What Gospel Do We Proclaim at the Lord's Table?

In this part of the sermon: Martin establishes his governing thesis -- that God has made Christ crucified the central issue of all his saving revelation -- by surveying 1 Corinthians 1, then qualifying that…

Had the rulers of this world known Christ's true identity as the Lord of glory, they would not have crucified him -- cited to establish that it is who Christ is that gives infinite worth to what he did on the cross.

He is Emmanuel. God with us. This same apostle said had the rulers of this world known his true identity. They would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

5:23 - 5:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin establishes his governing thesis -- that God has made Christ crucified the central issue of all his saving revelation -- by surveying 1 Corinthians 1, then qualifying that…

Martin argues that even a sinless mere man's death would lack enough virtue to dispense anything to needy sinners. It is precisely Christ's divine-human person that gives infinite worth to his death, enough and to spare for all who come.

And it is who he is that gives worth to what he did. If he were just a mere man. And I say it reverently. Even a mere man kept sinless.

5:37 - 5:51 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The pre-set table illustrates that the gospel announces a provision already made. Drawing on Luke 24 and 1 Corinthians 15, Martin argues that the gospel is not a command about…

When the congregation comes to the Lord's table the bread and cup are already prepared -- they are not asked to grind flour, bake a loaf, crush grapes, or fill the cup. This illustrates that the gospel announces a provision God has already made; sinners come to a feast already spread, not to contribute ingredients.

The bread is already there upon it. The fruit of the vine is already in the cups. We are not asked to come. And to create flour.

10:31 - 10:45 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The pre-set table illustrates that the gospel announces a provision already made. Drawing on Luke 24 and 1 Corinthians 15, Martin argues that the gospel is not a command about…

In the original institution, preparations for the Passover had already been made before Jesus took the bread and cup. Martin uses this to show that the pre-made provision is the foundation and base note of the gospel chord.

And so it was in that upper room. Preparations had been made for the Passover meal. And the bread and the fruit of the vine were there in place. In that first institution of this supper of remembrance.

11:12 - 11:27 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The pre-set table illustrates that the gospel announces a provision already made. Drawing on Luke 24 and 1 Corinthians 15, Martin argues that the gospel is not a command about…

Martin calls the announcement that God has made provision for needy sinners 'the base note on which the chord of the gospel is founded' -- a musical metaphor for the foundational character of this truth.

This is the base note. On which the chord of the gospel is founded. The gospel is primarily an announcement. That almighty God in the person of his son.

11:40 - 11:56 Read in full sermon

The point: No sinner should disqualify themselves from the gospel's offer on the grounds of being too vile or too needy -- the provision is suited to and adequate for the neediest and vilest.

Martin quotes 1 Corinthians 15:3 -- 'Christ died for our sins' -- and comments: 'That's not a word of direction. It's a word of glorious announcement.' This crystallizes the law-gospel distinction.

If you hold it fast. Christ died for our sins. That's not a word of direction. It's a word of glorious announcement.

14:37 - 14:49 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The distribution of bread and cup illustrates that the provision is not hidden but freely and sincerely offered to all. As Christ said 'Take and eat' in the original institution…

At the original institution Christ did not declare the bread symbolic and then hide it away saying 'if you can find it, it is yours.' He said 'Take and eat' -- illustrating that the gospel freely and sincerely offers the provision to all hearers without withholding.

Take. And eat. He offered the bread. To them.

16:03 - 16:08 Read in full sermon

The point: There is no corporate or proxy participation in the gospel. Parents cannot receive Christ on behalf of their children; each individual must personally appropriate him by faith.

Just as each person at the table must individually open their mouth, chew, and swallow -- no one can eat or drink for another -- so no one can receive Christ by proxy. The table physically enacts the individual character of saving faith.

not be a corporate drinking, there had to be. As with my sip of water, my thirsty mouth must engage the water personally. No one can drink for me. No one can drink for me. There is no proxy participation in the gospel. And how clearly that's indicated when we come to the table. How do we preach the Lord's death till he come? We preach it by saying when each one of us takes his piece of the bread and each one of us opens his mouth and each one of us places the bread within his mouth and chews it, masticates it, mingles it with saliva, breaks it down, swallows it, and eventually assimilates it i...

