If you will, look with me tonight
to Matthew chapter 26. We'll read these three verses
here in Matthew chapter 26, verses 26 through 28. And as they were eating, Jesus
took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the
disciples, and said, Take eat, this is my body. And he took
the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink
you all of it, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which
is shed for many for the remission of sins. Tonight, those of us
who No, the Lord Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. Come
to obey his command to eat this bread and drink this wine in
memory of him. In another scripture he said,
this do in memory of me. What are some of the truths?
What are some of the things that we know tonight about our blessed
Savior that we should especially remember? I'm going to name just
a few and then look at one in particular. First, as we eat
this bread and drink this wine, we are showing forth his death.
That's what he said according to 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we show forth
his death until he comes again. Here are a few things that we
should remember. First of all, that our Savior,
our Savior, whose death we remember and show forth tonight, is both
God and man. We should always keep that in
mind. Whom say ye that I am? Who do
you say that he is tonight? Are you able, with the apostles,
to say, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God? We should remember that the one
whose death we're showing forth, first of all, is both God and
man, fully God, equal with the Father in every respect, equal
with God the Holy Spirit. And yet he was made flesh and
dwelt among us, as the Apostle John said, and we beheld his
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Number two, as we eat this bread
and drink this cup, we show forth his death, we should remember
that our Savior, whose death we are remembering, that he magnified
God's law and made it honorable. God's law is perfect, and God's
perfect law requires perfect obedience. The Lord Jesus Christ
as man, the God-man, he honored God's law. His God's law, you
and I, have dishonored God's law by our disobedience, by us
breaking God's law. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he
honored God's law more just because of who he is, the God-man, than
we had dishonored God's law. He honored God's law. The scripture
tells us that in Isaiah chapter 42. He magnified God's law and
made it honorable by his perfect obedience. And his perfect obedience
is our righteousness. It's our righteousness, those
of us who trust in him. His righteousness is charged
to us, imputed to us. And with his holy garments on,
we are as holy as he is. Number three, we should remember
that our Savior, whose death we remember, manifested God's
love in giving himself to die. Manifested the Father's love
in giving his Son. We have that in John chapter
3 and verse 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life. We think about the father giving
his son, and rightly we should, but let us remember that God
the Son, out of his great love, he gave himself. We sang that hymn just a few
minutes ago, My Jesus, I Love Thee. I know sometimes we don't
feel real comfortable singing that hymn, maybe the words of
that hymn, because our love is nothing to brag about, that's
for sure. But we do love Him. All of God's
children do love Him. In fact, the Apostle Paul said,
If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Many times we have to say, like
Peter, Lord, thou knowest all things. You know that I love
you. I maybe haven't acted like I
loved you, and haven't deported myself like I loved you, and
certainly haven't lived like I would want to live to show
my love to you, but Lord, you know all things. You know that
I love thee. that our Savior, whose death
we remember, did by shedding his blood obtain the remission
of our sins. This is what he says here in
our text tonight. For this is my blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. To remit sin is to take away
the judgment and the punishment that our sins deserve and merit. He was punished, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he was punished with the punishment that our sins
deserve. He suffered what we should have
suffered, and he suffered in our place for the remission of
our sins. He loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood. And number five, this is the
last thing. I know there are many other things that we must
and should remember, but I just wrote down these five, that our
Savior, whose death we remember, confirmed the new covenant. Notice what he said here in our
text. For this is my blood of the new
testament. The word testament is the same
word which is in other places translated covenant. The new
covenant, the new testament is based on his death. And there
would be no new covenant if there was not the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What is a covenant? Let's think
for just a few minutes. What is a covenant? In the Bible,
and that's what we're talking about, in the Bible the word
covenant or testament is used in two ways. Sometimes it is
used to refer to what we would normally call a will, a disposition. A man or woman makes out his
will, and that's a covenant. It's a disposition of how he
wants or she wants her her goods to be given out to whom and so
forth and so on, a disposition, the will, a covenant. In Hebrews
chapter 9, that's the way it's used because the apostle Paul
reminds us that until there's a death of the testator, then
the covenant, the will, may be changed. But once the testator,
the one who makes the will, once he dies, the will can never be
changed. But another way that this is
used in the scripture, not only as a will, but as a contract,
or as an agreement, as we would say. And I want us to look tonight
in Hebrews chapter 8, where we read of this new covenant
that was ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ. This is my blood
of the New Testament. Hebrews chapter 8. I want you to notice first of all,
we're just going to look at a few things here, but in chapter 8,
first in verse 7, the apostle says, for if that first covenant
had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second. In that verse of scripture, it's
very clear that we see in this passage that there are two covenants. The first covenant, as he said,
for if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no
place have been sought for the second covenant. Now notice in
the next verse that this The first covenant in the context
here is a covenant that God made with the nation of Israel. When
he brought them out of Egypt, you remember they came to Mount
