Well, this morning we continue our series on the Lord's Supper. As I think I've said a few times, this is a series within a series, as it were. We have this broader series called Reforming Worship, Biblical Foundations to Worship God by the Word of God. And we've been in a subset of that series on the sacraments. We took three weeks to look at why do we baptize babies? And now we're taking three weeks to look at what is the Lord's Supper. And before that, we had a message on the baptism. Baptism is about the gospel and a few other messages, including on how to sing the Psalms as Christian worship. So I would encourage you, especially for us as a Psalm singing church, maybe to go back and listen to that message on the Psalms. How do we sing the Psalms as Christian worship? Should we? And how do we do it? But today we continue on the Lord's Supper. Last week, we looked at the historical origins for the Lord's Supper. This week, we're going to look at the spiritual realities of the Lord's Supper. Last week, the key word was remember. This week, the key word will be participate. Last week we looked at the Lord's Supper as a memorial meal. A meal where we remember a number of things. I gave you three Ps if you remember. We remember the Passion. That is Christ's sufferings and resurrection. We remember the promise that is Christ's covenantal blessings that we have in him that were promised even all the way back to Eve when the Lord said the seed of Eve will crush the head of the serpent. We remember the perusia. That is the return of Christ. All of these things we remember in the memorial meal, the passion, the promise, the perusia. So in other words, we looked last week from the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world to the marriage supper of the lamb who will come again to judge our enemies and to save us. So that's the whole scope, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and the one who will come and bring us to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's what we remember in this memorial meal. And that's what we looked at last week in our first message on the Lord's Supper. This week, we are going to look at the Lord's Supper as a mystical participation. in Christ's body and blood. A mystical participation in Christ's body and blood. In the history of the theology of the Lord's Supper, there's been a debate about what exactly is the Lord's Supper. Some claim that the Lord's Supper is merely a memorial meal. It's merely something that we do to remember what Christ has done for us. But others have taught that it is more than that. that in some sense, we are actually feasting on the body and blood of Christ. And this morning, I'm not going to spell out those different views, but what I would like to do is to simply give you a biblical foundation for how we view, as Presbyterians, the Lord's Supper as a mystical or spiritual participation in Christ's body and blood. And so to do that, we're gonna look at two key texts this morning, which were our scripture readings this morning. We're gonna look at John 6, verses 48 to 58. And then we're going to look at 1 Corinthians 10, specifically verses 16 to 18. So we're gonna look at these two passages. to demonstrate and to give us a foundation for the Presbyterian and Reformed view of the Lord's Supper as a spiritual or mystical participation in Christ's body and blood. And I think and I pray and hope that you will see that the scriptures teach that the Lord's Supper is a memorial meal, but it's more than just a memorial meal. In fact, it is a way that we commune with God himself through Jesus Christ. So let's begin with John chapter six. In John chapter 6, verses 48 to 58, we discover our spiritual need for Christ's body and blood. Our spiritual need for Christ's body and blood. I think it would be helpful if I read this passage again for us. And I want you to read with the eyes to see what it says about our spiritual need for Christ's body and blood. Jesus says in verse 48, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living father sent me, and I live because of the father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. So what are we to make of this enigmatic text that caused the Jews to scratch their heads. What does it mean that we can eat his flesh? In fact, this is such a strange phrase that a common accusation from the pagans in Rome was that the Christians were cannibals because they taught that they ate the flesh of Christ and drank his blood. So what on earth does this mean and what does this text say about our spiritual need for Christ's body and blood? A few observations that we can glean from this text. First, looking in verses 48 to 51, we see that Jesus is the substance of the Old Testament shadow. Jesus is the substance of the Old Testament shadow. In the Old Testament, we have the picture and the experience of the patriarchs wandering in the desert. And without divine intervention, they would die in the desert. And so the Lord provided manna from heaven for them to eat. It would come down, they would gather it up, they would eat it. And that would give them life in the wilderness. This manna from heaven gave them life in the wilderness. And this picture is a great shadow of the reality, even as we all as God's people are in exile on this planet. And we need heavenly food to survive. But the food that we really need is not physical bread. but the incarnate Christ who came down from heaven, who took on flesh to dwell among us, to live the life that we should have lived and to pay the penalty that we deserved. The true bread from heaven is Christ. He is the substance of this Old Testament shadow. And now, what's the difference between these two