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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
COMMUNION (THE LORD’S SUPPER)
Matthew 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."
On the night before Jesus was crucified, He and the 12 disciples went into the Upper Room to observe their last meal together. From this day forward, the entire course of human history would be changed and the eternal destiny of all who would believe in Jesus Christ as the Risen Son of God would be forever sealed.
At the end of the supper Jesus picked up a piece of bread and began to institute the very first observance of Communion.
What kind of bread was used? It was unleavened bread because in all Judea, at this time of the Passover Feast, there was no other type of bread to be found. The Law of Moses had commanded that beginning on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, all leaven (yeast) was to be purged from the house of every Jew. The Law was strictly observed for if any were found, those who had it were considered as absolute transgressors and were to be cut off from the nation.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8, "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
When we come together to observe the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, we must, first of all, take the Bread into our hands. In a spiritual sense, this is where our observance must begin also. We cannot partake of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us unless we first receive Him into our heart.
Jesus is the Bread of Life. He gave his life for us that we might live. If we are to receive Him as the Bread of Life then we must humble ourselves before Him, confessing our unworthiness and sin, then ask Jesus to come into our heart as Lord and Master of our life. That’s the only way that we can pick up the Bread that is offered for us.
Jesus is represented in the unleavened bread. Leaven is a form of corruption, a yeast mixture that adds some flavor but also causes the bread to rise. Leaven is a type of sin also. It is sin in the heart of a man that causes him to be corrupted. It is sin that adds to life those things that result in death and suffering. It is sin in the heart of man that causes him to rise up against God when the heat is on, in pride and arrogance. We must clean out the sin and that can only be accomplished through trusting and receiving the Blood of the Lamb for the remission of sin.
So, the first step in observance of the Lord’s Supper is that we must cleanse our heart from sin and confess that Jesus is the Lord of our lives and the Savior of our souls. Through repentance of sin and receiving of Christ we are made ready and pick up the Bread of Life.
Jesus then blessed the Bread. No Jew would consider eating a meal without first offering thanks to the Father for His abundant blessing in providing the food that was available. To not give thanks both before and after a meal would have been a great sacrilege. This is where we get the tradition of saying grace before a meal.
We cannot receive Jesus Christ as Savior without giving thanks and having a grateful heart. We know that God sent His only begotten Son to us that we could have eternal life and forgiveness through Him. It was only because of God’s love, mercy and grace that we were given this great gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and it is only proper that we give thanks continually for God’s goodness to us.
In this blessing, it was not the Bread that was blessed even though they were thankful for it. The bread and wine were already blessed for they were gifts of God. This blessing was given unto the Father in Heaven who provided that bread.
The words spoken, even in our times, by Jewish custom are these: “Blessed be thou, our God, King of the universe, who bringest forth bread out of the earth.”
When we say grace at a meal, it is not the food that we bless. God has already blessed it and provided it for us. We bless our God who, in His love and grace, has provided that food for us.
After the blessing, Jesus then broke the bread. Bread, in the days of Christ throughout Judea was not made like our modern bread is. There was no large fluffy loaf that needed cutting. Their bread was wide and thin and very brittle. So it was easier to break than to cut.
The breaking of the bread, both by Jesus and in our observances, is to signify that we recognize that Jesus was wounded, pierced and broken for us on the cross.
Isaiah 53:4-6, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
That is the description of the broken Bread of Life. We must recognize that Jesus was broken and that His suffering upon the cross was for us. Only then are we ready to receive him unto ourselves.
Jesus then gave the bread to each of his disciples. It was not only necessary to pick up, bless and then break the bread. None could have eaten at all if the bread had not been distributed to each one present.
Jesus was broken upon the cross for each of us. We cannot receive him into our heart until we have recognized that He was broken for us personally. Each man, woman and child, who understands the sacrifice of Jesus was for each individual, can then take a part of the promise of eternal life through the Bread of Life. Salvation is a personal thing. Only one heart, one soul, one mind and one life at a time can receive Jesus as Savior.
I cannot, and neither can any other man on earth, pronounce salvation upon you. I cannot, though I am ordained by God to be a minister unto God and man, impart anything to any man. If you are receive the blessings of God, it must come as each of you go to Christ and get alone with God in the secret place of your heart. God hears the prayer of individuals and answers the cry of your heart. We can all pray in unity, in one mind and one accord for a specific purpose, but it isn’t the numbers that gets God’s attention. It is the cry of each heart, one at a time, coming together in common purpose that God hears.
It is the same with worship. It is each individual entering into worship that God honors. He is quick to respond to those who will worship Him and when we come together to worship Him like we do in our church services, His Spirit is there also because He lives in the heart of each worshipper.
If we are to receive Christ, then we must allow His Spirit to be given to each of us, one at a time. I cannot make your relationship right with God; only you can do that.
Jesus then said, “This is my body.” If you notice, there was probably nothing in Jesus’ hands when He made this statement. The bread would have already been eaten most likely. Whether He had bread in His hand or not is really not the point here.
There are those who teach that when they observe Communion that the bread and fruit of the vine actually become the real flesh and blood of Jesus each time we do so. I want you to know that this teaching is foolishness.
Jesus never intended to be eaten and drank for all of human history. He did not break off parts of his own body or drain his own blood for that first Lord’s Supper. He used the bread and the wine as symbols, not the real thing.
The bread is a symbol of His broken body. The wine is a symbol of his blood shed for us. We observe His great sacrifice through symbols and we do not believe that it is anything more. I could not believe in the error of those teachings without considering myself cannibalistic every time we observe communion.
Jesus then took the cup, gave thanks and said to drink all of it. This cup was representative, and still is, of all of the suffering, and the blood that would be shed for our sin.
There are those who say that they do not like Christianity for it is a bloody religion. I say, thank God for the shed blood of the Lamb. Without the blood there is no remission of sin. Without the blood, my sin cannot be washed away. Without the blood, I cannot be made whiter than snow. Without the blood, there is no blood atonement. Without the blood I have no hope. Thank you Jesus, for giving your life’s blood for me!
It wasn’t the broken body that brought me salvation. It wasn’t the stripes in Pilate’s Hall. It wasn’t even the cross itself. All of those were vastly important in their meaning of the overall picture.
If a cross could save me, anyone could have died on it. If stripes could save me, any prisoner could have borne them. If a broken body could save me, I could claim any accident victim as my savior. If any of these things could save me, I could save myself and take glory in my own sacrifice.
No, it was none of these things. It was the blood of the perfect sacrifice, the Blood of the Lamb of God, the blood of Jesus Christ that saves me and nothing else.
No man can duplicate that perfect sacrificial blood. No man can claim to have a part of his own salvation. It is only through the Blood of the Lamb of God that we can be saved.
That is why Jesus said to drink all of it. I want to receive all of Christ. I want the blood of atonement to wash me thoroughly. Don’t leave any sin in my heart. Clean me and make we whole. Let me be seen as perfect in the eyes of the Father because He sees me only through the Blood of the Lamb.
Just as Jesus gave thanks for the cup, I am so thankful for the blood that was shed for me. I thank God for sending His only begotten Son to die for me. I thank God that He loved me when I was unlovable. I thank God that He had mercy on me when I did not deserve it.
I thank God for the Blood of atonement that was shed for my Redemption.
Close the sermon with a call to the altar and a time of repentance and prayer prior to offering the Lord’s Supper.
READ FOR COMMUNION OBSERVANCE:
1 Corinthians 11:23-30, "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is 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 shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."
