In Remembrance of Me.

Q: What does the Bible say about the Lord's Supper?

The Bible teaches that the Lord's Supper is a memorial instituted by Jesus to remember His body and blood given for the redemption of His people. The Lord's Supper is established in Luke 22:19-20, where Jesus instructs His disciples to partake of bread and wine as symbols of His body and blood. This sacrament serves as a continuous reminder of Christ's sacrifice and His covenant with believers. As we observe the Lord's Supper, we reflect on the fulfillment of the Passover through Jesus, the true Passover Lamb whose body was broken and blood was shed for our sins.

Q: How do we know Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for our salvation?

Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient because He is the Lamb of God, fulfilling the Old Testament types and shadows needed for atonement. The sufficiency of Jesus' sacrifice is confirmed in the Scriptures through His identification as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Just as the Passover lamb required to be without spot or blemish symbolizes Christ's purity and sinlessness, His voluntary death as punishment for sins fulfills the ceremonial law. Romans 5:8 assures us that God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, thus sealing the covenant by His blood and justifying us before God.

Q: Why is remembering Christ's sacrifice important for Christians?

Remembering Christ's sacrifice is crucial for aligning our faith and life in gratitude and acknowledgment of His grace. Remembering Christ's sacrifice is an essential aspect of Christian faith as it directs us away from self-reliance and towards dependence on Christ's finished work. The practice of the Lord's Supper serves as a continual reminder of the depths of His love and sacrifice. By participating in this ordinance, Christians express their gratitude and reaffirm their commitment to living in accordance with His will. The remembrance is not merely a ritual but a means of grace that strengthens our faith and fosters unity within the Body of Christ.

Q: What does the New Covenant mean in light of the Lord's Supper?

The New Covenant signifies the fulfillment of God’s promises through Jesus, whose blood redeems and unifies believers. The New Covenant, established through the Lord's Supper, represents the transforming relationship between God and believers made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus. In Luke 22:20, Jesus describes the cup as the new testament in His blood, highlighting that His atonement secures forgiveness of sins and restoration to fellowship with God. This covenant is superior to the old sacrificial system because it is based on the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, thus fulfilling the requirements of the law and providing a means for eternal life. As Christians partake in the Lord's Supper, they reaffirm their place within this covenant family.

Q: How does the Lord's Supper relate to our spiritual journey as Christians?

The Lord's Supper is meant to nourish our faith and keep us grounded in the reality of Christ’s atoning work. The Lord's Supper plays a pivotal role in the spiritual journey of Christians, acting as a means of grace that reinforces our faith and dependence on Christ. By remembering Christ's sacrifice, believers are encouraged to reflect on their own lives, foster a spirit of gratitude, and maintain a sincere approach to their relationship with God. It also serves as a communal act that fosters fellowship among believers, reminding us that we are part of the body of Christ, united in faith and mission. In partaking, Christians acknowledge their need for regeneration and sustained nurture found solely in Christ.

To give once again the Lord's help I would like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read together, the Gospel according to Luke chapter 22 and the text you'll find in verses 19 and 20. 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 to do in remembrance of me Likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the new testament or the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. Those who participate in the Lord's Supper and those who look on will know that the verses that are often used as the outline or the way by which the Lord's Supper takes place are taken from these words of the Lord Jesus as he sets the order for the Lord's Supper to take place. but as he took bread and he gave thanks and as he took the cup also and he gave thanks and as the apostle tells us in Corinthians that these things has he received of the Lord and he delivered it unto the church at Corinth and the same night in which the Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed that he took took bread And when he had given thanks, he break it and said, take it.

