Communion Service - a Solemn Assembly — Paul Washer

Father, we come before you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. And it is for his honor that we are gathered here. Lord, you know us, and we make no great claims about ourselves. Lord, we acknowledge that apart from your Son, we would have no part with you.

But with great confidence and even boldness, we come before you. Trusting in his person, his virtue, his merit, and his finished perfect work on the cross. Infinite in value through which, Lord, all our sins have been forgiven and all our iniquities taken away.

Lord, tonight, I don't know how well we will honor him, but it is our desire, Lord, to honor him greatly. To speak much of Jesus, to proclaim his death, his resurrection, and his coming again with great power.

Lord, each one of us was found by you when we were not seeking you. Not one among us, Lord, would believe ourselves saved by our own virtue and merit or works or religion. We come before you, Lord, not only remembering, but giving thanks that our salvation rests in Christ and Christ alone.

To him be the glory and the honor and the praise, the riches and the wealth throughout every age, the age that now is and those that are to come. Lord, we feel weak in ourselves again. Lord, it is our desire that your son be honored.

But it would be easier for us, Lord, to lift the world than to give proper honor to your son. He is worthy of far more. He is worthy beyond anything we could ever think or give. But, Lord, those who come to you, you will not despise.

You will receive. Receive our praise, Father, this evening for your son. Receive the word preached for your son. And grant us grace, Lord. That we might appreciate Jesus tonight in a way that we have never appreciated him before.

Father, I'm almost afraid to open up my eyes to say, Amen. Help us, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen. I would that you would open up your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Let's stand for the reading of God's word.

The Institution and Seriousness of the Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 23. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself. And in doing so, he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason, many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep. But if we judge ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.

But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home so that you will not come together for judgment.

The remaining matters I will arrange when I come to have a seat. Paul says in verse 23, for I receive from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. It seems quite clear here that Paul received this ordinance by direct revelation from the Lord because this is the same language he uses when he speaks about receiving the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15 as a direct revelation from the Lord.

That he was not taught it by some man, but that Christ himself had given him this ordinance that along with what we know about the gospel tells us that this comes with great authority. This is not the invention of a man.

It doesn't have the seal of a man upon it, but it has the seal and the number of God upon it. And therefore, it is to be taken very, very seriously, taken with joy, but taken as a thing from God. Also, those things that come from God, all of them to his people are good things.

It is not something to be despised or to treated to be treated lightly. It is a gift from God and it is not a gift just to some among God's people, but to all of God's people. It is a gift. If you're a Christian who has walked with God for 50 years, fought many battles, done many things in the name of your God, this is for you.

And if you're a brand new Christian, barely out of the cradle, this is for you. There are two places where the ground is quite level. One of them is at the cross of Christ. The other is at his table, at his table.

And he says, for I receive from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed to bread. Now, as I have said, the closer the Lord comes to his death, the closer death draws nigh unto the Lord, the more serious, the more direct his teaching.

These are the last things he's going to do before he dies. And he takes great pains to set this before his people as something of great importance. He says, for I receive from the Lord that which I also delivered to you.

Also, something about Paul. He faithfully received this from the Lord, but he faithfully also gave it to God's people. This has been delivered to you, given from God, delivered through an apostle. It has great authority and it is a great gift.

Take it with joy, but take it realizing it is a thing of God. Now, he says in verse 24, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

Thanksgiving and Remembrance of Christ

You have probably heard some other religions and some other denominations refer to this as the Eucharist. They get this from the Greek word Eucharist, which means to give thanks. That's the word here.

When he gave thanks, you need to understand that the Lord's Supper is not only a remembrance, it is a thanksgiving. We want to remember all the things that the Lord has done for us so that we can properly thank him.

So often, even in our human relationships, things are done for us and we fail to thank people. So often we are recipients of grace and kindness and so many things. And because by human nature, people are self-centered.

We often think that we do these things. It's proper to do these works of kindness for us. And we would be angry if someone treated us any other way. And we are not thankful. But what do we deserve from the Lord?

Nothing but judgment. But what has the Lord done for us? He has given us salvation. If there was ever a time to be thankful, to be thankful, to rejoice and be thankful, it is in remembering the things of the Lord.

