In the 14th chapter of Mark's
Gospel, we have Mark's inspired account of the last supper our
Lord Jesus ate with his disciples before his crucifixion and death
as our substitute. Of course, we've all seen the
various idolatrous paintings of the Lord's Supper, and no doubt we've all wondered
what that last meal must have been like. What serenity, what anxiety,
what fears must have filled the disciples' hearts. The Lord had
told them plainly that he must be betrayed, delivered to the
hands of the chief priest and to the Gentiles, and that he
must be crucified. And these disciples who had followed
him for three and a half years had done so with the continued
anticipation that he was going to there establish his kingdom
again in Israel, and they did not heed or hear his word concerning
his death until now. This lady had come and anointed
him for his burying, and he said that she had done so. Their hearts
must have been filled with solemnity, not knowing what to expect, not
knowing what to anticipate, but only having heard those words
from him. What love, what grace, what compassion
dropped from our Savior's lips with every word. He's eating
with his disciples this last Passover feast. There's never
been one since this. That which the Jews celebrate
is just a continual observance of a meaningless ritual. Our
Lord Jesus, who is our Passover, who is sacrificed for us, eats
this last Passover feast and with it establishes the blessed
ordinance that we're about to celebrate tonight of the Lord's
Supper. Every word he spoke, every gesture
seemed to communicate his mercy, his compassion, his tenderness,
and his love. What demonic hypocrisy, what
cold malice and hatred, what religious hardness possessed
the betrayer. Here's Judas at the Lord's table. There's a sermon in that. Yes,
Judas was here. And the Lord Jesus ate the bread
and wine of the Lord's table with Judas, knowing full well
that Judas was the son of perdition, knowing full well that Judas
was a hypocrite, knowing full well that Judas was the betrayer. But he gives us an example. It
is not our business to guard the Lord's table. We're about
to receive the bread and wine as we do here every Sunday evening. You who are believers, this table
is spread for you. It is your business, each of
you, to examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith. That is
not my business. It is not the business of this
church. It is not the business of deacons or elders. It is your
business to examine yourself whether you be in the faith.
If you're a believer, eat the bread and drink the wine in remembrance
of the Savior who loved you and gave himself for you. If you're
not, don't dare presume to take this to yourself. This is the
Lord's table. As we read Mark's brief description
of the Last Supper, let's read it together and read it with
the reverence it demands, asking God the Holy Spirit to teach
us the things he revealed. The title of my message is Lessons
from the Last Supper. Mark chapter 14, verse 17. In the evening, he cometh with
the twelve, and they sat, as they sat and did eat, Jesus said,
Verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall
betray me. And they began to be sorrowful
and to say unto him one by one, is it I? And another said, is
it I? And he answered and said unto
them, it is one of the 12 that dippeth with me in the dish.
The son of man indeed goeth. as it is written of him, but
woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good were
it for that man if he had never been born. And as they did eat,
Jesus took bread, and blessed, and break it, and gave to them,
and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup,
and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they
all drank of it. And he said unto them, this is
my blood in the New Testament, in the New Covenant, which is
shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will
no more drink of the fruit of the vine until that day that
I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Now, let me direct your
attention to four things. First, we have here a question
that must be faced. The Lord Jesus said, one of you shall betray
me. And each of the disciples asked,
Lord, is it I? Is it I? And then Judas, in order
to cover his hypocrisy, knowing he had already prepared to betray
the Lord Jesus, said, Master, is it I? He said, I, we must
never forget Judas. He was a man whose heart was
as hard as it was hypocritical, as stony as it was sinful, as
proud as it was base. He was religious, very religious,
so devoted that the other disciples followed Judas's lead. When Judas
said concerning the woman who broke the alabaster box, why
this waste? All the disciples said, why this waste? They trusted
Judas with the bag. He took care of the finances
of the early church. Judas was a leader among these
men. He was a very religious man,
outwardly upright, respectable among them. His religion had
given him a cloak for his wickedness. His barren familiarity His fruitless,
empty, barren familiarity with the things of God made him twofold
more the child of hell than he had been by nature. But don't
forget, this hellish man appeared most pious to all who observed
him, even after he had betrayed the Son of God, after he had
agreed to betray Him with a kiss. He kept up the appearance of
sincerity. Can you imagine the hardness?
