The Lord's Supper as a Means of Grace (1)

The Perversion of God's Precious Gifts: The Corinthian Example

0:04 The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, January 23, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn again in the word of God to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And while several verses in this passage are very familiar to the members of this assembly and those who come to the Lord's table with us, some of the words in the preceding and following context may not be as familiar, so may I urge you to give careful attention to this portion of the word of God as I read it in your hearing. 1 Corinthians 11, verses 17 to the end. But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that you come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it.

1:21 For there must also be factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you. Whence? When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord's supper. For in your eating, each one taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

1:47 What? Have you not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise you the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say?

2:01 Shall I praise you? In this I praise you not. For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you, this do in remembrance of me.

2:30 Like manner also. The cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

2:44 Or as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup. You proclaim the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

3:13 For he that eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body. For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

3:45 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait one for another. If any man is hungry, let him eat at home. That your coming together be not unto judgment. And the rest.

4:01 Will I set in order, whensoever I come. Now let us again ask God's blessing particularly now upon the opening up of his holy word. Let us pray.

4:19 Our Father, we thank you that again we are privileged to bow our heads and we trust our hearts. Acknowledging that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. That it's only in your light. That we shall see light.

4:38 That a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Oh Lord, we would receive of you this morning. Therefore, we come pleading that you will give. Give freely of your Holy Spirit, we pray, to both preacher and listener alike.

4:59 That receiving from your hand, we may be good stewards of that which is given. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. He's

5:26 You and I, young and old alike must never underestimate the perverse ability of men to take the most precious gifts of God. And convert them into a curse. Never underestimate. Men's ability to take the most precious gifts of God.

5:41 And convert them into a curse. and convert them into a curse. Think of it. It was approximately only 20 years from the time Jesus, in an upper room, in a context of family intimacy, said the words, Take, eat, this is my body, this do in remembrance of me, approximately 20 years from that incident on the eve of his crucifixion, to the writing of Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church, in which he had to say, as we have heard in the reading of this passage, with reference to that very supper instituted by the Lord Jesus, verse 20, It is not possible to eat the Lord's supper. Something had happened and was going on in the church at Corinth, that though they were engaging in what they said was the Lord's supper, Paul said the circumstances being what they are, it is impossible to truly be having the Lord's supper. Verse 27,

7:06 He speaks of eating of the bread and drinking the cup in an unworthy manner, and being guilty, not of a holy and a sanctified remembrance of the body and blood of the Lord, but to be guilty of profaning the realities symbolized by the bread and the cup. Think of it. The supper of remembrance becoming a charade of profanation. 20 years from its institution.

7:45 By the Lord himself. Furthermore, verse 30, He said it is because of what is going on at the so-called keeping of the Lord's table, that many of the Corinthians were under chastisements manifested in physical maladies and in premature death. For this cause many among you are weak and sickly and not a few sleep. And then in verse, verse 34 he said if changes are not made your coming together ostensibly for the Lord's supper will be a coming together unto judgment.

8:30 Now do you feel something of the horror of what men can do with the most sacred gifts of God? Hear the Lord Jesus on the night of his betrayal takes time to think of his people, and then he says, and their weakness and vulnerability when he will be absent from them. And he institutes a simple supper of remembrance that involved the breaking and the eating of bread and the drinking of the fruit of the vine from a cup. And in 20 years in a church and nurtured by the Apostle Paul, blessed with the ministry of other eminent servants, Jesus Christ has converted the great blessing of the Lord's table into the mess that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. So this is not preachers rhetorical hyperbole.

The Lord's Supper as a Corporate Means of Grace

9:42 When I say you and I must never underestimate man's ability to take the most precious gifts of God, and all too quickly to turn them, into a curse. Now why have I drawn your attention to this passage, and sought to capture your interest by what I trust, is a striking way of expressing the realities embodied in the passage? Or for the simple reason that in our ongoing consideration of the manifesto of Trinity Baptist church, we are considering those things which comprise a balanced doctrine of the christian lives, the Christian faith, the Christian doctrine of the Christian faith, the Christian faith, the Christian faith, and the Christian faith, the Christian faith, and the Christian faith, and the Christian faith, life, the teaching and expectations of which we are determined as a church to maintain. And the fifth principle of a balanced biblical teaching of the Christian life that we are presently examining and amplifying is this, that there are no effective substitutes for the God-appointed means of grace in living the Christian life. Now having identified and opened up those disciplines or means of grace which constitute

11:03 the individual or private means of grace, we are presently considering the corporate or the public means of grace using Acts 2.42 as a basic outline. Of those means as they emerged very early in the Jerusalem church under the guidance of the entire apostolate as it existed at that time. For we read of that early church, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

11:47 They are described in their corporate life as a people who were continually involved in the reception of the word of God, continually involved with the people of God, continually remembering the Son of God, and continually crying out for the blessing of God. That's how their corporate life is described. And in our previous studies, we have dealt with what it means for a congregation to continue steadfastly in the apostles' teaching in terms of the centrality of the reading, teaching, and preaching of the word of God as a public means of grace. Then for a number of weeks, we were involved in opening up the concept of fellowship. What does it mean to continue steadfastly in the fellowship? And as I indicated in our overview last week, our development of that aspect of the public means of grace is being bumped into the Sunday evening ministry, God willing to be resumed in the very near future.

