O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

HOW DO YOU TAKE THE LORD’S SUPPER? 

          Our Lord Jesus instituted a very special meal for us to have regularly. It is called the Lord’s Supper. When this meal is taken with the right preparation of our hearts, we will enjoy a spiritually enriching feast which nourishes our faith and strengthens our relationship with the Lord. But when this meal is taken without any heart preparation, we may end up abusing it. 

          This happened at the Church of Corinth. It was the custom for church members to share a fellowship meal together, and the Lord’s Supper was incorporated into it either at the beginning or at the end of the meal. On Sundays, the Corinthians would bring their own food and wine to church for this meal. But each time, it degenerated into a mad rush for food by the hungriest members and those who were too slow had hardly anything left to eat. Such self-indulgence was already scandalous enough for a church. What made it worse was that it made a terrible mockery of the Lord’s Supper which was conducted as part of the meal. How can the selfless death of the Lord Jesus be remembered meaningfully with such selfish eating and drinking? The Lord’s displeasure over this abuse became evident when many Corinthians became weak and ill and some even died. (1 Corinthians 11:30)

The Wrong Manner  

          The Corinthians were not the only ones who abused the Lord’s Supper. Church history testifies to other abuses, and these often fall into two extremes. On one extreme are those who, like the Corinthians, treat it like any natural meal without discerning the body and blood of the Lord in it. Everyone who merely goes through the motions of taking the Lord’s Supper in a mechanical or ritualistic manner, fall into this error. This is probably the most common abuse of the Lord’s Supper today. 

          On the other extreme are those who treat the Lord’s Supper as a supernatural meal – believing that the elements are miraculously changed by a priest into the actual body and blood of Jesus to be adored, offered on an altar and then consumed. More recently, some have been teaching erroneously that eating the Lord’s Supper can bring miraculous healing to the sick, as well as youth and longevity. The biblical teaching on the Lord’s Supper is that it is neither a natural meal nor a supernatural meal, but a sacred meal that brings spiritual benefits.

The Right Manner  

          As God’s people, we need to know the biblical teaching on the Lord’s Supper because its proper observance is essential for our spiritual health and for the life of the church. In order to observe the Lord’s Supper in a proper God-honouring manner, we must realise that there is more to it than meets the eye. And what cannot be seen matters a lot more than what can be seen. These things can only be seen by faith, and we must look at them with spiritual vision.  

1. Look Upward

          The Lord Himself should always be our primary focus in the Lord’s Supper, not the bread nor the cup, not the worshippers around us, and certainly not the pastor who conducts it. Our Lord Jesus is the main subject of this Supper. Nothing must distract us from Him. 

          In this sacred meal, Jesus invites His people to come and sup with Him, as He says in Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Jesus is our gracious host at this meal. He sets its agenda. He plans the menu. He prepares the food. And He determines the manner in which they are to be consumed. Jesus is also the guest of honour at this meal. He speaks to us and we listen, responding to Him with reverence and obedience. 

          But the most amazing thing is that Jesus is the meal itself, just as He said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” This does not mean that He is literally found in the bread and that we feed on Him literally. It means that Jesus is spiritually present and that our souls feed on Him in a spiritual manner. Let this always be our first thought each time we come to the Lord’s Table – that we come for that upward look at our Saviour.

2. Look Backward

          We look back in time at the greatest work that our Lord has accomplished – the redemption of sinners by His atoning death on the Cross. Jesus instructed His disciples to eat the bread and drink from the cup “in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24,25) These words tell us that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial meal – a meal that helps us to remember Him. 

          Why do need such a memorial? It is because we are all forgetful creatures. Our minds are pre-occupied with so many things that we easily forget the most important things in life. You may remember certain events in your life very well like your childhood years, your graduation, your first paycheque or your wedding day. But all the events we remember cannot compare with the death of Christ. This event in history has impacted our life far more than any other event, as it has permanently changed our eternal destiny. How can we then ensure that we will never forget what Jesus has done for us on the Cross? How can we perpetuate the memory of this great event? 

          The world perpetuates the memory of its great leaders and its most significant events by building impressive memorials. But these cannot compare with the memorial which Jesus instituted for us. No memorial has ever been more effective than the Lord’s Supper. No memorial has ever been so pure in its simplicity – no lengthy rituals needed, no expensive monuments to build and maintain – just a simple meal shared by a group of believers. The Upper Room where it was instituted was not a grand cathedral but a simple dining room large enough for Christ and His disciples to have their Passover meal together. The Lord’s Supper therefore surpasses all other memorials in its simplicity. 

