## The Lord's Supper

## I Corinthians 11:23-29

You see sitting before you the elements of the Lord's Supper. They are simple and very common: Bread and wine. Yet they gain their significance in the hands of Christ. They become the most important facts of the Christian faith. They are symbols of His character and His mission here on earth. The Bread represents His body and the Wine represents His shed blood. Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper for one reason: that we might remember those two very important facts of our faith. Tonight we are going to observe this very important ordinance. It will be well for us to return to the Scripture and be reminded of the significance of what we are about to do. Read: I Co. 11:2

I. Remember His Incarnation.

A. He took the bread and said, 'This is my body'.

1. Ro. 8:3, "...God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh..."

2. He took the body prepared for Him by the Father.

3. He took it so that there could be a visible sacrifice for the sin of the world.

B. He took on the body of flesh willingly.

1. Phil, 2:7, "...made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men"

2. The taking of bread is symbolic of the willingness of Christ to take the body of flesh.

3. It was a voluntary act, He did not have to do it for us.

C. As we take the bread willingly tonight, let us remember the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. He stepped down from glory and then He stepped into our place.

2. He gave Himself for us.

II. Remember His Devotion.

A. He gave thanks.

1. Consider the meaning here, He took the body and thanked God for it.

2. He gave thanks for a body that was about to be bruised and broken on the cross.

3. He thanked the Father for the privilege to die for a guilty and unthankful world.

B. He showed His whole-hearted devotion to God.

1. He was willing to do the awful task that was set before Him.

2. In Gethsamane He prayed, "Not my will, but Thine be done."

3. It is that surrendered will that God seeks from each of us; He is longing to hear those same words from us.

III. Remember His Suffering.

A. After giving thanks, He broke it.

1. Every word and act seems to be full of meaning.

2. It was after His season of prayer in Gethsamene that the soldiers and crowd came to take Him on one of the cruelest walks ever.

3. It was after He said, Not my will, but Thine; that He was beaten and abused by the very souls that He was about to give His life for.

B. He broke it Himself.

1. He gave Himself a sacrifice for our sins.

2. He said, 'No man taketh my life from me: I lay it down of myself.'

3. Eph. 5:2, "...Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us..."

4. Because of His love for us, He was willing to die upon the cross.

C. His body was broken not by accident.

1. 'This is my body, which is broken for you'

2. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. Is. 53:5

3. His precious blood was shed for our redemption.

4. All of His agony was for us ... He wants us to remember as we partake of the supper tonight.

IV. Remember His Invitation.

A. He said, "Take, eat:"

1. After the atonement has been made by His suffering and death, there comes the invitation to partake of the benefits purchased.

2. He has suffered all the pain and misery of the cross for us.

3. He has paid the 'wages of sin' for us.

4. Now it is available for us to receive the blessings of His grace.

5. The song says, "He did it all for me"

B. He said, "This do in remembrance of me".

1. There is no virtue in eating the bread and drinking the wine, if that is all we do.

2. The elements of the supper are memorials of what He has done for us in giving His body and His blood as a ransom for our souls.

3. Without the remembrance of this, the partaking becomes a ritual without meaning or purpose.

4. The importance does not lie with how often we observe but with how well we remember what it all means.

V. Remember His Purpose.

A. "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come"

1. There are no symbolic ordinances given to show forth His birth.

2. Nor to show forth His transfiguration, or His ascension.

3. His purpose in the institution of it was that His death might be kept before our minds often.

4. This is important, because all our salvation has come out of it, and all the hopes of the lost are found in it.

5. This is why the apostle Paul said., "...we preach Christ crucified..."

B. "...till He come."

1. This ordinance is but a temporary one.

2. When Jesus returns, we will have no need of a reminder... He will be our remembrance.

3. The scars in the hands and feet of Jesus will be our eternal reminders of what He has done for us.

4. illus, pictures of Pat and Brandon while I was away from them reminded me of the times we were together.

5. Jesus reminds us of what He has done for us through the Lord's Supper, but it is also a reminder of what will take place in the future.

6. He points to His Second Coming and encourages us through His Word, ''I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Jn. 14:3b

The observance of the Lord's Supper is not the traditions of men. It was ordained and established by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a very important part of our worship. However, it must never be entered into lightly, without serious self-examination. Read: v27-29.

Tonight Let's examine ourselves in the light of God's Word, and see there is something that would hinder our fellowship with God during this observance. If there is, we need to confess it before God and make it right. Tonight, we need to remember what Christ did for us; consider our lives before Kim; and realize that He is coming again.