13:06 And so this morning, we come to the third of these four major public means of grace identified by Luke under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread. Now, while it is quite likely, and Dr. Bob laid out that matter several weeks ago in treating this passage, that the practice in Jerusalem involved a common meal culminating in the special activity that we call the communion service or the Lord's Supper.

13:47 And while it is very clear, not merely quite likely, but very clear that at Corinth, there was a general feast subsequently called the agape or love feast that preceded the Lord's Supper and culminated in the Lord's Supper, our concern is to focus upon that which alone is given to us as a standing institution. Within the church, namely, the Lord's Supper involving not a common meal for general nourishment, but a special meal involving the breaking of bread in remembrance of his body given for us, the drinking of the cup in remembrance of his blood shed for us, and this being done in remembrance of him. There is a word in the New Testament. Kuriakos, which means the Lord's possession, and it's used only of two things. Of the Lord's day, Revelation 1.10, and the Lord's Supper here in 1 Corinthians chapter

The Biblical Basis: Christ's Original Command

15:05 11. And so in opening up this subject then of this continual remembrance of the Son of God in his own. The Lord's Supper, our first line of concern will be to consider the biblical basis for observing the Lord's Supper. That's all we'll have time to do this morning.

15:30 Then God willing, next week, and most likely it will take a third, we'll look at the major biblical concerns relative to the Lord's Supper. Who should participate? What is its central significance? And how should it be?

15:47 How should it be conducted? So then this morning we take up the biblical basis for observing the Lord's Supper. Now the basis for a specific observance of a ritual involving the eating of bread and the drinking of the fruit of the vine, in the confidence that such an activity done in the way of God's appointment, will actually become a means to strengthen the spiritual life and faith, increase our love to the Triune God, and advance us in holiness. On what basis do we have any grounds to think that such a supper will accomplish such ends? What is the biblical basis for observing the Lord's Supper as a means of grace? For as surely as the church at Jerusalem continued steadfastly in the observance of the Lord's Supper, in the apostles' teaching and in the fellowship, they continued steadfastly in the breaking literally of the bread, though in the parallel passage in Acts 20 and verse 7 the definite article is not used, so no case can be built for its inclusion or exclusion.

17:08 Well, thankfully, unlike some things where the biblical basis is rather subterranean, it must be sought out by deduction and inference and careful collation of many materials, and that's God's prerogative to reveal His will that way. And it's for us to mortify our laziness when we must discover God's will that way, where to hunt for His truth is for hid treasure. It doesn't all lie on the surface, as though someone scattered a bag of diamonds on your living room rug. But thankfully, when we ask the question, what is the biblical basis for observing the Lord's Supper, the answer is very clear and very simple.

17:53 It is comprised of two simple, irrefutable lines of biblical evidence. Number one, the original command of the Lord Jesus Christ, and secondly, the apostolic perpetuation of that command by practice and precept. So we have the command of the Lord Jesus Himself, and the apostolic perpetuation of that command, by practice and precept. First of all then, the original command of the Lord Jesus.

18:25 The record of the original institution of the Lord's Supper is given to us in three places in the Gospels. Matthew 26.26-29, Mark 14.24-25, and Luke 22.14-20.

18:46 Now three accounts we come to the conclusion that at the end of the ordinary Passover meal with its prescribed rituals those prescribed by God to which were added other rituals current in its observance at that particular day in which our Lord and his apostles lived that at the end of that ordinary Passover meal our Lord clearly instituted a new meal with a radically new significance in conjunction with a blessed new covenant and it's in Luke's account alone that we find that aspect of the original institution which gives us the basis for an ongoing observance of the Lord's suffering. In fact it is striking there is a phrase comprised of four or five Greek words that is found in exactly one-to-one parallel in the account of the apostle with reference to what he had received

20:01 from the Lord and had previously delivered unto the Corinthian church. Turn then to Luke chapter 22 as we're asking the question what is the biblical basis of the Lord's suffering? The first line of biblical evidence is the original command of the Lord Jesus. Luke chapter 22 I begin reading at verse 14 and when the hour was come he sat down and the apostles with him and he said unto them with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you and I have desired to eat this Passover before I suffer for I say unto you I shall not eat it until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he received a cup and when he had given thanks He said take this and divide it among yourselves for. I say unto you I shall not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the Vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And He took bread and when He had given thanks He broke it and gave to them saying.

