The Lamb of God - Punished

Psalm 34, the Sing Psalms version on page 40 of the psalm books. We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 10.

! Psalm 34, the tune is Peter's ham.

At all times I will bless the Lord, I will praise him with my voice.

Because I glory in the Lord, let troubled souls rejoice.

Together let us praise the Lord, exalt his name with me.

I sought the Lord, his answer came from fear, he set me free.

We'll sing from verse 1 to 10 to God's praise. We stand to sing.

Amen.

Together let us praise the Lord, exalt his name with me.

I sought the Lord, his answer came from fear, she set me free.

They look to him and shine with joy, they are not good to shame.

This suffering and cry to the Lord, from whom deliverance came.

The angel of the Lord, exalt his name with me.

All those who fear and honour him, he sets his people free.

The angel of the Lord, exalt his name with me.

And hunger for their good.

But those who wait upon the Lord will not lack any truth.

Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Let us pray.

Lord, our gracious God, we come just seeking to worship you and thankful that at all times we can bless the Lord and praise you with our voice.

That we can come together with that joy in our singing just now, lifting our voices to you, raising up our praise to you.

For you alone are worthy of it.

And we thank you for this renewed opportunity.

We thank you for this time together where we can reflect on your word to us.

And above all, reflecting upon what has been done for us in your giving your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sin of the world.

And we thank you that we come to do this in remembrance of him.

And we come humbly before you.

We come just seeking to know your presence with us, to know your peace upon us.

We thank you that the psalm that we have sung has reminded us that we can come and taste and see that God is good who trusts.

And him is blessed.

And so we pray, Lord, that we would all come to taste of your goodness today, whether we are sitting at the table or whether we are looking on, that today our hearts would hunger for you, that we would long for you, that we would long for you in a way that maybe we haven't before, to see your goodness with us, to see your blessing upon us.

And we do thank you for your word that guides us.

We thank you for the word that we have before us today.

And as we open it up together, we pray that we would know your spirit guiding us in it, that we would know your voice speaking to us through your word.

For it's so precious, your word.

It is a word that gives life to our soul.

It's a word that became flesh and dwelt among us, as we read last evening.

And we thank you that it is a living and an active word, that it has power, even today as it has at all times.

It is still powerful today to convict and to convert.

And we pray that that power would be known with us today as well.

The conviction that we come under, when we realise how far short we fall of your glory, when we recognise the sin in our hearts, when we recognise who we have sinned against.

But yet we thank you that your word is able to convert, to turn us from our sin and to turn to you as our Lord and as our God.

And so we ask, Lord, that your power would be known with us today through your word and spirit.

And that as we come to the sacrament too, that, Lord, all that we do there would be giving glory to you.

For we are unworthy of it, Lord, but we thank you for the one who came to bear our sin on the cross.

The one who was silent before his accusers.

And the one who was led like a lamb to the slaughter.

The one who bore our sin on the tree.

But the one over whom death had no hold.

For even as he gave his life, he took it up again.

And we thank you for that reminder on the first day of the week as we meet.

That he is risen.

And that in Jesus Christ we have a risen Lord, a risen saviour.

We have one who is even now at your right hand.

And we offer our prayers in and through him.

Asking, Lord, forgiveness for all our sin.

So may you bless us together.

Thankful for the fact that you are building your church.

Not just here, but throughout the world.

That you are one who is active.

The one who is working.

The one who is mighty and sovereign over all lands and nations and people.

And we thank you that you have your people.

That you are calling them to yourself.

And that throughout the world today where your name is praised and glorified.

That you would be calling sinners to yourself.

That you would be calling people to turn to you.

And to weep over their sin.

But to rejoice in the joy of salvation.

And so we pray, Lord, for all who go out with your word today to all ends of the earth.

That the promise of your word will be fulfilled.

That it will not return empty or void.

But accomplish all that you have sent it forth for.

And so bless us together even here.

And all your people who gather in your name.

Remember us in our homes and in our families.

In our communities as a whole.

We know, Lord, that every need we have is known unto you.

Every burden that we carry.

Every prayer that we offer up.

You hear.

And are able to answer according to your will.

We do pray for our communities.

We pray for all our people.

We thank you for our young ones who are in Sunday school.

And tweenies and creche and Bible class.

