Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 31:31–34

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”” (Jeremiah 31:31–34, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Luke 22:14-20

“And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’” (Luke 22:14–20, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

It was a joy to preach on Luke 22:1-23 last Sunday. In that passage, we learned of the wicked preparations that Judas made to betray Jesus and to deliver him into the hands of his enemies, the holy preparations that Jesus made to celebrate the last Passover with his disciples, Jesus’ faithful observance of the last Passover with his disciples, the institution of the Lord’s Supper, and finally, Jesus’ prediction that one of his own would betray him. You may remember that in that sermon, I said we would come back to this passage to give special attention to the institution of the holy ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, and that is what we will do today. 

As you know, the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion, is a central feature of New Covenant worship and the life of the New Covenant community. Where does the church gather to hear the Word of God read and preached, to sing and to pray, and to commune with God and with one another, except around the Lord’s Table? Given its great and central importance, it is good and right for us to pay careful attention to its institution. The New Testament has a lot to say about the Lord’s Supper, but Luke 22:19-20 is foundational, for here the Lord’s Supper is instituted, that is, established for the first time.  

In this sermon, I will raise several questions about the Supper and attempt to answer them in the hopes that we, as a congregation, will have a better understanding of this sacrament and a greater appreciate for it as one of the outward and ordinary means that Christ uses to sanctify and sustain his people in this New Covenant era. 

Here are the main questions on my mind: Who is the author of this ordinance, when was it instituted, and for what era or time? What are the elements to be used, and what do they signify? Who is to administer this ordinance, and how? Who is to receive this ordinance, and how? When is this ordinance to be observed, and for what purpose, end, or goal? 

Let us now briefly explore these questions together. We will only consider the first two today. The others will need to wait until next Sunday. 

Who Is The Author Of This Ordinance, When Was It Instituted, And For What Era Or Time?

First of all, who is the author or originator of this ordinance? Answer: The Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our confession of faith draws attention to this fact in its opening statement on the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. 2LCF 28.1, says, “Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver, to be continued in his church to the end of the world.”

What is an ordinance? It is something that has been ordered or commanded. 

What does our confession mean when it says that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances of a positive institution? It means that these laws were added to the moral law when the New Covenant began.  

And what does our confession mean when it calls the Lord’s Supper a sovereign institution? It means these laws were added by a great, powerful, and sovereign King. Who is that King? Christ Jesus is the King. He is the King of God’s eternal Kingdom. And these ordinances—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper— were instituted by him. 

Notice the authority of Christ in our text. When he instituted the Lord’s Supper, he simply issued this command, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Friends, Moses did not speak with this kind of authority when the positive laws associated with Old Covenant worship were revealed through him. Moses received those laws from God before he delivered them to the people. And listen to how the Apostle Paul speaks about the Lord’s Supper. To the church in Corinth he wrote, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me’”, etc. (1 Corinthians 11:23–24, ESV). The point is this: The Lord Jesus Christ did not receive instructions about the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper from anyone. He spoke with an authority all his own. Our confession is right: “Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver, to be continued in his church to the end of the world.”

This is a very significant observation. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Anointed King of God’s eternal Kingdom, instituted the Lord’s Supper and commanded that his disciples do this in remembrance of him. Those who love Jesus will be eager to obey this command, as Christ has said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV). In another place, Jesus rebukes those who claim to love him but do not keep his commandments, saying, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46, ESV). Indeed, abiding in Christ’s love involves keeping his commandments. As Christ says in John 15:10,  “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10, ESV). Dear friends, one of the things that Christ has commanded his disciples is to do is to observe the Lord’s Supper. “Do this in remembrance of me.” And yet so many professing Christians today neglect this Holy ordinance. 

Who is the author or originator of this ordinance? Jesus Christ the Lord. And when was this ordinance instituted or established as law? On the night that Jesus was betrayed, the night before the day of his crucifixion. 

The Lord’s Supper was indeed anticipated and prefigured long before in the days of Abraham and Melchizadek. In Genesis 14:17, we read, “After [Abraham’s] return from the defeat of… the kings… the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth…” (Genesis 14:17–19, ESV). Isn’t it interesting that Melchizedek, the priest-king who was a type of the Christ to come, blessed Abraham while breaking bread and drinking wine? Indeed, we may say that the Lord’s Supper was anticipated and prefigured in this event, but it was not yet an instituted ordinance. 

And we may also see that the Lord’s Supper was anticipated in the words that Christ spoke to the multitude in the wilderness earlier in his ministry. In John 6:51-56, we hear Christ say, ‘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’” (John 6:51-56, ESV). Clearly, eating the flesh of Christ and drinking the blood of Christ is not to be taken literally. It symbolizes the reception of him by faith—we feed upon Christ and drink of Christ by the mouth of faith. Certainly, the Lord’s Supper was hinted at and anticipated when Christ spoke these words. But the Lord’s Supper was not instituted, ordered, or ordained until Christ broke the bread, distributed the cup, and spoke to his disciples, saying, “Do this in remembrance of me”, on the night he was betrayed.   

It is interesting to note that just as the Passover feast was instituted on the night before the Hebrews were delivered from Egyptian bondage, and not afterward, so too the Lord’s Supper was instituted on the night before the accomplishment of our redemption through death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In other words, the institution of the Passover (Exodus 12:1-28) and the institution of the Lord’s Supper predated the events they would signify. And this was to show these these great acts of redemption were according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.  

When was this ordinance instituted or established as law? On the night Jesus was betrayed, the night before the day of his crucifixion. And how long is this ordinance to be observed? Our Confession is correct. It is to be observed by God’s people until the end of the world. This is stated directly by the Apostle Paul in the words, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26, ESV). The Lord’s Supper is to be observed by followers of Christ until he comes, that is to say, throughout the entirety of this New Covenant era. 

What Are The Elements To Be Used And What Do They Signify? 

We’ve considered my first set of questions: Who is the author of this ordinance, when was it instituted, and for what era or time? Now we will turn our attention to the elements. What are the elements to be used in the Lord’s Supper, and what do they signify?

The elements to be used are bread and wine. Luke 22:19 says, “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them…” (Luke 22:19, ESV). And Luke 22:20 says, “And likewise the cup after they had eaten… (Luke 22:20, ESV). What was in the cup? The fruit of the vine was in the cup (see verse 22:18), that is to say, wine. 

The more that I think about it, it is a strange thing that so many churches today have changed one of the elements of the Supper from wine to grape juice. Granted, both wine and grape juice come from the vine. Granted, both have the appearance of blood. And yes, I do understand that some within the church might have personal convictions never to touch alcohol. With these things in mind, if a church serves grape juice instead of wine, or if a church makes juice available to those with the convictions just mentioned, I cannot bring myself to charge them with sin. Nevertheless, it seems odd to alter the elements. What was in the cup that Jesus served? Wine was in the cup. I will not take the time to prove that wine was in the cup, nor will I talk about the use of wine throughout the Bible and its symbolism. There is a little book written by a man named G.I. Williamson, entitled Wine in the Bible and the Church. I’m afraid it’s out of print. You can probably find a digital version online for free. It’s excellent. Perhaps the easiest way to prove that wine was used to celebrate the Supper in the early church is to consider the rebuke that Paul delivered to the church in Corinth, saying, “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk” (1 Corinthians 11:20–21, ESV). How would some of the members in the church of Corinth get drunk when assembled together if wine were not present? Clearly it was. Paul’s solution to the problem was not to change the elements from wine to juice, but to rebuke the Corinthian church for their sin. 

When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, he distributed bread and wine. What color was the wine? Given that it represented the shed blood of Christ, it must have been red. And what kind of bread did Christ serve? He served unleavened bread—bread that was flat because it was free from a leavening agent which would cause it to rise— for that was the only kind of bread available to him. Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper while eating the Passover with his disciples, remember. And one of the things God commanded the Jews to do while celebrating Passover was to rid their homes of all leaven. 

We serve unleavened bread when observing the Lord’s Supper. But if you were to visit other churches, even in our association, you would find that some serve leavened bread. And if you were to ask them, why do you serve leavened bread and not unleavened bread? I think they would answer you like this: the Scripturers say that Christ broke bread and distributed it to his disciples. True, unleavened bread was the only kind of bread available to him as he ate the Passover. But this does not mean that unleavened bread must be used. Bread is to be used. And either leavened or unleavened bread will do. This is the argument you will find in John Gill’s, Body Of Doctrinal And Practical Divinity (page 917), and I respect it. Nevertheless, I do appreciate the symbolism of unleavened bread.  

Leaven symbolizes sin. And in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul uses this symbolism while speaking to New Covenant Christians, saying, “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6–8, ESV). I’ll admit that Paul may have been using the unleavened bread that was used in the Old Covenant Passover to illustrate his point, but it seems reasonable to me to assume that unleavened bread was being used by the church in Corinth while celabreating the festivle of the Lord’s Supper, and so Paul used this to illustrate his point. “Cleanse out the old leaven”, church. Turn from your sins personally and corporately, and walk in holiness.   

What are the elements to be used in the Lord’s Supper? Bread and wine. And what do they signify? 

The broken bread signifies the body of Christ that was broken for his people. The cup symbolizes his blood poured out for the remission of sins. Notice, the cup also stands for the entire New Covenant—“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20, ESV).

As you may know, there has been no small debate between the Roman Catholics and Protestants over the question, what did Christ mean when he said, this is my body and “this is my blood.” Rome teaches the doctrine of transubstantiation. According to them, the words of Christ are to be taken very literally. When Christ said, “This is my body”, he meant that the bread was actually transformed into the flesh of Christ, and when he said, “This… is the new covenant in my blood”, the wine was transformed into the blood of Christ. And they imagine that this happens every time Holy Communion is served when the priest pronounces his blessing over the elements. 

This is not our view. Our confession of faith explicitly and firmly rejects the doctrine of transubstantiation in 30.6, saying, “That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine, into the substance of Christ’s body and blood, commonly called transubstantiation, by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason, overthrows the nature of the ordinance, and hath been, and is, the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.” 

