The Lord's Supper Observed

Q: What does the Bible say about the Lord's Supper?

The Bible presents the Lord's Supper as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice, instituted by Jesus during the last Passover. The Lord's Supper, also known as communion, is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ on the night before his crucifixion. In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Paul recounts the actions of Christ during the last supper, where He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and declared it to be His body broken for us. Similarly, He took the cup, signifying His blood of the new covenant, emphasizing that this act serves as a remembrance of His sacrificial death until He returns. The Lord’s Supper transcends mere ceremony; it is a profound proclamation of Christ's death and a means by which believers express their faith and unity with Him.

Q: How do we know the Lord's Supper is a means of grace?

The Lord's Supper is described as a means of grace as it signifies participation in Christ's body and blood, bringing believers into communion with Him. The Lord's Supper is often understood as a means of grace because it symbolizes a profound union with Christ. As stated in 1 Corinthians 10:16, the bread and the cup represent the communion of the body and blood of Christ. This participation signifies not only a remembrance of His sacrifice but also a mystical communion where believers acknowledge their oneness in faith and the benefits of Christ's redemptive work. It is an expression of gratitude, faith, and unity with the body of Christ, emphasizing that participation requires discernment of Christ’s sacrifice.

Q: Why is the Lord's Supper important for Christians?

The Lord's Supper is crucial for Christians as it commemorates Christ's atoning sacrifice and fosters communal faith and unity among believers. For Christians, the Lord's Supper is vital because it acts as a sacramental reminder of the sacrifice of Christ, who took upon Himself the sins of His people. In participating in the Lord's Supper, believers affirm their faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, which justifies them before God. Additionally, it serves to strengthen their spiritual lives as they collectively worship and remember the covenant established through Christ's blood. It fosters unity among Christians, allowing them to observe and declare their faith together, proclaiming His death until He returns (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Q: What does it mean to partake in the Lord's Supper?

Partaking in the Lord's Supper means receiving the bread and wine as symbolic representations of Christ's body and blood, signifying faith and communion with Him. To partake in the Lord's Supper is to receive the elements of bread and wine in an act of faith and remembrance. It signifies that the believer acknowledges Christ's sacrifice and identifies with His suffering and death. As stated in Paul’s account, those who partake should discern the body of Christ; this means they recognize that the elements are symbols pointing to the realities of Christ’s body broken and His blood shed. This act also serves to express the believer's unity with other members of Christ's Body, the Church, as they partake together in one hope and faith. The Lord Jesus Himself emphasizes the necessity of truly receiving Him—not merely observing—thus showing an active trust in His atoning work.

