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All right, we are back, our second installment

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in our four week series called Mystery and Mercy.

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And we're focusing in this series, not just on history,

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but the history of the doctrine of the Eucharist,

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the doctrine and the practice of the Lord's table.

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Now, last week, no pun intended, we set the table

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as we looked at the narrative of the upper room

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in Matthew chapter 26, that amazing moment

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when the Son of God sat down for a final Passover meal

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with his closest friends and established communion

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as a perpetual sacrament for the church.

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Amazing moment in time, all four gospel writers

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speak of the story, John gives a little bit different

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spin on that day, but all four of them speak

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of this important moment in the history of the church.

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Let me just say for those of you who missed week one,

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let me start by clarifying the meaning

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of some difficult words that you might hear today

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that might be a little bit unfamiliar to you.

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Words like sacrament, I just used that word.

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Also the word Eucharist, those were words

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that were very familiar and used consistently

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by both the early church fathers and the reformers.

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So we're gonna talk about them in this series.

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I hope you won't be triggered by them.

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And if you need to know more about what those words

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actually mean, go back and listen to last week's message.

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That will help.

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This morning, we're gonna dive into a whole bunch

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of historical doctrine, which is appropriate

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considering what today is.

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This is the first time, and I don't know how long,

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that we're actually celebrating Reformation Sunday

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on the actual date that it belongs on, right?

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So October 31st, 1517.

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Not Halloween, Reformation Sunday, October 31st, 1517

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was the date that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses

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onto the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

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Historians who have looked at this call this event,

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this one day, and it's hard to even imagine

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that a simple monk was doing something

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that he would normally do to put some type

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of academic discussion on the door of a church

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that that one day would be called later on

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the match that was struck that lit the whole world on fire.

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And that's true.

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Nobody but God could have foreseen what would happen

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over the next 15 to 20 years after that historic day.

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It quite literally transformed Europe and Christendom,

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and 500 years later we are still feeling its effects.

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Now obviously it wasn't just Luther, right?

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It was God's sovereign hand behind all of it,

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and actually as you guys know,

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Luther wasn't the first one to really begin

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to publicly call for reform in the church.

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Over the years here at Oak Hill we have documented

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the contributions of men who predated Luther,

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who had so much courage in calling for reform of the church.

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Men like Wycliffe and Huss, for example.

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But we mark this particular date every year

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for a very important reason because these reformers,

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even the ones who predated Luther,

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these reformers represent our spiritual heritage.

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They're our spiritual heritage as modern day Protestants.

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These were the guys who risked everything,

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including their very lives,

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to battle for the doctrines that we hold

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as infinitely precious.

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Doctrines that our faith is rooted in,

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things like the authority of scripture,

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and the justification by faith alone.

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Biblical ecclesiology, proper worship in the church,

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and our subject matter for this year's celebration

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in 2021, the Eucharist.

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The Eucharist was a central issue

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for those who desired to see reform

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come to the Catholic mass.

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So, Reformation season is a time to look back

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to see how God has been faithful,

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how he has accomplished his will through these men,

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these reformers, but listen, it's also a time for us

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to take stock of where we are today as a church.

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To put into practice one of the cries of the Reformation,

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which was semper reformanda, which means always reforming.

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We should be always reforming because we as Christians,

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and we as the church are constantly prone to wander, aren't we?

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To wander away from truth.

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So it's good for us to slow down

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and do some self-examination

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and to ask really important questions.

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What do we believe about communion?

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What's going on there?

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How does our view line up with the historic Christian faith?

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Have we thought this over carefully

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or have we found ourselves over the years

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just going through the motions?

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These are important questions to ask.

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Now, as I did last week, I wanna challenge you guys

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with some really tough issues today.

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And by the way, even more are coming next Sunday.

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This whole series is gonna be about challenging

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your presuppositions and what you were taught

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about communion or what you think you know about communion,

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but to actually look at the biblical evidence

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and the historical record.

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So, here's the first thing I wanna challenge you

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with this morning.

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I wanna challenge your sense of mystery

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in the Christian faith.

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Does your faith allow for mystery?

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Or will you only believe things

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that you can thoroughly work out,

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systematize in your head, in your intellect?

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Is there room for mystery?

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Second thing I wanna challenge you with

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is your understanding of the physical

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and the spiritual realms that the Bible describes for us

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and over which God rules.

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Are your beliefs and convictions driven

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only by your five earthly senses?

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Is that it?

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Or do you take into consideration the spiritual world

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that is just beyond you?

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Now, as I shared last week, the word sacrament

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is derived from the Greek word musterion,

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which you'll find throughout the New Testament.

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It's translated mystery, right?

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In fact, 27 times you'll see the New Testament writers

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use this word mystery.

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I'll give you a couple of examples.

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The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

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The mystery of ages past.

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The mystery of the gospel.

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The mystery of Christ.

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The mystery of the faith and so on.

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This word is all over the place.

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The fact is, there is so much about the Christian faith

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that is just plain difficult to pin down

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only using your intellectual senses.

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There are what we might call metaphysical truths

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found in the pages of the Bible

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that sometimes make us step back

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and sort of scratch our heads and wonder,

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like, what exactly does that mean?

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I'm having a hard time with just my brain

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processing what that means.

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And many of them have to do with this thin wall

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that exists between the physical realm that we live in

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and the spiritual realm beyond.

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Keep in mind, you and I as beings created

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in the image of God,

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we are both physical and spiritual, aren't we?

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We're made up of two parts, both body and soul,

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united in a single person.

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And our relationship to God is experienced

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in both parts of that person.

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Think about this, we love and we worship God

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in our inner man, and at the same time,

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we offer God our bodies as living sacrifices to him,

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both physical and spiritual.

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And that's a truth that allows us to better understand

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and believe that God the Son,

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the second person of the triune Godhead,

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was actually truly made flesh.

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He was actually incarnated, right?

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Fully man with a true human nature.

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Amazing truth, and that is a fundamental truth, right?

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That really sets Christianity apart from every other

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world religion, every other faith system,

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is that we have an incarnated God.

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Both the physical and the spiritual are essential

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to our being and to our faith.

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In fact, you could say that there is a physical side

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to being spiritual.

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We really can't bifurcate those two things.

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We ought to be able to say that when we're found

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to be in fellowship with God, our experience of him

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is both spiritual and physical and real.

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You can't really know God simply by reading a book

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about him.

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He wants to be encountered through the ways

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that he has revealed himself to us.

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It's not just intellect.

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So, here's just a short list of things

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that we read in scripture that I sort of want you

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to just think about in wonder,

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to sort of step back and be awed by this,

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to see the wonder of your faith and to say,

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wow, how have I understood those concepts before?

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Just a short list.

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First of all, as believers, we're not going to be

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in a spiritual union with Christ.

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Have you ever dwelt on that?

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Just dwelt on it, like a spiritual union with Christ.

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We speak of being found in Christ.

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What does that actually mean, to be in him?

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We're baptized into his death.

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In fact, it says we're buried with him.

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What does that mean?

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Now we've been raised up with him to eternal life.

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How are we supposed to grasp those types of truths,

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metaphysically?

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What does that mean?

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Then there's this one, and Grant read it this morning

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from our call to worship, Ephesians 2, 6.

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God has raised us up with Christ

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and seated us with him in heaven.

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Now some of you may know this, those verbs,

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raised up and seated us, are written

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in what we call the heiress active form.

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That means it's something that was completed in the past.

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It's already done.

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Can you explain that to me?

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That in the past, we've been raised up with Christ

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that in the past, it's already been done.

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We have been raised up with Christ.

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We are right now seated in the heavenly realms

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along with our savior.

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Who can understand that?

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How do you understand life in the spirit?

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How do you understand that?

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Or even more challenging, how do we explain

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the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?

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I mean, do we look like indwelling in us?

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Like is that a spatial thing?

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He's somehow entered into what our mouths

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and he's in there.

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What does that exactly mean,

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the indwelling of the spirit, right?

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God in me?

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It's not something we can see or hear or smell or touch.

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He is with us spiritually.

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We know that.

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He's guiding our thoughts and transforming our affections.

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But at the very same time, our bodies,

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the physical part of us, are called temples

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of the Holy Spirit.

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And in fact, why we're told not to pollute our bodies

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with sin because get this now,

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we, our bodies, are members of Christ.

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Members of Christ.

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And a home for the Holy Spirit.

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Think about all that.

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What does that actually mean?

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Both in the physical and the spiritual realm.

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Theologians speak of something called co-inherence.

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Jesus says this, the Father is in me

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and I am in the Father.

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And in fact, we know there are three individual,

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what we call subsistences, who co-inhere with each other.

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Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

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all existing as one essence or substance.

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Anybody get that figured out?

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And what about this?

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You and I are called to co-inhere with Jesus,

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to abide in him.

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In fact, he tells us this is truly possible.

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He says, I'm the vine and you're the branches.

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Abide in me and I in you.

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When you step back and think about it,

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this is wild stuff, isn't it?

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And sometimes we read right past it.

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And just nod, like okay.

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But we really stop to think about

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what are the practical implications

266
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of these types of statements?

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If you really wanna get big, I mean really big,

268
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,280
consider this passage in Hebrews 12,

269
00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,760
which describes our physical and spiritual experience

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under the new covenant.

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Look at this passage.

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You have come, perfect tense, past event.

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You, believers, have come to Mount Zion

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and to the city of the living God,

275
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the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

276
00:11:35,540 --> 00:11:38,180
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn

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who were enrolled in heaven, and to God,

278
00:11:41,020 --> 00:11:43,620
the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous

279
00:11:43,620 --> 00:11:47,220
made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,

280
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and to the sprinkled blood.

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That's pretty dramatic.

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Are you aware that that's happened to you, believer?

283
00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,260
Christian, are you aware that that's happened to you?

284
00:11:59,940 --> 00:12:02,400
What if I told you the believers in the early church

285
00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:04,540
saw this wall between the physical

286
00:12:04,540 --> 00:12:06,880
and the spiritual realms as much thinner

287
00:12:07,700 --> 00:12:08,840
than we do today?

288
00:12:10,780 --> 00:12:11,740
Much thinner.

289
00:12:11,740 --> 00:12:12,780
You and I struggle with this

290
00:12:12,780 --> 00:12:15,580
because we are products of Western thought,

291
00:12:15,580 --> 00:12:17,280
products of the enlightenment, right?

292
00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:18,380
All of us.

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00:12:18,380 --> 00:12:21,220
We trust our senses, we trust our intellects,

294
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so we tend to not even read our Bible

295
00:12:23,300 --> 00:12:24,720
supernaturally sometimes.

296
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Like I said, we'll read right over

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00:12:26,060 --> 00:12:28,260
some of this amazing language.

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00:12:29,100 --> 00:12:31,160
We don't walk through life with a sense of mystery

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00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,760
and wonder, and consequently, I am convinced

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00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,240
that we don't see God moving as much as we should

301
00:12:37,900 --> 00:12:40,480
because our spiritual eyes aren't on.

