I brought my message last Sunday
evening, speaking to us of the ancient and of the old, the ancient
landmarks and the old paths. These ancient landmarks are paths
in which we must walk to find rest for our souls. And we looked
at three last time, and I hope God willing to bring others to
us in the future. but it is because we are observing
the Lord's Supper tonight, I want to speak on this ancient landmark. We know, or at least we should
realize, that many superstitious teachings have been associated
with the Lord's Supper, things which spoil the truth. the truth
that salvation is by grace through faith, which is the gift of God. If you will, let us open our
Bibles to two passages of Scripture, first in Luke chapter 22, and
then we will read from 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Luke chapter 22, and then we'll
read from 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Luke chapter 22, and beginning with
verse 14. And when the hour was come, he
sat down and the 12 apostles with him. And he said unto them,
with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before
I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not
any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of
God. And he took the cup and gave
thanks and said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For
I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until
the kingdom of God shall come. 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. Likewise also
the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new testament
in my blood, which is shed for you. And now if you will turn
to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and reading verses 23 through
25, The Apostle Paul, for I have
received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that
the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took
bread. And when he had given thanks,
he break and said, take eat, this is my body, which is broken
for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner, also he
took the cup when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament
in my blood. This do you as oft as you drink
it in remembrance of me. The main point that I wish to
stress tonight are his words, this do in remembrance of me. He said this two times concerning
the bread and also concerning the cup, this do in remembrance
of me. But before we look at this, I
want to make three observations. Before we look at these words
of our Lord, this do in remembrance of me, I want to make these three
observations. First, the Lord, now listen,
the Lord did not institute the Lord's supper until the night
before his crucifixion. That's very important. This ordinance
that we will observe tonight, our Lord instituted it on the
eve of his crucifixion. Number two, he did so after the
Passover supper was ended. Now the Passover supper was also
a memorial service and it memorialized God delivering the nation of
Israel out of Egypt, out of Egyptian bondage. And that deliverance
was wrought both by blood, remember the Passover lamb's blood, sprinkled
or put upon the doorpost and the lentils of the house. And
it was also a deliverance by power, just like salvation. the saving of us all. It is a
deliverance, a deliverance by blood, that is the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and also by power. He must deliver us out
of the hand of the enemy. We are not able in and of ourselves
to deliver ourselves from the strong man armed. So This supper tonight that we
are observing, it was instituted after the Passover supper, which
was a memorial service, and this too is a memorial service. And number three, now this is
very important. This is very important that you
see this, that you remember this. In John chapter 6, when the Lord
Jesus Christ used bread as a symbol of himself, when he said, I am
the bread which came down from heaven, which giveth life unto
the world, he was not speaking of the Lord's Supper. When he
said in John chapter 6, My flesh is meat indeed, and
my blood is drink indeed. He was not speaking of the Lord's
table. In that place he said this, except,
no exceptions, except you eat the flesh of the son of man,
speaking of himself, and drink his blood, you have no life in
you. Now if he wasn't, but just for
a few seconds, for the sake of emphasis, if he was talking of
the Lord's Supper when he said that, when he said, for my flesh
is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, and except you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have
no life in you. If he was speaking of the Lord's
Supper, he wasn't, But think about what that would mean. First of all, it would mean that
no Old Testament saint had eternal life. That's what it would mean. Not Abraham, not Noah, not Moses,
no Old Testament saint ever partook of the Lord's Supper. But each
and every child of God in Old Testament or New Testament eats
his flesh and drinks his blood or we have no life, no eternal
life. How is it? How is it that the
Old Testament saints ate his flesh and drank his blood? By
faith, by faith they look forward to the coming Messiah who would
bruise Destroy the works of Satan. They look forward to his coming. He was pictured through the Old
Testament in types and in shadows in the ceremonial law. And by
faith, they ate his flesh and drank his blood just like you
do and I do tonight. We look to Christ by faith and
trust in his one sacrifice. His one sacrifice by which He
has saved us forever. We eat His flesh and drink His
blood. And not only, listen, not only
