THE LORD'S SUPPER
Thank you, and thank you for being in our audience this
morning. I continue to encourage you to get your Bible, your pen and
paper, and study together with me these important lessons. May each
one have the courage to seek authority for all this is practiced in
our service unto Jehovah. We should have book, chapter, and verse
for all that we do. This is especially true when we consider the
worship of our God. It is mandatory that every soul learn the
importance of worship. When we look into God's Word, we learn that
there are five avenues wherein man worships the Creator in public
service. By avenues, I mean there are five distinct ways whereby we
bring our adorations and homage before our God. These avenues are:
singing, when we lift our voices together in praise; praying, where
we express our feelings unto our God; teaching, where God's eternal
Word is studied; giving, where we return unto God a portion of that
which He has so richly bestowed upon each of us; and the Lord's
Supper.
I wish to study with you this morning the last that we
mentioned in this list: THE LORD'S SUPPER. Turning to 1 Corinthians
11:23, Paul speaks by inspiration, "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; 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. 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." Thus, it is clear that the
Lord Himself gave unto us His Supper. And we should be interested
and concerned in what is involved in the partaking of it.
Let us notice some introductory thoughts just here. From the
very beginning of time, God has used different and varying symbols
in His dealings with mankind. It is extremely difficult for man,
clothed in the flesh, to completely grasp the spiritual. Yet, God is
a spirit, and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24.
We have five senses. We see, hear, feel, taste, smell through
fleshly, material organs. But with these we cannot contact the
spiritual. Man today does not see, hear, feel, tast, or smell God.
How does God give us insight into His nature and personality. By
using various symbols and teachings. A teacher in the class room
uses diagrams, charts, and symbols to illustrate that which is
abstract or difficult. God, too, has used signs, symbols to teach
man. He gave man the Sabbath, commemorating His resting after the
six days of labor. Do you think that Jehovah was tired? No. The
Sabbath was given for man. It was a symbol of God's rest, or
completion of the creation. Under the Law of Moses, God gave animal
sacrifices as a symbol of the innocent dying for the guilty. God's
holiness and man's sinfulness was depicted through those offerings.
As the Israelites left Egypt in the Exodus, Jehovah commanded them
to offer the Passover Lamb, with the continuing Passover feast. The
feast was observed each year as the Israelites remembered their
deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. The apostle states, "For our
passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ" (1 Corinthians
5:7). God has now given the greatest of all symbols, that which is
to be done in memory of the Crucified Savior, as we shall see as we
progress into this study.
Let us go back for a moment to point out that the blood of
bulls and of goats could not take away sins. So states the Hebrew
writer in Hebrews 10:4. As many sacrifices as were offered under the
Law, yet sin was still present, no atonement. It took the blood of
the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of
mankind. Listen to the Hebrew writer, beginning with verse 11, of
chapter 9: "But Christ having come a high priest of the good things
to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hand, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the
blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in
once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a
heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the
cleanness of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God,
cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
It was just before His death that Jesus instituted His Supper,
as He met with His apostles to keep the Old Testament Feast of
Passover. This is recorded in Matthew 26:26-29, "And as they were
eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it: and he gave to
the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took a
cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, All of you drink of
it; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for
many unto remission of sins. But I say unto you, I shall not drink
henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it
new with you in my Father's kingdom."
Remember we saw earlier in this lesson that Christ said, "This
do in remembrance of me" (1 Cor 11:24,25). As a child of God, I have
the exalted privilege of meeting with my Lord and partaking of that
which so fittingly represents the body and blood of our Savior. You
will notice that these are commandments given by the Lord. Not only
do we partake in obedience to a command, but it is a privilege, an
honor, and a blessing to partake of His Supper. The early disciples
availed themselves of this great privilege. Note in Acts 20:7, "And
upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to
break bread, Paul discoursed with them..." When did the early
disciples partake? God's Word says upon the first day of the week.
To us, the first day of the week is Sunday. Language could not be
any plainer than that.
"But," someone says, "It does not say 'every first day'." I
have never understood why anyone would want to minimize the
opportunity to meet with the Lord at His Table. Why would one want
to miss a first day of the week to partake. Every week has a first
day. And when that first day comes around, we can meet with the Lord
with His blessing to remember His death and His resurrection by
partaking of that which reminds us of His sacrificial body and His
shed blood. What an exalted privilege!! And yet, some would observe
the Supper only occasionally. Perhaps every three or four months, or
some other time sequence. My friend, when do you gather with the
Lord around His table and remember his death for the sins of
mankind? The early church did it upon the first day of the week.
