WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.419 Want to thank each of you for being here tonight 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:05.419 if you consider yourself a visitor want to echo 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:07.940 the warm welcome That's already been extended 00:00:07.940 --> 00:00:11.080 to you. We're glad you're here Hope you can come 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:13.599 back and be a part of this gospel meeting as 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:16.120 we continue on through the week We're going to 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:18.579 continue tonight studying our subject our theme 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:21.600 that being restoring New Testament Christianity 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:27.010 we see a desperate need and we have a sincere 00:00:27.010 --> 00:00:29.850 desire to restore the church that Jesus built. 00:00:30.789 --> 00:00:33.210 And the key to doing that, we believe, is going 00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:37.390 back to the Bible to find our faith, find our 00:00:37.390 --> 00:00:41.909 doctrine, and find our practices as they are 00:00:41.909 --> 00:00:44.850 revealed and authorized by the Scriptures. Tonight, 00:00:44.950 --> 00:00:47.609 we're going to turn our focus to restoring a 00:00:47.609 --> 00:00:50.929 very important part and practice in our assemblies 00:00:50.929 --> 00:00:53.170 on the first day of the week, and that's communion. 00:00:53.420 --> 00:00:55.460 We're going to talk about the Lord's Supper tonight. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:57.759 Tonight we're going to talk about restoring a 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:02.020 biblical and meaningful observance of communion. 00:01:03.179 --> 00:01:06.719 And to introduce, move that down a little bit, 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:09.540 to introduce the topic of communion, I want us 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:16.060 to go back in our minds to the eve of Christ's 00:01:16.060 --> 00:01:21.500 betrayal and arrest. Jesus knew he only had a 00:01:21.500 --> 00:01:24.280 few more hours with his disciples and he spent 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:27.719 the final hours with his disciples. The Bible 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:31.879 tells us celebrating the Passover. Now the Passover 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:36.180 was an annual Jewish celebration. It had been 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:38.900 celebrated by God's people for centuries. God 00:01:38.900 --> 00:01:41.219 told his people to celebrate it once a year in 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:44.599 Leviticus chapter 23 verse 4. And you'll remember 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:47.340 the Passover was a meal that the Jews ate together 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:50.040 in remembrance of how God had delivered them 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:54.219 so many generations ago. from the bondage that 00:01:54.219 --> 00:01:56.939 they were in in the land of Egypt. You can go 00:01:56.939 --> 00:01:59.939 back to Exodus chapter 12 and you can read about 00:01:59.939 --> 00:02:03.379 those events. And during the Passover the Bible 00:02:03.379 --> 00:02:06.519 tells us that God told his people to sacrifice 00:02:06.519 --> 00:02:09.860 a lamb, a spotless lamb without blemish. He told 00:02:09.860 --> 00:02:12.240 them to take the blood of that lamb and apply 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:15.560 it to the doorposts of their homes. He told them 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:18.599 to roast and eat that lamb with unleavened bread. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:22.319 And you'll remember at the first Passover in 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:25.300 Egypt, God told His people, when I see the blood 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:27.939 of that lamb on the doorpost of your house, I 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:32.139 will pass over you. No harm would come to the 00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:34.419 people of God as the death angel passed through 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:38.639 the land of Egypt. So Jesus... and the apostles 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:42.740 were celebrating this ancient tradition, this 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:45.060 holy day of the Passover. They were engaging 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:48.099 in these activities together. And after they'd 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:51.919 finished eating the Passover, Jesus did something 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:54.560 very, very special and very, very significant. 00:02:56.419 --> 00:02:59.620 What we have to remember is that everything pertaining 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:02.560 to the Passover was a shadow and a symbol of 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:06.300 better things to come in Christ. And how appropriate 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:10.060 it was for Jesus to spend his final hours celebrating 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:12.860 that Passover because it all pointed to him and 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:16.300 what he was about to do and going to a cross 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:19.400 and being that spotless sacrificial lamb and 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:21.300 dying for the sins of the world and you know 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:24.659 the Bible reassures us of that in Hebrews 10 00:03:24.659 --> 00:03:28.300 verse 1 it says the law which contained all the 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:31.039 ordinances and holy days like the Passover it 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:34.509 was a shadow of good things to come The law was 00:03:34.509 --> 00:03:36.669 a shadow of good things that were to come in 00:03:36.669 --> 00:03:41.550 Christ. In Colossians 2 .16, we read that all 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:44.129 the holy days pertained in the law, such as the 00:03:44.129 --> 00:03:46.590 Passover, pointed forward to Jesus. Paul told 00:03:46.590 --> 00:03:49.650 the Colossian Christians, let no man therefore 00:03:49.650 --> 00:03:52.129 judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of 00:03:52.129 --> 00:03:54.129 an holy day. And he goes on to talk about some 00:03:54.129 --> 00:03:56.849 of those holy days, and he comments on those 00:03:56.849 --> 00:04:00.449 holy days in verse 17. What does he say? Those 00:04:00.449 --> 00:04:03.599 holy days were a shadow of things to come but 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:08.240 the body or the substance is of Christ. Jesus 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.800 was shortly going to go and fulfill every shadow 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:16.879 and be everything the Passover had ever symbolized 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:18.920 when he would hang and die on a cross for our 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:23.720 sins. In 1st Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7 Paul 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:27.360 looks back and he wants the Corinthians to understand 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:29.779 that he told them purge out there for the old 00:04:29.779 --> 00:04:32.899 leaven that you may be a new lump. Even as ye 00:04:32.899 --> 00:04:36.579 these Corinthian Christians ye are unleavened 00:04:36.579 --> 00:04:41.100 for even Christ our Passover is Sacrificed for 00:04:41.100 --> 00:04:43.079 us we as Christians today don't have to go out 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:45.939 and sacrifice a Passover lamb once a year why 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:49.439 we have our Passover lamb we have our our sin 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.100 sacrifice, and that's the sacrifice of Jesus 00:04:52.100 --> 00:04:56.379 as I mentioned The Jesus knew the hour of his 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:58.740 death was drawing near and as he finished eating 00:04:58.740 --> 00:05:01.319 the Passover He did something very unexpected 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:03.879 with his disciples, and we're going to read what 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:08.279 he did from Mark chapter 14 verse 22 Mark 14 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:11.720 22 the Bible says as they did eat Jesus took 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.319 bread and Blessed and break it and gave it to 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:20.019 them and said take eat. This is my body And he 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:23.750 took the cup And when He had given thanks, He 00:05:23.750 --> 00:05:25.910 gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And 00:05:25.910 --> 00:05:28.509 He said unto them, This is My blood of the New 00:05:28.509 --> 00:05:32.410 Testament, which is shed for many. He said, Verily 00:05:32.410 --> 00:05:35.089 I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit 00:05:35.089 --> 00:05:38.670 of the vine until that day that I drink it new 00:05:38.670 --> 00:05:44.189 in the kingdom of God. What Jesus did here is 00:05:44.189 --> 00:05:47.850 He had what people commonly call the last supper. 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:51.110 You've probably heard that term, the Last Supper. 00:05:51.170 --> 00:05:53.870 This is Jesus having the Last Supper with His 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:59.029 disciples. Now in Scripture, this event is referred 00:05:59.029 --> 00:06:01.750 to one of several ways. In Acts 2 42, we're going 00:06:01.750 --> 00:06:04.389 to see tonight, this is called breaking of bread. 00:06:05.129 --> 00:06:08.009 In 1 Corinthians 11 20, this is called the Lord's 00:06:08.009 --> 00:06:10.889 Supper. And in 1 Corinthians 10, it's called 00:06:10.889 --> 00:06:13.449 the Lord Table and it's also called communion. 