The Ordinances: The Lord’s Supper

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March 25, 2021

Thursday Evening Study: Shayne Poirier teaches on the Grace Fellowship Church statement of faith. This study is on the Ordinances - The Lord’s Supper.

00:00: This sermon is from Grace Fellowship Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. To access other sermons or to learn more about us, please visit our website at graceedmonton .ca.
00:15: So like I said, this week we're going to study the Lord's Supper. So this is the ordinances part two.
00:22: And while some might be disappointed that we're not doing the last things yet, it is a good and it's a worthwhile topic.
00:29: And so I want us to approach it with that frame of mind. If you remember from last week,
00:36: Amy, I'm not sure if you heard what we were talking about last week, but we shared a story about a man named
00:43: Felix Mons, who was a Swiss Anabaptist believer. And he was executed by, at that point, it was the
00:53: Reformed Church, the Protestant Reformed Church in Switzerland. And he wasn't arrested and executed for murder or for adultery or for treason, but he was executed by drowning because of his view on baptism.
01:10: So he was drowned by the Protestant Church in that city because he believed in credo baptism, that only people who believe on Christ, only true believers, verifiable believers, should be baptized.
01:25: And if you were baptized as a child, that meant you should be baptized again. And so he went to death, to execution for that.
01:34: And you'll remember too that I shared a story how in the second century, Christians were reviled, they were insulted, they were persecuted for their commitment to the
01:46: Lord's table. So for their commitment to the Lord's Supper, what we're talking about tonight. And they were even charged with cannibalism and because that was last week,
01:56: I'll just remind us. So Cecilius the pagan, you'll remember there was a debate between the
02:02: Christians and Cecilius the pagan, and he said something that is still ringing in our ears today in many ways.
02:11: He said, you Christians are the worst breed ever to affect the world.
02:17: You deserve every punishment you can get. Nobody likes you. It would be better if you and your
02:24: Jesus had never been born. And then the kicker, he says, we hear that you are cannibals.
02:32: You eat the flesh of your children in your sacred meetings. And that was often said of Christians is that they were cannibals, that they, because of this ritual, this ordinance that they participated in, they were likened to murderers and those that even ate their own children.
02:51: And like I said, it's something that rings in our ears still. I shared something with Steve this week.
02:57: Just this week, unsolicited, we had someone randomly message us and call us all kinds of names and all kinds of bad things for no other reason than that we're
03:06: Christians. And so, in any case, why did I tell these stories at the beginning of last week and why do
03:14: I recount them now? The case that I was making and the case that I want to make today as we begin our study is this, that we see that in the
03:23: Bible, for one, but also in the witness of Christians throughout the ages, the ordinances of the church have always mattered or should have always mattered.
03:36: They did really matter. And they're more than matters of convenience, but they are, in fact, blessings given by Christ.
03:45: The ordinances are blessings given by Christ. They're to be received with thanksgiving. Their meaning is to be understood and to be embraced by believers.
03:57: And they're to be practiced with diligence in the church. So the ordinances are not these throw -away things that we find in the
04:05: Bible. They're something that matters, something that we should hold to. As I was preparing this week,
04:10: I thought about a young adult service that Nicole and I used to go to when we were in our early 20s.
04:18: And I started to think, in all the time that we went, it wasn't that long, but in about a year, there never was the celebration of the
04:25: Lord's Supper. There simply wasn't something that was valuable enough in that context to celebrate.
04:33: And yet, that's not the case that we see in the Bible. That's not the case that we see in church history. The Lord's Supper is something that is of tremendous value, inestimable value, is how
04:43: I put it last week. So tonight, we're going to focus on understanding the
04:50: Lord's Supper better. Understanding the meaning of it. Who can participate in it? How do we participate in it?
04:56: What does this look like? And so we'll start with review. And kids, no one, at least, I want to ask you specifically.
05:03: And maybe the adults can help if you get stumped. But what is an ordinance? Do you remember?
05:11: No? Does anyone else remember? What is an ordinance? Baptism and the
05:28: Lord's Supper are the two ordinances of the church. And that word ordinance, nice try, the word ordinance really is that which
05:37: Christ has ordained. So when we think, what is an ordinance? It's something that Christ has ordained.
05:45: Because ordained is perhaps maybe a word that isn't used as often today as in times past.
05:53: It's something that Christ has instituted. So when Christ instituted the Lord's Supper, that was something that he ordained.
06:00: And I was going to ask, what are the two ordinances? You answered too soon, but the two ordinances are the
06:05: Lord's Supper and baptism. We talked about it last week that in the Catholic Church, for instance, they have seven ordinances.
06:12: And the problem, the exception that we take with that is not with Catholics, but simply with the idea that Christ did not ordain seven things as part of the worship of the church.
06:24: But he ordained two things. He ordained baptism, something he participated in, something that he taught in, something that in the
06:30: Great Commission he ordained, and the Lord's Supper. Now, where do we see the
06:37: Lord's Supper ordained in the Bible? Does anyone remember where we've seen that?
06:57: It happened in a building. You had to go up the stairs to get there. In the upper room.
