Well, it's good to see you this
evening. I'm going to ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Matthew 26. Matthew 26. Let's read this passage
of Scripture. Have a word of prayer. Matthew 26, verse 26. And as they were eating, Jesus
took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to the disciples
and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup
and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of
it. But this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for
many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not
drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when
I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.' And when they
had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Then
saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended. because of
me this night. For it is written, I will smite
the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into
Galilee." Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening, we
are so thankful for this blessed time to be able to come together
Consider your Word. Read your Word. Hear your Word.
Lord, I pray, would you bless it to our understanding. Teach us. Lord, I pray that you'd
bless the Word for the comfort and salvation of your people.
For Christ's sake. Amen. In Matthew 26, verses 26 to 32, And I was reading, going over
these passages this morning, and passages that also support
and clarify our Lord's words. My heart was drawn to consider
six things that are set forth in this beautiful passage. And I've entitled this message
based on those six things the preaching of the Lord's Supper. Now, these six things that I
want to bring forth, they're not set forth in order. As I was looking at them, I began
to think, trying to set forth an order of these six things. And I thought, how can you set
forth something that would be more or less important than the
other truths? concerning our Lord. So I want
to set these truths forth from this passage of Scripture in
Psalm out of Luke 22, and I want us to consider what does the
Lord's Supper, what did He preach when we began the partaking of
this Lord's Supper with His disciples. What was He setting forth? Well,
here's the first thing that I know that the Lord's Supper preaches,
commands. It exhorts us to obedience to
Him. Matthew 26, 26 and 27 The Scripture
says, And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed
it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take,
eat. This is my body. He took the cup. He gave thanks. He gave it to them, saying, Drink
ye all of it. In fact, in Luke 22, 19 concerning
the Lord's Supper, he said, this do in remembrance of me. Now, Mr. Webster, I looked up
the word obedience. And this is what it says. Submission
to the control and command of authority. Submission to the
control and command of authority. But now, what does the Lord have
to say concerning this thing of obedience? Let me read this
for you out of 1 Samuel 15-22. Now this was when Samuel, the
prophet Samuel, was talking to King Saul. He had given him instruction
when he went in to this They were going to do some battle
and he gave instruction to Saul and he said, I want you to go
in and destroy everything. Everything. Well, whenever he
got there, Samuel was talking to Saul and all of a sudden he
heard some goats, sheep in the background there, the bleeding.
He said, what's that I hear in the background? Oh, Saul said,
well, the people wanted me to keep
some of these finer animals for sacrifices. And of course, he
didn't kill the king either. Samuel went in there and took
a sword and killed that king. And this is what Samuel had to
say to Saul. 1 Samuel 15.22, Samuel said, as great delight in burnt offerings
and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold,
to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams. Disobedience was the sin of Adam and the death
of mankind. The Lord had told Adam You can
eat of all the fruit of all the trees that's in the garden except
the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now
in the day that you eat of that tree, you're going to die. In
the day that you disobey me, in the day that you take of the
fruit, you're going to die. Dying you shall die. Now, our
Lord gave this conclusion concerning his people. My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Obedience. Obedience. Obedience. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Obedience. Now, let me ask you
this question. Is it necessary? for a believer
to partake of the Lord's Supper? The answer is yes. The Lord commanded
it. He said, this do in remembrance
of me. Take, eat, take, drink. Here is the second truth that
is set forth in the taking of the Lord's Supper. This supper
sets forth and deals with the remembrance of Christ. In Luke 22, I'll read this for
you. If you want to turn there, you
can. Luke 22, 19. This is what the Scripture has to say. And
he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave it unto
them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you, this
do in remembrance of me." Now, we're not here tonight to remember
our faith. We're not here to remember our
baptism or our years. of ministry. We're not here to
glory in any work that we've done. We're not here to give
ourselves any kind of a pat on the back because of the time