21:13 This is my body which is given for myself. And when He had given thanks and then he had said, this is what I have given to the LORD. That is what he said to him and he said, take this when you shall goards the locked discourse that I saw firsthand and you have oh ye will pass out this and you will come to us and you are too with me. then came to a peace of the Lord and we will seethe with holy more and please be grateful that that will силeth and be with you.

21:15 given for you, this do in remembrance of me. And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, you see, Luke is underscoring that this is a different cup. We already had described one of the cups that was used in conjunction with the ordinary Passover meal, but now we have been introduced to a breaking of bread which has a new significance. There is the breaking of bread, the giving of thanks, and then a word of explanation. This bread, not the roasted Passover lamb in which you celebrate the great deliverance of your fathers out of Egypt. Oh no. Now you are to eat not a lamb in remembrance of deliverance, but a out of Egypt. You are to eat bread in remembrance of me, particularly in terms of my body which is given for you. This do, not in remembrance of the great deliverance of God on behalf

22:29 of your fathers in Egypt, but in distinctive, focused remembrance of me, of me in terms of what I am about to do in a few hours. When I shall carry in my body up to the tree the sins of all of my people, when I shall be slain as a sacrificial offering, and the altar will be an instrument of execution established by the Roman government, and there I, the innocent one, will be accursed as I vicariously bear the curse of a broken law on behalf of my people. This bread stands for, represents my body given for you. This do in remembrance of me, and the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you. Now in the midst of this clear institution of a new meal, with a radically new meal, the bread of the new covenant, the bread of the new covenant, the bread of the new covenant, the bread of the new covenant, the bread of the new covenant, the bread of the new covenant, the bread of the new covenant, of the new

24:01 soon death. R partager, we see here that, thinkLet's pray, when Jesus comes to you the first big meal of the month, when you come into the place of the Father, that you give him your life, and your wife, and you'll live together because of that gravity. Nikki take the bread if you want, and so continue the journey, the bread if you wish, until I now am ready to eat thee and the him of the Son, and this is the bread of the in remembrance, in calling to mind myself. And in those words, we have three very specific things.

24:25 Number one, a special activity is to be imitated. This thing, do. What thing? The thing I have just done.

24:37 I have broken bread. I have said this bread symbolizes my body, which is for you. You are to take it. You are to eat it.

24:47 You are to do this. A specific activity is to be imitated. In this context, the words this do are only used with reference to the bread. But as we find from the analogy of scripture, they apply equally to the cup.

25:07 For the words are repeated. They are repeated in the words of institution, which the apostle says he received directly from his Lord. So do you see that? A specific act is to be imitated.

25:21 This thing, do. Not the thing invented by the superstitions of the Roman church centuries later. In which for centuries, Latin mumbo-jumbo was said over the wafer and over the cup. And they were to become.

25:39 A bloodless but real offering up to God of the body and blood of Christ. Blasphemous, imaginative, hellish, damning nonsense.

25:51 He took simple bread.

25:55 He blessed. He broke. He said this thing.

26:01 Not some other thing that men will invent. Not some other thing that men will concoct out of the stuff of their own imaginations. This thing, do. A specific act is to be imitated.

26:15 Secondly, it is to be continually engaged in. This thing be ye continually doing. Present imperative. Start doing it and continue to do it.

26:28 And thirdly, it is to be done when he will no longer be with them. This thing be ye continually doing in remembrance of. Here he's clearly more than suggesting. He's announcing.

26:45 I won't be here for you to see me.

26:49 When I'm at home with my wife, I don't take out the picture that's in my satchel of her and of the grandchildren. The pictures that always come out when I'm away and in a motel or in someone's home. When I have my wife, I don't need her picture.

27:07 He says, I'm going to be leaving you. He had already told them that. As we find in the Upper Room Discourse in John chapter 13. 14, 15, 16.

27:24 He intimates that this is to be continually engaged in. When he is gone. No longer in their midst. And it is to be done in remembrance of him.

27:37 Therefore, when the apostles went forth to fulfill the commission of their risen Lord. Who directed them to the task of making disciples. Baptizing them. Teaching them to observe.

27:50 All things. Whatsoever he commanded. It shouldn't surprise us to find that in that early experience of the Jerusalem church. They were found continuing steadfastly.

28:04 In the apostles doctrine. Fellowship. And in the breaking of the bread. Why?

28:11 Because the original command of the Lord Jesus. Had anticipated. The events that would follow. His death and resurrection.

28:22 And the coming of the spirit. And he had given to his apostles. Explicit. Clear.

28:29 Directives. Concerning. The Lord's. Supper.

The Biblical Basis: Apostolic Perpetuation by Practice and Precept

28:34 But then secondly. The apostolic perpetuation of this command. In their practice. And in their precepts.

28:44 The apostolic perpetuation. Of this command. By their practice. And by their precepts.

28:53 By practice. As we have already seen from Acts 2.42. No sooner does the church come into being.

