The Institution of the Lord's Supper

Introduction and Prayer for Understanding

0:05 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, April 30th, 1989, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now may I urge you to turn in your own Bibles to the 14th chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, Mark chapter 14, as we continue our consecutive expositions of this Spirit-inspired record of the life and ministry of our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I shall read in your hearing, as you follow, Mark 14, verses 12 through 26. Mark 14, beginning at verse 12.

0:59 And on the first day of unleavened... ...when they sacrificed the Passover, his disciples say unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and make ready that thou mayest eat the Passover? And he sendeth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him, and wheresoever he shall enter in, say to the master of the house, The teacher saith, Whosoever shall enter in, say to the master of the house, The teacher saith, Where is my guest chamber, where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will himself show you a large upper room, furnished and ready, and there make ready for us.

1:48 And the disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them, And they made ready the Passover.

1:58 And when it was evening, he cometh with the twelve. And as they...

2:03 As they sat, or better rendered, as they reclined and were eating, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you shall betray me, even he that eateth with me. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? And he said unto them, It is one of the twelve, he that dippeth with me in the dish, Because the Son of Man goeth, even as it is written of him. But woe unto that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

2:44 Good were it for that man if he had not been born. And as they were eating, he took bread, And when he had blessed, and break it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye, this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had...

3:04 And he had given thanks, he gave to them, And they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Verily I say unto you, I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, Until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Now let us again seek the face of God in prayer.

3:35 And ask that the Holy Spirit, Who has come to take the things of Christ and reveal them to us, Would be present and actively and powerfully do his work Of opening up the very word of Christ to our hearts. Let us pray.

3:56 Holy Father, we come into your presence Conscious that these simple and sacred words of our Lord Jesus, By which he instituted the supper of Christ, By which he instituted the supper of Christ, Have become such a horrible quagmire of confusion, Religious superstition, Doctrines of men and even of demons. And we can only cry that the spirit of truth will come And so move upon our minds and hearts That we may understand or write these words of truth And so move upon our minds and hearts And that we may not rest the scriptures to our own destruction, But that we may read them and hear them, And that I may expound them by the aid of the Spirit Unto our salvation and edification. Hear our cry, we plead, For the good of our souls and the glory of your name. Amen. Now a whole month has passed since our last, Study together in the Gospel of Mark, And in the light of this lapse of time, Let me remind you of the general contents

Context of the Lord's Supper in Mark's Gospel

5:22 Of this section of Mark's Gospel. In the first eleven verses, The focus is first of all upon the murderous intentions Of the religious leaders, And the complicity of Judas in those intentions, And set between those two realities Is this beautiful, Contrast of the disposition of Mary of Bethany, Who in her faith and love directed to Christ, Anoints him beforehand for his burial. And then, beginning in verse twelve, The focus shifts to the matter of the Passover supper. And in verses twelve through sixteen, We have our Lord's preparation for the Passover meal, Preparation for the Passover meal, Preparations made in such a way That veil the actual place from the knowledge of Judas, So that he will not be able To go to the officials And betray his Lord before the appointed hour, And yet preparations made in such a way That our Lord demonstrates and affirms In a very vivid way His true identity As the omniscient Son of God. Then in verses seventeen, Through twenty-one, We have what I called in the exposition of these verses

6:49 The shocking disclosure Of the identity of the betrayer. A disclosure that took place Somewhere in the middle of the Passover feast. Now in verses twenty-two through twenty-six, Still in the midst of the Passover feast, At least the beginning of what is recorded, We have the institution Of the Supper of Remembrance, Or what we find called elsewhere the Lord's Supper, And it's obvious from verse twenty-six That after the institution of this Supper of Remembrance, Our Lord, in company with the eleven, Leaves the upper room And goes out into the Mount of Olives. And today we focus our attention upon verses twenty-two through twenty-five, And as we attempt to grasp the contents of this portion of the Word of God, We shall do so under three simple headings. First of all, we shall notice the circumstances Of the institution of the Lord's Supper. Secondly, the substance of the institution of the Lord's Supper.

Circumstances of the Institution: Our Lord, the Passover, and the Disciples

8:06 And finally, the central lessons to be derived From the institution of the Lord's Supper. First of all, then, note with me The circumstances of the institution Of the Lord's Supper. The record of our Lord's institution Of this ordinance for His church Does not stand in isolation From a very distinct And a very illuminating set of circumstances. To ignore the circumstances Insofar as the Holy Spirit Has recorded them in the Scriptures, Is to leave ourselves vulnerable To errors of every kind In conjunction with this institution Of the Lord's Supper. And I would ask you to note with me The circumstances of the institution, First as they relate to our Lord Himself, Then as they relate to the actual Passover meal, And thirdly, as they relate to the disciples. First of all, then, the circumstances With reference to our Lord Himself. Remember in verses 17 to 21 He has just made the shocking disclosure

