Understanding Divine Service Part 3

Let's pray and then we'll take a look at the Lord's Supper.

Lord keep us set steadfast in your word.

Curb.

Those who buy the cedar sword would rest the kingdom from your son and bring to Knot all that he has done.

We ask in Jesus name. Amen.

Any questions that percolated up in your minds during the sermon today?

No.

It's kind of straightforward.

Today we're going to continue as we work through what's called the divine service.

And yes.

Sure, what's one thing?

Yeah, so.

So so here's the idea in kind of practical.

Point of all this remember faith comes by hearing hearing by the Word of Christ.

We as Christians somehow think that it's our job to keep going at

the person who doesn't want to believe.

At some point you just basically say Let's talk about baseball.

You delivered the message they know what you believe and

They haven't believed.

Now that doesn't mean that God's Word is not doing something it might.

One of the wonderful pictures that we see in the Prophet Isaiah is that it describes the Word

of God as either a rain or sometimes the Word of God falls like a snow and.

So what happens is you don't you're you're not responsible for.

Their.

Reaction.

You're Responsible to deliver the message and that message might come and it might be like the Word of God

It'll fall like a snow.

So it you sit there and for all intents and purposes it looks like the Word of God's done

nothing.

But then God will cause something to happen in their lives where that snow then will melt and

Then it'll do something.

So the idea then is is that what a Paul say one plants and other waters, but it's God who gives the increase.

He neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but it's God who brings the increase.

He's everything.

So this then frees up.

One of the the problems that I think a lot of people have as Christians and evangelicals is.

This this.

Guilt that somehow it's my job to close the sale.

I got to close the sale that did Paul close the sale in Antioch Pisidia.

No.

There was no sales pitch.

He had a message to deliver to preach.

Caruso is to be a herald to proclaim to deliver a message from somebody else.

Not your own.

So Paul literally shows up.

He stands up rather than sits down.

He's not teaching.

This is not this is not a moment where it's up for discussion.

This for him is I'm delivering a message to you what God promised to our fathers in the

Old Testament in The Torah and the prophets he's now fulfilled in Christ and in him.

There is salvation and the forgiveness of sins to all who believe.

But beware lest you.

Lest what.

What the prophet wrote about you comes true, you know, behold you scoffers wander and perish.

So there was no you notice there was noticeably no close no call to

action.

Believe.

Period.

So Evangelicals and we Christians we feel like it's our responsibility.

You know, you know if you follow like evangelism explosion or you know These other evangelism techniques that have been taught in the past

a few decades.

You know you you want to get that person to the point where they pray the prayer.

Reality is we want them to be baptized.

But we preach the word.

Tell them about Christ call them to repent tell tell them of the forgiveness of their sins.

God will do his thing.

Yeah

Yeah Yeah, exactly.

And so

that's the thing we are tempted over and again to soft -pedal all this

stuff.

Because The reality is is that I forget who it was.

There was a great quote and now I can't remember the person who gave it.

But this idea is is that in each generation there are different points in time?

In which the Word of God is under attack and It's the call

of the Church of Christians to rally to that point to stand

up for the Word of God and boldly proclaim the truth and As many as don't do that,

you know, that's that's that's sin.

That's a problem.

And so in our day What have we seen happen the rallying points?

For the attack against the Word of God are going to first and foremost be against particular

sins.

Our culture wants the church to progress.

To have progress and to progress beyond The the place

where people have these beliefs that certain sexual sins are sins.

So we need the church to embrace Homosexual homosexuality we

need Christians to bake the cakes we need all of these things to happen and this is this is a rallying

point and What has happened rather than putting up a unified front and saying sorry?

God says and there's no progress here that it has been a sin since

The beginning of the earth will be a sin forever.

It is a sin instead.

Certain Christian churches have totally capitulated and have ordained in penitent homosexuals.

They bless same -sex marriages and in certain parts of Europe There are churches that call that are called

Lutheran churches, but they are required by the state to

Marry Homosexuals and where are we?

Is a church.

We all know that you stick your head up on this one.

You're gonna get you're gonna get your head cut off.

We all know this.

Social media our jobs, whatever.

Yeah.

Yeah, you know in the creed it detect the word should be Catholic.

It should not be Christian.

We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.

Catholic small see universal.

There used to be a day when the church fathers Would boast

about the fact that it doesn't matter where you are.

Whether you are in Jerusalem Alexandria Ephesus or in Gaul

and all the way up to where the Celts are.

The church is there all preached the same doctrine.

That can't even be said of Oslo.

This is a small place.

Forget Grand Forks.

I mean that's out the window.

I mean do all the churches preach the same doctrine.

