[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read, the Gospel according to Luke, Luke chapter 22, Luke chapter 22, page 881, page 881 in the Church Bible, Luke 22, and if we read again at verse 7, Luke 22 and verse 7, Then came the day of unleavened bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
[0:38] So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it. Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.
[0:52] And so on. Did you know that there's a long-standing discussion, and a long-standing debate, over the correct term, title, and time that supper is eaten?
[1:09] So there's a long-standing debate, over the term, title, and time that supper is eaten. Now for many of us, we'd probably consider supper, as we were saying to the children, it's nothing more than a snack, before we hit the sack and go to bed.
[1:23] Where you have a cup of tea, or toast, or cereal, or whatever it is, and then you go to bed. But when you actually look into supper, there's a squabble over supper, and it actually causes confusion, depending upon your context, your culture, and even the country you live in.
[1:41] Because in some contexts, or cultures, or countries, you have a heavy dinner at lunchtime, and then you have a light supper at dinnertime. Or you have dinner at lunchtime, followed by afternoon tea, and then supper at bedtime.
[1:58] Or you have lunch at lunchtime, you have tea at tea time, because you only ever have dinner when you go out for a meal. Or you have lunch at lunchtime, tea at dinnertime, and supper before you go to bed.
[2:10] And so you can see why there's all these different opinions, there's total confusion, and this squabble about supper, over the correct term, title, and time that supper is eaten.
[2:22] But as we said, it all depends on your context, your culture, and the country you live in. Now, as you know, the context, and culture, and country that this supper, in this passage, was eaten was first century Israel.
[2:37] Because it's in this passage that, as we read, Jesus here, he institutes the Lord's Supper. And as we read, Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper immediately after dinner, after a meal, which was the Passover meal.
[2:51] And this supper with Jesus, as you know, it brings us to our fourth and final meal in our short series. We've been looking over the past four weeks at a short series called Eating with Jesus.
[3:03] And over the past few weeks, we have eaten and enjoyed, as we were saying to the children, we've had breakfast with Jesus, we've had lunch with Jesus, we've had dinner with Jesus, and now this morning, we've been invited to eat and to enjoy supper with Jesus.
[3:19] And we're having supper with Jesus around the Lord's Supper. But as we said throughout our study, the glory of the gospel, the beauty of our Bible, is that Jesus invites us to eat with him.
[3:33] Jesus invites us to eat with him. He says to us in the Bible, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
[3:48] So Jesus invites us to eat with him. And this morning, we're being invited to eat and enjoy supper with Jesus. It's supper with Jesus. And so I want us to think about supper with Jesus this morning under two headings.
[4:03] Two headings. A providential preparation and a personalized Passover. A providential preparation and a personalized Passover.
[4:17] So first of all, we see a providential preparation. A providential preparation. Look at verse 7 again. Then came the day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
[4:29] So Jesus sent Peter and John saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat it. They said to him, Where would you have us prepare it? He said to them, Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.
[4:45] Follow him into the house that he enters. And tell the master of the house, the teacher says to you, Where is the guest room? Where I may eat the Passover with my disciples.
[4:56] And he will show you a large upper room furnished. Prepare it there. Now in his book, a great book called A Meal with Jesus, there's a preacher and pastor called Tim Chester.
[5:14] And in his book, he shows us the value which Jesus places upon eating food and enjoying fellowship with both sinners. And strangers. Because Tim Chester, he says that there are three ways in which the New Testament completes the sentence, The Son of Man came.
[5:31] And you see that line all the way through the New Testament. The Son of Man came. It says, The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
[5:44] Another sentence says, The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. But there's also another sentence that says, The Son of Man came eating and drinking.
[5:58] The Son of Man came eating and drinking. So time and time again, we see that Jesus is found around the table. He's found around the dinner table. And he's found eating food and enjoying fellowship with sinners and with strangers.
[6:13] But the thing is, when you look at Jesus, when you look at all the times that Jesus is sitting around the dinner table, you see that there's no one. No one is exempt, and no one is excluded from eating food or enjoying fellowship with Jesus.
[6:28] Just like no one is exempt, and no one is excluded from eating food and enjoying fellowship with Jesus at his supper this morning. But you know, Tim Chester, he emphasizes and he explains in his book, the book, A Meal with Jesus.