9:31 That one of the twelve will betray Him. And according to John 13 verses 21 to 30 Judas has been singled out as the betrayer To the mind and understanding Of Peter and of John And has left the inner circle Of the twelve and the company of our Lord And in John we are told He goes out and it was night. And from that in the night To accomplish his deed of betrayal Judas is still In the horrible night Of spiritual darkness Awaiting the hour When he shall be cast Into the eternal night Of outer darkness Forever and forever. But the eleven are left there With their Lord. They are stunned with the realization That all of this talk Of our Lord concerning This final trip to Jerusalem Which will result in rejection Betrayal Being turned over to the Roman authorities Scourging Crucifixion Death And resurrection That these words were indeed Not idle talk Upon the lips of our Lord.

10:59 And in the midst of their being stunned With this language of betrayal Our Lord preannounces to them That all in the next Less than twenty-four hours Is not to be regarded As a defeat Though it may appear That Judas and his collaborators Are in control Though it may appear That the Roman government Is in control Though it may appear That the spikes that impale him Upon a cross Have overpowered him By the institution Of this supper of remembrance Making it known That he is the one That is in full control And that in the events Of the next hour Nothing less than the triumphant Accomplishment of redemption From sin Is to be realized By the shedding Of his own blood. He preannounces That all that is about to transpire Will be nothing less Than the ratifying Of the new covenant In his blood. Therefore the circumstances With reference to our Lord

12:26 Point in essence To his affirmation That he was in control That he is going forth to die And the ultimate issue Of that triumph Will be nothing less Than that which he describes In verse 25 The consummate glory Of the kingdom of grace When he shall sit down Under the imagery Of eating and drinking With his redeemed ones He shall again feast with them In the triumphs Of his own redemption And so you see The circumstances are vital As they first of all Relate to our Lord himself But then notice With reference to the Passover meal That at that time Was being eaten Mark is very careful In verse 22 To apprise us That it was as they were eating That he took bread Blessed and distributed That bread And the participle used To describe as they were eating Is exactly the same one used In verse 18 And as they were reclining They were eating So it has reference To one and the same unit

13:55 Of the Passover meal And though we cannot ascertain With any precision Precisely what format Our Lord may have followed Though there are several Rabbinical traditions From which we can derive At least a semblance of an idea And the opinions differ Some say there were at least five others Eight or nine distinct stages In the meal One thing is very clear That with reference to the institution Of the Lord's Supper It not only comes after The shocking disclosure Of the betrayer But it begins to be instituted In the midst Of the old Supper Of remembrance Namely meal And I call that old Supper of remembrance By that designation Because that is precisely How God designates it In Exodus chapter 12 And verse 14 In the original institution Of the Passover God says this And this day shall be unto you For a memorial Feast to Jehovah Throughout your generations You shall keep it a feast By an ordinance Forever And the Hebrew word

15:24 For memorial Is the exact parallel Of the Greek word That means to call To remembrance The root concept of the word Is that of a memorial That which occasioned The calling to remembrance Of something significant But now Supper begins During the old It does not find its completion During the old Supper For we read in Luke 22 20 And 1 Corinthians 11 25 This very interesting Little statement In Luke chapter 22 And verse 20 And the cup in like manner Supper Covenant During Supper But after The cup And the apostle Paul Whether he is speaking Of that which he received By direct revelation Or that which he received From the Lord Through the other apostles And I prefer The former understanding Of his words Verse 23

16:52 Of 1 Corinthians 11 I received of the Lord That which also I delivered unto you That the Lord Jesus In the night in which He was betrayed Took bread And when he was Given thanks He broke it And said This is my body Which is for you This do in remembrance Of me In letter All spirit Is not recorded That detail For nothing And it is Failed To take note Of what is Plain In the surface Of these texts That has left People vulnerable To confusion And even Heresy With regard To this simple Supper Of remembrance And so The circumstances With reference To the Passover Meal Without Any Of mood Without Any clearing Of any elaborate New In the midst Of reclining Been dismissed Towards The end Of the supper

18:14 And bread That was there Upon the table There is No hint That he is Now From a setting That was a Memorial Of God's When the death Of Israel Passed over The first Born of Israel On the night Of their Deliverance Out of Egypt And used The very death Of the first Born in Egypt As the trigger To spring Them loose From their Bondage There is Not a shred Of evidence That our Lord Is the Disciples That he is Moving Out of The old Memorial That we Are moving From a Supper of Remembrance Into a Marvel The creating Of the Eucharist Whilst With

19:37 Broads Of bread On the Table Half Dalation On the Table Without New Garments Without Any History They did Not move From recline Indicate The Past And present And present For all Remembrance And Superstitions Surrounding This Blessed Simple Supper Remembrance But at The same Time We must Note That while He begins The new Supper Of remembrance In the Midst Of the Passover Meal He catch Their attention we are told by the writers who've studied the rabbinic traditions that after the completion of eating the Passover lamb, nothing more was to be eaten, but somehow our Lord introduces, you see,

21:05 a new element after the ordinary elements of the supper in order that He might apprise them that indeed there was something new and glorious being instituted, new in significance, but not new in rising from the realm of a supper of memorial to something that is magical and is mystical.

