Provision and Promise

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Let's pray together.

Father, we've come to do just that to worship you in spirit and truth.

The Bible says that Jesus and yourself said that you're the Father is seeking worshipers who worship him in spirit and truth.

And so we've come to do just that today, to remind ourselves and to remember you.

So, Holy Spirit, brood over this time.

Be among us, be with us, lead us into a deeper, fuller understanding of what this is all about.

This is our prayer, God.

We pray it in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

You can have a seat if you've got a Bible.

I invite you to take it and open up to Mark chapter 14.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 14.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

And if you're our guest, let me explain what you see set up all around the room.

Today's the day we observe communion.

And the good news is that we practice what's called open communion here at Grand Parkway, which means if you're a Christian, you have a relationship with Christ, you're welcome to come and receive communion with us.

We'll give you some instructions on how we do it.

For us, it's not something we tack on to the end of a service, it is the entire service.

But uh we want our understanding to kind of lead us into how we engage uh in in this ordinance of the church.

And so we've come this morning to remember and to commemorate one of the most important events in the history of God's people, but also in our lives as well.

In the Bible, it's referred to as Passover.

Matter of fact, what we call the Last Supper or the Lord's Supper, uh, Jesus was celebrating Passover with his disciples uh because people had done for thousands of years.

And so uh I know it's easy to come to church and you think, man, it's like 684 stories in the Bible, and I know about one of them.

Uh actually, there's not.

There's just one story.

Uh and every story in the Bible is God just kind of turning the diamond of the gospel and letting you see a different facet of it, a different side of it.

And so uh when it comes to the Lord's Supper, uh uh it's the same thing happening in Mark 14.

So let me give you a little background.

Uh God set his affection on the people of Israel, the nation of Israel, and the Jewish people, uh, not because they were great, matter of fact, they were the least among all the nations, and God said, You're going to be my people.

The problem was they were slaves to a man named Pharaoh.

And God said to Pharaoh, Through Moses, let my people go.

And Pharaoh says, Uh, who is the Lord that I should obey him?

I do not know the Lord, and I will not do what he says.

And so God says, Okay, you don't know who I am.

Let me introduce myself.

And so he introduces himself by way of these things called plagues.

There's ten of them.

And each one got a little more severe and a little more consequential.

Finally, after nine plagues, God says, I'm going to send the death angel and I'm going to kill the firstborn of all men and beast, unless you do this one thing.

If you'll sacrifice a lamb and take the blood of that lamb and apply it to the doorpost of your house, when I send the death angel and he sees this blood has been the blood of the lamb has been applied to the doorpost of your house, this death angel will literally pass over your house, and God will have mercy on you.

But if you do not do that, then when the death angel comes, he's going to kill the firstborn of both man and beast.

And so on that night, very important that we understand this this morning.

On that night, people either had faith in themselves or they had faith in what God told them to do, and a lamb was sacrificed in their place.

And so, out of obedience to God, they sacrificed a lamb and they said, You know what?

We believe you, we want to obey you.

And so God passes over.

It's one of the reasons when I say there's not 685 stories in the Bible, just one big story.

Uh, this is what I mean.

Because they sacrificed a lamb, and then from then on, the Jewish people, as one of their feasts, they would have Passover, where they would sacrifice a lamb, and the Passover meal happened in four sections, if you will.

Someone was presiding over that, and at each section they would hold up a glass of wine, a cup of wine, and they would talk about the significance and the symbolism of Passover, what it meant for each part of these people.

Uh, in the four sections, they explained the history and four cups of wine.

Now, the four cups of wine it represented the four promises that God made to his people in Exodus chapter 6, verse 6 and 7.

Exodus 6:6

I'll just put them up on the screen so you can get a backdrop.

It was basically rescue from Egypt, freedom from slavery, redemption by God's divine power, and a renewed relationship with God.

Now, why do I tell you that?

Keep in mind.

The Bible says that, teaches us in the Old Testament that the Passover meal, when it was celebrated after that first Passover, uh, they would get together, the main course, or there were three courses.

There was bread, there were herbs, and there was a lamb.

The lamb was the main course.

And so in Mark 14, Jesus gathers with his disciples.

We know they're at the third cup because he begins to talk about the bread.

Uh Jesus, the third cup comes towards the end of the meal.

The person presiding over the meal would use words from Deuteronomy 26, and they would bless the three elements, the bread, the herb, and the lamb, by explaining how they were symbolic reminders of their captivity and their deliverance.

