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Heavenly Father, we rejoice in 
this new day. We rejoice in this, your Lord's 
Day Sabbath. We do pray that you would be 
with us in this hour prior to worship. We thank you that we 
have this opportunity to gather in freedom to study Holy Scripture. And we do just pray that you 
bless our time, that your name would be hallowed in this small 
assembly. We do rejoice in the forgiveness of sins through Jesus 
Christ our blessed Redeemer And we do just pray that this would 
be an exercise not simply in gaining knowledge But in rejoicing 
in you that you might be honored that you might be glorified and 
Lord God that your people might grow in the grace and in the 
knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord and it's in his precious 
name that we pray amen We can turn in your confession to chapter 
30 if you don't have one. The blue basket is there and 
we can distribute. Does anyone on this side need 
a confession? You're all good. You can turn to chapter 30. We're 
going to read through it in a moment, but to frame our thoughts, we'll 
turn to the scriptures first. 1 Corinthians 11, beginning in 
verse 23. So our study in the confession, 
we've arrived at the doctrine of the Lord's Supper in chapter 
30. So to begin our study, we'll read from Paul's first epistle 
to the church at Corinth, chapter 11, beginning in verse 23. For 
I received from the Lord 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, no doubt we find 
in 1 Corinthians 11, 23-26 the importance of the doctrine of 
the Lord's Supper. I mean, it's seen in a number 
of ways in this passage. It's first seen in the fact that 
it does come to us in the manner of a divine command. this due 
in remembrance of me is Paul's rehearsal of the commandment 
of the Lord. And even prior to that, in verse 
23, I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to 
you. He received it by his Lord, from his Lord, and by virtue 
of his apostolic authority, he delivers it to the church at 
Corinth. The Lord's Supper, which we are 
studying this morning, is absolutely important because it comes to 
us by way of divine and particular precept. We also see its importance 
in what it is. It's a remembrance of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. It's not alone a remembrance, 
but the language here in the text is just that, do this in 
remembrance of me. It is the motion of the Christian 
heart to reflect upon the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And you see, in the Lord's Supper, 
we don't just have an ordinance that terminates upon reflections 
on the elements of bread and wine, but we have an ordinance 
that remembers the things that those things symbolize, what 
they signify. The breaking of the body of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, his body broken for us, and his precious blood 
shed for us. The blood of the new covenant 
shed for many for the remission of sins. We see the importance 
as well prior to 1st Corinthians 11 and in chapter 10, where we 
see the reality that it is by the Lord's Supper that we are 
spiritually nourished and we're brought into communion or we 
have fellowship with the risen Christ by virtue of the giftings 
of his spirit. And so as we move along in this 
study of the Lord's Supper, hopefully with that in the background, 
its importance to the Christian life, its importance within The 
confines of Orthodox Christianity will fuel our gaining of knowledge 
and our glorifying of God in a study of this doctrine. We're going to read it now, and 
we'll read it while sort of noting an outliner, a structure that 
we have here in Chapter 30. So, rather than the normal way 
of working through the Confession, reading the whole thing, and 
then making observations afterwards, we're going to do a little bit 
of a reading after the manner of observing an outline. We could 
outline it in four points, four main headings, this eight-paragraph 
chapter of the Confession. Four headings are these. First, 
the nature of the Lord's Supper, paragraphs one and two. the administration 
of the Lord's Supper, paragraphs 3 and 4, the elements involved 
in the Lord's Supper, paragraphs 5 and 6, and then lastly the 
reception of the Lord's Supper in paragraphs 7 and 8. So let's 
look first off, reading the Confession, at the nature of the Lord's Supper 
in paragraphs 1 and 2. I'll read these two paragraphs. 
The nature of the Lord's Supper. The supper of the Lord Jesus 
was instituted by Him, the same night wherein He was betrayed, 
to be observed in His churches unto the end of the world, for 
the perpetual remembrance and showing forth the sacrifice of 
Himself in His death, confirmation of the faith of believers and 
all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment and growth 
in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they 
owe unto Him, and to be a bond and pledge of their communion 
with him and with each other. Just very briefly as we work 
through this chapter, you'll notice that there is a lot packed 
into it. There is a lot of information 
here, there is a lot of doctrine in the background, there's a 
lot of denial or rejection of Popish abomination, positive 
affirmation of what the Lord's Supper actually is, and so hopefully 
we're not biting off more than we can chew by trying to engage 
in a rehearsal of the whole chapter here this morning. But notice 
first off here in the paragraph 1 on the nature of the Lord's 
Supper, its institution. The Supper of the Lord Jesus 
was instituted by Him. This is what we have called a 
dominical ordinance, a dominical injunction. It's given by the 
Lord, our Master, the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, it's instituted 
by Him. It's not a tradition of the church. Well, it is a tradition of the 
church, but it's not an invention of the church. It's not an invention 
of men. It is the supper of the Lord 
Jesus which was instituted by Him. This is given by divine 
command. As chapter 28 says, the ordinances 
of baptism in the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and 
sovereign institution. ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ 
or appointed by Him to be observed in His churches unto the end 
of the world. Here we have that language reiterated with the 
Lord's Supper. It is instituted by Him, by our 
Lord Jesus Christ. And it was instituted on the 
same night in which He was betrayed. You know, I don't think it's 
just a rehearsal of the chronology of the Lord's Supper when it's 
observed in the scriptures that it was instituted on the same 
night in which he was betrayed as if to just say hey that's 
when it was instituted. Many have noted the reality or 
the importance or rather the significance of the institution 
of the Lord's Supper on the night in which Christ was betrayed. 
