02/02/2025: "The Lord's Table & Baptism"

This podcast episode dives deep into the significance of baptism and communion, emphasizing their roles as physical representations of profound spiritual realities. It highlights the importance of these ordinances in uniting believers and helping them connect with the gospel, while encouraging reflection and understanding of their personal faith journeys.

• Definition and purpose of baptism and communion 
• The gospel as the foundation of faith 
• The call to personal faith before participating in ordinances 
• Baptism as a public declaration of faith 
• Communion as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:23

Good morning church. If you have your Bibles with you, I invite you to turn with me to Romans, chapter 1. Today we're going to be in Romans, chapter 1. We are excited for Wednesday nights to start up again. Sometimes it feels like it's gone on too long, but I'm convinced if we try to do Wednesday nights in January, it wouldn't happen anyway, because the state of Kentucky tends to shut down for the month of January. So we're excited to see him again. I see that we have an advertisement for the other class that's going on. They didn't put one for me. I don't know why, mick, you got one for your wife but not for me. But we're going to be in the book of Daniel. Jackie's class is going to be really good as well. I've already looked at the book that they're going to be studying.

Speaker 1 1:17

Romans, chapter 1,. Let's begin our time in prayer. Father, in your word you've got a lot to say about unity, a lot to say about the way that we, as your people, relate to one another. You say how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. You say, above all, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. You say maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and there's so many more. We acknowledge that unity is very important to you and difficult for us. What you value so highly, we tend to forsake or destroy. Lord, we acknowledge that in the deepest and most significant sense, we are united and unified as your people. We've all been adopted together into your family. We are brothers and sisters family. We are brothers and sisters regardless of our background, regardless of our race or regardless of our political leaning, or regardless of whatever we think of any other thing. We are united in Christ and we are bound together more than a literal brother and sister who are apart from you. We are one body because we have been indwelt by one Spirit and, as members of this local church, we sit around a common table and we celebrate communion together. We are one congregation, and this is another sign of that unity. And, lord, as we turn to your Word, we ask that you would help us to be attentive to it. We pray that we wouldn't hear just the words of a mere man, but that we would hear from you, by the power of your Holy Spirit, energize our hearts, bring life to dead hearts, bring grace to stubborn hearts, bring mercy to unforgiving hearts. Lord, help us to listen as you speak. I want to be changed by your word, amen.

The Significance of Gospel and Ordinances

Speaker 1 3:19

Well, this morning we take a spirit-led detour from our normal systematic exposition of the book of Genesis, which we will return to next week, to consider two very important things in the life of the believer and in the ministry of the church, that is, the Lord's table and baptism. It's important for us to be reminded of what Scripture teaches of these things, as we might be inclined to ascribe things to the cup or the waters of baptism or to the bread, something that shouldn't be there at all or, worse, we miss their purpose altogether and it just becomes something that we do. So let me start by giving you a concise definition of the ordinances, and I put this on the screen for you if you want to take notes. The ordinances of the Lord's table and baptism are physical representations of a spiritual reality that is far different, far greater and much more significant than themselves. The Lord's table and baptism are physical representations of a spiritual reality that is far different, far greater and much more significant than themselves. The bread and the cup and the waters of baptism point us to something that is much more real and eternally more significant. Let me give you a silly analogy, because that's all. My analogies are silly.

Speaker 1 4:43

I am a maple syrup snob, without apology, I can't even say the word correctly. That's how New England I am. I say syrup, s-e-r-p. Maple syrup. If someone says to me would you like syrup, which is the right way to say it, I know that they're not going to bring me the real stuff. So if the waitress says, would you like syrup, I'm like no, because you're going to bring me something made in a laboratory. And now, if you love imitation corn syrup with food coloring on your pancakes, we could be friends, just not good friends. And I am not coming over to your house for pancakes and no sorghum. I don't even understand that. What in the western Kentucky is going on with that stuff?

