The Lord’s Supper is an aid to our faith. But too often, that statement gets tweaked a few degrees out of plumb. It is mistaken thinking to imagine that this is just a helpful word picture, or clever illustration for understanding hard doctrines. But this is no metaphor. Nor is it one of many examples which are found in those mass produced books at Christian Bookstores: “5000 Sermon Illustrations to Make Your Congregation Go Aww.”
This is an aid to your faith, indeed, because you truly feast upon Christ in this meal. When you receive this in faith, you eat true bread and drink true wine. These are genuine signs that confirm that we belong to Christ who won us. A covenant bond is more than a clever simile. A covenant sign assures us the thing is true, the bond is genuine, all the promises will be made good. This is the earnest of our inheritance: eternal life, sustained by Christ, signified by this meal of bread & wine. That is what God has given you through Jesus.
Thus, this meal builds your faith. God builds up your faith, by feeding Christ to you. And as your faith is built up, it is in order that you might overcome by Christ. The Apostle John tells us this exact truth: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God (1 Jn 5:4-5)?”
So this isn’t just a tableful of metaphor. Here is the first taste of your victory over sin, the devil, and the world. So savor it. Drink it deeply. Christ has conquered, and made you a partaker of His conquest.
So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ
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