Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

darkness, and hidden riches of secretplaces, that thou mayest know that I, theLord, which call thee by thy name, am theGod of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake,and Israel mine elect, I have even calledthee by thy name: I have surnamed thee,thou hast not known me" (Is. 45:1-5).6: God Has a Purpose For All theNations of the Earth.For this reason all nations shouldacknowledge Christ the king, to whomGod has given all the nations of the earth.In Isaiah 14:24 the prophet said, "The Lordof hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as Ihave thought, so shall it come to pass; andas I have purposed, so shall it stand....Thisis the purpose that is purposed upon thewhole earth; and this is the hand that isstretched out upon all the nations.""Lesson based on International Sunday SchoolLessons: the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching, copyrighted 1967 by the Divisionof Christian Education, National Council of Churchesof Christ in the U.S.A."Junior TopicFor May 30,1971Unit: Our PublicWorship and SacramentsTHE LORD'S SUPPER,A SACRAMENTMrs. lohn RussellIn our study of baptism, we saw itwas a "picture" of our union with Christ.The Lord's Supper is also "a bond andpledge" of the union and communionshared by true believers with Christ (thehead) and with each other (members of Hisbody). Through this sacrament, believerscan receive assurance of the fact they havebecome members of a new race in Christ.This is a blessed fellowship because of ourunion with Christ.The Lord's Supper is a sacramentinstituted by Christ on the night He wasbetrayed. It is to be observed in His Churchuntil the end of the world. It is given for aremembrance of His sacrifice, it bringsbenefits to believers for their spiritualgrowth, it is a pledge in all they owe Christand a sign of communion with Him andeach other as members.At the communion season most ofyou juniors cannot take an actual part yet,but you can watch with reverence and lovefor Christ and gain a great blessing if youlearn more about it.As baptism was to replace circumcisionin the Old Testament, so theLord's Supper was to replace the feast ofthe Passover. Christ was to be the PassoverLamb to take away our sins and to keepaway the angel of death. Here is the storyof the Passover. (Part of story quoted from"Taught of the Lord" by Mrs. AnnaMcKelvy) The night before God brought12the Israelites out of Egypt, He asked themto place the blood of a slain lamb upon thetwo side posts and upper door post of thehouse They were to eat the roasted lamband bread in haste, ready to flee that landof sin At midnight the Lord passedthrough the land of Egypt and smote allfirstborn, man and beast, all except thosewho were in the houses where the bloodwas. He passed over them and they hadlife God commanded the Jews to observethis feast yearly and to tell their childrenhow His people were saved, because of theblood of the lamb. Years later, the boyJesus was told this story, and when He was12 He, too, took part in the feast atJerusalem. But the night before He wasbetrayed, He gathered His twelve disciplesfor this feast in the upper room for the lasttime. The old Passover would be doneaway, for the next day Jesus, Himself, theLamb of God, would be slain on the crossand His precious blood would cleanse thehearts of His children so that they wouldhave everlasting life. This new feast was tobe called the Lord's Supper.What is the real meaning of theLord's Supper? The death of Jesus Christ isshowed forth where He died for the sins ofHis people. He was our "substitute," payingthe price for sin and bringing us back toGod. The purpose of the Lord's Supper, forthose who rightly partake of it, is tostrengthen, to encourage, and spirituallyto build up Christians along the whole lineof their faith, life, and work. The right useof the Lord's Supper encourages and buildsup the Christian in relation to his Savior, tohis God, and in relation and love of fellowbelievers. The Lord's Supper points forwardto the second coming of Christ. "Foras oft as ye eat this bread, and drink thiscup, ye do show the Lord's death till Hecome" (I Cor. 11:26). We look both backwardto Calvary's cross and forward to theLast Day.The record of the institution of theLord's Supper is found in the NewTestament in three gospels and one epistleof Paul. (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25;Luke 22:17-20; I Cor. 11:23-26) Christappointed the ministers of His Word toadminister the Lord's Supper and it isimportant that it be done as Christ did it.There are two elements used in theLord's Supper: the bread and the fruit ofthe vine. The bread is a symbol torepresent Christ's body; the fruit of thevine, His blood. Together, they representHis human nature which He took when He"was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (Jn.1:14) by being born as a child inBethlehem.The sacramental actions involved inthe Lord's Supper are important. There aresix actions,fourof them performed by Jesusand two by the disciples or believers today.These six actions, taken in their truemeaning, act out what Christ has done (Hisatonement) and a sinner's receiving Him byfaith.Meaning of sacramental actions:A. Performed by Jesus and ministers in Hisname today:1. Took bread and cup — He took ahuman nature when born into world.2. Blessed, or gave thanks, for breadand fruit of the vine, setting them apart fora special purpose. Christ was set apart as aRedeemer.3. Broke bread — His broken bodyon the cross.4. Gave bread and fruit of the vine todisciples. The gift of Christ to sinful men.John 3:16.B. Performed by disciples and communicantstoday:1. Took bread and the cup — TakingJesus as Savior by believing.2. Ate bread and drank the fruit ofthe vine — Our dependence on Christ forspiritual life and growth.Our churches have special communionseasons with services before theLord's Supper in preparation. "Itisrequired of them that would worthilypartake of the Lord's Supper, that theyexamine themselves, of their knowledge todiscern the Lord's body, of their faith tofeed upon Him, of their repentance, love,and new obedience; lest coming unworthily,they eat and drink judgment tothemselves." (Catechism) When webecome communicant members and havethe preparation of our hearts and fail totake part in the sacraments, we rob ourselvesof blessing and harm the body ofChrist.This closes the unit on worship, butas we all worship regularly in God's house,may we have a deeper reverence and lovefor God than before.To the Leader:1. Catechism questions — 21,96.2. Sing Psalms 118:14-18, p. 285; 19:5,6,9,p. 42; 24:2,35, p. 54; 72:10-12, p. 175.3. Worship Verse — I Cor. 11:26 (Put innotebook)4. Worship notebook — a) Label withpicture of long table or picture of "TheLast Supper." b) Copy in notebook"Meaning of sacramental actions" listedabove, c) Write down reference I Cor.11:23-29. Make a reminder to self to readthis and think about it before each communion.Read in meeting and talk aboutft.5. Handwork — Add Hardship to fleet ofships. All must journey in this one. II Tim.2:3; Matt. 24:13. Add Battleship, carryingsoldiers of cross. To Christian Soldier add— loin cloth—truth, shoes—gospel olpeace, and shield—faith.COVENANTERWITNESS