Speaker 1 5:32

The best maple syrup comes from either New Hampshire or Vermont, because it just doesn't get cold anywhere else. It doesn't get cold enough anywhere else to get the good sugar maples to produce what's actually needed. Maine is mostly pine trees, so that doesn't even count, and Maine doesn't count for a lot of things. But one of our favorites in our household is made by a good friend of mine. His name is Kevin. He's an elder of the very first church that I pastored in Vermont and he has this big operation and we would go there every year and have a lot of fun there. But other than what Kevin makes on his farm, I think the second best is from Maple Grove Farms in St Johnsbury, vermont, and actually you can get their product here in Kentucky. I've seen it and that's what we buy if we lose our supply from Vermont.

Speaker 1 6:19

Now, if you go to Vermont and you'll see signs directing you to the Sugar House Tour and the gift shop at Maple Grove Farms, which I think everyone should experience, it's a neat thing to see. It's kind of like Buc-ee's. Here in the south. Everyone's like, oh, buc-ee's, yeah, it's like 28 miles to Buc-ee's. Well, the same thing happens with the Maple Grove Farms thing. You see all these signs. Now it would be weird it would be really weird actually that instead of driving to the tour itself, you pull over on the side of the highway when you see one of these signs and you jump out and you run up and you try to taste the sign. That would be weird, right, everyone's like well, no, that's what we do all the time. Could you imagine hey, come taste this, everyone. It probably tastes like road salt and taxes in Vermont, I don't know.

Speaker 1 7:12

It's weird, because we understand that these signs are pointing us to something much more significant, a reality that is different and far greater than themselves. The maple grove farm syrup is a sign. It's pointing you to that product, not the sign itself. Now, of course, the analogy breaks down if you try to take it too far, but the point is and it helps us understand that these were given to us by our Savior and baptism as well and I cherish baptism, it's my favorite thing to do in the church and I love the Lord's table but these are here to remind us. These are here to orient us and to identify us with something much greater and profound than a bit of bread or even juice or water. So that's going to be our framework this morning.

Speaker 1 8:02

We're going to consider first the gospel itself, then we'll look at baptism and the Lord's table, which we will then take together as we conclude. Let's start with the gospel itself. If you're in Romans, look at Romans, chapter 1. So the definition that I gave to you, the ordinance of the Lord's table and baptism are physical representations of a spiritual reality that's far greater, far different and much more significant than themselves. But what is the reality that they're pointing to? They point us to the eternal reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This and the waters of baptism point us to the eternal reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1 8:43

The gospel is called good news because it addresses our most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is this that God is holy and God is just, and we're not. At the end of my life, I'm going to stand before a just and holy God and I will be judged. The death rate is one per person. You can eat kale every day from now until the end of time. You're still going to die, and if you eat kale, you're going to be miserable while you're alive. But at the end of my life, I'm going to stand before God and I'll be judged, and I'll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness, or lack thereof, or the righteousness of someone else.

Speaker 1 9:32

We find a template for the gospel in Romans 1. Paul frames the gospel around four questions to help us understand that moment that we're all going to face, and if you've been with us for some time, you're familiar with this. What's the first question who made me and so who made me and therefore to whom am I accountable? Paul insists in Romans 1 that we are not autonomous, and he begins this amazing presentation of the gospel If you look at verse 18 of chapter 1, he says For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of, he says, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. We did not create ourselves and we are not self-reliant or self-accountable. It's God who created us and therefore it is God that has the right to demand our worship and our obedience. So the question of creation is critical.

Speaker 1 10:48

Many, many years ago I heard a speaker at a youth rally. This is back when the Left Behind books were all the rage. But this guy said that the end times, how we understand the end times, is the most important thing about us. But I wanted to jump up and I didn't. Then I should have. But I want to jump up and say it's not. It's not that it's unimportant. Your understanding and your perception of the end times is not unimportant. Some people make it way more important than they should. But what is critical for us is not what is at the end, but what happened in the beginning.