So then, what did Christ mean by the word “is” in the phrase, “This is my body”, and “This… is the new covenant in my blood.” Clearly, he meant that the elements represent, symbolize, or signify his body and blood. His disciples would have understood this clearly, for they could see the body of Christ there in front of them, whole and intact. They could see that his blood was not poured into the cup for them to drink. They could distinguish between the body of Christ and the bread, and the blood that ran through his veins, and the wine. When they are the bread, that is what they taste—bread! And when they drank the wine, they tasted wine. 

The Protestants were right to reject the superstitious and idolatrous doctrine of transubstantiation. But another question arose and eventually divided the Lutherans, the Zwinglians, and the Reformed. The question is this: Is Christ in any way present in the Supper? The Zwiglians (those who followed Ulrich Zwingli) said no. Christ’s body and blood are merely symbolized or represented by the elements, and we merely remember the death of Christ when we partake. While the Lutherans (following Martin Luther) denied the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation (they confessed that bread was still bread and the wine was still wine), they insisted that the physical body and blood of Christ are somehow really present with the elements. This view is called consubstantiation. But the Reformers, following Calvin, insist that, though Christ is not present in the Supper bodily—for his body is in heaven and is not omnipresent or divisible — Christ is really present in the Supper. He is present, not according to his human nature, but according to his divine nature, and through the agency of the Holy Spirit he has poured out.

This is our view.  In 2LCF 30.7, we confess that, “Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally [in a fleshly way], but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death; the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.”

Is the Lord’s Supper a memorial? Is it a time to remember Christ crucified? Yes, of course! “Do this in remembrance of me”, Christ said. But it is also more than a memorial, and this is made clear in other Scripture texts. That Christ is really present in the Supper is made clear in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, wherein Paul says, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation [communion, or sharing] in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation [communion, or sharing] 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” (1 Corinthians 10:16–17, ESV). This text is clear. When we partake of the Supper we enjoy fellowship or communion with Christ and with one another through our shared union with him. The question is, what is the nature of this participation or fellowship we enjoy. Is it a carnal, fleshly participation? In other words, do we actually eat the substance of the body and drink the substance of the blood of Christ (as those who belive in transubstantiation and consubstantiation believe)? Or is it a spiritual fellowship that we enjoy? We say it must be spiritual, for the body of Christ is in heaven, and it is a true (albiet glorified) human body that he has. It cannot be divided and dispersed throughout the world so that believers may partake of it. And when we eat the bread and drink the cup, the substance we consume is bread, not flesh, and wine, not blood—this should plain and clear to all who have the senses of sight, taste, touch, and smell functioning. Furthermore, when Christ promised to be with his people always after his ascension, he was clear that, though he would go away from us bodily, he would be with us spiritually according to his divine nature and through the agency of the Helper that he would send forth, the Holy Spirit of promise (see John 14:8-31).      

Here is the takeaway: The elements of the Lord’s Supper are bread and wine. They signify or symbolize Christ’s broken body and shed blood. By these elements, we are helped to remeber Christ’s atoning sacrifice. When we see the bread broken, it helps us to remember that Christ’s body was broken for us—he was crushed for our iniquities. And when we see the read wine in the cup, it helps us to remember that Jesus’s blood was poored out to atone for the sins of those given to him by the Father in eternity (see John 17).  More than this, when we, as believers, partake of these visible elements by faith, we confess that we do “also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death…”(2LCF 30.7). In other words, God’s people do really enjoy communion or fellowship with Christ and when they partake of the Supper. It is a part of what it means to abide in him. And God’s people also enjoy communion or fellowship with one another at the Lord’s Table, for we are united together in Christ Jesus. When we commune with Christ, we also commune with one another.

I do believe I will return to this idea that the Lord’s Supper is more than a memorial, and that it is, in fact, a means of grace to us—a conduit of sorts, whereby the benefits of Christ’s death and ressurection are delivered to God’s people— in the second sermon I preach on this topic. For now, let it be clear that while what eat is bread and what we drink is wine, by faith God’s people do trully feast upon Christ Jesus when they observe the New Covenant festival that Christ the Lord has ordained.   

Conclusion

I’ll conclude this sermon with a few contemplations or suggestions for application. 

First of all, if you love Christ and have him as your Lord and King, you will be eager to obey what he has ordained or commanded. “Do this in remeberance of me”, is not a suggestion, it is a command. And yet so many who profess faith in Christ and claim to love him, neglect this holy ordinance. Brothers and sisters, do not neglect the Lord’s Supper. Do not forsake the assembly wherein the Lord’s Supper is served (without good reason). And if you assemble, do not forsake that portion of the worship service wherein the Supper is eaten (without good reason). Come to the Table, friends, and, by faith, commune with the Christ you love.    

Secondly, when you come to the Table, be sure to come in a worthly manner. By this we mean, come by faith, with understanding, having confessed and turned from known sin, and with thankfulness in your hearts to God. I do hope that this sermon and the one to follow will help you to come to the Table with a greater understanding and appreciation for what it is that we do when we partake of the bread and the cup—trully, we feast upon Christ!  This is why the Apostle issued this warning: “Whoever… eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:27–32, ESV). What does Paul mean when he warns that we must not fail to discern the body? He means to that we must not fail to discern and distingnish between “ordinary and common bread, and that bread which is the representation of the Lord’s body, [and to eat] the one as carelessly, and with as little preparation and regard to what he [deos], as he [uses] the other” (Matthew Poole’s commentary on 1 Cor. 11:29). Come worthiliy to the Table, brothers and sisters. If you have faith in Christ Jesus, you must come. It is not a suggestion from our Lord, but a command. To neglect the Supper is to live in disobedience to the King. But be sure to come worthily. Discern the body and blood of Christ as spiritually present in these elements that are set apart for a holy use, and prepare to come. Come by faith, with understanding, having confessed and turned from known sin, and with thankfulness in your hearts to God for the salvation that is yours in Christ Jesus. 

Thirdly, we as a congregation, and especially the pastors or elders of the church, must be diligent to teach Christians how to properly obserbve the Lord’s Supper. That this is to be of concern to us is made clear in the Great Commission. After his resurrection and before his ascension, Christ spoke to the Apostles, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV). No doubt, many things are included in the phrase, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”, but the Lord’s Supper is certainly one of those things. The Apostles are dead and gone. Now it is the mission of the local church to preach the gospel to all nations, to baptize those who make a credible profession of faith, and to teach these to observe all that Christ has commanded, including the faithful and worthly observance of the Lord’s Supper. May the Lord help us and may we be found faithful. 

Baptist Catechism 92

Q. 92. What is repentance unto life?

A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience. (Acts 2:37; Joel 2:13; Jer. 31:18,19; 2 Cor. 7:10,11; Rom. 6:18)

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 7:1-13

“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.” (2 Corinthians 7:1–13, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

*****

Introduction

What would you say if I were to ask you the question, how does a person receive the salvation that Jesus Christ has earned? The most direct and precise answer is, through faith in Jesus Christ. We receive salvation, and all of the benefits that accompany it, by believing upon Christ — trusting in him; resting in him. Now, more may be said. In fact, our catechism does say more, as you can see. But please hear me. More may be said, not because more than faith in Christ is required to receive salavtion, but to provide greater clarity concerning what true faith in Jesus Christ is.

Let me ask you, is it possible to turn to Christ to trust in him for salvation without also turning from sin? No. True faith in Christ will always involve repentance. And let me ask you this: how will those who turn from sin to place their faith in Christ live? They will abide in him, will they not? They will walk in his ways. They will partake of the means of grace he has provided. Now granted, no one repents or walks with Christ perfectly, but the lives of those who have true faith will be characterized by repentance, and they will more and more walk in the ways of the Lord. If someone claims to have faith in Christ but does not turn from sin or walk in his ways, they show by their fruits that their faith is not true. This is why the Apostle John wrote 1 John 2:4-6, which says, “Whoever says ‘I know [Christ] but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:4–6, ESV).

Question: How many things are required for us to be saved from our sins and to escape God’s wrath and curse due to us for sin? Answer: One thing is required. Faith alone in Jesus is the required thing. But true faith is never alone. It will always be accompanied by repentance from sin. Furthermore, those who turn from sin to Jesus will strive to walk according to his will. And all of this – the faith, the repentance, and the abiding – is by God’s grace. It is a gift from him. By the way, chapter 14 of our confession is about faith. It’s really good. You should read it.   

Last Sunday we considered Baptist Catechism 91 where faith in Christ is defined. Today we turn our attention to question 92 where repentance is defined. What is repentance? The answer that our catechism provides is very helpful. Let’s consider it piece by piece. 

*****

Baptist Catechism 92

First, we are told that “Repentance unto life is a saving grace…” So, faith is a saving grace, and so is repentance. Both faith and repentance are things that we must do—we are to believe, and we are to repent. But the ability to do so is the free gift of God. 

This reminds me of that verse in Acts where, after Peter gives a report to the church concerning the Gentiles coming to faith, the church “fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’” (Acts 11:18, ESV). The word translated as “granted” means to “give a gift”. So God gave this gift to these Gentiles who believed: the gift of repentance unto life. 

Secondly, our catechism says, “whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God…” That is a mouthful, but it is very rich. 

This is what repentance is: it is a turning from sin and to God through faith in Jesus. Repentance is a spiritual U-turn. Sinners must repent. This means that sinners must turn from their sins and to God in Christ Jesus in order to be saved. And Christians are to repent too. This they are to do throughout the Christian life, for though we are no longer “sinners”, having been washed by the blood of Christ, justified, sanctified, and adopted, we do struggle against sin. Corruptions remain in us. We do still commit sin. And when we do, we must repent. 

This turning is to be prompted by a “true sense of [our] sin… with grief and hatred of [our] sin”. Think of this: men and women may turn from sin for all kinds of reasons. Maybe they see that it would benefit them to walk in a better way. Perhaps they fear the consequences of their sin. And these are valid motivators for repentance— am not denying that. But the one who is truly repentant will grieve over their sin and hate it, why, because they have sinned against God! 

