You won't get it in a sermon, you won't get it in a song, but you will get it at the Lord's Table. Dr. Tony Evans says communion is the place where God's covenantal authority can be accessed. There is not power in the Jews, but there's power in the blood. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr.
Tony Evans. A little piece of bread and a tiny cup of grape juice. To some people, that's all there is to communion. But Dr. Evans says finding the richness in the ritual starts with understanding what it means and taking it more seriously.
Let's join him as he explains. The book of Malachi is a book of questions and complaints. The people are complaining, God is nowhere near. He can't be found. He's not blessing them.
He's not taking care of them. And we still going to church. We still worshiping you and you not coming through for us. We don't get it. And God's complaint back is: the reason you're not seeing me.
You're not giving me what my name Calls for. Hmm. You just giving me what you want. And even that your governor wouldn't take. Lambs that are blind and lambs that can't walk.
You bringing them and offering them. And you don't understand why. I'm not all that excited about you showing up at church. He says in verse 12, for you say, That the table of the Lord is despised.
Now let me tell you what the table of the Lord is. or was back in Malachi's day, it was the altar. It was the altar. On the altar is where they sacrifice the animals. To God.
What was it about this table? that they should not been complaining about. In fact, they should have been excited about the table. But instead, they were j weary about the table. God is transcendent.
Transcendence simply says that he sits outside of his creation.
Now he is involved with this creation. He's imminent. But he is transcendent. I mean That's pretty spectacular that God is greater than the sum total of everything he's made. The problem occurs is that when sin entered the picture, It created a blockage.
between the transcendent God and man.
So this transcendent God could not have fellowship with sinful man. Going all the way back to Adam and Eve. And all the way forward, God's transcendent righteousness could not interact in a meaningful way with sinful men because guess what? He does not lower the standard. He can't.
It would be against his character to lower the standard.
So what God did was come up with a way where sinful men could remake contact with him. And the way he did it was by setting up in the Old Testament a sacrificial system And the goal of the sacrificial system was to create a substitute. Because sin had to be addressed, But because God loved man, He came up with a way to address it by creating a substitutional sacrificial system where you could offer an animal on behalf of the people, and the death of the animal. Would serve as a temporary solution. To the blockage between transcendent, righteous, holy God and sinful man.
Now, the reason that that sacrificial system was critical was because it freed God up. to bring to people the provisions of its covenant. He got to stay with me here. We're going somewhere. Deuteronomy 29, 9.
Covenants are designed to bring blessings.
So a covenant is an arrangement. through which God flows to bring you what God has planned for you. That's a covenant. Everybody wants to be blessed, but here's the problem. Everybody wants to be blessed without necessarily being under the covenant.
God made a covenant, an agreement, an arrangement with Israel. And it was a covenant, a blessing. But God could not fulfill what he wanted to fulfill. Unless he dealt with the problem of sin. Because he was transcendent and holy and righteous, and man was sinful.
So he set up a system to temporarily deal with sin. I call it the Old Testament the layaway plan. Because it only provided a temporary payment. It wasn't a permanent payment. The payment had to go on all the time.
The big day was the day of atonement when they would take a goat and they would kill the goat. And then the priest would come and lay his hands on the second goat called the scapegoat. And then they would take the scapegoat out the nation to signify the sins of the nation were being removed so God would be free to operate within his covenant for Israel.
Sometimes the scapegoat would wander back in camp.
So they get a little shepherd boy to take it out and push it off the cliff. The Greek word for that is apolutrosis, pushed off never to show up again. Uh So they had to go through this routine. Because of God's unique relationship. through the crafting of a substitute.
In order to free God up. to do for the people what God had promised to do. And they want to know why God not blessing them. Why God's not showing up for them? Why God's not coming through for them?
While they say The table of the Lord is despised. I'm tired of this.
Well, what they did not understand was if it weren't for the table. If it wasn't for the sacrificial system, you could have no contact with God. That the contact with God was tied to the table. And when there was no table, when there was no system operating that freed the transcendent God from interacting imminently with sinful man. that you would now be subject To the consequences, watch this, of the absence of God from your life and from your nation.
So, when they remove themselves from the table or despise the table by lowering the standards. That allowed, as you'll see referred to a number of times in the book. The curse to come. That is, the negative repercussions. Of sinful men having a blockage that's not linking them.
to God. He says, you are tired of something. That's the source of your life. You're tired of something that's keeping you in contact with me. You're tired of something that's keeping the covenant on your behalf.
You're tired of something that's keeping the curse away. You're tired of something that is responsible for the blessing to flow. I know there is inconvenience. But if you could ever see what this thing could do for you. If you took this table seriously, You wouldn't complain.
You'd be hopscotching and flipping and jumping and jerking to get to that table because that table was transforming in nature.
Now. We now flip To the New Testament. The division in the Bible is between the Old Testament. and the New Testament, or let's put it another way. between the old covenant and the new covenant.