          Besides that, no memorial has ever been so practical in its accessibility. Any believer in any part of the world can have it because it can be conducted anywhere. This is unlike most memorials that are located in remote locations which require long pilgrimages to reach them. The Lord’s Supper has been conducted in homes, hospital wards and prison cells. It has even been conducted on the moon. In 1969 Buzz Aldrin, an astronaut who also happened to be a Presbyterian elder, conducted the Lord’s Supper just after landing on the moon. 

          Despite its pure simplicity and practical accessibility, no memorial has ever been as powerful as the Lord’s Supper in its imagery. The bread aptly portrays the body of Christ which gives life to the world. Bread was the common staple food for people in the Middle East, much like the rice we eat today. The breaking of bread by our Lord’s own hands portrays so well the truth that Jesus willingly laid down His own precious life for us. He went to the cross of His own free will, and no one took His life away from Him. (John10:18) Doesn’t this show how much He loves us? 

          The grape juice that we drink in the Lord’s Supper is a most fitting symbol of the blood of Jesus. Just as grapes have to be crushed violently in a winepress in order to yield its ruddy juice, Jesus had to suffer the greatest mental anguish and the most agonizing torments in order to shed His blood on the cross. How lovingly He yielded His blood to make an atonement for our sins! 

          Besides providing a powerful image of our Lord’s selfless giving of Himself for us, the Lord’s Supper also portrays what it means to truly believe in Christ. When Jesus says, ‘Take, eat: this is My body which is broken for you,’ each of us responds by personally taking that piece of bread and eating it. Doesn’t this bring out well the full meaning of faith: “Forsaking All I Take Him”? 

          This brings us to another unique feature of the Lord’s Supper that is not found in all other memorials: It is very personal in its applicability. Through it we are able to experience the presence of our Lord Jesus intimately. No other memorial can provide such a sense of intimate communion with a loved one who has died. 

          In May 2014 my maternal grandfather’s grave was exhumed to make way for a new highway. Since he had died over eighty years ago all that I knew about him was from what my mother and aunts had told me and some old photographs of him. The moment came when his grave was exhumed and I gazed at his remains which were only some bone fragments. Then I realised that this was to be the closest contact I would ever have with my grandfather. I wondered what he would say if he knew that his grandson was standing there. But there is no way that his lifeless remains could reach out to me, nor for me to reach out to him. What a sad truth we are confronted with in all earthly memorials – the truth that an insurmountable barrier stands between us and the one we seek to remember. 

          But in the memorial meal that our Lord Jesus gave to us we can reach out to Him and He can reach out to us in a most intimate communion of His Spirit with our soul, because Jesus is a living Saviour. As we look at the bread and the cup that we hold in our hands we know that these are not His dead remains. They are mere representations of Him and of all that He has done for us. And as we take them into our own bodies, they bear silent testimony that Jesus is truly in us and we are in Him. What a great joy it is to look back in remembrance of Him through the Lord’s Supper!

3. Look Inward

          This is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11:28 – “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” There are two things that you need to examine in the light of God’s Word and with the help of the Holy Spirit. The first is your life – is it being conformed to the image of Christ in thought, word and deed? Or are you still tolerating some sinful habits? If you are, please ask yourself: How can you tolerate the very same sins that have caused the Lord you love to die on the cross? 

          On the night when the Lord’s Supper was instituted there was a betrayer who sat at the table with Jesus. Judas Iscariot appeared to be no different from the rest of the disciples. He blended in so well that nobody knew that he had sins such as covetousness, dishonesty and pride residing in his heart. Nobody knew, except the Lord Himself. And when you come to the Lord’s Table, He knows every sin that resides in your heart. Nothing is ever hidden from His sight. If you realise this, please examine your life well with a sincere desire to put every sin away. 

          The other thing that you need to examine is your love. Do you really love the Lord Jesus? Is your love for Him in word only, or is it in deed and in truth? (1 John 3:18) When Jesus and Simon Peter were having breakfast together by the Sea of Galilee, He asked him, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?” Are you able to give Him the same answer that Simon gave, “Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love thee.” (John 21:15-17)? 

          One way to examine your love for the Lord is to check your attitude to the Lord’s Supper. If you truly love the Lord, you will find great delight in anything that brings you closer to Him. Therefore, how you treat the Supper reflects how you treat the Saviour. The apostle Paul puts it this way: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:27) 

          There are some who avoid taking the Lord’s Supper because they think that they are too unworthy, and they do not want to be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. This is not the meaning of this verse at all. We need to understand that no one is ever good enough or worthy enough to come to the Lord’s table. In fact, when we think we are worthy enough to take the Lord’s Supper, we partake of it unworthily. 

