the Lord may grant us his much
needed help. I would invite your prayerful
attention to just a few words that we find in Luke chapter
22 and the last clause of verse 19. Luke chapter 22 and the last
clause in verse 19. this too in remembrance of me
this especially the the last four words in remembrance of
me that have been on my mind in remembrance of me we meet
on remembrance day and fully persuaded of the rightness, the
correctness of having an annual remembrance of, especially of
God's deliverances in the past. But I do feel it's right also
to remember the sacrifices that others have made, that we have
this freedom of coming together today. We don't anticipate any
outward hindrance do we in our worship and that is in the hand
of God as a result of the deliverances in the past and those who've
been used to serve the nation in that way. It's good that we
come with a thankful heart and good that we remember those who
have been bereaved, the families who have suffered and do continue
to suffer as a result of these things. But there is this higher
remembrance, as it were, that we should have and remember God,
remember Jesus Christ. We want to. Consider the context
of these words in more detail in a moment. But really, there
is, in general, this forgetting, isn't there, of God's in the
nation, but sadly in our own hearts often. Perhaps we're not
as conscious of God. We don't remember God as much
as we ought to do. We can go on. through our busy
lives I'm sure we're all busy in in different things that we
get occupied with and we can easily forget the the daily benefits
and blessings that we receive the psalmist David in Psalm 103
he has this exhortation for us all doesn't
he bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits
doesn't even say forget not some of his benefits does it but don't
forget all of them it's a very high bar if you like isn't it
a high standard if we could really remember and give thanks for
every single benefit that we have. Very hard, I think, if
we're honest, for us to really put that into practice. We do
take so much for granted, don't we? Health and strength and our
homes and the fact we have plenty to eat and to drink and to wear
and all these things. easily overlooked, but they are
the benefits, to use the word that David uses here, or the
blessings, the mercies that God gives to us. And our health and
our strength. We're quick, aren't we, oftentimes
to complain when we're slightly, as it were, less than 100% well. But when we are well, do we really
thank God sufficiently? Do we remember Him in that when
we wake up every morning? Do we give thanks that we have
woken up? That God's blessing is still
upon us? To remember Him more than we
do. And as we read in Deuteronomy,
Now I'm sure how that Moses was inspired by the Holy Spirit to
write that book in the last few weeks of his life. And as he
and the children of Israel stood on the borders of the promised
land. Moses, of course, would not go
into that promised land, but the people would. And Moses gives
them very much instruction. But he begins in that book with
a remembrance, doesn't he? Thou shalt remember all the way
which the Lord thy God has led thee. And again, that's a high
standard, isn't it? All the way, all the way. Perhaps a few things stand out
in our lives to us and we can look back and we say, well, I
know that the hand of the Lord was with me in that particular
matter or in that particular circumstance. Maybe there was
some remarkable deliverance to us and we remember God in those
things and rightly so. But the command is remember all
the way. I remember those days when perhaps
nothing remarkable happened. But God was still watching over
us. God was still preserving us. God, maybe unseen and unnoticed
by us, was leading us and directing us. And maybe it's only when
we look back We can say, oh, well clearly God must have been
working then. I wasn't conscious of it, but
I can see it now. We remember, we look back. There is a right looking back
as well as a wrong looking back. The problem with Lot's wife was
her looking back was an evidence that she really wanted to go
back. Now, we can never go back, can we? We can never retrace
any step of our life. We're on a one-way journey. But we can look back and remember
what God has done and remember with thankfulness and praise
and worship what God has done in the past for us. But I was especially struck as
we thought about these things with that first verse that we
read in Deuteronomy chapter 8 which was verse 11. Beware that thou
forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments
and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day. Do we, each and every one of
us, as we are answerable to God and as we come together this
morning in the sight of God, can we all say that we have kept
his commandments and his judgments and his statutes? Or are there
things that we have forgotten about? Things that maybe we haven't
forgotten about but we're not prepared to be obedient to them. It's a sad reflection, but I