07:06: Yeah, well, no, that's fine too. So the first place that we see it fully laid out is in Matthew 26.
07:13: So let's go in our Bibles to Matthew 26. What I want us to do, we're going to review two of the main texts on the
07:21: Lord's Supper, and then we will pretty much park ourselves in those two passages as we unpack the meaning of the
07:32: Lord's Supper. So, in Matthew 26, verse 26, just for context, if you look at the beginning of verse 17, if you have a heading in your
07:45: Bible, in the ESV it says, the Passover with the disciples. It was the celebration of the
07:52: Passover. So the disciples were celebrating the Passover meal with Christ in the upper room.
07:59: And during this celebrating of the Passover meal, in verse 26, it says this.
08:06: Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said,
08:14: Take, eat, this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying,
08:21: Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
08:29: I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new with you in my
08:37: Father's kingdom. So as they're celebrating the Passover feast, and that's an important detail,
08:43: I want you to remember that Christ breaks bread, he serves the wine, and as part of the instituting, the commemorating of, the inaugurating of the new covenant, he institutes the
08:57: Lord's Supper. And we won't go there, but we see parallels, if you're writing notes, in Mark 14 and Luke 22 of this particular passage.
09:07: So we see the Lord's Supper in three out of the four Gospels. The next big passage that deals with the
09:17: Lord's Supper is in 1 Corinthians 11. So these are the two big texts that pertain to the
09:26: Lord's Supper. So we'll probably have our finger in one of these passages for the remainder of the evening.
09:34: But in chapter 11 and verse 23, I'll start there. Paul quotes
09:42: Christ, he says, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the
09:48: Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
09:55: This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
10:01: In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
10:08: Do this as often you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat and drink the cup, you proclaim the
10:16: Lord's death until he comes. So we see that the
10:22: Lord's Supper is settled as an ordinance. It is both commanded, it's instituted, it's ordained by Christ in the
10:30: Gospels, and it's practiced by the Church, as is reflected by Paul's words.
10:36: And it's an ordinance that's to be repeated. So we see that in verse 26. If you look,
10:42: Paul says, he quotes Christ, something that we don't actually see in the Gospel accounts, but is no doubt accurate and inspired, he says,
10:51: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, so as often as you do it, so it's something that's to be done with some regularity, as often as you do it, you proclaim the
11:03: Lord's death until he comes. It's something that is to be done until the Lord's parousia.
11:09: So now we're getting into the last things, until the Lord comes. The word parousia means the second coming of Christ.
11:17: So I'm going to follow a little bit of the same pattern that we did last week, in terms of just keeping things simple.
11:24: So you'll remember last week I said, who are the subjects of baptism, right? Who gets to participate in baptism?
11:30: Well, I'm going to ask the same question. Who are the subjects of the Lord's Supper? So who gets to participate when the
11:38: Lord's Supper is served? Who gets to go to the front or receive it in their seats and participate?
11:45: I'll put that question to you guys. Who gets to participate in the Lord's Supper? Not everyone?
12:01: Okay. Amy, you're always quiet.
12:08: Can I pick on you? That's right.
12:33: Yeah, absolutely. That's right. In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 27, we'll start there.
12:42: It says, Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the
12:52: Lord. Let a person examine himself. Then so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, so without really understanding, without really holding to the sacrifice behind the
13:08: Lord's Supper, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
13:17: And so the Lord's Supper, there's unanimous... Oh, yeah, go ahead, Steve. Okay, I was going to say the
13:24: Lord's Supper, there's unanimous agreement. We've heard about differing perspectives. We'll hear about more differing perspectives about the
13:30: Lord's Supper, but there's unanimous agreement that the subjects, the participants of the Lord's Supper are to be believers.
13:36: They're to be believers who are walking with the Lord. Go ahead. What do you say to someone who abstains from the
13:52: Lord's Supper because of... Absolutely.
14:03: We're going to get there. So can I answer that in the course... Yeah, sure. We'll answer that in the course of the next minute or two, maybe the next five minutes.
14:12: But, no, it's absolutely important that we say that when we serve the
14:17: Lord's Supper, those who we serve the Lord's Supper to, those who should participate are those who are believers.
14:23: Now, some might say that they need to be baptized believers. Others say baptism doesn't matter.
14:30: In my mind, I can't be too picky because Scripture is silent on the issue.
14:37: I think that it's a good practice for those believers to be baptized, so they're baptized as believers.
14:45: That signifies their entry into both the Christian life, the covenant community, and then they continue that affirmation in the
14:56: Lord's Supper. But if there's someone in the baptism classes next week and we're serving the
15:02: Lord's Supper, I'm not going to fence the table from them. I'll leave that between them and the Lord in terms of their own conscience.
15:08: Does that make sense? Yeah. I have two at various times.
15:28: You know what? Probably up until this study, I held to the fact that you just need to be baptized.
15:35: I've told that to the kids. Why aren't we participating in the Lord's Supper? Well, you need to believe. You need to be baptized.
