[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this morning, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read, the Gospel according to John.
[0:13] John chapter 14. John 14. And we're going to read from the beginning. John 14 and verse 1, where Jesus says, Let not your hearts be troubled.
[0:31] Believe in God. Believe also in me. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
[0:47] In our house, in the manse, sitting around the dinner table, it can be a very enlightening and entertaining experience.
[0:58] It's certainly not dull or dreary or drab. It's not a dreary or drab time of the day. Truth be told, it's probably the most demanding time of the day. Because with three hungry boys and a baby to feed, there are many demands and it's never short of drama.
[1:14] But it's not the demands or the drama around the dinner table that makes sitting there entertaining or even enlightening. It's actually the discussion.
[1:25] The discussion around the dinner table. I don't know what it's like for you around your dinner table, whether there's silence and the sound of chewing, or there's constant and continual table talk throughout the meal.
[1:37] I've been told by other parents that the sound becomes silent when they start attending the Nicholson and move into the teenage phase.
[1:48] But there's no sign of that happening at the moment. Because the usual pattern is that after discussing all the dilemmas of the day and the updates from the high school and Scotland of Shia, the content of the table talk always seems to turn to football.
[2:04] Whether it's playground football or even professional football, there's all this table talk. Then there's the talk of the transfer market, how much this player cost, and who scored a bysea into top bins.
[2:19] I told you it's enlightening. It's an entertaining experience. Sometimes it's actually very exhausting listening to it all, which is why I'm thankful for Sundays. Because during Sunday dinner, I always get to ask the question, what was the minister preaching about today?
[2:37] Or what was the kids' address about this morning? Just to see if they were actually listening. Of course, Jesus didn't need to ask any of these questions at his dinner table with his disciples.
[2:50] Because the disciples, they were listening. But as they listened to what Jesus was saying, they didn't like what they were hearing. They didn't like what Jesus had to say.
[3:02] Last night at our preparatory service, we were looking at the previous chapter, John chapter 13. And we saw there in John's gospel that it's, John chapter 13 is a transition.
[3:12] It's a turning point in his gospel. John's gospel. John is introducing a new section of scripture, often referred to as the upper room discourse, where it commences with the Passover in chapter 13, and then it concludes with the high priestly prayer of Jesus in chapter 17.
[3:31] But over this communion season, as I mentioned last night, I don't want us to think about the upper room discourse. I want us to think about this upper room discussion. I want us to listen in to the table talk at the Lord's table.
[3:43] Because when you read through these chapters, chapter 13, 14, and 15, you can see that there's a lot of table talk around the Lord's table. Because there was table talk before the Lord's supper, there was table talk during the Lord's supper, and there was table talk after the Lord's supper.
[4:01] In chapter 13, which we considered last night in our preparatory service, we said that there was table talk before the Lord's supper. John 13 was in many ways a preparatory service for the disciples, because they learned about sanctification, they learned about the importance of service, and they also learned about the need for separation.
[4:25] And it all happened as Jesus washed the disciples' feet. But when Jesus washed the disciples' feet, the disciples became worried.
[4:36] They became worried sitting at the Lord's table, worried that they weren't good enough, worried that they weren't worthy enough to even be at the Lord's table. But Jesus assured them that even washed and worried disciples are welcome to sit at the Lord's table.
[4:54] And so in John 13, there was table talk before the Lord's supper. And now we come to John 14, and we're looking here and seeing that there's table talk during the Lord's supper.
[5:06] And then God willing, this evening, we're going to look at table talk after the Lord's supper in John chapter 15. And so this morning, we're seeing table talk during the Lord's supper.
[5:17] And what we hear in this table talk is Jesus speaking and Jesus showing. Jesus speaking and Jesus showing.
[5:29] That's our two headings this morning. So first of all, Jesus speaking. Jesus speaks in verse one. He says, Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God.
[5:40] Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms or mansions. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, you may be also.
[6:00] Now, as you know, we have four Gospels. And there are four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
[6:10] And they give to us four eyewitness testimonies from four different perspectives. But the interesting thing is only two of the Gospel writers were first-hand witnesses.