And they would say, This bread was the bread of our affliction that we ate in the wilderness.

And Jesus personalizes it.

And it's not, this is the bread of our affliction.

He says, This bread is my body.

And for thousands of years, people have been thinking about, hey, God sent manna down from heaven.

But early in John's gospel, Jesus said, I'm the bread of life.

I'm the bread that's come down from heaven.

So what Jesus is saying to us, same story, God's just letting us see a different facet of it.

Jesus is saying, Hey, I was the person that was delivering you all through this.

We get to Mark 14, we read this in verse 22.

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it, he broke it and gave it to them and said, Take, this is my body.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of 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 not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Now there's two things that Jesus does here: provision and promise.

I want to point to both of them.

First of all, provision, it's the first two verses, verses 22 and 23.

With these words, Jesus is kind of saying, Hey, all the Passover lambs that have been sacrificed up to this moment, these all point to what I'm about to do.

He doesn't come to tell a new story.

He doesn't come to tell his story.

Jesus comes as a fulfillment to the same story that God has been telling all along.

If you remember in the Gospels, when Jesus first shows up, a man named John the Baptist sees him coming and he shouts out, and no one really understands what's happening.

But what he says is, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

God is just kind of setting the framework in place for this moment.

The first Passover took place tonight before God delivered Israel from slavery.

This Passover that he celebrates with his disciples takes place tonight before God delivers humanity from our slavery to sin.

Now, when I say this is provision, uh the Bible sometimes says things obviously by presence.

And sometimes the Bible communicates by absence.

This is one of those times where the Bible communicates by absence, by subtly reminding us.

And if you see this, you read in every one of the gospels.

Now remember I said a minute ago that they reference and they and they bless the elements of the Passover meal.

It's bread and herbs and lamb.

But if you're reading all the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that they record the Last Supper, there's no mention of a lamb on the table.

They talk about the bread and they talk about the wine, but there's no mention of the lamb.

Because the lamb is not on the table, the lamb is at the table in the presence of Jesus.

And so it's Jesus that he kind of says, Hey, I've made provision.

All this stuff, you guys sacrifice these lambs.

I this bread is my body.

This cup is my blood.

Then he makes a promise.

Hear this again, verse 24.

He says, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

Truly I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Now, when people make a vow by abstaining from something, what they're saying is, I'm giving you my word.

I'm promising you, I'm saying something.

Jesus uses these two words.

He says, That day.

Verse 25, truly I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Now, when he says that day, he's referring to a specific day.

He's talking about the marriage feast of the Lamb, which takes place at the culmination of God's redemptive plan, at the end of history, when what he's saying is, I'm gonna see this through to the very end.

He says, I'm making you a promise.

I'm not gonna drink of this cup again until I drink of it that day, which means that God's gonna keep his word from this day to that day.

And so what we have to do is learn to see this day, our days, through the lens of that day, and the fact that we worship a God who keeps his promise.

So as you prepare to come to the table this morning, I want you to remember a couple things about our God.

Number one, we are remembered a God who never forgets.

Secondly, he never breaks a promise.

And thirdly, he's made provision, not just for your sin, but for every day of your life.

Because again, he says, I'll not drink this again until I'll drink of it on that day.

And by obligating himself, by making this promise, what God is saying is, I'm going to be faithful.

The Bible says it like this in the New Testament, Philippians chapter 1, about verse 6.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

He says, He, God, he who began a good work in you will continue it to the day of Christ Jesus.

So you have to ask yourself, can I live this day and every day in light of that day?

Believing that there's a my God keeps his promise.

He's not only made provision for my sin, but he's made a promise as it relates to my life.

The Bible also instructs us how we are to approach this time.

He says in 1 Corinthians, he says, hey, you know, examine yourself so you don't come to the table in the wrong posture with the wrong kind of kind of thinking going on in your head.

Matter of fact, I would say to you that if you're yet to begin a relationship with Christ, you're not a believer, uh, you need to abstain from coming to the Lord's table.

And listen very carefully to this part, okay?

If you're a Christian, but you're living in willful, deliberate sin, as you said here, you're just like, I know that I'm doing things that are wrong, and I don't want to stop.

Look at me.

I'm gonna be your pastor, you need to abstain as well.

Because the Bible says for you to be living in deliberate, willful sin and come to the Lord's table, what the Bible would say is that you are profaning uh uh the blood of the covenant that sanctified you.

And that will have a consequence in your life.