00:06:14.029 --> 00:06:16.029 Those are four different scriptural terms that 00:06:16.029 --> 00:06:20.790 are used to describe what we just read when Jesus 00:06:20.790 --> 00:06:24.550 ate the Last Supper and instituted the Lord's 00:06:24.550 --> 00:06:27.970 Supper for His people. Whatever you want to call 00:06:27.970 --> 00:06:30.029 it, breaking bread, communion, or the Lord's 00:06:30.029 --> 00:06:34.149 table, here's what it is. It was Christ's chosen 00:06:34.149 --> 00:06:38.430 and Christ's approved way of memorializing Him 00:06:38.430 --> 00:06:42.829 and the sacrifice that He would soon provide 00:06:42.829 --> 00:06:46.439 for the sins of the world. It was His way. that 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:50.060 he chose for us to remember him and to remember 00:06:50.060 --> 00:06:55.800 his death. Now, we want to restore a meaningful 00:06:55.800 --> 00:07:02.160 and a biblical observance of communion. We are 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.439 almost 2 ,000 years. removed from when Jesus 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.839 first ate this meal with his disciples. And we 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:11.000 want to make sure today that when we come around 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.699 the table, when we have communion, we are doing 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:16.199 it in a way that God would approve of. We're 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.959 observing communion in a biblical and a meaningful 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:21.879 manner. You know, that should characterize every 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:24.459 aspect of our worship. All of our worship to 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:27.360 God should be biblical and meaningful. For Jesus 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:30.500 taught us in John chapter 4 verse 23, Jesus talks 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:33.939 about worship here. Jesus said to the Samaritan 00:07:33.939 --> 00:07:36.600 woman in John 4 23 he said the hour cometh and 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:39.420 now is when the true worshipers Shall worship 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:42.019 the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:45.060 seek as such to worship him God is a spirit and 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:48.100 they that worship him must worship him in spirit 00:07:48.100 --> 00:07:51.319 and in truth We want to worship God in spirit 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:53.500 and in truth to be the true worshipers Jesus 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:55.519 speaks about and I'm here to tell you tonight 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:58.019 when we Come around the table and have communion. 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.620 We will also want to do that in spirit and in 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:04.670 truth To worship in truth means to worship according 00:08:04.670 --> 00:08:07.290 to the truth of God's Word. Our worship has to 00:08:07.290 --> 00:08:10.050 line up with the teachings of the Bible. And 00:08:10.050 --> 00:08:12.129 when our worship is in line and in agreement 00:08:12.129 --> 00:08:14.930 with the authorized teachings of Scripture, we 00:08:14.930 --> 00:08:17.250 can say our worship is biblical and we can say 00:08:17.250 --> 00:08:21.170 we're worshiping in truth. But we also want our 00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:24.949 worship to be in spirit. Our worship is meaningful 00:08:24.949 --> 00:08:27.589 to us when we worship in spirit. We don't need 00:08:27.589 --> 00:08:29.910 to just be going through the motions and doing 00:08:29.910 --> 00:08:32.789 things to check off boxes to please God. God 00:08:32.789 --> 00:08:35.970 wants us to worship Him with a sound mind and 00:08:35.970 --> 00:08:39.389 a sincere heart. The very essence, the core of 00:08:39.389 --> 00:08:41.549 our being, our spirit needs to be in our worship. 00:08:42.230 --> 00:08:45.389 It's not just outer forms and mechanics and things 00:08:45.389 --> 00:08:48.409 that we do without any heart and mind in our 00:08:48.409 --> 00:08:51.590 worship. And when our heart and mind are engaged 00:08:51.590 --> 00:08:54.860 fully in our worship, We can say that we're worshiping 00:08:54.860 --> 00:08:57.940 in spirit and our worship will be meaningful 00:08:57.940 --> 00:09:01.100 to us. So this is what I mean when I say we want 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:04.080 to observe communion in a biblical and a meaningful 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:07.019 way. All I'm saying is we want to be the true 00:09:07.019 --> 00:09:10.120 worshipers that do it in spirit and in truth. 00:09:10.539 --> 00:09:12.679 So we're going to start tonight like we did last 00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:15.639 night by going to the New Testament and seeing 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:18.539 the pattern that God's Word gives us for communion. 00:09:19.019 --> 00:09:21.340 We're going to go to the Word and study the pattern, 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.399 the blueprint. We're going to see how communion 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:26.740 was in that first century church that Jesus built. 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:29.360 And to do that, we're going to start by examining 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:33.259 the church at Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 2, verse 00:09:33.259 --> 00:09:37.779 41 to 42, Acts chapter 2, as we've mentioned, 00:09:37.940 --> 00:09:41.139 is the day, the time, the place that Jesus built 00:09:41.139 --> 00:09:45.029 His church. On Pentecost Day, fifty days after 00:09:45.029 --> 00:09:49.409 his death, the church was established by Christ 00:09:49.409 --> 00:09:52.610 in Jerusalem. Three thousand people heard, believed, 00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:56.610 and obeyed the gospel. We read that in Acts 2 00:09:56.610 --> 00:09:59.289 .41, those that gladly received Peter's word. 00:09:59.389 --> 00:10:02.210 The preaching of the gospel were baptized. And 00:10:02.210 --> 00:10:04.210 the same day they were added unto them about 00:10:04.210 --> 00:10:06.950 three thousand souls. Now we go on into the next 00:10:06.950 --> 00:10:09.379 verse, verse 42, and it's going to... Tell us 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:11.360 some things about those first three thousand 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.220 Christians, those first three thousand baptized 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:17.799 believers in Christ. What did they do? The Bible 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:22.200 says they continued steadfastly in several things. 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:25.850 Let's notice what they continued steadfastly 00:10:25.850 --> 00:10:27.789 in the Bible says that these first Christians 00:10:27.789 --> 00:10:30.490 continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:33.690 That's the teaching of the Apostles and the fellowship 00:10:33.690 --> 00:10:35.870 of the Apostles and indeed their fellowship one 00:10:35.870 --> 00:10:38.750 with another They also continued steadfastly 00:10:38.750 --> 00:10:42.269 the Bible says in the breaking of bread and in 00:10:42.269 --> 00:10:45.889 prayers The breaking of bread here is a reference 00:10:45.889 --> 00:10:50.620 to the Lord's Supper or communion It's one of 00:10:50.620 --> 00:10:54.100 the ways the Bible talks about or describes coming 00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:57.000 around the table and observing communion. The 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.919 first Christians continued steadfastly in observing 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:04.019 the Lord's Supper. Now, here's something I want 00:11:04.019 --> 00:11:06.059 you to know about this phrase, breaking bread. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:09.799 Sometimes in scripture, the phrase breaking bread 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:12.620 does not necessarily refer to eating the Lord's 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:15.519 Supper. Sometimes it refers to eating a common 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:19.360 meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, sometimes the 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:22.379 Bible calls that breaking bread. And I want to 00:11:22.379 --> 00:11:24.460 give you an example of that. It's just a little 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:26.600 bit further down in this same chapter in Acts 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:32.259 2. In Acts 2, 44, it describes those first baptized 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:34.600 believers in Jerusalem, those first members of 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.700 the church. It says all that believed were together 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:40.419 and they had all things common and they sold 00:11:40.419 --> 00:11:42.559 their possessions and goods and parted them to 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:45.769 all men as every man had need. And they, those 00:11:45.769 --> 00:11:48.549 Christians, continued daily with one accord in 00:11:48.549 --> 00:11:50.970 the temple, and they were breaking bread from 00:11:50.970 --> 00:11:53.889 house to house. They did eat their meat with 00:11:53.889 --> 00:11:57.169 gladness and singleness of heart. Now I'm convinced 00:11:57.169 --> 00:11:59.690 by the context of this passage that the breaking 00:11:59.690 --> 00:12:03.379 of bread here In verse 46 is different than the 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:05.539 breaking of bread we read about in verse 42. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:07.960 Let's back up just a minute and look at the breaking 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:10.679 of bread in verse 42. Notice here the breaking 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:14.120 of bread is listed among several other spiritual 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:17.480 exercises that the church engages in when they 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:20.360 come together to worship God. Things like teaching, 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:23.480 things like prayer. This breaking of bread is 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:26.139 listed among those exercises and activities that 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:28.649 the church engages in. When the church comes 00:12:28.649 --> 00:12:30.649 together, we have a special breaking of bread. 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:33.409 It's the Lord's Supper. And we understand that 00:12:33.409 --> 00:12:35.870 according to the context. But when we get down 00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:38.690 to Acts chapter 2 verse 46, the context is a 00:12:38.690 --> 00:12:41.190 little bit different. It's talking about breaking 00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:45.610 bread in the context of everyday daily activities. 00:12:46.210 --> 00:12:47.870 You know, every day we eat maybe two or three 00:12:47.870 --> 00:12:50.409 meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's 00:12:50.409 --> 00:12:53.440 what the Bible is talking about. How first century 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.039 Christians continued to spend time together away 00:12:56.039 --> 00:12:58.639 from the assembly and during those times, what 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.120 did they do? You all know what they did. They 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.000 did the same things we do when we get together, 00:13:03.019 --> 00:13:06.840 right? They shared meals together. Okay, they 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:09.320 shared their meals together from house to house. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.899 So I just want you to be aware of that. Not every 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:14.019 time we see breaking and bread in Scripture does 00:13:14.019 --> 00:13:16.659 it refer to the Lord's Supper. Sometimes it is 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:19.080 a common meal. How do you know? If it's Lord's 00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:20.600 Supper or a common meal, you have to look at 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:24.190 the context. If you look carefully at the context, 00:13:24.250 --> 00:13:27.149 it will help you understand if the Lord's Supper 00:13:27.149 --> 00:13:30.389 or a common meal is under consideration. Context 00:13:30.389 --> 00:13:33.730 determines so many things in our study of Scripture. 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:37.110 We've got to be good, careful students of Scripture 00:13:37.110 --> 00:13:39.990 and to do that we have to consider the context 00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:43.029 for everything that we're looking at. Now let's 00:13:43.029 --> 00:13:45.490 move on from the church at Jerusalem and let's 00:13:45.490 --> 00:13:47.830 look at another first century church. Let's look 00:13:47.830 --> 00:13:51.399 at the church at Troas. The church at Troas. 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:53.679 The Bible tells us in Acts 27 that the church 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:55.820 at Troas came together on the first day of the 00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:59.799 week to celebrate the communion. Acts 20 and 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:02.120 7. The Bible says upon the first day of the week, 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:05.399 that Sunday, when the disciples came together, 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:08.110 what did they come together for? Bible says they 00:14:08.110 --> 00:14:10.889 came together to break bread and on that occasion 00:14:10.889 --> 00:14:13.570 It says Paul preached unto them ready to depart 00:14:13.570 --> 00:14:15.850 on the morrow and continued his speech until 00:14:15.850 --> 00:14:18.529 midnight Now this passage gives us a little bit 00:14:18.529 --> 00:14:21.370 more information About how the first century 00:14:21.370 --> 00:14:23.889 church came together and had the Lord's Supper 00:14:23.889 --> 00:14:27.070 Specifically this verse teaches us that the New 00:14:27.070 --> 00:14:29.850 Testament Church observed communion on the first 00:14:29.850 --> 00:14:32.190 day of the week That's what that verse says the 00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:34.570 disciples came together on the first day of the 00:14:34.570 --> 00:14:38.100 week to break bread and have communion. So today, 00:14:38.419 --> 00:14:41.379 if we want to restore a biblical observance of 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:44.779 communion, we too will eat communion on the first 00:14:44.779 --> 00:14:48.379 day of the week, just like they did. Now we understand 00:14:48.379 --> 00:14:50.379 from the teaching of the New Testament that these 00:14:50.379 --> 00:14:53.279 Christians observe communion every first day 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.679 of the week. They came together every first day 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.600 of the week to have communion. Now granted the 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:02.960 word every is not in Acts chapter 20 verse 7. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:05.879 If you read it carefully and notice, the Bible 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:09.559 does not say every first day of the week. However, 00:15:09.620 --> 00:15:12.419 we understand from scripture and also the testimony 00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:15.360 of church history that the first church came 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:18.419 together every first day of the week for communion. 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:22.600 And here's why we understand that. We believe 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.200 it's inferred or implied in these passages that 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:28.720 the communion was a weekly observance. an observance 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:31.679 that they participated in every week, in the 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:34.419 same way that the Sabbath was understood to be 00:15:34.419 --> 00:15:37.220 a weekly observance for God's people, the Jews. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:41.740 In Exodus 20 verse 8 to 10, this is the Ten Commandments 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:44.679 God gave the Jews at Mount Sinai, God told them, 00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:47.679 remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Now notice 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:50.639 here, God didn't tell the Jews to remember every 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:54.980 Sabbath. Is the word every in that verse? The 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:57.340 word every is not in that verse. God never told 00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:00.500 the Jews to remember every Sabbath. He just told 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:02.740 them remember the Sabbath. He told them six days 00:16:02.740 --> 00:16:05.320 you'll labor and do on your work, but the seventh 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:07.399 day is the Sabbath of the Lord. You don't work 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:10.840 on that seventh day. God never told his people 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:14.860 expressly to remember every Sabbath, but you 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:16.779 know what they understood from commands like 00:16:16.779 --> 00:16:20.600 this? They read commands like this and they understood 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:23.470 it to mean Every Sabbath. You know, every week 00:16:23.470 --> 00:16:25.470 had a Sabbath, the seventh day. And if it was 00:16:25.470 --> 00:16:27.309 the seventh day, it was the Sabbath. They were 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:30.730 honoring it and remembering it. In like manner, 00:16:30.850 --> 00:16:33.509 every week has a first day of the week. And if 00:16:33.509 --> 00:16:35.370 it's the first day of the week, we understand 00:16:35.370 --> 00:16:37.230 the church should come together and they should 00:16:37.230 --> 00:16:40.649 come around the table and break bread. We understand 00:16:40.649 --> 00:16:42.490 that to be the practice of the first century 00:16:42.490 --> 00:16:45.690 church. That was the frequency. Another example 00:16:45.690 --> 00:16:48.659 of that before we move on. would be the Day of 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:51.179 Atonement. God told His people Israel in Leviticus 00:16:51.179 --> 00:16:54.360 23, 27. He told them on the tenth day of the 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:56.980 seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement. 00:16:57.399 --> 00:16:59.799 This was an annual holiday. The Day of Atonement 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:03.159 was an annual observance for the Jews. They observed 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:05.680 it in the seventh month on the tenth day. God 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.779 never told them every tenth day of every seventh 00:17:09.779 --> 00:17:14.039 month. But you know what? They understood that 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:16.500 that day came around once a year and if it was 00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:19.119 the seventh and if it was the tenth day, they 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:21.180 were going to celebrate the day of atonement. 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:24.720 It was implied it was understood. And it's implied 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.140 to us and we understand from Scripture, God wants 00:17:27.140 --> 00:17:31.339 us to have the communion every Sunday. As we 00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:33.599 continue to consider the original pattern that 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:35.480 God gives us in the Scripture for communion, 00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:38.059 we're going to look finally at the church at 00:17:38.059 --> 00:17:41.940 Corinth. Church at Corinth. Now, if you've read 00:17:41.940 --> 00:17:44.359 1 Corinthians, you understand the church at Corinth 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:48.470 had a lot of problems. Nearly a different problem 00:17:48.470 --> 00:17:50.990 for every chapter of the book and there's 16 00:17:50.990 --> 00:17:53.269 chapters in all in 1st Corinthians So they had 00:17:53.269 --> 00:17:57.109 a lot of problems All right one of the problems 00:17:57.109 --> 00:18:00.109 the Corinthians had is they had changed the Lord's 00:18:00.109 --> 00:18:04.089 Supper into a common meal and this common veal 00:18:04.089 --> 00:18:08.329 Common meal involves some excessive feasting 00:18:08.329 --> 00:18:10.349 They changed the Lord's Supper into something 00:18:10.349 --> 00:18:13.390 the Lord had never intended it to be and you 00:18:13.390 --> 00:18:17.099 know Paul actually teaches us a lot about the 00:18:17.099 --> 00:18:20.640 right way to do communion in the correction that 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:23.180 he provided to the Corinthians because they were 00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:26.099 doing communion the wrong way. In 1 Corinthians 00:18:26.099 --> 00:18:30.339 chapter 11 verse 17 to 34 we learn some more 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:33.480 interesting details about God's original pattern 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:36.000 or plan for communion. Here's something we learned. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:38.400 He told them, when you come together therefore 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:41.299 into one place, to have the Lord's Supper. The 00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:43.019 Lord's Supper is something to do when we come 00:18:43.019 --> 00:18:45.799 together into one place, when we assemble together 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:49.240 as a congregation. Paul also told them that when 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:51.640 they had the Lord's Supper, he said, Christ told 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:54.380 him to do it in remembrance of me, Jesus said. 