THE LORD’S SUPPER

First Corinthians 11: 23-30

Communion Meditation

The apostle Paul was not an eyewitness of the institution of the Lord Supper, and yet in his account of it, he had several things to say that the eyewitnesses did not include. 

For one thing, he starts by telling us he received his information from the Lord, and this underscores the doctrine of the inspiration of the scriptures.

Paul arguably wrote 100 chapters of the New Testament, and this coupled with the promise the Lord made to the Apostles in the upper room concerning the Holy Spirit guiding them into all the truth, assures us that the entire New Testament is given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Another thought of Paul not includes by the others is when he declared: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death until He come”

There are two observations here. The first is the fact the congregation by observing the Lord’s Supper together is preaching a sermon in action telling others that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and furthermore that Jesus tasted of death once for every man.

In the King James Version the term, ‘show forth His death’ is used. There is an axiom in the theatre that says: “The show must go on.” The Lord’s Supper shows forth His death, and the show must go on regardless of what other event takes place on the Lord’s Day.

The second observation in this statement was the statement, “Until He come.” Over one hundred thousand Sundays have passed by since the day the church began, and on every one of those Sundays Christians have assembled together and observed this feast, and will continue to do so for how ever long it takes until the trumpet sounds and the Lord appears. The Lord’s Supper on the Lord’s Day is a continual reminder that Jesus is coming again.

Something else Paul included left out by the others was the thought, “Wherefore whosever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.” It is not the person that must be worthy to observe the feast, but the worthy manner of observance. If only the worthy could observe the feast none of us would qualify. But to observe the feast without a thought of what you are doing is to drink damnation unto oneself.

And then there is that mysterious statement of Paul the others do not mention: ”For this cause many among you are weak and sickly and not a few sleep.” Perhaps the best understanding of this is of a spiritual nature. Both the Lord Jesus and Paul quoted the words of the prophet Isaiah when he predicted: “By hearing ye shall hear and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: For this peoples heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears and understand with their hearts.”

In other words there are many in a manner of speaking who are simply out of it. They have no idea of what is going one. They have heard, and don’t know what they have heard, they have seen and have no idea what they have seen. They are fallen asleep, and dead to the world. So eat of the bread and drink of the cup, and remember, Jesus said: ”This do in remembrance of Me.”