I've entitled this message, The
Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper. Now, the Lord
has left two ordinances in the church, and I use those words
carefully. I don't call them sacraments.
I call them ordinances. They're not means of grace. They
have no saving power or benefit at all. You can observe the Lord's
Supper and you can be baptized and that doesn't mean you're
saved. There is no saving benefit in these ordinances. But the
Lord told us to observe them. And these two ordinances are
baptism and the Lord's supper. Now let me repeat, they are not
saving. They have no saving benefit.
They're not means of grace through which grace is conveyed. And
the perfect example is the thief on the cross. He was not baptized,
nor did he ever take the Lord's table. But he was saved, wasn't
he? The Lord said regarding this
man today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now the fact
that baptism and the Lord's table or the Lord's supper are not
means of grace doesn't in any way take away from the importance
of them. Christ said, this do. This do. As often as you do it, not as
seldom as you do it, but as often as you do it in remembrance of
me. Now regarding baptism, we're
not going to consider that tonight, but let me give you a scripture.
The Lord said, whoso believeth and is baptized, the same shall
be saved. And does that mean you're saved
by being baptized? You know it doesn't mean that,
but it's mighty important. I love the way the Lord said
that. Whoso believeth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. He said, Make disciples of every
nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is the believer's public
confession of Christ. It's not walking down an aisle.
I think it's interesting. That never happened in the 1800s.
It wasn't even heard of in the church. Your confession of Christ
is not walking down an aisle, it's confessing Christ in believer's
baptism. And tonight, we're going to consider
what is known as the Lord's Supper. Now, I just read those verses
of scripture, and I believe it was prefigured and first announced
when Abraham brought tithes to Melchizedek. And Melchizedek
blessed him, And he gave him bread and wine. He didn't offer
up a sacrifice. Melchizedek is, I believe, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he gave him bread and wine. Now the errors regarding this
simple ordinance are a testimony to the depravity of man. It's called by men, the Holy
Eucharist. And in the Holy Eucharist, it
is said that you have the real presence of Christ. He suffers
again every time you take the Lord's table. His presence is
in the bread. His presence is in the wine.
When you eat the bread, His body is broken all over again because
of your sin. People really believe that. It's called transubstantiation
by the Catholic Church. And they believe that anybody
who takes the Lord's table, it actually becomes the bread and
body of the Lord. And then there are others who
lighten it a little bit. They call it consubstantiation.
And it says if you're a bad person, if you're an unbeliever, it doesn't
work for you. It only works for believers, but you actually eat
the bread, Christ's presence is there, he suffers again for
sin. That's how that sin is put away.
Now, it's also called a sacrament. That's what most people call
baptism and the Lord's Table, the church sacraments. through
which grace is conveyed. This is a means of grace, how
God gives you grace, through baptism, through eating the bread
and drinking the wine. And people even use the Lord's
table as a means of discipline. This is particularly true in
the Reformed churches. They have what's called closed
communion, and that way you can look over everybody, and somebody
that's not a member in good standing You'll withhold it from him and
not let him take it because he's got to be disciplined because
he's not living right. Now, let me say three things
about that. If there was ever a time for closed communion,
it would have been the very first Lord's table, wouldn't it? And
you know who's sitting at that table? Judas Iscariot. Now, if there was ever a time
where it should have been withheld from somebody, that's the time. he had already planned on betraying
Christ and the Lord said one of you are going to betray me
at this time and he'd already made the plans but the Lord didn't
withhold him from taking the Lord's table did he? The scripture
says let a man examine who? himself not anybody else let
a man examine himself and so let him eat another thing I think
of in this thing of using it as a means of discipline, somebody
that's not living right, it's withheld from them. Where's the
mark? I mean, how good do you have
to be before you can take it? And what is it that prevents
you from it? That is foolishness, is all that
is. I repeat, let a man examine himself,
and so let him meet. And can you imagine looking over
somebody and withholding the Lord's table from them? I'm not
going to let you take it. You've got problems. You've got
sin in your life. You're living in disobedience. Therefore, I'm going to keep
you from taking the Lord's Table. Oh, you're able to make a judgment
call like that against somebody? Can you see how evil that is?