Notice just here. When the Lord commanded the Israelites to
"keep the Sabbath," did He say, "remember every Sabbath"? No, He
simply said, "Keep the Sabbath." Which Sabbath did the Israelite
keep? He kept every one of them, just as surely as a Sabbath rolled
around, the Israelites observed it faithfully. He knew that
"remember the Sabbath" included every Sabbath. Why does not the
first day of the week include every first day of the week.
"But," someone says, "that would make it too common." Question.
Does taking the contribution every time you meet make it too common?
Isn't it strange, that religious leaders do not think it too common
to ask you to give every Sunday; some of them every time you meet.
Perhaps, you should tell them, "That makes it too common, I will
give every three months, or once a year." Isn't it strange how man
makes things fit what they want them to be. Why don't we just read
what the Bible says and seek to follow it. Again, the early
Christians, under the inspiration of the apostles, came together
upon the first day of the week to break bread. And just as surely as
a first day of the week comes around today, Christians meet around
the Lord's Table and partake of His supper. If not, why not??? Do
you???
I refer you once again to 1 Corinthians 11:24-28, "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. In like manner also the cup,
after supper, saying, This is the new covenant in my blood: this do,
as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye
eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till
he come. 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. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat
of the bread, and drink of the cup." You will note at least four
very important points in this reading. First, the supper is "in
memory" of Him (vs 24). Thus, the Lord's Supper looks backward to
the cross, retrospective. Second, one is to "examine himself" (vs
28). This means that one partaking looks inward, or introspective.
Third, Paul says that "ye proclaim" (vs 26). This means that we look
outwardly, or circumspective. We tell the world that we believe in
the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord and Savior. Then,
fourthly, Paul says, "till He come again" (vs 26). By that, he means
that we look forward, prospective. Thus, when we partake of His
Supper, we are anticipating His return, to receive us unto Himself.
So, the Lord's Supper looks backward, inward, outward, and
forward. Don't you wish to do that upon the first day of each week??
You can, you know, if you follow the example of the early
Christians. If you follow the commands of our Lord.
Question just here: Where did the Lord put His Supper. For the
answer we turn to Matthew 26:29 once again, "But I say unto you, I
shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day
when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." In Luke 22:30
we read, "that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom..." In
1 Corinthians 10:21, Paul refers to the Lord's Supper when he says,
"Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons; ye
cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of
demons." The Lord put His table in His kingdom. What is the kingdom?
In Matthew 16:18-19, Christ uses the term "church" and "kingdom"
interchangeably. The Colossian brethren had been "translated
into the kingdom of the Son of his love." (Colossians 1:13). The
Thessalonians were called into his own kingdom (1 Thessalonians
2:12). The kingdom was established during the first century, by the
inspired apostles. The saved were members of the kingdom of Christ,
the church of Christ. And that is where the Lord placed His Supper.
You will remember that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:26, that we
were to partake of His Supper, "till he come again." Thus, the
Lord's Supper has been placed between the death of Christ and His
Return. That being so, and it is, the Kingdom began with His death
on the cross and will continue unto His Second advent. We need not
look for a kingdom after the Lord returns. When He returns, there
will be the time of judgment, when all mankind shall stand before
the tribunal bar of Heaven to be judged.
One last point before we close. Often a mother puts away some
garment of her child; perhaps a lock of golden hair, a pair of baby
shoes which she has bronzed. As the years pass, this mother looks at
these momentos and remembers the child. This is especially so, if
the child is gone. We place tombstones at the head of the grave of
our departed loved ones, as memorials of our love for them. A faded
flower is the Bible, a faded picture; all of these as memorials of
past events. But, flowers disintegrate into fragments and powder
with time; pictures fade into scraps of unrecognizable paper;
Tombstones are defaced. But, the Lord's Supper continues to be a
time tested memorial that does not disintegrate. Composed of such
simple fares: unleavened bread and fruit of the vine, both
perishable items, yet, continuing throughout the centuries. It is
still a vital, living, memorial to that one who loved us enough to
died in our stead.
There is so much that needs to be said about the Lord's Supper,
but our time has slipped away. Perhaps we shall say more in the
future. If you have a question or would like to study this further,
please feel free to write: P.O. Box 502, Anahuac, TX 77514. If you
would like a copy of this lesson, or the cassette of it, please let
us know. Also, the web site will have this lesson:
http://home.att.net/~jackthompson.
Remember, Truth fears no investigation.
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