would no Old Testament saint have been saved if our Lord was
speaking of the Lord's Supper when He said that, but when He
told the thief who was crucified alongside Him who believed that
he was the Messiah and said, Lord, when thou comest into thy
kingdom, remember me. He didn't eat the Lord's table. He didn't drink the wine at the
Lord's supper. Where is he tonight? Where has
he been since that very day in paradise? Just like the Lord
told him. And something else to recognize,
a lost man did eat the Lord's Supper, Judas. It's very clear in the passage
we read in Luke chapter 22 that Judas was with all the other
apostles and he ate that bread and drank that wine. And Peter
tells us in Acts chapter one that Judas fell, that he might,
now listen, that he might go to his place. Now no one believes
that his place is heaven. That's not where Judas went. A man may eat this bread and
drink this cup every day of his life and die and go to hell if
he is trusting that this bread and this wine has efficacy, has
power to save from sin, because it doesn't. It didn't save Judas,
and it's not going to save any other person. Now, men have removed
this ancient landmark by teaching what they call the real presence
the real presence, his real presence, maybe I should say, the real
presence in these elements, that the bread becomes his flesh and
the wine becomes his blood. This, now listen to me, this
is priest craft pure and simple. That's what it is. And it always
results in the same thing. It always results in men looking
for salvation in something other or someone other than the Savior
himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. It always results when people
talk about Somehow the bread becoming his real flesh and the
wine becoming his real blood, it always results in putting
someone between the sinner and the Savior. Always. Always. That must not be. Now, these words, this do in
remembrance of me. Let us do this remembering his
person. The bread and wine represent
his body and blood. The body that was prepared him
by the Holy Spirit. I want you to look with me in
Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. And we'll begin reading in verse
four. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not. But a body hast thou prepared
me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. By the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. Once. What does that mean in verse
five when we read, when he cometh into the world? When he cometh
into the world? Who's that speaking of? It is
speaking of God's only eternal begotten Son. God has many sons
by creation. He has many sons by adoption. But He has only one, only begotten
Son. And how did He come into this
world? He came into this world by His
incarnation, that is, taking into union with His person, the
eternal Son of God, taking into union with His person, that body
which was prepared Him, that body and reasonable soul that
was prepared Him by God the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin
Mary. As we eat this supper tonight,
let us Do this in remembrance of me, in remembrance of him,
let us remember his person. We worship Jesus Christ as God
because he is God. And if he isn't, then we practice
idolatry when we worship him, but he is. And he came into this
world by assuming, in the union with his holy, divine nature,
that body which was prepared him by God the Holy Spirit. And he came here on purpose to
do God's will. And he came saying, I delight
to do thy will, O God. Number two, second, let us do
this remembering his death. Let's do this remembering his
person. He's the God-man. Not two persons,
one person with two natures, divine and human. But second, let us do this remembering
his death. This is pictured to us in this
broken bread and this wine which is poured out. And if you still,
and I hope you do, still have your Bibles open here to Hebrews
chapter 10, look down to verse 10 or look again at verse 10. By the witch will we are sanctified. Now the word sanctified means
set apart. We are set apart. God's people
are set apart. How? By the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ wants. It is because of His person that
He is both God and man, that His offering satisfies God. Now, God cannot suffer. He cannot suffer. God cannot
bleed. God is a Spirit. God cannot die. But man, he can suffer, bleed,
and die, but not satisfy an infinite God. He became God-man. So in his person, he is able
to bleed, to suffer, to die, Thank God to satisfy, to satisfy. That's about as simple as we
can put it, isn't it? What are some of the things that
we should remember about his death? Well, I want to point
three things out. Usually I mention his death is
vicarious. He died in the place of his people,
substitutionary, voluntary. He died, he gave up his life,
but I want to show you in the scriptures tonight three things
that we are told about his death. First of all, I want you to look
at Romans chapter three with me. His death is a propitiation. Romans chapter three. In verse
25. whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. His death is a propitiation. God set him forth, the scripture
says, to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. When our
representative, my representative, your representative, the representative
of all men, Adam, when he sinned and we in him, at least two things
resulted. Two things resulted when we sinned
in our representative. First, we become guilty of breaking
God's holy law. That's the first thing that happened.
