Behold the Man

[0:00] Let me invite you to take your Bibles and turn back to Isaiah's 53rd chapter, Isaiah chapter 53. Let us just bow our heads in a short word of prayer.

[0:12] Father, take my mouth and speak through it. Take our minds and think through it. Take our hearts and soften it. Take our ears and unstop them, that we may hear you speaking to us today. For Christ's sake and his glory. Amen.

[0:30] Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Isaiah chapter 53 is one of the most glorious passages in all of Scripture.

[0:44] Here Isaiah, with his unique and inspired vantage point, writing some 700 years before the actual historic event of the crucifixion, tells us with pinpoint precision what happened at Calvary.

[1:00] And what exactly is the meaning of Calvary? One writer notes that Isaiah chapter 53 is the Mount Everest of Old Testament revelation regarding the cross.

[1:13] Another writer says that it looks as if Isaiah 53 were written at the foot of the cross. Another says in his commentary, As we come to this passage, We come to holy ground.

[1:25] You get the idea. This morning we come to a passage that we must tread carefully. That we must come reverently. Because we are going to behold our God upon the cross.

[1:37] And as we come to this mountain peak, my prayer for each one of us this morning is that by God's grace, that we may visit this holy location in our mind's eye. That we would discover afresh this morning what it meant for our Lord and Saviour, the suffering servant, to die on Calvary's cross.

[1:56] I want to look at this passage under three very simple headings. Number one, Behold the man. Verses from chapter 52 verse 13 into chapter 53 and verse 3.

[2:07] Heading number two, Behold the man upon the cross. Verses 4 down to verse 10. And then heading number three, Behold the outcome of the cross. Verses 11 and 12.

[2:19] Behold the man. Behold the man upon the cross. Behold the outcome of the cross. So let us first behold the man. In his identity and in his appearance.

[2:30] Read with me the first three opening words of Isaiah 52 and verse 13. Behold my servant. Or to put it another way, look at this individual.

[2:45] These three words in Isaiah chapter 52 really set the context of this unfolding chapter. They really stand as a heading over all that is going to be said.

[2:56] That first word there, Behold, is probably the most crucial word in this section. Because it is the only command, the only imperative given.

[3:07] The one thing that we are to do this morning is to behold. To look at this individual who is called my servant. And from their list of readers, the identity of this servant has been something of an enigma.

[3:23] Something of a mystery. Namely to the Jewish people. Jewish rabbis have speculated that the identity of this servant might be King Josiah. Others have said it might be the nation of Israel itself.

[3:35] And yet still others have said it may refer to Hezekiah. But we know that that is not the identity of the servant. The servant is without a shadow of a doubt, our Lord Jesus Christ.

[3:48] Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, all attest in their Gospels that the suffering servant of Isaiah is Jesus Christ. Luke chapter 22, verse 37.

[4:01] Jesus takes words from this very portion of Scripture upon his lips and he says, they are fulfilled in me. Remember in Acts chapter 8, the story of Philip the deacon in the early church who is led by an angel out to a desert road and there he meets an Ethiopian eunuch in his chariot reading a scroll with Isaiah chapter 53.

[4:25] Do you remember what happened in that episode? Philip asked him. Do you understand what you're reading? The Ethiopian eunuch said, how can I unless someone tells me?

[4:35] And at that, Philip's invited up into the chariot. And the Ethiopian eunuch says to him, please tell me, is the prophet speaking of himself or someone else? Because even he didn't understand the identity of the servant.

[4:49] And we read in Acts chapter 8, verse 35, that Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and began to tell him the good news about Jesus Christ.

[5:01] All Scripture attests to the fact that the servant of Isaiah 53 is Jesus Christ. Read verse 14 with me. His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.

[5:19] That's the reason why the Jews couldn't and still can't understand who this is. Because when they think of God's servant, they don't think of one who's disfigured and disformed.

[5:31] And that's why the prophet says there in verse 1 of chapter 53, who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

[5:41] He answers, no one. No one would believe this, that the servant of God would be one who would suffer, one who would look like nothing, like a human being.