Can you imagine the steely hypocrisy? He's already agreed for 30 pieces
of silver to betray the master with a kiss. And yet, he keeps
up the appearance of sincerity as a disciple. I don't doubt
that Judas managed to convince himself as well as others to
the very end that he was all right. I don't doubt that at
all. He knew he had done wrong. He
knew he had betrayed innocent blood, but it doesn't appear
to have known that he was a lost man, a child of hell, the son
of perdition. Listen to what the scripture
says. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master,
is it I? That's in Matthew's account.
No wonder the apostle admonishes us. Let every man examine himself. Let us each examine ourselves
continually and honestly. Brother Don, do you examine yourself
every day? Every day throughout the day. Do you have difficulties with
doubts and fears? Maybe more than you. I don't
know how to deal with matters of examination and assurance
as they ought to be dealt with, but I do know this. I know that
faith in Christ is neither proud presumption nor dread despair. It seems that people want to
line up with one side or the other. Either just presume, since
I said I believe in Jesus, I do believe in Jesus, or despair
of any real hope and peace before God. But it's neither. Assurance
is neither a fleshly familiarity with God, nor a slavish dread
and fear of God. The believer's hope lies somewhere
between that carnal security that says once saved, always
saved, and that blind, stoic fatalism that says, if I'm one
of the elect, I'll be saved. If not, I won't. We're in the
scriptures, constantly hedged in on two sides. On the one side,
we have the promises of our God, lest we despair. On the other
side, we have constant warnings, lest we presume. On the one side,
we see sinful men and women like us, kept by the power and grace
of God in immutable security in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Sinful
men and women like you and me. Peter, who cusses and denies
the master, kept by grace. We have God's promise, I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. And yet on
the other side, We see apostate after apostate, Judas, Demas,
Deocrates, and others. Men who professed faith. Men
who were regarded by those around them as highly as you regard
your pastor or regard one another. Men highly esteemed as men of
faith. but proving themselves to be
apostate and lost at last, reprobate without faith, men who professing
faith made shipwreck of the faith. And they warn us constantly that
we must endure to the end if we would be saved. John tells
us they went out from us because they were not of us. If they
had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us to
this day. We would therefore be wise to
ask ourselves, Lord, is it I? Turn to 1 Corinthians 13, 2 Corinthians
13. Now, be sure you understand what
the point of examination is. Examine yourselves not as to
whether or not you're holy enough, not as to whether or not your
faith is strong enough, not as to whether or not you have any
unconfessed sin in your life. What foolishness is it to talk
like that? You have much sin in your life of which you're
completely ignorant, let alone unconfessed. Everything we do
is marred with sin. The examination then is not how
good am I, how much do I love God, how much do I love my brethren.
Look at the point of examination. Second Corinthians 13 verse five.
Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. That's the issue. Do you trust
the son of God? Only matter to be questioned.
Do you trust the son of God? Examine yourselves whether you
be in the faith. Prove your own sales. Know ye not your own selves,
how that Christ, Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. Turn to second Peter chapter
one. Second Peter chapter one. After assuring us that we who
believe, we who trust Christ, we believe in him because he
is in us, that we have the righteousness of God in him. Peter says in
verse two, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord, according as his divine
power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness
through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and
virtue. He's given us all things, Bob.
All things pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge
of Christ. Read on. Whereby are given unto
us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust. Now read on, verse five. And beside this, in addition
to this, there's something for you to do. In addition to all
this that God has done for you and given to you, there's something
for you to do. Giving all diligence and to your
faith, virtue. And to virtue, knowledge. And
to knowledge, temperance. And to temperance, patience.
And to patience, godliness. And to godliness, brotherly kindness.