know it's true of myself as well, but I've often heard people saying,
I'm praying to know what the Lord's will is. Very, very rarely
have I heard people say, I'm praying that I might do the will
of God. It does seem to me our spirit
often is that if we know what the will of God is, then we'll
weigh that up with lots of other alternatives and our own preference
maybe for the way that we're going to go and then we'll come
to some rational decision if you like. But that's not real
obedience, is it? And speaking about obedience
at home, very recently and someone said
to me afterwards that when the will of God is the same as our
own will it's very easy to do it. But he said real obedience
is when the will of God conflicts with our will and yet we still
do it. We recognize that God's thoughts
and God's ways are not just higher, but infinitely higher than our
ways and his thoughts than our thoughts. And how he can see
the whole of our life, if you like, we're very, excuse me,
we're very bound up, aren't we? With the limited things that
we can see ahead of us. I gave then the illustration,
it's only very simple, But if you take a sheep, a sheep, I
suppose their eyes and their brain is maybe two feet above
the earth. They can't really see a lot,
can they? And they can't see the distance. But the shepherd is maybe six
feet tall where his eyes and his brain is. He can see so much
more than the sheep can see. The sheep may be conscious that
where they're walking is muddy and damp and so on, but they
would just plough on because that's all they can see. The
shepherd may see this is a quagmire, this isn't safe, we must go a
different way. And it's a poor illustration,
but Christ as the shepherd is not just, as it were, three times
higher than our thoughts, but infinitely higher than our thoughts. His vision is perfect as to the
way that we should go. Or that we might be given this
spirit to remember God in keeping his commandments and his judgments
and his statutes, just knowing of them, it's a good thing. It's
always a good thing to know more and more about the Bible, more
and more about the ways of God. Of course, it's good that we
should learn those things, but we need more than that, don't
we? We need to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. Now, how is it with us today? There are many things, as Moses
warned them, Many things that hinder and distract, aren't there?
And often it is our prosperity. This is what Moses specifically
was warning of here, isn't it? In the wilderness, I know they
had times of backsliding and so on, but largely they didn't
forget God because they were in need. They needed the daily
manner. They needed water. They needed
the guidance of the cloudy, fiery pillar. And that's one thing
that they never rebelled against, where they always followed that
direction. But when they became prosperous,
when they came into the land of plenty, Moses says, there's
a danger that you'll forget God. And we see, sadly, how true that
was. In succeeding generations, they
did forget God, forgot all that he had done for their forefathers
in the wilderness. Or that you and I might live
all of our life, every aspect of our life, in remembrance of
God. Remember what he has commanded,
what he has said is the right way to go. Not just our view
of that, what God has said I know I personally think a lot but
find that such a challenge that we read in Psalm 40 I delight
to do thy will oh my God maybe we do the will of God but if
we're honest sometimes it's grudgingly isn't it it's half-heartedly
it's still with one eye on to what might be happening if only
we'd gone our own way. Oh, to be given this spirit in
remembrance of him constantly so that his way becomes our delight. There's no holding back. We're
wholeheartedly obeying his commands and his will. To have more and
more of such a spirit. And I want to come then more
directly to this particular remembrance that is the context of our words. Now, of our text this morning. In remembrance of me. Now, surely we have to begin
with the remembrance of sin. The Apostle writes to the Hebrews
a lot, as I'm sure you're aware, concerning the law as it was
given by Moses, but particularly from the aspect that Christ fulfilled
that. It was right in those Old Testament
times that they continued to obey the various different sacrifices
and forms of service and so on that had been appointed, they
would have been wrong not to do it. But those things, as he
points out, and especially perhaps at the beginning of chapter 10
to the Hebrews, he says that the law only had a shadow of
good things to come. was not the very image of those
things. There were imperfections in those
things, or perhaps we should say incompleteness in those things. But when Christ came, he fulfilled
all those things. But there the apostle does remind
them that in all those sacrifices probably thinking especially
of the sacrifice of atonement that they had to make and the
sacrifice of the Passover. He says in those sacrifices there
is a remembrance again made of sins every year. Now some of those things like
