Amen. What a Savior indeed. If you would take out your Bibles and open up to the gospel according to Luke chapter 22. Before we get started, I wanted to first say how blessed my family and I are to be a part of this church. What a joy and delight it is to be a part of this church family.

The text messages and the help and all the love that we have felt from everybody since Helen catching us by surprise on Friday has been truly phenomenal. It's a great joy to be a part of this church family. Everybody knows Our plan was to go and be with family in Maryland for the birth of the baby, but we were still with family With our dear church family. What a joy it really is to be a part of this body So I just love you so much. I'm so appreciative for this church so thankful for you And Scott will be happy to know I've never been more motivated to have a short afternoon session because I've got a newborn that is in desperate need of daddy cuddles this afternoon, or maybe it's the other way around, I'm not sure.

So we're going to continue our study through the Lord's Supper. The first session was something like a month and a half ago, so we're going to do a little bit of a recap, but I want to begin with reading the account of the institution of the supper recorded in the Gospel of Luke, and understanding that Mark and Matthew are basically parallel to that, but we'll go through the Gospel of Luke after we do it, we'll be recap. But let's read Luke 22, 14 through 20 first. The Gospel according to St. Luke, chapter 22, beginning in verse 14.

When the hour had come, he sat down and the twelve apostles with him. And then he said to them, With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

And he took bread and gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying, this is my body which is for you, which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, he also took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you." Let's pray. Our Father we thank you for this time that we can be in your word again. We pray Lord that you would open up the scriptures to us. Help us to understand this great ordinance that you have given your church.

May it be more clear to us what a glorious means of grace the cup and the bread are and how it points to our Lord our Savior and Jesus Christ we thank you for his work his blessings his benefits his redemption and this glorious sacrament in his name and in his name we pray amen. So as I said we started looking at the Lord's Supper I think probably about six weeks ago so I want to do a short recap on some of the those foundational issues we covered then before we look at this passage. Last time I talked about some of the the language that we use to refer to the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table, and my prayer just now I use both the terms ordinance and sacrament. You will find both of these words used throughout church history and even among Baptists. Now typically we think of Baptists as not liking the word sacrament.

That's more of a modern development. The Baptists in the 17th and 18th centuries didn't have much of a problem with the term sacrament. They would use it almost interchangeably with ordinance. But there does seem to be a slight nuance to these terms. Our confession uses the word ordinance.

And The term ordinance is intended to call our attention to the institution of the supper by the Lord. It's a rule or an instruction from the one who has authority over his church. That's what an ordinance is, a command given by those in authority. A sacrament essentially means a sacred thing or something that's set apart for religious use and this term was used to refer historically to the different means of grace God has given to his people, particularly the sacraments of the Lord's Supper and Baptism. Though throughout history other things have been called sacraments, generally when we think of the sacraments, the ordinances, we think of these two things, Baptism and the Supper.

So ordinance is primarily what it is whereas sacrament primarily refers to what it does. It is commanded by the Lord and it's a means of grace instituted by him. Now what do we call it? There are four different terms that I said and I will use interchangeably. Primarily the Lord's Supper.

I think we all are agreed on that. That's a very common, almost universally used term to describe the bread and wine in this ordinance that we participate in. Similarly, the Lord's table, another common phrase. Also the term communion, emphasizing the fellowship of the body together as well as our communion with the Lord in the ordinance and that is drawn directly out of 1st Corinthians 10 where Paul begins his explication of what the table means. Another term slightly more controversial with Baptists, especially today, would be Eucharist.

Historically this is a name that's been used from the very beginning. It's derived from the Greek word, Eucharistia, meaning Thanksgiving, or the verb form, Eucharisteo, which actually occurs twice in our passage that we just read. I give thanks. And this is a common historic term, and it was even used by Baptists. We may initially kind of get a little defensive when we hear that.

It sounds a little Roman Catholic-y, not fan, but it is historic. It's an appropriate word to use. We don't have to be afraid, it doesn't bite. Categories of views. Having a categorization, a taxonomy, if you will, of the different views of the Lord's Supper, I think is helpful for us.

Throughout church history, the view of the Supper has been broken up into basically two different groups. You have those who are mere memorialists and those who hold to a form of real presence. Mere memorialism, real presence. In mere memorialism, the Supper is only, merely, a memorial. The memorial function of the Supper is simply in the believer's head in their mind as they subjectively remember the Lord as they contemplate the elements.