But not even close.

What's happened.

Now Rome will sit there and they'll say well see this is what happens when you have sola scriptura.

Because then it basically means that anybody can come up with their own interpretation.

You sit there and go that sounds like a plausible argument, but there's something wrong with that.

Spun tunes, that's what you call.

I don't play the songs.

I'm not a musician.

Yeah.

The one the woman there gave a speech is all Catholic.

She said.

Ask of the Virgin Mother and she will help you.

Wow.

Yeah, that's I.

Mary and I are not on speaking terms.

So because there's only one mediator between God and man, that's Christ.

Yeah, I've never met the woman so I don't think it would be appropriate for me to be talking to strange women like that.

So anyway, yeah, I gotta be

careful.

You guys need to pull it together here.

I don't know what's gonna happen.

All right.

So so the idea then is is that the problem is not Scripture and see the Roman will

say we have we have approved Interpretations of Scripture which then allow for all this other nonsense.

Scripture says what Scripture says and one of the things we believe in is something called the perspicuity of

Scripture.

Have you heard this phrase before?

Perspicuity of Scripture first.

Perspicuity.

It's a big $5 word and the idea then is is that when we talk about Scriptures, you know in

this way is that they can be understood and Known and see

post -modernism teaches that it doesn't matter what the author intended To say it matters

only what you the receiver of the message feel inside of you regarding what you you know What it

says to you in your heart in your situation but first the perspicuity of Scripture basically

understands this that the single author of Scripture that's common for every book

is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit has Spoken to us in a way that he

can be understood in fact, not only can be understood but understood on like a

fourth or fifth grade level if you really want to get technical that the scriptures are understandable and

that he intended to communicate particular things and those particular things can be Understood by the person

listening to and reading the text.

The Bible is inherently Understandable and the wonderful thing about the scriptures if you will

listen to it is the scriptures always and again will tell you

what they mean and So one of the I've loved how

like even like a liberal scholar has noted the fact that the Bible Has the

closest thing in the ancient world to hyperlinks in it and that is is that the same

thing is talked about multiple different times and so a Text will reference this doctrine

and that reference is talked about in another doctrine.

And or another passage of Scripture and another passage will teach it you collect them all up and you can get a full picture of What the

Spirit has said and revealed in these ways.

This is why we understand that Old Testament is type and shadow.

Because the biblical text says that it is and we understand that the Bible is about Jesus and the reason

why we know it is about Jesus and that he's the central key to understanding the scriptures is because Jesus said that it is and

So when you read the Bible for the first time, you don't know these things.

I mean when I was a kid the first time I read the Bible went to beat Alton bookseller bought a

Black it wasn't even real leather.

It was just, you know kind of faux leather King James version of the Bible.

It did not have a zipper.

Yeah, I That was and that was an extra two bucks and I didn't want to pay it because you

know, I The money I earned doing the chores around the house.

What didn't add up quickly enough and I wanted the two dollars for like an ice cream or something.

So, you know, but it didn't even have gilded pages.

It had this weird pink, you know.

The the pages were pink and so I read that thing cover to cover in King James

English didn't understand a word of it.

But I was fascinated by the stories.

So first time through you kind of get the scope of these stories and you're going then you have to ask the question Why

are we focusing about these people in this place in at these times?

What is this all about and then you get to the parts about Jesus and you realize okay.

This seems to be like where the story comes to like a head and then everything changes from there.

Like you'll notice that the Old Testament flows Perfectly into the life of Christ and then in the book of Acts

everything kind of gets everything the whole.

Everything changes and so your first impression on this is like, okay, that's interesting.

But then as you study God's Word you come to church and you hear the preaching over and over and over again.

This is one of the brilliant parts about the lectionary that we follow.

Have you all noticed how the Old Testament text?

So often has something really much to do with what we're reading in the gospel text or in our epistle text.

They all seem to be working together that whoever put the selectionary together Knows that

the Bible works in this way.

So when you can see how the front end of the book and the back end of the book are kind of working together.

You can begin to realize okay.

This is this is understandable now all of this is precursor for a little bit more of an

in -depth study of some of the things we talked about last week as It relates to the Lord's Supper.

Very important that we let the scriptures inform us about these things and

over and again key phrase that is oftentimes a dividing line in

Christianity when it comes to understanding the Lord's Supper is How are you

understanding the word remembrance.

Jesus says do this into the remembrance of me.

That's stiff wooden translation of the Greek.

What does that mean?

What's this remembrance stuff now?

It's 21st century readers.

We would assume.

Well, that means we need to remember stuff About Jesus, you know, well, what

stuff you know.

The suffering stuff that we just need to remember that stuff.

