The sermon by Eric Bechler explores the Lord's Supper, a key sacrament in Christianity, as outlined in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. The sermon highlights the minimal doctrinal differences between major Protestant confessions regarding the Lord's Supper, contrasting with historical disagreements during the Reformation. It traces the institution of the Lord's Supper by Jesus Christ, linking it to the Passover and its significance as a reminder of redemption. The speaker emphasizes the spiritual nourishment the Lord's Supper provides, symbolizing Christ's body and blood, and its role in fostering unity among believers. The Lord's Supper serves as a perpetual remembrance of Christ's sacrifice, a means of spiritual growth, and a pledge of communion with Christ and fellow believers. It is to be observed within the church, alongside the preaching of the gospel, as an ordinance instituted by Christ until His return.

This week, we begin a new chapter on the other sacrament, the Lord's Supper. There's a lot to understand here, so we'll be spending the next eight weeks going through the many aspects of the Lord's Supper from the Reformed perspective. Unlike the chapters on the sacraments and baptism, there are very few differences between the London Baptist Confession, the Westminster Confession, and the Savoy Declaration on the Lord's Supper. That being said, Dr. Sproul reminds us that the meaning of the Lord's Supper continues to be one of the most controversial issues in Christianity.

The great tragedy of the 16th century Protestant Reformation was that the reformers could not maintain unity among themselves, especially regarding the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. The Lutherans and the Calvinists were never able to resolve this issue. And even within the Swiss reform, there was a significant disagreement between Zwingli and Calvin. These differences among the Protestants and the greater differences between the Protestants and the Roman Catholics continue till this day Today's paragraph approaches the Lord's Supper in four parts The author the time of its institution its permanent continuance and its uses and ends for which it is designed. Of course, the author of this sacrament is the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see that clearly from the familiar accounts found in the first three gospels in Matthew 26, verses 20 through 29, Mark 14, 17 through 25, and Luke 22, 14 through 23. Matthew describes how Jesus introduces communion in chapter 26 verses 26 through 28. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Paul repeats this description of the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11, 23-26.

In fact, he declares that, I received it from the Lord, that which I also delivered to you. It is Jesus Christ who is King and head of the church. It is Jesus Christ who has the authority to institute religious ordinances. It is Jesus Christ himself who is the author of the Lord's Supper. It is his institution and we are not at liberty to add to this sacrament nor take away any aspect He has prescribed Before moving to the timing of its institution.

I'd like to give some background Let's start with Passover. What is Passover? Passover is observed at the beginning of the seven-day feast of unleavened bread. In Exodus 12, 1 through 13, we find God's instructions regarding the Passover. So important is it that it marks the new beginning of the Jewish year from that point on?

Passover is the festival celebrated to remind the Israelites of their slavery in Egypt and God's act of redemption and freeing them from this bondage. I think everyone is familiar with the story of Moses and the 10 plagues. Remember it wasn't until after the last plague, the 10th plague, the plague of the death of all the first born in Exodus 11, one through 10, that Pharaoh relented and agreed to let the people go. The Israelites were commanded to sacrifice the spotless lamb, to spread its blood on their doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over their households, Exodus 12, 7 through 13. It was this blood on the doorposts that differentiated the Israelites from the Egyptians.

It was this blood on the doorposts that saved them from God's wrath. God instituted a commemorative meal of fire-roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread, Exodus 12 8. And the unleavened bread was eaten because the people had no time to wait for the dough to rise, Deuteronomy 16.3. It was part of the Passover meal to remind them that they had to escape from Egypt quickly. Second, we find three instances in the synoptic Gospels where Jesus predicts his death.

After Peter confesses Jesus is the Christ in Matthew 16 21 from that time Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day. Shortly after the transfiguration Jesus repeats this prediction in Matthew 17 22 through 23 and finally while Jesus was coming from the region of Judea beyond the Jordan Jesus spoke to the twelve disciples along the road behold we are going up to Jerusalem the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify and the third day he will rise again. Matthew 20 18 through 19. Jesus knew that his ministry on earth was coming to an end. He knew his time was short.

He knew that his redemptive work would soon be completed, completed in Jerusalem. Jesus' arrival to Jerusalem coincided with the Passover. And we read in Luke's Gospel that it was his fervent desire to eat the Passover with his twelve disciples to share this meal before he must suffer. Luke 22, 14 through 15. Why was he looking forward with intense longing to keep this last Passover?

The pulpit commentary suggests some reasons. First, as a dear human friend who would make this solemn last farewell, do we not, when we feel the end is coming, long for a last communion with our dearest ones? And secondly, as the divine master who would gather up into a final discourse, his most important and deepest teaching. And thirdly is the founder of a great religion. He purposed on this momentous occasion, transforming the most solemn, festal gathering of the ancient Jewish people, which commemorated the greatest deliverance into a feast which should, as age succeeded age, commemorate a far greater deliverance, not only of the old chosen race only, but of every race under heaven.

So when was the Lord's Supper instituted? Paul tells us that it was instituted by the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed. 1 Corinthians 1123. This was while the disciples were gathered with Jesus to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. Paul furthermore tells us that we are to continue observing the Lord's Supper till he comes.

1 Corinthians 11 26. This is until Christ returns. The remainder of our paragraph today can fall into the category of the uses and ends for which the Lord's Supper was designed. First, the Lord's Supper is to be observed in his churches. In those gathering of believers for the worship of God, like baptism, the Lord's Supper is an ordinance or sacrament for the church.

