Tradition<\/b><\/p>\n
A small country church in Wisconsin has a special tradition that they have used at the close of their communion services for a number of years. It is adapted from an ancient Jewish closing of the Passover meal. Since it is the hope of every devout Jew to celebrate the Passover at least once in David\u2019s city, the Jewish custom is to end the meal with a toast. Passover participants raise the cup and say, \u201cNext year, in Jerusalem!\u201d<\/p>\n
The cup in the Lord\u2019s Supper serves as two reminders: we are to look back to the shed blood of Christ and forward to the Lord\u2019s second coming. In other words, for all Christians, there will be a last sharing of the bread and the cup on this side of eternity: when they meet once again, they will be in Christ\u2019s presence. At the close of communion, the members of this church raise their cups in anticipation and say, \u201cNext time, with Christ!\u201d<\/p>\n
Today in the Word, May, 1996, p. 26<\/p>\n
Two Classes of Mankind<\/b><\/p>\n
Comparative expressions used for the two classes of mankind:<\/p>\n
1. Sinners, saints<\/p>\n
2. Wicked, righteous<\/p>\n
3. Unbelievers, believers<\/p>\n
4. Reprobates, heirs<\/p>\n
5. Enemies, friends of God<\/p>\n
6. Foolish, wise<\/p>\n
7. Tares, wheat<\/p>\n
8. Ungodly, godly<\/p>\n
9. Wicked, righteous, <\/p>\n
10. Children of the world, children of the kingdom<\/p>\n
11. Those who live after the flesh, those who are led by the Spirit<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Welcome To The Table<\/b><\/p>\n
This is the feast of heavenly wine, And God invites to sup; The juices of the living vine Were press\u2019d to fill the cup.<\/p>\n
Oh! bless the Saviour, ye that eat, With royal danties fed; Not heaven affords a costlier treat, For Jesus is the bread.<\/p>\n
The vile, the lost, He calls to them; Ye trembling souls appear! The righteous in their own esteem Have no acceptance here.<\/p>\n
Approach, ye poor, nor dare refuse The banquet spread for you; Dear Savior, this is welcome news, Then I may venture too.<\/p>\n
If guilt and sin afford a plea, And may obtain a place, Surely the Lord will welcome me, And I shall see His face.<\/p>\n
Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper\u2019s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York<\/p>\n
Institution of the Lord\u2019s Supper<\/b><\/p>\n
I. Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord\u2019s Supper, to be observed in his church unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto him, and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other, as members of his mystical body.<\/p>\n
II. In this sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of himself, by himself, upon the cross, once for all, and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same…<\/p>\n
III. The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to declare his word of institution to the people, to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation.<\/p>\n
V. The outward elements in this sacrament, duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that truly, yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ; albeit, in substance and nature, they still remain truly and only bread and wine, as they were before.<\/p>\n
VII. Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this sacrament, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.<\/p>\n
VIII Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward elements in this sacrament, yet they receive not the thing signified thereby; but by their unworthy coming thereunto are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, to their own damnation. Wherefore all ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with him, so are they unworthy of the Lord\u2019s table, and cannot, without great sin against Christ, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto. <\/p>\n
Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 29<\/p>\n
Gratitude Lunch<\/b><\/p>\n
Three times a month, Jermaine Washington and Michelle Stevens get together for what they call a \u201cgratitude lunch.\u201d With good reason! Washington donated a kidney to Stevens, whom he described as \u201cjust a friend.\u201d They met at work where they used to have lunch together. One day Michelle wept as she spoke about waiting on a kidney donor list for 11 months. She was being sustained by kidney dialysis, but suffered chronic fatigue and blackouts and was plagued by joint pain. Because Washington couldn\u2019t stand the thought of watching his friend die, he gave her one of his kidneys.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019ve got something great to be thankful for, having a \u201cgratitude lunch\u201d is a great way to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Today in the Word, November 14, 1993<\/p>\n
A Repentant Heart<\/b><\/p>\n
Believers dare not come to the table except with a repentant heart. \u201cWhoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,\u201d as Paul puts it, \u201cdrinks judgment to himself.\u201d That should be a sobering warning, especially when the apostle adds that because of this offense many have fallen ill or died. Any pastor who takes the Word of God seriously should never administer Communion without adequately warning partakers. Those who are unrepentant should flee the table rather than trivialize the sacred.<\/p>\n
And God does not view this sacred act lightly. Pat Novak, pastor in a nonsacramental denomination, discovered this when he was serving as a hospital chaplain intern just outside of Boston several years ago.<\/p>\n
Pat was making his rounds one summer morning when he was called to visit a patient admitted with an undiagnosed ailment. John, a man in his sixties, had not responded to any treatment; medical tests showed nothing; psychological tests were inconclusive. Yet he was wasting away; he had not even been able to swallow for two weeks. The nurses tried everything. Finally they called the chaplain\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
When Pat walked into the room, John was sitting limply in his bed, strung with IV tubes, staring listlessly at the wall. He was a tall, grandfatherly man, balding a little, but his sallow skin hung loosely on his face, neck, and arms where the weight had dropped from his frame. His eyes were hollow.<\/p>\n
Pat was terrified; he had no idea what to do. But John seemed to brighten a bit as soon as he saw Pat\u2019s chaplain badge and invited him to sit down.<\/p>\n
As they talked, Pat sensed that God was urging him to do something specific: He knew he was to ask John if he wanted to take Communion. Chaplain interns were not encouraged to ask this type of thing in this public hospital, but Pat did.<\/p>\n
At that John broke down. \u201cI can\u2019t!\u201d he cried. \u201cI\u2019ve sinned and can\u2019t be forgiven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pat paused a moment, knowing he was about to break policy again. Then he told John about 1 Corinthians 11 and Paul\u2019s admonition that whoever takes Communion in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself. And he asked John if he wanted to confess his sin. John nodded gratefully.<\/p>\n
To this day Pat can\u2019t remember the particular sin John confessed, nor would he say if he did, but he recalls that it did not strike him as particularly egregious. Yet it had been draining the life from this man. John wept as he confessed, and Pat laid hands on him, hugged him, and told John his sins were forgiven.<\/p>\n
Then Pat got the second urging from the Holy Spirit: Ask him if he wants to take Communion. He did.<\/p>\n
Pat gave John a Bible and told him he would be back later. Already John was sitting up straighter, with a flicker of light in his eyes.<\/p>\n
Pat visited a few more patients and then ate some lunch in the hospital cafeteria. When he left he wrapped an extra piece of bread in a napkin and borrowed a coffee cup from the cafeteria. He ran out to a shop a few blocks away and bought a container of grape juice.<\/p>\n
Then he returned to John\u2019s room with the elements and celebrated Communion with him, again reciting 1 Corinthians 11. John took the bread and chewed it slowly. It was the first time in weeks he had been able to take solid food in his mouth. He took the cup and swallowed. He had been set free.<\/p>\n
Within three days John walked out of that hospital. The nurses were so amazed they called the newspaper, which later featured the story of John and Pat, appropriately, in its \u201cLIFE\u201d section. <\/p>\n
The Body, Charles W. Colson, 1992, Word Publishing, pp. 139-140<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tradition A small country church in Wisconsin has a special tradition that they have used at the close of their communion services for a number of years. It is adapted from an ancient Jewish closing of the Passover meal. Since it is the hope of every devout Jew to celebrate the Passover at least once … Continue reading “Communion”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}