Now, in this passage of Scripture,
Paul is giving instruction regarding the Lord's table. He says in verse 23, for I have
received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. That
the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took
bread. 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. After the same manner also, he
took the cup when it's up saying this cup is the New Testament
in my blood. This do ye as often as you drink
it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he comes. Let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we ask in Christ's name that you would help us to show forth thy Son's death
until he comes. Lord, enable us by Your grace
to worship You in observing this ordinance. Enable us to truly
remember Your broken body and shed blood. Enable us truly to
do this in remembrance of Thee. In Christ's name we pray, Amen. Now look in verse 26 with me
again. He says, for as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death
till he come. Look back in first Corinthians
chapter nine, verse 14. And that word show you do show
the Lord's death till he come, remember that look in verse 14,
the first Corinthians nine. Even so, have the Lord ordained
that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. See
this word preach? It's the exact same word that's
translated show. You do preach the Lord's death
till he comes. Now, this is a message that every
believer preaches. Every believer is going to be
a preacher this morning. And we're actually preaching
something. We're actually declaring something. We're actually making something
known in observing the Lord's table. This is a message that
every believer is called upon to preach. Back up in verse 23
of our text in First Corinthians 11, Paul lets us know that he's
given special instructions regarding the Lord's table. You young people,
you children, you see us taking the bread and wine. And you wonder,
why do they do that? It seems kind of mysterious.
Well, you listen real carefully and you'll learn why we take
the bread and we drink the wine, what it represents. He says in
verse 23, for I received of the Lord that which also I delivered
unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was
betrayed, took bread and when he'd given thanks, he'd break
it and said, take, eat. This is my body which is broken
for you, this do in remembrance of me." Now we take this bread,
unleavened bread, and we eat it. And while we eat it, we're
remembering that this bread actually, literally represents the suffering
of our Lord on the cross. It represents the wrath that
He endured. The suffering of God's wrath
as the sinner substituted when we eat that bread and take it
in our mouth and we chew it. And it's crunched, it's crushed. And as we do that, we're actually
thinking about the wrath he endured. It is so amazing to think. That
on the cross, and I don't understand this, I believe it, I'm more
amazed by it, the older I get as a believer. On the cross,
he was made sin. And when he suffered that wrath,
it's because the father was angry with him, because that sin actually
became his. He was made sin. And he was guilty. That's why the father was pouring
his wrath out upon him. He was guilty. And when we eat
this bread, when it's crushed in our mouth, we're thinking
of the wrath that he experienced, that he suffered as the sinner
substitute. And then we read in verse. Twenty
four, the last phrase, this do in remembrance of me, you know,
it's tragic. That we have to be reminded of
this, isn't it? That's amazing. But yet the Lord in his mercy
gives us this ordinance that we might not forget. This we
do in remembrance of him. This is something we never get
over. This is something we're completely and continually amazed
by. What he did as the sinner substitute. remembrance of him. So when we
eat this bread and it's crushed in our mouth, we're remembering
him being crushed under the wrath of God as the sinner substitute. Verse 25. After the same manner
also, he took the cup. And when he had said saying this
cup is the New Testament. In my blood, This do ye as oft
as ye drink it in remembrance of me. Now, this blood or this
wine that we drink, we drink wine, which represents his blood.
He says this is the New Testament in my blood. Now, we know what
the Old Testament is. The Old Testament represents
salvation by works. The New Testament represents
salvation by his blood. And we are drinking this wine,
and it represents the New Testament in His blood. And here's what
we're celebrating when we drink this wine. When we eat the bread,
we're thinking about the wrath that He endured. We're thinking
about the suffering that He endured, like I said, a substitute. But
when we drink the wine, we're thinking about the forgiveness
that He procured. It's a celebration. We're thinking
about what He actually accomplished by His precious blood. When we
drink that wine, we're thinking, my forgiveness was accomplished
by what He did. And it's a celebration. I mean,
don't you love this? My forgiveness was totally accomplished
by what He did. Verse 25, after the same manner
also, He took the cup when He had sucked, saying, This cup
is the New Testament in My blood. This do as oft as you drink it
in remembrance of Me. Verse 26, For as often as you
eat this bread, and note the word often. He didn't say as
seldom as you do it. He said as often as you do it.
You know, the Lord gives this for a purpose. As often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, here's what you're doing.
You do show, you do preach. Now this is a sermon that every
believer is called upon to preach. You may not be called to preach
a public message where you're getting up and talking, but this
is a sermon you actually preach. And I actually preach. Every
time we eat this bread and drink this cup, We are showing forth. We are preaching the Lord's death
until he comes. That's our message. We preach
his death. We're actually preaching the
same thing that Moses and Elijah preached when they were on the
Mount of Transfiguration. Do you remember when Moses and
Elijah appeared to the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration
and they were and Peter and James and John were watching what was
taking place? And the scripture says they watched
him. Talk, and you know what it says they did at this time
when Moses and Elijah were talking to the Lord on the mountain of
transfiguration? It says they spake of the decease which he
should accomplish. I love that. You know, most people
when they think of death, you think of it as a defeat, the
final defeat, but not his death. They spake of the decease which
he would accomplish. What did he accomplish by his
death? I want to read one verse of scripture, turn to Hebrews
chapter 10. Verse 14. For by one offering,
that's talking about his death on the cross, he hath perfected
forever. Perfectly completed. Can't be
added to. Can't do anything to complete.
Nothing you can do to complete it because it's already been
completed. He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Them that are set apart by the
grace of God. Now this is what he accomplished
by his death on the cross. Perfection. I am perfect. in God's sight because of what
he did. Now that's something to be excited
about, isn't it? This truly is a celebration. And every time
we eat this bread and drink this wine, we are preaching the Lord's
death until he comes. We're thinking once again of
his broken body, the wrath he endured. But we're also thinking
of the forgiveness that he procured. And that's what our job is until
He comes. That's my purpose. That's your
purpose. To preach His death. To show forth His death until
He returns once again. Let's pray.