21:37 And then, briefly, notice the circumstances with reference to the disciples themselves. Coming, as it did, on the very threshold of the concentrated acts surrounding His crucifixion, our Lord was giving to them though they understood it little at the time, a kind and gracious explanation beforehand of everything that was to follow lest they be caused to stumble. Here's the tender shepherd carrying His lambs in His bosom, preparing them for what is to follow. And though what is to follow seems so contrary to all that their noblest affections towards Christ would be, He is preparing them by saying,

22:33 symbolizing the realities about to come to pass. And after His resurrection and the gift of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, then they could look back and fully comprehend and appreciate what their Lord was doing. So much then for the circumstances in which this supper was instituted, the circumstances as they relate to our Lord, to the supper itself, and to the disciples. Now then, we come to the substance of the institution of the Lord's Supper.

Substance of the Institution: The Bread and Its Explanation

23:08 And as we look at the text, it becomes very clear that what we have are two kinds of explanation by our Lord of something that our Lord does and then something that our Lord says. And in verse 22, we have the couplet pertaining to the bread, and verses 23 to 25, like the couplet pertaining to the cup. All right? First of all then, let us look at the action and explanation in connection with the bread.

23:47 And as we're eating, they were very simple. They were nothing unusual. They were actions that each of these men would have seen dozens of times over the years in their upbringing as Jews when the head of the household would have taken unleavened bread, would have pronounced a blessing over it, would have then broken it and distributed it to the various members of the household. The difference lay not in the action. Action was nothing extraordinary to these people. It was action with which they were very familiar.

24:50 What was extraordinary was the explanation. For after these actions of, taking the bread, blessing, breaking, giving, and commanding them to take it, and we have in the parallel passage in Luke's Gospel, I mean Matthew's Gospel, 26, 26, adds the word eat, take, and eat, we have the explanation. Here was that which was entirely new. What they were accustomed to hearing their fathers say in all of the Passover meals with which they had been familiar, was something like this.

25:29 Take and eat. This is the bread of the days of our affliction. And it would hearken back to Egypt and to God's marvelous deliverance when they took unleavened bread because they were to go out in haste with this provision which God commanded them to take with them. But here our Lord says,

25:56 and then these simple words, this is to put yourself, in that situation. Here you've been reclining about the U-shaped or in the U-shaped configuration along the long, narrow table, and there without anything to indicate that you've shifted gears radically from a context of remembrance of God's great redemptive activity, the Lord gives ordinary words of instruction, but then He says,

26:37 the bread, the unleavened bread, it would be perhaps the thing that most of us, have seen that's closest to it, like a chapati, very flat, without any leaven, and it would be torn in pieces and distributed as He holds that piece in His own hands. And apparently they hold that they have broken off in their hands, He says, this my body. Now what would the disciples conclude? There before them reclining in the ordinary fashion was their Lord in the full integrity of His truth, true humanity.

27:19 Every single finger was in place, every single hair in place, His ears were in place, His toes stuck through the sandals. When He said, this is my body, integrity of His humanity with all His faculties and the members of His body intact, they did not suddenly see a finger drop off and disappear and say, oh, the finger must be the bread. They didn't suddenly see an ear drop off and say, oh, when He said, this is my body, maybe the ear has become the bread. There is only one rational, sane conclusion to which anyone sitting there would come, and that is this, that the Lord is using a common figure of speech. This represents or stands for my body.

28:18 A figure of speech that can be called a metaphor or more properly a metonymy in which we use a word for a thing, signified, we hear on the news, the White House has reported. Does that mean that suddenly the White House developed a larynx and a tongue and all of the essential for speech and the reporters stood there and the White House spoke to them? No, what they mean is the White House, that is, the President or his representative or some official spokesman of the White House. We use that kind of language all the time.

28:56 It's found everywhere in the state. It's found everywhere in the scriptures. So when our Lord said, this is my body, it understood that he was in no way saying that in some magical, mystical, supernatural way, some part of the substance of his physical body, much less the whole of it, had been converted into that of unleavened bread held in his hand. They would not have come to that conclusion in a hundred years, listening to his words repeated over and over and over again.

29:36 No, he said, take and eat this signify which is before you, which in a few hours you will see taken by force and brought before one court of judgment and another. This body that you will see lacerated, this body that you will see scourged, this body that you will see ultimately impaled upon an instrument of Roman execution, this body that will be smothered in its own blood, mingled with the spittle of its enemies, this bread symbolizes this body for my body.

