Let's begin our service opening
our Bibles to the book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians 4, we'll begin our
reading in verse 7. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken.
Cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body
the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh
in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of
faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have
I spoken. We also believe and therefore speak, knowing that
he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus
and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes,
that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
were down to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not,
but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. If you would please turn to number
53, How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals
his wounds, and drives away his fear. Dear name the rock on which
I build my shield and hiding place. My never-failing treasury
filled with boundless stores of grace. Jesus, my shepherd,
brother, friend, my prophet, priest, and king. My Lord, my life, my way, my
inn, accept the praise I bring. Weak is the effort of my heart,
and cold my warmest thought. But when I see thee as thou art,
I'll praise thee as I ought. Till then I would thy love proclaim
with every fleeting breath. And may the music of thy name
refresh my soul in death. We would now please turn to number
32, Blessed Be the Name. All praise to Him who reigns
above, in majesty supreme, who gave His Son for man to die,
that He might man redeem. Blessed be the name, blessed
be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be the name,
blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. His name above all names shall
stand, exalted more and more, at God the Father's own right
hand, where angels adore. Blessed be the name, Blessed
be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord. Redeemer, Savior, friend of man,
Once ruined by the fall, Thou hast devised salvation's plan,
for Thou hast died for all. Blessed be the name, blessed
be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name,
blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. His name shall be the Counselor,
the mighty Prince of Peace, of all earth's kingdoms conqueror,
whose reign shall never cease. Blessed be the name, blessed
be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name,
blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. All right, if you would, let's open
our Bibles now to Psalm 116. Psalm 116. We're going to read the first
14 verses this evening. I love the Lord because they
have heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his
ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed
me and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble
and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of
the Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver
my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous.
Yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple.
I was brought low and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my
soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou
hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my
feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I
spoken. I was greatly afflicted. I said
in my haste, all men are liars. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Let's bow
together in prayer. Our Father, oh, how thankful
we are that you have given us this opportunity to meet together
tonight and to worship you, to sing the songs of praise, to
hear your gospel preached, and to be enabled to remember Christ
our Savior around his table in this blessed way that you've
given us to remember the sacrifice of our Lord, his broken body,
and his blood shed to put away the sin of his people. Father,
how we thank you. Father, I beg of thee that you
would bless our service this evening and make it a true worship
service. Enable us for a few moments to
forget about the cares and responsibilities and worries of this life. And
let us hear the gospel preached in the power of your spirit.
and rejoice in Christ our Savior. Have our hearts thrilled to hear
one more time how our Savior has effectually put away the
sin of his people and has given salvation freely to them. Father,
I thank you for in your unspeakable mercy and
grace sending your gospel here to our town, to this place and
preserving it all these many years. Father, we're thankful. We're humbled. We're humbled
at such a blessing and we're thankful and pray that you would
not leave us alone. Don't take your presence from
us. Don't take your gospel from us. But Father, continue to preserve
and protect this place that that your gospel might be preached
for many, many years to our children, our grandchildren, people of
this community, that you might call out your sheep through the
preaching of your word. Father, I thank you for the family
of believers that you've raised up here. Father, I pray you bless
each one, each home, each person. Bless with your presence and
your mercy and your grace, we pray. Father, for those who are
sick and afflicted, Seems like there are so many, Father, we
pray for them. We pray that you would be merciful, that you'd
heal, that you'd comfort, that you'd be with your people, that
you brought into the valley of trouble and trial for this time.
