Would you pray with me? Our Father, our Shepherd, our King, we delight to meditate on the reality that You are leading us through this life, protecting us, guiding us, turning us back to the way we should go. You prepare our table, you prepare for us to eat at your table in this life, and you are calling us home to your house where we shall feast with you forevermore, and you shall again feast with your people, even as you did at that last supper. So, Lord God, we delight in these things and we pray now as we consider more about your supper that you would make your words effective in our hearts, that we would be reminded of truths that we know, that we would grow in appreciation of them, that we perhaps might learn new things, and that all of this would enrich our communion with you in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. We ask these things in Christ's name, amen. Please turn with me to 1 Corinthians again and chapter 10. 1 Corinthians 10 and we'll begin reading in verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ. For we, though many, are one bread in one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Observe Israel after the flesh. Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or that what is offered to idols is anything? rather that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? Many of you will be well familiar with the famous theologian, John Calvin. He wrote these words about the Lord's Supper. Now, Christ is the only food of our soul. And therefore, our Heavenly Father invites us to Christ, that refreshed by partaking of Him, we may repeatedly gather strength until we shall have reached heavenly immortality. Those are pregnant words full of all sorts of meaning. We could spend the next hour unpacking them. But they clearly lay out to us that the Lord's Supper is a supper of spiritual communion. And then that communion takes the form of feeding on Christ. Of course, the main point of this passage is that the Corinthians should flee idolatry and not eating the meat sacrificed to idols, and we saw that last week. But that command, that main point rests on a truth. And that truth is that a sacrificial meal involves real communion. First, with the God to which the sacrifice has been made, and secondly, with the other worshipers. There's real communion going on to the one the sacrifice is made towards, and also the other worshipers that are involved. And that is true also of our sacrificial meal in the new covenant. And so this week, I want to particularly focus on the idea of communion in the Lord's Supper. We touched on it last week, but I want to go a little bit deeper into it. And as we're in God's providence celebrating the supper, hopefully it will enrich your participation in the supper this morning. My title is simply communion and my points are communion with Christ and secondly communion with each other. Communion with Christ and communion with each other. As we're thinking about communion with Christ, the key verse here, as you will have already anticipated, is verse 16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Paul is referring here back to Christ's institution of the Lord's Supper in which he blessed the cup and he broke the bread. We'll read from that later on in our service in Matthew 26. But the key idea here is of fellowship, of communion. Koinonia is the Greek word. And it is a word that speaks of intimate sharing, of fellowship, of participation with one another. And the whole argument, again, of this passage is that there is an intimate communion between the God sacrificed to and the worshiper. a sharing, a fellowship. This communion then takes the form of a sacrificial meal in this context. There is food and drink involved. Now, you children will know that you eat normally three meals a day, right? If you don't eat one of them, then you know it very quickly, and your parents know it very quickly as well. But this is not a meal just like that. It's a meal that is special because there's a spiritual involvement here. And yet, it is also a real meal. There is real food and real drink involved in it. This communion is a sharing, a fellowship that happens with God through the partaking of the cup and the eating of bread. And we see that in our text. The cup is the communion in the blood of Christ. The bread is communion in the body of Christ. And here we have some overlap between the pagan practices of Corinth and what is true of the Lord's Supper, but we also have some discontinuity. We have even more overlap with what the Old Testament sacrifices were like, but there again, there's also discontinuity. So I want us to see this overlap and discontinuity because it will help build a picture of what we're talking about in terms of communion. And those are the two things which are at the back of this passage, the sacrificial meals in the temple and also the Old Testament sacrificial meals as we've seen in our reading. So when Corinthians went to a sacrificial meal in their temples, there was a real meal. It was analogous to a sort of family gathering where you share a time of food and fellowship together. There was conversation, there were ideas that were shared, there was laughter, and there was communion one with another. But there was also a sacrifice that was brought to a God. And the table that they were going to eat at wasn't just a table of one of the people who had attended the feast. It was the table of the God. It was like going to his house to have a meal. And so when you brought your