Introduction: 

A.      The Lord’s Supper was instituted by the Savior at the last Passover meal ever observed by Him, which took place on the evening of His betrayal.

1.        There seems to be an inseparable connection between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper.

B.      To get the most possible good out of their connection it is expedient that we go back and consider briefly the institution of the Passover, and its history to the time of the institution of the Lord’s Supper.

1.        Jehovah had sent nine plagues upon Pharaoh of Egypt, and had now threatened him and his people with the tenth plague—the destroying the first-born among the children and animals of Egypt.

Ex. 11:4-5, “And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:  And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.”

a.   The Passover for the Hebrews was commemorative.

Ex. 12:25-27, “And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.  And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service.”

b.  For them it was also typical.

1 Cor. 5:7, “…For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:”

C.      About 1500 years after the Passover was instituted we find Jesus with His disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem observing the Passover.

D.      After the church was established, the apostolic Christians observed faithfully the breaking of bread.

Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Acts 20:7, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”

Discussion:

I.                   WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER?

A.    It is a memorial service.

Luke 22:19, “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you:  this do in remembrance of Me.”

1.        Memorials are natural and universal.  The primitive and the civilized, the ignorant and the cultured, the poor and the rich, all have relics and memorials.  Some memorials are natural places and things within nature such as:  Mt. Sinai, Jordan River, and the Rainbow.

2.        America has her Independence Day and Memorial Day; other countries have their holidays peculiar to their national history.

3.        Every tombstone in every cemetery is a monument to two facts:  First, that somebody lived and was loved; second, that somebody has died and is lovingly remembered.

4.        So is the Lord’s Supper a monument, a memorial service.  Those who partake have their minds carried back to that awful night in Gethsemane, to the cruel mob, to the next morning as Jesus stood before Pilate and Herod, to the nails that pierced His hands and feet, and the spear that pierced His side shedding the blood that was shed for you and me.

B.    It is a proclamation.

1 Cor. 11:26, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.”

                  1.   Not everyone can be an oral proclaimer of the gospel, but every man, woman, boy or girl in the church can preach a sermon in the act of observing the Lord’s Supper.

                   2. It is everlastingly true that “Action speaks louder than words.”  No sermon from the pulpit on this subject, however, eloquent it may be, can speak as effectively as the whole congregation in joint participation, when solemnly, faithfully and discerningly observing this sacred meal.

C. It is a means of spiritual nourishment.

John 6:53-55, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”

1.        Some of the greatest gifts from God to man are the blessings of physical and spiritual life; but both are dependent upon certain conditions.

          a. If we would live physically we must have proper food, exercise, sunshine, and air.  Let a man shut himself away from all these things and he will die physically.  We cannot hibernate as some animals do.

2.        Neither can we hibernate spiritually.

Heb. 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:  and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Luke 22:19, “...in remembrance of me.”

II.                WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF THE LORD”S SUPPER?

A.    Bread.

Matt. 26:26, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.”

Mark 14:22, “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat:  this is my body.”

Luke 22:19, “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you:  this do in remembrance of me.”

1.        This was “unleavened bread.” Unleavened bread was bread without any yeast or leaven in it to make it rise or to puff up.

Ex. 12:15, “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses:  for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”

Ex. 13:6-7, “Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.  Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.”  

2.        Jesus said, “This is my body.”  Surely we cannot think of any element that would better picture to us the broken body of the Son of God on the cross than pale, lifeless, unleavened bread.  Bread is grain that has been harvested, crushed and baked.  The life has been taken from it.  

B.    The cup.                             

Matt. 26:27-29, “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

(Mark 14:23 and Luke 22:20 also speak of the cup).

At First Corinthians 10:16, the cup is referred to as “the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?”

1.      Jesus gave us a clear definition of the cup when He called it “the fruit of the vine,” (Mark 14:25), and says, “This is my blood” (Mark 14:24).

2.      Inasmuch as Christ is “the vine” and His disciples are “the branches” (John 15:5), certainly we cannot think of any other element that would better picture to us the blood of Christ, for the fruit of the vine is the life blood of the vine.

3.      The juice in the cluster of grapes was referred to as “new wine” at Isaiah 65:8.

C.    The Roman Catholic Church teaches the doctrine of Transubstantiation.  “Trans” is a prefix meaning “to change”; “substantiation” is from the Latin word “substantia” which means “substance.”  Hence the word “transubstantiation” means “a change in substance.”

1.        The doctrine sets forth the idea that when the priest blesses the literal bread and wine, they are immediately and substantially converted into the literal flesh and blood of Christ.

Acts 15:29, “That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication:  from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well.  Fare ye well.”

2.        When Jesus said, “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” He was using symbolic language.  Jesus also said, “I am the door” (John 10:9), and “I am the way” (John 14:6).  The Son of God certainly did not mean that He was a literal door or pathway.  He called Himself as “the Good Shepherd” and His disciples as “sheep” (John 10:14); but He did not mean that He was a literal shepherd and His disciples as literal sheep.  Jesus said, “I am the vine and ye are the branches” (John 15:5).  No one would understand Him to imply that He was a literal vine and His disciples were literal branches.  These are only figurative expressions.  In the same manner Jesus referred to the unleavened bread and to the fruit of the vine as representative of His body and His blood.  In a spiritual application, these elements are His body and blood by faith.