The Bible is divided by covenants. That is, by arrangements that God has. He had an arrangement in the Old Testament, the old covenant, with Israel. He has an arrangement in the New Testament, the new covenant, with the church. Both covenants have a table.
So let's turn our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And let's look at the table a little bit closer. He says beginning in verse Is not the cup of blessing which we bless A sharing in the blood of Christ. Is not the bread which we break A sharing in The body of Christ. He's talking about Chameleon.
And he says, When you break the bread, you share in the body. When you drink the cup, you share in the blood. There is a sharing of the person. Body and blood is the whole person. You, when you commune with me, you're not just eating bread and drinking a cup, you're sharing a life.
So yeah, you got a piece of bread and you got a cup. But with the bread and the cup, you're actually entering into the life.
So it's not just in Malachi they said this I'm tired of this ritual In Corinthians. They were tired of the same ritual. Because in both testaments, they lost sight of the meaning. They thought, well, we're just going through it because, okay, we got to do this.
Okay, give me the bread, give me the cup. Paul in Corinthians said, you'd have missed it. You are sharing the life.
Now. Why do you need to know? That when you take communion, you're sharing the life. Corinthians chapter 10, let's go down a few verses and let's look. And see verse 21.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of, watch this, the table of the Lord. And the table of demons. Ooh. Do you know what we just discovered?
There are two tables. There are two tables. A table is a place where you eat. He says the Lord has a table. And demons have a table.
He's writing to Christians. And he says, you Christians at Corinth, are trying to eat at two tables. On Sunday, like in the Old Testament on Saturday. You come to the Lord's table fussing and cussing. The table is tiring.
But then you go out and you mix it up. with the pagans and you go to another table. Cause there are two tables. Remember the purpose of the table is to share the life. When Dr.
Evans returns in just a moment, he'll talk about the unwelcome guests we sometimes invite to that other table. First, though, the message Tony has been bringing today is just one installment in his popular practical teaching series called The Spiritual Toolkit. This 10-message collection explores vital principles that make up the equipment we need to build a healthy spiritual life. It includes additional material we won't be able to present on the air. And right now, for a limited time, we're making it available as our gift when you support the Ministry of the Alternative with a financial contribution.
And as a special bonus, along with the audio package, we'll also include Dr. Evans' powerful book, Free at Last: Experiencing True Freedom Through Your Identity in Christ. If you've ever felt stuck in spiritual quicksand, struggling for victory, longing for intimacy with Christ, or feeling defeated by old patterns, this book is for you. Dr. Evans explains how knowing your true identity in Christ can break the grip of sin, silence the lies.
of the enemy. and set you free to experience the joy, peace, and power God intended for you. This special double offer will only be available for a few more days now, so visit us right away at tonyevans.org to make your request or call our resource team day or night at 1-800-800-3222. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.
Well right now, let's join Dr. Evans for the second part of today's message.
So, the first thing you need to know is that in the New Testament church, there were demons. And they actually invite you to have dinner with them. Why do demons invite you to have dinner with them so that they can share their life with you? Stick with me now. The Lord has a table.
And we said the cup of blessing, the bread, the body, is to share the life. He says there are two tables there. The Lord offers you his table.
Now, here's what you need to know. Many of the problems we have. are not merely problems because of the problems. But because of the demonization of the problem In other words, the problem is made worse because demons have adopted the problem.
So you're not just battling the problem, you're battling the demonization of the problem. Which is why the problem won't go away because demons keep it coming back So, to fix the problem, you can't just fix the problem. You got to fix the demons' engagement with the problem. He says, because at this table, demons are involved. It's not just the issue, it's the sharing of the life.
That's not the eating of the bread or the drinking of the cup. He says, We share his life with the bread and share his life with the God. But wait a minute. I thought I'm already saved. If I'm already saved, I'm not already sharing his life.
Well, yes and no. Um If you're married, you are sharing the life of somebody, and somebody is sharing your life because you are legally sharing it, because you got married. But we all know you can be both married and miserable.
Now when a couple is Physically intimate. Sexually intimate. They are now sharing life. another level. You are sharing life simply because you're married.
That's legal sharing. But sexual intimacy is a sharing of life. Because you are sharing one another. at a more intimate, intense level.
Now, so you can be relationally connected without intimately connected. A lot of Christians are relationally, legally saved. without being intimately connected with the sharing of Jesus' life.
So, Jesus Christ is inviting you to share his life. at another level. Because these people are already saved, he's talking to, but he's telling them that there's this other table. And this other table wants to share their life with you too. They want to share that life with you too.
The problem is this other table is demons. And so they want your life. They want to give you their life. Why don't we share lives together? Why don't we hang out together?