Now, another thing about remembrance that is very, very important. We live in a hurried, busy, demonic age when our thoughts are stole from us, when they wander and they no longer remain on that which is important.

And therefore, there are certain times in our life when we simply need to sit and remember the good things of God and remember that the greatest thing of God is not bodily healing. It's not material prosperity.

It's not even life that we breathe, but the greatest gift of God is his son given to us. We need to remember that. We need to constantly be having the blessings and the kindness of God before us so that we will constantly be thanking him of all people on the face of the earth.

We should be the most joyful and also the most thankful people, the most thankful people. And he goes on and he says when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body. This has been twisted in many ways to say that this bread we have here tonight by a priest or the power of a man is is turned into something more than bread.

It becomes the actual body of Christ. And then and then a man offers that body as a sacrifice. It's barbaric. It's not true. It's pagan. It's not Christian. It's not Christian. My dear friend, no man has the power over Christ.

And Christ is not will not ever again be offered as a sacrifice. The next time he comes, it will not be to die on a tree to save men. He has done that. It will be to judge all men, the living, the dead.

All will be called up before the mighty, glorious Christ and they will be judged. Enough of this talk about another sacrifice because he made one sacrifice and it is perfect. They say, well, he says this is his body.

Yes, he also calls himself a vine. He also says that he is the door to take those things would lead us to lunacy in the same way to say that a man has the power to change this bread by blessing it into the body of Christ is even more absurd.

This is a symbol, but that does not make it light. We understand in the Old Testament that if God touches it, even the pots and pans are holy. How much more the symbol that represents the body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He says, this is my body, which is for you. Theologically, if we were to give priority to purpose in the cross of Jesus Christ, there is a very important theological statement that we often make. Christ died for God.

Christ died for the glory of God, everything Jesus Christ did, he did primarily for the glory of God, but he also did it for you. For you, in the same way, the command says we're to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, but we cannot leave out loving our neighbor as ourself.

In the same way, Christ died for the glory of God, but he died for you. Billions and billions of people on the face of the earth, you would be caught up into the into the idea that you're just a number, that you're meaningless, that you're nothing.

No, your lives have been instilled, filled with meaning just by this. He gave his body for you. When you're all alone, you think on these things for me, when you feel so insignificant, you think on these things for me.

He has done this great thing, not for angels, for me. He has done this thing in a world struggling to find self-esteem. I need none of their teaching. He died for me. That is enough. He goes on and he says in the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

The New Covenant Promised by Jeremiah

I want you to know something. Not enough emphasis is given to this. I believe that when he said these words, the disciples sitting around him almost. Well, they were in shock. I believe that they were probably thinking something like this when they heard this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

They were thinking to themselves, did I just hear what I think I heard? He said, why they had been waiting 700 years for the fulfillment of those words. The prophet Jeremiah came to the people of God and spoke about a new covenant that would so far exceed the old covenant that there would be no comparison between the two.

He says the new covenant. They're thinking it is come, you say, what's so marvelous about this new covenant? Let me read to you. It's a passage and I just want you to listen. It's found in Jeremiah of all the scripture in the Old Testament.

It is the longest piece of scripture quoted in sequence in the entire Old Testament is quoted in Hebrews chapter eight, again, in part in Hebrews chapter 10. And this is what it says. Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

My covenant, which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. That was a covenant with Israel. That was a covenant of works. It was a covenant that depended upon the actions of men, the works of men, the obedience of men.

It was frail, not because it was unholy, not because God would not do his part, but because men were involved. But he says, but this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them.

Not two tablets of stone to be read externally, but he would take his law and he would write it upon the heart of every true believer born again by the power of God. I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

That he would do such a work through the cross of Jesus Christ that there would be no doubt that his people would be his people and he would be their God. And then he said they will not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying, know the Lord, for they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord.

I have met with men in the darkest of the jungles that could barely, barely read. And yet, because they were truly born again, they had more knowledge of the true living God than many professors in seminaries that know not the Lord.

God would seek to it. That is why it doesn't matter if you're an elder, a deacon, a preacher doesn't matter. The tiniest, youngest believer comes up to you with an open Bible to share with you something that God has shown them.

