The Lord's Supper

Here are some thoughts from one of our adult readers.

Because I feared that I could be one of many who may be guilty of ‘eating & drinking unworthily,' and thus be ‘eating and drinking damnation' to myself by ‘not discerning the Lord's body,' I long ago learned to give careful attention to my mind's focus while partaking of the Lord's Supper.

Recently I visited a congregation in the mid-west when a brother, while introducing the partaking of the Supper, said the we were to commemorate the Lord's death, burial and resurrection as we ate the bread and drank the fruit of the vine. This highlights a wrong purpose of the Supper. Paul says: "as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come (1 Cor 11:26)." The partaking of the Lord's Supper in the proper way is a proclamation of the purpose of the Lord's death.

Certainly, we must become involved in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord in baptism but we partake of the Lord's Supper in memory of the vicarious death of our Lord. If we do not discern the purpose of ‘the communion of the blood of Christ' and ‘the communion of the body of Christ' as we partake the Supper then it is evident that we are ‘eating and drinking unworthily.'

I have exercised (or trained) my mind to remember, as I partake of the elements of the Supper, the Lord's sacrifice on the Cross in my behalf. His body on the Cross is present in my mind's eye as I eat the unleavened bread. His precious ‘blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins' is constantly in my thinking as I drink the ‘fruit of the vine.'

Besides having trained my mind to think on these things pertaining to the Lord's death as I partake of the Lord's Supper, (And you can train your mind to think on right things-- Phil 4:8), I have learned that it helps me to prepare for the Supper by singing a song praising the Lord for his death in my behalf. Most song books contain several appropriate renditions to be sung in preparation of the partaking of the Supper. I also appreciate the servers of the Supper as they make right and good comments pertaining to the elements and their meaning as well as their prayers as they bless the bread and the wine in an applicable manner prior to the serving of them.

Another issue that must not be left unaddressed is that of my looking forward to the occasion of the Supper. I truly love remembering the Lord as I partake of the Supper. I approach Sundays with a joy as I anticipate worshiping the Lord on His day by observing His memorial given for us.