Substance of the Institution: The Cup and Its Explanation

30:28 There is representation in this bread of my body and what will happen, what will happen to my body in the next hours that is intimately bound up in your salvation and in the ratifying of the new covenant. And then we look at the second couplet, the action and explanation in connection with the cup. Look again at the verbs, verse 23, and he took a cup, a very common activity. Some say there were as many as five different cups.

31:06 Some say there were as many as five different cups. Some say there were as many as five different cups. Some say there were as many as five different cups. Not five different cups in terms of the number of cups, but five different usages of the cup throughout the Passover meal.

31:17 So for our Lord to take the cup in which there was found diluted wine, that was not extraordinary at all. They had seen their fathers do it many, many times. He took the cup and then he did what their fathers had done many times. He gave thanks.

31:36 He gave thanks to God. He gave thanks to God. He gave thanks to God. And only God knows what that prayer was and those who were present, but he's thrown a veil of silence over it.

31:47 How we wish we could know what he prayed when he gave thanks for that cup. But all it says is that he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them, and they all drank of it. Things that were common in the Passover meal. However, we've already learned from Luke and from Paul, that this was a cup that they had not been accustomed to have at the Passover meal.

32:20 They assumed the Passover meal was over, but it was after supper that he takes the cup. And having given the cup, or in the process of giving it, or possibly prior to actually distributing it, and this is a matter of trying to precisely harmonize the various witnesses, and really, there's no necessity, there's no necessity, to do so. This is what is important. After these actions, our Lord then gives his words of explanation, verses 24 and 25.

32:55 And the words of explanation are in two categories, the immediate significance, and the ultimate significance. The immediate, verse 24. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. This is my blood, holding which the diluted wine was found.

33:25 He said, This is blood. Now, did the Lord lance his finger and hold it, dripped blood, so some of his literal blood would drip into the cup? No indication that he lanced a finger. No indication that he slit his wrist.

33:46 No indication that one that coursed through his veins, was in that cup. It was ordinary, pass-over diluted wine. And nothing more. But he says, This my covenant, Luke 22, 20.

34:18 There's no question as to the textual integrity says, This is my blood of the new, which is poured for many. This cup stands for my blood, but now note, blood be poured. You see, it's only in a violent, that the body and the blood separate. That's what he said.

34:47 In an order of death a man dies with his blood still within his body. But it isn't a violent death when a man's throat is slit, or in the case of crucifixion when wounds are opened, and a man both bleeds to death and dies in a violent death in which there is the separation of the body and the blood. And our Lord intimates that he will die. His blood will be poured.

35:22 For sacrificial death. But now notice, not as a helpless victim, not as a noble language says, as the mediator of the new covenant. This the new for on the behalf of. Therefore he informs his disciples that all that was promised in the prophets about the time when Jehovah would make a new covenant with God, a covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, a covenant in which there would be the full and remission of all sin, in which there would be the impartation of a new heart and a new spirit, that that covenant was now to be ratified by the blood of their master who stood before them holding the cup and saying, this cup is the new. In my life. The language of first Corinthians 11, which is shed for many. That was the immediate significance of the institution of the cup.

36:49 But now our Lord points to an ultimate significance in verse 25. He introduces one of his magisterial sayings. Verily, I say unto you, no more drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Whenever our Lord introduces a saying with the verily, it is what the commentators have called one of his magisterial sayings.

37:24 It has peculiar solemnity. If ever we listen and lay hold of the words of Christ, we must listen and lay hold when he says verily or as John has it, the double verily. And what our Lord is saying is this, this blood is not only in its immediate significance, or this cup not only signifies my blood, which in the immediate context will be poured out for many. It is that blood ratifying that covenant, which shall secure the salvation and redemption of all those for whom it is shed. And though my blood is poured out, I will rise to life again. And all the purposes for which I shed my blood will be realized and the kingdom that I will establish in my blood to its fruition. And I will be with you in the kingdom of God.

38:32 And what we have in those words is but a parallel to such language as Revelation 19, six to nine, where the consummate glory of the redeemed is described under the figure of the marriage supper of the Lamb. And what the Lord says, and what the Lord is saying with regard to the significance of the cup, is that it not only represents the blood of the new covenant about to be shed within the next few hours, but it represents blood shed for many, that shall accomplish a completed redemption, coming to its glorious fruition in the full manifestation of the kingdom, in the return of the Lord. in the full manifestation of the kingdom, in the return of the Lord. of the Lord himself. As one commentator has captured the meaning so well, let me read you several of his sentences. Jesus' words of promise were confirmed with a solemn oath that he would not share the festal cup until the meal was resumed and completed in the consummation.

39:37 The sober reference, no more, indicates that it is Jesus' final meal and lends to the situation the character of a farewell. The purpose of his vow of abstinence was to declare that his decision to submit to the will of God in vicarious suffering was irrevocable. For swearing, feasting, and wine, Jesus dedicated himself with a resolute will to accept the bitter cup of wrath offered him by the Father. Yet there is here a clear anticipation of the messengership, when the Passover fellowship with his followers will be renewed in the kingdom of God.

