I guess maybe that was the tune for Abide With Me, was it? It wasn't. It shows how much I know about tunes. I didn't think it was, but as we were singing, I thought maybe it was. All right, let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and we'll read verses 14 to 22. This is just an accompanying reading. Our attention will be in Matthew 26, verses 26 to 28. So beginning in verse 14 of 1 Corinthians 10, the apostle writes and says, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What did I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? So there is a little bit in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 We read this passage last week from Matthew 26, and we read verses 26 to 28, just as an accompanying reading, so we pick up something familiar already, just a short passage, 26 to 29 we read last week rather, but we'll just read 26, 27, and 28, and that will be the preaching for tonight. Matthew tells us now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread. And after blessing it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Well, let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word. We pray that you would add a mighty blessing to it, that you would cause what is spoken to come to us in the way that you know is best suited for each individual, that you might give us understanding, that you might bless us with assurance, and that the eyes of our heart would look to Jesus and not just see Him as a faithful Savior, but trust Him as a faithful Savior. So hear our prayer, O God, and do a mighty thing through a simple ministry of Your Word, as we ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, one of my seminary professors used to tell us He would say, guys, the gospel is in the grammar. And that was a phrase that he would emphasize in various ways. And it's a phrase, for whatever reason, has stuck with me over the years. And I believe his point in telling us that the gospel is in the grammar was at least threefold. One, he wanted us to pay attention to the details of God's word. He wanted us to do as best of a job as we could in understanding the context of any given passage that we were studying. And thereby, He wanted us to be able to give ourselves intentionally and carefully to real study of God's Word. The gospel is in the grammar. Well, here in Matthew chapter 26, boys and girls, Young people, we have the narrative that Matthew gives us about the institution of his supper as Jesus had that first Lord's Supper with his disciples. And if you're keeping score, it's not just Matthew 26, but Mark chapter 14, Luke chapter 22, and what we read there in the next chapter in 1 Corinthians 11. They record the same scene for us, Mark and Luke, in terms of the gospel, And Paul there in 1 Corinthians 11 looking back at that words of institution. I guess we forgot to read our Heidelberg Catechism, didn't we? Just realized that. Another mistake. Let's do that right now, because it is important, I think, to have that Lord's Day with us. We'll just push the pause button. This is like a heritage reformed congregation. We pause the sermon and do something else. They pause to sing, we'll pause to confess our faith. So here we are, Lord's Day 29, and we'll pull in question and answer 80 from the catechism as well. So you can see the page numbers there. Lord's Day 29, question 78 says, I'll read the question and the people will respond with the answer. Do the bread and wine become the real body and blood of Christ? No, because the water of baptism does not change. So then question 79 asks us why then does Christ call the bread his body and the cup his blood or the new covenant in his blood and And Paul uses the words, a participation in Christ's Body and Blood. Christ has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that just as bread and wine nourish the temporal life, so too His crucified body and poured out blood are the true food and drink of our souls. Very good. And question 80. Another long answer for us. It asks us, how does the Lord's Supper differ from the Roman Catholic Mass? The Lord's Supper declares to us that all our sins are completely forgiven through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself accomplished on the cross once for all. It also declares to us that the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ, who with his true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father, where he wants us to worship him. But the Mass teaches that the living and the dead do not have their sins forgiven through the suffering of Christ, unless Christ is still offered for indignity by the priests. It also teaches that Christ is bodily present under the form of bread and wine, where Christ is therefore to be worshiped. Thus, the mass is basically not any but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and an indomitable idolatry. Very good, congregation. So as we come to Lord's Day 29 like we heard there, pulling in question and answer 80 as well, we have a chance tonight to learn more and to hear more about what's known as sacramental language. This time in connection with the Lord's Supper like we had previously heard back in Lord's Day 26 in connection with baptism. So question and answer 78 and 79 in particular will be with us, but I will reference question and answer 80 at some point as well. And we'll make our way through the three verses 26, 27, and 28 here in Matthew chapter 26, keeping, if you have one of the inserts, the following theme and points in hand along the way. Very simply, Jesus speaks with specificity as he explains the Lord's Supper. Jesus speaks with specificity as he explains the Lord's Supper. And to see that that is so, let's look at what he says about the bread in verse 26, as well as what he says about the wine in verses 27 and 28. So if you look at verse 26 with me, And what Jesus says about the bread, you can tell if you look up just a few verses earlier in verses 17, 18, and 19, that the context here for this first administration of the Lord's Supper is the Passover meal that Jesus is having with his disciples. And there's a ceremony to the circumstance as Jesus presents things to his disciples. Look at verse 26. He took bread, He blessed the bread, he broke the bread, and he gave the bread to his disciples. So