This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. And after the same manner, also he took the cup. And when he had sucked, saying that this cup is the New Testament in my blood, this do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

So as we look at the first Lord's Supper, the first communion that took place in the upper room, we will notice that it was in the time of the Passover, the time of unleavened bread and the time of the Passover when the Lord Jesus Christ knew that the end of his life was coming and he says to his disciples that it was with desire, that he desired to eat this Passover with them before he suppers. And so as the Lord Jesus Christ begins to prepare himself to be the Lamb of God, to be the Passover Lamb that would come into the world, he first sets in order what the church is going to continue doing after he has gone and until he comes again. And so as he takes this last Passover supper, the final shadow of himself in the Passover supper, and he begins to institute the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, it's the end and the beginning.

And so we see the Lord Jesus as we know came to fulfill every line and every dot of the law so that he could be that perfect sacrifice but also he came to fulfill the ceremonial law but also he came to fulfill the types and shadows spoken of regarding himself and here we see him fulfilling that shadow of himself in the Passover lamb. Heard something interesting recently, a type, you know, it doesn't have to be attached to the thing, but a shadow always has to be attached to something. You have the shadow of a tree, you have the shadow of a house, the shadow of a person, and you can always trace that shadow back to the very form.

And so as we see the shadow of the Passover, we see the very form in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He is the Passover. He is the Passover Lamb that all of those who are in Christ Jesus the judgment of God will pass over them, it will not fall upon them because it fell upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And so as we see in chapter 22, we see the Passover being specifically spoken about and mentioned.

As the Passover drew near, The time came for them to prepare the Passover. You remember that there was to be that specific choice made. There was to be a lamb that was chosen, a lamb without spot and a lamb without blemish. A lamb was to be set aside for a certain amount of days to check whether it still was. It was that perfect lamb. It was to be a prepared lamb. And so he sends his disciples to find a specific place where they would go and eat the Passover in Jerusalem.

And so we see that the Lord Jesus was fully aware of what he was about to do. And what makes it more remarkable is that he gives thanks, knowing that he is the bread. knowing that his blood is that fountain that will be open for sin and for uncleanness and he sees these two emblems before him and he gives thanks for them. We know as we saw this morning about those who truly give thanks as that one he returned back acknowledging the goodness of God in his healing and he returned back with a truly a thankful heart. Nobody really finds it very easy to give thanks for something that is about to take place that they know is going to be extremely difficult. But the Lord Jesus Christ was able to give thanks, knowing that what was before him was the sweating in the Garden of Gethsemane, was that foreknowledge of all that was going to take place with his friend that would betray him. with the unjust court before Pilate and then to be crucified and rejected by his own people and all that was before the Lord Jesus Christ yet he looked beyond the cross despising the shame knowing that All of this was to take place for the salvation of his people.

And we see that in the Passover rite when it was brought about in Egypt. as Christ, as he participates in this last Passover. It was to remind them of the goodness of God and how the Lord had delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh. in Exodus 12, it tells us there about the last plague that would come, the death of the firstborn, when the Lord would deliver Israel out of slavery and set them upon that pilgrim, that wilderness journey to the promised land. from chapter 12 and verse 11 and this is how you shall eat it with your loins girded your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand and you shall eat it with haste it is the Lord's Passover for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and beast and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment I am the Lord I am Jehovah, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are and when I see the blood I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite this land of when I smite the land of Egypt and this day shall be a be unto you for a memorial and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. And so this was going to be the way that the Lord was finally break that bond of slavery over the Israelites that the Egyptians held over them.

But it was going to be that a lamb that would be shed, a lamb that would provide them with a covering a lamb that would be seen on the, that his blood would be seen on the outside of their houses and when the angel went over those houses he would see the blood and pass over. He would know that judgment had already fallen upon that house, that life had already been shed. that those people had acted in faith, in believing the word of the Lord spoken by his servant Moses, and they had acted upon that message, that way of salvation, and they had placed the blood upon the doors. And as the angel went over, as he saw the blood, no judgment came upon that house. But as he passed over a house where there was no blood, judgment fell upon that house and it was the death of the firstborn. It was the death of the firstborn person and the firstborn animal.