[5:52] Verse 2 only continues to hide in this in chapter 53. For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. Here Isaiah in pictorial language informs us that Jesus in his birth and his upbringing that he had a humble and weak star.

[6:11] He was like a tender plant. He was like a weak shoot. Something a farmer would tread upon. Something that a farmer would cast away. He was like a root out of dry ground.

[6:21] He was born into a wilderness, somewhere that was dark, somewhere that was barren. And he was like a root out of dry ground. Have you ever thought about the fact that God in his sovereign wisdom planned and purposed his beloved son to be born in a town where there was no room for him to be born in?

[6:41] But rather he would be born in the squalor and the stench of a stinking stable. Have you ever thought about the fact that God in his sovereign wisdom planned and purposed his own beloved son to be born to a teenage mum, a carpenter for a stepdad, poverty stricken, not a penny to their name, who would take Jesus in his early years to Egypt where they would live as asylum seekers?

[7:07] Have you ever thought about this fact that Jesus had humble beginnings? Behold, this is our God. On the return from Egypt, Joseph would take them to Nazareth, a despised town of which people said, can anything good come out from Nazareth?

[7:25] Brothers and sisters, behold the man, this is our God. It was not what God's people were expecting. It's not what God's people were supposing. Continue to read in verse 2.

[7:36] We see there that he had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. God's servant was not to be majestic.

[7:47] God's servant did not come with a royal or a regal status. God's servant had no form or majesty that we should look at him. One of the most important theological points that teaches us is that God's ways are not our ways.

[8:02] God's thoughts are not our thoughts. If you had been in control of your life from the beginning to the end and author your own story or author the story for your own child, you would never author this, you'd never write this story.

[8:14] But God did. Isaiah goes on to speak of not just his identity, but of his physical appearance here. No form, no majesty, no beauty. That is to say that Jesus was not striking.

[8:26] If I was to produce a picture this morning of Jesus with his ten, with his twelve disciples, and I was to ask you, which one is Jesus? Not one of us could pick him out. We'd be most unimpressed.

[8:38] He would look like an untutored Galilean peasant with the rough hands of a carpenter. No beauty. He didn't look like the poster boy of his generation.

[8:50] He didn't have the looks of a Hollywood celebrity. Just as an aside, isn't it tragic that in our modern world, we seem to have made a God out of physical beauty, when the only true God lived here on earth without any outward beauty at all?

[9:05] Look at verse 3. Isaiah wants us to continue to behold this man. He says, Do you know, up until this point, Isaiah's been using the pronoun they, and he's been speaking about God's people as standing on the sidelines as mere spectators.

[9:32] They're all changes in this verse, because God's people are not mere spectators. God's people are implicated in the rejection of the servant of God.

[9:44] We esteemed him not. We despised him. We rejected him. We ignored him as merely insignificant and unimpressive. He was met with denigration, derision, and disparagement.

[9:57] God such that God's servant was led to isolation and misunderstanding. No one had sympathy for him. Men even turned their faces away from him. He was a man of sorrow.

[10:09] That was because he was rejected by men. A man of deep mental anguish. He was a man who perpetually knew pain and suffering. Such was the hatred of man against him that it led to his torture and brutal execution.

[10:26] It all culminated in the agonizing pain and suffering of the cross. He was so badly beating that we could not even recognize him as a human being. I remember two years ago, watching the news, there was a story of a man called Paul Kohler.

[10:41] He was an academic. At home one night, and a gang of thugs, Polish thugs, came and they robbed him in his home. And they beat him so bad that they showed you the pictures of his face.

[10:53] And I remember thinking, that guy doesn't even look anything like he used to. And then I thought, that is exactly what Isaiah was talking about. The only difference was, the servant wasn't beaten by a band of thugs.

[11:06] The servant was beaten by a band of professionally trained, well-skilled men in war. Who with a staff beat him. Who punched him. Who hurled insults at him.

[11:17] There was the madness of mayhem as they mocked him. As he thrust a crown of thorns upon his head. There was the whipping in his back. It lacerated him such that it looked like shredded paper.

