Our Participation of the Lord's Supper part 2

If you would, go ahead and take your Bible and turn to the passages we were in this morning. We will start off in 1 Corinthians 11. We'll be dealing with verses 24 to 34 while you're turning there. I will give another plug to our small group Bible study. Make sure you let me know about getting you a workbook for our study. I strongly encourage you to do that because it will be good for us, be good for you. We want to learn God's Word and not only just learn it, we want to have a resource in the future.

I remember one of the men in the life of our church was sharing with me that he takes meticulous notes and he knows that at times he can go back and he does that. And I think we should be good stewards. Well, like I said earlier, we're going to be in Matthew chapter, excuse me, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 24 to 34. And of course, a little later we will read Matthew's account, chapter 26, starting in verse 26 when we do get to the place of protecting in the supper. Now I want to make a few comments about this morning's message before we transition into what I want to share with us tonight.

This morning I sought to remind us, for some of us it was reminding. This morning I sought to adjust some. For some it was an adjustment. What I mean by that is we're all at different places and some of us need a reminding of the biblical standard. We always need that. And some need an adjustment to the biblical standard. Now we're dealing with the biblical standard as we approach the Lord's Supper or coming together to participate in the Lord's Supper. Now we all come from different places. We all come from different experiences. Some of us have been together here at NOLA for a long time.

And we've been striving to stay with the biblical standard with many of these things. But I know that there are some of you, you're fairly new here. So at times it's our job to reach back and gather us all up together because I want us to be all on the same page. Lots of times you share your stories with me. You maybe share them with Brother Keith. And what I mean is you come and you share how the Word of God is moving you along, correcting you, teaching you.

I know that with our small group study with expository listening, there were some of you who shared, "You know, I've been living this for a while." Whereas there are others that shared with very large eyes saying, "This is really new. This is different. This is not what I was raised on." So what I'm sharing with you is this. For some of this, these truths are a reminder, but for some of us, these are major, major shifts or adjustments. Again, seeking to be biblical as we approach the supper. Now I mentioned several things that we see in other churches and we've experienced in the past, and I'll bring two of these back up.

I'll do this purposefully. We have sought to maintain a biblical standard when it comes to music and worship through music. I'm very happy that Brother Keith could share with you, really elevate why we do what we do and why we don't do what we do. This is really our position and how we approach worship ministry. I feel like if someone was very serious and visiting our church, they could listen to those two messages that Brother Keith shared and they could understand where we are in the life of our church with our worship ministry.

One thing you know, many of you know that we have been dealing with for a long time, really even having it on hold is church membership. One of the reasons we've done this for so long is we've desired to do it right, do it biblically, and that's one of the things that we'll be dealing with very, very soon. Many of you have been patient with us as we've been seeking to have correct biblical policy. Now why do I bring these two issues up? I think these are tangible examples.

We know how we're dealing with these in the life of our church and I bring this back up to you because I want you to see that in these areas of the life of the church, we have to work hard to be biblical. Now we never have our list checked off. We're always adjusting and tweaking. There are always things that we can do better. Now this morning we had three questions. I think those were fairly easy for you to grasp, easy for you to write down, and I think that the way it was worded, it was easy for you to track with us in your listening.

But we looked at the first question which was, "What is the Lord's Supper?" Now that was somewhat theological. We could have gone a lot deeper. As a matter of fact, some of my study this weekend I was looking at what some others do, how they view the Lord's Supper. Our Catholic friends, they view the Supper a lot different. One day we'll get into that. Even our Lutheran friends are a little bit different. You might say, "Pastor, I don't think I know any Lutherans. If you venture out of our little region, you will run into some Lutherans." But what I'm sharing with you is this.

Some of what I shared was theological because it is our approach theologically and scripturally to the Supper. What is the Lord's Supper? Then the second question was, "Who is to take the Lord's Supper?" That was a little more informational. That is a question that needs to be asked. I have seen parents when we are celebrating the Supper. I've seen this in the past where parents will take a little piece of wafer and give it to that very, very, very small child.

That just grieves me because they're not answering this question, "Who is to take the Supper properly?" This information needs to be brought before our attention over and over and over so we know the biblical standard. This is for God's people. This is for people who profess to be redeemed and walking in obedience to the Lord. Then our third question, "How should we take the Lord's Supper?" "How should we take the Lord's Supper?" Very practical. Very, very practical. I carried that practical aspect of the message all the way into the conclusion. I really felt like the conclusion helped us.

Those three points of application helped us work the message out in our lives. As a matter of fact, in our own home, today my wife took her notes and took these points of application at the end and just spent some time alone in the Word and with the Lord because she wanted to work this message out in her life. I feel like that application helped us receive the message, the totality of the message properly. Now, with all that said, tonight we are going to be practical, very practical in the flavor of the message tonight. I stated this morning that I would show you how we relate to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.