40:21 Then Jesus will drink the wine new, where in this context newness is the mark of the redeemed world and the time of the ultimate triumph of the Son of Man. Thus, in the context of reflecting upon his violent death on behalf of the many, just prior to the impending events of the Passion, Jesus clearly affirmed his vindication and the establishment of an uninterrupted fellowship between the redeemed community and its Redeemer through the experience of messianic salvation.

Central Lesson 1: The Supper Bursts with Gospel Truths

41:03 Well, those are the words of institution, and I've tried to stick to the words, and though I have felt myself pulled in a hundred directions in my preparation, I've resisted the temptation because the Spirit of God has given us in a very spartan measure of verbiage the institution of this Supper as it is recorded by Mark for our edification. Well, having looked at the circumstances of the institution of the Supper, the substance of the institution of the Supper, now what are the central lessons contained in the institution of the Supper? And I want to focus upon three of them in the time that remains this morning. First of all, the institution of the Lord's Supper in its historical context and in its specific actions is with the central truths of the gospel of the grace of God. And if we learn nothing else from it this morning, may God help us to learn that lesson. Again and again in the expositions of Mark, I've taken you back to Mark 1.1,

42:24 and I've strummed away on that note. Mark opens his gospel with these words, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God. And he is concerned that the entire gospel shall be gospel, pure gospel, nothing but gospel, glorious gospel, good news for sinners. How strange!

42:54 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

42:55 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

42:55 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

42:55 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

42:58 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

42:58 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

42:58 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

42:58 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

42:58 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

43:00 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

43:00 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

43:00 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

43:00 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

43:00 How strange! How strange! How strange! How strange!

43:00 How strange!

43:18 How strange! and in its actions and words is bursting with the central truths of the gospel of the grace of God. The elements themselves, and see how they embody the heart of the gospel. By saying, this bread symbolizes my body, this cost or symbolizes, represents, stands for my, what is our Lord saying?

43:52 He is saying to die a voluntary death, and by the voluntary death,

44:04 I defy all of the blessings promised in the new covenant. A covenant in which God said, whose days establish a new covenant. I will cut out the heart of stone, give them a heart of flesh. I will put my laws into their hearts, and upon their minds will I write them.

44:31 I will cause them to live. I will walk in my statutes, and to keep my judgments, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. And in Hebrews chapter 8, and in Hebrews chapter 10, the writer to the Hebrews is careful to establish that that promise of the new covenant was effected in the work of Jesus Christ,

45:04 but it was effected in these very events that mark, is recording for us. And so the objective truths that are at the heart of the gospel are very gloriously contained in this institution. The truth that Christ died for our sins, not as a martyr, not as a glorious example of passively taking ill treatment from men, but he died as the meteor between God and man. He died in his capacity as the mediator of the new covenant.

45:45 He took the truth that belonged to us. He bore the truth of many. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.

46:02 Those are the central truths of the gospel. And in the institution of the supper, I say that institution bursts bursts with those central objective truths that the only hope for any sinner is in the bloodletting of the Son of God as the appointed mediator for sinners. That's not all the gospel says. It says you have no part or lot in what Jesus did for sinners until you personally appropriate him.

46:34 And oh, how this institution of the supper underscores that. He does not merely take bread, and say, look at it. This is my body. Do you believe that?

46:45 Fine, put the bread down. Take the cup and elevate it and say, this is my blood of the new covenant. Do you believe that? And put it down.

46:53 No. He blesses. He breaks. He distributes.

46:58 And then he says what? Take. Eat.

47:07 When the cup is packed,

47:10 it is clear, teaching that withholds so-called lay. He said, drink ye all.

47:24 Not merely learn that this cup is the new covenant in my blood. They must take and drink. That emphasizes the subjective element of the gospel. That Jesus Christ does no sinner good until you take him and you eat him.

47:53 He does you no good until you receive him and drink of him. That is, there must be appropriation and assimilation. And the faculty with which we appropriate and assimilate, Christ is not our mouth.

48:14 And it reaches out and takes him whose body was bruised and impaled upon a cross for us. Faith is sufficient for this sinner. And I plead its efficacy and its power to cleanse and to forgive even me. Take.

48:41 Drink.

48:45 Institution in all of its pristine complicity is bursting with the central message of the gospel. And my...

48:54 My friend, that's the only gospel we have to preach to you this morning. No matter who you are, no matter what your background, no matter how far down you've gone into open sin, no matter how wonderfully you've been preserved on a plane of morality, the Bible says in Adam you fell and became part of a condemned race. And no matter what your external life may be, it is a life of sin lived in violation, in violation of the law, either in its external demand, internal demand. You stand guilty and condemned, then there is only one way for you to have forgiveness of sin.