          Let us therefore come to His table in worthy manner, not held back by our own unworthiness but constrained by love for our worthy Saviour. Doing this prepares your soul well to produce the right responses when you take the Lord’s Supper, namely:  

Contrition: The sight of the emblems of Christ’s body and blood will remind you of how awful your sin must be, if nothing less than the death of God’s own Son could make satisfaction for it, or redeem you from its guilt. This thought will humble you to the very depths of your being, until you ‘count your richest gains but loss and pour contempt on all your pride.’ 

Comfort: The sight of the bread and the cup will remind you of how full, perfect and complete your salvation is. You will be most comforted to know that the enormous price for your redemption has been fully paid by Christ. Thus, “there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) 

Consecration: The bread and the cup will remind you of the great debt of gratitude you owe to the Lord, and how thoroughly obligated you are to live for Him who died for your sins. The least you should do then is to “present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1) 

Commitment: Every time you partake of the Lord’s Supper, you renew your commitment to lead a consistent life of faith in Christ and of bearing a good testimony for Him. The renewal of this commitment will restrain you from yielding to temptations to sin and to the world. You will leave the Lord’s table much stronger and better prepared to live for Christ and to serve Christ.

4. Look Forward

          We need to look forward to Christ’s return and to all the blessings that will come with it, following what we are told in 1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come.” Each experience of spiritual communion with Christ at His table ought to make our hearts yearn more and more for the ultimate communion we will enjoy with Him when He comes again.  

          The Lord has already given us details of this wonderful event in His Word: First, He will raise up all dead believers in new immortal bodies. Then, all living believers will be physically transformed into their new bodies and be caught up with the resurrected saints to meet the Lord in the air, and be led by Him to their heavenly home. This will be followed by the Judgment seat of Christ where the Lord will give crowns to every believer who has served Him well. Then comes the much-anticipated wedding, the ‘Marriage Supper of the Lamb’ (Revelation 19:9) where all believers will enjoy the sweetest communion with Christ at the Lord’s table in heaven. 

          That will be the happiest moment for everyone who loves the Lord Jesus. It will be a billion times better than our experience in all the Lord’s Suppers we have had. What we have on earth is only a wedding rehearsal – but every rehearsal brings us closer to the wedding itself. In fact, Jesus Himself looks forward to this Marriage Supper. He expressed this when He instituted the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26:29 – “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” 

          Let us express the same desire in our hearts each time we come to the Lord’s Table – looking forward to the coming of our Lord. This is the blessed hope that motivates us to persevere in serving Him. In the Lord’s Supper your soul should savour such sweet fellowship with your Saviour that you are spiritually strengthened for service! 

          Though we may face many discouragements and difficult trials as we serve Him, we must be very thankful that the Lord has resolved to do all that is necessary to deliver us and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory. He who has died to save us loves us far too much to let us fall away even through our own sins. This is the reason why many Corinthian believers became weak and sickly and many of them even died. They were being soundly and lovingly chastised by the Lord to cure them of their sinful abuse of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus said in Revelation 3:19 – “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten…”

Conclusion 

          Now that we know that the right manner of taking of the Lord’s Supper is to look upward, backward, inward and forward, let us apply these steps faithfully each time we come to the Lord’s Table. May the Lord’s Supper become such a great source of blessing for us that we eagerly look forward to every opportunity that we have to take it. – Pastor

Amidst us our Beloved stands,

and bids us view His pierced hands;

points to the wounded feet and side,

blest emblems of the Crucified.

What food luxurious loads the board,

when, at His table, sits the Lord!

The cup how rich, the bread how sweet,

when Jesus deigns the guests to meet!

If now, with eyes defiled and dim,

we see the signs, but see not Him;

O may His love the scales displace,

and bid us see Him face to face!

Our former transports we recount,

when with Him in the holy mount:

these cause our souls to thirst anew

His marred but lovely face to view.

- C. H. Spurgeon - 

Shorter Catechism Question 11

Q: What are God’s works of providence?

