You can turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 1. We're going to pick up reading in verse 10 and read to verse 21. So this is 1 Peter 1, beginning in verse 10, the word of God. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
To them it was, excuse me, To them it was revealed that not to themselves but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Because it is written, be holy, for I am holy.
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
God, we thank you for your time now in the preaching of the word. We would pray that you would now be glorified in our midst. We pray, God, that Christ would be raised high. We do pray, Lord God, that we would be nourished and fed and strengthened by your word and by your spirit.
And we do pray, Lord God, that saints would be well-instructed and well-equipped, that sinners would be saved, and that once again, God, having gathered in the Lord's Day Sabbath evening, you would be honored, that you would be glorified, and that your people would be strengthened for a new week. We do pray be with us now and might your name be hallowed in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, amen.
Introduction
Well, what Peter is doing in his first epistle is he's doing what Paul does in his epistles, is he's setting forth the beautiful and the glorious doctrine of salvation by a triune God in order to exhort his audience. Obviously, he wants his audience to rejoice in the salvation afforded perfectly by Father, Son, and Spirit, particularly through the perfect saving work of Jesus Christ the Lord. But he's also using that blessed theology as the means to encourage them, A, in the midst of persecution, and B, unto good works in the midst of that persecution. We see here many exhortations throughout the epistle to be obedient to the civil magistrate, to submit to one another in good works, to gird up the loins of their minds, being sober, resting their hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to them in the revelation of Jesus Christ, to be holy for God is holy.
And these things rest upon these glorious truths that he brings out in the epistle. And one of the truths that he brings out in verses 18 to 20 is the perfect sacrifice rendered by Christ upon Calvary's cross. As we come tonight to observe the Lord's Supper, what we want to do tonight is to examine the breadth and the depth, the scope or the extent of that remembrance. What are we remembering?
Surely we are remembering the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, but what does that mean and what does that contain? And in a matter of 41 and a half minutes, we probably won't be able to do that to proper justification. But nevertheless, in our time together, let's have a look at what the passage sets before us that we might only mind some of the riches therein. We want to notice three things as we work through this text tonight.
And those three are simply these. The value of the death remembered. The divine purpose in the death remembered. And then lastly,
The Singular Uniqueness of the Death Remembered
the singular uniqueness and certain truth of the death remembered.
The Value of the Death Remembered
So first, the value of the death remembered. Notice what we have beginning in verse 18. Knowing. that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Hopefully you see here the value of the death remembered. The value in our salvation and the value that we are to attach our souls to does not rest upon physical and passing and corruptible things, but it rests upon eternal and incorruptible things.
And so we see first, under the death of, or the value of the death remembered, that
Not According to Earthly Value
it was not according to the perceived value of earthly things. And that's what the text says here. There's a negative statement. It's helpful when we have these in the Holy Scriptures where the authors say what something isn't and what we are not to rest our souls upon before giving us the truth and the clarity of what we are to rest our souls upon.
And so first, it was not the death remembered according to the perceived value of earthly things. Notice here, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold." And just very briefly, we are not redeemed by the perceived value of earthly things, or the value in the death that is remembered at the Lord's Supper does not rest upon the perceived value of earthly things. We are not redeemed, Peter says, with corruptible things like silver or gold. We can, in our humanity, we can, with that remaining corruption, inordinately attach ourselves and our hope and our joy and our happiness to earthly things, all the while setting aside, if perhaps only for a moment or moments, the glory of Jesus Christ, setting Him in the shadow of perishable. things, setting Christ in the shadow of corruptible things, all the while neglecting Him and spending time in those things which do not profit.
We are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold. This language is to conjure up, hopefully, reflections upon Old Testament texts. There are some paramount passages in the Old Testament that speak to the same thing that Peter here is speaking about. And so turn with me back in your Old Testaments to the book of Jeremiah.
