Just One Sin

We come to the Table in order to be nourished. We need to be nourished and strengthened so that we might have grace in our spiritual limbs when we come to do battle. And when we come to do battle, it should be directed against sin. The author of Hebrews (Heb. 12:4) exhorts his readers to be willing to commit themselves to the point of bloodshed in their fight against sin.

And so our celebration of this Supper does have something important to do with sin, but not because it is a time for morbid introspection. We are to examine ourselves, we are to cultivate a tender conscience, but the time we have set apart for that is at the beginning of the service, when we first come into the presence of God. This Supper is about temptation and sin, but it is more about next week’s temptation than last week’s. The body and blood of Jesus does not just forgive past sin, it also equips us for our fight against future sin.

And you need to be strengthened against one sin, not against all of them. You will not be tempted to commit all of them. You will be tempted to be undone by just one. So put on the full armor of God. Noah, the most righteous man, was undone by one sin. Moses, the meekest of men, was shut out of the promised land by one sin. David, the best of kings, was taken down by one sin. Job, the most patient of men, was convicted of one sin, and repented in dust and ashes. Adam, the father of us all, plunged the world into the morass of sins by just one sin.

There is grace in this bread and in this wine. It is not grace that can be tasted with the tongue, but you all have a spiritual tongue that can taste and see that the Lord is good. That spiritual tongue is living faith, active faith, evangelical faith. When you believe in your heart, you are tasting with your tongue. And when you do that, you are being equipped for this coming Tuesday.

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.