And to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you
and abound, they shall make you that ye shall neither be barren
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. You
who are gods, pursue these things. Pursue these things. Ever seek
virtue and knowledge and kindness and brotherly love and charity. Ever pursue these things. But
he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar
off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Those who, like Judas, have cleaned
up their lives with a religious profession, but they lack virtue
and knowledge and temperance and patience and godliness and
brotherly kindness and charity. They're blind. They're blind. Wherefore, the
rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure. For if you do these things, you
shall never fall. If you make your calling and
election sure, you shall never fall. If you make certain that
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, not if you have sufficient
knowledge and patience and kindness and such as that, you don't.
You don't ever pursue those things. But the point of examination
is this. Do I trust the Lord Jesus? For so an entrance shall
be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now hear me. You who are yet without Christ. You who have come in here tonight
in unbelief, in the darkness and blindness of your sin. Come
to Christ. Trust Him. Trust the Son of God. Cast your soul on the merits
of His blood, His righteousness, His intercession, His grace.
Trust Jesus Christ for God's everlasting acceptance of your
soul. Trust the Son of God for eternal
salvation. And so an entrance shall be ministered
to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Believe Him and life everlasting
is yours. Believe Him, and the kingdom
of God is yours. Believe Him, and Heaven's bliss
is yours. All right, back in our text,
Mark 14, verse 21. Here's a conflict that needs
to be resolved. Our Lord said, the Son of Man
indeed goeth as it is written of Him. but woe to that man by
whom the son of man is betrayed. Good it were for that man if
he had never been born. Better for him if he had never
been born. Just recently I was in a meeting
and I heard some fellows talking and one of them said concerning
Judas to others He didn't have a choice. We don't believe in
free will. Judas didn't have a choice. Don't
be so foolish. The question is often asked by
men who try to get God to fit in their box. Did Judas have
a choice in the matter? The scriptures clearly state
that the Lord Jesus died according to the purpose and decree of
God. The scriptures manifestly prophesied Judah's betrayal of
the Lord Jesus. Surely then, he cannot be blamed
and held accountable for what he did. Now that may sound real
smart, and it may be very impressive to some. But such reasoning,
while it may suit the puny peanut brains of men, is entirely wrong. Whether you understand it or
not, Whether you understand it or not, you must bow to God's
word. If one doctrine or one statement
in scripture appears to contradict another, understand the contradiction
only appears because of your weak mind, not in reality. The scriptures are very plain.
These facts are clearly revealed in this book. Turn to Isaiah
14. I want you to see this. Understand
this fact number one God Almighty is totally sovereign and Always
does exactly what he will and all men good and evil Do that
which God from eternity? Ordained must be done. There's
just no question about that There's no question about either God's
in charge all the time and in control of everybody or he's
never in charge and is in control of nothing You can't be in control
of this thing unless you're in control of everything. You can't
have partial sovereignty. God Almighty is totally sovereign. He always does all his will and
every thought and every deed of every man righteous and wicked. Indeed, every thought and deed
of angels and the demons of hell are absolutely controlled by
God's sovereign purpose and his providence. Here in Isaiah 14,
we have a record of Lucifer's fall, commonly understood to
refer to the fall of Satan. And this is God's response to
Lucifer's hot air. I will ascend to heaven. I'll take over the business of
being God. This is how God responds. Verse 26. This is the purpose
that is purposed upon the whole earth. And this is the hand that
is stretched out upon all nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out,
and who shall turn it back? Wow. Well, if that's the case,
then the devil is God's devil. That's the case. Satan is not
a rival to God. God's not in competition with
Satan. He's God's devil. And God does with him what he
will. Nothing else just what he will look at Isaiah 46 verse
9 Remember the former things of
old For I am God Isaiah 46 9 and there is none else. I am God
and there is none like me I Wonder if we will ever get
that through our thick heads. We always want to compare God to
men and Compare God to things there's none like me. There's
nothing nothing to which I can be compared let alone the gods
of men declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done saying My counsel shall
stand and I will do all my pleasure we're told in Ephesians 1 that
he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will and That's
the first thing. God Almighty is absolutely sovereign,
in total control, always accomplishing all His will. Here's the second
thing. And I want to say this with equal
force, with equal dogmatism. Let there be no mistake. Every
man is totally responsible for his sin. Every man. is totally responsible for his
sin. While the actions of wicked men
and women never thwart, but only fulfill the purpose of God. God
does not compel, coerce, entice, or tempt any man to evil. Look
in James chapter one, James, the first chapter. I want you
to see this in the scriptures. Verse 13. Let no man say when he's tempted,
I'm tempted of God. Well, I couldn't help it. I couldn't
help it. It was just predestined. Don't
talk so foolishly. For God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted
when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust
hath conceded, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it's finished,
bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh
down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Every man is responsible for
his own sin. The pastor doesn't the scripture
teach both election and reprobation? Of course it does. Did God not
ordain both vessels of mercy and vessels of wrath? Of course
he did. The language of scripture cannot
be more clear in that regard. Yes, sir. Nobody enters into
heaven's glory except by God's sovereign election and God passed
by all the rest choosing only the remnant of his heritage out
of the fallen sons and men and all other parts of humanity Exist
for the saving of God's elect. I can't state that too plainly
but in the Word of God Reprobation and judgment as they are meted
out upon men in time are always presented to us as God's response
to man's sin. Always. Always. Reprobation and judgment in the
Word of God are always presented to us as God's response to man's
sin. Salvation, grace, and eternal
life. are always presented to us as
the sovereign prerogative of God Almighty and the free gift
of His grace. Listen to the book. The wages
of sin is death. If you go to hell, you earn it. It's your fault. But the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And here's
the third fact. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
our sins according to the will and decree of God's Word. I read
it to you this morning in 1 Corinthians 15. Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures. Was buried and rose again the
third day according to the Scriptures. That is, everything that transpired
concerning our Savior's death upon the tree was written in
the book. He died for our sins according
to the purpose of God revealed in the scriptures. He died for
our sins according to the promise of God given throughout the Old
Testament prophets. He died for our sins according
to the prophecies of God's word given throughout the scriptures.
And he died for our sins according to all the types and pictures
of the Old Testament. And he died for our sins in a
specific manner. how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. The Lord Jesus died voluntarily. No man took his life from him.
He laid it down of himself. No man could put him to death.
All men were charged with the crime. They were charged with
the crime because that was their will, that was their intent,
that was the work of their hands. But before they could come and
break his legs, the master had already dismissed his spirit.
He died voluntarily. He told Pilate, he said, I call
on my father and he'd right now deliver me from you. You had
no power against me, except that we're giving you from heaven.
He died voluntarily because he wanted to die. Because he loved
us, he was determined to give himself for us. And our Lord
Jesus died a violent death under the curse of God's holy law.
I reckon why Aaron wasn't commanded to take a hammer and smack that
lamb in the head. Reckon why he wasn't commanded
to take a dagger or a spear and pierce his heart. Why was he
commanded to take a knife and slit his throat? Because the lamb is a sacrifice. representing God's wrath against
sin. And that lamb with his throat
slit kicks and squirms until the last of his life's blood
is gone and his heart quits beating because he must die a violent
death as a cursed victim. And so our Lord Jesus died the
painful, shameful, violent, ignominious death of the cross as one who
was made a curse for us when he was made sin for us. But he
did it vicariously in our place. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. The son of God loved me and gave himself for
me. Christ died in my room and in
my stand. A vicarious substitutionary death. And our Lord Jesus was victorious
in his death. Everything he intended to do,
he did. Everything he intended to accomplish,
he accomplished. Our Lord Jesus was the king of
glory, even as he hung upon the cursed tree, governing everything
according to his will. All right, now here's a third
thing, a picture of redemption. Verse 22, and as they did eat, Jesus took
bread, blessed and break it and Gave to them and said take eat
This is my body and it took the cup and when he had given thanks
He gave it to them and they all drank of it and he said unto
them This is my blood of the New Testament the New Covenant
Remember when you read that word Testament or the word covenant,
you can read it either way. It's the same word It's referring
to the covenant of God's grace given to us as the last testament
of our Redeemer, my blood of the New Testament, which is shed
for many, not shed for everybody, but shed for many. He didn't
say he died in the place of all being. He didn't. He laid down
his life for the sheep and he spoke of the goats and the goat
said, we don't like that. And he said, I wasn't talking
to you. You're not in my sheep. The Lord Jesus here takes the
bread and blesses it and the wine and gives thanks. Now understand
when he takes the bread and blesses it, he is not consecrating it. He is not changing it from bread
to his body. He is not making it somehow something
that's holy. We're about to eat bread and
wine. You can buy it at the grocery
store or you can make it in your kitchen. It's just bread and
wine. I recall years ago, a fellow
talking to me, I was working as a janitor in our local church
and I had taken over a job from an old man and the pastor was
a babbling Arminian. They called him his pastor while
I was in school in Springfield. I was there for two services
before I went and let him know that I wouldn't be back. But
anyway, I was taking over the job as janitor, and the janitor
warned me not to touch the communion service. He said, that'd be defiling
it. I said, that's for the deacons
to take care of, because this is holy. Don't be so foolish. My friend, Brother Sammy Vance,
who used to pastor in Dingus, West Virginia, when they were
Free Will Baptist Church, asked Brother Henry one time, he said,
He said, what do you all do with the wine after the Lord's Supper?
