Communion Give Thanks

Matthew chapter 26.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 26.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

Let me read to you, beginning there in verse 26, and we'll carry down through to verse 28.

And he took a cup, and when he'd given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you.

For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, I will not drink again of the fruit of this vine until that day, when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

Let us pray.

Father, this morning, as we take your word in hand, we recognize that you have given to us in your word all that we need for life and godliness.

That it is here to instruct our hearts, to frame our thinking, to govern our behavior.

That we, as your children, might live in this world in an upright and godly fashion and bring glory to our Savior, through whom we have salvation.

We are thankful this morning that as we take your word in hand, that we may rely upon the Spirit of God working in the believer's life.

That we may ask for his enabling to help us understand and appreciate and apply in daily living the truth that you have here for us.

Help our time in the word and before this table to affect our thinking and our behavior.

So that we would not be like those who Ezekiel spoke of, who hearing the prophet speak, spoke of him as one who sang well, but then remembered nothing afterwards.

My prayer is that we, together, would rely upon your Spirit and would rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ and have a longing in our heart for the day that we will see him face to face.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

We come this morning to the Lord's table.

And when we come to this table, there are some very specific purposes that we have in mind.

We are clearly persuaded that taking the elements, the bread and the cup, do not earn us extra bonus points or merit with God, correct?

No one can go out of here saying, well, I have assurance and confidence of my salvation because I took those things right there.

We understand from the passage in 1 Corinthians that what we're engaging in this morning is we're reminding ourselves of something.

And over in the passage in 1 Corinthians, we remind ourselves, we remember the Lord's death till he come.

I would like us this morning to kind of step into this passage in Matthew and think through the frame and then come down to one particular truth that I want us to kind of rest on.

How many of you, by nature, are thankful people?

Raise your hands.

Wave at me.

All you who are just normally, all the time, really thankful.

Woo-hoo!

You know, it's like, yes!

The other day, I was in Home Depot.

And I'm a frequent flyer there because we're in the remodeling stage of life.

And the lady, some of you are looking at me like, when were you not in the remodeling stage of life?

Well, I was in Home Depot and I was walking through the checkout counter and one of the ladies who knows me, she said, hey, you're a pretty happy guy.

And I said, well, not by nature.

She looked at me and she said, no, no, you're a happy guy.

Every time I see you, you're happy.

I said, well, it has nothing to do with me.

I said, the truth of the matter is, is I was born profoundly unhappy and I stayed that way.

And God has worked in my life through the Lord Jesus Christ to change the way I think and the way I act.

I still can wake up.

My bride is back there.

Hi, honey.

And I can wake up moody without practice.

How many of you are in my space?

My parents used to say things like, why don't you get out on the other side of the bed?

You know, it's like, is that going to help?

No.

No.

But the older I get and the more that the sweetness of our Lord Jesus resonates on my heart,

the more I understand that thankfulness really flows from my appreciation and affection for him.

And I want you to look at this passage this morning.

And what I want you to do is when you walk away from here, I want you to ask yourself the question,

does my life reflect thankfulness in the Lord Jesus?

To the point that your neighbors wonder, what's the deal with you?

The people that you work with are attracted to the fact that in this doom and gloom world,

there's a spirit in you that's unusual.

And they desire to know more about it.

Well, I want you to look at the passage this morning and recognize there in the Matthew passage,

what we're looking at is Jesus in this setting with his disciples,

and they are gathering ostensibly to celebrate the Passover.

It was something that every Jew did, at least should have done.

And it was a reminder to the nation of Israel that God had taken them out of the land of slavery

when they had been under the boot of Egypt and had been suffering in that environment.

God took them out.

And he did so by instructing Moses to speak to the people.

And you'll remember what they did was they slaughtered a lamb,

and they put the blood on the lentils and on both doorposts,

and they stayed inside the night that God sent death through the entire nation of Egypt.

And every firstborn died where there was not the blood on the lentil and the doorposts.

