This sermon explores the meaning and importance of the Lord’s Supper, emphasizing personal examination, remembering Christ’s sacrifice, and the call to unity within the church.
Transcript
In the same way, 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. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Paul has spent a good deal of time with the Corinthian church. He had spent a year and a half there, as it says in Acts. He planted the church. He taught them. Now he is sending instructions to them about how to practice their Christian faith. He’s talking about how they’re coming together, and what he’s talking about now is how they’re coming together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
What he’s told them is, in essence, when you come together, when you come together to eat the Lord’s Supper, it’s not the Lord’s Supper at all. This is not what this is. He is criticizing them for their attitude toward the Lord’s Supper.
Remembering His Sacrifice
He’s saying to them, “Do you understand what you are doing?” He’s taking them back to the last supper. He’s taking them back to the institution of the Lord’s Supper. He says,
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, 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; do this in remembrance of Me.”
It’s interesting, isn’t it? That it was in the night in which He was betrayed. He’s talking about the schism. He’s talking about the disunity in the church. He’s talking about the one who walks out of that meeting. He walks out and as soon as Judas is gone, He then institutes this pattern for us.
He says,
This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.
Now the word “this,” it’s not saying the bread is His body. It is saying what He is about to do. This refers to the act. It refers to the sacrifice. It refers to what He is about to do on the cross. It refers to His going to the cross and suffering, and the reason that He is going to the cross and suffering is for them. It’s out of His love for us. That’s what He’s saying.
He says,
This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
The New Covenant
And he does the same thing with the cup. He says a little later,
In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
The word “covenant” literally means a testament, as in a last will and testament. He says,
This cup is the new covenant in My blood.
The old covenant is gone. Everything from the Old Testament pointed forward to the cross. The old things are gone. All those things that looked forward to the cross have been superseded by Christ himself. It’s things which are shadows which pointed to Christ. The sacrifices, the celebrations of holy days, the feasts, all of the ritual exercises of the Old Testament which look forward to Jesus Christ. They’ve been superseded. They’ve been replaced by Christ Himself. That’s what the whole book of Hebrews is about, saying that Jesus Christ is far better than all that was before. He is far better than all that had been revealed, all the practices of the Old Testament. We have Him.
Just like a child alone in a room, a tiny child alone in a room, the child begins to miss his mother. As he’s sitting there on the floor, he’s beginning to get a little fearful, “Where is Mama?” And all of a sudden, he sees a shadow as she begins to enter the room. He sees the shadow of his mother, and he’s encouraged. He knows that Mama is close by, and so he’s comforted. But wouldn’t it be a really strange thing if she enters the room and he wanted to hold on to the shadows to try to find comfort over his mother’s arms?
Too often, what we have done historically in the church, way too often, is hold on to the shadows of the Old Testament and try to form them into New Testament practice, when we’re not given that. We’ve been given something far better. We’ve been given Jesus Christ. We’ve been given His sacrificial work. It’s far better.
Examine Yourselves
So, we’re to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and we’re to do it in remembrance of Him. That’s the purpose of what we’re doing: to remember what He did, to remember Him. And he says,
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
It’s a proclamation. The word “proclamation” is used over and over in the New Testament to describe the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And here is a proclamation that we act out. It’s one thing to listen to a sermon, but it’s something else to be part of the sermon, which is what we do when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. It’s a demonstration, a visible demonstration of the gospel that should call people’s attention to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And then he gives a warning. I’m just going to read through this and make a couple of comments. He says,
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that he will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.
Consequences of Disrespect
So, there are consequences if we don’t do this right. Coming to the table in an unworthy manner… The table isn’t for everybody. It’s not for people who don’t believe in the Lord Jesus. It is only for His children. He has this for those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And as we practice this, we remind ourselves of the reality of the cross of Jesus Christ and Christ’s provision for us. When we despise the body… And here I think the primary meaning is the fellowship. The church is called the body of Christ. When we have a willful sin that we’re not repented of, especially relationally, but probably any sin like that, we’re not going to repent of it. We shouldn’t come to the table. That is unworthy.
What we’re doing there, we’re saying, “I’m coming to the table so that I can have the idea of claiming forgiveness for my sins because of the work of Christ, but we’re persisting in that sin, and we haven’t repented of it or turned from it.” Then we’re to examine ourselves. We’re to think about these things. We’re to come to the table rightly. The table is for sinners, but in coming to the table in this very sober moment, we’re to confess our sins. We’re to look to Him for grace. There should be repentance, turning, so that we despise the sin. Shouldn’t that be the heart of a Christian? And isn’t that what it means to walk in the light?
So, as we do that, every believer is welcome to the table. If you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, you believe in Him, you’re welcome to the table. But we should do that carefully, examining ourselves, so that we will not be disciplined by the Lord. And in that comment, he says the discipline is for our good, so that we will not be condemned along with the rest of the world. It’s for the saved believer. It’s for the child of God.
A Call to Unity
There are consequences. So, now let’s put what we’ve just studied into practice as we come to the Lord’s table this morning. Let’s do that, beginning with this injunction to examine ourselves. Let’s take a moment to do that. And then we’ll celebrate the Lord’s table.
Father, we are thankful that though we are sinners, and can think of sins that we turn from, sometimes sins that continue to trip us up, yet, Father, we despise them in the name of Christ. We want to turn from them. We do turn from them. Though we are sinners, we have forgiveness. As you’ve told us, if we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to forgive us. And You do that because of the sacrifice that we celebrate today, which we think about and meditate on, because of what Christ has done for us, for the bread that is His, for what that represents, and the cup. The unity that we have and the life that we share in Jesus Christ.
Father, we thank You that because of that great sacrifice that we have in forgiveness, that You forgive our sins, and that You strengthen us and sanctify us through, as through this, through this act of worship that we participate in. And we pray, Father, that as we share in the Lord’s table this morning, we pray that our hearts would, unitedly, worship You. Please bless us and accept this worship. We pray. Thank You for this institution. Thank You most of all for the cross of Christ. We pray in His strong name. Amen.