But the Lord said, you will remember this forever. The Lord called Israel to remember this great deliverance. And it would every single year come around that they would have to reenact what took place. They would have to shed, they would have to choose a lamb, they would have to slaughter it, they would have to gather together as families and they would have to specifically follow the commands of the Lord as to what he stated they must do and they were to pass this on to their children. verse 26 it says and it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you what mean you by this service you shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover who passes over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt and smote the Egyptians in verse 29 and it came to pass at that midnight sorry but chapter 13 Verse 8, and thou shalt show thy sons in that day saying, it is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. The children of Israel were always to remember that it was not by their own strength or by their own might that they were delivered from the land of Egypt.

As time goes on, people forget, don't they? And stories get twisted and somebody becomes elevated. Moses becomes a great man, a man who did something and people begin to twist the story and people get elevated and the whole thing gets twisted and lost. And so the Lord made sure that these people, they're not going to forget.

They're not going to forget that it was not by them, it was by me. It was I that delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh. It was me that caused the death of the firstborn. It was me that provided the Passover lamb. It was me that opened the Red Sea. It was me that gave them manna in the wilderness. It was me that gave them water to drink throughout their pilgrim journey.

They were never to forget about the Lord and as we saw this morning, this is what grace does. Grace puts us in that right perspective. Grace knocks me off the throne and helps us to realise who we are in Christ Jesus. And so the Lord wanted them to remember. This do in remembrance, the Passover would be a continual reminder of what the Lord had done for them. What the Lord did.

And as we come 1500 years to the time of the Lord Jesus Christ, they're still remembering. They were still remembering all that the Lord did those 1500 years before. Every single year, that constant reminder. Every single year, that shedding of blood.

And then the Lord Jesus Christ comes to the final moments of his life and he, the perfect sacrifice, he, the Passover, the true Passover lamb, not the shadow, not the type, but the fullness, the literal lamb of God, that the whole of those 1500 years they had been re-enacting all that the Lord had told them to do, waiting for this perfect sacrifice. As we read in Hebrews, we know that not one drop of that blood could ever take away the sins of the people. There was that time to come when the Lord's servant, the one that would come after John the Baptist, would come to take away the sins of the world.

And so the Lord Jesus comes and he takes part in that last Passover and then initiates, brings into being the Lord's Supper or the communion. And he took bread and so he takes what was before him. He takes the food that was already being consumed at the Passover and he changes it or he changes the direction of the feast and he brings the attention now to himself. No longer is it looking back 1500 years to a lamb that never took away any sin, but now he brings it and points it to himself. He is the Passover lamb. His body is going to be the body that was shed, the body that would be killed, given as a substitute. His blood would be the blood which was spilt for the forgiveness of sins. In John chapter 6, Jesus tells those Pharisees there about his body.

But as they looked back to Abraham and to Moses and to the and to the Passover, but also they look back to the pilgrim journey and they remember their fathers and that they ate the manna in the wilderness and they drank of the water. Jesus says, look, these people, yes, they walked with Moses. Yes, they saw wonderful things, but they're all dead. They ate the manna, they drank of the water, but they're not here anymore. He says, I am the one who have come down from heaven. I am the manna that has come down from heaven.

I am the true bread that came down from heaven and what I bring is not just a daily sustenance. I give you eternal life. Not just enough for today but I give you life for eternity. I am the bread of life. He says He that believeth on me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven and a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven and if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.

The Lord Jesus then was that true bread that came down from heaven as that physical bread is to the body as we need to continually eat day by day to sustain our physical body so the Lord Jesus Christ is the spiritual bread for the soul and whoever believes and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ has an eternal life, he has a well within him springing up which can never be quenched, He, whoever eats of Him or takes part in Him, believes and trusts in Him will have everlasting life. For the scripture says, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Believing is eating and eating is receiving and to receive the Lord Jesus Christ is to trust and rest upon His, in His finished work. upon the cross and to believe and to rest upon him for the saving of your soul. And so as Jesus closes this Passover meal and he begins now to initiate the Lord's Supper or the communion, he takes the bread and he gave thanks.