We thank you for the many that we see coming.

Week by week.

And thank you for each home and family that they come from.

We pray your peace and your blessing over them.

And we thank you too, Lord, for those in different needs at this time.

We know that the needs around us are so many.

There are those who are grieving and mourning.

We thank you, Lord, for the comfort.

For the grace that sustains and keeps in these times.

We remember those who are unwell at home or in hospital.

We pray for them, Lord, that you would surround them with your loving arms.

That you would uphold them and keep them also.

And even maybe those who are tuning in online today from home or hospital.

We thank you for the ways that we can still communicate the gospel in that way.

And that they can feel part of our congregation here.

And we pray that they would know that union that is found in Christ.

That we are one in Christ Jesus.

And even though they may not take part in the Lord's Supper physically.

That they would feel and know your presence.

Even remembering their Lord and their Saviour where they are.

And so, Lord, we plead with you to be in our midst.

To do us good.

To guide us and to help us.

To encourage us and to strengthen us.

Through your word and through all that we do today in our fellowship with one another.

That you would bless us with your unity.

With your presence.

And that we would glory in the Lord.

So hear our prayers.

Continue with us.

And go before us, pardoning our sin.

That's all we ask.

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

We're going to read together now from the word of God.

Two readings we're going to have.

First of all, in the Old Testament.

In the book of Isaiah.

In chapter 53.

Isaiah chapter 53.

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

Just a few verses from this chapter.

From verse 4 to verse 7.

And then we'll turn.

And our second reading is in John chapter 19.

John 19 · chapter mention

So our first reading in Isaiah chapter 53.

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

You'll find it around page 742 of the church Bibles.

And at verse 4.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

And with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way.

And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted.

Yet he opened not his mouth.

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter.

And like a sheep that before its shearers is silent.

So he opened not his mouth.

Then we'll turn to our second reading in the Gospel of John chapter 19.

John 19 · chapter mention

We're going to read from verse 14 down to verse 30.

We find this about page 1091 of the church Bibles.

Gospel of John chapter 19.

John 19 · chapter mention

I'm reading from verse 14 to verse 30.

Here we find Jesus before Pilate in this chapter.

Pilate speaking to him and asking him questions.

And in verse 9 you see that he speaks there to him.

He entered his quarters again and said to Jesus,

Where are you from?

But Jesus gave him no answer.

He was silent as we see what we read in Isaiah 53.

But then we take up our reading at verse 14.

Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.

It was about the sixth hour.

He said to the Jews, Behold your king.

They cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him.

Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king?

The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus and he went out, bearing his own cross,

to the place called the place of the skull,

which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

There they crucified him, and with him two others,

one on either side, and Jesus between them.

Pilate, who wrote an inscription and put it on the cross,

it read, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.

Many of the Jews read this inscription,

for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,

and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.

So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,

Do not write, The king of the Jews,

but rather this man said, I am the king of the Jews.

Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,

they took his garments and divided them into four parts,

one part for each soldier, and also his tunic.

But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

So they said to one another,

Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it,

to see whose it shall be.

This was to fulfill the scripture which says,

They divided my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

So the soldiers did these things,

but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother,

and his mother's sister,

Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother,

and the disciples whom he loved standing nearby,

he said to his mother,

Woman, behold your son.

Then he said to the disciple,

Behold your mother.

And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished,

said to fulfill the scripture,

I thirst.

A jar full of sour wine stood there,

So they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch,

and held it to his mouth.

When Jesus had received the sour wine,

he said,

It is finished.

And he bowed his head,

and gave up his spirit.

Amen.

And may God bless these readings from his word.

Before we come to consider these words together,

we're going to sing once again,

this time in Gaelic,

in Psalm 23.

We're singing two verses in Gaelic.

You'll find them on the front of the order of service.

The words are there on the bulletin sheet,

I should say.

The words are on the front of the bulletin sheet,

in both Gaelic and English.

We'll be singing this psalm.

We remain seated for the singing of the Gaelic psalm.

The Lord's my shepherd,

I'll not want these well-known words.

We remain seated and sing this psalm in Gaelic.

We remain seated.

We remain seated.

We remain seated.

We remain seated.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Isaiah 53 verse 7.

Isaiah 53:7

He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet opened not his mouth.