15:41: And then you can participate in the Lord's Supper. And that would probably be my own conviction, but because the Bible doesn't say that specifically,
15:48: I can't hold other people, I can't bind their conscience with my preference. So that's why
15:54: I leave that there. But first of all, we see in the
15:59: Bible, so if we look again in that 1 Corinthians 11, 27 to 30 passage, everyone that takes the bread and the cup must first examine their own hearts before the
16:09: Lord, it says. So they should be asking diagnostic questions as they approach the table.
16:16: And so a couple of the questions that you might ask, whether you're a believer or whether you don't know if you're a believer or an unbeliever, whatever the case might be, is this.
16:27: Have I rightly discerned the body? So we see that in the text, right? Have I rightly discerned the body?
16:32: And what this means is, do I understand what this bread and this wine represent?
16:39: The body of Christ that was broken and His blood that was shed on the cross for me, do
16:48: I believe that? Have I discerned that? Do I understand the significance of this?
16:55: Another question we should ask is, am I right with God through Jesus Christ?
17:01: So if you answer no to that, then I would say no, you should not participate in the
17:06: Lord's Supper, or maybe even better, repent and believe on Christ.
17:12: But we should be asking, am I right? Is there repentance? Is there faith? Is there fruit that is consistent with that profession?
17:21: Another diagnostic question as we examine ourselves before the table, is there the presence of any sin in my life that I am actively engaged in, that I am not repenting of?
17:35: Now this doesn't mean that I can't quite recall every possible sin, and therefore I can't be certain that I've repented of every possible sin, but rather, am
17:44: I nurturing some type of sin in my life? Am I nursing some type of favorite secret sin?
17:51: Am I giving into and entertaining this sin? And is there no repentance?
17:59: Another question is, am I in right relationship with Christ's body, the church? Some believe that that idea of discerning the body in the context of a united church, meeting together, taking the
18:11: Lord's Supper, is, am I bearing a grudge, any unforgiveness?
18:17: Is there bitterness in my heart against another member of Christ's covenant community? As far as it concerns me, am
18:23: I at peace with all men in the assembly, all men and women in the assembly?
18:29: And so, we want to discern our fellowship and our communion with the people of God as we approach the table of God.
18:37: These are all questions, and there are more, certainly, but just a few that came to mind as I was preparing. And then, every time we partake in the
18:45: Lord's Supper, it should be an opportunity for renewed repentance and a furtherance of our faith.
18:53: And so, we'll get into the meaning of the Lord's Supper, but I can think of very few times where I've come to the
18:59: Lord's Supper, and there should be an opportunity as we serve the
19:05: Lord's Supper for people to consider, to examine themselves, to repent, to remember why we are here, what this represents, to discern the body, and to look to Christ by faith.
19:21: And so, I'm tempted to get into meaning, but I'm going to hold my horses there.
19:29: When it comes to participating in the Lord's Supper, the subjects of the Lord's Supper, is there a role for anyone else in that?
19:38: So, there are the believers, certainly, that are examining themselves, they're discerning the body.
19:44: Do you think that there's a role for anyone else in that equation? Yeah, sorry, it's a bit of a fuzzy question.
19:52: Is there a role for anyone else in determining the subjects of baptism? Or, sorry, the
19:58: Lord's Supper? Outside of each individual believer, sitting in their seat.
20:08: Christ, absolutely. And what I would say, too, is the under -shepherds. I heard you say it this week, fencing the table.
20:16: We believe, biblically, that the under -shepherds of the church have a responsibility to what theologians through church history have called fencing the table.
20:27: And so, what that really is, if you're wondering, is that a biblical idea? When Paul writes this exhortation to the
20:35: Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11, he is, in essence, fencing the table. And the way that we fence the table, we put up caution signs, almost, of warning and of discipline for the good of the flock.
20:54: And we do this so that no one would be deceived by false assurances, right?
21:01: That's why, if you look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians, 1
21:07: Corinthians 11, in verse 19, he said, For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
21:18: He wanted people to know, he wanted there to be a clear delineation between who are believers and who are unbelievers.
21:28: And this is in the context of the Lord's Supper. So he's saying there needs to be that delineation. So he doesn't want anyone, and every under -shepherd, every under -shepherd who has a shepherd's heart does not want anyone to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
21:45: They don't want anyone going to hell with the false assurance that they're a believer.
21:52: And then, also, they don't want anyone to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin in the sense that people are walking openly in sin, practicing sin publicly, grossly.
22:08: It's clear to the community, and yet we allow them to participate as if they're acting like Christians.
22:13: Does that make sense? And so, the Lord's Supper, when an under -shepherd fences the table, when they're helping to determine what this looks like, it's not like,
22:23: I think of a bouncer outside a club or something, right? Like a thug that determines whether you get in or whether you stay out.
22:31: But rather, it's the leaders of the church having an eye for the good of the flock, the good of the people, gently, that's what
22:43: I'm trying to say, gently, lovingly, graciously, guiding the people to ensure that they're not participating in an unworthy manner.
22:53: I have more to say, but go ahead, Steve. Does this, would that constitute an under -church discipline in that instance?
23:05: Absolutely, yeah. So, good example, Matthew chapter 18, if we go there quickly.