This is how we relate to it. This is very practical. When we look into these verses, I think that they will be very obvious. But yet I think some of this will be new to you. You might not have seen it this way before. Let's look at our Corinthians passage, 1 Corinthians 11, starting in verse 24. But I do refer you back to verse 23. What does Paul say? He says, "For I receive from the Lord that which I delivered to you." You need to understand what that verse means. We know that Paul came to this apostleship later on. He was one opponent as an apostle in a unique way.

And he did have a special revelation of Christ, and he spent three years in Arabia receiving the gospel, receiving the truths of God's Word from the Lord directly. And so that's an allusion to that work of God in his life. So what does he say? "I received all of this from the Lord and I gave it to you." Verse 24. And when he had given thanks, he broke it. That's the bread. And he said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, he took the cup also after the supper saying, "The cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." And we know that Paul transitions there, starting in verse 27, to deal with this Corinthian problem. Now the title of the message is rather simple. Pardon me, I'll left this down below. But let me give you the title of the message and I'll give you the truths that we're going to explore just out of these verses. The title of the message is "Our Participation in the Supper" and then the observance. In other words, we will transition to observe the supper. Now this participation of the Lord's Supper is just found in these verses.

You see three ways we're going to divide these verses. Our participation, verses 24 to 25. Our proclamation, which is out of verse 26. And then our anticipation out of verse 26 as well. We'll spend a little more time with verse 24, 25. And then a shorter amount of time with this anticipation in verse 26. Now we do encourage you to take notes. I believe if you took notes this morning and you have these notes from tonight, you'll have a good grasp of the supper. But like I say from time to time, I reserve the right to revisit these passages throughout the years. Why?

Because these verses, the verses in the Gospels are what the Lord gives us about the supper. So let's look at our first major truth, our participation. Our participation. Go back with me to verse 24 and 25. Verse 24 and 25. We see these are the words of Christ. Paul got these from Christ. What does he say? "And when he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, 'This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, he took the cup also saying after the supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it.'" What?

"In remembrance of me." Now we know those are direct quotations from the Gospels. But we see here in these verses, whether they're from the Gospels or from Paul, we see a participation. Now this morning we learned that the supper was given to the disciples. We also learned that the disciples, excuse me, the supper was given to the church. What do we see? The supper was given first to the disciples there after the Passover. And then Paul, he gives this supper to this New Testament church. We saw that the Corinthians had a dire situation. They were approaching the supper, participating in the supper in a very grievous and sinful way.

But we must see that the supper was given to the church and it was expected to be continued or propagated or practiced in the life of the church. Now Bible scholars point to other passages which they say speak to this church practice. Let me explain what I mean. There's not a lot of textual evidence about the church continuing to practice. I said earlier this morning that there were four instances, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and in this Corinthian passage. But there are other places that we think allude to the church practicing the supper. I'll give you a couple. Acts chapter two, verse 42. This is after the birth of the New Testament church.

And it says, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings and to the fellowship and to the breaking of the bread and the prayers." Now many Bible scholars believe that this breaking of the bread refers to the Lord's supper. Yes, it refers to a fellowship meal. But many scholars believe that this does refer also to the Lord's supper. One more verse. Jude, verse 12. The little book of Jude, one chapter. Verse 12. It mentions that the church is practicing a love feast. Now the love feast was a carryover from Judaism, and it was practiced in many of the New Testament churches.

And most Bible scholars believe that this would include the Lord's supper. Now why do I mention this? We need to see that the institution, the ordinance of the Lord's supper was given to the disciples. It was given to the Corinthian church, and it was carried on in the life of the church throughout the New Testament and throughout the ages. And this is a commandment given to us that we must follow. This is us. We are included. Now there are three ways I want us to see how we participate in this Lord's supper. Three ways that we participate. First, we are participating in the Lord's death.

Now that might strike some of you strange, but we are participating in the Lord's death. Now with the gospels, and we looked at Matthew chapter 26 this morning, we see that this was a picture of what was to come. I was discussing yes with one of the men of the church this morning after the service. In Matthew 26, after the Passover, Jesus is instituting the Lord's supper. They had no idea what was going on. This was before the death of Christ. This was before the cross. It wasn't until after the cross and the resurrection and the giving of the spirit that all of these things made sense.

So in Matthew 6 and in Luke and Mark's account, this was a picture of what was to come. But right here in 1 Corinthians, this was a picture of what had happened. We know the timeline. All of these things had transpired. So they would have understood these things even when Paul was teaching them. But I say all that to say this. At the center of the cross was the Lord's death. At the center of everything that Christ did, he was leading up to that substitutionary death on the cross. And look, we are truly, truly participating in his death because what is the supper a symbol of? The bread is a symbol of that crushed body.

