[0:00] We rejoice in that. Take your Bibles and go into the Gospel according to Mark.! We're back in Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14, we'll pick up where we left off.
[0:11] Actually, we'll pick up where we left off not the last Sunday we were here, but it was a Wednesday night that we looked at the first 11 verses of the 14th chapter. That was the Wednesday night preceding Easter service.
[0:25] We looked at that because it fit real well into the context of the week. So we will be picking up Mark 14 starting in verse 12. We'll be reading from verse 12 down to verse 31 this morning, and that will be our text.
[0:38] So if you are there, and if you are physically able and desire to do so, would you join with me as we stand together and we read the Word of God found in Mark 14. Picking up in verse 12, we'll read down to verse 31.
[0:51] It's a very familiar set of scriptures to you, one that I am certain you have read and heard quite often, and as always, the challenge is not to let the familiarity with the Word of God remove the power of it when we read it.
[1:04] May we read it afresh and anew. The Word says, On the first day of unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, his disciples said to him, Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?
[1:18] And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. And wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, The teacher says, Where is my guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples?
[1:32] And he himself will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Prepare for us there. The disciples went out and came to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
[1:44] When it was evening, he came with the twelve, and as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, Truly I say to you that one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.
[1:56] They began to be grieved and to say to him, One by one, surely not I. And he said to them, It is one of the twelve, one who dips with me in the bowl. For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of him.
[2:07] But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. While they were eating, he took some bread, and after a blessing, he broke it and gave it to them and said, Take it, this is my body.
[2:22] And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
[2:39] After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, You will all fall away because it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered.
[2:50] But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. But Peter said to him, Even though all will fall away, yet I will not. And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny me three times.
[3:07] Peter kept saying insistently, Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they all were saying the same thing also. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day.
[3:19] We praise you for the glorious opportunity of gathering together as a church. And Lord, we praise you for the privilege of being able to open up the word of God, to publicly read it and to hear it.
[3:34] And Lord, to see it with our own eyes. And so Lord, as we have done so now, we pray that you would speak to us as we have presented ourselves before you and say, Here we are, O God.
[3:46] Speak to every heart, every mind, every concern, every need. May the word penetrate to the very depths of our being and may it overcome every distraction that would impede us from hearing a word from you.
[4:00] May you grow us, mature us, to become more and more like you, Lord Jesus, for your glory and honor. We ask it all in your sweet and precious name. Amen. You may be seated.
[4:12] I know, based upon the calendar of our year, that it may seem that we have our events a little bit out of order.
[4:23] That is, it may have been a little bit more fitting to look at these things prior to our Easter service. And even as I was praying through over the last several weeks, I thought, Lord, it would have been really good.
[4:35] Somehow or another, you could have worked it out. Whereas I preached through the gospel of Mark, I'm not just so you understand, I'm not that good at administration. So I am not smart enough, nor good enough, nor really good at planning enough, to plan my preaching calendar, to say that by the time we get to Easter, I'll be looking at the crucifixion.
[4:56] That's just not my, not my way, not my manner. The gentleman who actually ordained me, actually licensed me first, later on ordained to me, served here as an interim pastor prior to me.
[5:08] You'll see his picture on the wall, Brother Sidney Gibson. Some of you know Brother Sidney. Brother Sidney was so good. He would go out, and he would go on a camping trip, a week-long camping trip every year, and he would isolate himself next to a river.
[5:22] And as he would sit there and fish and camp by himself, he would plan the entire year's preaching calendar. It's amazing. One of the most amazing things I've ever seen. He would have Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
[5:34] He would have every bit of it planned, and was so well organized. I didn't get that from him. He told me how he did it, and I said, well, that's great, Brother. I don't have that.
[5:45] So I'm more of a, Lord, where would you have me to be at? And when he puts books on me, I was like, well, we'll see how it works out, and we'll see how it lays out. And sometimes I think, well, I'll preach the next five verses, and it ends up being one verse.