that we've spent sitting under the gospel of God's grace and
looking to ourselves and thinking of ourselves as being something
that we're not. We're coming tonight to do one
thing. to remember Him. Now, I know
that in the remembrance of our Lord, it's more than just a mental
recollection of the Lord Jesus Christ. As I've said before,
the demons recollect that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. The demons, the Scripture says, believe. And they're not
saved. They know. They consider. They
remember. But we're here to remember that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of our faith. Now, without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Without faith in Him. without
believing Christ. We remember. Now this is what
we remember. And I would never exhaust this
list. I'll just start the list and
we'll just have to stop. Because we would never exhaust
what we remember of the Lord. This do in remembrance of me. How about this? How about that
He was the One in whom we were chosen before the foundation
of the world? How about if we remember that
He was the One that was ever before the Father? That the Father
delighted in Him and He in the Father, that He was ever before
Him as one brought up with Him. How about if we remember that
He was the One that the Father first trusted in? How about if
we remember that He was the One in whom and because of whom we
were justified before the foundation of the world. Now, here again,
remember, justification. The declaration of innocence. The declaration, no guilt. Justified freely by His grace. The Lord Jesus Christ. It was
He that came into this world. and walked before Almighty God,
and we elect in Him." Now, consider this, being chosen in Him, we've
always been in Him. There's never been a time that
the Father did not consider us in the Lord Jesus Christ. As
He walked in this earth, we in Him obeyed God. When He went
to the cross, Paul said, I was crucified with Him. And if Paul
was, all of God's elect were. Crucified with Christ. It was
in Him that the believer died. In a substitute. Christ Himself,
by His Holy Spirit, regenerates His people to the newness of
life. He is our husband. The husband
who has eternally been betrothed to his people. He's our Lord. He's our King. He is the prophet
from God to his people. God is going to speak to his
people. And he speaks one way in the
Word Himself. The only way. It's a miracle
of God's grace. that we're sitting here tonight
and God is speaking to His people. You think about this. Christ
the Word is tonight speaking through His Word using a preacher,
a mouthpiece. We beseech you, brethren, in
Christ's name, be you reconciled to God. Here we are this evening,
that Almighty God would not be silent to His people, and He
tells them the truth. He tells them of Himself. He
tells them of Christ Himself. Christ preaches Himself. Just
as surely as in the Old Testament, when the prophets were sent to
the nation of Israel, God sent prophets to Israel. He sent prophets
to no one else. God was not silent to His people. Now you remember Him. Remember Him who is our priest. There is a priest right now,
whoever liveth, the Lord Jesus Christ, the man, Christ Jesus,
the very One that walked on this earth, the very One, Carl, that
stood on that seashore after He was risen from the dead, And
they looked at him, and one of the disciples said, that's the
Lord. Peter jumped in the water, swam to Him, went over there,
and there the Lord had some fish. He was cooking them. And there
He was. He conversed with them. He said,
touch me. This is spirit. I'm not spirit. Touch me. Feel these. Touch my
hand. Touch my side. Thomas, touch
me. That Jesus, that Lord Jesus Christ,
the One that had a body prepared Him and ascended into heaven,
the very One that walked this earth, that upon whom the cross,
that was buried, that was raised, right now, Christ Jesus the Lord. is ever living to make intercession
for His people. Right now, pleading Himself,
pleading His merit. And we're accepted in the Beloved. Remember me. He is our righteousness. He is our representative before
God. And very soon, He's going to
come back, the Scripture says. We're going to see Him. He's
going to receive us. We which are alive and remain
on this earth are not going to prevent those that have died
in the faith. God's people, wherever they are, every atom, if there
was ever any part of the body of every man, believers and unbelievers,
are going to be brought back and they're going to be raised.
That body is going to be raised. For God's people, it was sown
in corruption, it's going to be raised and in corruption.
It was sown, a vile body is going to be raised in glory. And we're
going to be raised from the dead. That's a resurrection. It is
the raising of the same body that was put in the ground. This
flesh right here, that flesh, that hand, this nose right here. is coming out of the ground.
This same body. Now I can't explain all the,
I don't know, we were talking the other night about how old
do you think we'll be. I don't know. I've got a speculation,
but that's all that is, so I'll just leave it to myself. But this same body changed. This
body is going to be changed. We'll all be changed. When the people that knew the
Lord looked at Him... I know that Mary was confused
when she first saw the Lord. Thought He was the gardener.