29:01 But that Luke. Writing. Of the major activities of its corporate life. Says.

29:08 These all continued steadfastly. In the apostles doctrine. Fellowship. Breaking of bread.

29:17 And the prayers. And remember. The entire apostolic. At that time.

29:23 Was what we would say. Was the eldership of Jerusalem. There's no evidence. That elders are yet present as a separate office.

29:31 Later on we find them just appearing. At the end of Acts chapter 11. But at this point. All of the apostles.

29:39 Are the pastors and guides. Of the church at Jerusalem. And remember the unique place of apostles. They are the foundation stones.

29:48 In the building. Of Christ's church. The church is built upon the foundation. Of apostles and prophets.

29:57 Jesus Christ himself. Being the chief cornerstone.

30:03 And when we turn. To a passage. Such as Acts chapter 20. It's what our good friend Jack Seton.

30:09 Calls one of those throwaways. And he uses that term. To describe insights. That often come in just a casual.

30:17 Remark in scripture. And sometimes the arguments. Based upon. Them are more powerful.

30:23 Than even formal. Treatises are. For when Luke writes. About the missionary journeys.

30:29 Of Paul and his many companions. At this point. We read in Acts 20. In verse 7.

30:35 In conjunction with being in Troas. A city. On the coast of Asia Minor. When he's there.

30:44 What does he say about. Him and his companions. And the church. And upon the first.

30:51 Day. Of the week. When we were gathered together. To break bread.

30:58 And all of that is preliminary. To the main concern. Paul discourse with them etc. But you see isn't it beautiful.

31:06 That here in a church. Established by the apostles. Now being visited. By an apostle.

31:14 And now being visited by the apostle. And his companions. Luke writes as a matter of course. Assuming that all the Christians.

31:22 In community would fully understand. The significance. He writes of the Lord's day. And of the Lord's supper.

31:31 Now he doesn't use. The term. But he describes the reality. And upon the first.

31:40 Day of the week. The Lord's day. When we were gathered together. To break bread.

31:49 The Lord's supper. Now let me ask you. Where. How.

31:53 By what means. With a bunch of former pagans. And some Jews. Who had been saved.

32:00 Out of the background of synagogue life. Where would they ever get the notion. That God had instituted a special day. For the gathering of his people.

32:09 And a special supper. For the remembrance of the death. Of the Lord Jesus.

32:15 In a thousand years. Men would not conceive of such. Things left to themselves. It was.

32:23 The fruit. Of universal. Apostolic. Instruction.

32:31 As surely as Paul can write. To the Corinthian church. And say in 1 Corinthians 16. To now when you gather together.

32:39 On the first day of the week. Let each one of you lay by him in store. As God is prospered. He assumes you see.

32:48 That the churches gather. On the Lord's day. And he can assume that. Because he and the other.

32:54 Apostles. Established what is called. Three times in the New Testament. Apostolic traditions.

33:01 Right here in the beginning of chapter 11. In verse 2. Paul praises them. That they hold to.

33:07 The apostolic traditions. He speaks of them again. In 2 Thessalonians 2. And chapter 3.

33:15 Apostolic traditions. That is the practices. Established by the apostles. Under their instruction.

33:23 Become. God's will. And Christ's law. In his church.

33:28 So. The basis. For our observing the Lord's Supper. Is not only the original command.

33:34 Of the Lord Jesus. But the perpetuation of that command. In apostolic first of all. Practice.

Apostolic Precept in 1 Corinthians 11: Divine Authority, Simple Activities, and Perpetuation

33:42 But then by apostolic. Precept. And here we come. To the watershed passage.

33:50 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Here we have apostolic. Precept. The clearest.

33:57 Most extensive. Passage. In the New Testament. Addressing the subject.

34:02 Of the Lord's Supper. And as so many things. In the New Testament. It comes to us.

34:06 In the context. In which Paul. Is addressing the problem. Have you ever thanked God.

34:11 For the problems. Of the early church. Where would we be. Without the letters.

34:15 Written. To solve. Problems. In the New Testament.

34:19 It comes to us. In a context. In which Paul. Is addressing.

34:23 The problem. Of the Lord's Supper. Where would we be. In the context.

34:29 In the context. Of the New Testament. Without the book. Of first John.

34:34 Without Colossians. Without first Corinthians. Without second Corinthians. There are very few.

34:38 Epistles. In the New Testament. That are not. Problem precipitated.

34:42 You follow me. Am I talking nonsense. I can't read your face. See.

34:49 Have you ever said. Thank God. For the problems. The New Testament.

34:53 Church had. Without it. We'd be impoverished. So Paul.