Is that what remembrance means?

No, not at all.

So what description?

Yeah, it didn't say remember it's a remembrance.

Difference.

Into the remembrance of me.

What does that mean?

Okay, I referenced this last week and we'll spend a little bit of time.

We'll actually look at the text.

I'm going to show you another piece of all of this is that remembrance is something that is talked

about.

Very.

Specifically in the Old Testament and when it shows up.

Oftentimes remember and remembrance show up in the context of a covenant.

Covenant Contract.

God is making a contract with man and he does these things.

So you look at for instance Look at the Old Testament and you

look at Genesis chapter 9.

The establishing of we talked about this the noadic covenant.

But I want to read out the text because I want you to see how this works Biblically, let the scriptures teach you what this remember

stuff is.

So God said to Noah and his sons with him behold.

I Establish my covenant with you and your offspring after

you Covenant and we see a formula

if you would a format.

There's a way in which Covenants and the way they talked about in the ancient world.

They're cut how you cut a covenant that has transferred over even into our

own modern English when people say Let's cut a deal.

We can cut a deal together cut a deal a short talk for let's cut a covenant.

Let's make a contract.

Let's get an agreement between you and I so behold I established my covenant with you and your

offspring after you and with every living creature that is with you the birds the Livestock of every beast of the earth

with you as many as came out of the ark it is for every beast of the earth.

I established my Covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood

and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth and God said this is the

sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you.

For all future generations.

I have set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign.

It shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds I will remember My

covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh and the water shall never again become a

flood to destroy all flesh when the bow is in the clouds I will see it and Remember the

everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

God said to Noah This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all the flesh that is on the earth.

So here's the format there is Promises

oftentimes in a covenant.

There are promises or expectations or duties and

It's very frequent in covenants that there are also blessings for doing and curses for not

doing your part and They're usually between two parties and

Then there's something that is a visible sign to invoke and remember that covenant what we do

we have contracts, right?

So when we sign a contract, what do we do with the paper when we're done with it?

That's right.

We put it in the file box.

Okay, so in the days before file boxes.

You cut a covenant with somebody you don't have the piece of paper anymore.

So, what do you do?

You need something that would invoke that covenant?

So if if we were to do this old -school style.

Then when you go to the car dealership and you said you're gonna purchase a car and you cut it you get yourself in covenant.

With Toyota, you know of Grand Forks, which is a fine thing to do, right?

So you get yourself in a covenant with them and you and you sign all the paperwork and you get all this to go old -school

what you should do is get a miniature of your vehicle and that

miniature should be on your mantle and They should get a miniature of that vehicle as well

and that should be somewhere in their display box.

And so that when you don't make your payment.

You know, you know, you'd look at that.

You'd look at that little miniature goes.

That's the sign of the covenant.

I gotta make my car payment.

They're gonna come and pound my car, right?

So there would be some kind of a visual reminder.

We have a visual reminder in the covenant that is Made between two families

when there's a marriage contract.

That's what they're called by the way.

They're called marriage contracts.

What's the sign of the marriage covenant.

The rings that's the sign I'm married and I promise

in sickness and in health for better for worse

till death do us part and When people get divorced the rings come off

there's no covenant in place.

So in the same way then there are Visible signs of the covenant now when

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Genesis chapter 12.

God made a covenant with Abraham.

The covenant was a unilateral covenant and he promised to make his descendants as multi the

multitudinous as the sands on the shore as many as the stars in the sky and

That from him all nations, you know, one of his descendants would all the eight through him all nations would be blessed.

God cut that covenant.

Abraham was totally zonked out.

I mean he was asleep when that covenant was cut but then in the following chapters God

established the sign of that covenant.

What was the sign of that covenant that God made with Abraham?

Circumcision.

Circumcision.

He and all of his children.

That's the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant.

So when Jesus on the night that he's betrayed He takes bread and when he had given

thanks, he broke it and gave it to the disciples.

And I'm quoting what's called the verba which are the words of Christ the words of institution.

What is Jesus doing?

He's establishing the new covenant.

What is the sign of the new covenant the?

Right the body and blood of Christ that we but we see bread and wine.

But we we believe Christ's words that his body and blood are present.

That's the sign of the covenant now the Presbyterians by the way Presbyterians are a branch of Calvinism.

What do they believe the sign of the new covenant is?

They get it wrong, but I can I understand why they go this this this route.

What do Presbyterians believe the sign of the new covenant is?

Baptism.

Baptism and their thinking goes along these lines just as Circumcision

was the sign of the old covenant.

Baptism since Colossians says that when we were baptized our hearts are circumcised by

Christ.