And Henry said, well, we'll keep it till the next time or take
it home and drink it if you want to. And Sammy kind of was shocked. And Henry could tell, he said,
why do you ask? He said, well, we've always been
taught that once it was blessed, whatever wasn't drinkable, they'd
take it out and bury it. As if these things suddenly,
something has changed. You see, it's not just papists
who are idolaters, most people are. Our Lord did not bless the
wine in the sense of making it something that it was not. In
the sense of consecrating it, he simply gave thanks for it.
That's all. Just as when we give thanks at
the table. When I'm in a public restaurant,
I don't do it. Don't ask me to, I'm not going to. I don't pretend
to pray in a circumstance like that. But where I'm in control
of things, at my house or when we gather as believers, we bow
and give thanks and we often say, would you ask the blessing
or would you ask the Lord's blessings upon the food? That's not to
suggest that somehow this food now becomes sacred. We're simply
giving thanks for it. And the Lord Jesus took the bread
and the wine and he gave thanks, blessed them. The bread represented
his holy humanity. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. The bread represented his body.
that body that was especially prepared in the womb of the Virgin
by God the Holy Spirit in what's referred to as his virgin birth. He was conceived in the womb
of the Virgin by the work of God the Holy Spirit. And thus
a body was prepared for him by which he could live and suffer
and die as our substitute to satisfy the wrath and justice
of God. Hebrews 10 verse 1. For the law,
having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image
of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered, because
that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience
of sin. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again
made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, you
see that? Wherefore, for this reason, because
it was not possible for any other sacrifice to do the job. When
he cometh into the world, he saith sacrifice and offering,
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. The bread is unleavened bread
because it represents a body without sin, a body in which
righteousness was established. A body sacrificed for us at Calvary
that God Almighty slaughtered in justice to satisfy His justice
for us. The cup, the wine, represents
our Savior's blood of the new covenant. Without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. We don't use light bread or soda
crackers, grape juice, or something else in the Lord's Supper. I
know the vast majority of people do. We dare not. To do so is to violate the Word
of God and to violate the ordinance itself. You cannot observe the
Lord's Supper without unleavened bread and wine. And we take the
unleavened bread and the wine as they are because they represent
the pure, holy humanity of our dear Savior. As His body was
the pure, holy body of the Holy Lamb of God, His blood is the
blood of the Immaculate Incarnate God. The blood of the New Covenant. Blood that was justly shed when
He was made sin for us. Justly shed. He shed his blood,
God in justice shed his blood because he fully deserved to
die in our stand when he was made sin for us. Precious, precious
blood. Precious blood. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. Precious blood. the blood of
God's own darling son, making it blood that's infinitely meritorious. Blood shed for many, for all
God's elect. And this blood shed for many
is sin remitting blood. All for whom the blood is shed
are forgiven of all sin. Eating the bread and drinking
the wine symbolizes faith by which we personally receive the
Lord Jesus Christ. You can read it for yourself
in John chapter 6. Our Lord said, this is what faith
is. It's eating the flesh of the
son of God and drinking his blood. Eating the flesh of the son of
God and drinking his blood. When we eat this bread and drink
this wine, I deliberately step aside. Seldom ever even say anything
because I want you to understand there is nothing priestly about
this You don't have to receive the Lord's table at my hands
years ago. I I told brother Merlis I want
you to set the table every time I'm not here if you miss it miss
it when I'm here every time I'm not here How come because I don't
want anybody to imagine that I've got something to do with
making this ordinance what it is The ordinance is something
that each of you take for yourself. I I deliberately don't look around
to see who's taking it. I don't ever do so. I urge you
not to. That's none of your business.