23:15: We would teach and practice within the context of Grace Fellowship Church that if there is someone who is currently under church discipline, and that's a whole topic in and of itself, but if there's someone who's under church discipline, that we as the leaders would not allow them, there would be that expectation amongst both the leaders and that individual that they are not to participate in the
23:42: Lord's Supper. This is why. So, if we look at Matthew 18, so in the beginning of verse 15, if a brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, right?
23:54: And so, I'm not going to read all of this, but there's essentially three stages to church discipline. If Steve sees me in some type of clear public sin, or if I sin against Steve in some way, or just sin against the
24:09: Lord in a public way, Steve can come to me and say, Shane, I've observed this in your life,
24:15: I believe this to be sin, and I would just like to see you restored, brother.
24:22: I don't want you to be hardened by this sin. If I say to him, Steve, this is none of your business, carry on,
24:29: I'm going to do what I do, you do what you do, then what would Steve do in that context? Steve would take another brother or sister, or another one or two brothers and sisters, he would come back to me.
24:40: They together would say, Shane, we're seeing this in your lives, we love you, we want to see you restored, we don't want you to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, and we just want to exhort you to repent of your sin, and be reconciled to God in this particular way.
24:58: If I say, I want to do this, I'm going in this direction, leave me alone, then
25:04: Christ says in Matthew 18, says, if he refuses to listen to them, verse 17, tell it to the church, and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a
25:20: Gentile and a tax collector. So we would not serve the Lord's Supper knowingly to an unbeliever.
25:27: If someone came into our fellowship, and they did not profess Christ, and they did not live with any fruit in keeping with a profession, and I saw them getting up to partake in the
25:40: Lord's Supper, I mean, sometimes people will beat us to the table, right? But that's a good opportunity, the
25:47: Lord's Supper is a good opportunity to have a conversation with that person, and say, this is what the Lord's Supper is, this is who participates in it, where do you think you stand right now?
25:58: If you don't think that you believe in Christ, if you don't profess to believe in him, or if it's clear from your behavior, from the fruit of your life, that you don't believe in him, then
26:08: I don't think that you should participate in the Lord's Supper yet. Just like we would stop someone from being baptized, who had no profession of faith in Christ, right?
26:17: So that it's not splitting hairs, the ordinances are meant for believers. Well, in the same way, if someone is in church discipline, and we are treating them, as Matthew 18 says, as a
26:27: Gentile and a tax collector, so essentially as an evil unbeliever, as a traitorous unbeliever, treasonous unbeliever, then we're going to say, you cannot participate in the
26:40: Lord's Supper. So that's one of the ways that we fence the table, is we say, if you're practicing, if you're practicing this sin, you're refusing to repent, you're welcome to come, brother, sister, we love you, we want you to be restored, we want you to take the
26:56: Lord's Supper, we're praying for you every day, but as long as you're going to act like an unbeliever, we have to treat you like an unbeliever.
27:03: So that's one way that we fence the table, is as an active church discipline. The other, as I've already mentioned, is simply someone that is an unbeliever by profession, or someone that's acting like an unbeliever.
27:14: So they're maybe not a member of our church, if someone comes and visits, and they profess faith in Christ, we're not like a closed assembly where we are going to refuse them, we simply just have to trust that their profession of faith in Christ is genuine.
27:32: Does that make sense? And so, subjects of baptism, the first line is the believer, they must examine themselves, they must rightly discern the body.
27:41: The second line of defense, you could say, is the under -shepherds of the church.
27:48: And at the same time, we recognize openly, the
27:53: Bible recognizes it, I believe, that we don't require perfection at the Lord's table.
27:59: So there are many times I can think as a brand new believer, where the Lord's Supper was being served, and where I left the room, or sat outside the room,
28:10: I can think of one particular instance, when I, I don't know, I was a grump that morning, or whatever the case was, and I sat outside the room while the
28:20: Lord's Supper was being served, and I think that what would have been more mature for me as a believer in that moment, is to consider this an opportunity to repent, to confess my sin to the
28:32: Lord, to lay hold of Christ, again, as we do every day, and to partake in the
28:40: Lord's Supper. So, John Calvin, he writes this, he says, who is worthy of participating?
28:47: He says, this is the worthiness, the best and only kind we can bring to God, to offer our vileness and our unworthiness to him, so that in his mercy we may be taken as worthy, to despair in ourselves, so that we may be lifted up by him, to accuse ourselves that we may be justified in him.
29:11: And so, who is worthy to participate in the Lord's Supper? All of those people whose merit is found outside of themselves and in Christ.
29:22: That's how you know that you're eligible to participate in the Lord's Supper, is when your worthiness is not within you, but it's outside of you, it's in Christ.
29:33: Steve and I have a friend who married, at one time she was married to a
29:38: Jehovah's Witness, and she told me an interesting story about the Lord's Supper for Jehovah's Witnesses.
29:45: And Jehovah's Witnesses have the Lord's Supper one day a year, and that one day a year, they prepare the elements, so they have the bread and the cup, and everyone gets ready to serve it, and then when it comes time to serve the
29:58: Lord's Supper, I think they bring the tray around, I don't know exactly how it works, but they bring the trays around with the elements, everyone looks at the elements, but no one touches it, no one takes the elements.
