What do you see when you look back from this Table sitting here in this room?  What do you see, what ought you to notice when you view this Table and what it stands for, from this ‘side’, this ‘camera angle’?  The mind of God, planning BEFORE He ever said, ‘Let there be light,’ planning for what we celebrated just a few moments ago.  The mouth of God, speaking to and through His prophets, His human instruments, about that plan, though it was still hundreds and hundreds of years before it came to pass. 

But, then, notice also, we see from this ‘side’ of the Lord’s Table, the movement of God, His mighty, hand at work in History!

Exodus chapters 14 and 15, the culmination of over 400 years of slavery in Egypt for God’s Old Testament people, the Israelites. The mighty hand of God MOVING, not only to persuade a stubborn ruler named Pharoah, to let His people go, but do you remember the account?  The record of that miraculous intervention of God at the Red Sea?  His people, Moses and the children of Israel, led safely THROUGH the Red Sea on dry land, but the Egyptians, the arrogant tool of the Arch Enemy of God, Satan himself – what happened to them?  No deliverance there, right?  No rescue and victory for the Egyptians there right?  No!  The same waters through which the Israelites safely passed God used to DESTROY the Egyptians!  Exodus 14 and 15 – What do we have here, my friends?  A mere glimpse into a highlight of ancient Israel’s past?  No!  No!  That watery deliverance, that incredible victory of God, for His people, what is it?  It is one of many, many pictures of the movement of God’s mighty hand in History, pointing forward to the ultimate victorious deliverance of God’s people at Calvary!  That’s what you see from this ‘Look Back’, this historical ‘side’ of the Communion Table. 

But, listen, there’s one more portrait or, we might say, THE focal point of this ‘portrait’ of the Lord’s Table, that we see or ought to see each time we partake of the bread and the fruit of the vine.  What is at the center of this ‘Look Back’ side?  The mind of God?  Well, yes…  The mouth of God?  Well, yes...  How about this?  At the center, the focal point of this ‘portrait’ of the Lord’s Table is not a WHAT, but a WHO!  1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus who gave Himself a ransom for all…”  Whose Table is this? This is the Table of the Lord Jesus Christ!  Who’s supper is this?  The Host of this New Covenant Banquet is none other than our Savior, our Redeemer, our Mediator, the Son of God, the Man Christ Jesus.  The Man of men, Christ Jesus!

The author of the hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, states it this way in the second verse of the song: “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.  Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing!  You ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus it is He, Lord Sabaoth is His name, from age to age the same, and He must win the battle!”