The Lord’s Supper
I Corinthians 11:23-34
Prayer is the occupation of the would with its needs. Praise is the occupation of the soul with its blessings. Worship is the occupation of the soul with God Himself. True worship is the occupation of the heart, not with its needs, or even its blessings, but with God Himself.
Public worship reaches its height at the Lord’s table, as we contemplate and partake of the symbols of the table.
True worship is when we are occupied with no man save Jesus only. The Lord’s Supper is our visit to Calvary where in quietness of soul the Christian contemplates and meditates on Christ. Nothing but Christ should be magnified in the Lord’s Supper.
The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper was not some invention of the early apostles or of the early church. It didn’t come by man’s reasoning but by God’s revelation. The Lord’s supper was instituted in the gospels, practiced in Acts, and taught in the church epistles. It is not an ordinance that is optional for the church, but rather it is an obligation placed upon the church by the Saviour himself. God knows that believers forget important matters easily and so He designed this supper to help each believer remember and worship Him.
Three particulars are to be given preeminence in our worship at the Lord’s Supper.
I. We are to be apprehended with the PERSON of Jesus.
“in remembrance of me”
We are to be captivated by the PERSON of the Lord as we observe the ordinance of the Lord’s supper. Contemplate His words, works, and His walk.
A. His DEITY
Jesus is the eternal Son of God. Jesus is the Great I AM. He was and is omniscient, omnipotent, and immutable. Jesus is God. He has power over nature, men, angels. Satan, and . Jesus as God is self-existent and self-sufficient.
As the Son of God he had no beginning. Began is a time word, and can have no personal meaning for one that inhabiteth eternity. God dwells in eternity but time dwells in God. Jesus has already lived all our tomorrows as He has lived all our yesterdays.
B. His HUMANITY
The unfermented juice is symbolic of the - His DEITY. The unleavened bread is symbolic of the body of HUMANITY.
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” - HUMANITY and DEITY. Jesus was both the child born and the Son given.
Many men would be a god, but only one God that would be a man.
1. Assumed man’s humanity (Philippians 2:5 -8)
2. Assumed man’s adversity (2 Corinthians 8:9 “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”)
a. At His birth there was no room for Him
b. In His life there was no home for Him
c. In there was no grave for Him
3. Assumed man delinquency (2 Corinthians 5:21)
While he was never a sharer in men’s sins, He was a bearer of men’s sins.
II. We are to be apprehended with the PASSION of Jesus
“For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s ”
We are to remember Him in His dying love.
I John 3:16, "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us."
It was love for us that caused Him to die for sinful man. "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us." "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it."
OH, THE LOVE THAT DREW SALVATION PLAN. There was nothing in us to call for His love (Romans 5:8). There was nothing in us to attract this so great love. Everything about use should make Him loathe us-- a poor, sinful, depraved, disgraceful, corrupt human being with no good thing about us.
A. W. Tozer once said, “His love is an incomprehensibly vast , shoreless sea before which we kneel in joyful silence and from which the loftiest elogence retreats confused and abashed.”
God does not love populations, He loves people. He does not love masses, but men. God loves all men with a love that needs to be pondered.
I have read that in the old days, when a sailing vessel crept around the world, it had to keep near the shore. A linesman would stand on the bow of the ship and cast a weighted line into the sea. He would report his findings on how deep or how shallow the water was beneath the keel. The best word was: “No bottom with this line.” Such is the love of Christ: “No bottom.” All our sounding lines are far too short to measure the depths to which His love was willing to go for us.
WE NEVER KNOW HOW MUCH ONE LOVES UNTIL WE KNOW HOW MUCH ONE IS WILLING TO ENDURE AND SUFFER FOR US; AND IT IS THE SUFFERING THAT MEASURES LOVE. The measure of Christ’s love is seen in the suffering of Calvary.
As we contemplate the cross the whole being of Christ speaks with substutionary love. His heart of love bleeds in to cleanse us; His hands of love are wounded to heal us; His feet of love are nailed to release us; His side of love is pierced to assure us; His body of love is stripped to clothe us; His lips of love are parched to bless us; His cross of love is shameful to enrich us, and His of love is awful to quicken us.
III. We are to be apprehended with the POSITION of Christ
We are commanded to remember Him “till He comes.”
Jesus is not on the cross or in the tomb. He has ascended back to the Father. WHY?
A. That the PROMISE might be PRESENTED (John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”)
How thankful I am for the replacement of a limited bodily presence with an unlimited universal presence.
B. That the PRIESTHOOD MIGHT BE PERFECTED (Hebrews 4:14-16)
1. I have a priest that can be touched
2. I have a priest that will be true
3. I have a priest that will not be terminated (Hebrews 7:23-25 “And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of : But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”)
C. That the PLACE MIGHT BE PREPARED (John 14:1-3)
The Lord’s Supper is to assist us in our remembering Him “till he comes.” There is a historical purpose in the Lord’s supper, and there is a prophetical purpose in the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is the proclamation of what has happened and the promise of what will yet happen.
Conclusion:
True worship is when we are occupied with no man save Jesus only. This is what the Lord’s Supper is all about. Whether we think about His PERSON, His PASSION, and His POSITION, every point calls forth from the believer worship and adoration.
Hallelujah, WHAT A SAVIOUR!