302
00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:42,340
The earliest Christians didn't suffer from this.

303
00:12:42,340 --> 00:12:43,740
They believed, for example,

304
00:12:43,740 --> 00:12:46,280
that when they stepped into the church,

305
00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:47,520
and I'm not talking about a building

306
00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:49,860
because the early Christians didn't have a lot of buildings.

307
00:12:49,860 --> 00:12:52,060
When they stepped into the fellowship

308
00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:55,020
among the people of God, they believed they were stepping

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00:12:55,020 --> 00:12:58,100
outside of earthly time and into what they called

310
00:12:58,100 --> 00:13:01,260
the eternal present of the kingdom of heaven.

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00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,340
That's how much they prized the gathering of the saints.

312
00:13:05,340 --> 00:13:08,640
They felt like they were walking into this eternal present.

313
00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,640
They understood, as that passage in Hebrews 12 says,

314
00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:13,780
that they were in some sense worshiping

315
00:13:13,780 --> 00:13:17,520
on God's holy mountain together in the presence of angels.

316
00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:20,780
They saw life as supernatural.

317
00:13:20,780 --> 00:13:23,980
They read their Bibles supernaturally.

318
00:13:23,980 --> 00:13:25,760
More importantly, they believed that they had entered

319
00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,160
the very throne room of God as a body,

320
00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,020
and they were ready to encounter him

321
00:13:30,020 --> 00:13:33,560
in very powerful ways, both in prayer and in worship.

322
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,300
But not us, not necessarily us, as Westerners.

323
00:13:38,300 --> 00:13:41,040
We drag ourselves into church whenever we can.

324
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For the most part, we walk in without real reverence

325
00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,180
or any mystical awe of what's happening around us.

326
00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,080
That's just going back to this subject of evangelicalism.

327
00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,420
We have made church so casual, everything is so casual,

328
00:13:54,420 --> 00:13:55,820
that we don't have that reverence.

329
00:13:55,820 --> 00:13:58,760
We don't have that sense of awe when we come together

330
00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,060
as the body of Christ.

331
00:14:01,060 --> 00:14:04,500
We're more like that cynical wilderness generation

332
00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:06,660
when Moses came to them and said, by the way,

333
00:14:06,660 --> 00:14:09,800
God says he is going to supernaturally feed you

334
00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,560
with quail and with manna.

335
00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:13,600
And they said, oh really?

336
00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,040
They doubted and they grumbled, yeah,

337
00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,040
like God's gonna come spread a banquet out here

338
00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:18,640
in the middle of the wilderness.

339
00:14:19,980 --> 00:14:22,840
I hope that's not us, that we would doubt

340
00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,040
that supernatural power that God has to do

341
00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:26,580
whatever he pleases.

342
00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,560
Every ministry of the Word and sacrament

343
00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,220
in the life of our church should be a time of wonder.

344
00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:37,960
Let me say that again.

345
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,660
Every ministry of the Word and sacrament

346
00:14:40,660 --> 00:14:42,600
in the life of Oak Hill Bible Church

347
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,040
should be a time of wonder.

348
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:46,900
We need to start thinking rightly about the fact

349
00:14:46,900 --> 00:14:48,700
that Christ really is alive.

350
00:14:48,700 --> 00:14:50,780
We say that, but he really is,

351
00:14:50,780 --> 00:14:53,880
and he really is working all the time through his spirit

352
00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,140
in supernatural ways to conform us to his image.

353
00:14:57,140 --> 00:14:58,640
Again, we give lip service to that,

354
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:03,020
but do we live as if that's truly happening around us?

355
00:15:03,020 --> 00:15:04,980
We should be anticipating even this morning

356
00:15:04,980 --> 00:15:08,160
that he is going to faithfully feed his people,

357
00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,320
that he's gonna faithfully strengthen our faith,

358
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,160
that he's gonna illuminate our minds

359
00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,940
and transform our hearts as we sing to him,

360
00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:17,900
as we worship with our body and our soul,

361
00:15:17,900 --> 00:15:20,140
as we hear the word preached.

362
00:15:21,500 --> 00:15:23,380
And when we as members come to his table,

363
00:15:23,380 --> 00:15:25,500
to his supper, we should anticipate

364
00:15:25,500 --> 00:15:28,340
that he is going to nourish us

365
00:15:28,340 --> 00:15:31,920
through the body and blood of his son.

366
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,520
He will be nourished by it.

367
00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:36,980
And that brings me back full circle,

368
00:15:36,980 --> 00:15:39,460
back to this subject matter of the Eucharist.

369
00:15:39,460 --> 00:15:43,020
What do you believe about the bread and the cup?

370
00:15:43,020 --> 00:15:44,420
What do you believe about the mystery

371
00:15:44,420 --> 00:15:47,100
of how the physical meets the spiritual

372
00:15:47,100 --> 00:15:49,540
when we come to the table in communion?

373
00:15:49,540 --> 00:15:51,300
It's called communion, right?

374
00:15:51,300 --> 00:15:53,140
Communion with who?

375
00:15:53,140 --> 00:15:55,140
With God, the physical meets the spiritual,

376
00:15:55,140 --> 00:15:57,540
and we come and we meet him there, right?

377
00:15:57,540 --> 00:16:00,180
As a body together as one family, we meet God there.

378
00:16:00,180 --> 00:16:02,640
Do we anticipate that he is gonna do something,

379
00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,720
or is it just check a box?

380
00:16:06,780 --> 00:16:10,020
Here's some more metaphysical language about communion

381
00:16:10,020 --> 00:16:12,280
that comes from Paul in 1 Corinthians 10.

382
00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:14,200
He says that when we drink from the cup,

383
00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:16,260
we are sharing in the blood of Christ.

384
00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:18,800
We're participating.

385
00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,340
We have koinonia, fellowship with the blood of Christ,

386
00:16:22,340 --> 00:16:23,760
he says, and the bread too.

387
00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:24,840
When we partake of the bread,

388
00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,040
we share in the body of Christ.

389
00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:28,740
So the physical eating and drinking

390
00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:32,840
comes into contact with the spiritual partaking,

391
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:34,920
the spiritual sharing or fellowship.

392
00:16:36,140 --> 00:16:37,340
What does all that mean?

393
00:16:38,420 --> 00:16:42,420
How does that affect the way you see the Lord's table?

394
00:16:42,420 --> 00:16:44,160
And of course, that language takes us back

395
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,760
to where we've just been recently in John chapter six.

396
00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:48,800
Remember Jesus used this really hard language

397
00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,000
that drove most of his followers away?

398
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,260
He said, the bread that I give

399
00:16:53,260 --> 00:16:55,460
for the life of the world is my what?

400
00:16:55,460 --> 00:16:59,100
It's my flesh, to have eternal life,

401
00:16:59,100 --> 00:17:02,800
you must eat my flesh and drink my blood, he said.

402
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,780
For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

403
00:17:08,020 --> 00:17:09,320
Jesus' followers are like,

404
00:17:10,340 --> 00:17:12,180
bro, do you have to talk like that?

405
00:17:13,580 --> 00:17:15,460
I mean, do you have to keep talking like that

406
00:17:15,460 --> 00:17:17,560
because you're driving everybody away?

407
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,420
We don't like that type of language, right?

408
00:17:20,420 --> 00:17:22,620
Again, it's too hard to process

409
00:17:22,620 --> 00:17:25,900
what's really happening when we hear that language.

410
00:17:25,900 --> 00:17:28,260
Six months after he says that,

411
00:17:28,260 --> 00:17:30,200
now he is up in that upper room

412
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:31,600
on the night that he's betrayed,

413
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,500
he looks at his friends and he says very clearly,

414
00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:39,180
take and eat this, this bread is my body.

415
00:17:40,780 --> 00:17:41,680
What does it mean?

416
00:17:42,780 --> 00:17:46,080
Drink all of you for this, this wine in this cup

417
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,220
is my blood of the covenant.

418
00:17:49,220 --> 00:17:50,080
What does it mean?

419
00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,180
We're just gonna scratch the surface today.

420
00:17:52,180 --> 00:17:55,120
Next week really is I think gonna be

421
00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:57,820
really eye-opening for all of us.

422
00:17:57,820 --> 00:17:59,320
What we wanna talk about today

423
00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,600
as we sort of come out of what I just shared with you

424
00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,800
is this idea of what theologians call

425
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,660
the presence of Christ in the elements.

426
00:18:07,660 --> 00:18:10,560
How and to what extent is Jesus present

427
00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:13,500
in the bread and the cup when we partake of communion

428
00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:16,900
and when we share in his body and share in his blood?

429
00:18:16,900 --> 00:18:20,460
How and to what extent is he present in that?

430
00:18:20,460 --> 00:18:23,340
Now the average person, this is like who cares?

431
00:18:23,340 --> 00:18:26,500
The average person is like this seems so insignificant.

432
00:18:26,500 --> 00:18:28,300
Can I tell you for the church,

433
00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:30,580
this is one of the most monumental things

434
00:18:30,580 --> 00:18:32,820
that the church has dealt with over 2,000 years.

435
00:18:32,820 --> 00:18:35,820
It has been an argument for 2,000 years now

436
00:18:35,820 --> 00:18:39,580
and it's been raging even more since 500 years ago

437
00:18:39,580 --> 00:18:43,620
when Luther pounded the 95 theses on the door.

438
00:18:43,620 --> 00:18:45,020
So what I wanna talk about today

439
00:18:45,020 --> 00:18:47,920
is the church's belief in the presence of Christ

440
00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:49,320
in the Eucharist over time.

441
00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:51,900
Now what I wanna do today is I'm gonna talk about

442
00:18:51,900 --> 00:18:54,600
what the church has taught about the presence of Christ

443
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:56,340
in the Eucharist over time.

444
00:18:56,340 --> 00:18:59,540
How has that doctrine evolved and changed

445
00:18:59,540 --> 00:19:01,280
over the centuries?

446
00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:02,880
And we're gonna look at the early church,

447
00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:05,740
we'll look at Rome, and we'll just touch on the Reformers

448
00:19:05,740 --> 00:19:09,080
at the end and we'll tee it up for next week, sound good?

449
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,520
Okay, quick caveat whenever we do,

450
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,220
look you guys know I'm about to nerd out.

451
00:19:14,220 --> 00:19:15,580
You know me so well.

452
00:19:15,580 --> 00:19:17,220
Whenever we do a historical survey,

453
00:19:17,220 --> 00:19:18,920
I've gotta give this caveat.

454
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:24,000
It is helpful to study what men have said over the years.

455
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,260
But ultimately what is our authority for truth?

456
00:19:26,260 --> 00:19:27,260
Only scripture.

457
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,300
So Rome has its tradition, Rome lifts up tradition

458
00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:33,240
with scripture side by side.

459
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:34,840
We have our tradition as well.

460
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,740
Every time I quote Spurgeon, it's a form of tradition,

461
00:19:37,740 --> 00:19:40,780
but it is not authoritative.

