Pastoral Guidance for the Administration of the Holy Supper

— continued —

Those not attending

Until now I have said something about the true frame of the little ones and also the established ones in faith. But the Holy Supper is administered in the midst of the congregation. How are things with all the others who also live under the administration of the covenant of grace? When the Lord’s Supper is administered in the congregation, there are also many spectators. Is that not a sad situation?

How clearly is revealed herein the state of death wherein a great part of the congregation is sunken down. It should sadden us and urge us to ask the Lord if He will send His Spirit to work powerfully in the congregation, so that His regenerating and renewing work may prosper among us. As far as this is concerned, the Lord’s hand is so still. Jesus once said, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring” (John 10:16). It is my hope and expectation that the Lord would send His Spirit to accompany the preaching of the Word, so that many (also our young people) may be added to the church among those who should be saved.

There are also people among us who are not even spectators, but who stay home because the service is too long. Are there others who do come to church, but only to judge others? Let such an evil not fester among us, but pull it up by the roots. Then again, we find people in our midst who excuse themselves and hide behind the thick wall of their dead passiveness.

It is, however, not less sad when others come to the table of the Lord out of custom. For them the Holy Supper is nothing more than a pretense. Those people take historical faith to be true saving faith. God’s Word calls them hypocrites, and they are those who do not truly repent toward God with all their heart. They are deceiving themselves, pretending to be God’s children with an outward conduct and feigning to possess faith. They act and walk as true believers, and they sit at the table of the Lord, but their heart yearns for the world. They do not discern the Lord’s body, they do not know the spiritual communion with Christ, and they eat and drink judgment to themselves. They do not belong at the table of the Lord, and they bring God’s displeasure and wrath over themselves, for He will visit the sin of hypocrisy. The church cannot exclude the hypocrite in any other way than by the key of the preaching of the Word, for she may not and cannot judge the hearts.

There are also among God’s children those who do not repent toward the Lord with a sincere heart, because they experience periods of deep decline in their spiritual life. When certain bosom sins rear up again, such people can sink very low and come under darkness for their soul, and the living soul-exercises with Christ are not there anymore. When such persons attend the Holy Supper, the Lord’s displeasure will rest upon them. Oh, it is so necessary that there is a breaking with sin and a heartfelt return to the Lord, because only then will He speak to their soul again. The relationship between God and His children is so tender.

When a child of God lives in unbelief and when his heart is turned to sin and the world, he is also not “discerning the body of the Lord.” When sin is allowed to live in the heart, we grieve the Holy Spirit, and then unbelief and the power of sin is strengthened. Unconfessed sins are unforgiven sins.

Many of God’s children are assailed by Satan regarding the knowledge of their sins. Especially the little ones in grace are often afraid to eat and drink judgment to themselves. They do have a knowledge of self, but is it enough? They do hunger after Christ, but is it enough? They hate sin and desire to live holily before God, but it does not work at all. Despite all their attempts at betterment, everything is getting worse. Their hearts tremble at the thought of not discerning the body of the Lord. Should they keep away? Or stay home? And in this way Satan tries to put stumbling block after stumbling block in their path. Is there room for such a one at the Lord’s table? Yes, there is, for the King is calling, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He promises, “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). The meek ones, the brokenhearted ones, shall eat and be satisfied, and they shall praise the Lord.

Be ye reconciled to one another

I want to mention yet another matter that is automatically included in the repentance toward God, and that is to be reconciled with our brother. God’s children are members of the same body, children of the same household. A very special bond, the bond of faith and of love in the Lord Jesus Christ and of the blood of Christ, binds them together. God’s children live under the commandment of love. “A new commandment give I unto you, That ye love one another” (John 13:34). This love must be expressed in a special way at the table of the Lord.

To be reconciled with one another is different from saying, “I have nothing against him,” or “I do not have any enmity in my heart against her.” To be reconciled with one another is to love each other for Jesus’ sake, and that, too, is a crucial part of repentance toward God with a sincere heart. When I say that I love Jesus and I hate my brother, I am a liar. There is such a tender relationship between the Lord and our soul. May we always pray for a cleansed conscience for these matters.

How fruitful can the regular observances of the Holy Supper be! There must always be an urging to examine ourselves again and again, so that we, who are so slow of heart, may be encouraged to increase in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some heart-searching questions

In closing, I would like to lay some questions before you:

- Do you often bring your heart before the Lord to be examined by Him?

- Have you been uprooted from the grounds of your own righteousness?

- Is Jesus precious and necessary to you in the way that He reveals Himself?

- Is He altogether lovely to you?

- Do you desire Him as your Prophet, Priest, and King?

- Do you desire to bear fruit in Him?

If you may answer these questions in your heart with a “yes,” then do not let anyone or anything hinder you or disturb you, but go with liberty to Him who calls and who is faithful. Know that the dying Surety has instituted the Holy Supper for your comfort and strengthening.

It is my prayer that the Lord may bless this brief meditation, not only for your personal life, but also in the midst of the congregation. If an arrow has penetrated into your heart, I would say, “Do not extinguish that discovering light, but bend your knees with these convictions and confess your follies. Acknowledge your sins before the Lord and beseech Him for a divine right to commune at the table of the Lord, not as a hypocrite, but in truth. He is a merciful God.”

I also hope that some of your soul’s riddles have been solved and that the fruit may be a quiet desire to proclaim His death. It is also possible that not all your fears have been taken away, and that the big question in your heart still is: “Is it truly from the Lord? Are my soul’s experiences the work of the Holy Spirit?” Remember then that Jesus revealed Himself to Cleopas and his friend in “breaking of bread” (Luke 24:35).

“Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights” (I Kings 19:7-8).

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