In the 2 Corinthians 7 passage that I read earlier, Paul rejoiced over the repentance of the Christians in the church of Corinth. He had rebuked them in a previous letter concerning some sin, and they had turned. His rebuke was used by God to produce grief in them, and they turned, verse 10, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

The point is this, true repentance is prompted by a “true sense of [our] sin… with grief and hatred of [our] sin” in our souls. Some will take this too far and expect repentant sinners to be really, really sorrowful for their sin. In other words, they will expect true repentance to be accompanied by extreme displays of sorrow and grief. We must be careful here. Everyone is different. And everyone’s experiences are different. But the point remains. True repentance is prompted by a “true sense of [our] sin… with grief and hatred of [our] sin” in our souls.”

And true repentance does also involve an “apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ”. That word apprehension can mean “anxiety or fear”. It can also mean “to capture or seize”. That is how we often use the word today. But here it means “to grasp or to understand”. To apprehend “the mercy of God in Christ” is to understand or see God’s mercy in Christ and to grasp it. 

Why must it be said that repentance unto life involves an “apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ”? Think of it, a person may turn from sin for one reason or another, but never will they turn to God if they do not comprehend that he is merciful and kind in Christ Jesus. 

So then, for repentance to be true one must see their sin as truly detestable, grieve inwardly over it and hate it, and apprehend the mercy of God in Christ. Only then will a sinner be compelled to make that spiritual U-turn, moving away from sin and running towards God in Christ.    

Thirdly, our catechism says, “with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.” In other words, true repentance is not temporary or half-hearted repentance, but permanent and resolved. 

Notice what our catechism does not say. It does not say that true repentance is perfect repentance. As I have said before, corruptions remain in God’s faithful ones, and even the best of Christians do still struggle with sin. So our catechism does not say with perfect obedience, but “with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.” In other words, the one who is truly repentant will sincerely hate the sin and love God. They will turn from sin and run after God. And they will be fully resolved in the heart and mind to walk in obedience from that forward. 

You can’t fake repentance, friends. God knows your heart. He knows who is sincere and who is false, and he has a way of exposing that in due time. So you may fake faith and repentance for a time, but it will eventually become clear.

The parable that Jesus told regarding the different kinds of soils is very descriptive and instructive, I think. Do you remember it? He spoke of seed being scattered on a variety of soils — some on the road, others on rocky ground, some amongst thorns, and some on good soil. It was only the seed scattered on the good soil that sprouted in a lasting way and produced a harvest. The seeds that fell on the road were plucked up by the birds, never to sprout. The seeds that fell on rocks and amongst the weeds sprouted, but they quickly withered, being scorched by the heat, and being choked out by the competing and overwhelming weeds. That parable is meant to be an encouragement to those who sow seed, which is the word of God. Preach the word! And some will fall on good soil, which God has prepared! But the parable is also meant to describe the condition of man’s heart and to warn us. 

I’m afraid that there are many false believers and temporary receptors in the church today. There is the appearance of life for a time, but when the heat gets turned up, or when the cares of this world encroach upon them, they wither away. May it not be so for any of us. Instead, may the Lord grant us true faith and true repentance. 

*****

Conclusion

Q: What is repentance unto life?

A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience. (Acts 2:37; Joel 2:13; Jer. 31:18,19; 2 Cor. 7:10,11; Rom. 6:18)

Old Testament Reading: Numbers 28:16–25

“On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover, and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, but offer a food offering, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish; also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two tenths for a ram; a tenth shall you offer for each of the seven lambs; also one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work.” (Numbers 28:16–25, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Luke 22:1-23

“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put [Jesus] to death, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd. Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.’ They said to him, ‘Where will you have us prepare it?’ He said to them, ‘Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.’ And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!’ And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.” (Luke 22:1–23, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

The text we are considering today consists of five parts. 

First, Luke tells us about the wicked preparations that Judas made to betray Jesus and deliver him into the hands of his enemies. Secondly, we learn of the holy preparations that Jesus made to celebrate the last Passover with his disciples. Thirdly, Luke tells us about Jesus’ faithful observance of the last Passover with his disciples. Fourthly, Luke tells us about the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Fifthly and finally, we learn of the prediction Jesus made, that one of his own would betray him. 

We will briefly consider each of these five parts today, and I will make some observations and applications along the way. 

Judas Made Preparations To Betray Jesus (vs. 1-6)

First, let us consider verses 1-6 and the wicked preparations that Judas made to betray Jesus and to deliver him over to his enemies. 

In verse 1 we read, “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.” (Luke 22:1, ESV). 

The Feast of Unleavened bread was the first of three festivals that the Jews were to observe under the Old Covenant. Exodus 23:13-17 says, “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD” (Exodus 23:14–17, ESV).

The Passover meal was to be eaten on the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. Leviticus 23:4-8 says, “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread” (Leviticus 23:4–6, ESV). So closely related was the Passover to the Feast of Unleavened Bread that the whole Festival was sometimes called Passover.  

By the way, this observation, that the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread was also called Passover, helps to clear up some confusion regarding what is said in the Gospel of John 18:28. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we are told that Jesus celebrated the Passover the night before he was falsely tried and crucified, but in John 18:28 we read, “Then [the Jews] led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning [the moring of Jesus’s crucifixion]. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover” (John 18:28, ESV). According to this verse, eating the Passover was still in the future for these Jews, but Jesus had eaten the Passover the night before. Many interesting theories have been proposed throughout the history of the church in an attempt to explain this apparent contradiction. The simplest explanation seems to be this: John 18:28 is not referring to the Passover that was eaten the night before on the 14th day of the month of Abib, in accordance with the Scriptures, but to the remaining meals of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is also called the Passover. To learn more, see the commentaries of John Gill and Matthew Poole on John 18:28.

What were the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread about? They were a commemoration of  Israel’s deliverance from Egypt by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord. How did God deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage? Through Moses and the outpouring of the ten plagues. What was the tenth of the ten plagues? It was the death of the firstborns in Egypt. And how were the firstborns of the Hebrews protected? The blood of a lamb was to be spread on the doorposts and lintel of the Hebrews’ homes, and the angel of death passed over. This redemption happened, and so the Lord instituted the Passover feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a remembrance of what God had done for them. If you wish to read all about Israel’s deliverance and the institution of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, take up and read Exodus 12 and 13. 

Luke tells us that “the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover” (Luke 22:1, ESV). And he goes on to say that “the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put [Jesus] to death, for they feared the people” (Luke 22:2, ESV). Isn’t it ironic? Hundreds of thousands of people were flocking to Jerusalem to observe the Passover. All of them would have been concerned to find a Passover lamb to sacrifice at the temple so that they might eat it in obedience to the Scriptures. But what was occupying the minds of the chief priests and the scribes? They were trying to find a way to put Jesus to death. And we know that he is the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the one whose blood shields us from the wrath of God, if we have faith in him. Luke tells us that “the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put [Jesus] to death…” because how they  would do it was not yet clear to them, “for they feared the people.” At this point, Jesus had many followers, and so the chief priests and the scribes could not come against Jesus in a direct way. All of that changed when Judas agreed to deliver him into their hands.

In verse 3 we read, “Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd” (Luke 22:3–6, ESV). 

I have a few observations to present to you from this text. 

One, Luke tells us that Satan entered into Judas Iscariot. This reminds us that behind the conflict Jesus had with the religious elite of his day was a spiritual conflict. Everyone could see the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees were opposed to Jesus and wished to do him harm. But behind this earthly and physical conflict stood a heavenly and spiritual conflict. This conflict between God and his Messiah and Satan and his minions can be traced back to the Garden of Eden. This war, which rages continuously in the spiritual realm, is invisible to us, but it is always active and present. And the spiritual battle was especially pronounced in the life and ministry of Jesus the Messiah. Satan tempted the first Adam to rebel against God, and succeeded. When the promised Messiah was born into the world in the fullness of time, Satan opposed him personally and vehemently in an attempt to destroy him or distract him from his mission. This is seen most clearly in two events in the life of Christ: the temptation he endured in the wilderness after his baptism and at the start of his earthly ministry, and here in the days leading up to his crucifixion. It was Judas who betrayed Jesus to the chief priests and officers, and they would have Jesus put to death by the Romans, but behind this earthly, physical, and visible conflict raged a conflict heavenly, spiritual, and invisible – a conflict that originated with the temptaion of Adam and Eve, Adam’s fall into sin, and God’s promise to deliver his elect from their sin and misery through the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). 

Two, we must not forget that Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, and that no one, except Jesus, suspected that he was wavering in his devotion, lacking in loyalty, or faltering in his faith. This, dear friends, is a warning to all who profess faith in Christ who have joined themselves to the band of Jesus’ disciples as members of a visible church. The Scriptures warn us to persevere in the faith to the end (Mark 4:17; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 3:10) and not to fall away (Luke 8:13; Hebrews 3:12). When we consider that Judas, who was one of the twelve, betrayed Jesus, it should cause us to remember that there will always be false believers or false professors intermingled with the faithful within Christ’s church. 

Three, we should not forget the exhortation that Christ delivered to all of his disciples, including Judas, while in the temple not long before this: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34, ESV). Judas heard this warning from Christ, but he failed to heed the warning. When Luke tells us that Satan entered Judas’ heart, I do not think we should imagine anything like demonic or Satanic possession, but rather strong temptation. Statan did with Judas something very similar to what he had done with Adam eons earlier. He tempted him to rebel against his God and Savior by enticing him with the riches and pleasures of this life. Judas Iscariot, being tempted by the Evil One, determined to betray Jesus for a sum of money. He failed to watch himself. Satan entered the garden of his heart to tempt him, and his heart was quickly consumed by the thorny weeds of  “the cares and riches and pleasures of life…” (Luke 8:14, ESV). Sadly, Judas’ fruit would never come to maturity.