[11:30] There was the steel, there was the cold steel spear that he thrust into his sight. There was the rotten, rusty nails hammered into his arms and into his feet against a rugged cross.

[11:46] Professional men, well armed in war and well aware of how to beat this man up. Behold, the man, this is our God. A man well acquainted with grief.

[11:58] A man intimately aware of suffering. Some of us might be here this morning and we're suffering in life. And sometimes we may sit and think to ourselves, no one knows what I'm going through.

[12:09] No one knows my pain or my anguish. Can I say to you lovingly, gently, sympathetically, it's not true. There is someone who knows what you're going through.

[12:21] There is someone who knows your anguish. Not someone who just needs to imagine it, but someone who's felt it deeply. And it is your God in Christ. Jesus Christ knows our suffering.

[12:34] He knows what it is to go through stress beyond any stress we could ever imagine. He knows what it is to sorrow. He knows physical pain. He knows ailment. He knows disappointment.

[12:45] He knows loneliness. He knows loss. He knows rejection. He even knows betrayal. Christ knows our pain. Behold the man. This is your God.

[12:58] You see, suffering makes him a man not able just to relate to us, but it also makes him the man who's able to rescue us. And I'll lead us to our second heading. Behold the man upon the cross.

[13:10] Beginning at verse 4, we transition from his unimpressive human appearance and his identity to why he came. And it's if, at this point, Isaiah moves us directly to the cross.

[13:22] He wants us to bring, he wants to bring us right under the foot of the cross. He wants us to stand beneath it and gaze upon the man upon the cross. Verse 4 starts with that word, surely.

[13:33] Quite weak in our English translation. In Hebrew, it is emphatic. It literally means, Indeed, with strong force. Indeed, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

[13:46] Indeed, he was wounded for our transgressions. Indeed, he was crushed for our iniquities. He would behold the man upon the cross.

[13:56] You know, the word choice of Isaiah in this section is so profound and so poignant that we dare not read over them in haste. These words evoke so much.

[14:08] If you were a Jew reading this, you could hear the echoes of the sacrificial system whispering in your ear. Verse 4, He is born. He is took up.

[14:19] Day of atonement. The first goat. Taken by the high priest. He was to bear the sin of his people. Taken upon the altar. Sacrificed. And the blood sprinkled in the mercy seat.

[14:31] He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Second goat. Taken by the high priest. Would lay his hands on it. His head. Symbolically. Representing he was transferring the sins of God's people upon it.

[14:43] Confessing all of their sins upon it. And then he would take it and he would send it out into the wilderness. Carrying away the sins of the people. He has borne our griefs.

[14:55] He has carried away our sorrows. In this one verse we have the greatest doctrine of all Holy Scripture. The doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. You know the amazing thing about this is that the sacrifice is different though.

[15:09] Because the sacrifice is not an animal. The sacrifice is a human. This verse speaks of a human substituting himself in our place for our sin as our substitute.

[15:21] George Smeaton, probably one of the greatest theologians ever produced by our denomination. Some of the best books on the atonement said of this chapter, this chapter under consideration is so full of substitution that this idea colours its whole contents.

[15:36] And that is because the idea of substitution has always been at the heart of God's dealings with fallen mankind. Remember in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, the first thing that happens, God's response to sin is to kill an animal, to clothe their nakedness.

[15:53] First thing that we're told in Genesis 4 is about two brothers and the sacrifice that they are to take to God. Noah gets off of the ark and the first thing he does is make a sacrifice to God.

[16:04] Abraham we meet and the first thing he does is build an altar to God. Jacob, so on and so forth. Day of Passover, firstborn lamb for the firstborn son. Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice.

[16:16] Only difference, the sacrifice is a human. All of the Old Testament sacrifices only serve to point forward to the human being who would have to be sacrificed in our place.

[16:29] Because in the end, no animal can atone for the guilt of human beings. It has to be a perfect, innocent person. As the reader of Hebrews says, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

[16:45] An innocent animal cannot be the equivalent for a guilty person. If you look back down at the text, it's interesting that Isaiah describes us all we like sheep.

