The Table of the King:An Overview of the

Ordinance of Communion

I. What is the Lord’s Table?

A. It is a Command of Jesus. Matthew 26:26-28: “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Luke 22:19-20: “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Mark 15:16: “If you love me,

keep my commands”

Believer’s Baptism

Acts 2:41-42: “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

B. It is a Memorial- εὐχαριστέω (eucharisto): “Eucharist” - what the Lord’s Table is sometimes called. - A Reminder:

1 Corinthians 11:24:

“This do in remembrance of

me”

C. It is a Proclamation

1 Corinthians 11:26:“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”

D. It is a Communion1st Corinthians 10:16:“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? “ (KJV)

1 John 1:7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

II. How to Participate in the Lord’s Table

A. It is to be done with reverence. 1 Corinthians 11:27:

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the

Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and

blood of the Lord.”

B. It is to be done with self-examination.

1 Corinthians 11:28-31:“For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

Spurgeon: “It cost your Lord untold agony to redeem you from going down into the pit, so can you ever imagine that any man is a fit person to participate in the emblems which set forth that agony if he has never felt, in his own soul, any agony on account of sin? What right has an impenitent person to come where the death of Christ, on account of sin, is specially set forth! A heart that has never been broken, because of sin,—shall it come and remember the broken body and broken heart of Jesus?...

…A heart of stone, that has never been melted,—shall it come and remember his precious flesh that was melted in the agonies of Calvary? If your eyes have wept no tears of repentance, how can you properly remember him whose veins wept blood to redeem his people from their sins? It is a contrite heart and a broken spirit that Christ wants here. Only with such persons will God deign to dwell, and only with such will Christ commune, either at his table or anywhere else. See to it, then, that you have genuine repentance.”

C. It is to be done with other Christians. - Acts 20:7: “came together” to break bread. - 1 Corinthians 11:33: “wait for one another” to partake of the table. - 1 Corinthians 10:17: “one bread and one body”.

Spurgeon: “Never mind that bread and wine, unless you can use them as folks often use their spectacles. What do they use them for? To look at? No, to look through them. So, use the bread and wine as a pair of spectacles. Look through them, and do not be satisfied until you can say, ‘Yes, yes, I can see the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’”