Let us turn to Matthew chapter
28. I have a few things that I want to say to us tonight before
we observe the Lord's Table. Matthew chapter 28 and beginning
with verse 16. Then the 11 disciples went away
into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
And when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted. Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go
ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. This appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ in his glorified body after his resurrection
to the 11 apostles, especially, was sometime during the 40 days
the 40 days after his resurrection before he ascended bodily into
heaven in the presence of the 11 apostles. He who we know is
both God and man in one person and given, as we say here, all
power both in heaven and in earth. As God, the eternal Son of God,
He has all power, always has, and always will, just like God
the Holy Spirit and God the Father. But as the God-man mediator,
as the servant of Jehovah, he's given all power, both in heaven
and in earth. And we know tonight that he sets
upon the throne, his throne, his throne, and the throne of
God and the Lamb. And he reigns, he rules. We do
not serve a Christ who someday will come again and begin to
rain. We serve one who is raining tonight
and has been for centuries. He is the God man. And he tells
his disciples here that having all power, both in heaven and
in earth, he sent them out to teach all nations. And as we
read in the gospel of Mark, Chapter 16, to preach the gospel to all
creatures, that is to both Jews and Gentiles, and whosoever believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Our Lord here says, baptizing
them, that is those who believe. An unbeliever is not a candidate
for baptism. A baby is not a candidate for
baptism. Baptism is for believers. The word of God is very, very
clear on this subject. And men have perverted this and
we know that some groups call themselves Christians and they
do so-called baptize or sprinkle, it's not even baptism really,
but infants. And there was a time, believe
it or not, there was a time when they even gave the bread and
the wine to infants. There was a time when they thought
that was necessary, but it's a perversion of the word of God.
Our Lord having all power given unto him both in heaven and in
earth, therefore go ye because of the power he has in himself
to give his disciples, give us power. To make disciples, we
can't make disciples, but God uses men in preaching the gospel,
the power is of God. And making disciples, teaching
all nations, baptizing them because they are believers, because they
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, baptizing them in the name, the
singular name. of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. What a text that reveals unto
us the Trinity, three in one, one God, and yet he exists in
a trinity of persons. He sent them to preach the gospel
to all nations because we know he has redeemed out of all nations,
some out of all nations by his blood. And so therefore, he sends
the church out to preach the gospel. They were also, if you
notice in this passage, commanded to teach them, those who become
disciples, those who believe the gospel and are baptized,
and they are to teach, be taught to observe all things whatsoever
the Lord had taught them. And he closes with this precious,
precious promise, Lo, I'm with you always unto the end of the
world. And we know that he continues
till tonight. A little over 2,000 years since,
he continues till tonight to have a church, his church, his
bride, in this world. And he shall continue to the
end of time, till time shall be no more. He shall have his
church in this world, and he is always spiritually with his
church. He's with us to assist us, to
help us, to defend us, to comfort us, and to supply all our needs. He is with us. Lo, I am with
thee unto the end of the world, or the end of the age. Tonight,
we are observing one of the all things. Notice the word again
in verse 20, teaching them to observe all things. Now, we're
just going to observe tonight one of the all things that we've
been taught to observe. One of the things which he commanded,
he commanded that we observe, those of us who know him as our
Lord and Savior, he has commanded us that we observe this ordinance
Church ordinance, the Lord's Supper, till he comes again in
glory. And this is his command, he said,
this do in remembrance of me. And as the Apostle John in 1
John tells us, his commandments are not grievous. John chapter
14, he said, whosoever hath my commandments and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me. What are we doing tonight as
we observe this ordinance? Well, I have five questions and
answers to that. What are we doing in this ordinance? First, the first thing we're
doing here tonight, we are showing forth his death. That's the very
first thing that we are doing. We are showing forth his death. The apostle Paul, who the Lord
later appeared to, remember he was an apostle born out of due
season, He received the gospel from the Lord Jesus Christ. That
was a requirement to be an apostle, to have learned the gospel directly
from the Savior. He tells us that in Galatians
chapter 1, the gospel that he preached, he didn't receive it
from men, but he was taught it by revelation of Jesus Christ.
But also in 1 Corinthians 11, the apostle tells us that he
also received the ordinance of the Lord's Supper from the Lord.
And this is what he said there in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 26. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show forth the Lord's death. What are we doing here tonight?