Speaker 1 11:19

Who made me? Where do I come from? Am I a product of time plus matter, plus chance, or am I fearfully and wonderfully made? Am I part of this race of mankind that is the pinnacle of God's creation, or am I just DNA dancing to the rhythms of the universe? If we are made by God, we are dependent upon God and therefore we are accountable to God.

Speaker 1 11:50

The second question of the gospel is just what is our problem? Our problem is that we've rebelled against God, and we know that there's a problem. We just turn on the media and every generation has their own brand of trouble, but it's still just plain old trouble. And that sin brings separation. Humanity, by nature, is separated from God. You might be ambivalent towards God, you could be antagonistic towards God, but in reality you are rebelling against God. Every day that you reject His Son, you are rebelling against your Creator, and in Romans 1, paul says that if we continually rebel against God, later in the chapter, if we continually rebel against God, he's going to let us continue on that path. You see, that's the root and essence of sin, and the results are nothing short of horrific. Then, of course, the next few chapters in Romans. Paul continues with this theme All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That's why the world is the way the world is today. Not other people's sin, but our sin. Sin gives birth to sin, which gives birth to sin.

Speaker 1 12:57

And so those that might say well, you know what and I've had people say this to me before well, I simply disagree. I think that men and women are by nature good, and if we just got to know each other, all the suffering in the world would end. At the same time, they lock their cars and they lock their home, and they don't give me their wallet or their social security card when I ask for it. Somebody once said to me you know, I think all people by nature good. I said okay, give me your wallet. No, I'm a pastor. No, it's because the heart of man is evil continually. Why do we do this? Why do we cancel our credit cards when we lose them? Why do we make sure our kids don't talk to strangers? Because many women know that, in reality, that the heart of man is wicked above all things.

Speaker 1 13:48

And you say well, is there any hope? I'm glad you asked? Because there is a solution, and the solution comes from God, god's solution. If we are sinners, if we are unable to save ourselves, we are completely hopeless, unless a solution is given to us by the One who created us, and that solution is the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, well, that makes no sense. What good does Jesus' death do for hopeless sinners? Well, go back in Romans 1 to verse 16.

Speaker 1 14:18

Paul says I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from. God demands perfection for salvation. He demands perfect righteousness. Despite our rebellion against God, we can be justified, made perfectly righteous through redemption. That is available only in Jesus Christ. Jesus was born without sin, lived a life of perfect obedience to God without sin, died a perfect, innocent substitute on your behalf. Therefore, jesus is God's solution to the problem that we have, then.

Speaker 1 15:03

That problem is separation due to sin, and that separation is solved through Jesus, his substitutionary death on the cross, and so we need to understand that there's a fourth part of this. Isn't there? How am I included in this? How do I take part in all of this? You see, god demands perfection, so if somebody says to me, how do I go to heaven, how do you think I go to heaven, I say listen, you just need to be perfect.

Speaker 1 15:34

Live a perfect life. Never act on your anger, never get road rage Impossible in our state. Never get mad at someone who has a different political opinion than you. Never raise your voice at your children. Never act selfishly. Never act on loss, never, never, never, never, never.

Speaker 1 15:53

Well, how you doing? We don't have it in us, do we? And Jesus has it, though, and that's where this good news comes from. Jesus has it, and he says here you can have mine. Glory to God. We can have the righteousness and perfection of Jesus Christ by faith, because we don't have it, we can't make it, and if we spent the rest of our lives trying to attain it on our own, we would still fail.