breads? Well, Jesus tells us here in these verses, the fathers ate the bread, they lived for a time, but they died. They all died. But the one who feasts on Christ as the bread of life will live forever. That's the difference. Jesus is the substance of the Old Testament shadow. Another observation that we can make in verses 52 to 55, that Jesus's body and blood is our true need for eternal life. They are our true need for eternal life. Jesus says in these verses that you have no life unless you eat his flesh and drink his blood. That in the grand scheme, we, as it were, walk around as ghosts. The real life is in Christ. And that there is no true life unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood. Jesus says in these verses that for those who eat on His flesh and drink His blood, they will have eternal life. and that he will raise up our bodies on the last day, raise us up on the last day, speaking ahead of the resurrection of our bodies. Let's think about that for a moment. The true life that Jesus has in store is not one where we will be ethereal spirits floating in the clouds for all eternity. but it's one where we will experience true, physical, glorified life in all of its fullness and glory in the new creation. All of the things that give us joy in this world, from the food we eat, to the relationships we have, to physical touch, to hugs, to kisses, all these things, to the pleasure of being in creation, swimming in the sea, walking in the woods, staring at the glory of the sun and feeling its warmth all these things are mere shadow of the true life in the new creation and jesus says the only way that you can experience this life this true eternal life is by feasting on his body and blood One last observation from this text, verses 56 to 58. Feeding on Christ is the means of our spiritual union with him. Feeding is the means of our spiritual union with Christ. Jesus makes this what seems to serve as a very simple statement is deeply profound and has perplexed theologians for the last 2,000 years. In verse 56, he says, whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. He abides in me and I in him. Well, how on earth do we abide in Christ and he in us? I mean, what does that mean? The early church fathers used a Greek term called perichoresis. And I won't expect you to remember that, but perichoresis, perichoresis, peri means around, and choresis refers to a dance, like a round dance. So the early church fathers viewed this concept of Christ in us and we in him to refer to the dance. And they used it in two senses. One in terms of the dance of the Trinity, the mutual indwelling of the three persons of the Trinity. That Jesus says that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. There's this mutual indwelling of the three persons of the Trinity. Likewise, We see, as Jesus teaches here, we are brought into this dance. We are brought into this dance. It also refers to Christ and his bride. of the two becoming one, the mutual indwelling, the mutual dance. Whoever feeds on his flesh and drinks on his blood abides in Christ and he in him. This is a mutual indwelling and nobody can really understand exactly what this means. But by union with Christ, We know at least this, that by union with Christ, we actually participate in the life of God. The life that is in the Father, that is also in the Son, also is in us by our union with Christ. By union with Christ, we participate in the life of God. We are ushered into the life. That's why Peter can use the phrase that we are participants of his divine nature. And now an important caveat here, that while we participate with Christ, it is also clear that the distinction between creator and creature remains. There's an early church heresy known as Gnosticism that taught that we are all just absorbed into the one. That we all lose all person and we're just absorbed into the one. And that same kind of idea comes in Eastern mysticism as well. We never lose the distinction between the creator and the creature. God is always God and we are always his creatures. But nevertheless, in the mystery of the incarnation in our union with Christ, we are brought into the dance of God. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. So how do we experience this dance then as God's people? Well, I think we experience it every time the Holy Spirit gives us gifts and leads and moves in us when we commune, when we pray with God, when we live Coram Deo in the sight of God, we participate in the dance through our union, our connection with the Godhead by the Spirit through Christ. But one very visible and tangible way that we experience and participate in this dance is through the Lord's Supper. And so now we need to turn to 1 Corinthians 10. Please turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 10. And I want to look specifically at verses 16 to 18 here, though we read the larger chapter a little while ago. In verses 16 and 18, Paul writing to the church in Corinth says, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake. of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?" We need to understand a little bit of the context of these words that Paul says. In Corinth, some really bad things were going on in the church. And you've probably heard me say this before, but if you ever think your church plant is going bad, think about how Paul's were going. Corinth is one of the worst. I mean, Corinth is a nightmare church in many, many ways. And Paul's entire first letter is dealing with significant abuses and arrogance and pride. They're going about saying that they're spiritually mature when Paul has to tell them, no, you're infants in Christ. He even threatens, do I have to go down there and beat