What does it truly mean to participate in the Lord's Supper?

Well, if you would take your Bible turn back to Luke chapter 22, just have your Bible open there. I did say in our scripture reading that we will go back to those verses at the end of the message. Throughout the message I will refer to quite a few other scriptures. You don't have to turn there. If you need those, I can get those for you. I'd rather you just follow me along in the message. Now I think it's obvious that this morning we will be celebrating and participating in the Lord's Supper. And if you were raised in the church, as I was, I would venture to say that you have seen and participated in the Lord's Supper many, many times.

But not much thought was given to what was actually, what actually is meant by the Lord's Supper. Sadly, in many churches, not much time and teaching is given to the meaning of the Supper. It's just something that we do. I know that thinking back in my childhood in the church that I grew up in, really we didn't have any teaching about the significance of the Supper. So at least one time of the year I teach on the Lord's Supper because I never want us to be lacking in our understanding of the meaning and the significance of the Supper.

The last time I taught on the Supper was back in March of 2024 and the message that we looked at on that day was titled, "The What, The Who, and The How of the Lord's Supper." Now some of you know this, but the scriptures teach us that the Lord's Supper has quite a bit of spiritual meaning. And if we understand the meaning of the Supper, then our participation will have great spiritual meaning and significance, not just for us as believers individually, but for us as a church as a whole. So in our message this morning, I want to ask and answer a question. What does it truly mean to participate in the Supper? That's the title of the message.

What does it mean to truly participate in the Supper? Now to start off with, we need to understand that Jesus gave His church two ordinances. That would be the ordinance of believers baptism and the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. We can say that Jesus instituted these two ordinances and then He gave them to the church. And as a church, we believe in practice these two ordinances because we understand that Jesus commanded His church to practice these things. And this is reflected in our church statement of faith. As a matter of fact, I picked up a copy off the welcome table in there.

And in section nine, you can see the teaching that we have there concerning the two ordinances. And if you're liking there, I would encourage you to grab a copy because that would be of great help for you. As a matter of fact, a lot of times when I'm doing baptismal counseling, folks will tell me, "Oh, Pastor, I know some of these scriptures because of the statement of faith." It's a useful, useful tool. Now when we look at the Supper in the scriptures, we see that it was during the last Passover celebration that Jesus had with His disciples that He instituted and gave what became known as the Lord's Supper. We see this in Mark's gospel.

We see this in Matthew's gospel. Mark's gospel and Luke's gospel. Of course, we read Luke's gospel earlier and we will revisit those verses later on. And some of you know that the context of the first Lord's Supper, which was the Jewish Passover celebration. And as a matter of fact, the Passover lamb was and is a picture and a foreshadowing of Christ Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. Now some of you may not know this, but a big part of the Jewish Passover celebration was feasting. Actually feasting with great amounts of food and great amounts of drink and really feasting was a part of all of those Jewish festivals.

And besides those Jewish festivals, eating before the Lord was common all throughout the Old Testament. This will surprise you, but I'll mention a few. If we go back before the fall of man, we see that Adam and Eve were free to eat of all of the fruits of the garden for food, except for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They had a great abundance of food that was given to them by God. And before Adam and Eve sinned against God, they lived in perfect fellowship with God in every way.

And since they had perfect fellowship with God, everything they did was in the presence of God, and this would have included eating and drinking. Under the Old Covenant, the Israelites were to give a tithe. As a matter of fact, they gave many different tithes, and one tithe was of their crops. In Deuteronomy 14, 23 to 26, we see that they were to bring one tenth of all of their crops to God, and they were to eat and drink that tithe before the Lord, really in the presence of God.

And when the people of Israel were camped before Mount Sinai after God had given them the Ten Commandments, God called the leaders up onto the mountain to meet with Him. And next it is 24, 9 to 11, says that Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up before God, and they ate and they drank in the presence of God. And just with those few examples, we can see that in the Old Testament, God's people ate and even feasted before God. We can even say that they feasted in the very presence of God. Now let me simplify that and shorten that.

We have just seen that before sin entered the world, man ate and drank before God in perfect fellowship with God. And then after sin entered the world, man ate and drank before God, but in broken fellowship with God. Now one important fact about all of the Old Testament feasts, including the Passover Feast or Passover Celebration, they all pointed to the fact that sin had not yet been paid for. Yes, all of those Old Testament feasts, just like the Passover, pointed to the fact that sin had not yet been paid for. Well how do we know that? It's real simple.