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter is really the text that we have this morning.

We began last evening with a theme of looking at the Lamb of God over this weekend.

And last night we were looking at the opening chapter in John's Gospel where John the Baptist

looked and saw Jesus coming towards him and said these well-known words,

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And that is really what we're looking at over this weekend.

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Last evening we thought of it under the heading, The Lamb of God Promised.

We saw how the Lamb of God was promised, seeing it from the Old Testament and fulfillment into the New.

And this morning we're considering the Lamb of God punished.

The purpose for which the Lamb of God came was that he would give his life.

And what we see in Isaiah here is Isaiah depicting it in that way.

The Lamb that is led to the slaughter, the Lamb who died for our sins.

It's amazing how often people use phrases without realizing where they come from.

How often do you hear people saying things like,

The blind leading the blind.

Or by the skin of our teeth.

Or no peace or no rest for the wicked.

They're almost everyday occurrences when you hear these kinds of phrases being used.

But what's amazing is that people don't realize the seriousness of them.

Because they are from the Word of God.

They are all words that we find in the Scriptures.

The blind leading the blind is found in Matthew and Luke's Gospel.

By the skin of our teeth is found in the book of Job, chapter 19.

Job 19 · chapter mention

Where he says,

I am nothing but skin and bones.

I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.

And you also have no rest or no peace.

For the wicked, Isaiah uses that phrase twice.

In chapter 48 and chapter 57.

And so there are phrases, everyday phrases,

that are used.

And yet they don't realize where they come from.

And perhaps one of the most serious ones in that sense,

not recognizing that it's from the Word of God,

is people who say they were like lambs to the slaughter.

They were led like lambs to the slaughter.

Without thinking or realizing where it comes from,

without realizing the background to these words,

it can be used so flippantly.

They were just like lambs to the slaughter.

And in the passages we have read,

first of all in Isaiah,

here and then in the Gospel of John,

we see just how significant this phrase is.

Led like a lamb to the slaughter.

And how for all believers,

these words are such a key to the hope

that we have of salvation in Jesus Christ.

As John the Baptist said,

Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

What Isaiah is saying here is,

Behold the lamb of God who was led,

the Savior who was led like a lamb to the slaughter.

And when we think of how this phrase is used today,

it's often applied to people being led somewhere

where unbeknown to them,

something terrible is going to happen.

And I remember I've read a number of books

from the Second World War

and especially about the suffering

of those who were in concentration camps.

And they were promised peace.

They were promised work.

They were given all these promises.

And yet the phrase that is often used of them

was they were led like lambs to the slaughter.

They didn't realize where they were going.

But when you look at the Lord Jesus

and when you see these words applied to him,

that he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

it wasn't that he didn't know where he was going.

He knew what lay ahead of him.

He had given the prediction of his death

at least three times before it came to pass.

He had told his disciples,

he had told his people

that he was going to give his life.

And so he knew where he was going.

And yet he was led like a lamb to the slaughter

because he was going there

because it was required to save sinners,

to save you and to save me from our sins.

Behold, the lamb of God

who takes away the sins of the world

is this lamb who was led to the slaughter.

And it is this lamb that we remember together today.

It's this lamb that we see represented before us

in the bread and the wine.

And so I want us to think of the lamb again today,

the lamb who was led to the slaughter.

And we're going to think about it under three headings.

And the first one is the lamb who was silent.

The lamb who was silent.

And then we're going to think about the lamb who is Lord.

And then thirdly, the lamb who was led.

So the first thing we're going to think about

is the lamb who was silent.

What we have in our text there in verse 7 of Isaiah 53.

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent.

So he opened not his mouth.

He opened not his mouth.

The silence of Christ is something

that leaves an impression in itself.

We know that there are words that he spoke

as we see in the Gospels,

but there are times when he does not answer.

There are times when he says nothing

in response to questions that are put to him.

We see it in the account that Luke gives

where he's before Herod

in all the questions that Herod was asking of him.

He said nothing.

And we see it here in the Gospel of John

as well in verse 9, as I mentioned earlier,

when he was asked, where are you from?

But Jesus gave him no answer.

You have it in the Gospel of Mark,

again with Pilate.

When he was before Pilate,

Pilate asked him again, saying,

do you answer nothing,

seeing how many things they testify against you,

but Jesus still answered nothing.

