05-05-2019 – Keith Cozort – Worship: Lord’s Supper Part 1 (AM Sermon)
Certainly appreciate you being here this morning. We Such a great, beautiful first day of the week and glad that you are here, Right, Andrew. Again, we do have a potluck dinner that is scheduled for after we are dismissed and everyone is encouraged to stay for that if at all possible. And we made mention Wednesday night that yes, we know that we had one Last Sunday with our gospel meetings,
But Larry Turner assured me that he’d be able to handle two in a row. And I told him, I thought I could too. So we’re looking forward to that. He’s already informed me if you see him sneaking out, it’s because of this, he’s already checked things out back here and he said it smells really, really good. And so just, just keep an eye on him,
but make sure you’re listening to me. Okay. Okay. I did have a good gospel meeting this last week with bro. The Terry Joe Key. Some of you have asked if I’ve heard anything from him since he left Thursday morning. The answer is no. I Miss announced something Wednesday night, as far as he did not have surgery was not scheduled to have surgery on Friday.
He was scheduled for an MRI. And So he’s had test run on Thursday and the MRI on Friday, he’s not scheduled for surgery until sometime next month. And so we certainly want to continue to remember him in our prayers. It’s morning. I want us to continue our series that we’ve been studying concerning worship. We’ve studied concerning teaching or preaching as being worship.
We’ve studied concerning, seen as being worship. And so this morning, I want us to begin studying concerning the Lord’s supper. Truly appreciate the things that Phil had to say at the beginning of observing the Lord’s supper. Because many of those things we’re gonna be talking about even more in the lesson this morning, this particular lesson of course, is designed intended to remind us concerning the importance of the Lord’s supper,
but also to instruct others who may not know what the Lord’s supper is all about, because it is important for us to remember these things. We need to be those who appreciate the Lord’s supper, appreciate breaking of bread as Jesus instituted it. And when we speak of the Lord supper, we are not speaking of using it in such a way as to speak concerning a supper that belongs to him.
But rather we are using it as the scriptures use it as a supper that is intended to honor him, which by the way is why he said do this in remembrance Of me, John. Okay. In the book of revelation, chapter one, and in verse 10, we’ll speak concerning the Lord’s day. How concerning the fact that I’m the Lord’s day or he is observing these particular things,
Use that same idea as far as the Lord’s day, that which is intended to honor the Lord. It speaks concerning the same thing as it relates to the Lord supper, that which is intended to honor our Lord to remember our Lord and his death upon the cross. And so we asked the question, what is meant by breaking of bread, because we read this phrase several times in scripture,
we’re going to notice some of those open up your Bibles with me. If you will, to Matthew chapter 26, You chapter 26, we’re going to read in Matthew’s account concerning the institution of this Lord supper beginning with verse 17 and going down through verse 29, Matthew chapter 26, beginning of verse 17, Matthew says now the first day of the week,
Excuse me. Now, the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying unto him, where wilt thou that we prepare for the, to eat the Passover. And he said, go into the city to such a man and say unto him, the master say, if my time is at hand, I will keep the Passover at dye house with my disciples.
And the disciples did, as Jesus had appointed them and they made ready the Passover. Now, when the even was come, he sat down with the 12 and as they did eat, he said, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful and began every one of them to say to him, Lord,
is it I, and Jesus answered and said, he either dip his hand with me in the dish. The same shall betray me. The son of man go with, as it is written of him. But woe unto that man, by whom the son of man is betrayed. It had been good for that, man. If he had not been born then Judas,
which betrayed him answered and said, master is it I, he said unto him, thou has said, and as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to the disciples and said, take eat. This is my body. And he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink. Ye all of it for this is my blood of the new Testament,
which is shed for many, for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my father’s house or my father’s kingdom. So Jesus here Is Going to assemble with his disciples with the 12, in order to observe the Passover feast. This Passover Wanted to be kept in a certain man’s house.
We find out and the disciples are going to go in order to make preparation for this. The preparations are made. And as a result of that, Jesus is going to sit down and eat with the 12. And he says here in verse 26, take eat. This is my body take eat. This is my body. As he takes the bread and he blesses it,
he gives it under them having broken it. And so We read here concerning them eating. Then we read concerning him taking the bread, and then we read concerning him telling them to eat. Now, of course, It’s going to be important for us to remember the circumstance under which he institutes the Lord’s supper. And that of course being the Passover because he is going to use the very Things That were a part of the Passover feast in order to implement those into the observance of the Lord’s supper itself.
