Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and
reading for our text part of verse 24. The words at the end
of that verse, this do in remembrance of me. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse
24, the whole verse, reads and when he had given thanks he break
it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you
this do in remembrance of me. In the verse following after
the same manner also he took the cup when he had sup saying
this cup is the new testament in my blood this do ye as oft
as ye drink it in remembrance of me. The words upon my spirit
this do in remembrance of me. It has been our custom in our
churches at the first Lord's Day of each month to observe
after the evening service or afternoon if it is an afternoon
and morning church and to observe the Lord's Supper by the Church. In the Scriptures we have set
before us not a time frame, but as oft as ye do this. And it's a good thing to have
a custom. Some of our brethren in the Presbyterian
churches do not observe it as often as we do, perhaps only
a few times a year. Others of our brethren in other
churches, they observe it every single Lord's Day. And it is
a good thing to have a practice that we hold to and observe it
according as the Lord directs. And I felt this evening as it
will follow this service to Look at the institution of the Lord's
Supper and where the teaching comes in the Word of God. It is a great privilege and a
sacred ordinance. It is a great privilege to partake
of it and to do this, to observe this ordinance in remembrance
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to just look at seven
actual points that will, I hope, just open up a little concerning
the Lord's Supper, not in any depth, but may it be a blessing
to us. The first I'd want to highlight
is where it is recorded in the Word of God. And my desire in
this is to refresh our knowledge that all what we do in the Church
of God should be based upon the Word of God. The Apostle does
indeed speak about holding the traditions that are handed down
to us. And what I mentioned about the
frequency of the Lord's Supper would come under the heading
of tradition because it is not expressly set forth in scripture
how often, but the actual observance of it and all that we know and
all that is prescribed is contained in the Word of God. We should
not be referencing to other men's works that add to it or subtract
from it. If you and I have a Bible, if
you and I search those scriptures, then we should come at a scriptural
knowledge of the will of God as concerning this ordinance. And of course, that applies to
any other teaching in the Church of God and anything else that
we observe. It must be based upon the Word
of God. Where errors have crept into
the Church of God, it usually is because men have departed
from the Word of God. So we have in the Gospels, we
have the passage that we read in the Gospel according to Matthew
chapter 26 and in verses 26 to 29 the Lord's Supper is set before
us there. Then it is also set forth in
the Gospel according to Mark in chapter 14 and verses 22 to
25. Luke also records it in Luke
22 and verses 14 to 23. John does not actually record
the Lord's Supper as such, but the Passover that immediately
preceded it. And John's, as we'll see perhaps
a little later, is very important, as joined with the other three
accounts. Then we have the observance of
the Church of God in the Acts of the Apostles, where in Acts
chapter 2, we have the pattern throughout that chapter of a
people under the preaching of the word brought into conviction,
brought to believe, brought to be baptised, those that gladly
receive the word, and then continue with the apostles in breaking
of bread. And of course Acts 2 is very
important because it is when the Holy Spirit fell It is really
a foundation chapter for the early church and for the church
to follow on afterwards. The pattern of baptising and
then continuing steadfastly in the Apostles' Doctrine and Fellowship
and in breaking of bread and in prayers and the breaking of
bread is the Lord's Supper. And we read in verse 46, And
they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking
bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness
and singleness of heart. Praising God and having favour
with all the people, the Lord added to the church, Daily such
as should be saved. And so that is the pattern of
those that are added to the Church. And then we have the chapter
that precedes the one we've read in 1 Corinthians 11. Chapter 10 also deals with it. Verse 16 onwards through to 21. The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread
which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread
and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
And so we have the setting forth of the ordinance of the Lord's
Supper to the Corinthians there. So, and then the passage wherein
our text is. So a practical chapters to the
Corinthians, and we may say, arising out of errors that were
in the church. And again, we'll cover that a
little later. But it is in these passages that
the truths are set forth to us. And if we were to know what we
are to observe and how it is set before us in the scriptures,
it is in these passages that we must look, joining prayer
with each inspection. and gain our teaching instruction
from the Word of God. The second thing I bring before
you is when, when it was instituted. We're not left in doubt at all
on that. It was instituted by our Lord
and in the verse 23, the verse before our text, we are clearly
told that it was instituted the same night in which He was betrayed. That very same night. That is when it was. We also
know that it was after the Passover. The Lord had said, with desire,
I have desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. And the Passover goes right back
to the teaching in Exodus 12, when the children of Israel were
in Egypt. And that last plague was that
the destroying angel would go over the houses of the Egyptians
and the Israelites that night. And there was to be a sacrifice
in the houses of the people of God. They were to set aside a
lamb. That lamb was to be slain. Their
blood was to be put with hyssop upon the doorposts and upon the
lintel, not on the threshold, to be walked on. But it was to
be outside their houses. And they were to shelter in the
houses. And they were to eat that Passover. They were to eat the lamb. They
were to eat it. with their sandals on their feet,
their staff in their hand, in readiness to depart. They were
to eat it in haste. It was the Lord's Passover. And
what was to happen that night? The angel was to pass over. And
when he saw the blood, he were to pass over that house. Where
there was no blood, the firstborn would be slain in that house.