Because I want you to see here that the value of the death remembered, and if we are to expand and say the value of our Christian religion does not depend upon earthly things, but of course, and most certainly, upon the heavenly things of God and His Christ. Notice what we have in Jeremiah 9 at verse 23. And just to set a little bit of the stage here, God through Jeremiah is announcing the destruction of Jerusalem. God through Jeremiah is not saying judgment might come, but he is rather saying judgment is coming.
Because of your covenantal unfaithfulness, because of your apostasy and your idolatry, your judgment from God is coming upon you. And so he wants to to set or align their hearts to proper things and away from improper things. And notice what he says here, God through the prophet in Jeremiah 9.23. Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories Glory in this.
So you see, just firstly, He's calling upon these sorts and these classes of men, any man, to not set their eyes, and to not set their confidence, and to not set their joy and their happiness upon these things in the face of judgment, because these things won't save them. Judgment is coming, and so the wise men who think they might be able to wiggle out of, politically, the coming judgment from a foreign nation, they might be able to speak wise words to those who are coming, not fully grasping, of course, in their unregeneracy, that it is God Most High who is coming as an unstoppable train of judgment to render wholesome severity upon an apostate people. Let not the mighty man, glory in his might, perhaps the strong men of the nation of Israel were saying, by our might, we will stop this coming judgment. By our might, by our strength, we have many mighty men here in Jerusalem.
Perhaps we will be able to stop the onslaught of this coming judgment. Nor let the rich man glory in his riches. And perhaps they thought that if they paid tribute to the coming conquerors, they might be able to set aside this coming judgment. But you see, God, knowing, of course, because He has decreed it and He is bringing it providentially to pass, brings into view and presents before them the proper course of action.
And this is instructive for us. Verse 24. But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord.
So getting back then to 1 Peter 1, and v. 18, negatively, we are not to see value in earthly things, but we are to see value, of course, in eternal things. But we're not there yet. One more example, this time from the New Testament. Now, I know I'm preaching to the choir here because hopefully there is no Christian in the room that is resting upon earthly things for their salvation, because no Christian does that.
That's madness. It is not a Christian who is resting upon earthly things for his or her salvation. But hopefully this helps us as Christians, as we constantly inundate ourselves with the repetition necessary to weaken to weary souls who are often carried off by a languor and a coldness in things God and Christ, this helps us to remind ourselves that there is redemption only in the incorruptible things of God and His Christ. in the redemption wrought by the Savior. Notice in Hebrews 11.
In Hebrews 11, and many of you may know where I'm going with this, but in Hebrews 11, we have all of those by-faith statements, and one of them speaks to this matter quite well. That is Hebrews 11, verse 24 through verse 26. Notice on this idea that the value of the death remembered is first seen and that it was not according to the perceived value of earthly things. Hebrews 11.24, by faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. for he looked to the reward. You see here the posture of a Christian that is resting not upon the corruptible things of silver and gold, these treasures in Egypt, these passing and temporary things, these earthly things, but rather is resting upon and hitching his caboose to the reproach of Christ. And what a contrast this is. Silver and gold. these earthly treasures and the reproaches of Christ.
He'll take the reviling of His own countrymen, the reviling of God's own chosen people in the Old Covenant, their reviling and their grumbling and their murmuring and their complaining with respect to the promises of Christ wrapped up in their wilderness wanderings rather than engage in the pleasures of passing earthly things and the temporary things of sin. So second then, because this is where we're going with this particular point, if you can find your way back to 1 Peter 1, it was then,
According to a Perfect Sacrifice
the value of the death remembered was according to the incomparable value of a perfect sacrifice. The value of the death remembered is according to the incomparable value of a perfect sacrifice. We have not been redeemed by those earthly, corruptible things but, verse 19, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Beautiful language. in beautiful language.
The first thing we want to note here is the precious blood. We're talking about the incorruptible or the incomparable value of a perfect sacrifice. And the first thing that we are wholesomely confronted with here in the beauty of the text is that we have been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. You like that qualifier there, that adjective?
The precious blood of Christ. You know, Peter uses the word precious more than anyone in the New Testament. I believe there are 15 instances where the Greek word in this variation and close variations of the word are used. 15 instances. More than half of those are used by Peter, and three quarters of those are used in this particular epistle.
