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or not again, it was good morning 
this morning, it's good evening now, and good evening to everyone, 
it's good to see all of you in the house of the Lord. We noted this morning that we 
would look tonight at the theology of the Lord's Supper as we find 
it in the text here in 1 Corinthians 11 and also elsewhere as we examine 
the Bible and ask the question, what does it tell us with regards 
to the Lord's Supper? Perhaps not exhaustively, but 
what can we find in the text to lead us elsewhere to examine 
this particular doctrine? For those of you who weren't 
here this morning, the fact that in the Lord's Supper we have 
an obligation as Christians to obey Christ when he says, do 
this in remembrance of me. We have the call to remember 
Christ in the observance of the Lord's Supper, and we have a 
call to proclaim Christ in participating in the Lord's Supper. That particular 
act of worship is done in joyful obedience to the risen Christ, 
it's done in a remembrance of him, and it's done in the fashion 
of a proclamation concerning him. Well, tonight we're going 
to look at some theology that undergirds the doctrine of the 
Lord's Supper and hopefully As we move towards the next instance 
where we'll gather together as a church to observe the Lord's 
Supper, these will be some helps that will help our minds to be 
tuned to right as we engage in that particular ordinance, and 
hopefully we'll be, to a measure, all the better informed with 
a fresh appreciation of that particular element of worship. 
I'm simply going to read verses 23 to 26. of 1 Corinthians 11, 
and then we'll have a look, as we said, at the theology of the 
Lord's Supper. that which I also delivered to 
you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was 
betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, 
he broke it and said, take, eat, this is my body which is broken 
for you, do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he 
also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant 
in my blood, this do as often as you drink it in remembrance 
of me. For as often as you eat this 
bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till 
he comes. Amen. Well, let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for this second occasion on this, your 
Lord's Day, to gather together for worship. We pray that you 
would help us to worship you aright in this act of preaching. 
We pray, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that you would be the 
blessed recipient, or that we would be the blessed worshipers 
of you, our blessed God, and that you would receive all honor 
and glory and worship in this place. And we would ask that 
you attend to our our hearts and minds as we reflect upon 
Holy Scripture. Fill us with the knowledge of 
God, with the knowledge of Christ. Help us to be all the more well-instructed 
in this particular doctrine that we might gather together the 
next time for the Lord's Supper and have an increased appreciation 
for what you call us to obey, to remember, and to proclaim 
in that in that act of worship. And we pray in the name of Jesus 
Christ, our blessed Savior. Amen. Well, we noted the first 
set of words from this particular text this morning under the topic 
of obedience. For I received from the Lord 
that which I also delivered to you. We want to recognize that 
this morning in our first point with regards to the theological 
foundation for the importance of the Lord's Supper, we want 
to recognize that language in the context of the doctrine of 
Scripture. When we come to the Lord's Supper, 
we have a number of doctrines that are undergirding it, and 
the first that we see leaping off the text is the doctrine 
of Scripture, or we might even say the doctrine of divine, special 
divine inspiration. Because before the Bible was 
inscripturated, we had the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, given amongst 
the gathered churches. We had the observance of the 
Lord's Supper taking place amongst the churches, and that came by 
divine inspiration. This language, for I received 
from the Lord that which I also deliver to you, is the language 
of God equipping and inspiring men to go about by the power 
of the Holy Spirit to proclaim truth. I want you to turn with 
me to 1st Peter for a moment for some language or 2nd Peter 
rather for some language that That we ought to see connected 
to our receiving of the Lord's Supper as that ordinance given 
by God For the good of his people and for that blessed remembrance 
of Christ 2nd Peter in 2nd Peter chapter 1 at verse 16, we have 
beginning a wonderful text that speaks to divine inspiration 
and it speaks to the veracity that simply means the certain 
truthfulness of the message of Christ. Notice as it begins here 
in verse 16 and continues, for we did not follow cunningly devised 
fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received 
from God the Father honour and glory, when such a voice came 
to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which 
came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 
And now, specific to our point, and so we have the prophetic 
word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that 
shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning 
star rises in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy 
of scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy 
never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as 
they were moved by the Holy Spirit. I think we have a number of things 
there that we could bring out, but we probably don't have time 
because we're just focusing in on one initial point here. But 
notice first off, as we've already said, the certain truthfulness 
of the story of Christ. We, as Christians, have not a 
fable that we follow, not a fairy tale that we follow, as we've 
observed before. The Bible doesn't come to us 
