Church - Part 6
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Welcome...
Introduction…
Continuing our series on what is the church
Pray
Heavenly Father, please give me clarity in the words I speak.
Please fill us with the truth of your word and grant us
repentance where there is sin,
understanding where there is confusion, and
wisdom where there is foolishness.
Open our ears and our hearts,
Turn our affections towards you,
And make yourself our greatest joy and treasure.
In Jesus name, Amen.
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Without a correct view of the church, a person will not have a correct view of what it means to follow Jesus.
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At Abide Church, we believe that
(1) the Bible is our final authority in all matters,
(2) the nature of the church is a theological issue, and
(3) that both the Universal Church and the Local Church are divinely instituted.
Universal Church: All true Christians everywhere throughout all time.
Local Church: Local gatherings of Christians at a specific time and place.
We are going to continue to use Retro-Christianity’s essential “marks” and “works” framework.
These essential “marks” and “works” are both
Biblical (supported by scripture)
Historical (largely recognized throughout church history)
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Framework:
Marks
Ordinances
Order
Orthodoxy
Works
Exaltation
Edification
Evangelism
Definition of “Ordinance”
“God-ordained ceremony.”
gotquestions.org
There are only 2 ordinances,
Baptism and communion
So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’
And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.
And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.
And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said.
This is the final plague God sent on the Egyptians.
During this final plague was the establishment of the “Passover.”
To understand the significance of communion, we must start first understand its origins in the Passover.
The story of the Passover takes place in the book of Exodus.
The entire book of Exodus is a picture our bondage to sin and Jesus setting us free.
Just as Israel was enslaved to the Egyptians, we are born as slaves to sin.
Just as God set Israel free from the Egyptians, God sets us free from our sin.
Specifically, if you read the first 10 chapters of Exodus, you see that Israel was enslaved and unable to go and worship the true God.
Similarly, when we are enslaved to sin, we too are unable to worship God.
We and Israel, needed redemption, freedom, to worship God.
When you read the book of Exodus, you see that this 10th and final plague was the decisive blow to Pharaoh that lead to Israel’s exodus, or exit, or freedom from slavery.
This historical event turned into an annual feast. Everything about this feast points to Jesus and his work on the cross.
So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’
The imagery of the sacrifice of the first born is significant.
There was no freedom for Israel without the death of the firstborn of Pharaoh, there is no freedom for us without the death of the only begotten son of the living God.
There is no redemption. There is no reconciliation. There is no way for sinful man to properly worship without the shedding of blood.
This is the first of many things in scripture that point to passover and later communion, being used to distinguish God’s people from those who are not God’s people.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.
What is the significance of the lamb?
There is the story in Genesis where Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac. When they get to the place where the sacrifice is to take place, there is wood, there is fire, but there is no lamb. Isaac notices this and asks his father, “Hey, where is the lamb?”
Abraham responds, “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
Isaac then lays his life down as a willing sacrifice and at the last moment, God provides a lamb caught in a thicket.
All this was to point to the beauty of the gospel, that 2000 years later, God would again provide for himself, a lamb.
Jesus, God’s son, was that lamb.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
Without blemish, this is a representation of Jesus’ sinless life. He was without blemish. Perfect.
Israel was to kill the lamb, and this was the picture of substitution.
The lamb died in place of that household.
Similarly, now we trust the Jesus died in our place
“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
The blood of the lamb was put on the doorposts and the lintel of the house.
The blood of the lamb cover that household
Now the blood of Jesus covers us
For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
When God passed through Egypt, it was to execute judgement
No one escaped the judgement of God
When God saw the blood, he would pass over that house.
This act of faith was an act of obedience to God and pointed forward to a faith in the coming lamb, Jesus himself.
“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.
Just as circumcision and baptism are serious to God
So is communion
You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
This is something to observe and also to provide instruction
The sacrifice of God provides a way for God to pass over our sin, this ought to lead us to worship!
At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said.
Through the death of Pharaoh’s son, Israel was set free
Through the death of God’s son, we are set free
This is all such important context to understand our practice of communion.
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Jesus was a Jew.
The authors of the gospels expect the readers to have some understanding of what we just went through.
Jesus is about to take the most significant Jewish feast, redefine its meaning, and say that it’s all about him.
Do you see how audacious this is? How radical? Jews had been celebrating the passover for 1800 years at this point
The United States was only founded 250 years ago...
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
We look forward to the day when once again Jesus will drink of the fruit of the vine...
More on that later...
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
The bread represents Jesus’ body, broken for us.
I have to say it again, because it is completely radical that Jesus would take this feast and make it about him.
This always makes me think of Isaiah 53:5:
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
This, we are to call to mind when we take the bread.
