In his sermon 'The Lord's Supper Part 2,' Robert Bosley delves into the significance of the Lord's Supper as a means of grace and a core component of church life. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, he critiques the Corinthians for their misuse of this sacred ordinance due to divisions and factions within their community. Bosley emphasizes that the Lord's Supper is not just a ritual but an essential practice that should be done regularly to maintain unity and communion with Christ. He explores the historical background of the Lord's Supper, linking it to the Passover and explaining its foundation in Christ's sacrifice. The sermon is structured around four key points: the background of the Lord's Supper, the symbolism of the bread, the meaning of the wine, and the proclamation aspect of the practice. Bosley stresses that the Supper is not merely symbolic but a true communion with Christ and a proclamation of His death until He comes. He encourages believers to approach the Lord's Supper with seriousness and faith, understanding its role in fostering unity and spiritual growth within the church.

Amen. Thank the Lord for that marvelous grace, especially as we take this time now to consider one of the means of grace. We're going to be continuing. The series started months ago now on the Lord's Supper and so if you would take out your copy of the scriptures and open up to 1st Corinthians chapter 11. 1st Corinthians chapter 11 continuing as I said the series on the Supper.

This will be the second of three messages looking at this passage. And we'll read verses 17 through 34, though we'll be focusing on verses 23 through 26. So, 1st Corinthians chapter 11 beginning in verse 17, now in giving these instructions I do not praise you since you come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

Therefore, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others and one is hungry and another is drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God and shame those who have nothing?

What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. That the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said take eat.

This is my body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner he took also the cup after supper saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep.

For if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged, but when we are judged we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore my brethren, When you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for this time that we have, again, to be in your word together. I pray Lord that you would open up the scriptures to us, help us to understand and to receive these things. May you use it to correct our hearts and our minds where they need correcting. May you use it to encourage us and may you be glorified in our time together in Jesus name we pray amen so as I said this is continuing where I left off back in January when we last looked at the Lord's Supper. And previously I went through verses 17 through 22 looking at how the Corinthians were abusing and misusing the Lord's Supper.

To recap a little bit what we covered there, we saw that the taking of the Lord's Supper is meant to be one of the primary purposes for which the church gathers. We see that in verses 18 and 20 when Paul writes, when you come together as a church to eat and when you come together in one place it's not to eat the Lord's Supper because they were abusing it they were coming together claiming to eat the supper but because of their division because of their hard-heartedness toward one another they were saying they were taking the supper, but they really weren't. They were misusing the ordinance, and so they ought to have been eating the supper. They said they were, but because of their divisions and factions, they were not actually keeping the sacrament. It was in vain.

And so we see from this that the supper is not negotiable or unimportant. It's not an add-on. It's not something additional to the greater work of the church, it is a core component of what it means to be a church, the right reception and celebration of God's ordinances. This is essential to what it means to be a church. It ought not to be rarely done even if you try and justify it by that's how you're going to make it special.

It's special not because of how infrequently you keep it, it's special because this is what God has commanded you to do. So it ought to be done regularly, not merely as an add-on occasionally. It is one of the main reasons that Christians gather in local churches. But we also saw that their disunity in the church undermined their communion with Christ. Now obviously this doesn't mean that they were losing their salvation.

If you're in a disagreement with your brother or sister in the church, that doesn't mean that you have forfeited your salvation. That's not what this means. But communion with Christ is not merely a one-time experience, it is an ongoing reality that occurs and continues beyond our initial justification. We are to have an ongoing life of communion with Christ and division in the church, fights among brothers can disrupt our communion. Yes, of course, with that brother you're at odds with, but it also disrupts your communion with Christ.

Because what 1 Corinthians chapter 10 tell us, that partaking of the bread and wine is communion with Christ. And so if you're not accurately or if you're not properly taking the supper, you are not participating in that communion. And this culminates at the end of this chapter, which we'll look at next time, where eating in an unworthy manner invites not communion with Christ, but rather the judgment of Christ. And we also considered the nature of Paul's admonition. A problem that Christians can often be guilty of is overreacting against an error.

We can drive out of one ditch right into the other one. And so he saw their misuse and abuse of the supper and corrected it not by saying, all right, don't ever do it again. It's you're too liable to screw it up. He said no, do it right. And I think that's instructive for us.

So with that recap of the first section here, I want us to look at this middle paragraph verses 23 through 26 and we're going to consider again the institution of the Lord's Supper. And I want us to consider this under four points, very simple, very basic. First the background, second the bread, third the wine, fourth the proclamation. Now let me read it again so it's fresh in our minds. Verse 23, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.