sacrifice, You then sacrifice it, or the priest sacrifice it, and you ate it, and that symbolized your consecration to that God, your service to that God, your eating of the sacrifice, your partaking of it, and it symbolized your communion with that God. But there's also discontinuity as well. What we have in the Lord's Supper is not only a consecration, it's also the case that in the Lord's Supper, we don't bring the sacrifice. And also, the sacrifice is distinct, or sorry, in the Lord's Supper, the sacrifice is not distinct from the God whom we're communing with, whereas it would have been in the ancient Greek context. In the Old Testament sacrifices, there's an even greater overlap, particularly in the Passover. On the one hand, the worshipers still brought the sacrifice, but on the other hand, God had commanded that sacrificial lamb to be sacrificed. So in a sense, he was providing it. And as the Jews ate the sacrificial lamb, they were sharing communion with God. They were also consecrating themselves to God. But they were doing more than that, weren't they? They were applying to themselves the salvation that that lamb symbolized. So the blood had gone on the door. This lamb was sacrificed looking forward to Christ. Sacrificed, as it were, in the place of Christ. That was the sacrifice of that time, looking forward to Christ. And as they partook of it, that symbolized them joining in the salvation that the Lamb brought. Christ then takes this to a whole new level when He speaks in John 6, because He's speaking with this cultural background that we've been thinking about. He's speaking with the background particularly of the Old Testament and of the Passover, and He's saying, I I am the lamb, I am the one whom you eat. I'm the bread, just like bread was provided through the manna in the wilderness. And he then is what we partake of and he is what God has provided. No longer is it a case of the worshiper providing, but God is providing in his own son. And as we partake of Him, we are partaking of not just a lamb that was preparatory to Christ, but we are partaking of the salvation which has been accomplished in Christ. So as we come to the Lord's table later in our service, we're coming to the Lord's table, to His table, where He provides the food. And we're sitting down, as it were, and eating and drinking with Him. The food that He provides is His flesh. The drink He provides is His blood. And that food imparts salvation. It is through the eating and drinking that Christ is applied to us. Of course, I'm not talking about justification here, although there's symbolism there, but our salvation in the broader sense of being fully freed from sin and its effects in our life. We are more and more saved from that through the sacrament. As Calvin said, we are repeatedly caused to gather strength until we shall have reached heavenly immortality. So we come to the Lord's table, we eat and drink of Christ himself. This food, which is Christ, his body and his blood, imparts salvation to us and it strengthens and nourishes our souls. Communion with Christ in the supper consists in being with Him and in being strengthened through Him. Communion with Christ in the supper consists in being with Him as we come to His table and being strengthened through Him. Now, I want to ask you, do you believe that? Or do you see the supper as simply a remembrance, a memorial? Part of the whole point of this passage is that more is going on in the supper than just a remembrance. There is actual, a spiritual element to it. And that, of course, changes how we approach the Lord's table, doesn't it? It's not just something being acted out in front of us so that we can intellectually remember something that's happened 2,000 years ago. There is that element, but there's also the element of what's happening right here and right now as we sit at table with Christ, as we are strengthened by Him, as we feed upon Him. But how does that happen? Well, we know it can't be physical. Christ is in one place. He has a true body in his humanity. His omnipresence doesn't go over into his humanity. He is, as a man, in one place at the right hand of God in heaven. So, unlike the Lutherans that would teach that God's, Christ's body is everywhere, we know that it can't be in any sense that his real body is here with us. It can't be physical. It can't be like what the Roman Catholics teach, that somehow the bread and the winer changed physically into the body and blood of Christ. No, it's spiritual. And I think that as well is implied by the passage, this communion is spiritual. On the negative side, it's with demons. That's not a physical thing, it's a spiritual thing. So correspondingly, it's spiritually with Christ. And the Heidelberg Catechism, I think, gives us a helpful way of understanding this. And so, the Catechism has already said that the elements are not turned into the body and blood of Christ. But then it goes on to ask the question, why then does Christ call the bread his body and the cup his blood? Or the new covenant in his blood and Paul the communion of the body and blood of Christ. And the answer is this, Christ speaks thus, not without great reason, namely, not only thereby to teach us that as bread and wine support this temporal life, so his crucified body and shed blood are the true meat and drink whereby our souls are fed to eternal life, but more especially, by these visible signs and pledges, to assure us that we are as really partakers of His true body and blood by the operation of the Holy Ghost