By eating the bread and drinking the cup at the Lord’s Table, we remember the Lord by eating and drinking Him, and we declare the Lord’s death until He comes, for we live in the church life today, bridging the first and the second coming of the Lord. Hallelujah!
This week in our morning revival we have been enjoying Christ as our spiritual food, our spiritual rock (flowing out the living water), and the contents of the Lord’s Table.
We believers in Christ have not only been saved by the Lord in our spirit and now we wait for His coming; we do indeed wait for His coming, but as we wait, we eat and drink the Lord until He comes.
He has regenerated us in our spirit, and He is now in the process of growing in every part of our soul until He will saturate our soul and even our body will be saturated with His life.
We live day by day even as the Lord did – by eating Him! Christ came and said that, even as He was sent by the Father and lived because of the Father, so we need to eat Him and live because of Him (John 6:57).
Our daily living today as believers in Christ is a because living; we live because of Christ, for we eat Christ and drink Him, and we live because of Him.
Sadly, however, we still eat many other things besides Christ.
In a sense, we have been separated from the world through baptism, but in another sense, we still live in the world, and it is so easy for things in the world to become our food.
Especially with the advancement in technology and the rise of social media networks, we are bombarded each day with news, notifications, and all kinds of things that try to get our attention and become our food. Whatever our soul desires can be found on our smartphone, and our attention is grabbed by so many things.
So the Lord wants to change our diet. He is faithful to shine on so many things that replace Him, and He is removing many things from us so that only He becomes our unique food, our daily manna.
As we grow in the Lord and go on with Him, we are being simplified, we are being reduced, and we come back to the Lord as our unique food. We realize that He is our daily manna, and He is also the spiritual rock following us to give us living water whenever we need to drink. Hallelujah!
Day by day we are learning to enjoy the Lord, partake of His riches, and feed on Him, and when we come to the Lord’s Table meeting, we have something of Christ to bring to the feast.
Our Lord’s Table meeting should be a feast, for we eat the bread and drink the cup to remember the Lord, that is, to declare His death until He comes and to eat and drink Him! He is the reality of the contents of the Lord’s Table!
Remember the Lord at His Table by Eating and Drinking Him to be Brought into the Full Enjoyment of God
When we come to the Lord’s Table meeting, we need to have a proper appreciation of the elements on the Table and also come to the Table with a rich portion of Christ.
We need to realize that Christ shed His blood on the cross not only for our redemption but even more, to enact the new covenant. His blood is the blood of the covenant, and this blood ushers us into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies (Psa. 27:4; Exo. 24:8; cf. Lev. 16:11-16).
When we exercise our spirit to apply the Lord’s blood, we are not only washed and cleansed of our sins so that we may have the standing in God to enjoy Him. Even more, we are ushered into God’s presence, in the Holy of Holies, so that we may behold His beauty and be infused with Him.
We are brought into His presence to be infused with God and for Him to be transfused into us.
In the Old Testament it was only the high priest who could enter into the Holy of Holies, and he came into this Holiest place only once a year.
He didn’t go in there merely to observe the law; rather, he brought the blood and sprinkled it on the cover of the Ark, and he could be in God’s presence to be infused with God.
Today we can apply the blood of Christ, which is the blood of the covenant, and we can enjoy God, behold His beauty, and receive His infusion. As we enjoy God in this way, we are produced to be a man of God, even a God-man.
As we come to the Lord’s Table meeting and realize that we have sinned, we have trespasses, and we made mistakes and had failures, we can wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb. By applying the Lord’s precious blood, we have the right to come to the tree of life and enter into the city (Rev. 22:14), the New Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
In a sense, this will be our reality in eternity, for we can enter into the holy city, New Jerusalem, by washing our robes in the blood of the Lamb. In another sense, we can experience this today, for we can apply the precious blood of Christ to be washed and cleansed, and we are ushered into the Lord’s presence to enjoy Him and partake of all that He is.
At the Lord’s Table, we remember the Lord by eating and drinking Him; the signs on the Table are for us to eat and drink, and the Lord has given Himself to us for our nourishment. We do this day by day: we eat Christ as our spiritual food and drink Him as our spiritual drink, and at the Lord’s Table we remember the Lord by eating and drinking Him more. Hallelujah!
Thank the Lord for the blood of the covenant, which brings us into the enjoyment of God today and will bring us into the full enjoyment of God as our portion – both now and forever!
May we apply this blood, stand on the blood, and know the preciousness of the blood of Christ so that we may be ushered into the full enjoyment of God as the tree of life and the water of life both now and for eternity (Heb. 13:20; Rev. 7:14, 17; 22:1-2, 14, 17).
May we have this realization when we come to the Lord’s Table meeting every Lord’s day. May we exercise our spirit to remember the Lord not by merely thinking of Him and appreciating the processes He went through to obtain our redemption but even more, by eating and drinking Him through the exercise of our spirit.
