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What We Believe and Why
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1986
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

THE TESTIMONY BORN BY THE LORD'S SUPPER
I CORINTHIANS 11:20-34

We believe that the Lord's Supper is one of the sacred ordinances of the church, by which we portray His finished work on Calvary. This lesson is a general look at some of the specific points regarding the supper.

I. The supper shows forth the death of Christ:

A. That the supper shows the death is beyond dispute as I Cor. 11:26 says, "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He come.

B. The bread stands symbolic, representative or as a reminder of the body of Christ which was broken for us:

1. The Bible shows how He was bodily broken for us:

a. I Pet. 2:24 He bore our sins in His body on the tree.

b. Mt. 27 and Lk. 23 describe how they broke Him bodily.

C. Isa. 53 lays it out. Especially note verse 5.

2. Every time you take the bread of the supper, it stands as a reminder of and testimony to that broken body:

a. Paul quoted Christ in teaching the continuation of the supper and said in I Cor. 11:23-24, "The Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me."

b. Mt. 26:26, Mk. 14:22, Lk. 22:19 all record the very words of Christ.

3. Every time you eat that bread, it should remind you of that awful suffering.

C. The wine stands symbolic, representative, or as a reminder of the blood of Christ which was shed for us:

1 . The Bible shows how His blood was shed for us:

a. They pierced His side and spilled His blood. Jn. 19:34.

b. Heb. 9:12 thus reads, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

2. Every time you take that wine of the supper, it stands as a reminder of and testimony of the shed blood of Christ:

a. Paul said it in I Cor. 11:25, "He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me."

b. Mt. 26:27-28, Mk. 14:23-24, Lk. 22:20 all prove this truth.

D. The breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood are the two elements which combined to bring about His death for us:

E. The bread and wine symbolize, not actually literally are, the body and blood of Christ:

1. As I Cor. 11:26 says, the elements "Do shew the Lord's death"; that is typify, symbolize, or represent His death.

2. When some of the people misunderstood His words to mean literal eating of His flesh and blood in Jn. 6:51-53, He plainly stated to them "The words that.L' speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Jn. 6:63.

3. It is not true that one must take communion and literally eat the flesh and drink the blood in order to appropriate salvation. That comes by believing the truth (words) as pertaining to Christ, Jn. 3:36.

II. The supper testifies of the believer's present priestly work by Christ and the believer's fellowship with Him:

A. The believer is reminded that this memorial is "in remembrance of Me. " I Cor. 11:24.

B . In connection with our remembrance of Him at the supper, we are to carefully remember to examine our hearts and see that our hearts are right with God:

1. This is so stated in I Cor. 11:27-28 and 31-32.

2. The one way that a believer can get his heart right with God is through confession, I Jn. 1:8-9.

3. We can only have this right through Him who is today our high priest, Heb. 4:14-16.

4. And, whenever we have confessed our sins, we do have fellowship, concord, or communion with the Lord and can thus honesty typify it by the supper.

C. So, in view of the command to "examine" ourselves before each supper; each supper becomes a reminder of He who is our priest.

III. Furthermore, the supper is a testimonial to the return of Christ:

A. Paul said we are to take this supper "till He come." I Cor. 11:26:

1. A statement like that seems based on a foregone conclusion that He is going to come.

2. In Mt. 26:29 the Lord himself said we would not go on forever taking the supper as we do now, but that someday the saints and the Lord would be united to take it all together again.

B. Of course, we know, too, from many other passages, of His return:

1. I Thes. 4:13-17 speaks of it.

2. Jn. 14:1-3 talks about it, too.

C. Every time you eat this supper, it should remind you that things will not always continue as they are now.

1. We shall one day be delivered from this troublesome, sinful life, Rom. 8:23.

2. One day the one who died for us will return for us.

IV. In view of the mighty truths which are shown by this supper, a holy, sacred atmosphere should prevail each time the supper is taken:

A. There should never be a homey, meal atmosphere at the supper:

1. When that kind of approach was taken to it by the Corinthians, Paul soundly rebuked them in I Cor. 11:20-22, 34.

2. Talking, passing notes, shifting around noisely, walking in and out are a disgrace to the Lord's table.

B. Every supper should be a holy, heart-breaking reminder of Christ's supreme sacrifice for us:

1. in I Cor. 11:23-33 Paul sets forth the solemness of it.

2. Who could question the seriousness of the occasion in Mt. 26:26-30?

V. The supper is to be observed weekly:

A. The foregoing thoughts show it is a solemn act of worship; and worship is to be done when the church comes together, which is to be the first day of the week:

1. That is the day the Lord arose. Jn. 20:19 and Lk. 24:1-6.

2. And, that is the day the early saints met to worship. I Cor. 16:2, Acts 20:7.

B. Even as we interpret I Cor. 16:2 to mean every first day of the week, in order to be consistent and honest, we must also interpret Acts 20:7 to mean "each" first day of the week:

1. It should be noted that the only breaking of bread which is physically to be done in worship is the Lord's supper, I Cor. 11:34.

2. Also, note that this is not talking about spiritual bread since the sense of this sentence would indicate the breaking of bread and the preaching; both mentioned here were not one and the same.

C. The argument that weekly observance will lead to a lack of appreciation for the supper is neither scriptural nor reasonable:

1. There simply is no Bible evidence to support a contention like that.

2. Furthermore, if it is an argument which is applicable to the supper, then it would be just as applicable to preaching, praying, giving, or singing.

3. If the supper should only be observed monthly, quarterly, or yearly; then so should these.

D. Weekly observance is designed to build an ever greater realization of and appreciation of the great truths of Jesus. (There is Bible evidence for weekly observance; none for any other frequency.)

VI. We are to confess our hearts before partaking of the supper:

A. This is clearly set forth in I Cor. 11:27-28.

B. Confession produces a clean heart (I Jn. 1:9) which is -Ln@ thing God wants from each of us (II Tim. 2:19-22) and is the thing that brings fellowship with Him, I Jn. 1:7.

C. Notice how God has instituted the weekly communion as a safeguard to cause us not to put off confessing our sins: no longer than a week goes by that we're not put on a spot to get them right at the supper.

D. Note that failure to confess is a serious and disasterous sin, especially if the supper is observed by one in that condition. I Cor. 11:27-30.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"