Memorial to the Master
Introduction
[Editor's Note: The preacher may introduce this sermon differently, and use it at any time for a Lord's Supper message. Also, with a different introduction, the message fits well for a service surrounding the Easter Season]
You are no doubt aware that this is Decoration Day (the holiday’s original name)—Memorial Day weekend. To some this holiday may mean nothing more than a three-day weekend away from work. To others who have lost loved ones in battles and skirmishes around the world, this holiday is a rather meaningful one.
Memorial Day is a day set aside for our nation to remember those fallen in battle. It is a time to reflect upon the conflicts of the past, to be thankful for the peace of the present, and pray for its continuance in the future. It is a time of remembrance. It is a time to remember that freedom is never really free.
But as we remember those who have paid the ultimate price for our national freedom, we need to also remember the One who paid the ultimate price for our spiritual freedom: the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are three very important facts that we must remember today concerning the battle that Christ fought for every believer.
Theme: Let’s be careful to remember…
I. THE BODY THAT WAS BROKEN FOR US
1 Cor. 11:24 “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.”
A. Christ’s Body Was Sacrificed For Us.
Eph. 5:2 “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
Heb. 9:24 “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
1 Pet. 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
NOTE: Folks, Jesus willingly and gladly sacrificed Himself so that we might live. The following doesn’t do justice to the sacrifice of Christ, but it gives us some small idea of the sacrifice He made for us.
Boarding the SS Dorchester on a dreary winter day in 1943 were 903 troops and four chaplains, including Moody alumnus Lt. George Fox. World War II was in full swing, and the ship was headed across the icy North Atlantic where German U-boats lurked. At 12:00 on the morning of February 3, a German torpedo ripped into the ship. “She’s going down!” the men cried, scrambling for lifeboats.
A young GI crept up to one of the chaplains. “I’ve lost my life jacket,” he said.
“Take this,” the chaplain said, handing the soldier his jacket.
Before the ship sank, each chaplain gave his life jacket to another man. The heroic chaplains then linked arms and lifted their voices in prayer as the Dorchester went down. Lt. Fox and his fellow pastors were awarded posthumously the Distinguished Service Cross.[1]
B. Christ’s Body Was Shamed For Us.
1. He was stripped of His clothing.
John 19:23 “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.”
NOTE: One commentator says of this incident:
That Jesus died naked was part of the shame which He bore for our sins. At the same time He is the last Adam who provides clothes of righteousness for sinners.[2]
2. Jesus was spit upon by the crowds.
Isa. 50:6b “…I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
C. Christ’s Body Endured Suffering For Us.
1. Jesus endured a horrible scourging (Matt. 27:26).
2. Jesus was beaten with men’s fists and slapped in the face (Matt. 26:67).
3. Jesus wore a crown of thorns that was driven into his brow by being struck on the head with reeds (Mark 15:17).
4. Jesus’ beard was plucked out by the roots by the angry mob
Isa. 50:6a “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair…”
5. Jesus suffered the dehydration that accompanied the slow, agonizing death of crucifixion.
John 19:28 “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.”
II. THE BLOOD THAT WAS SHED FOR US
Mark 14:24 “And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.”
John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”
A. It Was Precious Blood.
1 Pet. 1: 19 “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Matt. 27:4a “…I (Judas) have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood…
Matt. 27:24 “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”
NOTE: The blood of Jesus Christ was precious not only because it was untainted by sin, but also because it was given, not taken.
He GAVE the Blood!
Ed Freeman, quoting Herb Cain, told in the San Francisco Chronicle about a poster for a blood bank. The poster read, “Be a volunteer Blood Donor.” Someone had wisely printed on the poster these words: “That’s the best kind.”
If someone is taking your blood, and you are not a “donor,” that is not a good situation. Of course, when blood was required for our redemption, Jesus was a “Donor.” He gave His life for us. They did not take it from Him (John 10:18).[3]
B. It Was Powerful Blood.
1. Christ’s blood purges the believing sinner.
Rev. 1:5b “…Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”
Heb. 9:22 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”
2. Christ’s blood has purchased the believing sinner.
1 Pet. 1:18 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19a But with the precious blood of Christ…
3. Christ’s blood brought peace to the believing sinner.
Col. 1:20a “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself…”
Rom. 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
4. Christ’s blood protects the believing sinner.
Rom. 5:9 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
III. THE BATTLE THAT WAS WON FOR US
A. Christ Won The Battle Over Satan.
Col. 2:13 “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
Gen. 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
B. Christ Won The Battle Over Sin.
Rom. 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
C. Christ Won The Battle Over Self.
Gal. 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
NOTE: Folks, manmade religion and self-righteousness won’t take a person to Heaven. In fact, sinful self and its sin nature is the problem. That’s why the sinner must be delivered from it. One’s reliance upon anything or anyone other than Christ and His shed blood will always fall short of God’s righteous demands.
Another poll sheds light on this paradox of increased religiosity and decreased morality. According to sociologist Robert Bellah, 81 percent of the American people also say they agree that, “an individual should arrive at his or her own religious belief independent of any church or synagogue.” Thus the key to the paradox is the fact that those who claim to be Christians are arriving at faith on their own terms—terms that make no demands on behavior.
A woman named Sheila, interviewed for Bellah’s Habits of the Heart, embodies this attitude. “I believe in God,” she said. “I can’t remember the last time I went to church. But my faith has carried me a long way. It’s ‘Sheila-ism.’ Just my own little voice.”[4]
Theme: Let’s be careful to remember…
I. THE BODY THAT WAS BROKEN FOR US
II. THE BLOOD THAT WAS SHED FOR US
III. THE BATTLE THAT WAS WON FOR US
[1] Today in the Word, April 1, 1992.
[2] John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Editors, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament Edition, Copyright © 1983 by SP Publications, Inc., All rights reserved, Wheaton, Illinois; pg. 339.
[3] Dr. J. Mike Minnix, Editor, Pastor Life, www.sermoncity.com., mminnix@gabaptist.org.
[4] Charles Colson, Against the Night, p. 98.