Intro: We as Baptists love to eat, we love food for baptisms, ordinations, festivals, and revivals. You name function and we love to bring food.
One of the most important meals that we take part in is not about food, but about faith. It is a clear representation of what close fellowship and relationship we should have with Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Supper.
Some would say that we have faith because we need a crutch to make it through life. That we believe because we are week. In the Lord’s Supper, many call communion, we remember that we are weak, sinful and hopeless by ourselves.
Today we practice two of the ordinances given to the church by Jesus. Baptism is where those that have acknowledged their sin, and confessed Jesus Christ as savior and only way to God the father and heaven identify with His death, burial and resurrection.
The Lord’s Supper is a way of remembering His death and resurrection and anticipating His return to claim His church and His rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You have heard me say the first time Jesus came as savior, the second time He returns bodily he will come as sovereign.
In the Lord’s Supper we remember Jesus our savior, we regard ourselves in light of His atoning death and resurrection. We represent Him as people who trust, obey and tell others about our great salvation as we long for His soon return.
I. We Remember Our Savior (1 Corinthians 11.23-25)
A) Looking Back
1) We remember His Death
We as people try to forget death and remember the good things about people that have gone before us. We don’t even call it death anymore we call it passing on. According to 1Peter 2.24 and Isaiah 53.6 he died for our sins. It does not matter if he lived a sinless life if he did not die an atoning sacrificial death.
He paid the penalty of our sins. The soul that sins it shall die Ezekiel 18.20. If we could live ten thousand life times we could not pay for our own sins.
This is not the simple remembering of facts about Jesus. We come to His table today and fellowship in the reality of His presence. The Holy Spirit gives witness to our spirit and we rejoice in the fellowship we have in and through Jesus Christ.
2) We remember His resurrection
His resurrection is the seal of approval that death is defeated and sin no longer controls us. The resurrection yells victory in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought with His redeeming blood. In this we have hope to see our loved ones long dead. In this we have a purpose for living and a greater purpose for dying. If Jesus had not died, rose, and left the first time we would not be sealed with His Holy Spirit.
After we have looked back and remembered His death, and resurrection we look forward.
B) Looking Forward
In remembering and reflecting on Jesus’ death and resurrection we should be overjoyed and look forward to His returning. Acts 1.11 after Jesus was taken up into the clouds the apostles and disciples were standing with their mouths open. Two men appeared to them and basically said why are you standing there open mouthed? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come again in like manner.
All through the Bible there is a yearning expectation for the soon return of Jesus. It is best seen in the last book of the Bible as the apostle John calls for the return of Jesus. Even so come Lord Jesus!
1 Corinthians 11.26 says we will observe this ordinance until he comes. Is there a longing in your spirit for your savior to come? Or is there dread in your soul because he might come at any time? The older I get the more I prayer even so come Lord Jesus.
This bread, and juice cause us to look forward to the great banquet hall of heaven. We will one day be united with Christ forever. We have much to celebrate and much to look forward to.
Do you want to know why our country is embroiled in a financial crisis? How many of the representatives, Democrat or Republican, or whatever party have called for Americans to pray and ask God for forgiveness? It is greed that has brought us to this place. It is forgetting the God who made America great. We as Christians need to take this to heart!! It is all too easy to forget the mighty hand of God and look to the measly hand of government. What is their proposal to take care of the problem? The checkbook. What is God’s repent, humble yourself and pray. Remember where our help comes from, it comes from the Lord.
We have a chance to remember Christ by praying for our leaders. By praying and asking God come November who do you want in the white house, who do you want representing us?
II. We Regard ourselves in light of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11.27-28, 31-32)
Paul says that we should not take part in the Lord’s supper in an unworthy manner. The only way you can take part in the Lord’s Supper is if you have confessed your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
However, Paul is calling on us to examine ourselves as Christians as followers of Christ. The Corinthian’s were not very good at self-examination. They were very good at examining everyone else. He was clearly saying do not come to this table with un-confessed sin. It was sin that placed Jesus on the cross. This is a call for honest examination of our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. If we eat and drink with un-confessed sin in our life we eat and drink judgment (chastisement). This is not God’s judgment that condemns an unsaved sinner. It is more like a Father disciplining his children. God will discipline us so that we can mature.
I believe one of the biggest problems in the church today is the inability to regard ourselves rightly. We can open the door for God to bless us greatly as an individual and as a body of believers if we will regard ourselves rightly.
Part of regarding ourselves rightly as believers is to not say “God can’t use me.” How dare we disregard the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
1 Corinthians 1.27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
How is that God chose a guy that had no concern for God in college, introduced him to a wayward beautiful young lady. Called him out of sin by his grace, called him into ministry by his spirit and placed him in this church by his will!!
A guy that is so forgetful that he has to put everything into His “smart” phone in order to remember appointments and websites. I’ll never be a highly intelligent person. But the Bible says that God will use someone like me for His Glory. How dare you say he can’t use you.
We should regard ourselves rightly. That involves regarding ourselves as the child of a king, saved by grace, kept by mercy, and sent on a mission. We need to regard ourselves and compare ourselves intently to Christ. Never be so self righteous as to say God can’t use me!
III. We Represent our Savior to others (1 Corinthians 11.26)
What a reminder to us that we represent Jesus to the world around us. The Lord’s Supper should cause us to ask how do we represent Him?
Do we appear united? The picture of the broken body of Jesus should remind us that we are the body. We represent Him until he comes again. We are called to unity in the Spirit, Baptism, Discipleship, Evangelism, Fellowship, and Ministry of the Church.
Do we appear concerned? Do we as church who believe in the return of Jesus Christ have the concern we need for those lost without Christ?
Do we appear prepared? Are we prepared for the Lord to use us? I don’t mean prepared from a business standpoint. Something I have learned in my ministry is that you don’t have to be organized for God to use you.
I am designed to be prepared. Usually no preparation means disaster. But God never called us to be organized as much as he called us to be available. We have to be careful not to organize the Holy Spirit Right out of our worship, work, etc. . .
Do we appear loved and loving?
Remember the words of Jesus, from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks? Also from the abundance of the heart the life is patterned. How we appear is often how we are.
Conclusion: Remember as we come to the Lord’s table today we look back to remember what Jesus has done, we look inside to see what we need to do, we look outward to what we can do for the Lord Jesus Christ.
