The Lord's Table Part 1

THE LORD'S TABLE.

by Andrew Murray.

PREFACE

On the use of this little volume I would fain say two things which lie upon my heart.

The first is this: that the Christian who desires to make use of it must not be content merely to read and to understand the portion for the day, but must take time to meditate upon it and to appropriate it.

I am convinced that one chief cause why some do not grow more in grace is that they do not take time to hold converse with the Lord in secret.

Spiritual, divine truth does not thus become our possession at once.

Although I understand what I read, although I consent heartily to it, although I receive it, it may speedily fade away and be forgotten, unless by private meditation I give it time to become fixed and rooted in me, to become united and identified with me. Christians, give yourselves, give your Lord time to transfer His heavenly thoughts to your inner, spiritual life. When you have read a portion, set yourselves in silence before G.o.d. Take time to remain before Him until He has made His word living and powerful in your souls. Then does it become the life and the power of your life.

And this brings me to the second remark which I desire to make. It is this: that the Christian must take special care that he do not suffer himself to be led away from the Word of G.o.d by the many manuals which in our days are seeing the light. These books will have this result, whenever a man seeks his instruction only in what the writer has to say, he then becomes accustomed to take everything at second hand.

These books can become a blessing to the reader only when they bring him always to that portion of G.o.ds Word which is treated of in order that he may meditate further upon it himself as from the mouth of G.o.d.

Christians, there is in the Word of G.o.d an incredible power. The blessing which lies hid in it is inconceivable. See to it that when you have read a portion you always return to that pa.s.sage of the Scriptures of which an explanation is given. Receive that not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, the Word of G.o.d, which works mightily in those that believe. Hold fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d through the Word. Take time to speak with Him about it, to give an answer to Him concerning it. Then shall you understand what the Lord Jesus says: The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit and life. Then shall Word and sacrament gloriously work together, to make you increase in prayer and in the life of G.o.d.

That the Eternal G.o.d may bless this little volume also, to make His children learn His own Word, is the prayer of the author for all his readers.

A. M.

PART I.

The Week before the Supper.

My G.o.d, and is Thy table spread?

And does Thy cup with love o'erflow?

Thither be all Thy children led, And let them all its sweetness know.

Hail, sacred feast, which Jesus makes!

Rich banquet of His flesh and blood!

Thrice happy he who here partakes That sacred stream, that heavenly food!

O let Thy table honored be, And furnished well with joyful guests; And may each soul salvation see That here its sacred pledges tastes.

Let crowds approach with hearts prepared, With hearts inflamed let all attend; Nor, when we leave our Fathers board, The pleasure or the profit end.

Revive Thy drooping Churches, Lord!

And bid our drooping graces live; And more, that energy afford, A Saviour's love alone can give.

-Philip Doddridge

SABBATH MORNING.

The Divine Invitation Behold, I have made ready my dinner. All things are ready. Come to the marriage. - Matthew 22:4.

Let the King of Heaven and Earth say this to you. In honor of His Son He has prepared a great supper. There the Son bears His human nature.

There are all the children of men, dear and precious to the Father, and He has caused them to be invited to the great festival of the Divine love. He is prepared to receive and honor them there as guests and friends. He will feed them with His heavenly food. He will bestow upon them the gifts and energies of everlasting life.

O my soul, thou also hast received this heavenly invitation. To be asked to eat with the King of Glory: how it behooves thee to embrace and be occupied with this honor. How desirous must you be to prepare yourself for this feast. How you must long that you should be in dress and demeanor, and language and disposition, all that may be rightly expected of one who is invited to the court of the King of kings.

Glorious invitation! I think of the banquet itself and what it has cost the great G.o.d to prepare it. To find food for angels: for this only one word was necessary. But to prepare for man upon this accursed earth a banquet of heavenly food that cost Him much. Nothing less than the life and blood of His Son, to take away the curse and to open up to them the right and the access to heavenly blessings. Nothing less than the body and the blood of the Son of G.o.d could give life to lost men. O my soul, ponder the wonders of this royal banquet.