And where there was the blood, the firstborn would not be slain. The lamb was slain in the place
of the firstborn. And that Passover was to be observed
constantly in their generations. And it is no wonder the Lord
desired to eat that Passover with them before he suffered. because the types and shadows
of the Old Testament have an anti-type. They have what they
set forth, and they set forth the Lord Jesus Christ. He was
the Paschal Lamb. He was the Lamb who was to be
slain. And immediately after this Passover,
He was to be taken and slain, brought to judgment and crucified
and slain. He was the Lamb. He was what? was pointed to in all the ordinances
of the Passover. All of those that truly observed
it in a spiritual way, a believing way, they did it with an eye
to God's provision. God said Abraham will provide
a lamb, will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And it was in this instance for
the Passover and the provision is the Lord Jesus Christ. So
the passages in the Gospels make it very clear that immediately
after, or leading right on from the Passover, he then instituted
the Lord's Supper. While they were eating, then
he instituted it. It is a clear, separate ordinance,
a church ordinance, that replaces the Passover. There's no need
for the Passover anymore, but for the Church of God, the Lord
has given this, not to remember a lamb, not to remember the time,
the going out of the children of Israel from Egypt, but to
remember Him. There is another time, we might
say, when it was instituted, and that is after Judas had gone
out. It's very clear that Judas was
part of the Passover. It was at that Passover that
the questions were asked when our Lord said that one of them
would betray him. We read in the Gospel according
to Matthew and Mark that it was the sop as they did eat, the
sop was then given to the betrayer, which was given to Judas. And then we have the after supper,
which is recorded with Luke and also here in 1 Corinthians, The context here is that it is
after supper, verse 25, after the same manna also he took the
cup when he had sucked, saying, this is the cup and the New Testament
in my blood. And then we have with John, in
John, though it does not record the actual observance of the
Lord's the Passover and the giving of
the sock to Judas and the fact that immediately he went out. And so Judas, when he put the
scriptures together, was not with them, with the Lord's Supper. He was at the Passover. And that is then when it was
instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ and the words of our text,
this do in remembrance of me. I want to then note as thirdly
that this is a church ordinance. we have in these passages here,
and we refer later to the abuses of it, but he says, have ye not
houses to eat in, and that they should then abuse the church
of God? In verse 22, what, have ye not
houses to eat and to drink in, or despise ye the church of God? and shame them that have not.
And so the ordinance here and also the practice of the head
covering, the sign of the headship given earlier in this chapter,
they are belonging to the Church of God. We mentioned within Acts
2 how the churches were gathered together and those that were
added to the Church of God. And it is those that are being
added to the church, part of the church, that are those to
observe this. It's not just something that
we can just privately observe in our homes or just between
one or two gathering together, each local church. They join
together and observe the Lord's Supper. And again, in her desire
to keep it to a church and so that it does, clearly set forth
a oneness of the body of Christ. Then each church, as it were,
hedges those tables to those who are believers in their assemblies
or those of like mind. This is why We term strict Baptist,
we hold strict communion, we hold that it must be those who
have repented, those who have believed, those who have been
baptised by immersion and then are joined with the church in
fellowship. that sit down at the Lord's table. And we observe that amongst ourselves
and we admit those who have walked that way from other churches
and who are members of churches that also observe that same strict
order. That is in contrast with some
churches that don't have a prescribed way of coming to the Lord's table. Virtually anyone who says that
they are Christian, whether they are baptised by immersion or
sprinkling or not baptised at all sometimes, can just partake
of the ordinance. But it is clearly set forth in
scripture that there is order and there does need to be care
in that. So that is why the churches,
historically, our churches, not just gospel standard, but others
that are not gospel standard churches, they're termed strict
Baptist because of the practice of restricting their communion
to baptized believers of the same faith and order. But fourthly, it is a remembrance
service. Our text is very clear in this
way, this do, in remembrance of me. It is not a sacrifice. In the time of the persecution
by the Roman Catholic Church of the people of God, there were
