Church Ordinances

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes an interesting observation about people. He writes, “I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher ... You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.”

I find C.S. Lewis’ words interesting because they still ring true today.

I googled “Who is Jesus” and found several surveys. This is what I found after listening to many of them.

People in general view Jesus as:

A good man

A moral teacher

A central figure in all religions

Some said he did not exist

However, sadly, very few claimed that Jesus is God.

Most affirmed that as long as you believe in a higher power, you are on the right track.

These statements were made by those who claimed no religion and by many who had gone to church but have walked away.

This morning we are continuing in our series “Back to the Basics.”

We want to look at two Ordinances today and next week that we, as a church here at Calvary Baptist, practice and view as important steps in the Christian life.

In biblical terms, an ordinance is a decree or command instituted by God or established by religious authority, often intended to guide the conduct and worship of His people.

The two ordinances we are going to study are Communion (Lord’s Supper) and Baptism.

If we are to understand these ordinances properly and the meaning behind them, we cannot view Jesus as anything other than God Himself. If your view of Jesus is anything other than that He is God, then the ordinances that we practice and are commanded to do by Jesus have little value or meaning.

Scripture Reading…

Acts 2:41–42 NASB95

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

We see that both ordinances were observed and practiced in the early church and both we will see were commanded for us to do by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Today is Communion Sunday, so it only makes sense that we begin by examining the background and meaning of Communion.

The accounts of the Lord’s Supper appear in the Gospels (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:17-25; Luke 22:7-22; and John 13:21-30). The apostle Paul also wrote about the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.

Communion

Matthew 26:26–30 NASB95

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

When we consider “The Last Supper” and Jesus implementing this with His disciples and the church moving forward, we see three major points of time.

Sharing food in fellowship.

Prior to Jesus Death

Before we get too far into this, I want you to consider the meaning of food and fellowship.

When we have a meal here at the church, we often call it a fellowship dinner.

Why? Because we, as a group of people, are brought together for a purpose.

We typically would not share a meal with those we have issues with.

We share meals with those who are our friends, and we share a oneness, a unity together.

When you study the Bible, you will notice that most of the time, when a meal is shared, it is for the purpose of fellowship. It comes with the idea that a relationship has already been established.

Adam and Eve were told to eat of every fruit of the tree in the Garden except one. Presumably, they ate meals in fellowship with God before sin entered the world.

We see multiple accounts throughout the Old Testament in which, when man has an encounter with God, a meal is shared.

Shortly after the Ten Commandments were given, God called the leaders of Israel up to the mountain to meet with Him.

Exodus 24:9–11 NASB95

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.

But before that, the meal that Jesus and the Disciples were enjoying together, “The Passover,” was instituted. It was the most sacred feast of the Jewish religious year.

It commemorated the final plague on Egypt, when the firstborn of the Egyptians died and the Israelites were spared because of the blood of a lamb sprinkled on their doorposts.

The lamb was then roasted and eaten with unleavened bread.

That night, the Israelites would encounter God in a real and vivid way.

It was the night of the Passover that brought salvation for them from the slavery they had endured for so many years in Egypt.

But here is the problem.

Throughout the Old Testament, every sacrifice and every ceremony never fully solved the problem of sin and the separation between God and man.

As they sacrificed the lambs and ate the meals, it only provided a temporary covering.

These sacrifices were designed to look forward to the Messiah who was to come and take away sin.

Hebrews 10:1–4 NASB95

For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

When Jesus had the Last Supper with His disciples, He was still looking forward to His death, which would finally pay for the sins of those who placed their faith in Him for salvation.

So let’s consider Communion, the Lord’s Supper, for today.

Post Jesus Death

Today, as we observe the ordinance of communion, we look back to Jesus' final and complete sacrifice.

Jesus explained that the bread represented His body, which would be broken.

Though no bones were broken, His body was so severely tortured that it was almost unrecognizable (Psalm 22:12–17; Isaiah 53:4–7).

The wine symbolized His blood, signifying the painful death He was about to face.

As the perfect Son of God, He fulfilled countless Old Testament prophecies about a Redeemer (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53).

When He said, “Do this in remembrance of me,” He meant for this to be a lasting tradition.

The Passover, which involved the sacrifice of a lamb and pointed to the coming of the Lamb of God to take away the world’s sin, was fulfilled in His death on the cross.

The New Covenant replaced the Old when Christ, the true Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), was sacrificed (Hebrews 8:8–13).

The Levitical system was no longer necessary (Hebrews 9:25–28).

The Lord’s Supper or Christian Communion serves as a memorial of Christ’s sacrifice and a celebration of the blessings we receive because of it.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. Notice verse 29.

Matthew 26:29 NASB95

“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

Present Again with Jesus

The Lord’s Supper is an integral part of Christian worship.  

From the moment Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper to the present day, its purpose has been twofold.

We look back at Jesus’ sacrifice, which He poured out on the cross for our sins, and we also look forward to the future.

Revelation 19:7–9 NASB95

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”

Remember how I started with fellowship and eating?

When we get to heaven and enjoy the marriage of the Lamb, everything destroyed by sin in the Garden of Eden and that has infected mankind since will be completely restored.

There will be unity and oneness with our Savior, free of pain, sorrow, sickness, and death. Sin will no longer be an issue, and there will be complete and unbroken fellowship between us and God.

The Elements of Communion

As Jesus did when eating the Passover Meal with His disciples, we use bread to symbolize Christ's body.

We have chosen to use these little wafers, as do many churches today, but I think that, in many ways, it loses the visual representation of what happened to Christ's body at His crucifixion.

When I was a missionary, I had to make bread from scratch on multiple occasions if I wanted any.

I would mix in the ingredients, but there is an additional step before you can take the bread and put it in the oven.

You must knead the bread, pushing, pulling, tearing, and punching, so the bread will rise properly.

Once it was baked, you would get a loaf much like this one.

When Jesus ate with His disciples, they would often tear or break the bread to dip it in a sauce.

(Bread)

My purpose this morning is to give you a visual image. When Jesus said, "This is my body," it was a visual representation of what was about to happen to Him.

His body was about to be torn apart and ripped to shreds.

(Wine)

Jesus then took the wine and gave it to them.

Again, the wine was red, representing His blood.

Jesus's offering of the cup symbolized the fulfillment of the Mosaic covenant, under which God’s people had long sacrificed animals to atone for their sins.

However, with the advent of the new covenant, the writer of Hebrews says this.

Hebrews 9:12 NASB95

and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

In a moment, we are going to partake of communion together, and as we do, I want you to clearly understand what our Savior did for us on the cross.

By illustrating the Bread and Wine.

With that said, as the men come up to assist me with communion…

If you have sins to confess, then do so.

If you have an issue with a brother or sister in Christ, then take care of it.

Taking communion is not to be taken lightly. We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 11 that we are not to take it in an unworthy manner, and that some have died because they have not taken this commandment seriously.

If you are not a believer, meaning you have not placed your faith in Jesus for salvation, I ask that you not partake of communion with us.

As I have mentioned many times, this is an ordinance set aside for those who are in fellowship with God.