Acts 2:42 (NKJV) "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers."
How committed is the modern church to Bible study, prayer and the Lord's Supper?
The church talks a lot about the Bible but it doesn't spend much time studying it. There is not a lot of verse-by-verse exposition going on today. The majority of people who call themselves Christians are probably Bible ignorant. Is the church today is steadfastly continuing in prayer? I don't see it. The least attended meeting of the church is its prayer meeting. Are we devoted to prayer? Probably the most neglected and abused activity in churches today is the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. It is misunderstood, misapplied and misplaced. My prayer is that as we study this subject in the next several weeks that we would come to understand and appreciate this very special form of worship, the Lord's Supper.
The first thing that we want to consider this morning is that the Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the church. What exactly is an ordinance? According to Henry Thiessen, "An ordinance can be defined as an outward rite instituted by Christ to be administered in the church as a visible sign of the saving truth of the Christian faith. An ordinance is a statute, an edict, a mandate, or law, it is obligatory for every believer".
Three things mark an event as an ordinance: it was prescribed by Jesus Christ; it was practiced by the early church; it was expounded theologically by the apostles in the Epistles. The Protestant church recognizes only two ordinances, the Lord's Supper and Baptism. The focus of our study is the Lord's Supper.
Does the Lord's Supper fulfill the requirements to be an ordinance of the Church? It was prescribed by Jesus Christ.
Luke 22:19 (NKJV) "And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
It was practiced by the early church as we saw in Acts 2:42; Acts records other instances of the early church practicing the Lord's Supper. Thus we can conclude that the Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the church. The ordinance of baptism emphasizes our entrance into the Church and the Lord's Supper emphasizes our continuance in the Christian life. That is why we continually, repeatedly celebrate the Lord's Supper.
Since the Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the church there are three implications we must note: it is only for believers; it is for all believers; it is obligatory for all believers.
The Lord's Supper is only for believers. The names used to describe it give some indication of the exclusive nature of the Lord's Supper. It is called Communion; it is only for those who are in communion with Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (NKJV) "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? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread."
If a person is not part of His body through faith then he should not partake of the Lord's Supper. It is also called a remembrance. A person can't remember the Lord and what he has done for him through His death if he doesn't know Him. The Lord's Supper is also called the Eucharist which is from the Greek word eucharisteo which means to give thanks or to bless. This is my favorite term even though it sounds very Catholic and not often used by Protestants. Eucharist is a very beautiful and appropriate name for this ordinance since it is only for the individual who can genuinely give thanks for the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
Since the Lord's Supper is only for believers we need to make it clear that it is for believers only. Parents, you must make sure that your children understand and believe the gospel before they participate in this ordinance.
The second implication of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper is that it is for all believers. Many churches argue over the idea of an open or closed communion. What does the Bible teach? Communion is closed to unbelievers and to those who are under the discipline of the church (1 Cor. 5). On the other hand, it is open to every other individual who is a believer in Jesus Christ. It is the Lord's Supper, not Faith Bible Church's supper. This ordinance was given to the church as a whole, not to a particular denomination.
Romans 15:7 (NKJV) "Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God."
A local church is to receive into the fellowship of the Lord's Supper everyone whom the Lord has received. If you are a believer you are welcome at the Lord's Supper here at Faith Bible Church.
Since the Lord's supper is an ordinance of the church prescribed by our Lord. That reveals how important it is to remember the Lord through this ordinance; it is an act of obedience and worship that He has commanded us to do.
Many people talk about how they love the Lord, but do they really? Jesus said, "If you love me keep my commandments." One of his commandments is "do this in remembrance of me." Many talk about wanting to please God, yet they don't obey the command He gave on the last night before he died for them. Many talk of loving to worship God, yet they don't worship Him in the highest form of worship. Too much of what we call worship today is man centered. Its aim is to make man feel good and not to give worth to God.
Sometimes we struggle to know God's will on a certain issue, but these ordinances are clearly commanded as a vital part of God's will for our lives. They should not be taken lightly and certainly they shouldn't be ignored.
