Drawing Near to God: Understanding Grace, Forgiveness, and Communion

This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.

Because of the gospel, because we were born dead, spiritually dead in our trespasses and sin.

But God, who's rich in mercy, the Bible says, made us alive.

Not only are we alive, the Bible tells us that Jesus, you stood up on the last and greatest day of the feast and said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

And not only would our thirst be satisfied or be slaked, but we would become a receptacle of that which satisfies other people's thirst.

You said that and out of his inmost being will flow rivers of living water.

And by that you are referring to the Holy Spirit.

And so, Lord, what is our thirst in relation to the river?

It's not much.

And it's just another way the Bible has of telling us that, hey, you have more than what we need.

You have not only what we need, but you have what everybody we come into contact with will need.

So, Father, we come mindful today.

We come to remember today.

We come to say yes and amen to all the Bible says.

And so, Lord, help us to remember, to never forget what the Bible says.

Speak, be over this time, we pray 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 it up to Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, I'm on page 1007 on your pew Bible.

And I just want to uh I want to give what's called a communion meditation, just something for us to think about.

As you look around the room, you kind of go, What is this?

Uh, we're observing and celebrating communion today.

I'll give you some more directions about that.

But let me say right off the top that here at Grand Parkway, we practice what's called open communion, which means if you're a Christian, if you have a relationship with Christ, you're welcome to come and receive communion with us uh this morning.

Uh, but I want to give us a communion meditation, something to think about uh as we get if we kind of prepare our hearts for it.

Starting in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 14.

Hebrews 10:14

It says, For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us for after saying, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord.

I will put my law on their hearts and write them on their minds.

And then he adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.

Where there's forgiveness of these, there's no longer any offering for sin.

Now let me just stop right there and just draw your attention to what the Bible just said.

Starting in verse 14, it says, For by a single offering, in other words, the offering of the body of Jesus, by He by a single offering, God is made perfect forever.

Those who are being made holy, or those who are being sanctified.

What does that mean?

That means if you're a Christian, there's two big words I want to give you to think about today.

Your position.

Your positional righteousness is that you have been made holy.

You've been made perfect forever.

That's the way God views you, and you are being sanctified.

He's made perfect forever, those who are being made holy.

So you have your position in Christ, and then you have your progress in Christ.

And the Bible says that you slowly become what the Bible already says is true of you.

And all this is possible because of what Jesus did on the cross.

And then it goes on and it says down in verse 18, after God says, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.

By the way, parents, if you want your kids to understand that and believe that, then you need to remember their sin and lawless deeds no more as well.

You don't need to say next time your kids say, Hey, can I go spend the night?

You ain't got to look at them and go, hey, remember last time you spend the night, you and your friends got in trouble.

Let's don't let that happen again.

Because your kids grow up thinking, I'm never gonna get off the hook for that.

That's all you think about me.

It's easier for your kids to believe what the Bible says when it says, hey, God says, hey, your sins and your lawless deeds, I'll remember them no more.

Where there's forgiveness of these, there's no longer any offering for sin.

Translation, you don't relate to God as a debtor.

You relate to God as a son or a daughter.

You're no longer trying to pay God back.

And then he picks up in verse 18, excuse me, verse 19, he says, Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that was opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh.

And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, with full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Now I want to just, there's three admonitions.

After he says, Therefore, since we have confidence, and then he says, since we have a great priest, he kind of gives three admonitions, three, hey, let's do these things.

And I want this to be our meditation this morning as we prepare to receive communion.

First one's in verse 22.

He says, Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith.

And so the first thing I want to say is I want you to hear God saying, Let us draw near.

Let us draw near.

I went to a party last night because uh the Bible says that Jesus went to parties, and as your pastor, I thought I should go to parties.

Amen?

That didn't sound very convincing.

Uh and so I went to a party last night.

And and I don't like to tell people what I do for a living because then they start acting different.

So I got cornered in the kitchen and somebody said, So you're the preacher.

And I was like, Yes, I am the preacher.

And this guy and his wife began to talk to him.

Fascinating conversation.

And the lady said, I haven't been to church since I don't know how long.

Matter of fact, if I came to your church, the building would fall down.

And I said, because I'm a loving, caring pastor, I would love to see that.

And she goes, No, really.

I mean, it's been a long time.

And I said, I doubt the building would fall down.

And they began to tell their story, and I was kind of like, you know what?

If I had an experience like that, I don't know that I'd want to go either.

But the Bible says this to us it says, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith.

Let us draw near.

So it's not, hey, I don't want to go to church.