49:39 And that is in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. There is only one way for you to have acceptance with God and that's to come under the blessings of this new covenant. And you do so when you appropriate and assimilate of His blood, shed for sinners. You must, in the language of John 1, 12, receive Him who is offered to you in the gospel.

50:13 And dear people of God, this is what God intends should happen when we come to the table. We must not come to the table waiting for some kind of tingles to go up and down our spine and say we had a marvelous, mystical experience. No! We come to the table, to the table in remembrance of our Lord Jesus that as we see bread and we see the fruit of the vine before us, we are reminded these things only exist because there was a point in time in an unnamed time where our faith is strengthened as we, as it were, have faith tangibly with these physical realities of bread and the fruit of the vine. Through to the vine, love is deepened for we are reminded that He freely gave Himself for us, that He poured out His blood voluntarily on our behalf and hope is here intensified because we remember that though He will not drink it with us here in this life, the great marriage supper of the Lamb

51:39 is coming when the promise of verse 23 will be fulfilled and we join all of His redeemed and sit down to eat and drink with our blessed Savior. The institution of the Lord's Supper in its historical context, in its actions and words is bursting with the central truths of the gospel of the grace of God. Do you know the power of that gospel in your heart? Have you eaten of His flesh and drunk?

52:11 Have you drunk of His blood? He is before you in the gospel this morning. He is the bread of life. He is the water of life.

52:29 He offers Himself to you and says, I am yours if you will have me.

Central Lesson 2: The Supper Devastates Roman Catholic Dogma

52:36 But then in the second place, the central lesson, and this is a necessary part of preaching, not a pleasant part, but a necessary part. Not only does the institution burst, but also the church. The church is a place blessed with the central truths of the gospel. But secondly, the institution of the Lord's Supper in its historical context, in its actions and words, utterly devastates the Roman Catholic dogma of the Mass.

53:08 It utterly devastates the Roman Catholic dogma of the Mass. Now let me say, if you're a Roman Catholic visiting this morning, please do not turn off your ears and say, oh, he's a Catholic hater. No, it's because I'm a Catholic lover that I'm saying what I'm saying.

53:27 This passage devastates the dogma of the Roman Church. And what is that dogma? Well, let me let the Roman Church speak for itself. I will quote, not people criticizing the Church of Rome, but officially approve Roman Catholic catechisms, the Council of Trent, and other Roman Catholic literature that has the approval of the Church.

53:56 This is the Catholic dogma concerning the Mass.

54:02 Here it is. The Creed of Pope Pius IV, quote, I profess that in the Mass is offered to God an propitiatory sacrifice, that is, a sacrifice which satisfies the justice of God and offsets the penalty due to sin, for the living and the dead, and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that there is a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body and the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which the Catholic Church calls trans-substantiation.

54:56 Let me try to illustrate it this way. This is my walk. This is my handkerchief. If I could trans-substantiate my handkerchief into a watch by doing some magical thing, what would happen is the whole substance of the handkerchief would become the whole substance of the watch.

55:15 Now, the Roman Catholic Church goes on to say, Aha! You still see a handkerchief, but don't believe what you see. You touch it, it still feels like a handkerchief, don't believe what you touch. If it had some aftershave lotion on it, you smell it, you still smell the old spice.

55:30 But they say, don't believe what you smell. But that is the official dogma of the Roman Church of trans-passing over substance. One substance becomes another. So that when there is the official consecration of the elements, they pass over into and actually become the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Council of Trent.

55:59 The sacrifice of the Mass is identical with the sacrifice of the cross inasmuch as Jesus Christ is priest and victim both. The only difference lies in the manner of offering which is bloody upon the cross and bloodless upon our altars." And then turning to a textbook, the college text in theology, Christ and His Sacraments, written as a textbook, for teaching theology in Roman Catholic colleges. I want to read the official statement approved.

56:37 This has the imprimatur, the proper place. For any Roman Catholics who are here who'd like to see it afterward, I'd gladly let you take the book. This is not a misrepresentation of the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Listen to what this particular author says who is an official teacher of theology for Roman Catholic college students.

56:58 On 3-6-7, we find these words.

57:05 This is the mystery of faith, the most august sacrament of the altar, the sacred sign of Christ which contains not His power only, but Christ Himself, His body and blood truly and substantially present under the veil of the outward appearances of bread and wine. It is the wonder of divine wisdom and divine power. It is the wonder of divine love, the heart and center of the worship of Christ, the perpetuation of His sacrifice and the preeminent source of the graces of His sanctification. On 3-7-6, we have the statement of the Council of Trent. If anyone says that the substance of bread and wine remains in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist together with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and denied, the wonderful and unique change of the entire substance of the bread into Christ's body and the entire substance of the wine into His blood, only the appearances of bread and wine remaining, a change which the Roman Catholic Church appropriately calls transubstantiation, let such a person be anathema.