[5:57] Sometimes I think it'll be one, and it ends up being ten. So it would have been well if we had looked at these things maybe prior to Easter Sunday, but in hindsight, it's maybe even better that we're looking at it after Easter Sunday.
[6:12] For it is a reminder, much of what Christ is trying to establish here in the text before us, that we celebrate every week when we gather together the resurrection, the reason and the meaning of our gathering together on the first day of the week, on Sundays, is a celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
[6:33] It is a weekly reminder that sure, the Easter event happened on a historical day, but it is to be remembered each and every day in the life of the believer because it did not just transform the calendar, it changes our lives.
[6:48] And it is a reality that is to constantly be before us. And if the resurrection is to be before us at all times, then the suffering that preceded the resurrection is something that ought to be a reality in our minds on a daily basis.
[7:04] And as we look at this, we see this final night when Christ is gathering together. So much happens on that night. A night which is often titled the Last Supper.
[7:16] A night where they gather together for this feast. It is a night of grand teaching, a night of instruction, a night of preparation. If we were to read the three synoptic gospels, we'll get a fuller picture of exactly what Mark tells us here.
[7:30] But then if we were to go and to read the Gospel of John, we would see that John really fills in a lot of the gaps. John dedicates a number of chapters to this very night. We know that there is events that happen at the synoptics do not include for us, like the washing of the disciples' feet, the teaching that Christ gives them, this one grand teaching that he gives them right before they go into the Garden of Gethsemane.
[7:55] We know that as they leave Jerusalem after this final gathering together as a group and they go across the Kidron Valley that they will be singing a hymn, more than likely the Hillel, which would be Psalm 18.
[8:08] And they will be fellowshipping over this reality. And it is a psalm that anticipates the coming kingdom of God and celebrates the forgiveness and the restoration of his rule.
[8:21] And it is going to be a night of remembrance. We will see that when he gets to the Garden of Gethsemane, the suffering and really the abandonment to his own desires that our Savior has.
[8:36] We could read, when we get into the Gospel of John, the High Priestly Prayer is really what I consider the Lord's Prayer recorded for us in John 17.
[8:47] The one that is quite often, just if I'm a stickler for words because in my world, words matter. So what is often referred to as the Lord's Prayer, I believe, ought to be entitled more the Model Prayer.
[8:58] The only recorded prayer that we have of the Lord of any extent is John 17. That's the Lord praying. But when he gives you what is often referred to as the Lord's Prayer, he says, in this manner you should pray.
[9:10] And it is a model prayer. Now I'm not going to be one that's going to split hairs over and get upset at you if you call it that. I'm just giving you something to think about. But what we see here on this last night, this night that is so important to the events that are about to take place, for it is preparing the gathering together of his disciples and the twelve, it is preparing them for what is about to transpire.
[9:36] But I want you to notice just a number of things from our text that we will also fill in a little bit from the other Gospels and I would encourage you to go back and read them. Things that are of utmost importance that take place on that night.
[9:50] The first thing that we notice is the timing of the event. Each and every one of the Gospels introduced this event with a time stamp. That is, each one of them, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, each of these men as they were moved by the Spirit of God to pen the Word of God were so moved in writing the Word of God to put a time stamp upon that event to tell us that it took place at a certain time.
[10:21] Now that's not incidental. It is absolutely essential and it is essential because we are reminded that the Bible tells one great story and it is the fitting together of that story that is so astounding to us.
[10:36] It ought to overwhelm us and say, this is not the great writing of a man but this is the very Word of God that is breathing and is living and active and powerful and it is literally God breathed.
[10:49] And it tells us here in our text that on the first day of unleavened bread, it is the beginning of the Passover celebration. It is the day when it tells us that when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed.
[11:05] Now if we were to go and read all three synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they would say it in the same way. If we were to read John, starting in John chapter 13, it would say, and before the Passover, on the beginning of the first day, it was the day of preparation for the Passover.
[11:23] And I'll tell you this because we want to be people who know the Word and understand the Word and can defend the Word because we say, well, which one is it? Did these matters happen before or did these matters happen after?
