The Cause for Communion!
The Cause for Communion!
For as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lord’s death til he come. 1 Corinthians 11:26
The Lord left two ordinances for the church to practice; one was baptism, which was for identification and the other was communion or sometimes called the Lords table, which was for unification of fellowship. Baptism was only necessary once but communion would be necessary often.
Before we take the Lord’s supper we were to take three looks; 1 Corinthians 11:24-30
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- We were to look back at the cross. .24 “…this do in remembrance of me.” We are to remember what our Lord suffered for our redemption to keep a heart of gratitude. An ungrateful heart is a thoughtless heart. God wants us to think about what Christ endured so that we could have mercy! Take time and look back to the crucifixion of Christ and remember. It would be good to reread the scriptures that speak of his experience on the cross.
- We are to look ahead to his return. .26 “…ye do shew the Lord’s death til he come.” We are to live with anticipation of his return. This should have a purifying effect on us. “and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3 *It will be difficult to live in anticipation if you are not living for him! This should have an encouraging effect on God’s people that are suffering because it reminds us we will be delivered from this suffering when he comes. “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:18
- We are to look within our hearts. .28 “But let a man examine himself…” Communion should cause us to confess hypocrisy and any hate we might have toward others, especially the brethren. This honors the Lord, protects the unity of the church, and allows God’s spirit to work more powerfully in the services.
There is a stern warning about taking communion unworthily; .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.”
We find those who take it unworthily get chastened of the Lord and some even go to heaven early because they disregarded the Lord’s body. “for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” .30
There needs to be reflection and reverence to the Lord when taking communion. The bread and juice are symbols of our Lord’s body and blood and they are to be reverenced. There is no command that says we should take communion every time we gather together, the scripture says, “for as often as ye eat this bread…” (.26). We do not do this every service in order to make it more meaningful when we do.
We believe every man is to be instructed in the manner, motive and meaning of communion. Afterward every man is to judge himself and decide whether he is qualified to partake in communion. This qualification is not a sinless perfection but a sincere desire to please God.