Well, the very first thing that we are doing is we are showing
forth the Lord's death. Now, how do we show forth his
death in this supper? Well, we know that we have bread
and we have wine. The bread represents his body
and the wine, of course, represents his blood. And they are separate. The bread and the wine are separate. Remember the scripture says the
life of the flesh is in the blood. We're showing forth his death
by these two elements, the bread and the wine being separate.
We're showing forth his death. And we're also showing forth
the manner of his death. The bread is broken. It's broken
bread. The manner of his death, that
is, by crucifixion, he was slain. The wine is poured out as wine
is squeezed from the grapes. As we sang that hymn just a few
minutes ago, a glorious hymn. When I survey the wondrous cross,
see from his head, his hands, his feet, love flow mingled down. It's blood that flowed mingled
down from his head and from his hands and feet, which were pierced.
And then after his death, when the soldier took the spear and
plunged it in to his side, the scripture says out came blood
and water. Blood to justify and water to
sanctify his people. But the grape is squeezed to
produce the wine. And that's the way we're showing
forth his death by the elements being separated, but the manner
of his death. And that's important. He didn't
die of old age. He didn't die in his sleep. No,
he died a cruel death on the cross. He suffered, not only
in body, but we know he also suffered in soul. And showing
forth his death, we're setting forth the truth about his death. He was crucified. He was slain. Just as those many sacrifices,
if you take the book of Leviticus, the book of the priest, that
came from the tribe of Levi, the book of Leviticus, And you
read about those offerings, those sacrifices. And what do you see? You see typified, or by type,
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The animal had to be slain, the
blood had to be shed and poured out at the altar, sprinkled upon
the mercy seat, whichever sacrifice it was. But they were all typical
of his sacrifice. that he would come into this
world and die for his people. Die in the place of his people.
There's two things about his death. Always remember these
two things. Satisfaction and substitution. Satisfaction and substitution. He died substitution. He died
in the place of his people. Substitution. He satisfied. He satisfied God. So that's the
first thing we're showing tonight. We're showing forth his death.
The second thing, we're commemorating his death. Commemorating his
death. I believe it's in two weeks we
will have a national holiday. And the national holiday this
time will be Memorial Day. You know the difference between
Memorial Day and Veterans Day? Memorial Day in just a couple
of weeks, Veterans Day is in the fall of the year. You know
the difference between the two. Memorial Day is a day set apart
every year when we remember and we should give thanks for those
who died in war. That we commemorate those who
died, men and women who have died that we might live in liberty
and have the freedom that we enjoy in this country. Now Veterans
Day is a day when anyone and everyone who has served in the
military are honored on Veterans Day. The Lord Jesus Christ was
offered once. We're remembering his death.
This is a memorial supper. We're remembering that he offered
himself once And he doesn't need to offer himself another time.
This is certainly, this is certainly not a sacrifice. This is not
a sacrifice. If we call this a sacrifice,
it would fly in the face. It would be a denial of the truth
that the Lord Jesus Christ offered himself once, once for the sins
of his people. once for the sins of his people.
It doesn't need to be offered again. It was the perfect atonement
for sin. It's what God required, and it's
what satisfied God. This is not a sacrifice. It's
a memorial service. We're showing forth his death.
We're remembering him. This is a memorial feast. Just
as a Passover, when, when Israel came out of Egypt, everyone is
familiar with the way they had to kill the Passover lamb and
take the blood and and applied to the lentils of the doorpost,
and God passed over Egypt that night, and in the houses where
there was no blood applied, where God did not see the blood. We
sing that hymn, don't we? When I see the blood, I will
pass over thee. We were talking after the service
this morning. And sometimes with our age and
our minds, began to not be what they once were. Pastor friend
told me he visited an older lady in his congregation for years. She was in a home, and he said,
first, she forgot his name. She said, I know you're my pastor,
but I've forgotten your name. And then after a while, she even
forgot the name Jesus. But here's the thing, as a child
of God, God saw the blood. The Israelites, they couldn't
see the blood. And there may come, for all of
us here today, we may live long enough in this world, we don't
know which side is up. But the important thing is, is
that God knows. God knows. And this blood, that
was applied to the lentils of the doorpost of the Israelites
in Egypt. After they got out, God gave
them a perpetual memorial service, a Passover feast. And every year,
every year, they were to observe the Passover feast. They were to kill a lamb and
roast it and eat it, but they didn't apply the blood again.