They believe then that baptism is the sign of the new covenant.

But nowhere in Scripture is baptism referred to as a sign nor is it spoken of in remembrance

talk.

In relation to a covenant, so I think the Presbyterians have missed the mark here.

They've missed the mark and I I am thankful that they baptized their infants.

For the reason that they believe that it's a sign of the new covenant that

being said though.

It's not signed.

It isn't the sign of the new covenant is the body and blood of Christ.

And here's the best part when we see that sign.

Here at this church or when you're visiting another church and you see that sign.

The purpose of the sign is to do what?

Evoke the promises of the covenant in the preaching that you heard from the

Apostle Paul today.

When Paul was preaching at Antioch the city I wouldn't I mean with a few times in the book of Acts where we get

really the the sermon itself.

What was delivered?

Took all of just a couple minutes to deliver the message.

What was the promise that was given to them in Christ.

We declare to you the forgiveness of your sins for all who

believe.

Now all of that being said you kind of get this then taking a look at

First Corinthians chapter 10.

I want to do a little bit of work in first Corinthians 10 and then go into 11 and look at the verba and Want

you to see a few things here.

Therefore my beloved first Corinthians 1014 flee from idolatry.

I Speak as to sensible people judge for yourselves what I say.

The cup notice that that's singular

the cup singular of blessing that we bless.

Is it not a Participation in the blood of Christ,

what's the answer to the question?

Yes.

Yes it is the cup of blessing.

That we bless is it not a participation in the blood of Christ you bet your bippy.

It is the bread that we break.

Is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

What's the answer to the question?

Yes, it is.

So, you know here we have a clear text that in the Lord's Supper it is a

participation in both the body and the blood of Christ and Because there

is one bread we who are many are One body for

we all partake of the one bread.

Consider the people of Israel are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar.

What's the answer to the question?

Yes, they are.

Now this is kind of a fascinating aspect the Mosaic Covenant and let me go on a little bit of a digression here

in the book of Exodus.

Chapter.

28 Exodus 28 we see some very

interesting things here and this is talking then about the

The vestments that The high priest Aaron and his sons

who are Levites Nadab Abihu Eliezer and Ithamar what they were

required to wear as part of their service at the tabernacle that God

had commanded that Moses have it made and so it describes in

detail all of the different pieces of Their vestments and the

vest that specifically the vestments of the high priest which is different from the vestments of The common priests

but they were all vested up.

And then it goes on in chapter 29 just to describe the required Sacrifices for their ordination,

which is very fascinating, but I wanted I want you to see a few things here.

Exodus 28 12 God commands and says you shall set two stones on the

shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of remembrance for the

sons of Israel.

Who was God making a covenant with here the Mosaic Covenant?

He was making it with the children of Abraham and so as part of the remembrance of this covenant God

had commanded in the very Vestments that the priests were required to wear for their priestly duties

that there were stones that had the names of the sons of Israel

Literally engraved into them.

And.

Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for Remembrance and you shall make settings of

gold filigree two chains of pure gold twisted like cords.

You shall attach the cords.

So you get the idea here of all of these different things that are set up then by God and

specifically for the purpose of remembrance and then chapter 29

Exodus 29 we get these details.

Regarding the ordination and the sacrifices required for ordaining priests into the

priesthood Exodus 29 now, this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them.

That means to set them apart that they may serve me as priests.

Take one bowl of the herd two rams without blemish and Unleavened bread unleavened cakes mixed with

oil unleavened wafers smeared or anointed with oil and you shall make them fine.

Of fine wheat flour you shall put them in one basket bring them in the basket bring the bull and the two rams and you shall

Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

A little bit of a note here I think this is a wonderful type and shadow.

So this is describing in detail how the ordination service goes for the Levitical priest.

First order of business you have to be washed with water.

What does that sound like?

Baptism.

Okay.

Now you're gonna note that in the New Testament It talks about how our sins are washed

away in the waters of baptism.

That's one of the ways in which it's described in the book of Acts and that as Christians We are

clothed with heavenly garments.

We are clothed white robes clothed with the very righteousness of Christ.

I find it fascinating that even in the Levitical priesthood you get some of these these types and shadows.

So first order of business wash them with water.

They were probably washing what was called a mikvah.

Then you shall take the garments put on air and put on Aaron the coat the robe of the ephod the ephod the breastplate.

And gird him with a skillfully woven band of the ephod.

You shall set the turban on his head put the Holy Crown on the turban.

You shall take the anointing oil pour it on his head and anoint him.

Yeah, by the way anointing wasn't just a mere touching of your body with a little bit of oil.

