Bella Vista Church of Christ
11/29/2015 A.M.
“Come to The Feast”
Communion Meditations
1 Corinthians 11.23-29 & 10.16-17
God created us for a unique relationship with Him. He created the church to experience and delight… In communion… In fellowship… Togetherness… One-anotherness.
The Lord’s Table is the centerpiece of this Fellowship. Acts 20.7 tells us the early saints met each Lord’s Day to celebrate this act of fellowship with God and one another
Think of it…
• God invites us to share Supper at this table…
• The breaking of bread representing Jesus’ suffering…
• And the atonement found in the blood of Christ.
This morning, our lesson is on the Lord’s Supper... and what kind of attitude we should have as we participate in this Memorial Feast!
Access a Worship Bulletin and read along with me... First Corinthians 11... Beginning with the verse numbered 23... For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Our first point is that... This is a communion... Jesus is in our presence.
An elderly man entered a church dressed in shabby jeans... a pullover shirt... and tennis shoes. In his hand he carried a worn out ball-cap and an equally worn out Bible. The church was in an… upscale… exclusive… part of town. People were well dressed in expensive clothes and accessories. It became immediately apparent that the congregation was appalled at his appearance and made no attempt to hide it... No one greeted... Spoke to... Or Welcomed… Him.
As the man was leaving, the preacher asked him to do him a favor... Before you come back here again... Have a talk with Jesus... Ask him what He thinks would be appropriate attire for worship with us? The old man assured him he would do that.
The next Sunday... he showed up again in the same... ragged jeans... shirt... tennis shoes. The preacher said... I thought I asked you to speak to Jesus about what you should wear before you came back to our church. I did!... I REALLY DID!
If you spoke to Jesus... What did he tell you the proper attire should be for worshiping in our church?... Well... Sir... Jesus told me that He didn’t have a clue what I should wear... He said... He’s never been here.
We must know this morning...
• If Jesus isn’t here… This ain’t church.
• If Jesus isn’t here… We’re not worshipping.
• If Jesus isn’t here… We’re wasting our time.
The most important thing we can have in our worship this morning is a sense of Jesus’ Presence… God in our midst. Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.
We must ask this morning... Are we here in His name?... Are we really?
• Or are we here to fulfill some religious obligation?... Here out of duty.
• Are we here to see Jesus... Or to be seen?
Are we here to... Honor... Praise... Glorify... Him?... I pray we are.
We need to follow the admonishment of the Hebrews’ Writer when he said... Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
The Lord’s Supper is not a time to check our email... text our friends… write the contribution check... consider where we’re gonna eat after services... play with the baby... or think about our golf game.
It was Paul who asked in rhetoric... Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation… A fellowship… A communion in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
Indeed... The Lord’s Supper is all about Jesus... He is to be among us because our minds are focused on Him... It’s called worship!
Secondly... Communion is a time of thanksgiving...
We just finished celebrating the American Holiday... But, as Children of God... each Sunday... We celebrate Jesus by counting our blessings...
Paul asks… Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks.
• It was Paul who told the Athenians... It’s in Him that we live and move and have our being...
• He tells us that all good blessingS come down from the Father...
• And that all spiritual blessingS are found in Jesus.
Church... Do we count our blessings each Lord’s Day during the Communion Service?... Do We?... Should we?
Paul says... The Lord’s Supper is to be a time of thAnks giving.
I hope with this lesson... we start making the Communion Service a time for counting our blessings... Amen?
Our third meditation should be about our deliverance.
The Lord’s Supper is about looking back...
Jesus gave us this memorial during His last Passover meal with the Twelve. The Passover meal had three ingredients... unleavened bread... wine... and bitter herbs. Each of these took the Jewish participants back to Egypt... and a time of Bondage.
• The unleavened bread was eaten hastily... as they prepared the Passover Lamb.
• The wine took them back to the Blood of the lamb that was smeared over the doorpost keeping the angel of death from entering their homes.
• The bitter herbs signature of their harsh treatment in Egypt.
That night in the Upper Room... Jesus took two of these elements and made them a time of remembrance for us.
First…He took the Bread... Saying... This is My Body given for you... This is my body broken for you... Eat it in remembrance of Me.
Jesus wants us to remember His suffering.
Jesus wants us to Feel His pain.
His suffering didn’t start at the cross... But in the Garden. Here we find Him in fear as He anticipates His coming death... Jesus is so emotionally stressed... that He says... Watch for Me... I could die from this stress.
But here’s something else we should be thankful for... Not My Will... But Thine Be Done!
Each Sunday, we need to hear Jesus say… Thy will be done… Aren’t we thankful?
We recall His arrest... Peter’s denial... the… unfair... unlawful... trials through the night...
He was scourged... beaten by a Roman soldier... 39 lashes with leather straps tied to a stick... Stones & Metal tied to the ends of the straps.
Think about it this morning... 39 times by a strong soldier.
History tells us some men died from such scourging.
A crown of thorns was placed on His Head...
