The Lord's Supper
Title: The Table Of The Lord
Text: I Cor. 11:23 -28
TASK To explain the significance of the Lord’s Supper.
Date: Jan. 5, 1997
Speaker: Pastor Daniel D. Schreck
INTRODUCTION:
The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt stands as a monument to the pride of the Pharaoh Khufu (also known as Cheops). The pyramid's base covers 13 acres. This awe-inspiring memorial is estimated to contain 2.3 million blocks of stone, each weighing from 2 to 15 tons. Some 100,000 men spent 20 years building the Great Pyramid, but the sands of time have worn away its surface and thieves have stolen its treasures.
Unlike that memorial, the one initiated by our Lord on the night of His betrayal speaks not of pride, but of love and sacrifice. Its beauty can't be diminished by time, nor its treasures pilfered by thieves. Each time believers share the bread and cup together, the power of Jesus' memorial is as fresh as the night it was first observed.
TEXT: I Cor. 11:23 -28
23 For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; 24 and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
The Letter to the Corinthians has a date that is prior to any date of the Gospels; consequently, we have here in this letter the earliest account of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. In Christ’s time, the daily meal consisted of eating bread and drinking of a beverage. On the night when Jesus gathered His disciples before His death on the cross, this simple act of partaking of a shared meal would bring together all the meaning of the ancient sacrifices and all the prophecies of His coming Kingdom.
It was appropriately instituted at the time of the “feast of the Passover,” This was the foremost thought on each of the disciples mind that night.
Our Lord, with His sovereign authority, brushed aside the old Passover in order to make room for a new one.
T.S. What is the significance of the Lord’s Supper today? How are we to partake of this significant act?
I. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER.
A. It’s significance…v.26:
B. We participate, we proclaim the Lord’s death….
1. Not His life-although it was spotless.
2. Not His teaching-although no other teacher ever spoke like He did.
3. Not His miracles-although He brought healing to those hurting…
a. Physical &
b. Spiritual healing
4. HIS DEATH, we partake , proclaim His Death!
a. His Body - not glorious, but broken
b. His Blood -not coursing through the veins of a king on a throne, but shed for lost humanity.
C. The Lord’s Supper Is Closely connected with Christ’s Death.
1. This was the last meeting between Christ and His disciples before Calvary.
2. The typology:
a. As Christ broke the Bread, so would His body be broken.
1) The bread represents the broken body of our Lord, “by whose stripes we are healed.”
2) It represents the brokeness of humanity that needs “fixin’”
3) It represents situations throughout life that only a miracle can set right!
a. As the grape is crushed so that the juice could be poured into their cups, so Christ was crushed so that His blood might be poured into our cups for our redemption.
1) The cup represents the blood of Christ..
2) It represents the availability of Forgiveness of sin..
3) It represents the fulfillment of the promise of God for eternal life.
4) It represents the cleansing of our past failures and the calm assurance for our purity in the future.
D. The Lord’s Supper Confirms Two Things - The Death and The Second Coming of The Lord Jesus Christ.
1. It links the humiliation of the Cross with the royalty of the coming Kingdom - the accomplished past and the assured future
2. It is the union of the believer’s memory, which is still focused on the cross, and the believer’s hope, which is already rejoicing in anticipation of the coming Kingdom.
3. It is a sign to the past, and is a seal as to the future.
SUMMARY
T.S. In light of it’s Significance let’s examine the sacredness of the Lord’s Supper.
II. THE SACREDNESS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER.
A. It is the Highest act of Worship in the Church
B. It is an important time for the church…
1. A time to receive healing…
2. A time to receive forgiveness…
3. A time to receive cleansing…
C. It demonstrates
1. Obedience…
2. Commitment
a. to truth…
b. To receiving instruction..
c. To becoming a True follower of Jesus Christ.
3. Trust in God…
D. SUMMARY: It is at the observance of communion/ the Lord’s Supper/ the Eucharist, that we come nearest to the work and worship of heaven itself….
1. Where the church worships God in the presence of the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.
2. Where the angels are crying “holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord…”
III. THE SOLICITATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER.
A. The Lord’s Supper is an invitation
1. To Remember, to focus on The Lord Jesus Christ:
a. Who Jesus Is…
b. What He Has Done…
c. What He is doing AND
d. What He is going to do…
2. To Focus on the kingdom of God: Lk.22:18
16 For I tell you now that I won't eat it again until what it represents has occurred in the Kingdom of God."
18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come."
a. Kingdom of God =Rule of God
3. To Focus on Serving God
a. “Do this…” I Cor. 11:24,& 26 “Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show others…”
b. Christ came as a servant, to be Christlike (i.e. to be Christian) we must serve.
NOTE: A servant does not do his will, but the will of the master to whom he serves. We are here to do God’s work in His way, not His work in our way! Find God’s Will in the matter and do it!
B. The Lord’s Supper is an Invitation:
1. To Identify With Christ in life…
2. To Relate to Christ in death in this life
3. To Experience Resurrection in eternal life.
(Begin Altar Call: In a moment we will be asked to participate in this special meal… Before you do you need to realize that only a true Christian is invited to participate.. i.e. to take the bread & cup.
In order to be a true Christian you must…..)
SUMMARY: The invitation is given, we must receive it and apply it to our life. The invitation is to “Come, walk with me, watch me, wait with me, and die with me so that you can enter into eternal rest.”
CONCLUSION: We must not partake of the Bread & the Cup ignorantly, irreverently, or without being thankful. We must take it in a manner and attitude worthy of one who is a Christian.
APPLICATION: Reverently & Quietly…Everyone will take a small piece of bread and share it with at one or two other people… Do not eat the bread, and only take one piece from someone, wait till all have been served….
NOW: Pass out the cup… “Wait till all are served, we will pray over each element separately then we will partake.