[16:56] Then you go to verse 7. How does he describe the servant? And like a sheep. It's equivalent for equivalent. It's like for like. Substitution here is queer. Jesus had to be unblemished.

[17:08] Like all the animal sacrifices had to be without sport or defect. Had to be the God-man. Because no human being is perfect. You get a feeling as you read through this passage that Isaiah does not want us to miss these points.

[17:21] He doesn't want us to miss the point that his servant was innocent. Verse 9. Although he'd done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth. Remember in Luke's gospel. One thief cried to their thief.

[17:32] This man has done no wrong. You get the sense as you read through this passage again and again that it's all about substitution. Because all you see that in verses 4 to 6 with all of the personal pronouns.

[17:43] Our. He's born our grief. Carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him the chastisement that brought us peace.

[17:55] With his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep of gone astray turned each one to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Big point in this passage is Jesus did not die because of anything he had done.

[18:10] Jesus died because of what we had done. It's even more sobering to read back through these verses and change over to the word my. He was pierced for my transgressions. He was crushed for my iniquities.

[18:23] To put it another way it was for my pride. It was for my lust. It was for my gossip. It was for my failure to love God and to love my neighbour as I should. It was for my guilt and my shame that Jesus died.

[18:38] That is what Jesus was paying for. It's that personal. Do you ever hear the story of the young mother and her wee boy who woke up one morning in a state in America and opened their front door to discover that their entire town had been wiped away because a hurricane had swept through the town obliterating everything.

[18:57] And the young mother and her wee boy standing at her side surveyed the scene. And the mother looked down at her son wondering what he was thinking. And the young boy conscious of his mother's eyes upon her upon him as quick as a flash said Mummy I didn't do it.

[19:13] Do you know the crazy thing? You see the destruction and the havoc that was wrought at the cross. We did do it. Yeah we were not physically present but we were morally present.

[19:24] Martin Luther put it like this the nails that crucified Christ are in our pockets. It's that personal. My sin your sin behold the man upon the cross.

[19:38] Why exactly did he have to die? Why this way? Why so brutal? Why so barbaric? Why the mockery? Why the madness?

[19:49] Why the mayhem? Your sin my sin but why? Because God is holy and he hates sin. God is pure.

[20:00] God is perfect. And he hates sin. Sin estranges us from God. Sin puts us at enmity with God.

[20:13] Why was the cross so brittle and so barbaric? so that God could show us the seriousness of our sin. That's not the only reason why. Why the cross?

[20:27] Why this way? Because God is love. Because God is love and the paradoxical thing is he loves sinners. Get your head around that.

[20:41] He's holy and hates sin but he loves and he loves sinners. like you and me. So why the cross?

[20:53] Because God is holy and God is love and right there upon the cross he kissed perfectly. once read an article and it said who killed Jesus?

[21:08] God the Father killed Jesus. It is as verse 10 puts it it was the will of the Lord to crush him. Peter preaching at Pentecost put it this way this man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

[21:31] Do you know the worst part of Jesus' suffering? was this part. It was his father that crushed him.

[21:43] They had been eternally united. Lived together in unhindered fellowship in the bonds of peace bound together by a love that was so permanent so secure there was tranquility and harmony in the Godhead from the beginning of time for all time and all eternity but at the cross Christ would cry my God my God why have you forsaken me?

[22:17] Fully alienated in some way from his father because his father had to turn his face away because his father cannot look upon sin. He made him who knew no sin to become sin.

[22:30] Why? So that you and I could become the righteousness of God. You know the agonizing and though agonizing though it all was and our minds will never fathom the depths of the pain and the suffering of the cross.

[22:46] Do you know the stunning thing is this Jesus was fully on board. Jesus was fully on board. We see that in this passage Isaiah does not want us to miss it.

[23:00] He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent so he opened not his mouth.

[23:15] Do you know what the picture is there? That the silence speaks volumes. He willingly lovingly laid down his life as the good shepherd for his own dear sheep.