III.             WHO ARE THE PROPER SUBJECTS TO PARTAKE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER?

A.    The Lord’s table is in His kingdom.

Mark 14:22-25, “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat:  this is my body.  And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them:  and they all drank of it.  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many.  Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

1.        Only those who are born again can eat at the Lord’s table.

John 3:5, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

B.    We are not to practice “open communion” or “close communion,” but self-examination.

1 Cor. 11:28, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”                                 

IV.              WHAT IS THE PROPER MANNER OF PARTAKING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER?

A.    Those in the church at Corinth were corrupting the Lord’s Supper; some were making out of it a meal.

1.        It would be just as unscriptural to include a common meal when we assemble to partake of the Lord’s Supper as it would to actually make a meal out of the Lord’s Supper. 

(Read and comment on First Corinthians 11:20-29). 

2.        While it is hardly possible that we be guilty of making a meal out of the Lord’s Supper today, yet there is a possibility of our not properly discerning the Lord’s body.

a.       The term “unworthily” (1 Cor. 11:29) is an adverb of manner.  In the Revised Version it is rendered, “in an unworthy manner.”

b.      So the term has reference to the manner of the observing and not the worthiness or unworthiness of the one observing the communion.

B.    At the Lord’s table we should be able to look with an eye of faith to the cross, and there see the Son of God bleeding and dying for our sins.

V.                 WHEN SHALL WE PARTAKE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER?

A.    The early church came together on “the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7).

1.        Since they met upon this day to break bread, they also were commanded to contribute of their means on this day.

1 Cor. 16:2, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”

B.    Someone might suggest that there is no indication here that they came together upon every first day of the week.

1.        There is a parallel to this in the Law of Moses.  God said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).  This does not say every Sabbath day, but it could imply nothing else.

a.       In the cycle of every seven days there came a Sabbath day, and every faithful Israelite kept that day holy under the Mosaic Law.

2.        Likewise, under the new covenant, in the cycle of every seven days there comes a “first day of the week,” and Christians should observe the Lord’s Supper upon that day.

VI.              WHAT SHOULD THIS MEMORIAL SERVICE BE CALLED?

We should call Bible things by Biblical names and terminology.  The Apostle Peter declared:  “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God;…” (1 Pet. 4:11).

A.    What are some of the unscriptural terms that this memorial service has been called?

1.        The Roman Catholic Church refers to it as “the Holy Eucharist.”

a.       They claim:  “What happened when Our Lord said: ‘This is My body . . . this is My blood’? When Our Lord said, ‘This is My body,’ the entire substance of the bread was changed into His body; and when He said, ‘This is My blood,’ the entire substance of the wine was changed into His blood.”

2.        It should not be called “the Mass.”  In the Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant churches, they refer to the Communion service as a Mass.

3.        The term “sacrament” is defined as:  a Christian sacrament in which consecrated bread and wine are consumed as memorials of Christ's death or as symbols for the realization of a spiritual union between Christ and communicant or as the body and blood of Christ.

a.       However, the scripture does not refer to the memorial service as a sacrament. 

b.      Some members of the church of our Lord have erroneously referred to this memorial service as “the sacrament.”

B.    Scripturally, there are four terms in which this memorial service is called.

1.        In the New Testament it is rightfully called:  “the Lord’s    Supper.”

1 Cor. 11:20, “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.”

                                  2.   It is “the breaking of bread.”

Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

3.      The Apostle Paul spoke of it as “the Lord’s table.”

1 Cor. 10:21, “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils:  ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.”

                                  4.  This memorial is “the communion of the body and the blood of the Lord.”

1 Cor. 10:16, “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.”

VII.           WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE PRAYERS PERTAINING TO THE LORD’S SUPPER?

A.    Many mistakenly pray a general prayer during the communion service instead of following the example of the Lord in what is to be included in the prayers prior to partaking of the unleavened bread and of the fruit of the vine.

1.        There are those who express thanks for “the beautiful day,” as well as a host of other things that do not pertain to the Lord’s Supper.  In this way, our minds are diverted from discerning the Lord’s body and shed blood.

B.    Let us carefully examine the passages of scripture that includes the Lord’s prayer before He gave the bread to the apostles and then His prayer before they partook of the fruit of the vine.

Matt. 26:26-28, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.  And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

1.        Note, in reference to the bread, the scripture says that He “blessed it”; and then took the cup “and gave thanks.”

2.        At Mark 14:22-23, it states precisely the same thing concerning the two emblems.

3.        However, at Luke 22:17-19 the scripture states that Jesus “gave thanks” for both the bread and the cup.  Therefore, the term “blessed it” in reference the bread means that He offered thanks for it.

4.        Our prayer for both the bread and the cup should simply express our thanks to the Heavenly Father for the bread that represents the body of Jesus Christ, and for the fruit of the vine that so fittingly represents His blood.

VIII.        DID JESUS AND THE APOSTLES SING WHILE PARTAKING OF THIS MEMORIAL SERVICE?

A.    The answer is no, they did not!

                                    1.  They sang after partaking of the communion.

Matt. 26:30, “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”

Mark 14:26, “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”

B.    We cannot properly discern the Lord’s body and His shed blood while attempting to concentrate upon the words of the song at the same time.

Conclusion:

A.    A faithful Christian will steadfastly remember the Lord upon this day in humble and reverent observance of the Lord’s Supper.

B.    Do you remember the Lord each first day of the week as the early Christian did?

--Dub Mowery