The blood or the cup, the fruit of the vine is a symbol of that blood that was spilled, that life blood that was poured out. And all that speaks to his death. So when we take of the supper, we are participating in the Lord's death. The second observation, we are participating in our death. Again, that might seem strange to you, but we need to see that we are participating in our death. We might not see it. We might not realize it at first, but at the center of our Christian life is our death. If your Christian life does not consist of a death and a continual death, then your Christian life is not a Christian life.

It's a cultural Christian life. It is incorrect. Let me explain what I mean by giving you two passages and a few more comments. Second Corinthians 5.17 reads, "Again, this is Paul writing to this church in the second letter. What does he say? Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. This old passing away refers to the death that we experience when we come to faith in Christ. A more direct verse that deals with this is Galatians 2.20. Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." See, there is death in these two verses. The old has passed away. The new has come. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. We must see that we are participating in the Lord's death and we are participating in our death. This is a perpetual death. We had a one-time death at salvation, but we are continuously dying to flesh, dying to sin, dying to our own way, and living in Christ. And then third, still dealing with our participation, we are participating in a new life in Christ.

Now, just like at the center of our Christian life, there is death. At the center of our Christian life is a new life in Christ. Now, I did not say merely a new life. That's a problem a lot of people have. They just want God to bless their life and give them kind of a new life, a newer version of what they already have. That's not Christianity. So at the center of our life is death and at the center of our life is a new life in Christ. Again, this 2 Corinthians verse. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away.

The new has come." Another verse, Galatians 6, 15, "For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision." Now, why is Paul talking about this? There was a Jew-Gentol issue going on here. So what he's saying is it really doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile, but what does he say? What matters is a new creation. So we are participating in this supper in three ways. We are participating in the Lord's death. We are participating in our own death, this perpetual death, and we are participating in a new life that we experience in Christ. So what do we see here? Just participating in the Lord's supper is in many levels.

In baptism, we really see the same thing. We identify or participate, if you will, in the death and burial and resurrection of Christ. Is it that what baptism is? It's a symbol. It's a symbol. We're buried with Christ in baptism and we are raised to live a new life in Christ. We are participating in Christ's death and our death and the new life in Christ. Every time we observe the Lord's supper and participate in the supper and when we observe baptism. Now what might we apply to our lives just out of these verses, this participation? I want you to see how we relate to these things.

This is not just something that we come to and we physically do it. We do it by road. We do it mechanically. This is just something that we're supposed to do. We check off that little box that says obedience. No, we are involved in this thing called the Lord's supper. Christ lives within us. We have died to our own life. We are living a new life in Christ and we are participating in this death and burial and resurrection, the giving of his body, the giving of his life's blood. It is ours. I think some of us need to see that because if we are not careful, it can become mundane. It can become just that obedience check mark we are participating.

Now the second observation, or excuse me, second main truth I want us to look at in our outline is our proclamation. Our proclamation, verse 26, we see that in verse 24 and 25 is basically a copy of what we see in the Gospels. And verse 26 is different, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Notice that word proclamation. Now it might be a surprise to some of you to see a partaking in the supper as a proclamation. You might not have seen that before, but that is the case.

Both baptism and the supper, when we participate and we have that in the life of the church, there is a proclamation side to these ordinances. I'll give you an example that will help you see this right away and then we'll get into two observations out of the verse. When we go into foreign cultures, whether it's India or China or many different places, when we go into foreign cultures and we lead those people who come out of these foreign places, these foreign gods, when we lead them to faith in Christ, it really does not get complicated for them in their culture, in their life, in their families until they do two things.

Participate in baptism and participate in the Lord's supper. You know our friend Luke Johnson who goes to India. I've had the privilege to go there and I know that many times when they come to faith in Christ, that's not really what upsets the Hindus, maybe their Hindu parents or the city leaders. What really separates them from their culture and the pagan gods and those practices is when they are baptized and participate in the Lord's supper. Why? Even the pagans see that as a bold proclamation. They are proclaiming their allegiance to Christ, they are proclaiming their conversion to Christ.

That's when many of them lose their lives and risk their lives. Now with that said, let me go back to the verse. What does Paul say? "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death." Now I have been blending baptism and the supper, done this purposely. I'm going to do that again here, two observations I want to make. First we make a proclamation at baptism. We need to see this. We make a proclamation when we are baptized after our conversion. When one comes to faith in Christ, they're baptized. They are making a proclamation, they are making a proclamation of the new life that they have in Christ.