462
00:19:40,780 --> 00:19:42,520
So just let's make sure we understand that.

463
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:43,980
Are you with me?

464
00:19:43,980 --> 00:19:46,320
Good, all right, let's go back to our timeline

465
00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:48,280
from next week, or from last week.

466
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:49,320
Next week, that's funny.

467
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,480
I will do it next week as well.

468
00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:54,900
Again, this is super, super thin,

469
00:19:54,900 --> 00:19:57,620
but just so you know the period that we're talking about,

470
00:19:57,620 --> 00:19:59,800
that black section there, what we call the Dark Ages,

471
00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,300
a thousand years of Roman Catholic domination,

472
00:20:02,300 --> 00:20:05,000
we'll get to that period, but first we're gonna talk about

473
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,440
those first 400 years of what we call

474
00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:08,780
the early church fathers.

475
00:20:08,780 --> 00:20:12,780
Again, you can subdivide those 400 years into subcategories,

476
00:20:12,780 --> 00:20:14,780
but we're gonna speak generally in terms

477
00:20:14,780 --> 00:20:16,320
of the early church fathers.

478
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:18,540
These are the men who, why they're important

479
00:20:18,540 --> 00:20:21,880
is they took the baton from the apostles, didn't they?

480
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,220
If you picture the development of doctrine as a race,

481
00:20:25,220 --> 00:20:27,020
the apostles, the one who walked with Jesus,

482
00:20:27,020 --> 00:20:29,360
saw him, talked to him, all that stuff,

483
00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,160
they handed a baton to a generation of men

484
00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:34,500
who were faithful with that, and they handed it off.

485
00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:36,660
Eventually, that game of telephone,

486
00:20:36,660 --> 00:20:38,300
it broke down, didn't it?

487
00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:40,600
But these guys are really important for that reason.

488
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,340
One of the most fascinating witnesses to the early church

489
00:20:43,340 --> 00:20:45,300
comes from the catacombs of Rome.

490
00:20:45,300 --> 00:20:47,600
How many of you guys have been to Rome?

491
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:49,740
Have you seen the catacombs?

492
00:20:49,740 --> 00:20:50,980
I hope so.

493
00:20:50,980 --> 00:20:53,740
Archaeologists have discovered a number of murals,

494
00:20:53,740 --> 00:20:56,960
or what they call frescoes, on the ceilings and walls

495
00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,360
of these burial chambers underneath the city of Rome.

496
00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,920
Burial chambers of many ancient Christians,

497
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,660
and they tell us something about how ancient Christians

498
00:21:05,660 --> 00:21:07,300
lived and worshiped.

499
00:21:07,300 --> 00:21:09,640
Here's an image of probably the most famous one

500
00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:11,260
that has been discovered.

501
00:21:11,260 --> 00:21:13,540
It had to be basically revealed by scraping off

502
00:21:13,540 --> 00:21:17,400
layers of limestone and layers of historical dust

503
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,600
to get this beautiful fresco there,

504
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:21,880
and it depicts what we call an agape feast.

505
00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:23,820
I talked about that last week, right?

506
00:21:23,820 --> 00:21:25,480
This is an early sign.

507
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,420
This is dated to the early 100s.

508
00:21:29,380 --> 00:21:30,220
Think about that.

509
00:21:30,220 --> 00:21:32,820
This is right around the time of the death

510
00:21:32,820 --> 00:21:34,620
of the apostle John.

511
00:21:34,620 --> 00:21:37,720
So this doctrine about communion is being handed off here.

512
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:39,020
That's what we're seeing.

513
00:21:39,020 --> 00:21:40,260
You've got this table, right?

514
00:21:40,260 --> 00:21:42,000
Seven people at the table.

515
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,000
It appears there are six men and one woman,

516
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:46,660
and on the table you see a cup,

517
00:21:46,660 --> 00:21:48,840
and you see two large plates.

518
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:50,840
One plate has five loaves of bread on it.

519
00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,480
The other plate has two fish, right?

520
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,440
And that seems to be an obvious connection

521
00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:58,540
to the multiplication miracles

522
00:21:58,540 --> 00:22:00,340
that we see in the gospels there.

523
00:22:00,340 --> 00:22:02,560
You see the one man, probably a church leader

524
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:03,620
on the far left.

525
00:22:03,620 --> 00:22:06,720
He's got like a small loaf of bread in his hands.

526
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,360
Most people think he's breaking the loaf,

527
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:10,660
as Jesus did at the Lord's Supper,

528
00:22:10,660 --> 00:22:13,060
and his arms are stretched out in front of him

529
00:22:13,060 --> 00:22:14,600
to show that he's doing that,

530
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,760
and then near him you see a two-handled cup.

531
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,100
Like a sippy cup, right?

532
00:22:20,540 --> 00:22:22,140
When I see it, the first thing I notice

533
00:22:22,140 --> 00:22:23,300
is it looks like a sippy cup.

534
00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:24,480
It's a two-handled cup.

535
00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:25,940
Am I wrong?

536
00:22:25,940 --> 00:22:27,080
Where's the lie, right?

537
00:22:28,380 --> 00:22:31,220
But you also see there are these wicker baskets

538
00:22:31,220 --> 00:22:33,040
on both sides of the table, right?

539
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,380
Showing the abundant resources of God.

540
00:22:35,380 --> 00:22:38,260
This idea that even after Jesus multiplied the bread

541
00:22:38,260 --> 00:22:41,880
and the fish, there was much left over, right?

542
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,420
So there's all kinds of imagery in this picture,

543
00:22:44,420 --> 00:22:48,600
but you see people as early as 100, right there,

544
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,360
living out the doctrine of communion.

545
00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:51,860
Now, let's talk about writings.

546
00:22:51,860 --> 00:22:53,640
What are some of the earliest writings we have

547
00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:55,300
that describe communion?

548
00:22:55,300 --> 00:22:59,040
Well, we go back to a writing that's very early,

549
00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,740
somewhere between the year 70 and 110.

550
00:23:01,740 --> 00:23:03,240
That's incredibly early, right?

551
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,980
Because we're talking about just after the destruction

552
00:23:05,980 --> 00:23:08,220
of the Temple of Jerusalem by the Romans,

553
00:23:08,220 --> 00:23:10,760
up until, again, the period where John the Apostle

554
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:12,860
probably dies, and some of you guys are familiar

555
00:23:12,860 --> 00:23:14,180
with this work.

556
00:23:14,180 --> 00:23:15,660
It's known as the Didache, right?

557
00:23:15,660 --> 00:23:17,420
Very early work.

558
00:23:17,420 --> 00:23:19,560
Didache just means the teaching,

559
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:24,160
and what makes it special is it's basically a church manual.

560
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:25,660
I mean, how cool would it be,

561
00:23:25,660 --> 00:23:27,040
I know that everybody who's an elder,

562
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,240
been a pastor, or been involved in church ministry,

563
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,840
to say, boy, if I could just have a church manual,

564
00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:34,300
you know, from the period of the Apostles.

565
00:23:34,300 --> 00:23:35,980
That would be amazing, tell us what to do.

566
00:23:35,980 --> 00:23:37,980
That's sort of what the Didache is, okay?

567
00:23:37,980 --> 00:23:39,280
It's a church manual.

568
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,120
Number two, it's referred to by a bunch

569
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:44,760
of really prominent early church fathers,

570
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,420
including Athanasius, my great hero of the early church.

571
00:23:48,420 --> 00:23:51,020
Okay, so they talked about it, they all referenced it,

572
00:23:51,020 --> 00:23:53,220
said that this writing existed,

573
00:23:53,220 --> 00:23:57,300
that it was helpful and instructional for the early church.

574
00:23:57,300 --> 00:23:59,640
The problem was, scholars had never been able

575
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:01,540
to find a copy of it.

576
00:24:01,540 --> 00:24:06,540
Until 1873, when some monk in a monastery in Istanbul,

577
00:24:07,540 --> 00:24:10,080
stumbled upon a copy of the Didache,

578
00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:12,440
and we have a copy of it now.

579
00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:14,580
Going back to that early period.

580
00:24:14,580 --> 00:24:17,720
Now, internally, it claims to be a summary

581
00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,380
of the teaching of the 12 Apostles.

582
00:24:19,380 --> 00:24:22,660
That's what it says in the very first line of the document.

583
00:24:22,660 --> 00:24:26,260
So once it got published, again, right around 1875,

584
00:24:26,260 --> 00:24:28,000
the Didache was immediately recognized

585
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,860
as one of the most important manuscripts

586
00:24:29,860 --> 00:24:31,600
of the early church, why?

587
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,040
Because it's so close to the apostolic period,

588
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,800
and secondly, because it was written at a time

589
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,740
before any vast Roman hierarchical structure

590
00:24:40,740 --> 00:24:42,140
could be developed.

591
00:24:42,140 --> 00:24:44,340
So it's very primitive in that sense.

592
00:24:44,340 --> 00:24:47,580
So, for our purposes, what's cool about the Didache

593
00:24:47,580 --> 00:24:50,820
is that it lays out instructions on how to observe communion.

594
00:24:50,820 --> 00:24:52,280
I'll give you a few highlights.

595
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:57,260
Number one, it refers to it as the Thanksgiving meal.

596
00:24:57,260 --> 00:24:58,700
So that is Eucharist, right?

597
00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:01,500
That's exactly what the word means in Greek, Thanksgiving.

598
00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:04,440
Second, the Didache lays out word for word

599
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:09,000
what the prayer should be over both the bread and the cup.

600
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,740
And those are words we plan to use

601
00:25:10,740 --> 00:25:12,380
at our very next communion service,

602
00:25:12,380 --> 00:25:16,780
just so that we can experience what they did back in that day.

603
00:25:16,780 --> 00:25:19,980
Third, it also includes some warnings, including this.

604
00:25:19,980 --> 00:25:22,320
Quote, let no one eat or drink

605
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,320
unless they've been baptized in the name of the Lord,

606
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,160
for the Lord has said about this,

607
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,460
do not give what is holy to the dogs.

608
00:25:30,460 --> 00:25:31,920
Interesting.

609
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,600
Now, another early witness to the Eucharist was a bishop

610
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,700
by the name of Ignatius of Antioch.

611
00:25:36,700 --> 00:25:40,000
He was also a contemporary of some of the apostles,

612
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,300
probably passed away somewhere around the year 110.

613
00:25:43,300 --> 00:25:45,540
What is Ignatius most concerned about

614
00:25:45,540 --> 00:25:47,100
when it comes to communion?

615
00:25:47,100 --> 00:25:50,540
The very same thing that Paul is most concerned about

616
00:25:50,540 --> 00:25:52,320
in 1 Corinthians 11.

617
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,220
Ignatius wants to talk about unity,

618
00:25:55,220 --> 00:25:56,380
unity of the body.

619
00:25:56,380 --> 00:25:58,780
In fact, here's a quote from one of his works.