many that were put to death, burnt alive, because they would
not accept the blasphemous teaching of the Roman Catholic Church,
that the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, the Mass as they call
it, was actually a sacrifice. They taught erroneously that
the blessing of the priest turned the bread into the very body
of Christ, and the wine into the very blood of Christ, and
it was a sacrifice, a fresh sacrifice. And that is blasphemy, because
there is only one sacrifice, the sacrifice of our Lord at
Calvary. There is not to be another, there
is not another. And to even suggest that such
emblems could be turned into the Lord is blasphemous itself. But those that refused to accept
that or partake of the Mass, they were ordered to be burnt
as heretics. And many, many lost their lives
rather than deny the Lord and deny the clear teaching of the
Word of God, that this is a remembrance service, not a sacrifice. who otherwise would deny the
efficacy of the one offering for sin that our Lord accomplished
at Calvary. So we remember and it is remembering
the Lord's death in what he suffered. Twice it is set forth here In
this way, in verse 24, when he had given thanks, he break it
and said, take heed, this is my body, which is broken for
you, this too, in remembrance of me. That is, in the breaking
of the bread, the The point, the illustration is
set forth to Christ's broken body. When we think of our Lord's
sufferings, his body was broken by the lash
upon his back, the ploughers have ploughed upon my back, foretold
in Psalm 129. Pilate had him scourged. Then we have his body broken
with the nails in hands and feet, his body broken with the crown
of thorns upon his head, his body broken after he had yielded
up the ghost with the spear in his side. He may also in one
sense say his body was broken when he sweat those great drops
of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. But primarily it points to the
physical sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. His body was broken and we are
to remember that. We are to remember why it was
broken. It was broken for you. The Lord's work upon the cross
was for his people. He did not die for the whole
world. He did not die for Judas. He
did not die for the lost. He says, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Ye are not of my sheep, therefore
ye hear not my word. I have power to lay it down,
I have power to take it again. Wherever the time the paschal
lamb was shed, the blood was, there was no death in that house. To suggest that the Lord Jesus
Christ died and those for whom he died are lost makes that blood
to be of none effect. But love, love moved him to come,
love moved him to die, love moved him to be wounded for our transgressions
and that it is by his stripes that we are healed. And so when
it is observed in remembrance It is not just remembrance of
what the Lord did at Calvary, but what was done for us, for
those that are partaking of that ordinance, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. And in verse 25, after the same
manner, also he took the cup, that is giving thanks. when he
ends up saying, this is the cup. This cup is the New Testament
in my blood. This do ye as oft as ye drink
it in remembrance of me. And it is remembering, remembering
the blood that the Lord did shed at Calvary, remembering the cup
that his father gave him to drink, that he willingly took up It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who sitteth
at the right hand of the throne of God on high. You know, if
the Lord has given us the bow in the cloud that we might remember
his covenant with Noah, that whenever the rain comes over
the earth, that he will not destroy the earth again with a flood. He says, I do set my bow in the
cloud and I will look upon it and remember my covenant. For
he has given also this to the church of God that in every generation
they remember, remember Christ's sacrifice, that Christ has died
Remember the offering, remember the fulfilment of the Passover
time in our Lord Jesus Christ. What a sacred, blessed thing
that the Lord should so make sure that his church never, ever
forgets Calvary. And every poor sinner that has
put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ has been born again of
the Holy Spirit Though they change, their frames may change, their
feelings may change, yet they are to remember that Christ's
precious blood was shed, and the blessings and benefits of
that that once received shall never be lost. So then it is a remembrance service,
but then in the fifth place it is a service in which, and this
does overlap in a sense, in which the Lord's death is shown. Ye do show forth the Lord's death
till he come. I, if I be lifted up above the
earth, would draw all men unto me. There were some that did
see him literally lifted up above the earth at Calvary. But for the Church of God in
Gospel days, where they see the Lord, where they see his death
shown, as well as in the preaching of the Gospel, Paul says, I determine
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. But it is in this ordinance.
