The Lord’s Supper and the Three Things Necessary (2)

Rev. J.J. Van Eckeveld, Zeist, the Netherlands

Sorrow over sin

We saw in our previous article how, in the act of self-examination, the Form for the Lord’s Supper follows the three parts of misery, deliverance, and gratitude. We must examine ourselves accordingly. We were considering the part of misery, especially the question as to how deep the discovery of our sins must be. In that regard I have pointed to the fact that in the first place it concerns the nature of the discovery. We will examine this somewhat further.

With the uncovering of sin by the Holy Spirit, we begin to experience not only that we have sinned but also that we have sinned against God. It is this which gives sorrow in our heart. It becomes true inwardly that no one has ever committed so much evil against so much good—sinned against a God who is worthy of all our love and our esteem. That causes tears of sorrow; they may be tears which pour down our cheeks, but they can also be tears of the soul. Others do not see them, but one feels the burning pain inside that one has lost God and sinned against Him. That is truly a loving sorrow, not only because it comes forth from the love which has been poured into the heart in the rebirth, but also because that love draws the sinner to the Lord. Therefore, there is something sweet in this sorrow; I would not want to part with these tears for all the joy of the world. Judas and Cain knew nothing of this loving sorrow.

Do we know this sorrow? This is the question which we must ask ourselves with an eye toward the Lord’s Supper. I know you will then say, “If only I knew more of it.” There is still so much self-love and love of sin in your heart, but may you not at times say with Peter, “Lord, thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love thee”? It is this love which makes sin so painful.

There is more. The sorrow for sin increases as I learn to see my sins in the light of the bleeding wounds of Christ. This is a further step in spiritual life. We also read of this in the Form for the Lord’s Supper: “...considering that the wrath of God against sin is so great...He hath punished the same in His beloved Son Jesus Christ with the bitter and shameful death of the cross.” It is precisely this which makes the displeasure of and the humbling over sin so profound. My sorrow about sin is deepest when I may come to the knowledge of Christ and learn to see what my sins have cost our faithful Savior.

So deep that I can no longer be outside of Christ

How deep must the knowledge of my sins be? So deep that from my side it has become hopeless. For that, the discovery through the law is necessary. In the light of God’s law and holy justice, my best works are nothing but sin. A holy God can be satisfied only with works which are perfect, and where shall I, poor sinner, ever obtain them?

All my works are full of sin, completely self-serving, completely deficient. Not only my unrighteousnesses, but even my righteousnesses are nothing more than filthy rags. That becomes experienced in reality. In this manner I learn to turn away from all attempts at self-improvement outside of Jesus Christ. In this way I come to acknowledge that I lie in the midst of death. As long as I have not reached a dead end, I will continue to lean upon something outside of Christ. In Boston’s Human Nature in Its Fourfold State, one can read how many blows are necessary before a sinner is cut off from his own works. Boston also says that the Lord is free in how He leads a sinner; the one may not be led as deeply as the other. If only we may learn to look away from our own works.

How deep must the knowledge of my sins be? Wilhelmus a Brakel also discusses this question in his The Christian’s Reasonable Service — so deep, he writes, that I can no longer exist outside of Christ and His blood. Ultimately, that is what it is about; Christ is the Host at His table. Do we know how we came to need Him? Do we know why we came to need Him as Mediator and Savior?

The Lord is free as to how He leads His people. The one has a more evangelical leading; the other, a more legalistic one. One comes through the north gate and another through the south gate. One is led through great depths and trembling, and the other, gradually. The most important thing is that all leanings and grounds outside of Christ have fallen away and we can rest in none other than Jesus alone. I must be discovered so deeply to my sins that I can no longer exist outside of Christ—so deep that we may say with Kohlbrugge, “There is no more light in my eyes.” Then we will know as Calvin says, “How great our misery is without God’s grace.” Could it be that we would despair of self, so that our only hope would be in Christ.

The part of deliverance

After considering the portion of misery, we must now consider the part of deliverance. Also in consideration of this portion I must examine myself when it comes to approaching the table of the Lord. Let us first listen to the words of the Form for the Lord’s Supper: “That everyone examine his own heart, whether he doth believe this faithful promise of God that all his sins are forgiven him only for the sake of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and that the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed and freely given him as his own, yea, so perfectly, as if he had satisfied in his own person for all his sins and fulfilled all righteousness.”

It is this portion which creates difficulty for many. In the pastoral work surrounding the Lord’s Supper, this issue is raised again and again. Isn’t it written that a person must know that all his sins are forgiven? Isn’t it written that a person must believe the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed and freely given him? May troubled ones who miss this knowledge approach the Lord’s table? Isn’t the Lord’s Supper only for assured ones in grace?

Is complete faith necessary?

In order to approach the table of the Lord is it necessary to have complete faith and full contrition? Calvin claims that to contend this is a “corrupt manner of instruction.” In this manner, all, without exception, would be excluded. Let us hear how tenderly Calvin speaks about this, and I cite Calvin’s Treatise on the Lord’s Supper (1541): “When we feel within us an incomplete faith, and we do not have such a pure conscience, that it does not accuse us of many weaknesses, this does not prohibit us from approaching the holy table of the Lord, as long as we, in the midst of our weaknesses feel within our heart, without hypocrisy and pretension, that we hope for our salvation in Christ, and that we desire to live according to the rule of the gospel.” The weakness and the incompleteness of our faith, says Calvin, must serve as an encouragement to come to the Holy Supper. “We do not, however, come there without faith and true contrition. The first is hidden in the heart; therefore, our conscience testifies of it before God. The second reveals itself in the works; therefore, either in the one way or the other, it manifests itself in our lives.”

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