Five Views from the Communion Table

Communion is the remembrance of the death of Jesus on the Cross. It reminds us of how He gave His body and shed His blood so that we might have the relationship with God, lost because of sin, renewed. While communion speaks of the Cross in general, various aspects of communion remind us of additional truths to remember. In I Corinthians 15:23-26 Paul detailed the communion service and gave us five different views presented this service.  

First, communion is a LOOK BACK. Paul reminds us that in taking communion we look back on our Lord’s death on the Cross (1 Corinthians 11:26). When we look back to the Cross we are reminded of our Lord’s sacrifice, of how He gave Himself for us, of how that death was an atonement for our sins. The communion service is a look back at a broken body and shed blood. It’s a look back at the suffering of the Cross and a reminder that it all took place for us while we were yet sinners. Looking back, we are reminded of the incredible love that took our Savior to that Cross. We remember His death as we take communion and praise Him for it because without the shedding of His blood we would forever be lost in our sins, condemned to everlasting separation from a holy God.

Communion is, however, not simply a look back, but it is a look at the present, a LOOK WITHIN. I Corinthians 11:28 tells us that one “ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” In the second look we take an honest look at where we stand in our present walk with the Lord. Certainly, that look includes an examination of our motive for taking communion. There are people who take communion out of a sense of duty or because a church requires it for maintaining membership. There are those who, unfortunately, take communion out of some superstition assuming that in taking it they bring some special blessing from God upon themselves. Our real motive ought to be the desire to simply remember all that our Savior did for us, to remember the great love displayed in that sacrifice and to re-commit ourselves to being the individuals He wants us to be. A look within should reveal not only our motive in taking communion but our current spiritual condition and the commitments we must make to grow spiritually. What are we doing spiritually with our lives? How are we living as redeemed children of God? Are we seriously and honestly striving for holiness? Is Jesus first in our lives? As we come to the communion table, we need to look not only back to the Cross but at ourselves. If in doing so we discover sin, we need to confess it. If in looking within we see areas of weakness, we need to commit them to the Lord, seeking His help to grow stronger in our faith. Communion is an opportunity to seek God’s strength as we seek to live for Him who loved us so much that He went to the Cross for us. Looking within should be a vital part of each communion service.

Third, communion is LOOK AT THE LOST in the community around us and is a testimony to the world of our faith. Paul said in verse 26 that when we take communion, we “proclaim the Lord’s death.” I know that very few, if any, unsaved individuals will watch us take communion but that does not mean that our partaking of communion cannot be a testimony. On Monday most Christians will have a conversation with someone that will begin with “So what did you do over the weekend?” That is an opportunity for you to say, “I mowed the lawn, shot a 76 round of golf and most importantly, I took communion at church.” Try to imagine the looks you will get when you say that. Then use it as an opportunity to share why taking communion is so important being, sure to include the truth of the gospel. Let the communion service be a means of “proclaiming the Lord’s death.” 

Fourth, as we partake of communion we need to LOOK AHEAD. I Corinthians 11:26 reminds us that as we take communion, we are to remember that He is coming again. In taking communion we remember all He has done for us “until He comes” This is a future look. We are told in Matthew 26:29 that as we take communion we are to look ahead to that glorious day when our Savior comes again, and we will take Communion with our Lord in His kingdom. 

There are two ways of looking at His return. There are those who sadly should be fearful when the issue of His return comes up because they have never made Him Lord and so His return means judgment. Hopefully none of us are in that category. But in addition, there are all of us who know Jesus as Savior and, therefore, look forward to His return with great joy and excitement. We do that because we know that when He comes again it will be for us and we will spend the rest of eternity in His glorious presence. And as we think of that return or of our going to be with Him first, we remember that God’s great provision on the Cross made that future possible. Communion reminds us of the truth that this service is in a real sense a temporary one with so much more to look forward to when our Lord returns.

