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᛭ INI ᛭

Last week we heard about what the Lord’s Supper is. This week we consider what the Lord’s Supper is for. We’re rejoicing in what the Supper’s benefits are.

THE SUPPER’S BENEFITS ARE SIMPLE—“GIVEN AND SHED FOR YOU FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.”

(I. Forgiveness of sins is what Christ is all about.)

“Forgiveness” was the purpose for Christ’s coming in the first place. He needed to come to “purchase and win [you] from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent Suffering and death.” In Christ you have “redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 2)

He was born for forgiveness’ sake! “You shall call His name IHS, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mt 1) As it was prophesied about Him: “In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.” (Jer 23) “He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7) Indeed, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Ps 103)

When you hear Christ’s name, IHS, you should hear it as synonymous with forgiveness, for that is what you need from Him most. We must not shy away from the label of sinner. We do this not to demean ourselves or give ourselves poor so-called self-esteem. To claim that nothing comes from us but sin and death, is to make a proper confession. It is to leave out no sins. It includes those we don’t know, and includes those we do. And we do this to magnify Christ. When you magnify Christ, then you don’t have to lie to yourself or cover up your sins. His blood as won for you the forgiveness of all your sins. You bear His name “Yahweh saves,” saves from sin.

He also delivers to you the forgiveness of your sins constantly, because you need Him, too. According to Christ you must need the forgiveness of sins much for He instituted the Supper for the forgiveness of sins. “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” So also with Baptism and Absolution. He wrote His Word to tell you about it, and sends preachers to preach it. Nevertheless, behold the altar: see how much and consider how frequently He answers the 5th Petition: “Forgive us our trespasses as He forgives those who trespass against us.”

(Transition.)

THE SUPPER’S BENEFITS ARE SIMPLE—“GIVEN AND SHED FOR YOU FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS,” but when the Lord gives forgiveness He gives more—always more with the Lord. As He prophesies through Isaiah in the 40th chapter: “’Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. ‘Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.’” Double forgiveness for each sin for sure, but the Lord also gives another gift along with forgiveness: life.

(II. With the forgiveness of sins, there is also life…)

Life comes with the forgiveness of sins—new life created and strengthened by the faith in the forgiveness of sins. If you don’t believe God is truly merciful toward you, or that He really does forgive you for how you fail Him and the other people in your life, then how could you love Him? How could you ever life a life that’s pleasing to Him? How could you even want to? Truth is: you wouldn’t.

If you believed God were angry with you no matter what you did, then you’d hate Him and only serve Him as a slave. On the flip side, if you believed God were actually angry, eternally angry, with sin, flee to the forgiveness of sins and subsequently put them away! Anyway, “to strengthen you in faith and in holy living,” our Lord and Savior IHS “Christ took bread, broke, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you.” “It is as if He said, ‘I became man, and all that I do and suffer is for your good. As pledge of this I give you My body to eat.”

Listen to what Christ Himself says of those who eat His flesh and drink His blood. “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in Him.” (Jn 6) Hear what Christ also says about those who remain in Him: “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15) This is what it means to have “Christ dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph 3)—“that you might have fruit and have it abundantly” (Jn 15).

Receiving the fruits of His cross and death, we take up our own cross, and live a Christian life. We love one another as He has loved us. “For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” (1 Cor 10) Thus we are one in the forgiveness of sins, and we serve one another “not in words only but in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 4), “especially those of the household of faith.” (Gal 5) We even “forgive one another as God in Christ forgave us.” (Eph 4)

(Transition.)

THE SUPPER’S BENEFITS ARE SIMPLE—“GIVEN AND SHED FOR YOU FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS,” but when the Lord gives forgiveness He gives more—always more with the Lord, “for where there is the forgiveness of sins there is also life and salvation.” So we finally come to our prophecy from Isaiah 25 this evening. It is the fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ. It is what the Lord’s Supper is preparing us for…

(III. With the forgiveness of sins there is also … salvation.)

When the Lord gives the forgiveness of sins, He’s not only giving new life, but also everlasting salvation—a salvation that never ends forever!

“In this mountain The LORD of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees. And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever.”

You will eat and drink and live forever. This is not only the promise of the forgiveness of sins in general. It’s not just Baptism’s “you’ll rise with Him.” (Rom 6). Nor is it Absolution’s “Whatever you open will be opened.” (Mt 18) It is the promise of the Supper also: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will resurrect Him on the Last Day.” (Jn 6) The Lord’s Supper is the thing, not some platonic meal waiting, foretasting you for something else. (As if wilderness manna prepared Israel for the milk and honey of Canaan…) No, the Lord gives you what’s needed now, His body and blood, to prepare you in heart, soul, mind for the resurrection and the wedding party that never ends, or to say it another way: the body and blood of Christ “strengthen and keep you in body and soul unto life everlasting,” “And it will be said in that day (the Life Everlasting Day) : ‘Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’”

(Conclusion.)

THE SUPPER’S BENEFITS ARE SIMPLE—“GIVEN AND SHED FOR YOU FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.”

There’s always more forgiveness. We should be honest about our sins. “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” (Is 55) For “with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption. And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.” (Ps 130)

THE SUPPER’S BENEFITS ARE SIMPLE—“GIVEN AND SHED FOR YOU FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.”

But with the forgiveness of sins there is also [new] life, the enlivening of your new life in the sacrament. There, there is also everlasting salvation, put into your mouth by the body and blood, given for your salvation.

Indeed, on the Last Day, when Christ finally returns, “He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.”

As a pledge of this He gives you His body to eat and His blood to drink.

᛭ INI ᛭