34:58 Has to address. Problems. to address problems that existed in the church at Corinth, and you'll never sort out this section read in your hearing unless you understand several basic things, and the best summary I've found of those things is in Hodge's commentary among the many commentators, so will you bear with me, I don't often quote a lengthy paragraph, but I'm committed to your edification, immediate and long term, and I believe this will be most contributive to that edification. This section relates to the disorders connected with the celebration of the Lord's Supper. These disorders were of a kind which, according to our method of celebrating that sacrament, almost seem unaccountable, and we say amen. It was, however, the early custom to connect the Lord's Supper, in the strict sense of the words, with an ordinary meal. As this sacrament was instituted by our Lord at the close of the beginning of Passover Supper, so it appears to have been customary at the beginning for the Christians to assemble for a common meal and to connect with it the commemoration of the Redeemer's death. Intimations of this usage may be found in Acts 2, verse 42, our text, Acts 20, and

36:20 verse 7, gathering to break bread, from which narrative it appears to have been an ordinary meal. Whatever may be thought of these passages, it is clear from the paragraph before us, the lengthy paragraph I read in your hearing, 1 Corinthians 11, 17, to the end of the chapter, it is clear from this paragraph before us that at Corinth, at least, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was connected with a regular meal. This may have arisen, not so much from the original institution of the Lord's Supper in connection with the Passover, but from the Holy Mass, the Passover Supper as from the sacred festivals both of the Jews and the Greeks. Both classes had been accustomed to unite with their sacrifices a feast of a more or less public character. It is also evident that agreeably to a familiar Grecian custom, the persons assembled brought their own provisions. Potluck placed it on a common table. The rich brought plentifully, the poor brought little or nothing. It was the

37:28 most, however, essential to the very idea of a Christian feast that it should be a communion, that all of the guests at the table of their common Lord should be on the terms of equality. The wealthy sharing their wealth with the poor, and the poor participating in the beneficence and kindness and generosity of the wealthy. Instead of this fraternal union, there were divisions among the Corinthians even at the Lord's table. II. The rich eating by themselves the provisions which they had brought, and leaving their poorer brethren mortified and hungry. Some were even getting smashed. Some were even drunk. They were so stingy with their wine they imbibed too much. Even when they were

38:16 filling their bellies with food and metabolizing the alcohol, they still managed to drink too much until he said, there in preparation for the supper of remembrance, you are indulging in sins for which the Son of God shed his blood. Now, it's that background, you see, and to correct those disorders that Paul wrote this paragraph. Does that help you to sort out many of the strands of it? Now, without attempting a detailed exposition of the entire paragraph, what I want you to note in the apostolic precept here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, basically three things regarding the Lord's Supper, and this is why we continue to commemorate the Lord's Supper. What are the dominant ideas in the reminder which Paul gives to the Corinthians? Number one, that the Lord's Supper was instituted in the Corinthian church by divine authority. Verse 23, I received, and there's a strong emphasis upon the I, as you know, in the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Supper was instituted in the Corinthian church by divine authority. Verse 23, I received, and there's a strong emphasis upon the I, as you know, in the

39:31 Greek language, the subject is included in the verb, but you can use another word to intensify and emphasize I, even I, or I underlined, for I, even I received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you. I received, notice he doesn't say from Jesus, I received of the Lord. I received of the Lord. The sovereign exalted Lord gave to me directives with respect to the institution of this supper at Corinth, for what I received is precisely what I delivered to you. He gave me something by way of revelation. I did not alter it, expand it, contract it, append it, what I did to you. What he gave, I delivered. I was a faithful steward of the mysteries of God. What he revealed, I

40:39 delivered. And he begins his treatment of correcting certain facets of the abuse at the Lord's table by reminding them that this supper was instituted in the Corinthian church by divine authority. All that pertains to this supper has an umbilical cord of authority which goes right back to the upper room, for look at the language. I received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus in the night in which, and he uses an imperfect tense, in the night in which he was being betrayed. Judas was doing his nefarious work. He was in the act of being betrayed and handed over to the Lord. He was doing his nefarious work. He was in the act of being betrayed and handed over to the Lord.

41:31 his enemies. It was the Lord Jesus who in that very setting instituted this supper. So the Lord's Supper, Paul reminds them, was instituted in the Corinthian church by divine authority. Secondly, secondly, apostolic precept focuses on this, that the Lord's Supper as instituted by divine authority involves several simple activities. The Lord's Supper as instituted by divine authority involves several simple activities. Some of them are connected with bread, some connected with the fruit of the vine contained in a cup, and the cup stands for the whole. The cup stands for that which is in it, namely the fruit of the vine. Now what are the activities and connections with the bread? Look at the text. I received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you,

42:32 that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you. This do in remembrance of me. Bread was taken. Thanks was given. Bread was broken. The significance of the Lord's Supper was that it was a way of giving thanks to the Lord. The Lord's Supper was a way of giving thanks to the Lord. The Lord's Supper was a way of giving thanks to the Lord. The significance of the bread explained, and it was eaten in remembrance of Jesus as dying for his people. That's the activity in connection with the bread. And the only activity authorized by Jesus