We know that because the animal sacrifices offered in those festivals were offered year after year without end. And these never ending sacrifices all look forward to the Messiah of God who was to come and to take away sin once and for all. These never ending sacrifices pointed to the promised Messiah who was to take away sin once and for all. We should know this because of our study in Hebrews.

In the Hebrews 10, 1-4, "For since the law was but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of the realities, it," that's the law, "can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise would they have not ceased to be offered since the worshippers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sin," verse 3, "but in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year, every year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats." That would be animal sacrifices to take away sins.

So the Old Covenant sacrificial system pointed to the Messiah that was to come to take away sin. And we have been seeing this fact thoroughly all through Hebrews chapter 1-10. But notice the difference in the Old Covenant sacrificial system and the Lord's Supper. This is very important. The Old Covenant sacrificial system pointed to the Messiah who was to come to take away sin, but the Lord's Supper reminds us that God's Messiah did come. And his payment for sin has already been accomplished. Let me repeat that, because this is important. The Old Covenant sacrificial system pointed to the Messiah that was to come to take away sin.

But the Lord's Supper reminds us that God's Messiah did come, and his payment for sin has already been made, and payment for sin has been accomplished. Listen to Hebrews 10 verses eight to 12. We know these verses. And when he said above, you have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and in sin offerings, these are offered according to the law. Then he added, behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ Jesus once and for all.

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sin, he sat down at the right hand of God. So as the church, when we eat the Lord's Supper in the presence of God with great celebration, remembering what Christ Jesus has accomplished for us. And we do these things with hearts filled with joy, hearts filled with worship, even hearts filled with celebration before God.

We are not like those old covenant Jews who celebrated their feasts and festivals, looking forward to the promised Messiah that would come and take away sin. God's Messiah has come. God has provided redemption for men and man through Jesus. Perfect redemption has been provided. It is here. So those of us who come to saving faith through the blood of Christ, we eat the Supper with great joy, with great celebration, with great worship, remembering what Christ has done for us. Now at this point of the message, I want to explore seven facts that show us the true meaning of the Lord's Supper, when we actually partake in it.

I want us to look at seven facts that show us the true meaning of the Lord's Supper when we actually partake in the Supper. First, when we partake in the Supper, we are actually proclaiming Christ's death. Let me say that again. When we participate in the Lord's Supper as a church now, we are actually proclaiming Christ's death. As a church and as individual believers, when we celebrate the Supper together, we symbolize the death of Jesus because what we do in the Supper pictures the death of Christ right before us. Now think about this with me. Think about what's pictured before us. The broken bread is a symbol of Christ's broken body.

And the cup is a symbol of Christ pouring out his life blood for us. Let me repeat that because we must not have any misunderstanding here. The broken bread is a symbol of Christ's broken body. And the cup is a symbol of Christ pouring out his life's blood for us. Now I'll repeat that because some are in grievous error here. Some believe that in the ordinance of the Supper, the bread actually becomes the body of Christ and the juice actually becomes the blood of Christ. Sadly, that is a mistake our Roman Catholic friends make. So it is important for us to see that the bread is a symbol of Christ's broken body and flesh.

And the juice in the cup there, it is a symbol of Christ's life blood that was poured out for us. And when we participate in the Supper, we not only symbolize Christ's death, but we are actually proclaiming the death of Christ. Paul says in Romans, or excuse me, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, 26, "For as often as you eat this bread "and drink this cup," now what cup and what bread is he talking about? The Lord's Supper. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, "you," speaking to the church, "you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." I give you an example that may help you here.

As Americans on or around the 4th of July, we may symbolize our patriotism by certain things we do. Now think about it. When we symbolize our patriotism, we are actually proclaiming our patriotism. I remember when I was a kid growing up on the 4th of July, my dad would always put out an American flag on the front porch of our house. Now what was he doing? He was proclaiming his patriotism. Now when it comes to illustrations, like I've just used, they usually break down at some point. Illustration can only go so far. But it is very similar when we are participating in the Lord's Supper.