Sinai, and God made a covenant with the nation of Israel. It
was a contract. It was an agreement. Now, the
two parties, God and the nation of Israel, they didn't work this
out. God stipulated. God is God, and he stipulated
the covenant. And on their part, their agreement
was to obey. And of course, we know that they
disobeyed immediately. Just like the covenant that God
made with Adam there in the garden, a covenant of works, and Adam
disobeyed. He broke that covenant. But in
verse 8, notice For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant,
a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of
the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant,
and I regarded them not, saith the Lord." The New Covenant The
new covenant in Christ's blood was made with all of God's chosen
people, all of his elect in Christ. He stood as our representative,
as our covenant head. The elect of God, we were all
chosen in Christ. And that's one reason we are
the covenant as it was given first in Jeremiah. You can go
back this evening and read, if you'd like to, Jeremiah chapter
31. But you see the words are almost identical as we have them
here in Hebrews 8. The apostle, the writer, is quoting
from Jeremiah chapter 31. The new covenant was made with
all of God's elect in Christ, our covenant head. Now, it was
said in the beginning when it was first given with the house
of Israel and the house of Judah. That's always somewhat troubled
me, reading that. But think about it. The people
of God, God's elect, or the true Israel of God. Now, you say,
well, where do you see that? Well, if you want to turn, if
not, I'll just read you this. In Romans chapter 2, in verse
29, the apostle said, he is a Jew which is one inwardly. Now, there
are Jews, there are national descendants of Abraham that are
Jews that live over there in Palestine. But my friends, the
covenant, this new covenant was made with those who are Jews
because they've been chosen and blessed of God, the true Israel
of God. And then in Philippians, in Philippians
chapter 3 and verse 3, Paul said, we are the circumcision. Now
that word circumcision, we know that was a sign that God gave
to Abraham that separated that nation from the other nations
of the world. But Paul said, we are the circumcision. It's not a circumcision made
with hands. It's not an outward circumcision. The circumcision of God is that
of the heart. That's the new birth. The cutting
away of the flesh, the taking away of the old, and the giving
of a new heart. Paul said, we are the circumcision. which worship God in spirit and
rejoice in Christ and have no confidence in the flesh. We are the circumcision. Now, when I say that, I'm not
saying because I don't know if in the future God is going to
deal with the nation of Israel again in a way that would be
super, super good, wouldn't it? But I do know this. that if he
does, he will do it in the same way he's been saving his people
for the last 2,000 years. He's not going to do it by taking
them back to the land of Palestine and rebuilding a temple and reinstituting
all of those sacrifices that were pictures of the Lord Jesus
Christ. works in the nation of Israel
in a wonderful way in the future, the physical, natural descendants
of Abraham. He will do it in the same way
that he saved you, in the same way he saved me, and that is
by them hearing the gospel and believing in Christ. There's
only one gospel. There's only one way of salvation.
Now notice, Here in Hebrews 8, I wanted to bring this out to
us tonight. In verses 10 and 11, three of
these new covenant blessings. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts. That's the first blessing
that we see recorded here. Remember our Lord said, this
is my blood of the new covenant. This new covenant means that
God's laws are put into the mind and written on the heart. In
Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 26, God promises to take away
the heart of stone and to give a heart of flesh. Now a heart
of stone, God wrote the Ten Commandments on tables of stone. He gives a heart, a new heart,
not literally, you know that, but a new principle he puts within
us that's pliable. It's flesh. Flesh is pliable. You can write upon it. And he
writes his law upon our heart and upon our minds. The new covenant laws put into
the mind and written on the heart concern mainly the inner man
and are designed to control the heart. Out of the heart, our
Lord said, are the issues of life. Such doctrines, I believe
it's the gospel. I believe myself that when we
read here, God declaring, I will put my laws into their mind and
write them in their hearts. He's talking about the gospel
of Jesus Christ that he writes upon the heart of those that
he saves. And I believe that's what we
find in Romans chapter 8. But these things such as judgment,
mercy, and faith. The Pharisees, they were very
meticulous about tithing out of the garden they had, the various
mints. And our Lord said, these things
ought you to have done, but the weightier matters of the law,
the weightier matters of the law you have left undone. And
those weightier matters, he said, are judgment, mercy, and faith,
and love, the love of God. These things are written upon
the heart. John Gill, he made this comment,
since the word law signifies sometimes no other than a doctrine
or instruction, the doctrines of grace, repentance towards
God, faith in Christ, and love to him. He writes these laws
upon the heart, the new heart that he gives, and upon the mind. So that's the first blessing
of the new covenant. The second blessing that is named
here, also in verse 10, and I will be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people. Now you know, and I know, that
God is everyone's creator and ruler. Everyone's. There's no
person in this world that is here by accident, who is not
the creation of God. But to those in this new covenant,
he is our God and we are his people in a special relationship. I believe it's all summed up
in this word that our Lord spoke to Mary Magdalene, I believe
it was, after his resurrection. He told her to go to his disciples
and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God. He is all to us. If you are a
child of God tonight, God is your God. He is all that you
could ever want in a God. You say, that's strange. It's strange,
but it's the truth. There's only one God, and He
could not be more a God to you than He is. And seeing that He is your God,
you have everything. Everything. That's what Paul
said, right? Everything. All things are yours,
and you are Christ. You have everything. What more
could anyone have than to have God as their God? You couldn't have anything more. I will be unto them a God, and