[6:22] That's Matthew and our Gospel here, John. The other two, Mark and Luke, they were what you would call second-hand witnesses because Mark used Peter as his eyewitness for writing his Gospel.
[6:38] And Luke, as he explains in the introduction to his Gospel, he used many witnesses to create and to compile his Gospel account. And so out of two, out of the four Gospel writers, there are only two of them actually sitting at the Lord's table and listening in to the table talk during the Lord's Supper.
[6:58] What's interesting is that Matthew's eyewitness account, so Matthew's sitting at the table too, his eyewitness account, where he writes in his own Gospel, he gives a detailed description of what Jesus did.
[7:11] John gives a detailed description of what Jesus said. So Matthew tells us in his Gospel that as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, he broke it.
[7:23] And he gave it to his disciples, and he said to them, Take, eat. This is my body. And then Jesus took a cup. After giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink all of it, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
[7:43] So as an eyewitness, Matthew, who's sitting at the Lord's table, he gives a detailed description of what Jesus did during the Lord's Supper, where Jesus, he broke bread, he shared wine with his disciples in order to encourage his disciples to remember his broken body and his shed blood on the cross.
[8:05] And needless to say, Matthew's description, his eyewitness description of what Jesus did is important and integral to what we are doing here this morning. But as you can see from John's Gospel, his first-hand perspective, he's sitting right beside Jesus.
[8:23] That's what we saw from the previous chapter. He's sitting right beside Jesus. So he has this first-hand eyewitness account of what Jesus said. Matthew tells us what Jesus did, but John tells us what Jesus said during the Lord's Supper.
[8:38] Because for John, the Lord's Supper isn't just about sitting there. The Lord's Supper isn't just about sitting with the disciples at the Lord's table. No, for John, the Lord's Supper is where Jesus speaks.
[8:53] And Jesus speaks to his disciples. He speaks to them personally. That's something we often need to remember. It's not just about sitting at the Lord's table.
[9:04] It's remembering that Jesus is speaking to us at the Lord's table. But notice, Jesus doesn't speak to their head. He speaks to their heart.
[9:17] Verse 1, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. As the disciples, as they all came to sit at the Lord's table and partake of the Lord's Supper, there were lots of things going on in their head.
[9:34] They were thinking a lot. Especially because Jesus had repeatedly said to his disciples, on the way to the upper room, even in the days leading up to this moment, Jesus had said to his disciples, on more than one occasion, he had said, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.
[9:58] And they'd heard Jesus say this, but they weren't listening. And now with it all becoming a reality, there were lots of things going on in their head.
[10:10] They were thinking quite a lot because, well, they felt that Jesus was going to desert them. Jesus had told them he's going to the Father. What's more, that they had just heard in the previous chapter, we saw it last night, they just heard that there's a defector among them.
[10:24] One of them's going to betray Jesus. And then Peter, he's also going to deny Jesus before the cock crows tomorrow morning. And so you look at these disciples and there's so much going on in their minds and they're dismayed.
[10:40] There are so many doubts and they're wondering what's going to happen. And so as the disciples come and sit at the Lord's table and partake of the Lord's supper, which is ultimately their last supper together, there's chaos.
[10:55] Chaos in their lives and confusion in their minds because they can't understand what Jesus is doing and they can't understand where Jesus is going.
[11:05] and they feel that all of this has just come upon them out of the blue because they never saw it coming and they never thought it would actually happen even though Jesus said it time and time again.
[11:17] And they feel they're not prepared for it. They feel they're not ready for this moment. And yet you look at it and throughout his entire ministry, Jesus had been preparing his disciples for this very moment.
[11:31] But you know what's so beautiful about Jesus? and we should always see the way Jesus deals with his disciples. He doesn't tell his disciples and he's told his disciples this is happening, it's going to happen.
[11:43] But he doesn't tell his disciples, you know guys, get a grip, pull yourselves together, pull your socks up and start listening. Jesus doesn't say that to them because he knows how they feel.
[11:58] He knows how they feel. He has been touched with a feeling of all their infirmities. Jesus knows that the disciples have these feelings of anxiety, these worries, these doubts, these feelings of frustration.