620
00:25:58,780 --> 00:26:03,160
He says, give heed to keep one Eucharist,

621
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,000
for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ

622
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,200
and one cup unto union with his blood.

623
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,240
There is one altar, as there is one bishop,

624
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,500
together with the elders and deacons, my fellow servants,

625
00:26:15,500 --> 00:26:19,080
that whatsoever you do, you may do according to God.

626
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,940
He goes on, assemble yourselves together in common,

627
00:26:22,940 --> 00:26:27,040
every one of you together, man by man, in grace,

628
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:29,520
in one faith and one Jesus Christ,

629
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,060
who after the flesh was of David's race,

630
00:26:32,060 --> 00:26:34,220
who is son of man and son of God.

631
00:26:34,220 --> 00:26:36,300
So tons of cool Christology in there,

632
00:26:36,300 --> 00:26:41,060
but over and over again, one, one, one, one.

633
00:26:41,060 --> 00:26:44,140
That's what the early church was most concerned about.

634
00:26:44,140 --> 00:26:45,840
Then there was this godly man named Cyril

635
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,000
who became the bishop of Jerusalem in the year 350.

636
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,840
He leaves us with some really interesting details.

637
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:53,640
He speaks of exactly how a person

638
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,080
should come to receive the elements.

639
00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,980
He literally describes how a person should clasp

640
00:26:58,980 --> 00:27:02,820
his or her hands together so as to not let any part

641
00:27:02,820 --> 00:27:05,580
of the bread slip from their hands.

642
00:27:05,580 --> 00:27:08,500
He refers to every single crumb that he receives

643
00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:10,260
as more precious than gold.

644
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:12,920
And then describes coming up to get the cup

645
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,060
and how he would bend low, quote,

646
00:27:15,060 --> 00:27:17,900
in the way of worship and reverence

647
00:27:17,900 --> 00:27:20,000
in order to receive the cup.

648
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:21,800
So here's the thing, when you read the early church

649
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,400
fathers on this stuff, what you see is that

650
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,680
they viewed communion with the highest level

651
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,520
of respect and awe you can imagine.

652
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,780
Very different from the way we tend to see it today.

653
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:34,780
Especially in the evangelical world,

654
00:27:34,780 --> 00:27:37,820
where we have this open communion, very casual.

655
00:27:37,820 --> 00:27:40,020
Hey, we'll just put the things out there,

656
00:27:40,020 --> 00:27:41,860
do what you want, it's up to you,

657
00:27:41,860 --> 00:27:44,260
it's your walk with Jesus, right?

658
00:27:44,260 --> 00:27:47,120
No oversight, that is so common today.

659
00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:49,700
But that is nothing, nothing like the way

660
00:27:49,700 --> 00:27:52,540
the early church viewed communion.

661
00:27:52,540 --> 00:27:56,400
Justin Martyr, one of the church's earliest evangelists,

662
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,700
the founder of a Christian school in Rome.

663
00:27:58,700 --> 00:28:01,500
In the year 150 he wrote about both the liturgy

664
00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:03,440
of the church and the Eucharist.

665
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,980
Here's what he says, Grant, this is for you.

666
00:28:05,980 --> 00:28:09,380
The order of service in the year 150,

667
00:28:09,380 --> 00:28:10,760
like what did his service look like?

668
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,080
Well, he lists it out, he says first of all,

669
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,100
they start with a prayer of intercession,

670
00:28:16,100 --> 00:28:19,860
then scripture readings, then more prayer,

671
00:28:19,860 --> 00:28:23,400
then the sermon, followed by what he calls a kiss of peace.

672
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,000
We're not doing that, right?

673
00:28:28,340 --> 00:28:29,440
He's only laughing.

674
00:28:30,300 --> 00:28:31,700
The kiss of peace, right?

675
00:28:33,380 --> 00:28:35,100
Don't know what it means.

676
00:28:35,100 --> 00:28:38,880
Then a Eucharistic prayer and a congregational amen.

677
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,820
Guess what, that's not only biblical,

678
00:28:41,820 --> 00:28:44,660
but it's also from the early church, to shout amen, right?

679
00:28:44,660 --> 00:28:47,960
A congregational amen, and then the distribution

680
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,360
of the elements by way of the deacons of the church,

681
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:53,100
and then after observing the Lord's Supper,

682
00:28:53,100 --> 00:28:54,700
the church would take up an offering,

683
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:56,960
and that offering was taken up so that they could go

684
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,100
into the streets of Rome, where Justin was,

685
00:29:00,100 --> 00:29:03,980
and be able to give money to the poor and evangelize.

686
00:29:05,180 --> 00:29:07,240
That's a basic order of service in 150.

687
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:08,740
Now, particularly interesting,

688
00:29:08,740 --> 00:29:10,240
look what he says about the Eucharist.

689
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,320
He says, and this food or this meal is called,

690
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:17,020
among us, Eucharistia, of which no one is allowed

691
00:29:17,020 --> 00:29:19,660
to partake, but the man who believes

692
00:29:19,660 --> 00:29:22,160
that the things that we teach are true,

693
00:29:23,460 --> 00:29:25,420
and who has been washed with the washing,

694
00:29:25,420 --> 00:29:28,500
that is for the remission of sins and unto regeneration,

695
00:29:28,500 --> 00:29:32,000
and who is so living as Christ has enjoined,

696
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,240
for not as common bread and common drink

697
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:37,340
do we receive these.

698
00:29:37,340 --> 00:29:40,500
So you see already by 150, we have restrictions here, right?

699
00:29:40,500 --> 00:29:42,340
You've gotta be a believer, you've gotta be one

700
00:29:42,340 --> 00:29:45,780
who understands the truth, who is living out that truth,

701
00:29:45,780 --> 00:29:50,360
who's been baptized, and who is living a godly life.

702
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:52,180
Restrictions.

703
00:29:52,180 --> 00:29:53,720
And then just after the time of Justin,

704
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,060
we see even more restrictions being laid out

705
00:29:56,060 --> 00:29:57,860
on who could receive communion.

706
00:29:57,860 --> 00:30:00,360
Never in any writings do we see that unbelievers

707
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:05,360
are ever, ever, ever invited to the Lord's table, ever.

708
00:30:06,260 --> 00:30:08,240
And by the early 200s, you see the church requiring

709
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:12,040
a very rigorous process of learning for new converts

710
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,640
before they're allowed to come into the Lord's table.

711
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,580
So the elders of the church would guard the table.

712
00:30:18,580 --> 00:30:20,180
They would say when you were ready,

713
00:30:20,180 --> 00:30:22,820
when you have a full understanding of what's going on,

714
00:30:22,820 --> 00:30:24,420
then you can come to the table.

715
00:30:24,420 --> 00:30:28,920
So at a typical service, the catechumens, or the students,

716
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,020
and any visitors who were there that day

717
00:30:31,020 --> 00:30:33,300
would be dismissed from the worship service,

718
00:30:33,300 --> 00:30:36,640
and then the church family would huddle up together

719
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,700
as one body to observe the table.

720
00:30:39,700 --> 00:30:42,360
That's typical in the early church's writings.

721
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,740
And also, once you became an affirmed member of the church

722
00:30:45,740 --> 00:30:47,800
and approved for coming to the supper,

723
00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,220
you had to remain a member in good standing

724
00:30:50,220 --> 00:30:53,140
according to the elders, according to the bishops,

725
00:30:53,140 --> 00:30:57,360
in order to continue to participate in the sacrament.

726
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,760
All this stuff dates back to the early church, folks.

727
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:02,760
Now, what do the early church fathers believe

728
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,800
about the presence of Christ in the elements?

729
00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:06,600
That's the key question for this morning.

730
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:08,960
What did they teach about the presence

731
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:10,860
of Jesus in the bread and the cup?

732
00:31:10,860 --> 00:31:11,700
Guess what?

733
00:31:11,700 --> 00:31:13,700
The answer to that question has plagued the church

734
00:31:13,700 --> 00:31:14,680
for thousands of years.

735
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:15,980
Here's the amazing thing.

736
00:31:15,980 --> 00:31:18,900
Both Rome and the Protestants claim

737
00:31:18,900 --> 00:31:21,980
the early church fathers support their position.

738
00:31:23,220 --> 00:31:27,060
I mean, you can Google this Catholic quotes

739
00:31:27,060 --> 00:31:29,520
of the early church fathers, and there they are.

740
00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,580
And you can also go after Lutheran or Reformed

741
00:31:32,580 --> 00:31:35,020
and say, what are the quotes of the early church fathers?

742
00:31:35,020 --> 00:31:36,580
And there they are.

743
00:31:36,580 --> 00:31:37,620
It's a mixed bag.

744
00:31:37,620 --> 00:31:40,220
So you're gonna read, if you look this up,

745
00:31:40,220 --> 00:31:42,860
some of these statements made by the early church fathers.

746
00:31:42,860 --> 00:31:45,580
Listen, the Eucharist is the flesh

747
00:31:45,580 --> 00:31:47,400
of our Savior Jesus Christ.

748
00:31:48,300 --> 00:31:51,120
He has declared the cup a part of creation

749
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:52,740
to be his own blood.

750
00:31:52,740 --> 00:31:54,580
These are individual quotes.

751
00:31:54,580 --> 00:31:56,980
The flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ

752
00:31:56,980 --> 00:32:00,420
that the soul likewise may be filled with God.

753
00:32:00,420 --> 00:32:02,460
Formerly there was manner for food.

754
00:32:02,460 --> 00:32:05,420
Now, in full view, there is the true food,

755
00:32:05,420 --> 00:32:07,300
the flesh of the word of God.

756
00:32:07,300 --> 00:32:09,660
You know Rome loves those statements, right?

757
00:32:09,660 --> 00:32:12,500
But the same guys also make these statements.

758
00:32:12,500 --> 00:32:13,540
Here we go.

759
00:32:13,540 --> 00:32:16,540
Having taken the bread and given it to his disciples,

760
00:32:16,540 --> 00:32:19,980
Jesus made it his own body by saying, this is my body,

761
00:32:19,980 --> 00:32:22,260
that is the symbol of my body.

762
00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:25,660
The bread which Christ gave us to offer

763
00:32:25,660 --> 00:32:29,220
in remembrance of the body which he assumed.

764
00:32:29,220 --> 00:32:32,440
What he says is not fleshly but spiritual.

765
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:37,440
Heavenly eating from above and spiritual food given by him.

766
00:32:37,500 --> 00:32:40,580
It is needful that this be visibly celebrated

767
00:32:40,580 --> 00:32:42,940
yet it must be spiritually understood.

768
00:32:44,220 --> 00:32:46,120
So here's the thing, in terms of development

769
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:49,020
of Eucharist doctrine in the first 400 years of the church,

770
00:32:49,020 --> 00:32:52,060
two things stand out simultaneously.

771
00:32:52,060 --> 00:32:53,740
Two things at the very same time.

