Thread: The Ordinances
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Old 07-12-2009, 07:26 AM
Steve Schwenke
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Originally Posted by tonybones2112 View Post
Same with "the Lord's supper". Firstly, this "supper" was initiated on the Jewish Passover, which I don't observe. I'm a Gentile and so are you. What is the spiritual application of this then? In the Body of Christ we remember His sacrifice, we show the Lord's death with every meal we eat.
Do you have a Scripture for that?

I Cor. 11:20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. [Oh, so it IS legitimate to call it the Lord's supper!]
21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. [So the Lord's supper is distinct from our own meals!]
22 What? 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. [if you want to eat a meal, eat it at home. the Lord's supper is a distinct memorial, not a big fellowship gathering to stuff ourselves!]
23 ¶ For 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: [Yikes! this instruction is coming directly from the Lord!!!]
24 And 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.
25 After 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.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. [v. 23-26 are rehearsals of what happened on that night before Jesus was crucified]
27 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. [now we move into the present instruction concerning the Lord's supper]
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

Paul makes a distinction between our ordinary "fellowship" meals, and a particular meal that HE terms "the Lord's supper." He uses the terms "this bread, this cup, that bread, that cup" to distinguish it from all others. He is speaking of a particular meal that we as believers are to partake of. We are to partake of it for the expressed purpose in v. 26.
The passage condemns those who were pretending to observe "the Lord's supper" without consideration for the poor who could bring nothing to the table. So the rich excluded the poor; the rich stuffed themselves, and the poor went hungry in their pretend observation.
Paul corrects that, reminds them that (1) there IS a thing called "the Lord's supper", (2) it is to be observed by all in the church, with no regard to economy, (3) it was a simple observation that reminds us of the broken body of Christ, and the blood that was shed, which are seen in the bread and grape juice.