[6:42] He says, The reason the Son of Man came eating and drinking was to give us an example to follow. It's an example to follow. Because when we eat food, when we enjoy fellowship with sinners and strangers, Tim Chester says, we discover grace, we discover community, and we discover mission around the dinner table.
[7:05] When we eat food and enjoy fellowship with sinners and strangers, we discover grace, community, and mission around the dinner table. And you know, in many ways, that's why we had a Camp's Curry night on Friday.
[7:19] We have all these meal nights. We have Italian nights and Mexican nights and curry nights. And Friday night was not just a night to raise funds for camp, but it was also many ways to follow the example of Jesus, of eating food and enjoying fellowship with one another.
[7:37] Because as we touched on last Lord's Day, when we saw and said that it's a mark of grace or a mark of true Christianity, when you have an open heart and an open home for hospitality.
[7:50] A mark of true Christianity is an open heart and an open home for hospitality. And it's all based upon the example of Jesus. Jesus sets the tone. He sets the example that when we eat food and enjoy fellowship with sinners and strangers, we discover grace, community, and mission around the dinner table.
[8:11] And you know, you come to this passage and you see that that's what the disciples are going to discover. They're going to discover grace, community, and mission at their last meal with Jesus.
[8:26] It was going to be, as we all know, it's the Last Supper. But it's at the Last Supper that Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper. He introduces them to the mission, the mission of the church.
[8:40] Now as we read, the Last Supper with Jesus, it took place, we read there in verse 7, it took place on the day of unleavened bread. It was a Friday. It was Good Friday.
[8:53] Although according to our form of timekeeping, it would have been a Thursday night. But according to the context, the culture, and the country of first century Israel, it was Friday.
[9:04] Because rather than counting days from midnight to midnight like we do, they counted days from sundown to sundown. And so the day of unleavened bread was Friday.
[9:15] It was Good Friday. And for Luke, this was a significant day. It was a special day in the calendar because it was the day on which every home in Israel would slaughter their Passover lamb and then prepare their Passover meal.
[9:30] That's why Jesus told the disciples to go and prepare it. That's why the disciples asked Jesus, where will you have us prepare the Passover meal? But of course, as a gospel writer, Luke is already pointing us.
[9:45] He's already preparing us for the greater significance of this day. Because Luke knows, and you know, that this day was a significant day and a special day in the history of this world.
[9:58] Because it was on this day that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, would be slaughtered and sacrificed on the cross at Calvary in order to take away our sins.
[10:10] It was on this Good Friday that Jesus would give Himself up as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice. But you know, as we said, this Passover meal, what's amazing about it, it's a providential preparation.
[10:28] There's a providential preparation in this Passover meal. And I say that because as you know, the word providence, providence is a wonderful word. It means seen beforehand.
[10:41] Seen beforehand. Therefore, the only way to explain how Jesus knew in this passage, how Jesus knew to tell the disciples what to look for, who to find, and where to prepare the Passover, the only reason Jesus could do that was because Jesus saw it all beforehand.
[11:02] Jesus saw it all beforehand. You know, this Passover meal, it was a providential preparation. It was a providential preparation. And I want to linger here and labor that point just because, well, Jesus does it.
[11:16] Because Jesus gives directions to the disciples. And He gives directions to the disciples by beginning with a word. The word, behold. Look at verse 10.
[11:28] He said to them, Behold. Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, the teacher says to you, where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?
[11:49] And He will show you a large upper room furnished. Prepare it there. In His directions to the disciples, Jesus begins with the word, behold. Because the word, behold, it has a much deeper and a much, you could say, a much more direct meaning than just look or look closely.
[12:08] The word, behold, that Jesus uses for the disciples is stop and look at this. Stop and love this. Stop and meditate on this.
[12:19] Stop and marvel at this. Behold. He says, behold, when you have entered the city, you're going to see something. And you know, in His directions to the disciples, Jesus begins with that word, behold, because this Passover meal is a providential preparation.
[12:37] It's a providential preparation, and it's a providential preparation because Jesus had seen this significant and this special day in His life beforehand.
[12:48] And you know, when you read through this chapter, you know, it should actually blow our mind. Because Jesus had seen this significant and special day in His life, not just before it happened.