Prior to that, of course, it is in baptism. buried with him
by baptism into death, risen again in newness of life. In baptism, there is an identifying
with the Lord Jesus Christ in death and in life. So with the
Lord's Supper, it is a service which shows the death of the
Lord, shows it in a time Not literally. When we think of the
Old Testament, those that offered the sacrifices, those that observed
the Lord's Supper, they were all times. They were shadows. It wasn't literally the Lord
there. But Paul, he says, they drank
of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But it was by faith. How vital
it is. As much as the Old Testament
saints observed those types and shadows by faith, that we also
do so by faith in the New Testament Church as well. So then in the
sixth place, to highlight that it is a service for baptised
believers. the proper subjects of the Lord's
Supper. It is, we alluded to this before
with our practice of strict communion, but it is a question that should
be scripturally answered. Who? Who are the right communicants? Who are those that have a right
to the table of God? It is those as set forth in Acts
that have been pricked in their heart, that do know that it is
their sins that nailed Christ to Calvary. He died for their
sins, and they feel Him. They believe Him. They mourn over Him. They realise that the Lord died
and suffered for their sins. Isaiah 53, He had laid on Him
the iniquity of us all. It so clearly sets forth before
us in that prophecy of the sufferings of our Lord as in a substitutionary
way. Verse 4 in Isaiah 53, Surely He hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem
Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. The ordinance
then is not for those who are ignorant, of their own sin, who
do not see the sinfulness of sin, who are not brought to hate
sin, who do not see and believe that Christ's sufferings are
directly related to their sin. It is as it was in Acts 2, those
pricked in their hearts, those who are brought to the realisation
that it was their sins that nailed him there, and because of their
sins he suffered. And then to be brought from that,
to believe that, to believe that Christ has suffered in their
place, to believe that that sacrifice was accepted of God, that the
wrath of God was extinguished there and shall not come on them,
that it is sufficient, it does not need, any works of their
own, it does not need anything added to it, it was a finished
work. The Lord's words on Calvary,
it is finished. And so those that are to receive
of him, the Lord commanded his disciples, go into all the world,
preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptised
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Baptism is for believers. It doesn't need any other qualification
than that. And in Acts 2, they that gladly
received the word were baptised. And certainly the eunuch gladly
received the word, gladly received who it was being set forth in
Isaiah 53, gladly received and believed that Christ had died
for his sin and therefore desired to be identified with him and
to be obedient to him and to be baptised. See here is water,
what doth hinder me to be baptised? And that then comes before the
observance of the Lord's Supper. Some of us, with myself, in the
blessing of the Lord on my soul, made the Lord's Supper very,
very precious to me. And a desire to observe that,
and knowing the scripture teaching of baptism first, that brought
me to baptism. And the Lord's Supper is a very
beautiful ordinance solemn, sacred, but it sets forth the sufferings
of the Lord constantly before the Church of God. In one sense,
with baptism, the Lord's people only baptise once, believe as
baptism. But with the Lord's Supper, they're
observing it as often as they do. As I said, in our churches,
you might say 12 times a year. I've been 40 years in the way,
two times that by 40, and many much more than that. So the ordinance
of the Lord's Supper is much more set before us than baptism
is. And yes, a wonderful thing. We're
a large church and very often we have baptism set before us,
but generally it will be more often that it is the Lord's Supper,
but it is those that are baptised that partake of him. But lastly,
it is a service that is not to be abused. And this is why with
the two chapters here, 10 and 11, 2 Corinthians, the apostle
is writing because it was being abused. Those in chapter 10 that
were coming to the Lord's table But they were also then going
to the sacrifices of the Gentiles and partaking of them as well. He says, I would not that you
should have fellowship with devils. He cannot drink the cup of the
Lord and the cup of devils. He cannot be partakers of the
Lord's table and of the table of devils. And so he is clearly
setting before them a separation. We don't go from the Lord's table
and then go to that which is abomination and so contrary. Our lives are to be consistent
and what is testified at the Lord's table is to be testified
in our lives. The abuse in chapter 11 here,
they were using the Lord's supper as a meal and he said that Have
ye not houses to eat in? Why were they despising the Church
of God? And he says in this, what about
the poor people that see you come in this way and abuse the
Lord's Supper and just use it as eating and drinking? But he says that they should
be then not eating unworthily. And what he means is partaking
in a way that they really did not discern what it meant, what
it set forth, how solemn it was, how sacred it was. They were
eating really as unbelievers, just to satisfy the hunger of
their bodies and just to have a drink of wine. and he exhorts
the men to judge themselves. He gives it as a reason why many
were weak and sickly among them, and many sleep, because they
weren't judging themselves. And really it is an exhortation
to us, oft as we do, come together with the Lord's Supper to really
ask ourselves, Are we living consistent? How much do we really
understand what is set forth? Is it a sacred ordinance to us? Do we truly observe it, viewing
the death of the Lord, realising that he has suffered and bled
for us? And may it be a means of grace
to us in that way, that we might be sanctified, that we might
be separated from the world that lieth in sin and wickedness,
and that we might be like Moses and Joshua. As for me and my
house, we have served the Lord. Let us go unto him without the
camp, bearing his reproach. May our faith then be strengthened
in the observing of the Lord's Supper, and may we oft see by
faith the Lord there. As his death is set forth, may
we oft remember, never forget, the cost of our redemption. As
Paul says in another place, ye are bought with a price. Wherefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are his. This do in remembrance of me. May the Lord bless the word and
help us in the service that follows this one. Amen.