43:19 Christ, the same Lord Jesus who was there in the upper room, gives to his servant Paul what he delivered to him. And the Lord Jesus, who was there in the upper room, gives to his servant Paul the Corinthians that he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, explained its significance, and commanded them to do this in remembrance of him. Then the activities in connection with the cup, that is, the fruit of the vine which it contained, it is assumed that there would be a similar pattern. Notice the language. Verse 25, In like manner also the cup, after saying, after supper saying, in like manner also the cup, in like manner, could well refer to the Lord taking it and giving thanks, and that is not a mere inference. For back in chapter 10, you will notice in verse 16, the cup of blessing which we bless, that is, for which we give thanks to God, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? So the thought of giving thanks distinctly for the cup is not a mere inference

44:44 from the in like manner. It is clearly assumed in 1 Corinthians 10, 16, more of which God willing next Lord's day. But the activities in connection with the cup, the assumption that the cup is taken, the clear indication from the passage in 1 Corinthians 10 that thanks was given, its significance explained. Look at the language. This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

45:13 It stands for and represents all of the blessings of the new covenant that I am about to seal and ratify with the shedding of my own blood. This do, that is, set apart the cup, give thanks, identify its significance and drink it in remembrance of me. Drinking in remembrance of Christ. Ah, but you say, Pastor, in that text the word drink is not used. Ah, but it's assumed again and again for look at verse 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink, the cup. Verse 27, wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup. Verse 28, let a man prove himself, so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Verse 29, he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself. You say, Pastor, you've made the point.

46:24 Yes, but God knows how vicious is the attack of the enemy, as we'll see shortly, God willing, and how full of superstition is the human heart. Two activities alone are underscored again and again. Eating and drinking, and what we eat is bread, and what we drink is the cup, that is, the fruit of the vine in the cup. Thirdly, having seen that the Lord's Supper was instituted by divine authority, having seen that instituted, it involves several simple activities, some in conjunction with bread, some in conjunction with the cup. Note thirdly, the Lord's Supper, as instituted by divine authority, involving divinely mandated activities, is to be perpetuated as a memorial of his death till the end of the ages. Where do we learn that? Verse 26, as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he come, till he come. So in the apostolic injunction,

47:41 which was received from the Lord Jesus, here we have the apostles' own inspired interpretation of its extenuation into the church to the end of the age. These are not the words of the Lord Jesus in the original institution, but they are words of the Lord Jesus in the original institution, given by the risen Christ to Paul, and he delivers them to the church at Corinth, that as oft as the bread is eaten in this way, set apart for this purpose with this significance, and the cup likewise surrounded by these simple activities, you proclaim the Lord's death until he come. So what do you have then? Briefly in these observations, you have the basis for the Lord's Supper, divine authority, the essence of the Lord's Supper, eating bread and drinking the fruit of the vine, and you have the perpetuation of the Lord's Supper till he come. Now isn't it artless and beautiful in its simplicity? And when one thinks of the volumes that have been written about the mystery of the sacrament of the mass, and the mystery of the Eucharist, and all of the mumbo-jumbo, and the mystery of the sacrament of the mass, and the mystery of the Eucharist,

49:02 one wonders what Bible men have read, when here the apostle who has received directives from the Lord Jesus said, the basis for this supper in the church at Corinth is divine authority. I've delivered what I received. Its essence is doing certain simple things with bread, and certain simple things with the cup, its perpetuation until he come. Now do you see the difference?

Contrasting the Supper's Simplicity with False Doctrines

49:33 Now do you see why I began the sermon this morning with the words, we must never underestimate the perverse ability of men to take the most precious of God's gifts and convert them into a curse? In addressing the issue of the biblical basis for observing the Lord's Supper, we've examined the original command of the Lord Jesus, and the apostolic perpetuation of that command by practice and precept. Now where in the biblical data, where would we ever get the notion that the Lord's Supper is a sacrifice offered unto God? Has anything been found in any one of these passages that remotely suggests that Christ is being offered up again to God in the supper of remembrance? How can we turn the words this do in remembrance, literally in the calling to mind of myself? How can we have the word remembrance turned into offering up of a sacrifice? Where is there any notion of Christ's actual body being eaten and his blood being drunk?

50:54 The doctrine of transubstantiation, that after the words of consecration by a duly appointed priest, the wafer actually becomes the body of Christ. Though what you see and smell and taste and chew is a wafer, don't believe your senses, it is the body of Christ.

51:15 And though what you see and touch and smell is to all of your senses the fruit of the vine, don't believe your senses, it has become the very body of Christ. And by a kind of cannibalism, grace is infused into us. That is the official, unaltered teaching of the Church of Rome. Though she has moved from Latin to English, though she has moved from a lot of the accoutrements of great ornate vestments in her priest to more simple clothing to less ornate altars, Rome has not altered that blasphemy.

