I want to read a few verses from
the 10th of 1 Corinthians, just two verses,
I believe.
The 16th, 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 being many are one bread and
one body, for we are all partakers of
that one bread.
Maybe it is from these verses that the
service which we call in various names is
called the communion service.
I want to call your attention to a
fact which is quite important to know reading
these verses, namely that the term the body
of Christ is used in a twofold way.
The body of Christ, it refers in verse
16 very clearly to the body, the personal
body of Jesus.
That body that had been nailed to the
cross, had been raised, glorified.
That body in which Jesus now dwells in
the glory, I think that's very clear because
here a distinction is made between the blood
and the body.
The cup speaks of our communion of the
blood, the bread which we break is the
communion of the body of Christ.
And yet in the next verse, evidently the
term body of Christ refers to the church,
as it does in many places.
For we being many are one bread, that
is one body.
The communion service speaks of communion of the
body of Christ in the sense of our
communion with his individual body, which is now
glorified.
But it also speaks of the communion of
the body of Christ in the sense that
his body means the church.
I'm so thankful that God has given to
us two emblems.
The cup, bread.
God has done that to make very plain
to us that salvation is not only a
spiritual experience, but that our bodies, our physical
bodies, have a share in this salvation.
And that is the message of this passage
here, and of many other passages.
As my brother said already, when we read
about the cup, we are told that the
cup is the new covenant in his blood.
While that seems to include every spiritual blessing
in Christ Jesus, it certainly does.
But the bread, we are told, speaks of
the communion of his body.
Glory be to Jesus.
He not only bore our sins and answered
for our sinful nature, but he bore our
sickness.
What a wonderful truth.
The punishment which we deserved was meted out
to him.
And with his stripes, we are healed.
And tonight, we are invited to come to
the table of the Lord, and to receive
from him the message of his love, the
assurance that he has purchased for us, salvation
for spirit and body.
May the Lord help us to come in
faith.
I expect to receive the touch of Jesus
tonight in my spirit and in my body.
And there are some here tonight to need
his touch physically.
There is provision made, the fellowship of his
body.
When the Lord Jesus came out of the
tomb, he was no longer a man of
sorrow.
He was no longer a man of sickness.
He was perfectly well.
Yes, the marks of his suffering were still
visible, but we can be sure that the
scars were healed.
We sing in that song of Wesley V,
bleeding wounds he bears.
Well, that's a wonderful picture.
But let me repeat, when Jesus came out
of the tomb, he had a new body,
a resurrection body.
We are told a body that cannot be
touched by the power of death any longer.
And we profess our fellowship with him in
his resurrection life, physical resurrection life.
And he confesses to us his readiness to
impart to us his healing life.
His sickness is an agency of death.
And the manifestation of death power, so is
healing a manifestation of the life of the
risen Christ.
Let us come tonight, let's come in faith
and receive from him that life which he
wants to impart to our body and to
manifest in us.
Communion service is an aid to our faith.
It ought to be.
And we ought to come in faith.
And when he says, take this bread, eat
my body, which was broken for you.
Let's believe it.
And receive Jesus.
No matter what our trouble may be, there
is healing provided by the suffering of Jesus.
And he's the great prince of life.
I came that they might have life and
might have it more abundantly.
Glory be to Jesus.
But then this term, the body of Christ,
as I said in the next verse, refers
to his church.
Repeatedly his church is called the body of
Christ.
What a wonderful thought that is.
And we are told we are one body
because we are all eating the one bread.
Only they who are eating the bread, the
bread of life, the bread of God, the
bread which came down from heaven, the Lord
Jesus, only they belong to this body.
And the thing that unites them is the
life of Christ in them.
Hallelujah.
One rather scientific man, a Christian, wrote a
book about the secret of Christianity.
And I'm glad to say that he has,
he says, found the truth.
He says, what's the secret of Christianity?
Why is that it's life?
It's eternal life.
It's divine life.
And only they who have that life dwelling
within are Christians, that's true.
And only they are members of the body
of Christ, but they are.
Hallelujah.
What a wonderful thought.
In every country practically of the world today,
there are those who are eating that bread.
And you know it doesn't mean simply that
once they confess to have received Jesus, but
they are eating that bread continually.
They are living from Jesus.
They are leading upon him.
They are trusting him.
And he manifests in them his indwelling life.
What a wonderful thought that we have so
many brethren and so many sisters.
True, there are many people calling themselves Christians
today.
They are not Christians.
But let's not fail to think of those
who really love Jesus and have received him
and do receive him continually and know him.
There are groups here and there and in
every land who come to the table of
the Lord and who celebrate communion, the communion
of the Father and of the Son.
And in that communion, communion with one another.
We are one body because we are partakers
of that one praise.
Hallelujah.
There is a phrase used in 1 Corinthians
11 about communion in the command that is
given, we are told we ought to hold
this service.
We are not told how often, but we
ought to hold it repeatedly until he comes.
Hallelujah.
Jesus is coming and he's coming to glorify
his people that constitute his body.
And he says in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye.
And oh, then that wonderful union will be
complete and will be manifested gloriously.
Thank God for this ordinance.
Thank God that we are permitted to come
tonight.
We are pilgrims.
We won't need communion services when we get
to glory.
But here during our pilgrimage, Jesus so graciously
comes to us.
And it is not only that we confess
him and our faith in him, but he
confesses us.
And he says, come, take it.
By this breath is to come union of
my body.
This cup is the new testament in my
blood.
Drink of it.
You and you and you, oh, let's come
tonight in love, in faith and hope.