The Lord's Supper

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.

There are three basic views of the Lord's Supper.

TRANSUBSTANTIATION - This word describes what the Roman Catholic Church teaches, that as a believer eats the bread and drinks the wine they become the real flesh and blood of Jesus Himself. They also mistakenly teach that this communion is part of a means to salvation and imparted grace which will help you get into heaven. That system of religious works is not only manmade, it is Spiritually deadly.

CONSUBSTANTIATION - This is what was taught by Martin Luther who believed that the actual body and blood of Jesus was not present in the bread and wine, but a special Spiritual presence of Jesus somehow was in the bread and wine. He did not believe that the Lord's Supper was in any way part of salvation since redemption was through grace by faith alone.

SYMBOLIC - This is the view that most evangelicals would believe. We believe that the bread and the juice(wine) symbolize the death on the cross of the final Passover Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a Sacred "refocusing" on the life giving sacrifice of our wonderful Savior. Let's look at some Biblical aspects of the Lord's Supper:

1. It is a way for self examination before God. The Scripture teaches us to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. Simply put, only true believers should take the Lord's Supper and each individual must examine his own heart to confirm that we are in covenant with God through Christ before we participate in the New Covenant Passover, Communion.
2. It is a good opportunity for believers to repent and receive full forgiveness before our Lord. Every believer knows what it is like to be a true child of God but not be walking right before the Lord. Before and during the Lord's Supper the Holy Spirit gives true believers an offering to return to full fellowship with the Author of the New Covenant.
3. Beside baptism which occurs once for every believer, it is the only outward ritual that Jesus ever gave to the church. It can be a powerful outward sign to unbelievers which can be used by the Spirit to draw them deeper into a conviction about their own standing before God. As the stones in the Jordan were used to get children to ask, "What meaneth these stones" so the Lord's Supper can be used to elicit a curiosity that opens a door of witness.
4. It is a means of worship. To any believer the bread and juice are obvious in their meaning, and the deep sacrifice that the Son of God made for the sins of the world is brought to a personal level as each believer eats and drinks for himself. That should propel us into a place of worship before the Risen Lamb.

Now it is clear that the early church observed the Lord's Supper every Sunday as they gathered as believers. The Old Testament Passover, which through an earthly lamb pictured both one night in Egypt and the coming Lamb of God, was observed on one day a year, the day the children of Israel were "passed over" by the Death Angel. The New Testament Lord's Supper has no earthly lamb because it is a memorial that represents the sacrifice of God's final Lamb, Jesus Christ. It observes an event, laden in a Person, as opposed to a day and therefore the early believers anticipated it every Sunday as they gathered. It was a solemn ritual that not only pictured the cross, but it recreated the actual Last Supper when our Lord changed the Passover observance into the Communion of His sacrifice just hours before He would lay down His life. That was the only time the Lord's Supper was observed before Jesus' death.

Now this sweet, deeply meaningful communion observance was a gift to the church straight from our Lord's own hands. It openly speaks of God's unspeakable love as exhibited eternally on the cross. The blood and the ripped flesh. The thirst and pain. Revealing and revolting. And so intimately our relationship of grace, that Jesus allowed us to picture His death in a way that to the natural man is absurd in its sacred symbolism. The entire story is so profoundly simple so as to be rejected by the prideful nature we inherited from our father Adam, and yet it is so utterly and truly profound it can never be understood by a million Einsteins. And this Spiritual recreation of the most sacrificial and magnificent and surpassing love ever offered anywhere in any place or time and to the most undeserving and depraved creatures has now been relegated to a once a month or once a quarter event that either finds a cramped space in the regular "service", or is conveniently enjoined with some other meeting to "kill two birds with one stone". How sad.

May I make a suggestion for anyone who is interested? How about rising a little early on Sunday morning, take some bread and juice, find a quiet place, or as a family observance, partake of this precious and incredibly symbolic communion with the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit. You do not need any church leaders, you only need the One who first broke the bread of His body and gave the cup of His blood, our Savior Himself. He will manifest His presence to you in direct proportion to your heart of worship.

The apostle Paul, via the Holy Spirit, adds three little prophetic words included in the Lord's Supper. I Cor.11:26 - For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till He comes. A reference to another and future coming which should remind us that there are still some visible scars from the death we now show forth, and they come with the Person about Whom we now eat and drink. And in verse 34 Paul teaches that this eating is not to satisfy physical hunger, no this is to create and satisfy Spiritual hunger. The last fellowship that Jesus had with His disciples before He died was over the Lord's Supper, and He exposed Judas before the Communion so as to keep it holy. It is a unique and Sacred observance to the Lord, and we should observe it reverently, solemnly, and without haste. It should have a place of honor in the midst of the gathering. Remembering Jesus and His cross is a fragrance of the heart that should fill our inward man with a worship that sometimes is "unlawful to be uttered".

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? I Cor.10:16

It is almost unthinkable that the Christ of God, the Spotless Lamb of Glory would allow us to enter into a Spiritual communion with the very act of grace and love that proved our guilt. What kind of love is this? What kind of Savior would desire to commune with the ones whose sin drove Him to that Roman cross? Why am I drawn to this open horror and shame? Why is He drawn to me? This is way out of my league and way past my poor earthly mind, I can only touch this glory by God's Spirit. And when I eat the bread of His body I am not repulsed but I am humbled and filled with the love of worship. And when I drink the juice of His blood that mysteriously represents the scarlet robe with which the Father covered His only Son for me, I am transformed by the vision that travels back two thousand years and by God's Spirit is brought fresh to me at that very moment. The world knows nothing of this luxurious and priceless redemption. Gather all your gold, all your silver, all your precious jewels, all your mansions, all your kings and princes, all the stars, all the galaxies, gather them all together in one colossal attempt to impress even the most wide eyed little girl - and it cannot compare -

IT CANNOT COMPARE WITH ONE SMALL DROP OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS!

Bow your head and heart, partake of the bread, drink the juice...and immerse yourself in the worship that only a redeemed child of the Living God can ever know. The depth of the simplicity will forever crown Him in the midst of all of heaven.
HALLELUIAH TO THE RISEN LAMB OF GOD WHO LOVED ME WITH A CROSS!!!!