21:04 - 21:52 Read in full sermon

The point: There is no corporate or proxy participation in the gospel. Parents cannot receive Christ on behalf of their children; each individual must personally appropriate him by faith.

Martin contrasts holding up the cup to admire its color or meditate on its significance with actually drinking it. The Lord's Supper demands an act of drinking, not mere contemplation -- illustrating that the gospel calls for personal reception of Christ, not merely admiring the doctrine.

the cup and we do not hold it up to admire the color. We do not hold it up to meditate upon what it signifies. We take and we drink of it. There is an act of eating and an act of drinking and by this the Lord Jesus is setting before us in the institution of this supper and we are echoing this strand of gospel truth that the provision made and offered must be individually received by needy sinners or it will not profit them. The best commentary upon this truth is our Lord's discourse in John 6 where he speaks of himself as the bread of life. And here in John 6 and verse 48 listen to his words. ...

21:52 - 22:48 Read in full sermon

The point: There is no corporate or proxy participation in the gospel. Parents cannot receive Christ on behalf of their children; each individual must personally appropriate him by faith.

Martin calls John 6's bread of life discourse 'the best commentary upon this truth' that the provision must be individually received. He reads the eating and drinking of Christ's flesh and blood as personal appropriating faith throughout.

the cup and we do not hold it up to admire the color. We do not hold it up to meditate upon what it signifies. We take and we drink of it. There is an act of eating and an act of drinking and by this the Lord Jesus is setting before us in the institution of this supper and we are echoing this strand of gospel truth that the provision made and offered must be individually received by needy sinners or it will not profit them. The best commentary upon this truth is our Lord's discourse in John 6 where he speaks of himself as the bread of life. And here in John 6 and verse 48 listen to his words. ...

21:52 - 22:48 Read in full sermon

The point: There is no corporate or proxy participation in the gospel. Parents cannot receive Christ on behalf of their children; each individual must personally appropriate him by faith.

Christ did not have his beginning in Bethlehem -- he came down from heaven, took a human soul and body in Mary's womb, and was born Emmanuel. Martin uses this to show that the bread sinners receive is an infinite person, not a finite human teacher.

This is the bread which comes down out of heaven. You see our Lord's solution to the incarnation. He did not have his beginning in Bethlehem. He came down out of heaven, took to himself a human soul and body in Mary's womb and was brought forth, Emmanuel, God with us in our nature.

22:49 - 23:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Boys, girls, and teenagers must personally eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood -- that is, personally believe on him -- or they have no spiritual life, regardless of their family background.

Martin confronts the apparent tension between John 6:40 (salvation by beholding and believing) and John 6:54 (salvation by eating flesh and drinking blood), arguing these cannot be two different ways of salvation. He rejects sacramentalism -- salvation by eating consecrated elements -- as a 'horrible hellish damning lie.'

And I am come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me, and this is the will of him that sent me. But of all that he has given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and believes on him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. What's the condition of being raised up at the last day to a resurrection of glory and bliss? It is beholding on and believing on him. And yet a short while later, Jesus says in verse 54, he that eats my flesh and drinks my ...

25:52 - 27:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Boys, girls, and teenagers must personally eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood -- that is, personally believe on him -- or they have no spiritual life, regardless of their family background.

Martin explains the John 6 imagery: in eating you take what is external and objective and by chewing and swallowing make it your own; in drinking you take what is external and assimilate it. This is what believing on Christ means -- a spiritual eating and drinking that makes him personally and individually yours.

A thousand times no! A horrible hellish, damning lie of all sacramentalism is not what Jesus is talking about. Knowing how dull and sick we are, he takes the simple truth of the necessity of personal appropriating faith, and he brings it home to an activity that we engage in many times every day to accommodate himself to us. Everyone here knows what it is to eat, and you know what it is to drink. In eating you take that which is objective to you, external to you, and by the process of chewing and swallowing you make it your own. You take that glass of milk or orange juice, whatever it is, exte...

27:07 - 28:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Boys, girls, and teenagers must personally eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood -- that is, personally believe on him -- or they have no spiritual life, regardless of their family background.

Martin uses the phrase 'the mouth of the soul' to describe faith as the means by which a sinner personally takes Christ. Just as the physical mouth receives bread, the soul receives Christ through the act of personal faith.