When we celebrate the Lord's Supper in a church service like this, and when we partake in the Supper as a church, we are truly proclaiming Christ's death. So for us individually and as a church collectively, we need to see that we are actually proclaiming the Christ, the death of Christ when we partake in the Supper. And it is also sad for those who are not converted to Christ. They cannot participate. They cannot proclaim Christ's death. An unbeliever may not be honest and they may participate, but the non-believer cannot truly participate in and proclaim Christ's death through the Supper.

And then second, when we participate in the Supper, we are actually benefiting from Christ's death. When we participate in the Supper, we are actually benefiting from Christ's death. Now at the time when Jesus first instituted the Supper, he commanded his disciples to take and to eat the broken bread and to take the cup and the drink. And when we as a church do the same thing, we are actually benefiting from Christ's death. Notice how all this comes together. When we participate in the Supper, we are symbolizing what Christ did on the cross and we are proclaiming his death. I've explained that.

And we are also proclaiming that we are benefiting from that death. We are benefiting because we are proclaiming that Christ died on the cross at our place. Because we are proclaiming that we have identified with Christ's death on the cross and we have even taken possession of Christ's death. Let me repeat that. We are proclaiming that we are benefiting from Christ's death on the cross. We are benefiting because we are proclaiming that Christ died in our place. Paul says it best in Galatians 2.20. Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ. "It is no longer I who live, "but Christ who lives in me.

"In the life I now live in the flesh." That means in the body. "I live by faith in the Son of God "who loved me and gave himself up for me." Another example here that may help you. In our culture, Memorial Day is a time when we honor those who died in military service while performing their duty. Actually, when we honor those who died in the service, we are proclaiming that we have truly benefited from their sacrifice. Isn't that right? When we properly honor those who died in military service for our country, we are saying that we are beneficiaries of their service and of their sacrifice.

Again, illustrations like this can only go so far, but it is similar when we partake of the supper. When we participate in the supper, we are seeing afresh and anew the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for us. So we are truly beneficiaries of Christ's death. And for those of you who have come into a saving relationship with Christ, think for a minute where you were before you came to saving faith in Christ. Think for a minute about what your life could be like right now had you not been born again. Actually, when I think like that, it kinda makes me sick.

Just ponder for a minute how you have benefited from Christ's death since the very time you came to saving faith. Christ has saved us from our sin. Christ has saved us from our sinful life. Christ has saved us from ourselves. Christ saved us to a new life in Him. He saved us for God's purposes and God's glory. And ultimately Christ saved us to be with Him for forever in glory. Not so that we'll just be happy in heaven, no. But so that we would worship Him forever, unhindered by sin ultimately for His glory. And then third, when we participate in the supper, we are actually taking in spiritual nourishment.

When we participate in the supper, we are actually taking in spiritual nourishment. Now earlier I talked about food and feasting. From Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to Moses on Mount Sinai, all the way to the last Passover meal that Jesus had with His disciples. And in all of those events, I referenced food and even feasting. Think about it. This is simple I know, but those who participated actually ate physical food that benefited their bodies. Now think about what we're going to do today. After our worship service, we're gonna go back to the fellowship hall and we're going to enjoy very good food.

And just as food and drink benefits the body, the Lord's supper brings nourishment as well. But the Lord's supper brings spiritual nourishment, or spiritual benefits. This is not physical nourishment. I know this idea may seem strange to us, but we do see it in the scriptures. In John four, when the disciples brought food to Jesus while they were traveling through some area, Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him." That's God the Father who sent me and to accomplish His work. What Jesus meant here is this.

He received spiritual nourishment from doing the will of His Father and from accomplishing the work that God the Father had for Him. And in John six, Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man "and drink His blood, you have no life in you. "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood "has eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day." Jesus is saying that to possess true spiritual life, His followers must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Now, Jesus was not speaking of physical food here, and this was not some kind of cannibalism, no. This was all symbolic.

Jesus is speaking of spiritual nourishment, and this spiritual nourishment is gained when we participate in the supper. I give us another example. When we get married and when we have children, we enjoy a type of nourishment, even if it's very expensive. Think about it. A desire for marriage, a desire for children, is given by God because marriage and children are gifts from God. And when we get married and when we have children, we enjoy marriage, we enjoy children, so we are nourished by that marriage, we are nourished by family, by children. Is it that right? Look at how many are starving for a husband or a wife.