30:11: And the reason why is because within the Jehovah's Witnesses' beliefs, only the elite can take the
30:18: Lord's Supper, and the elite are the 144 ,000 of Revelation. And so the
30:24: Jehovah's Witnesses celebrate some form of the Lord's Supper, but practically no one participates.
30:31: Yes? Who are the 144 ,000? Like, who are they actually? Do they have them with them?
30:36: Like, who gets to take the Lord's Supper? Oh, really?
31:02: Because they're waiting, I think they're waiting for the full 144 ,000 to come to be in terms of their records.
31:11: So I don't know it all, I don't claim to know it all, but that certainly is not biblical.
31:18: That's not what the Lord had in mind when he exhorted to us to rightly discern, to examine themselves.
31:24: Rather, it is simply this, that the Lord's Supper, and we'll get to it in a little bit, is an opportunity for us to examine ourselves and to remember that the only way that we are worthy of participating is when our merit is in Jesus Christ alone, by his grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
31:49: So, who gets to participate? Anyone and everyone who believes on Christ.
31:56: Even those who haven't been baptized, perhaps, as much as it might irk us. But I think that if, that's a good opportunity for the church to practice baptism regularly, to teach on these things, so that we can avoid putting the cart before the horse.
32:15: I don't know if that satisfies you, Steve, but, okay. I'll ask this next. What is the meaning of the
32:20: Lord's Supper? So, we know who participates, but why do we participate in the first place?
32:27: And that's a question. Yeah, absolutely, for sure.
32:54: Any other thoughts? Answers? Okay, well, you took the first one, for sure.
33:01: So, the first purpose, biblically, is to commemorate, so it's to remember, and to proclaim
33:09: Christ's death until he comes. So, in that 1
33:15: Corinthians 11 passage, verse 25 and 26, so Paul quotes
33:21: Christ. He says, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
33:28: Do this as often as you drink in remembrance of me. So, the Lord's table is a remembrance service.
33:35: For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
33:44: If you don't know it already, we are forgetful creatures. We are very, very forgetful creatures.
33:53: My wife knows that very well about me. That if my head wasn't attached,
33:58: I would lose it. And not only do we forget our car keys or our login passwords, but we forget the very means by which we are reconciled to God.
34:12: We forget the gospel. As crazy as that is, humans forget the gospel.
34:22: Like we were saying on Sunday, we drift towards, we default towards a performance -based salvation, a gospel of human achievement rather than a gospel of divine accomplishment.
34:38: We're always drifting in that direction. And so the Lord's Supper is like that opportunity, it's that remembrance, that reminder that snaps us back to remember the object of our hope, that it is
34:54: Christ crucified. It is, as Paul says, the Lord's death that is proclaimed in this meal.
35:03: It is the Lord's death that is our hope. And so throughout all of church history and then for all of church future, the
35:11: Lord's Supper is to stand as an opportunity to remember and to reflect upon and to proclaim
35:19: Christ's sacrificial, atoning, all -sufficient death once for all time.
35:30: And God has given us this meal to do often, it says, that we would remember
35:36: Him. Now there's a great debate about how often we do this. I'm not going to ask today because it simply is a debate because the scriptures don't say how often we should do it.
35:50: But we believe that to do it more often is more beneficial because we need the gospel not once in a lifetime, not once in a year, not once in a week, but every single day.
36:06: And so we believe that we should participate in the Lord's Supper every
36:12: Lord's Day, every Sunday to participate that we would remember what
36:17: Christ has done, where the source of our salvation is. And because God never changes and because human nature has not changed since the fall, we see this same type of practice in the
36:32: Old Covenant. So if you guys think back to the Old Covenant, I was just reading in Joshua here this week that when the
36:40: Israelites passed through the Jordan River, does anyone remember what they did when the
36:46: Jordan River was dry? They grabbed something from the river. They grabbed big stones from the river, took them up onto the bank of the river and they piled them up.
36:58: They made a monument next to the Jordan River so that when people would go by that monument and remember the time that the
37:06: Lord caused the Jordan to stand still, to open up so that they could cross the river.
37:13: Well, in the same way, does anyone remember the night that Christ instituted the
37:18: Lord's Supper? What were they doing? What meal were they celebrating? The Passover meal.
37:27: So that has significance. So if you remember, Noah and Elise, do you guys remember the Passover meal?
37:32: What happens there? What happened during the Passover meal, Noah? Okay, that's the
37:42: Passover meal in the upper room, but what happened at the Passover with Moses? Do you remember the Passover?
37:56: That's right, absolutely. Exactly, so the very last plague as part of God's deliverance of the people.
38:08: Oh, you got to give a high five. As part of God's deliverance of the people out of Egypt. Very enthusiastic, by the way.
38:16: God's deliverance of the people of Israel out of Egypt is that God was going to strike down the firstborn of every
38:24: Egyptian household and what God instructed the Israelites to do is to have a
38:30: Passover meal, to sacrifice a Passover lamb, to smear the blood on the doorposts and the lintel of their house, and the angel of the
38:38: Lord would pass over their house and would not touch anyone in their home. And then this
38:44: Passover meal was to be performed perpetually. So it was given to be performed in perpetuity every year.
