At SPT, we love the church. And because we love the church we love pastors. After all, pastors are to “care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). For the pastor to best care for the church—God’s blood bought people—he must have a heart warm to the work. That is, shepherds cannot be merely “going through the motions” on Sunday morning which makes Saturday night incredibly important.
To help pastors in their prep for Sunday, we offer this weekly digest of devotional material. This content is intended to serve you by you reading or listening or watching all or some of it. You decide what is best for your heart as you further prepare for the most important day of the week.
With you in caring for the church of God,
~SPT
WHAT WE BELIEVE, TEACH, AND CONFESS
Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
Q&A 75.
Q. How does the Lord's Supper signify and seal to you that you share in Christ's one sacrifice on the cross and in all His gifts?
A. In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and drink of this cup in remembrance of Him. With this command He gave these promises:[1] First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely was His body offered for me and His blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and the cup of the Lord as sure signs of Christ's body and blood, so surely does He Himself nourish and refresh my soul to everlasting life with His crucified body and shed blood.
[1] Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19, 20; I Cor. 11:23-25.
Q&A 76.
Q. What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and to drink His shed blood?
A. First, to accept with a believing heart all the suffering and the death of Christ, and so receive forgiveness of sins and life eternal.[1] Second, to be united more and more to His sacred body through the Holy Spirit, who lives both in Christ and in us.[2] Therefore, although Christ is in heaven[3] and we are on earth, yet we are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones,[4] and we forever live and are governed by one Spirit, as the members of our body are by one soul.[5]
[1] John 6:35, 40, 50-54. [2] John 6:55, 56; I Cor. 12:13. [3] Acts 1:9-11; 3:21; I Cor. 11:26; Col. 3:1. [4] I Cor. 6:15, 17; Eph. 5:29, 30; I John 4:13. [5] John 6:56-58; 15:1-6; Eph. 4:15, 16; I John 3:24.
Q&A 77.
Q. Where has Christ promised that He will nourish and refresh believers with His body and blood as surely as they eat of this broken bread and drink of this cup?
A. In the institution of the Lord's supper: 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." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). This promise is repeated by Paul where he says: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1 Corinthians 10:16, 17).
OVERHEARD
“With all meekness and gentleness”
by John Owen
“The high priest is able to bear with the people patiently and meekly, so as to continue the faithful discharge of his office towards them and for them.
This, as we observed, Moses was not able always to do, as he also complains, ‘Have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nurse beareth the sucking child?’ (Numbers 11:12)
Yet this is required in a high priest, and that he should no more cast off poor sinners for their ignorance and wanderings than a nursing mother should cast away a sucking child for its crying.
So our apostle, in his imitation of Jesus Christ, affirms that in the church he was ‘gentle among them, even as a nurse cherisheth her children,” (1 Thess. 2:7);—not easy to be provoked, not ready to take offence or cast off the care of him.
So it is said of God, Acts 13:18, that for forty years ἐτροποφόρησε, ‘He bore with the manners of the people in the wilderness;’ or as some read it, ἐτροφοφόρησε, ‘He bore’ or ‘fed them, as a nurse feedeth her child.’
Thus ought it to be with a high priest, and thus is it with Jesus Christ.
He is able, with all meekness and gentleness, with patience and moderation, to bear with the infirmities, sins, and provocations of His people, even as a nursing mother beareth with the weakness of a poor infant.”
–John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Vol. 4, ed. W. H. Goold, Works of John Owen, vol. 21 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1854/1985), 4: 455–456.
[HT: Tolle Lege]
TWEET OF THE WEEK
DOXOLOGY
Let the Nations be Glad (Matt Boswell & Matt Papa)
[Verse 1]
Let the glory of the Lord forever be a joy
May redemption be the theme of our song
For by grace we have been saved
And by grace we shall proclaim
To the corners of the earth that Christ has come
[Chorus]
Let the nations be glad, let the people rejoice
For salvation belongs to our God
Let the whole earth be filled with the praises of the Lord
For salvation belongs to our God
Let the nations be glad
[Verse 2]
Through the ages gone before
Through the trial and the sword
Many saints and martyrs conquered though they died
Still we're holding out the cross
Crossing ocean suffering loss
Shall endure all things to win the crown of life
[Chorus]
Let the nations be glad, let the people rejoice
For salvation belongs to our God
Let the whole earth be filled with the praises of the Lord
For salvation belongs to our God
Let the nations be glad
[Verse 3]
As your holy church goes forth, in the Holy Spirit’s power
With the glories of the Gospel to explain
Now we pray Your kingdom come
And we pray Your will be done
For the honor and the glory of Your name
[Chorus]
Let the nations be glad, let the people rejoice
For salvation belongs to our God
Let the whole earth be filled with the praises of the Lord
For salvation belongs to our God
Let the nations be glad
[Outro]
Let the nations be glad
Let the nations be glad
NOTA BENE
The Evangelistic Zeal of the Vaxxers (Michael Pohlman)
Pastor-Theologians (Tom Ascol)
The Marks of True Preaching (Christopher Gordon)