And they're used with respect primarily to Christ and His redemption first, but then also God's view of Christ's people seen through the lens of the perfection wrought by Christ in His redeeming activity. But all of that to come back to this. Peter is the apostle of the precious Christ. Uses this language often.
And Peter would have a blessed view of Christ and His preciousness, wouldn't he? Just think about this on a personal matter. I think we've made this point before. maybe not at this text, but certainly other texts of like flavor. Peter would know the preciousness of Christ because of his personal dealings with the Savior, especially connected to Christ's love, Christ's grace, and Christ's mercy.
If we remember the narrative prior to the crucifixion, what is Peter doing on the night in which Christ was betrayed? He is denying His Savior thrice before the interrogations of a servant girl and before the interrogations of others. He's denying thrice this Savior. Prior to that, Jesus had said to Peter, Peter, the devil has sought to sift you like wheat.
Satan has sought to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, he said, that your faith might not fail. And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. He says that, Christ does to Peter, before he says that Peter will deny him three times.
You see what's going on here? This Jesus intercessorially, no, that's not the right word, whatever the proper word is, praying by intercession, Jesus, prayed by intercession for this Peter, that after he had denied him, his strength would be increased, restored, and strengthened, and that he would speak well of his Christ, speak well of the gospel, and strengthen his brethren. In that day of the resurrection, Jesus speaks to Peter, feed my sheep, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, eats broiled fish and honeycomb with him, sends him his spirit, sends him on his way proclaiming the riches and excellencies of Christ. And here, Peter can use the word precious because he knows all too well of the preciousness of the Savior.
In fact, look at 1 Peter 2 for a moment. Notice the language that we have in verse 6, and this is bringing to the fore language of the Old Testament from the book of Isaiah. But notice in verse 6, the use of the word precious. Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame." Notice the purpose clause or the therefore clause here.
Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious. But to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. But Peter uses here in 1 Peter 1.19 the language of precious in speaking about the blood. This blood is precious.
Why is it precious? Well, let's trace through some texts. What do we mean when we say precious? Kids, hopefully you know what precious means.
Perhaps your parents have used it, your grandparents. sort of thing. We can use Precious for some lawful things like a porcelain rooster collection. A precious little porcelain rooster collection. We can use my Precious.
Oh, we use Precious quite in a more elevated fashion for our children, our precious children. They are precious. They're given to us from God. We can use precious for a whole host of things.
Certainly, we move from the preciousness of earthly things to the high and lofty, incomparable preciousness of eternal things when we speak of our God, of His Christ, and of His Gospel. Tracing the preciousness of blood... Again, that's where I was going. What does precious mean?
It means something of a high price, doesn't it? Something of a great value. Something that is dearly beloved in the considerations of those who have the thing. And so for Christians, when we talk about the blood of Christ, because we are washed in the blood of Christ, because we have our sins forgiven in the blood of Christ, because it is the blood of Christ and the blood of Christ alone that washes our iniquities away.
It is to be of a high and inestimable value to us. It is to be dear to us in a way that nothing else is dear. You can turn to Matthew with me for a moment. Matthew 26.
While I fix the microphone thingy. Matthew 26. Just to trace some of these things related to the precious blood of Christ. Wherein does the preciousness of Christ's blood lie?
Well, first here in Matthew 26.26, with regards to His own words, we see the preciousness Mounting. Verse 28. Well, let's back up to verse 27. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
I think hopefully this sort of language doesn't get lost on us because we repeat it often when we are partaking of the Lord's Supper. Hopefully this never becomes rote and it never becomes just liturgical as the pastor up here is speaking these words. Consider this and consider from your Christian hearts the fact of the preciousness of the blood of Christ. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
You see, that language would have been to the audience a prick. upon their memories to reflect upon a particular passage in the Old Testament. Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34. There is a new covenant that the Lord God is making with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not like that old covenant that He made, which He broke, even though He was a husband to them, but rather this covenant will be marked by the fact that He will write His law upon their hearts, that all of them will know Him, that all of those who are in the covenant will know Him, that He will be their God and they will be His people, and that they will have the remission, the forgiveness of sins.
