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Occasional Essays
and Other Stuff
for Christian Students
Presented by the
President of
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American Christianity needs leaders. American Christianity needs Christian leaders. Christian leaders explain the Scriptures, bringing them to bear upon life’s urgent questions. Christian leaders exemplify the life of faith, finding their ultimate satisfaction in God alone. They unite intellectual discipline with ordinate affection, turning their entire being toward the love of God. These essays are dedicated to the task of inviting today’s Christian students to become tomorrow’s Christian leaders.
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“…Be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine.”
X X X May 27, 2005 X X X
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The Lord’s Supper
We Baptists are often accused of taking a low view of the Lord’s Supper. Sometimes that accusation almost seems fair. Occasionally some of us treat the Supper like an unimportant addendum to other services of the church. We relegate it to a place of secondary importance, prepare poorly for it, rush through it, and profit little by it. That kind of neglect, however, does not grow naturally from our view of the Lord’s Table. Quite the contrary, when we understand correctly what is going on in the communion service, we shall find ourselves motivated to regard it far more seriously than we often do.
True, we do differ with Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and some Anglicans who believe that the material body and blood of Christ are present in the elements of the Supper. We even differ with some of our Reformed friends who insist that, though the body and blood may be absent, Christ is somehow really present in the bread and cup. These groups all speak of the Supper as a “sacrament.” We do not object to the term if all that it means is “sacred observance,” but what is usually meant is that some actual transfer of grace occurs during the partaking of the elements. Because we reject these two notions (the real presence of Christ in the elements and the sacramental transfer of grace), we are told that we have a “low view” of the Lord’s Supper.
In fact, we hold a very high view indeed. We understand communion to be an ordinance that was instituted by the Lord Himself, practiced by the apostolic churches, and explained by the apostles in their writings. We observe the Lord’s Table, not because we find it convenient or sentimentally meaningful, but because Christ has told us to do so. When we grasp its meaning, it exerts a deepening influence upon all of our worship and devotion.
The Lord’s Supper is a memorial service that directs our attention to the cross. Jesus’ command was, “This do in remembrance of me.” By symbolizing the shed blood and broken body of our Lord, the elements become tangible reminders of the appalling price of our salvation. As we eat and drink, the agonies of the Lord Jesus are made present to our memories, reminding us forcefully that our sins sent Him to the tree.
When we comprehend this, we cannot approach the Table casually or flippantly. It is not a thing about which we can afford to be glib or cheery. Amidst the deep wellsprings of joy and peace that Christ has opened unto us, the Supper serves as a reminder of His dying sorrows. At the Table we grieve over the sins—our sins—that drove the nails into His hands and the thorns into His skull. We are reminded that not everything in the Christian life is polished and cheerful. All who are believers have had to face certain solemn truths, the most sobering of which is the awful penalty that Christ paid for our sins. The remembrance of His sufferings ought to be marked by an air of sober gratitude.
The Lord’s Supper is also a fellowship service. That is why it is called communion. The communion service reminds us that Jesus lives, that sin and death are defeated foes, and that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Indeed, the Lord Himself is present at the Table. He promised His presence where even two or three were gathered in His name. He declares the local church to be the New Testament temple, the naos, the Holy of Holies. How then could He not be present with us? Baptists draw this distinction: while the body and blood of Jesus are not present in the elements, the Lord is present in the service. When we gather for the ordinance, we do so by His invitation. He Himself welcomes us. The service marks a high point in our communion with Him. The Lord’s Table offers the opportunity to enjoy in distilled form the same fellowship that ought to be the ongoing pattern of our lives. Thus, anything that would break our fellowship with Christ ought to bar us from the communion service. Not only the obvious sins, but also the hidden sin of neglecting Christ, must be confessed and made right before the Supper begins.
Fellowship with the Lord as our host at His Table also includes fellowship with His other guests, our brethren. We are told explicitly that the Lord’s Table is to be observed “when you come together in the church.” Thus, we do not celebrate private communion services, nor do we observe communion at camps, Bible conferences or other Christian gatherings. The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is the business of the assembled local congregation. It is something that we do together as brethren. To love Christ is to love each other, and to reject each other is really to reject Christ. As John says, we have no right to profess love for God, Whom we have not seen, if we do not display love for our brothers whom we do see. At the Lord’s Table, we enter together into a common memorial and act of worship. We ought never to be more at one than when we gather for the communion service.
Finally, the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of anticipation, “until He come.” In the institution of the ordinance Jesus pointed to a future day when He would again drink of the cup with His disciples. That day has not yet arrived. As sweet as the presence of Christ is to us now, it is not a visible or tangible presence. The fellowship that we already enjoy passes understanding, but the fellowship that we anticipate surpasses even that. A day is coming when we shall see our Lord Jesus. He will catch us away to be with Him. In that day our communion with Him will enter its consummation. Our remaining sin and weakness will be left behind. All bars and blockages to His presence will be finally removed. Thus, every communion service involves the anticipation of Jesus’ return and of the complete and untrammeled ravishment of our souls by Him.
This is how Baptists understand the Lord’s Supper. Both sacramentalism and flippancy are out of place in the communion service. We receive no new grace by partaking of the elements, but we are led into deeper levels of reflection, gratitude, reverence, self-examination, communion, and anticipation. We are right not to make too much of the Lord’s Supper. We are also right not to make too little of it. X
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This essay is by president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary. Not every one of Central’s professors, students, or alumni necessarily agrees with every opinion that it expresses.
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