What Is the Lord's Supper?
"Signs" & "Seals" of Christ's Saving Work
The Lord's Supper, also called Communion, is one of only two sacraments which God has given to his Church as signs and seals of their eternal covenant relationship to himself in Christ, (Romans 4:11).
As "signs", the sacraments––both Baptism and the Lord's Supper––serve as a visible proclamation of the truths of the gospel. Just as a sermon is preached through spoken words to build up and edify the souls of God's people, so also the sacraments preach to our hearts through the visible elements and words of institution which God has assigned to each.
As "seals", the sacraments represent the surety of God's promises and his irrevocable guarantee to provide unto all who receive them by faith every benefit of Christ's work that is represented therein. Just as a signet ring was used in the days of old to represent the stamp of authority which stood behind the contents of a letter or decree, so God almighty has affixed his own seal to the promises shown forth in the sacraments of Christ's Church. Merely receiving the physical sacraments alone is no guarantee that the benefits shown forth are truly yours, rather God's seal of promise is held forth to all who receive the promises offered by faith in his only Son, Jesus Christ.
More Than a Memorial; the Lord’s Supper Is a True Spiritual Feast
In the case of Communion, the bread and wine are visible representations of the body and blood of our Savior, which he willing offered to God as a substitutionary sacrifice for the guilt of the sins of all God's people, (Matt. 26:26-29). Though the bread is just bread, and the wine is just wine, the Holy Spirit works through both the sign (visible elements), and seal (spiritual promises) which are shown forth in the sacrament, to encourage and strengthen the souls of God's people as they receive them with sincere faith in what the elements have been ordained to represent––which is the complete and finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. In other words, there is true spiritual benefit provided to those who participate in faith. While outward and ordinary in the physical sense, the Lord’s Supper is a true spiritual feast which nourishes the soul in the spiritual sense, (I Cor. 10:3-4, 16).
How Is Communion To Be Received? And By Whom?
While baptism is rightly administered to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ together with their children, Communion is administered differently. The Scriptures say that those who participate must do so in a worthy manner, lest they eat and drink judgment upon themselves, (I Cor. 11:27-32). Paul goes on in this passage to describe strong discipline and judgment from God upon those who treat the sacrament with irreverence. The severity of this warning is not arbitrary in any way. Rather, it is based on the paramount importance of the spiritual message of the Gospel, which God the Holy Spirit proclaims through the visible testimony of the sacrament. In other words, those who participate irreverently, are directly opposing the ministry of the Holy Spirit by tainting and/or disrupting the Spirit's testimony concerning the priceless work of Christ for needy sinners.
This warning is not intended to scare us off from receiving God's promised blessings through this precious sacrament. Rather, it is intended to encourage us to come to the Lord's Table reverently, with a sober heart, recognizing and repenting of our sin, and trusting in Christ alone as our saving substitute. All who profess faith in Christ, are trusting in him alone, and are walking in true repentance from all known sin are welcome at the Lord's Table. In this meal, there is a foretaste of the great heavenly feast which will be ours eternally in glory, but also a present spiritual blessing to nourish our souls for the present day. It should be clearly said, however, that this table is only for those who are believers in Jesus Christ, and not for those who are not trusting in Christ.
What About Children?
Children are to be raised up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord from birth, (Eph. 6:4). This includes baptising our children into the visible covenant community, (Gen. 17:1-14; Acts 2:39), as well as discipling our children toward their full participation in the holy sacrament of Communion. Children who are currently:
Not yet spiritually mature enough to fully understand the gospel, or
Understand the message of the gospel but have not professed personal faith in Christ, or
Are professing faith in Christ but are simply not yet able to participate with God's prescribed heart-posture of reverence and self-examination (I Cor. 11:28),
are encouraged to carefully observe their parents faithful participation, but not yet participate themselves. Of course, parents are strongly encouraged to take time to help their children understand the spiritual message which stands behind our celebration even while we are participating as a congregation. We believe this is good and right, and a helpful blesing to the child to continue growing in their knowledge of God, and especially the saving work of Jesus Christ.
Before children of our church take their first Communion, we ask that parents set up a time where the child and their parents can meet together with the Elders in a friendly and loving atmosphere to help encourage and confirm the child's faith as they take this important step in their spiritual life. As spiritual shepherds of God’s people, we count it a great blessing to help encourage the faith of the whole flock, and that includes your children.
Orderly & Unified As We Participate
The word Communion is comprised of two words which have been combined into one; they are "common" and "union". Thus, another aspect of Communion is that it represents our shared (or common) faith in Christ, and our shared blessing of being his unified people. For this reason, we desire to both distribute and receive the elements in an orderly and unified manner, (I Cor. 11:33-34). Doing so not only further communicates the overall message which the Holy Spirit is speaking through the sacrament, but also helps foster an atmosphere of order and reverence which prevents us from falling prey to distractions or confusions. Below is a short description of the practical side of taking the Lord's Supper, explaining how rows will be dismissed and when the elements are to be consumed.
The following description appears in our bulletin on Communion Sundays:
When your row is dismissed, please form two lines using the inside aisles nearest you as you come forward to receive the Communion elements. After receiving the elements, please return to your seat using the nearest outside aisle. Once all have been served, we will take the elements together in unity, as one body in Christ.
I hope that this email is a blessing to you and helps you prepare your heart as we celebrate the Lord's Supper together this Sunday. May God richly bless you!
-Pastor Tom
P.S. What about those watching online? For those who are watching our worship services online, we greatly look forward to the time when you are able to return to public worship. Communion is not something which can or should be done in a virtual format, or privately at home. We hope that observing this portion of our service from home will still be a blessing to your soul during this unique time. May the Lord speed the day when all who call Covenant Grace home are gathered together under one roof again. God bless you!
*This article was originally written as an email to our congregation in preparation for our celebration of the Lord’s Supper.