The blood of Christ is precious because this new covenant reality is ratified, is perfected by Jesus Christ in the shedding of blood. How is it that we as Christians, in God's appointed and accepted time, were brought forth from the darkness and the deadness of sin to life and light in Christ Jesus? It was because Jesus shed His precious blood upon Calvary's cross. The value of the death remembered is seen in the blessed reality that Christ has shed His blood according to new covenant ratification and for the remission of sins.
Notice in Acts 20, as we work through the precious blood with respect to Christ Jesus our Lord in Acts 20, Mysterious and glorious and beautiful and high and lofty language used by the apostle in preaching to the Ephesian elders. And notice in Acts chapter 20, beginning in verse 28. In fact, only v. 28. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
Hopefully you see the preciousness here of the blood of Jesus Christ. Why Peter can speak with regards to redemption, setting it against the madness of resting our souls upon silver and gold in order to prop up and magnify and lift up and elevate the fact that we rest our souls upon precious blood. You see the language here that the apostle is using. The church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
We ask the question, does God have blood? No. With respect to the divine nature, the perfection of the divine essence, of course God doesn't have blood. He's a spirit.
He's most pure spirit without body, parts, and passions. Invisible, immutable. But insofar as the Son of God, the brightness of the Father's glory, the express image of the Person of the Father, took to Himself man's nature in the union of the divine and human natures, and is one Christ the only mediator between God and man, the apostle can use with propriety the language that God purchased the church with His own blood. But it highlights the magnitude and the glory and the preciousness of the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for the remission of sins.
God purchased the church with His own blood. That is, Christ being God, having assumed our nature for our redemption and recovery, shed His blood, shed His precious blood, that we might have the forgiveness of sins. Well, we won't read more texts. If we wanted to go on on this particular point, we could read from Ephesians 1.7, Colossians 1.20, Hebrews 9.12-13, 1 John 1.7.
In fact, I do want to read one more, and that is the Hebrews passage. Hebrews 9. Because there is another contrast brought out here. If you turn with me to Hebrews 9, and then we're going to move on to the faultless offering. from 1 Peter 1.19.
But notice in Hebrews 9 on this, continuing on this particular point that the value of the death remembered is according to the incomparable value of a perfect sacrifice, first reflecting upon the precious blood. Notice in Hebrews 9 at verse 12. Well, backing up to verse 11, "...but Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Yeah, that's a passage where perhaps if you were at home reading your Bible, you would fall on your face in the presence of God in your privacy of your own home and sing the praises of so great a sacrifice. Not that you can't do that in the church, but sometimes unto good order, it's good to continue with the preaching. All of that to say this, this is amazing. This is absolutely amazing.
You see, the language of the apostle in the book of Hebrews is so wonderful because he very often repeatedly does this. If this, then this. If this lesser thing is true, then this high and lofty thing is gloriously true. And notice the language here that he uses.
For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, You see, if this temporary thing, if this type, if this shadow, if this thing marked by a divinely designed obsolescence that points forward to eternal and lasting things could do something, Then what? Then how much more, verse 14, shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? You know, this is the sort of stuff, this is why the Apostle Paul can, in a sense, in verse one of Hebrews 8, and you can flip back there for a second, this is why the Apostle Paul writes things like this, and why this verse has something of apostolic marveling in the background. In other words, Paul doesn't write here, I marvel that you guys are, you know, even, bothering to entertain going back to temple religion and the washings and the ceremonies and the sacrifices when the Christ had come to whom all those things pointed?
What's wrong with you? We can almost read that into this verse. But notice what he says, v. 1 of Hebrews 8. Now, this is the main point of the things we are saying.
Let's just wrap this up into a nice package. You're just not getting it. If we were to summarize, if we were to contemplate this in the span of a couple handfuls of words, now this is the main point of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. we see that that is brought about by the reality of His blood, His precious blood.
Well, secondly then, under that second point, it was according to the incomparable value of a perfect sacrifice.