38:53: And so we're going to look, if we turn to Exodus 12, a little bit more about this
39:00: Passover meal. And what the
39:06: Passover meal was, it was a teaching tool. It was a teaching tool that was to remind and to teach
39:16: God's covenant people about the deliverance that God had performed for them.
39:22: So chapter 12, verse 25, we're just going to focus on this piece. In verse 25,
39:31: God tells Moses and the Israelites, He says, And when you come to the land that the
39:37: Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. So the Passover meal,
39:43: And when your children say to you, What do you mean by this service? You shall say, It is the sacrifice of the
39:49: Lord's Passover. For he passed over the houses of the people of Israel and Egypt when he struck the
39:55: Egyptians, but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
40:01: So God gave the Passover meal to be performed year by year, decade by decade, century by century, to remind and to teach the people of Israel about his deliverance.
40:14: And so if we fast forward now, 3 ,600 years, sorry, 1 ,600 years, 3 ,600 years would be the day, 1 ,600 years to Christ during the
40:24: Passover meal, what the Lord Jesus is doing is he is instituting an ordinance, in essence, that will replace the
40:34: Passover meal and will be one of the two ordinances in the life of the church.
40:40: So I remember a few years ago, has anyone ever heard of the World Mission Society, Church of God?
40:47: A few raised hands. The World Mission Society, Church of God has, they are a
40:53: Korean group, or I should say, they aren't a Korean group. It originated in Korea, but a group that believes that Christ has already come and that Christ married a woman, that she is actually still alive.
41:08: And so you'll hear them talk a lot about God the mother. Well, one day we were at the
41:13: McEwen campus and the Lord so had it that we were right next door to the
41:18: World Mission Society. And so we got talking and if you've ever had an interaction with them, they are quite aggressive, very forward in terms of putting forward what they believe, contrary to maybe what we believe.
41:35: And I was being more or less examined by this one man at the next booth, giving me a list of do's and don'ts.
41:41: Have you done this? Do you do this? Asking me about having a Christmas tree or have you ever done this or do you not do that?
41:49: And then one of the questions that he asked to determine if I was in fact a true believer in Christ, was he said, do you celebrate the
41:58: Passover? Because they would teach that you must celebrate the Passover to be saved.
42:05: And if I'm honest, my response to that was not wrong, but it was weak.
42:12: I talked about how Christ had fulfilled the old covenant, that the old covenant was obsolete and so I didn't need to participate in the
42:20: Passover, but I really missed a golden opportunity to talk about how the
42:26: Passover, not only has that been done away with as part of the old covenant, but actually the
42:32: Passover pointed to Christ, the Passover lamb, and the Passover pointed to a greater feast, to a better supper, to a better meal, and that is the
42:45: Lord's supper, that is the Lord's table. It was on the Passover that Christ instituted the
42:52: Lord's supper. So it wasn't wrong, but it was a weak response. R .C.
42:57: Sproul, this is a quote, he speaks of this reality, he says, the Lord's supper is a drama that has its roots not only in the upper room experience, but roots that reach back into the
43:11: Old Testament celebration of Passover. And so of this upper room experience,
43:16: Sproul writes this, he says, in essence, Jesus was saying, I am the
43:22: Passover, I am the Paschal lamb, I am the one who will be sacrificed for you.
43:28: It is my blood being marked over the door of your life that you will escape the wrath of God.
43:34: So he said, from now on, this is my blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins.
43:41: This is the blood of a new covenant, this new covenant that he instituted that very night, fulfills the old covenant, giving it its fullest and most meaningful expression.
43:54: And so the fullest, most meaningful expression of the Passover is the ultimate
44:00: Passover of God over all people with the blood of Christ smeared not on lintels and doorposts, but on our hearts.
44:10: And so when we participate in the Lord's Supper, just like the Israelites did, sixteen, thirty -six hundred years ago, or three thousand years ago, or two thousand years ago, when
44:21: Christ was alive, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we look at that Passover and then we look at the object, the ultimate
44:29: Passover lamb. 1 Corinthians 5, 7, Paul says that Christ is our
44:35: Passover lamb who has been sacrificed. And so we remember Christ who was slain, who was put to death on the cross that we might have life, and that forever.
44:48: So the Lord's Supper is the true and ultimate Passover meal, the true and ultimate, like you said,
44:55: Steve, remembrance service. All of those things, all of those markers and milestones throughout
45:02: Israel pointed ultimately to Christ. The second thing, the second reason why the
45:10: Lord's Supper has been instituted, and this is a little bit more controversial, is to symbolize, this is a bit of a mouthful, but to symbolize our present participation in the benefits and blessings of Christ's sacrificial death.
45:31: So there are some people who are sometimes called memorialists.
45:37: They believe that the Lord's Supper is a memorial and a memorial only. I believe that it is a memorial.
45:45: It's a tremendous memorial. Primarily a memorial. But it's also, it symbolizes our present participation in the benefits and blessings of Christ.
