Our Reminder of Deliverance
Pastor Erickson preaches from Joshua 4, where twelve stones from the Jordan become a memorial, and from Paul's teaching on the Lord's supper in 1 Corinthians 11, ahead of a communion service. He calls the church to remember what Jesus did for them at Calvary, to examine their hearts, and to keep communion from becoming an empty ritual.
The message in 6 points
Twelve stones from the Jordan
God tells Joshua to take twelve stones out of the Jordan so that when children ask what they mean, the people can tell how God cut off the waters. Pastor Erickson says communion is our own reminder of deliverance.
1:13:00A spiritual amnesia
It is natural for God's people to forget. Israel forgot the plagues at the Red Sea, believed the ten spies, and complained about manna, so God commanded memorials to help them remember.
1:17:03What mean these stones
The stones were set up so later generations would ask why. He says it is fine to ask why, but not to start removing the stones, and he speaks of submission to God and to the pastor.
1:22:47Do this in remembrance of me
Reading 1 Corinthians 11, he notes Jesus says to remember him. Jesus gives the Passover meal a new meaning: he is the bread of life and his blood seals the new covenant Jeremiah foretold, where God remembers our sin no more.
1:26:33Not a ritual
Paul warns the Corinthians to examine themselves and discern the Lord's body. Pastor Erickson says God hates empty ritual, and that communion must be taken with the right spirit, with every person equal at the cross.
1:32:36Remember and follow
Remembering Jesus means following him and never forgetting our testimony. Like the tablets, manna and rod kept in the ark, the Lord's supper adds taste to the reminder of all he has delivered us from.
1:46:01
In his words
“It might be free to us, but I [promise] it cost Jesus something.”
“That's a good deal for me, that I'm taking time to remember what Jesus did for me, and he's taken time to remember no more.”
“I don't know about you, but I don't ever want to forget my testimony.”
Taken word for word from the video, with punctuation added. Words in [brackets] were fixed so the line reads clearly.
Scripture
He reads
Joshua 4:1-3
1And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, 2Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
King James Version.
Joshua 4:6-7
6That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? 7Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
King James Version.
1 Corinthians 11:23-29
23For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24And 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. 25After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
King James Version.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
King James Version.
Hebrews 9:12-15
12Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
King James Version.
1 Corinthians 11:20-21
20When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 21For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
King James Version.
Isaiah 1:13
13Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
King James Version.
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