Bible Study

Bible Study
Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ

Thursday 8 November 2012

Holy Communion - The Lord Supper

1 Corinthians 11:25-26 ... this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

As Christians, Holy Communion is a very important in our walk with the Lord. In this Bible Study we will discuss four parts relating to this Holy meal.

1) What is it?
Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper is a time to remember. It is a time where we remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross where he gave His life and shed His blood for our sins in order to redeem us to the Father. It is a time we remember the pain and agony that He endured as He suffered for us. Jesus instituted the Lord's supper when He shared in the last Passover with his disciples.  Matthew 26:26-29 describes the event : And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
We see that Jesus took the bread, He blessed it, He broke it into smaller pieces and then gave it to the disciples saying "Take, eat; this is my body." So we see clearly here that the bread represents the physical body of Christ. As we eat of the bread we remember Christ's body broken for us for our redemption.

Then Jesus took the cup and again he gave thanks and gave it to the disciples saying " Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins"  We see here that the wine represents the blood of Christ. Jesus shed his own blood for the payment of our sin. In Hebrews 9: 22 we read  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
The question is often asked if the cup would have been wine and if it should be wine in our communion services today.  We read in Matthew 26:29 I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine - so that definitely tells us that grapes would have been crushed and it would be either grape juice or wine. More likely it would have been sweet wine but in my opinion either real grape juice or wine would be appropriate to use.

2) Holy Communion is a time to look back and to look forward.
1 Corinthians 11: 23-26 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 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.
25 After the same manner also 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.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
As we partake of the Lord's supper we are looking back and remembering what it took for Jesus to save us. He took our sins upon Himself and became guilty of our sin, bore our judgement and died in our place. He took upon Himself what we deserved as punishment for our sin. Jesus died, was buried and rose again on the third day.
As we partake of Communion we are looking forward to the time when Jesus will return to earth. He will come and get us out of here! 1 Corinthians 11: 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. We are going to continue to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf till He comes again!!

3) Who can participate in Holy Communion?
1 Corinthians 11: 27-31
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
As believers we need to examine our own hearts before we partake of this holy meal. We need to check our hearts and our lives, and confess all our sins to the Lord. We need to rid ourselves of the sin in our lives. We need to forgive everyone who has wronged us.  This is a meal for saved people who have confessed their sin and have repented before the Lord. A person's spiritual birth into the family of God makes him or her a worthy participant for this meal.

4) By particpating in Communion we are being obedient to the Lord Jesus
Luke 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Notice that Jesus says - this do in remembrance of me
We can be sure that as we are obedient to the Lord Jesus we will experience the blessing of the Lord through this Holy Lord's Supper.

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