Dear friends, learn from Judas. Guard the garden of your heart and mind. Do not permit Satan to tempt to you there. When he approaches to bring temptation through the seductiveness of the world, the remaining corruptions of your own flesh, or more directly, do not listen to him. Quickly cast him out of the garden of your soul, lest he cause you to stumble or fall. Though it is true that a genuine follower of Jesus Christ will never fall away completely but will be preserved by God’s grace to the end, it is equally true that a genuine follower of Christ must keep their hearts pure (Luke 21:34, resist temptation (Hebrews 12:4; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9), and persevere in the faith till the end.       

Jesus Made Preparations To Observe The Passover With His Disciples (vs. 7-13)

While Judas was making preparations to betray Jesus, Jesus was making preparations to celebrate the last Passover with his disciples. 

In Luke 22:7-13, we read, “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.’ They said to him, ‘Where will you have us prepare it?’ He said to them, ‘Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.’ And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover” (Luke 22:7–13, ESV).

I have two comments to make about this passage. 

One, when Jesus predicted that Peter and John would enter Jerusalem and find a man carrying a jar of water, and that by following that man they would come to the house where Jesus wished to celebrate the Passover, etc., and it all came to pass just as he said, it was a sign of his divinity. Peter and John must have marveled over this, and we should marvel over it as well. What a marvelous Savior we have! He is a man. He has a true human body and a true human soul. But he is no mere man. He is the eternal Son of God incarnate. What the Nicene Creed says is true. We believe “in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.”

Two, when Peter and John prepared to celebrate the Passover by securing this room and a Passover lamb to be slain and eaten, they were also making preparations for a Passover of a different kind, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  

To be clear, the Passover lambs were slain and eaten by the Jews on Thursday night. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of all who believe in him from every tongue, tribe, and nation, was slain on Friday. I hope this doesn’t sound impious, but in the past, I thought, why wasn’t the timing different? Wouldn’t it have been more fitting forJesus to be crucified at the same time that the Passover lambs of the Jews were being slain? Wouldn’t that have communicated more clearly that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Passover, and that the Passover lambs of the Old Covenant were a type or foreshadowing of the greater Lamb to come, Christ Jesus the Lord? And then it dawned on me that this timeline was actually more fitting, for it communicated both the connection between the Passover lambs and Christ and also the progression or advancement. In other words, Jesus is not just another Passover lamb; he is greater. The redemption he accomplished is greater than the one accomplished in Moses’ day. And the reward he has earned is greater, too. The point is this: when Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again, there was a great advancement in God’s plan of redemption. The old Passover festival was fulfilled. A new feast would be introduced to commemorate the accomplishment of our redemption from sin, Satan, and death. And this new feast, namely, the Lord’s Supper, would be celebrated by God’s people on a new Sabbath day, the Sabbath of the new creation and New Covenant, Sunday, the first day of the week, and not Saturday, and in the days from Adam to the resurrection of the Christ from the dead.    

When Peter and John prepared to celebrate the Passover by securing this room and a Passover lamb to be slain and eaten, they were also making preparations for a much greater Passover, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 

Jesus Observed The Last Passover With His Disciples (vs. 14-18)

In the third portion of this passage, we are told about Jesus observing the last Passover with his disciples. This text will help us to think clearly about what transpired in the Upper Room, especially as it pertains to the relationship between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper. In brief, first, Jesus observed the Passover with his disciples. After that, he instituted the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper and the Passover are clearly related things, but they are also separate things. The Lord’s Supper was instituted after the faithful observance of the last Passover. 

In verse 14 we read, “And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.” (Luke 22:14, ESV). What is the hour that Luke speaks of? It is the hour or appropriate time to celebrate the last Passover. 

Verse 15: “And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’” (Luke 22:15, ESV). Jesus had eaten many Passover meals before this one. He had been observing the Passover all the days of his life in obedience to the law of God. And he had observed Passover with his disciples before as well. But this Passover was most special and significant, for it was the final one, for the Passover feast would be fulfilled (in a partial, inaugurated sense) on the very next day, when Jesus was crucified, and on the third day, when he would rise from the dead and set the captives free. When we say that Jesus fulfilled the Passover, we mean that he also abolished it, for it belonged to the Old Covenant order, but when Christ died, rose, ascended, and sent forth the Holy Spirit, the New Covenant order had fully come (see Colossians 2:16). The New Covenant has a festival of its, but it is not the Passover, as we will soon see. 

In verse 16, Christ says, “For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16, ESV). To what is Christ here referring? He must be referring to the feats he will enjoy with his redeemed people in his consummated kingdom, that is to say, in the New Heavens and Earth. In Revelation 19:9 we read, “And the angel said to [John], ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, “These are the true words of God” (Revelation 19:9, ESV). Will the marriage supper of the Lamb be a Passover feast? No, it will be something different and far greater. But the Passover did point forward to that feast, as does the Lord’s Supper, and this is why Christ said, “For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16, ESV).

In verse 17, we learn of the observance of the Passover feast itself. “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes’” (Luke 22:17–18, ESV). Notice, this is not the cup of the Lord’s Supper. That cup is mentioned in verse 20. The cup of verse 17 was likely the first of the four cups that were to be drunk during the Passover celebration. Over each cup, a blessing would be pronounced, and this was likely the first of them.  When we envision Jesus celebrating the Passover with his disciples, we should envision him doing so perfectly in obedience to the law of Moses. In other words, we should not think that he altered the Passover to transform it into something new. No, kept the Passover strictly. 

Jesus Instituted the Lord’s Supper (vs. 19-20)

It was after the Passover meal that Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper. 

This is seen in verses 19-20: “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:19–20, ESV). 

I will keep my comments about the institution of the Lord’s Supper very brief, for I intend to return to this passage next Sunday to give special attention to this holy ordinance. Today, I wish to stress that the Lord’s Supper, though it is clearly related to the Passover, is distinct. In other words, though it is true that Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper while eating the Passover with his disciples, it is important to see the Lord’s Supper, not as an alteration of the Passover meal, but as something that Christ instituted at the end of it. 

As the Passover meal was being concluded, and as the disciples were eating the roast lamb and the unleavened bread, Jesus took some of that bread, “and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’” (Luke 22:19, ESV). As has been said, the Passover was soon to be fulfilled by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and taken away, but our Lord and Savior instituted another meal to stand in its place. Verse 20: “And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:20, ESV). 

This, dear friends, this is the festival of the New Covenant. It is called by many names, including Holy Communion and the Lord’s Supper. And this is the festival that God’s people will celebrate until Christ returns to judge his enemies, to rescue his people, and to bring them into his eternal kingdom, wherein we will celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb, a feast anticipated by the Passover and the Lord’s Supper, both. Until then, we observe the sacrament that Christ instituted for the first time on the night he was betrayed, the night before his crucifixion.    

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul commands the church in Corinth to excommunicate and hand over to Satan a professing Christian who had committed a scandalous sin and remained unrepentant. Listen to what he says in verse 7: “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7–8, ESV). The festival that Paul here refers to is not the Old Covenant Passover, but the New Covenant ordinance that stands in its place, namely, the Lord’s Supper. The bread represents the broken body of our Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, and the wine represents his shed blood. Brothers and sisters, we must celebrate this festival in sincerity and truth. This has application for all of us individually, and it also has application for us corporately. When Paul says, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened”, he means be cleansed from sin. Turn from your sins individually before you come to the Lord’s Supper.  And is there are any who are living in unrepentant sin in the congregation, they are to be put out of the church and barred from the Lord’s Table. 

Jesus Predicted That One Of His Own Would Betray Him

The last portion of our passage is found in verses 21-23. Here we see that Jesus predicted that one of his own disciples would betray him, and that he knew which one. 

In verse 21, Christ says, “‘But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this’” (Luke 22:21–23, ESV).

There are many things to learn from this text.

One, Jesus was not surprised that Judas would betray him. He knew he would, and yet he did not fight against it. 

Two, Christ permitted Judas to remain amongst the twelve even though he knew his heart was evil. He even celebrated the Passover with him and gave him the Supper! Dear brothers and sisters, there will always be goats amongst the sheep in Christ’s church. It is only those who make a credible profession of faith who are to be given baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And those who destroy the credibility of their profession by holding to doctrines that undermine the foundation of the faith or by unholy living must be removed from the membership of the church and barred from the Table. But we cannot judge the hearts of men. Christ knows the hearts of men, and he will judge.  As Paul warns, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11:28–29, ESV)

Three, though Christ and Judas knew who the betrayer was, the other disciples did not. “And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this” (Luke 22:23, ESV). Dear brothers and sisters, in Christ’s church, we should not presume to know with utter certainty who the true believers are, nor should we suspect some to be false professors. The question we must ask is this: has this person made a credible (believable) profession of faith? These must be given baptism, received into the communion of the church, and invited to the table. It is only those who have destroyed the credibility of the profession (Matthew 18, 1 Corinthians 5), or who are walking in a disorderly way (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15) who should be barred from the communion Table. 

Conclussion

What, then, should the members of Christ’s church be occupied with as it pertains to their relationships with one another? 

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12:10, ESV)

“[W]alk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1–3, ESV)

“[E]xhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none… may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13, ESV)

Baptist Catechism 91

Q. 91. What is faith in Jesus Christ?

A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the Gospel. (Heb. 10:39; John 1:12; Phil. 3-9; Gal. 2:15,16)

Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:15–16

“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:15–16, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

*****

Please allow me to begin by reminding you of how we arrived at the question, what is faith in Jesus Christ? 

It is has taken us a long time to get to this question, hasn’t it? And that fact alone is worth noting. “Faith in Jesus Christ” is not the first thing that our catechism talks about. No, it is question and answer 90 that teaches us that it is through faith in Christ that we escape God’s wrath and curse, and it is question 91 that defines what faith in Jesus Christ is. 

