(apologies, no video, audio and text only for this sermon)
Title: The Blood as it Relates to the Lord’s Supper
I really want to talk to you personally today, from the floor, because I’m working through some things and just wanted to share my heart and thoughts with you…that will become more clear as we reach the conclusion of today’s message. So no slides, no witty use of AI (I know you’re all terribly disappointed), just your pastor being honest and transparent about an aspect of worship that I think we need to understand a bit more deeply…and I mean all of us, myself at the top of that list….
(read/pray)
19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. 22 And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Parallel to the Lord’s Supper 1 Cor. 11:23-26
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
As Baptists, we are do not believe in transubstantiation or con-substantiation. (Can someone define those?)
We believe that the Lord supper is a memorial.
It is something that we do “in remembrance of me” one of the theological reasons that Baptist have taken this position is because anything that would suggest that there is something magical happening in the elements, leads it into a pathway of works and the only work that happened for our salvation is the work of Christ at Calvary 2000 years ago.
We did not work for our salvation. We do not work for our salvation when we observed the Lord suffer. It is an appreciation for the work that Crist did.
Chuck Smith:
What an important declaration! When Moses established the whole thing, he killed the blood, and he killed the goats. He mixed it with water the blood, sprinkled the people, and he sprinkled the book, and he sprinkled the whole place to set it apart. “This is God’s testament.”
It is now enforced, and enforced by the blood that has been shed, a blood covenant. It was through the blood that everything was cleansed. The Bible speaks about the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing us from all sin. So these things, the testament then being enforced, the shedding of blood, it now comes in force. He said, “For without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” That is, no remission of sins.
Matthew Henry:
Then he (Moses) took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and applied this blood by sprinkling it.
This blood and water signified the blood and water that came out of our Saviour’s pierced side, for justification and sanctification, and also shadowed forth the two sacraments of the New Testament, baptism and the Lord’s supper, with scarlet wool, signifying the righteousness of Christ with which we must be clothed, the hyssop signifying that faith by which we must apply all.
Conclusions:
The covenant of Christ, and it’s remembrance in the form of the Lord’s Supper can be though of in this way:
The old covenant required the blood of goats and calves.
But the new covenant required the blood of the Son of God.
And because His sacrifice was perfect:
There is no more sacrifice needed.
No more temple.
No more priesthood.
No more repeated offerings.
Just one finished declaration from the cross:
“It is finished.”
Three Fair Questions:
1. Do you understand the cost of your forgiveness?
Forgiveness is free to us, but it was not cheap.
2. Do you trust the blood of Christ alone for salvation?
Not works, not rituals, not religion.
3. Do you regularly remember the cross with gratitude?
That is what the Lord’s Supper calls us to do.
CG Study Questions:
- How do you prepare yourself for the Lord’s Supper? How do you “get your mind and heart right?”
- How frequently do you pass on the Lord’s Supper, because to take it when in a state of backsliddeness, is dangerous and disrespectful. (I struggle a lot with, what does it mean to be “backslidden” vs “in a dry season” vs “doing well” Sometimes I err out of an abundance of caution and pass the cup. For me the point is: I NEVER take the cup lightly like many do, and many are encouraged to. It is not ritual, it is deeply personal
- What do we risk “missing” if we continually pass on participation in the Lord’s Supper?