the Passover were annual sacrifices but It would be a very sad reflection
on our spiritual health, wouldn't it, if we only remember our sins
once a year. We need to remember what we are,
don't we? In God's sight, but although
we might have that revelation given to us in our own sight
to understand I am a sinner. Remember that every day. Maybe more than once a day we
have to be reminded of it but it's not something we can put
off until this day next year is it and say well in a year's
time I'll remember my sins and then I'll confess a whole year's
worth of sins all at once. That would be a very poor spirit,
wouldn't it? We need to remember, even as
we go along, as it were, day by day, remember our sin, and
then that God would grant that we might see in faith how Christ
was that ultimate, final sacrifice Now the people that we read of
as the Passover was instituted, they were in a great need, weren't
they? They needed a deliverance. Certainly it was the final one
of the 10 plagues, wasn't it, that God visited upon Egypt to
eventually caused Pharaoh to let them go and be released from
Egypt. But there is so much more, isn't
there, that is spoken of in that institution of the Passover. God was coming to visit every
household. We should remember that. single
household in the land of Egypt. And there was death in every
single household in the land of Egypt. But there are two very
different deaths, aren't there? One was the death of the firstborn,
a terrible thing, and no doubt the cause of tremendous sorrow
But then in the houses of the Israelites, at least of those
who were obedient to these commands, there was the death of the lamb,
a substitutionary death. But there must be that death,
either of the lamb or of the firstborn himself in the household. But that Passover is so wonderfully
a pointer to the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? He is spoken of in
many places as the Lamb of God. And all the details, perhaps
time forbids us to go into any great detail, but the whole way
that that Passover was instituted was a pointer to the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Even as to the time and the place
and the various details, it was to take place in the evening. The Lord, from the scriptures
we can see, died around about three o'clock in the afternoon,
which was the beginning of the evening period as The Romans
divided the day into those four three hour periods. From three
o'clock onwards was the evening. It was to take place outside
the Passover, outside the encampment, but outside the city wall. It was not a bone was to be broken. Oh, how the Lord was spared that,
wasn't he? Not one of his bones broken,
unlike the two thieves crucified at the same time as him. And I was very struck in thinking
about that, where the Passover lamb, it was entirely to be,
every part of it, as it were, was part of the sacrifice. His
head with his legs and with the pertinence thereof. We see the
Lord being crucified, don't we? His head wounded with that crown
of thorns. His hands as they were spread
wide and nailed through. The wound in his side, albeit
that took place after his death, and the wounds in his feet, the
whole pertinence thereof, all of him. And of course, unlike
the Passover lamb, the lamb of God's sufferings of his soul. That is the most vital part,
isn't it? Others were crucified, They didn't
suffer in their soul for others in the way that Christ did. All
of his very being was part of this sacrifice. And how then, as he was crucified, he was able to say,
it is finished that is in the original language really it is
perfected we tend to think because it says he cried it is finished
and he gave up the ghost that it just means it was ended well
in one sense that's true his sufferings were ended but it
really means perfected everything that these sacrifices and especially
this Passover pointed to had been perfected in the death of
Christ at Calvary. Therefore it follows that any
continuance of the Passover since that time is wrong. It's a denial of Jesus' words,
it is finished. That is not to be continued. But the replacement ordinance,
the replacement remembrance is to be continued. This do in remembrance
of me. Our concern should be, shouldn't
it, the personal knowledge and the personal application of these
things. You see how particular the details
of the Passover are, that it's a personal thing. It's according
to every man's eating. Each soul was included, as it
were, in this calculation of the sacrifice it was provision
for the poor and the needy if they couldn't afford a whole
lamb they were not to be slain as a consequence of their poverty
it was for the poor and the needy as well and especially how God
says or said then the blood shall be a token shall be to you for
a token upon the houses of where ye are. And when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Now, just think about that. We didn't manage to read that
far, but if you carry on in Exodus 12, you'll see that there was
also a commandment that none of them were to leave their houses.
