LORD'S SUPPER 1
SECRET CODE FOR SAINTS
TEXT: 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.
THESIS: To reveal the symbolic nature of the Lord’s Supper.
INTRO.:
A. I remember when I was a small boy listening to the radio. One of my heroes was “Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy.” At one point they would add secret codes on the program for those who bought a special brand of cereal containing a “decoding ring.” That way you could decipher what the code on the radio broadcast was and it gave you inside information on what was happening or going to happen in the plot of the story. 1 Corinthians 2:14 implies that there is a “SECRET CODE FOR SAINTS.” You don’t need a decoding ring to decipher the symbols and secrets in the Scriptures, you just need to be born again.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
B. Only God’s children can decipher the symbolic significance of the Lord’s Supper. This is, in a way, Christ’s cryptogram to
Christians. This is also the reason there is so much confusion about it!
C. THE SACRAMENTALISTS desire to read into this simple supper a “means of grace.” (Rome’s rules for taking communion include “believing the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ through transubstantiation [the “magic” the priest performs at the altar]).
D. THE SENTIMENTALISTS seek to make it some kind of mystical & emotional experience.
ILLUS.: I used to “feel better” after partaking of the Lord’s Supper before I was saved. It was strictly a matter of emotions.
Ceremonialism caters to the flesh, not the spirit. Christ taught that the memorial aspect of the Lord’s Supper was sufficient! THE
SAVIOR made it a memorial supper to remind us of the price He paid for our redemption.
I. THE LORD’S SUPPER IS A DECLARATION: “shew forth...”
A. The Nature of This Declaration:
ILLUS.: The words “shew forth” mean to “proclaim aloud,” “to preach,” “to declare,” “to announce,” “to teach.” The word is the
Greek “katagello” and is only used here in the entire Bible. The root is usually associated with preaching. Here Paul connects preaching w/the Lord’s Supper. It is a silent sermon!
1. Of course we are to preach verbally & orally of His sacrifice for us.
2. But we are reminded also to “DO” this, i.e., the Lord’s Supper as a visual reminder.
ILLUS.: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are material connections to spiritual truths set forth in Scripture. No other rituals, ceremonies, images, pictures or other material objects are to be used by believers to show forth our faith. But when properly used, these are beautiful and sufficient.
3. This method of “preaching” is different and symbolic, but the effect is the same: “...ye do shew the Lord’s death...”
4. One is the word spoken & the other is the word acted out.
QUOTE: Alexander MacLaren said that “a parable is a spoken symbol & a symbol is an acted parable.” Both lay hold on some truth & declare it in a manner to be easily comprehended – for the initiated! Those who have decoding capabilities.
B. The Effect of This Declaration:
1. Given to rebuke irreverence.
ILLUS.: When the Word is preached, read or set forth symbolically, reverence should prevail. No unnecessary speech, thoughts or actions should be permitted. Parents, children, young people...everyone, should reverence the Word and the One about Whom it speaks!
2. Given to elevate the notions of the Corinthian Christians (& to us) so as to sanctify not the ordinance per se, but what it symbolizes; the sacredness of the ordinance lies in the declaration it makes, not in the “grace” it is supposed to impart (as say the sacramentalists).
II. THE LORD’S SUPPER IS A PROCLAMATION: “...the Lord’s death”
A. The Theme of The Proclamation:
1. Historically this ordinance was instituted the “same night in which He was betrayed.”
a. This ordinance is preoccupied with His death.
b. This preoccupation would be morbid if it were not for His resurrection.
c. This ordinance was practiced by the early church almost from the time of His open grave!
2. Practically it has been given to us to focus attention on the importance and significance of His death.
3. Whereas the liberal attempts to underscore His moral & righteous life, the Savior singled out His one great act of
redemption – not His miracles, teachings, acts of kindness, etc., but His substitutionary death for our sins.
B. The Thesis of The Proclamation:
1. It was not just His death, but His violent death which is spoken of: “...My body broken for you...in My blood...” v.24,25
ILLUS.: Not only is He still in His body and His blood is still coursing through His veins when He made this pronouncement, but that which He offers to His disciples is still referred to as “bread” and the “fruit of the vine” (never wine!) after the so-called consecration. It never turns into or is referred to as anything but what it is. Yet the phrase “in remembrance of Me...” is emphasized.
The barbarism which teaches the eating of the literal flesh & blood of Christ is nothing short of cannibalism, regardless of the fancy
theological terms used, e.g., “trans-substantiation” or “consubstantiation”!
2. The thesis of the Lord’s Supper is obviously the redemption He provided in His death.
III. THE LORD’S SUPPER AND IT’S DURATION: “...till He come”
A. The Memorial Aspect Looks Backward to The Cross.
B. The Spiritual Aspect Looks Inward to The Conscience.
C. The Prophetic Aspect Looks Forward to The Crown:
1. Every symbolic action witnesses its cessation as it looks forward to the time it will no longer be needed; witness the sacrificial & priestly systems of the O.T.
Matthew 26:29 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.
2. Here we need the bread & juice to remember...when we are with Him that will no longer be necessary.
3. The memory of His death is intended to quicken the hope for His return.
4. He has come & died and is risen from the grave thus guaranteeing the promise to come again & reign.
CONCL.:
💥The Lord’s Supper is one of those “family secrets” only capable of comprehension by His family members. It is indeed “A
SECRET CODE FOR SAINTS!”
💥It’s DECLARATION is to “shew forth,” it’s PROCLAMATION is “the Lord’s death” & it’s DURATION is “till He come.”
THESIS: To reveal the symbolic nature of the Lord’s Supper.