Looking ahead is not only a question of how we will feel when He comes but how we are living each day considering His possible return. It is said that one day someone asked Dwight L. Moody, “If you knew the Lord would return tonight, how would you spend the rest of the day?” Mr. Moody is said to have replied without hesitation, “I wouldn’t do anything different than I do every day.” How wonderful if we all could say that! Then we could, with confidence, pray as it was prayed in Revelation 22:20, “Come, Lord Jesus!” 

And in the chapter just before the one where Paul records for us the actual service we find achallenge for what we might say is a fifth look, a LOOK AROUND. I Corinthians 10:17 says, “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” We come to the table of our Lord conscious of the truth that we are not alone. We individually remember what Jesus did for us personally on the Cross. We personally examine ourselves to determine not only our motive but our current spiritual condition. We look forward to the day when we personally will be at the throne with our Savior. We should also remember that we are not alone in our faith but we are a part of both a local church and a worldwide church made up of men and women who, like us, know and love the Lord and rejoice in so great a salvation provided for us. We really should not take of communion without giving thanks to God for our Christian family. We are not alone in our faith. We need one another and in a special way we are responsible for one another. We are responsible to encourage one another, to correct in love one another when we see a brother or sister entering into sin, to assist one another in growing spiritually, and in discovering his or her spiritual gifts. We are responsible to help each other raise their families. We are to be with those in the family of God who need special help because of age or illness. We are to care for the widows and orphans, to visit the sick and lonely etc. A view from the communion table must be a view of the brethren, those in the family of God.

What a privilege it is for us to come together and partake of the communion elements, elements that speak so vividly of God’s provision for us! Read again Paul account of the communion service as recorded in I Corinthians 11:23-26. Then as you think of communion, even if you do not physically partake of it at this time,  look back to the Cross, look within to evaluate not only motive but those areas that Jesus would have us improve on, look around to see how we can use the celebration of communion as a means of sharing the gospel, look ahead to the return of our Savior with joy and excitement and look at others who partake of communion with you and remember the responsibility we have to each other as well as the church in general.

Resolutions for all Christians: Philippians 3:7-14

Paul opened chapter 3 of Philippians with a detailed list of the many accomplishments that had been his in life. Read Philippians 3:4-6. Nothing had given him the peace he sought. Then Paul met Jesus on his way to Damascus, and when he made that personal commitment to Jesus everything changed.

In Philippians 3 Paul clearly stated that all the things he once thought were so important were, in fact, hindrances to finding the real peace and joy of life that he longed for. Paul used accounting language to describe them as belonging in the loss column compared to the real life he found in Jesus. Read Philippians 3:7-8. Gains were the things Paul once thought were important as listed in the opening verses of the chapter. They were considered a loss, not because they were necessarily bad, but because they kept him from finding the truly important things. In the context of Philippians, Paul was talking about salvation and was stressing that salvation does not come from works but by grace. As Paul went on, he applied that same principle of not allowing that which was less than the best to limit a growing walk with Jesus. The challenge we have is to determine what is truly important in our lives and in our family and make sure we do not allow the better to be squeezed out by the good or the best to be lost to the better. We need to be reminded often that the most important thing we can do for ourselves and our family is to ensure that we are growing spiritually. Three times in Philippians 3 Paul wrote about what really counts by evaluating everything “for the sake of Christ.”

Paul reminded us that the spiritual dimension of our lives really is the “surpassing greatness.” Knowing Jesus as Lord makes everything else insignificant. 

Paul urged his readers to seriously “consider” what really mattered. Paul used the verb “consider” three times here, each with a slightly different meaning as he changed tenses. The first time he used the perfect tense which carries the idea of a complete evaluation. Then he used the present tense that implies a continuing evaluation that leads to the conclusion that what was previously examined thoroughly was properly evaluated and continues to prove to be the same. When “consider” is used with the term “rubbish” it reflected on the intensity of the conviction. One of the challenges we continually face is to seriously consider the spiritual goals and how serious we are about ensuring we keep them. 

Paul then set forth his goals which should be our goals. First Paul said in verse 10 “I want to know Christ.” Paul was not talking about salvation. That was settled years earlier on the road to Damascus. Paul used a verb here meaning “to know by experience” and was saying that his goal was to know Jesus in a deeper, more intimate way. It is one thing to know the stories about Jesus and a totally different thing to know Him in a personal way. We get to know Him personally as we spend time in prayer just talking to Him and allowing Him, through the Holy Spirit, to talk to us. 