The Faultless Offering
Back in 1 Peter 1, 19, notice that it is according to a faultless offering. That this redemption this glorious, incomparable, perfect sacrifice of the highest value that this is brought about by a faultless sacrifice. I apologize if you were looking at that. Wiping my nose.
Verse 19, but with the precious blood of Christ, notice, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot. See, this just magnifies and it amplifies the precious blood, if that's even possible. Just adds language upon language to magnify the salvation wrought by our Savior, Jesus Christ. The precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot.
The Apostle Peter here is not just using language that's sort of helpful. Oh yeah, in the Old Testament, There was a sacrificial system that had lambs and stuff. And there was a Passover ordinance for a perpetual remembrance inaugurated by God through Moses for the people of Israel in Exodus. So maybe I can just use some of that language to sort of talk about Jesus.
There is a deliberate connection, of course, to the Old Testament here. Why? Because Christ is our Passover sacrifice. that Passover sacrifice, and we're not going to read from it, but make a note here, Exodus 12, 5-14. What's in the background here, when the Apostle Peter is using the language that our redemption comes from the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, that last clause, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot, Exodus 12, 5-14 is in the background.
Yes, The Levitical system, the book of Leviticus, with the constant reiteration of a lamb without blemish, a lamb without blemish, a lamb without blemish, is in view. Make no mistake. But because he has already used the sprinkling of the blood of Christ in 1 Peter 1, 1 and 2, And because this peculiar language harkens back to that giving of the Passover mandate for a perpetual remembrance of the exodus that was to occur, we see here that the Apostle Peter rightly, wholesomely, with deliberation, is connecting Jesus Christ to the Passover. Why?
Because He is our Passover sacrifice. The remembrance of the Passover was not an end unto itself. It was a remembrance of the exodus wrought by God when He pulled Israel from out of Egyptian bondage, but it pointed forward in its ultimacy and unto the anti-type, unto the substance, and unto the true of that copy, the Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ. That's what was in view. this lamb as of a blemish, or lamb, as of a lamb, excuse me, without blemish and without spot.
This is a connection to the Passover. And I want you to think about something for a second. You know, connecting this to our remembrance that we're about to engage in as we observe the Lord's Supper. God's, you think about a passage like Malachi 1. where God indicts the nation of Israel for their horrible and wicked obedience, in air quotes, to the sacrificial system.
In fact, turn there for a moment, because I want to bring about a particular point. I don't want to drag it out too long, and hopefully this doesn't seem like it, but I want you to see something from Malachi, chapter 1. Connecting it with the Lord Jesus Christ, God's integrity, His zeal, His jealousy, to use improper predication, with respect to His sacrifice, with respect to the sending of the Lord Jesus Christ to be a faultless offering. Notice the language of Malachi 1, first in 7 and 8.
So Malachi 1, beginning in verse 7, you offer defiled food on my altar, but say in what way have we defiled you? By saying the table of the Lord is contemptible. And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor, would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts. Now notice verse 13 as well. You also say, oh, what a weariness, and you sneer at it, says the Lord of hosts, and you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick.
Thus you bring an offering. Should I accept this from your hand, says the Lord? Now, I want you to understand that, of course, the Lord God Almighty here is angry with the wicked offering of the blind and the lame. There is no heart religion going on here.
There is no obedience, there is no religious joy and zeal. These are not heartily going to the temple, bringing the best of their flock to offer up sacrifices. But I want you to see even beyond that, that God is incensed because these sacrifices were instituted by the Lord God to point forward to the greater sacrifice. So not only were these disobedient and not doing what they were called to do in service to Yahweh of Israel who pulled them from out of Egyptian bondage, who esteemed them, but they're destroying, they're wickedly engaging, they're bringing their blind and their lame when they are to bring their best because the best of the flock pointed forward to the best of the flock, Jesus Christ, to the lamb without blemish and without spot.