772
00:32:53,740 --> 00:32:56,460
First, there's always language consistent

773
00:32:56,460 --> 00:32:59,500
with what Jesus actually said in the gospels.

774
00:32:59,500 --> 00:33:02,860
He reminded his disciples that he took on real flesh

775
00:33:02,860 --> 00:33:06,580
and real blood in the incarnation and that in some way,

776
00:33:06,580 --> 00:33:10,540
in some way, he is present in the elements.

777
00:33:10,540 --> 00:33:12,460
But we cannot ignore the fact that Jesus said,

778
00:33:12,460 --> 00:33:15,340
this is my body, this is my blood.

779
00:33:15,340 --> 00:33:17,620
In some form he is present.

780
00:33:17,620 --> 00:33:18,460
What form?

781
00:33:18,460 --> 00:33:19,940
That's what we gotta figure out.

782
00:33:19,940 --> 00:33:22,500
But that is clear in all the early church writings.

783
00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:25,980
At the same time, the early church fathers are clear

784
00:33:25,980 --> 00:33:29,300
that partaking of the elements was a spiritual practice

785
00:33:29,300 --> 00:33:32,900
done in remembrance of the passion of Christ.

786
00:33:34,300 --> 00:33:36,340
What those two things meant when they get put together,

787
00:33:36,340 --> 00:33:38,420
gets fleshed out over 2,000 years,

788
00:33:38,420 --> 00:33:40,760
we're still arguing about it.

789
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:41,980
Still.

790
00:33:41,980 --> 00:33:44,340
Now, let's look briefly at how Rome

791
00:33:44,340 --> 00:33:46,320
perverted this whole mess, okay?

792
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,700
The development of the Roman Catholic hierarchy

793
00:33:48,700 --> 00:33:51,420
in the medieval period altered the church's view

794
00:33:51,420 --> 00:33:54,700
of communion in terrible, terrible ways.

795
00:33:54,700 --> 00:33:56,860
Again, we're talking about developments that take place

796
00:33:56,860 --> 00:34:01,020
about a thousand year period between 500 and 1500.

797
00:34:01,020 --> 00:34:03,020
The church began to use a common liturgy

798
00:34:03,020 --> 00:34:06,300
for what became known as the Catholic Mass

799
00:34:06,300 --> 00:34:07,740
with very specific readings

800
00:34:07,740 --> 00:34:10,960
and a much, much more formal structure.

801
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,100
And they began to define what a sacrament is,

802
00:34:14,100 --> 00:34:15,820
according to their own system.

803
00:34:15,820 --> 00:34:18,020
In the 11th century, there's a Catholic theologian

804
00:34:18,020 --> 00:34:19,620
by the name of Peter Lombard,

805
00:34:19,620 --> 00:34:22,340
and here's how he defined a sacrament.

806
00:34:22,340 --> 00:34:25,380
He said, a sacrament is a sign of anything sacred.

807
00:34:25,380 --> 00:34:27,580
Now, that's a super broad definition, right?

808
00:34:27,580 --> 00:34:29,820
Like, almost anything can fit into that,

809
00:34:29,820 --> 00:34:33,540
and so there's a time earlier in the medieval period

810
00:34:33,540 --> 00:34:35,380
where the Roman Catholic Church identified

811
00:34:35,380 --> 00:34:37,620
nearly 30 different sacraments.

812
00:34:38,580 --> 00:34:40,380
Then it got cut down to 12,

813
00:34:40,380 --> 00:34:43,620
and then finally to its current form of just seven

814
00:34:43,620 --> 00:34:46,620
at the fourth Lateran Council in the year 1215.

815
00:34:46,620 --> 00:34:50,140
Here are the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church.

816
00:34:50,140 --> 00:34:54,860
Baptism, the Eucharist, confirmation, penance,

817
00:34:54,860 --> 00:34:57,620
holy orders, which is for the clergy,

818
00:34:57,620 --> 00:35:00,100
anointing of the sick, and marriage.

819
00:35:01,740 --> 00:35:03,060
Marriage, yeah.

820
00:35:03,060 --> 00:35:04,900
You wanted to say it, didn't you?

821
00:35:04,900 --> 00:35:07,300
You wanted to say it, so I said it for you.

822
00:35:09,180 --> 00:35:10,020
Marriage.

823
00:35:11,140 --> 00:35:14,820
Okay, so today, today the definition of a sacrament

824
00:35:14,820 --> 00:35:16,700
reads like this, according to Rome.

825
00:35:16,700 --> 00:35:20,100
A sign given to us by Jesus Christ

826
00:35:20,100 --> 00:35:23,260
through which we share in God's life,

827
00:35:23,260 --> 00:35:25,860
here's the key part, and the effective channel

828
00:35:25,860 --> 00:35:28,980
by which the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Christ

829
00:35:28,980 --> 00:35:32,300
to those with the proper disposition.

830
00:35:32,300 --> 00:35:34,300
Read those last two words.

831
00:35:34,300 --> 00:35:35,860
That is really important to see.

832
00:35:35,860 --> 00:35:37,660
Proper disposition.

833
00:35:37,660 --> 00:35:42,500
In the Roman system, you cannot have assurance of salvation

834
00:35:42,500 --> 00:35:45,340
because you never know if your disposition

835
00:35:45,340 --> 00:35:47,820
was good enough, holy enough,

836
00:35:47,820 --> 00:35:50,220
in order to merit God's favor.

837
00:35:50,220 --> 00:35:52,020
So you just have to keep trying.

838
00:35:52,020 --> 00:35:55,260
Over and over again, keep trying, harder and harder,

839
00:35:55,260 --> 00:35:57,340
and at the end of your life, hope for the best,

840
00:35:57,340 --> 00:36:00,780
that you've done enough, that you've been godly enough,

841
00:36:00,780 --> 00:36:04,180
that your disposition has been enough to please God.

842
00:36:05,300 --> 00:36:08,060
The official catechism of the church states this,

843
00:36:08,060 --> 00:36:11,100
the sacraments are necessary for salvation.

844
00:36:12,060 --> 00:36:13,340
They don't hide that.

845
00:36:13,340 --> 00:36:16,060
Now it does go on to say, although not all sacraments

846
00:36:16,060 --> 00:36:18,340
are necessary for all individuals,

847
00:36:18,340 --> 00:36:20,140
and that's because some people are never gonna take

848
00:36:20,140 --> 00:36:21,580
holy orders, some people are not gonna take

849
00:36:21,580 --> 00:36:23,260
holy orders, some people are not gonna get married,

850
00:36:23,260 --> 00:36:26,620
but the fact is, some combination of those seven things

851
00:36:26,620 --> 00:36:30,460
are necessary, are essential for anyone to be saved.

852
00:36:30,460 --> 00:36:34,180
It is literally a list of things that you have to do

853
00:36:34,180 --> 00:36:35,000
to be saved.

854
00:36:36,620 --> 00:36:39,380
Don't let anybody try to tell you that Roman

855
00:36:39,380 --> 00:36:41,420
and Protestants are just really close,

856
00:36:41,420 --> 00:36:42,620
it's just minor differences.

857
00:36:42,620 --> 00:36:43,700
No, it's massive.

858
00:36:43,700 --> 00:36:47,220
There is a chasm between the two.

859
00:36:47,220 --> 00:36:49,460
That is a list of things you have to do to be saved.

860
00:36:49,460 --> 00:36:52,340
And listen, the necessity of the sacraments for salvation

861
00:36:52,340 --> 00:36:54,780
makes perfect sense in the Catholic system.

862
00:36:54,780 --> 00:36:59,700
In their version of soteriology, God's grace is earned

863
00:36:59,700 --> 00:37:03,900
through participation in the church-sanctioned works.

864
00:37:05,060 --> 00:37:05,900
That's important.

865
00:37:05,900 --> 00:37:08,380
Remember, in the Catholic system, salvation is not

866
00:37:08,380 --> 00:37:11,980
by God's sovereign choice, it is by works sanctioned

867
00:37:11,980 --> 00:37:14,540
by the church and mediated by the church.

868
00:37:14,540 --> 00:37:16,700
There is no salvation, according to them,

869
00:37:16,700 --> 00:37:18,780
apart from their Roman Catholic system.

870
00:37:18,780 --> 00:37:21,180
They will try to fudge on that if they talk to you,

871
00:37:21,180 --> 00:37:24,940
but that is in their councils, that is in their catechism.

872
00:37:24,940 --> 00:37:27,520
There is no salvation outside of Rome.

873
00:37:28,500 --> 00:37:30,060
That's important to understand.

874
00:37:31,140 --> 00:37:36,140
At its core, Roman Catholicism is a man-centered system

875
00:37:36,340 --> 00:37:39,680
designed by men who are tied way more to power

876
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:43,220
and control and tradition than they are to Scripture.

877
00:37:43,220 --> 00:37:44,660
That's just a plain fact.

878
00:37:44,660 --> 00:37:47,040
And yes, by the way, cases struck your mind,

879
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:50,780
and think about it, the whole idea of earned grace

880
00:37:50,780 --> 00:37:52,500
is an oxymoron, is it not?

881
00:37:53,580 --> 00:37:57,460
It just, that is, it can't be.

882
00:37:57,460 --> 00:38:01,300
They nullify grace every time they talk about that.

883
00:38:01,300 --> 00:38:03,100
I once wrote a very simple illustration

884
00:38:03,100 --> 00:38:05,940
about how Rome uses the sacraments

885
00:38:05,940 --> 00:38:07,500
in terms of dispensing grace.

886
00:38:07,500 --> 00:38:09,920
Picture in your mind a great bathtub.

887
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,880
Like every one of us has a big old bathtub.

888
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:15,340
And in their understanding, what baptism does,

889
00:38:15,340 --> 00:38:17,900
especially for a child, right, is it wipes away

890
00:38:17,900 --> 00:38:20,200
the stain of original sin.

891
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,420
And so in that, the bathtub is filled up

892
00:38:23,420 --> 00:38:24,820
with an abundance of grace.

893
00:38:24,820 --> 00:38:26,940
So every child gets sprinkled,

894
00:38:26,940 --> 00:38:29,520
and they've got this bathtub full of all of this grace.

895
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:31,340
And the whole goal is you've gotta die

896
00:38:31,340 --> 00:38:34,180
with some of that, enough grace left in that bathtub

897
00:38:34,180 --> 00:38:35,660
so that you get to heaven.

898
00:38:35,660 --> 00:38:38,260
But every time a Roman Catholic sins,

899
00:38:38,260 --> 00:38:41,060
a venial sin, they call them, right, a little sin,

900
00:38:41,060 --> 00:38:43,460
as if you can judge those things.

901
00:38:43,460 --> 00:38:46,260
A venial sin, a little bit of that grace

902
00:38:46,260 --> 00:38:47,560
leaks out of the tub.

903
00:38:48,540 --> 00:38:50,420
And if they create, if they do a mortal sin,

904
00:38:50,420 --> 00:38:54,540
a big sin, that entire tub might be emptied.

