Luke 22:19 – The Lord’s Supper – Bible study

Luke 22:19 The Lord’s Supper The goal tonight is not for me to preach but to help you to move any obstacles out of your life that might be blocking you from accomplishing the purpose of this service. This is service is most unusual for several reasons. It is unusual because: 1. It’s keeping is commanded by the Lord. 2. It’s elements were selected by the Lord. 3. It’s participants are the people of the Lord. 4. And it’s purposes are outlined by the Scripture of the Lord. This service does not have definitive time to be performed. It does not have definitive pattern to be followed. It is not a ritual. The purposes are given to us in the Scripture. You have heard me give them to you many times. They all come out of the book of 1 Corinthians; but even though I have given them to you many times, I have seen something new about them. 1. I have seen they seem to have an order to them. 2. I have seen that the first four purposes will lead us to the third purpose. Let me them to you tonight: 1. It is a service of examination: 1Cor 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 2. It is a service of repentance: 1Cor 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 3. Then it becomes a service of remembrance: 1Cor 11:24 …this do in remembrance of me. 4. And then a service of anticipation: 1Cor 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lords death till he come. 5. And all of these build up to make it a special service of joining our Lord. 1Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (union with) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion (union with) of the body of Christ? My favorite place to go when we partake of the Lord’s Supper is to the middle: to remember. However, you cannot enjoy the remembrance of the Lord’s Supper if you have not first examined yourself and made yourself right with God. Three things we need to remember tonight: I. We remember our condition. A. The human race is a diverse race. 1. It may seem that we have very little in common. a. We are different sexes, ages, and statuses. b. We come from different nations. c. We may even speak different languages. 2. But it is the things that we have in common that we need most to remember. B. We need to remember… 1. We have the same linage: Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 2. We have the same condition: Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 3. We are all headed for the same hell. 4. We are sitting in the same darkness. Luke 1:79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. a. The darkness being spoken of in that verse is sin. b. However, it reminds me of the darkness of fear, discouragement, and depression. c. Those are not good places to be, but the human race needs to visit there every so often. (1) Lost people who forget their condition forget they need a Savior. (2) Saved people who forget their condition forget they need a Lord. II. We remember His pain. A. It is not possible for us to understand what Jesus went through for us because He paid the price so that we would never know it. But we must try. B. There was His pain of debasement. 1. Two Bible passages, one in the Old and one in the New Testament, describes that Jesus’ suffering did not start at the cross. 2. There is a word used in both of those texts which describes how the Holy Ghost suffered pain to debase Himself. Psalm 113:5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, 6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 3. The word is "humble." a. For God to even look into the affairs of sinful mankind, He must debase Himself. b. How much more for Him to lay aside the attributes which are uniquely God’s. (1) Omnipresence (2) Omniscience (3) Omnipotence c. And even more to become a human being. d. And even more to become a human being with no standing, no authority, no luxury, no comfort. e. And even more to become a human being who would die a cruel, harsh, criminal’s death! C. There was His soul’s pain. Matt 26:37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 1. The Bible described the pain Jesus felt before He felt a slap across the face or a thorn pressed into His brow. 2. It was the pain of His soul as He looked ahead to the cross, perhaps even as the weight of men’s sins began to be dropped upon His shoulders. 3. He asked His disciples to help shoulder that pain, but they either could not or did not. 4. The weight was so great that the Father sent angels to minister to Him \#Luke 22:43\. D. There was His body’s pain. 1. This is what we see and what the Bible focuses upon. 2. The pain Christ endured in His execution was horrific – especially remembering His nerves would never deaden being without sin. a. spit on Him \#Matt 26:67 Mk 14:65\ b. smote Him with their palms – slapped Him \#Mk 14:65\ c. buffeted or hit Him with their fists \#Mt 26:67\ d. blindfolded Him, slapped Him, and then mocked Him to prophesy and tell who had hit Him. \#Mt 26:68\ e. mockingly worshipped Him with the crown of thorns, the purple robe, and the reed for a scepter. \#John 19:2-3\ f. scourged Him with a cat-of-nine-tails for 39 lick g. nailed Him to the cross h. crucified Him which was to affix Him to the cross in such a way that He would slowly die from suffocation, lung and heart congestion, and stress to cardiological and nervous systems E. There was His Spiritual pain. 1. This we cannot see at all, but for six hours Jesus hung on a cross physically while His spirit paid for our hell. 2. There are almost 7 billion people on earth, and they say 7 billion have lived and died. 3. Somehow, Jesus paid for the damnation of 14 billion people. III. We remember God’s power. A. God did not leave Jesus in the Tomb. B. Hell and the grave have something in common: 1. Neither have an exit. 2. Both are eternal. 3. Neither have 2nd changes. 4. No one has ever escaped from either. 5. Until Jesus. He defeated them both! C. Men did what they could to make the tomb secured. They placed a Roman seal and guards around the tomb. D. I’m sure the devil did what he could to make it secure as well. 1. If we could weld the stones together, he did. 2. But I feel certain he amassed all the demons he could muster to sit upon that rock, to hold it fast in place. 3. I figure the earthquake was the resistance the devils offered as God scooted the stone away from the door! E. Jesus arose because of God’s power. 1. That is the power we remember tonight. 2. That is the power we celebrate tonight. 3. And that is the power God’s offers tonight! Let us examine ourselves this night to be sure we are able to partake of the Lord’s Supper.