[11:35] And it is a very narrow window. For there was a day of preparation in which you gathered together with your family in order to prepare yourself to have the Passover.
[11:46] And it was the first day of unleavened bread in which the Passover feast was the second day of the actual celebration. And it was on that first day, going into the second day, in which the Lamb was slain.
[11:57] And if we were to get into all the Jewish calendars, it would be a little too technical and we really don't need to get into it here. But it was the exact time of gathering together for the intentional purpose of remembering God's deliverance of His people.
[12:14] The Passover is something that is established for us all the way back in the book of Exodus. And it is a time when God's people who were born into captivity were crying out in their enslavement under a weight that they could not free themselves from.
[12:30] And we are reminded of this event because it says God heard their cry, God responded to their cry, and God raised up one to deliver them from their misery.
[12:41] And He gave them the Passover event to be a yearly reminder that God took notice of them and that by the blood of the Lamb, the death angel passed over and God delivered them from that which was more powerful than them, something they had no ability to deliver themselves from.
[13:00] And it is in that gathering together, now we have seen the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament. And in the Old Testament, it's referred to as the Lord's Passover. And the New Testament, it's referred to as the Passover of the Jews.
[13:12] And that is, by the time of Christ, it had become a national holiday. It had become something that was no longer such a reminder of what God had done, but rather was becoming a distinguishing mark of who we are.
[13:26] And when the focus moves beyond who He is to who we are, then we have hijacked something for the wrong reason. We don't need a reminder of who we are.
[13:36] We need a reminder of who He is because apart from Him, we are really nothing. And when it became the Passover of the Jews, it was more of a national celebration than a heavenly reminder.
[13:48] It was, we are a distinct people. We are unique people. We are a people set apart rather than, He is the one who delivered us when we were not a people. He is the one who established us when we were nothing.
[13:59] He is the one who raised us up and called us out and led us out of captivity and into the promised land. You say, oh, I'm praise God that's not about me. Careful, my friend, too often, even our church identity becomes more of a personal reflection than it is a heavenly reality.
[14:17] Be careful of saying, well, this is who I am. Who we are is we are sinners saved by the grace of God through the life of Jesus Christ, the life, death, and burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, O Lord and Savior.
[14:31] We are deserving of judgment and hell and apart from him we are not a people. But in Christ we are the people for the heavenly kingdom, for his glory and our good. Be careful of putting a time stamp of who we are in the place of a thing that ought to remind us of who he is.
[14:50] But we notice the timing. One thing, the timing of the event, one reason the timing of the event is so important is because you need to understand that throughout all of this, Christ is absolutely in control.
[15:06] If you were to read the gospel of Matthew, you will find in this event, on the first day of the unleavened bread, his disciples said to him, where shall we prepare to have the Passover? He says, you will go into the city and you will find a man carrying a pitcher of water, something that would stand out like a sore thumb.
[15:20] If I had to guess right now, maybe some of you ladies have noticed, maybe I almost guarantee that none of you men have noticed that I have a band-aid on my pinky and the reason is is that men never notice those things and that's okay. Now some of you aren't going to be able to quit looking at it.
[15:31] But one thing I've noticed with granddaughters is I smashed it the other day between rocks just so I can tell you. Our granddaughters actually came over that night and said, one of them said, Pop-Pop, what happened to your finger? I said, well, I smashed it and it was just wine.
[15:43] And I'll tell you, the rest of the night she was there, she could not get over this reality that something was going on with my finger and she kept just grabbing it and it was really very much hurting at that time. And she kept grabbing it and saying, Pop-Pop, what's wrong with this finger?
[15:55] And I said, well, it was doing okay until you grabbed it. And she was wanting to show everybody, look, Pop-Pop's fingers hurt because why? It stood out. It was something completely different. She noticed. Boys and men, we don't notice those things.
[16:06] That's okay. We don't see it and it's all right. You're okay. You'll deal with it. But what we notice here is when Jesus gives them a sign, you'll find a man carrying a pitcher of water on his head. That is something that would stand out like a sore thumb.