[13:02] He saw it before the foundation of the world. He saw it before God spoke into the darkness and said, let there be light. My friend, this day, the day of unleavened bread, the day of Passover, the day of slaughter and sacrifice, this Good Friday, it was a day that had been perfectly planned from before the foundation of the world.
[13:26] It was a day that had been prophesied and even promised throughout history and throughout Scripture. It was a day that had been prepared according to the divine appointment of the Lord who had seen it all beforehand.
[13:40] It was a providential preparation. A providential preparation that the Passover lamb would be slaughtered and sacrificed as our substitute.
[13:52] It was a providential preparation that Jesus would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. It was a providential preparation that through His bloody and brutal death, there would be a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.
[14:09] My friend, it was a providential preparation that sinners like you and I would be redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
[14:26] You know, my friend, you come to this passage and you see it was all a providential preparation. It was all seen beforehand, all prepared beforehand for this significant and special day.
[14:39] And you know, that's why the 19th century preacher and pastor Octavius Winslow, he asked that great question. Who delivered Jesus up to die?
[14:53] Who delivered Jesus up to die? And Octavius Winslow says it wasn't Judas for money. It wasn't Pilate for fear. It wasn't the Jews because of envy.
[15:05] It wasn't even the Romans because of the hardness of their heart. No, it was the Father for love. Who delivered Jesus up to die? The Father did it out of love.
[15:16] And that's what the Apostle Peter preaches about. That's what he proclaims on the day of Pentecost. That this Jesus was delivered up to die by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.
[15:28] It was a providential preparation. It was all prepared beforehand, before the foundation of the world. This significant and special day was planned and put in place for sinners such as you and I.
[15:47] It's a providential preparation. And as you know, I love the doctrine of providence. I think it's a great doctrine. I mean, there's so many good doctrines in the Bible, but providence is amazing because it always reminds me and even reassures me that everything that takes place in my life and in your life is in no way a random result of luck or chance or fate or fortune or karma.
[16:15] Because the amazing thing is the people we meet in a week, the places we go in a week, the problems we face from one week to the next, the happiness we enjoy, the hardships we encounter, the heartache we experience, it's all appointed and it's all according to the perfect plan, path, purpose and providence of the Lord who has seen it all beforehand.
[16:40] My friend, this Passover meal, it was a providential preparation. And I love the idea of providence because, you know, sometimes providence is hard to understand.
[16:54] It's hard to understand our disappointments are all His appointments. It's hard to understand His purpose in some of our painful providences.
[17:05] It's hard to understand all these interruptions in life and illnesses and isolation and infirmity that we encounter and experience. It's hard to understand God's providence sometimes when there are all these twists and turns and turbulence in the story of our lives and yet the greatest comfort in the midst of the storms of life is that He's in the boat with us and that He knows what's going on.
[17:35] He knows the way that you take. He knows what you're going through. He knows what's ahead of you. He knows what you need because He knows you. Which is why it doesn't matter how helpless and hopeless we feel in ourselves.
[17:51] Our moments of doubt and despair are actually there to encourage us and enable us to discover that His grace is always sufficient for us and that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
[18:08] Do you know I come to this passage and I see a providential preparation and I see two disciples Peter and John and they're called like all the other disciples of Jesus called to trust the Lord of Providence.
[18:23] We're called to trust the Lord of Providence. And so this supper with Jesus it was a providential preparation but it was also secondly a personalized Passover.
[18:37] It was a personalized Passover. Now look at verse 13 and they went and found it just as Jesus had told them and they prepared the Passover and when the hour came He reclined a table and the apostles with Him and He said to them I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
[19:01] As we said the day of unleavened bread it was a significant day it was a special day in the Jewish calendar but also in the life of Jesus because it was a day in which every home in Israel would slaughter their Passover lamb.
[19:15] It was the day on which every home in Israel would prepare their Passover meal. And as you know the Jews they had been preparing the Passover they had been partaking of the Passover meal since the time of Moses in the Exodus.
[19:30] Remember when the children of Israel they were in slavery and bondage in Egypt and on the night of the Passover the last great miracle that took place the last great plague that took place was the Passover where they prepared the Passover lamb they partook of the Passover meal but they also painted the lintels and the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a Passover lamb.
[19:55] They sheltered under the blood of the Passover lamb because the Lord promised His people He said to them when I see the blood I will pass over you.
