this morning from Hebrews chapter 9. Begin reading at verse 11 and read to the end of the chapter. First part of Hebrews 9 describes the Old Testament sanctuary, and then what we're going to read applies that to its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9, beginning at verse 11, but Christ, being come in high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, either by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead. Otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people saying, this is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world, But now, once, at the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. We read the word of God that far this morning. On the basis of that and many other passages of God's word is the teaching of our Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 29. Lord's Day 29 is found in the back of our Psalters on page 17. There we read this, do then the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Christ. Not at all, but as the water in baptism is not changed into the blood of Christ, neither is the washing away of sin itself, being only the sign and confirmation thereof appointed of God, so the bread and the Lord's supper is not changed into the very body of Christ. Though agreeably to the nature and properties of sacraments, it is called the body of Christ Jesus. Why then doth Christ call the bread his body and the cup his blood, or the New Testament in his blood, and Paul the communion of the body and blood of Christ? Christ speaks thus not without great reason, namely, not only thereby to teach us that as bread and wine support this temporal life, so his crucified body and shed blood are the true meat and drink whereby our souls are fed to eternal life. but more especially by these visible signs and pledges to assure us that we are as really partakers of his true body and blood by the operation of the Holy Ghost, as we receive by the mouths of our bodies these holy signs in remembrance of him, and that all his sufferings and obedience are as certainly ours as if we had in our own persons suffered and made satisfaction for our sins to God. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord's Day that we consider this morning addresses one key issue regarding the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Recall that We're presently in the section of the Heidelberg Catechism that deals with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Previous Lord's Day, Lord's Day 28, set forth the basics of the symbolism of the Lord's Supper. The following Lord's Day, Lord's Day 30, is going to address who are the proper partakers of the sacrament and who judges that. And Lord's Day 29 here focuses on one critical issue with respect to the sacrament. And that key issue is whether and how Jesus Christ is present in the Lord's Supper. It's evident from The opening question of this Lord's Day, question 78, which asks, do then the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Christ? And in addressing that question, Heidelberg Catechism is addressing the matter of whether and how Christ is present in the sacrament. So the questions that we need to face and that we need to answer this morning are these. Is Jesus Christ present when we partake of the Lord's Supper? And if he is present, how is he present? And how then do we partake of him? God willing, next Sunday, we're going to partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And even though tonight there's a sermon that's dedicated to preparatory to the Lord's Supper, it's helpful already this morning that we begin to think of our coming to the table of the Lord Jesus Christ and think in terms of Christ's presence at that table. In answering that important question about the presence of Christ in the sacrament, the Heidelberg Catechism is polemical. We talk about polemics, we're talking about the defense of the truth of God's word. The defense of the truth of God's word by the refuting of errors that contradict that truth. Those polemics are necessary because this question of the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper was the most hotly debated subject at the time of the Reformation. Not just between the reformers and the Roman Catholic Church, but even amongst the reformers themselves. From a certain point of view, we can bemoan the fact that this sacrament, which is intended by God to demonstrate the unity of the Church of Jesus Christ, has throughout history become the occasion for so much division. At the same time, it's necessary for us to engage rightly in polemics. We may ignore that calling and responsibility to set forth the truth of God's word by refuting the errors that contradict it. The reason why that's so important is not only that we have a right understanding of the sacrament itself, but understanding the sacrament that touches on important truths about who Jesus Christ is and the nature of his saving work. Anytime we speak of or we engage in polemics, it's important that we remember the purpose of that. The purpose of our engaging in polemics at any point is not simply to win the argument. It's not to show that I'm right and you're wrong. Purpose of our polemics is at heart, the defense of the truth of God's word. If God wills, the convincing of others of the truth of God's word, but the defense of the truth of the word of God and that then to the glory of our God. We engage in polemics this morning, not only that we have a right understanding of the sacrament, but that there is a proper understanding of who Jesus Christ is, what is the nature of his saving work on our behalf, and that then to the glory and the honor of the God of our salvation. With that in mind, let's consider this truth of God's word as it's summarized here under the theme, how is Christ present in the Lord's Supper? First, we'll consider wrong answers to that question. Secondly, the correct answer. And then thirdly, conclude by addressing what the great benefit of this is for us. As we noted, the hotly debated issue at the