In the margin of my King James Bible, editors summarize this paragraph saying: “Sanctity of the Lord’s Supper.” But the words “Lord’s Supper” are not mentioned here in this scripture. It is not until we get to chapter 11, verse 20 that we read about “eating the Lord’s supper.” “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat THE LORD’S SUPPER. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. 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.” Even in chapter 11, it is – almost only in passing – that Paul refers to “the Lord’s supper.” Nevertheless, it is proper to call this Biblical ordinance by that name. It is perhaps the best name or title to give to this ordinance.
And let’s start right there – with the word “ordinance.” Chapter 11 begins with “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ORDINANCES, as I delivered them to you.” Historically, there have been some who believed that there were more, but most Baptists today believe there are two church ordinances – baptism and the Lord’s supper. They are linked in many ways, including the story they tell – the death of Christ for our sins. They are both illustrations, not sacraments. As I say, they tell a story; they are not the story in themselves. They point to the Saviour, but there is no salvation in them. The Lord’s supper is one of our ordinances.
We’ll come to chapter 11 and its reference to “the Lord’s supper” in a few minutes, but for now I’d like to return to our opening text. Paul speaks of the cup in the Lord’s Supper as “the COMMUNION of the blood of Christ.” And “the bread which we break, is it not the COMMUNION of the body of Christ?” Then he adds, “For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread.”
Let’s think about the two Biblical, descriptive names for the second ordinance of our church.
Periodically, Calvary Baptist Church celebrates the LORD’S SUPPER.
There is nothing unusual or surprising about the word “supper.” The Greek lexicographers tell us that it usually speaks of an evening meal. Yes, Noah Webster agrees with the Greek experts saying that “supper” is the evening meal. But then Webster says that “dinner” is the afternoon meal, proving once again that no one is perfect. Very often, in the Bible, “supper” is a SPECIAL evening meal. “Herod on his BIRTHDAY made a SUPPER to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee…” Among other scriptures, Jesus, in a parable said, “When thou makest a DINNER or a SUPPER, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.” And in another place: “a certain man made a GREAT supper, and bade many…”
There is nothing special about the word “supper,” but when it is described as “the LORD’S Supper,” speaking of “the supper of the Lord Jesus Christ,” it BECOMES special. How many suppers did the Lord Jesus eat during His lifetime? Hundreds? Thousands? How many “GREAT suppers” or SPECIAL suppers did He enjoy? There were several. But there was one which superceded all the others. It came after His final observance of the Passover. It was with only His disciples, and it followed the departure of Judas Iscariot, the unsaved disciple. The ingredients in that special supper were wine or fruit of the vine and bread. And as we are told, they represented the shed blood and broken body of our Saviour.
The Lord’s Supper belongs to Christ, and He has given it to His churches and the members of those churches for the purpose of remembering His sacrifice for their sins. As such, it is holy; it belongs to the King, our Lord. We need to maintain it as it was given to us as best we can. We must not desecrate it by changing it into the means of our salvation. We must not disrespect it by using hamburgers and Cokes or pizza and Red Bull. It is the LORD’S supper, not ours. And it is to be kept by those whom He has saved until the day when He comes again. “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
In chapter 11 Paul castigates those who attempted to fill their bellies with the bread and wine, when the Lord’s supper was meant to fill their souls. “What? Have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God?” “Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” We are talking about the LORD’S supper; it is not ours to manipulate or mutilate as we choose. “If any man hunger, let him eat at home; that he come not together unto condemnation.”
And to keep communion as the LORD’S supper, one of the things we do here at Calvary Baptist is serve the elements to only our church members. Just as Jesus didn’t share His last supper with anyone but His eleven disciples, we believe the Bible to teach that we shouldn’t offer it to Christians who are not members of our congregation. We aren’t judging the salvation of anyone – we aren’t trying to be mean or vindictive – we are just trying to follow the pattern which the Lord Jesus established for His supper. Jesus didn’t share His last supper with the 70 evangelists or with the 120 who gathered together later on the Day of Pentecost. There are other reasons why the Lord’s supper is restricted, and we’ll come to some of them in a moment. This is called “the LORD’S supper” for a reason.
It is the second name for this ordinance that I’d most like to consider this afternoon – “COMMUNION.”
