Directives for Ordering The Lord's Supper

Driving home: It should be often enough to derive regularly its God-intended benefits without leaving it unnecessarily vulnerable to becoming commonplace on the water.

The use of 'as often as' in Revelation 11:6 is given as an example to clarify that the word itself does not mandate a specific frequency for the Lord's Supper.

26, the apostle says, As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he come. And that word, hosakis, means whenever, as often as, and a good illustration of its usage in another context is found in Revelation 11 and verse 6. These have power to shut the heaven that it reign not. During the days of their prophecy, they have power over the waters to turn them into blood

6:01 - 6:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details the primary purpose of the Supper as 'remembrance' (anamnesis) of Christ's crucified person and work, emphasizing that all facets of the service should point to this…

The incident of Peter's betrayal and the cock crowing (Mark 14:72) is used to vividly illustrate how the verb 'anamnesis' means to consciously pull a memory from the mind's 'file draws' and make it a present, pressing impression.

illustrates it very clearly. With reference to the old covenant sacrifices, we read, but in those sacrifices, Hebrews 10.3, there is a remembrance, a conscience, deliberate calling to mind, a remembrance made of sins year by year. So remembrance, then, is a conscious act of mental reflection, a concentration of the mind upon an object, fact, or person. And likewise with the verb anamnesis, in Mark 14.72, you have a very

29:23 - 30:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Remembrance is the means of participation in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10:32 is used to further illustrate 'call to remembrance' as a conscious act of pulling out and gazing upon past incidents, reinforcing the mental reflection aspect of the Supper.

But call to remembrance the former days in which, you were enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, etc. Now, what is he telling them to do? There were incidents in their former days that had not been pulled out of the file draws of the mind and obliterated. They were there. And he says,

32:22 - 32:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Remembrance is the means of participation in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A quotation from J.L. Dagg's 'Manual of Theology' (page 210) is used to capture the essence of the Supper as a memorial of Christ's sufferings and death, particularly his humiliation.

What he did in undertaking our salvation. What we receive as the fruit of his death. And what we owe him as the debt of grace. Dagg, in his systematic, in his, not systematic theology, what's the name of his book? J.L. Dagg?

36:05 - 36:28 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin outlines four secondary purposes: a call to feed on Christ, a visible display of unity, a powerful proclamation of the gospel, and a renewed call to self-examination and…

Another quotation from Dagg (page 210) is used to explain the Supper's secondary purpose of representing the spiritual benefit believers derive from Christ crucified, feeding on him as life.

but it's in remembrance of Him who, as crucified, is our very life, and has stated that in the most graphic terms in the passage in John 6, 55, 53, and in that whole context, a passage which sacramentalists love to apply in a very artificial way to the Supper of Remembrance. And here again I quote Dagg on page 210. While it shows forth the Lord's death, the Supper represents at the same time the spiritual benefit which the believer derives from it. He eats the bread and drinks the fruit of the vine

40:26 - 41:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Use the Supper as an occasion for calls to reconciliation among brethren if necessary, as partaking of one loaf declares unity.

A story of a young lady seeking membership, who described her heart being 'left on the plate' as the bread passed, illustrates how the visible elements of the Supper can confirm spiritual feeding on Christ for unbelievers and new converts.

You are proclaiming, preaching forth the Lord's death until he come. This is why we encourage the children and the unconverted to be present. As the spoken word has reached their ears, let the visible word, reach their eyes, and even their sense of smell. It was a most moving thing when we were interviewing one of the young ladies for membership a few months ago.

45:59 - 46:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of any movement away from the simplicity of apostolic perspectives and directives concerning the Supper of Remembrance.

A reference to John Owen (Volume 8, pages 560-565) is made to underscore the truth that a corruption of the sacraments often accompanies a corruption of the gospel, contrasting the Supper's simplicity with Rome's superstition.

will suffice. The Lord is also sufficient to。」 Let Christ be unknown and unloved, and men will itch for ritual and form to take His place. IWM transcendental and multi-dimensional so shall seen. IWM transcendental and multi-dimensional so shall seen. тест, tesach, locus ministratum, and the

54:07 - 54:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of a legalistic mentality that would rend the body of Christ over circumstantial details pertaining to the supper.

Martin recalls reading someone 'lambasting' those who use anything other than unleavened bread and fermented wine, illustrating the legalistic mentality that divides over circumstantial details.

supper beware of a legalistic mentality that would rend the body of christ over circumstantial details pertaining to the supper church history tells a tragic tale of carnal outbursts and divisions over circumstantial details respecting the supper i remember reading several years ago

56:08 - 56:41 Read in full sermon

Driving home: We felt that in given our situation, we would be forcing them to press upon the people the matter of one cup, whereas regarding this as a circumstance, we felt there was no good reason to press this at the expense of the…

The discussion of the 'one cup' practice and the practical difficulties (germs, alcohol issues) is used to illustrate how legalism over circumstantial details can disrupt unity and cause stumbling.

as we wrestled with that whole question of one cup, and I've been in situations where they profess to have one cup, but generally what they have is one pitcher and at least two silver cups. I don't know that I've ever been in a place where they actually had simply one, but be that as it may. We felt that in given our situation, where in no social situation do we partake of one cup, we don't pass around a common cup, it is not a part of our common social situation, some people would find it tremendously distracting, they would feel they were tempting God to pick up someone else's germs, others ...

61:39 - 62:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Study carefully the issue of open or closed communion, as your people will eventually raise the question if you are teaching them to think biblically.

The incidents of Paul at the communion service in Troas and his reception in Jerusalem (Acts 9) are used in arguments for and against strict closed communion, highlighting the complexities of the issue.

in good standing of any specific individual local assembly have a right to come to the table. That's closed communion in the strictest sense. In a more loose sense, there would be some like Dagg, who hold basically to closed communion, who would say that where you have other members from other specific assemblies made up of immersed, professed disciples walking in fellowship with Christ and not under corrected discipline. They use the incident. Paul was obviously welcome to the communion service at Troas,

68:58 - 69:39 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin urges careful study of the open vs. closed communion debate, outlining different positions (strict closed, loose closed, semi-open, fully open) and providing the rationale…

Martin shares how Trinity's communion practice often leads to conversations with visitors who question their policy, providing opportunities to challenge their 'freelance Christianity' and lack of local church identification.

Now, it's amazing how many times we've had good opportunities to speak to people when they've come to us after communion service and said to me or one of the other elders, you know, I must not have heard you right, but I thought I heard you say in the announcements that your practice was ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-dum. And since I didn't want to cause offense, I didn't partake of the supper, but you really, did I hear you wrongly that you only welcome church members? And he said, no, you heard us rightly. Well, how come?

79:22 - 79:50 Read in full sermon

The point: If necessary, in the early days, have a practice session with those who are going to administer and serve the elements.

The practice of wedding rehearsals is used as an analogy to argue for the importance of practice sessions for distributing communion elements, ensuring dignity and preventing distraction.

Nothing wrong whatsoever. If people have rehearsals for a wedding, so that nothing in that wedding distracts from the central concerns, so that there is dignified joy in the wedding ceremony, a ceremony for which there's no express biblical warrant, how much more for the supper of remembrance, a supper which is warranted and mandated by the word of Christ and his apostles. So I urge you, don't get into sloppy practices in the early days. Think through and walk through, if necessary, with the men, where they're going to stand, at what point they're going to stand, so that any visitor who comes,

82:00 - 82:45 Read in full sermon