The Lord's Supper was prescribed by the Lord, practiced by the early church, expounded by the apostles and given for you and me to do in remembrance of Him. We can conclude that the Lord's Supper is an ordnance of the Church.
The second thing I want us to see is that this ordinance is rooted in the celebration of the Passover. Any study of the Lord's Supper must begin with the Passover. Exodus 12 lays down the regulations for the Passover.
Exodus 12:3-7 (KJV) "Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it."
The Jews were kill a spotless lamb on the fourteenth day which symbolized the Lamb of God who died for us. Its blood was to be applied to the doorposts and lintel of the peoples' houses. By doing this the inhabitants could avoid the death of the firstborn (12:13). The Israelites had been protected from the previous plagues ( 9:7; 9:26; 10:23), but for the final plague, each family had to act on the warning, thus demonstrating their faith in God's provision for their safety.
Exodus 12:12-14 (NKJV) 'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the house where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting (a lasting ordinance) ordinance."
The words "pass through" in verse 12 mean a coming in judgement. There was death in every house, Egyptian and Israelite. Either a lamb died and his blood was on the door post or the first born died. Romans explains this to us:
Romans 3:10 (NKJV) "As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;" Romans 3:23 (NKJV) "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
Romans 6:23 (NKJV) "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
All men are sinners; the penalty of sin is death. Sin must be judged, and you will die for your sins unless you trust in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ who died for you.
The words "pass over" means "to hover over" or "to protect." God said, "When I see the blood I will hover over you and when the death angel comes I will protect you".
Exodus 12:23-27 (NKJV) "For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons (as a lasting ordinance) forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' that you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.' " So the people bowed their heads and worshiped."
The children of Israel kept this ordinance for about 1500 years.
In Matthew 26, in the midst of the Passover celebration our Lord instituted the Lord's Supper.
Matthew 26:26-28 (NKJV) "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
The Lord's Supper was instituted the day before the crucifixion, the night on which Jesus was betrayed. He was in the upper room with his disciples, and the Passover celebration had begun. The Lord's Supper was instituted in the midst of the celebration of the Passover. That is very appropriate because both of them are a memorial. Passover was a memorial of God's physical deliverance of his children from their bondage in Egypt through the blood of the lamb. The Lord's Supper is a memorial of the spiritual deliverance of God's people from their bondage to sin and death. That deliverance is through the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Both Passover and the Lord's Supper are memorial and both of them are anticipatory. Passover anticipated the coming Lamb, the true Passover Lamb who would shed His blood in order to make atonement for God's chosen people. Jesus was crucified during the Passover event. The New Testament identifies Christ with the Passover sacrifice: "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7). What the Passover lamb was to Israel, Jesus Christ is to us. The death of the Passover lamb and the application of its blood to the door posts of the home provided a covering whereby the inhabitants of that home were protected from the just judgement of God and entered into God's salvation. The application of the blood of Jesus Christ by faith to the life of an individual institutes a deliverance from the just judgement of God upon that individual so that he is saved. Just as the Passover lamb died for Israel, Christ died for us: it was a substitutionary vicarious death.
John 1:29 (NKJV) "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
The Lord's Supper is anticipatory: it anticipates the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why the Scriptures say we do it till he comes. Both the Lord's Supper and the Passover are memorials and both are anticipatory.
Two very significant things happened at the moment Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. First, our Lord discarded the celebration of the Passover because all that the Passover had anticipated was fulfilled: the true Passover Lamb was about to die for the sin of the world. The Lord's Supper is a memorial of all that the Passover anticipated. Second, a change of dispensation, or economy, or covenant took place. The symbol of the Old Covenant was replaced by the symbol of the New Covenant. We are now living under the New Covenant and the symbol of the New Covenant is the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper held a very important place in the worship of the early church. It was observed from the very beginning of the church.
Acts 2:41-42 (NKJV) "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers."
They "continued steadfastly" the Greek word is proskartereo which means to be earnest toward, to be constantly diligent, to adhere closely, to be devoted to. They diligently observed two things: the apostles' doctrine, which was the New Testament Scripture, and fellowship, which consisted of breaking of bread and prayer.