[12:14] Where is Jesus going? Who's going to betray him? Why is Peter going to deny him before morning? There's all this worry. They're wondering what the future is going to hold. And the disciples, they're all in disarray.
[12:26] They're all dismayed. They're all doubting. And this is all during the Lord's Supper as they sit at the Lord's table for the first time.
[12:40] And you know, I was thinking, well, if that's how the disciples felt at the first Lord's Supper, it raises the question, doesn't it? How are you this morning?
[12:52] How are you this morning as you sit at the Lord's table? And those who are going to partake of the Lord's Supper? How are you this morning sitting behind the table watching on?
[13:06] Refusing to partake of the Lord's Supper? What's going on in your head? What is it that you're really thinking? The Lord knows what you're thinking. I don't know what you're thinking, but the Lord knows what you're thinking.
[13:19] And you know, there are many things that can distract our minds and divert our attention away from what's right in front of us. And yet, the amazing thing about this chapter, and I love this chapter, because Jesus doesn't speak to our head.
[13:35] He speaks to our heart. He speaks to our heart and He says to us so lovingly, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
[13:50] My friend, Jesus is speaking and He's saying to you this morning, let not your heart be troubled. You already trust in God. Now it's time to trust in me.
[14:02] Trust in me. And you know, what better words to be told when you feel that your world has been turned upside down? What better voice to hear when life takes that unexpected twist and turn?
[14:16] What better words, what better voice than the words and voice of Jesus? Because the reality is no one else really knows what we're going through and what's going on inside or what we're facing.
[14:29] No one else really knows apart from Jesus. And there's no greater comfort than to have Jesus come alongside us in our moments of difficulty and dismay and doubting and even despair and for Jesus to say to us softly and tenderly, let not your heart be troubled.
[14:48] you believe in God. Now it's time to start trusting in me. It shows such care, such compassion, such concern from this wonderful Savior.
[15:04] Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. And so as we listen in to the table talk around the Lord's table during the Lord's Supper, we hear Jesus speaking.
[15:18] But then we hear, secondly, Jesus showing. So Jesus speaking and then Jesus showing. Jesus showing. Look again at verse 1.
[15:29] Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many, I prefer, mansions. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you.
[15:42] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. So when Jesus speaks, he speaks lovingly, he speaks graciously, he speaks compassionately.
[15:58] But when he speaks, he then shows. And he shows how much he is providing for his disciples and how he is even preparing his disciples for what he has provided for them.
[16:11] Jesus has provided his disciples a place in the Father's house. The many rooms. The many mansions. And of course, it's an image, it's an illustration of heaven.
[16:26] Because Jesus promises to provide every one of his disciples a home in heaven. This world is not our home. It's just a passing place.
[16:37] We're only passing through. Jesus promises us in the gospel a home in heaven. But Jesus also promises his disciples that he's going ahead of them.
[16:48] He's going ahead of them to prepare for them a home in heaven. And you know, when you come to John 14, you have to see that it's actually quite unusual for Jesus to speak about heaven.
[17:02] Jesus often, didn't often speak about heaven. When you read through the gospels, you actually see that throughout his ministry, Jesus spoke more about hell than he did about heaven.
[17:15] And Jesus spoke more about hell, obviously, because he doesn't want anyone to go to hell. The Bible tells us that he's not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.
[17:30] But here at the Lord's table, around the Lord's supper, with his disciples, his disciples, both then and now, Jesus tells them that he's preparing a home for them in heaven.
[17:47] What's more is that Jesus is not only preparing a place for his disciples, he's also preparing his disciples for that place. So Jesus is not only preparing a place for us this morning, he's also preparing us for that place.
[18:04] Of course, the first preparation for the provision of a home in heaven was through the cruel cross of Calvary. But now Jesus, he's not only preparing a place for us, he's also preparing us for that place.
[18:17] He's working in our lives, he's begun that good work and he promises he will bring it on to completion. And so Jesus says, in my Father's house are many mansions.
[18:28] If it were not so, I would have told you this, but I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.
[18:43] And you know what I love about what Jesus says here? Is that Jesus' language of heaven is the language of a husband. Jesus' language of heaven is the language of a husband.
