If you have worshipped with us here at Faith Baptist, you may have seen us observe the Lord's Supper together. We pass the bread. We take the cup. We bow our heads and remember. But why? It is a fair question, and it deserves a real answer. The Lord's Supper is one of only two ordinances given to the local church by Christ, the other being baptism. We do not observe it out of tradition or habit. We observe it because our Lord commanded it, and because every time we gather around that table, we are doing something that believers have done all the way back to an upper room in Jerusalem on the darkest night in human history. I Corinthians 11:26
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. It Came From the Lord Himself The Lord's Supper did not begin with a church council. It did not grow out of religious custom. It began with Jesus Christ, on the very night He was betrayed. The apostle Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 11:23: "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you." He is not appealing to church tradition or his own authority. He is saying plainly, this came directly from Christ. The Lord's Supper is a commandment, given by the Lord Himself, for every local church to observe until He returns. And notice the setting Paul describes: "the same night in which he was betrayed." Sit with that for a moment. The night Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper was one of the darkest nights in history, the night the Son of God was handed over by someone He had walked with for three years. Judas had already made his arrangements. The religious leaders were sharpening their accusations. The cross was only hours away. And on that night, with all of that bearing down on Him — what was Jesus thinking about? He was thinking about His people. He was giving them a gift. A way to look back at what He was about to do and keep it fresh, real, and near for every generation that would follow. The night the world was turning against Him, He was turned toward us. That is an act of love. The Lord's Supper did not originate in religion. It originated in the heart of a Savior who, even in His darkest hour, was thinking of you. It Points Directly to the Cross When Jesus took the bread that night, He broke it and said: "Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24). When He took the cup, He said: "This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me" (v. 25). The bread represents His body. The prophet Isaiah wrote, seven centuries before Calvary: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5). The bread on that table is a picture of what sin costs, and of what Christ was willing to pay. The cup represents His blood. In the Old Testament, covenants between God and His people were sealed with the blood of animals. Those sacrifices were never the end of the story; they were shadows, pointing forward to the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice that was coming. When Jesus lifted that cup and called it the new testament in His blood, He was declaring: I am the fulfillment of everything the old covenant promised. My blood seals a covenant of forgiveness for everyone who trusts in Me. These are not symbols to rush past. I Corinthians 11:26 says something remarkable: "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." When we come to the Lord's table, we are not simply doing a quiet religious ritual. We are preaching a sermon, to one another and to the watching world, in a single act of worship. The Lord's Supper has a built-in expiration date. We do this till He come. One day, Christ will return, and there will be no more need to remember His death, because we will be in His presence. Every time we come to this table, we are declaring: He is coming. We are not yet home. We are waiting. It Calls Every Believer to Examine Their Heart Because of what the Lord's Supper represents, it is not something to approach carelessly. Paul writes plainly in 1 Corinthians 11:27 that to eat the bread and drink the cup unworthily, meaning without proper preparation, without truly discerning what this table stands for, is a serious matter. But it is important to understand what Paul means. He is not saying that only perfect people may come to the table. If that were the standard, not one of us would ever participate, because none of us are worthy. Christ has more than met that standard on our behalf. What Paul is calling for is not perfection; he is calling for preparation. I Corinthians 11:28
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. Notice the direction of that verse. Paul does not say to examine yourself and stay away if you fall short. He says to examine yourself, and so let him eat. The examination is the preparation, not a barrier. The goal is to come, but to come ready. Before we observe the Lord's Supper at Faith Baptist, we encourage every believer to bring these questions honestly before the Lord: Questions for Self-Examination 1) Am I trusting Christ alone for my salvation? The Lord's Supper is an ordinance for those who have believed, if you have never trusted Christ, today is a good day to respond to the gospel. Learn more about Salvation here! 2) Is there unconfessed sin in my life that I have been deliberately holding onto? Not sin I have struggled with and brought to the Lord, but sin I have been protecting. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9). 3) Is there a broken relationship between me and a fellow believer? The Lord's table is a body ordinance, meant to be observed in unity. A heart moving toward reconciliation matters here. 4) Am I truly remembering, or just going through the motions? The quietest danger is not rebellion, it is spiritual apathy. Letting the bread and cup pass through your hands without really engaging with what they mean. God takes His Son's sacrifice too seriously to let His people walk past it without a second glance. The call to self-examination is not a burden, it is a mercy. It is God giving us the opportunity to get right with Him before He has to do the correcting for us (v. 31). It Belongs to the Whole Body — Together The Lord's Supper is not a private transaction between an individual soul and God. It is a corporate act of worship, observed by the local church together, as one body, proclaiming one Lord, and waiting for one return. When the church at Corinth corrupted this ordinance, it was not just a social failure, it was a spiritual one. They had allowed division and selfishness to turn something sacred into something shameful. Paul's correction was sharp: "I praise you not" (1 Corinthians 11:17, 22). The principle behind his correction is just as relevant for us today. When we come to this table at Faith Baptist, we are not just reflecting on what Christ has done for me, we are proclaiming what He has done for us. The people around you have been bought with the same price you were bought with. The blood in that cup covers their sin just as surely as it covers yours. You are not strangers gathered in the same building. You are members of the same body, seated at the same table, united by the same Lord. Come to the Table The night Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, He was facing the cross. He knew what the next several hours would bring, the arrest, the accusations, the beatings, the thorns, the nails. He knew the weight of the sin of the world would be placed on His shoulders. He knew the Father would turn His face away. He knew all of it. And in that moment, He thought of you. He thought of every time His people would gather, in houses, in storefronts, in church buildings across every generation, and take bread and cup and remember. And He said: "This do in remembrance of me." He wanted the remembrance of His death to stay close to His people's hearts. Not as a theological fact that sits on a shelf, but as a reality that shapes how we think, how we live, and how we treat one another. Come to the table prepared. We do this till He come. Have questions about the Lord's Supper or the gospel?
We would love to talk with you. Reach out to us directly, or speak with one of our pastors before or after any service. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, today is a good day to take that step.Learn about SalvationHave a Question? Contact Us.