I read to you an account of the first Passover.
God gave orders to Moses regarding this first Passover. Two thousand
years later, the Jewish nation was still observing
the Passover. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world. our Savior, our substitute, our
Messiah, our Redeemer, our Passover. And on the night he was betrayed
and the night before he was to be crucified on Calvary's cross, he met with his disciples and
observed the Passover. And Brother Dale read that account
to you a moment ago. And that's the last Passover.
There was to be no more because Christ, our Passover, suffered
that next day. And at that last Passover feast
with his disciples, he instituted, ordained the Lord's Supper. And
he took the unleavened bread and break it. and gave it to
his disciples and he said this is my body broken for you eat
it in remembrance of me and he took the wine and he blessed
it and he said this is my blood shed for you drink ye all of
it and as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup so what
the Lord did then is fulfill the Passover suffering as our
Passover and ordained the Lord's table to be continued by his
church, by his redeemed people, until he comes. He said, as often
as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord's
death until he comes. The Passover showed a picture
of his death, a type of his death. The lamb was slain, and roasted
with fire, and eaten, and his blood on the door. God said,
I see the blood pass over you. Israel observed you as a type.
Christ came in reality, the actual Lamb of God. John said, that's
the Lamb of God. Taketh away the sin of the world.
Not in type, but actually. Puts away sin. Not in picture,
but actually. Now you take this bread and this
cup, as often as you eat it, to show the Lord's depth. Now
I'm going to read Paul's account when he gave the Lord's table
to the church to be observed in 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians
chapter 11. And the Apostle Paul, writing
on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives the church orders
concerning the Lord's table, just as Moses gave Israel orders
regarding the Passover, which is no more. For Christ our Passover
suffered. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23. Paul says, For I, an apostle,
have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you,
to the church, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which
he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks,
he broke 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 he had sucked, saying, This cup
is the new covenant in my blood. Now this do ye as often as ye
drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread
and drink this cup, ye shall the Lord's death until he comes. Now the religious world has many
thoughts and opinions about this Lord's table. It's called communion,
the Lord's supper, the Lord's table. And some people consider
it a sacrament, which simply means that they think that this
bread and this wine actually becomes the body and blood of
Christ. And by receiving this bread,
you actually receive Christ into your person. And by drinking
this wine, you actually receive the blood of Christ, and that's
what saves you. But that's not so. This represents
his body and his blood. When he gave the table, when
he held out the bread, said, this is my body, his body was
standing there in front of them. He hadn't even died. This is
a picture, this is a symbol. This is my blood, he held the
wine cup. No, his blood was still in his
veins. He hadn't even shed it yet. So it's what I say, what
he says to us tonight. This is my body broken free. Picture type. Alright, some people
regard this Lord's table as a religious ceremony, just a ritual. just
a matter of form or tradition, going through the motions, which
you observe occasionally because it's commanded. To some people,
it's a means to discipline a church, to promote unity in the congregation,
or to discipline wayward members. But Paul has much more meaningful
language concerning this table in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Turn over there just a moment.
1 Corinthians chapter 10. This is more meaningful language
here, and this tells you what the Lord's table really is. 1
Corinthians 10 verse 14. Wherefore, my dearly beloved,
flee from idolatry. You can make an idol out of this
table, make an idol out of the cross, make an idol out of the
Bible, make an idol out of the Virgin Mary. make an idol out
of anything, so you stay away from idolatry. And I speak as
to wise men, verse 15. Now you judge what I say. 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? We, being many, are one bread
and one body, and we're partakers of that one bread. Now, this
cup, which we bless, how do we bless it? Well, we bless it by
setting it apart, especially. This is no common, ordinary meal.
This is the Lord's table. We set it apart, especially on
a certain night for a certain purpose. for this one purpose,
to observe the Lord's table, to worship him. We bless it by
setting it apart. Secondly, we bless it by faith,
because none but believers who discern his broken body and shed
blood are to participate in this table. Only believers, those
who discern the body of Christ and the blood of Christ. Then
we bless it not only by faith, but by prayer. as our brother
just led us in prayer concerning the observance of this table,
that God would bless it with his presence, that God would
bless it with his Holy Spirit and his approval and acceptance. And then we bless it, fourthly,
by solemn meditation. He says, let a man down here
in chapter 11, verse Verse 28, he says, Let a man
examine himself, examine himself, and so let him eat. There's a
time of meditation, consideration, contemplation, a time to examine
our hearts. Do we love Christ? Do we discern
his broken body and shed blood? Do we come to honor the Lord
in observing this table? So the cup, that's 1 Corinthians
10 verse 16, the cup of blessings which we bless, we bless it by
setting it apart especially. We bless it by faith, believing
what our Lord said concerning his death. We bless it by prayer,
by calling on him to honor his word and and give us his presence
and his blessings as we worship him. And we bless it by solemn
meditation, by examining ourselves in regard to eating this bread
