The Christian Life and Communion Part 2
Notes
Transcript
The Ordinances of the Church
The Ordinances of the Church
Last week we began to look at the Lord’s supper. My goal last week and I will state it here as a review was to show the connection between the passover and the Lord’s supper. That connection is Jesus. As Jesus was celebrating the passover with his apostle, they remembered the passover of Israel from Egypt with the sacrifice of the lamb as the blood of this innocent creature was displayed on their door posts the Lord would see the blood of the lamp and passover that home.
(Quick Rabbit trail on the passover, it was the Lord and destroyer, the angel of death is never mentioned)
“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.
When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, he will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.
The term pass-over in Hebrew is better understood as protected or shielded. However the destroyer here can be seen as an angel, 1 Chr 21:15, 2 Sam 24:16, even 1 Cor 10:10 seems to reference the destroyer as an angel being the agent or the one that carries out God’s wrath. So there is no direct reference to and angel of death. I will save a study for angels for another time because I don’t want to get lost on this rabbit trail.
Okay back to the main path. We are back in the upper room as Jesus was concluding this final passover. At the same time Jesus also instituting the First Communion. Jesus was the final passover lamb, the innocent one who would be killed and by the blood of Jesus our sins are then forgiven and the wrath of God would “passed over” us. With the passover soon to be fulfilled Jesus gave us the Communion. With this he used the unleavened bread and cup of blessing and instituted a way for us to have a remembrance of what Jesus has done for us. The bread his body and the cup his blood, this is done in remembrance of a New Covenant.
Our take away so far:
1. Jesus commands us to take of the bread and drink of the cup in remembrance of him.
2. The new covenant is of the blood of Jesus, only in his death do we have forgiveness of sins.
1.a.This is an establishment for our remembrance of of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, as fulfillment of the passover and anticipating his return to establish his kingdom.
2.a. The New Covenant is for the forgiveness of sins for all time through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus death on the cross.
Assumptions:
The Lord’s Supper is for commited followers of Jesus Christ. The idea is that when we call it the Lord’s supper we are admitting Christ as our Lord, which would occur at baptism.
We see how communion was established, but now the question remains how do we “do this in remembrance of Him?” Let’s look at the instructions that Paul gives to the church at Corinth.Open Your Bibles to 1st Corinthians 11:23-34.
As you open I would like to introduce you to the Church of Corinth. Corinth was one 4 main centers we see in New Testament. (Jerusalem, Antioch of Syria, and Ephesus). Corinth is in southern Greece and has a rich history going back thousands of years and during the time of Paul it was a maritime metropolitan city in the Roman Empire that well defended due to its location and added walls. The primary religion was still Greek polytheistic (in Greek Mythology King Sisyphus, his son rode pegasus). A temple worshiping Asclepius, healing, was well known and Aphrodite, love and beauty, was worshipped on the Acrocorinth. Paul spent about 18 months in Corinth, so he was very familiar with the people and their community. He left, but sent others to minister to the church there.
Paul’s writings to the Corinthians are put very simply a rebuke and a correction of their poor doctrine and lack of unity as a body of believers.
One of these areas that Paul had to correct the Corinthians about was the Lord’s Supper. Starting in verse 17, Paul is telling the Corinthians that is better for them not to meet because it is making things worse. Again after highlighting earlier in the letter the division’s among the Corinthians, Paul has to point out when it comes to the Lord’s supper there are still divisions. Some arrive eat all the food and get drunk, meanwhile others go hungry. This brings shame to those that have nothing. These early times of communion were associated with a meal together. So those potlucks that we have at churches are not unusual.
I would like to pick up where Paul’s instructions start in verse 23.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
We see here that Paul has recieved from Jesus instruction on the Lord’s supper, and is now passing this same instruction to the Corinthians. I think we as believers ought to be able to pass the instruction on to people with the same authority.
When in comes to the Lord’s supper we are not seeing anything new from what Jesus taught his disciples in the upper room.
So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.
Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians is that they are not to eat the bread or take the cup in an unworthy manner for in doing so we would be guilty of sin. So in order to avoid this sin they are to examine themselves. In fact, the Corinthians have not taken communion in a worthy manner and as a result they have become sick and even dome have died.
Paul tells them that if they not judge themselves during their self-examination they would come under judgment of God. So as the Corinthians were gathering at these meals they did not, as I tell my boys, exercise self- discipline, nor did they correct one another and that is evident in Pauls’ rebuke of their disunity and drunken feasting at the Lord’s supper. So Paul’s final instruction on this matter is that they are to welcome (grk. “wait”) for one another and if you are hungry eat at home so as not to bring attention to yourself. Paul felt that this was enough instruction for what they needed. We see this a practical application that helps us better understand the meaning and significance of the Lord’s supper, even though Jesus’ command for it ought be enough. This helps bring the importance of the
What can we learn from the Corinthians?
(Alot!)
We are to consider others as we take in this meal.
We are to examine ourselves that we are able to take communion in a worthy manner.
What does it mean to take Communion in a worthy manner?
The examination of the self is not to be taken lightly:
Your Life - Sin, Motives, Relationships with others
The condition of your heart before God, heart when you take the Lord’s supper
Our take aways:
1. Jesus commands us to take the bread and drink of the cup in remembrance of him.
2. The new covenant is of the blood of Jesus, only in his death do we have forgiveness of sins.
3. Communion is taken in a spiritual manner that reflects our right relationship and communion with God.
4. When we join in communion we are proclaiming Jesus’s death and looking forward to His return.
5. We are do this together with a body of believer and we commune in fellowship with one another.
6. Communion is a remembrance that we depend upon Christ for Spiritual nourishment
What is Communion then?
An Ordinance (Sacrament) commanded by Christ to eat the bread and to drink from the cup in remembrance of his death. It is a celebration of the Lord’s presence which brings us into communion with God and one another; nourishing our spirit as we anticipate the return of Christ where we will celebrate communion together.