Like I said, the Lord's Table, the errors men make, are a testimony
to the depravity of man. Now, the Lord used bread and
wine. It was during the Feast of the
Passover, unleavened bread and wine. Now, once again, people
say, well, should you use wine or grape juice? Do you know that
issue never even came up until 1859 when Thomas Welch made grape
juice? Welch's grape juice, that's where
it's from. He was part of the Temperance Society, and he made
grape juice to keep people from drinking alcohol. So that issue
was not even brought up until 1859. Before then, wine. That's what you use. Bread and
wine. I'm loving bread and wine. That's what they used then, and
by the grace of God, that's what we're going to use now. Verse 7 of our text, chapter
22. Then came the day of unleavened
bread, when the Passover must be killed. They were eating the
Passover together. And he sent Peter and John, saying,
Go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat. And they said
unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto
them, Behold, when you have entered into the city, there shall a
man meet you bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the
house where he entereth in. And you shall say unto the good
man of the house, The master saith unto thee, Where is the
guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples?
And he shall show you a large upper room furnished. There make
ready And they went and found as he had said unto them. Isn't
that the way it always is? He told them exactly what would
take place because he decreed what would take place and he
determined what would take place and he organized all this and
caused everything to happen. And they found it even as he
said. And they went and found as he said unto them and they
made ready the Passover and when the hour was come he sat down
and the twelve apostles with him And I can't help but thinking
of what he must have been thinking at that time. He's the Passover.
Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. He knew that this was
all given to manifest Him. And look what he says in verse
15. And he said unto them, With desire
have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. He knew exactly what was getting
ready to take place. He was going to be the Paschal
Lamb. He was going to be roasted under
the wrath of God. He was going to be forsaken as
the sinner's substitute. He was going to bear the full
equivalent of hell. He knew he was getting ready
to be forsaken by his Father. And he looks at his disciples
And he says this to every single disciple, every believer, with
desire. Have I desired to eat this Passover
with you. He said in verse 16, For I say
unto you, I will not eat any more thereof until it be fulfilled
in the kingdom of God. This is the fulfillment of the
Passover. How many Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of
lambs had been slain over the centuries. He says, now it's
all fulfilled. I'm fulfilling it all. And he
took the cup, verse 17, and gave thanks and said, take this and
divide it among yourselves. For I say unto you, I'll not
drink of the fruit of the vine, into the kingdom of God shall
come. Now here, after the Passover has been observed and eaten,
here we have the Lord's table. And he took bread, unleavened
bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying,
This is my body, which is given for you. Notice the word for. He doesn't say this is my body
given to you. This is my body given for you
as the sinner's substitute. This do. I love the simplicity. This do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper
saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood. which is shed for you. And he took the bread, verse
19, and gave thanks and break it. First Corinthians 11, 23,
when Paul talks about the Lord appearing to him and telling
him exactly what took place that night, he said, this is my body
broken for you, given for you, broken for you. Now this is a
reference to the wrath he endured, his body being broken as the
sinner's substitute. His body was broken, crushed
under the wrath of God on Calvary's tree. And let me remind you,
God is holy. Sin must be punished. All sin must be punished or God
would cease to be God. He's absolutely just, altogether
holy. Sin's going to be punished. Your
sin, my sin will be punished. either in myself or in the substitute. He said this is my body broken
for you. Now here's what took place. My
sin became his sin. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. My sin, my personal sin, every
single one of them, my sins of imagination, thought, word, deed,
commission, omission, whatever they are, all my sins became
his sin so that he became guilty of those sins and he was crushed
under the wrath of God as the sin bearer. This is my body broken for you. Now, is there ever a time where we
ought, where we get together and this ought not be the main
theme of what we're dealing with? The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
as the sin bearer. Christ crucified. Any message preached at any time
that does not have that as the foundation is a message that
ought not ever to have been preached. Christ crucified. What did he accomplish on Calvary's
tree? Verse 20, likewise also the cup
after supper saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood. which is shed for you. Now, the
Old Testament is salvation by works. There are two testaments,
there are two covenants. One, the covenant of salvation
by works, and the other, the covenant of salvation by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke, or the writer to the
Hebrews said in Hebrews 13, 20, he spoke of the blood of the
everlasting covenant. Now, let me tell you what his
blood did. Now his body was broken under the wrath of God. His blood
was shed. And this is what his blood did.
His blood actually put away sin. My sin. Oh the bliss of this
glorious thought. My sin. Not in part but the whole.
has been nailed to the cross and I bear them no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord,
O my soul. Now think of this phrase from
Hebrews 13 verse 20, the blood of the everlasting covenant.
The blood of the everlasting covenant. You see this covenant
was not a covenant that was made in time. The New Covenant, the
New Testament is a whole lot older than the Old Testament.