[20:06] When I see the blood I will pass over you. And you know from the time of its very introduction and very institution the amazing thing is the Passover had always been personal.
[20:17] The Passover had always been personal. It was always a personalized Passover. not only because every Israelite home and every Israelite family they would all shelter under the shed blood of the Passover lamb but it was also personal because when a Passover lamb was chosen when the Passover lamb was consecrated to the Lord it had to be three things.
[20:43] It had to be a suitable sacrifice. It had to be a healthy lamb. You couldn't give a lamb with a defect or a deformity. So it had to be a suitable sacrifice. It also had to be a specific sacrifice.
[20:55] The Passover lamb was to be a year old without spot or blemish. So it had to be suitable. It had to be specific. And it had to be substitutionary. It had to be a substitutionary sacrifice.
[21:08] Because in the slaughter and in the sacrifice of the Passover lamb the head of the household was to personally slit the throat of the animal and drain its blood and offer its body.
[21:24] And it was to be a vivid and visual reminder to the whole family that you deserve death for your sin. Your sin deserves death.
[21:36] The wages of sin is death. But the message to each and every home was your suitable, specific, and substitutionary sacrifice is a picture of pardon.
[21:49] It's a picture of pardon. As you can see it was a personalized Passover. Every Passover, every Passover meal was personalized. And as we said from its introduction, from its very institution way back in the Exodus the Passover has always been personal.
[22:06] It has always been this personalized Passover. because the Passover lamb was to be this constant, this continual reminder to every home and every family in Israel that they had been provided.
[22:18] Provided a perfect, personal, and powerful Passover lamb. But of course as a gospel writer Luke doesn't want us to think about the Passover at the Exodus.
[22:32] Luke is pointing us forward. Luke is pointing us to our Jesus. He's pointing us to Jesus our Passover lamb who of course is the only suitable, the only specific, the only substitutionary sacrifice to rescue us and redeem us from the death we deserve to die.
[22:51] Luke is telling us here that Jesus is the perfect, he's the personal, he is the powerful Passover lamb to take away the sin of the world. And you know that's what we need to see here.
[23:04] This Passover was always personal. It was always a personalized Passover. Which is actually what makes Jesus' introduction and Jesus' institution of the Lord's Supper even more powerful.
[23:22] Because when Jesus, as we read there in Luke 22, when Jesus introduces the Lord's Supper, when he institutes the Lord's Supper for the first time, he not only emphasizes and explains to the disciples that his sacrifice for sin on the cross will supersede and surpass every other sacrifice for sin in the past.
[23:45] But you know, putting the Passover meal to one side, the Passover meal with the Passover lamb and bitter herbs and unleavened bread, by putting the meal to one side, Jesus indicates and intimates that that period of Passover has now come to an end.
[24:02] The period of the personalized Passover has come to an end because he is now the personal Passover lamb of God. And it's at that point that Jesus, as we read there, Jesus institutes and introduces the Lord's Supper.
[24:20] And he does so, you'll notice, using personal terms. He uses personal terms. Look at verse 19. Jesus, we're told, took bread.
[24:33] When he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you.
[24:44] Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
[24:59] So as the personalized Passover lamb of God, Jesus, he uses here very simple, very straightforward symbols in order to emphasize and explain the Lord's Supper. In fact, Jesus shows that the Lord's Supper, you could say it's a light meal.
[25:15] It consists of only two elements. Two simple, straightforward elements. As we were saying to the children, there's bread and there's wine. It's not a mass because the bread and the wine, they do not become the body and blood of the Lord Jesus.
[25:32] It's a memorial meal at which Jesus is present in the Lord's Supper. So it's not a mass, it's a memorial meal. And it's a light meal. Bread and wine.
[25:44] It's a light meal with a heavy meaning. It has deep and direct symbolism. Because as Jesus, we read there in verse 19, as Jesus broke bread with His disciples, He instructed them saying, this is My body which is given for you.
[26:02] Do this in remembrance of Me. And with a cup of wine, Jesus said, this cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this in remembrance of Me.
[26:13] And what's fascinating is that the language Jesus uses there, it's the language of sacrifice. It's the language of substitution. Because Jesus says, notice the personal terms Jesus speaks in.