Speaker 1 16:21

We are saved by believing in Jesus Christ, by trusting Him and no other to save us. That's what salvation is turning from your sin and believing on Jesus Christ, and this is not something any religious professional can do for you. That means that you. It means you have there's no other mediator between you and God except Jesus Christ. Right where you are right now, in the quiet of your own heart, you can call out to God and say save me and he will. Well, don't I need to have the proper prayer so that no cry out to God save me and he will. God's not looking for a formula, he's looking for faith, isn't he? God's not looking for you to do this and go over here and jump through this and say this right word that's on the card. He's looking for you to believe in Him. The words are just something that's happening on the outside. The faith happens right here, doesn't it? That salvation, that conversion leads to a whole new life in Christ, a changed heart, a changed mind, a changed pattern of life, a life of discipleship, working out your salvation in fear and trembling. A life of discipleship, working out your salvation in fear and trembling. That life of discipleship begins at faith and the public proclamation of that is your baptism. So that'll be our second heading, then baptism.

The Significance of Believer Baptism

Speaker 1 17:53

Flip back to the book of Acts, one book back, chapter 16. Chapter 16 of the book of Acts the guys are in jail. They start singing, chains fall off, the jailer rushes in. He's like I'm going to die. So I'm going to kill myself now. Because if everyone's escaped, but he goes in and they're still there and the jailer says in verse 30, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house, and he took them the same hour at night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them and he rejoiced, along with his entire household, that he had believed in God. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Well, wait, shouldn't I clean myself up first? Good luck. The answer is no. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Well, shouldn't I join the proper church, right, and make sure that I have the right attire and I use the right words and I get the right version of the Bible? No, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

Speaker 1 19:20

Faith leads to salvation, leads to this outward expression of an inward change. That outward expression is baptism, and that's what we see here that outward identification. So, as context, to give you context and this should be a surprise to nobody at all my view of baptism is decidedly from the Baptist tradition, which, in my years of study, is the most faithful to the biblical text. And so when people say, well, why are you Baptist? I say because I baptize believers. That's really the distinction for me of what it means to be Baptist.

Speaker 1 19:58

But before we consider what baptism is, we need to know what it's not. It's not how we get saved, it's not even how we stay saved. Baptism does not wash away our sin. Baptism is that outward expression of an inward reality. You are proclaiming to the world that you are in Christ and that you are now living your life for Christ. And it is done in this peculiar way of immersion. You see, the overwhelming evidence of Scripture is that baptism is done following conversion. We believe that we're baptized and that baptism is by immersion, which means you go underwater. You don't see years of time elapse between salvation and baptism in the Bible. In fact, here it happened that same night. Although baptism follows conversion, we're not saved by it. We are saved by faith alone and Christ alone, and it's all God's grace alone.

Speaker 1 20:58

Baptism, however, from the positive is a command for those who are in Christ. That's what makes it an ordinance like the Lord's table. Jesus told us to do it. We are to make disciples. That begins with their baptism. The act of going down into the water identifies with Jesus' death and burial, and then coming up from the water, it identifies us with His resurrection. That is why I love it when we cheer when people come up out of the water because it is their resurrection day. As it were. They're saying I am His and, look, I am identifying with what he has done for me. So if you sit stoically with your arms folded and the lemon puss face when somebody's getting baptized, you've got a problem. It's a heart problem and you need to repent of whatever. It is A physical representation of a reality that is different and far greater and much more significant than simply a person submerged in water. It's a symbolic act that represents a biblical reality of being made new and made alive in Christ.

Speaker 1 22:09

Now, given all this clarification about the gospel and what baptism, we need to come to the conclusion that only those who can say from a regenerated heart Jesus Christ is my Savior, that only those who can say from a regenerated heart Jesus Christ is my Savior should be baptized. That's why we hold a relatively simple Baptism 101 class here. I think the next schedule one is in March Somebody, you can correct me if you want, but it's sometime in the future. That's good. It's very general Now. I've actually had people in the past not here but in my previous pastorates who said you know, they've been very critical that we have what they would call a screening process or require a class. But the class for me is simply a means to an end. It's as much an opportunity for me to get to know you and hear how you came to know Christ as anything else and make sure that you understand what baptism is. It might delay baptism just a few days.

