THE LORD'S SUPPER / COMMUNION
Communion is a memorial of Jesus Christ's body being
broken for sin and His blood being shed to atone for sin. It is called an
ordinance in the Bible, and you should participate in it. 1 Cor. chapter 11
deals with the specifics of this 'communion' and commands us to 'keep the
ordinances' in 11:2
The Bible has only 2 ordinances in the NT, baptism and the Lord's supper. They
are never called sacrament in Scripture . The Bible is very clear as to the
method for the Lord's supper. Please read through the following passages of
scripture and notice some of the details that are to be observed .
1 Cor. 11 23 through 26.
The bread was broken to remember how Jesus Christ was broken.
It does not become the literal body of our Lord but
rather it SYMBOLIZES that body. The cup of wine (usually grape juice) is also a
SYMBOL of Christ's blood. The juice does not become
the literal blood of Jesus. So the Bible is very plain in giving us the method
of commemorating the Lord's supper.
The passage of scripture from 1 Cor. above also explains the meaning of the
Lord's supper. When you participate in its commemoration,
you are testifying that Jesus Christ died for YOU and shed His blood for YOU.
You are remembering what He did for YOU. Every time you partake of the elements
in commemoration of that last supper, you are giving personal testimony that
Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today. That is of course what the
gospel is a all about!
The message of the Lord's supper is one of SELF-EXAMINATION for the Christian.
God doesn't want you to partake of the elements in the Lord's supper as if you
are eating a normal meal. He wants you to me sober and praying to make sure
everything is right between you and Him. Your heavenly Father wants you to judge
YOURSELF so that you can escape chastisement. To partake of the Lord's supper
w/o examining yourself is to disobey God's word. Don't harbor sin and think that
God will overlook it, especially when you are remembering the blood He shed to
forgive you of your sin! Keep your heart right with your new Master. Now read 1
Cor. 11 27-32
Normally when BOTH elements are given out .. there is a time before partaking of
them that you will be given time to bow and talk with God .. to examine yourself
.. to be sure there is no un-confessed sin .. and a time for a prayer of
thanksgiving for what He has done for you ....
The main thing to remember is that this is a time for REMEMBRANCE .. !!!
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courtesy .... www.gotquestions.org
The Bible nowhere instructs us how often we should take
communion. 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 records the following instructions for
communion: “…the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;
And giving thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body, which is
broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He took the cup
also, after supping, saying, ‘This cup is the New Covenant in My blood; as often
as you drink it, do this in remembrance of Me.’ For ‘as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you show’ the Lord's death until He shall come.” This
passage gives all the instructions we need to perform the rite of communion and
to understand the significance of what we are doing.
The bread which He broke in half represents His body
which was broken on the cross for us. The cup represents
the blood He shed on our behalf, sealing a covenant between Him and us. Each
time we perform the communion ritual, we are not only remembering what He did
for us, but we are “showing” it as well to all who watch and all who
participate. This is a beautiful and graphic picture of what happened at the
cross, what it means, and how it impacts our lives as believers.
It would seem, then, that since we take the Lord’s Supper to remember Christ’s
death and shed blood, we should take it fairly often. Some churches have a
monthly Lord’s Supper service, others do it bi-monthly, others weekly. Since the
Bible does not give us specific instruction as to frequency, there is some
latitude in how often a church should observe the Lord’s Supper. It should be
often enough to renew focus on Christ, without being so often that it become
routine. In any case, it’s not the frequency that matters, but the heart
attitude of those who participate. We should partake with reverence, love, and a
deep sense of gratitude for the Lord Jesus, who was willing to die on the cross
to take upon Himself our sins.
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