[19:00] And I say that because Jesus is showing us the promise a Jewish husband would give to his wife to be. And the disciples sitting there, they would know this language.
[19:11] They were Jews. They knew what Jesus was saying straight away, that Jesus' language of heaven is the language of a husband. Because when a Jewish man wanted to marry a Jewish woman, he would have to leave, say, his father's house is here.
[19:28] So he'd have to leave his father's house and go to the house of his prospective bride. And when he gets to the house of his prospective bride, he'd have to negotiate a price with his prospective father-in-law.
[19:42] He'd have to negotiate a price for his wife to be. And it'd be a price for her redemption, to buy her. The groom would also have to make promises to his father-in-law.
[19:53] He'd have to make promises to her that he would protect her, that he'd provide for her, that he'd look after her. And so once agreed, once it was all paid, the husband-to-be, he would hand over the ransom price.
[20:07] Once all that happened, they were then betrothed. They were engaged to get married. And because a redemption payment had been exchanged, an engagement was a really serious thing.
[20:20] Something that couldn't be easily broken off because there's money involved. In fact, an engagement was seen as the establishment of a contract, a marriage covenant.
[20:31] It was a binding promise. It was a promise of preparation. Because once the redemption price was paid, the groom would then leave this house where his wife-to-be was, and he would go back to his father's house.
[20:49] He would leave his fiancée behind, and he would go back to his father's house. And the groom would remain in his father's house until he had fulfilled his promise of preparing a place for her, a home for her to live in with his new wife.
[21:05] But the thing about the new home, the new home for the bride and the groom, it wasn't a new five-bedroom house with en suite bathrooms and all the walk-in wardrobes that you can imagine.
[21:17] No, their new home was going to be an extension, an extension to the father's house. It was going to be another room. That's why the ESV uses that word.
[21:29] But once the groom had prepared a place for his new bride, once it was all complete and ready, the groom would then leave his father's house for the second time, and he would come to the place where he had paid the ransom.
[21:45] He would come back for his bride. He would come to the house of his bride, and he would take his bride home, to his new home to be with himself.
[21:57] He would take his bride back to the father's house. And at the father's house, there would be this great marriage feast. There would be this great celebration of the homecoming of the bride and groom.
[22:10] And you know, that's what Jesus is showing us here. Because Jesus' language of heaven, it's the language of a husband. It's the language of the bridegroom. Because Jesus, as he explains time and time again in his parables and his preaching, he is the bridegroom.
[22:28] And his disciples, both then, as it is in the Gospels, and now, today, we're the bride. We're the church.
[22:39] That's who we are. That's who Jesus says we are. We are the bride. And our bridegroom, he came into this world the first time to negotiate a price, to pay a redemption price for us.
[22:55] More than that, he paid our redemption price and redeemed his bride, not with silver and gold, but by his own precious blood.
[23:08] And the wonder is that Jesus, our bridegroom, he has entered into this engagement with us. He has established a marriage covenant by the blood of his covenant. And today, we sit at the Lord's table and we partake of the Lord's supper.
[23:22] And Jesus, this is the amazing thing, Jesus is reminding us we're not only remembering his death, we are actually remembering the marriage covenant he has made with us.
[23:35] We're remembering the promises that he has made to his bride, the church. We're remembering the redemption that he has paid in order to bring us home to be with himself.
[23:48] And so he's not only preparing us for this place, he's preparing a place for us in heaven. And you know, it's such a beautiful image, such a beautiful illustration of Jesus' promise, his promise of protection, but also his promise of provision.
[24:05] And what's more, it ought to even affirm to us and assure us that as we gather around the Lord's table today and remember this marriage covenant, it should remind us and reassure to all of us that the Lord has not forsaken us.
[24:23] The Lord has not forgotten us. We often think he has. That's why we need the Lord's supper. That's why we need the Lord's table. We often think the Lord has forgotten and forsaken us, but the thing is he is faithful and he's faithful to his marriage covenant because he hasn't left us.
[24:41] He still loves us. As John said at the beginning of chapter 13, he has loved us to the very end. He still has this care and this compassion and this concern towards us as his bride.