58:26 That's the Council of Trent. Section 12, Chapter 4, Canon 2. And then the author goes on to expound this. And his first point is, in the Eucharist, nothing remains of the substance of the bread and wine, only the appearance.

58:42 In other words, you don't believe your eyes. Believe, Mother Church, who says that once the consecration has occurred, the soul and divinity and body of Christ looks like wine and looks like a wafer. But that's not what it really is. It is His actual body and His actual blood.

59:07 And then the author goes on, to say at the end of his section, Summary and Conclusion, page 398, the most colossal stumbling block which has confounded millions of non-Catholics through the centuries is the same block upon which the Roman Catholic Church is built, the sacrament of the Eucharist. Christ really present upon the altar, called down by the words of consecration. God have mercy on their blasphemy. The author says this is the sacrament par excellence of the Christian faith. For Christ instituted this sign of His own sacred body and blood so that man here and now might be made holy by being united to Him. Now listen carefully.

60:12 This is why, if you're a Roman Catholic, you've been taught, whatever else I do, I must have Mass at least once a year. This is why this very week, and I'll mention the details in a moment, this horrible superstition broke out in such a crass way in our own family circle. Because how do you get united to Christ? Well, if Christ is really there in the bread and in the wine, then taking the bread and the wine unites you to Christ.

60:50 Open my mouth and swallow, and I'm united to Christ.

60:56 Overturning the very heart of the Gospel, the truth of Christ's real presence in the Eucharist is attested to both by His own words as found in sacred Scripture. Now is that what you found in sacred Scripture this morning? I didn't find it. In the firm and constant tradition of faith, in this tremendous mystery, the bread and wine are placed upon the altar offered to God and then consecrated by the words of a priest at the instant of consecration.

61:26 The bread is now no longer bread and the wine no longer wine. But the substance of bread becomes the substance of the body of Christ and the substance of God. And the substance of God becomes the substance of the body of Christ and the substance of wine because the substance of the blood of Christ we have cannibalism in the name of an infallible church. That which was bread is now the body of Christ.

61:52 That which was wine is now the blood of Christ with only the accidental qualities of bread and wine remaining. That is molecular structure, color, texture, appearance, everything that makes me know bread from dirt, that all remains. But that's just called an accident. And intelligent people believe this.

62:14 State their soul's salvation on it. Analyze the wine before and after consecration. Same molecular structure, same acidity, same everything. They say those are just accidents.

62:26 What's really there is the plasma, the blood that coursed through the veins of the Son of God. What's in that cup only has the accidental appearance of wine. What it really is is the blood of Christ. This conversion, this unending action by which this change takes place is called transubstantiation.

62:46 An action which brings forth the whole Christ to man. Body, blood, and concomitantly soul and divinity. The eating of the body and blood of Christ is not only a foreshadowing of the joys of eternal life, rather it is the real beginning of eternal life for the power of being united to Christ is bestowed upon us in this sacrament as the privilege, Prelude to perfect union with God in heaven. That is not a Protestant misrepresenting a Roman Catholic.

63:19 One of the series college texts in theology. Official Roman Catholic dog. Now that's its dog. You say, Pastor, it's hard to believe.

63:31 That's why I read from their own sources. And what do we say in the light of our exposition this morning? Well, here someone has said it better than I can say it. In a book called Metaphors in the Gospel, the author commenting on the metaphor where Christ said, I am the bread of life, says, Superstition gives an explanation which neither our Lord nor any of his apostles as much as hinted at.

63:56 It assumes that Christ referred in these words to the Last Supper. No wonder, if so, that the people could not understand his teaching as they could not have known anything of an ordinance which was yet in the future. And then it breaks away from the figure and metaphor, all together it takes a piece of actual bread and supposes it, while unchanged in its appearance and qualities, to be really transmuted into the actual body of Jesus Christ. Then this wonderful substance is received by the mechanical process of swallowing, and so a mystic sacramental grace is conveyed to the soul.

64:32 But as Dean Stanley has well said, to suppose that the material can of itself reach the spiritual is not religion but magic. To suppose that the material can reach the spiritual is not religion but magic. And the dogma of transubstantiation is no answer at all to the question of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man. It is a doctrine of magic, not of godly faith.

64:59 It outrages common sense, insults reason, contradicts the evidence of the four of the five senses of mankind, and at the same time breaks every rule of consistent interpretation, confuses the mind, and confuses the mind of man. It is a doctrine of magic, not of godly faith. It is a doctrine of magic, not of godly faith. It breaks the material with the spiritual and degrades the sublime truth of our Lord's union with His people by faith into a mechanical action of the mouth and of the gullet.