So that Pilate marveled, it says in the Gospel of Mark.

He marveled at the silence of Jesus before him.

Pilate was unable to find fault with him.

Herod couldn't find fault with him,

and yet they both see him innocent before him,

and yet silent, giving no response.

What would you do if you were falsely accused?

Would you stay silent?

Surely you would stand and defend yourself

to say all these accusations are false.

There is no truth in them.

Well, imagine having to stand before accusers,

and the punishment is death if you are found guilty.

Would you say nothing?

Would you remain silent?

Well, Jesus is here before his accusers,

and he knows the outcome of this trial,

that he is going to the cross,

and yet he opens not his mouth.

Why was he silent?

Well, he wasn't there to defend himself.

He was there as the Lamb of God

who had come to take away the sin of the world.

He was there not to defend himself,

but to defend us,

to defend you and to defend me.

And therefore he couldn't open his mouth and defend us,

because we are sinners.

He couldn't open his mouth and say,

my people are innocent,

because we are guilty.

But here is the Lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world.

And so because he had come for his people,

he opened not his mouth.

He was silent.

He didn't defend himself.

Because as Isaiah makes clear for us

in our reading in the verses just before,

when he speaks of, in verse 6,

So we like sheep have gone astray,

we have turned everyone to his own way,

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

We have gone astray,

but the Lamb of God has come

to take away the sin of the world.

The preacher Andrew Bonner,

he often spoke about an illustration about sheep.

And he used to reflect on how you would see sheep

often get themselves into situations of trouble.

And there was one particular story

often recounted was

how sheep would often jump down onto a ledge

where there was grass that looked so sweet.

But what they would find was

that where they had jumped down,

they couldn't get off.

They couldn't get back out of the situation

that they'd put themselves in.

And what caught his attention was this,

how the shepherd,

instead of immediately going down to the sheep

and rescuing it,

would leave it.

Would leave it for a few days even

until it had eaten all the grass,

until it was starting to get tired and weary.

And only then would the shepherd

at that point go down with a rope

to lift the sheep out from the ledge

it was stuck on.

And he would ask,

why?

Why don't you just go down

and rescue the sheep immediately?

And the shepherd would say,

well, if I did that,

the sheep are so foolish

that they would just dash off the edge of the cliff.

You have to wait

until they're tired and weary.

And only then

can you go down and rescue them

when they're helpless.

And he was making this illustration

to say that is the way with us.

All we like sheep have gone astray.

We've turned each to our own way.

But we're so busy in what we're doing,

we're not listening to God.

We're not listening to what his word is saying to us.

That we are in danger,

that we are in our sin lost.

We won't listen until that point

where we are made to feel helpless

and hopeless.

And only then is he able to save.

We are sheep who have gone astray.

But we have a shepherd who has come.

But he has come as a lamb.

He has come as a lamb.

He has come as one of us

to take away our sin.

In our action in coming to the Lord's table today,

we do so in silence.

And yet our actions speak loudly.

What we are doing,

we are showing that we are not

struggling and shouting anymore

against the Lord,

but that we are resting in Christ,

our Saviour.

We are still before him.

But maybe you're sitting,

looking on today as well,

and you're still in that restless place.

You're still in that point in life

where you're still like the sheep

who has gone astray,

who turned to your own way.

But the Lord is speaking to you as well.

And he is saying,

Be still,

and come to me.

The one who was silent,

the one who opened not his mouth,

the one who was led like a lamb

to the slaughter,

the lamb of God,

who came to take away the sin of the world.

It's the one that we are to behold

and to look at today.

So the first thing there we have

is the lamb who was silent.

The second thing we have

is the lamb who is Lord.

And we notice this in Isaiah speaking about it as well,

how he was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth.

Why did he do that?

Because he had authority,

because he had power.

He was Lord.

And we see it too in the Gospel of John.

Especially there we're going to reflect

for a few moments on this point,

the lamb who is Lord,

we see it here in different ways.

We see it first with Pilate.

Pilate is an interesting character

as you look at him here

when he's got Jesus before him.

He finds no fault with him.

And it's so many of the things that Pilate says

that make you wonder just where he was.

Pilate said to him in verse 38 of chapter 18,

What is truth?