time of the Reformation was this question. Is Jesus Christ present in the Lord's Supper? And if he is, how? And to that question, a number of wrong answers have been given throughout history. First, there's the answer of the Roman Catholic Church. The answer that Rome gives to that question has been termed transubstantiation. And that long technical word literally means a change of substance. What the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is is that in the Lord's Supper, there's a change of substance that takes place where one substance is transformed into another different substance. And the idea is that in the Lord's Supper, when the Roman Catholic priest pronounces the words of consecration, There's a change that takes place, what was a moment before bread and wine has been transformed into the actual body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will still look like bread and wine, it's going to taste like bread and wine, but in reality, they say, it's not bread and wine any longer, but it's actually the flesh and the blood of the Lord Jesus. which means that anyone who comes and partakes is literally and physically partaking of Jesus Christ, chewing the flesh and drinking the blood of the Lord Jesus. This doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is one part of the larger ceremony of the Roman Catholic Mass. The Mass involves the priest pronouncing those words of consecration, which transform bread and wine into body and blood. But then the priest is to take what is now, they say, the flesh and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and offer that on an altar, make a sacrifice of that. There is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, but that's not entirely sufficient for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. They say it's necessary for Christ to be sacrificed again and again daily for the forgiveness of our sins. So Christ is offered as a sacrifice on an altar at the Mass. And then also because it's now the body and the blood of Jesus Christ that's present, all of those present who will partake are called to venerate or to worship what is, they say, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. If that bread and wine has really changed into the body and the blood of Jesus Christ and Christ is literally physically present, then it's fitting that they would venerate or worship the elements of the bread and the wine. In defense of this idea, the Roman Catholic Church appeals to Christ's words of institution, and particularly when Jesus said to his disciples in the upper room, this is my body. Roman Catholic Church interprets that very literally. They say that when Jesus Christ held up the piece of bread and he said, this is my body, he meant literally that, that now he held in his hand his body, and gave his body to his disciples to eat. That's the one error. A second error, wrong answer to the question, how is Christ present in the Lord's Supper, is the answer that's given by many of the followers of Martin Luther. And the term that's been associated with their view is consubstantiation. Long technical word literally means with the substance. The idea of the Lutheran position is not that the bread and wine are transformed into an entirely different substance. They disagree with Rome on that point. They say the bread and the wine remains bread and wine, but what happens in the Lord's Supper is that the moment where the words of consecration are spoken, now, in addition to there being bread and wine, Christ's body and blood are also present. The body and blood of Jesus Christ, they say, are in, with, and under the elements of bread and wine. For the sake of the children An illustration might help explain that view. Think of a sponge that your mother might have in the kitchen for cleaning. The sponge is one substance, but when you put that in water, now there's another substance that's in the sponge, with the sponge, under the appearance of the sponge. It's water there with the sponge. Similarly, The idea of the Lutherans, you have the elements of bread and wine, but now in the sacrament, in, with, and under that is also the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. So that again, anyone who partakes is literally and physically eating the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. This understanding of the Lord's supper is tied in with the Lutherans' wrong view of the nature of Jesus Christ, his human nature, and what happens to that at the ascension. Lutherans say that at the ascension of Jesus Christ, when he went up from earth into heaven, there was a change that took place in his human nature. so that when it entered into heaven, the human nature of Jesus Christ took to itself some of the properties and attributes of the divine nature. It's no longer a human nature, but it's a human nature that has some of the properties of the divine nature, including, and this is especially important, that human nature can now be ubiquitous, meaning it can be in many places at one time. Prior to that, his human nature could only be in one place at one time, as any human nature can be. But now they say there's a change, and that human nature of Christ, his body and blood, can be present in many places at once. Not only is it up in heaven at the right hand of God, but whenever the Lord's Supper is administered on earth, Christ's human nature, his body and blood, is also present in every place under those elements. So the issue here, as we noted in the introduction, is not only how do we understand the Lord's Supper, but how do we understand who Jesus Christ is? How do we understand the nature of his saving work? And then third, and briefly, There's another error with respect to this issue of Christ's presence in the Lord's Supper. It's an error that's often been associated with the reformer Ulrich Zwingli, who like Martin Luther was a godly reformer who had a wrong understanding of the Lord's Supper. It's a view that's maintained still today by many Baptists and many evangelicals