905
00:38:55,740 --> 00:38:58,340
And so that's where participation in the sacraments

906
00:38:58,340 --> 00:38:59,780
like the Eucharist come in.

907
00:38:59,780 --> 00:39:01,780
You gotta keep refilling your tub.

908
00:39:03,060 --> 00:39:04,780
You gotta keep filling it up with grace.

909
00:39:04,780 --> 00:39:07,220
So you can understand, if you have Catholic friends,

910
00:39:07,220 --> 00:39:09,500
sometimes they're the most devoted people, aren't they?

911
00:39:09,500 --> 00:39:12,260
They're sweet people, they're devoted, they're religious.

912
00:39:12,260 --> 00:39:14,940
They, you really, I mean, we have to be careful

913
00:39:14,940 --> 00:39:16,420
not to just hate on people, right?

914
00:39:16,420 --> 00:39:18,060
Some of these, some of our Catholic friends

915
00:39:18,060 --> 00:39:19,700
are really sweet people.

916
00:39:19,700 --> 00:39:21,700
And they believe it with all their hearts.

917
00:39:21,700 --> 00:39:23,940
But you can understand why they wanna be in mass

918
00:39:23,940 --> 00:39:25,980
all the time, right?

919
00:39:25,980 --> 00:39:27,900
Because they're building up credits.

920
00:39:27,900 --> 00:39:30,420
They're refilling their tub.

921
00:39:30,420 --> 00:39:32,980
See, Rome was always confused and jumbled up

922
00:39:32,980 --> 00:39:34,740
good works and divine grace.

923
00:39:34,740 --> 00:39:37,860
It is true, guys, that things like confession

924
00:39:37,860 --> 00:39:40,540
and repentance and service in the church,

925
00:39:40,540 --> 00:39:41,540
those are good things.

926
00:39:41,540 --> 00:39:43,020
In fact, I would say that they're duties

927
00:39:43,020 --> 00:39:44,420
of the Christian life.

928
00:39:44,420 --> 00:39:46,620
But here's the thing, they are always a response

929
00:39:46,620 --> 00:39:47,820
to God's grace.

930
00:39:48,660 --> 00:39:50,980
Not things that help you acquire God's grace.

931
00:39:50,980 --> 00:39:52,380
Does that make sense?

932
00:39:52,380 --> 00:39:55,060
We respond with good works because of the grace

933
00:39:55,060 --> 00:39:58,140
that's been lavished upon us, which was a gift.

934
00:39:59,020 --> 00:40:01,260
We don't do things in order to fill up a tub.

935
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:05,660
Now, most importantly for our purposes today,

936
00:40:05,660 --> 00:40:08,420
listen to what came out in the year 1079.

937
00:40:08,420 --> 00:40:11,220
So think about those dates, 500 to 1500.

938
00:40:11,220 --> 00:40:14,580
1079, the Sixth Council of Rome declared this

939
00:40:14,580 --> 00:40:18,540
about the presence of Christ in the elements.

940
00:40:18,540 --> 00:40:21,220
The bread and wine which are placed on the altar

941
00:40:21,220 --> 00:40:25,220
are substantially changed, they declared,

942
00:40:25,220 --> 00:40:28,220
into the true and proper and living flesh

943
00:40:28,220 --> 00:40:29,900
and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.

944
00:40:29,900 --> 00:40:34,420
That is the first official change

945
00:40:34,420 --> 00:40:36,780
into what we call transubstantiation.

946
00:40:36,780 --> 00:40:40,220
It's not fully developed yet, but it's right there.

947
00:40:40,220 --> 00:40:42,820
It's the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215

948
00:40:42,820 --> 00:40:44,300
that really adds to that.

949
00:40:44,300 --> 00:40:46,020
Here's what it says.

950
00:40:46,020 --> 00:40:49,220
Jesus Christ whose body and blood are truly contained

951
00:40:49,220 --> 00:40:52,220
in the sacrament of the altar under the species

952
00:40:52,220 --> 00:40:55,860
of bread and wine, the bread changed into his body

953
00:40:55,860 --> 00:40:59,860
by the divine power of, there it is, transubstantiation

954
00:40:59,860 --> 00:41:01,620
and the wine into blood.

955
00:41:01,620 --> 00:41:06,620
1215 is when this was officially laid down.

956
00:41:06,620 --> 00:41:09,020
And then that statement was approved by a man

957
00:41:09,020 --> 00:41:12,380
named Pope Innocent III by any stretch of the imagination.

958
00:41:12,380 --> 00:41:15,700
He is the most powerful and influential pope

959
00:41:15,700 --> 00:41:17,260
of the entire medieval period.

960
00:41:17,260 --> 00:41:20,420
Once Innocent said it was true, there was no going back.

961
00:41:20,420 --> 00:41:21,580
It was in the record.

962
00:41:22,460 --> 00:41:26,420
Now, later on, we're gonna see what the Council of Trent

963
00:41:26,420 --> 00:41:28,460
said, but just to be clear so that we know

964
00:41:28,460 --> 00:41:30,100
what we're talking about, transubstantiation,

965
00:41:30,100 --> 00:41:31,820
hard word, say it with me.

966
00:41:31,820 --> 00:41:32,660
Transubstantiation.

967
00:41:32,660 --> 00:41:35,020
Thank you.

968
00:41:35,020 --> 00:41:36,900
Refers to the idea that in the Eucharist,

969
00:41:36,900 --> 00:41:38,860
the bread and the cup are transformed

970
00:41:38,860 --> 00:41:41,260
into the literal body and blood of Christ.

971
00:41:42,340 --> 00:41:45,380
And I know we misuse the word literal all the time, right?

972
00:41:45,380 --> 00:41:48,380
Literally, no, I'm talking, right?

973
00:41:48,380 --> 00:41:50,940
It's everywhere, isn't it?

974
00:41:50,940 --> 00:41:51,780
It drives me nuts.

975
00:41:51,780 --> 00:41:53,980
Do you know what that word means?

976
00:41:53,980 --> 00:41:56,260
No, this is literally the body and blood of Christ.

977
00:41:56,260 --> 00:41:57,100
That's what it means.

978
00:41:57,100 --> 00:41:58,900
So, the word literal is literally

979
00:41:58,900 --> 00:42:00,220
the body and blood of Christ.

980
00:42:00,220 --> 00:42:01,060
That's what it means.

981
00:42:01,060 --> 00:42:04,820
So, the appearance of the elements, they say,

982
00:42:04,820 --> 00:42:05,660
doesn't change.

983
00:42:07,060 --> 00:42:11,060
So, the Roman Catholic goes up, takes the wafer,

984
00:42:11,060 --> 00:42:14,340
drinks out of the cup, and from their eyes,

985
00:42:14,340 --> 00:42:17,580
what they see is it looks like a wafer and a cup.

986
00:42:18,420 --> 00:42:19,900
So, they affirm that.

987
00:42:19,900 --> 00:42:22,820
They're not like, well, there's some magical incantation

988
00:42:22,820 --> 00:42:25,540
and poof, there's an actual body and blood there, right?

989
00:42:25,540 --> 00:42:29,100
So, the actual substance of the elements,

990
00:42:29,100 --> 00:42:32,340
you're lying eyes, okay, the actual substance

991
00:42:32,340 --> 00:42:34,660
of the elements does in fact change, they say,

992
00:42:34,660 --> 00:42:37,700
into the literal flesh and blood of Christ.

993
00:42:37,700 --> 00:42:41,060
And so, in 1551, they laid down the gauntlet

994
00:42:41,060 --> 00:42:42,820
over this issue, Council of Trent,

995
00:42:42,820 --> 00:42:45,340
the most famous council in all the history

996
00:42:45,340 --> 00:42:47,820
of Roman Catholicism, and this is what they affirm.

997
00:42:47,820 --> 00:42:49,820
They laid out what we call an anathema,

998
00:42:49,820 --> 00:42:53,020
meaning if you don't believe this, you're to be cursed.

999
00:42:53,020 --> 00:42:54,420
You ready?

1000
00:42:54,420 --> 00:42:57,500
So, the body and blood of the most holy Eucharist

1001
00:42:57,500 --> 00:43:00,860
are contained truly, really, and substantially,

1002
00:43:00,860 --> 00:43:03,340
the body and blood together with the soul and divinity

1003
00:43:03,340 --> 00:43:05,820
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently,

1004
00:43:05,820 --> 00:43:09,140
the whole Christ, but says that He is only therein

1005
00:43:09,140 --> 00:43:14,140
as in a sign or in a figure or power, let Him be accursed.

1006
00:43:15,860 --> 00:43:16,700
That's us.

1007
00:43:18,380 --> 00:43:21,220
Okay, again, there's a chasm between Rome

1008
00:43:21,220 --> 00:43:23,260
and the Protestant world.

1009
00:43:23,260 --> 00:43:26,420
In this doctrine, Rome has also done something else.

1010
00:43:26,420 --> 00:43:28,460
They have taken the Lord's Supper and turned it

1011
00:43:28,460 --> 00:43:32,900
into a re-sacrificing of the body of Christ.

1012
00:43:33,780 --> 00:43:36,820
A re-sacrificing, every time they claim,

1013
00:43:36,820 --> 00:43:39,900
they gather in the mass, and the priest says

1014
00:43:39,900 --> 00:43:42,820
the prayer over the elements, they believe

1015
00:43:42,820 --> 00:43:47,100
that Jesus' body is broken again and His blood shed again.

1016
00:43:48,100 --> 00:43:51,020
All over the world, all the time,

1017
00:43:51,020 --> 00:43:54,180
constantly re-sacrificing, and they claim this

1018
00:43:54,180 --> 00:43:56,140
in spite of the very clear teaching

1019
00:43:56,140 --> 00:43:58,380
in at least three separate places I can think of

1020
00:43:58,380 --> 00:44:01,620
in the book of Hebrews, where, again, literally says,

1021
00:44:01,620 --> 00:44:06,620
I'm gonna do it, literally says that Jesus died once for all.

1022
00:44:09,060 --> 00:44:13,140
So, there's a great example of how they have raised up

1023
00:44:13,140 --> 00:44:17,180
tradition and the teaching of the papacy above Scripture.

1024
00:44:17,180 --> 00:44:19,980
Okay, deep breath.

1025
00:44:19,980 --> 00:44:21,460
I'm gonna wrap up here with the Reformers.

1026
00:44:21,460 --> 00:44:22,980
How are we doing on time, Grant?

1027
00:44:22,980 --> 00:44:25,380
Oh, okay.

1028
00:44:25,380 --> 00:44:27,620
How much time you guys got?

1029
00:44:29,620 --> 00:44:31,540
I'm gonna do this quick, but again, this is mainly

1030
00:44:31,540 --> 00:44:32,980
to tee us up for next week.