And so every year the Egyptians or the Israelites were instructed that they were to celebrate the Passover,

and they were to remind themselves that it had been through the sacrifice of the lamb,

and it had been through the work of God that they had been redeemed from the iron furnace

and from the suffering that they had endured.

And so here, in the shadow of the cross, Jesus had said to his disciples,

I want you to go and have a room prepared for me where we are going to eat together.

It must have been with mixed emotion that they went about this,

because just days earlier, remember they had had that phenomenal entrance into Jerusalem,

and how had the people received them?

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna! Hosanna!

And the enthusiasm of the crowd must have been infectious for the disciples.

Now, things had turned a little south, though,

because we know that they had a sense of foreboding as they gathered in this room,

and Jesus spoke undeniably and very clearly about his death.

They understood.

They understood that something ominous was going to take place,

and yet in the midst of the meal that they were partaking here,

we find that Jesus does something quite unexpected.

Look there in verse 26.

Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it,

broke it and gave it to the disciples.

He said,

Take, eat.

This is my body.

And later, he said,

This is my blood of the covenant.

We often consider the meaning of these two statements

and allow them to remind us of the fact that the bread and the cup really bring our focus

and remind us of the fact that Jesus paid for our sins.

That is what these things point our thoughts to,

that he died in our place,

that he took our wrath.

I want us to look at a smaller piece of the passage this morning,

and I want us to really focus in on that one little statement

that over the years has just gripped my heart over and over again,

and it is that little statement where he says that he gave thanks.

He gave thanks.

I have to tell you that learning how to be a thankful person is work.

I can remember coaching my grandchildren in particular that thanks was something that was expected.

There were please and thank you that went on either side of whatever their ambition or interest was.

How many of you tried to work through that with your children or grandchildren?

And there are various things that you do to kind of drive that point home.

One is when they come out and say,

Hey, I'd like such and such.

What do you do?

Not on your life.

Well, you didn't say the magic.

You know, they're the things we kind of get into to help them learn.

And slowly, eventually, they kind of get it woven into their mind that they have to say please,

and they have to say thank you.

Now, we need to recognize that Jesus actually said thanks before both the bread and the cup.

And if you take the companion passages, you will see that in one,

it speaks of him saying thank you for the bread,

and the other, it says thank you for the cup.

And I think we can weave the two together and understand

that before each of the things that he did, he was saying thank you.

It was appropriate and part of Jewish custom that there was a prayer of blessing or thanks

that preceded the meal.

Yet given the moment, we can assume that Jesus did something

that was not merely an expression of Jewish habit.

So let's think about the significance of what we are dealing with this morning

and allow it to resonate in our own heart and cause us to think carefully

about our thankfulness for what we have in the Lord Jesus.

I want you to understand for one thing,

Jesus understood exactly what lay in front.

He knew what was coming.

He knew that he was going to suffer.

He knew that he was going to be in great emotional trauma.

He knew that he was going to be abandoned by his disciples.

He knew that his father was going to forsake him.

He also understood the weight of sin that was going to rest on his shoulders,

and he would bear our sin for us.

Now, I want to ask you just for a second,

how many of you have ever laid awake at night

and kind of felt really bad about something you had said before?

You ever done that?

Some of you are looking, I don't know.

You probably should.

Because here's what the Bible says.

It says,

The multitude of words there lacks not for sin.

And there's not a one of us, James tells us,

we've all blown it, worse than that,

we've sinned with our tongue.

That's nothing.

Compared to what Jesus was going to endure

as he took the full measure of my black heart

and your black heart upon himself,

and he died in my place and in your place.

I want you to imagine there you are,

kind of pondering what you are anticipating,

in that you are going to sit in the dentist's chair,

and he is going to drill out a cavity without Novocaine.

I mean, I've got to tell you,

when the dentist says,

this is going to just be a little stick,

I kind of grin and bear it,

because I know it's not true.

However,

I've had those instances where the dentist has said to me,

I think we can do this without Novocaine.

And midstream, in a yee,

I've thought to myself,

not again.

That has no comparison

to what Jesus understood was in front of him.

And here he is at the table,

and he offers thanks for both the bread and the cup.