Here is the point I am making: it is impossible to understand what faith in Christ is apart from other more foundational truths—truths which questions 1 through 89 of our catechism establish. In brief, we have learned about God, the Scriptures, man, sin, and God’s plan of redemption. We have learned what it is that God requires of us and of our guilt before him. And we have learned what it is that our sin deserves. If we wish to know what faith in Jesus Christ is, and why it is required, then we must also understand these other doctrines. I’m afraid that men and women, boys and girls, are often exhorted to believe in Jesus (and even to be baptized), but without being instructed in these other foundational doctrines. That’s a problem, I think. To make a credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ, one must also know who God is, who man is, what God requires of us, that we have sinned, and what our sins deserve.  

So, what does our sin deserve? Question 89 speaks the truth when it says, “Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life and in that which is to come.” Is there any hope for sinners? Question 90 brings us good news, saying, “To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.” 

Now, questions 91 through 93 will define the things that were mentioned in question 90: faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, and the outward means.

*****

Baptist Catechism 91

Let us now consider the way that our catechism defines faith in Jesus Christ. 

Notice, first of all, that it is not generic faith that saves us, but faith in Jesus Christ. Having generic faith does not save a person from their sins. No, faith in Jesus Christ does. Many people in this world have faith in something, but saving faith is faith in Jesus, for he is the only Savior that God has provided. He is the Christ, or Messiah. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the only mediator between God and man. As 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:5–6, ESV). And Jesus himself claimed to be the only way to the Father, saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV). So then, forgiveness of sins does not come to us through generic and undefined faith, but through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Two, notice that our catechism calls faith in Jesus Christ a “saving grace”. It is said to be saving, for it is through the instrument of faith in Jesus Christ that we come to be forgiven and saved. And it is called a “grace” because faith is a gift from God. Faith is something that you exercise. It is something that you do. You and I must place our faith in Jesus Christ to be saved from our sins. But the faith that you have – that is to say, your ability to trust in Christ – is a gift from God, and it is not a giftft that he grants to everyone. We must never forget this. Even our ability to trust in Jesus is a gift from God. We believe by his grace. 

This is what the Scriptures so clearly teach. First of all, the Scriptures teach that God has predestined some to salvation from before the creation of the world (read Ephesians 1-2, for example). Two, the Scriptures teach that God’s elect come to be saved only through faith in Jesus Christ. Three, the Scriptures teach that men and women, boys and girls, will come to faith in Jesus only through the hearing of the Word of God (see Romans 10:17). Lastly, the Scriptures teach that for someone to believe, God must give them new life, open their blind eyes, and draw them inwardly by his Spirit. The Scriptures talk about this “drawing” or “inward calling” in many ways. For now, consider what Jesus said to the multitude that came out to him in the wilderness: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44, ESV).

So then, the ability to believe in Jesus Christ is a gift from God. This is what Paul explicitly teaches in Ephesians 2:8-9, saying, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV). What is “the gift of God” according to the Apostle? Salvation is the gift of God, and so too is the faith. The grammar of the Greek demands this interpretation, and so too does the context. Notice that Paul concludes by saying, “so that no one may boast”. There is no room for the Christain to boast, for everything that we have in Christ Jesus is a gift from God, and that includes his faith. 

Our catechism teaches that “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace…”, three, “whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation…” 

So, what is it that we do when we place our faith in Jesus Christ?  What are the elements or characteristics of faith in Christ?

One, we receive Jesus Christ. In what sense do we receive Jesus Christ when we believe in him? Well, we receive him in that we welcome him as our Savior and Lord. More than this, the Scriptures teach that we are united to Jesus by faith. To have faith in Christ means that we are in him. And more than this, the Scriptures teach that when we place our faith in Christ, he is in us by his Spirit. You may read about this in John chapters 15, 16, and 17. To have faith in Jesus is not to trust in a distant and far-off Savior. No, it is to receive him, to know him, and to commune with him, by the agency of the Holy Spirit.    

I’ve said before that the components of true saving faith are knowledge, assent, and trust. In other words, to have true and saving faith, we must know certain things, believe those things to be true, and trust in Jesus. Trust is what our catechism is referring to here with the word “rest”. To believe in Jesus is to trust him, to rest in him, to take refuge in him. Trust is a vital component of saving faith. 

Three, notice the word “alone”. “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation…” So this is an all-or-nothing proposition. If we wish to be saved, then we must trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of our sins. We must go all in. It will not do to say, I believe in Jesus, but I also believe in myself, and in my own obedience or good works. If this is what you think, then it reveals that you have not understood the gospel. You have not understood those other truths that I mentioned early concerning God, man, sin, and salvation in Jesus Christ. To have Jesus as Lord and Savior means that we have abandoned all hope in other things. In Christ alone our hope is found. 

The fourth and final phrase in this answer to question 91 is, “…as He is offered to us in the Gospel.” This phrase is so important, for it roots our faith in Jesus Christ in the word of God. Friends, if you wish to be saved, then you must trust in the Jesus of the Scriptures—that is, the Jesus presented to us in the Gospel as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. This should be obvious to all. It will do you no good to claim to have faith in Jesus Christ, but to believe things concerning him—his person and work—that are contrary to the word of God. 

For example, some in this world claim to believe in Jesus Christ but think that he is the half-brother of Satan. Others claim to believe in Jesus but view him only as a great teacher. They deny that he is the eternal Son of God come in the flesh. Other examples can be given, but it should be clear that these have only hijacked a name—they pronounce the name in the same way that you and I do, but their Christ is substantially different from the Christ of scripture. 

No, if we wish to be saved, then we must have faith in Jesus Christ. And not just any “Jesus Christ”, but the Jesus Christ of Holy Scripture. In other words, to be saved, we must hear, receive, and believe the Gospel, which is the good news presented throughout the Holy Scriptures. 

*****

Conclusion

Q. 91. What is faith in Jesus Christ?

A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the Gospel. (Heb. 10:39; John 1:12; Phil. 3-9; Gal. 2:15,16)

Pre-Introduction

The context for our Old Testament reading is this: The Hebrews had been redeemed from Egyptian bondage by the mighty hand of the Lord. The Lord then led them through the wilderness and brought them to Sinai, where he made a covenant with them. This covenant was built upon the covenant God made with Abraham hundreds of years before. In that covenant, the Lord promised, among other things, to give Abraham’s descendants the land of Canaan. After the Lord entered into a covenant with Isarel through Moses at Sinai, he led them through the wilderness to the border of Canaan. In Numbers 13:1, we read, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them” (Numbers 13:1–2, ESV). Numbers 13:25-14:35 is about the return of the spies and the report they brought to the people of Israel.  

Old Testament Reading: Numbers 13:25–14:35

“At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, ‘We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.’ But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.’ Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.’ So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, ‘The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.’ Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ And they said to one another, ‘Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.’ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh [yef·oon·neh], who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.’ Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. And the LORD said to Moses, ‘How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.’ But Moses said to the LORD, ‘Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.’ Then the LORD said, ‘I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’ And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ‘How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh  [yef·oon·neh] and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.’” (Numbers 13:25–14:35, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Hebrews 3:12–19

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:12–19, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

After preaching that sermon last Sunday on Luke 21:34, wherein Christ commands us to “watch [ourselves] lest [our] hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life…” (Luke 21:34, ESV), this question came to my mind: While it is clear that Christ is here commanding us to keep a watch over our own hearts, lest our own hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, what obligation do we have to watch out for one another in the Lord? In other words, do fellow disciples of Jesus Christ, and especially fellow church members, have an obligation to look out for one another, and, if so, what shall we do? 

Hebrews 3:12-19 came to mind. Let me explain why. 

Exhort One Another

At first, this passage sounds just like Luke 21:34. In Luke, we hear Christ speak to his disciples, saying, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34, ESV). And in Hebrews 3:12, the Apostle says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12, ESV).

Notice, firstly, that both passages begin with a command. Christ says, “But watch yourselves…”, and the Apostle says, “Take care…” The word translated as “take care” means “to be ready to learn about future dangers or needs, with the implication of preparedness to respond appropriately—‘to beware of, to watch out for, to pay attention to’” (Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 332.) So you can see that in both passages, watchfulness or alertness is commanded. 

Notice, secondly, that both passages address disciples of Jesus. In Luke 21, Christ spoke to those who followed him into Jerusalem and the temple. In Hebrews 3, the Apostle speaks to “brothers”, a term used to address followers of Jesus Christ, male and female. So then, this warning is for those who profess faith in Jesus and follow after him. “Take care, brothers”, the Apostle commands. 

Notice, thirdly, that both passages are about keeping the heart pure. Jesus said, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with…the cares of this life.” The Apostle says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart…” (Hebrews 3:12, ESV).

Fourthly, notice that both passages are meant to keep Christ followers from spiritual ruin. The concern of Christ is that those who follow after him be ever ready for his return. Keep your hearts pure, he commands, “lest your hearts be weighed down… and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34, ESV). The concern of the Apostle is similar. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12, ESV). To fall away from the living God is to fall away from trusting in God and following after him in Christ Jesus. 

Will all who have true faith in Christ persevere in the faith to the end? Yes. Stated negatively, will any who have authentic faith in Christ fall away from the living God? No. But how will they persevere?  By God’s grace, they will persevere by obeying the command of Christ and the Apostle! They will, by God’s grace, watch themselves lest their hearts be weighed down. They will take care lest their hearts grow evil and unbelieving. No doubt, God will preserve his elect in Christ Jesus. And he will preserve them by graciously enabling them to obey this command: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12, ESV).