there's the ceremony of circumstance and sequence here in the administration of the Lord's Supper. And to the point of the first point, what Jesus says is, take, eat, this is my body. So the question there, and we'll address this question at the end of the first point, the question there is what What is the meaning of the word is? And so that's where the sermon title is comes from. The shortest sermon title I've ever had for a message is. So as far as the Passover connection goes, mentioning verses 17, 18, and 19, maybe one way to put things is this. What we have here is where an Old Testament rite, R-I-T-E, an Old Testament rite is given a New Testament meaning. In other words, boys and girls, what Jesus does is He shows the disciples and He shows us that the Passover pointed to Him all along. So like I've said before, I will say it again, and I'm sure I'll say it another time. It really is all about Jesus when it comes to the meaning of the Bible. In the Old Testament, boys and girls, The blood of the Passover lamb, it protected Israel from the angel of death that swept through the land. If you want to look at that tonight before you go to bed, maybe Exodus chapter 12 is where we have that. And in the New Testament, that imagery of protection from death and judgment through blood, fulfilled for us in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Paul says over in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7 that Christ is our Passover lamb who has been sacrificed for us. And so we praise God for that fulfillment of the Passover lamb in the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ and its meaningful connection here to the Lord's Supper. So the Lord's Supper, not just with the bread but with the wine as well, the Lord's Supper is a witness to the fulfillment of the Passover in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's a sign and seal of what Jesus has done to free us from the judgment that we deserve and from the death that we deserve. It's a means of grace for every believer who eats and drinks in remembrance of Christ that the true faith God gives might be nourished and strengthened accordingly. So it's a picture, boys and girls, accompanied with a promise given to us from Jesus Christ Himself. And in all of those ways, congregation, the Lord's Supper points us to Jesus. It points us away from itself, and it points us to the Savior. And it calls us in the administration, in the receiving, in the partaking, in the remembering, in all of those ways, to believe in Jesus as our faithful Savior, to trust Him according to that promise of the gospel that is given to us, and to rest in Him as we receive bread or wine in remembrance of His name. So regarding the ceremonial scenery here, that sort of that cadence, he took, he blessed, he broke, he gave, what we see there is that Jesus is intentional about doing what he's doing here in instituting the Lord's Supper. So boys and girls, our Lord doesn't shoot from the hip. He's not working on the fly as if he's making it up as he goes along. He's not going through the motions simply to establish a tradition that He knows His church will regard as important. But rather, and quite to the contrary, as Jesus was all throughout the course of His ministry, very intentional, and from the beginning, He shows us with that intentionality that the Lord's Supper is holy and that it is a time of fellowship with Jesus who is present. The Lord's Supper is holy, boys and girls. Because it was instituted for us by Jesus. And He is the Holy Son of God. And the Lord's Supper is a time of fellowship, even today, for every believer who partakes in true faith. Because every believer who partakes in true faith, there's a collective kind of fellowship where we see the bread, where we receive the bread, where we internalize the bread, and we eat and drink together in remembrance of Christ who is spiritually present with us during that administration of the Lord's Supper. So even though Jesus isn't here physically today, like He was on this occasion with the disciples, He still is present. I'll mention it later, that's what Paul means when he talks about participation in the blood of Christ and participation with Christ through the bread that is given as well. So the next time that the Lord's Supper is administered, which should be in just a few weeks, December 15th, during that administration of the Lord's Supper, take special note of your communion with Christ as the bread and wine are distributed among us. If I can say it like this, have a special remembrance that in that time, you have opportunity to sup with the Savior. You have opportunity to remember that Jesus comes to you through these holy tokens, that you might be blessed and that you might benefit from his work. You have time to be fed and to be strengthened and to be nourished And you have time, having received all of that through a simple ceremony of bread being distributed among a congregation, to then go into the week that lies ahead, December 15th through the 21st, and remember that Jesus loves you, and that he gave himself up for you, and that he provided the administration of the Lord's Supper as an ongoing sacrament throughout the whole course of your Christian walk, as a professing member in his church, to be regularly reminded and strengthened accordingly. Now to the point of the language of the first point, with Jesus' words here in verse 26, where he says, take, eat, this is my body. We have two commands, the word take and the word eat are both commands. And then we have something like a word picture. Presumably, let's say Jesus is holding the bread up to the disciples, and he says, this is my body. So the two commands show us that it's important to understand what the word is, is, and what the meaning of the word is, is. And the word picture, this is my body, that highlights the bread as a token of Jesus' body, not as Jesus' body itself. So maybe some takeaways, we could phrase things like this. With the commands, take, eat, one thing we can learn, is that those who eat at the Lord's Supper, and drink for that matter, but those who eat at the Lord's Supper must have some basic level of understanding in terms of what the Lord's Supper means. This idea that we are to take what is given and we are to eat