We pray you'd be with them. Deliver them as soon as it could
be thy will. Father, all these things we ask
and we give thanks in that name which is above every name, the
name of Christ our Savior. There is a fountain filled with
blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that
flood Lose all their gear Lose all their guilty stains
Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunged beneath that
flood Lose all their guilty stains The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day. And there may I though vile as
he, wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away Wash all
my sins away And there may I though vile as He Wash all my sins away
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed Church of God Be safe to sin no more Till all
the ransomed Church of God Be safe to sin no more E'er since
by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply Redeeming
love has been my theme and shall be till I die and shall be till
I die and shall be till I die. Redeeming love has been When this poor lisping, stammering
tongue Lies silent in the grave Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing thy power to save I'll sing thy power to save, I'll
sing thy power to save. And in a nobler, sweeter song, Isaac, you probably didn't know
this, but that is my favorite hymn. And you just sing that
anytime you want. Outstanding. Thank you. I failed
to mention to you because I lost the note I wrote to myself somewhere
at the opening of our service. Ralph Brown's mother passed away
on Monday. Her visitation is going to be
in Paintsville, Kentucky at the Preston Funeral Home Friday from
six to eight. So when we want to remember him
and that family in prayer. All right. Open your Bibles now
again with me to Psalm 116. Titled the message this evening,
taking the cup of salvation. I want to look at each verse
in our text this morning versus or this evening versus 10 through
14. We'll look at each of those verses
in light of verse 13, where the psalmist says, I will take the
cup of salvation. and call upon the name of the
Lord. Now, the cup of salvation is pictured by the cup of wine
that we will drink here in just a little bit. The wine in that
cup pictures the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which has
taken away the sin of His people. And when we take this cup and
drink it, we take this bread and eat it, we make some very
important confessions when we observe the Lord's Table. Let
me give you, I think there's four or five of them. Number
one is this. Taking this cup, the cup of the Lord's Table,
is a public confession of faith in Christ. The psalmist says
in verse 10, I believed, therefore have I spoken. Now when he says
here, I believe, therefore have I spoken, He means that he believes
and has spoken everything he said in the first part of this
psalm we looked at last Wednesday evening. This is what he has
spoken. This is what he believes, and
he's said this because he believes it. My only hope of salvation
is in God's mercy. None of my hope is based upon
my works. It's all and only in God's mercy. The only hope of salvation I
have is that Christ died for my sin. He died the death that
I deserve. My only hope of salvation is
that Christ's sacrifice completely put my sin away. He didn't leave
one sin left for me that I have to pay for to deal with. His
sacrifice completely paid for all of my sin, washed me white
as snow. My only hope of salvation is
that Christ both died and that He rose again, because He rose
again His resurrection means that His death really did put
my sin away. Since there's no sin left upon
Him, death could not hold Him. And after He rose again, He ascended
back on high where He ever lives to be my intercessor, where He
pleads His sacrifice for me. That's the only way a sinner
like me can be saved. By God's grace, that's what I
believe. I truly believe that. So that's
what I preach. I won't preach any other gospel
and I won't listen to any other gospel. Now, I know all of us
here tonight are not preachers. But this evening, everyone who
takes this bread and this wine is being a preacher and they're
saying, I believed, therefore, have I spoken. By taking this
cup and this bread, I'm publicly saying that the only hope I have
of being saved is in the sacrifice of Christ. That's what this table
represents. His broken body and his shed
blood. And when I take it, I'm publicly
saying this bread and this wine represents the Lord Jesus Christ
and he is my only hope of righteousness. He's my only hope of life. He's
my only hope of salvation. Taking this cup is a public declaration
that I am a vile sinner. I am so vile that the only thing
that can cleanse my sin and put it away is the very blood of
God's own Son. That's the only way I can be
saved. That's what I'm saying when I take this cup and this
bread. Taking this cup is a public identification with Christ. It's
saying He died the death that I deserve for my sin. The only
hope of life I have is He died in my place. I say that. I'm publicly declaring that,
but I couldn't say it unless God gave me faith to believe
Christ. That's why I say it, because I believe. God's given
me faith to believe Christ. And that's what we say when we
take this cup. Taking this cup is a profession of faith in Christ,
but it's also a confession of my sin. Taking this cup says
something about Christ, about his sufficiency, but it also
says something about me. And this is what it says. I'm
a sinner who's undone. And there can't be any hope in
anything that I do. Look at the rest of verse 10.