The cup represents Jesus’ blood.
No longer do we shed the blood of a lamb,
The blood of the lamb was shed.
What is communion?
What is communion?
Communion includes:
Covenant Renewal
Remembrance
Examination
Communion with God
Communion with each other
Proclamation
Celebration
Covenant Renewal
Covenant Renewal
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
This new covenant that Jesus is talking about here is the same covenant we talked about last week. It can be found in Jeremiah 31 and is marked out by baptism.
Baptism is the entrance sign to the new covenant.
Communion is the renewal sign of the new covenant.
Baptism shows that you’re in.
Communion shows that you’re still in.
You may have heard of excommunication. This means to exclude someone from communion.
We’re not going to talk about this today, but that’s what excommunication is. It is the church saying we don’t think you’re in any more.
Covenant renewal doesn’t mean we are out of the covenant with God each week until we renew with him, rather it means that we renew our right understanding of the covenant we have with God
This would actually be pretty similar to renewing marriage vows. When a couple renews their wedding vows, that doesn’t imply that they stopped being married at some point, but rather they are refreshing the committments and promises they made to one another.
Similarly, Jesus is the actor and mediator of the new covenant. So in communion, our focus is on receiving his grace by faith.
Remembrance
Remembrance
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
Jesus says explicitly here, that we are to remember him when we take communion.
We are to remember his broken body
We are to remember his shed blood
We are to remember that he is our God, savior, joy, and treasure.
Examination
Examination
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, 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.” In the same way also he 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.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
To examine oneself means to ask if you are going on in open sin and rebellion against God, thus making a mockery of the cross.
To examine oneself means to ask if you are receiving the sign of the covenant through the blood of Jesus, or on your own righteousness
You don’t have to remember and confess every sin to be “worthy” to take communion.
It doesn’t take penance to get worthy to take communion
It takes faith in Jesus, and trusting his blood to be sufficient to make you worthy to partake.
This can happen in a short amount of time
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Communion with God
Communion with God
“Most Protestants today hold to the spiritual presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. The elements do not change or become the body and blood of the Lord in any way. The elements are symbols of His body and blood. While Jesus did say, “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” it was in the context of a Passover meal in which every element had a symbolic meaning. It would have been entirely out of context for the disciples to suddenly interpret these two items literally—especially since Jesus had not yet been crucified.”
“When we partake of the elements of communion today, we recognize that they are more than just symbols of something that happened a long time ago. Whenever we gather together to observe the Lord’s Supper, Christ is present with us spiritually. It is not just the memory of Him that is present; He is in the midst of the congregation. The emphasis is upon His presence within the worshiping body, not within the elements of the table. The believer communes with the Lord through the act of remembrance and worship.”
Communion with each other
Communion with each other
Membership is a covenantal relationship that also depends on the work of Jesus.
If you read 1 Corinthians 11 you’ll see a big emphasis on unity in the congregation.
Our vertical relationship with God makes it possible to have a horizontal relationship with each other.
As we are refreshed and reminded of the forgiveness and reconciliation we receive through Jesus, it out to lead us to have forgiveness and reconciliation with each other.
Proclamation
Proclamation
Instruction
You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
This is one of many reasons I want kids in the service with us at Abide.
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, 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.” In the same way also he 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.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
To take communion is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus.
Just as baptism has a component where God is acting and bringing you into covenant relationship with him AND also you are making a profession of faith to God...
So too, does communion have an aspect where God is acting and renewing his covenant relationship with you AND also you are making a profession of faith to God...
You are proclaiming the Lord’s death to others AND yourself.
Celebration
Celebration
Communion doesn’t only look back to Jesus work on the cross, although that is significant.
Communion also looks forward to the time when Jesus will again drink of the fruit of the vine.
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Jesus longs to be with us, his disciples
Do you long to be with Jesus? Are you homesick to be with Jesus? Or are you so distracted by the things of this world that Jesus fades into the background?
The church is described as the “bride of Christ”
Jesus is describes as the “groom”
Jesus will drink again with his disciples at the wedding feast, the “marriage supper of the lamb”
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Why is it a mark of the church?
Why is it a mark of the church?
Communion is the sign of the covenant. Given by Jesus himself. We don’t get to chose it.
Communion marks who is in and who is out.
Jesus was the one who said, “This is the new covenant in my blood”
To disregard communion is to disregard the covenant relationship.
If a church doesn’t take it every week, are they not a church?
Why do we take communion every week?
Why do we take communion every week?
Won’t it become rote?
This act will only become rote if you allow it to become rote.
Communion is such a precious gift and privilege that Jesus gave us to remember and draw near to him
You will never convince me that once a week is too often to commune with, remember, and celebrate Jesus.