The Purpose of the Lord’s Supper

I Corinthians 11:26 - For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

I.    The reason for observing the Lord’s Supper. 

A.     In verse 24, 25, Paul instructed the Corinthian church the observance of the Lord’s supper was to remember the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. 

B.     In verse 26, Paul explains the observance of the supper is to show others the Lord’s death until he come again. 

C.     Paul gets his thoughts on these two points from Luke 22:19 where Jesus states, …This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.  The word “likewise of Luke 22:20 reveals the liquid element of the Lord’s Supper should also be a remembrance of the Lord’s shed blood. 

D.     The entire purpose of worship is to remember what Jesus has done for us. 

1.       How he has fulfilled prophecy, and what he will do for us in the future. 

2.       Everything we do must be directed toward Jesus Christ and adoring him. 

3.       We should not be thinking about what we are going to do when services are over, or what we have just gone through before we got here. 

II.    The body of Christ. 

A.     Jesus received his perfect body from Mary, a sinner. 

1.       Luke 1:26-30 – The angel informs Mary, explaining she was chosen by God to bear the body of Christ. 

2.       Mary and Elizabeth were not cousins as their parents were not brothers or sisters. 

a.      They were “national” cousins. 

b.      Mary was of the tribe of Judah, while Elizabeth was of the tribe of Levi. 

c.      Mary went to the house of Elizabeth because of their common bond of Jesus, not because they knew each other before hand. 

B.     Philippians 2:5-8 – Jesus left heaven to come to this sinful earth, take upon him a body that was like every other body, yet without sin. 

1.       Isaiah 53:2 states that Jesus did not have the form or good looks to attract people to him.

2.       People were “attracted” to him because of the Holy Spirit, nothing physical was involved. 

III.    The blood of Christ. 

A.     It is possible to get into a whole big rig-a-row about whether the blood of Christ was human blood, or spirit blood. 

1.       Jesus had human blood because he was a human, not a humanoid, or a God-like robot. 

a.      Jesus himself had no sin – therefore his blood was perfect, without any sin or any sinful characteristics. 

b.      Because Jesus had no sin, he would never die. 

2.       Jesus had heavenly blood (however you want to look at it) because he would take his shed blood into heaven, into the tabernacle in heaven, and there pour it onto the altar for our sins. 

a.      Jesus blood will last for all eternity, covering and cleansing our sins. 

b.      Because Jesus had no sin, we will live eternally. 

B.     No earthly blood can ever cleanse from sin. 

1.       Hebrews 9:12-15 – The blood of goats and calves could not cleanse from sin, but Christ purged our sins with his own blood. 

2.       Hebrews 10:1-4 – earthly blood is a remembrance of sins, yet Christ died once that we might have everlasting life. 

C.     We are cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus. 

1.       Ephesians 1:7 declares, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 

2.       Colossians 1:14 states, In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 

3.       Hebrews 9:12 confirms, Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

IV.    Our unworthiness. 

A.     We observe the supper because of God’s righteousness, not ours. 

B.     Eating the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner is different from being unworthy, but able. 

1.       I Corinthians 11:27 states, Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 

2.       Eating unworthily involves the manner in which the supper is eaten. 

3.       If a person eats the Lord’s Supper, hiding their sins from themselves and God, they are eating in an unworthy manner.