51:55 It is the official doctrine of the Roman Church and the so-called Renewal Charismatic Movement believes the same rotten, stinking heresy. They say their baptism in the Holy Ghost makes the Mass more precious. Well, whatever spirit makes blasphemy more precious is not the Holy Spirit. It is the spirit of delusion.

52:24 I say it kindly to our dear Lutheran friends who say, well, we don't believe in transubstantiation, that there is an actual passing over into the literal body and blood of Christ, but consubstantiation. Lutheranism has a doctrine of the ubiquity of the Holy Spirit. The whole person of Christ, even his human nature, including his body, is somehow mystically present everywhere. And therefore, when he says, this is my body, though it is not there as a kind of cannibalism, there is nonetheless a real presence of Christ in the bread and in the cup.

53:04 And then there is the position of Calvin and other reformers, which even Cunningham, a devout Presbyterian, says, is hopelessly confusing. No, there is nothing in any of these passages to suggest that there is anything but bread and the fruit of the vine, that there is anything but the focused activity of the mind calling to remembrance, calling to remembrance in devotion, in faith, in love, in penitence. Yes, it is no mere empty memorial. It's not like someone whose mind is down on a beach in Florida, standing at a parade, in January in the nation's capital, and while his mind is fantasizing about lying on a beach in Florida, throws a salute to the flag with no heart in it. No, no, no, no, no. It is far more than that. But in its highest reaches, from the most devout, believing, sensitive, Christ-loving heart, it is at the end of the day what we find in this passage.

The Devil's Role in Corrupting the Supper

54:17 It is bread, taken, bread over which thanks is given, bread which is explained as its significance. It stands for the body given once for all on behalf of hell-deserving sinners. And then it is distributed and eaten to bring to mind the wonder and the glory of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus, as we'll see God willing more fully next Lord's Day. Dear people behind the corruption of the Lord's Supper, which has been removed light years from its original institution by Christ, through the blasphemy of the Romish doctrine of the mass, and through the confusion of clerics with their vestments and all of their elaborate rituals. Believe, believe that there are two very substantial realities that are determined to blur the light from God's path. blur the significance of this ordinance? There is that foul fiend of hell, the devil, who desires to extinguish the clear light of the gospel. Who's behind the Romish doctrine of

55:33 the mass? Who's behind the confused doctrine of Lutheranism? Who's behind the semi-confused and elusive doctrine of even good men in the Reformed tradition? There is a foul fiend of hell called the devil who hates the gospel. And why does he hate the gospel? Because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. And what's the heart of the gospel? 1 Corinthians 15. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and he was buried and raised again on the third day according to the scriptures. What is the gospel? The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son. It cleanses us from all sin, and the devil hates that gospel. And since Jesus and his apostles instituted a ritual meal to help keep the central truth of the gospel vivid before the eyes and hands and mouths and hearts of the people of God, the devil attempted at Corinth, twenty years after Christ instituted it, to undermine the gospel.

56:50 Because the scripture of the gospel said that we must have this supper of remembrance so he could undermine the gospel. He doesn't care about bread and a cup, but he does care about that body given up in death for sinners, that blood shed for sinners. And he doesn't want sinners to see that their only hope of mercy and life and salvation is in that body given and in that blood shed. 1 Corinthians 13. For as oft as you eat this bread, and drink this cup according to the divine directive, you have no of the only things that are of the opposite of the gospel. You preach the Lord's death till he comes. And that's what the devil hates. That's why he's set out to obscure the simplicity of this blessed, simple supper of remembrance.

57:40 And that's why I say to Trinity Church in its present life and membership, and I say to the rising generation, jealously guard the practice of this ordinance in all of its blessed apostolic simplicity, in its gospel-reinforcing power. For once you begin to have something less than love for the gospel, mark it well. There'll be innovations at the Lord's table.

58:13 Oh, they'll always come to say to make it more meaningful. But once you move away...

58:20 From the stark simplicity of the apostolic institution, you'd hear Paul saying, Oh, foolish Trinity people, who has bewitched you that you are so soon removed from the gospel, that which is another gospel, which in reality is...

58:44 Dear young men and women who are determined, God willing, to spend your life in this area committed to the life of this assembly, may it ever be said... Until he comes, they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread in all of the pristine, stark simplicity of apostolic instruction and institution.

59:09 Behind the corruption of the supper is the foul fiend of hell who hates the gospel.

The Human Heart's Predisposition to Empty Ritualism

59:15 And secondly, there is the corrupt predisposition of the human heart to empty religious ritualism. There is a corrupt predisposition in every human heart, to empty religious ritualism. And it was preparing for this sermon that was the burden that leaked out earlier in the service. From the time Cain brought his offering without a broken heart for his sin, without a believing confidence in the mercy of God toward sinners, and without a determination to be done with his sin and live a holy life, man has always been the same.