in the broader evangelical church world. And the idea is that in answer to the question, is Christ present in the Lord's Supper, they would say, no, he's not. Christ is not present in the sacrament. The sacrament is only, they say, a remembrance of what Christ has done in the past. they key in on the words of Jesus Christ when he says, this do in remembrance of me. And they say that's the significance of the Lord's Supper. It's not that Christ is present in any way, but that what this is is a commemoration. It's a remembrance of what Jesus Christ did for us some 2,000 years ago. By implication, then, what that means is that there's not an urgent call to self-examination before one comes to partake, or the warning that's given to one that they not partake unworthily, failing to discern the Lord's body in the sacrament, because Christ is not present in any way. Set forth now some of the wrong answers that have been given to the question, how is Christ present in the Lord's Supper? Now we set forth positively the biblical and reformed truth. There's two key elements to the reformed biblical truth in answer to that question. First of all, the answer to that question, how is Christ present in the Lord's Supper? The answer of the scriptures and the Reformed faith is that Christ is really present in the Lord's Supper. There's a real presence of Christ in the sacrament. We do have to deal honestly with the words of Christ in his institution of the sacrament when he says, this is my body. We're gonna come to see in the course of this point how we're to interpret and understand that, but part of our interpretation of that is that Jesus Christ is present, really, in the sacrament. That's evident as well from the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 29, When in the spirits giving to him the institution of the Lord's Supper, the apostle says, for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. It's that phrase especially, not discerning the Lord's body. One who partakes must rightly discern the body of the Lord Jesus Christ in the sacrament, which means that Christ is present, really, in some way, in the sacrament. That's the teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism. Here in Lord's Day 29 in answer 79, when it says in the middle of that answer, but more especially by these visible signs and pledges to assure us that we are as really partakers of his true body and blood as we receive by the mouths of our bodies these holy signs in remembrance of him. We are really partakers of Jesus Christ because Christ is really present in the sacrament. And in the Belgic Confession, Article 35 puts it most clearly. Belgic Confession, Article 35, summarizing the biblical reformed faith says, in the meantime, we err not when we say that what is eaten and drunk by us is the proper and natural body and the proper blood of Christ. We're not an error. When we say, what we eat and drink is Jesus Christ in the sacrament. That's the positive reformed truth. And then the article goes on to say, Christ communicates himself with all his benefits to us, nourishing, strengthening, and comforting our poor, comfortless souls by the eating of his flesh, quickening and refreshing them by the drinking of his blood. Christ is present in the Lord's Supper. We eat and we drink Christ in the sacrament. Understand that's not the main way we partake of Jesus Christ. The main way in which we partake of the Lord Jesus Christ is as he communicates himself to us through his word. Preaching of the gospel is the chief means of grace. In the preaching of the gospel, Jesus Christ gives himself to us so that we eat him and we drink him and are nourished in our souls through the preaching of the gospel. Now on account of the weakness of our faith, on account of our being such earthly creatures, God in his merciful condescension has not only given to us the preaching of the gospel, but he's added to that the sacraments. So that it's also through the sacraments that Christ communicates himself to us, and we partake of him. Our issue with the Roman Catholic Church, with the Lutherans, is not about the presence of Christ in the sacrament. They charge us falsely with saying that we don't believe Christ is present at all in the sacrament. And we respond to that by saying that's not true. That's a false charge. The issue between us is not about whether Christ is present in the sacrament or not. We affirm that Jesus Christ is present, really present, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The issue is, how is he present? We'll come to that in a moment. But it's not, is Christ present? Christ is present in the Lord's Supper. Speak to this more in the concluding part of the sermon this morning, but don't fail to notice it here already. It's this truth that establishes the awesome holiness and significance of the sacrament. Jesus Christ is present, really present at the table. And it's this truth that establishes the great benefit to us in partaking. Jesus Christ is really present so that we partake of Jesus Christ in the sacrament. The Lord's Supper is a remembrance. In our partaking, we do commemorate what Christ did for us some 2,000 years ago, but it's not only a commemoration or a remembrance. It is a remembrance of what Christ has done, but it's also a partaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the first part of the biblical reformed answer to that question. Christ is really present in the sacrament. But then secondly, the answer to that question is that Christ's presence is a spiritual presence. He's really present and that real presence is a spiritual presence. Here we do contend with the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutherans who speak of a literal and a physical presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. We reject that. Christ's presence is spiritual. The error of the Roman Catholic Church especially is that their teaching regarding the Lord's Supper is a denial of the one sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, they