[16:17] Why? Because men didn't carry pitchers of water on their head. That was, women did that. It was a unique sign and he told them, you'll find this man and you will follow him. Now, in Matthew, it tells us something really important here because when they were to get to the house that the man was going to, we don't know if this was prearranged by Christ.
[16:33] We don't know if this was a sign. We just honestly don't know or we don't know if the reality that Christ in his sovereignty knew they would encounter a man carrying a pitcher of water and said, go to that because that man will go to a house that the owner of that house has a wonderful upper room.
[16:47] I'm more compelled to lean towards the latter than I am the former but he could have very well set all this up beforehand. We don't know. But all that we do know is that when Jesus gave them an unexplainable thing to do that his word was absolutely true.
[17:01] I mean, could you imagine being the disciples and saying, like we're really going to go into a town and find a man carrying a pitcher of water this time of day to a house that's going to have a furnished upper room. But what Christ asked them to do absolutely came true for the word of Christ is trustworthy even if it seems unlikely in our circumstance.
[17:17] But what we notice is that when they get there to get to the owner of the house, this is what Jesus says in Matthew, tell the owner of the house, my time is about to come.
[17:29] My time is drawing near. The word of Christ is, my time is drawing near. And then it tells us in John chapter 13, and Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, said to his disciples, understand this.
[17:53] Of the dying of Christ. All four gospels tell us that the day Jesus was crucified was the day of preparation.
[18:06] All four. It tells us that it was the day of preparation. Do a little quick word study on it and read all your gospels and see. And what does that mean?
[18:16] That is the day of preparation for the Sabbath. The day of preparation for the Sabbath. The religious leaders couldn't go into the praetorium. Why? Because they had to stay holy so that they could keep the Passover meal for it was the day of preparation.
[18:28] Why was the tomb? Why was Jesus laid in the tomb in haste? For it was the day of preparation, right? All of this reality. Some say, well, that just means it's the day of preparation for the Sabbath. So the sun is setting.
[18:39] We can't do any work. But there is the day of preparation for the high Sabbath, which means the next day was the actual day of Passover. This is why the religious leaders couldn't go in before in the praetorium because they would be unclean.
[18:52] They would not be able to keep the Passover meal. You say, Pastor, why does this matter? Because the lamb had to be slain on the day of preparation. And if he is the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world to take away the sin of man, as John the Baptist said, there is one day that that lamb could be slain on the calendar.
[19:10] And that's the day of preparation. Notice the timing. Not only is he in absolute control of the event, he is absolutely fulfilling every Old Testament picture of the event.
[19:26] It is the prophetic fulfillment of the Old Testament realities that is found in Christ, in Christ alone. Notice the timing. Secondly, notice the treachery that happens at this last gathering.
[19:44] As he has this last time with his disciples, he tells us in verse 17 that when evening came, he came with the twelve. He came with what? The twelve.
[19:54] Right? The twelve. They're all gathered together. And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.
[20:06] Now we know from John that by the time Jesus declares this statement that he had already recognized that Judas was going to be the one who would betray him.
[20:16] We know that Satan had already filled Judas. We also know that Jesus had already girded his loins with a cloth and washed the feet of Judas. We know all of these things had happened. But after the washing of the feet, after all these things, and he's reclining at the table in this moment of intimate fellowship for that's what the table means.
[20:35] It is a time of being together. It is a time of easing down and kind of letting your guard off. That's why I say table fellowship is so important. I love eating meals around the table.
[20:47] I love having people around the table. Why? Because something about table fellowship causes us to kind of let our guards down. And we can talk and we can linger and there's nothing wrong with lingering around the table.
[20:57] There's nothing wrong with just hanging out. And what we see here is during this time Jesus says, truly I say to you, one of you will betray me. Now that's really compelling. And it's compelling because Judas had went out in secret and he had conspired together in hiding with the religious leaders.
[21:16] And as far as he knew, no one knew about it. There was all this plotting and scheming that's going on in the background after this alabaster vial had been broken and the oil had been poured upon his body.
