Followed By Mercy

Desired at the Table: The Lord’s Supper, Covenant Grace, and God’s Desire for You

W. Austin Gardner

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What if the table you keep trying to earn is already set for you?

In this episode, we explore the Lord’s Supper through the lens of covenant, not performance. Jesus said, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” On the eve of the cross, His heart was not focused on inspection, but on fellowship.

We trace the table back before the Upper Room to a dark field in Genesis 15, where God put Abraham to sleep and walked the covenant path alone. That one-sided promise, sealed in blood, shapes everything we celebrate at the Lord’s Supper. The bread and the cup are not a test of worthiness, but a witness to finished work.

We also walk through Exodus 12 and the Passover, where protection rested on seen blood, not felt holiness. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Salvation, safety, and nourishment have always flowed from what God provides, not what we perform.

If you’ve ever approached communion feeling anxious, unworthy, or unsure, this episode invites you to rest. You are desired at the table. You are safe behind the blood. You are fed by His life.

Stop earning your seat. The King invited you.

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Austin Gardner:

I'm excited to be with you today and to have the chance to talk to you about the Lord's Supper. We just did the Lord's Supper in our Spanish church yesterday, and the Lord taught me more than I've learned in all these years I've been doing this. And I just did a real deep study because Pastor Jimmy wanted me to take the entire morning. And so I'd like to talk to you about the table of testament, the table of the covenant. Not just any table, but the table. You know, we spend so much time of our lives trying to perform for God, trying to please God, trying to get it right so He'll notice us. But if you ever stop to realize that God is actually the one who desires you, this verse always shakes me to my core. He said unto them, With desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. And I read that, and I am so touched and blessed and shocked. Jesus is about to die. He's about to go to Calvary. He knows that. He's been telling the boys that, but they haven't figured it out at all. He knows he's going to suffer it, but he's excited to fellowship with them at the very moment of his suffering. Look at the language. With desire have I desired, with desire have I desired to eat with you. That means hungry with a great hunger to be with you. God didn't come to start a religion. He came to satisfy his own heart, his heart's longing for fellowship with his children. He wanted to be with those disciples, the ones that are going to run away as soon as he is in trouble. He wanted to be with them more than they ever want to be with him. That's the heart of the covenant. So I took the church in the scriptures and we went back to Genesis. It's kind of the first time I noticed how strong the covenant is. It didn't start in the upper room. It started in a dark field with a man named Abraham. Most people think a covenant is a deal. I do my part, you do your part, I do my part, God does his part. That's a contract. Contracts are built on distrust, and I don't believe you. Contracts are built on, well, even business people say you gotta write contracts with teeth. But God wanted to make a promise to his people, and he did it, and the only teeth were on him. Says in Genesis 15, 17, and it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, hold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. So let me let me explain to you. In the covenant in those days, they would cut an animal and or animals in part, half on each side, and they'd have that smoking furnace, burning lamp, and then they would walk between them. You cut the animals in half because there's two things happening. Blood is being shed. Blood's always shed in things in the Bible. And the promise is being made. If you break your word, let it happen to you like it's happened to these animals. But when they went to walk through the animals, God didn't say Abraham do anything. He told Abraham, you just go over and lay down and take a nap. I'll take care of it. And God walked through and God made the promise. God did it while Abraham was basically out coal. God walked through the phone the furnace. He walked the path alone. What he was doing is making a one-sided promise. He was saying, if Abraham fails, I'll take the penalty. If Abraham breaks the promise, I'll still pay. And friend, God was saying all the responsibility is on me and not on you. That's what we celebrate. We do the Lord's Supper. It's all on Jesus. He did it all for us. You aren't sitting at the table because of your faithfulness. You're sitting there because of the faithfulness of God. You don't get to stay because you're worthy, because if that were the case, we'd all be starving. So this first time we see it is pretty interesting. The animals cut in half, a promise made, usually the two would walk together, but no, when God makes a promise, it's his promise. The wages of sin are death. That's death. But the gifts of God's eternal life, one sided. God said, If you fail me, I won't fail you. And that's what we see. Then it's again, it's always blood. Now take the Lord's Supper. There's a broken body. Huh? Take the Lord's Supper. There's shed blood. Take the Lord's Supper. It's Jesus promising salvation. And we're just accepting it. We're just celebrating it. Next time I see a really important story I I took the time to tell our people yesterday is Exodus chapter twelve and verse thirteen. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. You notice it says when I see the blood. It didn't say when you feel holy enough, when you've confessed every sin, when you've gotten everything right. The protection was not based on your conduct, but on the blood on the door. And here's the key. They just didn't put any blood on the door. They put the blood of Jesus Christ on the door. The blood was for their protection. The lamb was for their preparation. They had to walk out of Egypt the next morning. They needed strength. We take the Lord's Supper. We aren't just looking at a memory. We're appropriating the life of Jesus because we can't make the journey on our own strength. Now there's so much more that I want to tell you, but I would like to say this as we end today's short podcast. Quit trying to pull up a chair to the table through your own good behavior. Quit thinking there's a checklist. The king invited you. He wants to be with you. He desires to be with you, and you are safe behind the blood. You are fed by his life. And so I'll end it with this thought. Lean back. It's finished work. How sweet it is to trust the name of Jesus.