I want Us to read Luke’s account because he gives us a little more information in Luke chapter 22. And even though it may not be looked upon as greatly significant as far as the difference in what Luke says, though, there is no contradictions here yet. He does fill in a few of the blanks for us. As we look a beginning in verse seven and going down through verse 30,
Luke says then came the day of unleavened bread when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat. And they said unto him, where wilt thou that we prepare. And he said unto them behold, when he entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, burying a pitcher of water,
follow him into the house where he entered in. And he shall say under the good man of the house, the master say if under the, where is the guest chamber, where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples. And he shall show you a large upper room, furnished there, make ready. And they went and found us. He had said unto them and they made ready the Passover.
And when the hour was come, he sat down and the 12 apostles with him and he said, unto them with desire. I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer for, I say unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave thanks and said,
take this and divided among yourselves for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying, this is my body, which has given for you. This do in remembrance of me, likewise, also the cup after supper say this cup is the new Testament in my blood,
which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of him that betray of me is with me on the table and truly the son of man go with as it was determined. But woe unto that man, by whom he is betrayed. And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. And there was also a strife among them,
which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, the Kings of the Gentiles exercise, Lordship over them. And they, that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors, but he shall not be so, but he, that is greatest among you let him be as the younger. And he, that his chief as he, that does serve for whether is greater.
He, that sitteth at meat or he, that service is not he, that sitteth at meat, but I am among you as he, that service ye are they, which have continued, continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom as my father has appointed unto me that he may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on tables,
judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And so here we learned that Peter and John are the disciples that Jesus sent in order to make the preparations for this Passover feast. But notice that he also says, and this is the point I wanted you to see in verse 30, that he says that they may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on Thrones,
judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus speaks concerning the fact that this Lord supper, that he is instituting is that which is going to be eaten. And that which is going to be a drunk in the kingdom. The kingdom of course, is the church. And therefore it is going to be observed by the church, according to Jesus and what he’s Speaks here.
Well, When you read concerning the breaking of Bread, two, two, what does that refer well when you, You examine these scriptures, as well as other scriptures, we find where, for example, the apostle Paul is going to refer to the supper that we read about in Matthew chapter 26 and in Luke chapter 22, when he writes to the Corinthians and when he writes to them and first Corinthians chapter 11,
notice what he says concerning him. He says in verses 23, through 25 or 26, he says for, I have received of the Lord that, which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given, thanks, he break it and said, take eat.
This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me after the Sammer same manner. Also, he took the cup. And when he had supped saying, this cup is the new Testament in my blood. This duty is often as you drink it in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you do show the Lord’s death until he come. And so with such, Paul reminds the Corinthian brethren that Jesus used both the bread, which was the unleavened bread As was part of The Jewish Passover feast and the fruit of the vine, The cup, and With such, he tells them to take both of these, which are the new Testament in his body and the new Testament in his blood and with such,
they are to do this in remembrance of him and that as often as he eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death until he cup. And so it is such for us to be reminded over and over again, that Jesus suffered bled in, died there on the cross for us. Sometimes we speak concerning or it has been spoken anyway,
concerning the Lord’s supper that it’s to remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s not what Paul says. It is to remember His death Baptist Ism of course, is going to speak concerning his resurrection as we Are baptized Into Christ. But the Lord’s supper is that which symbolizes and reminds us concerning the death of our Lord and those things that he had to endure while he is there on the cross,
as far as the various pain and anguish that he goes through both with being scourged, but also having been skirt being there on that cross. And it is as a result of that, that the apostle Paul tells us that we are to do this in remembrance of our Lord. It is here in verse 20, by the way, when you back up to verse 20,
where the apostle Paul calls this, the Lord’s supper by this, he is going to chastise the Corinthian brethren because of their abuse of the Lord’s supper. But he says, when you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. They have abused the Lord’s supper using a common meal along with the Lord’s supper is the indication here.
And Paul condemns them for that and seeks to rectify the situation as he speaks concerning the Lord’s supper. When you think concerning this, it is it’s important for us to ask even another question, and that is, is four. Why are we doing this? I mean, other than to remember him, but the fact of the matter is we are worshiping when we partake of the Lord’s supper.
When you look at Matthew chapter 26, again, we’ll look at these passages that we noted very quickly, but notice verses 26 and 27, when Jesus says Matthew stating, and as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and break it and gave it to the disciples and said, take eat. This is my body. And he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drinky,
all of it for this is my blood of the new Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins. And so Jesus tells the apostles that they are to take and to eat. They are to take and to drink these things. And in instituting, this Jesus is going to speak concerning the fact this is to be done in his kingdom.