I think of the invitation. It is as free, as wide as it could be, without money and without price. The poorest and the most unworthy are called to it. And so urgent and cordial is it. Not less cordial is the love which invites to it, the love which longs after sinners and takes delight in entertaining and blessing them.

I think of the blessing of the banquet. The dying are fed with the power of a heavenly life, the lost are restored to their places in the Fathers house, those that thirst after G.o.d are satisfied with G.o.d Himself and with His love.

Glorious invitation! With adoration I receive it, and prepare myself to make use of it. I have read of those who hold themselves excused because they are hindered, one by his merchandise, another by his work, and a third by his domestic happiness. I have heard the voice which has said, I say unto you, that none of these men which were bidden shall taste of My supper. Under the conviction that He who so cordially invites me is the Holy One, who will not suffer Himself to be mocked, I will prepare myself to lay aside all thoughtlessness, to withdraw myself from the seductions of the world; and with all earnestness to yield obedience to the voice of the heavenly love. I will remain in quiet meditation and in fellows.h.i.+p with the children of G.o.d, to keep myself free from all needless anxiety about the world, and as an invited guest, to meet my G.o.d with real hunger and quiet joy. He Himself will not withhold from me His help in this work.

PRAYER.

Eternal G.o.d, I have received the good tidings that there is room also for me at the table of Thy Son. With grateful thanks I receive thy invitation, G.o.d of all grace. I hunger for Thy bread, O Lord. My soul thirsts for G.o.d. For the living G.o.d my flesh and my heart cry out. When shall I enter and appear before the face of G.o.d?

Lord, graciously bestow upon me this week a real blessing in the way of preparation. Let the sight of my sinfulness humble me deeply and take away from me all hope in myself. Let the sight of Thy grace again encourage me and fill me with confidence and gladness. Do Thou Thyself stir up within me a mighty desire for the Bridegroom, for the precious Jesus, without whom there could be no feast. And may it be manifest in me this week that I am full of the thought that I have an invitation to eat bread in the house of my G.o.d with his only-begotten and well-beloved Son. Lord, grant this for Jesus sake.

Lord Jesus, thou hast taught me: G.o.d is a spirit, and they that wors.h.i.+p Him must wors.h.i.+p Him in spirit and in truth. Lord, spiritual wors.h.i.+p we cannot bring: but Thou wilt bestow upon us Thy Spirit. I entreat thee, Lord, to grant the working of the Spirit. The blessing of the Supper is a high spiritual blessing. The invisible G.o.d will there come very near to us and will very mightily impart the gift of eternal life to those who have the spiritual capacity for it. Only the spiritual mind can enjoy the spiritual blessing. Thou knowest how deeply I fail in this receptiveness for a full blessing. But grant, I pray thee, that the Holy Spirit may this week dwell and work in me with special power. I will surrender myself for this end to Him and to His guidance, in order that He may overcome in me the spirit of the world and renew my inner life to inherit from my G.o.d a new blessing,. Lord, let Thy Spirit work mightily within me.

And as I thus pray for myself I pray also for the whole congregation.

Grant, Lord, in behalf of all thy children an overflowing outpouring of Thy Spirit, in order that this Supper may really be for all of us a time of quickening and renewal of our energies. Amen.

MONDAY MORNING.

The Preparation "Where wilt Thou that we go and make ready, that thou mayest eat the pa.s.sover?" "He will himself show you a large upper room furnished and ready, and there make ready for us." "If thou set thine heart aright, then stretch out thine hands toward Him." - Mark 4:12, 15; Job 11:13.

The greater a work is that a man undertakes the more important is the preparation. Four days before the Pa.s.sover the Israelite had to make his preparations. The Lord Jesus also desired that care should be taken to obtain an upper room furnished and ready where the Pa.s.sover might be prepared. When I am called upon to meet my G.o.d and to sit down at His table, I will see to it that I do not approach it unprepared. Otherwise I should dishonor Him and lose the blessing which is destined for me, and cover my soul with heavy guilt.