You had better be all ears. We are to call no one Christ, no one great teacher, no one father. We have one father in heaven. We have one Christ who died and rose again, who is prophet, priest and king.

We are brothers in Christ, sisters in Christ, all of us gifted, all of us with the spirit, all of us born again. And all of us who can rise together with one voice and proclaim Christ in this community.

Forgiveness as the Great Knowledge of the New Covenant

He says this, what would they chiefly know in this new covenant? What would they be experts in? What would be the great knowledge that the people of God would have in the new covenant? He says this, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.

I will remember no more the great knowledge that they would have. Maybe they wouldn't be able to sit down and explain the Trinity or write out all the great attributes of God. Maybe they would not be able to sound the depths of the cross or explain in its power the resurrection.

But they would know this. They're forgiven, not only forgiven, but their iniquities have been. Now, let's let me just look at another part of this new covenant. This is what it says. They shall be my people and I will be their God and I will give them one heart and one way.

Look at that. A spiritual work, a supernatural work. God would do a work. He would give all of his people one heart. And one way. That they may fear me always for the for their own good and for the good of their children after them, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good.

Do you hear that promise? God says he will not turn away from his people to do them good. But listen to this other part, because many have just read that and said, OK, we can live in sin. We can live in rebellion.

We can do all these things. And yet God will never turn away from us. But listen to what he says. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me.

He's made an everlasting covenant with his people that he will never forsake them, but he's also made sure that his people will never forsake him. Why? Because supernaturally he puts the fear of the Lord in that new heart of theirs and he writes his law upon it.

Now, listen to this new covenant. You see why the disciples were so excited about this supper. I will rejoice over them to do them good. You know what that language is? That's language of a bride, of a groom rejoicing over his bride on their wedding night.

That language is used that way. I will rejoice over you to do you good. So many of you, dear saints, you believe that God would grudgingly do something for you because you're not deserving. Well, it's never been a question of whether or not you're deserving.

You're not. But he doesn't grudgingly do good. He doesn't kind of open up a tight fist and hand you a meager thing. He says this, I will rejoice over them to do them good. It will bring me the greatest of joy to do them good.

And then he says, and I will faithfully plant them in this land. I will faithfully bring them to the very place I want them to be. But here's the great part. It doesn't say this anywhere else in the entire Bible.

I will faithfully plant them in this land. Now, this is God speaking with all my heart and with all my soul is working in you, Saint, in this new covenant established upon the blood of Jesus Christ. He is working in you with all his heart and with all his soul, with the very fullness of deity.

He is working in you. Why are you discouraged? So why are you downcast? Because you have failed him. You've done nothing but that. But he shall not fail you. He shall not. That's why you take this supper.

You take this Lord's Supper. It is yours. And he goes on, he says, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. The old New Testament scholar A .T. Robertson said this, the Lord's Supper is the great preacher of the church.

The Lord’s Supper Proclaims the Gospel

Now, you have to understand the context in which he's speaking. Believed in preaching and much preaching out of the mouths of men. But he also indicates something here that's found clearly in verse twenty six.

He says, as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. But here it is a proclamation of the gospel. Why? Because it is not just his death you are proclaiming.

Look at the last part until he comes. It is acknowledged that this one who died has also risen from the dead and is the Lord of glory seated upon high to him. Every knee shall bow and tongue shall confess that he's Lord.

And one day a trumpet will blast and he will come in great clouds of glory. But until then, proclaim him through this meal, proclaim him through this meal. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

Examining Ourselves Before Communion

Now, notice it says whoever eats in an unworthy manner, it does not say whoever eats without being worthy. No one is worthy. That's the whole point. You say, I'm not worthy. We know neither is the one speaking to you this evening, but that's not what it says in an unworthy manner.

Now, what does it mean to partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner? Well, you kind of have to follow his logic. If you look in verse twenty nine, he defines it in another way. He says, for he who eats and and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly in verse twenty seven, it says in an unworthy manner in verse thirty one.

What does that mean to not judge the body rightly? But what does that mean? We'll go to verse thirty one. But if we judge ourselves rightly to take the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner is not to judge ourselves rightly.