[26:28] He says, My body for you. My blood for you. Me for you. It's all for you.
[26:41] Do you see that? Jesus says, My body for you. My blood for you. Me for you.
[26:52] It's all for you. Therefore, do this in remembrance of Me. Do this in remembrance of Me.
[27:08] My friend, this meal is a providential preparation. It's a personalized Passover. Passover. And if you're not yet at His table, the invitation is still there.
[27:22] Come. Come and have supper with Jesus. For all things are now ready. But may the Lord bless these thoughts to us.
[27:33] Let us pray. O Lord, our God, we give thanks for Thy Word. Thy Word that speaks to us so clearly and encourages us when we are downcast and even depressed and to know that it is able to come to us and lift us up and encourage us to keep looking to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.
[27:58] Bless us, Lord, together we pray. Bless Thy Word, Lord, we ask that it would build us up as a spiritual house, holy and acceptable unto Thee. Continue with us, we ask, as we wait upon Thee.
[28:11] For Jesus' sake. Amen. Let me now come to the part of the service which we often refer to as the fencing of the Lord's table. And as you'll see, there's a white cloth there which I suppose you could say it presents to us a fence.
[28:29] But I want to be clear. I don't fence the Lord's table. The Lord fences the Lord's table. Why? Because it's His table.
[28:40] It's His table and it's His supper. And He invites sinners to sit with Him at His supper. He invites us to come and sit at His supper. Sadly, you know, in the past, the fence that has been put up around the Lord's table, sadly, I think it was probably too high and too holy to the point that it made those outside the fence feel that they need to be worthy enough or good enough before they can come and sit at the Lord's table and partake of the Lord's supper.
[29:14] But the thing is, there's no one sitting at the Lord's table this morning who is worthy enough or good enough to be here. I'm certainly not.
[29:27] We are all unworthy sinners. We're all unworthy sinners. And that's not only the case at this supper with Jesus. It was also the case at the first supper with Jesus.
[29:39] Because, you know, we're considering the passage there of the Lord's supper and we can see that the disciples are there. And we can ask, well, who's eating with Jesus at the first Lord's supper?
[29:51] Who's eating with Jesus? Who's having supper with Jesus? Who's eating and enjoying the Lord's supper? Well, we know the disciples are there. Well, let's ask about the disciples.
[30:02] Were they perfect people? No. Were they superior saints? No. Were they a holy huddle where nobody else was allowed to join with them?
[30:15] No. Were they good enough or worthy enough to sit at the Lord's table that evening when they sat with Jesus? No. Because, as you know, the disciples, when we considered them a number of months ago, we looked at these twelve ordinary men and we saw that out of these twelve ordinary men there were doubters, deniers, deserters, and a defector.
[30:35] The disciples were people who were worried, they were weary, they were worthless, and they were wondering. The disciples, you look at them, they were men who were full of faults, failings, foibles, and flaws.
[30:51] And yet, you consider the first Lord's supper. They were all there. They were at the Lord's table and they were having supper with Jesus. And that's because the qualification to sit and have supper with Jesus, it's not, are you good enough?
[31:09] The qualification is, are you bad enough? The qualification is not, are you good enough? The qualification is, are you bad enough?
[31:20] The qualification is, do you see your sin? And do you see Jesus as your personal Savior? is Jesus your Savior and your Lord?
[31:34] And if Jesus is your Savior and your Lord, that's the qualification for coming to the Lord's supper and having supper with Jesus.
[31:47] So we're going to sing in Psalm 118. And as we sing, all those who love Jesus, follow Jesus, and want to have supper with Jesus, are invited to come and sit within the fence and have supper with Jesus.
[32:09] If you're a member in another congregation, you're warmly invited to join with us at the Lord's table. As I said, it's not my table. It's the Lord's table. It's not a free church table.
[32:20] It's the Lord's table. And so we're invited to come and sit at the Lord's table. We're going to sing in Psalm 118. Psalm 118. It's on page 398 in the Blue Psalm book.
[32:34] We're singing from verse 15 down to the verse Mark 21. This is a hymn of thanksgiving. It's the last psalm that Jesus sang before he was arrested.
[32:47] It's the hymn that they often speak about in Matthew and Mark's gospel. They sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. This is what they sang. In verse 15, In dwellings of the righteous is heard the melody.