He says, I believe therefore by spoken, I was greatly afflicted. I said in my haste, all men are
liars. There's no doubt that the world
in which we live will afflict us. If we publicly say that we
believe the gospel, that we believe Christ, because we're saying,
I believe something. you don't believe. I believe the opposite
of something that you believe. But it's important to remember
here, who is the one really speaking throughout this song? It's our
Lord Jesus Christ. The world hated him so much. They put him to death in the
worst, most painful, most shameful way that they could think of.
And why did they do it? Not because he did anything wrong,
but because he spoke the truth. They put him to death for that.
And believers can expect the same kind of hatred because just
like we've been studying our Bible lesson on Sunday, the servant's
not greater than his Lord, is he? But in the context here,
taking this cup and it being a confession of faith in Christ,
taking this cup is also confessing there is no hope of salvation
in the flesh. mine or anybody else's. No hope. There can't be any hope in anything
about our flesh because all men are liars. We're natural born
liars. Truth is never found in man by
nature. So any hope of life or salvation
of righteousness in Adam's race is a lie. It's a delusion. But this word afflicted, that
tells us something very meaningful. They'll help you understand this
verse. The word afflicted here means humbled. Humble. And this
is what humbles me. My flesh hates the gospel. My flesh hates the gospel of
grace in Christ Jesus, just like the rest of the flesh in the
world does. And my flesh is constantly afflicted. I believe, therefore, have I
spoken. I'm not whistling Nixie when I tell you I believe God.
I believe His grace. I trust Christ. But that's a
new man. The flesh is unchanged and my
flesh afflicts me daily, constantly trying to bring me back into
captivity under the law. But I can't go. God won't let
me. Because God preserves me, keeps
me. You see, it's the blood of Christ. The wine in this cup
represents the blood of Christ that saved me. by paying for
all of my sin. And it is that same blood of
Christ that preserves me. It preserves me by taking away
all of my sin and keeping me righteous. That's how the blood
preserves me. And if God has given me faith,
this is the way we know if God's given us faith or not. God is
the one who gave me faith. I'm going to keep believing Christ
and keep looking to Christ because he won't let me quit. So when
I take this cup that pictures the sacrifice of Christ. This
is what I'm saying. I'm humbling myself and admitting
publicly, admitting it to myself and to all of you before God,
there's no hope of salvation in anything that I do. Nothing. Because my flesh is a lie and
everything that my flesh produces is a lie. It's all sin. So taking
this cup really is preaching a message. is preaching a message
that says, I'm totally depraved, I'm completely sinful. So the
Lord Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His righteousness, His obedience,
that's the only hope of salvation that I have. And by God's grace,
I like it that way. I mean, I like it. I love it. I wouldn't have it any other
way, even if I could. So that when I take this cup,
confessing my sins, confessing my hope in the sacrifice of Christ,
I'm doing it willingly and gladly. I believe, therefore have I spoken. Christ is my only hope. All right,
number two, taking this cup is a public confession of a constant
need of Christ. In verse 12, the psalmist says,
what shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward
me? Now the word benefits here means
acts of grace. And there are too many acts of
grace, too many benefits that God's people enjoy because of
God's grace. We just, we can't list them all,
but let me list just a few. It is an act of God's grace.
The only explanation for it is grace. That Almighty God would
choose to save a sinner like me. That's an act of God's grace. And I want to tell you, I have
certainly benefited from that grace. It is an act of God's
grace that the Father would crucify his only son so that he might
atone for my sin. It is an act of grace that God
would send out the gospel. He would send a preacher and
he would call me through the preaching of the gospel. He called
me to come to Christ and believe Christ. I only believe Christ. I only come to him because of
God's grace. That's his grace. It is an act of God's grace that
he would give me faith. to believe Christ. The only reason
I believe Christ is God's grace. I can't tell you the years I
tried to make myself believe Christ and could never do it.
