Category Archives: Sacraments

1 Corinthians 15:29 – ‘Baptized for the dead’

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What will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they baptized for them?

As Thiselton (Shorter Commentary) says, Paul’s main point is clear enough:

“baptism for the dead” (whatever this means in detail) would be pointless and senseless if there were no resurrection. But since, evidently, they have themselves baptized for the sake of the dead, either some people tacitly assume the truth of the resurrection or else their action is self-contradictory.…

The Lord’s Supper

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A summary of ch. 21 of John Flavel’s The Fountain of Life.

“The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as oft as you drink [it], in remembrance of me.”…

Wine and strong drink in the Bible

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In the interest of complete disclosure, I ought to say that I was raised within Methodism, a Christian tradition that tends to support total abstinence.

I am acutely aware of the devastating effects of alcoholism: a relative came close to destroying both himself and his family because of his addiction to drink.  (He was enabled to give up alcohol completely – apart from a couple of temporary lapses – after he exercised saving faith in Jesus Christ.)…

Baptised in the sea – sermon notes

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Exodus 14

The crossing of the Red Sea is used throughout Scripture as a picture of what it means to become a follower of Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 10:2 – ‘They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.’

1. Behind them was a place of slavery

v5 – ‘We have lost their services’(!)

Jn 8:34, “Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”

“Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom.…

Sacrament and mystery

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The word ‘sacrament’, explains Donald Macleod,  comes from the Latin sacramentum, which referred to the oath taken by a Roman Soldier.  It has therefore been suggested that the Lord’s Supper is the taking of an oath to Christ and an entering into an obligation of loyalty to him.  There is, no doubt, truth in this.  But the word sacramentum is not a biblical word, and cannot therefore the recruited for theological purposes for a meaning that is not sanctioned by Scripture itself.…

Discussion Starters, Jn 13:1-17; Lk 22:7-23

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(a) In John 13:14, Jesus says, “You should wash one another’s feet.” Most Christian groups do not have a foot-washing liturgy. Why not? In what ways can we fulfil this command even if we do not follow it literally?

(b) In Luke 22:19, Jesus says, in connection with the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Most Christian groups do have a ‘Lord’s Supper’ liturgy. Why? Looking at this passage in Luke, what would you say are the main things about Jesus that we are to ‘remember’ when we take communion?…

The Last Supper – sermon notes

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Text: Luke 22:7-20

I wonder how many meals you have eaten in your life? Assuming a rate of 3 meals a day, then by the age of 16 you will already have eaten over 17,000 meals, and by the age of 60 over 65,000.

I wonder how many of these meals you can remember? Some are more memorable than others – a wedding reception, a birthday party, a family picnic, your first communion.

We come this morning to the last in a short series from Luke’s Gospel exploring notable meals that Jesus attended.…

Justification and the Lord’s Supper

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John Stott comments on the teaching of the English Reformers, and their determination that their doctrines of justification and of the Lord’s Supper should be compatible with one another:-

They strenuously denied transubstantiation (‘the change is not the nature, but the dignity’ – Latimer), the real presence of Christ in the elements (‘his true body is truly present to them that truly receive him, but spiritually’ – Cranmer), and the notion that the mass could be a propitiatory sacrifice (for then ‘doth this sacrament take upon it the office of Christ’s passion, whereby it might follow that Christ died in vain’ – Ridley). 

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The Significance of the Last Supper

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According to I.H. Marshall, the Last Supper was a Passover meal, probably held one day before the official date.  But what significance did Jesus intend by it?

1.  The Passover Meal

There is every evidence from the Gospels that Jesus regarded this Passover meal as particularly important, and that he made careful arrangements to celebrate it undisturbed.

The Passover was a celebration of how God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and set them on their way to the Promised Land. …

The ‘Real Presence’

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‘Throughout history,’ writes Donald MacLeod, ‘discussion of the Lord’s Supper has been complicated, if not indeed be-devilled, by the question of the presence of Christ in the sacrament.’

When people speak of ‘the real presence’ they are not using the word ‘real’ merely to mean ‘genuine’, but rather to mean ‘the thing itself’.  ‘The real presence’ then refers to the idea that the body of Jesus is literally present in the bread and wine at Holy Communion.…