Communion Message
(The King's table)
November 6-7, 1999
Pastor Don Sheley

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 

John records for us this scene at the cross, he says; And He; bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews."'" Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." When a criminal condemned under Roman law was led out to the place of his crucifixion, a herald went before him carrying a whitened board on which were written his name and his crime, and when the man was nailed to his cross, and before it was raised and set in its earthly socket, this board with its record of shame was nailed over the head of the criminal. So Pilate wrote the title which was the superscription over the cross, 'JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS'. 

You see Pilate had good warrant for the words of this inscription. Jesus of Nazareth, that was the name by which Christ was known, and the King of the Jews, that was the charge on which He was condemned. And yet Pilate wrote this title when he was galled and sullen with anger because he had been frustrated and coerced into this dastardly deed, and he meant his words to be a taunting insult to the Jewish people. He knew that the chief priests would wince under their lash as they read them over Christ's head. And to their protests he replies in his abrupt and haughty words, "What I have written, I have written." He has given his verdict and that verdict will stand. Pilate wrote and spoke more wisely than he knew. You see his title was an unconscious prophecy. Into its single sentence he condensed the consummating claims of Christ, and by his refusal to alter it he uttered not only a deep religious truth, but he forecast the verdict of humanity. 

Every reader of the New Testament is familiar with the claims made by Jesus. He claimed, to begin with, to be the final moral authority of the race and He claimed to make the final and absolute revelation of the things of God. He swept away all previous teaching which He could not approve with His words, Verily, verily I say unto you. Nor was He content to be a teacher, a mere sower of the seed of the word. You see He exacted a close personal loyalty and a rigorous obedience from His followers, and to His people still. For all questions of faith and conduct, all duty towards God and man, all problems of life and of love, Christ remains the supreme and imperative moral authority. The second claim that Jesus made was His perfect holiness. It was He who put the question, which man of you convicteth me of sin? Jesus did not need to pray for the forgiveness of sins. He walked form His cradle in stainless moral beauty among the daisies and the lilies of Nazareth in the narrow ways of Capernaum and through the crowded streets of Jerusalem until He walked up to His cross able to say, I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. I have kept my Father's commandments and I abide in His love. But Christ's consummating claim is to be a king. Jesus might have been the last and the greatest prophet of God, the supreme authority of the conscience and the wearer of a stainless moral beauty, and even the final judge of humanity, and yet He would not have been enthroned as a king, and at the close of His ministry it absorbed His mind. The day of the cross all else had shrunk into a comparative significance. The claim up to which the whole passion of Christ's purpose rises is to be the Messiah of the people of God, to be the King of a kingdom which was spiritual, universal, and eternal and that was the claim that Pilate inscribed over the cross. Jesus of Nazareth, the King. And I would like for you to view with me the table today as the King's table. And you and I have the priceless privilege of dinning with the King of kings. 

By way of television commentaries I have observed as the Queen of England in her beautiful dinning room at Buckingham Palace prepares for her guests for dinner. You watch the butlers as they make sure that every beautiful vase, every piece that will fit that table to its majesty and its glory, is polished to perfection. You watch them as the polish each plate and make sure that the glasses are perfect, and the table is set. The queen is prepared to give a dinner, and I have often thought wouldn't that be a glorious moment to be invited to have dinner at Buckingham Palace at the Queen's table and enjoy a banquet. But ladies and gentlemen I mean this from the very depth of my sincerity; you and I have a much higher privilege today because the King of kings and the Lord of lords invites us to His table. And beauty of beauties, He's made all the preparations; He's prepared us for this participation. You see He died for us at Calvary. He took our sin. He took our shame, and He made us new creations in Him and we are now children of the King, and He says; children, come, it's suppertime. Let's join Him.

King Jesus we bow in Your presence today. Marvel of marvels, wonder of wonders, that You would invite us to share this meal. But because of Your grace and because of Your love, and because of Your death at Calvary you've prepared us for this invitation and for this celebration. We came to You in our sin and our shame. We ask You to forgive us dear Jesus, and You did just that. You cleansed us. You washed away all of our sin. You clothed us in the robes of righteousness, and here we are Lord Jesus at supper with You. We don't deserve to be here. We've walked from the pathway of righteousness and godliness. We've sinned dear Jesus. I've sinned. I need Your forgiveness. I need Your cleansing. All of us do as we kneel here today. Not a one of us would claim one degree of perfection. We're just sinners needing Your grace and Your forgiveness, and we come to this table knowing that You're going to give that to us. Jesus, we love You. We love You dear Jesus. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. This one thing we ask King Jesus, that You will give us the power of Your precious Holy Spirit to live in accordance with our high calling. May we live this week as children of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Please help us dear Jesus, and everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet the folks that have come to worship with us.