So far, the warning of Hebrews 3:12 sounds very much like the warning of Luke 21:34, but in Hebrews 3:13, we find another command. “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13, ESV). This second command takes this passage in a slightly different direction when compared to Luke 21.  In Luke 21, the responsibility is placed on the individual disciple of Jesus to keep watch over their own heart and to tend to the garden of their own soul, lest their own soul be overrun with the thorny weeds of the desire for riches, pleasures, and the cares of this world. But here in Hebrews 3:13, Christians are commanded to look out for other Christians and to exhort them. In other words, Hebrews 3:12-19 does not have individual Christians in view, but the Christian community, that is to say, the church. Brothers and sisters in Christ are to be on the lookout for one another, lest there be any in their midst whose hearts are growing evil and unbelieving, leading them to fall away from the living God. Brothers and sisters in Christ are here commanded to “exhort one another”, so that none may be “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

What does it mean to exhort? To exhort is to encourage strongly. To exhort is to appeal to or plead with someone to do something. This Greek word behind the English word, exhort, appears 109 times in the New Testament and is translated using a variety of English words: urge, comfort, encourage, beg, appeal, implore, entreat, and plead. The word is used again in the book of Hebrews in chapter 10, verse 25. There the Apostle says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24–25, ESV). The word translated as “exhort” in Hebrews 3:13 is translated as “encourage” in Hebrews 10:25. Christians are commaded in the Holy Scriptures to exhort and encouarge one another “lest there be in any [in their midst] an evil, unbelieving heart, leading [them] to fall away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12, ESV).

[There is a point of application to be made here. Brothers and sisters, the Christian life is clearly to be lived, not in isolation, but in community with other Christians. Our confession puts it this way: ​​Those called to repentance faith in Christ are commanded by Christ to “walk together in particular societies, or churches, for their mutual edification, and the due performance of that public worship, which he requireth of them in the world” (Second London Confession, 26.5). This can be proven from many passages of Scripture in the New Testament, including the one that is open before us today. Exhort one another. That is the command of Holy Scripture. How can you possibly exhort someone you do not know? And how can you be exhorted by someone if you are not known? This passage assumes that Christains will be members of a local church. More than this, this passage requres Christains to be good and involved members of a local church—to obey this command, you must know your brothers and sisters in Christ, and you must be known by them.]    

“But exhort one another… that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13, ESV). That is the command. I have five subpoints to present to you this morning. Each of them is meant to clarify how we are to go about exhorting one another in the church. The five points are these: Exhort one another (1) lovingly, (2) carefully, (3) consistently, (4) in and unto Christ, and (5) until we enter eternal rest. 

Exhort One Another Lovingly

First, Christ followers must exhort one another lovingly. 

Being motivated by love. 

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1, ESV)

In a loving way. 

Follow the example of the Apostle: “Take care, brothers…” Notice the tenderness of the Apostle. Notice the familial language.

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…” (Ephesians 4:15, ESV)

Exhort One Another Carefully

Is exhortation needed?

Is it your place to deliver it?

What kind of exhortation is needed?

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14, ESV)

Is the time right? 

Is the place right?

Is your heart right?

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:42, ESV)

Is my tone and delivery right?

“Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” (1 Timothy 5:1–2, ESV)

Exhort One Another Consistently

“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13, ESV)

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24–25, ESV)

Exhort One Another In And Unto Christ

Exhort one another because we are united together in Christ.

“For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” (Hebrews 3:14, ESV)

Exhort one another unto Christ. 

Encourage one another to trust in Jesus, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commands.   

Exhort One Another Until We Enter Eternal Rest

“As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:15–19, ESV)

Conclusion

Interesting observation. Christ warns against hardness or heaviness of heart, and then the celebration of the passover. The pattern is this: redemption, wilderness wandering, possession of the promised land. We are wilderness wanderers. There are spiritual dangers in the wilderness. Watch yourselves and look out for one another. “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13, ESV)

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 10:12–22

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.” (Deuteronomy 10:12–22, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Luke 21:34-38

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.” (Luke 21:34–38, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.

Sermon

As you can see, Luke 21:5-38 has sucked me in like a vortex. At first, I devoted one sermon to Luke 21:5-38. That was a very large portion of Scripture to consider all at once, but it is a unit. After that, I devoted a sermon to a smaller passage within the larger one. In Luke 21:34-36, Jesus Christ exhorts us to watch ourselves lest our hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon us suddenly like a trap. Instead, we are to stay awake at all times, praying that we may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man (see Luke 21:34–36).  

What an important and precious exhortation this is for the Christ follower! Dear friends, we must watch ourselves. In particular, we must keep a vigilant watch over our hearts to be sure they are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life. It is vitally important for disciples of Jesus to keep their hearts free from these things, because it is from the heart that the life of a man flows. 

Indeed, the heart of a person may be compared to a spring, bubbling up from the ground. If the spring is pure, then the river that flows from it will be pure. But if the spring is polluted, then the river that flows from it will be polluted. 

And what is the river that flows from the heart of a man except his very life? The thoughts of a man spring from his heart. The words that a man speaks are spoken from the mind and the heart. And the same may be said of his actions—a man does what he does from the mind and heart.  

To be clear, when we speak of the heart in this way, we are not talking about the physical organ that we call the heart—that muscle that beats in your chest and pumps lifeblood through your body. No, we are talking about the heart of the soul. We are considering an immaterial, invisible, soulish thing. The heart that we are here speaking of is that part of your soul wherein your love and affections reside. The thoughts of your mind flow immediately from the heart—you think most about what you love most! So too, your words and deeds flow from the heart.

Here is something interesting to consider. Though we are not currently speaking about the physical heart, the physical heart does illustrate the spiritual heart. Just as the physical heart is at the center of a man’s body, so too the spiritual heart is the center of his soul. And just as the lifeblood of the body flows from the physical heart, so too our spiritual life does flow from the heart of the soul. And just as a diseased or weakened physical heart will sap one’s physical strength and lead, perhaps, even to physical death, so too a diseased spiritual heart will corrupt the whole course of a man’s life and will result in spiritual death, unless Christ, the great physicial of the soul, intervenes. It is no wonder, therefore, that the physical heart is used in Scripture to illustrate this invisible, spiritual, soulish part of us, for the two things share much in common.  

Dear brothers and sisters, if you suspected that something was wrong with your physical heart, I bet you would do something about it. You’d act very quickly, wouldn’t you, because you know how vital the heart is to your physical life. But I am sure of this—your spiritual heart is even more vital, for its condition will impact your whole being—your physical, spiritual, and eternal life. Why then would you neglect the heart of your soul? Why would you forget to keep it pure in Christ Jesus?

“But watch yourselves”, Christ commanded, “lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life.” It is this little phrase, found in Luke 21:34, that I wish to focus on today. In particular, I wish to explore the question, What are the ‘cares of this life’ that Christ warns of? What are these desires, cares, and concerns that threaten to render the spiritual heart of man intoxicated and heavy? If your Dr. walked into the room and said, The tests are in. You have endocarditis, myocarditis, or pericarditis (all of these things have to do with inflammation of the physical heart), I bet you’d work really hard to discover the cause and the remedy. May I exhort you, dear brothers and sisters, to be even more eager to know the causes and the remedies of the overly burdened, inflamed, and heavy heart of your soul. What exactly will cause the spiritual heart of a disciple of Jesus Christ to be ‘weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life’? That is the question. 

There is actually a passage found earlier in Luke’s Gospel that will help us to understand. Do you remember the parable of the sower, or the parable of the soils, that Jesus told, as recorded in Luke 8? The parable goes like this: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold” (Luke 8:4–8, ESV). It is in Luke 8:9-15 that we find Jesus’ explanation of the parable. In brief, the seed represents the Word of God. The sower represents a preacher. And the four soils represent the different conditions of the hearts of men. Some have hard hearts. These do not receive the Word of God at all when they hear it. Some have rocky hearts. These might appear to receive the Word of God for a moment, but the trials and tribulations of life show that their faith is not true. They soon wither away, because the Word of God did not take root in them. Some, by the grace of God, have soft hearts. These receive the seed of the Word of God truly. The seed of God’s Word then germinates, sprouts, grows, and produces fruit. But it is the third soil type mentioned in this parable that is of interest to us this morning, namely, the thorny or weedy soil. Listen carefully to how Christ explains the symbolism of the thorney or weedy soil: “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14, ESV).

Jesus is addressing the same concern here in the passage that is open before us today. The imagery is different, but the heart condition being described is the same. Over time, it is possible for the heart of a Christian to be overrun with weeds and thorns so that the spiritual vitality and fruitfulness produced by the Word of God in them is choked out. What do thorns and weeds represent? They represent the “cares and riches and pleasures of life“. Or, to use the imagery of our text, over time, it is possible for the heart of a believer to be weighed down and overly burdened. Overly burdened with what? Christ says, with “dissipation and drunkenness and [the] cares of this life” (Luke 21:34). I do believe that Christ is speaking of the same things in both these passages. He is describing the effect that the riches, pleasures, and cares of this world can have on the heart of a person if allowed to grow up like weeds unchecked, or if excessively consumed and carried. 

In essence, I do believe the thing Christ is warning against in both of these passages is worldly-mindedness. When a Christian begins to set their heart and mind on worldly riches, when they begin to live for worldly pleasure, when they begin to absorb and carry the cares of this life in their soul to the degree the cares of this life consume them, the heart of their soul becomes like garden overrun with thorney weeds. Instead of being alert and filled with spiritual vitality and fruitfulness, these grow heavy in heart, leading to a spiritual state comparable to one who is drunk on wine. They are not alert, but drowsy. They are not sharp, but cloudy. They are not sure-footed, but staggering. This is what worldly-mindedness will do to the heart and soul of a Christian, and Christ warns about it here.

This past week, I came across a little book written a long time ago by one of my favorite authors, an Independent, Puritan preacher, named Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646). The book is entitled A Treatise of Earthly-Mindedness. It’s a wonderful little book. I’d highly recommend it to you. Chapter two of this book has this title: Earthly-Mindedness Discovered in Nine Particulars. There, Burroughs presents his readers with nine signs that a person is earthy or worldly-minded. I’d like to briefly present seven of his nine points to you this morning. I do believe these seven points will help us to understand what it means to be earthly-minded and how this will, indeed, weigh the heart down with “dissipation and drunkenness and [the] cares of this life.” So here are seven signs a person is worldly or earthly-minded:

Firstly, “when a man looks upon earthly things [that is to say, created things] as the greatest things of all, when he has a high esteem of earthly things as the things. As if it were thus, ‘Oh, if I had such and such things as others have, oh how happy I would be. How happy are such and such men that do enjoy such earthly things at their will, in their dwellings, their furniture, their comings in; oh, these are the excellent things, these are the delightful things. These are the things in which felicity [that is to say, joy] and happiness [are found].“ Dear brothers and sisters, does this describe you? When you look out upon the created world and upon created things—money, possessions, relationships with people—do you highly esteem them and think that these will be the things that will bring true happiness to you if you were to have them? This is earthly-mindedness. Christ warns that this love for the “riches and pleasures of life” will be like thorny weeds to the heart of your soul. This love for the world will intoxicate your soul—it will steal away your clarity and alertness and leave you staggering. 

