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08132017Worship-OfferingUpOurRemembranceDonRuhl
Worship: Offering Up Our Remembrance
How can we worship our God without remembering what He has done for us?
Matthew 26.26–30
Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • August 13, In the year of our Lord, 2017
Prelude:
We pray as worship,
thanking God and praising Him
for His many blessings.
Likewise, we sing as worship,
thanking God and praising Him
for His many blessings.
However, we have one thing we do
that targets His greatest blessing to us.
When we worship the Lord,
we do so through sacrifices.
However, one thing we do
reminds us of the sacrifice He made for us.
Through this sacrifice He did not worship us, but
He became a sacrifice for us,
enabling us to worship God.
God gave a body to Jesus, and
He gave it back to God for us.
Persuasion:
Jesus Offered the Body He Received from the Father
Hebrews 10
speaks of what the Father gave Jesus, and then
what Jesus did with what the Father gave Him.
First, the writer reveals that the sacrifices of the Law of Moses
served as a shadow of what was coming, because
they were not the real sacrifices, but
set the stage for the true sacrifice,
1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins (Heb 10.1–4).
That being the case, he then shows
that the Old Testament itself
spoke of the coming of the true sacrifice,
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’”
(Heb 10.5–7)
Psalm 40.6–8 spoke on behalf of the coming One.
Notice that the Coming One spoke to God
that He had given a body to this Special One, and
He would then do the will of God.
Then the writer expounded upon the application of Psalm 40.6–8,
8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb 10.8–10).
This passage provides great thoughts for eating the Lord’s Supper, because
when we eat the bread,
we remember the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, and
when we drink the cup,
we remember the blood that Jesus shed during His violent death.
Therefore, when we eat that Supper,
we take part in His sacrifice
that He made to God on our behalf.
That means as we eat that bread and drink that cup,
we engage in worshiping the Creator.
How the Creator Wants His Creatures to Remember Him
Even as we want our families to remember us,
so Jesus of Nazareth wants His family to remember Him, and
He specified how He wanted us to remember His sacrifice for us.
Matthew 26 shows Him eating the Passover with His apostles,
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” 30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives (Matt 26.26–30).
We know from Hebrews 10 that His body replaced animal sacrifices.
Here Jesus explained two reasons why He shed His blood:
He shed His blood to dedicate a new covenant.
He shed His blood for the remission of sins.
Therefore, when you drink of the cup,
you should remember at least these two things.
He also shed His blood to purchase the church.
First Corinthians 11.17–34 | Keep the Lord’s Supper as a Form of Worship
The Corinthian Church attempted to eat the Lord’s Supper, but
they had taken away from it as a matter of worship, and
turned it into a common meal to eat alone whenever you wished.
17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
The irreverent atmosphere they created,
kept it from being a matter of worship.
Therefore, they were not eating the Lord’s Supper, but
merely satisfying their hunger.
Then Paul reminded them of the preciousness of the Communion,
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
We do not eat the Lord’s Supper to enjoy some good food, but
to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
He wants the church to continue to remember Him in this manner,
doing so until the day that He returns.
Think on what we announce when we eat it,
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
This is so special that Paul then said,
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Therefore, Paul then taught that this is something we do together,
33 Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Do not come to eat the Lord’s Supper to satisfy your hunger, but
come to remember the sacrifice of Jesus,
otherwise, we will experience judgment,
34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come (1Co 11.17–34).
Exhortation:
Worship the Lord every first day of the week
by remembering the sacrifice that Jesus the Lord made for us.
Remember His sacrifice as He wished for it to be remembered.
Eat the bread,
remembering that God gave Jesus a body and
Jesus used that body in doing God’s will,
which meant experiencing the consequence of our sin.
Think on that as you eat the bread.
Drink the cup,
remembering that Jesus submitted Himself to a violent death,
bleeding in the process.
He inaugurated a new covenant in doing so, and
He made forgiveness available.
Participate in His death and resurrection,
waiting for His return
by submitting to baptism in water.