They only did that once, only once. Christ died once in the
end of the age for the sins of his people. You say, in the end
of the age? Yes, the end of that Jewish dispensation. He died once in the end of the
world, the scripture says there. But they were to remember. The
first time they ate that Passover feast, they had the sandals on
their feet, their loins girded and staff in their hand. They
were ready to go. out of Egypt. But from then on,
it was just a memorial service. They didn't have to eat it with
sandals on their feet and their loins girded up and staff in
their hand. They were there. They'd been
delivered. This is not a sacrifice. It's
not a sacrifice. It's a memorial service. What are we doing? Third, we
are remembering the great love of God. We are remembering the great
love of God. Look with me if you will in Romans
chapter five. Romans chapter five and beginning
with verse six. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life. I encourage you to take that
passage of scripture that I've just read and look over it and
turn over the words in your mind, meditate upon these words, such
as, when we were without strength, spiritually speaking, we did
not have the strength to raise our little finger. Spiritually speaking, we had
no strength. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. We owed a debt that we could
not pay. And as I said, spiritually speaking,
we didn't have two pennies to rub together. We were without
strength. Without strength. Let that sink
in. Without, we couldn't, we couldn't move a hair towards
God. We were without strength. We
were like that man in our Lord's parable of the good Samaritan
who had been beaten up and thrown in the ditch. The only difference
is he wasn't dead. But we were spiritually dead.
He couldn't get out of the ditch. He couldn't administer any medicine
to himself. Neither could we. Without strength. And then look at that word ungodly. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. You know, you can look up definitions
of that, ungodly, but what does it mean? It simply just means
we were not like God. That's what it means. We were
not like God. God loves righteousness and hates
iniquity. We were not like God. We were ungodly. We loved iniquity
and hated righteousness. That's the condition we were
all in when Christ died for us, died for his people. And then you look at that word,
a righteous man. Are there any righteous men?
Are there? Absolutely. Because notice it
said, we are justified by his blood. That's what a righteous
man is. He's a man, he's a woman who,
or she's a woman who's been justified, declared righteous by the imputed
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to read a letter to you,
an article, not a letter, but an article that I read this past
week by a friend, Brother Bruce Crabtree, you know, he's preached
here before. The title of the article was
Death, the Price of Freedom. And he began, some of our young
people, it's sad to say, neither know nor seem to care what the
price of freedom can cost. I read a letter by Abraham Lincoln
I read a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to a mother who had five
sons killed in the Civil War. And this is what he wrote. Dear
Madam, I have been shown in the files of the War Department a
statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are
the mother of five sons who have died gloriously in the field
of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless
must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you
from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering
to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the
Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father
may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only
the cherished memory of the loved and lost and the solemn pride
that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the
altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln." Bruce said, if it has not been taken down
or torn down, this letter still stands. This letter still hangs
on the walls at Oxford University. And then I quote him, those who
can dismiss such a sacrifice with a mere shrug of the shoulders
or worse, a disgusting laugh, neither love human life nor place
any value upon freedom. What was the price for our freedom
from sin and the judgment of God upon it? What price had to
be paid to free us from the curse of God's broken law? nothing
short of the death of God's only begotten son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. What a price. All humanity dying
at once as a sacrifice could not obtain such freedom. And
then he quotes that hymn, free from the law, oh happy condition,
Jesus has bled and there is remission. Those who can live without a
heart hunger for an interest in this freedom, do not love
him who died. Neither do they know anything
about the awful slavery they are presently in to sin and the
devil. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. What we're doing here tonight,
we're remembering God's great love. I can't imagine parents
who lost five sons in a war, can you? What an awful price. Number four, we're showing our
love to him. That's what we're doing. We're
showing our love to him. We love him because he first
loved us. And I wanted to quote these words,
but I'll read them because I might misquote them. Very familiar. Psalm 103, verses one through
four. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness
and tender mercies, who satisfies thy mouth with good things, so
that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. What are we doing?
we are showing our love to him. And the last thing, we're eating
in fellowship with our family. We're eating tonight here together
in fellowship with our family, our heavenly family. You know,
all of the ties of family will end at the grave, won't they?
Husbands and wives have been married sometimes for 50, 60,
70 years. It comes to an end. There's no marriage or giving
of marriage in heaven. But our family, our Christian
family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, this family will go
on forever and ever. Aren't you thankful to be a part
of God's family? And while our communion tonight
is with the Lord, in this communion service. It's with the Lord,
first of all. But it is true that we have communion
one with another, don't we? We love our family. Those with
whom, by God's wonderful grace, we will enjoy eternity, forever
and ever. I pray the Lord would bless these
words to all of us here.