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” That word “communion” is not a special Lord’s supper word; it is not an abstract, esoteric or limited word. It simply speaks of “fellowship.” The Greek word “koinonia” is translated “fellowship” three times more often than “communion.” They mean the same thing. So this verse could say, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the FELLOWSHIP of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the FELLOWSHIP of the body of Christ?”
My question for this afternoon is this: with whom is this communion and fellowship shared? Paul completes his thought about “communion“ in chapter 10 by saying, “For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread.” The Lord’s supper is a church ordinance. It is shared by people who all know the Lord as Saviour. It is an act of worship which is observed as a congregation, not as individuals. If someone is a Christian and wants the Lord’s supper, they should join one of the Lord’s churches. If I can put it this way, the Lord’s supper is a good reason to join a scriptural church and to maintain good fellowship with that church.
The Lord’s supper is, first of all, about communion with the Saviour. But ask yourself: when was the last time that you communed with the Lord? When did you last pray? When was the last time you thanked the Lord for His blessings – His salvation? When did you last spend time in fellowship or communion with your Saviour? If it was the last time we celebrated the Lord’s supper, then I worry about your relationship with Christ. Shouldn’t we be in constant contact with God? continually in prayer? constantly setting our affections and attentions on things above and not on the earth? While the Lord’s supper is special and important, it must not be the only time we commune with the Lord.
In the case of the Lord’s supper, the communion is not only vertical, but also horizontal. The Lord’s supper is a church ordinance, which means that it is to be observed as a family of believers. And under those conditions, the Lord’s supper is a communion of the family with the head of that family. It should not be an afternoon snack; something to be nibbled on in front of your TV or computer. The Lord’s supper is not a little pick-me-up for when we are feeling down – a spiritual energy drink that you wouldn’t dare give to your kids. It is not a picnic lunch shared with that one person with whom you are most intimate.
And by the way – it is not a means of racking up religious points with the Lord. It is a special meal – a great supper – to which the whole church family is invited to celebrate the Lord. It is not unlike a “Thanksgiving Meal.” It is an opportunity for fellowship with the Saviour, but also a time of communion with our immediate family. “For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread.”
It is commonly believed that the next chapter – I Corinthians 11 – encourages the brethren of the Corinthian church to examine their relationship with one another as well as their relationship with the Lord. “Let a man examine himself,” before he receives the cup of the Lord. Not only should we make sure there is “nothing between my soul and the Saviour”… If there is a schism in the local church body, and one member of the body is at odds with another member, then they need to be reconciled, restoring proper communion. They can’t properly fellowship with the Lord, if they can’t fellowship with each other. To borrow Paul’s words from chapter 12 – “The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; for again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” The celebration of the Lord’s supper should be a time when our fellowship with the Lord strengthens our fellowship with one another.
In reading a book on doctrine and history the other day, I ran across an appropriate quotation. This was written nearly 500 years ago, in 1541, so the language might sound a little unusual. Peter Riedman, an Anabaptist, wrote these words about the elements of the Lord’s Supper: “The loaf (or the bread) is formed from the grinding and mingling of many grains of wheat and (the cup comes from) the crushing of individual grapes. Individuality is given up for unity, symbolizing the fellowship of the disciples and the church; thus the meal or the partaking of the bread and wine of the Lord is a sign of (the) community of His body, in that each and very member thereby declareth himself to be of the one mind, heart, and spirit of Christ.” To take the Lord’s supper individually, whether at home or even in succession, first one and then another, one-by-one, as the Catholics and Protestants do, robs the membership of its horizontal fellowship. Communion should bring the church together around the essential doctrine of the gospel – the shed blood and broken body of the Saviour.
In the light of these things, and before we celebrate the Lord’s sacrifice, I encourage you, to make an examination. If you are not in proper fellowship with the Lord or with His church, then you need to admit it and confess to the Lord your problem coupling it to a promise to correct it. Or if you are at odds with someone in the church, go to that person, and make things right between you. We cannot be in proper communion with the Lord if we are not in proper fellowship with one another.
Is there anyone among us who is out of fellowship with the church or some other member, who needs to confess their sin to that person or to the church? Now is the time. I am going to give you that opportunity. Paul says, “Let a man examine himself…” and “if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” Lets bow our hearts before the Lord, asking Him to reveal “if there be any wicked way” in us.
Do you need to confess your sin before the Lord and His people? I urge you to do it now. Do you need to go to one of the brethren seeking to be reconciled? Before we celebrate the supper, I will give you a moment.