John Gill for example on Matthew 26, 23, "...the circumstance 
of Judas's betraying him is mentioned, not only because it was in the 
night and a work of darkness, but being in the same night he 
instituted the supper, shows the knowledge he had of his death 
by the means of the betrayer and his great love to his disciples, 
his church and people, in appointing such an ordinance in remembrance 
of him and his death when he was just about to leave them." 
He is just about to leave his disciples. He is about to depart 
after his crucifixion. He'll resurrect. He'll dwell 
among them in his resurrected glory for a number of days, for 
40 days, and then ascend to the right hand of the majesty on 
high. And he leaves them on the night in which he was betrayed 
with an ordinance to observe his death until he comes again. John Calvin on this as well. 
this circumstance as to time, and strucks us as to the design 
of the sacrament, that the benefit of Christ's death may be ratified 
in us. For the Lord might have sometime 
previously committed to the apostles this covenant seal, but he waited 
until the time of his oblation, that is, his sacrificial death, 
he waited until the time of his oblation, that the apostles might 
see soon after accomplished in reality in his body, what he 
had represented to them in the bread and the wine. So in a reading 
of Matthew 26, the other gospel accounts of the Lord's Supper, 
and 1 Corinthians 11, never just skip past on the night he was 
betrayed, as if it's just a rehearsal of the time when he was betrayed. 
or the institution of the Lord's Supper. Notice as well we have 
its observation here in Chapter 1. It is the Lord's Supper to 
be observed in his churches unto the end of the world. It is a 
perpetual remembrance, the phrase states next. This is to be observed 
in his churches unto the end of the world. First off, it's 
to be observed. It's not something that we can 
take or leave as the Church of Christ. It is something that's 
absolutely necessary to be observed. Again, it's a divine command. 
It is to be observed in His churches until the end of the world. There's 
a qualified perpetuity, if you will. It's not through out the 
eschaton, but it is to be observed. observed in his churches unto 
the end of the world. And then notice its nature and 
purpose, which we will open up a little bit later, but there 
are a number of things that the Confession brings out with regards 
to the nature of the Lord's Supper. What is it? What are we doing 
when we observe the Lord's Supper? Well, the Confession answers, 
for the perpetual remembrance and showing forth the sacrifice 
of himself in his death. we are to remember the Lord. 
Remembrance is a necessary and defining characteristic of the 
Christian. In the Old Covenant, we find 
that historical retrospect throughout the Old Covenant, especially 
in the Psalms, where we see the Psalmist rehearsing God's mercy, 
God's grace, God pouring out His love upon His covenant people. 
We see them rehearsing their deliverances from bondage in 
Egypt and other things. When we get to the New Covenant, 
we see the same thing. The apostles, when they're penning 
their letters, they open it up, calling upon Christians to reflect 
upon the perfect saving work of the Triune God. And so remembrance 
is an absolutely necessary and defining characteristic for the 
Christian. It is, the Lord's Supper is, 
for the perpetual remembrance and showing forth the sacrifice 
of Himself in His death. It is also a proclamation. By 
the Lord's Supper, we as His gathered assembly profess the 
perfection of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ for 
the salvation of His people. It is also for confirmation of 
the faith of believers and all the benefits thereof, their spiritual 
nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and 
to all duties which they owe unto Him, and to be a bond and 
pledge of their communion with Him and with each other. that the Baptists here are doing 
is they are showing their affinity with the Presbyterians and the 
Congregationalists before them at the point of the doctrine 
of the Lord's Supper. The Baptists do not, the particular Baptists, 
are not rejecting the spiritual presence of Christ and the spiritual 
nourishment reality of the Lord's Supper here. There is a very 
minimal difference between the Baptist chapter 30 and the Presbyterian 
and Congregationalist document on the Lord's Supper. In fact, 
they're almost identical. The only difference is the change 
of the word sacrament to ordinance. which we shouldn't overreact 
to or read too much into. There are reasons for that, but 
the particular Baptists use the word sacrament elsewhere when 
they talk about the Lord's Supper. So while there are terminological 
differences in the Baptist confession, they're minimal, it is a verbatim 
restatement of the reform doctrine on the Lord's Supper. and it 
is not just setting forth a remembrance Lord's Supper. It is a remembrance, 
but it is also an occasion where the risen Christ spiritually 
nourishes His people by His Spirit. Paragraph 2, still with the nature 
of the Lord's Supper, we want to see in paragraph 2 negative 
and positive assertions. That simply means the rejection 
of certain things and the affirmation, the positive approval and restatement 
of certain things with regards to the Lord's Supper. Notice 
what it says here, what the Confession reads. First, in this ordinance 
Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice 
made at all for the remission of sin of the quick or dead, 
but only a memorial of that one offering up of himself by himself 
upon the cross once for all. Here, in stating the nature of 
the Lord's Supper, the Baptists are rejecting the Popish abomination 
of the Mass, the Roman Catholic view of the Lord's Supper, where 
they say Christ is offered up as an unbloody sacrifice to God, 
as a propitiatory unbloody sacrifice. And in that, as the Confession 
will say later, overthrows the nature of the ordinance, and 
it is an abomination. Why? For many reasons, but one 
of which is it does violence to the finished and perfect work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ because it says that there is something 
additionally necessary for the remission of sins other than 
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It isn't truly 
finished, is it? If it is the case that in the 
ordinance there is a real sacrifice made for the remission of the 
quick and dead, that Christ is still offered up time and again 
upon altar after altar in Roman Catholic churches, if that's 
the case, then his work was not finished upon Golgotha's cross. That gibbet of execution, the 
cross of Calvary, was not effectual for the salvation of sinners 
because he still needs to be offered up. You see the abominable 
nature of the Roman Catholic view of the Lord's Supper. It 
does violence to the finished and to the perfect work of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Baptists here 