Speaker 1 23:01

I'm not suggesting that someone waits several years to prove that they are a Christian, and the reason we do that is because baptism is intended for someone who is a believer, especially baby believers. However, when I say baby believers, I'm talking about people who are new to Christ, but we don't baptize infants here, and I typically don't baptize smaller children. Now, as cute as that might be and as wonderful as that experience may be for the extended family, I don't see any evidence in the Bible to indicate we must baptize infants or smaller children. Now, I understand and I appreciate the Reformed high Presbyterian tradition of paedo-baptism. I simply don't agree with it. If you are from that tradition and disagree with me, that's okay. I'm not going to divide with anyone over this matter, and there are many Reformed Presbyterian churches that have excellent Bible teaching and would agree with our theology here, likely up to that point. But the evidence that I see in the New Testament is that those who come to Christ, those who are able to comprehend this salvific faith, would be baptized, and that, of course, would rule out infants and small children.

Speaker 1 24:10

Now, as parents, we can help point our children to Jesus, but they are the ones to decide if they are going to follow him. As a general rule and this is not a hard and fast rule, but a general rule is that under the age of 10, I'll talk with you and your child to help them make. Help you make the right decision with them. And the only reason I do that is because I know far too many students who have either just left high school or going into college or something else that they have simply walked away from Jesus altogether, and they tell me. You know, I was baptized at the age of six. I did all the right things, never got arrested, but I don't know Jesus. And so they go off into the world and they either make their faith their own or they reject the faith of their parents because it was never theirs to begin with. I mean that's a generalization, but it's true in many cases in my experience.

Speaker 1 25:05

Now related to this Christian fathers, listen to me please. I could tell you right now, christian fathers, if you are indifferent to the things of God, if you do the bare minimum in your walk with Christ, your kids are going to follow your lead. Their mom could be here at every time the doors open and be following Jesus, but the kids are going to follow your lead by and large. I'll leave that up to my wife. Then you're failing and your responsibility is a father who's a believer in Jesus Christ. I don't know if I can make that any clearer, and if you're upset with me, talk to me afterwards and we'll talk it through. However, if you glorify God with your life, your children will follow your lead. Your role as father is not just important, it is absolutely essential, isn't it now?

Speaker 1 25:55

I've baptized seven or eight year olds before, but it's certainly the exception for me and it usually only happens after a good conversation with them and their parents. But it comes down to a question why do you want to get baptized? The kids I have baptized young have said to me because I love jesus, good, let's do it. But I have experienced when that question is asked and somebody says you know, well, billy did it and I want to party like billy had. I was like mom, just throw him a party. We'll do this later.

Speaker 1 26:25

Any instance of baptism follows a person's decision to trust j Jesus for his or her salvation and commitment to follow him. So here at First Baptist we wait until children are old enough to express their own decision to follow Jesus and understand the meaning of baptism at whatever level they can understand it. It's that outward expression of an inward reality. We need to make sure that inward reality is there and being baptized shows others that you've decided to follow Jesus and allows them to celebrate this decision with you. It doesn't save us. It's a symbol of the celebration. It's a symbol and identification and a celebration of the salvation we already possess through faith. The power that brought Jesus back to life is the same power Jesus uses to change life, and I think that's worth getting excited about.

Speaker 1 27:13

Okay, let's consider then the Lord's table. Flip back a couple of books to Luke and look at Luke, chapter 22. Luke, chapter 22. This is familiar territory to us. In verse 19, 22-19, it says and he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. So let's consider the Lord's table, then, from two different perspectives the practical and the spiritual. Let's start from the practical perspective.

Speaker 1 27:55

First, we need to understand that the Lord's table is an ongoing thing in our lives. Baptism happens once there's no need to be baptized again, and that's the starting line of baptism. Baptism is that initial shout that I'm his, I'm identifying with Christ. But the Lord's Supper is continuing, meant to be observed again and again and again throughout the Christian life, and it's something we celebrate for the rest of our lives. Is that ongoing expression of the life and the power of the gospel working is in us. So baptism wants the Lord's table for the rest of our sanctification.