Secondly, Burroughs says, “when the creamy, choice thoughts of men and women are busied about earthly things, they mind earthly things in a sinful manner.” I do appreciate the way that Burroughs states this. When he mentions “the creamy, choice thoughts of men and women,” he clarifies that he is not talking about the focused thoughts required when we are working, or learning, or engaged in some business. No, when the machinist is at work, he should be thinking about the machinery he is working on. When the doctor is at work, he should be thinking of his patient. When the student is at school, she should be focused on the subject matter. Thinking about earthly things in situations like these does not mean that a person is earthly-minded—it means they are responsible! When Burroughs talks about the “creamy, choice thoughts of men and women”, he is referring to the thoughts that rise to the top of the mind when they wake up in the morning, when it is quiet, when they have time to think and to dream freely. By this, he may also refer to the thoughts that rise naturally to the top of our minds even as we go about our daily tasks. He is referring to our predominant thoughts—that is to say, the thoughts that are often in our minds. 

He goes on to say, “You may know what kind of hearts you have by your thoughts about anything. The thoughts are the immediate… risings up of the heart, that is, the bubbles that come from the heart immediately.” Brothers and sisters, do you wish to know the condition of your heart, whether it is worldly or not? Then consider the thoughts that occupy your mind when you are at liberty to think freely. Consider the thoughts that rise quite naturally to the top of your mind throughout the day. Yes, the things you do and the things you say reveal the condition of your heart. But your thoughts reveal the condition of your heart more clearly, for your thoughts spring immediately from the heart. The simple truth is this: you think about what you truly love; you think about what you treasure.

Do not forget what the Apostle has written: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2 ESV). Does this mean that we must never think of earthly things? Are we forbidden from thinking about our wives and children, work and money, health and the care of our physical bodies? Of course not. But our minds must not be set on these things. And even when we think about these things, our thoughts should rise above them to God. When a spiritually-minded man thinks about how much he loves and enjoys his wife, it will not be long before this thought rises to the top of his head: Oh Lord, I thank you for this lovely wife that you have given to me. Help me to love her and to lead her well. I cherish her truly, but I cherish you supremely, for you are God, the giver of every good and perfect gift. When the spiritually minded woman thinks about the concern that she has for her children, it will not be long before this thought rises to the top of her head: Oh Lord, I thank you for these children that you have entrusted to me. Please save them. Please bless them, Lord. Please provide for them. Please strengthen me to raise them. But I entrust them to you, you are God, and they are yours. These will be the “creamy, choice thoughts’ of those who are heavenly-minded. But those who are earthly-minded will only have thoughts about the riches, pleasures, and cares of this world. These will be the thoughts that rise to the top of their heads and consume them continuously.  

Thirdly, Burroughs says that “an earthly-minded man is one whose heart cleaves to the earth…” Dear brothers and sisters, it is not sinful to enjoy the things of this earth. God gives us many good gifts to enjoy in this life—family and friends, food and drink, sunshine and rain— to enjoy these things as gifts from God and to the glory of God is not sinful, but good and right! In fact, it would be sinful not to enjoy them to the glory of God. As the Apostle says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV). And in another place he says, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,” (1 Timothy 4:4, ESV). But it is one thing to enjoy the good things of this life as gifts from God and to his glory, honor, and praise—it is another thing when the heart of a man cleaves or clings to the things of this earth because he loves them supremely. This is idolatry. Cleaving to the riches, pleasures, and cares of this world will weigh the heart down and will be like thorny weeds to the soul.      

Fourthly, Burroughs says, “an earthly-minded man is one whose heart is filled with distracting cares about the earth, what he shall eat and drink, and what he shall put on, how he shall provide for himself and his family, and what shall become of him. Though he is well now, what may become of him afterwards? When the heart is filled with distracting cares about the things of the earth, as far as the heart has these prevailing over it, so far such a man may be judged to be earthly.” 

This fourth point is very important, for it will help to understand what Jesus means by the “cares of this life” (in Luke 8:14 & 21:34). What are these cares that threaten to make the heart of the Christian heavy and to choke out the Word of God in us, rendering us fruitless and ineffective? They must be the cares that are common to all who live on this earth. How will I make money? How will I feed and clothe myself and those who are under my care? What does the future hold for me and for those I love? I have my health today, but will I have it tomorrow? My children are safe today, but will they be safe tomorrow? I have money in the bank today, but will it be there tomorrow? 

When Christ warns us about the terrible effects that the cares of this life can have upon our hearts, does he mean that we must have no concern at all for these things? That cannot be. Think of it, friends, these cares are called “the cares of this life” for a reason. They are the cares that are common to this life. They are common concerns—everyone has them! The question is, how will you carry them? When Christ warns us about the terrible effects that the cares of this life can have upon our hearts, he is warning us not to allow these common cares and concerns to consume us. They must not drive us or distract us from God, Christ, and the furtherance of his kingdom. 

The language that  Burroughs uses is helpful. He says, “an earthly-minded man is one whose heart is filled with distracting cares about the earth.” Later, he says, “When the heart is filled with distracting cares about the things of the earth, as far as the heart has these prevailing over it, so far such a man may be judged to be earthly.” The adjectives are very helpful, aren’t they? To have cares and concerns about life in this world is unavoidable. But Christ followers must not allow the “cares of this life” to fill their hearts, to distract them from the love of God, the love of neighbor, and the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom, or to prevail over their hearts.  

Dear friends, a garden will never be without weeds. A good gardener will remove the weeds before they begin to prevail or fill the garden, for once the garden is full of weeds, it is then distracted or diverted from its design and purpose.  And so it is with the heart of your soul as iit pertains to the cares of this life.  

Perhaps you are beginning to notice how easy and common it is to be worldly-minded. I would imagine that many Christians think of worldly-minded people as those whose hearts and minds are filled with greed, selfish ambition, and a love for vile pleasures. Indeed, this is worldly-mindedness. But worldly-mindedness can creep into the believer in much more subtle ways. And so Christ warns even his most devout disciples, “watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34, ESV).

Burroughs’ fifth point is very good. He says that “an earthly-minded man or woman is one whose great business of his heart, and endeavors of his life, are about the things of the earth. He makes it his great business, and the strong endeavors of his spirit are exercised in the things of the earth. He eagerly and greedily works with the strongest intention about these things…” In other words, he goes all out for the world and the things of this world. The world, Borroughs says, “is the adequate object of his soul.” When Burroughs speaks of the “adequate object of the soul”, he means “that which is sufficient to take up the whole strength of the soul to lay it out fully.” 

Brothers and sisters, what is the great business of your heart? What are the endeavors of your life? What is it that energizes and motivates you? What drives you? What is it that you live for? Is it worldly things only? Do you rise in the morning and go to work merely to earn more money so that you might have it in the bank and spend it on your pleasures? Is the purpose of your day merely to experience as much pleasure here on earth as you can? You know, you do not have to be a vile hedonist to do this. Respectable Christians do this too when they make this the highest purpose of their life: to have a pleasent and peaceful day. This is how the worldly-minded person lives. But those who are spiritual or heavenly-minded will live in this world for the glory of God and the good of others. They will use the time, treasures, and talents that have been entrusted to them in this life to store up “treasure in the heavens” (Luke 12:33, ESV), for that is where their heart truly is—not here on earth, cleaving to the things of earth—but in heaven, cleaving to God and Christ and the eternal reward that he has earned for us.   

Boroughs’ sixth point pertains to this: “Suppose a man does not seem to be so strongly inclined to layout his whole strength and heart about earthly things. Yet when any man or woman shall seek any earthly thing for itself, and not in subordination to some higher good, this is an earthly-minded man…” He cites 2 Corinthians 4:18 and puts the meaning in his own words, saying, “While we look upon temporal and earthly things that are seen, we do not make them our end. We seek them in subordination. There is something else that we look at as higher in all these things.”

This is a wonderful point. Burroughs then illustrates. I will quote him now at length. “For instance, a man who is godly [goes about] his business as other men do, but what is it that he would have? It is this: I show my obedience to God, and I would provide those things that may be helpful to me to serve God in my generation; that’s my [goal]. I can appeal to God in this, that even in following my business and all outward things, it is so that I might follow God in the use of means for the providing of such things as may enable me to serve him the more in my generation. This is my [aim] in what I do.” Do you understand what he is saying about the godly? Those who are heavenly and spiritually-minded will work just as others do. They will earn money, save some, and use some for food, clothing, and shelter. They will even make investments and seek to improve their outward condition. But why? What motivates them? It is their love for God. They wish to obey God, to serve God, and, God willing, their work is blessed and their situation improves, they will serve God all the more! This is their aim.  

But what about the earthly-minded man. “But now on the other side”, Borroughs says, an earthly-minded man… [has this objective] to follow his business and look about the business of his calling that he might gain. He would get [so] that he might get; he would have more [so] that he might have more, and that he and his children might be somebody in the world. It may be that he might have enough to have his will and lusts, and therefore he follows his business very intently, merely that he may get to satisfy the flesh. Yes, indeed, all the good things that he does, he brings them in subordination to earthly things.” In other words, he makes the obtainment of worldly riches and pleasures the supreme objective of his life. 