say and qualify, rejecting the abomination, affirm then on the 
other hand the glory of the real sacrifice. The Lord's Supper 
is a memorial of that one offering up of himself by himself upon 
the cross once for all. The author to the Hebrews rehearses 
that in Hebrews 9, 25 and 26. It was a once for all offering 
up of himself. The perfect work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ is at stake in a proper view of the Lord's Supper, and 
the Baptists rightly identify the errors of Rome and the glory 
of the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ. goes on to say that 
this is, the Lord's Supper is a spiritual oblation of all possible 
praise unto God for the same. That simply means that our participation 
in the Lord's Supper is a spiritual sacrifice. In engaging in it, 
we're offering up the spiritual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving 
to God for the once for all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. You 
see why the doctrine of the Lord's Supper is so important. Why it 
isn't something, you know, that we just, you know, resign to 
or abandon to, you know, our own, you know, well, we'll take 
it or leave it. We'll come or we won't. Man, 
you know, the game's on and I would really rather stay home and watch 
the Steelers. No. First of all, it's given 
on the Lord's Day and that is His day. That's the Lord's Day 
Sabbath. But secondly, what a blessed and sweet banquet we have set 
before us in the Lord's Supper. because we are remembering this 
once-for-all sacrifice and we are offering up praise to God 
for that once-for-all sacrifice. It is to do violence to, it is 
to insult, if you'll allow, Christ Jesus and His finished sacrifice 
to say, ah, you know, I'm not gonna attend the Lord's Supper, 
I'm not gonna partake. It is to refuse the sweet invitation 
of God to invite His people to a table where Christ is remembered, 
where praise is given, and where we are spiritually nourished." 
And it goes on to say, "...so that Popish sacrifice of the 
Mass, as they call it, is most abominable, injurious to Christ's 
own only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins 
of the elect." The Roman Catholic doctrine does violence to the 
finished work of Christ. The biblical doctrine upholds 
that once for all sacrifice and is a remembrance of the glory 
of that victory upon Calvary's tree. Moving on then to the administration 
of the Lord's Supper, notice in paragraphs three and four, 
and we'll dive into a few more things, time allowing, once we've 
worked through the reading of the chapter. Notice the administration 
of the Lord's Supper. First, there is a positive affirmation 
of, there is a presentation of the lawful administration of 
the Lord's Supper. How is it to be administered 
and what does it look like in a proper administration? And 
then secondly, there is a denial or a rejection of the improper 
or unlawful administration. Notice first then, the lawful 
administration in paragraph three, the Lord Jesus hath in this ordinance 
appointed his ministers to pray and bless the elements of bread 
and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to and 
holy use, and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and 
they communicating also themselves to give both to the communicants. It's very simple. It's a rehearsal, 
really, of the manner in which Christ himself inaugurated the 
Lord's Supper on the night in which he was betrayed. We go 
to the Bible. We there find how we are to administer 
the Lord's Supper, how we are to observe it, and the framers 
here of the Confession, rehearsing that, set it forth simply and 
positively. And notice that we are doing, 
when the administrant, when the minister is engaging in the administration 
of the Lord's Supper, he does consecrate. He does set apart 
the elements used. It isn't the voodoo and the priestcraft 
of the Roman Catholic Church, which we'll notice in subsequent 
paragraphs, but nevertheless, we are to respect. We are to 
realize this, that in the Lord's Supper, we are setting apart 
common elements unto a high and holy use. The bread and wine 
are blessed, they're prayed over, and they're set apart then from 
a common to a holy use. What is then the unlawful administration 
of the Lord's Supper? What does that look like? Well, 
this is what the Roman Catholic Church was engaging in and what 
they do still engage in with regards to the administration 
of their Lord's Supper. The denial of the cup, paragraph 
four, to the people. Worshipping the elements, the 
lifting them up or carrying them about for adoration, and reserving 
them for any pretended religious use, are all contrary to the 
nature of this ordinance and to the institution of Christ." 
So you see again what they're doing here. Paragraph 3, the 
lawful administration. Paragraph 4, the unlawful administration. And again, at the point of the 
Roman Catholic abuses of the ordinance. Worshipping the elements, 
lifting them up, carrying them about for adoration. This is 
why our forebears and why we should also see in the Roman 
Catholic Lord's Supper an idolatrous abomination. They're worshipping 
the bread and the wine. They lift them up. so that the 
congregation might adore and worship the elements. Why? Well, we'll see that in a little 
bit in subsequent paragraphs because of their doctrine of 
what's called transubstantiation. That the bread and the wine, 
though to the outer senses, still look like bread and wine, taste 
like bread and wine, feel like bread and wine. Nevertheless, 
there is a magical and mystical change where the substance of 
them is actually changed into the body and blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, which again is an abomination. So then thirdly, 
we have the elements involved in the Lord's Supper. Notice 
again, we have the positive upholding of a biblical view, and then 
secondly, the rejection of a repugnant view. Notice in paragraph 5, 
the positive and biblical view of the Lord's Supper, The outward 
elements in this ordinance duly set apart to the uses ordained 
by Christ have such relation to him crucified as that truly, 
although in terms used figuratively, they are sometimes called by 
the name of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of 
Christ, albeit in substance and nature they still remain truly 
and only bread and wine as they were before. So the Baptists 
here, again reiterating the Reformed view, are upholding the reality 
that the bread and wine do not change. They remain bread and 
wine. Now there is the reality that 
there is such a connection to the elements themselves and what 
they signify that we can legitimately call the bread the body of Christ 
and the wine the blood of Christ. But this isn't because they are 
somehow changed into those things, but simply because of the intimate 
connection between the symbol and that which is symbolized. 