[32:59] Of joy and health the Lord's right hand doth ever valiantly. The right hand of the mighty Lord exalted is on high. The right hand of the mighty Lord doth ever valiantly.
[33:11] And we'll sing this psalm and while we're singing the elements will be put on the table and also those who are not yet at the table will come and take their place to have supper with Jesus.
[33:21] So Psalm 118 from verse 15 to 21. We must stand to sing if you're able to God's praise. In the dwellings of the righteous in certain melody.
[33:46] O joy and health the Lord's right hand doth ever valiantly.
[34:04] the right hand of the mighty Lord exalted is on high.
[34:24] the right hand the right hand of the mighty Lord thoth ever valiantly.
[34:41] I shall not live I shall not die but live and shall the works of God discover the Lord the Lord the Lord doth be just I said so but not to death give no word God for what said he open unto me the gifts of righteousness that will will lie and turn into them and
[35:52] I the Lord will bless this is the gift of God by it the just shall enter in he will I bridge or love me and pass my safety pain my safety pain Well friends, we have been invited to have supper with Jesus. And we've been invited, not because we're good enough, not because we're worthy enough, but because we're worthy enough.
[37:01] We're worthy enough. But simply as we saw last night in our preparatory service, that King Jesus has invited us. He has put out a loving and gracious and kind invitation for us to come to the king's table. And we're to come and have supper with him. And that's the thing about this supper. As I said, it's his supper. And it's his table. It's the Lord's supper. I've mentioned to you before that there are only things that we're three things in the Bible that the Lord claims as his own. He claims the Lord's day, the Lord's people, and the Lord's supper. The Lord's day, the Lord's people, and the Lord's supper. And you know, what's always amazing, what's always amazing is that it's here that all three come together and eat together with Jesus. Because we're meeting together, as you know, on the Lord's day. We're gathering together as the Lord's people.
[38:01] And we're here to partake of and participate in the Lord's supper. As we said, this supper is a personalized supper. Because Jesus, he uses very simple, very straightforward symbols. Symbols of bread and wine.
[38:17] And he uses language that speaks about sacrifice and substitution. Where Jesus, he breaks bread with us. And he says, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[38:31] And simply with a cup of wine, Jesus says, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this in remembrance of me. It's the language of me. It's the language of me. It's the language of me. It's the language of me.
[38:43] It's the language of substitution. My body for you. My blood for you. Me for you. All for you.
[38:57] And that's when it becomes really personal, doesn't it? All for you. That's what Jesus says to us very simply. Do this in remembrance of me. Do this in remembrance of me.
[39:13] I want us to read our scriptural warrant for the sacrament of the Lord's supper. We only have two sacraments. And one is baptism. The other is the Lord's supper.
[39:24] And we always take it from scripture. And the sacrament, the scriptural warrant for the sacrament of the Lord's supper is 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23. Where Paul writes there, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.
[39:39] That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[39:49] In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
[40:00] But as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And so according to the institution, the command, and also the example of Jesus, let us give thanks before we come to the supper.
[40:17] O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks for these precious moments in life. And there are times, Lord, in our experience where we never thought we would ever be here.
[40:33] We never thought we would be in church on the Lord's day. Let alone partaking of the Lord's supper. But we look at it and we see that God is good.
[40:44] And God is gracious. And it is a wonder to us that he invites sinners at all when we consider our own heart and what we are before a holy God. And yet we give thanks for the reminder in this supper that Jesus' body was broken.
[41:02] On the cross that we might have the promise of eternal life. That his blood was shed to cleanse us from all our sin. And Lord, we give thanks for the wonderful invitation to come and to sit and have supper with Jesus.
[41:16] And we pray that this would be a means of grace to us. To strengthen us. To encourage us. To sustain us in our Christian faith. Because Lord, we know that there are many times where we feel weak.
[41:28] We feel downcast. There are times when we doubt. But we give thanks for these moments where we're able to come together. And to remember what the Lord has done.
[41:39] Where he says to us, me for you. All of me for all of you. And that he has redeemed us. Both body and soul. Not with corruptible things such as silver and gold.
[41:52] But by his own precious blood. So bless this supper to us. As we sit together. And as we remember together. And as we eat together. Help us Lord too.