And he offers thanks because his eyes were set

on the deeper significance of what was in front of him.

Now, I want you to understand that

as we think about this,

we need to recognize that he gave thanks

with a clear-eyed appreciation

for what was to come from his crucifixion.

The word thanks

is a term that really means

to have a gratitude or appreciation

for something.

You don't offer thanks without reason.

And we are not thankful

without an understanding or appreciation

of a certain set of facts

that have happened to us.

There's always a reason for giving thanks.

When we do it,

there's always a reason for it.

And it is our desire this morning

to really understand

why was Jesus thankful?

Why was Jesus thankful?

Allow me to step forward just a little bit

into a passage in Hebrews 12, verse 3.

Hebrews 12:3

And I want you to turn over there,

if you will, for a moment.

Hebrews 12, verse 3.

Hebrews 12:3

Let me read the background to you,

beginning there in verse 1 of chapter 12.

It says,

Therefore, since we are surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses,

who I believe are the individuals

mentioned in chapter 11,

let us also lay aside every weight

and the sin which clings so closely,

and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before you.

Us, rather.

By the way,

just a little side note

on the word endurance.

How many of you recognize

that the race of faith takes endurance?

It really does.

And the older I get,

the more persuaded I am

that endurance is an essential component

in the walk of faith.

It's not just doing it once,

it's doing it again and again

and again and again

with a persistent belief

that He is the one

who is the rewarder

of them that do diligently seek Him.

And here,

the author says to us

that we are to run the race

with endurance.

But look at what it says in verse 3.

Looking to Jesus,

the founder

and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy

that was set before Him

endured the cross,

despising the shame,

and is seated at the right hand

of the throne of God.

I want you to think about that,

who for the joy

that was set before Him

endured the cross,

despising the shame,

and is seated at the right hand

of the throne of God.

in that the Spirit

has let us know

our Savior's heart

as He anticipated the cross,

it's fitting for us

to think a little more carefully

about that.

And so let's kind of ponder,

what was it?

Jesus was thankful

because He knew several things,

and I want you to focus on these

and allow them to resonate

with your heart

and make a difference

in your thinking.

Jesus was thankful

that He knew His death

would satisfy the wrath of God

against all sin.

How could God

be reconciled to fallen man

apart from a full

and holy judgment against sin?

and the judgment of God

fully,

completely,

satisfied for all eternity.

I was thinking about this issue

of the pardon for sin,

and for whatever reason,

I thought about presidential pardons.

And doing a little bit of research,

discovered that a full presidential pardon

is an exceptional judicial act.

It is something

that the President

of the United States

is granted constitutionally,

and he's allowed,

it actually goes back

to kings in England

who at the end of the day

were the law.

And the king could pardon.

Incidentally,

a full presidential pardon

is an exceptional act

whereby

the person's crime

is forgiven,

and the individual

is restored

to a state

of legal innocence

just as though

he had never

done the crime.

That's pretty interesting.

Because Christ Jesus

has made it possible

for God

to forgive us our sins.

And we think about

the statement

just as though

I'd never done it.

Now,

in the face

of the incredible truth

that Christ's death

on the cross

satisfied

the wrath of God

against sin,

someone

who might ask me,

how do you know

that you're going

to heaven?

My answer would be,

because all my sins

have been forgiven.

Whoa!

Now,

can you imagine

how unnerving

that would be

to the average person

if you were to say that

in the checkout

at Meijer

or at Walmart?

Did I miss anyone?

And, you know,

Giant Eagle

and whatever else.

You know,

if you said that,

people would say,

what?

I mean,

hey,

when someone sins,

there's got to be

some compensation.

Isn't that right?

How many of you here

are struggling

with bitterness

and unforgiving spirit

occasionally?

Just rarely.

You know,

it's like,

you would like God

to settle things

with such and such

because of what

they did to you.

No.

That debt's been paid

by Jesus

and you have no business

dragging it out

and demanding

your own justice.

And here's the fact.

God has forgiven

all of our sins

because of Jesus Christ.