as we receive by the mouths of our bodies these holy signs in remembrance of Him. and that all his sufferings and obedience are as certainly ours as if we in our own persons suffered and made satisfaction for our sins to God. Now that's a long quote and you might have gotten lost in that, but what it's saying is that just as surely as you will take some bread and feel it with your fingers and put it in your mouth and taste it, if you by faith are seeking to be strengthened by Christ, He, spiritually, is building up your soul, strengthening you, just as really as that bread is in your mouth. So He is doing that as you eat, and likewise with the wine. And just as really as you engage with those physical elements, so all of what Christ has done for sinners is yours. it's symbolizing that you're connected to Christ. Our own catechism, the larger catechism, also has a helpful question on this, which reads, how do they that worthily communicate in the Lord's Supper feed upon the body and blood of Christ? And it answers like this, the body and blood of Christ are not corporally or carnally present in, with, or under the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, that's the Lutheran view, and yet are spiritually present to the faith of the receiver. So as you receive the bread, as you receive the wine, Christ's body and blood are not physically there, but spiritually they are. So they're spiritually present to the faith of the receiver, no less truly and really than the elements themselves are to their outward senses. So that they worthily communicate in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, do therein feed upon the body and blood of Christ, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but in a spiritual manner, yet truly and really, while by faith they receive and apply unto themselves Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death. So, as you eat, you're not just eating a bit of bread, you're not just drinking a little bit of wine, you are receiving Christ. You are applying unto yourself all that He has done for you in dying for you, in your justification, sanctification, glorification, and all that goes with that. Eating and drinking is not a matter of ingesting and digesting, but of receiving and applying Christ and the benefits of His death. Calvin again says, for this very familiar comparison penetrates into even the dullest minds. Don't you love how he puts things? Just as bread and wine sustain physical life, so are souls fed by Christ. Just as bread and wine sustain physical life, so are souls fed by Christ. So, there is a true spiritual feeding going on by faith as we approach the supper. And that is how we commune with Christ in the supper, is by eating His body and drinking His blood and being strengthened by Him. So, I think this determines how we are to prepare for the supper. If it's more than just a little skit at the front, if it's actually coming into contact with Christ himself, then it's something we should take very seriously. It's something that should call for examination of ourselves, meditation on Christ and what he has done. and fervent prayer that He would use it for our spiritual benefit. And if you want to think more about that, you can look at the Westminster Lodger Catechism question 179 this afternoon. It means that as we're partaking of the supper, we ought to be seeking to go beyond, always beyond the elements and engage with Christ himself. They are there and they're important because they're witnessing to us of the reality of these things. But we mustn't just be satisfied with the elements, we must be going beyond that. We must be focusing on Him and His benefits. So let me give you an example. Perhaps you are struggling with self-sacrifice in your life and you come to the supper you are to first see your own lack in that area, but then as you partake of the bread, as you partake of the wine, think of Christ's perfect self-sacrifice. Meditate on the fact that it is Christ's self-sacrifice that you need to be applied to you by the Spirit. Meditate upon what He has done for you on the cross, that that sacrifice might be applied to you and that His whole life of self-sacrifice might be applied to you. And meditate on the fact that just as truly as you're eating that bread and drinking that wine, that if you by faith are resting on Christ to form in you more of Christ's self-sacrifice, that He will do it, and He will even do it through this sacrament that He has given you. So hopefully that illustrates for you how you can approach this, how you can seek to feed on Christ practically. You will apply it in whatever area you're struggling with right at the moment, but that's an illustration. And because this sacrament is one of feeding, of being strengthened, it is what John said in the Notices. It's for weak and doubting Christians. Let me ask you You will definitely identify with this if you're a parent, but you don't need to be. Which parent here would look at their weak or sick child and demand that they get stronger before they gave them food or medicine? I mean, you just wouldn't do that, right? I mean, it's so counter to everything they need. And neither does your heavenly Father. If you are weak and struggling as a Christian, he doesn't say somehow build yourself up so you can come and partake of the supper. No, he says this is exactly what you need. Come and partake of Christ and grow and be strengthened by him. And if you're not a Christian here this morning, You can try as hard as you like