The Lord's Supper

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The Lord’s Supper

 

We have been studying the act of worshipping God the past few weeks. We have seen that worship is extremely important.

Psalm 96: 9

 

We have also seen that it is very important to worship God in the manner He has shown He desires to be worshipped. 

John 4: 24

 

Worship is an eternally important and challenging subject. Worship is to be performed to please God, not ourselves. Hopefully, from our study so far, we understand that the word “worship” is a verb. Worship is an action by us.  Worship is not associated with passiveness. It is not sitting around waiting for something to happen to us. In worship we participate, we are active and involved. In worship God is present and we respond by our actions. We have looked at the act of singing in our worship. Today we are going to look at the Lord’s Supper as a part of our worship. 

 

The Lord’s Supper is known by several names in the New Testament. It is called breaking bread.

Acts 20: 7

 

It is called the Lord’s Table.

I Corinthians 10: 21

 

It is called a participation in the body and blood of Christ, a communion with Him.

I Corinthians 10: 16

 

The Lord’s Supper is a very important action in the Lord’s Day worship. However, nowhere is it said to be the most important item of worship. Some people have taken it to be the only item of worship that matters. They will leave after the Lord’s Supper as if the rest of the worship doesn’t matter. They are wrong. The Lord’s Supper is equal to the other items of worship, and skipping out on any of them is not worshipping God in spirit and in truth. 

 

The Lord’s Supper can’t be taken alone. The Lord’s Supper belongs in the assembly and is to be eaten together with other Christians. 

I Corinthians 11: 20

 

The Lord’s Supper is a discernment. 

1 Corinthians 11:27-29

 

The word “discern” comes from a word that  literally means to “look through”.

 

People use microscopes and telescopes to bring something into view that would otherwise be invisible. We look through them to discern these objects. The Lord’s Supper is intended by God to bring before us in clear spiritual vision our Savior and His sacrifice.

 

It is human nature to forget. We all know this. We all forget things all the time. The Greeks used to say that “time wipes all things out of memory” as if the mind were a writing slate and time were the eraser. Memory can play tricks on us unless something is done to keep it straight. At times, facts are only partially remembered, or even mixed up and confused. It is the place and significance of the Lord’s Supper to keep our memory clear, straight, and focused.

 

What we discern serves as an anchor to our faith. As we discern in this action of worship we are connected to the past. We are given meaning for the present, and we are inspired with hope for the future.

 

It was because of the Corinthians’ immaturity in failing to discern, to look through the Lord’s Body, that Paul urged them to partake worthily. This does not refer to the person being worthy. It is an adverb. It refers to the manner the communion is taken.

 

The warning is simple. Any careless, thoughtless participation at the Lord’s table is a failure to discern. 

 

The Lord’s Supper is an act of separation. 

1 Corinthians 10:21

 

The Lord’s Supper reminds us who we are and who we belong to. We have been called and chosen in Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:14

 

There has been a separation from the world and reconciliation to God.

Ephesians 2:16

 

As we partake of the Lord’s Supper we examine ourselves. No one can judge another’s motives. Each one of us must examine ourselves. We must consider our attitudes and actions.

 

The Lord’s Supper is a call to repentance. Paul instructed, “You cannot partake of the Table of the Lord, and the table of demons.” Sincerity is called for and Hypocrisy is to be dispelled.

 

The Lord’s Supper is a communion, as we read earlier in 

1 Corinthians 10:16.

 

This means the Lord’s Supper is a vital sharing and vital communication. While the Lord is always with His faithful, there is a very special and intimate way that He is with us during the Lord’s Supper. This vital identification with Christ was initiated when we were baptized into Him.

Romans 6: 3 - 4

 

It is continued when we sup with Him, and He with us. Jesus promised to drink with us in the Kingdom.

Matthew 26:29

 

So each Lord’s Day there is a fresh and loving encounter with Christ. It is a designated place and time when He keeps an appointment with us. Some of our brethren haven’t learned this. They miss the Lord’s Supper indiscriminately. The Lord’s Supper is not a meaningless habit.

 

The Lord’s Supper is an act of remembrance. 

Luke 22: 19

 

We have a challenge before us to remember as we partake of the Lord’s Supper. We must discipline our minds. We must control any wandering thoughts. What are some things we should remember as we sup with Christ in His feast?

 

We must remember His Name.

Philippians 2:9

 

We must remember His works of creation and redemption. Colossians 1:14-18

 

We must remember His love.

Ephesians 3:18-19

 

We must remember that He arose.

2 Timothy 2:8

 

We must remember that He reigns.

Hebrews 4:14

 

We must remember the result of his reign.

Ephesians 1:22-23

 

The Lord’s Supper is a bond of Christian fellowship. 

1 Corinthians 10:17

 

Not only is the Lord’s Supper a memorial meal, it is a sharing meal. As we partake of the Lord’s Supper we bear witness to the unity of the body of Christ. There are no “superiors” or inferiors” at the Lord’s Table. The Supper is a call to unity.

 

This bond was so strong in the early church that they shared one heart and one mind. When one suffered, all suffered. When one was weakened, all were affected. When one was strengthened, all were built up. The Lord’s table should prevent all bitterness and backbiting among those who share a place in the body of Christ. It should promote greater love among us. Pettiness is beneath the dignity of those redeemed in the blood of the Lamb.

 

The Lord’s Supper is a powerful proclamation. 

1 Corinthians 11:26

 

As we partake of the Lord’s Supper we preach a powerful sermon: we proclaim the Lord’s death. What else does participation in the Lord’s Supper proclaim?

 

It proclaims the vital facts of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

 

It preaches that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

 

It affirms that our faith is alive and well. It testifies that Jesus is not dead, but lives. It declares He is coming. It states that Judgment is sure.

Acts 17:30-31

 

The great essentials of the gospel are preserved in this memorial. 

 

We partake of the Lord’s Supper as the New Testament has shown. It is to be unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. It is to be taken every first day of every week, and ONLY on the first day of the week. 

 

Our worship is not only offering our praise to God, it is expressing our faith upwardly and outwardly. We do this with each act of worship that we perform to God when we gather on the first day of the week.