First, the background. We are told here that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed instituted the Lord's Supper. The Supper is instituted on this night in which he was betrayed. This is therefore often called the Last Supper. Though there's some debate on the exact chronology of events, we see when we go back to the Gospels that the Last Supper that Jesus shared with the disciples, in which he instituted the Lord's Supper, occurred in the context of the Passover.

You have the Passover celebration which is the whole context of the Passion Week. Of course this upcoming week is considered Holy Week by most of the church. This is the week that we remember these things, the entrance to Jerusalem, his arrest, betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection next Sunday. But this context of the Passover, that is the preeminent background element from the Old Testament that built up to the New Testament Lord's Supper, the the the Eucharist, the the ceremonial meal of the New Covenant Church. Of course if you remember your Bible and in the book of Exodus, the Passover is instituted during the final plague on Egypt where God sends the death angel to kill the firstborn of every family and even of the animals all the way to the firstborn of Pharaoh on his throne.

This is the culmination of God's judgment on the Egyptians who have been oppressing his people. And This is a judgment not just on the Egyptians, but also even on the gods of Egypt, Exodus 12 12 and this is God showing himself that he is the true God. The gods of Egypt are nothing. All the plagues are an attack against the idolatry of the Egyptians. And to spare themselves from this judgment, what are the Israelites told to do?

They are told that each family must offer a perfect spotless lamb as a sacrifice, and they must take that blood and smear it on the door frames of their house, and so that when the death angel comes, the sacrifice of that lamb and the blood applied to that house will turn the angel away because a lamb has died in the place of the one who was marked for death. This is the institution of Passover and this sacrifice that the Israelites perform in Egypt and this ritual and this meal that they are then told to consume. They are then told to repeat and celebrate yearly as a memorial feast, Exodus 12-14. And here we get a valuable principle that will help us avoid many errors, particularly the errors of the Roman Church. The Passover contained two elements.

The sacrifice proper, the actual sacrifice of the lamb that is slain, and then second, the sacrificial meal where what had been sacrificed is consumed and the people partake through eating the lamb. So you've got the sacrifice proper distinguished from the sacrificial meal. This is instructed for us. Rome says that the Mass is a sacrifice, that it is a re-presentation of Christ on the altar, that it is what takes away sins. But that's not what the New Testament teaches.

Rather, the supper that we take, the Eucharist, is not the sacrifice itself. It is the sacrificial meal. It is the memorial feast, the meal where we commemorate the death of the sacrifice and where we are made partakers of that sacrifice. The Lord's table is a memorial meal, not the sacrifice itself. The sacrifice was once and for all, never to be repeated.

But we partake of it by faith when we consume the elements of bread and wine. And so Jesus, in the context of the Passover, the Old Covenant Memorial Meal, instituted what we now call the Lord's Table or the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, the new covenant memorial meal. And this memorial by which we reflect on and partake of that once and for all sacrifice. So we have this background that God instituted long, long ago that's building to something new. And this is why it's such a shame when Christians want to go back to the shadows.

There's always a debate about should Christians partake of a Jewish setter meal or do these things. And I would say, no, the shadows have passed away. The reality has come. That's another sermon. So that's the background.

Next, I want us to look at the bread. The second half of verse 23, the Lord Jesus on the same night when she was betrayed took bread, verse 24, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me. So he takes the bread, he gives thanks, he breaks it. So first, he gives thanks for the bread. In Greek, Eucharistio, this is the Greek word where we derive the word Eucharist, the term that Christians have used from the very beginning to describe the Lord's table, the partaking of bread and wine in remembrance of Christ.

It's a beautiful word, it's beautiful rich meaning. The Lord gives thanks for the bread and we, when we take it, we give thanks not merely for bread and wine but we give thanks for the Lord who gave himself for us." And so this is why I think it's appropriate and good that we use the word Eucharist. It's not very common among Baptists these days, but I think it ought to be. We need to reclaim this word and use it. It's a beautiful word.

It is truly a Catholic lowercase C term, not Roman. It's a beautiful word that we ought to reclaim and we ought to use. He takes the bread, he gives thanks for it. He breaks it and says, take, eat, this is my body. Again, a phrase that has provoked much debate in history.

My view, the historic reformed position, is, in my opinion, obviously correct, but it is one of avoiding two ditches. On the one side we have the error of an overly literal and really absurd claim that the bread of the sacrament literally becomes the actual flesh of Jesus, though to the outward senses the form remains unchanged. That is the position of Rome, Eastern Orthodoxy for the most part, and groups such as that. That the bread itself becomes the actual body of Jesus, though your senses do not perceive the change. And as our confession says, this is superstitious and repugnant to reason.

So we must reject that error, but on the other hand we also need to avoid the error that it is mere symbolism, akin to when Jesus says, I am the vine or I am the door, where he uses these phrases as an illustration to teach something. It is more than just an illustration. Remember a few months ago when we were in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and what Paul teaches about the supper there. In a discussion that he's really centered on avoiding idolatry and idolatrous practices that bring God's that bring God's judgment, Paul explains key aspects about the Eucharist. He explained that the bread and wine are communion with or participation in the body and blood of Christ.