and receiving this cup. But then he said there in verse
16, this cup of blessings 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? Now the word communion,
listen to me a moment, the word communion is in the Bible only
four times, that's all. Two times right here. This cup, this bread, is it not
the communion, twice, of the blood and body of Christ. It's
used over in 2 Corinthians 6 where it says that we are to come apart,
be separate from the world, for what communion does light have
with darkness? What communion does good have
with evil? And then it's used over in 2
Corinthians chapter 13, verse 14, when Paul said this, The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Ghost be with you. So the word communion. Is this
not the communion of the blood of Christ? Is this not the communion
of the body of Christ? The word communion means a union.
It means a oneness. It means a participation. Is
this not actually participating in the blood of Christ, in the
body of Christ? Is this not really a oneness?
He says, we being many are one bed. We being many are one body. We all are partakers, union,
oneness, participation, partakers. So this cup, this bread, is a
sign and a symbol and a token of our oneness with Christ in
his death, in his shedding of his blood, in his burial, in
his resurrection. We are confessing right now before
God and before one another. that his body was broken for
us, and his blood was shed for us, and only by his broken body
and shed blood are we one with him and one with God. Father, I pray that those whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may be
one as thou art one with me, and I with thee, and us with
them. Is this cup of blessing which
we bless, is it not that oneness, union, participation of the blood
of Christ and the bread, the body of Christ? Verse 17 again, we be with him,
one bread and one body, and partakers of that one bread. Now verse
chapter 11, let's look at this for a moment. Now, I received
this, this table, this Lord's table, this communion, cup and
bread, I received it of the Lord. Paul said, that's where I received
it. We received it first in promise, when he said, the seed of woman
will bruise the serpent's head. We received it next in picture.
I read about it in Exodus 12. when Moses took the Passover
lamb and slew it, roasted it with fire, its body, put the
blood on the doorpost and the lintel. God said a Passover,
that's in picture. We received this gospel in person
by the day we had that. My body, he said, my blood. So
we received it from the Lord. The same night in which he was
betrayed, he took bread, unleavened bread. When the Jewish nation,
Israel, observed the Lord's table, I mean when they observed the
Passover, from Moses' day to Christ, the Passover, when they
observed the Passover, there wasn't to be in that house anywhere
any leaven. They used leaven in their bread
like you ladies do, but not for the Passover. There was to be
no leaven in that house. It would be cleared out of that
house. No leaven. Leaven was a type of evil. It
permeates everything, it affects everything. But this bread which
they use was unleavened bread, and you read it twice when the
Lord met with his disciples to observe the feast of the unleavened
bread. Because it's a picture of the
holiness of his body. That Passover lamb was to be
without spot or blemish perfect. And our Lord Jesus Christ has
no sin. And when we've set up this large
table to observe it, there's to be no leaven in this bread.
It's to be unleavened bread. Not crackers, not bananas. It's to be unleavened bread.
Same thing when you baptize somebody, you use water, a river of water,
to picture a burial. And you can't picture the perfect
sinless body of Christ except with unleavened bread. And he
pictures his sinless body, the wine, he took wine, his pure
sinless blood, not grape juice. You can't picture Christ's precious
blood with grape juice, only with wine that does not spoil. Just set it there on the shelf
and leave it there. It would be just like it was
a year later when you come back. That's right. Because it doesn't
have that sin in it, And that bread will be right there, just
like it is. This represents my body and my blood. If I'm going
to do it, I'm going to do it right. He said, This do. He took that
bread, he took that wine, he said, This represents my sinless
body and my perfect blood. And this do, not something else,
this do. This in simplicity, this do in
remembrance of me. And what it is, it represents
two things. It represents substitution. He took our place. He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was on him. By his stripes we
are healed. He took our place, our substitute.
He had no sin of his own. He was made sin for us that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. He was our substitute. He died in our stead, in our
room, in our place. He took upon himself all the
sins of all of God's people, of all generations, of all nations.
How could one man bear so many sins because of who he is? He's
God in human flesh. He's not just a man, he's the
God-man. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. That one Redeemer, who is he
that condemns? It's Christ that died, it's who
died. It's not how much blood he shed, it's not how long he
suffered, it's who died, who suffered, whose blood. Paul said, you elders, feed the
church of God which he purchased with his own blood, the blood
of God in human flesh. That's pure blood, holy blood,
powerful blood, sinless blood, effectual blood. That's what
that is. Save all who come to it. That's
right. And he says here, and the second
word is satisfaction. He's our substitute, and he made
full satisfaction. Full satisfaction. Let me show
you that in Hebrews chapter 10. In Hebrews chapter 10. In Hebrews
the 10th chapter, verse 11, all these other priests, you know,
Hebrews 10, 11, every priest standeth daily, offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, the lambs, the bulls, the turtledoves, the
goats, the bullocks, all these sacrifices which could never
take away sin. The blood of an animal cannot
take away the sin of a man. But this man, this God-man, this
man Jesus Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins
forever, he sat down. Well, these priests never sat
down. They stand, stand, stand. Their work is never done. He
sat down having finished his work on the right hand of God.
From henceforth expecting to his enemies be made his footstool,
for by one offering, one offering, one sin offering, he hath perfected
forever. forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us, for after that he said before, this is the covenant
that I'll make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I'll
put my law in their hearts and in their minds when I write them,
and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." How
can God not remember our sins? Because Christ paid for them.
That's satisfaction. He put them away. They don't
exist. The sins of his people that were laid on him were buried
with him in the grave. And he came forth without sin
unto salvation. They put away. God used three
or four illustrations. He said, I'll cast them into
the depths of the sea. He said, I'll cast them behind
my back. He said, I'll separate your sins from you as far as
the east is from the west. I'll remember them no more. Infinity. And they don't exist. Our substitute
made full satisfaction. Well, what are we doing here?
All right, here's what we're doing here. Here's what we're
doing here. He said, verse 24, he gave thanks,
he breaketh, said, take ye, this is my body which was broken for
you, this do in remembrance. We're remembering him, his blood,
his sacrifice, his sin offering. We're doing it in remembrance
of him, not instead of him, not in the place of him, but we're
doing it in remembrance of him. You can't remember someone you
never knew, but we know him and we remember him. And we're remembering
his covenant that he made with the Father on our behalf as our
surety. We're remembering his life. which
was lived on this earth in perfection, holy perfection, that he might
impute to us the righteousness of God. We remember his death,
by which we are justified. We remember his resurrection,
which is our hope, because he lives, we live. So we are remembering
who? Our Lord. Why? He died for our
sins. Why? That God may be justified. Where is he now? Right hand of
God. And we remember them. And then he said down here in
verse 26, all right, and as often as you eat this bread, there's
no time. He didn't say do it once a quarter
or every fourth Sunday or every Sunday. He said as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup. No substitute, this bread
and this cup. You do show the Lord's death. You actually show. What do you
show? You're showing his actual death.
He died. Because this bread has been,
it was a grain, and it was ground up, and then it was baked in
a hot oven, and then it came out bread. And our Lord's body
was broken, and bruised, and affected, and roasted on the
cross. It came out bread, the bread
of life, manna from heaven. If you eat of this bread, you'll
never die. And another thing you have here is his body, the
bread, and the wine, his blood, and they're separate. Anytime
the blood is separate from the body, that's death. So we're
remembering death, death. And we're remembering, we're
actually showing. You do show his death. As often
as you do this, you show his death. And the second thing you're
doing is showing your faith in his death and your reception
of it when you take this bread and eat it. And take this wine and drink
it. Receiving Christ into myself. As many as received him, to them
gave he the right to become sons of God. Eat this bread. Drink
this cup. Receive it with even. Looking
at it won't save you. Looking at Christ won't save
you. Knowing he's there won't save you. Believing he died won't
save you. The devil bleeds and trembles.
You receive him. That's right. You've got to eat
my body and drink my blood. That's right. And that's what
you're showing here. You're showing what you've done.
I've received Christ into my heart. And you're showing something
else. You're showing before God and
before men your union with, your love for, and your faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. I come to this table without
hesitation, without reservation, without any timidity. This is my hope. Christ's broken
body and shed blood is all the hope I have of acceptance with
God. No other hope. And I'm saying
that to God, and I'm saying that to you, and I'm saying that to
myself. Without Him, I can do nothing. And I mean His death. Not just Christ the good man,
or the virgin son, or the good neighbor, or healer of diseases. I'm talking about the crucified
Christ. That's the one. And you show your children. the
gospel in picture. We've got little children sitting
here and they're wondering, what are you doing? And Moses said
to Israel, when your children ask you, what do you mean by
this service? You tell them it's the Lord's Passover. You tell
them when we were in sin, we were in bondage, we were in slavery,
we were in the Egypt of this world. And He came, our Lamb,
and He died on the cross and shed His blood. And He put it
on our hearts' door. And we ate and received Him within. And when he destroys this world,
he's going to pass over us. Why is he going to do that? You
see the blood? See the blood? That's what you're telling these
boys and girls. How long are we going to do this? Till he
comes. That's what you pray, Father, till he comes. Till he
comes. Till he comes. And then we won't
have to remember him, we'll be with him. And we'll be like him.
till he comes." You know those three words sum up all I hope,
till he comes. I think I'm going to ask them
to put that on my tombstone, when they put this old body in
the grave. This is just till he comes, and after that it's
over, it's over. So let a man examine himself,
verse 28, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of dot
com.

The Lord's Supper Observed

What does the Bible say about the Lord's Supper?

How do we know the Lord's Supper is a means of grace?

Why is the Lord's Supper important for Christians?

What does it mean to partake in the Lord's Supper?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Lord's Supper Observed

What does the Bible say about the Lord's Supper?

How do we know the Lord's Supper is a means of grace?

Why is the Lord's Supper important for Christians?

What does it mean to partake in the Lord's Supper?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book