There's no spiritual benefit in the actual act itself, merely the reflection on the cross that can be an encouragement. It's a simple ritual done in Christ's memory with no intrinsic spiritual function. This would be mere memorialism and today this would be the dominant view among evangelicals, many reform, or not many reform, many Protestant groups, but this is a vast, vast, vast minority throughout church history. Arguably, Zwingli in the Reformation, although he didn't even go quite so far as most evangelicals do today. So in contrast to mere memorialism, you have real presence.

And this is a catch-all category of what I would say are three different divisions within real presence But real presence says that Christ is somehow present in the sacrament That's not to say that it's it's not a memorial Those who hold a real presence say, no it is a memorial, Jesus says do this in remembrance of me. It is a memorial but it's more. It's not the denial of the memorial element but there's an addition to it. And This will be divided into three basic groups. Those who believe in transubstantiation, which will be the Roman Catholic Church today and some Eastern Orthodox groups.

Consubstantiation, which would be Martin Luther, the Lutherans, some Anglicans, some high church Protestants, and a few Eastern Orthodox. And spiritual presence. And if you want to get a little bit more clear definition of those, you can look them up or just listen to the last message I explained those a little bit more. Then you have spiritual presence, which is the historic reformed view. This was the view of Calvin, of Knox, of the Protestant reformers outside of Luther and the Lutherans.

This was the dominant view, and this was the historic view of the Baptists in the 17th century. As reflected in our own Confession of Faith, the Second London Confession of Faith of 1689, chapter 30, paragraph seven reads this, worthy receivers outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance do then also inwardly by faith, and listen to the language, they belabor it, really and indeed yet not carnally and caporeally but spiritually receive and feed on Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death. And again they basically repeat themselves. The body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally but spiritually present to the faith of believers in the ordinance as the elements themselves are to their outward senses. So our confession teaches a spiritual presence of you.

In the elements, the elements don't change. It's not the literal physical body of Christ. He is not called down corporeally or carnally from heaven, but spiritually when this ordinance is observed and received by faith, Christ is present in a unique way, communicating to those who partake His grace. But it is by faith because the entire Christian life is one of faith. So that's the the kind of recap from last time.

Again I went into more detail last time. Old Testament background. There are many shadows and pictures from the Old Testament that point forward and find their culmination, I believe, in the Supper. But particularly, the most vital is the Old Covenant Memorial Meal, during which Christ instituted the New Covenant Memorial Meal, the Passover, The Passover feast. The Passover was the culmination of the plagues on Egypt.

In the last plague, the death of the firstborn, God himself says in Exodus 12 12 that he was going to strike all the gods of Egypt. If you look through the plagues, they were a polemic against all the idolatry of the Egyptians. Each plague is an attack against one of the Egyptian gods, showing that they had no power. It's the God of Israel that rules heaven and earth. The Egyptian gods are nothing.

Culminating in the last judgment, the last plague, the death of the firstborn where God even strikes the house of the God-King Pharaoh. But this was a judgment that was also going to reach Israel, if they did not keep God's word. To spare themselves this judgment, Israel is told that they must, each family must offer a perfect lamb as a sacrifice and take the blood of the lamb, smear it on the door frames of their house and this sacrifice when the angel sees the blood he will pass over them because a lamb has died in the place of Israel. And this sacrifice is then commanded to be repeated every year and celebrated yearly as a memorial feast, Exodus 12-14. The sacrifice itself would be repeated every year with the slaying of the lamb.

But then the sacrifice is also to be eaten in the Passover meal, a memorial meal, where the people partake of the sacrifice. And so there's a distinction from the Old Covenant that is very applicable to how we understand the Eucharist today. There's a distinction between the sacrifice proper and the sacrificial meal. One is the actual sacrifice, the other one is the people's partaking of the sacrifice. They're distinguished, not separated.

Distinct, not mixed together. We have to keep those things in mind. And so with that, Let's turn again to Luke chapter 22. We're mainly going to look at verses 19 and 20, but I want to begin in verse 14. When the hour had come, he sat down, and the 12 apostles with him.