His body, he says, which is given for you. That lamb that was killed was killed instead of the firstborn of that household. Its blood was placed upon the lintel, upon the doorpost, so that the evidence of his death was seen. And the Lord Jesus Christ says, my body, is going to be given for you. As that lamb was killed there on the Passover, so my body is also going to be given as a substitute.

The Bible tells us, doesn't it, the wages of sin is death. And so the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to pay the debt for the sins of his people, had to die. Bible tells us, doesn't it, that he was made like unto his brethren, fully man and fully God and able to be a perfect substitute for his people, a perfect representative of his people, tried and tempted in all points as we are yet without sin and so he was going to give his life, give his body as a ransom for many. He was going to offer up his body as a substitute for the sins of his people.

It was a sinless body, a body without sin. We know that it was without sin as the Bible tells us he is the son of God, born of the Virgin. His body was not contaminated by the sin of Adam, from the curse that runs through the human race. It was a perfect lamb, a lamb without spot, a body without spot and a body without blemish. But it was a body like unto our body. As we see in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, although his body was without sin, yet he still experienced times of hunger. Yes, he still wept. Yes, he still was thirsty. Yes, he was still tired. Yes, he slept. We see him in the Garden of Gethsemane as his human body buckles under the pressure of all that was before him, and he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. fully God and fully man.

And he gave his body, was not taken, was a voluntary gift. God so loved the world that he gave. The Lord Jesus Christ did not go against his own will, it was his will to do the will of the Father and therefore he voluntarily offered up his body as a substitute for his people. This is my body which is given for you.

If you remember that Romans tells us Romans chapter 5, that while we were yet sinners. Romans chapter 5 and verse 8, but God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God, by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

And so the Lord Jesus, he gives thanks. for the bread, the bread symbolising his body which he knowingly was going to give to be beaten, to be spat upon, to be scourged and to be crucified upon the cross. Not because there was any worth in those that he was dying for. While we were yet sinners, Christ gave thanks that he was the one that was able to redeem his people from the consequences of their sins. This is my body which is given for you. this do in remembrance of me.

As the Passover was to cast the mind back to the deliverance in the land of Egypt and how the Lord delivered the people, so when the church sits around the Lord's table they are to have their mind cast back always to be brought back to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we move away from the time when we were born again and the time when we were converted, we have a tendency to drift away. At the times when we were first born again, our love seemed to be so strong and we seemed to love the Lord Jesus Christ so much more and we were so thankful for how he had delivered us. Yet as time goes on, those feelings, they wax and wane, they go up and down. We're easily forgetful.

And we have a tendency to elevate and to think well of ourself, that there must have been something in me that caused me to be chosen by God. we are told to continually to remember the Lord Jesus Christ, to remember him and his death. His death was the means by which we are, we have been saved. There was no other way. And so as we come to sit around the Lord's table, it is designed to make us see nothing in ourselves and to see the Lord Jesus Christ as the doorway by which we have been redeemed from our sins. That while we were yet sinners, Christ gave himself for us. It says, likewise the cup, that he gave thanks for the cup.

This is the blood of the New Testament. You remember that every covenant that the Lord made with Abraham, it was through blood. With Moses, it was through blood that the animals were shed. The blood was spilt. And so the New Covenant would be through the Lord Jesus Christ, through the shedding of his blood. He would be the mediator of this New Covenant. and he would seal that covenant by shedding his blood, that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ would cleanse his people from all of their sins and that their salvation would rest solely upon him and him alone. that he was the high priest which gave himself for the sin of his people and so it was sealed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures tell us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

The scriptures tell us that the blood is the life of the body and so as Christ's blood is poured out It has poured out his life, draining from him as we participate in the Lord's Supper and the wine we are remembering that the Lord Jesus Christ gave up his life. He shed his blood, his precious blood for the sins of his people. so as he says with the body this do in remembrance of me and so he says with the blood this do in remembrance of me.