You see again what the language is. They are sometimes called 
by the name of the things they represent, the body and blood 
of Christ, but in substance and nature they still remain truly 
and only bread and wine as they were before. You know, when Pastor 
Butler and I administer the Lord's Supper, this is one of the reasons 
why we say in introducing the observance of the Lord's Supper, 
why we say this bread and this wine remain bread and wine. They are not changed into the 
body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because as we'll 
now see in paragraph 6, that is a gross idolatry, repugnant 
to scripture and common sense, and overthrows the nature of 
the ordinance. The bread remains bread, the wine remains wine, 
but let us never minimize the significance of their connection 
to the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are 
to see that intimate connection between the things symbolized 
and the symbols themselves. Ultimately and finally resting 
upon the reality that we rejoice not in bread and wine as bread 
and wine, but we rejoice in that which they do represent, the 
finished and the perfect. Notice then the repugnant view. 
Again, paragraph 5, the Baptists uphold the biblical view, and 
in paragraph 6 they reject the Roman Catholic view. Paragraph 
6, that doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of 
bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood, commonly 
called transubstantiation, by consecration of a priest, or 
by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone, but even 
to common sense and reason, overthroweth the nature of the ordinance, 
and hath been and is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, 
of gross idolatries." So again, the biblical view is upheld, 
bread remains bread, wine remains wine, and then the rejection 
of the repugnant Roman Catholic view that says these are actually 
changed into the body and the blood of Christ. Notice what 
the Confession says here, it's repugnant to Scripture, but even 
to common sense and reason. It's repugnant to scripture for 
a number of reasons, not all of which we can rehearse, but 
the Bible sets forth the reality of, first off, the finished work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that this notion of transubstantiation 
where there is an offering up of Christ unto the Father for 
the remission of sins of the quick and the dead does violence 
to the finished work of Christ that the scriptures set forth 
was a once for all and perfect sacrifice. We also have the reality 
of Christ as one person in two natures. And the doctrine of 
the person of Christ is in view in this particular paragraph 
and elsewhere to be sure in this chapter, but the Roman Catholic 
view violates, if you will, biblical Christology by saying that the 
humanity of Christ can be in multitudinous wafers in a multitude 
of Catholic churches around the world. It violates historic Chalcedonian 
Christology. It violates the Bible's presentation 
of Christ as one person in two natures. Notice the language 
of paragraph 8. And in fact, We won't have time 
to go through the confessional foundation for the doctrine of 
the Lord's Supper, but you see, Chapter 30 doesn't come to us 
in isolation. There is much in the background 
to Chapter 30, the doctrine of the Word of God. How do we get 
the Lord's Supper? We get the Lord's Supper by virtue 
of God's revelation to us, wherein it sets forth the reality of 
the Lord's Supper and how it is to be observed. We have the 
doctrine of God in view. God is the God of the Word, the 
one who has the sovereign and divine right to command how he 
is to be rightfully worshipped. We have the doctrine of Christ, 
and in view with regards to the doctrine of Christ, and the Lord's 
Supper, and the Roman Catholic abomination, we have the reality 
that in chapter 8, paragraph 2, the Confession speaks thus 
concerning Christ. that in the hypostatic union, 
in the incarnation, we have this, two whole, perfect, and distinct 
natures inseparably joined together in one person. Now note, without 
conversion, composition, or confusion, which person is very God and 
very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and 
man. What's in view, and we ought 
not to just drag on and spend a whole lot of time on this, 
but in the theological discussions and debates over the Lord's Supper 
at the time of the Reformation and onward and after that, there 
was disagreement at the point of the Lord's Supper with regards 
to this very doctrine. Turretin would call would call 
them the Papists and the Lutheran Ubiquitarians. The ones who would, 
in their doctrine of the Lord's Supper, have back of it this 
doctrine, or to defend their doctrine of the Lord's Supper, 
would have this notion of the everywhere-ness of the humanity 
of Christ. That's how he can enter a wafer. his body and blood, actually 
the bread and the wine, actually being changed into the body and 
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, they would argue that his humanity 
has this reality of ubiquity or everywhere-ness. That's how 
it can, for lack of elaborating too much, that's how his body 
can be in the bread and his blood in the wine. The Reformed rightfully 
countered the Papists and the Lutherans at the point of a proper 
doctrine of Christ. It is to violate the biblical 
presentation of these two perfect and whole and distinct natures 
in one person without conversion, composition, or confusion to 
say that his humanity can actually be, that his body and blood can 
actually be in the wafer or in, with, and under the elements 
of the bread and wine. But all of that for another time. 
But the doctrine of Christ is clearly in view here, and that's 
why the Confession of the Baptists can say here that it is the Roman 
abomination of the mass and transubstantiation, repugnant to Scripture, and even 
to common sense and reason. But of course, that's not the 
only reason. It is an important one. It overthrows, the Confession 
says, the nature of the ordinance, and hath been and is the cause 
of manifold superstitions, yea, gross idolatries. What happens 
then? What happens when you say that 
the bread and wine is actually changed into... Did I say the 
body and wine? The bread and wine is actually 
changed into the body and blood of Christ, what results then? 