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:58.680 Jesus said, this do in remembrance of me. The 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:02.079 Lord's Supper is. done in remember remembrance 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:06.440 of or to memorialize the death of Jesus and Then 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:08.240 another thing we learned from first Corinthians 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:12.079 11 Paul told the Corinthians you do shoe which 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:15.680 means to make manifest or demonstrate The Lord's 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:19.119 death till he come when we come around the table. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.200 We do the same thing. We demonstrate we proclaim 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:25.940 We memorialize and remember the Lord's death 00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:28.980 until he come So there's a lot of teaching there 00:19:28.980 --> 00:19:32.339 in 1 Corinthians 11 about communion. Paul provided 00:19:32.339 --> 00:19:34.640 that teaching in the process of correcting these 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.759 Corinthians because they weren't doing it properly. 00:19:37.619 --> 00:19:40.359 Here's something else we learn in 1 Corinthians 00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:43.640 10 about communion in the first century church. 00:19:44.059 --> 00:19:46.119 Communion was really meant and designed to bring 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:51.160 all Christians together to the same table. It 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:54.200 was something God gave His church to draw all 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:58.660 believers closer together. In 1 Corinthians 10 00:19:58.660 --> 00:20:01.519 17, Paul told them this. He said, for we being 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:08.059 many are one bread and one body. For we are all 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:11.680 partakers of that one bread. You know, there's 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:16.519 an element of unity that is demonstrated and 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:18.799 proclaimed when we come around the Lord's table. 00:20:19.210 --> 00:20:21.569 And it was that way from the beginning when the 00:20:21.569 --> 00:20:24.869 Lord set up communion for His people and as it 00:20:24.869 --> 00:20:27.230 was practiced in the first century church. So 00:20:27.230 --> 00:20:29.650 this is just a quick summary of some of the things 00:20:29.650 --> 00:20:32.089 that we've learned by looking at the church in 00:20:32.089 --> 00:20:34.390 Jerusalem, looking in the church at Troas, looking 00:20:34.390 --> 00:20:36.910 at the church at Corinth, looking at how they 00:20:36.910 --> 00:20:39.329 did communion. Here's what we've learned. Communion 00:20:39.329 --> 00:20:41.970 was intended to be a commemoration of Christ 00:20:41.970 --> 00:20:45.400 and His death. It was a vital part. of the early 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:47.839 life of the first century church. We understand 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.380 that it was for the disciples, it was for baptized 00:20:50.380 --> 00:20:52.519 believers in Christ, it was for Christians, it 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:54.640 was not for everybody else out there in the world, 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:57.579 but it was a special meal for God's people who 00:20:57.579 --> 00:21:00.140 were in a covenant relationship with Him. We 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:02.519 learn as we said that it was observed every first 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:04.380 day of the week, every Sunday when the church 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:08.119 came together, and it was given to draw all disciples 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:12.750 together into a closer bond. and a closer bond 00:21:12.750 --> 00:21:16.130 of fellowship and unity. That's the original 00:21:16.130 --> 00:21:18.990 pattern for communion as it's revealed in the 00:21:18.990 --> 00:21:22.190 Scriptures. Now, as we've talked about this week, 00:21:22.269 --> 00:21:25.849 we're going to move on now to consider how down 00:21:25.849 --> 00:21:28.309 through the years of church history, down through 00:21:28.309 --> 00:21:32.829 the centuries, changes were made. to the practice 00:21:32.829 --> 00:21:34.990 and the doctrine of communion. We're going to 00:21:34.990 --> 00:21:38.210 take a moment to survey church history and look 00:21:38.210 --> 00:21:40.849 at some of the ways in which error concerning 00:21:40.849 --> 00:21:43.630 communion and its practice slowly crept into 00:21:43.630 --> 00:21:47.250 the church. One of the earliest changes that 00:21:47.250 --> 00:21:51.490 was made to communion was a change in the name 00:21:51.490 --> 00:21:54.069 for communion. Now earlier I gave you four scriptural 00:21:54.069 --> 00:21:57.160 names. for communion, breaking bread, Lord's 00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:59.519 Supper, Lord's Table, and communion. Those are 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:03.559 four scriptural ways to describe what we do when 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:07.140 we come around the table. But in the second century, 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:11.140 we see that they changed the name. This is Justin 00:22:11.140 --> 00:22:13.920 Martyr. Justin Martyr was a second century Christian. 00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:19.880 Justin Martyr was a leader in the church. He 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:22.240 was a very popular teacher in the church in the 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.859 second century. He wrote a lot about the church 00:22:24.859 --> 00:22:28.240 and its doctrine in the second century. Justin 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:32.920 Martyr was a student of a disciple named Polycarp. 00:22:33.940 --> 00:22:37.119 Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.660 Okay, according to church history and tradition. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.299 So, you know Justin martyrs mentor was mentored 00:22:44.299 --> 00:22:47.259 by the Apostle John That's how close some of 00:22:47.259 --> 00:22:51.240 these men were to the original Apostles and the 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:56.099 ones who helped set up the church in 155 AD Justin 00:22:56.099 --> 00:22:59.480 martyr wrote a work that's called the first apology 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:03.059 and the word apology there means a defense Justin 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:06.410 martyr wanted to write a defense of the faith 00:23:06.410 --> 00:23:09.529 as he understood it. And he wrote some interesting 00:23:09.529 --> 00:23:12.150 things about communion as it was practiced in 00:23:12.150 --> 00:23:15.109 second century churches. It's in chapters 65, 00:23:15.170 --> 00:23:18.970 66 and 67 of his first apology. You can go and 00:23:18.970 --> 00:23:20.630 read and study this for yourself. Here's what 00:23:20.630 --> 00:23:23.430 Justin Martyr said about how they were doing 00:23:23.430 --> 00:23:25.769 communion in the second century churches. He 00:23:25.769 --> 00:23:28.829 said they had communion every Sunday. They came 00:23:28.829 --> 00:23:30.549 together every first day of the week and they 00:23:30.549 --> 00:23:33.170 had communion. He said they had unleavened bread 00:23:33.170 --> 00:23:35.349 and they had wine that they mixed and diluted 00:23:35.349 --> 00:23:38.630 with water for the cup, the fruit of the vine. 00:23:38.970 --> 00:23:41.609 He mentions the fact that it was given to those 00:23:41.609 --> 00:23:44.650 who were baptized believers in Christ. He mentions 00:23:44.650 --> 00:23:46.910 that prayers were offered for the bread and the 00:23:46.910 --> 00:23:49.490 fruit of the vine before they were partaken of. 00:23:49.730 --> 00:23:51.829 And then he mentions after those elements were 00:23:51.829 --> 00:23:53.890 blessed, they were distributed to the members. 00:23:54.549 --> 00:23:59.690 Isn't that interesting? We have a historical 00:23:59.690 --> 00:24:03.130 record here. Now, the record of history is different 00:24:03.130 --> 00:24:05.869 than the Word of God. The Word of God is infallible. 00:24:06.269 --> 00:24:08.509 It's inspired by God. You know, history and the 00:24:08.509 --> 00:24:10.769 works of men like Justin Martyr are not inspired 00:24:10.769 --> 00:24:13.289 by God. They're not infallible. But it is an 00:24:13.289 --> 00:24:16.829 interesting testimony, isn't it? To how in the 00:24:16.829 --> 00:24:22.730 second century, most of what they were doing 00:24:22.730 --> 00:24:25.920 for communion lines up with what we saw. the 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:28.200 original first century church is doing when they 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:30.240 had communion. It looks a lot like what we just 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:32.519 read from the New Testament. However, there was 00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:35.720 one difference, one change, that they made to 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:37.759 communion in the days of Justin Martyr. Justin 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:40.680 Martyr said this in First Apology. He said, this 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:43.599 food, referring to the communion, the bread and 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:48.059 the cup, he said, this food is called among us 00:24:48.059 --> 00:24:52.680 Eucharistia. The Greek word Eucharistia, or... 00:24:52.460 --> 00:24:56.440 you might recognize the word Eucharist. Some 00:24:56.440 --> 00:24:59.140 denominational churches today refer to the communion 00:24:59.140 --> 00:25:02.500 as Eucharist. Now the word Eucharist comes from 00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:05.500 that Greek word Eucharistia which means Thanksgiving 00:25:05.500 --> 00:25:11.359 or gratitude. So you see, they took a new name, 00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:16.880 Eucharistia, and they applied it to the observance 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:20.130 of the Lord's Supper. An unscriptural name, you 00:25:20.130 --> 00:25:22.049 know, and the Lord's Supper is never called the 00:25:22.049 --> 00:25:24.170 Eucharist or Thanksgiving or gratitude in the 00:25:24.170 --> 00:25:27.529 New Testament. So this was man's idea to name 00:25:27.529 --> 00:25:29.549 the communion something that it was not named 00:25:29.549 --> 00:25:31.670 in the Bible. And a person says, well, Brother 00:25:31.670 --> 00:25:33.670 James, what's the big deal with that, right? 00:25:34.470 --> 00:25:36.990 Seems like a small thing. They just changed the 00:25:36.990 --> 00:25:38.630 name. They're just calling it something different. 00:25:38.690 --> 00:25:46.359 No big deal. Well, you know what? There's some 00:25:46.359 --> 00:25:48.279 things that I want you to understand about that. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:50.779 I think it's important that we call Bible things 00:25:50.779 --> 00:25:54.279 by Bible names, OK? Here's what happens. When 00:25:54.279 --> 00:25:57.619 we call Bible things by Bible names, it helps 00:25:57.619 --> 00:26:00.460 to eliminate and prevent a lot of division and 00:26:00.460 --> 00:26:02.480 confusion that we see around us in the religious 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.480 world. You know, you might have two different 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:07.079 religious groups. One says we have communion. 00:26:07.660 --> 00:26:10.460 The other says we have the Eucharist and they're 00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:12.180 divided and they can't get along. They might 00:26:12.180 --> 00:26:14.480 be doing the very same thing. But they're just 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:16.740 calling it two different things. That's confusing. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:19.440 That leads to division. So I believe the best 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.539 policy, the safest thing to do is let's just 00:26:21.539 --> 00:26:24.640 call Bible things by Bible names and avoid all 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:27.680 the man -made labeling and man -made names that 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:30.160 can get applied to things in religion. I think 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:32.380 that'll actually help us to go about restoring 00:26:32.380 --> 00:26:35.440 New Testament Christianity and preventing confusion. 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:37.940 And look, if that's the only thing they ever 00:26:37.940 --> 00:26:40.880 did, if that's the only thing they ever did is 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:44.160 changed it from communion to Eucharist, Would 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:45.900 say that yeah, that would be a minor change, 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:50.799 but guess what? that first change Makes the second 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:54.059 change all that much easier And you know after 00:26:54.059 --> 00:26:56.640 the second change the third change is not hard 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.420 at all and then the fourth change No one even 00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:02.259 questions right we've already changed it so much 00:27:02.259 --> 00:27:05.160 So far and then it just becomes really really 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:08.680 easy once you open the door with that first change. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:12.630 Where do you close it? Where do we close it when 00:27:12.630 --> 00:27:14.369 we start calling it something different than 00:27:14.369 --> 00:27:17.150 what the Bible calls it? It's it's where do we 00:27:17.150 --> 00:27:20.589 stop and? Unfortunately, that's what we're gonna 00:27:20.589 --> 00:27:23.309 see that first change wasn't the final change 00:27:23.309 --> 00:27:26.089 that was made to communion many more changes 00:27:26.089 --> 00:27:29.470 followed over the centuries The next thing that 00:27:29.470 --> 00:27:31.869 happened in church history concerning communion 00:27:31.869 --> 00:27:36.109 and an error concerning it is Over time there 00:27:36.109 --> 00:27:39.490 was a change in the elements now remember Jesus 00:27:40.360 --> 00:27:42.440 instituted the Lord's Supper in connection with 00:27:42.440 --> 00:27:46.079 the Passover meal. And in the Passover meal we 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:48.640 understand from scripture that the Jews celebrated 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:52.140 the Passover meal with unleavened bread. When 00:27:52.140 --> 00:27:54.740 Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, He instituted 00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:57.200 it with unleavened bread. How do we know that? 00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:00.059 Because leavened bread was forbidden in the homes 00:28:00.059 --> 00:28:03.559 of the Jews when they had the Passover. The Passover 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:05.680 was the beginning of the feast of unleavened 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:09.069 bread. And God told His people to remove all 00:28:09.069 --> 00:28:11.950 the leaven from their homes before they even 00:28:11.950 --> 00:28:15.869 ate the Passover. Exodus 12 19, He said, Seven 00:28:15.869 --> 00:28:19.390 days shall there be no leaven found in your houses. 00:28:19.690 --> 00:28:22.210 For whoso eateth that which is leavened, even 00:28:22.210 --> 00:28:24.430 that soul shall be cut off from the congregation. 00:28:24.569 --> 00:28:28.009 Verse 20, Ye shall eat nothing leavened. In all 00:28:28.009 --> 00:28:30.609 your habitations ye shall eat unleavened bread. 00:28:30.630 --> 00:28:33.230 This is what He told them to do during the Passover 00:28:33.230 --> 00:28:36.039 and the feast of unleavened bread. So we know 00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:38.339 when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, he did 00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:40.579 so with unleavened bread. However, guess what 00:28:40.579 --> 00:28:45.019 happened? Over the centuries, that changed. For 00:28:45.019 --> 00:28:48.200 whatever reason, over the centuries, parts of 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:51.019 the Roman Catholic Church began to use leavened 00:28:51.019 --> 00:28:55.400 bread in their observance of the Lord's Supper. 00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:57.880 And you know, they tried it once and twice and 00:28:57.880 --> 00:29:00.299 three times, and then it, like all things, it 00:29:00.299 --> 00:29:02.920 became more and more and more and more common. 00:29:02.940 --> 00:29:07.599 It became commonplace. in the Middle Ages for 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:10.720 the Roman Catholic Church to observe communion 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:15.200 with leavened bread. This is one of the points 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:18.640 of contention which actually divided the Roman 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:22.420 Catholic Church in the year 1054 AD. The year 00:29:22.420 --> 00:29:25.039 1054 AD is called the year of the Great Schism. 00:29:25.059 --> 00:29:28.059 That's when the Eastern Orthodox Church or the 00:29:28.059 --> 00:29:31.839 Greek Orthodox Church split from the Western 00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:36.039 Roman Catholic Church. There were many issues 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:37.859 that they were in disagreement about, and this 00:29:37.859 --> 00:29:39.740 was one of the issues, whether or not it was 00:29:39.740 --> 00:29:42.880 right to use leavened or unleavened bread in 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:47.140 the communion. Now here's something else that 00:29:47.140 --> 00:29:50.259 changed concerning communion. Over the course 00:29:50.259 --> 00:29:53.160 of time, not only was the name of communion changed 00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:55.599 and not only were the elements changed, also 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:58.980 there was a change in the frequency in which 00:29:58.980 --> 00:30:03.839 the church observed communion. We understand 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:07.359 from the testimony of church history That the 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:09.960 early church observed communion every first day 00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:14.819 of the week for 200 years For at least 200 years 00:30:14.819 --> 00:30:17.519 God's people came together every first day of 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:20.460 the week and had communion But let me tell you 00:30:20.460 --> 00:30:23.839 something that developed on past the year 200 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:28.440 on into the year 400 and 600 ad what slowly developed 00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:34.490 was a sacramental view communion. A view in which 00:30:34.490 --> 00:30:38.730 communion is a sacrament, a sacred right or privilege 00:30:38.730 --> 00:30:43.470 that is granted by the church to the faithful 00:30:43.470 --> 00:30:47.130 and approved members of the church. It became 00:30:47.130 --> 00:30:50.609 something that the church had the privilege of 00:30:50.609 --> 00:30:54.150 and kept and maintained and only gave to the 00:30:54.150 --> 00:30:57.480 members If they thought it was good to give it 00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:59.380 to the members and if they thought the members 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:02.140 were worthy of receiving it that's that's what 00:31:02.140 --> 00:31:04.859 I mean here what to say that communion became 00:31:04.859 --> 00:31:08.119 a Sacrament there was a sacramental view that 00:31:08.119 --> 00:31:10.420 developed around communion instead of all of 00:31:10.420 --> 00:31:12.640 God's people coming together at the same the 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:14.799 same table eating the same bread drinking the 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:18.240 same cup Jews Gentiles male female bond and free 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:21.500 we all eat the same meal It was no longer like 00:31:21.500 --> 00:31:26.720 that. It was a meal that the priests The clergy 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:29.740 the important religious people with the big long 00:31:29.740 --> 00:31:34.759 robes right and the funny hats It was a privilege 00:31:34.759 --> 00:31:37.900 that they would extend at their discretion to 00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:43.059 the poor and lowly and uneducated church members 00:31:43.059 --> 00:31:48.680 Okay During this time as communion slowly grew 00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:51.680 to be more sacramental in nature. There was also 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:55.589 a growing gap in the church between the priests 00:31:55.589 --> 00:31:58.289 and the common people. You see, the priests called 00:31:58.289 --> 00:32:02.490 the clergy were highly educated. They lived in 00:32:02.490 --> 00:32:05.650 castles that were giant and ornate and decorated 00:32:05.650 --> 00:32:09.369 with gold and silver. And they were so much higher 00:32:09.369 --> 00:32:11.529 above the common people. The common people lived 00:32:11.529 --> 00:32:16.690 out under trees, in bushes, on the ground. They 00:32:16.690 --> 00:32:20.069 had no education. They didn't have the privileges, 00:32:20.210 --> 00:32:22.970 the rights, the protections that were afforded 00:32:22.970 --> 00:32:25.809 to the priests. There was a very large growing 00:32:25.809 --> 00:32:28.990 gap between the clergy, the priests, and the 00:32:28.990 --> 00:32:34.849 laity, the common people. Another idea during 00:32:34.849 --> 00:32:37.190 this time also developed, the idea that, you 00:32:37.190 --> 00:32:41.150 know what, having communion too often lessens 00:32:41.150 --> 00:32:45.039 its significance. This idea evolved that you 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:47.240 know what communion would just be more special. 00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:49.700 It would just be more meaningful It would just 00:32:49.700 --> 00:32:52.359 be more important to people if we would just 00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:56.559 stop doing it so much and Maybe maybe they just 00:32:56.559 --> 00:32:59.119 started doing it every other week. I don't know 00:32:59.119 --> 00:33:02.559 But I know if it started every other week It 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:05.359 soon became maybe once a month four times a year 00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:08.039 over a period of time as we study church history 00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:13.230 we find that Fast forward just a little bit. 00:33:13.390 --> 00:33:17.269 We find that from 300 AD to 600 AD the frequency 00:33:17.269 --> 00:33:21.190 of observing communion declined from every first 00:33:21.190 --> 00:33:23.349 day of the week to three times a year and by 00:33:23.349 --> 00:33:27.410 the year 1215 AD in the Roman Catholic Church 00:33:27.410 --> 00:33:29.410 They only took communion once a year and that 00:33:29.410 --> 00:33:32.009 was on Easter. It began to be called Easter duty 00:33:32.009 --> 00:33:36.109 One time a year they had communion now this idea 00:33:37.109 --> 00:33:40.329 that having communion too often lessens its significance. 00:33:40.349 --> 00:33:42.869 On some levels of human reasoning that might 00:33:42.869 --> 00:33:45.049 sound good, but let's really stop and think about 00:33:45.049 --> 00:33:48.589 that. Does the same apply for assembling and 00:33:48.589 --> 00:33:51.190 coming together with the church? What would y 00:33:51.190 --> 00:33:52.869 'all think if I came in here tonight and I said, 00:33:52.930 --> 00:33:55.130 you know what? These church assemblies would 00:33:55.130 --> 00:33:57.569 be more special and significant to you if you'd 00:33:57.569 --> 00:34:01.369 just come less often. If you just come once a 00:34:01.369 --> 00:34:04.750 month. Church service would be more meaningful 00:34:04.750 --> 00:34:07.029 to you. Or what if I told you that about prayer? 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:09.849 You know, I think prayer would be better for 00:34:09.849 --> 00:34:12.190 you and more significant and meaningful if you 00:34:12.190 --> 00:34:15.949 just pray less. Maybe just pray once a week, 00:34:16.030 --> 00:34:18.170 maybe just pray once a month, and maybe we just 00:34:18.170 --> 00:34:20.369 pray once a year, then it'll be really meaningful 00:34:20.369 --> 00:34:23.989 and really significant. What about giving to 00:34:23.989 --> 00:34:28.469 the church? No church wants to do that any less 00:34:28.469 --> 00:34:33.980 often than they do that, right? It's amazing 00:34:33.980 --> 00:34:36.380 how these same churches that want to do communion 00:34:36.380 --> 00:34:39.239 less want to do the offering more and more and 00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:44.500 more and more. So you see, when we really stop 00:34:44.500 --> 00:34:46.539 and think about it, this idea that praying less, 00:34:46.739 --> 00:34:50.070 assembling less, Giving to the church less would 00:34:50.070 --> 00:34:51.929 make it more significant. It's just not true. 00:34:51.969 --> 00:34:54.190 It's just not logical The Bible says pray without 00:34:54.190 --> 00:34:56.449 ceasing praying without ceasing doesn't make 00:34:56.449 --> 00:34:59.090 prayer any less significant It tells us to exhort 00:34:59.090 --> 00:35:02.130 one another daily while this called today exhorting 00:35:02.130 --> 00:35:04.690 one another daily doesn't make it any less significant 00:35:04.690 --> 00:35:09.989 Hebrews chapter 3 verse 13 And so we see a change 00:35:09.989 --> 00:35:13.510 here in the frequency how often communion was 00:35:13.510 --> 00:35:17.480 observed it was in the Middle Ages only observed 00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:20.880 one time a year. All right, let's fast forward 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:24.340 to today and let's consider the practice of communion 00:35:24.340 --> 00:35:27.119 as it's commonly practiced in Christianity today. 00:35:27.340 --> 00:35:29.280 As we look around today, look, we're going to 00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:33.480 see a lot of the same changes and errors that 00:35:33.480 --> 00:35:35.699 we saw come in over the course of church history. 00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:38.199 We look around today, communion is still called 00:35:38.199 --> 00:35:41.460 by unscriptural names, it still involves unscriptural 00:35:41.460 --> 00:35:44.679 elements, and it's still observed in an unscriptural 00:35:44.679 --> 00:35:47.380 frequency. It's not observed in a lot of churches 00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:50.340 every first day of the week. In many churches 00:35:50.340 --> 00:35:53.079 today, communion no longer resembles what it 00:35:53.079 --> 00:35:56.400 originally did in the New Testament church. It 00:35:56.400 --> 00:35:57.960 doesn't look like what they did in the Bible 00:35:57.960 --> 00:36:00.440 when we call it the Eucharist, have leavened 00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:02.239 bread and do it once a year. That's something 00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:04.059 completely different than what we've seen from 00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:07.260 the Scriptures. And we have to clearly identify 00:36:07.260 --> 00:36:09.679 this for what it is. We have to clearly look 00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:12.739 at this honestly. And we have to size this up 00:36:12.739 --> 00:36:15.420 and discern and say that this is man -made doctrines 00:36:15.420 --> 00:36:19.300 and man -made traditions. That man has changed 00:36:19.300 --> 00:36:21.599 the truth of God's Word into something that God 00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:25.260 never intended. And that's, by definition, is 00:36:25.260 --> 00:36:27.440 what man -made doctrines and traditions are all 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:30.739 about. And we remember Jesus condemned all forms 00:36:30.739 --> 00:36:35.920 of man -made religion. He told the Jews... Pharisees, 00:36:36.019 --> 00:36:39.320 the scribes and the Pharisees in Mark 7 -8. Laying 00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:41.280 aside the commandment of God, he said, you hold 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:44.980 the tradition, the tradition of men. He said 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:47.099 unto them, full well you reject the commandment 00:36:47.099 --> 00:36:49.300 of God that you may keep your own tradition. 00:36:50.659 --> 00:36:53.199 You know, that's the nature of man -made traditions. 00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:57.139 We have to let go or exchange or turn loose of 00:36:57.139 --> 00:37:00.119 the commandments of God to take hold of man -made 00:37:00.119 --> 00:37:03.599 traditions. Every time we take hold of one man 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:05.340 -made tradition, it means we've turned loose, 00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:08.019 we've let go of the commandments of the Lord. 00:37:09.300 --> 00:37:12.280 We want to be careful that we don't involve ourselves 00:37:12.280 --> 00:37:15.440 in man -made religion, the doctrines and traditions 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:19.860 of men. We still see around us very much a sacramental 00:37:19.860 --> 00:37:23.340 view of the Lord's Supper that is still present 00:37:23.340 --> 00:37:28.099 and alive in Christianity today. I'm afraid that 00:37:28.099 --> 00:37:30.519 it in too many churches in too many places at 00:37:30.519 --> 00:37:33.000 too many times communion has just become a check 00:37:33.000 --> 00:37:36.980 -off -the -box obligation That somehow makes 00:37:36.980 --> 00:37:39.519 me right with God for another week, so I'll take 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:43.059 communion this week check off the box I'll walk 00:37:43.059 --> 00:37:45.159 out. I'll come back in next week take communion 00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:47.760 check off the box fulfilled my obligation to 00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:50.539 the Lord You know if that's our attitude about 00:37:50.539 --> 00:37:53.000 communion. That's very much a sacramental view 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:57.449 of communion as we've discussed tonight Here's 00:37:57.449 --> 00:38:00.489 something else we see sometimes and I think we 00:38:00.489 --> 00:38:03.670 ought to give careful consideration to this I 00:38:03.670 --> 00:38:06.889 think sometimes maybe even in some time at some 00:38:06.889 --> 00:38:08.969 times at some places in the churches of Christ 00:38:08.969 --> 00:38:13.130 Maybe even we develop this idea or this mentality 00:38:13.130 --> 00:38:16.130 concerning communion It's the idea that communion 00:38:16.130 --> 00:38:19.530 is just something between us and God alone that 00:38:19.530 --> 00:38:22.650 when we commune we are communing with God only 00:38:23.309 --> 00:38:25.550 I want to say some things about that. I want 00:38:25.550 --> 00:38:28.590 you to think about that with me. Let's talk for 00:38:28.590 --> 00:38:31.010 a moment about the word communion. The word communion 00:38:31.010 --> 00:38:34.610 comes from the Greek word koinonia. And koinonia 00:38:34.610 --> 00:38:39.170 is defined as fellowship, community, or joint 00:38:39.170 --> 00:38:42.489 participation. In essence, that's what koinonia, 00:38:42.630 --> 00:38:45.050 that's what communion is all about. Fellowship, 00:38:45.289 --> 00:38:49.250 community, and joint participation. Here's something 00:38:49.250 --> 00:38:52.690 else I want you to be aware of. Remember early 00:38:52.690 --> 00:38:56.070 I talked about 1st Corinthians 11? How the church 00:38:56.070 --> 00:38:58.809 at Corinth had messed up the Lord's Supper, turned 00:38:58.809 --> 00:39:01.750 it into a common meal. They were feasting. It 00:39:01.750 --> 00:39:04.750 was about filling their bellies, satisfying the 00:39:04.750 --> 00:39:07.070 flesh, and not doing what was pleasing to God. 00:39:08.789 --> 00:39:11.250 In 1st Corinthians chapter 11, what's interesting 00:39:11.250 --> 00:39:15.409 about that passage? The Lord's Supper issue at 00:39:15.409 --> 00:39:20.480 Corinth was actually just symptom of a much larger 00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:24.139 and greater problem that they had and That was 00:39:24.139 --> 00:39:26.940 a lack of togetherness in unity if you go back 00:39:26.940 --> 00:39:30.260 and read first Corinthians 11 verses 17 to 19 00:39:30.260 --> 00:39:34.039 That's those verses leading right up to Paul's 00:39:34.039 --> 00:39:37.880 correction about the Lord's Supper He introduces 00:39:37.880 --> 00:39:41.280 the Lord's Supper problem as a problem stemming 00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:45.480 from a lack of unity and a lack of togetherness 00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:48.039 and divisions among them. Isn't that interesting? 00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:52.800 How Paul connected the two. He connected corruption 00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:56.940 of the Lord's Supper to a lack of strong unity 00:39:56.940 --> 00:40:00.039 and togetherness. What does that teach us and 00:40:00.039 --> 00:40:03.500 what does that tell us? It tells me that an element, 00:40:03.579 --> 00:40:07.440 an essential element of the Lord's Supper, the 00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:10.909 communion, Is that God gave it as something that 00:40:10.909 --> 00:40:13.070 would draw us together and give us a greater 00:40:13.070 --> 00:40:15.869 degree of togetherness in unity that that's one 00:40:15.869 --> 00:40:19.409 of the reasons why God wants us to come together 00:40:19.409 --> 00:40:21.829 and eat the Lord's Supper together to reinforce 00:40:21.829 --> 00:40:24.510 that togetherness in unity. So when it comes 00:40:24.510 --> 00:40:27.829 to communion Here's the idea. I would have you 00:40:27.829 --> 00:40:30.429 to consider that communion is not just about 00:40:30.429 --> 00:40:33.050 our individual communion with God Sometimes we 00:40:33.050 --> 00:40:35.909 think about it exclusively in a vertical sense. 00:40:35.909 --> 00:40:39.579 It's between me and God I do believe communion 00:40:39.579 --> 00:40:41.760 is between us and God, but there's also another 00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:44.860 element. There's a horizontal element. An element 00:40:44.860 --> 00:40:48.099 of fellowship, community, and joint participation, 00:40:48.340 --> 00:40:51.960 one with another. The communion was meant to 00:40:51.960 --> 00:40:54.079 bring us all closer together, strengthen our 00:40:54.079 --> 00:40:56.679 unity in the body of Christ. It's also about 00:40:56.679 --> 00:41:00.440 our collective communion, one with another. When 00:41:00.440 --> 00:41:03.119 we eat the same bread, and when we drink the 00:41:03.119 --> 00:41:08.349 same cup. Let's move on to... considering how 00:41:08.349 --> 00:41:12.050 that we can work today to restore the New Testament 00:41:12.050 --> 00:41:15.329 pattern for communion. Remember that's what restoration 00:41:15.329 --> 00:41:18.690 is all about, restoring something to its former 00:41:18.690 --> 00:41:21.550 original condition. If changes have been made 00:41:21.550 --> 00:41:24.030 to communion down through the years, if there's 00:41:24.030 --> 00:41:26.929 parts or elements of communion that we identify 00:41:26.929 --> 00:41:29.630 as not part of the original plan that God gave 00:41:29.630 --> 00:41:32.480 us, we want to try to rectify that. We want to 00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:35.639 try to restore and do communion just as it's 00:41:35.639 --> 00:41:38.500 been revealed by God in the New Testament. To 00:41:38.500 --> 00:41:41.340 do that, to be successful in that, what would 00:41:41.340 --> 00:41:44.519 we do? Well, to restore biblical communion, of 00:41:44.519 --> 00:41:46.280 course, we're going to have to go back to having 00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:50.139 a weekly observance of the Lord's table, because 00:41:50.139 --> 00:41:52.579 that's the pattern that we see in Acts 27, that 00:41:52.579 --> 00:41:55.179 the disciples came together on the first day 00:41:55.179 --> 00:41:58.599 of the week to break bread. Every first day of 00:41:58.599 --> 00:42:00.989 the week, we need to come together and we need 00:42:00.989 --> 00:42:03.829 to observe the Lord's Supper. There needs to 00:42:03.829 --> 00:42:07.530 be an exclusive focus on Christ when we come 00:42:07.530 --> 00:42:11.150 around the table. Our focus needs to be on Jesus. 00:42:11.610 --> 00:42:14.449 Because after all, what did Jesus say about communion? 00:42:14.530 --> 00:42:16.429 What did he tell Paul? And what did Paul tell 00:42:16.429 --> 00:42:19.610 the Corinthians? Jesus told Paul, and Paul told 00:42:19.610 --> 00:42:22.969 the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 11, 24, take, 00:42:23.170 --> 00:42:25.750 eat, this is my body which is broken for you, 00:42:26.110 --> 00:42:31.849 this do in remembrance of me. Jesus said this 00:42:31.849 --> 00:42:34.349 do in remembrance of me. It's right here on the 00:42:34.349 --> 00:42:39.010 communion table in front of me verse 25 the Jesus 00:42:39.010 --> 00:42:41.929 told Paul Paul told the Corinthians this cup 00:42:41.929 --> 00:42:44.570 is the New Testament in my blood this do ye as 00:42:44.570 --> 00:42:49.130 off as you drink it in remembrance of me Do this 00:42:49.130 --> 00:42:52.929 in remembrance of me. I I want you to see something 00:42:52.929 --> 00:42:57.889 here Communion is a time for Christ examination 00:42:59.789 --> 00:43:03.809 It's a time for Christ examination. I'm not so 00:43:03.809 --> 00:43:06.909 sure that communion is a time for self -examination. 00:43:08.309 --> 00:43:12.769 An examination of us. I think the communion needs 00:43:12.769 --> 00:43:16.289 to be a time to examine Christ and do it in remembrance 00:43:16.289 --> 00:43:19.010 of Him. Now this is where some of you are going 00:43:19.010 --> 00:43:21.090 to say, well hold on brother James, I know there's 00:43:21.090 --> 00:43:23.909 a verse in there that talks about examining yourself. 00:43:24.820 --> 00:43:28.039 you're right there is a verse connected to this 00:43:28.039 --> 00:43:30.460 that talks about examining yourself so we don't 00:43:30.460 --> 00:43:32.800 want to ignore that let's go and look at that 00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:34.960 just a little bit further down let's read it 00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:38.300 and try to understand it because I don't want 00:43:38.300 --> 00:43:40.900 you to misunderstand me when I talk about the 00:43:40.900 --> 00:43:43.219 difference between self -examination and Christ 00:43:43.219 --> 00:43:46.739 examination let's see what the Bible says about 00:43:46.739 --> 00:43:49.360 examining ourselves in communion 1st Corinthians 00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:53.170 1127 Paul told the Corinthians whosoever shall 00:43:53.170 --> 00:43:55.190 eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord 00:43:55.190 --> 00:43:58.969 unworthily Shall be guilty of the body and the 00:43:58.969 --> 00:44:02.929 blood of the Lord. He says but let a man examine 00:44:02.929 --> 00:44:06.090 himself Okay, there's there's examination there. 00:44:06.090 --> 00:44:09.250 Let a man examine himself and so let him eat 00:44:09.250 --> 00:44:14.469 of that bread and drink of that cup Person says 00:44:14.469 --> 00:44:16.750 brother James. Aren't we supposed to examine 00:44:16.750 --> 00:44:19.630 ourselves during communion like the Bible says 00:44:19.630 --> 00:44:24.219 here? Let me try to explain that as best as I 00:44:24.219 --> 00:44:27.760 understand it. I don't believe Paul was telling 00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:30.480 these Corinthian Christians to examine the last 00:44:30.480 --> 00:44:34.280 week of their life and try to figure out how 00:44:34.280 --> 00:44:38.320 good or how bad of a Christian they had been. 00:44:40.739 --> 00:44:43.039 But you know, I think sometimes we get to thinking 00:44:43.039 --> 00:44:46.230 that way. I know I've thought that way. communion 00:44:46.230 --> 00:44:48.590 at different times in my life I've thought that 00:44:48.590 --> 00:44:50.449 this is a time that I just need to be thinking 00:44:50.449 --> 00:44:52.670 about myself and how good of a Christian was 00:44:52.670 --> 00:44:55.550 I last week and I get to thinking and I did this 00:44:55.550 --> 00:44:57.869 good but boy I sure did a lot bad and I did this 00:44:57.869 --> 00:44:59.630 and I did this and I did this and you know it's 00:44:59.630 --> 00:45:02.329 not long before guess what the examination is 00:45:02.329 --> 00:45:04.809 not on Christ anymore is it the focus is not 00:45:04.809 --> 00:45:07.010 on Jesus what where's the focus the focus is 00:45:07.010 --> 00:45:10.170 on me and then there's the bread right in front 00:45:10.170 --> 00:45:15.400 of me okay you know Jesus did not say do this 00:45:15.400 --> 00:45:20.579 in remembrance of the last week and try to analyze 00:45:20.579 --> 00:45:22.760 how good or bad of a Christian that you've been. 00:45:22.900 --> 00:45:28.760 He didn't say that. He didn't say that. Paul 00:45:28.760 --> 00:45:33.320 was telling them to examine the way that they 00:45:33.320 --> 00:45:36.539 were observing the Lord's Supper. The manner, 00:45:36.699 --> 00:45:39.619 the way in which they were observing the Lord's 00:45:39.619 --> 00:45:42.039 Supper was unworthy. We're going to talk about 00:45:42.039 --> 00:45:44.619 that more in just a moment. The unworthiness 00:45:44.619 --> 00:45:47.679 that's mentioned here is not a reference to personal 00:45:47.679 --> 00:45:50.260 worthiness or unworthiness. It's not a question 00:45:50.260 --> 00:45:53.039 as to whether or not we as God's people are worthy 00:45:53.039 --> 00:45:57.659 or unworthy to partake. What Paul was telling 00:45:57.659 --> 00:46:00.099 him is that the manner, the way you're having 00:46:00.099 --> 00:46:02.920 communion, having it as a feast, having it as 00:46:02.920 --> 00:46:05.840 a common meal, eating it to just fill your belly, 00:46:05.900 --> 00:46:09.800 that is an unworthy observance of the Lord's 00:46:09.800 --> 00:46:12.239 Supper. And he says you need to examine yourselves, 00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:14.900 you need to examine what you're doing and realize 00:46:14.900 --> 00:46:17.139 it's not the Lord's Supper and you need to repent 00:46:17.139 --> 00:46:19.940 and you need to start doing communion properly. 00:46:21.219 --> 00:46:23.099 I really believe that's what Paul was trying 00:46:23.099 --> 00:46:26.099 to tell the Corinthians when he told them to 00:46:26.099 --> 00:46:29.880 examine themselves. Examine the way you're doing 00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:32.079 communion and see that it's wrong and change 00:46:32.079 --> 00:46:37.639 it. As I just mentioned, another part of restoring 00:46:37.639 --> 00:46:41.320 biblical communion I think will require us to 00:46:41.320 --> 00:46:45.559 refocus and get a clear understanding of our 00:46:45.559 --> 00:46:50.079 awareness of the fact that we are worthy to partake. 00:46:50.940 --> 00:46:56.610 I believe Every baptized believer in Christ is 00:46:56.610 --> 00:47:00.650 worthy to partake of the Lord's Supper. Let's 00:47:00.650 --> 00:47:03.469 see that from 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 00:47:03.469 --> 00:47:07.869 11 verse 27. Paul told them, wherefore whosoever 00:47:07.869 --> 00:47:10.090 shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the 00:47:10.090 --> 00:47:13.710 Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and 00:47:13.710 --> 00:47:15.670 the blood of the Lord. For he that eateth and 00:47:15.670 --> 00:47:18.670 drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation 00:47:18.670 --> 00:47:20.949 or condemnation to himself not discerning the 00:47:20.949 --> 00:47:25.849 Lord's body. Have we perhaps misunderstood here 00:47:25.849 --> 00:47:30.809 what it means to eat and drink unworthily? Have 00:47:30.809 --> 00:47:33.070 we misunderstood maybe at different times and 00:47:33.070 --> 00:47:35.650 in different places what that means to eat and 00:47:35.650 --> 00:47:38.429 drink unworthily? We need to give serious consideration 00:47:38.429 --> 00:47:40.449 to it because there's some serious consequences 00:47:40.449 --> 00:47:43.630 associated with it. We don't want to be guilty 00:47:43.630 --> 00:47:46.690 of what Paul is warning the Corinthians about. 