to be a good person, but you will never truly succeed in living your life fully for the glory of God if you don't have Christ, if you're not feeding on him. And this sacrament and the fact that you cannot partake of it reminds you of that. It reminds you of your lack and it reminds you of your need, that you need Christ. You need this cup of blessing which we bless, this communion in the blood of Christ. You need this bread which we break, this communion in the body of Christ. Remember what Calvin said, now Christ is the only food of our souls and therefore our Heavenly Father invites us to Christ. refreshed by partaking of him, we may repeatedly gather strength until we shall have reached heavenly immortality. So that is communion with Christ. And as we partake of the supper, we are sitting at his table and we are being strengthened by him. But much more briefly, there is also communion with one another. this sacrificial meal is not a solitary thing. It wasn't actually in ancient Corinth. It wasn't in the Old Testament. And these sacrificial meals were times of gathering together. Probably most of you haven't, but this week I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family. That's why we have some family in. Others of you might have celebrated it earlier, but many of you, if not all of you, will celebrate Christmas at the end of this month, won't you? And what are these times? They are times of family gathering together over food and sharing this communal fellowship together. It would be weird just to do it by yourself, right? In fact, we've not celebrated Thanksgiving some years because it's just weird to do it alone as a family. You need the wider family to gather together and to do it together. And the Lord's Supper is like this as well. I think sometimes we get so focused on the communion with Christ that It's like there's a shaft between us and God. And if you pictured it all around the sanctuary, there would be all these shafts, you know, over everyone and they would be sealed and no one would have any interaction with anyone else. And that's how we sometimes think of the Lord's Supper. But it's not that, it's a coming together around the Lord's table. And that is stressed in the end of verse 16 and verse 17. The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of one bread. You see, what it's saying is that all of us are united to Christ. We're each individually united to Christ if we're partaking of this meal. And because we're connected to him, we're connected to each other. Think of all the differences that there are even represented in this room. There's age difference, right? We've got young children. We've got those who are older, we've got different nationalities, we've got different backgrounds, we've got different interests, different personalities. There's all sorts of different, the many bit is fully represented even in this room and certainly in the worldwide body of Christ. But what we all have in common if we are regenerate and truly united to Christ, is that we have Him. And in Him, no matter what other differences we have, we are united. And as we partake of one loaf, that is symbolized and worked out. This is why actually during COVID, we didn't go to wafers or something like that, but we actually, the deacons took the effort of slicing up one loaf. So we were trying to be sensible, but we were still seeking to partake of one loaf because this shows our being united together in Christ. It's a reminder of the unity we have. And some of you might know that in the Scottish church traditionally, the way they celebrate communion is that people come forward and there's tables set out in the front and the communicants sit around the table and the minister then serves them in that setting. I've experienced this actually in America, not in Scotland, but once, and it's a glorious reminder of the fact that this is actually a meal. There is a horizontal element to this. We're partaking together. And so, I would just challenge you to remember the Lord's Supper isn't only about you. You might, in an appropriate way, look around you as you're partaking of the Lord's Supper. Remember that your brothers and sisters are doing it too. And then, as we get up and we go out into the world, Live out this unity that's being symbolized and acted out in the Lord's supper. Put Christ at the center of your universe that you might draw closely to those who likewise have Christ at the center of their world. Do that through difficult conversations and difficulties in relationships. Do that with those who are less naturally drawn to you or to whom you are less naturally drawn. This supper is not only communion with Christ, but it's also communion with one another. So may the Lord help us as we partake to fellowship together and to gather around his table and to truly feed on him. Let's pray. Lord God, we pray that you would take these meditations and these words that you would throw out, all that is wood, hay and stubble and that that which helps us to think rightly about this supper, helps us to not just go through the motions but to truly commune with you and with one another. would be implanted in your people's hearts and would enable them to get much benefit from this great gift which you have given us. In Christ's name, amen. Please take your hymnals and Turn with me to hymn number 438. Hymn number 438. This is a particular communion hymn and thus it's divided into two parts. The first which we sing before the supper and the second after. So 438 part one.