The term "breaking of bread" is metonymy for the whole meal. Metonymy is a figure of speech where an initial or prominent feature is taken to represent the whole thing. That's what you have here, the breaking of bread is metonymy for the whole meal. In the days of the NT they didn't have silverware, so they ate with bread. The first thing that they did during a meal was to break a loaf of bread (it wasn't sliced then) and give each person a piece which became their utensil for eating the meal. Breaking of bread speaks of the whole meal.
In the days of the New Testament believers had a meal in conjunction with the Lord's Supper just as they had done with the Passover. It began by the breaking of the bread which represented Christ's body given for us. Then they ate a meal, similar to our pot-luck: it was a communal dinner which they concluded by drinking the cup which represented the shed blood of Christ. This was called the love feast or the Agape. It was a communal dinner sanctified by the bread and wine. One of the products of this early New Testament way of celebrating the Lord's Supper was fellowship. The Lord's Supper is a time of fellowship with the Lord and other believers. We have an evening service once a month at Faith Bible Church so that we can have the Lord's Supper and a time to share what the Lord is doing in our lives.
This communal dinner around the Lord's Supper was continued on a daily basis in the early church according to Acts 2:46 (NKJV):
"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart."
In the course of time the daily celebration turned into a weekly celebration:
Acts 20:7 (NKJV) "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight."
They met on the first day of the week because that day had been hallowed by the resurrection of the Lord. They met in the evening because many worked in the morning. Note particularly that Acts 20:2 says they met "to break bread" or to observe the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. They also sang hymns and choruses, they prayed, and the Word was taught, but the primary reason for meeting was to observe the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. The apostle Paul was in town but they didn't come to hear him, they came for the Lord's Supper and Paul preached.
We have given priority to everything else except the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. Our churches are often lecture halls or entertainment centers instead of worship centers. We need to put Christ back into our worship: "this do in remembrance of me."
The early church met on the first day of the week and they observed the ordinance of the Lord's Supper when they met. If we have the Lord's Supper every week like they did, won't it become commonplace, won't it become so familiar that it loses its meaning? Many people think this line of reasoning is accurate. Shouldn't it apply to other spiritual activities also? Maybe we should only have teaching once a month, or attend church only once a month. Maybe we should only have a monthly prayer meeting so it will stay special. Maybe we should only read our Bibles once a month so it will be special and to avoid it from becoming routine.
I have been married to the same woman for 20 years. I see her every day, and after 20 years I don't like to be separated from her for even a day. And when I am separated from her I really miss her. Why? Why doesn't she become commonplace? Why doesn't our relationship become meaningless? Because I love her and I enjoy being with her. When you are in love with Jesus Christ the Lord's Supper will never become meaningless. To remember Him as he asked you to will always be a joy of your heart.
Someone might ask, "If we are going to follow the example of the early church, why don't we have a meal every week like they did?" The Corinthians were having an Agape or love feast, but they were abusing it greatly so Paul rebuked them:
1 Corinthians 11:17 (NKJV) "Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse."
He exhorted them to eat at home because of their abuse:
1 Corinthians 11:22 (NKJV) "What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you."
In 11:23-34 he defined the ordinance of the Lord's Supper as it was given to him through the revelation of God. In these verses Paul distinguished between the Agape and the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. The ordinance is the bread and juice; he distinguished this from the Agape. We know from extra-biblical writings, such as the writings of Pliney, Justin Martyr, the Didache and other first and second century writings, that the early church began to meet together on the first day of the week to keep the ordinance, the bread and juice.
We are at liberty to have a meal or to not have a meal, but we are not at liberty to decide whether we will partake of the Lord's Supper. The Lord said "this do"; when a believer does it as an act of obedience and worship, it is the highest expression of devotion and worship to Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to give his life:
Matthew 20:28 (NKJV) "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Remember what he did for you and remember his promise: he's coming back. "If you love me keep my commandments." "This do in remembrance of me." Do we love Him? Are we keeping His commandments?
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