[21:27] And there's all these things that are done in the shadows. But what is happening is Christ is bringing to the light the treachery that has been taking place in the shadows for he fully knows.
[21:38] He's not going to be caught off guard by anything. No one in the room understands it. No one knows what's going on. We have already seen the reality that Satan uses what is already internally inside Judas and he uses him and brings it a little further than he ever thought.
[21:53] He thought maybe it would be for monetary gain. He thought maybe it would be for some other money. motives and we can kind of get into all that. But what we have is that Judas had this sin problem that was residing within him for he was pilfering the money box and Satan took it a little further than he ever thought.
[22:09] But yet Jesus was fully aware of it. And the greatest tragedy in this is that he makes this declaration that it is one who dips his bread with me in the bowl.
[22:19] Now that is not just a way of giving a sign. Really the wording here is that it is someone that is so close to me and so near to me that we're in true fellowship.
[22:31] I mean we're eating together. In the culture of Christ to betray someone that you had just sat down to eat supper with was the greatest of atrocities.
[22:47] Because to be welcomed into that presence around the table was to be welcomed into the inner circle. It is to be drawn near and to betray that is the greatest of tragedies.
[23:03] So what does this tell us? Be careful that we do not trust in our own abilities. That just because we're near that we're here. Be careful that we don't get too lax.
[23:21] That we cry out as the psalmist says search me oh God help me to know my desperate ways and my wicked thoughts. May we be those that just because we are welcomed in some of the scariest passages of scripture are found here even when Jesus says not all who say to me Lord, Lord not all those who say the right things not all those who seemingly did the right things will be given entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
[23:51] And it's not something that is to lead us to doubt our salvation but rather as Paul says to work out our salvation but how does he say to work it out? With fear and trembling.
[24:04] To say but what if I'm not in a place of desperation it is not I don't I think I believe in the reality and let's just go ahead and settle this I believe in the assurance of salvation I believe in the security of salvation I believe that once you are genuinely saved you are eternally saved that nothing can take you out of the hand of the father neither death nor height nor powers nor principalities are there nothing there is no spiritual darkness that can cause you out there and someone say well if I jump out of there and I've answered this before well what if I choose listen if Satan himself can't pull you out of the hand of the savior who do you think you are that you can jump out?
[24:43] but I also know the reality that those that are in the hand always want to make sure they're in the hand because there's a reality that comes from the conviction and the presence of the Holy Spirit that says but Lord I'm still trusting in you Lord I know I'm still trusting in you and Lord there's this longing and this anticipation that I want to be right with you the ones that scare me the most are the ones that oh yeah I did that one time before I said well where are you now I took care of that a long time ago well you don't take care of something and then just move on you enter into a relationship and you go wow I want to stay there I want to hold on to that listen there was a time when Judas took care of it he joined the right club he joined the right crew he was even put in a prominent position little did he know he was the son of perdition appointed to that day and time we understand that but little did he know that Satan was going to use what was internally in him that was never addressed to take him further than he ever thought he would go he knew exactly what he was doing well if he did why was there the response to the tragedy again where he took the money and he threw it back to the feet and said
[25:58] I didn't want that to happen and he went and hung! so what does that tell us work out your salvation with fear and trembling and say Lord I trust your word I'm not doubting your word but what I do is I doubt my own abilities I doubt my own efforts I doubt my own goodness but the word of God is true brother Mike said it earlier be in the word why because if you're not you're beginning to doubt your own abilities and your own efforts I don't have confidence that I'm saved because some night shortly before my 21st birthday I hit my knees at 201 Canova Park Drive in Shelbyville if you were looking at the house it used to be a yellow house it's so long ago now the color of the house has actually changed it's white if you were to look at it there's a window on the right side of the porch and inside that window at the foot of our knees and I cried out and I said
[27:08] Lord I give you my life my confidence is not found in the reality that I could take you and park you in front of that house and show you the window because since that day my efforts at times have fallen woefully short my confidence is found in the reality that the word of God tells me that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved it is the assurance of the word not the abilities of my work and there are times where the enemy sits on the shoulder and I say Lord am I genuinely saved you know what I do not do I do not go back and say well tell me all the good and bad you've done Billy Joe how much effort have you put into it for all of my righteousness is like filthy rags what do I do I go back to the word of God and when I open up the word of God I say but Lord it says right here and since it says it