For a right preparation two things are necessary. The first is this: that my heart should be occupied and filled with Him who has invited me, and with all the glorious blessing which He is to bestow upon me.

Great thoughts of Jesus and large expectations of what His love will do will set the heart aglow and be the best preparation for meeting Himself.

The second part of preparation is to consider if I shall be a worthy guest, acceptable and welcome to the Lord of the Feast: that is if I am really an invited guest willing and prepared to come to the table according to the law of the King in such a manner as He will approve of. To cherish mean thoughts of myself, and no more expectation from myself or of any good in me, and out of this to have deep-rooted renunciation of myself in order to be willing to live through Jesus alone this is the att.i.tude of soul which leads to a blessed observance of the Supper.

Man obtains nothing without laying out time upon it. Even where free grace is to do everything apart from our working, we must give it time to carry out its work in our hearts. It is only when in secrecy I resolve with myself to look to Jesus until my desires become truly operative within me, that I shall be really prepared for the banquet.

It is only when I deal trustfully with Him in the ordinary converse of the hidden and the daily life, that I can expect extraordinary blessing from public communion with Him at His table. Yea, hunger and thirst cannot be awakened simply when I see the table. It is in the conflict of the preceding life that hunger and thirst are aroused. Only for such is the table a feast. May this quickening not be wanting to me in this preparation.

But, alas! just as little as it was my work to prepare the table with its food, am I in a position to prepare myself as a guest for the feast. The Lord who says, All things are ready, has also prepared the wedding garment. He Himself will clothe the guests and prepare them for His feast. Therefore I will ask Him for this also. It was of the Lord that the disciples asked: Where wilt thou that we prepare the pa.s.sover?

Of Him also I may and will ask: Lord,how wilt thou that I prepare the pa.s.sover? This week I will continue in quiet meditations and prayer at His feet, with eye and heart fixed upon Him. I know a.s.suredly that I shall find what is needful for me in celebrating this feast.

PRAYER.

Lord, deliver me from all superficiality and light-mindedness in drawing near to Thy table. Too often have I supposed that it is self-evident I must use again the Lords Supper. I have considered too little how needful it was to take the stones out of the way, when the Lord Himself shall come to prepare His way and make His path straight.

I fancied that it was a light thing to receive blessing. Lord, forgive me this error. Do Thou Thyself enable my soul to understand what is meant by saying that sinful man shall meet his G.o.d. Do Thou Thyself work within me true conscientiousness and eagerness to lay bare and to lay aside every sin, and trust myself wholly to Thee with a real surrender of the whole soul and of all its powers.

Lord Jesus, hear, I beseech Thee, this my pet.i.tion. O Lord, grant that I may not lose the blessing by thoughtlessness or idleness. O my Lord, how much has it cost Thee to prepare the table for me, and now even this is not enough. I must still ask Thee to prepare me for the table.

I thank Thee for the joyful a.s.surance which I have that Thou wilt do this. Therefore I place myself for this week in Thy hands, in order that by Thy working in me a right condition of soul may be brought into existence.

Precious Lord, grant me the broken and contrite heart. And grant unto me to look up unto Thee with a living, active faith as my Friend, my Saviour, my All. Grant, Lord Jesus, that I also may be able to say: I have but one thought, one desire, and that is Jesus. So shall I be prepared with honor to the Father to glorify Thee by my cheerful confession that I desire nothing but Thee, and Thy wonderful love.

My Saviour, I depend upon Thee throughout this week. Work thou in me a true preparation for the Supper. I expect it from Thee. Amen.

TUESDAY MORNING.

The Host And He said unto them, With desire have I desired to eat this pa.s.sover with you. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. Luke 22:15; Revelation 3:20.

The best preparation is to look into the heart of Jesus. When you understand what He that sits on the throne desires for you, how He longs after you, what He has prepared for you, this will more than aught else set your desires and longings in motion, and impart to you the right preparation.