in the manner and in the matter of once upon a time in the land 
of Palestine. No, we have this given to us, 
we have truth given to us, and it comes to us with the certain 
truthfulness of the divine magistrate, and it comes to us in this flavor, 
for we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known 
to you the power and coming. of our Lord Jesus Christ. What 
a blessed deposit of divine and certain truth we have in the 
Holy Scriptures. And to our point with regards 
to the Lord's Supper, if we would bring up again the fact of the 
authority of God in inspiration in the observance of the Lord's 
Supper, we read here in Peter recounting the voice from the 
excellent glory, the voice from God with regards to the Beloved 
Son. This is my Beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased. The Gospel narratives include 
the additional language that God spoke, hear him. there is 
this hear him declaration given by God. And this brings us back 
to the fact that the Lord's Supper is an act of obedience, joyful 
obedience with respect to Christ. We hear the voice of Christ in 
the language, do this in remembrance of me. But then we have this 
specific connection to Holy Scripture. Holy men of God spoke as they 
were moved moved by the Holy Spirit. So coming back to 1 Corinthians 
11, that's what we have in the background when Paul writes, 
for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to 
you. Our observance of the Lord's 
Supper rests upon divine inspiration. It rests upon God speaking through, 
by the Holy Spirit, through holy men of old, delivering to us 
the truth God and I want to just rehearse one more one more point 
that we that we only briefly noticed this morning we ought 
to We ought to be continually grateful that we have full Bibles 
in our hands. Throughout much opposition, throughout 
great struggles and strivings throughout the history of the 
Church, the Bible comes to us. And here, 2,000 years removed 
from its inscripturation, at least from the New Testament. 
so far removed from the life and times of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
we still have the very Word of God. And it is through God's 
divine and providential protection of His Word throughout the ages 
that we can, just like these Corinthian Christians, be the 
recipients of the truth of the Lord delivered to us. What a 
blessed thing we have as Christians before us in the truth of God. So the doctrine of the Lord's 
Supper rests upon divine inspiration and divine authority that comes 
with the scriptures. One of the One of the things 
we didn't really note this morning to much of a length was the blessed 
consent of the parts that we have connected to the doctrine 
of the Lord's Supper. Now, we have this with everything 
in our Bibles. That is, that Exodus, for example, 
the observance of the Passover, connects with Matthew 26 and 
Christ's observance of that very Passover with his disciples on 
the night before his sacrifice upon the cross. And then, of 
course, the narrative concerning the cross, and then this institution, 
rehearsal of the institution by the Apostle Paul. We have 
this blessed consent of all of these parts in Holy Scripture. And it causes us to reflect upon 
the genius, the brilliance, the surpassing wisdom of the Bible. as opposed, of course, to any 
other document under God's good son. We have in the Bible the 
only book, if you will, that bears these divine marks of the 
heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the 
majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, and the scope 
of the whole, which is to give all glory to God, to quote our 
confession of faith. And this blessed document brings 
forth the blessed observance of the Lord's Supper as a remembrance 
of Jesus Christ. Secondly, we have the doctrine 
of God. The simple language again from 
verse 23, for I received from the Lord. We ought to be Our 
minds ought to be drawn in a remembrance, in an observance of the Lord's 
Supper, to the God who gives us the supper I received from 
the Lord. There is, in the background there, 
sovereignty and authority. The Lord Jesus Christ, being 
very God, and yes, very man, delivers the Lord's Supper to 
his disciples to be observed. in his churches unto the end 
of the world. And it comes to us as a blessed, 
divine master and lord, a sovereign king who gives good things to 
his people. If you think about that in the 
context of a divine command, what a blessed command to joyfully 
observe. that God gives us heavenly invitations 
to that blessed banquet of the table, and we can come together 
as a church to eat of the bread, to drink of the wine, and in 
so doing, remember the dying of the Son of God. What a blessed 
thing we have in the biblical witness to the ordinance, and 
as well the doctrine of God that is in the background. We have 
his authority, his power, his sovereignty. We have the subsequent 
obedience that comes from that. And we ought to rehearse the 
fact that we have the divine perfections in view when we engage 
in the Lord's Supper. What do we mean by that? Well, 
in doing this in remembrance of Christ, remember in the words 
of institution, Christ rehearses that twice, do this in remembrance 
of me, do this in remembrance of me, that remembrance is a 
remembrance of the cross. And at the cross, there are a 
number of So, streams of divine perfections that come to a blessed 
confluence. We have the holiness of God, 
we have the justice of God, we have the love of God, we have 
the goodness of God all coming together at the cross of Calvary 
where we see Christ upon the cross working out the salvation 
of men. So as we gather together for 
the Lord's Supper, or as we simply consider the doctrine of the 
Lord's Supper, know that it is a reflection upon and an exploration 
of the divine perfections, because at Calvary's cross, justice is 
satisfied. Divine justice is satisfied. 