[23:31] As we behold the man upon the cross we should say with the apostle Paul that the son of God loved me and gave himself for me. Let me ask you this question.

[23:43] What's the most anyone has ever done for you? Has anyone ever loved you close to this? No one.

[23:58] I think of the words of the old hymn writer. Was it for me for me alone the saviour left his glorious throne the dazzling splendours of the sky was it for me he came to die it was for me yes all for me oh love of God so great so free oh wondrous love I'll shout and sing he died for me my Lord my King nor him puts it and can it be that oh my God should stay for me Sinclair Ferguson writes that when we think of Christ dying on the cross we are shown the lengths that God's love is willing to go to win us back listen to this we would almost think that God loves us more than he loves his own son we cannot measure such love by any other standard God is saying in the cross I love you this much listen loved ones suffering and death are not the last word in this passage and if they had been all of this would have been in vain we'd be left wondering did the penal substitutionary atonement accomplish anything and so as we come to our final and third point we hold the outcome of the cross we see that death did not laugh did not have the last word let me read to you verses 10 you'll notice that when I was in the reading

[25:43] I stopped at the word guilt halfway through it very deliberate he shall see his offspring he shall prolong his days the will of the Lord shall prosper in his land out of the anguish of his soul he that is the father shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities and so on and so forth if you were hearing these words as an original Jew you would be scratching your head it's just said in a few verses before that he was laid in a grave he was cut off from the land of the living how could this suffering servant who's dead see his offspring prolong his days because what the suffering servant had done was he satisfied the father and the father by the power and the working of the Holy Spirit raised him to life he rose as a victorious conquering king death defeated sin overcome he rose from the grave behold the outcome of the cross 700 years later after Isaiah would pen these words all would become crystal clear the resurrection of our Lord

[27:14] Jesus Christ not only do we see that but if you go back to chapter 52 and verse 13 behold my servant shall act wisely he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted not only is the resurrection of Jesus Christ but there is the exaltation of Jesus Christ because he stepped down to the depths the father lifted him high and exalted him to that place and that position of power at his right hand so that he's above all names all powers all dominions all kingdoms and authorities and everything as Paul says in Ephesians is under his feet now what a contrast this is the servant goes from being despised and rejected to being the high and exalted one see if you read through the book of Isaiah how is God described the high and exalted one brothers and sisters behold the outcome of the cross this is your God in verse 12 we have this picture of him coming as a victorious conqueror returning from battle where he's defeated death and sin and do you know what it says he will divide the spoils with the strong you see after he's conquered death and after he's conquered his enemy he has a reward and do you know what his reward is you you are his inheritance he died on the cross he shed his blood to purchase you you are his trophy of grace you know the other outcome of the cross goes back to verse 5 he was wounded for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace behold the outcome of the cross you because of Christ and his death upon the cross have peace with God who you were once at enmity with God you want to know another outcome of this cross by his stripes we are healed all your sins all your guilt all your shame taken away you want to know another outcome of the cross if it cannot get any better verse 11 by his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make many to be accounted righteous you see at the cross there's a great exchange as Martin Luther put it he takes upon himself our sin and he gives us his righteousness so that when God the Father looks upon us he sees us in Christ he sees us clothed in his righteous robe he sees us as perfect we are justified just as if I had never sinned just as if I had lived the perfect life one more outcome of the cross last verse last words yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors he becomes our great high priest who intercedes on her behalf because of the cross