And this is part of our worship is the very point that’s going to be brought out. It is a part of our worship in Luke chapter 22. And in verse 19, he says this do in remembrance of me. And so we are to be concentrating on, we are to be remembering those things that Jesus went through when we observe the Lord’s supper,
when we partake of the Lord’s supper. And again, as Paul brings out there in first Corinthians chapter 11, verses 24 and 25, that these things are to be done in remembrance of him. But yeah, as we also noted out are noted there in Luke chapter 22 in verses 19 and 20, that Jesus says that this eating and this drinking is to be done in the kingdom,
in the church. It is the church that is to remember the things that were, that Jesus did in order in giving of his life for us. And when you think concerning this, if we are seeking to please Jesus, Then, And we are going to do exactly as Jesus instructed the apostles to do, and those things, which we see where the first century church did as well in worship To our Lord.
The question is sometimes asked certainly by those who are not familiar with the church, what does the Lord’s supper consists of? What does it consist of? Again, this is where it’s important to remember. First of all, the setting in which Jesus institutes, the Lord’s supper, that they are partaking in the feast of the Passover, because there were certain requirements that were placed upon them in order to do this.
And so with this, Jesus is going to use the very things that are a part of the feast of the Passover that are here with them at this particular time. And these are the things that he is going to tell them that they are to partake up Matthew chapter 26. And in verse 17 tells us that they are observing the feast of unleavened bread.
And the bread was that they were eating was that, which was a part of the Passover. And it was unleavened bread as Matthew records and as is indicated in other places, But go back To the book of Exodus, if you will, in Exodus chapter 12, the children of Israel are still in Egypt, but they are going to be making preparations in order to leave Egypt.
And so we have this feast of the Passover, which G a, which God is going to require of the Jews that they remember and that they participate in. And so in Exodus, chapter 12, and in verse eight, notice that it says here that they shall eat the flesh in that night roast with fire and unleavened bread. And with bitter herbs,
they shall eat it. And so they were instructed that this lamb, the blood of which they put on the doorpost and on the lentils, they are to eat this lamb of the Passover feast. And they are also to eat that, which is unleavened bread, that which does not contain leaven leaven of course, is that which causes the lump of dough to rise.
We use yeast, but it’s, it’s the same thing. Yeast is 11 and it is which causes the yeast. Does the LeBron does causes future furcation to take place fermenting, to take place, which is going to cause that lump of dough in order to rise while they were not to use Levin. In fact, find out when we dropped down to verse 15,
where it is stated seven days, shall you eat unleavened bread even the first day, he shall put away 11 out of your houses for whosoever Edith leaven bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off, off from Israel. And so not only were they to eat unleavened bread during this feast, they were not even to allow 11 to be in their house.
So as to make sure that they didn’t mistakenly use Levin bread for this full week long that they were to partake up. And so it is such that it is unleavened bread that they would use that Jesus spoke of, and that he says represents his body that is given for them. Our standard of course, is the word of God. Our standard is the new Testament.
And therefore Paul would say in Colossians chapter three, and in verse 17, that we are to do those things, which have been authorized according to his word. He says, whatsoever, you do in word or deed, do all in the name of, or by the authority of Jesus, the Lord Jesus giving, thanks to God and the father by him.
We are to have authority for the things which we do the authority for the things that we say and thereby as Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper and told the apostles to use these things, to eat of these things, drink of these things. And then we have the same thing recorded concerning the church of the new Testament, the kingdom that has been set up that they were to do the exact same things in those Kings,
in the kingdom. And that’s exactly what they did do. We use exactly what Jesus used as far as unleavened bread. We use fruit of the vine, which by the way, some make the argument that it can be a wine as we think of wine, as we talk about, but the indication is it was not wine. It was fruit of the vine.
It was great juice. And just as Levin was not allowed to be in their bread, neither was it allowed to be in their drink. And therefore it was unfermented great Jews. And that is what they used. And that is what we continue to use. Sometimes the question is raised As to what does bread mean? Well, it means bread. Hi,
it does. And it’s interesting when you look at this particular word in the original language in the Greek, that it’s translated a few different ways in scripture, in the new Testament, for example, in Matthew 26 and in verse 26, it’s translated as bread as we’ve been reading. When you look at Mark chapter two And Or Mark chapter eight, rather,
and there in verse 14, there it States. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread. Neither had they in the ship with them more than one loath. The word that’s translated loaf is the same word that translated bread in Matthew chapter 26. And in verse 26, sometimes the question is raised well, is it, is it, is there a difference between the bread and the loaf?
The answer is no, it’s the same word. When you look at John chapter six, They’re in, in verse 11 There, John says, and Jesus took the loaves. And when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were set down. And likewise of the fishes, as much as they would. This is when Jesus is feeding the 5,000 men besides women and children.
And here it is spoken of as being lows, but it’s the same word. And so it can be translated in different ways. It can be translated as bread. It can be translated as loaf. It can be translated as loaves. And yet it speaking concerning the bread, this is also going to speak concerning the fruit of the vine. When he institutes the Lord’s supper in that he took the cup as is spoken of here in Matthew chapter 26,
verses 27 and 29, which contains the fruit of the vine. And we have those sometimes who make a joke of this. And they say that because there was only one cup that therefore we have to only use one cup. He told them to take the cup. Well, just because he used one cup. Does that mean we can only use one cup?