Look at how many couples are starving because they want children, and they cannot have children, not minister to people who are in that dilemma. So when God's people participate in the supper, we are taking in and actually enjoying spiritual nourishment. And just as Jesus said that in doing the will of His Father brought Him spiritual nourishment, we should look forward to spiritual nourishment this morning. Then fourth, when we participate in the supper, we are actually enjoying unity with other believers. When we participate in the supper, we are actually enjoying unity, oneness with other believers.

As a local church, when we participate in the supper together now, we are speaking of the unity that we enjoy one with another. Now this unity or this oneness, I call this unity in Christ in the local church. This is something that it may take time for us to see, and over time it builds, it gets stronger. Paul speaks of this kind of unity in 1 Corinthians 10, 16 and 17, listen to what Paul says. The cup of blessing that we bless is not a participation in the blood of Christ. The bread that we break is not a participation in the body of Christ, because there is one bread. We who are many are in one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Notice what we see here in 1 Corinthians 10. It is Christ's body that symbolizes our oneness with Christ and our oneness with one another. Let me repeat that. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul is showing us, it is Christ's body that symbolizes our oneness with Christ and our oneness with one another. It is because we are one with Christ that we are the many members can truly be one with each other. And when we as a church that is made up of many individual members participate together, we are taking in the supper and we are enjoying our unity with Christ and our unity with one another. Give you another example.

When a man and a woman are married, the scriptures say that the two become one. Genesis 2, 24 specifically says that the two should become one flesh. I've said this jokingly through the years, God would fail math class because one plus one does not equal one. But think about it. In a marriage, does that mean that there is only one body? Does the wife give up her body to live in the husband's body? No. What happens in marriage is this. The two individuals become unified in a supernatural and spiritual way. A married couple, they enjoy a oneness. They enjoy a supernatural unity. And that unity is understood in the beginning of the marriage.

But this unity, this oneness is understood more and more throughout the great years of marriage. And it has seen more and more and more throughout the great years of marriage. So when we participate in the supper, we are proclaiming the unity that we have with Christ and with one another. We are certainly enjoying our unity with the body, with one another. And for me as a pastor, there are many things that I enjoy about our church. The list gets longer and longer for me. But one thing that brings me great joy is the true Christian unity that we are enjoying. A unity that is growing more and more.

And I want you to know church, that the Christian unity that we enjoy today is rare sadly. And it is worth protecting and it is worth fighting for. One of the most grievous things for me as a pastor is when folks have left our church and they have broken that unity. That is a wound that is never healed. It's always there, it's always raw. So when we participate in the supper, we are enjoying a unity with Christ and a unity with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ in the local church. Now take a step back here and look at the great meaning of the Lord's Supper. And look at how very personal all these things are.

When we participate in the supper, we are proclaiming Christ's death and we are proclaiming that we have and will continue to benefit from Christ's death. When we participate in the supper, both personally and corporately, we are taking in great spiritual nourishment. If we are truly nourished on an individual basis as believers, then that truly nourishes the entire church. And when we participate in the supper, we are enjoying a great spiritual unity with brothers and sisters with one another. Although we are many, we are one. We are even growing in that oneness as we worship together in the supper.

Now right here, if I stopped in the message, many of you would say this has been a good message about the meaning of the supper. Many of you would say that we are ready for the supper. But there are a few more things that I want us to see. I want us to see three more facts that show us the true meaning of the supper. And I call these spiritual affirmations. First, when we participate in the supper, Christ is affirming His love for us. When we participate in the supper, Christ is affirming His love for us. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 26, 26. We read it earlier in Luke.

He simply says, "Do this in remembrance of me." Do this in remembrance of me. And Paul repeats what Jesus says in 1 Corinthians 11, 24. And what we see here is this. Not only does Jesus command His people, His church to participate in the supper, but He lovingly invites His people to spiritually come to Him during the supper. Let me repeat that. Not only does Jesus command His church to participate in the supper, but He lovingly invites His people to spiritually come to Him during the supper. The Lord's supper is truly a reminder that Jesus loved His people by dying in their place.

So participating in the supper is an affirmation and a proclamation that Christ Jesus loves His people. Another example. Husbands and wives. Isn't that what our anniversary should be about? Think about it. On our anniversary, shouldn't we affirm, affirm, and renew our love for each other? Actually, we should affirm our love for our spouse. Every day. Actually, we should affirm our love for our spouse all the time, and especially at certain times like our anniversary. Me and in that while we have the date in the inside of our ring. Well, it's the same with the Lord's supper.

