As I gave thought to this most sacred celebration I wondered how many go through the ritual and it remains precisely that “a ritual.” There is something in the Lord’s Supper that meets with much more than the external senses. There are at least five major New Testament doctrines embodied in the ordinance. Let’s look at them. The doctrine of the incarnation is there. In this ordinance we have “Bread and Wine,” of these two elements our LORD says, “This is My Body…This is My Blood.” Consider He that made man became man: born an infant, yet infinite, endless, unending, immeasurable, and unlimited. He was from eternity and yet He was born of a woman. He was heir of all things and yet was a carpenter’s despised son. The doctrine of the atonement is there. We have not only “Bread and Wine,” we have broken bread and poured out wine. A bloodless gospel is no Gospel at all. To get rid of Christ’s suffering and bloodshed is the chief aim of the enemy’s assaults. “The life of the flesh is in the blood thereof” (Lev.17:14). This is as true about a gospel message as it was about the animal sacrifices in the Levitical passage. Take the blood of Christ out of your message and you have no gospel. The doctrine of effectual grace is there. In this ordinance we have not only “broken bread and poured out wine,” we have the bread eaten and the wine drunk. Christ came into this world not to put men where they could save themselves, but to do the work in them and for them from first to last. The Word of Jesus makes men willing and turns them from the error of their ways by the mighty overwhelming constraining force of a divine power. The doctrine of the church, Christ’s body, is there. This ordinance definitely speaks of the mystical union of the believer and Christ. We are in Christ! He is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. From this union in Christ we experience all the blessings and delights of communion with God and find spiritual vitality for obedience, prayer, and love. This powerful union is mystical because we cannot see it with our eyes; it is a spiritually revealed truth. The doctrine of Christ’s headship and sovereignty over His people is there. The ordinance is a positive institution founded upon the authority of Christ, and as with the ordinance of baptism, believers are not asked, but commanded to observe it; to refuse to do so as a believer you violate the Law of Christ and are guilty of sin. You say, “but I don’t feel worthy of observing the ordinance”; therefore I say, “You need the much more participation in it.” Look through the bread and wine to the Lamb of God that takes away our sin. Remember Christ by receiving Him through these symbols, showing forth His death until He comes. If you ever need to talk to me about this I would be most happy to do so.
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