A: God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

Appointments for the Week

Monday, Sep 2

        7.30 pm     No ERBL Lecture

Tuesday, Sep 3

        8.00 pm     Prayer Meeting (Eld Terence Tan)

Thursday, Sep 5

      10.00 am     Ladies’ Prayer Group

        7.30 pm     ERBL: The Book of Proverbs (Rev Lim Chee Boon)

Saturday, Sep 7

        3.00 pm     LTF / YLM

        4.00 pm     SF Meeting

Sunday, Sep 8

  8.00 am     The Priority of Prayer Nehemiah 1:1-11 (Rev Quek Keng Khwang)

  8.00 am     Choir Practice

  9.15 am Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  9.40 am Sunday School / Catechism Class

10.15 am Coffee Corner

11.00 am The Priority of Prayer Nehemiah 1:1-11 (Rev Quek Keng Khwang)

11.00 am Children’s Ministry

11.00 am Chinese Service (MPH)

11.00 am Filipina Service (Rm 1-6)

12.15 pm Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  2.30 pm Thai Service (LMH)

  4.00 pm Indonesian Service (Rm 1-6)

Preaching appointment:

Rev Seet in KL and ERS, 31 Aug-6 Sep.

Announcements

Life BPC Job Vacancies

1. Church Operations Manager (COM)

Responsibilities:

The COM provides active oversight and support in the mission, administrative affairs and general operations of the Church including Financial Management, HR, MIS Technology, Media Technology, Facilities and General Administration.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree or higher
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in operations or managerial positions
• Good interpersonal and communications skills 

2. Estate Management Officer (EMO)

Responsibilities:

EMO plans, oversees and coordinates all property management and preventive maintenance activities associated for the church premises. Coordinates facilities usage for a range of Church activities and Church’s authorized users using the premises. The EMO reports to the Church Operation Manager.

Qualifications:

• Diploma or equivalent
• 5 years’ experience in real estate management and maintenance
• Certification in real estate management and maintenance is an added advantage
• Lifers are preferred 

Candidates with relevant qualifications and experience may submit your application and CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Infant Baptism on Church Anniversary, 20 October 2024

Parents, please email the church office, with your full names, contact numbers, and your child’s name and date of birth by 22 September 2024.

Door to Door Evangelism 1 September 2024 

Meet in Beulah Room 2-11, 12.30pm Contact: Desmond or Amos 

Traffic Warden Service

We welcome all church members to join in this work. Our TW’s role is to provide godly service to facilitate worship. We need help in following time slots for Sunday: 7.30-8am or 10.30-11am with a frequency of once or twice a month. Please contact Dn Chan Yong or Bro Kelvin .

Holy Communion Elements Preparation

Lifers are invited to serve in the Holy Communion elements preparation, clean-up and washing. Those interested may contact Jenny or Wendy .

Mailbox Club Bible Correspondence Course (MBCC)

Another Church Outreach Ministry invites Lifers to register their young children, teens, or grandchildren with our MBCC. Those whose loved ones, friends or colleagues who are either young in their faith or being non-believers, are interested to know and explore more of Christianity, are also invited to register with us by filling in the registration forms which are now available at the Church front counter and post them to:

Life B-P Church

No.10, Gilstead Road

Singapore 309064

Attention: Mrs Ong Chuay Ying

Senior Fellowship Seminar: Refire Not Retire! By Rev Lee Hann Yang

19 Oct 2024, Beulah MPH, 4-6pm followed by dinner. Register at https://www.lifebpc.com/sfseminar

Ladies’ Fellowship 46^th Anniversary

14 Sep 2024, Beulah MPH, 4-6pm followed by dinner. “One thing is necessary” by Rev Daniel Khoo

Missions Seminar 2024

28 September; 3-6pm @ Beulah MPH. “Witnessing for Christ in the Last Days”

Speakers: Rev Charles Seet, Rev & Mrs Moses Hahn, Mr & Mrs Lim Kwang Taek, Bro Benjamin Heng

Registration link at: https://forms.gle/u92nfBsCWCgRDMaDA

Gospel Sunday

Please pray for our Gospel Sunday services which will be held on 29 September 2024.
English Service: "Christ, not religion, brings true righteousness" (Philippians 3:1-14) by Rev Mark Chen
Chinese Service: "Where does the Good News come from?" (Mark 1:1,14,15) by Rev Kew See Seong

YAF Retreat

YAF would like to welcome all young adults and youth to YAF Retreat 2024! This will be our first overnight retreat since 2019 and we look forward to a sweet time of learning and fellowship in Christ. This year’s theme, “Growing Pains, Chasing Gains”, is centered on the challenges and uncertainties that young adults face as we attempt to navigate adulthood and parenthood, as well as seek God’s will for our lives.
Location: D'Resort @ Downtown East.
YAF members: $240 (Stay over) / $140 (Stay out)
YF members: $140 (Stay over / $100 (Stay out)
If you would like to join us from 22-24 Nov 2024, please sign up via the QR code by 8 September.

YF Camp (for youths aged 16-25)

16-20 Dec 2024, “To live is Christ, to die is gain” by Eld Chin Hoong Chor. 

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