Divine holiness is satisfied. Divine love is ratified and confirmed, 
if you will, by the work of Christ on the cross. And goodness, divine 
goodness, comes to us by the perfection of Christ's work. 
We have in the Lord's Supper, in the observance of the Lord's 
Supper and a consideration of it, hopefully our minds drawn 
to reflections upon our blessed God. You know, there are so many 
boons to the Christian soul that come to us in simply that 15 
minutes that we have when we're observing the Lord's Supper. 
Never think of it as simply a rite to go through, as simply and 
merely and emptily. Is that a word? A rote religious 
exercise. It is rich and it is filled with 
the truth of God. Not simply reflections, though 
it's a glorious reflection upon the death of Christ, but also 
expanding our minds to consider the doctrine of inspiration and 
the doctrine of the blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 
that we have communion with at the Lord's Supper. One of the 
most blessed sentences in our confession of faith comes in 
chapter 2 and paragraph 3. After a lot of technical language 
concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, where it uses lots of 
big words there in elucidating the doctrine of the Trinity, 
the Baptists write, which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation 
for all our comfortable dependence and communion with God? We have 
blessed communion with God that we'll notice at the end of the 
sermon tonight. We have a vertical communion 
or fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At the Lord's 
Supper, the doctrine of God is rich for our contemplations when 
we observe the Lord's Supper. Of course, moving forward then, 
we see from the text that we have the doctrine of Christ set 
forth before us, and we noted a bit of that this morning, but 
just a little bit more as we rehearse the theology of the 
Lord's Supper. Notice again, in verse 24, Take, 
eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance 
of me. And again, this cup is the new 
covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink 
it in remembrance of me. Spurgeon writes this connected 
to the doctrine of Christ and the Lord's Supper. I would have 
you earnest students of all the deeds of the conquering Messiah. 
I would have you conversant with the life of our beloved. But 
oh, forget not his person, for the text says, this do in remembrance 
of me. It is Christ's glorious person, 
which ought to be the object of our remembrance. So as we 
do, as we noted this morning, as our hearts do rise in mutiny 
against our human languor and coldness, to not observe the 
Lord's Supper aright, we are to find our minds, to find our 
hearts, to find our Christian souls mounting up to reflections 
about the glorious person of Christ. Do this in remembrance 
of me. He is the object of our blessed 
faith. He is the namesake of our high 
and holy religion. We are Christians, after all. 