They would take a horn filled with oil and it would Dump they'd

dump this thing on your head.

So the oil would run off your head down your beard onto the ground and yet the psalmist

actually talks about how it is Wonderful or beautiful that brothers

would dwell together in unity.

It is like oil flowing down the beard of Aaron.

Isn't that an interesting picture how you know, the unity of the body is described.

By like this anointing of the the oil flowing down the beard of Aaron.

So you pour it on his head you shall bring his sons put coats on them.

You shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes bind caps on them and the priesthood shall be theirs by a

statute.

Forever thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons ordained by the way, it means to publicly place somebody into an

existing office.

Have you ever thought that being the case.

How is it that we ordain our presidents?

We call it an inauguration.

Donald Trump for a while was the president -elect and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth in

certain parts of the country continues to this day.

He.

Was president -elect and then someday in January the third week of January

Everybody gathered at the Capitol and Donald Trump put his hand on a Bible

Raised his right hand and gave the oath of office.

It was a public ceremony.

Now he is the man who currently fills the office of The

President of the United States the head of our country.

And that office exists Independent of who is

in it and there have been times for very brief

moments that office has been vacant.

Like the death of Lincoln.

It took a while to find the other guy to get have the oath of office after the death of Kennedy.

Then Lyndon B Johnson and it's important that there are witnesses.

There have to be witnesses because an ordination is a public thing.

So what is going on here?

And by the way, this is what an ordination is for a pastor when a pastor is ordained.

We recognize the pastoral office is an office created by God for the

purpose of caring for Christ's sheep.

Word.

Sacrament reproving rebuking exhorting teaching all of these things and so guys can't

just sneak in as Pastors it's required for them to be ordained because

it's an office.

And so an ordination then is the public.

Placing of a man into the pastoral office.

With generally the laying on of hands.

You see it.

Okay.

So here God has set up a Levitical priesthood.

The priesthood is an office and now they're being ordained into it.

All these are little side notes, but we're gonna pick we're gonna pick up the parts that we need along the way.

You shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting.

Aaron is and his son shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.

This is the transferring of their sin onto the bull.

The bull becomes the substitute for them rather than them dying.

The bull dies.

So then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take part of the blood of the

bull put it on the horns of the altar with your finger and the rest of the blood you shall Pour out at the base of the altar.

That's sacrifice.

Number one.

You shall take all of the fat that covers the entrails the long lobe of the liver the two kidneys of the fat.

That is on them burn them on the altar.

But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp.

Then you shall take one of the rams.

This is sacrifice number two and Aaron and his son shall lay their hands on the head of the ram more sin being transferred.

And you shall kill the ram shall take its blood throw it against the sides of the altar.

Then you shall cut the ram into pieces.

Wash its entrails and its legs put them with its pieces on its head burn the whole ram on the altar.

It's burnt offering to the Lord.

It is a pleasing aroma and listen to this word a food offering to the Lord.

Why are we talking about a sin offering being a food offering?

Doesn't make sense quite yet.

You shall take the other ram sacrifice number three and Aaron and his son shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

You shall kill the ram take part of his blood put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron.

So you got blood and watch where the blood goes blood goes right ear thumb big

toe.

When Christ was suffering He had a crown of thorns on his head.

It was pierced in his hands and his feet.

I think this is kind of type and shadow that points us to Christ because we learn in the book of Hebrews that these

sacrifices of animals could never and never did actually atone for sin.

They were all pointing to the once and for all sacrifice of Christ.

All right.

So put blood on your thumbs right hands of the great toe.

Right feet throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar.

Then you shall take part of the blood that's on the altar of the oil.

Anointing oil and then sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments.

So take that blood that's on the altar take part of it off and then sprinkle it on your clothes.

Which he have to wonder does that leave a permanent stain in the days before there were washing machines probably

did.

And on his sons and his garment with them and by the way scripture says without the shedding of blood.

There is no forgiveness of sins.

He and his garments shall be holy.

His sons and his sons garments with him.

You shall also take the fat from the ram the fat tail the fat that covers the entrails the long lobe of the liver.

Two kidneys the fat that is on them and the right thigh for it is the right it is the ram of ordination.

One loaf of bread one cake of bread made with oil one wafer out of the basket unleavened bread that is before the Lord.

You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron in the palms of his sons and then wave them for a wave offering before The Lord

and then you shall take them from their hands burn them on the altar.

On top of the burnt offering is a pleasing Aroma, it is a here we go.

Again.

It is a food offering to the Lord.

Okay, that's weird.

You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron's ordination wave it.

For a wave offering before the Lord and it shall be your portion.

Now we see why it's a food offering.