Well, manifold superstitions and gross idolatries. You read 
a history of the Roman Catholic Church and you're confronted 
time and again with mad tales, mad magical tales of things that 
have happened to the wafer. If you've been in here, if you've 
been at our church for a long enough time, you'll remember 
one of them. Can't remember the details, I think it might be 
the 14th century, a monk of some sort. And he's in a church, and 
the consecrated wafer is in the church, and bees come in. And bees fly in and take the 
wafer and bring the wafer back to the beehive. And the monk, 
that's Jesus, don't steal Jesus, chases after the, I'm paraphrasing 
of course, chases after the bee to the beehive. And he cuts the 
beehive open to get the wafer, and the bees are inside the beehive, 
bowing down and worshiping the wafer. You can see why. You see, the 
Baptists aren't being hard here. The Presbyterians and the Congregationalists 
before them, they're not being harsh in rightly calling the 
Roman Catholic view an abomination repugnant to Scripture, the foundation 
of manifold superstitions and gross idolatries. When you manufacture 
and you invent such an abominable doctrine, it's no wonder that 
the participants are carried off to manifold superstitions, 
yea, even gross idolatries. Moving on then, lastly, the reception 
of the Lord's Supper. Notice the last two paragraphs 
here, the reception of the Lord's Supper. Again, lawful recipients 
and unlawful recipients. Just like the previous three 
sets of paragraphs, we have an upholding of the positive view 
at this point with regards to who should receive. And then 
an elaboration upon or a summary of unlawful receiving of the 
Lord's Supper. Notice paragraph 7, worthy receivers. 
Outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance, do 
then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally 
and corporally, but spiritually receive and feed upon Christ 
crucified and all the benefits of his death. The body and blood 
of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually 
present to the faith of believers in that ordinance as the elements 
themselves are to the outward senses." This speaks to the lawful 
receiving and the lawful recipients of the Lord's Supper. It is Christians 
who receive. Remember in paragraph 1, it's 
for confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits 
of Christ's redemptive work. Here we have the reality, it's 
stated here, worthy receivers speaking concerning Christians, 
but it must be noted here, when we talk about worthy receivers, 
what that means and what it doesn't mean. When we read worthy receivers, 
we're not to say, okay, well that means this, that, you know, 
I read my Bible all week, Obeyed the law of God perfectly, perpetually, 
and completely. And, you know, man, I really 
deserve the Lord's Supper. I'm a worthy recipient of the 
Lord's Supper. No, that's not what it means. 
The Lord's Supper, again, is not a reward for your obedience. a pat on the back for your compliance 
with the Lord God Almighty, but rather it speaks to the simple 
reality that worthy receivers are those who have been saved 
by grace through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. Now, of 
course, we would want to note the 1 Corinthians 11 reality 
that we are not, as Christians, to partake of the Lord's Supper 
if we are harboring unrepentant sin, in a season of unrepentance 
or lack of repentance before God. But nevertheless, this worthy 
receivers does not speak to the greatness of the one receiving, 
the greatness of the one participating, but rather it speaks first to 
the greatness of the Savior and the Redeemer, who himself and 
alone and perfectly gave himself for guilty sinners upon Calvary's 
tree, rose again, and in His grace feeds us at the Lord's 
Supper. He sets before us a blessed banquet 
that we may partake, reflecting upon His doing, His dying, and 
His rising again. Now notice paragraph 8 before 
we make some other observations in the remaining minutes. Paragraph 
8 here with regards to unlawful recipients and what occurs. All ignorant and ungodly persons, 
as they are unfit to enjoy communion, with Christ, so are they unworthy 
of the Lord's table, and cannot without great sin against Him, 
while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be 
admitted thereunto. Yea, whoever shall receive unworthily 
are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, eating and drinking 
judgment to themselves." So the last paragraph then deals with 
those who would receive in an ungodly and ignorant manner. 
They are unfit to enjoy communion with Christ. This is an ordinance 
for believers only. This is not an ordinance, it's 
not a converting ordinance, it's not administered to the unconverted 
in some sort of mistaken understanding that they will be converted, 
that by virtue of the simple administration of the ordinances 
of the elements that they will become Christian, be brought 
into the kingdom, whatever language is used, it is an ordinance for 
believers only. The language of the Lord Jesus 
Christ himself when he inaugurates the Lord's Supper is quite clear. 
This is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for many 
for the remission of sins. This is an ordinance given to 
believers, those who have been the blessed and undeserved recipients 
of the finished and glorious and perfect work of our redeeming 
King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that's just a brief run-through 
of the content of the chapter. Just a number of things to note 
in our remaining time. First off, and we've noted a 
few things at this point, but the 17th century context, or 
what were the particular Baptists doing in stating their doctrine 
of the Lord's Supper in this way? The first thing that they 
were doing is they were expressing an affinity that simply means 
an agreement. Their doctrine resembles by way 
of agreement the Presbyterians and Congregationalists regarding 
the supper. The wording is identical. There's 
a change, a minimal change of sacrament to ordinance and a 
slight variation in paragraph 8, but no doctrinal difference. 
They are reformed. just like the Presbyterians and 
Congregationalists at the point of the Lord's Supper. Now, secondly, 
there is a strong rejection of the Roman Catholic doctrines 
of the mass and transubstantiation. We've already noted that in passing 
as we've worked through the paragraphs, but they're careful, very careful 
to ensure that they rightly reject the Roman Catholic abuses and 
abominations and rightly uphold the biblical and Reformed view 
of the Lord's Supper. Thirdly, under the 17th century 
context, we have the rejection of the Lutheran view of consubstantiation. I love, this is Fisher and his, 
you know what, when the Reformed in the 17th century wanted to 
explain the shorter catechism, they wrote a shorter catechism 
to explain the shorter catechism. There's, in, Fisher has, Fisher 
and, is it, am I pronouncing this right, Erickson, Erickson? 
