January 3, 2016 AM Pastor Ken Hepner Looking Intently at the Communion Emblems Luke 22:15 20 Introduction: This morning we are beginning 2016 gathered around the emblems of the Lord s Supper, the Communion Table. How you and I approach this table and meet with Jesus this morning is everything in terms of what it will mean to us when we walk out of here today! When we live this worship experience we will either be Strengthened in the Faith or Weakened in our Being! As I thought about this gathering today for the past few weeks, I have been taken by the words Luke records for us in his Gospel. Luke carefully investigated the facts surrounding the life, teachings, and work of Jesus and he wrote a Gospel account on the basis of his careful researching of facts. As a medical doctor researching things would have been really important for him. He wanted to be certain about what he had come to believe. He wrote a Gospel testimony of Jesus that enables others to be certain about what we have come to believe as well! The words he writes that capture my heart and mind are the words he quotes Jesus as saying to His followers in the upper room the night before He died on the Cross for us all. Jesus said to His followers in Luke 22:20: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Those words New Covenant in my blood poured out for you, signify something truly astounding is taking place in the spiritual kingdom of God Almighty in the actions of His Son Jesus over the next three days. Communion Looks Backward: Luke 22:15, 16 And he said to them, I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not drink it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God. The Old Covenant with God is being brought to a close and the New Covenant with God is beginning in what Jesus Christ is about to do on the Cross and in His resurrection life and victory over sin, death, and Hell. Something Old that was incapable of creating lives that were engaged with the life of God is Passing Away. Something New that is capable of creating lives that are engaged with the life of God is Beginning. The Old Covenant with God was established to show them how the people of God dealt with sins and engaged with God. The Old Covenant had to do with how God viewed their sins and on what basis He would accept their worship. They had to go through many sacrifices. It was a system of blood sacrifices and keeping the Law of God, which rendered the worshiper ceremonially or outwardly clean, but it did nothing to actually do away with sin in the human heart and life. 1
What our Lord Jesus came to do was to bring to complete Fulfillment what the Old Covenant with God represented to the worshipers. It is important for us to keep in mind that it was the Lord God Almighty who acted to create the Old Covenant with the nation of Israel. Remember in Genesis 15 when God instituted His Covenant with Abram that they would be friends and his offspring would be the people of the Covenant, Abram was sound asleep and God acted alone. In that time period a covenant was created between two people by walking between animal carcasses that were cut in half. The two people were promising to each other that they would uphold their agreement to care for each other. God walked alone between the animal pieces while Abram slept, creating the relational covenant for his sleeping saint! Remember that in Exodus it was God who acted to create the Passover in Egypt, and God who acted to give the Law on Mount Sinai in the wilderness. God was acting to create the Old Covenant people, showing them how He viewed sins they had done and how they could walk through life with Him! When the people gathered to celebrate the Passover they remembered what God had done for them. The Passover meal was an act that reminded them of God s actions in their history, their covenantal relationship with God! Because God acted to institute the Old Covenant it Required an Act of God to Create the New Covenant with the people of God. The Lord Jesus is that act of God creating the new way God Almighty views our sins and accepts us as His own sons and daughters. Jesus sets the first communion in the context of the Passover Celebration of their history, in the remembrance of God s actions. In doing so Jesus says to His followers the symbolism of what we are about to do together is powerful, the beginning of a new covenant with God. Jesus was telling them that He wanted them to remember what He was about to do for them on the Cross. This was an act that was even more important in the kingdom of God than what took place in Egypt or at Mount Sinai hundreds of years earlier. This is God the Son acting on behalf of human beings to create something brand new in spiritual living! Communion Looks Inward On the evening he was betrayed, while Jesus was eating a meal with his disciples, he took some bread and said, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me" Luke 22:19. They each ate a piece of the bread. When we participate in the Lord s Supper, we each eat a piece of bread in remembrance of Jesus. When we take that piece of bread in our mouths, chew it and swallow it, the symbolism is that the body of Jesus Christ my Lord bore my sins as He hung on the Cross. My sins are not covered over, nor are they merely cancelled for me. My sins, and the essence of sin which is my own self-interest, went into Jesus body as He hung on the Cross. He bore them for me. Eating the bread symbolizes that I accept the fact that the Body of Jesus Bore My Sins and I remember Jesus, what you did for me! I Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 2