You've got enough to be concerned about with your own self. Why
not? Because this is between you and
God. Just as faith in Christ is. I can't communicate faith
to you. I can't give you faith. I can't
pass it out. I can't distribute it. I can't
trick you into having it. Faith is the gift of God, and
as God gives you faith, you gladly receive Christ the Lord. Take
his body and his blood, and whosoever eateth his flesh and drinketh
his blood hath everlasting life. That is, we take the person and
work of Christ, the bread of life, and feed upon him, and
those who eat his flesh and drink his blood shall never die. We
have eternal life by him. All right, look at verse 22.
Here's an ordinance to be kept. And as they did eat, Jesus break
bread and blessed. Or took the bread and blessed
it and break it. and gave it to them and said,
take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup, and when
he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank
of it. And he said unto them, this is
my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. Verily,
I say unto you, I will drink it no more, drink no more of
the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new
in the kingdom of God. Now, we're not left to guess
what the purpose was. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
chapter 11 that the Lord Jesus here established the blessed
ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which we celebrate. And in this
supper, we celebrate the grace that God's given us by Christ.
This is not a sacrament. It is an ordinance. It is not
a sacrament. I can't emphasize this strongly
enough. Several years ago, I was going
down to Mexico to preach to the churches there, visit Brother
Walter and Brother Cody, and to lecture in the preacher school.
And Cody said, Brother Don, I would appreciate it if you would lecture
that day that you lectured in the preacher school on the ordinances
of the gospel, distinguish them between sacraments and ordinances.
He said, the folks who translated Brother Mahan's commentaries
Everywhere they came to this word, ordinance, translated it
sacrament. And I said, is there a Spanish
word that should have used? He said, yeah. He said, he's
the translated it sacramenta and it should have been ordinance.
And I said, well, that was obvious. That was not accidental. That
was deliberate because people have this notion that, uh, baptism
and the Lord's supper are sacraments by which grace is conferred.
Oh no. Oh no. In baptism, we confess
faith in Christ, and in the Lord's Supper, we celebrate the grace
that we confess by faith in Christ Jesus the Lord. It is the remembrance
of our Redeemer. Paul tells us plainly that we're
to keep this blessed ordinance with reference to the past, and
the present, and the future. In the present, examine yourselves. whether you be in the faith.
With regard to the past, our Lord said, this do in remembrance
of me. And with regard to the present,
Paul said, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup
of the Lord, you do show forth the Lord's coming. You do so
in anticipation of the Lord's coming until he come. As often
as we come to the table to observe the Lord's supper, We ought to
do so consciously in faith, discerning the Lord's body. We take the
bread and drink the wine, recognizing the necessity of
Christ dying in our stead, recognizing that we must have
a substitute. By whose blood and righteousness
alone we can come to God, and that's Christ. Take the bread
and the wine that's about to be distributed to you in humility. Unto me, the chief of sinners,
God's given his grace. The Son of God died for me. Eat the bread and drink the wine
in gratitude. Thank you, blessed Redeemer.
Eat the bread and drink the wine with renewed devotion and love
to the Savior. Shelby and I in conversation
will often remind ourselves of things past. And it's not just
old age nostalgia. We've been doing it for a while,
for 42 years. Because the reminder of past
experiences and the reminder of love made manifest today and
yesterday inspires love for the present and for tomorrow. Take
the bread and the wine and devote yourself again to Christ the
Redeemer who loved you and gave himself for you. And in hope,
soon, soon, bless God soon, we will drink this wine anew in
the kingdom of our God with Christ our Savior. the new wine of His
everlasting grace, a joyful remembrance of Him. Amen.