OceanSide church of Christ

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Seven Aids For The Lord’s Supper
by: Dalton Gilreath

I.                Introduction

A.    What do you do during the Lord’s Supper?

                                                    i.     Is it difficult to keep your mind off worldly things?

                                                   ii.     Do you have trouble focusing on the Savior’s sacrifice?

B.    Consider seven things to help you focus during the Lord’s Supper

                                                    i.     In order to help you remember we will be using the numbers one through seven

                                                   ii.     Each number reminds us of something pertaining to the Lord’s death

II.              One Lord

A.    Jesus told His apostles that the bread symbolized His body (Luke 22:19)

                                                    i.     As we think of the body we think of the church (Eph 1:22-23)

                                                   ii.     There is only one body as much as there is one Lord (Eph 4:4-5)

B.    Jesus also said the cup represented His blood of the New Testament (Luke 22:20)

                                                    i.     When He shed His blood He established the New Testament

                                                   ii.     As we partake of the cup we examine ourselves and reflect upon our own obedience to His Will (1 Cor 11:27-29)

III.            Two Thieves

A.    On both sides of our Lord hung a criminal, a thief (Mark 15:27-28)

                                                    i.     760 years earlier it was prophesied by Isaiah that Christ would be numbered with criminals (Is 53:12)

                                                   ii.     They viewed the innocent son of God as being nothing more than a lowly criminal worthy of death

B.    Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do?

                                                    i.     It hurts me when someone is disappointed in me or looks down at me because they believe I did something I really didn’t

                                                   ii.     Could you imagine how the Lord must have felt when He had never done anything wrong…ever?

                                                 iii.     Sometimes we may forget the mental anguish He endured for us on top of the physical

IV.            Three Crosses

A.    The first cross is the cross of rejection (Luke 23:39)

                                                    i.     This thief railed, spoke harshly and blasphemously, to our Lord

                                                   ii.     He was not penitent in any way nor had faith in who Christ was

B.    The second cross is the cross of repentance (Luke 23:40)

                                                    i.     While the other thief originally railed on Jesus as well he changed his tune and rebuked the first thief

                                                   ii.     He then called Jesus Lord and made a request concerning the kingdom

C.    The third cross is the cross of redemption (John 14:6)

                                                    i.     Some want to be saved like the thief but the thief was saved under the Old Law (Heb 9:15-17)

                                                   ii.     The cross of true redemption is found only in Christ

V.              Four Parts of His Garments

A.    Jesus had to watch as He hung on the cross without His clothes

                                                    i.     He watched four soldiers tear His garments and each take pieces of them

                                                   ii.     However, the outer garment had no seams and they decided to cast lots for it instead of tearing it (John 19:23-24)

B.    Why did the soldiers not tear the garment?

                                                    i.     It wasn’t to fulfill prophecy even though it happened (Psa 22:18)

                                                   ii.     Maybe they wanted a souvenir recognizing this was a critical point in history

                                                 iii.     Interestingly, the Lord’s Supper is our souvenir if you will

1.     It is what we hold on to

2.     It reminds us of what happened

3.     We partake of the memory weekly

VI.            Five Wounds

A.    They laid the cross down and nailed Jesus to it

                                                    i.     Three nails pierced both hands and feet causing four wounds

                                                   ii.     Then they hoisted the cross up and dropped it into a hole

1.     Josephus says this would often disjoint the bones

2.     The Psalmist may have prophesied this (Psa 22:14)

B.    The fifth wound came from the spear thrust in His side (John 19:34)

                                                    i.     They wanted to be sure He was dead

                                                   ii.     They did not break His bones as they did the thieves (Psa 34:20)

VII.          Six Hours

A.    The crucifixion began at 9:00 am and ended at 3:00 pm (Mark 15:25, Luke 23:44)

                                                    i.     Time flies when you are having fun but what about when your miserable?

                                                   ii.     This was the longest six hours anyone has ever had to endure

B.    The six hours represented the sin of man and the victory of Satan

                                                    i.     The darkness came the last three hours during this time as well

                                                   ii.     Seven is God’s number but six is the number of man/fallibility

1.     Consider what day God created man

2.     Consider how many cities of refuge were made for man’s sin

3.     Consider how many days a week man was allowed to work

VIII.        Seven Sayings

A.    “Father forgive them for they know what they do” (Luke 23:34)

                                                    i.     Could we say that in Jesus’ condition?

                                                   ii.     It is hard enough to be good to enemies who have done less

B.    “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43)

                                                    i.     Jesus saved the thief from His sin (Matt 9:6)

                                                   ii.     Even at death He focused on His mission (Luke 19:10)

C.    “Woman behold thy son” (John 19:26-27)

                                                    i.     Jesus spoke to Mary and John

                                                   ii.     His mother watched her naked, humiliated, brutalized Son

D.    “I thirst” (John 19:28)

                                                    i.     The humanity of Christ as He was thirsty

                                                   ii.     He felt what you and I would feel

E.    “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me” (Matt 27:46)

                                                    i.     Jesus was separated from the Father for a moment

                                                   ii.     He had never experienced this nor ever would again

F.    “It is finished” (John 19:30)

                                                    i.     His mission was done

                                                   ii.     The Old Testament was fulfilled

G.   “Father into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46)

                                                    i.     He trusted God and went home

                                                   ii.     As we conclude the Lord’s Supper remember to trust God so you can go home one day as well

                                                 iii.     No greater motivator was ever given than the sacrifice of our Lord