And one day I found myself believing Christ and didn't know exactly
how that happened. It was God's grace. I mean, I
know how. I didn't know when. When did
that first start? I don't know. But it was God's grace that made
me believe. that enabled me to do something this flesh could
not do. That's God's grace. It was an
act of God's grace that he would reveal his son to me and in me. And it is an act of God's grace
that keeps me believing in Christ, that keeps me needing him, that
keeps me from trusting in these other idols, that keeps me from
going back under the bondage of the law. That's God's grace. I've benefited just like all
of God's people benefited from that grace. But the psalmist
here asks a question, what shall I render under the Lord for all
of his benefits, for all of his acts of grace? That word render
means to return or means in response to. So the psalmist is asking,
what shall I give to the Lord in response to his grace? What
am I going to give to the Lord for all of his acts of grace
to me? Well, now you know we can't give God anything. John
quoted this Sunday. God said, if I was hungry, I
would tell you. Cattle on a thousand hills, everything's God's. We
can't give anything to Him. It all belongs to Him in the
first place. And we can't give anything to God by way of repaying
Him for His grace. No, you can't pay God for grace.
God's grace is given freely. So we can't repay Him for that. But there are a few things that
we can give in response to God's grace, things that he will accept,
things that please him. Number one is this. In response
to God's grace, I can do what the psalmist says here and call
on God. In response to God's grace, I
can ask for more grace. In response to God's grace, I
can beg him for mercy. Remember how God told Moses his
sovereign mercy to sinners. That's God's greatest glory.
Well, calling on God and begging Him for mercy, begging Him for
more of that mercy, that glorifies God and God will be pleased with
that. Number two, how can I respond to God's grace? I can respond
with faith in Christ. Nothing glorifies God more than
believing Christ. Taking this cup in faith says,
I believe that all it takes to save me is Christ. I don't have
to add anything to it. All it takes to save me is Christ. Now, believing that glorifies
God and it pleases God. Number three, how can I respond
to God's grace? With obedience. Obedience. Obedience to Christ is not to
obey the law, not to start living a better life and, you know,
doing all these things so people can see Christ in you. That's a novel idea. But I want
to tell you what, people didn't see Christ in Christ. They're
not going to see it in you and me. That's not the obedience
that this is talking about. The obedience, the obedience
of faith is to quit. It's to quit trying to do enough
to make God happy with you. Quit trying to do enough to think,
well, I've cleaned up enough. Now I can come to God. He'll
be more likely to save me. You know, I need to ask God for
forgiveness. I need to ask God for mercy.
But boy, if I read my Bible more and then I pray more and then
I come to God, I'd be more likely... No, quit. Quit that. Just quit. Quit trying to work to make God
happy with you and rest in Christ. That's what God commands. That's
the obedience. And taking this cup says, in
obedience, I'm trusting Christ to be my all. I'm trusting Christ
to be everything God requires of me. I'm trusting Christ to
be everything that I need. That's obedience. Fourthly, how
can I respond to God's grace? With thanksgiving, with thanksgiving. How thankful are you for God's
grace to you? I mean, just start trying to
number them. God benefits, His acts of grace.
How thankful are you? Words can't express it, can you?
In a few moments, the men are going to distribute the bread
and the wine. And our Lord taught us what to
do when that happens. Our Lord, when He instituted
the Lord's table, gave thanks. We receive this with thanksgiving.
How thankful are we for what this table represents? The body
of the Lord Jesus Christ broken and crushed under God's wrath
for his blood, his life's blood that was squeezed out of his,
crushed out of his body to atone for the sin of his people. Oh, we take it thankfully, don't
we? Remembering our Savior in this way has always been special
to God's people. This is a special service. Every
time we observe the Lord's table, it's special. Because this is
a stark reminder of how our Lord, how our Savior gave Himself as
a sacrifice for our sin. And we take it thankfully, don't
we? In thanksgiving. What a joy. Isn't it a joy to
be able to render unto the Lord like that? I know I'm the only
one getting to preach in this manner tonight, but you think
of the message you're preaching when you take that cup. Isn't
that a blessing? All right, number three, taking
this cup is an act of public worship of Christ. Verse 13,
I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the
Lord. This word call has to do with worship. It does mean to
call to the Lord, like we call on Him for mercy. Lord, save
me. Lord, have mercy on me. It does mean that. But calling
on the Lord for mercy, you know, that is worshipping God. Begging
God for mercy is worship. Remember the leper who came to
the Lord begging Him? Lord, if you will, you can make
me whole. Scripture says he came and worshipped
Him. When he came begging the Lord
to heal him, that's worship. Begging God for mercy is worship
because begging puts both God and me where we belong. Begging
God for mercy puts God on the throne where He belongs. I beg
God for mercy. It's up to Him whether He shows
it or not. It's His sovereign prerogative to give it or to
withhold it. That puts God on the throne.