A thousand times no! A horrible hellish, damning lie of all sacramentalism is not what Jesus is talking about. Knowing how dull and sick we are, he takes the simple truth of the necessity of personal appropriating faith, and he brings it home to an activity that we engage in many times every day to accommodate himself to us. Everyone here knows what it is to eat, and you know what it is to drink. In eating you take that which is objective to you, external to you, and by the process of chewing and swallowing you make it your own. You take that glass of milk or orange juice, whatever it is, exte...

27:07 - 28:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Boys, girls, and teenagers must personally eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood -- that is, personally believe on him -- or they have no spiritual life, regardless of their family background.

Martin imagines a husband nudging his wife at communion to say he will take a double portion and eat for both of them. Though the two have become one in marriage, unless each individually feeds on Christ by faith, neither has eternal life.

and girls, mom and dads will take some of the bread when it passes, and you'll notice that dad doesn't nudge mom and say, mom, I'll take a double portion and eat for both of us. No. Though your mom and dad are joined in marriage and the two have become one, unless mom and dad individually feed upon Christ by faith, they do not have eternal life.

28:24 - 28:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: A provision has been made for you in Jesus Christ. A provision adequate for all of your needs.

Martin speaks directly to children: dad cannot take an extra big piece and eat for the child to his left and right. Martin says that if he could do so, he would eat the whole loaf to bring salvation to their hearts -- but it cannot be done by proxy.

Dad can't take an extra big piece and say, Lord, I'm eating for the child to my left and the child to my right. God knows if we could do that.

29:02 - 29:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Children troubled by the doctrine of election should not use it as an excuse not to come to Christ. Election is never revealed to be an impediment to coming; the promise 'him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out…

Martin directly addresses children reasoning: 'Unless God gives me a new heart I cannot come, and I don't know if I'm given.' He distinguishes: election was never revealed to be an impediment to coming but a humbling comfort to those who have come and a spur to those who labor in gospel ministry.

But you see, I know from my training in the home that unless God is pleased to give me a new heart, I will not be unable to partake by faith of Christ in true repentance. Dear children, God never revealed the truth of election to be an impediment to your coming to Christ. He's revealed it to be a humbling glorious source of comfort to those who have come and to those who preach and labor in his name and would see others come. But as you sit here tonight, a sinner exposed to the wrath and anger of God with no shelter for your state as a sinner, you should have one thing and one only in mind ton...

31:59 - 33:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Children troubled by the doctrine of election should not use it as an excuse not to come to Christ. Election is never revealed to be an impediment to coming; the promise 'him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out…

Martin paints a vivid scene of a child watching their parents eat the bread and drink the cup and inwardly praying: 'Lord Jesus, what mom and dad are doing that I can see, I now see what they seek to do -- so Lord Jesus I would take you with the mouth of the soul to be mine.' He invites this as the ideal response to the sermon.

is to profit you, come for the feast is spread. Come for the feast is spread. That's the gospel, Matthew 22. All things are ready. Come for the feast. And would God that even tonight as we become a company of gospel preachers and as we break off our pieces of bread and eat it, some of you sitting there will hear that gospel with the ears of your soul and say Lord Jesus, what mom and dad are doing that I can see. I now see what they seek to do and only your eye can see it as they take bread into their physical mouth. So Lord Jesus, I would take you with the mouth of the soul to be mine. I would

33:04 - 33:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Believers returning to the table do not come to a different source of spiritual life than that by which they were first saved. The ongoing life of faith is still faith in the Son of God who loved and gave himself -- the …

Martin quotes Galatians 2:20 to show that believers coming to the table do not live at a different source of spiritual life than the one by which they were saved: 'the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.'

drink of the virtue of your death for sinners. Lord Jesus, I would come to you as the gospel is preached in the breaking of bread and in the drinking of the cup. And you'll notice in the passage, dear child of God, we do nothing materially different when we come to the table because the Lord speaks in the present tense and says he that continues to eat of my flesh and continues to drink of my blood is the one who is continually abiding in me. And we are saying as we sit and remember the Lord's death till he comes, having made that initial approach to him and that initial taking of him by faith...

33:57 - 35:25 Read in full sermon