1031
00:44:32,980 --> 00:44:37,340
Okay, during the Reformation, 1517 passed,

1032
00:44:37,340 --> 00:44:39,380
the church began to recognize that it needed

1033
00:44:39,380 --> 00:44:42,620
to recover the true Gospel, which had gone dark

1034
00:44:42,620 --> 00:44:43,460
for a thousand years.

1035
00:44:43,460 --> 00:44:44,940
Yes, there was little lights here and there,

1036
00:44:44,940 --> 00:44:46,540
but it's basically gone dark.

1037
00:44:46,540 --> 00:44:49,260
There was only one system to participate in.

1038
00:44:50,380 --> 00:44:54,220
A message that was God-centered needed to be returned,

1039
00:44:54,220 --> 00:44:56,660
rooted in the right understanding of biblical grace,

1040
00:44:56,660 --> 00:44:58,980
not the church's version of grace,

1041
00:44:58,980 --> 00:45:02,900
and forensic justification, justification by faith alone.

1042
00:45:02,900 --> 00:45:05,140
And this wasn't just a matter of doctrine, I understand.

1043
00:45:05,140 --> 00:45:07,020
This was not just in the mind, not just doctrine,

1044
00:45:07,020 --> 00:45:09,020
but also practice.

1045
00:45:09,020 --> 00:45:11,260
So, they had to reform the liturgy,

1046
00:45:11,260 --> 00:45:13,820
had to be totally redone, especially the Mass,

1047
00:45:13,820 --> 00:45:16,060
the definition of sacrament as well.

1048
00:45:16,060 --> 00:45:19,060
There had to be returned to the truth that grace

1049
00:45:19,060 --> 00:45:21,380
was a sovereign gift from God, not something

1050
00:45:21,380 --> 00:45:23,660
that could be earned, that had no ties

1051
00:45:23,660 --> 00:45:26,100
to the moral disposition or the worthiness

1052
00:45:26,100 --> 00:45:28,140
of the person that receives it.

1053
00:45:28,140 --> 00:45:29,980
These things had to be straightened out.

1054
00:45:29,980 --> 00:45:31,740
Here's how Calvin puts it.

1055
00:45:31,740 --> 00:45:33,860
Gotta get a Calvin quote in, right?

1056
00:45:33,860 --> 00:45:37,580
He says this, man's unworthiness does not rob

1057
00:45:37,580 --> 00:45:40,140
the sacraments of their significance.

1058
00:45:40,140 --> 00:45:42,780
Baptism remains the bath of regeneration,

1059
00:45:42,780 --> 00:45:45,340
even if the whole world is faithless.

1060
00:45:45,340 --> 00:45:47,420
And the Lord's Supper remains the distribution

1061
00:45:47,420 --> 00:45:49,820
of Christ's body and blood, even if there is not

1062
00:45:49,820 --> 00:45:51,900
the slightest sparkle of belief left.

1063
00:45:53,020 --> 00:45:54,740
Because it's from God.

1064
00:45:54,740 --> 00:45:55,580
It's not about us, right?

1065
00:45:55,580 --> 00:45:58,020
It's not about our worthiness or our disposition.

1066
00:45:58,020 --> 00:46:00,900
It comes from God, so it's never changed.

1067
00:46:00,900 --> 00:46:04,420
Like the preach word, the sacraments are given to us.

1068
00:46:04,420 --> 00:46:06,740
Cannot, I said this so many times last week,

1069
00:46:06,740 --> 00:46:09,340
downward direction, from God to us.

1070
00:46:09,340 --> 00:46:12,900
We don't come to the sacrament offering something to God.

1071
00:46:12,900 --> 00:46:16,140
It comes from Him, the sacraments are given to us.

1072
00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:18,420
Again, not because of our moral strength.

1073
00:46:18,420 --> 00:46:19,420
Quite the opposite.

1074
00:46:19,420 --> 00:46:22,820
They're given to us because of our weakness.

1075
00:46:22,820 --> 00:46:24,260
Because we need to come to the table

1076
00:46:24,260 --> 00:46:26,420
to be strengthened in our faith.

1077
00:46:26,420 --> 00:46:29,660
That's why Calvin said that the sacraments were instituted

1078
00:46:29,660 --> 00:46:32,140
so that, get this, quote, believers,

1079
00:46:32,140 --> 00:46:34,460
poor and deprived of all good,

1080
00:46:34,460 --> 00:46:36,740
should bring nothing to it but begging.

1081
00:46:38,660 --> 00:46:39,500
That's it.

1082
00:46:40,420 --> 00:46:42,420
That's how we come humbly to the table.

1083
00:46:42,420 --> 00:46:43,260
Begging.

1084
00:46:44,820 --> 00:46:49,340
So I'm just gonna close out now with the three major views

1085
00:46:49,340 --> 00:46:52,540
of the presence of Christ in the elements

1086
00:46:52,540 --> 00:46:55,300
as espoused by the reformers.

1087
00:46:55,300 --> 00:46:58,660
And again, this is gonna be food for next week.

1088
00:46:58,660 --> 00:46:59,500
No pun intended.

1089
00:47:00,740 --> 00:47:02,580
I'm full of them today, man.

1090
00:47:02,580 --> 00:47:04,460
I didn't even write them down, they're just coming.

1091
00:47:04,460 --> 00:47:06,460
Okay, all right, you see the faces,

1092
00:47:06,460 --> 00:47:08,260
you see the names there.

1093
00:47:08,260 --> 00:47:11,540
Real presence, reformed and memorialized.

1094
00:47:11,540 --> 00:47:15,060
Each doctrine proposed and supported by a great reformer.

1095
00:47:15,060 --> 00:47:16,220
All of them great men.

1096
00:47:17,340 --> 00:47:20,140
I believe only one of them is right, but all great men.

1097
00:47:20,140 --> 00:47:22,820
Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, right?

1098
00:47:22,820 --> 00:47:25,220
Now, I'm not gonna say a whole lot today

1099
00:47:25,220 --> 00:47:26,980
about what's right and what's wrong.

1100
00:47:26,980 --> 00:47:27,820
That's for next Sunday.

1101
00:47:27,820 --> 00:47:30,340
I'm just gonna throw out there what the actual tenets are.

1102
00:47:30,340 --> 00:47:32,540
Let's start with real presence.

1103
00:47:32,540 --> 00:47:35,940
Luther insisted that the body and blood of Christ are,

1104
00:47:35,940 --> 00:47:40,140
now get this, quote, in, with, and under.

1105
00:47:40,140 --> 00:47:41,660
The bread and the cup.

1106
00:47:41,660 --> 00:47:42,500
Say it again.

1107
00:47:42,500 --> 00:47:47,020
The body and blood of Christ are in, with, and under.

1108
00:47:47,020 --> 00:47:47,860
The bread and the cup.

1109
00:47:47,860 --> 00:47:48,700
What does that mean?

1110
00:47:49,660 --> 00:47:50,980
I still don't know.

1111
00:47:50,980 --> 00:47:52,860
I mean, frankly, it's pretty murky.

1112
00:47:52,860 --> 00:47:54,860
It's pretty abstract, okay?

1113
00:47:54,860 --> 00:47:56,980
Luther would say that the substance of the bread

1114
00:47:56,980 --> 00:48:00,620
and the wine remain, but in some mystical way,

1115
00:48:00,620 --> 00:48:03,100
that can't really be explained by the human mind,

1116
00:48:03,100 --> 00:48:06,780
they are joined with the literal body and blood of Christ.

1117
00:48:06,780 --> 00:48:11,780
So, Lutherans agree with Rome that Christ is physically

1118
00:48:11,780 --> 00:48:14,780
present in the sacrament, but they deny that the Roman

1119
00:48:14,780 --> 00:48:17,420
Catholic idea that there's a change in the substance

1120
00:48:17,420 --> 00:48:18,260
of the elements.

1121
00:48:19,300 --> 00:48:21,540
They also disagree with Rome that Christ is being

1122
00:48:21,540 --> 00:48:22,380
re-sacrificed.

1123
00:48:22,380 --> 00:48:23,940
They would not affirm that either.

1124
00:48:25,020 --> 00:48:27,980
Now, let me hop over past Calvin for a second

1125
00:48:27,980 --> 00:48:28,980
and go to Zwingli.

1126
00:48:28,980 --> 00:48:31,460
The reason I wanna do that is because Luther and Zwingli

1127
00:48:31,460 --> 00:48:36,140
are the two extremes on the spectrum of the body

1128
00:48:36,140 --> 00:48:36,980
and the body of Christ.

1129
00:48:36,980 --> 00:48:39,620
Calvin is in the middle, and it just so happens

1130
00:48:39,620 --> 00:48:43,260
that Luther and Zwingli historically actually did meet

1131
00:48:43,260 --> 00:48:44,620
to debate this.

1132
00:48:44,620 --> 00:48:47,900
We know because we have a record of it in the year 1529.

1133
00:48:47,900 --> 00:48:52,660
So, 12 years after Luther nailed that 95 theses

1134
00:48:52,660 --> 00:48:56,460
to the church, Luther and Zwingli were invited to come

1135
00:48:56,460 --> 00:48:59,580
to a city called Marburg in Germany with all

1136
00:48:59,580 --> 00:49:03,180
of their colleagues, big entourage, like 40 dudes

1137
00:49:03,180 --> 00:49:05,820
just with their Bibles to try to figure out

1138
00:49:05,820 --> 00:49:07,100
what was going on.

1139
00:49:07,100 --> 00:49:09,180
The occasion behind this meeting of the minds

1140
00:49:09,180 --> 00:49:10,260
was very simple.

1141
00:49:10,260 --> 00:49:12,300
You had a reformation happening in Germany

1142
00:49:12,300 --> 00:49:14,700
and one in Switzerland, and if we could combine

1143
00:49:14,700 --> 00:49:17,740
the power of those two movements and agree on everything,

1144
00:49:17,740 --> 00:49:21,260
then perhaps the reformers could resist the great power

1145
00:49:21,260 --> 00:49:23,620
that Rome wielded.

1146
00:49:23,620 --> 00:49:26,900
So, they pounded out, there's a famous painting of it,

1147
00:49:26,900 --> 00:49:29,860
15 points of doctrine to be discussed.

1148
00:49:29,860 --> 00:49:31,420
15.

1149
00:49:31,420 --> 00:49:33,660
And at first it looked like it was gonna be a great success.

1150
00:49:33,660 --> 00:49:36,300
The first 14, bada bing bada boom.

1151
00:49:37,220 --> 00:49:40,220
We agree, these are foundational things.

1152
00:49:41,700 --> 00:49:44,940
But it was that 15th one that threw everything off.

1153
00:49:44,940 --> 00:49:45,780
What was it?

1154
00:49:46,740 --> 00:49:48,740
The presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

1155
00:49:48,740 --> 00:49:51,500
It's the one thing they could not agree on.

1156
00:49:51,500 --> 00:49:54,100
A prickly issue, and it kept coming back over

1157
00:49:54,100 --> 00:49:55,020
and over again.