00:47:46.809 --> 00:47:48.789 But what does it really mean in this passage 00:47:48.789 --> 00:47:52.239 in its context to eat and drink unworthily? Here's 00:47:52.239 --> 00:47:53.639 the first thing I want you to know about that 00:47:53.639 --> 00:47:56.360 word unworthily. The word unworthily in that 00:47:56.360 --> 00:47:59.179 verse is not an adjective. You remember what 00:47:59.179 --> 00:48:02.739 adjectives are? Adjectives are words that describe 00:48:02.739 --> 00:48:06.420 persons, people, or places. The word unworthily 00:48:06.420 --> 00:48:10.119 is not an adjective. It is not describing a person. 00:48:10.179 --> 00:48:13.019 It is not describing you or me. It is not describing 00:48:13.019 --> 00:48:16.579 those Corinthian Christians. It is not describing 00:48:16.579 --> 00:48:19.280 their personal worthiness or lack thereof to 00:48:19.280 --> 00:48:22.559 take communion. The word unworthily there is 00:48:22.559 --> 00:48:24.019 not an adjective. I'm going to tell you what 00:48:24.019 --> 00:48:26.599 it is in just a moment. But before I do, let's 00:48:26.599 --> 00:48:28.519 just stop and think about who these Corinthians 00:48:28.519 --> 00:48:32.579 were. Have you read verse Corinthians? Have you 00:48:32.579 --> 00:48:36.159 read how bad they were? Just go read chapter 00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:39.039 four, five, and six. Just three chapters. You 00:48:39.039 --> 00:48:40.239 know what you're going to find out about the 00:48:40.239 --> 00:48:43.119 Corinthians? Paul says they were carnal. They 00:48:43.119 --> 00:48:45.239 were envious. They were stirred up with strife. 00:48:45.300 --> 00:48:47.099 They had all kinds of divisions among them. He 00:48:47.099 --> 00:48:49.179 said, you're puffed up. Some of them were guilty 00:48:49.179 --> 00:48:53.099 of fornication, sexual immorality, a very serious 00:48:53.099 --> 00:48:55.980 type of it. And they were suing one another publicly, 00:48:56.119 --> 00:48:59.619 openly in courts of law, among other things. 00:49:00.920 --> 00:49:03.300 Among other things. That's the same Corinthians 00:49:03.300 --> 00:49:05.940 Paul wrote to in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Do 00:49:05.940 --> 00:49:08.239 these people sound personally worthy to partake 00:49:08.239 --> 00:49:13.510 of communion? They don't look very worthy to 00:49:13.510 --> 00:49:17.329 me. I mean, if we're going to size them up by 00:49:17.329 --> 00:49:19.789 how good or how bad of Christians they were being, 00:49:20.789 --> 00:49:25.929 I mean, that's a failing grade. It's amazing 00:49:25.929 --> 00:49:28.199 that Paul just didn't tell them to stop. observing 00:49:28.199 --> 00:49:30.360 communion altogether. You know, Paul could have 00:49:30.360 --> 00:49:32.320 told them, you Corinthians just got way too many 00:49:32.320 --> 00:49:34.900 problems. You might as well just stop or suspend 00:49:34.900 --> 00:49:37.099 the Lord's Supper altogether, at least until 00:49:37.099 --> 00:49:39.639 you can get your act together and regain your 00:49:39.639 --> 00:49:41.500 worthiness. And then you can come together and 00:49:41.500 --> 00:49:44.599 eat and drink at the Lord's Supper again. Is 00:49:44.599 --> 00:49:48.760 that what Paul told them? It's not what Paul 00:49:48.760 --> 00:49:51.179 told them. He could have told them that. It's 00:49:51.179 --> 00:49:55.360 not what he told them. You remember when Jesus 00:49:55.360 --> 00:49:57.519 instituted the Lord's Supper? Remember who he 00:49:57.519 --> 00:50:02.179 ate it with? He ate it with Judas the betrayer, 00:50:02.780 --> 00:50:09.239 Peter the denier, and Thomas the doubter. People 00:50:09.239 --> 00:50:13.139 that he knew would betray him, deny him, and 00:50:13.139 --> 00:50:16.079 doubt him. Isn't that something? He still ate 00:50:16.079 --> 00:50:19.880 it with them. Before he had that first Lord's 00:50:19.880 --> 00:50:21.719 Supper, did he say, Peter, Thomas, Judas, you 00:50:21.719 --> 00:50:25.152 need to excuse yourselves. I'm going to have... 00:50:25.150 --> 00:50:27.690 the Lord's Supper here with my faithful disciples. 00:50:29.190 --> 00:50:33.170 He ate the Lord's Supper with all of them. That's 00:50:33.170 --> 00:50:35.230 something to think about. I want to go back to 00:50:35.230 --> 00:50:37.269 that word unworthily. That word unworthily there 00:50:37.269 --> 00:50:39.510 in 1 Corinthians 11 is not an adjective. It's 00:50:39.510 --> 00:50:42.269 not describing the Corinthians or their personal 00:50:42.269 --> 00:50:45.849 worth. It's an adverb. The word is an adverb. 00:50:45.949 --> 00:50:48.989 You remember what adverbs do? They modify and 00:50:48.989 --> 00:50:54.260 describe verbs or actions. The word unworthily 00:50:54.260 --> 00:50:58.340 is describing an action, not a person. It's describing 00:50:58.340 --> 00:51:02.360 the action in which they were taking the Lord's 00:51:02.360 --> 00:51:04.659 Supper, their observance of the Lord's Supper, 00:51:04.840 --> 00:51:08.400 what they were doing, feasting and eating a common 00:51:08.400 --> 00:51:10.440 meal and calling it the Lord's Supper. That's 00:51:10.440 --> 00:51:14.139 what was unworthy. And that's what Paul was trying 00:51:14.139 --> 00:51:20.239 to help them see and repent of and rectify. He 00:51:20.239 --> 00:51:23.440 was describing the unworthy manner in which they 00:51:23.440 --> 00:51:27.579 were observing the Lord's Supper. Who among us 00:51:27.579 --> 00:51:30.619 is truly worthy to eat at the same table as the 00:51:30.619 --> 00:51:36.239 perfect sinless Son of God? I think about my 00:51:36.239 --> 00:51:39.820 life. I don't feel like I'm the least bit worthy. 00:51:42.599 --> 00:51:44.920 I kind of feel like John the Baptist was. I'm 00:51:44.920 --> 00:51:48.400 not even worthy to unloose his sandals, right? 00:51:49.000 --> 00:51:56.179 John the Baptist said to Jesus, I don't feel 00:51:56.179 --> 00:52:00.079 the least bit worthy to come to a table and eat 00:52:00.079 --> 00:52:02.800 with the perfect and sinless Son of God but that's 00:52:02.800 --> 00:52:05.179 the amazing and the wonderful and the beautiful 00:52:05.179 --> 00:52:08.260 thing of communion that through Christ and through 00:52:08.260 --> 00:52:10.800 what he did through his death which we remember 00:52:10.800 --> 00:52:13.099 at the table through that death guess what we 00:52:13.099 --> 00:52:18.500 are made worthy We are all made worthy if we're 00:52:18.500 --> 00:52:21.480 a baptized believer in Christ to come together 00:52:21.480 --> 00:52:25.400 and commune with him because he died for us and 00:52:25.400 --> 00:52:27.820 That makes us worthy to come together and remember 00:52:27.820 --> 00:52:32.320 his death. Isn't that wonderful? I Hope that 00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:34.599 by understanding that that will help make communion 00:52:34.599 --> 00:52:39.739 all that much more meaningful for you We need 00:52:39.739 --> 00:52:45.579 to be aware of our worthiness to partake And 00:52:45.579 --> 00:52:47.780 I think to restore biblical communion, we're 00:52:47.780 --> 00:52:50.000 also going to need to recognize that communion 00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:52.940 needs to be an expression of our congregational 00:52:52.940 --> 00:52:57.500 unity. I think it would be good for us to think 00:52:57.500 --> 00:53:00.619 less about communion as being only vertical between 00:53:00.619 --> 00:53:05.099 us and God, but also realize and think more about 00:53:05.099 --> 00:53:09.019 communion being horizontal between each member. 00:53:09.440 --> 00:53:12.300 in the body of Christ, that fellowship, that 00:53:12.300 --> 00:53:15.059 joint participation, that community that we enjoy 00:53:15.059 --> 00:53:18.360 together as God's called out people. The Lord's 00:53:18.360 --> 00:53:22.239 Table is the great equalizer. It's meant to bring 00:53:22.239 --> 00:53:26.880 us all together. And for us, in our culture, 00:53:27.500 --> 00:53:30.239 it's probably challenging for us to understand 00:53:30.239 --> 00:53:32.360 the significance of this because in our culture 00:53:32.360 --> 00:53:35.119 what do we do? In our culture we share food with 00:53:35.119 --> 00:53:37.119 one another. We don't even think twice about 00:53:37.119 --> 00:53:39.860 it. I mean it's just what we do. We share our 00:53:39.860 --> 00:53:42.239 food one with another I want to tell you something 00:53:42.239 --> 00:53:45.559 in the first century Back that wasn't the same 00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:48.199 culture that they had Jews didn't eat together 00:53:48.199 --> 00:53:52.300 with Gentiles That was completely out of the 00:53:52.300 --> 00:53:56.400 norm Masters did not eat at the same table with 00:53:56.400 --> 00:54:00.420 their servants That was completely out of the 00:54:00.420 --> 00:54:03.460 norm males coming together and eating with females 00:54:03.460 --> 00:54:07.809 again out of the norm But what was the Lord's 00:54:07.809 --> 00:54:12.530 Supper intended to do? Galatians 3 .26, For you 00:54:12.530 --> 00:54:14.369 are all the children of God by faith in Christ 00:54:14.369 --> 00:54:18.829 Jesus, for as many of you, Jew, Greek, bond, 00:54:18.989 --> 00:54:21.809 free, male or female, for as many of you as have 00:54:21.809 --> 00:54:24.030 been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 00:54:24.289 --> 00:54:26.530 And once we put on Christ in baptism and come 00:54:26.530 --> 00:54:28.530 into the body of the church, there's neither 00:54:28.530 --> 00:54:31.409 Jew nor Greek, bond or free, neither male nor 00:54:31.409 --> 00:54:35.949 female, for you are all one. in Christ Jesus. 00:54:36.070 --> 00:54:38.130 And if we're all one in Christ Jesus, guess what? 00:54:38.769 --> 00:54:41.869 We come together around the same table, eat the 00:54:41.869 --> 00:54:44.110 same bread, drink the same cup. That must have 00:54:44.110 --> 00:54:47.309 been a sight to see. In a first century church 00:54:47.309 --> 00:54:50.230 assembly, Jews and Gentiles eating the same bread, 00:54:50.250 --> 00:54:53.769 drinking the same cup. Men, women, bond and free, 00:54:53.929 --> 00:54:56.269 eating the same bread, drinking the same cup. 00:54:58.010 --> 00:55:00.289 It's something God gave to bring us all together 00:55:00.289 --> 00:55:04.230 and keep us all close together in Him. So when 00:55:04.230 --> 00:55:07.590 we come together around the Lord's table, let's 00:55:07.590 --> 00:55:11.489 always remember To honor Christ to respect Christ 00:55:11.489 --> 00:55:14.070 to memorialize Christ and let's strive to do 00:55:14.070 --> 00:55:17.469 this in a biblical in a meaningful way I hope 00:55:17.469 --> 00:55:20.690 these things have been edifying informative and 00:55:20.690 --> 00:55:22.889 encouraging you to you tonight. Thank you for 00:55:22.889 --> 00:55:24.210 your careful participation