We became guilty of breaking God's holy law. And number two,
we offended God's holy justice. Those are serious matters. Those are very serious matters. Guilty? Guilty before God? Offending His righteous, holy
justice? Yes. Christ in His death was set forth
a propitiation, which means that the wrath of God for His people
The wrath of God, which our disobedience merited, us being guilty before
God and offending His holy justice, the wrath of God fell upon Jesus
Christ. God set Him forth to be the propitiation
through faith in His blood. Secondly, I want you to turn
to Ephesians chapter five. So keep that in mind. When we remember his death, we
remember that his death was a propitiation for sins. Number two, his death
is a sacrifice for sin. Ephesians five and verse two,
the apostle writing to believers, he said, and walk in love as
Christ also have loved us and given himself for us an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. Do you see in
that verse that it was to God, it was to God whom we had offended,
against whom we had sinned, It was to God that He gave Himself
for us as an offering and a sacrifice. And do you see that His offering,
offering Himself, His sacrifice, was to God a sweet-smelling savor? What does that mean? a sweet
smelling savor. The sacrifice, the offering,
the blood shedding, the death of Jesus Christ was a sweet smelling
savor. It means that God is, we don't
want to say what was, God is. It means that God is well pleased
with his sacrifice. just as something smells good
to you. It's a picture, I understand
that, it's a picture. But it pictures to us that that
sacrifice, that offering of the Lord Jesus Christ was accepted
and it was well pleasing unto God. All right, third, his death is
a putting away of sin. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
nine. So his death is a propitiation
for sin. His death is a sacrifice for
sin, well-pleasing unto the Father. And number three, his death is
a putting away of sin. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 24,
we read, for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands. Those high priests of old, under
the old covenant, the old law, they went into that tabernacle
into the most holy place. That's not where Christ entered,
no. He was not a priest of an earthly
tabernacle, but of the heaven. The earthly tabernacle was a
picture, was a type of the heavenly. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true. Just a picture of the true tabernacle. Not made with hands, heaven created
by God himself. but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us. Amen? For us. For me. That's where he is tonight. That's
where he is. And he's there to appear in the
presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every
year with blood of others. No, his sacrifice was not like
that. Those sacrifices of the old covenant,
they were pictures, they were types of his one sacrifice. And so every year the high priest
would go in with blood to sprinkle before the mercy seat. And on
the mercy seat, every year he would do the same thing. Why? That blood could not take away
sin, could not remove sin. For then, notice verse 26, for
then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. His death is a putting
away of sin. When we read that He, by His
sacrifice, He put away sin, what are we to understand? Well, we
are to understand that He put away sin. That's what we are
to understand, that He put away sin. Now let me say this, He
has so put away sin that God will remember it no more. That's the promise of the covenant,
isn't it? Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. And how true it is as fallen
creatures like you and I, sinners by nature, even after We know
these things and believe these things. Many times there's sins
and maybe one particular sin in our past, in our history. And oh, we would love to forget
it. But we can't. But God will not
remember it. That's how he put away sin. He
put away sin so that God will remember it no more. He has so
put away sin that it is as far as the east from the west removed
from his children. He has put away sin so that when search is made for
it, it can't be found. That Old Testament picture of
searching Jerusalem with candles. I think about these big giant
spotlights that we have today. Oh no. Searching for sin of God's
people. You can't find it. Why? He put
it away. That's why. It's gone. It's gone. It means As the psalmist said,
blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. He put it away. And third, as we take the Lord's
table, he said, this doing remembrance of me, let's remember his person,
let's remember his death, and let's remember his love, his
love. Romans chapter 5, the apostle
tells us, God commended, God manifested his love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Christ died for sinners. Any
sinners here tonight? Any bona fide sinners here tonight? I hope so. I know there's one. Christ died for sinners. That's
the reason the gospel, good news! Good news! Christ died for sinners. This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Have you
accepted this saying? Have you? It's worthy. It's worthy
that all accept this saying. that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. In John 15, the Lord Jesus said,
greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. But then we read, for if when
we were enemies, He said, greater love hath no man than this, that
a man lay down his life for his friends. Well, what about a man,
the God man, who laid down his life for us when we were enemies? We were reconciled unto God by
the death of his son. Much more shall we be saved by
his life. You know he's saving us tonight,
those of us who know him. He saved us in eternity when
we were chosen in Christ, given grace in Him from before the
foundation of the world. He saved us at the cross when
He put away our sins. He saved us when He called us
and revealed Himself to us and created faith in us and we looked
to Him and leaned upon Him. He saved us. And He's still saving
us by His life of intercession. He's always there interceding
for us. When we sin, do we lose our salvation? Do we have to repent and start
all over? Well, repent, yes, but not start
all over. Why? We have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only. but for the whole world.
There's only one sacrifice that is a propitiation. I don't care
if a person was born in 50 A.D. or 500 A.D. or 500 B.C. I don't care where in the world
he was born or her, where she was born. There's never been
but one sacrifice that puts away sin. And that's the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. And think about this, my friends.
God has so blessed you and so blessed me to tell us about Christ. Not everyone in this world, not
everyone that's lived in this world has heard of him and of
his great work. But we have. Thank God. Thank God.