The Lord’s Supper
Man is frail and apt to forget the importance of the Lord’s work
at Calvary. With this in mind, the Lord established the observance of
Communion to refresh our memory, to awaken our gratitude, and minister
to our needs. The Jews had the Passover that was observed once a year to
remind them of the exodus from Egypt, and the Sabbath as a day of rest
to worship God, and a reminder of the creation. Nations have established
memorial days and holidays such as the Fourth of July to observe this
nations’ independence. Christian nations observe Christmas to
commemorate the birth of Christ, and Easter to celebrate Christ’s
resurrection. The time to remember the death of Christ is with the
Lord’s Supper.
In I Cor. 11:20-34, Paul reminds the Corinthians of the ordinance
once delivered to them by him, which had been turned into a time for the
eating of a full meal. He states that this is not the Lord’s Supper.
They had substituted the purpose of the Lord’s Supper for a time to fill
their belly. The meal to satisfy hunger should have been eaten at home.
This clearly teaches what the Lord’s Supper is not. Paul states that to
come together to eat a full meal and call it the Lord’s Supper is to
bring condemnation upon themselves and to despise the Church of God.
Paul begins in verse 23 to explain what the Lord’s Supper is. He
states the Lord took bread, gave thanks for it, broke it, and told his
disciples to take, eat, and declared that this was his body. “Do this in
remembrance of me.” Then he took the cup of wine and acknowledged the
cup as “the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink
it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink
this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he comes.” So, the bread and
the wine constitute the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is to remind us
of his death for our
sins.
Bill Moseley |
|