And so at the Lord's Supper, we are called to remember this 
blessed one. And maybe just drawing a connection 
to, for those of you who come to the Lord's Supper and you've 
come, you know, repeatedly and you've heard Pastor Butler up 
at the pulpit, issuing some qualifications and a little bit of preamble 
with regards to what we're doing at the Lord's Supper, or we might 
say also, what we're not doing. And one of the things that Pastor 
Butler says is he says that this bread and this wine remain bread 
and wine. And he goes on to say that they 
do not change into the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he'll say again that we repudiate 
as Protestants the doctrine of transubstantiation, which is 
a big word, kids and adults. It simply sets forth the reality 
in the Catholic Church where they believe that though the 
bread and the wine remain such to the outward senses, they are 
really and actually changed into the very body and blood of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, such that the communicants are eating Christ's 
flesh and drinking Christ's blood. not symbolically and metaphorically 
as in believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, a la John 6, but really 
and actually and physically consuming the body and blood of Christ, 
which of course is contrary not only to Scripture, but also to 
common sense, and is a blasphemy of blasphemies. Well, the doctrine 
of the person of Christ is in the background there, because 
we believe, or we reject the idea that the Catholics uphold 
where the deity and the humanity of Christ are in some measure 
mingled or confused, such that the property of omnipresence 
can be communicated from the divine to the human, as if everywhere 
in every Catholic Church where the words of consecration are 
spoken, that Christ can actually be physically present in the 
bread and in the wine. The doctrine of the person of 
Christ comes into clear view there. And we would want to note 
that because Christ is very God and very man, those two natures 
never confused, there can never be anything whereby we have the 
bread actually being the physical person of Christ, nor the wine 
being the very blood of Christ. So the doctrine of the person 
of Christ is very important here. But setting aside some of those 
technicalities of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, The remembrance 
that we have in view is to be the remembrance of so glorious 
a Christ. Remember, as we only noted briefly 
this morning, who in the glory of his deity, in the glory of 
his surpassing equality with the Father, in the glory of His 
pre-incarnate majesty, he, in the fullness of the times, took 
upon himself our humanity. I don't think we really, you 
know, maybe appreciate that condescension, or at least we can say we can 
never fully explore the condescension that we have in the incarnation. 
What one man has said with regards to, I believe it was a Christmas 
sermon that he preached, and I'm pretty sure it was A.N. Martin. He was preaching a sermon around 
Christmas time on the incarnation, and talking about the mystery 
of God becoming man, the mystery of the second person of the Trinity 
taking upon himself our nature. And he said, if we could somehow 
solve the mystery, if we could somehow take our, I think the 
way that he described it, and only the way A.N. Martin can, 
is that if we pulled out the neurons in our brains as a string, 
and we were able to wrap them around the doctrine of the Incarnation 
such that we fully comprehended it, he said we might congratulate 
ourselves for our genius and our brilliance, but we won't 
worship. We might congratulate ourselves 
that we have figured out this great mystery, but we would never 
worship. All of that to exalt to its proper 
place the doctrine of the incarnation, where the creator of all things, 
where the maker of all, the upholder of all, and the redeemer of a 
multitude came down and took upon himself our humanity to 
redeem us. In our remembering Christ, we 
are to reflect upon so glorious a condescension. so blessed a 
stoop that he would come down to redeem guilty sinners. We 
also have, fourthly, the doctrine of covenant theology. And when 
you hear that, the doctrine of covenant theology, hopefully 
you don't roll your eyes or hopefully you don't sort of consign yourself 
to the thought, well, I can tune out now because, you know, we're 
just going to enter into the ivory towers of of Protestant 
considerations of theology. No, not at all. When we say covenant 
theology, we simply mean the architecture of the Bible. We 
simply mean that God has condescended such in the way of covenant to 
communicate to his creatures. In fact, that's the way that 
he engages in communication with us. He condescends by way of 
covenant to bless his creatures, and we have that in the text 
here. Notice at verse 25, with respect 
to the wine, In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, 
saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often 
as you drink it in remembrance of me. So Jesus Christ understood 
that there is an intimate link, of course, between his oblation, 
his sacrifice, his giving himself up upon Calvary's cross with 
covenant. This cup is the new covenant 
in my blood. We we say that the lord jesus 
christ in his death. We glory in the fact that the 
lord jesus christ in his death ratified that is secured completed 
and confirmed the Announcement of or the reality of the covenant 
of grace the announced new covenant and you can turn with me back 
to jeremiah 31 a passage that you should well be familiar with 
if you've been coming here for any measure of months and years. Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34 is the 
announcement of the new covenant. And in this, we have a very obvious 
and explicit connection to what we just read in the words of 
Christ. This is the new covenant in my 
blood. Notice Jeremiah 31 at verse 31, 
where we have this announcement by God concerning this forthcoming 
covenant. Behold, the days are coming, 
says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house 
of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the 
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took 
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My 
covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says 
the Lord. But this is the covenant that 
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says 
the Lord. I will put my law in their minds 
and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God and they 
shall be my people. No more shall every man teach 
his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. 