May we realize that the blood of the covenant – the eternal covenant – leads us into the full enjoyment of God today and also for eternity!
Lord Jesus, thank You for the blood of the covenant which ushers us into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. We apply Your blood right now; we stand on the blood and we come forward to the Holy of Holies to enjoy You. Oh, how good it is to enter into God’s presence and behold His beauty! Amen, Lord, we love being here, in Your presence, being infused with You. Infuse us with Yourself. Transfuse all that You are into our being. Bring us into the full enjoyment of God so that we may be produced as men of God, God-men who partake of all that God is! Oh Lord, thank You for the blood of the covenant which leads us into the full enjoyment of God as the tree of life and the water of life both now and for eternity! Hallelujah, we come to the Lord’s Table to eat and drink Christ through the exercise of our spirit! Amen, Lord, we remember You by eating You and drinking You today! You are our food and our drink. You are the bread and the cup. We partake of You in spirit today!
At the Lord’s Table we Declare the Lord’s Death until He Comes, Bridging the Gap between His First and Second Coming
1 Cor. 11:26 says, For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord’s death until He comes. Amen!
When we come together to remember the Lord at His Table, we not only remember Him by eating and drinking Him but even more, we declare His death until He comes. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we remember the Lord and display His redeeming and life-releasing death (John 19:34).
What does it mean to declare the Lord’s death? To declare means to proclaim, announce, or display; when we eat the Lord at His Table, we proclaim His death, we announce His death, and we display His death.
The fact that the bread is separate from the cup, that is, the bread and the wine are separate, shows that the Lord died for us, for His flesh was separated from His flesh.
The bread refers to the Lord’s body, which was broken for us on the cross, and the cup refers to His blood, which was shed for us on the cross. The bread and the cup being separated signifies death.
Through His death, Christ has accomplished God’s economy and obtained an all-inclusive redemption; even more, He terminated many things. We announce the Lord’s death by eating the Lord and drinking Him at His Table.
We declare the Lord’s death, displaying it to the whole universe – both to demons and to angels and to human beings.
We exercise our spirit to eat and drink Christ as the contents of the Lord’s Table, and we proclaim and announce His death. We display His death, we proclaim His death, and we announce His death.
The Lord terminated twelve items on the cross: the angelic life (Col. 1:20), the human life (Gal. 2:20), Satan (Heb. 2:14; John 12:31), the kingdom of Satan (Col. 2:15; John 12:31), sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 8:3), sins (1 Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:6), the world (Gal. 6:14; John 12:31), death (Heb. 2:14), the flesh (Gal. 5:24), the old man (Rom. 6:6), self (Gal. 2:20), and all creation (Col. 1:20).
He has terminated everything negative and He has germinated us to be His new creation in His resurrection. We declare the Lord’s death until He comes. Even more, we not only display His death but are also waiting for His coming.
We remember the Lord in both of His comings: in His first coming to accomplish redemption, and in His second coming to transfigure and change our body.
On the one hand, at the Lord’s Table we display the Lord’s death and remember Him in the spirit by eating Him, and on the other hand, we are waiting for His second coming.
We have a glorious hope that, at the Lord’s return, our body will be changed into His image and we will be transfigured to have the same body of His glory (1 Cor. 15:51-54). Hallelujah!
We now have the body of our humiliation with all kinds of problems, including sickness and the flesh, but when the Lord comes, our body will be transfigured into the body of His glory (Phil. 3:21), and our redemption will be complete (Rom. 8:23).
This is our hope at the Lord’s second coming! Hallelujah! As often as we drink the bread and drink the cup, we declare the Lord’s death until He comes.
We declare the Lord’s death by proclaiming and displaying the Lord’s death. We declare His all-terminating and life-releasing death by declaring His first coming for His judicial redemption to produce the church (John 12:24; 19:34).
We do this until He comes; this implies that the church bridges the gap between the Lord’s first coming and His second coming.
We as the church are the kingdom of God in reality today, and we bridge the gap between His first and second coming by eating and drinking of Christ in the process of His organic salvation! Hallelujah!
Christ went after His death to receive the kingdom, and He will come again with the kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14; Luke 19:12). Now we’re in between the Lord’s first and second coming, in the church age; we declare the Lord’s death and we bridge His first and second coming by eating and drinking Christ!
Hallelujah, when Christ comes, He will establish the kingdom of God on the earth!
The Lord said in Matt. 26:29 that He will by no means drink of this product of the vine from that time until that day when He will drink it new with His disciples in the kingdom of His Father.
When we declare the Lord’s death at His Table until He comes, we declare the existence of the church for the bringing in of the kingdom of God.
Our eating of the Lord’s supper must result in the remembrance of the Lord in His two comings.