I use the word allegiance. It's greater than an allegiance. They are demonstrating externally what has happened inwardly or spiritually through the work of the Holy Spirit. See when we experience regeneration, we are dead to our old life, our old life of sin, and we are enjoying a new life in Christ. And that is a picture, baptism is a picture of what happens spiritually. Some might say that this is an external testimony of their faith and that is accurate. There are two passages here that help us see this. Colossians 2 verse 12, this speaks of baptism being a proclamation.

"Having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith and the powerful working of God who raised him up from the dead." Basically that verse says we're buried with Christ in baptism and we're raised to a new life in Christ. That is a proclamation. And then Romans 6, 4, "We are buried therefore with him in baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." So what do we see? Baptism is a proclamation of our new life in Christ. And then second, we make a proclamation at the supper.

Again, this is right out of verse 26, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death." We have already established the fact that we proclaim the Lord's death and the Lord Jesus at baptism and at the supper. But this does lead us to two questions. When and how. What I mean by how? When and how often? Go back to the verse, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death." Again, "For as often." We need to see when we should participate in the Lord's supper. Now if we study church tradition, you can see that there are a lot of different opinions here.

I know of churches who do it every single time. They meet on Sundays. I've seen that. I know some that happen to do it quarterly. We have been doing it quarterly. I know some that maybe they do it quarterly and then they do it at special occasions like Easter or Christmas. So the when is a debated issue, a debated topic. Some debate this in a heated way because they're very firm in their conviction here. But there's no clear instruction in the Scripture. He says, "For as often as you eat this bread," I think we should do it often. But yet if we do it too often, then it can lose its seriousness if we're not careful.

So I think that we should approach the when carefully and prayerfully. But yet how often? Verse 12 kind of alludes to this time. Or excuse me, verse 25 and verse 26. What does he say? "This cup is a new covenant, my blood. Do this as often as you drink." And then verse 26, "For as often as you eat." So what do we see here? When? This should be practiced regularly in the life of the church, but yet it is up to the conscience and it should be prayed over by the leaders of the church. Now what do we see here? In participating in both ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, Christians are proclaiming Christ.

And there's a lot that they're proclaiming. Their death and their burial and their resurrection with Christ. Their identification with the sacrifice of Christ. And it is a proclamation of so much, but yet so much that is true. It is a proclamation of death to sin himself. It is a proclamation of that new life in Christ that we enjoy. And every time Christians participate in the Supper, they are proclaiming Christ. Now I'll rephrase that every time we participate in the Supper, we are proclaiming Christ and so much more. Now what might we learn here before we transition into the last portion of our message?

I think that we need to see that when we come and we participate, we are either proclaiming a hypocritical message or a true and sincere Christian message. Now what did we learn about the Corinthians this morning? They were rather hypocritical in how they participated in the Supper. And so that's why we should examine our lives and judge our lives to see if we are ready or at a place to participate because how we proclaim through the Supper really does matter. Now our last major truth in our outline, our anticipation. You might not see this in verse 26.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. I think that's an allusion to the time. You do it as long as you're on this earth. The last portion of verse 6, it speaks to an anticipation. And this is an anticipation that should mark our lives. We should yearn for the return of Christ. We should yearn to be with Christ. Now I know how we all feel about death.

None of us want to die, but yet if we know fully who we are in Christ and the life that is to come, we should desire to go and be with the Lord, to be away from this old sin filled world and to be out of our sin filled bodies and lives. Now what am I showing you? There should be an anticipation to be with the Lord, whether it's through death or the Second Coming. So what I'm showing you here is this. While we're on earth, we participate, we celebrate the Lord's Supper all along anticipating Christ's return and anticipating going to be with the Lord.

Now an application here, I think that this echoes back to what we looked at this morning, the fact that we need to make sure that we are converted to Christ, because if we are not converted to Christ, we can never, never have an anticipation with Christ. Our hearts will be stricken by fear and dread. Our hearts will be stricken by the fact that we will stand before a holy and mighty God and we will have to give an account for our lives. And I believe that only true born again people can truly have this type of anticipation. Now what have we looked at this morning? What have we looked at tonight?

I think that we explored a lot with our three questions. What is the Lord's Supper? I don't mean to oversimplify it, but it's symbolic. There's nothing magical about the bread, nothing magical about the fruit of the vine, whether it's wine or juice. It's a symbol of what Christ has done. Very, very simple, but yet it is very theological. The question, who is to take the Supper? This is for His people, the church. And then how should we take the Supper? We should approach it in a very serious way. Because when we see how we approach it in a very serious way, the next step is what we've looked at tonight. We are participating in so much.

We are proclaiming so much, and then we are anticipating His return. I hope and pray that what has been shared this morning, what's been shared tonight, will not just be informational. Would it be just an adjustment or even a correction? That even possibly that it would prepare you for what we are about to do, and that is to worship the Lord as we take the Supper.