What wickedness, what violence, What madness done in the name of religion when these would bring their blind and their lame in a ceremony, in a sacrifice that was to point forward to our blessed Lamb, our blessed Christ, our precious Jesus. So when it comes to our observation of the Lord's Supper, or just very briefly, an application at this particular point, twofold. First,
Application: Is Christ Precious to You?
is Christ precious to you? We see that we're redeemed, Christians are, by his precious blood and by a faultless offering, because make no mistake, we read here a lamb without blemish and without spot. We're talking about the fact that Christ is a sinless, holy offering to the Father. He's sinless.
Christ goes as a lamb without blemish and without spot, holy, harmless, and undefiled was Christ our Savior, giving himself upon Calvary's cross. Is Christ precious to you? Spurgeon was right. We'll give our attention to a poisoned weed while letting the rose of Sharon wither.
What he's saying, kids, is that we'll give our attention to the earthly things. We'll give our attention to the corruptible things. things that have no inherent value, things that have no lasting value, things that only have a passing and a temporary and an earthly value, and all the while will suffer the rose of Sharon that is Christ, will suffer this gem, this jewel, this glorious one, this treasure to wither. We give our time and we give our energy to so many things, and yet we forget our Christ. We forget our Christ.
God forbid that any Christian could articulate the thrust-to-weight ratio of an F-111, but not know how to articulate substitutionary atonement. You know, far be it. God forbid that any Christian could list off the stats of their favorite basketball team or hockey team, but not give one minute of attention to the precious blood of Jesus Christ? How many lawful things do we engage in an unlawful pursuit of while neglecting and while passing off and while casting off the precious blood and the faultless offering of our blessed Christ?
It's Christ precious to you because Peter writes to those who believe he is precious. And secondly, when we observe the Lord's Supper, you're all here tonight, so that's good. It is good that you are here. You see, it's a grieving thing, though, and it's a troubling thing when the pews are empty of Christians that should be here tonight observing the Lord's Supper.
You know, pastors cannot bind your consciences with a lot of things, but we can bind your conscience to the observation of the Lord's Supper. Because it's not me binding your conscience, it's the ascended Christ who spoke words from His lips while He was going about the earth doing good to His disciples saying, do this in remembrance of me. So it's a good thing that you're here tonight to observe the Lord's Supper, but is it not a Malachi? sort of thing, though not coming from unregenerate hearts, but hearts that should know better, that reject and forsake the Lord's Supper. When Christ gave himself his precious blood in a faultless offering that we might remember him.
Well, secondly, the divine purpose, yeah, that was only firstly, I'm gonna move a little bit quicker so that we can get to the Lord's Supper here, though, but the divine purpose in the death remembered, notice the language here, and getting back to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1, as we continue with the language, well, verse 20, he indeed, that is this one who had precious blood, who has precious blood, the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish, without spot, he indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world. The divine purpose in the death remembered. You see, when we reflect upon, when we remember tonight the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, When we remember the death of our Savior, we are not only remembering this historical intrusion upon our lower shame where the Glorious One came to give Himself. We're reflecting upon that which is in the divine mind and purpose and plan from before the foundation of the world.
The divine purpose in the death remembered.
According to God's Determined Plan
Notice that first, it is according to the determined plan of God. The language is, He indeed was foreordained. He indeed was foreordained. Henry writes this, it implies more than bare prospect or speculation.
It imports an act of the will that the thing shall be. In other words, it's not just, he's not just, this isn't just the language of foreknowledge because the same word or a similar form of the word is used in verse two, elect according to the foreknowledge. of God the Father. And the idea is just this bare prescience, or this bare knowledge of looking forward and seeing something. And Henry Wrightley says, because this is translated here, foreordained, eternally determined, Henry Wrightley says, it implies more than bare prospect or speculation.
It imports an act of the will that the thing shall be. You have the language and the idea and the glorious theology of a sovereign and immutable and eternally perfect Lord God Almighty from Acts 2 and Acts 4. Just very briefly to rehearse as we move towards the death remembered in the ordinance given by our Christ. Acts 2, verse 22.