[30:50] Christ mediates between his people and his Father he pleads on the throne Father even right now in the throne room of heaven itself he's pleading for you and I who are in Christ Father see them in light of my once and for all sacrifice Father see them clothed in that righteous robe that I secured for them upon the cross by living the perfect life therefore all who are his come within the scope of eternal reconciliation and complete forgiveness do you see why Isaiah begins with that verse in 53 who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom is the harm of the Lord been revealed it's astonishing brothers and sisters behold the man behold the man upon the cross behold the outcome of the cross this should bowl you and I over this should rot our hearts because at the heart of Christianity stands a cross far be it from me to boast in anything except the cross said Paul do you know heaven never gets beyond the cross if you're in Christ you will spend the rest of your days praising God in Christ for the cross do you know that right now in heaven the angels are singing what worthy is the lamb upon the throne who was slain for us they're singing about the cross the cross should be the joy and the mainspring of our life it's the cross that is the joy of our salvation it's the cross that's the victory it's the cross that's the conquering king it's because of the cross that we have life it's because of the cross that we have peace one word in this passage for us to do one imperative one command behold look to the man upon the cross and you'll spend eternity looking upon him because one day when you see him you'll be like him and you will look let's pray father we praise you for the victory of the cross we praise you for your son our saviour the lord jesus christ oh god we thank you and praise you that your ways are not our ways that your thoughts are not our thoughts father our minds cannot fathom your great and mysterious plan how in your pleasure you chose to crush your son in our place for our sin as our substitute and so we would praise you we are so sorry that like sheep we have gone astray and turned each one to his own way we are so sorry that it is our sin our lust our pride our guilt our failure to love you that nailed him to that cross we are so sorry that we have failed to be impressed and stunned by our saviour we are so sorry that we don't take the time to stare and gaze and fix our eyes upon the cross so father that this morning as we gather around your table we pray that as you give us this other opportunity that we really don't deserve that this inestimable privilege of being at your table to gaze upon the cross again as we think of the bread as his body broken for us as we think of the wine as his blood shed for us that as we behold the cross again that father you may move us and lead us to praise you forever and we ask you for Christ amen we're now going to sing this time in psalm 62 scottish psalter again you can find this on page 9 8294 psalm 62

[34:51] verses 5 to 8 my soul wait thou with patience upon my God alone on him dependeth all my hope and expectation let's sing verses 5 to 8 to God's praise my soul cry with air with patience upon my God alone on him dependeth And as for my hope and expectation, The only is my salvation,

[35:54] And my strong rocket's thee, The only is my sure defense, I shall not do but be.

[36:21] In God my glory is set, And my salvation should, In God the rock is of my strength, My refuge was secure.

[36:59] Give me the pleasure, Confidence in heaven, Contemporally before him, In glory, At your heart, For it is a refuge high.

[37:43] Beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ, Today we celebrate together, With the gracious help of God, The sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And before the Lord's Supper is administered, It is the duty, Of the serving minister, To fence the Lord's table.

[38:00] As Holy Scripture teaches, Coming to the Lord's table, Is both personal, And corporate, And therefore we believe, Personally and corporately, We have a responsibility as individuals, As members of this covenant community, To receive this supper carefully.

[38:17] The clear teaching of Holy Scripture, Is that the Lord's table, Is for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, Those who profess to love him, Know him, And obey him. If you're not a believer, In the Lord Jesus Christ, Then we would ask, That you would not partake, Of the supper, This morning.

[38:34] This is because, The scriptures admonish us, To take seriously, The sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Warning us to examine ourselves, Carefully, Before the Lord. Paul's instructions, To the Christians of Corinth, Was clear.

[38:47] Let a man examine himself, And so eat of the bread, And drink of the cup. 1 Corinthians 11, Verse 28. The apostle placed primary emphasis, On the individual, To examine themselves.

[39:00] The scripture also warns us, To discern the body of Christ diligently, For he who eats, And drinks in an unworthy manner, Eats and drinks judgment to himself, Not discerning the Lord's body.

[39:12] That is to recognize, That Christ is spiritually present, In the supper. And so we carefully, Pastorally, Lovingly, Fence the Lord's table. It is for your good, Our good, And God's glory, And honour.

[39:27] It is to protect, And prevent participants, From taking the Lord's supper, Unworldly, And eating to their damnation. Now that we, May celebrate this sacrament, To our comfort, It is necessary, That we do come in awe, And reverence.

[39:42] For the place we stand, Is holy ground. Here the Lord offers us, The manner of life. Now we come to the table, To commune with our Lord. We come to be nourished, By him, By his spirit.