1158
00:49:55,020 --> 00:49:56,460
Zwingli would say this and Luther would say,

1159
00:49:56,460 --> 00:49:59,180
but it says this is my body.

1160
00:49:59,180 --> 00:50:01,940
So much so that Luther carved that in German

1161
00:50:01,940 --> 00:50:04,980
into a table at Marburg that they still have.

1162
00:50:04,980 --> 00:50:07,580
He carved it in there, this is my body.

1163
00:50:07,580 --> 00:50:09,740
He would not budge.

1164
00:50:09,740 --> 00:50:12,580
And he and Zwingli broke fellowship.

1165
00:50:12,580 --> 00:50:14,540
14 out of 15 they broke fellowship

1166
00:50:14,540 --> 00:50:16,820
because this was such a big deal.

1167
00:50:16,820 --> 00:50:19,460
Now, Zwingli and his colleagues argued that the bread

1168
00:50:19,460 --> 00:50:22,580
and the wine only signify Christ's body.

1169
00:50:22,580 --> 00:50:24,300
They represent Christ's body.

1170
00:50:24,300 --> 00:50:26,900
In other words, they were symbols only.

1171
00:50:26,900 --> 00:50:28,180
That's what he hung his hat on.

1172
00:50:28,180 --> 00:50:30,340
That's why we call it the memorialist view.

1173
00:50:30,340 --> 00:50:32,620
The Eucharist is understood to be a symbolic

1174
00:50:32,620 --> 00:50:37,220
or a memorial representation of the body and blood of Christ.

1175
00:50:37,220 --> 00:50:39,340
And their primary argument against Luther,

1176
00:50:39,340 --> 00:50:42,140
which is a good one, is that Jesus' body,

1177
00:50:42,140 --> 00:50:44,820
which is a localized body, right?

1178
00:50:44,820 --> 00:50:47,500
Jesus has a one physical localized body.

1179
00:50:47,500 --> 00:50:50,100
That it couldn't possibly be at the right hand

1180
00:50:50,100 --> 00:50:52,900
of the Father in heaven and on the altar

1181
00:50:52,900 --> 00:50:53,740
all at the same time.

1182
00:50:53,740 --> 00:50:58,380
That defies reason, is what Zwingli said.

1183
00:50:58,380 --> 00:51:00,900
So they also claimed that the purpose of the sacrament

1184
00:51:00,900 --> 00:51:04,860
was not to do anything metaphysical at all,

1185
00:51:04,860 --> 00:51:07,220
but simply to cause the sinner to recall

1186
00:51:07,220 --> 00:51:08,780
the passion of the Lord.

1187
00:51:08,780 --> 00:51:10,740
And they focused on this idea of remembrance.

1188
00:51:10,740 --> 00:51:12,860
Remember how Jesus says that in the upper room?

1189
00:51:12,860 --> 00:51:15,580
Do this in remembrance of me.

1190
00:51:15,580 --> 00:51:18,620
That this idea of coming to the table in remembrance

1191
00:51:18,620 --> 00:51:21,820
would cause the sinner to have great gratitude

1192
00:51:21,820 --> 00:51:23,660
for the passion of Christ, to be thankful

1193
00:51:23,660 --> 00:51:26,580
for his sacrifice on the cross.

1194
00:51:26,580 --> 00:51:28,700
In response, Luther and his colleagues argued

1195
00:51:28,700 --> 00:51:31,100
that the words of Jesus clearly teach

1196
00:51:31,100 --> 00:51:33,220
that the bread is the body.

1197
00:51:33,220 --> 00:51:36,140
It doesn't signify, the word signify is not there,

1198
00:51:36,140 --> 00:51:38,100
the word represent is not there.

1199
00:51:38,100 --> 00:51:42,060
His body is, the bread is the body of Christ.

1200
00:51:42,060 --> 00:51:45,020
And so for Luther, who wanted to stand on scripture,

1201
00:51:45,020 --> 00:51:47,340
that's what he was all about, said, look,

1202
00:51:47,340 --> 00:51:49,340
you can't twist the meaning of the word is

1203
00:51:49,340 --> 00:51:51,740
to mean anything other than what it means.

1204
00:51:52,780 --> 00:51:55,180
So he had two guys, very strong, very smart,

1205
00:51:55,180 --> 00:51:57,620
very esteemed leaders, butting heads over this.

1206
00:51:57,620 --> 00:52:00,420
By the way, Zwingli was really unhappy with Luther

1207
00:52:00,420 --> 00:52:03,660
because he felt like the real presence position

1208
00:52:03,660 --> 00:52:05,900
was too close to Rome.

1209
00:52:05,900 --> 00:52:08,860
He's like, you're not really reforming the mass.

1210
00:52:08,860 --> 00:52:11,620
You're basically agreeing with Rome here in many ways.

1211
00:52:11,620 --> 00:52:15,660
So they left very frustrated with each other.

1212
00:52:15,660 --> 00:52:17,260
All right, back to Calvin now.

1213
00:52:18,340 --> 00:52:21,260
Truly a middle position of compromise.

1214
00:52:21,260 --> 00:52:23,060
Now we have to remember that Calvin was what we call

1215
00:52:23,060 --> 00:52:25,980
a second generation reformer, okay?

1216
00:52:25,980 --> 00:52:30,420
At the time that Luther and Zwingli were meeting at Marburg,

1217
00:52:30,420 --> 00:52:32,780
Calvin's only 20 years old.

1218
00:52:32,780 --> 00:52:36,300
He's not even really involved in any career as a reformer.

1219
00:52:36,300 --> 00:52:38,940
So Calvin has the benefit of time

1220
00:52:38,940 --> 00:52:41,460
and the benefit of reflection to work off the brilliance

1221
00:52:41,460 --> 00:52:43,020
of these other two guys.

1222
00:52:43,020 --> 00:52:45,380
He eventually comes to the conclusion,

1223
00:52:45,380 --> 00:52:48,380
and I only got a few minutes left, so hang with me,

1224
00:52:48,380 --> 00:52:51,580
comes to the conclusion that Christ is truly communicated

1225
00:52:51,580 --> 00:52:55,140
through the Eucharist and that we really do participate

1226
00:52:55,140 --> 00:52:57,020
in his body and blood.

1227
00:52:57,020 --> 00:53:00,460
So he disagreed with Zwingli that it was just memorial,

1228
00:53:00,460 --> 00:53:02,420
but he also disagreed with Luther

1229
00:53:02,420 --> 00:53:05,820
concerning the physical presence of Christ in the elements.

1230
00:53:05,820 --> 00:53:08,780
The reformed position is that Christ is spiritually

1231
00:53:08,780 --> 00:53:12,540
communicated in the sacrament, not physically.

1232
00:53:12,540 --> 00:53:15,660
Meaning that the way we receive Christ in the elements

1233
00:53:15,660 --> 00:53:19,500
is by the Holy Spirit uniting us to Christ in heaven

1234
00:53:19,500 --> 00:53:21,740
by faith.

1235
00:53:21,740 --> 00:53:24,420
It's seen as an invitation that we would be lifted up

1236
00:53:24,420 --> 00:53:27,740
mysteriously into the presence of our great high priest

1237
00:53:27,740 --> 00:53:31,540
where in the language of Calvin we would feed upon him.

1238
00:53:31,540 --> 00:53:34,060
Spiritually, not physically, spiritually.

1239
00:53:35,180 --> 00:53:36,780
And I'll give you a really good summary of this.

1240
00:53:36,780 --> 00:53:38,780
This is a guy named Herman Baving,

1241
00:53:38,780 --> 00:53:41,940
who's a Dutch Calvinist from the 19th century.

1242
00:53:41,940 --> 00:53:43,060
Here's how he argues this.

1243
00:53:43,060 --> 00:53:45,740
He says, the Lord's Supper is a communion

1244
00:53:45,740 --> 00:53:48,380
with the person of Christ that does not consist

1245
00:53:48,380 --> 00:53:51,780
in a physical descent of Christ from heaven,

1246
00:53:51,780 --> 00:53:54,780
nor in a mixture or transfusion of the flesh of Christ

1247
00:53:54,780 --> 00:53:58,180
with our souls, but in the elevation of our hearts,

1248
00:53:58,180 --> 00:54:01,620
heavenward, in a union with Christ by the Holy Spirit.

1249
00:54:03,820 --> 00:54:06,460
These guys thought deeply about this stuff, didn't they?

1250
00:54:06,460 --> 00:54:07,900
Not us, not us today.

1251
00:54:07,900 --> 00:54:10,740
We're like, yeah, juice is in the back.

1252
00:54:12,100 --> 00:54:13,460
Enjoy.

1253
00:54:13,460 --> 00:54:16,300
These guys thought deeply about this stuff,

1254
00:54:16,300 --> 00:54:17,700
and they battled over it.

1255
00:54:17,700 --> 00:54:19,740
So Calvin and the Reform believe that the purpose

1256
00:54:19,740 --> 00:54:23,140
of communion is found in the fact that like the word,

1257
00:54:23,140 --> 00:54:26,300
the sacrament is a gift from God to his children,

1258
00:54:26,300 --> 00:54:29,060
wherein God reinforces all the promises

1259
00:54:29,060 --> 00:54:30,500
that he's given to us.

1260
00:54:30,500 --> 00:54:33,700
Our spiritual union with him, the forgiveness of sins,

1261
00:54:33,700 --> 00:54:36,820
the certain hope that we have of eternal life,

1262
00:54:36,820 --> 00:54:38,740
and that through this communion with Christ

1263
00:54:38,740 --> 00:54:41,860
in the heavenly realms, we are strengthened in our faith

1264
00:54:41,860 --> 00:54:42,980
in our walk with him.

1265
00:54:43,980 --> 00:54:45,500
That is the Reform position.

1266
00:54:45,500 --> 00:54:48,580
Now, teed it up, here's the questions for next week,

1267
00:54:48,580 --> 00:54:50,180
and you can consider these.

1268
00:54:50,180 --> 00:54:53,740
Number one, which Reformation stream does Oak Hill come from?

1269
00:54:55,020 --> 00:54:58,340
Like where do we, in the river of the Reformation,

1270
00:54:58,340 --> 00:55:00,620
which breaks off in all these tributaries,

1271
00:55:00,620 --> 00:55:02,220
where do we sit?

1272
00:55:02,220 --> 00:55:04,260
What do we believe about the presence of Christ

1273
00:55:04,260 --> 00:55:05,100
in the elements?

1274
00:55:05,100 --> 00:55:07,260
Do we line up with one of those three guys?

1275
00:55:07,260 --> 00:55:09,940
And what should a communion service at Oak Hill

1276
00:55:09,940 --> 00:55:11,500
look like today?

1277
00:55:12,500 --> 00:55:14,340
So tune in next Sunday.

1278
00:55:14,340 --> 00:55:16,460
In the meantime, happy Reformation Day.

1279
00:55:16,460 --> 00:55:17,300
Amen?

1280
00:55:17,300 --> 00:55:45,300
This is Bauer Heads.