I don't know what that is, but I have to warn you enough, I have to love you enough to warn you to say, don't treat the blood of the covenant as an unholy thing.

Because God will always defend the sanctity of the blood.

And so if you're here and you're like, man, I'm just living in sin, my friends know, and I don't care, then you should probably keep your seat.

And you say, well, what happens if I come and nothing happens to me?

It's probably evidence that you don't have a relationship with God.

Because the Bible tells us that God disciplines every son and daughter that he receives.

So if you can live in sin and I can live in sin, and there be no disciplinary consequence, it's an indication that something's not there.

Does that make sense?

I'm not trying to be hard or harsh or heavy-handed.

Look at me.

I think we've lost a sobriety about sin.

And you need to reclaim that.

And so that's why I say, hey, if that's you, you should probably just keep your seat.

The Bible says examine yourself.

And so what I'm like to do is we're gonna, I'm gonna pray a prayer.

Clyde and Lynns are gonna come, they'll sing something over us, and this time is for you just to examine yourself.

And if you're a person that's been, hey, you know what?

I am not right with God.

Use this time to confess, to do whatever you need to do, to get your head and your heart right.

I want you to come to the table.

I do not want you to come to the table in an unworthy manner.

Let's use this time to get ourselves prepared, to celebrate and remember.

Let me voice a prayer.

God, thanks for the gospel.

Thanks for the sobering realities that are contained within.

Awaken us where we fall asleep.

Rouse us where we need to be roused and stir us where we need to be stirred.

Remind and reorient.

Because our confession today is, God, that we remember.

We remember our God who makes provision.

We remember our God who keeps his promise.

Who says, I'll not drink of this again until I drink of it that day.

On that day.

And so, Lord, we want to live this day in light of that day.

So, Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth, we pray.

And we listen and we prepare ourselves in Jesus' name.

Father, we've come this morning not to separate your mercy from your personhood.

The mercy of God is a reminder of the holiness of God, the justice of God.

And so, Lord, we've not come to consume a thing, we've come to remember a person.

And so let us be sober and joyful, winsome and free, grateful people.

You're a God of provision and a God of promise.

And so, Lord, uh, let us be nourished today as we remember the body, the blood of Jesus.

Let us be nourished to live this day in light of that day.

Lord, be among us as we come to the table.

We remember in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're prepared to help us serve communion, would you go to your stations at this time?

And again, let me just remind you, we practice open communion.

If you have a relationship with Christ, you're more than welcome to receive with us.

Let me tell you who will be serving you communion today.

Uh in the back back here is Julie Foster.

Julie is a single uh adult lady in our church, uh, and she'll be serving, she volunteers with our students.

Uh in the back back here is Wade Amy Burgess.

Wade is our executive pastor here at the church.

Over here on my right is my friend Richard.

Richard's also a young single man uh who volunteers in our student ministry here at our church.

And over here is Wade and Sally Collier.

Wade is one of our lay pastors.

He preaches, he's in the preaching rotation here.

He and Sally are very involved in our church.

Uh and so why do I tell you uh who's serving?

Because some of you may be like, you know what?

I would love that person to serve me.

I think they could understand what I'm going through currently in my life.

We in the last service we had a couple that battled infertility.

Uh, and now they got one kid and one on the way.

So I said, if you want to know what it's like to wait on God and have faith in God, and so their line was backed up.

Uh and so uh here's what we do in just a minute.

Uh Clyde and Lindsay will just continue to worship.

I encourage you to continue to worship, to engage in singing.

And when you're ready, just leave your seat and go to one of these stations and we'll serve you the elements.

And if we can pray for you, then we want to pray for you.

Uh and after, but but if you're like, hey, I just want to receive the elements after you've been served, you can go back to your seat and you can just re-engage in worship.

At the end, we'll come back and we'll close by singing something together, and you'll be dismissed.

Okay?

Let's remember and let's celebrate together.

I want to encourage you just to take a moment and get your get your head around, get your hands around what God has provoked you to think about today, reminded you to remember.

Think about what you what you thought and what you were made to think and what you were made to feel.

Those are friends, they're not enemies.

And so it's good as Christians that we both think and feel.

So take just a moment and ask yourself, what did I think and what did I feel as a result of today?

No, it is.

It's not just it, it's not just payment for your sin.

It's a promise as it relates to your life.

Therefore, Christianity is not just obsessing over your sin, it's getting over here and living in light of the promise.

And the one who made the promise and enjoying everything that he promised.

Which is why the Bible says that all of God's promises are yes and amen in Jesus.