45:58: And Christ's sacrificial death once for all time. So to point there, if you have your
46:06: Bibles open to 1 Corinthians 11, let's turn to 1 Corinthians 10, and verse 16.
46:15: I've talked about this with other brothers, how participating in the Lord's Supper is a means of God's blessing for his people.
46:24: And I've had people say, no, it's not really a means of blessing. It's not really, it's a memorial, but it's not a blessing.
46:32: And I've turned to this text, 10 and verse 16. Oh, I'm still on Exodus.
46:40: Wondering why I'm reading about Pharaoh. 1 Corinthians 10, 16.
46:49: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation?
46:55: That word participation is the Greek word koinonia. That's where we get the word fellowship or communion.
47:04: So the cup of blessing that we bless, is this not a fellowship in the blood of Christ?
47:10: Is this not a communion in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is this not a participation?
47:17: A fellowship in a communion in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
47:29: Verse 18. Consider the people of Israel are not those who eat the sacrifices, participants in the altar.
47:37: Again, they have fellowship in the altar. What Paul is saying here, one of the many things that Paul is saying here is that the cup that is served at the
47:50: Lord's table is an opportunity for us to have fellowship with one another.
47:57: We'll get to that. But also fellowship with Christ. It is a cup of blessing
48:03: He's talking about this in the context of idolatry. And so it's an opportunity for communion with each other, but also an opportunity for communion with Christ.
48:15: So we get to be participants in the blood and the body. And just as those who benefited from the sacrifices that were placed on the altar.
48:25: Tell me if you're not tracking with me, by the way. Just as those who were benefits of the sacrifices that were placed on the altar, the priests, in verse 18 he says, consider the people of Israel are not those who eat the sacrifices, participants of the altar, in the same way that they benefit from that meal, we benefit from the
48:48: Lord's Supper. So when we participate in the Lord's Supper, we reflect on Christ's death for us.
48:58: Christ's blood was poured out, it says in Matthew 26, poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
49:07: So when we participate in the Lord's Supper, we're blessed to remember that in Christ we are forgiven.
49:14: We are justified. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. And so at this meal, not only do we remember these things, but we glory in Christ.
49:24: We benefit from the remembrance of this. We benefit from the participation of the
49:30: Lord's Supper. When we come and take the cup, we take the cup of God's blessing.
49:37: And so in anyone that, especially maybe now that we've been away from the physical church for many people for so long, to go and to participate in the
49:49: Lord's Supper, you think what a blessing, what a rich blessing to participate in this.
49:55: This is a means of God's blessing. It's a means of God's love towards us.
50:03: This is from the Baptist Confession of Faith. It's not the Bible, but they do say things sometimes a lot better, most times a lot better than I can say.
50:16: No, better than me, not better than the word, but on the Lord's Supper, they say this.
50:23: The Lord's Supper, of the Lord's Supper, it was also instituted by Christ to confirm believers in all the benefits of his death.
50:34: So how does that work itself out? For their spiritual nourishment and growth in him.
50:41: So whenever we remember it, I mean, when we remember something good, it's of no benefit unless it benefits us, right?
50:52: And so when we remember it, it nourishes us, it grows us. It says for their further engagement in and commitment to all the duties which they owe him and to be a bond and pledge of their communion, so their partnership, their fellowship, their participation in, as we see in the text, their communion with him and with their fellow believers.
51:17: Now, the reason why I'm making a deal about this and not just talking about a remembrance is because what
51:23: I want us to understand is that when we participate in the benefits of communion, when we participate in the blessings of the
51:31: Lord's table, it's not like what the Catholics teach. Again, I have no concerns with Catholic people, but their doctrine on this particular topic is frankly,
51:44: I abhor it because of what it teaches. So for the sake of clarity,
51:51: I'll provide contrast. So the Catholics believe that the
51:57: Eucharist or the Lord's Supper is a channel of God saving grace, so that God, to participate in the
52:04: Eucharist is ultimately to be saved. And a person cannot be saved if they do not participate in the
52:12: Eucharist. So I'm going to quote here from the book, it's the book The Faith of Millions.
52:18: It's written by John Anthony O 'Brien. It's a long quote, but just pay attention. I think it's interesting.
52:23: I find it very interesting. But he says this, this is not what I'm teaching, but this is what others believe.
52:31: When the priest announces the tremendous words of consecration, so when they consecrate the bread and the cup, he reaches up into the heavens, brings
52:43: Christ down from his throne, and places him upon our altar to be offered up again as the victim for sins of man.
52:54: It is the power greater than that of the saints and angels, greater than that of seraphim and cherubim.
53:01: Indeed, it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary. While the Blessed Virgin was the human agency by which
53:08: Christ became incarnate in a single time, the priest brings
53:14: Christ down from heaven and renders him present on our altar as the eternal victim for the sins of man.
53:24: Not once, but a thousand times. The priest speaks, and lo!
53:31: Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest's command.
53:41: Oh, what sublime dignity is the office of the Christian priest, who is thus privileged to act as the ambassador and vice -regent of Christ on earth.