Speaker 1 28:33

And like baptism, the Lord's table is also intended for the believing Christian and this is why every month, you hear me give the warning if you're not in Christ, I invite you to pass. Or if you are in Christ but you are in deep, habitual sin, I invite you to pass. And I'm not doing this simply to be mean or divisive or anything. I'm actually doing this because it's a biblical command and I'm doing this and it's meant to protect you. I invite you to pass for your own benefits. It's typically called fencing the table. I remember we had a man visit our church in Connecticut and I made that statement if you're not in Christ, I invite you to pass. Three or four months went by and he talked to me after church one day months later and he said I have been so angry at you for the last three or four months because I'm not a believer in Jesus Christ and you invited me to pass. But you want to know what happened to him. The Lord used that to drive him back into the Word of God and through that he came to faith in Jesus Christ. It's amazing when you do God's things God's way God works things out. I would much rather have that man be upset with me and enter heaven than to tell him hey, man, you're all good and enter hell.

Speaker 1 29:54

We seek to protect this pulpit. We don't just invite anyone to stand here. We want somebody standing here that's in Christ. We want somebody standing here that has a deep commitment to proclaiming God's Word. And so Paul gives a solemn warning to the Corinthians when they take part in the Lord's Supper, and this is from 1 Corinthians 11. He said whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup, for he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if then he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason, many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

Speaker 1 30:33

Now we're all sinners and we're not going to be sinless to take the Lord's table, but if you're just going off the rails in sin and you have no repentance in your heart about it, my prayer every time we take this is that if there's somebody that is going off the rails in sin, that the Lord would break your heart about it so that you can repent of it and get closer to Jesus. But if that is you and you're not repentant, I invite you to pass, and this is left up to your own conscience. We don't walk around with a clipboard to see who did and who didn't. It's truly between you and God, and I can tell you right now, nobody is watching you and judging you when you take the Lord's table, because we're all too busy looking at our own hearts, aren't we? And so when we come together, we take this time seriously, but we do so with glad hearts. It's something that we do here one time per month. It can be done more often, but I prefer not to do it less often. There's no prescription in the Bible. Jesus just says that as often as we do it, we do it in remembrance of him. I think it might be the elephant in the room, however, especially in the Baptist church, especially for those outside of the Baptist tradition.

Speaker 1 31:44

Why do most American churches use grape juice? Now, I'm already ready for the emails and nasty letters I'm going to get, but listen to me. Did Jesus use wine? Yes, they would have used actual wine. Now we can argue the nature of that wine all day, but they would not have sat down to the Passover feast the most important feast of the year with grape juice. It would have been actual wine, and so wine has then been used in the Lord's Supper for about the past 2,000 years, up until around 1870, when a man by the name of Thomas Welch learned how to, or figured out how to, pasteurize grape juice and make non-alcoholic wine. That's what grape juice is. So in Jesus' day we need to understand that didn't exist An unfermented wine. Grape juice just wouldn't last. It would eventually ferment and become wine, and that's why wine was so readily available. But with Welch, at the time the temperance movement was in full swing and many churches adopted the use of Welch's new grape. Time the temperance movement was in full swing and many churches adopted the use of Welch's new grape juice product in the Lord's Supper out of a desire to avoid the purchase and consumption of alcohol.

Speaker 1 32:58

Both wine and grape juice are made from the same fruit and both wine and grape juice visually represent the same message of the blood of Christ. I think healthy churches can differ on this issue for theological and practical reasons, and I would never break fellowship or refuse sharing in the Lord's Supper with anyone who practices differently than I do. We should strive to maintain a biblical and passionate approach in all we do as God's people when we seek to make disciples in the world. That's why many churches serve wine for communion, serve grape juice in a separate tray and allow people to leave it up to their conscience, but in the end, I believe it's permissible to use grape juice instead of wine for the Lord's Supper. Is it best? Well, for our mission context, I think it's absolutely fine.

