Bethel MBC

Basic Baptist Doctrine, Lesson 16

May 28, 2008

From a lesson taught by Elder A.V. Hood, 1/10/02

The Lord’s Supper

This study will center upon the second of two ordinances which Christ left His church, the Lord’s Supper.  It is an ordinance reserved for those individuals who have been saved and have followed the Lord’s example in baptism, thus making them members of a local assembly.  We will begin by reviewing the Scriptural references regarding this observance.

I. Scriptural Context

I Corinthians 11:20-30

 20When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper.  21For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.  22What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? what shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.  23For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

Luke 22:7-20

7Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. 8And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. 9And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? 10And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. 11And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 12And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. 13And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. 14And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Matthew 26:26-30

26And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. 30And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Mark 14:22-26

22And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. 23And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 24And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. 25Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. 26And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

II. Origin

The Lord’s Supper had its beginnings based upon the Passover.  (The 10^th plague in Egypt was the death of the firstborn.  The Paschal Lamb was to be sacrificed in each home and the blood applied as directed by the Lord upon the mantle and lintel.  If the blood was found to be in place by the “death angel”, he would “pass over” that home and spare the firstborn.  Thus, the Passover was instituted and the feast of ancient times was in remembrance of God’s deliverance in this way)  It is important to note that the Passover required each household to observe the commandment and not the whole nation. This correlates with our practice of closed communion, which we will discuss a little later.

In the New Testament, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper at what we call “The Last Supper” which he had with His disciples at the time of the Passover feast in Jerusalem.  Again, it is for only those who have been saved and baptized (as the Apostles had been, except Judas Iscariot).

III. The Purpose

 The purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to commemorate (remember) the Lord’s Death (I Cor 11:26).  The Corinthian church was found to be abusing the Lord’s Supper in several ways and Paul wrote to them to set them back in order.  The Lord’s table is not for our enjoyment or satiation of our appetites, rather, it is to remind us of Christ’s death for us as individuals.  It also serves as a reminder that He is coming for us again and has promised to “eat it anew” with us in that new city (as He told his Apostles).

IV. The Elements

a. The unleavened bread – represents Christ’s body that was given for us

b. The fruit of the vine – represents Christ’s blood that was shed for us

It is critical for us to understand that the types of the elements are important, but it is even more important to realize that the elements are SYMBOLIC (not literal).  For instance, we should see the importance of utilizing unleavened bread, but even more important that we understand it symbolizes the Lord’s body.  The same is true of the fruit of the vine, which is symbolic of Christ’s blood which was shed for each of us. 

The Transubstantiation View

This is the view of the Roman Catholic church.  It holds that the bread becomes the actual body of Christ and the fruit of the vine literally becomes the blood of Christ.  We, of course, do not support this idea and do not find it in the Scriptures.

The Consubstantiation View

Developed by Martin Luther and observed by Lutherans today.  They believe that Christ’s body and blood are truly present “in, with, and under” the bread and fruit of the vine.  The elements are not felt to literally become Christ’s body and blood. 

V. Various Practices Observed

 1. Open Communion

This is defined as anyone from any type of “Christian” religious belief may partake with that particular body.  There are very few Baptist churches (and no MBCs I know of) that practice this way.  However, many churches do so in today’s political climate of inclusion, etc.

2. Close Communion

Anyone of like faith and order (belonging to a sister church) may partake with a particular body.  For example, we would allow members of Fellowship, Freedom and Outreach to partake in the Lord’s Table with us here at Bethel (if we practiced close communion, which we do not)

3. Closed Communion

Only the individual, local, autonomous church is allowed to partake.  This being the practice of Bethel MBC, we reserve this ordinance to members of Bethel church ONLY.  Likewise, we should not expect to asked or invited to partake in this ordinance with other sister churches.  Salvation is between an individual and God.  Baptism is by the authority of one church and into her membership only.  Likewise, the Lord’s Supper is observed  by that one body and her membership only.  This practice is the most closely correlated to the practices we find in the Scriptures.

How often do we observe the Lord’s table?

There are no exact specifications set forth in the Bible.  Jesus only said that “as aft as ye do it”, etc to do it only in remembrance of Him and His sacrifice for us.  Many of our sister churches observe it once, twice or four times per year.  There is no right or wrong number.

When?

Most observe on Sunday a.m. as the majority of members may be in attendance.  The down side of this is the risk of offending visitors who do not understand the reasoning for our belief.  Sunday evening works well as those who WANT to be there, will be and the frequency of visitors is much lower.  I have also observed it on Saturday evening and really enjoyed it as we got to worship together Saturday evening, Sunday a.m. and Sunday p.m.  Makes for a long weekend for a preacher, but I have been blessed by weekends of this type.  Some churches observe this ordinance around Easter (about the time it would have been observed in Jerusalem…if you believe Jesus was crucified in March / April.)

VI. Wine or grape juice?

I wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pole!  I have known whole areas of the country to be at odds with each other over that question.  Preachers have gotten out of sorts over it.  Churches have split because of this area of dissension.    I find this all very disheartening because it is SYMBOLIC!  Satan loves for God’s people to strain at gnats and swallow camels.