for they all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest 
of them, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and their 
sin I will remember no more. We get the language of new covenant 
from this text where God says I will make a new covenant. with the house of Israel. And 
this covenant is starkly different to the old covenant. It is an 
unbreakable covenant. And why is it an unbreakable 
covenant? Because it is Christ who ratifies 
it. It is Christ who is the covenant 
champion. It is Christ who perfects the 
new covenant, the covenant of grace, that covenant which was 
first announced to Adam and Eve in the garden, with that threatening 
to the serpent, that the hero born of woman will crush the 
serpent with his heel, that time had come in this one Christ who 
gives these words of institution, do this in remembrance of me, 
and on the eve in which he was betrayed, or on the night in 
which he was betrayed, he gives this announcement, this cup is 
the new covenant in my blood. That language, the stuff of scripture, 
the stuff of God, the stuff of the person of Christ, the doctrine 
of covenant theology are all these streams of blessed truth 
that come to a confluence at the Lord's Supper and bring it 
forth as something that isn't simply a small thing in the pages 
of scripture, not simply some right that we must go through 
through 15 minutes every, you know, every first Sunday of the 
month, but a blessed observance, a blessed sacrament that God 
has given to us, wherein we remember so glorious a Savior, wherein 
we remember the very central act that we noted this morning, 
the very central event of all of human history, Christ upon 
the cross working out the salvation of men. The act of Christ's oblation 
or sacrifice upon Calvary's cross is the ratification of the new 
covenant. Fifthly, and we have one more 
after this and then we'll have a few words and then we'll close. 
Fifthly before us, again obviously and explicitly, is the doctrine 
of the cross. The doctrine of the cross is 
richly central to the Lord's Supper. We see it, of course, 
in the words of institution, take, eat, this is my body, which 
is broken for you. And then this cup is the new 
covenant in my blood. So the cross work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ is central to the Lord's Supper. His body broken 
for us and his blood shed for us. Those are the things that 
the very elements we use represent. The bread representing the body 
broken, the wine representing the blood shed. So in the remembrance 
that we have at the Lord's Supper, the doctrine of the cross is 
to come flying to our minds. When we say the cross and when 
we say the death of Christ, those are two words that come up often, 
or the blood of Christ. So there are three terms that 
very often come up in the New Testament. What do we mean when 
we say the cross? What do we mean when we say the 
death of Jesus Christ? One man has said that those words 
are theological shorthand for the substitutionary sacrificial 
death of Christ. That Christ upon the cross isn't 
simply engaging in an exercise of love to serve as some sort 
of an example for the height of human sacrifice for others. In other words, it's not simply 
an example that we have at the cross, that Christ is giving 
the best example of self-sacrifice, and we are, as human beings, 
to imitate Christ. That's the extent of the cross, 
some will say. It's much more than that. The 
first word that we noted is that it's a substitutionary sacrifice. That means Christ went in the 
place of, in the stead of, in the room of all of those whom 
the Father had given to him. Think about this for a second, 
because one of the One of the acts of remembrances that we 
noted this morning is that we are to have our minds, if only 
for a moment, and it should only be for a moment, reflect upon 
the fact that we have sinned against God. Remember the words 
of the Apostle Paul, remember that you, once Gentiles according 
to the flesh, walked in all manner of iniquity, but God has brought 
you forth. So we reflect with our minds, 
we remember for a moment the sin that necessitated the very 
cross of Calvary. There is that remembrance that 
we are to do, but our remembrance, our action of remembrance is 
immediately to turn to that blessed remembrance, which is looking 
back upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into this world, sinners 
to save. And that saving act is seen with 
the remembrance of the Lord's Supper in view and the fact that 
he went to the cross in the place of his people, in the stead of 
his people. You know, that language that 
we see in the Bible where it says Christ died for us, for 
example, perhaps in the book of Galatians where Paul rehearses 
it, with regards to himself, Christ died for me, but whenever 
we say Christ died for me, for us, when the Bible says Christ 
died for us, there is something very rich in that for us language. It's not simply that Christ died 
to give us a gift, you know, as if this gift is for us, though 
we might emphasize that it is a blessed gift. But this for 
us carries the language of instead of us. And you can turn with 
me to 1 Peter for a moment. 1 Peter. Just to see this language that 