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Having set the goal of wanting to know Jesus better, Paul then set three specific goals that flow from knowing Jesus in a more personal way. First, he wanted to know “the power of his resurrection.”  Paul saw the power displayed in resurrection as illustrating the power that is essential to our Christian lives. Paul desired that power which would enable him to continue the growth toward being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. We should regularly ask God what changes He would like us to make and then seek His power to accomplish that. We cannot do it alone.  

The second goal for Paul, and one that should be ours also, was to know by experience “the fellowship of sharing in his suffering.” This isnot a desire to simply suffer for the sake of suffering but the realization that if we are truly seeking to live as God would have us live there may very well be persecution of some kind. Friends may not want us around and our neighbors may not understand us. The goal for Paul was to seek each day to live as God would have him, regardless of how others respond to that. As our cultural standards change and move further and further away from the unchanging Word of God, we will be called upon more and more to change with it. When we take a stand for God’s way we will be laughed at more and more. Paul was saying he’d rather suffer for Jesus than deny Him and His Word.

Finally, Paul said one of his goals was to “become like Jesus in death.” Paul wanted to face each moment as Jesus faced the impending Cross, with a simple commitment that says, “Not my will but Yours be done.” We have no idea what lies ahead but we must face it with the realization of God’s ultimate control. We need to live each day with the realization that if we accept His will, all things will work out for our good and His glory, even if it is not what we might have desired.

Paul then clarified the issue by telling us that he had not yet arrived but was seriously pursuing the blessings of the Christian life. Read Philippians 3:12. Knowing where Paul was spiritually when he wrote that, we are reminded that we have not arrived either. We must continue to grow in our walk with God. 

At the heart of Paul’s goal to grow was the realization that spiritual progress is possible and that should be our goal. While the ultimate goal of the Christian life will be ours only when we are with Him in glory, we must never become complacent Christians who assume we don’t have to grow spiritually. 

Knowing how important that goal was to Paul, and should be to us, he declared he was “pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me.” “Press” was an athletic term that pictured the effort to push forward or pursue the goal at any cost. For the athlete, it implied strenuous effort, focused direction and commitment. There is no place for a complacent church or believer. We are either pressing on toward the goal or we have dropped out of the race. 

The idea that Jesus took hold of Paul for a purpose is critical. Paul saw his conversion as more than simply an escape from hell. He believed all of us have been saved for a purpose and a major part of that purpose is to enjoy a closer fellowship with Jesus. In addition, every one of us was grasped by Christ for some additional purpose. Jesus has a plan for everyone.  Paul believed that he was not saved to simply wait for the return of Jesus or his death but to enjoy fellowship with Jesus each day and to live for Him each day. 

Read 3:13 which is a repeat for emphasis. The moment we think we have gone as far as we can go, or as far as we need to go, we give Satan a victory. Satan desperately wants us to fall short of all God redeemed us to become.

Read 3:14. Past achievements are not the focus of one in a race. One does not win a race by looking back to see how much ground has been covered or looking around to see how he compares to others. One’s focus is always straight ahead at the goal. Pressing forward is building on the past but not living in the past. Forgetting what is behind is forgetting both that which we can be pleased with as well as the mistakes we have made. Our previous successes and failures can hinder us from moving forward. Paul continued with a picture of an athlete going flat out for the goal. It is a challenge to us to ask how seriously we pursue growth. Paul’s commitment was what every athlete has, that of continuing full steam to the finish line, to the victory. 

For Paul, the goal was to press on “To win the prize for which God has called me heavenward.” He looked forward to the eternal blessings that await us when we are finally in His presence. Heavenward is a reminder that there is more to the Christian life than the here and now. Paul would challenge all of us to keep a heavenly perspective in all we do. Read Hebrews 12:1-2. Paul’s goal for each day of his life and should also be our goal for each day.