The New Testament is as old as God Himself. Now before time,
Christ agreed to bear full responsibility of the salvation of everybody
the Father gave Him. It was not a generic death. He
bore the full and complete responsibility of everybody the Father gave
Him, all of the elect. As the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, He assumed full responsibility for His people. Now this is something that amazes
me. When He kept the Law, He knew
He was doing it for Todd and Ibert. He had me on his heart. If you're a believer, he had
you individually on his heart. He knew who he's dying for. When
He shed His precious blood, He had you. He had every single
believer on His heart. His blood accomplished the complete
remission of sins. In Matthew's account, it says,
This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the
remission of sins. Now, my sins that I'm aware of,
the sins I'm not aware of, They've been remitted. They've been put
away. They're gone. And I do not have
them. You're looking at somebody right
now standing before you who is sinless. Are you taking that too far?
No, I'm not. That's what his blood accomplished,
the complete salvation of his people. He took full responsibility
for my salvation. And when he said it is finished,
my salvation was accomplished. Let me read a few scriptures
from the book of Hebrews. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. Verse 3, Who, being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself,
no assistance from me, no assistance from you, no contribution from
me, no contribution from you, he did this by himself. I love the way it says that.
when he had by himself purged our sins, put them away, he sat
down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Turn to Hebrews
chapter Verse 10, by the witch will,
by God's will, we are sanctified. declared by God to be holy, actually
made holy to where there is no sin, by the which will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And every priest, standard daily,
ministering, offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins, but this man, After he'd offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Now
what did he do by that one offering? You remember when I said just
a minute ago, you're looking at somebody that's sinless? That's
what that means. He perfected me forever. Are you telling me that you don't
commit sin in your person? No, I'm not telling you that.
But I'm telling you this, I have no sin. I'm perfected forever
by that one offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what verse
18 says in the same chapter. Or verse 17. And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. And there's only one reason that
He wouldn't remember them. There's nothing there to remember.
He put them away by the sacrifice of Himself. Now where remission
of these is, there's no more offering for sin. Now the bread
represents the wrath he endured. The wine represents the forgiveness,
the salvation he procured. So when we eat that bread, we're
thinking about him taking our sins upon himself and suffering
the very wrath of God, the full equivalent of hell, what we deserve,
And when we drink the wine, we're thinking of what His blood actually
accomplished, the full, complete forgiveness, blotting out and
putting away of sin. Isn't that wonderful? I love
the simplicity of this command. He said, this do. This do. remembrance of me. The scripture says let a man
examine himself, not somebody else. Let a man examine himself
and if he doesn't get the bill he better not eat. No, it says
let a man examine himself and so let him eat. So let him eat. this do in remembrance
of me? Now let me ask you two questions
and by your answer to these two questions I can tell you whether
or not you ought to partake of the Lord's table. Here's the
first question. Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? Here's the
second question. Is the Lord Jesus Christ all
you have? You don't have anything else.
No works, no merits to plead. All you have is Christ. Now, beloved, if you're a sinner
and all you have is Christ, This do, in remembrance of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This do. Not, I better wait until,
fill in the blank. I give up this sin, and I overcome
that sin, and I start doing this good thing, and I start understanding
more, and praying more, and witnessing more, and loving more, and I'm
not at odds with anybody. Then I can take the Lord's table.
Really? Really? What you're saying is
you're worthy of taking the Lord's table at that time through your
own works. Oh, that's treacherous. Let me
tell you this. If you feel that way, you better
not take it. You're not discerning the Lord's body. You're drinking
to yourself damnation, according to 1 Corinthians 11. The only
ones who are to take the Lord's table are people who really are
sinners. and who really believe that Jesus
Christ the Lord, His righteousness, His precious blood is their only
way into heaven. They don't have anything else. Christ only. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor a fitness fondly dream. The only fitness He requires
is to have a need of Him. Do you have a need of Him? And look at the reason the Lord
gives us for doing this. Back to our text in Luke chapter
22. Verse 19, And he took bread,
and gave thanks, and break it. and gave unto them, saying, This
is my body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of
me. Now here's what we're doing when
we take the Lord's table. We're doing this in remembrance
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I know this. The preaching of the gospel is
bringing the things of Christ to our remembrance. How quick
do you forget the gospel? How quick do you forget to look
to Christ only? How often do you look within
your heart to try to stir up things that would make you think
I'm saved because I do this or I do that, or I'm afraid I'm
not saved because I do this or I don't do that? That's why we
need to continually hear the gospel, because we forget it
so quickly. Somebody once said to Martin
Luther, why in the world does all you preach on is justification
by faith? He said, because of people like
you. That's why, because of people like you. You forget it as soon
as you hear it. We need to hear the gospel continually. And gospel preaching is bringing
to remembrance the things of Christ. I know this. If we do this in remembrance
of Him, I know what our prayer is going to be. Lord, remember
me. When we hear of Christ, when
the things of Christ are brought to our remembrance, our response
is, Lord, remember me. Now, faith is remembering Christ,
isn't it? It's that simple. Faith is remembering Christ.