If they left their house, they were no longer under the protection
of this promise, this covenant of God. Now, the blood was on
the outside of the door. The blood was on the two side
posts and the lintel of the door. They must surely, they were only
human, they must surely have been tempted to go outside and
check Is the blood there? But if they did that, they were
no longer sheltering under the blood. They were no longer behaving
with faith. And you see, the importance isn't
when you see the blood, God will pass over you, but when God sees
it. The Lord knew exactly for whom
he was suffering and the Father knew exactly the wrath against
which particular sins, all the sins of all of his people that
was being poured out upon the soul of Christ. He could see
it. Now we can't see it. And again,
it did serve to remind me and strengthen this thought that
when we come to the Lord's Supper, as we call it, the communion
service, as the apostle describes it, the communion of the Lord's
blood and the communion of the Lord's body, we're not actually
seeing the blood, are we? It's one of the great mistakes
that others make in the thought that The wine is really the blood
of Christ. Then it becomes a sacrifice. They call it a sacrifice. Again, that's a denial of the
Lord's words. It is finished. We don't need
another sacrifice. Christ made a perfect sacrifice. But it is there as a reminder
of the blood. And we will never see the blood
of Christ, will we? that is over, that is finished
with. But, oh, by faith, by faith,
do we believe it's there? If we think in that simple way
of our soul, if you like, being that house, do we believe that
the blood is there? We can't see it. We never shall
see it in any physical sense. But, oh, to believe that his
blood is there. I think so often I pray, so often
the words that the Pharisees spoke at the crucifixion, they
meant something very different. I completely understand that. When they said, his blood be
on us and on our children, they were really saying we're so hard-hearted,
we'll bear the blame for this injustice. If the blame is visited
on future generations, we don't mind, we don't care. We're hardened
against it. But doesn't that make a lovely
prayer? If we mean it in our heart. His blood be on us and
on our children. We have that desire. We can't
see it. There's no physical mark, is
there? But we may be able to see it. by faith, and we see it in the
faith, perhaps, of our children. It may be literally our children,
but it may be spiritual children, as it were, who come in with
the Apostle Peter, where he writes and we read these statements
about what we know. Don't take it for granted, but
examine your heart, do you know this? He says, for as much as
ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold. But, in other words, but you
were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spots. The Lord was not in any way suffering
for his own sin, was he? There was no such sin. He was perfect and without blemish. But oh, the sufferings that made
up that redemption price. Now, Peter says it's the precious
blood. make something precious well
there are four very simple things again I'm sure one could go deeper
into it but something is precious if it has great value if it would cost a lot of money
to purchase it well there's no amount of money is there that
can purchase the blood of Christ it is a gift to his people You
cannot buy it. The wealthiest person in the
world, whoever that might be at this moment, hasn't got enough
money to purchase redemption, purchase the blood of Christ. The whole combined wealth of
the world, some unimaginable value that that would be. But it's not enough, is it, to
purchase the blood of Christ. You can't buy salvation. Forgiveness is not for sale. It's a precious thing. Something
is very precious when it's in limited supply. Now, using that
word limited is not in any way a criticism of the blood of Christ,
but it is limited. in its application, isn't it?
Not the quality of it. The quality of it is perfect.
But it only applies to a limited number of people. They believe
in a limited atonement. Christ was not suffering at Calvary
for all sin, as is often said and portrayed. Certainly all
of the sin of his people, but only for them. It was limited. And though when we read in the
revelation about the numbers in heaven, it certainly conveys
a sense of a vast number of souls that are saved, but it's still
only a remnant of all of mankind, isn't it? It's limited. And something is precious. when there's no substitute for
it. Often think of this when we might
do our weekly shopping and we might have a preferred brand
of something that we usually buy but if it's not available
we can soon buy a substitute, can't we, that's probably just
as good. But there's no substitute for
the blood of Christ, is there? There is nothing. nothing at
all that the scripture sets forth as the way of redemption but
the blood of christ john who saw that blood in a literal way
but he writes doesn't he it is the blood of jesus christ god's
son that cleanseth us from all sin, nothing else. There's no indication of anything
else. There's no other contributory
factor even. We should be engaged in good
works. We should do those things, but
they don't contribute to our salvation, do they? We should
do them out of love to the Lord, out of obedience to those commands. Let your light shine before men.