[24:54] And that's why Jesus this morning wants to sit with us at his table and he wants to speak to us. And ultimately, he wants to show us that he is here in his supper.
[25:10] He is here in his supper and that his supper is a means of strengthening. His supper is a means of grace to strengthen and sustain our faith, to remind us and reassure us he hasn't forgotten his promises.
[25:24] He hasn't forgotten about his marriage covenant. No, he is preparing a place for us and ultimately he is preparing us for that place because he is the one who loved us and gave himself for us.
[25:41] So what is Jesus saying this morning? Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
[25:52] In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.
[26:05] I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. What a wonderful Savior we have.
[26:18] Well, may the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we give thanks this morning that Jesus is one who still speaks, that his voice has not fallen silent, that he is speaking to us and he is showing us of how much he has loved us, that he loved us and he gave himself for us.
[26:41] And help us, we pray, not to lose sight of it. Help us to be reassured and even to be reminded that as we remember the Lord's day, that he has made promises to us, that he has made a covenant with us, that he has promised to bring his bride home, to be with himself, and that we would all be part of the church of Jesus, that we would all belong to the bride and know that he is the one who loves us and gave himself for us.
[27:10] Do us good and we pray, continue with us, we ask, for we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Well, we now come to the part of the service.
[27:24] Welcome. It's nice to see you. We're coming to the part of the service which we often refer to as the fencing of the Lord's table. And I always want to be clear that I don't fence the Lord's table.
[27:34] The Lord fences the Lord's table because it's his table. It's not my table. It's not your table. It's not even a free church table. It is the Lord's table.
[27:45] And when the Lord fences his table, he always does it from his word. He tells us who should and who shouldn't sit at the Lord's table and partake of the Lord's supper.
[27:57] And that's certainly true for those who first sat at the Lord's table and partake of the Lord's supper. We saw last night in John chapter 13 in the preparatory service, Jesus even fenced the Lord's table there.
[28:11] He told Judas to leave. He told him to leave the upper room. He instructed the defector to leave. But he invited the disciples to sit, to sit and to eat.
[28:26] And even though these disciples, they were doubters, they were deserters, they were deniers, they were drifters, they were worried, but they were washed and they were welcome. And like you, my friend, they were still invited to sit and eat the supper.
[28:42] And that's what we see in this chapter in the upper room discussion because as we listen into the table talk of the Lord's table during the Lord's supper, Jesus is still speaking and Jesus is still showing, showing his disciples who he is.
[28:58] And as we said, Jesus, he doesn't speak to our head, he speaks to our heart. And as he speaks to our heart, look at verse 4. Jesus says, and you know the way to where I'm going.
[29:12] Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
[29:23] No one comes to the Father except through me. So Jesus is clear. He says, I'm not our way or our truth or our life. I'm not one way of many ways to God.
[29:37] I'm not one truth of many truths to follow. I'm not one of many lives that you could live. No, Jesus is, as he says himself, the way, the truth and the life.
[29:50] As someone once said, without the way, there is no going. Without the truth, there is no knowing. And without the life, there is no living. And my friend, it's when you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth to God and to the church, then and only then should you come and sit at the Lord's table and partake of the Lord's supper.
[30:16] And even though, like these disciples, you may feel like you're a doubter or a deserter or a denier or even a drifter in your faith, you're still invited. And you're invited because, as we said, the Lord's supper is a means of grace.
[30:31] It's a means to strengthen us and sustain us in our faith. Even when our faith is at its weakest and seems to be at its smallest, we're to come and we're to take and we're to eat and remember the Lord's death until he comes.
[30:48] So as we come to the Lord's table, we're going to sing in Psalm 118. And if there's anyone who loves the Lord and is not yet sitting at the Lord's table, please make yourself known to the elders and then come and sit at his table.
[31:04] So we're going to sing Psalm 118. If you have a blue psalm book, it's page 398. Psalm 118. We're singing from verse 15 down to the verse marked 21.
[31:23] Psalm 118. We're singing from verse 15. So page 398 in the blue psalm book. And we're singing down to verse 21.
[31:38] In dwellings of the righteous is heard the melody. 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.