Because the reason people say things like, hey, the building might fall down is because all they can think about is all that they've done.

And yet the Bible says of your sin and your lawless deeds, God remembers them no more.

So what are you avoiding God on the basis, why on what basis are you avoiding God if he doesn't remember that anymore if you're a Christian?

And so he says, first of all, hey, let us draw near.

Second admonition is in verse 23.

He says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope.

Let us draw near, number one.

Number two, let us hold fast the confession of our hope.

Translation, don't grow weary in well-doing.

I'm talking to all the people that are my age and older.

If you're 50 and above, I'm talking to you.

Let us hold fast to our confession of hope.

You don't get to a point where you just kind of think, you know what, I've done enough.

I've been to church a long time.

I'm going to take like a couple years off and just kind of coast or whatever.

No, no, no.

The Bible says, let us hold fast.

And finally, verse 24, it says, let us consider how to stir up one another in love and good works.

Not neglecting to meet together like the heathens that are out right now celebrating Memorial Day.

Amen?

It's just a joke.

By the way, you're not getting extra credit because you're here today.

I know it's Memorial Day and it rained.

Double bonus points, huh?

Not so much.

Now the Bible says, hey, let us not, he said, after he says, hey, let us consider how to how to stir up one another in love and good works, not neglecting to meet together.

It's as a habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.

What do you mean?

Well, while we're receiving communion, I'll give you some direction about that in just a minute.

I want you to look around and I want you to ask the Lord, have you given me a word for anybody?

You say, What do you mean?

When the Bible says, and let us consider how to stir up one another.

Look at right there in verse 24.

Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and to good works.

You know one of the easiest ways to die spiritually is to spend all your time with the same kind of Christian.

You should spend time with people that stir you up.

You should go to lunch with people who you're not quite sure what they're gonna say.

You should.

You should go, you should get with people that you just kind of think.

I tell people all the time, if you want to grow spiritually, go to lunch about every two months with your biggest critic.

And they always say the same thing.

Why would I do that?

Because it would be the most thought-provoking thing.

That's how you who here's a question at the heart of all this: who stirs you up?

And what about them stirs you up?

Because the Bible says, let us consider.

Let us look around the room today, because I got a confession to make.

I'm not the only guy that has something to say on Sundays if you believe the Bible.

Because the Bible says, let us, each of us, consider how to stir each other up to love and to good works.

Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

So while we're receiving communion, I want you to look around and ask.

Maybe God will give you a word for somebody.

Maybe God just very you're like, hey, you know what?

You need to encourage that guy.

You're like, I don't know that guy.

It's quite you.

You just, hey, if you think this is God, then you go over and speak an encouraging word to them.

There's three admonitions right there.

He says, first, let us draw near.

Second, let us hold fast.

Thirdly, let us consider.

The Bible places such a priority on the Lord's Supper or communion or the Eucharist, however your tradition views it, that Paul gives us instructions on how to do it.

And so one of the things he says is he says, hey, do not take the, you know, don't receive the elements.

Don't come to the cup and to the bread without discerning the body.

Without thinking about what not talking about your body.

Without discerning the body means without reminding yourself that, hey, I'm a part of the, if I'm a Christian, I'm a part of the body of Christ.

So how I live matters.

What I do matters.

It's not, my sin's not a per private, personal issue anymore.

I got to conduct myself in a manner worthy of the gospel.

I got to be rightly aligned with my brothers before I come to the table.

That's why the Bible says, hey, before you do this, take a minute and kind of examine yourself and check yourself and make sure that your life is in keeping with the gospel.

It's not a dreadful, mournful time.

It's a time of celebration.

And so Clyde and Lindsay are going to come and I'm going to pray a prayer.

And I'm just going to say, let's just spend a few minutes just kind of thinking about our life.

Let's think about those admonitions in Hebrews chapter 10 when it says, let us draw near.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

You say, I feel like I'm a million miles away.

That's okay.

Christ sacrificed himself to change the proximity of your relationship with him.

Let us draw near.

Let us hold fast.

Let us consider.

Let me voice a prayer.

Father, we uh in keeping and fidelity with the teachings of the scripture, we want to just take some time to examine ourselves, to make ourselves ready to come to the table, to receive, to remember, to do what you told us to do, and to remember you when we do it, Jesus.

So we want to just uh it's not a morbid time of introspection as much as it is as a reminder.

Yes, this is a this changes the proximity of my life and how it's lived.

And so, Holy Spirit, search us.

We invite you just to kind of walk through our life and point out anything that needs attention, that needs repentance, that needs a word spoken to it.