A Royal Robe over His shoulders...
A shepherd’s staff for a scepter...
They mocked Him... Bowing before Him saying... Hail... King of the Jews... Then these mocking worshipers.... Slapped Him... Fisted Him... Spat in His face.
Before Pilate... Before Herod... Instead of calling ten-thousand angels to deliver Him… To prove His authority... Jesus submiTted to governmental authority. We feel His exhaustion as He carried the cross... His stumbling beneath its weight. We feel the nails as they were driven into His hands and feet. The agony of a hanging suspended by the nails... The slow death by suffocation. The agony of absolute loneliness... All have forsaken Him except... John... His mother... And a handful of woman. Even His Father turns away… My God... My God... Why have You forsaken me.
Then Jesus takes the Cup... Saying... This cup is the new covenant in My Blood... which is shed for you... Whenever you drink it... Do so in remembrance of Me.
A scarlet thread runs through our Bibles...
• From Genesis through Revelation...
• From the animals that died to cover Adam and Eve’s sins to the Blood of the Lamb mentioned in Revelation...
It’s a blood thread!!
Scripture teaches that life is in the blood... Without blood there cannot be life in our physical bodies. The same is true Spiritually... The blood is spoken of 427 times in our Bible...
• Without the blood... There’s no forgiveness...
• Without the blood... The Gospel is dead… Powerless to save...
• Without the blood... We are deprived of eternal life.
In Matthew 26.28... Jesus said... For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Paul added... Without the shedding of blood is no remission... But... But... We have redemption through the blood... Even the forgiveness of sins.
Peter affirms... We are not redeemed with silver and gold, and precious stones... But with the precious blood of Christ.
Revelation 5.9 has the chorus of Heaven singing... You are worthy... Because you were slain, and with your blood we are redeemed.
There’s a medical procedure called CHelation.
Chelation is similar to dialysis in that the blood is removed from the body and sent through a machine that purges the blood of... germs and infection. The procedure helps restore the immune system... so that it’s able to work against disease.
The Hebrews’ Writer speaks of this Spiritually... If the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those ceremonially unclean… To sanctify them… So that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! Hebrews 9.13-14
John speaks of spiritual chelation in First John 1.7... If we walk in the light as He is in the light... The blood of Jesus Christ His Son continues to cleanse us from all sin
In the Upper Room... Jesus took these two Passover elements... Saying... When you partake of this Supper...
• Remember My Suffering... My Body Broken for you...
• Remember My Blood that forgives and Saves.
Each Lord’s Day… This memorial feast speaks to us of...
• Our deliverance from the bondage of sin...
• Of our forgiveness...
• Redemption...
• Atonement...
• Reconciliation...
• Justification…
• Salvation.
Then... During the Lord’s Supper... Jesus wants us to look within.
A man ought to examine himself.
Church... Each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper... We are to look at ourselves... Deep within our hearts. Question... When we look at ourselves...
• What do we see?
• What are we doing with our lives?
• Are we living for Jesus?
• Does Jesus have first place... top-drawer status... in our lives?
• Are we totally committed to Him?
• Are we striving for holiness?... Doing our best to have His… heart... attitude... disposition... and behavior?
• Are we... in genuine humility and repentance... asking God to forgive us... And help us to conform to the image of His Son?
This brings us to Looking around...
When Paul says we are to recognize the body of the Lord... is He speaking of the fact that during Communion... we eat and drink judgment upon ourselves when we don’t...
• Think about and share in Jesus’ suffering...
• Feel His pain by recalling His broken body?
Or... Is he saying we ought to recognize and rightly discern... His spiritual body... The church?... both!!
After all... it was Jesus who said... If you’re offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you... Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Jesus is saying... It’s mockery of Me... to try to worship without considering your relationship with one another.
Today... We are the body of Christ... How we feel about one another is how we feel about Jesus. We can’t worship Him... While holding a grudge... Having a heart of unforgiveness against a brother or sister.
As oft as you do it to the least of these brothers and sisters... You’ve done it to Me.
Are we listening... Or are we eating and drinking judgment upon ourselves.
Sobering question... Right?
It was Paul who said in chapter ten... Verse seventeen... Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
Church… Unity of believers is to be an integral part of each communion service!
Then finally... We are to… look ahead... Look to the future.
Proclaiming His death until he comes.
As we partake of this feast of remembrance... we look forward to the time when He will come again and we will have Communion with our Lord and the saved of all ages.
I hope we can say with joy this morning that we are living in anticipation of His return. Are we looking forward to His coming… with joy… or with fear?
Can we say and pray with the early church and pray... Maranatha...
• Lord come quickly...
• Or Come O Lord?
Can we... like John... Say with confidence... in Revelation 22... Come Lord Jesus?
communion...
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means!... God forbid... We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Come accept God’s grace gift of salvation through Jesus by... Faith... Repentance and Baptism.
Come walk in the light of His truth... so that your sins may be continually cleansed.
Come worship Jesus... as we stand and sing together.