Hebrews 9:26b 28 But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. It took an act of God to actually Take Our Sins Out of us, to destroy the power of sin to dominate us, and to cancel the wages of our sins in death. Jesus Christ our Lord is that act of God. He took our sins, guilt, shame, death, and the power of eternal punishment in Hell and He put them to death for us all when He died bearing them in His body on the Cross. This is the most magnificent act of grace the human mind has ever conceived! Luke 22:20 "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." Matthew 26:27, 28 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, this cup is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. When we drink a small amount of the cup at the Lord s Supper, we remember that Jesus blood was shed for us, and that his Blood Ratified the New Covenant. The Lord God Almighty had established an eternal edict of His holy kingdom that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. And the truth is that not just any blood from any old animal would do. It had to be shed by an animal that qualified to be a perfect sacrifice. The Old Covenant we described earlier was sealed by the sprinkling of blood of a pure and innocent lamb. Jesus Christ our Lord establishes the New Covenant by the shedding of His pure and innocent blood for us. In John 1:29, John the Baptist says of Jesus: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Apostle Peter wrote about our forgiveness of sins, the price Jesus paid to redeem us, buy us back from a life that was dominated by sin. I Peter 1:18 21 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. The fact of the matter is that these emblems can be taken into our bodies as a ritual, something to cross off of a spiritual list we keep somewhere, and if that is how we take them into ourselves the results will be Negative. Paul writes in I Corinthians 11 that if we eat the bread and drink the cup without recognizing the body and blood of Jesus we actually are eating and drinking judgment on ourselves. Not a good idea! But if we take the emblems into our bodies as an act of love, recognizing what Jesus did to pay the penalty of our sins, embracing the powerful washing of His precious blood anew, we eat and 3
drink His life. Where Jesus lives in a human life, sins are forgiven, sin s power is cancelled, guilt is gone, and the threat of eternal punishment is removed for all who believe in Him and receive Him in our hearts. Communion Looks Outward: What Jesus is leading His disciples to do is to bring to the minds what Jesus died and rose again to make available to them. It is a commemoration meal, a physical witness reminder to us all. Jesus has made life with God available to us all! As Paul said, "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord s death until he comes," 1 Corinthians 11:26. The word Paul chose rendered in the NIV, you proclaim is a present indicative active word meaning, You all announce or loudly proclaim together, the Lord s death until He comes. We proclaim by the way we interact with one another, how we treat people, the death of Jesus avails for me! Lord s Supper looks back to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. It looks inward at our own spiritual journey, at the forgiveness of sins that is available to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. The third benefit is equally important to consider. Communion causes us to look outward to one another. The crucifixion of Jesus has a continuing significance to all who have taken up a cross to follow him. We continue to participate in his death and in the new covenant because we participate in his life. Paul wrote, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?" 1 Corinthians 10:16. In the Lord s Supper, we show that we all Share Together in Jesus Christ. We commune with him. We are united in him. There are two other definitions of communion in the Webster s Dictionary. Communion is defined there as: an intimate and sublime exchange or communication of thoughts and feelings, and A body of people with common faith in fellowship bridging divisions in the church. This church family at Cedar Grove is to be characterized by the life, the love, the grace, and the forgiveness of Jesus living in individual hearts, souls, and minds. When this is our inward reality, it will find its way into all of our relationships with people we know and love. You and I are called by Jesus to remember His actions consistently, that in those actions we are given the gift of forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of our hearts and our consciences. When that is our basis for living, we are known to those who live with us as gracious and forgiving people. When Jesus instituted the Lord s Supper in Luke 22 do you know what was the very next topic of conversation among the disciples? It was about which of them was considered to be the greatest among the followers of Jesus. He is about to die to address sin and self-interest on their behalf and they are embroiled in an argument that is based in their own self-interest. I think I am the greatest follower of Jesus! Listen to His Words in response to their selfish thinking: Luke 22:25 30 4