The Significance of Communion and Presence

Speaker 1 33:43

Wine is the gift that is from God and the sign of His blessing was used during the Passover and the institutional Lord's Supper and following that pattern, I think is most biblical and the Bible makes it very clear that both wine and bread are gifts from God. But the Lord's table, we need to understand, is a far greater gift from God than both of those things. So we need to be biblical in our practice and charitable when we differ with other people and share in the Lord's table and faith and enjoy when we do it together. Okay, so, moving from the practical, we need to consider the spiritual perspective of the Lord's table. You see the true character of the Lord's supper. And now, whether you say the Lord's supper, lord's table or communion, you're talking about the same thing. So you're like dude you've used three different words but they all mean the same thing and you can use whichever one you want and we can still be friends. But I think the most the true character of the Lord's Supper is seen in the past, present and future significance of what we do here today.

Speaker 1 34:45

The past significance of the Lord's Supper is clear by the word remembrance. We remember, don't we? That's what's most often associated with the Lord's table. We look back to the Lord's death, we remember His substitutionary atonement on our behalf. And that's the broken bread representing the broken body of Christ and it's the wine representing His shed blood. That's what it most clearly signifies to us. Wine representing His shed blood. That's what it most clearly signifies to us. Substitutionary means that it was achieved by the death of someone else in our place. You see, apart from Christ, a man or a woman would die twice. You would not only die physically but you would die again spiritually. Death is separation. Physical death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the soul and spirit from God. We deserve that separation as a consequence of our sin. But Jesus became our substitute by experiencing both physical and spiritual death in our place.

Speaker 1 35:49

Now, a very vivid example of this, or a vivid illustration rather of that principle, we see it right in the book of Genesis, very early chapter 2,. Adam and Eve have sinned and they were in terror of the consequences of that sin because they were hiding. God warned them. He said you can eat freely of every tree in the garden, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil you will not eat, for on that day you will die. Now I'm assuming, and this is probably bad of me to do, but at that point I don't think Adam and Eve had a very clear idea of what death was, because they didn't experience, they didn't understand it, they didn't know it, but they knew it was serious and consequently, when they sinned through disobedience and then later heard God walking toward them in the garden, they're like we're going to go hide in the bushes, but no one can hide from God. God found them, god called them out of hiding and began to deal with their transgression. And began to deal with their transgression. God said you will die.

Speaker 1 36:50

Adam and Eve had sinned, and so in that situation, we would expect immediate execution of the sentence. If God had put them to death in that moment, both physically and spiritually, banishing them from His presence forever, it would have been just. But that's not what happened. Instead, in that situation, we see god first rebuking the sin and then giving them a substitute. Adam and eve were clothed with the skins of slain animals. It was the first death that anyone had ever witnessed, and it was enacted by god. Adam and eve maybe they looked on when when was doing this. It may have looked on with horror I mean, could you imagine never having experienced death or suffering to see it firsthand? But God was showing that, although they deserved to die, it was possible for another, in this case these animals, to die in their place. The animals temporarily paid the price for that sin and they gave a temporary covering of their shame, and it was a reminder of what they had done. That's the meaning of that substitution, and we may also say, as the Bible teaches, that the death of animals could never take away the penalty of sin. That's what we read in the book of Hebrews, I believe in chapters 10. The event was only a symbol of how sin would be taken away.

Speaker 1 38:13

It would take all of these signs all over the place in the Old Testament, pointing to something much more significant. That's why I always say the Old Testament is pointing always to Jesus Christ. All of it is pointing to Jesus Christ, whether it's the tabernacle, the temple, the sacrifices, the priests, david, moses, the prophets. They are all giant billboards pointing towards the Messiah, jesus Christ. The real sacrifice was performed by Jesus and we look back on it with this communion, and so we also see here we have the presence of Christ in the communion. And so we also see here we have the presence of Christ in the communion.