But let me tell you something. Those disciples that were in
that boat I was just talking about, when the Lord came walking
out, one of them looked at Him and said, That's the Lord! That's
the Lord right there! Peter, James, and John on the
Mount of Transfiguration, they saw Moses and Elijah. Never met them before. It's Moses
and Elijah. How do they know that? They knew.
This body is going to be changed. This flesh, this corruption,
this body that is dying, that is frail, it's getting weaker,
it's going to be changed and raised. And we're going to see
Him. Meet us in the air. So shall
we ever be with the Lord. What does this Lord's Supper
preach? It preaches Him. This do in remembrance of me.
Number three. This supper has to do with comfort. Comfort. Matthew 26. He had been telling them. He told them. He said, this is
my body. Take a piece of bread. It's just a piece of bread. That's
all it is. It's just flour and water. But it's a symbol. He said, this is my body. A body
broken for you. This wine is my blood shed for
you. What he was telling them was
this. I'm going to die. I'm going to the cross. I'm going
to shed my blood. My body is going to be broken.
But then he told them something in verse 32, Matthew 26, 32.
He said, but after I'm risen again, I will go before you into
Galilee. Now don't you know that those
words were words of comfort? The Lord had just told them that
he was going to die, and now he's knowing that they're going
to need some comfort. They've been with him now. Over
three years, John 14.1, let not your heart be troubled. You believe
in God, believe also in Me. Verse 2 of chapter 14, I go to
prepare. I go to the cross to prepare
a place for you. And if I go, I'll come back. I'm coming back. When I'm risen, I'll meet you
in Galilee. He knew that he was going to
be slain and the sheep were going to be scattered. But in his words
of comfort, his disciples were assured, I go now, but I will
return. And we believe that. We believe
as sure as we're sitting here, more sure than we're sitting
here. that we're going to see Him. We're going to see Him. Number four, this ordinance declares
the communion and the unity of God's people. Now, I read verses
26 to 32 in Matthew 26. I'm going to read them one more
time, but I'm going to emphasize something here. Matthew 26, and
as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed
it and break it and gave it to the disciples. And he said, take
ye, this is my body. And he took the cup and gave
thanks and gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of it. This is my blood of the New Testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say
unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until
that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.'
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount
of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All
ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written,
I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I
will go before you into Galilee." I want you to notice how many
times our Lord emphasized you. Them. They. The Lord's Supper is for believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who trust Him. as He is set forth to be the
Redeemer of God's sheep, God's elect, and the righteousness
of God's elect. Believers are the body of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And they love each other. And
they love company with each other in Him. I'm telling you, there
is a knitting between believers. I've got acquaintances. I've
got some acquaintances. There's some folks, and I like
them. I'm not saying that, Gary. I don't lie. But I can't bear
my heart to them. I can't share with them things
of eternity because they just don't know. They don't understand. I can't just let myself go with
them. I want you to turn to Acts 2. Acts 2.42. This is the way believers
act right here. Now this is how it is. Our Lord was speaking to those
disciples. Notice how He was talking to
them. Acts 2.41, Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls. Can you imagine? Three thousand souls. And they
continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship. And in breaking of bread and
in prayers, look at verse 46, And they, continuing daily with
one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, did
eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising
God, and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added
unto the church daily, such as should be saved. Our Lord said
in John 13, 35, "...by this shall all men know that you are My
disciples, if you have love one for another." Believers love
each other. They love each other. They have respect for one another.
They love them. They love the Lord that loves
them. The Lord has shown them grace. What is it? The Lord was
eating of His supper with His disciples. This is My body. Given for who? For you. For you. Was He dying for the Assyrians?