They have a shorter catechism that explains the shorter catechism, 
and in this they talk about the Roman Catholic and Lutheran views 
of the Lord's Supper, and they say the following. What is the difference between 
the Papists and the Lutherans on this head? The Papists maintain 
that the bread and wine lose their own natural substance and 
are turned into the substance of Christ's body and blood. But 
the Lutherans affirm that the bread and wine retain their own 
natural substance still. and at the same time that the 
substance of Christ's body and blood is in, with, or under these 
elements. So the Roman Catholics, the substance 
of bread and wine is now gone, that's been transubstantiated 
into the body and the blood of Christ. The Lutherans, however, 
consubstantiation, it's with the substance of bread and wine. 
So bread and wine stays, but there is joined to that the humanity 
of Christ, the body and blood, Now I like what Fisher says next. 
Are not both options equally absurd? Yes. For transubstantiation 
supposes that one body may be in many places at the same time, 
and consubstantiation takes it for granted that two bodies may 
be together in the very same place, or that they may occupy 
the same individual space at the same time. So, getting back 
to this point with regards to the confession, the context, 
the Baptists also reject the Lutheran view of consubstantiation 
as a violation, clearly, of the scriptures, but also the doctrine 
of Christ. Also then, and lastly under the 
17th century context, we want to note this. In affirming the 
reformed view of the supper, they align themselves with the 
Presbyterians and Congregationalists against a minimalist memorial-only 
view. they are affirming and upholding 
the Reformed view, which upholds the reality that the Lord's Supper 
is a memorial. It is a remembrance, a perpetual 
one, of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it is not only 
a memorial. And so the Baptists, in upholding 
the Reform view also are against a minimalist memorial-only view. You see, in the context of the 
17th century, you in fact had primarily the heretics denying 
the spiritual presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at the point 
of the Lord's Supper or having a memorial-only view. The Sassinians 
put together the Rakovian Catechism in the late beginning of the 
17th century, and in there explicitly reject the Reformed view of the 
Lord's Supper that sees it as spiritual nourishment, growth 
in Him, further engagement in and to all duties which they 
owe unto Him, and later spiritual feeding, spiritually receiving 
and feeding, upon Christ crucified. It was the Sassanians, anti-Trinitarians, 
and rejecters of the deity of Christ who had that memorial-only 
view. And in fact, the confessionalists 
of the 17th century are very often preaching and stressing 
the doctrine of the Lord's Supper in order to argue against those 
anti-Trinitarians who were perpetuating that minimalist view of the Lord's 
Supper and, you know, we would say worse than that, rejecting 
the doctrine of the Trinity and the proper doctrine of Christ. 
Notice this comment by Lim on the 17th century, the doctrine 
of the Lord's Supper and its importance connected to the Trinity 
and the Lord Jesus Christ, the transcendent beauty of Christ. 
In fact, here we have a Presbyterian quoting a Baptist, the particular 
Baptist, Hansard Nollis, with regards to his strong preaching 
on the Lord's Supper. And just one other word of introduction. 
When they were preaching on the Lord's Supper in the 17th century, 
they very often went to the Song of Solomon. It's a passage of 
scripture that Hansard goes to, Spurgeon himself, in his sermon 
called The Spiced Wine of My Pomegranate, preaches concerning 
the Lord's Supper. And they go to the Song of Solomon, 
and they preach concerning the glory of Christ and his church, 
and the glory of Christ in feeding his church at the Lord's Supper. The transcendent beauty of Christ 
was nowhere better experienced, Nullus emphasized throughout 
the exposition. on the canticles, on the Song 
of Solomon, than in the ordinances of the church, particularly in 
the Eucharist, that is the Lord's Supper, knowing that it was none 
other than God who became and fleshed for us, whose body was 
broken for the redemption of the world, and whose spirit now 
unites the believers to their spouse through the Eucharistic 
communion. This mutual communion between 
Christ and the Church was framed in a Trinitarian language. Christ 
was the excellent sovereign cordial for the wounded conscience, afflicted 
soul, and disconsolate spirit. His advent was promised in the 
eternal covenant of redemption, and this shows the indescribable 
sweetness of the love of God in Christ applied by faith in 
a promise of grace unto his believer's heart by the Spirit of God. You 
see, in the 17th century, To combat the anti-Trinitarians 
who had a minimalist, memorial-only view of the Lord's Supper, the 
Baptists, the Congregationalists, the Presbyterians would preach 
a glorious doctrine of the Lord's Supper, highlighting that Christ 
spiritually feeds His people and opening it up as a blessed 
Trinitarian doctrine, defending also the full doctrine of Christ, 
His person, There is an absolutely vital importance to the Lord's 
Supper on so many points and so many heads, it's too bad we're 
only doing one Lord's Day. on this particular doctrine. 
So they affirm the reform view of the supper, they align themselves 
with the Presbyterians and Congregationalists against a minimalist memorial 
only view. The Sassinians, the anti-Trinitarians 
of the 17th century, the Armenians, the Anabaptists, the Mennonites, 
the Quakers, they do not align themselves with them, but rather 
with the Reformed and Biblical view in upholding that it is 
a remembrance, yes, but that it is also an ordinance wherein 
Christ feeds his people spiritually. If we wanted to summarize the 
doctrine of the Baptists, we could do it by reading now two 
people. The first is Stephen Weaver. 