Let's share life. But turn over one page to 1 Corinthians 11. Talking about the table. Verse For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. That the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was portrayed, took bread.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way he took the cup and after supper said, This cup is the new, it is cup. Covenant. In my blood, do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
And then here's the WAP of verse 26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, You proclaim the Lord's death. Tell he comes.
Now watch this. Remember. Chapter 10. Communion is the sharing of the life. Not just the exercise of the act, it's the sharing of the life.
The Old Testament had a temporary plan. It was the table, the sacrificial system. But when Jesus Christ came, John the Baptist says in John chapter 1, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. He came up with the permanent payment. When Jesus died on the cross, he said, Tetelestai, the Greek word means paid in full.
or it is finished. In other words, no more payment needed. On the cross, all sin for all mankind was completely and permanently paid for to be realized by anyone who comes and places their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ for their salvation. When a person comes to Christ. They are forgiven, experientially forgiven for their sins.
But hell is still messing with me. And it messes with me in a lot of different ways. It messes with me with my money, it messes with me with my mind, it messes with me in health issues, it messes with me and hell. See, the problem is. We see problems but don't see the hell attachment.
You see? We'll be up to our nose in debt illegitimate debt But not connected with Demonic activity in money. We won't connect it. We don't connect hell with it. And hell doesn't want you to connect it with it.
Because then you might do something about it. As long as he can just make you stare at the problem and not see the hell connection, the table, that you're actually sharing a life's hell in the area of finance, or in the areas of relationships, or in the area of sex, or in the areas, or whatever. If you don't see the spiritual, then you're gonna miss how to deal with the thing you think is the real problem. He says on the cross, here it is now. On the cross, Colossians 2.15 says, That on the cross Jesus defeated the devil.
And put him to open shame, it says, publicly disgraced him. In the spiritual realm, on the cross, not only were sins defeated, The devil was defeated. And watch this. The devil was defeated. You and I no longer have to sit at his table, although we constantly get invitations to join him for dinner.
And he is defeated. Freeing God up to work his covenant on your behalf. God is now freed up by the death of Christ, but watch this. But only if you're at his table.
So he comes up. With this table, called, we call it communion. It's the table of the Lord, the Lord's supper. And here's what he says: Now, this is where all this is going. This is my body, verse 24 says, which is broken for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. Now, watch this. Verse 23 says that when he called them together, he gave thanks.
Now, wait a minute, I don't get that. He giving ready die, and he giving thanks. What is he giving thanks for? He says, I'm giving thanks because this is broken for you. The reason I'm giving thanks is because what it's going to do for you.
It's gonna do something for you. That's why the communion is called the Eucharist or the giving of thanks. Because at the time you take communion, you should be more thankful than any other time. You should be more thankful than the sermon you hear or the song you like or the building you're in. Because none of that defeated Satan.
My sermons can't defeat Satan. These singers can't defeat Satan. They can teach. They can inspire, but they have no power in and of themselves. But communion For which you really ought to give thanks for.
Why? Because of what he says in verse 26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Proclaim his death to who about what? Here's the good news of communion.
Communion is not merely taking bread and drinking cups, it's sharing Christ's life. When you share Christ's life, you get to preach a sermon to the demons. Because it's the demons that are your problem because they got this competing table. Communion is the place of covenantal authority. You won't get it in a sermon, you won't get it in a song, but you will get it at the Lord's table because he says, There you get to proclaim my death.
What did my death do? Colossians 2:15. It put the devil under your feet. What he's saying is, what I did 2,000 years for you on Calvary, you can bring up to today because there is not power in the juice, but there's power in the blood. And if you bring my life back up to you today and share my life in communion, you get to tell the devil where to go.
Dr. Tony Evans, sharing insights on the power and true purpose of communion.
Now, if you'd like to have a copy of today's message to hear again or to pass along to a friend, just contact us for details on the title, Taking Communion Seriously. Better yet, get it as a part of our current series special offer, the Spiritual Toolkit. As I mentioned earlier, the entire 10-message set is available as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. Remember, for a limited time, we're also offering a bonus resource along with the audio compilation, Dr. Evans' empowering book, Free at Last, Experiencing True Freedom Through Your Identity in Christ.
You can find out more when you visit us online at tonyevans.org or by phone on our 24-hour resource request line, 1-800-800-3222. Again, that's tonyevans.org or with the help of one of our friendly team members at 1-800-800-3222. you And before I tell you what's coming up on the next alternative broadcast, one final reminder. The season finale of the kids' animated series Stories from the Storyteller is now available. In Walking on Chaos, a disrupted summer and a shaky faith lead to a powerful lesson about Jesus walking on water and how he is greater than our greatest problem.
Be sure the kids in your life catch this meaningful season wrap-up. Find out more at tonyevanstv.com. That's tonyevanstv.com. The good news of the gospel is that freedom is free.
So why aren't more of us experiencing it? Dr. Evans will have the answer for us on Monday. Be sure to join us.