what is provided requires, at least strongly implies, that there's an awareness and an understanding of what's happening with the Lord's Supper and what the bread signifies and points us to. And on the other hand, where Jesus says, this is my body, we have to know, as I believe we all do, that our Lord's words there are not to be taken literally. On the surface of things, congregation, it makes no sense to take our Lord's words literally and think that the bread somehow changes into his body or that it is meant to be a piece of his body. Jesus' body Here in Matthew chapter 26 is right in front of the disciples. He's alive and well at this point, and I don't think they would have had any confusion about what is, is, when Jesus says, this is my body. Because that word is, boys and girls, in this context it means something like represents. It means something like pictures. This represents my body. This pictures my body. That's how sacramental language works. That's what we all heard and said in question 78 and a little bit in question 79 too. So the Roman Catholic doctrine of the mass that we heard about there in question and answer 80, it's not correct. In fact, like our catechism said, it's a condemnable idolatry. Think of it like this. Here's the way John Calvin phrased things about the idolatry of the mass and why it's wrong to worship the host, the bread. Calvin said this somewhere. I can't remember where I read this in Calvin's writings. I think it might have been in his book on sermons from Genesis. But what Calvin said was this. He said if the bread and wine are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ, then we should worship them. We are obligated to worship them if that is the real physical presence of Christ. But Calvin said, since it's not changed into the real body and real blood of Christ, to worship the bread and wine as if they were present, Jesus was present in them for us, that makes it idolatry. If it was Christ, we must worship it, but since it's not Christ, it's idolatry. And so with the simplicity of bread and wine being distributed to us as the body and blood of Christ, there's no magic, there's no transformation of the substances that take place, But it's the Holy Spirit who uses these earthly elements in a powerful, effectual way to strengthen faith in our hearts and to deepen the trust and assurance that we have in our Savior who was sacrificed for us. Like we heard last week in Psalm 34. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Remember, congregation, He is your Savior by way of His crucified body and shed blood. And that's why Jesus can say and promise without any shortcomings or reservation, come to me. all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Go to Jesus for that, and feed upon him by faith, not with the mouth, but with the heart, as you receive the benefits of his body coming to you in that token of bread that the Spirit enlivens for you and makes effectual. As we continue, let's look at what Jesus says about the wine. And again, a few things up front here. First of all, if you look at verse 27, a similar selection of words is used as with the bread. So verse 27 is parallel in some fashion to verse 26 with those particular points. And then the command in verse 27 at the end of the verse about the wine, drink of it all of you. So once more, that implies active participation and awareness of what's going on with the wine as the Lord's Supper is received. So lastly then, in verse 28, Jesus explains the meaning of the wine. And remember what I said from whenever it was recently, but I said the word always informs the meaning of the sacraments. So the sacraments don't ever stand alone as if they're in isolation, but the sacraments have their meaning and are always accompanied by the word. And so Jesus explains the significance of the wine. He says, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. So to the point of the parallel language that we have here in verse 27 with verse 26, let me say this. That's part of the, if I can say it, that's part of the symmetry of the ceremony that we see Jesus established with his sacrament. So hear that again. There's part of the symmetry in the ceremony that Jesus established with the Lord's Supper for us. The bread this way, the wine that way. And that's no small thing, congregation. Jesus simplifies everything about the Lord's Supper for us by using plain language, take, eat, remember, he does that with the wine here, drink of it, all of you. The simpler something is, the more accessible and easily understandable it is. And since no one here, myself included, is a genius, We should all be thankful and glad that our Lord speaks so simply. A young child can understand that the bread represents the body of Christ in the Lord's Supper, and that the wine represents the blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper. Congregation, the fact that Jesus speaks about things that are so profound in such a simple way, that's a testimony and a witness to His goodness. He doesn't muddy the waters here by trying to wax eloquent and use sophisticated theological language to connect the Lord's Supper with the Passover. He doesn't try to impress his disciples with fancy speech that shows a penetrating insight into the breadth and depth of what this sacrament means. Jesus could easily have done all of that and still made it very simple and straightforward. But he makes a profound point in the simplicity of the language that he uses. Even Matthew's narrative. Matthew's narrative is solemn, his narrative is straightforward, it's sincere, it's simple, and it's short and to the point. He took a cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink of it, all of you. That's a testimony congregation to the fact that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ want us to benefit from the Lord's Supper. So as often as you eat and drink in remembrance of Christ, or boys and girls and some of the young people here, if at this point you're an observer, when the Lord's Supper is administered, partake or observe in remembrance of Christ, who loved you and gave Himself up for you, and believe in Him according to that promise of the Gospel, that you might have your sins forgiven, that you might have your whole life renewed, and that you