Speaker 1 38:51

And I believe, as the Reformers did, that Christ is present when we come together around the Lord's table, spiritually rather than physically, of course, the view that I hold. It's called the real presence, and it indicates that the spiritual presence is every bit as real as a physical one. To begin with, we must say that there could be no quarrel. Some believe that this is just a memorial, and I don't disagree with the memorial side of it, but I think it's significantly more than that. The only question is whether more than just remembrance or memorial is involved, and I think there is.

Speaker 1 39:29

Jesus made so many promises about his presence being with us and I think we can and should take them all very seriously. They plainly give us ground to affirm that Christ, through his Spirit, is present with us when we take the Lord's table Real to the faith of the believer, imparting to us spiritual blessing and grace that we may not even understand. I tell you right now I've yet to come to the Lord's table and felt my own spirit unmoved by it. Now, many of you know me and I'm not a very emotional guy when it tends to crying and all those other things. The very first time I ever weeped in a church service was in a little Baptist church in Rhode Island and we were taking the Lord's table. There was no songs, there was nothing else. It was just the reality of what Jesus had done that was present in the Lord's table drove me to tears, because this is what Jesus has done for us.

Speaker 1 40:28

So the third significance of the Lord's Supper is the future. Paul said as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. The Lord suggested the same thing when he had the last supper with his disciples. He said truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. So we speak of the real presence of the Lord Jesus in the service as we know it and we seek to respond to Him and serve Him.

Speaker 1 40:57

And we readily admit that there are times when this is difficult and the Lord does not seem to be present in our lives. We go to church it doesn't feel like the Lord's present with us. We go home it doesn't feel like the Lord's present with us. You go to work and you're like I know the Lord isn't present with me here. Sometimes it's because of sin, sometimes it's because of fatigue or misplaced faith.

Speaker 1 41:17

Jesus often seems very far away and we continue on in Christian life and in service and we long for the day when we will be with Jesus face to face and there'll be no more times of dryness and spiritual. It feels like spiritual separation in our lives when our own sin separates us from the presence of God, it seems. Has anyone ever had that in your life? You just wake up. One day you're like I haven't prayed in months. One day you're like I haven't prayed in months, I haven't been in the Lord's Word for months. I'm going through the motions and you look good doing it and people all look at him. He's such a spiritual person and on the inside you're like, nah, I'm just dry. One day that's going to end, isn't it? Glory to God.

Speaker 1 42:16

One day we'll be in the presence of the Lord, jesus Christ, and that's what this points us to. There will come a time that all of us who are in Christ will be sitting around the greatest feast that we have ever seen. Our fellowship will be sweet, jesus will be our host, and all of these signs will have been fulfilled. And, friends, I can tell you right now, when I come to the Lord's table, it spurs me on in holiness in my life. When I eat the bread and the cup, it reminds me of who I am, as we sang. It reminds me of whose I am, but it also reminds me of what I will one day become when I shed this mortal coil and I'm done with sin and I'm done with sickness and I'm done with pain and strife, and I'm standing in the kingdom of heaven, made completely new because of Jesus Christ. That's what this is pointing us to.

Speaker 1 43:08

This isn't just a little sip and a little thing and you're like why don't we have bigger?

Speaker 1 43:11

Why don't we do this? This points us to our eternity in Christ, because of Jesus, and so we're going to conclude our message today by actually taking the Lord's table together, as is our practice. The deacons and other servants will be down here at the front and you're invited to exit to your right in a moment and come down and take the bread and the cup and, once everyone has returned to their seats, we're going to take the elements of the Lord's table together. If you're not able to make the trip down, just raise your hand. We'll get them to you. As you take the bread in the cup and the quiet of your own heart, you can cry out to God to show you any part of you that needs correction, repent of your sin, and take this time to, as you wait for others to do that business with God that you need to do, confess your sin, cry out to Him, remember what he has done and know that he is present and know what you will one day become.