So notice these Sacrifices.

Which are for atoning of their sins in order to make them holy.

There's a portion of that atoning sacrifice.

That is held out that is now their portion, which means it's for them to

eat all of these

sin offerings a portion of them were.

Consumed.

Jesus Christ is our atoning sacrifice.

What is it that we receive at the altar when we have the

Lord's Supper?

Jesus says the body and blood of Christ.

Now it's it's crazy when you think about it.

Are you saying that Jesus is a food offering?

Yeah.

Yeah, it it boggles the mind how can this be.

I don't know.

Why I don't know why I?

Just know the scriptures teach this literally all over the place.

Just like the Old Testament Sacrifices the atoning sacrifices were consumed.

They were a food offering our atoning sacrifice in a very real way

Is also a food offering it seems crazy.

It seems offensive.

It seems like it'll blow your mind and No, it's not cannibalism.

Yet at the same time you can sit there and say well I am.

So if this is where it gets interesting now all of that being said that's kind of giving you some of the Old Testament Background for what we

read the cup of blessing and bless.

Is it not a participation of the blood of Christ answer?

Yes, it is the bread that we break.

Is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Yes, it is.

There's one bread we who are many than our one body for we all partake of the one bread.

So notice here that the Lord's Supper creates unity.

Which is one of the reasons why we get a little uppity about whom we have the Lord's Supper

with full so if somebody invites me to a Roman Catholic funeral and I've been to

them before for Family members and It's a

funeral mass, which means the Lord's Supper is going to be present.

Do I go and have the Lord's Supper with my Roman Catholic?

Family.

No, I don't because that would be me saying I'm in unity with you and

We're not

so the Lord's Supper Is a visible sign of unity now the sign then of unity is

what the body and blood of Christ Does it matter and this is you

know an important question?

Does it matter if you receive the Lord's Supper and what I like to call the holy shot glasses?

Or if you receive it in a common cup if you receive it in a common

glass wine glass or a.

Dixie cup.

Does it matter.

No, it's not the vessel that's holding it that matters.

The thing that matters is the contents in the vessel and It's that those contents that we

take together.

Which is a visible sign of our unity and is also a participation in the body and blood of

Christ.

Right.

Showing that reverence or showing what it is.

I mean, yes, it's.

You're getting back to where you're going to be as.

Right now I understand what you're talking about here.

Now in the thing I had in mind as my mental referent when I talked about Dixie cups.

Was you might find yourself in a circumstance where you are going to be?

Having a church service with a group of believers in a place where you didn't expect to have it.

And so, you know, we have the luxury of meeting Sunday after Sunday after Sunday here in this

beautiful sanctuary.

Yeah, it might be the best thing you travel to Africa.

They can't afford to put a roof on some of these churches.

They have dirt floors and I assure you they probably can't even afford the little shot glasses.

Yeah.

Was saying, you know, they understand that but then they don't take that point when they have the ability.

Right.

Hey, this is holy.

And making sure that they were going to do it.

We're that.

Exact.

Yeah, that's another story that's something totally.

And.

And I bring this up then in this sense is that in the context of like the radical informality that

has become the American Evangelicalism, I mean there is you don't even get the holy shot glasses.

I mean you get fish crackers and In punch, you know,

that's that that I think goes off into a different direction altogether.

It's not even.

This is covenantal this we are in covenant with God

the new covenant the signs of this covenant are the body and blood of Christ and when those signs

are present we remember the promises of the covenant that we are forgiven and God remembers the

promises of the covenant to not throw our carcasses into the lake of fire as we deserve.

But to have mercy on us.

This is in that when you remember it in that sense now, it takes on a really different meaning altogether.

And so as Luther pointed out the the the emphasis then in the verba, which are the words of

institution are given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins.

For the forgiveness of your sins and I can tell you there are times in my life long before

I was a pastor when Struggling against the temptations of the world

the devil my own flesh that I would come to church literally beaten

bruised and bloodied and To be able to go to the altar and

hear the pastor say these words.

Take eat.

This is the true body of Christ given for you for the forgiveness of your sins.

That was like a drowning man being given a life raft.

I could hang on to those words and that's really what remembrance is about because

I'm Remembering the promises of the covenant the promises of the covenant are though your sins

be a scarlet I will make you white as snow and.

So this the fact that it's the blood and body of Christ and that we're participating and this is a unity this is

so important and so.

You know, I say all of this though because when it comes to practice then many of the Lutheran churches

I've been a part of.

They have a mixed thing.

Where you know, you're allowed to you know for hygiene reasons if you're kind of germaphobe.

You can have the holy shot glasses and for those who want to follow the way it was originally

instituted because notice.