Now, pray for me as I try to speak just a few moments to close
this message up. on the remembrance of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Wouldn't that be something if
you and I are enabled by the Spirit of God to remember Him? Remember who He is. He is the eternal, uncreated
Son of God. equal with the Father, the sole
and only representative of the being of His Father. He said,
He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. We just read in Hebrews
1 where He's the brightness of God's glory. He's the express
image of this person. All you and I will ever know
of God is Jesus Christ. That's who He is. He's God the
Son. All things were created by Him
and for Him and He is before all things and by Him all things
consist. This one that I am describing
is the one of scripture, and he's the one who has your breath
in his hand right now. And the only reason your heart
is beating right now is because he's willing it. That's how much
control he has over you and over me. He's God the Son. He's called
the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first
and the last. He's called the Word of God.
God speaks, what's he say? Christ. That's his word. In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body. Remember who he is. He's fully
God. Just as if he were not man at
all. And yet he's fully man, just as if he were not God at
all. He's the God-man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's so unique. Nobody's like
him. You know, we talk about the gospel. The gospel is so
different from any other religion because the gospel is about Jesus
Christ, the Lord, the Son of God. All other religions are
about what you need to do to make yourself acceptable before
God. The gospel is about what He has
done to make us acceptable before God. Remember His work as surety. before time began. You see, Jesus
Christ, the Lord, is not a being of time. Of course, He's
not a creature of time. He's not a creature. He's the
Creator. But He's not a being of time. He cannot be bound up by space,
time. He's eternal. And as the eternal
surety... I love to remember this. And
here's the verse I like to remember this from. When Judah said that
he would represent Benjamin, he was nothing but a tyrant.
When he said to Jacob, send the lad with me, I will be surety
for him. Of my hand shalt thou acquire
of him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. And Christ said regarding me
is my surety. Everything you require of him,
you look to me for. I'll be surety for him. Everything
you require of him, everything, I bear full and complete responsibility. And if I don't take that poor,
weak sinner and bring him before you and set him before you justified,
glorified, and accepted, let me bear the blame forever. Remember him as your surety,
who took full responsibility for your salvation. And when
he did that, God didn't look to you for a thing. He looked
to His blessed Son for everything regarding you. Remember Him in
His incarnation. The Word was made flesh. I don't
understand this, I just believe it. God was manifest in the flesh. The eternal Son of God became
flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. The angels were amazed when they
saw the Son of God take on flesh. He was seen of angels. God was
manifest of the flesh, seen of angels. How they were amazed
when they saw the Creator become an infant. Glory to God in the
highest, peace on earth, goodwill toward men. I was talking about
God's goodwill toward men. I was watching something on TV
the other day and this person was saying, you know, the Lord
introduced a concept that had not been known heretofore, that
men should be at peace with themselves and have goodwill toward each
other. And I thought, you blind? How can you say that? Peace on
earth because He made our peace. Glory to God in the highest.
God's goodwill toward men. Remember Him in His incarnation.
Remember Him in His obedience. Why did He become incarnate?
Why was God made manifest in the flesh? For one reason. To obey the law that you did
not and could not obey. And let me tell you something.