so forth, but they don't they're not a part of salvation there's
no substitute Christ blood is completely precious and Lastly
is the something not precious according to our need of it I Was thinking of this again
perhaps more for the children but Just very simply, a few years
ago now, but when I was traveling on a Sunday morning to preach
at a particular place, I got a puncture and pulled into the
side of the road to change the wheel. And you know on cars,
they have a special locking nut, so to stop thieves and so on
taking the wheels off who shouldn't. And you keep that locking nut
safe. But I dare say for all our journeys,
we don't really think of that, do we? We just travel along. And certainly I hadn't been thinking
about that. It's not of great value. It's
only a small piece of metal. There are plenty of substitutes.
I can buy another one if I needed one. But at that moment, it was
precious because I needed it. Without it, I couldn't change
the wheel. Without it, I couldn't get to
that chapel where I was going. I was still, I don't know, 20
or 30 miles away from it. I couldn't get there. It was
precious because I needed that one thing at that moment. It's
a poor illustration, but do you feel this morning that you need
the blood of Christ? Do you know that you're a sinner? You know nothing else will do
you good. It's the application of that
blood. And the Lord here as he institutes
this remembrance, he says, I just want to read these verses 19
and 20 again. He says that this is to be done
in remembrance and we do it monthly. I know the frequency varies in
different churches and there's nothing in scripture to say what's
right or wrong on that point. But it is to be done in remembrance. We are to come to this remembering
our sin remembering our need of forgiveness and remembering
the precious blood of Christ. And he took bread and gave thanks
and break it and gave unto them. Now, if we compare the various
gospel accounts of this event, it's clear that by this time,
Judas Iscariot had left the company. So it was for the 11 apostles,
And we believe it has that spiritual application that they were the
Lord's people, they were saved. He gave unto them saying, this
is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of
me. Likewise, also the cup after
supper saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which
is shed for you. I just want to finish with that
thought. This is something that should
deeply concern each and every one of us. These words for you,
for you. I dare say, I don't know all
of you well, but I dare say that we all do believe be a strange
thing if we were here this morning and didn't believe that the Lord
Jesus Christ did come into this world to save sinners. We believe
he laid down his life. We believe in the crucifixion,
the shedding of his blood. But there may be those souls
that have this real exercise, was it for me? We need to know
that, don't we? Generalizations are not good
enough on this matter. We need it personally. Am I in
this number? When the Lord said, this is for
you, did he have me in mind? The Lord knows for whom he suffered. He knew at the time. Did he know
your name, my name? Yes, chosen in an eternity past,
but there in his remembrance at Calvary. Or that we might
be brought ourselves then to consider this. May God grant
that assurance to ourselves. It was for me. One of the hymns
that we sometimes sing around the Lord's table has that line
in it, doesn't it? Or those two lines, I suppose.
Not only that he shed his blood, but each shall say for me, oh
that you and I might do this. And I feel I must just emphasize
that, do it. Doesn't say no about it, doesn't
even say witness it, although that's a good thing, but this
do in remembrance of me, amen. Just a reminder we meet again
at three o'clock today. Let's sing our final hymn, number
one from Hymns for Worship to the tune 382. O people that on
earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Him serve
with fear, his praise forth tell. Come ye before him and rejoice. Number one. Hey, what's up? of death, come ye before him
and rejoice. Thou is the Lord, is God, and
they will adore him. ? And for his sheep he dealt the
stake ? ? The will to reign his days with praise ? ? The perfect
joy he's caused us to see ? for it is simply so to do. O by the Lord, the Lord is good,
his mercy is forever sure. Praise God for whom all blessings
flow. Praise him, all creatures, Praise to the sun. Gracious God, may it be indeed
our heartfelt prayer unto Thee that Thy blood may be upon us
and upon our children. Lord, do bless those souls this
day that are seeking that confirmation, desiring to know maybe for the
first time or desiring to be reminded of it, that that blood
was indeed shed for them, that Thou art precious to their souls. Do grant this in thy mercy, we
pray. Now may the love of God the Father,
the grace of Christ the Son, the fellowship and communion
of the Holy Spirit be with us each. Amen.