Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and founh generation of them that I hate Me;
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.
-Exodus 20:4-6
The Reformed churches, therefore, oppose the Roman Catholic Eucharist teaching and observance and uphold the following scriptural doctrines concerning the Lord's Supper:
Christ's real presence at the sacrament -spiritually, not physically
The elements serving as visible signs and remembrances of
Jesus' death -His crucified body and shed blood
The sealing and strengthening power of the sacrament -by
personal application of the Holy Spirit to the believer's soul
as received by God-given faith
To properly celebrate the Lord's Supper, the two requirements
listed in the chart below are needed:
REQUIREMENTS TO PROPERLY CELEBRATE THE LORD'S SUPPER
Person in View
Requirement
Wording in the Lord's Supper Form:
Scriptural Reference
1. Self
To examine our own hearts
and lives
That we may now celebrate the Supper of the Lord to our comfort, it is above all things necessary, first: Rightly to examine ourselves.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
-I Corinthians 11 :28-29
2. Jesus Christ
To remember Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death
and lives
Secondly: To direct it to that end for which Christ hath ordained and
instituted the same, namely, to His remembrance.
And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.
-Luke 22:19
The self-examination required to properly participate in the
Lord's Supper includes both an:
1. Outward examination of confession and lifestyle -a
church right