And begging God for mercy also puts me where I belong down in
the dust. When I beg God for mercy, I'm
admitting I don't deserve God's mercy. I deserve wrath, but I'm
begging for mercy for Christ's sake. That puts me down in the
dust right where I belong. And this word call also means
to lift up and to proclaim. In the preaching of the gospel,
we lift up the name of Christ, don't we? Eric, I think that's
one of the things where you go home so discouraged when we preach. How can you lift up his name?
I mean, how can you do honor, the right honor that's due the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ? But that's the job of God's preachers.
Lift up his name. Get up on the rooftop. Shout
it out. Proclaim it. By this name shall
sinners be saved. And we lift up the name of Christ
and we tell sinners, this is how God saves sinners. It's in
the Beloved. It's in Christ. Now you believe
Him. You trust Him. You come to Him.
That's worshipping the Lord. Worshipping God is preaching
Christ. But now preaching Christ is not
just repeating the name of Jesus over and over and over again.
Preaching Christ is telling how that Christ died for our sins.
according to the scriptures. How that he died. How that he
died is the sin offering. How he died is the one that would
atone for sin. How he died is the burnt offering.
How he died is the scapegoat, the goat of the sin offering.
How he died for sin. Preaching Christ is telling how
that Christ is the righteousness of his people. Righteousness
comes not through our good works, not through our obedience to
the law, but through Christ's obedience to the law. When He
was made flesh, made a man, made under the law, and He kept the
law perfectly. He kept it so perfectly, He honored
it, and He magnified it, glorified it. Christ obeyed the law, God's
people did too, in Him. He is our righteousness. That's
how sinners are made righteous. Preaching Christ is telling how
that Christ is all of our sanctification. God didn't save His people and
wash them from their sin, and then let them down to run loose
and say, alright, now don't sin anymore, you've got to keep yourself
holy. No. Christ is our holiness. We can't keep ourselves holy
by anything we do, because everything we do is unholy. Remember, all
men are liars, all flesh is a lie. Christ is our holiness. And preaching
Christ is telling how that Christ is all. in this matter of a sacrifice
for sin. We are starkly reminded what
we're remembering tonight is a sacrifice. A bloody, awful
sacrifice where the body of a man was broken and bruised and battered. How his blood was squeezed. At
one point, what's in these cups was grapes on a vine. Somebody
had to pick it and they stomped out the juice out of it. to ferment
it, to make it into wine. The body of the Savior was crushed. His blood was crushed out so
that His blood would be shed before God, offered before the
Father to put away the sin of His people. Preaching Christ
tells how that Christ is all. In this matter of a sacrifice
for sin, the only sacrifice that ever pleased the Father was the
sacrifice of Christ. God wasn't pleased with all those
offerings of bulls and goats and all that rivers and rivers
and rivers of blood they shed, but he was pleased with the one
sacrifice of Christ. When we say the Father was pleased,
we mean this. He's pleased with his people.
The Holy Father is pleased with his people because the blood
of Christ made them holy. The only sacrifice that ever
satisfied the Father is Christ. And the only sacrifice that will
meet our needs here tonight is the sacrifice of Christ. Because
His sacrifice is the only one that puts away sin. And because
of the sacrifice of Christ, now tonight, His people take the
cup of salvation and remember Him. Now I say, give me that
cup. I want that cup of salvation.
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Give me that cup. But I look
over to Isaiah chapter 51. I want to show you, you know,
this thing, this idea of a cup is repeated throughout scripture.
And there are a few cups mentioned in scripture that we don't want
anything, we don't want anything to do with those cups. Here we
read about the cup of fury and the cup of trembling. Isaiah
chapter 51 verse 17. Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem,
which has drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury.