So we saw this morning that Jesus says where are the nine? Where are the nine? Where are those who have returned to give thanks, to continue remembering the Lord? If we go back to that Old Testament, this shall be a memorial for you, to cast your mind back. This do in remembrance of me. Do you have anything to remember? You remember our birthdays, don't we? Remember other people's birthdays, remember Christmas, remember anniversaries. Do you have any spiritual remembrance?

Do you have a time when the Lord dealt with you and brought you to see your need of Him and your faith in Him and that He came, that He gave His body for you, that He shed His blood for you. Have you acted upon that? Have you acted upon that faith that you have in His Son? Have you acted upon that love? Have you demonstrated your thankfulness by walking in obedience to His commands? He says, this do in remembrance of me. I gave my body for you. I shed my blood for you. What more could heaven do than to give the beloved son of God?

Do you have the desire? to have something to remember. Are you a seeker that wants to know something of the Lord Jesus Christ? You have a concern for the state of your soul. You want to know whether you are in Christ or you're out of Christ. Well, the scripture says, doesn't it? Seek the Lord. Seek him and you will find him if you seek with him with all your heart.

Why do you want to seek him? Why is that desire within your heart? Surely it's because he's put the desire in there. Why would you seek him if you did not have that desire to know? You seek him because he has given you a concern for your soul. You want something to remember.

And it is a command for the Lord's people to remember him and to participate in the communion one with another, that they have all been brought into union one with another through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the aiding power of the Spirit. And so it is a command to sit together around the Lord's table.

It is a reminder that the Lord doesn't remember. The Lord doesn't remember your sin but he says I've put your sin behind my back and I will remember it no more. I have justified you through my son the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God doesn't remember yet he calls you to remember all that he has done for you in his son the Lord Jesus Christ by participating in the Lord's Supper. though he doesn't forget your sin, though he forgets your sin, sorry, he doesn't forget you.

Jesus meets with his people as they sit around the Lord's table. they commune one with another, they commune with him, it is a means of grace that he has given to his people, it is physical emblems of his love as they are those that have been wrought upon by the Spirit to believe in faith they have no physical evidence of the cancelling of their sin, they have no physical evidence of Christ, yet they believe by faith, yet the Lord has given us these visible emblems of his love to help us in our Christian pathway, that as we come together we commune together and participate of these emblems of his love and we remember We remember his body that was given for us while we were yet sinners he died for us having seen no worth in us yet loved us before the foundation of the world gave his body and shed his blood so that we may have eternal life. May the Lord grant us in that faith to to walk in obedience to his word, to see ourselves in Christ Jesus and then to act upon that faith that we have in Christ and to do this in remembrance of him.

Amen. Our final hymn this afternoon is 146 from Hymns for Worship. Be still, my soul, the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide. In every change ye faithful will remain. Be still my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend. Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. 146. ♪ In His open sky ♪ ♪ There we shall be ♪ ♪ A cross of grateful pain ♪ ♪ With divine love to honor and deny ♪ ♪ Be still, my soul ♪ ♪ Thy best, thy only friend ♪ ♪ Who for me waits ♪ ♪ Leads to a joyful end ♪ ♪ Be still, my soul ♪ Be still my soul, the waves and winds sing along.

Forever with the Lord. When disappointment frequently ♪ Change and tears of gold ♪ Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, do be with you each now and for evermore. Amen. Amen.

In Remembrance of Me.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the Lord's Supper?

How do we know Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for our salvation?

Why is remembering Christ's sacrifice important for Christians?

What does the New Covenant mean in light of the Lord's Supper?

How does the Lord's Supper relate to our spiritual journey as Christians?

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In Remembrance of Me.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the Lord's Supper?

How do we know Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for our salvation?

Why is remembering Christ's sacrifice important for Christians?

What does the New Covenant mean in light of the Lord's Supper?

How does the Lord's Supper relate to our spiritual journey as Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About James Gudgeon

Comments

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