INTRO.:
A. I remember when I was a small boy listening to the radio. One of my heroes was “Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy.” At one point they would add secret codes on the program for those who bought a special brand of cereal containing a “decoding ring.” That way you could decipher what the code on the radio broadcast was and it gave you inside information on what was happening or going to happen in the plot of the story. 1 Corinthians 2:14 implies that there is a “SECRET CODE FOR SAINTS.” You don’t need a decoding ring to decipher the symbols and secrets in the Scriptures, you just need to be born again.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
B. Only God’s children can decipher the symbolic significance of the Lord’s Supper. This is, in a way, Christ’s cryptogram to
Christians. This is also the reason there is so much confusion about it!
C. THE SACRAMENTALISTS desire to read into this simple supper a “means of grace.” (Rome’s rules for taking communion include “believing the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ through transubstantiation [the “magic” the priest performs at the altar]).
D. THE SENTIMENTALISTS seek to make it some kind of mystical & emotional experience.
ILLUS.: I used to “feel better” after partaking of the Lord’s Supper before I was saved. It was strictly a matter of emotions.
Ceremonialism caters to the flesh, not the spirit. Christ taught that the memorial aspect of the Lord’s Supper was sufficient! THE
SAVIOR made it a memorial supper to remind us of the price He paid for our redemption.
I. THE LORD’S SUPPER IS A DECLARATION: “shew forth...”
A. The Nature of This Declaration:
ILLUS.: The words “shew forth” mean to “proclaim aloud,” “to preach,” “to declare,” “to announce,” “to teach.” The word is the
Greek “katagello” and is only used here in the entire Bible. The root is usually associated with preaching. Here Paul connects preaching w/the Lord’s Supper. It is a silent sermon!
1. Of course we are to preach verbally & orally of His sacrifice for us.
2. But we are reminded also to “DO” this, i.e., the Lord’s Supper as a visual reminder.
ILLUS.: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are material connections to spiritual truths set forth in Scripture. No other rituals, ceremonies, images, pictures or other material objects are to be used by believers to show forth our faith. But when properly used, these are beautiful and sufficient.
3. This method of “preaching” is different and symbolic, but the effect is the same: “...ye do shew the Lord’s death...”
4. One is the word spoken & the other is the word acted out.
QUOTE: Alexander MacLaren said that “a parable is a spoken symbol & a symbol is an acted parable.” Both lay hold on some truth & declare it in a manner to be easily comprehended – for the initiated! Those who have decoding capabilities.
B. The Effect of This Declaration:
1. Given to rebuke irreverence.
ILLUS.: When the Word is preached, read or set forth symbolically, reverence should prevail. No unnecessary speech, thoughts or actions should be permitted. Parents, children, young people...everyone, should reverence the Word and the One about Whom it speaks!
2. Given to elevate the notions of the Corinthian Christians (& to us) so as to sanctify not the ordinance per se, but what it symbolizes; the sacredness of the ordinance lies in the declaration it makes, not in the “grace” it is supposed to impart (as say the sacramentalists).
II. THE LORD’S SUPPER IS A PROCLAMATION: “...the Lord’s death”
A. The Theme of The Proclamation:
1. Historically this ordinance was instituted the “same night in which He was betrayed.”
a. This ordinance is preoccupied with His death.
b. This preoccupation would be morbid if it were not for His resurrection.
c. This ordinance was practiced by the early church almost from the time of His open grave!
2. Practically it has been given to us to focus attention on the importance and significance of His death.
3. Whereas the liberal attempts to underscore His moral & righteous life, the Savior singled out His one great act of
redemption – not His miracles, teachings, acts of kindness, etc., but His substitutionary death for our sins.
B. The Thesis of The Proclamation:
1. It was not just His death, but His violent death which is spoken of: “...My body broken for you...in My blood...” v.24,25
ILLUS.: Not only is He still in His body and His blood is still coursing through His veins when He made this pronouncement, but that which He offers to His disciples is still referred to as “bread” and the “fruit of the vine” (never wine!) after the so-called consecration. It never turns into or is referred to as anything but what it is. Yet the phrase “in remembrance of Me...” is emphasized.
The barbarism which teaches the eating of the literal flesh & blood of Christ is nothing short of cannibalism, regardless of the fancy
theological terms used, e.g., “trans-substantiation” or “consubstantiation”!
2. The thesis of the Lord’s Supper is obviously the redemption He provided in His death.
III. THE LORD’S SUPPER AND IT’S DURATION: “...till He come”
A. The Memorial Aspect Looks Backward to The Cross.
B. The Spiritual Aspect Looks Inward to The Conscience.
C. The Prophetic Aspect Looks Forward to The Crown:
1. Every symbolic action witnesses its cessation as it looks forward to the time it will no longer be needed; witness the sacrificial & priestly systems of the O.T.
Matthew 26:29 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.
2. Here we need the bread & juice to remember...when we are with Him that will no longer be necessary.
3. The memory of His death is intended to quicken the hope for His return.
4. He has come & died and is risen from the grave thus guaranteeing the promise to come again & reign.
CONCL.:
💥The Lord’s Supper is one of those “family secrets” only capable of comprehension by His family members. It is indeed “A
SECRET CODE FOR SAINTS!”
💥It’s DECLARATION is to “shew forth,” it’s PROCLAMATION is “the Lord’s death” & it’s DURATION is “till He come.”
LORD'S SUPPER 2 - AN EXAM YOU MUST PASS
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
lords_supper_3a.pdf | |
File Size: | 68 kb |
File Type: |
LORD'S SUPPER 3 - BELIEVERS DON’T DRINK BLOOD
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
lords_supper_3a.pdf | |
File Size: | 68 kb |
File Type: |
LORD'S SUPPER 4 - "TRUTH & TROUBLE AT THE TABLE"
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
lords_table_5a.pdf | |
File Size: | 100 kb |
File Type: |