No. Unless there was an elect among the Assyrians. Ethiopians? I know of one. But for those
disciples, and there was a devil among them. Did He die for Judas? No. I laid down my life for the
sheep. My sheep, hear my voice. I know
them and they follow me. The preaching of the Lord's Supper
has to do with the communion of God's people. We're here tonight
to eat and drink together. Believers. Believers. Number five, this supper declares
particular redemption. In Luke 22.19, this is my body
which is given for you. Matthew 26.28, for this is my
blood of the New Testament which shed for many for the remission
of sins. Matthew 20.28, even as the Son
of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to
give His life a ransom for many. Now, I saw something today. I just have to just bear with
me. Probably everybody here that
knows him is going to say, well, Marvin, I knew that. I can't
believe you just didn't realize it. I've read that passage of
Scripture so many times, and it just glazed over, glazed over
until this afternoon. And to give his life a ransom
for many. Now I read just a little bit
on a ransom, on the ransom. Here's what a ransom is. It's
the price of redemption. And here's another thing about
the ransom. When the ransom is paid, freedom, liberty is assured. It's not an offer. It's sure. When the ransom is paid, the
ransom is paid. The one that is ransomed is free. He's free. What's he going to
cost? Here's the ransom, the blood,
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. When He said, even as the Son
of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to
give His life for the price of redemption. For many, that price paid their debt. And they are free in Him. One might ask, well, why do you
make such a big deal out of particular redemption? Why do you make such
a big deal? out of the Lord paying the price
for only His sheep. Well, I'll tell you, the first
reason is because He declared it. John 10, 15, I laid down
my life for the sheep. Now, I know what the natural
man thinks. I know what he thinks. I understand
this so easily. I can understand this. If he laid down his life only
for the sheep, and he died for no one but the sheep, which is
what he said he did. He said that's what he did. So
that settled it. But let me tell you what is implied
if you don't believe that. Either he died for everybody,
Chuck, or he died only for his people. Now you know that's so.
Either he died for everybody, or he died for only his people.
Now, if he died in a universal redemption, he died and he laid
down his life to make salvation possible, he paid the debt of
everybody's sin. Now, okay, he's done everything
that he could. Right, I mean, what is he going
to do? If he died universally for everybody's sin, then that
means, and you have to admit this, I mean, common sense now
is going to take over here. Then that means that salvation
is dependent upon what man does with it. Now you know that's so. If he
died for everybody to make salvation possible, then it's left up to
man to make a decision on what he's going to do with what Christ
has offered. The Scripture says, for by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. John 1.13 said, we're born not
of the will of the flesh, but of God. So if His blood was shed
for all without exception, and He paid the debt, and one person
perishes, and His blood was a failure, and we dishonor Him in believing
that. Because He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. This
is my body which is broken for you. This is my blood shed for
you. Particular redemption is the
very declaration that Almighty God will not fail. He will not fail. He will not
fail. And salvation is not based on
a man's work and choice and will of what he's going to do. And
sixthly, this supper gives us great reason for thankfulness
toward Him. Luke 22.19, He took bread, He
gave thanks. Verse 20 says, Likewise also
the cup. He blessed the bread and wine,
giving thanks unto the Father for those that He would redeem. He thanked the Lord that He would
lay down His life, set His face like a flint to the cross, buying
His people, paying their debt, paying the price. Now as we eat
and drink of the bread and wine tonight, how thankful that we
ought to be that, number one, we remember Him. that we're here
together in communion. And that what he did, he did
effectually. He did it on purpose. He got the job done. And now
he's calling out his sheep. Now let me tell you what's going
to happen. All that the Father has given
him, they're going to hear this message. And the Spirit of God is going
to give them a heart to believe this. And Almighty God is going to
give them a new will, make them willing in the day of His power.
And they're going to come to Him by faith. Walking down the aisle, like
I said here, the only difference between me and you is just a
few feet. Oh, not that I wouldn't gladly talk to you. Somebody
wants to confess the Lord in baptism. I'm not saying that.
But I'm telling you, walking down the aisle is not coming
to Christ. Coming to Christ in the heart. Lord willing, I'm
planning to go to Brother Tom Harding's tomorrow. I'll be five hours away from
home. And I'll tell you this, every
time I think about my wife, I come to her that quickly. Every time
I think, God's people come to Him, and come to Him, and come
to Him. To whom coming? He that cometh
unto me. I will in no wise cast him out.
Let's remember the Lord in the partaking of these elements tonight.