What a question to ask.

What is truth?

There's this kind of wondering

and looking and seeing this Jesus.

And he's saying,

What is truth?

And in the whole encounter with Pilate and Jesus

and the questions that are back and forth,

you see that there is an interest

being stirred up in him.

At one point,

he just wanted to give him away to Herod.

You make the decision almost.

Just take it out of my hands.

He doesn't want to make this decision

and yet he comes to the point,

as we all do,

where we have to decide,

What will you do with Christ?

And Pilate here,

he sees him as king.

He says in there in verse 14,

Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.

It was about the sixth hour.

He said to the Jews,

Behold your king.

But they cried out,

Away with him,

away with him.

Shall I crucify your king?

He said.

We have no king,

but Caesar was their response.

So there's this debate going on.

Who is Lord?

And Pilate is always saying,

Here is your king.

Here is your Lord.

And they're saying,

He is no lord to us.

We have no lord.

We have no king,

but Caesar.

Caesar.

So there's this dilemma going on.

And that's the way we can often come as well.

We have this dilemma of,

Well, who is our Lord?

What is truth?

What can make me come to the Lord's table?

Can I come to the Lord's table?

We're being torn in different directions.

We can try and avoid the whole subject of Jesus ourselves as well.

We can say,

Well, it's not for me,

but there's no hiding from Jesus.

And as Jesus is taken away,

the chief priests came to him in verse 21,

Do not write,

The king of the Jews,

but rather,

This man said,

I am the king of the Jews.

But Pilate's answered,

What I have written,

I have written.

I am the king.

The king of the Jews is what he kept.

There was something he was seeing.

That this Jesus,

this Christ,

he was Lord.

And that's the question we have to answer today as well.

Who is he to us?

Is he your Lord?

Is he your king?

And if he is,

you come.

Because he is Lord.

He is God of all.

We are reminded too of how he is Lord

and the reaction of the soldiers as we see here.

In verse 23,

when the soldiers had crucified Jesus,

they took his garments

and divided them into four parts,

one part for each soldier,

also his tunic.

But the tunic was seamless,

woven into one piece from top to bottom.

So they said to one another,

Let us not tear it,

but cast lots

to see whose it shall be.

And this was to fulfill scripture,

which says,

He divided my garments among them,

and for my clothing

they cast lots.

It's an interesting thing here

that what's the point here

that they cast lots for his garments.

One of the things that people speak about here

is the garment,

the tunic especially,

was woven in one piece

from top to bottom.

And that there's a significance in that.

And that there was a change

coming into the system now.

A change coming into the world.

Because as we were looking at

last night,

behold the Lamb of God.

The Lamb of God

was the Lamb that was slain

once a year

for the forgiveness of sin.

And there was a high priest

who would take the Lamb

into the Holy of Holies.

And only he could go in.

And the high priest,

we are told in Exodus 39,

would wear a tunic

that was seamless,

that was made in one piece,

representing,

going in without blemish

or without flaw.

And here we find

that the garment,

the tunic that Jesus was wearing,

it was in one piece,

seamless,

woven from top to bottom.

And there's significance in this.

In who Jesus is being seen as.

He is now going to be

the great high priest.

And the night before

Jesus' crucifixion,

in Mark 14, verse 61,

Mark 14:61

again he was appearing

before the high priest.

And the high priest asked him,

Are you the Christ,

the Son of the Blessed?

And Jesus said,

I am.

You will see the Son of Man

seated at the right hand of power

and coming with clouds of heaven.

And then it goes on to say this,

the high priest tore his garments

and said,

What further witness do we need?

You have heard this blasphemy.

What is your decision?

And they all condemned him

as deserving death.

The high priest tore his own garments.

What was forbidden by the law

in the Old Testament,

he did.

And people are saying

this was how it was being seen

as the old system was gone

and the new was coming.

Here is the Lamb of God

fulfilled in Jesus Christ,

the one who came

to take away the sin of the world

so that no longer

was the system going to be

the high priest himself going in,

but Jesus as high priest.

Once and for all sacrificed.

So that now we have access to God

through our Lord

who is Jesus Christ.

He is Lord.

And you see it too

in the reaction of the people

in verse 15.

We have no king

but Caesar, they said.

But what were they saying

before that?

