THE LORD’S SUPPER - Part 3

Preparing to Participate (cont’d)

Recently I have been meditating on the Lord Jesus as the Balm of Gilead, Jeremiah 8:22. Gilead was a place renowned for its medical care. The Balm of Gilead was something physicians used to cure disease and sooth pain. In Jeremiah chapter 8, verse 22, God laments over the spiritual condition of His people and speaks of the Healing Balm available in Gilead. That balm is Christ! He is the Healing Balm for the brokenhearted and bruised, Luke 4:18, 8:43; 10:34, for the bereaved, Luke 7;13-15, for the blind, John 9, for all believer, Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24 and yet there was no healing available for Him at Calvary. By His stripes we are healed.

Truly, the Lord Jesus is unsearchable and His riches unlimited, Ephesians 3:8. There is still much more we could say of prophecies, predictions, pictures, parables and miracles! Quite clearly, there is no excuse for not being prepared with “precious ointment’ to pour at His feet.

Prepare to Partake

Finally and most solemnly, we must all prepare to partake of the emblems at the Lord’s Supper. When I use the expression the emblems I am referring to the symbols of the bread and the cup as they are symbolic emblems. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 states that before we partake of the emblems we must “examine (test or scrutinize) ourselves. It is an extremely serious matter to merely turn up at the Lord’s Supper with unconfessed sin in our lives or disagreements and divisions with other believers damaging our fellowship and unity.

If this is the case then we are taking the emblems unworthily or in the wrong condition. To put it another way, we are treating the emblems and the Person they represent with dishonor and indifference by pretending we are holy in life and in harmony with each other. Such a person would be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord and has not discerned His body.

Praise God, grace is available! Before we come to the Lord’s Supper we are to self examine our lives, confess any hidden sins to God and put any quarrels with fellow believers right with a view to partaking. Only then we can truly participate with a clear conscience. Please note, it is not an excuse to stay away but rather the standard which God desires at the Lord’s Supper.

May God continue to encourage and challenge us with regard to how we prepare to remember the Lord Jesus. It is one of the greatest privileges afforded to believers to gather together with Him and consider His glorious Person until He comes. This is stated in 1 Corinthians 11:26 “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”.

By: Pastor David Jones

Excerpts from D.R.