Men of Israel. This is the same person speaking. We're in 1 Peter. looking at that blessed language. Acts 2.22, same man, same apostle, same Peter speaking.
Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you, by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determined purpose and for knowledge of God. We are to glory in the fact that we have a God of determined purpose. You see, we don't worship a God who bumbles about and who moves from point in time to point in time, just living the life of His creatures with us.
He's a little bit more exalted than us. He's sort of a super angel, kind of fellow cosmic agent in the sky, but He's learning as He goes about. He's sort of starting new plans and that sort of thing. It's madness.
It's blasphemy. That's pagan deity. You know, the A.W. Pink rightly said, and I'm paraphrasing here, but the God of the modern church, and there's a lot of churches out there that preach the true God, don't get me wrong here, we're not, shouldn't be old curmudgeons, Free Grace Baptist Church is the only church, there's a handful, not a handful, there's a multitude, there's a multitude, there's a lot of churches out there, Reformed Baptist, Presbyterian, this, that, and the other thing, that preach God, that preach Christ, and that preach the gospel.
But hopefully, perhaps you've seen the state of many churches out there. Perhaps you've come from a church to this church where they are not preaching the true and living God, but some new God. They are not preaching the old and saving Christ, but some new Christ. They are not preaching the old and saving gospel, but some new gospel.
A.W. Pink rightly said as he cast his eyes out upon the modern church of his day, and that's decades ago, He said that the God of the modern age that is proclaimed from pulpits, that doesn't have a determined purpose and a plan and a sovereign working and providential mastery over His creation and all things, that God compared to the biblical God of determined purpose is like a flickering candle compared to the glory of the noonday sun. We have a God of determined purpose. We have a God who foreordained this Christ of precious blood and faultless offering.
It's according to the determined plan of God. And note that it is not some mechanical predestination, but it's marked by love. You know, this language of before the foundation of the world that comes here after, this foreordained language, notice another place where that is used in John 17. When we talk, when the Reformed preach about predestination, we're not preaching a mechanistic, fatalistic deity that goes about the machinations of foreordination. as if he is some divine robot.
But we're talking about the infinite, eternal, and unchangeable God of immutable love, who predestinates according to the counsel of his own glorious will. John 17, notice the language that Christ himself uses in the high priestly prayer. Notice John 17.24, Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me. For You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
Now if you see the connection there, the love of God, the unchangeable love of God, never diminishing, never growing because perfection cannot be added to and perfection cannot be stolen away from, But this God of immutable love loved the Son before the foundation of the world, and that is connected to, intimately connected here to, this reality that I desire, Father, that they also whom You gave me may be with me where I am. That they may behold my glory. You see, what's connected to foreordination is divine love. And there is no higher love.
There is no love more glorious than a predestinating love. In love, Paul wrote, in a doxology, in love he predestinated us unto adoption as son by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the riches of his grace. First, it is according to the determined plan of God, but
Foreordained from Eternity
I want to note, secondly, that it was from eternity, very briefly. We will close soon. I say that to those who have seen me say that before and not do it, but I intend to do it. Listen to Calvin here, before we talk about this divine purpose from eternity.
Listen to this. with respect to comfort. Because this is the takeaway. This is the application from this section only briefly dealt with. That we are to take great comfort from this language that Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world.
What would be the stability of our faith if we believed that a remedy for mankind had suddenly occurred at length to God after some thousands of years? In short, we cannot confidently rest on Christ except we are convinced that eternal salvation is in Him and always has been in Him. That's why, secondly, this is from eternity. The language of the text in 1 Peter is clear that this Christ foreordained was from before the foundation of the world.
It is of the greatest comfort. It is of the most blessed confidence. And lastly, in only a matter of minutes, the singular uniqueness and certain truth of the death remembered. Notice in 1 Peter 1, Verse 20, continuing, He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
He was not manifest before, but was in these last days manifested for you. We want to note very briefly first that there is a point being made respecting the historical coming of the Son of God to die for His people. He was manifest. this eternal Son, with respect to the promise that He would take upon Him man's nature for man's redemption, this Son was manifest to us. It was a promise.