Crucify him.

Crucify him.

Away with him.

All these different responses.

Pilate,

Herod,

the soldiers,

the people,

the crowds,

they're all significant

because they're all

making the point

who is Lord

and what is

your verdict

of Christ.

Will you avoid him

or trying to push him away?

Will you mock him?

Will you shout his condemnation?

Or will you instead

take hold of him

as the one who is

the Lamb of God

who came

to take away

the sin

of the world?

We are shown

the Lamb

who was Lord.

But is he Lord

for you?

But before you answer that,

there's one other thing

we want to consider here.

And that is to see

what Jesus did

for his people.

And there we see

the Lamb

who was led

away.

As we see it

in Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:7

verse 7,

he was led

like a lamb

to the slaughter.

We see it also

here

in verse 16

and 17

of John 19.

So he delivered him

over to them

to be crucified.

So they took Jesus

and he went out

bearing his own cross

to the place

called

the place

of the skull

which is in Aramaic,

which in Aramaic

is called

Golgotha.

He was led.

The Lamb

was led

away.

But all the time

the people

are leading him.

Or so it seems.

They were leading him

to Pilate,

to the high priest,

to Herod

and eventually

leading him out

to be crucified.

And it would seem

they get

what they want.

The Lamb

of God

was punished.

punished.

But when you look

at where he was

being led to,

as he was led

away

bearing his own

cross

to the place

called the skull

to Golgotha

to Calvary

as it's known,

we see he was

being led

away

to fulfill

scripture.

The scripture

that we have

in Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:7

verse 7,

the Lamb

was led

to the slaughter.

He was wounded

for our transgressions,

it says in verse 5

of Isaiah 53.

He was bruised

for our iniquities.

The chastisement

of our peace

was upon him

and by his stripes

we are healed.

He was led

out to suffer

in our place.

He was led

out,

condemned,

a sinner.

but his sacrifice

was for us.

It is through him

we can say

in my place

condemned

he stood.

He didn't open

his mouth,

he was led

to the cross.

Because of the sin

in your heart

and mine,

he was led

like a lamb

to the slaughter.

Because we all

like sheep

have gone astray,

we have turned

each to our

own way.

The cost

of our sin

was this lamb

being led away

to die

on the cross.

And it is the cross

that we are

to look to today.

It is the cross

that we see

before us

when we think

of the blood

and the body

that was shed

and broken

for his people.

There is a story

told of

a long time

ago in London

when London

wasn't as

enormous

as it is

today.

And the heart

of London,

the centre

of London

from which

all other points

took its distance

was Charing Cross.

And the place

was often

just referred to

as the cross.

People knew it

in that way.

There was one day

when a policeman

was out on duty

and he came

across a little

boy who was

distressed.

He was lost.

He was weeping.

And the policeman

was trying to ask him

where are you from?

Where do you live?

And the wee boy

just couldn't

explain to him

where his house

was.

And this was going

on for a little while.

Policeman just trying

to get this information

out of the boy.

Can you just tell me

something?

Can you tell me

something about

where you live?

And eventually

the little boy

said,

well if you take

me to the cross

I can find

my way from there.

Because he knew

Charing Cross.

He knew that point

and from there

he knew where to go.

But the illustration

is there for us

as well.

When we are lost

we are struggling

to find our way

to know

what direction

to go in.

Where can we go?

Well

we pray

take us

to the cross.

Take us

to the cross

because there

we see

all that's been

done for us.

And from there

we can find

our way

because there

we see

our Lord

the Lamb of God

who came

to take away

the sin

of the world.

And from there

we can follow him

and walk

with him

knowing that

he is the way

the truth

and the life.

Knowing that

in him

we have a

saviour

who is faithful

to us.

And he has

shown it

in his love

for us

in giving

his life.

Today we come

to the cross

in remembrance

of the Lamb

who was punished.

To remember

what Christ

has done

for us.

And when you

see that

when you

behold

the Lamb

of God

who takes

away

the sin

of the world

what is

your verdict

on Christ

then?

When you

see what

he has done

the price

that he

paid

in giving

his life

as a ransom

for many

what is

your verdict?

Do you

ignore him?

Do you

mock him?

Do you

cry out

crucify him

crucify him?