you with a rod? You know, Paul is just out of his mind. He's beside himself with what's going on in Corinth, and some really horrible things are happening. What we are seeing in Corinth is spiritual union, not with Christ, but with prostitutes and demons. Spiritual union with prostitutes and demons. In chapter six, Paul addresses the issue with prostitutes. And I'll just read you an excerpt from that chapter, verses 15 to 17, where Paul has to remind them, do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For as it is written, the two will become one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him." So we're seeing here that in a very real sense, just like in the marriage act, the two become one. Some Corinthians, some in the church, are partaking in the temple sacrifices, which included cultic prostitution. And they rather are becoming one with prostitutes. And this cannot be. If we are members of Christ, how can we be members with a prostitute? It's just, it's horrible. But in a sense, there is a true spiritual union going on that makes this so grievous. In the same way, Paul has to give an extended argument on food sacrifice to idols, which covers multiple chapters in 1 Corinthians. And we read the tail end of that argument in chapter 10, But here we see that people by participating in the parties going on at the temple, what they're really doing is not participating with idols, but they are participating or fellowshipping with demons. And so Paul says in verse 19 of chapter 10, what do I imply then that food offered to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? No. I imply that what pagan sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? A key word in this issue going on is the word that the ESV translates as participants. The Greek word is koinonia. Maybe you've heard that phrase before or that word koinonia, fellowship. What happens when we participate in the Lord's Supper, we experience a uniting spiritual mystical fellowship. with Christ. And it's the same kind of fellowship that happens in a negative, unlawful way by having sex with a prostitute or by eating food sacrificed to idols. You are fellowshipping with demons. On a positive note, it might be something close to the, at least in concept, to the idea of through the marriage act of becoming one flesh with another. There's a sacramental, mystical way that we literally participate in Christ's body and blood through the Lord's Supper. And Paul's point in this text is that those who eat the sacrifice are real participants in the sacrifice. And Paul draws us, if you look at verse 18, reminding us that in the Old Testament, that those who ate the sacrifice, were they not participants in the altar? that there was a sense that by the eating of what was roasted on the altar and they ate the part that could be eaten, they were truly participating in the altar as if they are united to that sacrifice. And in the same way, when we take the Lord's supper and we feast on the bread and wine, though it remains bread and wine, Yet in a spiritual sense, we are literally feasting on the body and blood of Christ. And we are participating in his life, death, and resurrection. And all the benefits of Christ are conferred to us therein. The study of the nature of the Lord's Supper is something that will take us far beyond our overview series here. I would encourage you to read the Westminster Confession of Faith on the Lord's Supper and the chapter on the sacraments if you want to study more and look at the scriptural touch points for our theology of the Lord's Supper. But when Paul says in verse 18, those who eat the sacrifice are real participants in the altar, he's reminding us that when we feast on Christ in the Lord's Supper, we are truly feeding on the eternal life-giving benefits of Christ. We are united with him. We are identifying with him in his life, death, and resurrection. So as we look just briefly at these two texts, I think maybe to summarize what we've seen in these two texts is that the Lord's Supper is an experience of our union and communion with Christ. It's a meal of spiritual nourishment. It's a mystery, but it is a true and real fellowship with Jesus. It is the way that we do what Jesus taught in John chapter six. It is our mystical participation in the body and blood of Christ. I'd like to read one paragraph from the Westminster Confession's statement on the Lord's Supper to conclude this message. And in chapter 29 of the Confession of Faith, in paragraph seven, It says, worthy receivers outwardly partaking of the visible elements in the sacrament do then also inwardly by faith really and indeed yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death, the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in with or under the bread wine, yet as really but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance as the elements themselves are to the outward senses." In other words, in that last line that Christ is just as present in the sacrament as is the physical bread and wine that we eat and drink. At the end, the Lord's Supper is a mystery. But as we've seen in these first two weeks, it is truly a memorial meal. And it is truly a mystical, spiritual participation in Christ's body and blood. Next week, we're going to see that this is a sacrament with power. It's a sacrament that calls for discernment. To discern the Lord's body. Because it can also be a sacrament that kills. And we're going to see what the scripture says about that next week. So we've seen that the Lord's Supper is a memorial meal. It's a mystical participation. And next week, we'll see that it is a sacrament for discernment that has real power for good, as well as for judgment. Let's pray.