“You may take it thusly, a spiritual man does not seek earthly things for himself, but an earthly man does. Or more fully, an earthly man is earthly in all that he does do, both in earthly and spiritual things, and a spiritually-minded man is spiritual in all he does, both in spiritual and in earthly things. When an earthly man is in earthly things he is altogether earthly, he does not look at obedience to God in what he does. A spiritual man says, ‘I’ll follow my calling because God has required it,’ but an earthly man thinks, ‘I’ll follow it because I see gain coming from it.’ This is earthly… Now a spiritual man is spiritual in earthly things. One of a spiritual mind is more heavenly and spiritual when he is about his calling, though it be the lowest, like cutting hedges, digging ditches, pulling ropes or lines, or using his axe or hammer. He is more spiritual at these than is an earthly man when he is praying or hearing, or receiving Sacraments. Certainly it is so, and it will be found to be so at the great day of judgment, when all the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed.”

Our seventh point is Boroughs’ eighth, and this will be the last one we consider, before moving this sermon to a conclusion. “The eighth thing wherein we may find an earthly-minded man is this, that he passes through many and great difficulties in matters of the earth, and they are very little to him. Though he toils a great deal in matters of the earth he is never weary because he is in his proper element. Therefore, let there be what difficulties there will be, which to another man would be very great, he makes them as nothing and, though there is much toil and labor, yet he is not weary. Why? Because he is in his own element. The fish is not weary with swimming, but a man is quickly weary. It is because the fish is in his element and the man is not. Observe this, when a man’s spirit is [worldly]…, let him be busied about earthly things, wherein earthly advantage comes in, no difficulties will hinder him, no wind or weather. He will rise in cold mornings and go abroad, do anything in the world. Oh! What difficulties will men endure in storms at sea, and hazards there and troubles at land, and sit up late, and rise early, and toil themselves, and complain of no weariness or difficulties. But, let them come to spiritual things, to soul business that concerns God and their spiritual estates. Every little difficulty puts them aside and discourages them. Every mole hill is a mountain in their way. I would do so and so, but it’s so hard, and ’tis tedious to rise in a morning, especially in cold winters. It is very hard and difficult to read and pray. And so he complains of the difficulty of these things. To watch over the heart is a very difficult thing. To an earthly man, any spiritual thing is difficult and the difficulties discourage him. In spiritual things, oh how weary are they! In Malachi 1:13, they cry out, What a weariness is it! But they can follow the business of the world from morning to night and never get tired. They can work like a horse and never be out of breath! I wish you would try once to spend one Sabbath [carefully and entirely] and see what a weariness that would be to you. Resolve just one Sabbath to rise early in the morning, and to have your thoughts spiritual and heavenly as much as you can. Then get up and pray alone in your closet. Then read, and hear, and meditate, and mark what you hear. And when you go home, think of it and confer about it. And when you come again to attend on the Word, and so spend the whole day in hearing, reading, meditating, and conferencing about good things, calling your family to account, and praying again. See how tiresome this will be to your hearts if they are carnal. However, a spiritual heart will call the Sabbath a delight…” 

Conclusion 

Dear brothers and sisters, this was an unusual sermon, wasn’t it? I don’t think I have ever quoted another man so much in a sermon before—not even close. But after deciding to hone in on the warning of Christ, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life”, and after stumbling across Borrough, it seemed good to me to share these thoughts with you. 

So what should we do about the earthly-mindedness within us?

First, repent. Let us confess the sins of our hearts and minds to God and look to Christ Jesus the Lord for the forgiveness of our sins. Christ Jesus lived in this world, but never was he of this world. He lived not for worldly riches and pleasures, but for the glory of the Father and to obey his will. Though he was burdened with many cares and sorrows, he kept his heart pure—those earthly cares did not fill his heart or prevail within his heart to distract him from his purpose. And so he went to the cross, sinnless, to die in the place of sinners like you and me. You must turn from your sins and trust in him to be forgiven. That is the first thing we must do about the earthly-mindedness within us.

Secondly, we must pray to God and ask him to purify our hearts and minds  further. Lord, have mercy on us. By your grace, drive these remaining corruptions out of our hearts. Kill these sinful weeds, oh Lord. Remove these sinful desires and cares. Give us more love for you, O God. Take our hearts off of the things of this world and cause us to cleave to you. Enable us to enjoy the good gifts that you have given to us in this life, but keep us from idolatry. Brothers and sisters, we must pray and ask the Lord to purify our hearts by his Word and Spirit.

Thirdly, and finally, in prayer we must also do the hard work of keeping our hearts and minds pure before the Lord. This is a work that God must do in us, but it is also a work that we must do. This is clearly seen in the command that Christ has given to us: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed…” Watch yourselves, brothers and sisters. Watch yourselves, in prayer. Watch yourselves, throughout the day. Watch yourselves from Sabbath day to Sabbath day. 

As the Apostle says, “If… you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:1–10, ESV)

Baptist Catechism 88

Q. 88. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others. (Ezekiel 8:13; John 19:11; 1 John 5:16)

Scripture Reading: John 19:1–11

“Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.’ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the man!’ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, ‘Crucify him, crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.’ The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.’ When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ‘Where are you from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, ‘You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?’ Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.’” (John 19:1–11, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

*****

Have you ever heard it said that all sins are equal in God’s eyes? There is some truth to that statement. All sins, big or small, are in fact sins and make us guilty before God. That is true. And this fact does need to be emphasized, for there are many people who think that because they have not committed a big sin — a heinous sin — then they are good with God. That is not true. Sin, we have learned, is any lack of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God (BC 17). And after considering God’s law, we have all agreed that we daily violate God’s law in thought, word, or deed (BC 87). We must confess, therefore, that apart from Christ we all stand guilty before God. And if that is what people mean when they say that all sins are equal in God’s eyes, then I agree with them. 

But I think you would agree that that phrase can be a little misleading. It can be taken to mean that God does not distinguish between lesser and greater sins at all. That doesn’t sound right does it, for God is perfectly just. And when we consider the civil law that God gave to Old Covenant Israel we see that the punishment fit the crime. Lesser crimes were to receive a lesser punishment, and greater crimes were to receive a  stricter punishment. If we are to uphold justice in this way by distinguishing between lesser and greater evils, then it stands to reason that God, who is perfectly just, does the same. 

The passage that I just read from John 19 speaks to this issue. When Jesus spoke to Pilate concerning his sin he said that the Jews who had falsely accused him, and who were turning the political screws on Pilate to persuade him to crucify Jesus, had “the greater sin”. Both Pilate and the Jews sinned against Jesus by their unjust treatment of him, but the sin of the unbelieving Jews was greater, for they were the ones driving the issue.  

And so this raises another question: if a distinction is to be made between lesser and greater sins, should we expect there to be differing degrees of punishment in hell? The answer is yes, for God is just. The punishment will fit the sin. Jesus also spoke to this when he said that “it will be more bearable on that day [the day of judgment] for Sodom than for that town”, speaking of the town which rejects the testimony of his Apostles  (Luke 10:12, ESV).

So, on the one hand, we must agree that all sin is sin. All lawbreakers stand before God as guilty, therefore. But not all sin is the same. Some sins are more heinous than others.

*****

Baptist Catechism 88

This is what our catechism teaches. 

Q. 88. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. “Some sins in themselves… are more heinous in the sight of God than others.” To give an example, the sin of murder is much worse than the sin of unholy hatred. Both are sins. Neither should be tolerated. But one is much worse than the other given the destruction that it causes. 

Ezekiel 8:13 is listed as a proof text. There we read, “He said also to me, ‘You will see still greater abominations that they commit” (Ezekiel 8:13, ESV). The meaning is clear. What Ezekiel had been shown in this vision regarding the sins of the leaders of Israel was bad, but he was about to see even worse things. And again, Jesus’ words to Pilate that have already been discussed prove the point that  “Some sins in themselves… are more heinous in the sight of God than others.”

Our catechism is also right to say that “some sins in themselves and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.” I think this little phrase, by reason of several aggravations, acknowledges that other factors come into play when determining the severity of a sin. Some sins are, in and of themselves, more heinous than others. But there are other things to consider too when asking, how aggravating is this sin to God. So, for example, I will ask you, is it more aggravating to God when a four-year-old tells a lie or when a forty-year-old tells a lie? The sin is the same, right? But there is a sense in which a lying 40-year-old is worse than a lying 4-year-old. The 40-year-old should know better! And what is worse, a Christian committing adultery or a Pastor? Same sin, but the one is more aggravating than the other. Remember what James said. “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1, ESV). And that passage with Jesus and Pilate is helpful again. Both Pilate and the Jews were guilty of injustice, but the sins of the Jews were greater, in part, because they should have known better (they crucified their own Messiah), and because they were the instigators.  I think that is what the phrase, “by reason of several aggravations”, means. It means that other factors may contribute to make a sin more aggravating in the sight of God.

*****

Conclusion 

So what difference does this teaching make?

One, it does help us to think and speak clearly regarding the justice of God. He does distinguish between lesser and greater sins. At the judgment, the punishment will fit the sin. And we are to follow his example when executing temporal justice on earth today. 

Two, this teaching should make us eager to avoid all sin, but especially to avoid heinous sin. And we do know that lesser sins do lead to greater sins. Don’t lie when you are 4 because you do not want to be a liar when you are 40, which is worse. And do not lust in your heart, for we know that the sin of lust does lead to the sin of adultery. Be sober concerning the severity of all sin, and particularly heinous sin, for is so very damaging. 

Three, this teaching does enable us to correctly distinguish between those who are good and those who are evil in the world. In an absolute sense, is anyone good? We say, no. There is none righteous, no not one. But in another sense, are there good people in the world? Are there good governors, good bosses, good friends, and good parents? Yes! And how can we speak in this way? By understanding that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, some, by God’s grace, are good, caring, faithful, and just, relatively speaking.  Though all are sinners, God, in his common grace, does restrain evil in the world and he keeps even those who do not know Christ from committing heinous sins, thanks be to God. 

Four, this teaching ought to move us to repentance and drive us to faith in Christ the Savior for the forgiveness of sins big and small. 

Q. 88. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others. (Ezekiel 8:13; John 19:11; 1 John 5:16)