Then he said to them, with fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer for I say to you I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." He desired to eat this Passover meal, this covenant memorial meal before he suffered with a fervent desire. It burned in his heart to celebrate this meal with his disciples. But it also points forward. I will no longer eat of it until it's fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Now, kingdom of God is used in various ways.

We actually talked a little bit about that in the men's Bible study this past week. Often, the kingdom of God in the Gospels is simply referring to the rule of God through the Messiah in the hearts of his people. I think that's mainly what kingdom of God is, especially in the parables. It's the rule of God over his people. But here it's something different.

This is what we could call the eschatological kingdom or the eternal kingdom, that final state that all people will be in if they've turned and trusted in Christ the final state the kingdom of God in its fullness Jesus says I've wanted to eat this with you because this is a foretaste of what is to come. What God gave to Israel was a foretaste. What we have now in the Supper is an improvement over what they had. We have a greater spiritual reality in the Lord's Supper than they had in Passover. But it is still a foretaste of something even greater to come.

There is a great feast coming when the people of God will be gathered together to see and behold the very face of God and feast with him forever. And that is why the supper is so important. Yes it's pointing to something greater, but how much Do we need to be reminded of that as often as possible? That there is something greater to come. Your weekly drudgery, the difficulties of life, all the things that you go through week in and week out, it's temporary.

You are made for more and more is coming and it's coming because Christ secured it on your behalf. There's this great feast coming. So he desired to eat it with them. And it will be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And then verse 17, he took the cup and gave thanks.

That's that word, Eucharist, he gave thanks. And said, take this and divide it among yourselves for I say to you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. Again a repetition of what he had just said largely of his desire for his disciples to participate in this meal. It is a memorial, it is a sign, but that doesn't mean it's meaningless. He wanted them to participate.

It is for their benefit, and it points forward to a great reality that will be fulfilled on that final day and endure forever. I think sometimes we can get really dismissive of things that are merely symbols and think that, well, because it's not the reality, it doesn't matter. No symbols matter. Signs matter. They point to something greater.

And that's true with these ordinances, with the sacraments. Look at verse 19. And he took bread and gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me he says this is my body which is given for you. For centuries these words have provoked disputes and incredible amount of ink has been spilled over this couple of words. We talked much this in the morning session our elder talked about the Reformation of the family, a vital part of the Reformation, the Protestant Reformation.

As he said, we often think of just justification by faith and sola scriptura, But the Reformation was also a Reformation of the sacraments. The Roman Church had thoroughly corrupted them. On the one hand, over-emphasizing a hyper-literalistic misunderstanding of this sentence, but also a diminishment of them because they were withholding the wine from the people and they would only receive communion once a year. And the reformers come along and say, there's nothing here. It's as often as you gather together.

And so the Reformation was a reform of the ordinances as well. And one of the books I've been reading says that there are actually more treatises written about the sacraments than any other subject in the Reformation. More ink spilled about how the supper and baptism are rightly administered than justification itself. Because it was so thoroughly corrupted by Rome. And famously this phrase was what led to the disagreement between Luther and Zwingli at the Marburg colloquy and though they agreed on everything else, Luther and Zwingli could not agree on what this phrase means.

To the point where afterwards, after Marburg, Luther said he's of a different spirit. He didn't even believe Zwingli was a Christian because of his view of the supper. Now that slightly changed later on but you get the point. It was because of this the Reformation splintered. This phrase, this is my body.

Now we need to reject extreme interpretations of this phrase. I already mentioned the one, the over-literalistic, really nonsensical claim of the roaming church that the bread of the sacrament literally becomes the actual flesh of Jesus in its substance, though the form is unchanged. At the same time I do think we need to reject the other extreme. The view that says this phrase is nothing more than symbolism or even allegory. It says it's equal to when Jesus says I am the door in John 10.

Now it is obviously symbolic. I'm not denying that there is symbolism here. However, there is a spiritual reality behind the symbolism. When we receive the bread and wine we partake of Christ because in the symbols Christ gives himself to his people. And this becomes much more clear in 1st Corinthians 10 and 11 where the Apostle Paul interprets the supper for us.

But we even begin to see hints of that here. And I think it would be helpful if we understand a little bit about what was done in the Passover. In the Passover, there was a very specific liturgy that the people followed. Now this liturgy developed over time, but certain elements of it were in place even in the time of the incarnation. And one of the key parts is that when the unleavened bread was taken up and broken, the father of the family would announce, this is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate when they came out of the land of Egypt.