[39:56] The benefit of coming to the table, Is great. If with repentant hearts, And a living faith, We receive the Lord's supper, As he intends us to. So let each of us, Consider first his, Or her own sins.

[40:09] Let each of us consider, That God is faithful, To forgive us all our sins. Let each of us ask, If we purpose henceforward, To show true thankfulness, To God in our whole life. To walk uprightly before him.

[40:21] To live in love and peace, With our neighbours. All those who are of this mind, God will certainly receive, In mercy and count them, As partakers, Of the table, Of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[40:32] Let's be clear, We do not come to this table, To testify that we are righteous, In ourselves. But rather we are conscious, Of our sinfulness, And we trust in Jesus Christ, For our salvation, Alone.

[40:45] You may be here this morning, And feel that you don't have, The perfect faith, And that you do not, You do not deserve God, With such zeal, As you don't serve God, With such zeal as you ought, But of daily to strive, With weakness of your faith, And the evil lusts of your flesh.

[41:00] Yet since you are, By God's Holy Spirit, His child, Sorry for these weaknesses, Earnestly desirous, To fight them, And to fight against your unbelief, To live according to his commandments, Therefore rest assured, That no sin, Or infirmity, Which still remains, Though against your will, Can hinder you from being received, Of God in mercy, And from being made worthy partakers, Of his heavenly food.

[41:25] And so, All children, Of the covenant, All believers in Jesus Christ, You are joyfully welcomed, To sup with the Lord, At his table.

[41:37] The Lord's Supper, Is a picture, Of marriage, In the first century, Where Jesus lived, Was the common culture, That if a young man, Wanted to marry a woman, Then he would have to visit, A father's home, And he asked the father, Can I take your daughter, To be my wife?

[41:55] The father would say to him, Do you have, The money to pay for her? Do you have, What is required, The dowry, For her? The young man, Respond, Affirmity, The father would say, That I want you to go away, And prepare a place, For her, On average, He would go away for a year, He would work up for the cost, And make the preparations ready, The father would say, Come again, There are no words, That we do not know, Come unexpectedly, And we will announce, The marriage, Of you, And my daughter, The father would then, Invite his daughter, Into the room, Where a cup, Was taken, And the daughter, And the young man, Were asked to drink, Of the cup, This was a sign, And seal, Of promise, To be made, That they would be brought together, In marriage, At that point, They were declared, Controlled, The young man, Would go away, He would find, Money, He would prepare, To place, He would come,

[42:55] At an unexpected hour, A marriage, Feast, Would be announced, There would be celebration, And joy, And at the marriage supper, A cup would be taken, And say to the bride, Into the groom, Drink all this cup, Bring your marriage together, Under God, This is a sign, That you are his, And he is yours, Forever, That's exactly what we're doing, This morning, As we come to the Lord's table, We are, The bride of Christ, He is our groom, He has paid the prince for us, He has bought us, With his precious blood, Not by silver or gold, But with his precious blood, Share upon the cross, He has gone, To prepare a place for us, He said to his disciples, In the night in the upper room, That he would not drink, Of the fruit of the vine again, Until he came back, In his catering, Today, We drink, And we, In remembrance, Of him, Let us pray, Father, We give you thanks, For your son, Jesus Christ, For his willing obedience,

[43:56] And suffering, During his life on earth, And especially, For giving up his body, And blood on the cross, Give us assurance, That our sins are pardoned, Through his blood, Let your perfect love, Drive out fear, It is perfect in your love, Fill our minds, With your peace, And turn our eyes, To heaven, Where Christ is at your right hand, In proceeding for it, Enable us, To offer up our lives, In service to Christ, And to all your children, Let no trouble, Or sorrow distract us, From this loving service, And unite us with each other, Through your spirit, So that we may continue, In living hope, Of our saviour's coming, In glory, We thank you, For the bread, Before us today, We thank you, For the wine, Before us today, Symbols, Of Christ, Body, And Christ's blood, We pray that as we eat, And as we drink, We may do so, In a manner, That is worthy, And pleasing, And at your sight, And the Father, It will please you, To bless us this day, For Christ's sake, Amen.