Thou hast drunk in the drags of the cup of trembling, and
wrung them out. Now this cup, the cup of God's
fury, is His cup of fury against sin. And anybody thinking about
drinking this cup, it's a cup of trembling. If you drink of
this cup, you're going to die. Revelation 16 verse 19 speaks
of the cup of the fierceness of God's wrath. And that cup
is poured out on all of those who do not believe in Christ.
All those who refuse to believe on Christ are going to have poured
out upon them the cup of the fierceness of God's wrath. And you know exactly what that
cup represents. It's eternity in hell. I don't
want anything to do with that cup, do you? Well, you know what
this cup tells us? God's people are never even going
to take a sip, not even a sip from the cup of the fierceness
of God's wrath. Because look at verse 22, Isaiah
51. Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord
and thy God that pleaded the cause of his people. Behold,
I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the
dregs of the cup of my fury. Thou shalt no more. Drink it
again. You won't drink of that cup again. God's elect will never even take
a sip of the cup of God's fury. Because the Lord Jesus Christ,
our substitute, drank it dry for us. Even the dregs of it. All down to the bottom. You can't
ever take a sip of that cup if Christ died for you. Because
he didn't leave anything left for you to drink. He drank it
dry. And now look at Luke chapter
22. Drinking that cup. of God's fury was no small thing to the
Savior. In the garden, he prayed, O Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Let this cup of
your fury pass from me if it's possible. Nevertheless, not as
I will, but as thou will. And it was the Father's will
that he take that cup and drink it dry, and that's what he did.
Since the Lord Jesus Christ took that cup of trembling, He took
that cup of wrath and drank it dry, now what's left for God's
people to drink? It's the cup of salvation. Now
we take this cup of salvation and drink it freely. This cup,
the cup that we'll drink here tonight, is filled with that
wine. That represents the new covenant. The covenant of God's
grace has been ratified in the blood of Christ. Luke 22, verse
20. Likewise, also the cup after
supper, saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which
is shed for you. This cup is or represents the
New Testament, the covenant of God's grace. That's what this
cup represents. And we take this cup. This is
what we're saying. I'm under the covenant of God's
grace. I'm not under the covenant of law. I'm under the covenant
of God's grace. And this cup is also given to
us so that we can remember, so that we can remember Christ's
sacrifice for us. Verse 19. And he took bread and
gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying, this is
my body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. Why is it that we observe the
Lord's table just like this? Why is it that we use wine and
not grape juice? Why? Because the Lord said this
do. Why is it that we use unleavened
bread and not Heiner's bread? Why is that? Because the Lord
said, this do. And we do this do. We remember
the sacrifice of Christ. Now look at first Corinthians,
first Corinthians chapter 10. This cup also represents every
blessing that God has for a sinner. First Corinthians chapter 10. Verse 16. The cup of blessing, which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread
which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Here's what the apostle is saying
here. This. This is just representative, but when we when we take it,
we take this bread and we take this this wine, what we're saying
is we have communion with Christ. We have life through union with
Him, through communion with Him. It all comes to us by union with
Christ. And every blessing that God has
for a sinner is found in the blood of Christ. You just think
what a blessing it is that God has given His people to take
and to drink this cup, showing that we are one with Christ. When you think of this cup of
blessing, just think about it for a moment,
how God's blessed you. If you believe Christ, you think
how he blessed you. Can you say with David, my cup
runneth over? Oh, it runneth over, doesn't
it? The cup of blessing. And then last, taking this cup
is a vow of continued faith in Christ. Verse 14, I will pay
my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all of his people.
Now you know this can only be our Lord Jesus Christ speaking.