When we participate in the supper, Christ Jesus is affirming His love for us, and we should see and experience that affirmation. He affirms that love, and we affirm that love. But then second, when we participate in the supper, Christ is affirming the many blessings of salvation, which are for us. When we participate in the supper, Christ is affirming the many blessings of salvation, which are for us. Think about what we've just seen. When we participate in the supper, we are affirmed of Christ's love for us, but there's more. The next step is that we should be affirmed of Christ's many, many blessings to us and upon us.

Specifically, we see afresh and anew that Christ provided the blessing of salvation for us, and then generally, we see the blessings of salvation, the blessing of salvation that brings many, many blessings into the life, too many to count. Another example, think about our children. Do we not affirm our love to our children? If we do not, we're in sin. Do we not affirm our love for our children? Do we not let them know that we will provide for them all of their needs, even some of their wants that come out of our love for them? Well, it is the same when we take the supper.

When we participate, Christ is affirming and reaffirming to us the blessing of salvation and the many blessings that come from the Christian life. And then third, when we participate in the supper, we are affirming our personal faith in Jesus. When we participate in the supper, we are affirming and proclaiming our personal faith in Christ Jesus. Now, this should be the first thing on our minds, actually. When we participate in the supper, we are affirming our need for Christ as our savior. We are affirming his death on the cross, which was a death for us. We are affirming our personal trust in Christ for our salvation.

We are affirming that there was a time in our lives when we were convicted of our sin, we repented of our sin, and we placed our faith and trust in Christ for our salvation. For me, in the supper, I am affirming that I came to faith in Christ back when I was 20 years old. I shared my testimony many, many times from the pulpit and in the halls of the church. I am affirming, afresh and anew, that I came to saving faith in Christ. I was lost in my sin. I was dead in my trespasses and sins, but by God's good grace, he enabled me to repent of my sin and come to him by faith and be born again.

So when I participate in the supper, I am affirming my personal faith in Christ. I am affirming the fact that God saved me and he is continuing to save me. And it should be the same for you. When you participate in the supper this morning, you should be affirming your personal faith in Christ. You should be affirming the fact that God has saved you and you were living out that salvation. And if you've not come to saving faith in Christ, would you please do so? If you've not come to saving faith in Christ, please come to Christ this morning. Please come, repent of your sin. Trust in Christ, he will save you. He will save you now.

Now at this point, I am confident that with God's help, we have a better understanding of what it truly means to participate in the supper. If we have given any effort here to truly grasp what I have taught, we all have a better understanding of what it means to participate in the supper. Now before we move into the supper, I wanna give some spiritual but practical instructions. Now at this time in the life of our church, we do practice open communion. That means that we do not have to be, you do not have to be a member of Grace Life Church to participate in the supper.

But you do have to be a professing believer that lives out your profession of faith. You should be able to articulate when you came to faith in Christ, what happened when you came to faith in Christ, and you should be able to articulate, improve that you have been living for Christ since you came to faith in Christ. And if you cannot express when you came to saving faith and how you have lived for Christ since you came to saving faith, you really don't need to participate. I have said this many times, we actually call this the spiritual honor system, the spiritual honor system. But how do we lead our children? How do we lead our teenagers?

Parents, this is where the leadership of the church trusts you. Parents, if you are confident that your child or teenager has come to saving faith, and you see them living out their salvation with fear and trembling, then you can allow them to participate. If you see saving faith in their life and they are living out their faith, you should even encourage them to participate. But I also encourage you to talk with them about these things. Teach them these things. Mom and dad, you have a responsibility to take what I have taught and more and disciple them in these things. Again, that statement of faith is a good place for you to start.

But if you do not see saving faith in your child's life, they do not need to participate. If you do not think they understand the significance of these things, well, they do not need to participate. And there's no crime in saying, no, you need to wait. And again, if that is your son or daughter, you need to talk with them about these things. You have a responsibility to teach them about the Lord's Supper. You should even evangelize your sons and your daughters through these things. Now, at this time, I wanna transition and I wanna pray and I wanna commit what we have studied and examined.

And I wanna ask the Spirit of God to take these things and move us into a place to where we are ready to participate. And as I pray, I would invite you men to come on down and get ready, pass out the elements when the time comes.