THE LORD'S SUPPER

INTRODUCTION

 

It is a sad fact that the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper has been at the centre of the fiercest controversies which the Church of England has known during the four hundred years of her independent life. From her birth until the present day the Church of England has faced the greatest threats to her unity on the central issues surrounding the Communion Service.

 

The Church of England’s reformers were willing to give up their lives at the stake during Queen Mary’s reign, rather than concede their reformed views concerning the sacrament. In the sixteenth century the opposing positions were clear and well defined. Widely different positions are held today in the Church of England, but the situation is complicated by the sense of vagueness and uncertainty which has evolved, as to the true Anglican doctrine. A further complication arises from the false charity which prevails and which fosters the tendency not to criticise others who hold strong views.

 

The central issue is now, and always has been, whether the consecrated bread and wine in the communion service remain exactly as they were before, or whether there is some change in them. Is there or is there not any sense in which the sacramental bread and wine become the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ?

 

Does it really matter? The answer is yes. It mattered to the martyrs of the Church of England in Queen Mary’s reign, and it should matter to us. The issue does not end with the sacramental bread and wine. When false views concerning the sacrament are pressed to their logical conclusion, it is the essentials of the Gospel itself which are at stake. We need to know exactly where we stand when it comes to the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

 

I believe that there is no change whatsoever in the consecrated bread and wine. I believe that there is no sense in which Jesus Christ is received through the sacramental elements. Jesus is received in the communion service, by his believing people: not through their mouths but through FAITH, not into their stomachs but into their souls. To feed on Jesus is to apply the benefits of his death to ourselves.

 

I now endeavour to show that this view is the biblical position, and that it is the true Church of England teaching on the Lord’s Supper. We must first examine the history of the church. We must trace the history of the Communion Service as the Church evolved and proceeded on its journey through the centuries of time since the Lord ascended to heaven, leaving his people in the guidance of the Word and Spirit. Before returning to the diversities and complexities of our own day we must look at four particular stages in the development of the Church:

 

• The early years (AD 30 – AD 300)

• The dark years (AD 400 – AD 1500)

• The dawning years (AD 1500 – AD 1600)

• The clouded years (AD 1600 –AD 1640)

 

We focus our attention on the Church’s teaching and understanding of the Lord’s Supper in these four key stages in the Church’s history.