That word of Jesus at the Paschal Table enables me to look into His heart. He knew that He must go from that feast to the Cross. He knew that His body must be broken, and His blood shed, in order that He might be really your Pa.s.sover. He knew how in that night they should grieve and betray Him, and yet He says: With desire have I desired to eat this pa.s.sover with you. What a love this is! And Jesus is still the same. Even with you, poor sinner, He earnestly desires to eat the Pa.s.sover. Yea, on the throne of heaven, He looks forward with longing to the day of the Supper, to eat with you, and to quicken you. O man, let your sluggishness put you to shame: Jesus earnestly desiresJesus greatly longsto observe the Supper with you: He would not enjoy the food of heavenly life alone: He would fain eat of it along with you.

Or, we may think of it as that other word says: In order to observe the Supper with the soul, He stands at the door and knocks. Wonderful condescension! What is there in the vile sinner that the King of Heaven longs to sit down beside him? In order to hold a feast in my heart, Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Is not this inconceivable love? Is it not unspeakable blessing?

He would fain come in Himself. His presence is the special joy of the feast. And He Himself will hand to me and make me partaker of the heavenly food He brings to me. Even as the little weak infant, that does not know how to eat, is fed by its mothers hand, so will Jesus break for me the bread of heaven, and impart to me what I have need of.

Glorious Paschal feast thus observed with Jesus: glorious Supper held with Jesus. He is the Entertainer: He is the Wedding Garment: He is also the Food. He knows precisely what I need: He knows what it is that has hindered me hitherto, and the love of Jesus has seen meet to impart to me at His table just that one thing which can satisfy my hunger.

Dost Thou, Lord Jesus, earnestly desire to keep the Pa.s.sover with me? I venture to answer: I also earnestly desire to observe the Supper with Thee. My whole heart longs for the Supper with Jesus.

There is nothing on earth that awakens love and rouses it to activity so powerfully as the thought of being desired and loved. Let me endeavor to conceive how true it is that I am an object of desire to the Son of G.o.d. He looks out to see whether I am coming to Him or not.

With the deepest interest, He would know whether I come hungering after Him, so that He may be able to bestow much of His blessing upon me.

That would be such a joy to His love. Open thy mouth wide; I will fill it abundantly. Thus does He stir me up to earnest longings. His desire is toward me. My soul, believe and ponder this wonderful thought, until you feel drawn with overmastering force to give yourself over to Jesus, for the satisfaction of His desire toward you: then shall you too be satisfied.

PRAYER.

Eternal Love, what am I that Thou shouldest desire to eat with me?

Lord, it is too great a boon that Thou shouldest earnestly desire to eat with me: with me, who have desired so little to eat with Thee, who have longed so much more for the food that perisheth and for the fellows.h.i.+p of the world than for Thee and Thy heavenly bread. My Lord, give me so to feel the desire of Thy soul to eat with me, that my sluggishness and my unbelief shall be ashamed, and all that is within me may prepare to set my heart open with joy before Thee.

Yea, Lord, too long have I suffered Thee to stand at the door and knock: now will I open it to Thee. Make even my heart a banquet hall furnished and prepared where Thou mayest make ready the pa.s.sover. Let the sight of Thy blood poured out for me be to me the full a.s.surance of redemption. Let the eating of the Lamb fill me with the power of a heavenly life. Let the eating with Thee be fellows.h.i.+p with Thyself and Thy love be the joy of my soul. Blessed Jesus, let the love of Thy heart which draws Thee to me, also draw me to Thee.

My Saviour, it is this especially that I crave at Thy hand: unveil to me the love of Thy heart that makes Thee long so much after me. I know that this is one of the secret things that remain for Thy dearest friends, and I hardly dare reckon myself amongst them. And yet, Lord, may I venture to do so? Grant me, I pray Thee, one more glance into Thy heart, that I may know how earnestly Thou dost desire to eat with me.