He says, 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? And this isn't communion with one another around Christ, it's actual communion with the risen exalted Savior. It is communion with Jesus when we eat the bread and we drink the wine. And Paul draws parallels to the pagan practices when they sacrifice to their gods that are really demons and you eat the sacrifice made to these demons as an element of worship you're having fellowship with those demons that's what he says at the end of chapter 10 and in the same way he says if you eat the bread and you drink the wine of the supper, in faith you have fellowship with Christ himself and you receive the benefits secured by his body and blood.

So in this way, the bread is his body, not in a crass literalism. His body is in heaven and it will remain there until he returns. But not merely symbolically. We really but spiritually commune with him and receive his blessings that he secured in his body, in his work. We do not do as Rome asserts and call him down from heaven to be re-presented in a sacrifice on the altar.

Rather in a sense the Spirit raises us up to him to be with him and commune with him in heavenly places. And what does he do? He takes the bread. He says, this is my body, which is broken for you. He breaks the bread and distributes it.

He breaks the bread. This word is only used in the New Testament in the context of breaking physical bread. Matthew 14 19, Mark 8 6, Luke 22 19, various passages, all the Lord's Supper passages, and other places feeding the four, the five thousand, breaking physical bread. That's all this word is used for for break. But this gives us a graphic illustration of the crucifixion.

The bread is given as an emblem of his body. And what happened to his body? His body was broken for you and for me. As Isaiah says He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our sins. His body was broken so that we could be made whole.

So he breaks the bread, he says, this is my body, which is broken for you. And what are we to do? What are the disciples to do? What are we to do today? Do this in remembrance of me.

As I've discussed previously This is not a simple call to have a mental recollection of the facts about Jesus and his death. What does it mean, for instance, in Deuteronomy 818, to remember God? Is it to remember that God exists? To have the mental process whereby you remember that God is real? That's not what it means to remember God.

It's to remember God is to worship and trust Him. Just as to forget God is to forsake and rebel against Him and His covenant. What is it to remember your leaders in Hebrews 13 7? It's not just to remember that your elders exist. It means to consider their lives and live by their example and an obedience to them in their proper sphere.

What does it mean to remember the poor in Galatians 2 10? It's to meet their physical needs as you have opportunity. In other words, biblically to remember something is to make it present to yourself in such a way that it changes how you live. Yes, it's to call to mind, but it goes beyond that. It's a call to mind that affects what you do.

And as I mentioned last time here, the the word remembrance might be better understood as, do this as a reminder of me. The emphasis is on the supper not itself as remembering, but as the means by which we remember what has been accomplished on our behalf. The Supper is a reminder of Christ and his work and it is a call to change and obedience in light of the work of Jesus. The Old Testament sacrifices we are told were a continual reminder of sins because they never actually changed the heart. And now in the new covenant, we do not have an ongoing reminder of sins.

We have an ongoing reminder that we have a sin bearer who has paid the penalty and taken it away. And that reminder is the bread and wine. So yes, we affirm the supper is a memorial, but it's not only that, it is more, as we already saw. Now the the wine, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, the Lord Jesus says, in the same manner he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood, Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." He says this is the blood of the new covenant. This is the new covenant in my blood.

The new covenant just like the Abrahamic covenant, just like the Mosaic covenant, was inaugurated by blood. Consider Abraham in Genesis 15. God had Abraham take the animals and cut them in two pieces. And this was a common ritual in that time, a means by which two parties would agree to a covenant and the imagery would be they would cut the animals, lay them on either side, and the two would walk between it. And the picture was, if I don't uphold my end of the covenant, What happened to these animals is what's going to happen to me.

But what happens in Genesis? Abraham divides the animals, but then God puts him to sleep and God alone passes through the midst of the animals. He's taking the entire obligation, all the burden of the covenant entirely on himself. That God is going to be the one that ensures that this covenant is kept and established and fulfilled. And this covenant finds its culmination in the new covenant.

Abraham was promised that in his seed, singular, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And Paul tells us in Galatians that that seed is Christ. That that seed is Christ. The Mosaic Covenant in Exodus 24, Moses confirms the Mosaic Covenant with the people of Israel by taking half the blood, sprinkling it on the altar, the place of sacrifice, and taking the other half and sprinkling it on the people. In this way the covenant, the law covenant was established inaugurated.

Now the new covenant comes and it kind of synthesizes these images. It brings them to their fullness, their completion. Christ, the God-man, takes all the covenant obligations on himself. He is prophet, priest, and king. He is the one who makes the covenant.