This is the bread of affliction. Now did they think that they were literally eating the same pieces of bread that their ancestors ate the night of the first Passover? No. Of course not. It's a symbol.

But what is it a symbol of? It's not merely a picture of the bread that their ancestors ate. It's a figure of speech that emphasizes covenant solidarity, covenant membership, that they, as the people of God, now in this covenant people of this era past the exodus from Egypt, they are participants in the act of redemption accomplished so long ago because they are in covenant with God just as they were. As the covenant people, the deliverance of their ancestors from slavery is their deliverance from slavery. And I believe in the same way when the bread of the Eucharist is presented and is pronounced, this is my body, broken for you.

It is Christ's body in a symbolic fashion because there's a connection between him and those who partake of that bread in faith. The wine is his blood, not in a crass literalism, nor merely as a picture, but because His blood secured our salvation and now all His benefits are offered to us and received by faith, even in the Supper, as a means of grace. We participate. We are partakers of this grand work of redemption because we are his covenant people We are his body So when he offers the bread and says this is my body we receive it. He offers his body to his body It's all figures of speech you understand, but points to a great spiritual truth.

We receive spiritual nourishment from him. So the supper is a means, a special means of grace. There is a unique way in which God extends his grace to his people. Now, we'll have more to talk about this later. Understand, it's a special means of grace.

It's not a means of special grace. That's the confusion that so many will fall into that there's something that they can only get in the supper. No, it's the same grace. Christ is offered to you fully in the supper. Christ is offered to you fully in His Word.

Christ is offered to you fully in the worship of the church. It's the same Christ given in a special way. We receive this spiritual sustenance through the symbols he offers and this is what it means that it is his body. It doesn't change but it's also not merely a metaphor. It points to the fact that we receive him.

And we're commanded to do this in remembrance of me or probably better do this as a reminder of me. The emphasis is not so much about the subjective mental recollection that occurs in the mind, But rather the word used here, and this is another Greek word for you to learn, your Greek words of the month all this afternoon. The word here is anomnesis. It indicates something that is the means or the cause of remembering or a reminder. If you write a note for yourself to do something and you read that note later and you go and do it, the the mental function of recalling what you wanted to do is not the anamnesis, The note is the anamnesis.

And in the same way, Jesus says the supper is the anamnesis of him, is the reminder of him. The supper is a reminder of Christ and his work. And why is this so significant for us? We don't have time for you to flip there, but you can listen to what Hebrews 10, 1-4 says, For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then they, for then would they not have ceased to be offered for the worshipers once purified would have had no more consciousness of sins.

But in those sacrifices, there is a, a nominous, a reminder of sin every year, For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. The Old Testament sacrifices could never accomplish what they pointed to. They were holy and sufficient. They gave ritual purification and they preserved the people in the land for the time but they never satisfied what they really needed. They ultimately functioned not as an atonement for sins, but as a reminder of sins.

The unending sacrifices, a river of blood from the altar, day after day, week after week, year after year, an unending line of animals killed, flayed, destroyed. A river of blood. And it happened over and over and over again Because it could not take away their sins. It was a reminder every time they brought an animal It was a reminder you are still in your sins. You are still at enmity with God.

You are still under the judgment of God. This is not enough. It was a continual reminder that they were in their sins, but we have a better covenant. And we have a better covenant meal. There's less outward pomp and show, but a greater inward spiritual reality.

In the New covenant, we do not have an ongoing continual reminder of our sins. Instead, we have a weekly reminder of our sin bearer. They were reminded over and over again that their sins are still hanging over their head. We have a reminder every week that our sins are gone. We have a reminder that our sins have been paid.

And this is why we must reject the view that claims the supper itself is a sacrifice that takes away sin. Ongoing sacrifice, as Hebrews makes clear, is a reminder of ongoing sin. It never purifies the people. But rather, the supper is, like the Passover meal, the covenant memorial meal, which functions as a reminder and an omnisis to call attention to the sacrifice that's already been made. And that meal is the means by which we partake of that sacrifice by faith.

In the Passover the people were reminded of their sins, they were reminded of the sacrifice that they had just slaughtered. It was a reminder of God's deliverance from the bond of Egypt, but it was also a reminder that they deserved to die. It was repeated each year as a reminder that sin was still hanging over them. But now we do not have a propitiatory sacrifice that we offer here because the once and for all sacrifice has been made. Christ has died.