[31:53] So we'll sing from verse 15 down to the verse marked 21. And we'll stand to sing if you're able to God's praise. in dwellings of the righteousỗi of the mightyEP.
[32:13] Is Mother's right hand Of joy and hell the Lord's right hand doth ever valiantly.
[32:32] The right hand of the mighty Lord exalted is on high.
[32:51] The right hand of the mighty Lord doth ever valiantly.
[33:07] I shall not die but live and shall the words of God discover.
[33:25] The Lord doth me just eyes soar but not to deck in no way.
[33:44] O set ye open unto me the gates of righteousness.
[34:00] Then when I enter into death and I the Lord will bless.
[34:20] This is the gate of God by it. The just shall enter in.
[34:38] Thee will I praise for the meers.
[34:49] And has my safety been. Well as you know this morning we've been listening in to the table talk during the Lord's Supper.
[35:16] We've heard Jesus speaking. He has been speaking not to our head but to our heart. And he's been saying to us let not your heart be troubled.
[35:28] Trust in God but trust also in me. Jesus has not only been speaking we also saw that he has been showing. He has been showing us that he's preparing a place for us in heaven.
[35:41] And he's also preparing us for that place. Jesus has also been speaking and showing us that no one can enter the Father's house without believing.
[35:53] And confessing that he is the way. He is the truth. And he is the life. But as we keep listening in to the table talk during the Lord's Supper.
[36:04] However Jesus is still speaking. And Jesus is still showing. Because Jesus is speaking and showing us the Father.
[36:16] Jesus is speaking and showing us the Father. He says in verse 7. If you had known me you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.
[36:29] Philip said to him Lord show us the Father and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him have I been with you so long and you still do not know me Philip. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
[36:42] How can you say show us the Father. I love those words. Jesus speaks and he says whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
[36:55] Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. The disciples saw Jesus at the Lord's Supper. They saw him physically. They saw him personally. They saw Jesus even in the Supper.
[37:08] Because just like we see Jesus in the Supper. Because he's here. This is his table. This is his Supper. These elements that the children were reminding us earlier.
[37:19] They speak to us and show us Jesus. They show us his broken body. The bread speaks of his broken body. The wine speaks of his shed blood.
[37:31] So these elements they speak to us. They remind us that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. We see Jesus in the Supper. But there's a sense in which we also see the Father too.
[37:45] We see the Father in the Supper. And we should see the Father in the Supper. Because as Jesus said, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
[37:57] And we see the Father in the Supper because ultimately without the love of the Father there would be no Supper. Without the love of the Father there would be no Supper.
[38:09] Because it was God the Father, as we know, John 3.16. God the Father so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
[38:25] God the Father has demonstrated and displayed his love towards us. And that whilst we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so Jesus says to us, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
[38:40] And so my Christian friend, we see Jesus in his Supper. And we see the Father in his Supper. And so as we take these elements of bread and wine, they actually compel us.
[38:53] They call us. They invite us to do what John says in his letter. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.
[39:05] That we should be called. We should be called the children. The children of God. My friend, Jesus is speaking to us.
[39:15] And he is showing us himself and his Father in his Supper. We now read the scriptural warrant for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
[39:26] Everything we do has to be according to the Bible. So our scriptural warrant is taken from 1 Corinthians 11 and chapter, verse 23.
[39:37] Where Paul writes, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. That the Lord Jesus in 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.
[39:53] Do this in remembrance of me. 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.
[40:06] For 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, command, and the example of Jesus, let us give thanks together.
[40:22] Our Father in heaven, we give thanks for this precious moment in life where we're able to come aside and sit together with the Lord at this table and be reminded that we see him in his supper, that we see him in these elements of bread and wine.
[40:42] And we thank thee for them. We thank thee, O Lord, that they remind us and they reassure us of a marriage promise. They reassure us that he is faithful to every promise, that he will never leave us and he will never forsake us, that whatever we go through in life, whatever comes our way, whatever providence is on our page, Lord, help us to be assured that this good shepherd is with us and his goodness and his mercy are following us all the days of our life.
[41:14] But Lord, we give thanks that we not only see Jesus in the supper, we are able to see our Father and to know that we are the children of God, to know that we are loved with an everlasting love, a covenant love that never lets go.
