LORDS SUPPER

LORDS SUPPER: DEFINITION

WCF 29:1, Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lords Supper, to be observed in his church unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing of all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto him, and to be a bond and pledge their communion with him, and with each other, as members of his mystical body.
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LORDS SUPPER: SCRIPTURE

Earliest recorded account: I Cor. 11:23-25. For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes.
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LORDS SUPPER: SCRIPTURE

The Synoptic gospels record its origin:
Matt. 26:26-8: While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take and eat; this is my body. Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 14:22-24: While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take it; this is my body. Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, he said to them.
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LORDS SUPPER: SCRIPTURE

Luke 22:19-20: And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

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LORDS SUPPER: SCRIPTURE

No direct reference in Johns gospel:
But see chapter 6 and its Eucharistic implications John 6:51, he speaks of the Living Bread that came down from heaven, which bread is his flesh John 6:53, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. But, cf. with 6:63, The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.
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LORDS SUPPER AND PASSOVER

Matt. 26:17-20, On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover? He replied, Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.
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LORDS SUPPER AND PASSOVER

Luke 22:15-6, And he said to them, I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God. I Cor. 5:7-8, Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-- as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
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LORDS SUPPER: TERMS

In the Book of Acts, it is called, breaking bread, Acts 2:42; 20:7 Paul uses several terms:
the feast, I Cor. 5:8 the bread and the cup, I Cor. 10:16 communion, I Cor. 10:16-7 the table of the Lord, I Cor. 10:21 the Lords Supper, I Cor. 11:20 Possibly a veiled reference to the supper in neither shall he eat, II Thess. 3:10
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It is called a love (feast), Jude 12

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LORDS SUPPER: R. C. View

Transubstantiation
The essence (substance) of the bread and wine actually changes into physical body and blood of Christ Accidents, or appearance of the elements remains the same Therefore, after the consecration of bread and wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is truly, really and substantially contained in the august sacrament of the Holy Eucharist under the appearance of those sensible things. Trent, Decree Concerning the Most Holy Eucharist, I. Canons and Decrees of the

Council of Trent

Eating and drinking the elements actually brings Christ into the person, bringing all the grace promised
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LORDS SUPPER: R. C. View

This view is contradicted by the WCF, 29:2,5-6
29:2 In this sacrament, Christ is not offered up to His Father; nor any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sins of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of Himself, by Himself, upon the cross, once for all: and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God, for the same, so that the popish sacrifice of the mass (as they call it) is most abominably injurious to Christ's one, only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of His elect.
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LORDS SUPPER: R. C. View

29.5 The outward elements in this sacrament, duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to Him crucified, as that, truly, yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ; albeit, in substance and nature, they still remain truly and only bread and wine, as they were before. 29.6 That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine, into the substance of Christ's body and blood (commonly called transubstantiation) by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense, and reason; overthroweth the nature of the sacrament, and hath been, and is, the cause of manifold superstitions; yea, of gross idolatries.
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LORDS SUPPER: R. C. View

TRANSUBSTANTIATION- An Evaluation
The distinction between substance and accidents is clearly Aristotelian It is without biblical warrant John 6:63 indicates that all benefit is spiritual
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LORDS SUPPER: Lutheran View

Martin Luther rejected the Roman Catholic idea of transubstantiation
But- he still believed that Christ was corporeally present in the elements The term used to describe this, although disliked by many Lutherans, is consubstantiation

The essence of the bread and wine remain The corporeal body of Christ is present in, with, and under the elements, much as light is present in air, or fire is present in red, hot iron
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LORDS SUPPER: Lutheran View

Lutheran thinking is dependent on the notion of the ubiquity of Christs body and the word is (estin) in the words of institution Lutherans believe that grace is given to the one who partakes in faith, through the elements and the accompanying word The WCF 29:7, and L.C. # 170 speak against consubstantiation. It is theologically problematic to base special significance for the Lords Supper in a supposed ubiquity of Christs body The word is often is used metaphorically, meaning represents, as in , I am the door
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LORDS SUPPER: Zwinglian View

Takes the Lords Supper to be only a memorial ordinance
There is no promise of grace other than that which comes through obedience to any command The focus is on our act of remembrance The elements are symbolic
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LORDS SUPPER: Reformed View

WCF 29:1 Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein He was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of His body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in His Church, unto the end of the world for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him; and, to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him, and with each other, as members of His mystical body.
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LORDS SUPPER: Reformed View

WCF 29:7 Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements, in this sacrament, do then also, inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally but spiritually, receive, and feed upon, Christ crucified, and all benefits of His death: the body and blood of Christ being then, not corporally or carnally, in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet, as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.
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LORDS SUPPER: Reformed View

The Reformed view denies both the doctrines of transubstantiation and consubstantiation It affirms that the sacrament exhibits and conveys grace to the elect who exercise faith and obedience in receiving it The giving of grace is always subject to Gods will
Grace, however, operates directly on the spirit of the believer, not through material elements Sacramental Grace is identical to grace conveyed through other means
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LORDS SUPPER: Recipients

In the Reformed view, generally, the recipients of the Lords Supper are limited to professing believers who have been baptized and admitted into membership in the visible church
Some provision is made in the PCUSA (and UMC) to admit baptized children to the Lords Supper regardless of age Furthermore, some PCA and OPC congregations in recent years practiced paedocommunion, although this is now officially forbidden (See Peter
Leithart, Daddy, Why Was I Excommunicated?)
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LORDS SUPPER: Recipients

The NT emphasizes the necessity of an acceptable witness in ones life in order to participate in the Lords Supper
I Cor. 5:6-7, Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-- as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed I Cor. 5:13, God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked man from among you
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LORDS SUPPER: Recipients

I Cor. 10:21, You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons I Cor. 11:27-29, Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
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LORDS SUPPER: Recipients

II Thess. 3:6, In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us II Thess. 3:14-15, If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother
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LORDS SUPPER: Recipients

WCF 29:8, Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward elements in this sacrament; yet, they receive not the thing signified thereby; but, by their unworthy coming thereunto, are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, to their own damnation. Wherefore, all ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with Him, so are they unworthy of the Lord's table and cannot, without great sin against Christ, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto.
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LORDS SUPPER: Recipients

L.C. #173, May any who profess his faith, and desire to come to the Lord's Supper, be kept from it? A. Such as are found to be ignorant or scandalous, notwithstanding their profession of the faith, and desire to come to the Lord's supper, may and ought to be kept from that sacrament, by the power which Christ hath left in his church, until they receive instruction and manifest their reformation.
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LORDS SUPPER: Recipients

Assurance of salvation: not required for Lords Supper. L.C. #172, May one who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation, come to the Lord's supper? A. One who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, may have true interest in Christ, though he be not yet assured thereof; and in God's account hath it, if he be duly affected with the apprehension of the want of it, and unfeignedly desires to be found in Christ, and to depart from iniquity: in which case (because promises are made, and this sacrament is appointed, for the relief even of weak and doubting Christians he is to bewail his unbelief, and labour to have his doubts resolved; and, so doing, he may and ought to come to the Lord's supper, that he may be further strengthened.
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LORDS SUPPER: Recipient

WCF 29:3-4, The Lord Jesus hath, in his ordinance, appointed His ministers to declare His word of institution to the people; to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use; and to take and break bread, to take the cup and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation. Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other, alone, as likewise, the denial of the cup to the people, worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about, for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use; are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.
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LORDS SUPPER