It's a singular cup.

Jesus didn't pour 12 glasses of wine

the cup singular.

Jesus poured one cup and Said take drink

and they and went around the room.

One cup and so there are those who?

Prefer the common cup and I get it.

That's my preferred way of receiving the Lord's Supper, but we would not look down

on People when it comes to freedom in this way.

The vessel is not the important thing.

That's the contents what you believe you're receiving.

So bring that up.

So then Consider the text then so because there is one bread we who are

many are one body will all partake of the one bread.

Consider the people of Israel and this was where we went off and launched into that little excursion to Texas are not those who eat.

The sacrifices participants in the altar.

Yeah, so what do I imply then food offered to idols is anything or that an idol is anything.

No I Apply that what pagan sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.

I don't want you to be participants.

With demons you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.

You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy?

Are we stronger than he is answer?

No, we're not.

Chapter 11 then Gets into the thorny issue of the

abuses of the Lord's Supper.

Among the Church of Corinth and the practice that they were

doing was absolutely abysmal so Corinth was

Morally a really sketchy town.

It's a good way to put it.

You know the closest thing I could liken it to is Las Vegas today.

When you traveled into Corinth.

It was a seaport between the Aegean Sea and I forget the other sea there but there was a

small isthmus and they would take boats out of the water and literally drag them across this isthmus so that you could you know to cut off a

long stretch of sea voyage and While they were doing that the sailors

they would go into town and do their thing.

You know what sailors do and and to help Accommodate this and relieve them of some of the money that was in their

pockets.

At the top of the city there was a place called the Acre Corinth and there at one point was that a

thousand shrine prostitutes were part of the Temple complex

at the top of the Acre Corinth hasn't gets you an idea.

This is a really screwed -up place morally and in Roman culture.

Roman culture did not really have a true middle class.

The middle class was beginning to kind of come out a little bit.

But in in Roman culture, there were really two classes you had the wealthy and.

Everybody else.

The the middle class doesn't exist the way it exists in our economy today and so.

That being the case Rome Roman citizens who had means who are in the upper class.

They consider themselves better than the people in the lower class.

There was no second class.

It was first class.

And then cattle, you know slaves and the poor and everything else.

Christianity comes along and the message of the gospel says that we're all free in Christ that

we're all equal in Christ.

There is neither slave nor free Jew nor Greek male or female, but we're all one in Christ.

We're all equals before God.

And this then starts showing up in Christian worship where it gets very interesting where at the

same altar you would have a slave owner and his

slave or.

Slaves.

Hearing the word of the Lord and being treated as equals and for some this was a bitter pill to swallow

and it was gonna take some time for their sanctification to really kind of kick in.

The Holy Spirit had some Prejudices and Cultural ideas that you know They had learned in the Roman

society that he was gonna have to curb out of them.

And so as a result of it the wealthy in Corinth were keeping the poor from having the Lord's

Supper By consuming all of the elements even to the point of drunkenness So that

they couldn't have any people in lower class couldn't.

So.

Paul would not have been considered part of the upper echelon Paul was Was kind of a

skilled craftsman by trade.

So he was part of the burgeoning middle class that really hadn't come out in its fullness yet.

And so he was a guy who had skill as a tent maker.

Which gave him the means to be able to serve as a missionary on his own dime.

Which that which was a thing for him but in order for that for him to do this so he would go into a town

and he would set up shop in the Agora and you know as a tent maker and

Get to making his trade and people would be purchasing tents from him.

And that's how he funded his missionary work.

Yes, so he's well educated.

Paul of Tarsus studied under Gamaliel.

We know his parents were pretty wealthy in Tarsus, we know this from

church history and.

So he was the best way I could put it is is that he had more Opportunities that other people

wouldn't have and it was not very common for people in the lower classes to actually be citizens.

Okay, so as a citizen, he's already technically in the upper class.

But he's still not in the in the he's not wealthy landed.

He's he's in a different class.

He's in a merchant class.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, indeed.

He could lose his very livelihood and his life which he ended up losing.

And yes.

Would you comment on the distinction within Protestantism and as compared to Islamism distinction

between the sacraments and ordinances.

Okay, the Yes, there is a branch in

Protestantism that really hates the word sacrament

and I understand, you know, you look through scriptures and you're not going to see the word

Sacrament in it.

It's a Latin phrase.

And what is the Latin phrase mean?

Mystery.

So what it's basically the word itself is saying that these things are mysteries

given to us by God and We believe by faith what they are now.

The branch of Protestantism that denies that God is working in the waters of

baptism and They deny that Christ is bodily present in the Lord's Supper.