Now, some very, very pious Christian groups have I feel like they've gone awry here. There are some congregations where literally they have a list you need to check off of all the things that means to be pious.

And if you don't check off that list, you can't take the supper. That's not what this is saying. It's talking about a person who examines their life. It's the same language used in Second Corinthians thirteen five, where he says, examine yourself, test yourself, very same language.

You go to the Lord's Supper without discerning. Am I truly Christian? Do I truly belong to him to take it in an unworthy manner is to go with high handed sin, open, flagrant sin against the Lord without any concern, without any confession.

To take it, not realizing how solemn and special and beautiful is this one last word. This meal is not. For only the mature, the elder, the one who seems to be walking in victory, because even those seeming to walk in victory stumble.

If you're sitting here tonight and you say, I struggle with sin. I struggle with the world. I want so much to walk like Christ. I've examined my heart. And although I am so frail. I do long to be for him and I do long to obey him and I do long to please him.

My dear friend, for you, most of all, the Lord's Supper has been prepared. We want you to sit, to remember when you receive that bread, that his body was given for you as frail as you may be, it was given for you and that blood that was poured out, it was poured out for you.

God does not get glory so much. By your ability to serve him. God gets glory for his power to save you. And that is our celebration. That is our celebration. This evening. Father, thank you for your son.

Thank you for him. Thank you for your son. Thank you for Jesus. We need nothing else, Lord. We are full because of him. We are the richest people. Yea, Lord, even angels long to look into the things that have been given us in him.

We want all glory, honor and praise to go to him. Dash this preacher into a thousand pieces.

Wipe this choir off the platform.

If we would seek any glory for ourselves. Oh, God, this feeble, torn basket of worship we offer to you. We pray that it is our best. Look at us. Even angels in glory cannot worship your son as he ought to be worshiped.

But you have given us the spirit of God and the spirit of God cries out, Abba, Father, and intercedes for us. We would ask that the same spirit would enable us to worship your son. In Jesus name, amen.

Sharing the Bread of Salvation

The elders in this church, we all want you to know that it is counted a tremendous privilege. They counted a tremendous privilege to be elders in this church. And I include myself with saying we all consider it the greatest privilege to partake of the Lord's Supper with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Such as yourself. While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and after a blessing, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, take eat. This is my body. Father, we come before you now and as we prepare, Lord, to to give to your people the bread that symbolizes the body.

We pray, Lord, that you will be honored in the thoughts of every person here. Honored in our hearts. And that we will indeed remember and proclaim with thanksgiving. That you have died for us. Jesus said that body is for you, for you.

Let's eat. Oh, Lord, you have been good to us all our days. You have been a shepherd, you have been a warrior, you have lifted up our heads. And oh, Lord, every good thing we have received from you. It's because your body was given for us.

We know we don't know what we're saying when we say it, but Lord, we love you and we thank you. And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out.

For many, for forgiveness of sins, maybe some would have supposed, well, surely. He's only referring to Peter or John.

Or some other very important person very close to him, but he said, drink from his cup. All of you, those words allow me to come in, drink from this cup. Father, we come before you. Our hearts are filled with so much joy that we are forgiven.

And that is enough, but not only forgiven, cleansed from all unrighteousness. And Lord, we come before you with the hope that one day we'll share this cup with you and your kingdom. Oh, Lord, for this supper looks forward to a marriage supper of the lamb.

The Church as Beggars Who Share the Gospel

Oh, God. Oh, God. In our sin, we should be left outside. In our sin, we should go hungry and our sin, we should die in the cold and be forgotten. But oh, Lord, through the cross, you have opened up a great door.

That anyone who is thirsty might come in and anyone who is hungry might sit at your table and eat. And oh, God, we declare that this church high point, we are not a great church. We are only beggars that have been given bread.

Help us, Lord, to share that bread with everyone else. And it is in Jesus name we pray. I'd like to give your offering. I want you to stay here in this auditorium, if you would like. But my dear friend, talk nothing but about Jesus or about how much you love your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Just hug everybody that you see. We will leave with this. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you peace.

You're dismissed to love one another.