The Danger of Roman Catholic Dogma Illustrated

65:24 And dear people, even when they speak in tongues and they stretch out their hands like Mother Teresa while they believe this blasphemy,

65:44 case in point, we've tried over the years to establish relations as good neighbors with our neighbors, whatever their background religiously is, we have a relatively new couple moved in next door to us last year and we've established a good relationship with them when I came in from lecturing at the academy the other day he was working in his yard so I went over to engage in conversation and in the course of conversation he happened to bring up the trouble he'd been having with some of the children in the neighborhood and across the street from us a couple that just recently broke up have an eight-year-old son and the term I used last week, brat he's the epitome of that will never restrain horrible evidence of an unrestrained child and he was having a problem with this eight-year-old constantly beating up on his eleven-year-old daughter and he told me about the problem and how he tried to resolve it and ended up having the mother beat up on the daughter as well now that's the little boy, eight years old while I'm talking my wife is out shopping and when she comes in later she says, oh, guess who I met today down at the food store, food town I said, who? the grandmother of this little eight-year-old eight-year-old brat and she was just thrilled said, tomorrow my little so-and-so is going to take his first holy sacrament and my wife went dead silent because she's got bumper stickers Jesus is Lord and she belongs to some of these fellowship charismatic groups with the Roman Catholics

67:13 she's constantly trying to make plain to us we're all really for the same thing now here's the tragedy why was she so excited that that eight-year-old brat was going to take his first holy sacrament because she believes this dogma and once her little eight-year-old boy opens his mouth and the wafer is placed upon it and he swallows it he's united to Christ and he's safe that's the horrible of Romanism that's as current as this past Friday in my neighborhood don't you talk to me about Rome being different don't tell me Rome has changed her dogma when Papa calls and says the statements in the council of Trent are wrong and the official teaching body of the Roman church repudiates it as capitalism we hope of having the blood of martyrs Rome is different she's the Siddharth of the seven soak her skirt yet more with your blood in mind

68:39 when it's convenient in her interest to do so dear people God have mercy on us if we've been duped by the undiscerning climate of our day that calls anything that's sweet and nice and has a little bit of Jesus Christian I cannot call Mother Teresa my sister until she repudiates and says my only is in Christ crucified once for sin preserving and keeping me by grace and grace alone I will not call the Pope a man of God or a great evangelist until he likewise repudiates those errors God help us if we cease to pray for our Roman Catholic friends and neighbors and relatives for what they are if believing this dogma they are lost salvation it's salvation by the open mouth and by the active gullet instead of salvation by grace through faith that lays hold of an exalted Savior who is the mediator of the new covenant

Guarding the Simplicity of the Supper

70:07 while our time is gone the third word I'd hope to bring was simply one word one word you hear ad nauseum but you're going to hear it as long as some of us have breath in any spiritual sanity stand against anything in this place that would erode the pristine simplicity of the supper of remembrance in Trinity Baptist Church the moment someone says well wouldn't a candle on one end of the table look nice rise up well wouldn't it be nice to have a dear people of God guard the simplicity of bread that is broken and eaten in remembrance of Him the fruit of the vine that is taken and drunk in remembrance of Him and where Christ crucified lives in our hearts as the object of faith and devotion we need no trappings of candles and ornate chalices and we need no long flowing robes of so called priests for we have our great high priesthood among us in the power of the spirit in the plenitude of His grace and having Him simple ordinary bread and the fruit of the vine will do because in loving believing

71:35 remembrance of our Savior faith is strengthened love is kindled and hope is increased and the purpose for which He instituted is realized well there's so much more but I've taken all the time let's pray that God will bless to our hearts the preaching of His word oh God our heavenly Father you know how our hearts feel a mingled sense of joy and love and gratitude for our Savior and for His kindness in ever stooping to institute this simple supper of remembrance that we might ever be reminded that all our hope and all our salvation is in Christ crucified but yet Lord we feel grief and pain and anger and a sense of frustration when we think of how the horrible teaching of the dogma of Rome has lived on through the centuries and now even stalks like a colossus when we hear that it's the fastest growing religion in Africa we tremble oh Lord when we hear of the many who claim to be the greatest claim to still cling to Romish dogma and yet be filled with the spirit and speak in tongues Lord we're grieved

Concluding Prayer

73:03 oh God have mercy and will you not open the eyes of Roman Catholics in our day raise up Luthers there in Africa to thunder into the ears of those emerging nations the truth that it's Christ received by faith alone who brings salvation to sinners we tremble we tremble when we think of the mixture of the animism and the spiritism with all of the trappings of Rome and how conveniently the one merges into the other oh God will you not work we think of our own state predominantly Roman Catholic in its religious complexion and pray that you'd use us as an instrument to see multitudes delivered from the errors of Rome into the liberty of the gospel of Christ and Father for those who sit here today who have never taken and eaten who have never drunk who only have an intellectual acquaintance with Christ and his death oh God deal with them that they may come to embrace the Savior and find the promised salvation in him seal then your word to our hearts we pray in Jesus name Amen