we have with regards to for us. and emphasizing the fact that 
the cross is a substitutionary or vicarious act of Christ. He did it in our place. Notice 
that this is in the context of Peter exhorting submission to 
masters in the context of the church. And he's giving the example 
of the Lord Jesus Christ as one who committed himself to God 
in the act of submission, not according to his deity, but according 
to his assumed humanity. And notice in verse 21 of 1 Peter 
2, For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered 
for us, there's that language again, leaving us an example 
that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin, nor was 
deceit found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, did not 
revile in return, when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed 
himself to him who judges righteously. Now notice, who himself bore 
our sins, His own body on the tree that we having died to sins 
might live for righteousness By whose stripes you were healed 
what what an amazing thing we have here by the Apostle Peter 
because again, this is simply in the context of exhortation 
to slaves how they are to to act with reference to their masters 
and he brings forth Isaiah 53 that wonderful proto-gospel language 
of what the cross is all about, given 700 years before the cross, 
where it speaks of Christ being our substitutionary sacrifice. This wonderful language speaking 
of Christ, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Reflect upon this for a moment. We often think of the suffering 
of Christ, and we think of Those physical sufferings, the 
beatings and the whippings and the lashings and the bruisings 
before the crucifixion, we think of the nails going into the hands, 
the nails going into the feet, the horror of the cross as it 
took its physical toll upon Christ, and we should never not consider 
the fact that there is a real physical reality to the cross, 
a gruesome and a bloody death upon Calvary's cross. But when 
our minds are drawn to remembrance, our minds ought to, yes, consider 
that, but to move beyond it to the very soul travail, the spirit 
travail, the spiritual suffering of the Son of God who died on 
Calvary's cross for us. If you think only for a moment 
about your own sins, whether it's prior to you coming to Christ 
or after you have come to Christ, your remaining corruption. So 
in our stint as those totally depraved and as our subsequent 
walk with Christ is marked by remaining corruption, reflect 
upon your own sins for a moment, realizing that any sin, any transgression 
merits punishment and the wrath of God, not only in this age, 
but also in that which is to come. and then multiply that 
by those millions of people who are God's elect from every tribe 
and tongue and people and nation, and now think about the one who 
bore all those sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having 
died to sin, might live unto righteousness, by whose stripes 
we are healed. The physical travail, yes, but 
the soulish travail, the bearing of the wrath of God in our place, 
What a terrible thing to think of, but what a terrible thing 
not to think of, to channel Melito of Sardis. As we look with eyes 
of faith upon a crucified cross, we note that it's a terrible 
thing to declare, but a terrible thing not to declare, because 
it is the very salvation that we have there upon Calvary's 
cross. Another text that you can look 
at is in the book of Galatians. You can turn with me to Galatians 
3. In Galatians 3, we have this 
wonderful statement with regards to the bearing of the curse that 
Jesus Christ underwent in his substitutionary sacrificial work 
upon the cross. Notice in Galatians 3 at verse 
10, for as many as are of the works of the law are under the 
curse. For it is written, cursed is 
everyone who does not continue in all things which are written 
in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified 
by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall 
live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, 
but the man who does them shall live by them. Let's just stop 
there for a moment. before we get to where we wanted 
to go originally. Think about the curse of the 
law upon all of us prior to believing in Christ. Cursed is everyone 
who does not continue in all things which are written in the 
book of the law to do them. What a horrible place it is for 
any pseudo-Christian or professing Christian to think that they 
can, in some measure, by the law's obedience, satisfy God's 
demands and be be accepted by God based upon their performance. If such a one submits themselves 
to such an economy of salvation, we have the reality that they 
are cursed. The fact that they are to live 
according to the rule that they must do exact, perpetual, personal, 
and entire obedience to every jot and tittle of the law of 
God. That is, as Pastor Butler has said, to renounce Christ 
and hold up yourself as that which is the meritorious glory 
in salvation. but we have the reality that 
the law is not of faith, the man who does those laws shall 
live by them, but the one who lives by faith is the blessed 
recipient of what we now find in verse 13. Christ has redeemed 