say, is physically present, the elements transformed from bread and wine into body and blood, and they say that has to be sacrificed again and again daily for it to have the forgiveness of our sins. That's a denial of the power and the efficacy of the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ at the cross. And that's the point of Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews 9 describes the Old Testament sacrifices and the necessity of the shedding of blood and that blood being shed again and again every single day, pointing to the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ once for all for the redemption of his people. His blood did not have to be shed again and again and again from the foundations of the world, but His one sacrifice was the full, complete payment for our sins. Hebrews 9. Verse 12, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Verse 26, but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Verse 28, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. In addition, the error of the Lutherans is an error that includes a wrong understanding of the human nature of Jesus Christ. At issue with Rome is the saving work of Jesus Christ. Not only how do we understand the sacrament, but how do we understand Christ's work of salvation? With respect to the Lutherans, it's not only how do we understand the sacrament, but how do we understand who Jesus Christ is and his human nature? Jesus Christ ascended up into heaven. His human nature didn't become and be transformed into a divine nature. He possesses both a divine and a human, but a really divine and a really human nature. And according to his human nature, Jesus Christ is not present in many places at once. His human nature is present in one place, at the right hand of his Father in heaven. Hebrews 9 verse 24 speaks to that, for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Christ cannot be physically present in the Lord's Supper, because his body and his blood is at the right hand of his Father in heaven. Part of the error of both as well is that anyone who would come to the table and partake is actually eating Jesus Christ. Even an unbeliever who comes to partake would actually be partaking of the crucified body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That cannot be. Christ gives himself only to his people, only to believers. An unbeliever may partake of the outward elements of the sacrament, may eat bread and drink wine, but not discerning the Lord's body, eats and drinks damnation to himself, and does not partake of the reality which is Jesus Christ. It's important to take note of Jesus' words of institution here. When he says, this is my body. Explanation of that, we've said already, is that there's a sense in which Christ is really present. But what's also true is that that presence is spiritual. When Christ said those words of institution, he didn't mean them to be taken literally as if that bread is now actually his flesh. That would have been apparent to any of the disciples who were sitting there around the table. They saw Jesus Christ in flesh and blood. They saw him hold up the piece of bread from the table. They would not have in any way thought that now that bread has been transformed into Christ's actual flesh. The word is. means symbolizes, this bread symbolizes, represents the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as when Jesus says elsewhere, I am the door or I am the vine. None of us, in reading that, think Jesus is an actual, literal door. None of us think that Jesus is an actual, literal plant of vine. We understand those phrases to mean this represents, this symbolizes, the door symbolizes and represents who Jesus Christ is, and the vine represents and symbolizes who Jesus Christ is. Same is true with these words of institution when he says, this is my body, this symbolizes, represents the Lord Jesus Christ in his crucified body and shed blood. Christ's presence is spiritual. That's answer 79 again. And now that phrase that we jumped over before, that's in parentheses, but very important there, that we are as really partakers of his true body and blood by the operation of the Holy Ghost. We partake of him by the Holy Ghost because it's by the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ is present spiritually. And again, that's Article 35 of the Belgic Confession, which says, but the manner of our partaking of the same is not by the mouth, but by the spirit through faith. Thus then, though Christ always sits at the right hand of his Father in the heavens, yet doth he not therefore cease to make us partakers of himself by faith? This feast is a spiritual table. Is Christ present? He is. We don't err when we say what we partake of is Christ's body and blood in the sacrament. But how? Spiritually. He communicates himself to us by the working of his Holy Spirit. And we partake of him spiritually by faith. Some will object and say, To say that he's spiritually present is really to deny that he's really present. But because something is spiritual doesn't mean that it's not real. There are many things that are spiritual and very real. The forgiveness of sins is spiritual. It's very real. God himself is a spirit. We wouldn't dare to say that God is not real. Because something is spiritual doesn't mean that it's not real. Christ is really present in the sacrament, spiritually. It's by the working of the Holy Spirit that Christ is present in the sacrament and communicates himself, gives himself to his people in the sacrament. And the manner of our partaking of Christ as he gives himself to us in the sacrament is spiritually by faith. The Belgic Confession in that same article refers to faith as the hand and the mouth of the soul. We don't partake of Christ with a literal hand and a physical mouth. But as we eat and drink the bread and the wine, the elements that represent Christ by faith, We partake of Jesus Christ. Faith is the hand of the soul whereby we receive Jesus Christ as he gives himself to us. And faith is the mouth