You beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, hear the words of the institution of the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the holy apostle Paul describes to us in the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 11.
I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you: That the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup after the supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Whoever, therefore, eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For whoever eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
Now, that we may celebrate the Lord's Supper to our comfort, it is necessary for us, above all things, that we first examine ourselves rightly. Second, that we direct it to the purpose for which the Lord Christ ordained it, namely, in remembrance of Him.
BELOVED IN THE LORD JESUS: Listen to the words of the institution of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. “The Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”
If the minister desires, he may use questions and answers 75 through 82 of the Heidelberg Catechism or Belgic Confession article 35 instead of the following paragraph on the nature of the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Until His coming again it is to be observed as a continuing remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death. The physical elements of bread and wine, representing the broken body and the shed blood of the Savior, are received by true believers as signs and seals of all the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. They signify and seal the remission of sins and nourishment and growth in Christ, and are a bond and pledge of the communion of believers with Him and with each other as members of His spiritual body, the Church. As signs and seals of the covenant of grace they not only declare that God is faithful and true to fulfill the promise of the covenant, but they also summon us to all the duties of the children of God, and call us to renewed consecration in gratitude for His salvation.
In order that we may celebrate the Lord’s Supper to our comfort, it is first necessary that we properly examine ourselves.
The true examination of ourselves consists in these three things:
First, let everyone consider by himself his sin and accursedness, that he may be displeased with himself, and humble himself before God, since the wrath of God against sin is so great that He punished it, rather than let it go unpunished, in His dear Son Jesus Christ with the bitter and shameful death of the cross.
Second, let everyone search his heart, whether he also believes this certain promise of God, that all his sins are forgiven him solely for the sake of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed and given to him as his own, as if he himself in his own person had paid for all his sins, and had fulfilled all righteousness.
Third, let everyone search his conscience, whether he is also minded henceforth to show himself grateful to the Lord God with his whole life, and to walk uprightly before the face of God. Whether he also, without hypocrisy, renounces all enmity, envy, and hatred from the heart, and has a firm purpose to live hereafter in true love and unity with his neighbors.
Those who are so minded, God will surely receive in grace, and acknowledge as worthy table companions of His Son Jesus Christ.
A true examination of ourselves consists in these three parts:
First, let everyone consider by himself his sins and accursedness apart from Jesus Christ, so that he may be displeased with himself and humble himself in the presence of God.
Second, let everyone examine his heart as to whether he truly believes this certain promise of God that all his sins are forgiven only for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Third, let everyone search his conscience whether he is determined to show his gratitude to God the Lord all the days of his life by walking uprightly before Him.
But on the other hand, those who do not feel this testimony in their hearts, eat and drink judgment to themselves. Therefore, according to the command of Christ and the apostle Paul, we also admonish all who know themselves to be defiled with the following vices from the table of the Lord, and proclaim to them that they have no part in the kingdom of Christ, such as all idolaters, all who call upon deceased saints, angels, or other creatures, who venerate images, all sorcerers and soothsayers, who bless cattle and people along with other things, and who give credence to such blessings, all despisers of God and His Word and the holy sacraments, all blasphemers, all who desire to cause schism and mutiny in church and worldly government, all perjurers, all who are disobedient to their parents and authorities, all murderers, brawlers, quarrelers, who live in envy and hatred against their neighbor, all adulterers, fornicators, drunkards, thieves, usurers, robbers, gamblers, misers, and all who lead a scandalous life. All these, as long as they persist in such vices, should remember and abstain from this food, which Christ has ordained only for His believers, lest their judgment and damnation become all the heavier.
But this is not presented to you, dear Christians, to make the contrite hearts of believers fainthearted, as if no one could go to the Lord's Supper except those who are without any sin. For we do not come to this supper to testify that we are perfect and righteous in ourselves, but on the contrary, because we seek our life outside of ourselves in Christ, we confess that we lie in the midst of death. Therefore, although we still find many failings and miseries in ourselves, such as that we do not have a perfect faith, that we also do not devote ourselves to serving God with such zeal as we ought to do, but daily have to contend with the weakness of our faith and the evil devices of our flesh, nevertheless, since through the grace of the Holy Spirit such failings are grievous to us from the heart, and we heartily desire to resist our unbelief, and to live according to all the commandments of God, we should be certain and sure that no sin or weakness, which is still left in us against our will, can prevent God from receiving us in grace, and thus making us worthy and partakers of this heavenly food and drink.
Second, let us now also consider for what purpose the Lord has instituted His supper, namely, that we should do this in remembrance of Him.