us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. There's that language again, 
for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Our blessed salvation rests upon 
the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only his 
active obedience unto the whole law rendered in our place, he 
in his those 33 years observed every jot and tittle of the law 
of God perfectly and that in our place. But with respect to 
the Lord's Supper, peculiarly, His passive obedience in His 
death upon the cross. He bore our sins in His own body. He has redeemed us from the curse 
of the law, having become a curse for us. Cursed is everyone who 
hangs on a tree. Notice that the blessing of Abraham 
might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might 
receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Notice that the 
blessing of Abraham is connected not to familial ties. The blessing 
of Abraham is connected to the perfect finished work of the 
Lord Jesus Christ appropriated through faith. And that's why 
we only baptize believers is because the covenant that we 
have in view in the ratification wrought by Christ on the cross 
is not Abrahamicentric, it's Christocentric, and the Abrahamic 
blessing is that which is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 
receiving the promise of the Spirit of Truth. So, we have 
the doctrine of the cross as central in the observance of 
the Lord's Supper, of course, because Christ Jesus says, this 
is my body which is broken, this is the cup of the New Testament, 
in my blood, the new covenant in my blood. If you've ever asked 
yourselves, maybe you haven't, but now I'll give you the question 
that you can ask yourselves. With this language of my body 
which is broken for you, one of the things that we read in 
the gospel accounts is a confirmation or a note of fulfillment that 
in the crucifixion of Christ, not a bone in his body was broken 
as a fulfillment of Psalm 22. Well actually, and we might even 
say a fulfillment of the Passover instructions, that not a bone 
in the lamb slain is to be broken in the observance of the Passover. 
Another intimate connection. between our Lord as the sacrificial 
lamb, our Passover sacrifice. But we see here, my body which 
is broken, so is this contradictory then? Well, no. And what it has 
to do with is what I believe Henry is getting at here, Matthew 
Henry, when he writes, though a bone of him was not broken, 
for all this breaking did not weaken him, yet his flesh was 
broken with breach upon breach, and his wounds were multiplied, 
and that pained him. God complains that he is broken 
with the whorish heart of sinners, his law broken, our covenants 
with him broken. Now justice requires breach for 
breach, and Christ was broken to satisfy that demand. So when 
we remember the Lord Jesus Christ, and when Pastor Butler gives 
these words of institution as we take this bread, this is my 
body which is broken, in that act of remembrance, think about 
that, that we as sinners, breach upon breach, broke the law of 
God, broke the law of our creator, broke the law of our sustainer, 
but our champion, the Lord Jesus Christ, with answer, breach upon 
breach, brought us to God by taking the wrath of God, taking 
the punishment due us, bearing the guilt, bearing the curse 
in our place. He took breach upon breach that 
we might be exonerated for our breach upon breach, forgiven 
for our breach upon breach of the law of God. What a blessed 
thing we have in the Lord's Supper. And lastly, we have communion 
with God. We have communion with God, the doctrine of communion 
with God, or we may say the doctrine of the means of grace. There 
are means that God has ordained for us to receive strength of 
soul and faith. We noted them in perhaps just 
passing a couple times this morning where we talked about prayer. 
the reading of the scriptures, the preaching of the word, singing 
of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, baptism, and the Lord's 
Supper. The Lord's Supper is given as 
a means of grace, divinely appointed means by which our faith is increased 
and strengthened. We could say also the mechanisms 
employed by God to feed our needy souls. Richard Barcelos describes 
it this way, the delivery system, that is these divinely appointed 
means of grace or these means wherein we have a vertical communion 
with God, they are the delivery systems God has instituted to 
bring grace, spiritual help, and fortitude to our souls. So if you can turn back to 1 
Corinthians, but this time go to 1 Corinthians 10 for a moment, 
and we'll close with this. as we recognize that the Lord's 
Supper, at the Lord's Supper, while we yes, do have communion 
one with each other, we also have first and primarily communion 
with the very God of our salvation. Notice in 1 Corinthians 10 at 
verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from 
idolatry. I speak as to wise men. Judge 
for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we 
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread 
which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 
For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all 
partake of that one bread. Observe Israel after the flesh. 