They change the M the emphasis from mystery sacrament to ordinance and here's how

they see it.

Or an Ordinance is something God has commanded us to do.

Why do I need to get baptized?

Because Jesus said you need to get wet.

What's what's gonna happen?

Nothing?

Nothing's gonna happen to you in the waters of baptism.

If Jesus says jump you say how high He said get in the water.

So you get in the water.

Ordinances law.

Sacrament Puts it in a different category.

Because in the waters of baptism all the clear passages teach and the summary goes something like this that

our sins are washed away.

That we are buried with Christ that we are raised with Christ.

Our heart is circumcised by Christ and this is all God's work.

So baptism isn't a law to be obeyed it is a gift to

be received.

Ordinance is in the way of law.

So then you go to a church then when they talk about the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.

Why are we having?

Grape juice and crackers every four months or so because Jesus said to

Okay, what's it for it's to show Jesus that we're obeying his word.

Okay.

Yeah.

But Jesus is body and blood they're not in there.

It's not for the forgiveness of your sins it turned the ordinance turns it into law and

These are specifically gospel.

Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins is gospel sins washed away.

That's gospel.

One baptism for the forgiveness of sins which comes straight out of Acts chapter 2.

That's gospel.

Ordinance turns it into a law.

Yeah, yeah.

Here when we're driving to kanzinger You're gonna notice something about the roads.

They're up and on one side of the road.

There's a ditch on the other side of the road.

There's a ditch.

This behooves us then that while we're driving to not end up in either ditch.

Rome.

So they take the Lord's Supper and They turn it into.

During the medieval times the bloodless resacrifice of Christ is how they would talk about it.

And it became a law.

It became a law and There's a reaction against it and the

overreaction ends up in the opposite ditch.

Rome is wrong.

So we're going to go the opposite direction of their error.

But the opposite error of an error is not the truth.

The Lutherans come along and say.

Huh?

Would you guys please just hold these things in tension the way scripture does?

Because Rome says in the Lord's Supper There is only the body and blood of Christ present and that it

just looks like bread and wine.

The other side comes and says there's no body and blood of Christ presence.

It's just bread and wine the Lutheran say do you guys not know how to read?

This is how to Lutheran stock and we'll point this out and then we'll wrap this up here.

So this is where we keep going from here.

So in the following instructions first first Corinthians 11 17 I do not commend you

because when you come together It's not for the better for the worse in the first place when you come together as a church I hear there are

divisions among you and I believe it in part.

There must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

And when you come together It's not the Lord's Supper you eat for an eating one goes ahead with his own meal one

goes hungry and another gets drunk by the way.

Grape juice was not Even invented at this point

and the fact that there were people getting drunk on the communion wine is proof positive.

That that they were drinking Fermented wine this is

most certainly true because you can't get drunk on Welch's.

Which wasn't going to come along until the 19th century anyway?

So do you not have houses to eat and drink in or do you despise the Church of God and humiliate those who

have nothing?

What shall I say to you?

Shall I commend you in this?

No, I will not.

And watch what he says next for I received from you from the Lord what I also delivered to you.

That the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed took bread.

When he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is given for you do this

in to the remembrance of me.

Covenantal talk in the same way.

Also.

He took the cup after supper.

Saying this cup singular is the new covenant in my blood.

There's your covenant talk again.

Now that's explicitly he's establishing the new covenant do this as often as you drink it in

Remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's

death until he comes.

Whoever therefore and watch this count it up.

Rome is wrong and the other side's wrong too.

Therefore Whoever eats the bread.

Does it say that you eat bread.

Yes, it does.

There's one Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup.

So we got bread and wine of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the

Lord.

How many things is that?

For.

Rome says to the other side says to they say the opposite to the text says for

Bread wine body blood so whoever eats the Bread and

drinks the cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of Christ.

So let a person examine himself and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Anyone who eats and drinks without discerning and this Greek word by the way An oxy os

can also mean Recognize.

If anyone does not whoever eats and drinks without discerning or recognizing the body eats and

drinks judgment on himself.

That is why many of you are weak and ill and have died.

Bread wine body blood.

How does it work?

I don't know.

Faith says Thank you Lord That you've given us this gift

of your body and blood somehow mysteriously present with this bread and wine given and shed

for the forgiveness of our sins and this is the sign of the New Covenant.

And in doing so I am remembering that you have promised to forgive me of my sins and you God have

remembered Your promise that you will be merciful to me

In the same way that the destroyer in Egypt passed over the houses where the blood was

the destroyer passes over us because We have the blood of Christ on our lips and on

our tongue.

That's the idea.

We'll pick up more of this next week.