Christ is the only one who ever paid the vow that he made to
his father. In eternity he vowed, he made
a vow to his father in this covenant between father, son, and Holy
Spirit. Christ vowed that he would save
his people. He vowed he would be made flesh
so that he could be their representative. He vowed he would make them righteous
through his obedience to the law for them. And he vowed to
take the cup of God's fury, this cup of trembling, and he vowed
to drink it dry. He vowed that he would take all
the sin of his people away from them into his own body upon the
tree. And he would put that sin away
by the sacrifice of himself. He vowed he would suffer and
die. put away the sin of all those
that the Father gave Him to save. That's the vow He made. And He
came in the fullness of time and did exactly what He told
His Father He did. Exactly. He paid the vow that He made
to the Father and ratified the covenant of grace in His own
blood. But there is a sense in which God's people make a vow
to God too. Now by God's grace, I know it's
only by God's grace do I believe Christ. But I do believe. I do. I believe. It's my faith. God gave it to me. I do believe
Christ. You do too. I know you do. That's
why we can say, I believed, therefore have I spoken. And I'll tell
you what, by God's grace, I fully intend to keep trusting Christ. Now I know I'll leave him in
a heartbeat if he takes his finger off of me. I know that. By God's
grace, I intend to keep believing Christ, to keep trusting Christ,
to keep resting in Him and Him alone. And when I take this cup
now in the presence of God, in the presence of all this people,
in the presence of our children, in the presence of my wife, your
husband, presence of our friends, this is what I'm saying. I believe
Christ and I'm going to keep believing Him. I'm going to keep
believing Him. I fully intend to do that and
by God's grace, that's what I'll do. You know, taking the Lord's table is a matter of intensely private
worship. How I love my dear wife. I can't
take this cut for you. You can't take it from me. It's
like you can't believe for me. I can't believe for you. This
is a matter that's intensely private. Remembering Christ's
sacrifice for me, for my sin. Scripture says, let a man examine
himself and so let him eat. It's an intensely private thing,
isn't it? But it's also done publicly.
This is done publicly to remember Christ's sacrifice for my sin.
And in that way, it is a public confession of my faith in Christ
and my need of Him and my determination. I'm going to keep trusting Him
and Him alone. That's a mighty little cup, isn't it? Mighty
little cup. But taking that cup, laying hold
upon it and drinking it, that preaches quite a message, doesn't
it? That preaches quite a message. full, free redemption in Christ
our Savior. And I love what it says. I love
what it says. And you do, too. You do, too.
That's why you've been looking forward to tonight all week since
I announced it Sunday. We're going to observe the Lord's
table. Every time it crosses your mind, you've been looking
forward to it because you love what it says. You love the message
that it preaches. I'm going to take the cup of
salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Wayne, you may,
if you would, distribute the bread. Thank you. Bye. Our Lord, after eating the last
Passover before he left to go to Calvary, Luke chapter 22,
he said unto them with desire, I have desire to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not
eat or I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled
in the kingdom of God. He took the cup and gave thanks
and said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say
unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the
kingdom of God shall come. He took bread and gave thanks
and break it and gave unto them saying, this is my body, which
is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. Dan, would you give thanks for
the bread? And so. Likewise, also the cup after
supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which
is shed for you. I was reading this, this afternoon, this phrase caught
my attention, which is shed for you. Wasn't shed in vain, was
it? Shed for his people, most thankful. Eric, would you give thanks for
the bread? One, I cannot follow. Two, I can't. Three, I can't. Four, I can't. Five, I can't. Six, I can't. All right. All right. You know, it's always a very
blessed time for us to be able to remember the sacrifice of
our Savior. I hope that it encourages your
heart and we can take it with you and help you and encourage
you the rest of this week. Shawn, you can lead us in a closing
song if you would. We would turn to number 192,
according to that gracious word. Please stand. According to thy gracious word
in meek humility This will I do, my dying Lord, I will remember
thee. Thy body broken for my sake,
My bread from heaven shall be. Thy testamental cup I take, and
thus remember thee. Gethsemane can I forget, for
there thy conflict see, thine agony and bloody sweat, and not
remember thee. When to the cross I turn mine
eyes and rest on Calvary. O Lamb of God, my sacrifice,
I must remember Thee. Remember Thee, and all Thy pains,
and all Thy love to me. Yea, while a breath, a pulse
remains, Will I remember thee? And when these failing lips grow
dumb, And mind and mem'ry flee, Thou shalt in thy kingdom come,
Jesus, remember me.