It was a divine promise from before the foundation of the world And as all divine promises, it was a divine promise that came to fruition. He was manifested to us. You know, people make promises to us all the time. You might make promises to me.
I might make promises to you. I don't know how many times I said, yeah, I'll email that quote to you, and I never emailed it, so please forgive me. There's a quote that I was supposed to email you back in 2007. If you remember what it was, I'll email it to you.
But you see, we make promises all the time. Never fulfill them. Our God is not a God of broken promises. Our God is not a God of solid plans and solid purpose.
Our God is a God of fulfilled purpose, plan, and that perfectly. He was manifested. Texts that could come to mind. What does that mean, He was manifested?
Well, twofold before we move on and close.
Manifested in the Flesh
It is pertaining to His incarnation first. God was manifested in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3.16. 1 John 1.2 and 1 John 3.8 as well. And also, Titus 1.3, that the Gospel, according to God's eternal purpose, was manifested to us. This Christ comes, He's manifested in the flesh, He preaches the Gospel, and upon His ascension, He gives His Spirit, empowering those messengers of His to proclaim that self-same Gospel, the riches and the excellencies of saving and perfect redemption.
And second and lastly, under the singular uniqueness and certain truth of the death remembered, there is the accompanying fact that he really was manifested.
Eyewitnesses of His Majesty
He really was manifested. The second Peter 1.16, we do not follow, we did not follow. Cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." The disciples were eyewitnesses of his manifested majesty. And Peter is writing this epistle.
He was an eyewitness of the manifested majesty of the Son of God come incarnate, took to himself man's nature for the perfect redemption of his elect, and he preaches these glorious things of precious blood and of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He really was manifested. And so what do we do then with this particular point? Well, notice that it is for you.
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Now I know Peter didn't originally write his epistle to the believers at Free Grace Baptist Church in Chilliwack. There was an original intended audience, but by divine design and by a glorious and purposive providence, We, 2,000 years later, are an intended audience because it is by the Word of God, the Word of Truth that we are brought forth to rejoice in the precious blood and in the faultless offering of Jesus Christ. But this Christ is for you.
So now as we observe the Lord's Supper, we are to respond in a joyful obedience to the command, do this in remembrance of me, and we are to remember this precious one. this faultless offering, this glorious Christ. If you're here tonight, it's a good thing that you are here to observe, for the better and not for the worse, this ordinance given by Christ to remember His death until He comes again. So always be here, unless you're providentially hindered. That doesn't mean a football game.
That means you've broken your leg. and you're unable to come because you're in excruciating pain. If you're somehow hindered, but be here for the Lord's Supper. It's not a, ah, yeah, whenever I can make it, you know? Whenever we aren't having tacos for dinner.
This is commanded by Christ, and what a remembrance. This is a Malachi 1 thing. Why would you bring your blind and your lame? Come, remember this precious Christ.
If you're here tonight and you don't believe in this Christ, the pastoral and the Christian exhortation is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. You know, the doctrine of predestination and election does not rail against the proclamation of the word of God. The doctrine of predestination and the doctrine of election undergird and serve as the foundation for the confident preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a God who draws all that will come to Christ, and all of those who are drawn will be raised on that final day.
The means that God has ordained for the drawing of His people is the proclamation of the Gospel in contexts like this. The command is believe. The command is come. The glorious bidding is come to the Savior of precious blood and faultless offering, and you will find peace and everlasting life in Him.
Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
God, we thank You for Your Word. We rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank You for our Savior of precious blood, of faultless offering. this perfect sacrifice rendered substitutionarily in the stead of all who believe in His most precious name. We do pray that you'd help us to rejoice in this truth, that you would save sinners, that you would strengthen saints tonight, that you would help us now as we remember the Lord's Supper.
Help us as we remember in the Lord's Supper the Lord's death. Might you strengthen us, might you nourish us in our faith, and might we leave this place equipped well to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, reflecting on the fact that we've been saved by amazing grace through the perfection of so great a Savior and so great a saving sacrifice. And we pray in his precious name, amen.