And so the meal is not a sacrifice in that sense. It does not turn away God's wrath. We partake of the memorial meal because the wrath has already been turned away. Now there is a sense in which we can say the supper is a sacrifice. New Testament worship is considered a sacrifice in various places, such as a sacrifice of praise in Hebrews 13-15.

We are called to be living sacrifices ourselves as we are conformed to the Word of God, Romans 12-1, and even giving to the support of the church and the work of ministry is an acceptable sacrifice to God, Philippians 4.18. And so in the same way we can likewise consider the supper a kind of sacrifice, a sacrifice of praise to God because we're devoting our time, the bread and wine are devoted to, sorry, the bread and wine are devoted to religious use in this ordinance. However, this is radically different from theories that say the Eucharist is itself the means by which God's judgment is turned away as in the Roman Church Where the priest calls Christ down bodily from heaven and pre presents his death in the elements which are transfigured into his actual body and blood. We must reject that. Verse 20, this cup.

Likewise, he also took the cup after supper saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. In 1 Corinthians, Paul calls this the cup of blessing, which we bless. This indicates that this was likely the third of four cups of wine that would have been drunk during the Passover meal. This third cup, which they called the cup of blessing, in the Passover included the recitation of psalms of deliverance and prayers of thanksgiving to God for his redemption. And in this cup, the cup that we now partake in, the cup of the blood of Christ, of the new covenant, the redemption of God's people has reached its apex.

As all the Old Testament salvations, the deliverances from slavery and war, famine and oppression, these all pointed forward to a greater reality that we partake of by faith in the cup of blessing which we bless. They pointed forward to our ultimate redemption from our slavery to sin, our war against God, the famine of God's presence and our oppression of the devil. They pointed forward to this. In this phrase, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. It also is a reminder of the Mosaic covenant, which was inaugurated with the blood of the sacrifice splattered on the people when Moses declared, this is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you.

The covenant is always cut by a sacrifice. And we partake by faith in the wine and in the bread. The covenants are sealed with blood pictured in the wine. The new covenant of grace is sealed with the blood of God's own Son, and that blood is now offered to us in the picture of wine to be received by faith. And when we drink, we don't merely drink wine, we also receive Christ if we are trusting in him.

It is a communion with Christ, as we'll see more fully explained in 1st Corinthians 10 later on. Now it seems that Jesus did not drink the traditional fourth cup of the Passover. Verse 17 hinted at this where he said, I will not drink the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. The Mathian and Mark in parallels seem to indicate that after the cup of blessing, he makes the statement that he will not drink wine again until the eternal kingdom. And in this we see again the supper looks forward as well as back.

We do it in remembrance of him looking back But we also do it looking forward to the time we will do it in the kingdom of God We remember his death We proclaim his return and we eagerly anticipate drinking that fourth cup, what they called the cup of acceptance at the marriage supper of the Lamb. I want to end with a short reading. Charles Spurgeon didn't write very many hymns, but he wrote a few. And one of the ones that he wrote was a hymn titled Amidst Us, Our Beloved Stands, a Eucharist hymn that Spurgeon wrote. Listen to this language, and is this your heart when we come to this sacred meal each week?

Amidst us our beloved stands, and bids us view his pierced hands, points to the wounded feet and side, blessed emblems of the crucified. What food luxurious loads the board when at his table sits the Lord, the wine how rich, the bread how sweet, When Jesus deigns the guests to meet. If now, with eyes defiled and dim, We see the signs, but see not him, O, may his love the scales displace, and bid us see him face to face. Thou glorious bridegroom of our hearts, thy presence smile, thy grace imparts. O lift the veil if veil there be, let every saint thy glory see." Do you see the face of your Savior when the bread and wine are put before you?

If not, come to Him. Taking the bread and wine itself will not save you. Christ will save you. Repentance and faith in Him turn away the judgment of God and then partake of the bread and wine as a means of receiving His grace. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for this time in your word. We thank you, Lord, for the instruction of the scriptures. We thank you, Lord, for the institution of your sacraments. We thank you, Lord, for this blessed bread and wine that we partake each week where we truly receive Christ. Thank you for giving your Son for us.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.