53:53: He continues the essential ministry of Christ. He teaches the faithful with the authority of Christ.
54:00: He pardons the penitent sinners with the power of Christ. He offers up, again, the same sacrifices of adoration and atonement which
54:11: Christ offered on Calvary. No wonder that the name which spiritual writers are especially fond of applying to the priest is that of alter
54:21: Christus, for the priest is and should be another
54:26: Christ. So what Catholics teach is that Eucharist, that the cup, the bread and the cup, is they are bringing
54:37: Christ down to sacrifice him once again for the sins of the people.
54:43: And so if you are not participating in this, you are not a beneficiary of that sacrifice.
54:49: That atoning sacrifice. This is what they would call the real presence of Christ transubstantiation.
54:57: I'm not teaching that. Rather, what we say when we benefit from the blessings is that, unlike the
55:06: Catholics, we are reminded at the Lord's Supper that our Passover lamb was sacrificed once for all time for the forgiveness of sins.
55:17: That there is no longer any need for sacrifice because Jesus Christ has paid it all and then we benefit from the blessings of that remembrance.
55:32: We benefit from the communion that is with Christ as we participate in the Lord's Supper, that partnership with.
55:40: There's more about the counsels of Trent and the views of the presence of Christ at the Lord's Supper and for the sake of time
55:46: I'm not going to go over that. I'll mention two others quickly before we close. Lastly, or second lastly, it points to the fellowship and communion between believers.
55:57: And that's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 that they should participate in the
56:04: Lord's Supper all together. It was important that it all be done together. So he says in 1
56:12: Corinthians 11, 17, But in the following instructions I do not commend you because when you come together it's not for the better but for the worse.
56:18: For in the first place when you come together as a church I hear that there are divisions among you and I believe it in part.
56:24: For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
56:30: When you come together it is not the Lord's Supper that you eat. For in eating one goes ahead with his own meal.
56:35: One goes hungry. Another gets drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?
56:41: Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you?
56:47: Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. So part of the aspect, part of the main elements of the
56:56: Lord's Supper is the communion. It's the fellowship between believers. We saw that in 1
57:01: Corinthians 10 without going there again. Right? That we all partake of the body of Christ.
57:10: Verse 17, 10, 17 Because there is one bread we who are many are one body for we all partake of the one bread.
57:21: Did you have a question there Steve? No, that's fine. And I'll just look here one other spot.
57:32: Oh no, I read that. I got there. So I'll leave it there. We have the fellowship of the saints.
57:38: We participate in the Lord's Supper together. And so that's why we as a group are not participating in the
57:44: Lord's Supper tonight. We could as an act of application say we're going to participate in the
57:49: Lord's Supper after we teach on this. But no. We are going to wait until we all come together as a church when everyone is together and united we will participate in the
57:59: Lord's Supper. And the last one. When we participate there is a past, a present and a future element to the
58:09: Lord's Supper. And so when we participate in the Lord's Supper we anticipate the banquet that is yet to come.
58:16: So we anticipate that great meal that we will have in the presence of God at the second coming of Christ.
58:25: So Matthew 26. If we go back there one last time.
58:32: In verse 29 Christ says, I tell you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when
58:39: I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. So he says,
58:46: I won't drink this again with you until the day when
58:51: I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And so there is a sense of anticipation even as the
58:58: Lord institutes the Lord's Supper. There is an aspect of remembrance.
59:04: We look back at what Christ has done just as the Israelites looked back at God's deliverance in the
59:10: Passover. There is a current blessing that we receive by participating in with the saints.
59:18: And there is this future aspect that Christ is coming and we will drink again with Him.
59:27: He says, He will drink it new with you so with His believers in the Father's kingdom.
59:33: In 1 Corinthians 11 .16 We proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
59:39: So we do it. It is a finite practice. And when we come we will drink it anew with Him in His presence.
59:50: And then the last text I will go to here is Revelation 19. If you know the book of Revelation we will be in it next week for sure.
01:00:03: Revelation 19 verse 6 This is the marriage supper of the
01:00:11: Lamb. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out
01:00:20: Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns let us rejoice and exult and give
01:00:27: Him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.
01:00:34: It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deed of the saints.
01:00:44: And the angel said to me write this down write this blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the
01:00:54: Lamb blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb we participate in the
01:01:00: Lord's supper again, remembering what Christ has done dwelling in, being blessed by benefiting by possessing knowing, participating in that now and looking forward to the day when even this will go from shadow to substance in the presence of God.
01:01:27: When we partake in the Lord's supper we look forward to the day when faith will give way to sight when death will be swallowed up in victory when our
01:01:38: God will wipe every tear from our eyes and we will dwell with our
01:01:44: King forever in that holy place. It's as we are talking tonight that all the troubles of this world ultimately are but momentary and light affliction producing in us an eternal weight of glory and so the
01:02:08: Lord's supper, when we rightly understand it it reminds us of what
01:02:14: Christ has done, reminds us presently of who we are in Him individually and corporately and it reminds us of where our true home is and the true substance of the
01:02:28: Lord's supper, which is the marriage supper of the Lamb and our fellowship, our communion with Him in person for all of eternity.