He is also the one who bears the covenant. He alone bore the weight of God's wrath on the cross. He took all the covenant obligations on himself. Not merely to delay punishment or for earthly purification, but to save completely all who would ever be in that covenant as his covenant children. And now like Moses with Israel, the people are marked by the blood, not the splattering of blood physically.

But the writer to the Hebrews tells us that after he had offered himself, he entered into heaven into the true most holy place with his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. And the Spirit takes that and applies it to the heart of those who believe, so that they, by that blood, are brought into the covenant. And we, by faith, as what Paul called in 1 Corinthians 10, we take the cup of blessing in the Lord's table, the cup of the blood of Christ, and we are marked by that blood when we take the cup because this cup of blessing is not merely satisfying physical thirst but is a communion and a partaking of Christ Himself. And this is why it's such an awful thing to take the bread or to take the cup in an unworthy manner, to receive it without faith. To partake of the Lord's Supper without faith does not communicate Christ to you, but rather communicates judgment.

But we'll talk more about that in the next session. Lastly, the proclamation. So Paul recounts the institution, the background, the bread, the wine, and he finishes the institution with verse 26, why do we do this? For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes." The Supper is a proclamation. In the Eucharist we are proclaiming Christ.

That is why some have called the table a visible sermon. It is preaching. That is what is happening when we distribute the bread and the wine, we are preaching Christ. To one another as brothers, we are proclaiming our unity. The one who shed his blood, the one who gave his body, this is our King, this is our Savior, this is our Lord, and we are one in Him.

Again, go back to chapter 10. Though we are many, we are one because there is one bread. We all partake of the same cup. We are one. It's a proclamation of our unity because of who Christ is.

We are united together as a body and as a church family, we are united to Christ. By faith, we are united with His death and with His resurrection, and we show and we strengthen that union with Christ at the table. And to the unbeliever, we proclaim that you need the Body and Blood of Christ. You have no hope apart from Him. It's not merely that you need bread and wine.

It's that you need what the bread and wine point to. You need the one who died and shed his blood and had his body broken to take away sins. That is what is proclaimed to the unbeliever when they see the elements distributed among God's people. You're not part of this until you have come to him by faith and truly have the needs of your soul satisfied. So there are two ways we proclaim to one another and to the unbeliever.

There are also in a way that I've seen it done and I think this is helpful there are three looks the three ways that we look in the Eucharist we look back we look to today and we look to the future We look back first because it is a memorial. It is a reminder of what our Lord has accomplished on our behalf. We look back, we see the elements, we touch, we taste them, and we are reminded of what happened 2, 000 years ago when the perfect Son of God died on a Roman cross to take away our sins. And just as real as that bread and wine are in our hands and our mouths, That is how real that salvation is, even today. Christ is here, applying that work, saving sinners.

So we look back to what he did. But it's also a call to look now to today when the blood or when the bread and the wine are distributed is a proclamation that the body and blood are still available. Is a proclamation that today is the day of salvation. While the bread and wine are still being served, there is still time for repentance and forgiveness. The ordinance is an institution for the church.

One day it will end. When that day comes there is no more time for repentance. When the day of judgment comes the sacraments will be no more. And so while there is still the supper being given, it is still a reminder that there is hope. There is still time to repent and believe.

And it's a look to the future. We are proclaiming the Lord's death till He comes. One day, The bread and wine will be assumed into this great final eternal feast that we are told about, that will be for God's people, where the Lord Jesus himself said that he will drink it new with us in his Father's kingdom. And so we look forward to that day when he comes and he brings the kingdom in fullness and we see him face to face. And so we proclaim his death until he comes.

And This is what God is doing in the supper. This is why it's so vital. That's why it's so important for us. It is fellowship with one another. It's fellowship with Christ.

It's the preaching of Christ. God is doing such great things in the simple elements of bread and wine. And This is why it was such Really a catastrophe what the Corinthians were doing in first Corinthians 11 why Paul is so harsh with them And so let's not come to the table lightly. Let's come to it with the seriousness that it merits. Remembering that God is a merciful God, a just and kind and patient Father, but also a God who takes His commands very seriously.

He's given us this great treasure, this great feast laid before us, So let us go to it, partake of it, in faith, receiving the blessings that are in it for us. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your great kindness, your great love and mercy you've shown us. We thank you again Lord for your word and pray that you would continue to instruct us and help us Lord as we think through this issue of the Lord's Table, Lord help us to not think about it in a flippant or in any way that would diminish the importance or necessity of it. Oh God, help us to think rightly about these things that you've commanded us to do.

And Lord, May you be with us the rest of this week and go with us help us learn to walk in your ways to serve and honor you And guide us and direct us until we gather again here this coming Lord's Day In Jesus name we pray In Jesus' name we pray, amen.