[42:04] To be built up as a spiritual house. Holy and acceptable unto thee. Do us good then we pray. Meet us Lord around thy table. That we would know that it is good for us to be here.
[42:16] And that the Lord is in this place. Do us good then we ask. For we ask it in Jesus name. And for his sake. Amen. Amen. For the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed.
[42:29] He took bread. And when he had given thanks. He broke it. And he said this is my body. Which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[42:45] In the same manner also. After supper he took the cup. Saying this cup is the new covenant. In my blood. Do this as often as you drink it. In remembrance.
[42:55] In remembrance. Of me. And then Jesus said. And then Jesus said.
[43:12] For as often as you eat this bread. And drink the cup. You proclaim the Lord's death. You proclaim the Lord's death. Until he comes.
[43:23] Let's go.
[43:53] Let's go.
[44:23] Let's go.
[44:53] Because supper with Jesus is a means of grace. It's a means of grace to affirm and assure you of your salvation. It's a means of grace to strengthen and sustain you in your faith.
[45:09] You know, supper with Jesus is a means of grace to encourage you and even enable you to go on serving this Savior who loved you and gave himself for you.
[45:22] My friend, it's good for us to be here. What other place would you want to be other than here having supper with Jesus?
[45:34] But for those of you still behind the fence who didn't have supper with Jesus this morning, Jesus has something to say to you too.
[45:49] He says, and he says it in the glory of the gospel. There is yet room. There is yet room. Jesus still invites you.
[46:03] He still compels you to eat with him. Because he says to you, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him or her and eat with them and he with me.
[46:24] What a wonderful invitation. Don't pass it up. Don't put it off. You come.
[46:36] And you eat with us, Jesus. Because he's a wonderful Savior. And he's a wonderful friend. Let me the Lord bless these thoughts to us.
[46:47] Let us pray. Oh Lord, we give thanks for what we've enjoyed this morning. To be able to sit around both word and sacrament. And to have the Lord as the king and head of his table.
[47:00] And one who speaks to us. Who speaks to us in his word. And who speaks to us in his sacrament. And Lord, we pray that it would be a means of grace to each and every one of us.
[47:11] A means to strengthen those who have sat at the table. And even a means to encourage those who have not yet sat. That they too would come. That they too would partake. And participate in the Lord's Supper.
[47:24] It is a meal for those who are called and invited to come. Lord, bless us together we pray. Encourage us we ask. That everything we have said. Everything we have done.
[47:36] We pray Lord that if anything has been done amiss. That thou wouldst forgive us. But ultimately Lord our desire is. To bring glory to thy name. Hear us then we pray.
[47:46] Go before us we ask. For we ask it in Jesus name. And for his sake. Amen. We're going to bring our service to a conclusion. This morning we're going to sing.
[47:58] To God's praise in Psalm 72. Psalm 72. It's in the Scottish Psalter. Page 314. Of the blue psalm book. Psalm 72.
[48:14] We're singing from verse 17 down to the end of the psalm. Words we often sing at the close of a communion. The reason we sing them. I think it's always good to know why we do what we do.
[48:26] Is this psalm as you know it was written by Solomon. Or for Solomon. And yet by the time you come to the end of this psalm. You're seeing that it's speaking about a greater than Solomon. Because Solomon's name didn't endure forever.
[48:39] And it certainly doesn't last like the sun. But the name of Jesus. As we know it has endured forever. For all of time and all of eternity. It will last like the sun.
[48:52] And it's through him we know blessing. It's through him the nations experience. Blessing. And the promise of life that shall never end. And that's what we're singing about.
[49:02] His name forever shall endure. Last like the sun it shall. Men shall be blessed in him and blessed. All nations shall him call. Now blessed be the Lord our God.
[49:12] The God of Israel. For he alone doth wondrous works. In glory that excel. And blessed be his glorious name. To all eternity. The whole earth let his glory fill.
[49:23] Amen. So let it be. These verses must stand to sing if you're able. To God's praise. His name forever shall endure.
[49:42] The glory of God's praise. shall be blessed in humblest all nations shall live whole now blessed be the Lord our God the God of Israel for he alone the wondrous works in glory thou take self and blessed be his glorious name to all eternity the whole earth his glory fell amen so let it be the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore amen hmm oh ho in dem mo no so holy beautiful oh you they you