The fact of matter is he’s not telling them to drink the cup. He’s telling them to drink the contents of the cup. And so it is the juice. That is the important part, not how many containers they had. And yet there are those who have divided the brotherhood over that particular idea that we can only use one container. Well, I’ve stated for a long time,
if a congregation wants to use only one container, that’s fine, but I’m sitting on the front road and we have it first. Okay. He’s, he’s not, he’s not requiring that. It only be one cup by the way, if they were to carry out their argument to the logical conclusion, we would all have to drink from the one cup that Jesus gave to them fossils.
And we don’t even know where that is. Okay. The matter is that is not what Jesus is requiring. He is requiring of them to drink of the fruit. The vine and this, as it is stated is the fruit of the vine, which was a phrase that was used concerning great Jews. It was not the fruit of a Bush. It was not the fruit of a tree.
It was the fruit of the vine. And it was such that the Jews living here in Palestine were those who were very, very familiar with great Jews with the vine, because that’s what they grew. That was part of their livelihood. It was great vines. And they used it for virtually everything. And even though some don’t like to talk about it very much,
it was such that we know from historical records anyway, they knew how to preserve that great Jews to where it would last an entire year, without fermenting, without becoming wine and without becoming intoxicating in any way, shape or form, they knew exactly how to do those things and it’s recorded concerning what they would do, the process they would go through in order to preserve that great Jews.
They also looked upon a great juice as a best drink that was available, that the sweeter, the juice that was the best kind of juice and drink that was made available to the people. And so Jesus is going to use that, which was used in the Passover feast in order to establish to Institute the Lord’s supper. And there is a distinction that is made concerning those in that,
after they have eaten the feast, Jesus is then going to tell them to eat of the bread and drink of the fruit of the vine in remembrance of him. So it is that we continue to do that even today. Another point that we’ll make just real quick, just in, because we’ll have more to say on that later is it is such that we always need to remember that the taking up of the collection is not part of the Lord’s supper.
It is another act of worship, but it is an act of worship that is separated from the Lord’s supper. They are not intertwined. And sometimes some, even within the body of Christ mistakenly end up with the idea that it is part of the Lord’s supper. And yet it is not. It is that which is spoken of In Not spoken of in the institution of the Lord’s supper.
It is that which is spoken of in other circumstances and other situations that we are to do, but it is not tied to the Lord supper. And so we’re going to continue our study concerning this Lord willing next week to observe other things, as it relates toward the Lord’s supper and the purpose of the Lord supper and what we do when we observe the Lord’s supper.
But it is such that we need to remember that as the Lord’s supper, it is that which is to honor him. It is that with which we remember him in what he did for us in giving his body and giving his blood there on the cross, He didn’t have to do that. He could have, if he so chose refused to do that,
But he didn’t. And thereby it is to be that which is observed in the kingdom every first day of the week is we’ll notice as we continue our study, if your one is outside the body of Christ, we plead with you to be willing, to examine the scriptures, to see if these things are so, and then also be willing to examine the scriptures,
to see what the new Testament scriptures teach that one must do in order to become a Christian. What one must do in order to be saved from his sins. When you do, you will find that one must hear the word in order to believe John six verse 45, and yet one must believe if he is to have hope of salvation, Mark 16,
verse 16, then one must be willing to repent change of mind, which brings about a change in action and change in attitude makes restitution where possible. Then one must repent under salvation acts chapter two, verse 38, and other passages. That one must be willing to confess his faith in Christ, Matthew chapter 10, verse 32, and the must be baptized.
He must be immersed in water in order to have his sins washed away for the purpose of having his sins washed away, to receive the remission of his sins, to be saved. Mark chapter 16, verse 16, acts chapter two, verse 38, acts chapter 22, verse 16, are you one who’s Needing Desiring to be baptized desiring to put your Lord on in baptism,
in obedience to the will of God. It is our hope. It is our prayer that you are wanting to do that, that you are willing to do that if you’re outside the body of Christ, because there is no other way to salvation, there is no other way to have one sins washed away. Doesn’t matter how good you are morally. The fact of the matter is you’ve still sinned.
If you’ve reached an age of accountability and therefore this is the only way where you can have and receive forgiveness of those sins, The invitation Song’s been selected to encourage you. If you need to respond, if you’re one is already a member of the body of Christ, but you’ve gone back into the world and brought reproach upon the church, will you come back and repentance,
praying to God for forgiveness and begin again, walking in the way of righteousness. If we can help you, please, will you come as together? We stand and as we sing.