When you and I genuinely experience the cleansing work of Jesus on our behalf, the forgiveness of our sins and the power of His Cross addressing our self-interest, we are Set Free from the Tyranny of Selfishness to Work for the Benefit of Others. That is the way and the life of Jesus living in your heart and mine. We freely give away to others what we have been so freely given by the Lord! 5
January 3, 2016 Looking Intently at the Communion Emblems Luke 22:15 20 Introduction: Today we celebrate the ordinance of Communion. How we approach the emblems of the bread and cup is vital to how we will leave here today. We will either be S in our F or W in our inner B. Luke s gospel message is written from the perspective of careful investigation of the facts about Jesus life, teachings, and work. The words Luke writes that capture one s heart and mind are found in Luke 22:20, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Luke is recording Jesus words to His followers that something incredible is about to take place in the kingdom of God on earth! I. Communion Looks Backward: Luke 22:15 16 The fact is in Jesus the O C relationship with God is coming to a close and the N C relationship with God is beginning in what Jesus is about to do for us. S old is P A and S N is B. The Old Covenant with God had to do with how God viewed and dealt with their sins and on what basis He would accept their worship rites. What Jesus came to do was to bring to F what the Old Covenant represented to the worshipers. Remember it was God who acted to create the Old Covenant in Abram in Genesis 15 with Moses at the institution of the Passover and on Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus! Because God acted to create the Old Covenant it took an A of God to C the New Covenant. Jesus sets the first communion in the context of their P C of their history. 6
This is an event that was even more important than what took place in Egypt or on Mount Sinai. This was God the Son acting on behalf of human beings to create something brand new in spiritual living! II. Communion Looks Inward: Luke 22:19 Jesus told His followers when they ate the piece of bread it represented His body. They were to remember what He did for them. When we eat the bread we are saying: I accept the fact that the B of Jesus B M S and I remember what You did for me Lord! I Peter 2:24; Hebrews 9:26b 28 It took an act of God to actually R our S F us. Luke 22:20 and Matthew 26:27 28 When we drink the cup we remember that Jesus shed B R God s New Covenant with us. Jesus establishes the New Covenant with God by shedding His innocent and pure blood for us all, John 1:29 and I Peter 1:18 21. If we take these emblems as mere ritual, without meaning, the results will be N. But if we take them as an act of love recognizing what Jesus did for us personally, we eat and drink His life! III. Communion Looks Outward: I Corinthians 11:26 The verb and tense proclaim means You go on loudly proclaiming together! The third benefit from receiving communion in faith is it causes us to view one another differently! I Corinthians 10:16, Paul writes in the Lord s Supper we all S T in what Jesus did. We commune with Him and are united in Him. Two more definitions of the word communion. Our church life at Cedar Grove is to be characterized by His L in us, giving us the gifts of L, G, and the F of sins. When these things are the basis from which we live they impact all of our relationships. The disciples next words... and Jesus response to their selfishness... When we experience the power of the Cross of Christ, we are set free from the T of S to work for the good of others. 7
Discussion Starter Questions for Home Groups 1. Why is it important to tune our hearts to the voice of the Spirit of God when we come to the Communion Table to meet with Jesus? 2. Why is it important for us to know the difference between the Old Covenant relationship with God and the New Covenant relationship with God? 3. Why was it necessary for God to act to create the New Covenant for His people? 4. Why do you think Jesus chose the Passover Celebration of their history to institute the Lord s Supper? 5. When we partake of the bread and the cup why is it necessary for us to look at our own spiritual journey? What happens when we choose to eat and drink without meaning what we are doing? 6. Why is it important for us to walk in His life, love, grace, and forgiveness with each other as a church family? 7. Why do you think Jesus addressed selfishness in His followers rite after instituting Communion? 8. Read together aloud Luke 22:26 30. Discuss insights you have regarding what Jesus instituted that night in Communion. 9. Read together aloud I Corinthians 11:23 31. Discuss insights you have regarding choosing to judge ourselves now. 10. What are some things from this message about the Communion Table of Jesus that you want to think through and apply to your own journey? 8