We remember the Lord by eating and drinking Him, we declare His death, and we are looking forward to His coming, even hastening His return to bring in His kingdom on the earth.
Lord Jesus, uplift our appreciation and understanding of the Lord’s Table. Bring us into the intrinsic experience of remembering the Lord at His Table. May we realize that, as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we declare the Lord’s death until He comes! Hallelujah, at the Lord’s Table we declare the Lord’s death, having a view to His second coming! Amen, Lord, we proclaim and display Your death by our eating You and drinking You. We declare Your all-terminating and life-releasing death. We declare that Your first coming is for Your judicial redemption to produce the church! Amen, Lord, we eat and drink You until You come. We look forward to Your second coming, when You will come with Your kingdom! Amen, Lord, we believe that You will return to transfigure the body of our humiliation and to bring in the kingdom of God! We declare Your death until You come and we declare the existence of the church for the bringing in of the kingdom! Hallelujah, our eating of the Lord’s supper results in the remembrance of the Lord in His two comings! Oh Lord, we eat You and drink You until You come! Come, Lord Jesus!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ted Williamson in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 311 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 16 (msg. 4), Our Spiritual Food, Our Spiritual Rock, and the Contents of the Lord’s Table.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The place for the breaking of bread, a portion from, Life Lessons, Vol. 2 (#13-24), Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
– How the New Testament Practice of Singing Hymns Can Revolutionize Your Christian Life, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– The unique product of Christ’s death, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 Corinthians, Chapter 56.
– 1 Corinthians (Program #44) – Dealing with the Lord’s Supper, via, Bible study radio.
– Remembering the Lord being to receive the Lord again, a portion from, The Crucified Christ, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
– Eat the Bread, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Remembering the Lord by eating and drinking Him, a portion from, Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee.
– Coming to the Lord’s Table, via, Shepherding Words.
– The Man-Savior’s presentation of Himself to death for redemption, a portion from, Life-Study of Luke, Chapter 50.
– Principles for Using the Hymns: Sensing and Following the Flow in the Lord’s Table Meeting, article via, Having This Ministry.
– The Local Church Meetings – The Lord’s Table Meetings of the Local Church, via, The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church. - Hymns on this topic:
– An eternal portion, ’tis, / Overflowing cup divine; / Heav’nly taste do we enjoy / In this cup of God’s design. / Here in love we drink this cup / In remembrance, Lord, of Thee; / Thus in spirit we partake / All Thy work on Calvary. (Hymns #223 stanza 4)
– We eat of Thee, the Bread of life, / By sharing here this bread; / Thus we remember Thee in love / And with Thyself are fed. / We all enjoy the blessings gained / By drinking of this cup; / Thus we remember Thee with joy, / Till we are taken up. (Hymns #220 stanzas 4-5)
– By the death of Thy redemption, / That Thy life Thou may impart, / E’en Thyself to us Thou gavest / That we share in all Thou art. / By the bread and wine partaking, / We Thy death display and prove; / Eating, drinking of Thyself, Lord, / We remember Thee with love… / Thou art our eternal portion, / Here we take a sweet foretaste; / We are waiting for Thy kingdom, / And Thy coming now we haste. / At Thy coming, in Thy kingdom, / With all saints that overcome, / We anew will feast upon Thee / And Thy loving Bride become. (Hymns #221 stanzas 2 and 4)
The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3170-3171, by Witness Lee
As often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we declare the Lord’s death until He comes.
This means that we proclaim and display His death, declaring that His first coming is for His judicial redemption to produce the church, and we eat and drink Him until He comes back to drink of this cup anew with us in the kingdom! Praise the Lord!
Yes Lord Jesus 🙏
What a picture to see at the Lord’s table – the bread and cup in separation – signifying the Lord’s redeeming and life-releasing death on the cross to produce the church to bridge the gap between His first and second coming!
As we proclaim and display His death to the entire universe at the Lord’s supper, as those whose robes are washed according to the blood of the covenant, eating and drinking Him, remembering Him, we are in the spirit and atmosphere of waiting for His second coming according to God’s administration for His satisfaction!
Amen brother
May we exhibit the Christ whom we have enjoyed
1) The right to the tree of life;
2) Entrance into the city through the gates;
These are our the ultimate aspects of our full enjoyment of God as our portion, for those who wash their robes thru the blood of the covenant!
For this reason,
(1) remembering the Lord by partaking of His blood and body;
(2) displaying His redeeming, life-releasing death – becomes our living proclamation to the entire universe;
(3) living in the hope of, and, awaiting His 2nd coming for our complete, transfiguration, redemption and glorification.
Thus, the church lives (in a continual remembrance of Him), to bridge the gap between His 1st n 2nd comings, in expectation of bringing in God’s Kingdom n Administration for His own eternal purpose n satisfaction!
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Matt. 26:27 footnote 1 on, cup, Recovery Version Bible