We read in Acts 2, 41-42, that those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3, 000 souls were added to them and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. We see this more specifically stated in Acts 20 verse 7, that on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. This gathering of disciples on the Lord's day is church, is where they broke bread, is shared to Lord's Supper, is where they heard the word preached. Paul gives us further examples of the Lord's Supper observed in the setting of a church in 1 Corinthians 11, 17 through 26. And if the Lord's Supper is a visible gospel, a reminder of Christ's redeeming work, then the Lord's Supper ought never be isolated from the preaching of the gospel.

It should only be administered in the normal worship services of the church. We also observe the Lord's Supper for the perpetual remembrance and showing forth the sacrifice of himself. Jesus told his disciples and through them, us, to do this in remembrance of me. 1 Corinthians 11 24 and Luke 22 19. We are to remember, to focus on His death and the sacrifice He as our High Priest made of Himself for us, a once for all sacrifice to deliver us from our sins.

Only Christ was worthy to offer that sacrifice. He was the Lamb, the spotless Lamb, who did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53, 7. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2 8.

Even the outward elements of the sacrament, which are appropriately defined as bread and wine, help us to remember what Christ has done. The bread symbolizes Christ's body. The wine symbolizes Christ's blood. As we eat the bread we remember Christ's broken body given for us, Luke 22 19 and 1st Corinthians 11 24. As we drink the cup of wine where to remember the blood Christ shed for us for our redemption.

Luke 22 20. Paul tells us for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cop you do proclaim or show the Lord's death till he come. 1 Corinthians 11 26 we're not to forget what Christ has done for each of us we are to remember Jesus said to his disciples this is my body which is broken for you. And he said, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. What we celebrate in the Lord's Supper helps us remember the reality and the painful nature of the death of Christ.

It helps us remember that Christ's sacrifice was acceptable to God as a satisfaction for our sins. Even the psalmist declares bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103, 2. Dr. Sproul comments on Jesus' words, do this in remembrance of me.

In effect, Jesus said, as I enter into my passion and fulfill the work of redemption promised in the Garden of Eden, when the curse was placed upon the serpent, I am going to crush the head of the serpent. While I crush the head of the serpent, my heel will be wounded, and my blood will be poured out. I will not die to satisfy the penal code of the Roman Empire. I will die to satisfy the justice of God. I will shed my blood for the remission of your sins.

Don't ever forget what you will see tomorrow. To make sure you don't forget it, you must repeat it, not once a year like the Passover, but often. We must observe the Lord's Supper for the confirmation of the faith of believers and all the benefits thereof. Samuel Wadron comments, In order to obtain the benefit of the Lord's Supper, we must partake of it outwardly, but also by faith. We must believe that the elements really do represent the Savior, and that by taking them as symbols of him, we do appropriate for ourselves the benefits of his work.

As believers, our lives should be a picture of progressive sanctification, dying more and more to self and striving each day to become more and more like Christ. But we still have a sinful nature. We still live a life filled with trials and temptations. We must be fed by His word. We must be strengthened by his spirit.

Just as a child cannot grow without proper nourishment, we as Christians cannot grow without proper nourishment. We read God's Word, we read God's Word, we commune with God in prayer, and we observe the Lord's Supper for our spiritual nourishment and growth in Him. In John 6.35, Jesus tells us, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst." John 6, 48 through 58, Jesus repeats this thought but ties it with the elements of the Lord's Supper.

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, He will live forever.

And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, when I shall give for the life of the world, which I give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you unless you eat this the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me.

This is the bread which came down from heaven. Not as your father ate the manna and our dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. Our partaking of the Lord's Supper is not just a remembrance, it is more. In partaking of the Lord's Supper we are spiritually strengthened and nourished.

We also observe the Lord's Supper for our further engagement in and to all duties which we owe to him. Dave Chansky in Rob Ventura's commentary states, if the Lord's Supper is a sign of our being in fellowship with Christ testifying we are his disciples, then it imparts encouragement to us because it reminds us of our Savior's dying and continuing love for us. That remembrance should also stimulate us to love in good works. When we partake of this supper, is there not a sense in which we ought to be renewing our covenant vows to serve our Lord with all our heart. Furthermore, the fact that the Lord's Supper is a means of grace tells us it is something that God has ordained and graciously extends to us for our benefit.

We are to receive them with humility, gratitude and faith. And it is our responsibility to engage ourselves in wholehearted obedience to our Lord as a response. Finally we observe the Lord's Supper to be a bond and a pledge of our communion with him and to each other. Dr. Sproul comments, we come to the Lord's Supper to have communion with him and with each other.

That is the mystical element. When he is here and we enter this relationship with him, there is a real communion with the real Jesus. It's not just that we are all partaking separately. Rather, when we commune with Christ, we are also communing with everyone in his body. This is what binds us together.

Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians, the cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ For we though many are one bread and one body for we all partake of that one bread. 1st Corinthians 10, 16 and 17. Union with the common head, Christ, necessarily implies communion with each other in that head, all being in his body. We are all together in union and communion with Christ, as well as in union and communion with the fellow believers, with all who profess Christ. I would like to close with some thoughts from Dr.

Sproul on the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper has three dimensions to it with respect to time. We remember from the past what Christ did, his suffering, his broken body, his shed blood, his death on the cross each time we partake of the Lord's Supper. There's also a future aspect for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes a reference to the future consummation of the kingdom in the celebration of the Lord's Supper we have a foretaste of the marriage feast of Christ with his bride in heaven. Remembering what he has done for us in the past, we look ahead to what he has promised to do for us in the future.

What about the present? The church also believes that Christ is truly present here and now, meeting with his people in a special way at the Lord's table. So that we are not only looking to the past or foretasting the future, there is a present reality that we experience with Him and with each other when we celebrate the Lord's Supper. Amen.