I know

that God

has forgiven

all of my sins.

Now,

let me kind of

touch on a little

challenging thought

that has crept

into the vocabulary

of believers

that has come

to us

from psychology.

How many of you

have ever bumped

into a person

who said,

hey,

listen,

I know that God

has forgiven me

but I just can't

forgive myself?

Huh.

Just imagine that.

The president

has pardoned you

and you're no longer

going to be incarcerated

and you're going

to be completely

restored to all

your liberties.

You're going

to enjoy

the blessing

of that pardon

but you're going

to go around

with a moody

and sour face

remembering

in the distant past

the crime

that you committed.

So the next time

somebody says to you,

well,

I know that God

has forgiven me

but I just can't

forgive myself,

what would you say?

Are you

more important

in your own

thinking

than God?

Right?

You see,

a statement like that

is really bad theology

and it's a sad picture

of the sufficiency

of Christ's work

on the cross.

Christ's death

satisfied

the wrath

of God

against all sin

and we

together

revel in the fact

that what it says

in Romans chapter 8

Romans 8:1

verse 1

is undeniably true.

There is now

therefore

no condemnation.

Case closed.

Christ.

Another reason

that Jesus

was thankful

is that

he knew

he would

purchase

our redemption.

He had me

in mind.

He had you

in mind.

I love

the statement

over in

John chapter 13

John 13:1

verse 1

where it speaks

about Jesus.

This is kind of

at the beginning

of the upper room

discourse

and it tells us

this about Jesus.

Jesus

having loved

his own

who were in the world

he loved them

to the end.

I like that.

His love

was not

circumstantial.

His love

was not

occasional.

His love

was profoundly

consistent

and absolutely

sufficient.

There's a reason

why so many

of our songs

focus on the love

of Christ.

There's a reason

why one of

the most

common

assignments

that I give

to individuals

who are

struggling

with self

doubt

or are

struggling

with

discouragement

is to say

hey listen

I want you

to memorize

Ephesians

Ephesians 3:14–19

chapter 3

verse 14

through 19

in which

the love

of Christ

is the

predominant

theme

and the

passage over

in Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8

where it

talks about

who shall

separate us

from the

love of

Christ.

The love

of Christ

is that

which gives

us undeniable

comfort and

confidence.

And here

as Jesus

looked forward

to the cross

it was not

the suffering

that he took

pleasure in

but it was

the absolute

certainty

that he

in his love

was going

to lavish

on us

because of

what he did

on the cross

all that we

needed

and he would

bless us

with all

spiritual blessings

in the

heavenlies

in Christ

Jesus.