Let my soul conceive what it is to have me at Thy table with this great desire. Thou wouldst have me as Thine own possession. Thou wouldst enter into the deepest communion with me. Thou wouldst communicate Thyself to me. Thou wouldst become one with me. Thou wouldst have me for Thyself. My Jesus, if this be really so, cause me to feel it. Let not my heart remain in darkness. Then shall I turn away from all else, and my life shall be filled with one supreme desireto eat with Jesus, my King and my Friend. Precious Jesus, grant that it may indeed be so.

Amen.

WEDNESDAY MORNING.

Self-Examination "But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup." "Try your own selves, whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed, ye be reprobate." 1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5.

No one may eat of the bread without self-examination. The danger of unworthy communicating is indeed very great. The sin of making oneself guilty of the body and blood of the Lord is very grave. The possibility of eating judgment unto oneself is very fearful (read I Corinthians 11:27-30). Everyone who is truly desirous of a blessing at the table will be very willing to yield obedience to the command of our Lord; Try your own selves: Prove your own selves.

The problem of self-examination is simple. According to the apostle, there are but two conditions, either Jesus Christ is in you, or ye are reprobate: one of two. There is no third condition. The life of Christ in you may still be weak; but if you are truly born again and a child of G.o.d, Christ is in you. And then as a child you have access to the table of the Father and a share in the childrens bread.

But if Christ is not in you, you are reprobate. Nothing that is in you, nothing that you do, or are, or even desire and wish to be, makes you acceptable to G.o.d. The G.o.d against whom you have sinned inquires only about one thing: whether you have received His Son. He that hath the Son hath the life. With nothing less than this can He be content: with this He is fully satisfied. If Christ is in you, you are acceptable to the Father. But if Christ is not in you, you are at the very same moment reprobate. You have come in to the Lord's Supper without the wedding garment: your lot must be in the outermost darkness. You are unworthy. You eat judgment to yourself. You make yourself guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

Reader, how is it with you? What will G.o.d say of you when He sees you at the table? Will G.o.d look upon you as one of His children, who are very heartily welcome to Him at His table, or as an intruder who has no right to be at His table? You would not for a moment sit down at the table of a man on earth if you were aware that you were not welcome to him, or if you thought that he did not willingly see you there. Surely, then, you would not dream of sitting down at the table of G.o.d, while it is still possible that He may look upon you with anger, as one who is desecrating His ordinance. Reader, pray answer this question: What will G.o.d say of you when He beholds you at His table? You are one of two things: you are either a true believer and a child of G.o.d, or you are not. If you are a child of G.o.d, you have a right to the table and eat the bread of the Father, however feeble you may be. But if you are not a child of G.o.d, no true believer, you have no right to it. You may not go forward to it.

Reader, try your own self, whether you are in the faith: prove yourself. And should it appear that you do not yet have Christ, then even to-day receive Him. There is still time. Without delay give yourself to Christ: in Him you have a right to the Lords Table.

PRAYER.

Search me, O G.o.d, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way that is everlasting. Lord, Thou knowest how deceitful the heart is, far above all things. But, Lord, Thou knowest the heart, even my heart. And now I come to Thee, Omniscient One, and set my heart before Thee with the prayer: Lord, make me know whether Jesus Christ is in me, or whether I am still without Him, and reprobate before Thee.

Of old, Thou Thyself didst see to it that hypocrites should be cast out from the midst of Thy people. Thou didst point out Achan. Thou didst make known the man who dipped his hand in the dish with Thy Son. Thou didst detect Ananias. Thou art the King who comest in to scrutinize the guests that have sat down, and who sayest: Friend, how camest thou in hither, not being in the wedding garment? Thou art still mighty to search the hearts. Lord, hear now the supplication of Thy people, ,and purge Thy congregation. Let the life of the Spirit become so powerful that all doubts shall vanish, and Thy children know and confess that Christ is in them. Let Thy presence in their midst effect such a joy and such a reverence that mere confessors with the lips shall be afraid, and the self-righteous be brought to detection. Lord, make it known to many who are still content in uncertainty, whether Christ is in them or whether they are reprobate.