might confess and have the assurance of salvation full and free in Jesus' name. And then go. Go in the rest of the days that God has for you and proclaim His praise. Like the seventh grader said tonight, I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy, because He inclined His ear to me. Therefore I will call on him as long as I live. That's the mouth of faith that speaks after the heart partakes of Christ in the Lord's Supper. As far as drinking the wine goes, that's a command that's put before us here at the end of verse 27. Drink of it, all of you. Let me say two things about that. And I alluded to this already. But the mouth receives the wine as a sign and seal of our Lord's blood. Belgic Confession Article 35 has interesting language. It says, we do not err when what we say we drink is the proper and natural blood of Christ. Very strong and robust language there in Article 35 of the Belgic Confession. So the mouth receives the wine as a sign and seal of Christ's blood. But it's the heart. that enables us to feed upon Christ as we drink His blood. It's true faith that is what enables us to feed upon Christ as we drink His blood. And we receive the wine as a token of our Lord's shed blood because the benefits of that shed blood are ours according to the promise of the gospel as we believe in Jesus to be our Savior. So in the Lord's Supper congregation, when we drink the wine, or for that matter, eat the bread, we commune with Christ. as our faithful Savior. He comes to us in the bread and wine under the veil of these earthly elements and by the Holy Spirit. We have that close spiritual connection revived and renewed, and our trust in Jesus is strengthened even through something simple as drinking in remembrance of Him. Like I said over there in 1 Corinthians 10 that we read, the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not, Paul asks, a participation in the blood of Christ? I've said before that word participation is that Greek word koinonia. It means fellowship, participation. That's why the blood of Christ, signified and sealed in the wine that comes to us, is food and drink for our souls unto everlasting life. So in a marvelous and in a mysterious way, congregation, Jesus communicates himself to us and all of his saving virtues as we receive the wine in true faith in remembrance of him and partake together. Now this isn't the Roman Catholic way, ex operato. Just because we do it, that means it happens. It's not mechanical and perfunctory like that. But it's something that the Holy Spirit works through when bread and wine are administered and received in true faith with the believing heart. Then we are strengthened accordingly. That's what happens with you. And that's what happens with me. And that's what happens with all believers who receive these elements in faith. Keep that truth with you, congregation, and have new eyes and a fresh witness to that in your heart on December 15th. Of course, believe now in Jesus as your faithful Savior and then commune with Him in a special way through that sacrament the next time it's offered and every time it's offered after that. Because the proof of all of those things is found in the meaning of the wine that Jesus gives us there in verse 28. Listen to what He says about the contents of the cup. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Again, that word is, this is my blood of the covenant. It means something like represents or pictures. The language of sign and seal is how we talk about that. But that phrase in verse 28 provides for us a vivid description of the purpose of the cross poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Remember from the introduction tonight, The gospel is in the grammar. There's the meaning of the wine right there. Our Lord's blood was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. So there's nothing magical that happens when the Lord's Supper is administrated. The Lord's Supper is not the Mass, and the Mass is not the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a sacrament. The Mass is an idolatry. The Holy Spirit makes the Lord's Supper effectual. It's not simply the administration of it that benefits us. It's a sign and seal. As such, The thing for all of us to remember and all of us to keep in mind is that the Lord's Supper points us to the gospel message, to the gospel promise, and thereby to Jesus Christ himself. So the Lord's Supper, boys and girls, it tells us about a Savior who was crucified for all of our many sins. The Lord's Supper tells us about a Savior through whom we can be forgiven and through whom we can have full acceptance with God the Father, both now and forevermore. By itself, the Lord's Supper doesn't do that. Jesus is the one who does that. And the Spirit brings Jesus to us in a special way through the bread and through the wine. The Lord's Supper shows us that. And with the bread and the wine, Jesus is saying, I want to prove that to you. It really is all about Jesus, congregation. Hear of Him tonight. Believe in Him tonight. And on December 15th, come to the Savior and participate in the benefits of His crucified body and in the benefits of His shed blood. Jesus lived the life of obedience that none of us could ever live. He died the death on the cross that all of us here tonight deserve. And in the Gospel promise, which is visibly displayed to us in the Lord's Supper, we learn that everyone who trusts in Christ and receives Him in faith has their sins forgiven and are justified in God's sight both now and forevermore. May that promise be impressed on your heart, may it be impressed in my heart, and may it live with us each and every day. Amen. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. And as we hear these things tonight, we ask that you would make them stay with us. And even though we hear a sermon like this and the Lord's Supper is nowhere close at hand, yet help us to keep them in mind and to have a rich and ready reminder of these things on December 15th, as we plan to share this meal together and sit at our Savior's feet as we fellowship with Him and have spiritual communion through the Holy Spirit and these earthly elements, asking all of this and praying for the gospel promise to be present in each of our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen.