I want you to open your Bibles
with me to 1 Corinthians now, chapter 10. Now, there are many thoughts
and opinions in regard to this ordinance. Many opinions, and opinions are
not hard to come by. Understanding is. Everyone has
an opinion. Only God can give understanding. Paul said that God would give
you understanding of what you read. Is this table a sacrament
by which forgiveness is actually imputed or imparted? Is this
a sacrament by which people who come to this table receive forgiveness? Of course not. Is this table
a mass by which Christ's body is broken again and his blood
poured forth again and given to us directly in the bread and
in the wine? No. Is this table a church ritual
tied in some way to local membership or local unity? or church authority
or discipline? Nope. I read from the book of
Exodus, the first Passover, the type, the picture of what this
means, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God for the sins of his people. I read from Luke 22 when our
Lord observed with his disciples the very last God recognized
Passover on this earth. This was the last God-recognized
Passover on this earth, and his son was present at the observance
of it. And in the midst of that Passover,
he took bread and break it, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples. They didn't take it, he gave
it. And he said, this is my body broken for you. This do, eat
this in remembrance of me. And then he gave the wine. He
said, drink ye all of it. This is my blood of the new covenant
shared by the remission of sins. Now Paul in 1 Corinthians 10
comes to the church. the churches, the local congregations,
and says in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 15, 1 Corinthians 10 verse 15, I speak
as to wise men, oh God that we may be wise men, I speak to wise men,
judge you what I say, here's what he's saying, I speak to
wise men, consider and weigh what I tell you now about the
Lord's Supper, about the fellowship and communion which believers
have in Christ. If you're a wise man, he said,
you'll listen to me and you'll judge and consider what I'm about
to say about this blessed ordinance. Now you judge what I say and
you'll find it to be just and right and pertinent to you. Verse 16, this cup of blessing, the cup of blessing, the cup
of blessing which we bless, this cup. Well, now the word cup is used
in the Scripture in many places. Our Lord referred to his suffering
as a cup. He said, If it be thy will, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. He said to his disciples, are
you able to drink of the cup that I drink of? The word cup is used in Mark
as a cup of service. He said, our Lord said, if you
give even a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, in
the name of Christ, you'll not lose your reward. And then there's
a cup, a fearful cup of God's indignation. Revelation 14, they
shall drink of the cup of his indignation, the wrath of God. But Paul says this is the cup
of blessings, the cup of blessings. I think
he's talking about what he talked about in Ephesians 1. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings. The cup of all spiritual blessings. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies, in Christ, according as he chose
us in Christ, before the foundation of the world. in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children, whereby he hath
made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sin. This is that cup of all spiritual
blessings. And David said in Psalm 23, my
cup runs over. He's filled it till it runs over. And he wrote again in Psalm 116,
and I will take the cup, I will take the cup of salvation, and
I'll call on the name of my God. The cup of blessings. Only one source, and here it
is. The cup of blessings. That's
where it is. His blood. which we bless. How do we bless this cup? We
bless it. Well, first of all, we bless
it by setting it apart. This is no ordinary cup. This
is no ordinary meal. This is no ordinary time. This
is the Lord's table. This is a special cup, and we
have designated it and set it apart as special. We bless it by setting it apart.
as God blessed us by sending us apart. Then we bless it by
faith. This cup is not for all. This
cup is not for the world. Let none take this cup who do
not discern his body, his blood. Let none take this cup who do
not love Christ and believe Christ. This cup is blessed by faith. I believe, help thou mine unbelief,
but I believe. Faith blesses the cup. Thirdly,
we bless this cup by prayer. We sincerely seek that our God
will honor our effort to honor him. That God will be pleased
by his presence to glorify himself as we set apart by faith and
drink this cup. Without Him, we can do nothing,
especially worship and remember Him. And then we bless this cup
not only by setting it apart by faith, by prayer, but we bless
it by meditation. In our souls, in our hearts,
in our deepest, innermost being, we remember Calvary. We remember
him and his sacrifice, the shedding of his precious blood as the
soul-redeeming power for us sinners. Would you consider this, the
importance of meditation, the importance of a quiet spirit
of worship? Not noise, but meditation and
worship. has always been the evidence
of God's presence. Think about it. Be still and know that I'm God. The Lord is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent. When you come before the Lord,
let your words be few. and worship, this do in remembrance
of me. Meditation and worship, not noise,
has always been the evidence of God's personal presence. Back to verse 16. 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? The word communion is used only
four times in God's Word. Genesis to Revelation, four times. Twice right here. This cup, this
bread, is the communion of the blood of Jesus Christ. This cup,
this bread, is the communion of the body of Jesus Christ.
As I said, the word is only used four times. It's used over here
in 2 Corinthians chapter 13, meaning the same thing. 2 Corinthians
13 verse 14. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all. Communion of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
6, it's used again. This is the next time. 2 Corinthians
6, verse 14. Be not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. For fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness. What communion? Communion hath
light with darkness. There it is. All right, let's
look at verse 16 now. This cup of blessing, is it not
the communion of the blood of Christ? This bread which we break,
is it not the communion of the body of Christ? The word communion. four times in the whole Bible,
in the Greek dictionary, has four meanings. It's very clear
that each of these words is written right there for you to look it
up in the Greek dictionary, back of your compartments. Number
one, the word communion is used to indicate a partnership. As communion with a husband and
wife, union, communion, union between a husband and wife, they're
one. They're one flesh. They're joint heirs. What belongs
to one belongs to the other. What affects the one affects
the other. What is meant for one is meant for
the other. We are one in Christ and with
Christ, and this cup is the symbol of that oneness. This blood,
this bread, is the oneness and the partnership that we have
with Christ. That they may be one, he prayed,
as we are, father and son. Second word, participation. That's what the word communion,
participation. Participation in the blood of
Christ. When I drink this wine and eat this bread, I participate,
I show my participation in Christ. Of God are you in Christ, who
is made unto you wisdom. You participate in his wisdom.
Righteousness, it's his righteousness, but it's yours too. sanctification
and redemption. You participate actually in the
wisdom of God, in the righteousness of God, in the holiness of God,
and in the redemption of God. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Made the righteousness of God. Participation in the righteousness
of God is coming. The third word is fellowship.
John talks about that, that our fellowship is with the Father.
We preach this to you that your fellowship might be with the
Father and with the Son. What is fellowship? Reconciliation. We haven't always been in fellowship
with Him. We were enemies of our wicked
works and our wicked minds, but He has reconciled us to God. God was in Christ reconciling
us to Himself. Accepting us in the beloved. Communion. I'm accepting. This cup is the communion, the
reconciliation. This bread is the reconciliation
of sinners to God in Christ. The fourth word. Benefactor. Benefaction. The act of helping
the helpless. He who is rich for my sake became
poor. And I, the poorest of all, through
his poverty, I'd be rich. What is this cup? This cup is
the partnership, union, participation in and with Christ, the reconciliation,
the fellowship, and the glorious benefaction of the poor being
made rich in him. Is this not the testimony of
this covenant? Look at verse 17. For we, being many, are one
bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. All of us. Jew and Gentile, old
and young, wise and unwise, bond and free,
male and female. There's one body, one spirit,
even as you're called in one hope of your calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who's above
all and through all and in you all. Let's turn over one page to chapter
11 of 1 Corinthians. So Paul said in 1 Corinthians
11, verse 23, this is what I received of the Lord. The glory of this cup, the fellowship
of this cup, the reconciliation of this cup, the partnership,
the blessings of this cup. It's all right here. I deliver
to you that the Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which he was
betrayed, took bread. It was only bread, but it represents
his broken body. It was only wine. That's all. It doesn't become anything but
wine and bread, yet it represents his precious blood. It's bread
without leaven because his body was without sin. It's wine of
the purest nature because his blood was without sin. It's bread broken because his
body was broken for us. It's juice squeezed out of the
grave. because his blood poured out,
shed for us. And it's received within us, because that's how he's received,
not by signing papers, not by shaking hands, not by joining
organizations, by receiving him. that many as received him, to
them gave he the privilege of being a son of God. This do,
he said, in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who he is.
Verse 24, when he had given thanks, he broke the bread and said,
Take ye, this is my body which is broken for you. And this do
in remembrance of me, who I am, of what he did. He redeemed us. This represents all heaven can
require, all heaven can supply, and all a man needs to enter
heaven. This cup, this bread, which represents
him and where he is now. That's how I remember him. I
remember who he is, what he did, without my help. and why he did it, that God may
be just and justify us and where he is now. You can't add anything
to that. You can only grow in the grace
and knowledge thereof. You can't improve on that. You
can only grow in the grace and knowledge thereof. And he said, verse 26, and after,
and as often As often as you eat this bread
and drink this cup, you show the Lord's death until he comes. That's what we show, his death.
I think we show two or three other things, too. We demonstrate before others and before God
our faith and hope and love in Christ. I think we show something
else. We show that our confidence is
not in our works but in the grace, mercy, and love of the Father
who is glorified in the Son. We show that. And I think the
last thing we show to anybody who's a wise man, I speak to
wise men. We show to anybody who's a wise
person, The gospel of redemption. This is it. This is the gospel. This is salvation. This is redemption. This is what
enables men and women to die in peace, to die in hope, to
die in confidence. Our confidence is not in us.
It's in Him who never changes. I am the Lord. I change not.
Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed." And I read this
same message from Exodus, from Luke, and from Corinthians, and
you read it in Revelation, because there's a lamb on the throne
that has been slain to redeem them.