[41:29] And help us, we pray, to be assured that even though we may faint and we may fail, God doth fail us never, that he is our hope, he is our portion, he is our strength.
[41:41] And we pray that even our gathering around the Lord's table and partaking of the Lord's supper today, there would be a means of grace to us to strengthen us and sustain us along life's narrow way to keep ever looking to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.
[42:00] Bless us together then, we pray. Go before us, we ask for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, he took bread.
[42:12] And when he had given thanks, he broke it. He broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[42:27] 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 of me.
[42:49] And as Paul writes, for as often as you eat this bread and you drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Amen.
[43:11] Well, this morning we've been listening in to the table talk during what was the first Lord's Supper. Jesus, as we said, he's been speaking not to our head, but to our heart.
[43:24] He's been telling us, let not your heart be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. He's also been showing us that he's preparing a place for us in heaven.
[43:35] And he's preparing us for that place. He's been showing us that he's the way, the truth, and the life. He's been showing us himself in his supper through the elements of bread and wine.
[43:48] And he's been showing us the Father's love for us in providing the supper. Because as Jesus said, whoever has seen me has seen the Father. But then toward the end of this upper room discussion, Jesus says, later on in the chapter, he speaks about, he says to the disciples, let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
[44:14] Jesus concludes his table talk the way he had commenced it, by speaking not to their head, but to their heart. But as Jesus concludes, he not only shows himself and the Father, he also shows the Holy Spirit.
[44:33] He promises to his disciples that when he returns, when he returns to his Father to prepare a place for his people, he said, the Father will send the helper, the comforter, the paraclete, the one who comes alongside.
[44:50] The Father will send the Holy Spirit, says Jesus, in my name. And he will tell you and teach you all things. But more than that, Jesus also promises that the Spirit will be a spirit of peace.
[45:07] He'll be a spirit of shalom because he promises peace with God and even the peace of God. You know, when you read the end of John 14, and I'd encourage you to read the chapter again, Jesus actually comes to the conclusion of the Lord's Supper.
[45:25] And he leaves the Lord's Supper by telling his disciples, go in peace. Go in peace. Peace be with you.
[45:37] What greater encouragement to have at the Lord's Supper. You know, in my mind, I went back to the Aaronic blessing where Aaron had to pronounce over the people the Lord bless you and keep you.
[45:51] The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Go in peace.
[46:03] And then Jesus says, right at the end of the chapter, arise. Let us go hence. Well, may the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray.
[46:14] Our Father in heaven, we give thanks for gathering together this morning and being able to gather around the Lord's table and even to partake of the Lord's Supper.
[46:26] And we pray that we would know the peace of God which passes all understanding. That we would leave this place being assured that Jesus says, go in peace and that the Lord has given us his peace.
[46:39] And we pray that those who are watching on, that they too would know not only the peace of God but peace with God. That they would know it through Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life.
[46:52] Lord, bless us together and we pray. Lead us and guide us in thy truth. Sanctify us through the truth for thy word is truth and do us good, we ask, for Jesus' sake.
[47:03] Amen. Well, we're going to bring our service to a conclusion. This morning, we're going to sing the words of Psalm 72. Psalm 72, it's in the Scottish Psalter so if you have the blue psalm book it's on page 314.
[47:19] Psalm 72, it's a psalm written either by Solomon or about Solomon but it speaks of the greater than Solomon the Lord Jesus because it's only Jesus who has a name that shall endure forever.
[47:42] So Psalm 72, we're singing from verse 17 down to the end of the psalm. His name forever shall endure, last like the sun it shall. Men shall be blessed in him and blessed.
[47:53] All nations shall him call. So we're singing Psalm 72 from verse 17 down to the end of the psalm and we'll stand to sing if you're able to God's praise. His name forever shall endure last like the sun it shall.
[48:23] Men shall be blessed blessed in him and blessed all nations shall in call the blessed be the Lord our God the God of Israel everyone glory our Lord toth wondrous worth victorian hour and damnjan And blessed be His glorious name to all eternity.
[49:38] The whole earth is glorified. Amen. So let it be.
[49:58] 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.