We'll do whatever you say to do.

We just want to wait and think and reflect on these things as we prepare to receive communion together as a body.

Speak, Lord, your servants are listening.

We pray and we listen in Jesus' name.

Amen.

What have I ever done to deserve even one?

The pleasures I've known.

Tell me, Lord, what did I ever do that was worth loving you for the kindness you've shown?

Help me, Jesus I've wasted it.

So help me, Jesus.

Now help me, Jesus.

My soul's in your way.

I can try to pay all I'll take it.

It's just someone.

So help me, Jesus.

I know that I don't mean you so help me, Jesus.

My soul's in your meeting.

You soul me, Jesus.

Souls in your song was written by a man named Chris Christofferson.

Who did a lot of things that he'd like to forget.

My favorite part of the song is he says, I know who I am.

Chris Christofferson got so drunk one time that he rented a helicopter.

He was a little utility guy at a record studio, and he filed tapes and swept the floors.

He wrote a song called Sunday Morning Coming Down.

And he wanted Johnny Cash to record it.

So he got drunk and rented a helicopter and landed a helicopter in Johnny Cash's front yard.

And they thought, Johnny, there's a helicopter in security, and Johnny's like, I'll go out and see what it is.

The guy staggers out and hands him a cassette tape and says, I want you to listen to this.

Johnny Cash said, I guess if he went through the trouble to land a helicopter, I should listen to the song.

It started Chris Chris Albertson's musical career.

Why do I tell you that?

Not to make light of the fact that he made some sinful choices, but to remind you that there was a point in his life where he was so struck by God's mercy that he wrote a song entitled, Why Me, Lord?

He understood the mercy of God, the goodness of God against the badness of Chris.

And he took a pen and wrote a song about it.

Well, doesn't that bother you?

No, because I think when he stands before God, God's not going to say, Hey, remember that time you landed that helicopter?

Why?

Because his sins and lawless deeds God remembers no more.

Just like yours.

And just like mine.

And the reason he's able to do that is because of what Christ did on the cross.

So today you can draw near.

Today you can hold fast.

And today you can look around the room and you can consider.

I told the last service.

I became a Christian when I was 18.

I knew I was called to ministry when I was about 19, and I ran.

I just didn't, it was just phony and I didn't get it.

And I was at a church sitting on the back row.

As soon as it was over, I headed for the door, and an old man in the lobby grabbed me and said, Now, son, don't make this harder than it has to be.

The hair on my neck stood up.

That sucker smelled like old spice.

I remember that.

I was trying to get away from him, and he was just smiling.

You make this hard, and God'll make it harder.

Then he just turned loose of me and patted me.

I was like, When I got my Ford Fiesta, two coats of paint and a heater.

No radio, no air conditioning.

That thing was a babe magnet.

I couldn't even put the key in the ignition.

And here's why.

Because what struck me was how could God know?

This is how dumb I was.

How could God so know what I was thinking and struggling with and grappling with and bargaining about that he would tell a total stranger what to tell me?

That's why the Bible says, and let us consider.

Don't just come to church to listen to someone's priesthood.

Exercise your own.

Take a moment, think about what you walk away with this morning.

One of the things I'd encourage you to think about is that line, that great hymn that says, Think that Jesus died to win thee.

You say, Well, I'm not there yet.

That's okay.

You're welcome here.

You just listen for him calling your void, calling your name.

It'll sound like this Red Rover, Red Rover, let Ashton come over.

It'll be very simple.

Now, before some of y'all write me, let me explain.

Some of y'all are going to send me emails and say you shouldn't tell stories about men getting drunk and flying helicopters.

Sure you should.

Here's why.

What you can't forget.

By the way, any of y'all besides me got episodes in your past you look back on and think, I wish I could forget that, but I can't.

Hold your hand up if that's you.

Come on, even you religious people.

Hold your hand up.

Look at me.

Leave your hand up.

Look at me.

What you cannot forget, God cannot remember.

That's the gospel.

And I tell you that, on the veracity of God's word and the accomplished work of Jesus on the cross, that which you wish to God did not happen.

I wish I could forget that.

He can't remember.

So if you hear anything I said today, just hear that.

After the disciples, after Jesus filled Passover full with a remembrance of himself, the Bible says they sung a hymn and departed.

I'd like us to sing a little something, then I'll speak a blessing over you and we'll depart.

Enjoy yourself.

Clyde, you lead us.

Christ has died, and he died so that you could live a certain kind of life.

A life that is ruled by life, not by death.

So depart now and live this life that Christ purchased for you.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you to miss.