On that same night, Lord Jesus

II. WHAT MELCHISEDEC WAS TO ABRAHAM TYPIFYING WHAT CHRIST IS TO THE BELIEVERS

A. Ministering Bread and Wine to God’s Chosen People

When Abraham returned from his slaughtering of Chedorlaomer and his allied kings, Melchisedec went forth to meet Abraham, who had fought for God and won the victory, and to minister to him bread and wine (Gen. 14:18). This is a type of what Christ ministers to His believers at His table. According to Matthew 26 , on the night before He left His disciples, the Lord Jesus “took bread and blessed it, and He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And He took a cup and gave thanks, and He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (vv. 26-28). The bread on the Lord’s table is a symbol signifying the Lord’s body, which was broken for us on the cross to release His life that we may participate in it. By partaking of His broken body, we participate in His life. The cup signifies our enjoyment of God’s blessing. Hence, the cup is called “the cup of blessing” (1 Cor. 10:16). In it are all the blessings of God and even God Himself as our portion (Psa. 16:5). In Adam our portion was the cup of God’s wrath, which would have sent us to the lake of fire to suffer the torment of eternal perdition (Rev. 14:10 ; 21:8). However, God made the Lord Jesus drink the cup of wrath on the cross for us (John 18:11), causing Him to suffer God’s righteous judgment on our behalf and to taste the torment of perdition of the lake of fire. The Lord Jesus shed His blood to redeem us from our sins, thereby enacting the new covenant for us and bringing us instead the cup of salvation (Psa. 116:13) as the cup that runs over (23:5). In this cup of salvation are all the blessing of God and even God Himself as our portion. Christ as our Melchisedec today brings His life and all God’s blessings with Him to His table to minister to us. At the Lord’s table, the life signified by the bread and the blessings signified by the cup are the constant supply to us of our Lord as our High Priest.

Truth Lessons

Lesson 5: MELCHISEDEC

Level Three, Vol. 1 (LSM)

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CUP

Based upon this principle, we may examine the meaning of the cup in the Scriptures. In the Scriptures a cup denotes a portion. John 18:11 says, “The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it? ” Psalm 16:5 says, “Jehovah is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. ” Furthermore, Psalm 23:5 says, “My cup runs over, ” and 116:13 says, “I will take up the cup of salvation. ” In all these verses, the word cup indicates a portion.

In Adam our cup, our portion, was God’s wrath (Rom. 1:18 ; cf. Rev. 14:10). However, Christ drank that cup for us and shed His blood (John 18:11), and through His blood He formed and brought to us another cup, the cup of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). Previously, our cup was the cup of wrath, but now we have another cup, which in the New Testament is called the cup of blessing and in the Old Testament is called the cup of salvation. Because of what the Lord Jesus did on the cross, our cup, our portion, has changed from the cup of wrath to the cup of blessing, which is the cup of salvation.

However, we need to realize that although the fruit of the vine, a symbol of the blood of Jesus, is in the cup, the portion signified by the cup is not the blood. The blood, the basis on which the cup was formed, has accomplished two things—it has washed away our sins, and it has brought God Himself to us (1 John 1:7 ; Eph. 2:13 ; 1 Pet. 3:18). Because of our sins, we were kept away from God, and God was kept away from us (Gen. 3:23-24 ; Isa. 59:2). Now that the redeeming blood of Christ has washed away our sins, God can be brought to us and we to God. However, the blood is not the portion of the cup; rather, God is the portion of the cup of blessing. Our blessing is not only forgiveness, peace, and joy; rather, it is God Himself, including all that He is and has (Psa. 16:5 ; Gal. 3:14). At the Lord’s table meeting we need to learn to praise and thank the Lord for shedding His blood and for becoming our portion, our blessing.

The cup of blessing is also the new covenant, the title deed to all the divine blessings, spoken of in Luke 22:20 . A title deed is a testimony that a certain thing belongs to us. If I hold the title deed to a house, this deed proves that the house is mine. The “portion” of this title deed is the house. The cup of the Lord’s table is the new covenant, the divine title deed established by the blood of Christ. In this covenant our portion is God Himself (Psa. 73:26 ; Col. 1:12).

Basic Principles for the Church Meetings

Chapter 4 CWWL, 1964, (LSM)

On the day the Lord of holiness bore the sins of us all, He cried loudly saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? ” (Matt. 27:46). This was even more painful than the crown of thorns on His head and the wounds and stripes on His body. Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was wounded because of our transgressions; / He was crushed because of our iniquities. ” Who says that forgiveness is cheap? Those who have been taught by grace sing with tears and thankfulness:

(The New Covenant - 1952 edition, msg 6. )

I am so touched by this hymn

I seldom ever call a song at the Table meeting. Today I am studying hymns for the table. This is the first for Remembering the Lord. And yes, more to thy death. Conformed as we remember Thee.

I called this song as the first song at today's Lord's Table, and I thought that it had a very good effect to focus the meeting on the Lord Himself and what He suffered for us right from the start.