In a succinct summary of the particular Baptist view of the 
Lord's Supper, he says, Christ is spiritually present and believers 
are spiritually nourished in the Lord's Supper. highlighting 
the reality that it is more than a memorial meal. Richard Barcelos 
writes, The Lord's Supper is a means of grace at which Christ 
is present by his divine nature, and during which the Holy Spirit 
nourishes the souls of believers with the benefits wrought for 
us in Christ's humanity, which is now glorified in heaven. at 
the right hand of the Father. You see why a neglect of and 
why a non-participation in the Lord's Supper is not good. It's because first off, in it, 
we're remembering the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
We're casting our minds back in reflection upon that time, 
upon, you know what, upon even going back further. Christ in 
his pre-incarnate glory is the recipient of the praises of angels. 
The angels are flying with two wings and covering their eyes 
with the other two and covering their feet with the other two 
and singing his eternal praises. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
of hosts. In the incarnation, he condescends 
to take to himself man's nature with all the essential properties 
and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin, living a life 
of shame and ignominy. going about the earth, teaching, 
instructing, preaching with righteousness, going against the enemies, going 
against his people who should receive him, but rather treated 
him as a blasphemer and an insolent man. He's put to death upon Calvary's 
tree. He's the recipient of beatings 
and spittings and mockings, and he gives his life for guilty 
sinners upon that Roman gibbet of execution. And we are gonna 
ignore and neglect the Lord's Supper? Gives his life for guilty 
sinners, he sheds his precious blood, and we're gonna say, nah, 
you know what, I kinda gotta make my Polish sausages tonight, 
I don't have time to go to the Lord's Supper. What? I'm gonna 
watch the game, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. You 
know what, it's not that important, it's only a remembrance, and 
I can remember him here while I'm crocheting this piece of 
whatever. No. It's absolutely vital that we 
understand, even at the point of remembrance, the importance 
of the Lord's Supper. It isn't just mere remembrance, 
it is a glorious remembrance of the finished and perfect work 
of our dying King, the Lord Jesus Christ, giving himself for guilty 
sinners such as us. It's also, to neglect it, is 
to refuse the blessed spiritual nourishment that Christ gives 
us at that meal. He's ascended to the right hand 
of the majesty on high and there he sends his spirit feeding us, 
spiritually nourishing us. One of the things that the Baptist 
confession does is that it sets forth the doctrine of the means 
of grace. that there are those means whereby 
God spiritually nourishes and grows His people in their faith. Chapter 14 of the Confession 
in paragraph 1 says something to the effect that the grace 
of faith whereby the elect are enabled to believe unto the saving 
of their souls is the work of the Holy Spirit upon their hearts. upon their souls, and it's brought 
about by the ministry of the Word, and it's strengthened and 
it's grown by certain things, the further preaching of the 
Word, prayer, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. You see, it isn't 
just a remembrance, it is a means whereby the risen Christ, by 
His Spirit working effectually upon our hearts, grows us in 
our most holy faith. So to neglect it is to slight 
the crucified and the risen Christ. So, the 17th century context, 
all of those things just stated. We want to note then in closing 
the confessional presentation of the nature of the Lord's Supper. 
First off, and again, it is a remembrance. These are the words of the Lord 
himself, do this in remembrance of me. Do this in remembrance 
of me." This aspect of the supper is absolutely vital first because 
of what is remembered. We're remembering the finished 
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're remembering the glorious 
redeeming activities of the Savior. This is what Fisher says at the 
point of remembrance. Why has Christ appointed this 
sacrament? to be observed in remembrance 
of Him, because though His incarnation and satisfaction be the greatest 
events that ever happened in the world and the most interesting 
to us, yet we are apt to forget them, or at least not to have 
solid and lively impression of them habitually upon our spirits. And he actually goes to Psalm 
106.13 in order to support this reality. And there we read something 
of what we discussed earlier regarding the old covenant saints 
and historical retrospect. He goes to verse 13 of Psalm 
106, which says, they soon forgot his works. That is why we have 
Christ giving this to us as a remembrance of Him, why they soon forgot 
His works. The importance of remembrance 
is seen in that we are so prone to wander from the God of our 
profession, we're so prone to wander and forget the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The Spurgeon writes, O had I 
eloquence, I would bestow a tongue on every drop of blood that is 
there, that your hearts might rise in mutiny against your languor 
and coldness, and speak out with earnest, burning remembrance 
of Jesus. We are to often be called to 
a solemn and joyous reflection, remembrance, upon the Lord Jesus 
Christ and His finished work. Why? Because our souls are in 
absolute need of such remembrance. We have not only remembrance, 
but we also have proclamation. Notice that it is a showing forth 
the sacrifice of himself in his death. By observing the Lord's 
Supper, We are engaging in a profession of faith. We're engaging in the 
proclamation of a savior who died to give his life for guilty 
sinners, who had his body broken and his blood shed that he might 
redeem his people. And so by taking the bread and 
drinking the wine and engaging in that ordinance of the Lord, 
we are proclaiming the gospel. Make no mistake, the Lord's Supper 
is replete with gospel. Why? Because what does the bread 
represent and what does the wine represent? Again and again, it's 
the body and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The giving 
of himself upon Calvary's tree. Do you know that the preaching 
of the Word of God and the Lord's Supper are antidotes to the poison 
of idolatry? This is why in Calvin's time, 
for example, Roman Catholic Church and all of the icons and the 
images and as he would say, the crosses of wooden stone and the 
bejeweled crosses of gold and silver. They were erected in 
churches, not only Roman Catholic churches. And he would go to 