of the soul by which we partake of Jesus Christ. Our partaking is spiritually by faith, as we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Savior from sin, as we know and confess His sacrifice on the cross to be the one sacrifice for the sins of all of His people, never to be repeated, and by faith as we rest and trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone for our salvation and forgiveness. All of this then leads to practically what is the great benefit to us of our partaking of the sacrament. If Christ is really present and spiritually present, then there's benefit, great benefit to us as believers in partaking. We've noted already the fact that Christ's real presence means that there is benefit. We partake of Jesus Christ himself through our partaking of the sacrament. But also the matter of Christ's spiritual presence is important for our benefit. Our need is a spiritual need. Our need when we come to the table is not a physical need. It's not that our bellies are hungry and we need that satisfied. The need that we have is a spiritual need. We need to know the forgiveness of our sins. We need to know that we belong to Jesus Christ and all of his saving merits and all of his saving power. If Christ is physically present, that doesn't benefit us. Because a physical partaking of Christ is not going to meet our spiritual need. Our spiritual need can only be satisfied by a spiritual nourishment and the spiritual partaking of Jesus Christ by faith. Jesus says in John 6 verse 63, it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Because Christ is really present and spiritually present, there's benefit to us addressing that great spiritual need that we have. Benefit for us is spelled out in question and answer 79. On the one hand, we're instructed, we're taught through the sacrament of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the nature of any sacrament, it's a teaching tool that teaches us about the truth of our salvation alone in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ at the cross. But especially, it does do this, it does teach, but the benefit of the sacrament is especially to assure us. So that by our partaking of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper we are strengthened in our confidence and in our assurance that we belong to Jesus Christ. We are assured personally and strengthened in that confidence personally that just as I partake of the bread and the wine of the Lord's Supper, so certain can I be that I belong to Jesus Christ, that I partake of Him, that He gave Himself for me, and that in Him I have the forgiveness of my sins, all of the blessings of salvation, the hope of life everlasting. being strengthened in that assurance, we're fed at the table. Our spiritual life nourished as we partake by faith of the crucified Lord Jesus. It means then that there's a holy significance to our coming to the table of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is present spiritually in the sacrament. It's not to scare us off, make us be filled with such doubt and fear. about a failure to partake in the proper way that we absent ourselves from the table of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a matter of our worthiness with which we come and the presence of Christ isn't intended to scare us off and make us afraid to partake. But it does set us in the right mindset as we come. It's possible for us to come to the table of the Lord Jesus Christ, having forgot all week long that we were going to celebrate the Lord's Supper that Sunday. And it's possible for us, as weak and sinful believers, when we partake, to think of nothing more than how crusty the bread is and how the wine catches in our throat and makes us cough. It's possible for us to walk out the door after we bend to the table of the Lord Jesus Christ without hardly a backward glance and the significance of our partaking as that carries through in the rest of our week. Then we remember, Lord Jesus Christ is present at this, His holy meal. The Lord Jesus Christ crucified, the one savior from sin communicates himself, gives himself to us in the sacrament by the working of his Holy Spirit. And that ought to give to us a proper frame of mind then as we look at the table of the Lord Jesus Christ so that we look forward to it. We don't fear coming because Christ is present, but we look forward to that with eager anticipation that we go to the table of the Lord Jesus Christ where he gives himself to us to the nourishing of our souls. When we partake, our thoughts are on the Lord Jesus Christ. and the joy and gladness and the confidence that we have, that we belong to Him and that He gave His life for us and that He's the meat and drink to our souls that nourishes us to everlasting life. And then because Jesus Christ was present at the table and gave Himself to us there, we can walk out of the house of God and carry with us the great benefit that we've received. Not only that we've been taught and reminded of the truth of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ alone, but that we are assured and strengthened in our confidence that I belong to Jesus Christ, my sins forgiven in His blood, and that He feeds and He nourishes my soul to everlasting life. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we're thankful for the preaching of the gospel, which is the chief means of thy grace to us. We pray for the application of that word to our hearts this morning, so that we're strengthened, we're fed, brought to see the blessedness of the Lord Jesus Christ and his saving work on our behalf. We're thankful too, Father, for the precious gift of the sacraments, for the support and the confirmation of our faith that they give. And we look forward to the following Sabbath day when we'll be able to gather together around that table and partake to the nourishing of our souls. Father, graciously forgive any sins that we've committed here in our worship and receive it for the sake of Christ to the honor of thy name. We pray in Jesus name, amen.