A Great Treasure - The Nature of the Lord's Supper

Advent - The Lord's Supper  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  35:54
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Just before His ascension into heaven, Jesus comes to His disciples and declares: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18 ESV). Christ Jesus the Lord is the one with all authority.
From the very beginning of time God spoke through the Prophets, but as the author of Hebrews declares, “In these Last Days He has spoken by His Son . . . through Whom He created the world” (Heb. 1:1-2).
Christ Jesus is the very Word of God, from the beginning. He is, as John records, “the Word become flesh” (John 1:14).
The point of this introduction is to say that Christ Jesus is the very Word of God, through Whom God still speaks today, and in His speaking creates! As such, all the Words spoken by Christ Jesus have authority.
The very same authority that spoke everything into existence is the same authority that cast out demons from their victims. The very same authority that raised from the dead Lazarus, along with the son whose mother is the widow of Nain, is the very one who caused the storm-tossed sea to become completely still when He commanded, “be quiet”
And Christ Jesus is the very One who has given us a great treasure in His holy supper. This one with authority said some very specific words, which we will take a closer look this evening, and the next two Wednesdays. The goal is to increase our faith to trust the Words of Christ regarding this blessed gift, so that we will yearn to receive it.

The One With All Authority INSTITUTED

True God and true man 1 Cor 11:23-24
1 Corinthians 11:23–24 ESV
23 For I received from the Lord what 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.”
Only our Lord’s Word establishes the Sacrament
Jesus is the only one who has all authority to create. John 1:1-3
Hebrews 11:3
These words are a special covenant - or testament - spoken on the eve of His death. And no ones last will and testament can be changed after his death.
Galatians 3:15
Galatians 3:15 ESV
15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.
Hebrews 9:15-22
Hebrews 9:15–22 ESV
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and 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 that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
The blood of the covenant was thrown against the altar and on the people — GIVING ACCESS TO GOD — so that the enders of the people beheld God and ate and drank in His presence. in the Lord’s Supper, we receive Christ blood of the covenant and, in it, the forgiveness of sins AND communion with our God. Exodus 24:8

The One with All Authority SPOKE

How is bread and wine the body and blood of Christ? By the power of Christ’s almighty Word: He give us His true body and blood UNDER THE CONSECRATED BREAD AND WINE. 1 Corinthians 10:16
Without Jesus’ Words spoken over the bread and wine there would be no Sacrament. The bread and wine must be consecrated.
It is not a symbol, but clearly Jesus’ body and blood: because He said so.

The One with All Authority INVITES

He invites all of His disciples to eat and drink. “Take, eat...” “Drink of it, all of you...”
He invites us to come to receive the Sacrament as often as it is offered. He does so, not only because the gift He bestows, but because of our great need.
NT the sacrament was a regular and major feature of the congregational worship: Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:20; 1 Cor 11:33;
Acts 2:42 ESV
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Acts 20:7 ESV
7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.
1 Corinthians 11:20 ESV
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.
1 Corinthians 11:33 ESV
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another—
Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, 2017 Edition The Nature of the Sacrament of the Altar

As Christians, we confess that we receive the very body and blood of Christ—in, with, and under the bread and wine—in our hands and in our mouths. This is a profound wonder and unexplainable mystery.

Jesus wants to be with me and within me (John 17:26). In the Sacrament of the Altar, He gives Himself to me and pledges never to leave me or forsake me.

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