the preaching of the Word and the Lord's Supper as those living 
and active things which put to death the need of any crosses 
of wooden stone or gold and silver in Christ's churches. In fact, 
he would first repudiate the idolatry of the Roman Catholic 
Church by going to the Second Commandment. But then he would 
say that the preaching of the word and the Lord's Supper, what 
is proclaimed, are antidotes to the poison of idolatry. He 
writes, Paul declares that by the true preaching of the gospel 
of Christ is portrayed in a manner crucified before our eyes. Of 
what use then were the erection in churches of so many crosses 
of wooden stone? silver and gold, if this doctrine 
were faithfully and honestly preached. Christ died that He 
might bear our curse upon the tree, that He might expiate our 
sins by the sacrifice of His body, wash them in His blood, 
and in short, reconcile us to God the Father. From this one 
doctrine, the people would learn more than from a thousand crosses 
of wood and stone. When I consider the proper end 
for which churches are erected, it appears to me more unbecoming 
their sacredness than I well can tell. To admit any other 
images than those living symbols which the Lord has consecrated 
by His own words, I mean baptism in the Lord's Supper." You see 
what participating, what engaging in the Lord's Supper does, is 
it proclaims the cross. Gold and silver, wooden stone 
crosses don't proclaim a thing. The Lord's Supper, that living 
symbol in Christ's church, along with baptism, proclaims a bloody 
and massacred Savior, perfecting the salvation of His people, 
perfecting the salvation of a multitude that no man can number. It's 
a remembrance. It's a proclamation. It is a 
means of grace by which we are spiritually nourished. The confession 
is clear on that in paragraph one. It's also clear in paragraph 
seven where it speaks about worthy reception, lawful reception, 
and it states that, we really and indeed, yet not carnally 
and corporally, but spiritually receive and feed upon Christ 
crucified and all the benefits of his death. What a slight to 
Christ, yes, to neglect the Lord's Supper, but what also a neglect 
of your own soul. an ignorance of the need of your 
own soul to avail of the grace of God administered at the Lord's 
Supper. The blessed feast, what a glorious 
banquet that our God sets before us. Lastly, it is a solemn declaration 
and true instance of our union and fellowship with Christ our 
head being an instance of that fellowship and union. And it 
is also a declaration and true instance of our union and fellowship 
with each other. Notice the language of the confession. 
their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further 
engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him, and 
to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him and with each 
other." We reject or we set aside or we neglect the communion that 
we can have with Christ in a neglect of the Lord's Supper. We reject 
that vertical reality, that 1 Corinthians 10 reality where Paul is saying, 
why would you commune and have fellowship with demons at these 
pagan meals when you have the Lord's Supper wherein you commune 
with the living Christ? We, in a neglect of the Lord's 
Supper, neglect our own souls and neglect our Christ who communes 
with us at the Lord's Supper. And it is also to neglect a proper 
and a glorious fellowship, one with each other. One of the aspects 
of church membership in paragraph 5, I think it is, paragraph 6 
of chapter 26, where it talks about the responsibilities of 
church members one to the other. One of the things is fellowship 
in all the ordinances of the gospel. You also slight, or you 
also insult, if you will, your fellow congregants when you don't 
show up for the Lord's Supper. You show up at the Lord's Supper, 
why? Because it's there in that we have, yes, communion with 
Christ, first and foremost. But secondly, we're fellowshipping 
with one another. When you join the church, you 
have committed to this reality that you engage in fellowship, 
one with each other, in all the ordinances of the sweet gospel 
of Christ. We come to the Lord's Supper, 
and we have such a blessed meal set before us, such a glorious 
reality. that we reflect upon and that 
we avail of. And I'll close with Spurgeon. 
Bringing together remembrance and spiritual nourishment, he 
speaks these words. I wanted to quote from the spiced 
wine of my pomegranate, but there's not enough time, so I'll quote 
from this one, which is a glorious quote setting forth Christ and 
the remembrance of him and the nourishment he brings to the 
souls of his faithful. Look upon the frozen ground of 
Gethsemane and behold the bloody sweat which stained the soil. 
Turn to the hall of Gabbatha and see the victim of justice 
pursued by his clamorous foes. enter the guardroom of the Praetorians 
and view the spitting and the plucking of the hair, and then 
conclude your review upon Golgotha, the mount of doom where death 
consummated his tortures. And if by divine assistance thou 
art unable to enter, in some humble measure, into the depths 
of thy Lord's sufferings, thou wilt be the better prepared to 
hold fellowship with him when next thou receivest his priceless 
gifts. in proportion to thy sense of 
their costliness will be thy capacity for enjoying the love 
which is centered in them." In a time where there was a marked 
declension in the Baptist doctrine of the Lord's Supper, Spurgeon 
upheld the remembrance and the spiritual nourishment reality 
and he so preached. And so we should so appreciate 
when we come tonight to observe the Lord's Supper, we remember 
our blessed Christ till he comes again and we anticipate that 
the exalted Christ will feed us, will spiritually nourish 
us as we seek to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of 
Him. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 
for this time together prior to worship. We rejoice that we 
have this time to rehearse blessed doctrine. We thank you that we 
have the freedom to do so. We pray that you would attend 
unto our minds, that we might grow in a knowledge of you, not 
only unto that end alone, but that you might be glorified, 
that you might be honored, that we might grow in the grace and 
in the knowledge of Christ, being daily conformed to Him. And we 
do pray that you go with us now into worship. Might you be honored. 
Might your name be hallowed. Might Christ be exalted upon 
the praises of His gathered assembly. And might you save sinners unto 
the praise of your glorious grace. We pray in the name of Jesus 
Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.