are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then? That an 
idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 
Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they 
sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to 
have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the 
Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's 
table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to 
jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" So, 
in the context of Paul exhorting these to flee from idolatry, 
to not participate in meals wherein the Gentiles are offering up 
these sacrifices to demons or partaking of a meal for communion 
with demons. In contrast, the Apostle Paul 
is setting the Lord's Supper before them as that which is 
the blessed antithesis, fellowship with God and not fellowship with 
demons. The truth is that these Gentiles 
truly do have fellowship with demons, in their satanic right 
of participating and engaging in this meal? Well, blessedly 
and conversely, we have a real communion with God at the Lord's 
Supper. This cup of blessing which we 
bless, it is not the communion of the blood of Christ. And this 
bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of 
Christ? We want to have fellowship with 
God and not with demons, Paul is saying. all of that to assert 
this, that at the Lord's Supper, while we do have a remembrance 
of that once-for-all sacrifice given upon Calvary's cross, we 
also have this means whereby our blessed God feeds our souls 
by the risen and exalted Christ in giving us measures of his 
spirit. This is the language of our confession. In the chapter on saving faith, 
paragraph one, It reads, the grace of faith, whereby the elect 
are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the 
work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily 
wrought by the ministry of the word, by which also and by the 
administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, prayer and 
other means appointed of God, it is increased and strengthened. 
So to apply a measure of brevity to that, by the Lord's Supper 
our faith is increased and strengthened by the work of the Spirit of 
Christ. So it is not simply a remembrance, a blessed remembrance as it is, 
it is also an occasion that God has instituted whereby our souls 
are fed in that observance. So it is certainly something 
that ought not to be slighted or neglected by the people of 
God. Because of its very rich nature, because of the richness 
of what it is with all of these theological streams coming to 
a blessed confluence, the doctrine of inspiration or scripture, 
the doctrine of God, the person of Christ, the very work of Christ 
upon Calvary's cross, the doctrine of the covenant, and this blessed 
reality of communion with God. All of these things come together 
to exalt, if you will, the Lord's Supper as something that is not 
simply a religious exercise, but something wherein we reflect 
with great joyful obedience upon the doing and the dying and the 
rising again of the Son of God, and whereby God, the risen and 
exalted Christ, by His Spirit, feeds our souls and strengthens 
our faith. What a blessed thing we have 
in the Lord's Supper. Let us never forget the Lord's 
Supper, let us always remember the Lord's Supper, let us always 
gather together for the Lord's Supper, knowing that God calls 
us with these heavenly invitations to that blessed banquet at his 
table. If you're here this evening and 
you're asking, perhaps you're an unbeliever and you're wondering, 
what does this have to do with me? Well, hopefully you heard 
a little bit of Christ there. A little bit of the reality of 
sin. the fact that God demands perfection, God demands the perfection 
of obedience to his law, and we as his creatures, as his human 
creatures, have fallen in at him, and every second of every 
day we violate the law of God and are opposed to God. But that 
blessed God has set forth the blessed answer in Jesus Christ. We're dead in our trespasses 
and sins, but the blessed champion of God's elect has come down 
from heaven, assumed our humanity, endured the wicked opposition 
of our lower sphere of shame and ignominy that he might lift 
us up to heaven, that he might save us. Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and you'll be the blessed 
recipient of the truth of that crosswork, that yes, you have 
sinned, but he bore in his own body the sins of his people on 
the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness. 
By his blessed stripes, we are healed. Let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for your word. We rejoice in the goodness 
of it. We rejoice in what you have declared 
to us with regards to the Lord's Supper. We pray that we would 
count it a high blessing as Christians, a high and heavy honor to gather 
together for so glorious an ordinance. We do pray, Lord God, that you 
would fill our hearts with joyful obedience as we gather together 
to partake of the Lord's Supper. Might we realize that it is not 
a remembrance of anything else save for a remembrance of the 
Lord Jesus Christ and the perfection of His sacrifice and all of those 
blessed doctrines that have an intimate connection to it. to 
it. We pray as we engage and partake of the Lord's Supper 
that you would, by your spirit, fill our minds with the blessed 
knowledge of Christ, that we might commune, have fellowship 
with you, and Lord God, that you would strengthen us in our 
faith in this lower world as we go about our days, that we 
would be enlivened and invigorated by the risen Christ, by blessed 
measures of His Spirit. We pray that you would go with 
us now into this week, help us to conduct ourselves in a manner 
worthy of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that we 
have been saved by amazing and victorious grace, by faith, in 
Christ alone. And we pray in His precious name. 
Amen. Well, we'll have a brief time 
of prayer. When the piano's finished, you're dismissed.