If salvation is dependent upon you, it's over. You believe that? You think about Adam. God gave
him one rule. Don't eat of that one tree. You can have the fruit from every
other tree, doesn't matter what it is, but this one tree, you're
not to eat of it. Looks like he could have made
that law, doesn't it? You can go everywhere but in
this spot. This room is yours. Anywhere
you want to go, go, but you can't come to this spot. You know where
you're going to go? That spot. Because salvation
by law is absolutely impossible for me or for you. You would
have done the same thing Adam did. Christ came. to fulfill that holy law as your
substitute. He did what you could not do. He kept God's law perfectly. He did no sin. He knew no sin. In Him is no sin. Now that perfect obedience, that
perfect righteousness, the life of Christ, You know when he says,
I'm the way, the truth, and the life? That's the life. He's speaking
of his life. His life is my life before God. When I stand before God on judgment,
and all everything about me is made known and made manifest,
you know what it's all gonna be? The life of the Lord Jesus
Christ was taught in Nyberg's life. Because what Christ did,
he did for and behalf of all of his people. I love to think
of his obedience. He could look at his detractors
and say, which of you can convince me of sin? Can you imagine being
able to say that? He could. He said, I do always
those things that please the Father. He said, the prince of
this world has come and he has found nothing in me. He didn't
have anything he could grab to. What if the prince of the world
came and what would he find in you? You know, but not with the Lord
Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life. I love
to remember him and guess him in his garden. His hour has come. He came to keep the law for his
people. He came to die for his people.
And he says, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me. He's sweating drops of blood
at this time. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. He began to experience the wrath
of God even then. I think of him nailed to the
cross, remembering in his death. What did he accomplish by his
death? Beloved, he said, it is finished. What's finished? Well, he shall call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. When
he said it is finished, mission accomplished. What I came here
to do, I did. All their sin is put away. And
then he bowed his head The only one to ever do this. The only
one to ever give death permission to come and take him. Father
into my hands I commend my spirit and he bowed his head and yielded
up the ghost. Remember him in his resurrection. I don't know of anything that
gives me more assurance than this. When he was raised from
the dead, God said, I'm completely satisfied with what he did. I
can't look for anything more. I'm not going to look for anything
more. I won't take anything less. But his resurrection was the
complete satisfaction to God. And God was so satisfied with
what Jesus Christ did that he's satisfied with me. God is completely
satisfied with me. That is what Christ accomplished. God looks at me. He looks at
everybody that Jesus Christ died for. And he said, Thou art all
fair, my love. There's no spot in me. That's
how satisfied God is with everybody that Jesus Christ died for. I
love to think of him in his resurrection. I don't know what happened in
that dark tomb and all of a sudden he opened his eyes. You know,
they talk about that shroud of Turan, I think that's what it's
called, where supposedly his face is on. Well, maybe he did
brighten up. I don't know, but I don't think
there's any proof of that. I think that's just a bunch of religious
mumbo-jumbo. But I do know this. He gave himself
life from the dead, and God was completely satisfied with what
he did, and everybody did it for him. I love to think of him
in his intercession. His ascension back to the Father,
when He ascended back to the Father, so did every other believer
with Him, because we were in Him. That's why He's the Lord
of hosts. Lift up your heads, ye gates,
be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the Lord of hosts,
the Lord of glory will come in. Well, He's coming in by Himself,
isn't He? No, He comes in with every single
believer. Remember Him even now in His
intercession. Brethren, these things write
unto you that you sin not. Now, make it your resolve to never sin again. I'm not just talking. Make it
your resolve. Because of what He's done for
you, Make it your resolve to not sin anymore. Sin's such a
hateful thing. It's such a grotesque thing. When you do. When is that? When is that? Do you flip up
every now and then? No. When you do, which is all
the time. When you do. We have an Advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ the Righteous. I love thinking of our Advocate.
He's the Father's Son. And He is an Advocate that's
never lost a case. And if He represents you, all
is well. And his advocacy is not him seeing
your sin and saying, oh, father, forgive him. Then you commit
the same sin the next day and he says, oh, father, forgive
him again. No, all he does is present himself before the father
and nothing else needs to be said. Now, I realize we can't
remember him in his return because he hadn't returned yet. But we
look forward to it, don't we? Brethren, it does not yet now
appear what we shall be, but we know when he shall appear,
we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. And one spiritual view of him
as he is will perfectly conform us to his image. this do, as often as you do it,
in remembrance of me. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you will enable us to take the bread and the wine, remembering
your body broken for us, and your blood shed for us and what
it accomplished. And oh Lord, enable us to do
this in remembrance of thee. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Our Heavenly Father, we ask your
forgiveness that we may even be called upon to remember your
son for all that he's done. Father, we are thankful for the
life that he lived that we couldn't. We're thankful that he kept the
law that we couldn't. We're thankful for the Righteousness
that He wrought, knowing that it's the only righteousness that
there is. We confess that it's all we have, and it's all we
want. How thankful we are for such
a faithful substitute who stands for us. A substitute that will
willingly face your wrath and be crushed under you. and thereby
freeing us from the penalties. I thank you all for him. We ask
these things in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We pray, Lord, that you would not leave us to our sins. May we be family forever.