[44:57] We now read, Our scripture warning, For the sacrament, Of the Lord's supper, That I received, From the Lord, What was also delivered to you, The Lord Jesus, On the night, When he was betrayed, Took bread, And when he gave thanks, He broke it, And said, This is my body, Which is for you, Do this in remembrance of me, In the same way, He also took the cup, And after the supper, Saying, This is the cup, That this cup, Is a new covenant, In my blood, Do this, As often as you drink it, In remembrance of me, As often as you eat this bread, And drink this cup, You proclaim the Lord's death, Until it comes, Therefore, Therefore, Eats the bread, Or drinks the cup of the Lord, In an unworthy manner, Will be guilty, Concerning the body, And the blood of the Lord, Let a person examine himself then, And so eat of the bread, And drink of the cup, For anyone, Who eats and drinks, Without discerning the body, Eats and drinks judgment, On himself, Come therefore, All you, Who are truly sorry for your sins, Who believe in the Lord Jesus, As your saviour, Who have confessed his name, And desire to live in obedience to him,

[45:59] Come eagerly and joyfully, With assurance of faith, For Christ, Our risen Lord, Invites you as guests, In fellowship with him, At his table, Lord Jesus, On the night, Went into the tree, Took bread, Broke when he gave thanks, And broke it, And said, This is my body, Which is for you, Do this in remembrance, Of me, In the same manner, He took the cup, After saying, This is the new covenant, In my blood, Do this, Do this, And as often as you drink it, In remembrance, Of me, For as often as you, Eat this bread, And drink the cup, You proclaim the Lord's death, Until he comes, Taste and see, That the Lord is good, Happier are those, To find refuge, In him, On this group, One of the Puritans, Wrote a book, Called, Heaven on Earth, In that book, He speaks about, The assurance, That comes from, The Lord, There's a small quote, He has about, Assurance, And its connection,

[47:00] With the Lord's Supper, I just want to read that, With you, You know, It was the principal end, Of Christ's institution, Of the sacrament, Of the Lord's Supper, That he might assure them, That is his people, Of his love, And that he might seal up to them, The forgiveness of their sins, The acceptation of their persons, And the salvation of their souls, The nature of a seal, Is to make things, Sure and firm, Among men, So the Lord's, The Supper of the Lord, Is Christ's broad seal, Is Christ's privy seal, Whereby he seals, And assures his people, That they are happy here, That they shall be more happy hereafter, That they are everlastingly, Beloved of God, That his heart is set upon them, That their names are written, In the book of life, That there is laid up for them, A crown of righteousness, And that nothing shall be able, To separate them, From him, Who is their life, Their life, Their crown, And their all, In all, End quote.

[48:00] Brooks would have us understand, That the sacrament, Of the Lord's Supper, Is primarily, About assurance, It is the main purpose, For which the Lord Jesus Christ, Instituted for his people, To reassure believers, Of his great love, For them, It is to use, Brooks's words, To seal, Up to them, The forgiveness of their sins, The acceptation of their persons, And the salvation of their souls, A seal is given, For the express purpose, Of assurance, It is to make things sure, And form among them, Brothers and sisters, Be assured, You are his, He is yours, And one day, We will suck with him, And admire, Feast of the Lamb, In glory, We are going to say, With ourselves, In Psalm 72, In page 314, Verses 17 to 19, Page 314, Psalm 72, 72, His name forever shall endure, Last light of the sun it shall, And shall be blessed in heaven,

[49:03] And blessed the nations, Shall be called, Let's stand and sing, In Psalm, God's name, Whose name forever shall endure, Just like a Sunday shall, And shall be blessed in heaven, And blessed the nations, And shall be called, Now blessed be the Lord, Our God, The God of Israel,

[50:05] For he alone, gaunt upon theださい, In glory, God, Excell Martine, And blessed be Us, glorious day to all eternity the whole earth is glory filled from and so let's hear now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory and with great joy to the only God our saviour through Jesus

[51:18] Christ our Lord be glory majesty dominion and authority before all time and now and forevermore amen