I like

the thought

in part

of what

it says

over in

John

John 14:3

chapter 14

verse 3

and he

must have

had this

thought in

mind

because it

says that

he says

to them

let not

your hearts

be troubled

and he

goes on

and says

that where

I am

you may

be also

he is

talking about

the fact

that because

of what

lay in

front of

him

he had

confidence

that after

the cross

those who

were his

disciples

would spend

eternity

in his

presence

I wonder

whether or

not that

is a

significant

thought

and encouragement

to your

heart

third I

want you to

understand

that Jesus

was thankful

because he

would bring

glory to

his father

yes he

died for

my sins

he died

for ours

but that

is not

the only

reason

that Jesus

was thankful

at the

prospect of

what lay

in front

in fact

I would

have to

tell you

that if

you think

of being

thankful

for the

fact that

Jesus died

for your

sins

and you

completely

neglect

and diminish

the significance

of what

Jesus did

for the

glory of

the father

you are

ill

informed

at best

and

taking a

strong

and weak

theological

position

at worst

why

the glory

of the

father

is more

significant

than my

blessing

and so

when Jesus

was thinking

about what

lay in

front of

him

I want

you to

understand

that he

was thinking

of his

death

in relationship

to what his

death did

for the

glory of

God

think if

you will

just for a

moment

over to a

passage in

Romans chapter

Romans 3 · chapter mention

3

turn there

if you

will

Romans

Romans 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

Romans

is a

book

that argues

or I

shouldn't say

argues

but it is a

book that

gives a

careful

exposition

of the

glory of

God

and woven

in to

this

testament

you look

there at

verse 25

whom God

put forward

as a

propitiation

by his

blood

to receive

by faith

that was

to show

God's

righteousness

because in

his divine

forbearance

he had

passed

over

former

sins

question

how can

God

forgive

your

sins

I

mean

I

use

the

classic

illustration

if I

were to

back

into

your

car

and

not

entirely

unreasonable

to have

that thought

that it

could

happen

if I

were to

back

into

your

car

you

would

come

out

and I

say

hey

Pastor

Andrew

I

crunched

your

Subaru

you know

it's

like

I

am

really

sorry

I

wasn't

paying

attention

you

know

what

Pastor

would

say

he

said

no

problem

do

you

know

why

he'd

say

that

because

we're

friends

well

actually

he'd

say

that

because

he

was

hoping

I

had

insurance

but

I

said

no

no

I

canceled

it

a

couple

weeks

ago

and

you

said

no

problem

all

good

right

right

so

how

are you

going

to

pay

that

off

how

can

the

infinite

offense

of

my

sin

be

overlooked

by

God

it

can't

be

how

can

the

infinite

offense

of

my

sin

be

satisfied

only

by

the

payment

of

an

infinite

price

in

the

person

of

Jesus

Christ

and

when

God

said

I

am

willing

to

forgive

sin

and

his

son

said

and

I

will

pay

the

price

he

was

thinking

of

the

glory

of

his

father

and

so

when

we

hold

that

bread

and

we

hold

that

cup

what

we

are

saying

is

wow

God's

holiness

and his

justice

is

adequately

satisfied

in

the

bread

and

the

cup

and

we

think

to

ourselves

Jesus

honors

the

father

in

his

willing

sacrifice

to

remedy

sin

so

how

does

this

impact

your

life

here

you

are

maybe

a little

bit

like

me

I

mean

you

are

drawing

breath

so

by

nature

you're

not

a

thankful

person

right

okay

remember

thankfulness

comes

when

we

have

reason

outside

of

our

self

someone

says

you're

exceptionally

good

looking

thank

you

you're

the

smartest

person

in

the

room

thank

you

I

really

liked

your

song

thank

you

we're

really

not

thankful

so

when

I

appreciate

Christ's

thankfulness

and I

understand

why

he was

thankful

thankfulness

becomes

a

part

of

my

life

don't

write

anything

else

down

but

write

that

one

down

when

we

appreciate

his

life

and

sacrifice

thankfulness

becomes

a

part

of

my

life

I'm

thankful

that

he

took

my

sin

upon

himself

and

satisfied

the

judgment

that

I

deserve

how

many

of

you

realize

that

the

scriptures

are

shot

through

with

command

after

command

after

command

that

we

as

believers

are

to

be

thankful

how

do I

get

that

thankfulness

oh

I

think

about

thanksgiving

no

I

think

about

what

Jesus

did

for

me

furthermore

I

am

thankful

that

I

have

complete

confidence

that

I

will

spend

eternity

with

the

lover

of

my

soul

I

know

how

the

story

ends

and

it's

good

and

there's

some

of you

sitting

out

here

this

morning

that

have

no

confidence

in that

whatsoever

I

am

thankful

that

the

honor

and

glory

of

the

Lord

God

is

exalted

by

the

most

glorious

moment

of

history

Christ

Jesus

for

the

glory

of

his

father

was

willing

to

die

in

my

place

so

that

God

who

is

merciful

and

gracious

beyond

the

wildest

imagination

of the

human

heart

could

offer

forgiveness

and

salvation

and

eternal

life

to

whosoever

believes

I

close

with

this

do

you

know

what

the

name

of

Jesus

means

God

saves

God

saves

God

saves

and

when we

gather

to take

these

elements

we're

reminding

ourselves

of what

that

salvation

cost

going to

ask our

men to

come as

we come

to the

Lord's

table

God

Thank you.