It is my solemn duty to warn the uninstructed, the profane, the scandalous, and those who secretly and unrepentantly live in any sin, not to approach the holy table, where they would partake unworthily, not discerning the Lord’s body, and so eat and drink judgment to themselves.
Nevertheless, this warning is not designed to keep the humble and contrite from the table of the Lord, as if the supper were for those who might be free from sin. On the contrary, we who are invited to the supper, come as guilty and polluted sinners who are without hope of eternal life apart from the grace of God in Christ. We confess our dependence for pardon and cleansing upon the perfect sacrifice of Christ; we base our hope of eternal life upon His perfect obedience and righteousness; and we humbly resolve to deny ourselves, crucify our old nature, and follow Christ as becomes those who bear His name.
Thus we should remember Him thereby: First, that we trust completely in our hearts that our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the promise which was made to the patriarchs from the beginning, was sent from the Father into this world, took upon Himself our flesh and blood, bore the wrath of God, under which we would have had to sink forever, for us from the beginning of His incarnation to the end of His life on earth, and fulfilled all the obedience of the divine law and righteousness for us, especially when the burden of our sins and the wrath of God pressed out the bloody sweat in the garden, then He was bound, that He might unbind us, afterwards suffered innumerable reproaches, that we might never be put to shame, was innocently condemned to death, that we might be acquitted before the judgment of God, yea, had His blessed body nailed to the cross, that He might nail the handwriting of our sins to it, and thus took the curse from us upon Himself, that He might fill us with His blessing, and humbled Himself to the deepest shame and hellish anguish of body and soul on the tree of the cross, when He cried with a loud voice: My God! my God! why have you forsaken me? That we might be taken to God and never be forsaken by Him. Finally, with His death and bloodshed, He sealed the new and eternal testament, the covenant of grace and reconciliation, as He said: It is finished!
But that we may firmly believe that we belong to this covenant of grace, the Lord Jesus, in His last supper, took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to His disciples, and said: Take and eat, this is my body, which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after the supper, He took the cup, gave thanks, and said: Take and drink all of it, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins: do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. That is, as often as you eat of this bread, and drink of this cup, you should thereby, as by a certain memorial and pledge, be reminded and assured of this my heartfelt love and faithfulness towards you, that I, for you, who otherwise would have had to die the eternal death, give my body to death on the tree of the cross, and shed my blood, and feed and give drink to your hungry and thirsty souls with this same my crucified body, and shed blood, to eternal life, as surely as this bread is broken for each one before his eyes, and this cup is given to him, and you eat and drink the same with your mouth in remembrance of me.
From this institution of the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ we see that He points our faith and trust to His perfect sacrifice, once made on the cross, as to the only ground and foundation of our salvation, where He became the true food and drink of eternal life for our hungry and thirsty souls. For by His death He has taken away the cause of our eternal hunger and sorrow, namely sin, and has obtained for us the life-giving Spirit, that through the same Spirit who dwells in Christ as the head, and in us, as His members, we might have true communion with Him, and become partakers of all His goods, eternal life, righteousness, and glory.
Afterwards, that we also, through the same Spirit, might be united with one another, as members of one body, in true brotherly love, as the holy apostle says: There is one bread, so we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. For as from many grains one flour is ground, and one bread is baked, and from many berries pressed together, one wine and drink flows, and they mingle with one another: so we all, who are incorporated into Christ by true faith, should, through brotherly love for Christ's sake, our dear Savior, who loved us so highly before, all be one body, and prove this not only with words, but with deeds towards one another. May the almighty, merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ help us to this, through His Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray.
Merciful God and Father, we pray you that in this supper, in which we celebrate the glorious memory of the bitter death of your dear Son Jesus Christ, you would work in our hearts through your Holy Spirit, that we may surrender ourselves with true trust more and more to your Son Jesus Christ, so that our weary and contrite hearts may be fed and refreshed with His true body and blood, yea, with Him, true God and man, the eternal bread of heaven, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may no longer live in our sins, but He in us, and we in Him; and may truly be partakers of the new and eternal testament and covenant of grace, so that we may not doubt that you will eternally be our gracious Father, never impute our sins to us, and provide for us in everything, body and soul, as your dear children and heirs.
Grant us also your grace, that we may confidently take our cross upon us, deny ourselves, confess our Savior, and in all tribulation with uplifted head await our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, who will make our mortal bodies like His glorified, glorious body, and will take us to Himself in eternity. Amen.
Our Father, etc.
