The Doctrine of the Church Ordinances - 2 The Lord's Supper
Notes
Transcript
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”
Introduction
We are considering the Ordinances, last time we looked at Baptism this time the Lord’s Supper.
An ordinance is a religious act commanded by Jesus Christ to be observed by the church. As the Affirmation states there are two Baptism and The Lord’s Supper.
A Sacrament is a religious ceremony regarded as imparting divine grace.
Slide
1. Regular Memorial
1. Regular Memorial
Slide
Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966 (3. The Ordinances)
The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is regularly to be observed as a memorial of the sufferings and death of Christ, and an expression of the inherent unity of the Church as one body in Christ, and as a means strengthening the faith of the believer. It is in no sense a sacrifice, nor the continuation of the sacrifice of Calvary.
Slide
1 Corinthians 11:26 (ESV)
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Slide
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Slide
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
Slide
2. Symbols
2. Symbols
Slide
Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966 (3. The Ordinances)
The administration of the ordinance involves the sharing of bread and wine, both of which are to be received by the communicants, and are symbols of the body and blood of Christ. At no time during the course of the administration, or because of the administration, does any change of nature take place in the bread or the wine, which the communicants are themselves to take and to eat or drink.
Slide
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Roman Catholic Mass
Slide
The Catholic Church states that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ under the species of bread and wine. It maintains that by the consecration, the substances of the bread and wine actually become the substances of the body and blood of Jesus Christ (transubstantiation) while the appearances of the bread and wine remain unaltered (e.g. colour, taste, feel, and smell). The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches agree that an objective change occurs of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.
Prayers at Mass
Slide
Be pleased, O God, we pray, to bless, acknowledge, and approve this offering in every respect; make it spiritual and acceptable, so that it may become for us the Body and Blood of your most beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Slide
In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God: command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty, so that all of us who through this participation at the altar receive the most holy Body and Blood of your Son may be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing. (Through Christ our Lord. Amen.)
Slide
Humbly we pray that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.
Slide
16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 10:16 (KJV 1900) — 16 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?
Slide
1 Corinthians 10:16 (NKJV) — 16 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?
The word koinonia in this verse sometimes translated “sharing in” or “communion,” is here rendered “participation in.” Believers participate in a vertical relationship with Jesus Christ—as Paul earlier wrote, we have fellowship with God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (1:9; see also 1 John 1:3). Believers also participate in a horizontal relationship with one another, as was evidenced by the fellowship that the early Christians experienced in the days following Pentecost (Acts 2:42). These vertical and horizontal relationships meet in the church, for the believers together form the body of which Christ is the head (see v. 17; Eph. 5:23).
Slide
3. Means of Grace
3. Means of Grace
Slide
Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966 (3. The Ordinances)
This ordinance is a means of grace through the spiritual presence of Christ, apprehended by faith in the heart of the believer. Those worthily taking part feed upon Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death; the body and blood of Christ being spiritually present to the faith of the believer, as the elements themselves are to the outward senses.
Slide
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (Grace, Means Of)
GRACE, MEANS OF—an expression not used in Scripture, but employed to denote those institutions ordained by God to be the ordinary channels of grace to the souls of men. These are the Word, Ordinances, and Prayer.
Slide
1 Corinthians 11:26 (ESV)
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Slide
4. God Honouring
4. God Honouring
Slide
Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966 (3. The Ordinances)
Those who partake unworthily sin against Christ and are guilty of offence against the body and blood of the Lord, eating and drinking judgement to themselves.
Slide
1 Corinthians 11:29 (ESV)
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself.
Slide
28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
Slide
5. Strict Communion
5. Strict Communion
Slide
Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966 (3. The Ordinances)
We believe the administration of this ordinance is to be restricted to baptised believers in the New Testament sense of those words, and such restriction is signified by the term “Strict Communion”. Each local church applies this principle as it deems right and consistent in its administration of the Lord’s Supper.
Slide
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Slide
48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
The baptism of proselytes is a Jewish ritual that involves the cleansing of a non-Jewish person who wishes to convert to Judaism. According to T. F. Torrance, a Scottish theologian, there are three things required for a Gentile to enter into the Covenant: circumcision, baptism, and sacrifice
Up until the mid-19th century Baptist circles, communion was largely only practised by church members. The prerequisite for church membership, besides publicly sharing their testimony to the satisfaction of incumbent members, was to be baptised by immersion. Therefore, while they were in many ways close to their Congregationalist brothers and sisters, they differed on one significant point– that of whether or not baptism could be administered to infants. As Baptists disagreed with the Congregationalists’ mode of baptism, many – who became identified as Strict Baptists – also concluded that their church membership could not be considered valid and Christ-honouring. Therefore, in good conscience, these Strict Baptist churches believed that unless a church member had been baptised by immersion, they could not be allowed to join them in sharing the Lord’s Supper.
Conclusion
Slide
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Slide
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.