[28:10] I believe it and that settles it as Billy Graham used to say and there's the reality Lord I find within me the wickedness that is present within every man and I find a desperation just as tragic as the one found in the life of Judas Iscariot but what I find Lord is that your word tells me that if I trust in you and not in my own abilities that you will not fail me so my confidence and my assurance is found there be careful of the tragedy around the table third notice the testimony that he gave them in this night of preparation Jesus established one of the two great ordinances that we observe as a church the first being baptism the second being that of the Lord's supper and tells us that while they were eating by the time the testimony here is given
[29:10] Judas Iscariot has already departed we can reconcile that with the rest of the gospels Judas has already left because Jesus says what you do do quickly and he left while they were eating he took some bread and after blessing it he broke it and gave it to them and said take it this is my body and when he had taken a cup and given things he gave it to them and they all drank from it and he said to them this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many so he gave them this wonderful testimony on a night of such tragic events on a night that was certain to be followed by confusion and uncertainty we know that they will leave in desperation and the next morning they will wake up not sure what's going on they will be confused to the utmost but on that night he gave them a testimony that would speak to them and it speaks to us today it is a testimony to the reality of his suffering he took that which was on the table that was to remind them of the sacrifice of Passover each portion of the meal had significance as they remembered the Passover event and he took that which was present before them and he gave it a fuller meaning he took the bread and he broke the bread in their presence it's important the breaking of the bread for it symbolized the breaking of the body that he would bear the weight of their sins and he took the cup some say that it was probably the third cup there were four different cups that they would drink that night took the third cup in a series of the cups that they would celebrate with and the fruit of the vine and he poured it out and he told them that this was the blood of the covenant that would be poured out for the many and he gave them this testimony this testimony that would resound within the core of their beings in the very early church and a testimony that would continue to speak and it testifies to the suffering of the Savior it testifies to the brutality that would befall him it testifies to the cost and expense of our sin the punishment that we are deserving but it also testifies to the reality that he's coming again for what does he say for I will not take of this until I drink it anew into the kingdom that the death would not be the last word it testifies to the reality that there will be a day where he will take it with them again now they didn't call this to mind if you remember in those dark days while he's in the tomb the spirit had not come to illuminate them but we have the illumination of the spirit not only do we remember his death but we also remember the promise attached to it there will be a day where I'll drink it with you anew and it testifies to the reality that he's coming again and it testifies even further to the reality that we will be with him in the kingdom those who know him as our
[32:07] Lord and Savior for he will not come back and drink it and eat it here but he will do it in the kingdom of heaven for those that are gathered with him there it is a testimony to the suffering it is a testimony to the coming and it is a testimony to the gathering of the saints and it tells us as it testifies this side of the kingdom that the weight of our sin is great the price of our redemption was the shedding of his blood but the hope of our enduring is that he's coming again and the promise for all eternity is that we will be with him to eat it anew but notice because I'm going to settle this one we're right here at this point we were going through our essential weights and we were looking at all the ordinances and the Baptist thought and if you were here on the Q&A night and I had questions concerning the Lord's Supper and does it literally become the body and does it literally become the blood and I know there's some faiths and it's it's really vogue nowadays to go into those because it's so high and so I just want to settle something I know I'm recording it's okay people say whatever they want to about it later I'm not trying to be dismissive
[33:17] I'm just trying to be honest Jesus refers to this as bread as a symbol of his body and he refers to this cup of the fruit of the vine as a symbol of his blood never once declaring that it's literally becoming his body or literally becoming his blood and even when he refers to the coming again and when he would drink it with them anew he refers to it not as his blood but as the fruit of the vine so the question is does it supernaturally transform into the literal body of Christ and the literal blood of Christ and why is that important some say oh that's not an essential doctrine it actually is an essential doctrine I'm just going to take just a few minutes to speak to that here I know we're kind of pressed for time the reason it's essential is because friend listen to me if you're not careful you're taking the testimony that is to remind you and making it an avenue of salvation because the teaching for the church for ages and ages upon end I don't mean this church but sometimes the established church is that you do not maintain your salvation apart from taking of the