59:53 I'll do my thing in church. And think all is well. Man is...

59:59 Man is an inveterate, empty, religious practitioner. Read Isaiah 1. God says, I'm sick and tired of all your services and all your rituals. I can't stand it.

60:09 Stop. Jesus said, In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the precepts of men. They draw near with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. My psalm for the morning was Psalm 50, where the last half of the psalm God addresses the wicked.

60:25 He said, What do you do that you take the language of my covenant into your mouth and you offer your sacrifice? And you go through all your rituals while living a wicked life? Dear people, the corrupt predisposition of the human heart to empty religious ritualisms marked it carefully. The more the human heart moves from vital godliness rooted in repentance and faith and the commitment to a holy life, the more it wants elaborate rituals in conjunction with its religion.

61:00 Because it doesn't have the substance, the shadows and the pictures, have got to be given more weight.

61:10 All of them. And wherever people get an itch for intensified ritualism, it's because they don't hold the substance.

61:23 You letting that sink in, young people? May God write it on your hearts when someone in leadership begins to suggest, well, we've got that plain white cloth. Wouldn't it just give us a little more sense of it, a little more ornate cloth on the table?

61:42 We keep reading the words of institution. Why can't we? Why can't we just have something a little more in the match?

61:50 Beware.

61:52 The itch for the elaborate grows out of a barren. It's in the midst of the simplicity of the apostolic pattern of coming to the table that hates sin and trusts Christ and wants to be holy. There's enough in that bread broken and eaten and in that cup poured forth and drunk to bring us into fresh. And in the end, it's a communion with the Lord Jesus Christ.

62:26 We want no more. We want no more.

Call to Guard the Supper's Simplicity and Gospel Power

62:38 May God grant then that as we think of our determination to remain committed to God's own means of grace,

62:50 this blessed supper of remembrance will be kept among us as oft as we eat that bread and drink that cup in apostolic simplicity, in faith, in preparation of hearts, and mind of the sacred privilege of being as it were tied in with that upper room and often my faith is never stronger than when I'm not serving at the table and I sit among you and my mind goes back and I say what are we doing here and I say Lord Jesus we're here because you told us to do it and where did you first tell us to do it in that upper room and in my mind's eye I picture myself sitting in fellowship with those apostles and I'm connected by the same bond with which they were bound to Christ by his body given and his blood shed oh yes they saw him face to face they touched him, handled him yes they had far greater privileges they were the recipients of direct revelation and unique authority in that case in those cases they are utterly a part of him beyond and above and outside of us but as redeemed sinners I'm one with them and what a privilege when I come to the table to say I'm in fellowship with Peter

64:18 and James and Andrew and John who all have gone on before when I see the bread broken and say oh Lord Jesus in that perfect sinless body assumed for a sinner like me in which you labored and loved and served and which was impaled upon a cross that's the body prepared for you in which body you did the will of God that doing the will of God you might put away my sins Lord Jesus I eat in loving, trustful, grateful remembrance of you when I hold that cup and I see that liquid I say surely that will shortly be imbibed by me there was real blood that poured down from his real wounds upon a real cross on a real place of execution and a real spot outside the city walls of Jerusalem Lord Jesus I do believe the virtue of that blood is adequate for all the sins of this man who ought to crack hell wide open even for the sins of this day Lord Jesus I eat in remembrance of the truth that your blood cleanses me with the joy of full pardon and seal the flesh to the heart

65:47 who needs a priest's vestments and a piece of cloth for my sick soul that his body and blood have not done what can rituals and hocus pocus and pageantry do that his body and blood have not oh may God help us even as we anticipate in the will of God our coming to the table again next month to come with renewed determination we'll not allow the foul fiend of hell to obscure the gospel by means of disrupting the table nor we will yield one thousandth of an inch to the internal itch for empty ritual and formalism which are the manifestations of dying or decadent religion oh our father what can we say when we've been privileged again to traffic in the great realities of forgiveness of sins the pardon of all of our iniquities

67:12 we have spoken of sacred things and oh God we feel I feel I must ask you to cleanse me even from the sins of being able to speak of such holy things with so little trembling of heart and such meager measures of holy joy and solemn reverence oh Lord God have mercy upon us we do acknowledge that our only refuge is in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus given for sinners and in that we do rejoice and we pray that you would so seal to our hearts the things preached and taught today that until he come his own instituted supper will be kept not only pure but lively and a mighty instrument of the Holy Spirit for the advancement of your people in grace we pray for those among us who have not by faith eaten of his flesh and drunk of his blood oh Lord bring them to see that until by faith they take to themselves the virtue of an immolated crucified

68:41 bleeding Savior there is no hope for them in time or eternity may our study on this ordinance be the very means to call them out of darkness into marvelous light seal your word to our prophet we pray and protect this church from the cursed influence of the gospel-hating devil and the cursed influence of the itch for empty ritual we plead in Jesus' name Amen