not only is he our God, but we are his people, and they shall
be unto me a people. When you have God as your God,
you have everything, and you can want no good thing. He makes all things work together
for your good. He will never leave you. He will
never forsake you, neither in life nor in death. And that's
the reason David wrote this psalm and said, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. And that's true of every one
of us here tonight. Because of this new covenant,
I will be unto them a God and they shall be unto me a people. Number three, this new covenant means that
we know God from the least to the greatest. Notice that in
verse 11. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. This
knowledge is experimental, because he will reveal himself to us
in the gospel. And when he says here, from the
least to the greatest, I remember what we saw this morning concerning
the new birth as newborn babes. I would think of a babe as the
least. But we grow. We grow. We don't stay babes. They shall
all know me from the least to the greatest. We start off, all
of us. We all start in kindergarten,
don't we? We don't start off in high school
or college. We all start off in kindergarten,
from the least, and we grow. in grace and in knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But all of us know him. We all
know him. Some may know him through experience
in a greater way, but we all know him, all of his people. You know this passage in 1 John
chapter 2, verses 12 and 13. John said this, I write unto
you little children. Now, the word that is translated
there, children, little children, is one word. I write unto you,
little children, because your sins are forgiven you. Now, that's true of everyone,
from the least to the greatest. Everyone who knows Christ, your
sins are forgiven you for Christ's sake. But then the apostle goes
on and he says, I write unto you fathers. Now this is where
we see that we grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord. Yes,
we start off as babes, but we don't want to continue as babes,
do we? We want to grow. That's part
of why we have the Word. That's part of why we have the
ministry of preaching and teaching the Word. That we may grow. And prayer. and church fellowship,
fellowship with one another. All of these things are contributing
to help us to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord. I write
unto you, little children, because your sins have forgiven you for
his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because
you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you,
young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto
you, little children, A different word, a different word. I'll write unto you little children,
because you have known the Father. Every little child knows God,
because we're in covenant with Him. We know Him. He sends His Spirit into our
heart, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Now there are three new
covenant blessings. But I want you to see this in
closing. These new covenant blessings
come far. Notice that here in the text,
Hebrews chapter 8, verse 12. For I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness, and their sins, and their iniquities
will I remember no more. Now, if you look back in Jeremiah
chapter 31, where this is given the first time, you will see
there also this word, far. And the point I want to make
tonight is this. These new covenant blessings
come far. Our sins are forgiven. And the
only way that our sins are forgiven is through the blood of Jesus
Christ. There was that which separated
us from God, and that which separated us from God was our sins, our
iniquities. And to enjoy these new covenant
blessings, he had to shed his blood, he had to die and ratify
the covenant, seal the covenant, so these blessings are given
out. to his people, to his chosen
people. Once, if you look over in chapter
9 of Hebrews verse 26, the scripture says, Now once
in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. I was reading, again, a book
this last few days by a missionary, Cliff Heller, and the book was
written about missions, missionaries, and he should know a lot about
it because he spent fifty-some years on the field. Very well
written, well prepared message, but he told in this book about
an experience he had When he was getting ready to be a missionary,
and a missionary from the field, he said, came back and spoke
to them, and this man said, I hope you folks are not going out telling
people that Christ will put away their sins. And that startled him. I hope
you're not going out telling people that Christ will put away
your sins, put away their sins. And he said, I'd never heard
anything like that. And I spoke to the man after
the class who made that statement. He said, I encourage you to study
Hebrews. Study Hebrews. And he found this
scripture, he said in his study. Once in the end of the ages,
or in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. And he said, I figured if he
came to do it, he did it. If he came to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself, then he did it. And he said this,
Brother Heller said this, what a difference that made in my
ministry, in my preaching, in my witnessing. What a difference
that is in telling people that the gospel is good news because
salvation is accomplished. I've been going out telling people
what you need to do and what they need to do. And then he
said, I realized it's already done. It's already finished. The work is finished. He's put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And this is the reason
that God declares in this new covenant that their sins, their
iniquities, I will remember no more. Now,
God doesn't forget. Sometimes we don't remember things
we've forgotten, haven't we? But God doesn't forget. He said,
I will not remember. In other words, on purpose, I
will not remember. Why? Because they're gone. They're
gone. By the blood of Jesus Christ,
the sins of God's people are taken away. We used to sing a
chorus. Brother Ralph Warner taught us
this chorus many years ago. And it was a chorus he said that
the soldiers in the Civil War used to sing. And there were
revivals. during the Civil War in both
camps, both of the Union soldiers and of the Confederate soldiers. And they would sing sometimes
at night when they were camped out. And one camp would sing
one verse and then the other camp would answer. Did you hear
what the Savior said to me? Thy sins are all taken away." Well, they're taken away, and
God will remember them no more because of the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ. I'll ask the man, if you will,
to come at this time.