[34:25] Eucharist or the Lord's Supper only by eating of the body and drinking of the blood and I know the passage they're speaking to and they're referencing I can we could look at that we don't have time for that now that you would have no part so the great arm of strength of the early church was if we remove you from taking communion then you are cast out of eternity this is how the church would control the throne rooms of the world for early ages and say well if we exile you from the communion table then you are essentially exiled from heaven and you have no entrance into heaven if you die before you are readmitted back to the communion table why because salvation was found in the bread and the wine I have just a little bit of an issue with that because it tells us in the word of God that salvation is found through faith in Christ alone and what we do is a work it testifies to us now I'm not here
[35:32] I want to be clear I'm not here to throw everyone who does that and throw them under a bus and say oh they're absolutely wrong and every one of them are condemned to a Christless eternity I'm not trying to do that I'm not doing that we don't want to be legalistic and dogmatic but is it important that we properly understand communion the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist I believe so because if we're trusting in it to save us we're trusting in the wrong thing we're to be trusting in the one that it points us to not to what's before us it is a testimony to the suffering of Christ and there's a testimony to the soon coming of Christ there's a testimony to the gathering together with Christ but it will make when it begins to stand on its own then it becomes something totally other than Christ and if I believed just say this right here if I believed that I would lose my salvation if I did not take communion then I would find well
[36:43] Carrie and I could do it because we're two or more gathered together he is there as well every day we would have communion just like if I believed the waters of baptism saved us then I would be lining everybody up just dunking us under the water but I don't I believe that it is true faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone that saves us faith without works lest any man should boast this is a grand testimony last one let me finish look at the truth in this passage and I'm done it's very quick Jesus says as they leave here they sing the hymn of rejoicing and then he tells them something astounding I tell you the truth that every one of you will fall away from me tonight for it is written notice that for it is written the word of God is true no matter how much men may strive against it for they all began to adamantly say we will not leave you we will not forsake you Peter in all of his gusto said there's no way Lord even if I have to die I will not forsake you and I think he meant it I really do I don't think he was just blowing smoke I mean Peter had seen the Lord do great things Peter had walked on water Peter was one of the three he'd been up on the Mount of
[38:11] Transfiguration I think for the very best of his efforts he meant it it was Peter who had a sword he's willing to cut Malchus's ear off he was aiming for the head he just got the ear he was swinging right he said Lord I'll do it but the word of God said that he wouldn't the word of God said that they would all forsake why for the suffering was Christ alone to bear it is the truth that within us none of us can bear that weight none of us can endure that pain we may have our best efforts and say Lord I'll do it with you but we can't you can't pay the price of any man's redemption that's not your death to die that's his you can't redeem your own life he has to but notice the truth they would all fall short but Jesus says but when I rise again I will go before you their failure would not be their condemnation for he would meet them for restoration friend just because we can't do it doesn't mean he cast us out what we can't do he will do and he'll meet us on the other side of it so that we like Abram can be asleep while the covenant is made and wake up and say what just happened and Lord say I paid it all I did it all your hope and your salvation is found in me and me alone praise God for that night that last supper night that night of gathering together let's pray father we thank you for the day we thank you for your word and we pray that your word would continue to speak to our hearts and minds even as we have closed the book Lord that you would continue to speak your truth into us and that our lives be transformed Lord I pray that if there any be be here any today that do not know you as Lord and
[40:11] Savior Lord that you would continue to speak by your spirit to their hearts Lord for those of us that do know you would you speak to us even louder would you help us to trust you more each and every day may you be the declaration of our rejoicing we ask it on Christ's name amen who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the who have the