Merciful God and Father, we beseech You that in this supper, in which we cherish the blessed memory of the bitter death of Your dear Son Jesus Christ, You will so work in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that with true confidence we might give ourselves up more and more to Your Son Jesus Christ, in order that our burdened and contrite hearts, through the power of the Holy Spirit, may be nourished and refreshed with His true body and blood, yes, with Christ Himself, Who is true God and man, the only heavenly bread. We pray that we may no longer live in our sins, but that Christ may live in us, and we in Him, so that we may truly be partakers of the new and everlasting testament, the covenant of grace. We do not doubt that You will forever be our gracious Father, never again imputing our sins to us, but providing us with all things necessary for body and soul, as Your dear children and heirs.
Grant us also Your grace, so that we may take up our cross cheerfully, deny ourselves, confess our Savior, and in all our tribulation, with an uplifted head, expect our Lord Jesus Christ to come from heaven, where He will recreate our mortal bodies in the likeness of His glorified body, and take us to Himself in eternity.
Be pleased also, O Lord, to bless these elements of bread and wine, so that receiving them in remembrance of the passion and death of Your dear Son, we may by faith be made partakers of His crucified body and shed blood with all His benefits to our spiritual nourishment and to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
Would you also strengthen us through this holy supper in the general, undoubted Christian faith, of which we make confession with mouth and heart, saying:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, descended into hell, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the almighty Father, from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, a holy universal Christian church, the communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the flesh, and an eternal life.
Now, that we may be fed with the true bread of heaven, Christ, let us not cling with our hearts to the outward bread and wine, but lift up our hearts and faith to heaven, where Christ Jesus is our advocate at the right hand of His heavenly Father, to which also the articles of our Christian faith point us, and not doubt that we are as truly fed and given to drink in our souls with His body and blood through the working of the Holy Spirit, as we receive the holy bread and drink in remembrance of Him.
Here the minister shall break a piece of the Lord's bread for each one, and hand it to him, saying:
The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ.
And the other minister shall hand him the cup, saying:
The cup of thanksgiving, with which we give thanks, is the communion of the blood of Christ.
Meanwhile, according to the size of the crowd of communicants, and also according to the shape of each church, during the communion either a hymn shall be sung, or several chapters, suitable for the remembrance of the death of Christ, such as the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th of John, and the 53rd of Isaiah, shall be read; and in this may be used whatever is most suitable and edifying for each church.
Then the minister, breaking the bread and pouring the wine, shall repeat the words of institution:
“The Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it,
here the minister shall break the bread
and said, ‘Take eat; this is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner also He took the cup after supper,
here the minister shall pour out the wine and take the cup
saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’”
In distributing the bread the minister shall say:
“The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”
In giving the cup he shall say:
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?”
After the people assembled at the table have communed, the minister shall dismiss them with the following or another suitable blessing:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all; depart in peace. Amen.
After the communion is finished, the minister shall say:
You beloved in the Lord, since now the Lord has fed our souls at His table, let us all together praise His name with thanksgiving, and let each one say in his heart thus:
Praise the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, praise His holy name; Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not what good He has done for you: Who forgives you all your sins, and heals all your diseases: Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with grace and mercy. The Lord is merciful, patient, and of great goodness: He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquity: For as high as the heaven is above the earth, so great is His grace toward those who fear Him: As far as the rising of the sun is from its setting, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, who also did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, and with Him gave us everything. Therefore God demonstrates His love toward us, in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, so we will much more be saved by Him from wrath, now that we have been justified by His blood. For if we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son when we were still enemies, much more will we be saved through His life, now that we are reconciled to Him. Therefore my mouth and heart shall proclaim the praise of the Lord from now until eternity. Amen.
Or thus:
Almighty, merciful God and Father, we thank you with all our hearts, that out of boundless mercy, you have given us your only-begotten Son as a mediator and sacrifice for our sins, and as food and drink of eternal life, and you give us true faith, through which we become partakers of such your benefits, and you have also, for the strengthening of the same, instituted for your dear Son Jesus Christ His holy supper. We pray you, faithful God and Father, that you would, through the working of your Spirit, cause this remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the proclamation of His death, to lead to a daily increase in true faith, and in the blessed communion of Christ. Through the same your dear Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities His children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. He Who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? For if when we were ene mies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Therefore our hearts and lives shall show forth Your praises, O Lord, from now on and for evermore. Amen.
Alternate Prayer:
O merciful God and Father, we thank You with our whole heart that in Your boundless mercy You have given us Your only begotten Son to be a mediator and sacrifice for our sins – and our food and drink unto eternal life. We thank You for giving us a true faith, by which we become partakers of these benefits. Through Your dear Son Jesus Christ, You have also instituted and ordained this Holy Supper for the strengthening of our faith. We beseech You, O faithful God and Father, that by the operation of the Holy Spirit the remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ and the proclamation of His death may increase our faith and strengthen our fellowship with Christ; Who taught us to pray, saying: (followed by the Lord’s Prayer).
The Communion service in the modern RCUS Directory is a return to form for German Reformed liturgy. It clearly traces back to 1563 Palatinate Order, stepping over some innovative alterations of the union and Mercersburg liturgies. Still, it does not appear from the Directory's preface that the editors consulted either the 1798 American or 1563 Palatinate source directly. The first edition of the Directory was produced in 1970, probably without the consultation of the 1969 critical German edition of the Palatinate Order. In the time since the 1998 update to the Directory, a new academic translation of the 1563 service was produced for Reformation Worship. It therefore seems reasonable that the RCUS may consult these new sources in future evaluation of her liturgy, perhaps to allow for the longer admonition and remembrance sections, or even material present in 1563 but not 1798.
The 1998 adds the following:
An option to read from the confessions.
An explanatory paragraph about the nature of the sacrament before self examination
An explicit epiclesis before the words of institution and fraction
A dismissal before the post-communion prayer
Repetition of the words of institution immediately prior to distribution
Pouring of wine into the cup during the service
The 1998 relocates the following:
The Lord's Prayer from the pre-communion prayer to an optional post-communion prayer
The 1998 removes the following:
The Remembrance of Christ
The Creed
Explicit invitations to prayer (the minister simply begins to pray)
The 1998 reduces the following:
The self examination
The admonition
The paragraph about the nature of the sacrament appears to be an adaptation from the Presbyterian Directory, especially from the OPC:
The minister shall then summarize before the congregation the teaching of the Word of God as to the meaning and nature of the sacrament in the following or like words:
Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper as an ordinance to be observed by his church until he comes again. It is not a resacrificing of Christ, but is a remembrance of the...sacrifice of himself in his death for our sins. Nor is it a mere memorial to Christ's sacrifice. It is a means of grace by which God feeds us with the crucified, resurrected, exalted Christ. He does so by his Holy Spirit and through faith. Thus he strengthens us in our warfare against sin and in our endeavors to serve him in holiness. The sacrament further signifies and seals the...sins and...nourishment and growth in Christ. The bread and wine represent the...body and the shed blood of the Savior, which he gave for his people. In this sacrament, God confirms that he is faithful and true to fulfill the promises of his covenant, and he calls us to...gratitude for our salvation, to renewed consecration, and to more faithful obedience. The Supper is also a bond and pledge of the communion that believers have with him and with each other as members of his body. As Scripture says, "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread" (1 Cor. 10:17). The Supper anticipates the consummation of the ages, when Christ returns to gather all his redeemed people at the glorious wedding feast of the Lamb. As we come to the Lord's Table, we humbly resolve to deny ourselves, to crucify the sin that is within us, to resist the devil, and to follow Christ as becomes those who bear his name.
An epiclesis was present in both 1885 and 1927.
1885 Order of Worship (Union liturgy)
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, send down, we beseech Thee, the powerful benediction of Thy Holy Spirit upon these elements of bread and wine, that being set apart now from a common to a sacred and mystical use, they may exhibit and represent to us with true effect the Body and Blood of Thy Son, Jesus Christ; so that in the use of them we may also be made, through the power of the Holy Ghost, to partake really and truly of His blessed life, whereby only we can be saved from death, and raised to immortality at the last day. Amen.
1926 Book of Worship
Sanctify by Thy Spirit, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, these elements of bread and wine, that being set apart now from a common to a sacred and mystical use, they may exhibit and represent to us with true effect the Body and Blood of ‘Thy Son, Jesus Christ, so that in the use of them we may be made, through the power of the Holy Ghost, to partake really and truly of His blessed life, whereby only we can be saved from death, and raised to immortality at the last day. Amen.
The dismissal from communion is a function of the usual difference in distribution between 1798 and 1998. A form was present in 1885 but not in 1926. It was also in the 1947 E&R Service.
(1885) May the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, keep and preserve you, each one, in body, soul, and spirit, unto everlasting life. Amen. Depart in peace.
The self examination was absent in 1926 and 1885, but re-added in abbreviated form by the modern Directory. 1885 and 1926 instead used a ministerial or corporate confession and absolution.
The apostles' creed was present in the 1869 Western liturgy and the 1926 Book of Worship. In 1885, the Nicene Creed with Gloria Excelsis was instead said (or chanted), a custom more common among the Anglicans.