Or do you

say as

John the

Baptist

behold

the Lamb

of God

who takes

away the

sin

of the

world?

As we

come to

the Lord's

table

today

may we

behold

the Lamb

the Lamb

who was

led away

the Lamb

who died

for your

sin

and mine.

Quoted

from

the hymn

How Deep

the Father's

Love

Last Night

I'll quote

the last

verse of it

just now

where it

says

I will

not boast

in anything

no gifts

no power

no wisdom

but I

will boast

in Jesus

Christ

his death

and resurrection

why should I

gain from

his reward

I cannot

give an

answer

but this

I know

with all

my heart

his wounds

have paid

my ransom

by his

stripes

we are

healed

why

because the

Lamb

was

punished

the Lamb

was led

away to

die

for the

sins

of this

world

so today

may we

behold

the Lamb

of God

who takes

away

the sin

of the

world

let us

pray

our

Father

in heaven

we come

before you

just as

we are

with nothing

in our

hands to

bring to

you

but simply

to your

cross to

cling

and we

pray

today

Lord

that as

we come

to behold

the Lamb

of God

to remember

all that

he has

done

for us

to see

even the

elements

before us

the Lamb

that was

slain

to remember

what they

represent

the blood

represented

by the

wine

and the

bread

representing

the body

may you

enable us

to look

and to

see

and to

rejoice

in the

Saviour

of the

world

Jesus

Christ

our

Lord

our

King

may you

continue

with us

Lord

may you

hear our

prayers

may you

guide us

in all

that we

do

and all

that we

see

as we

ask all

with the

forgiveness

of our

sin

in Jesus

name

Amen

well before

we come

to the

Lord's

table

it's

customary

that we

would

just make

clear

who the

Lord's

table

is for

and it's

what's

often called

the fencing

of the

table

and maybe

seems a

little bit

of a

strange

thing

to call

it

fencing

what does

that

actually

mean

it's not

that we're

putting up

a great

barrier

to those

who should

and shouldn't

come

it's not

about putting

up a wall

in that sense

of you

can't come

past

but it's

just to

make it

clear

for whom

the

Lord's

table

is

it is

for those

who have

come

to

trust

in the

Lamb of

God

Jesus

Christ

I want

to highlight

just three

things

from the

word

fence

when we

think of

fence

we maybe

just think

of

of

crofts

and we

think of

the fences

we see

all around

our

islands

and what

are they

used

for

well they're

used

to either

keep

people

or animals

out

or in

and that's

certainly

one element

of fence

and there's

three I want

to highlight

as we come

to the

Lord's

table

from the

word

fence

the first

it means

to shield

or protect

so there is

a sense

when we come

to the

Lord's

table

it is

for a

particular

people

that is

why there

are white

tablecloths

on some

of the

pews

there is

an indication

of a

separation

there's a

divide

but it's

not in the

sense of

being

exclusive

in that

sense

but it's

just marking

the difference

there are

those who

sit on

one side

of the

fence

those who

have

professed

the

Lord

those who

have said

the Lord

is my

shepherd

but as

we see

there are

others

on the

other

side

of the

fence

where you

have not

come

to confess

the Lord

as your

shepherd

and it's

not there

to keep

you out

don't see

it like

that

it's not

the sense

of stay

away

for good

but it's

to show

that there

is another

place that

you can

come to

to come

and find

yourself

on the

right side

of the

fence

not halting

between

different

opinions

what side

of the

fence

are you

on

but to

come

to this

side

the side

where we

find

the protection

of the

Lord

because

coming to

take the

Lord's

supper

by faith

if you

believe

it will

do you

good

the second

thing we

see about

a fence

is

it

encloses

for those

who come

confessing

and professing

Jesus Christ

as Lord

there is a

sense of

being

enclosed

together

strengthened

together

we are

no longer

the sheep

who have

gone astray

we are not

out

wandering

away

by

ourselves

away

from

God

we are

gathered

together

as one

body

in

Christ

and we

are

seeking

to be

strengthened

together

to be

nourished

together

by the

shepherd

of the

sheep

so we

are

enclosed

together

we are

given

strength

and

encouragement

and we

rejoice

when the

number of

the flock

is added

to

when there

are those

who come

to profess

Christ

as Lord

and come

into

membership

with

ourselves

we are

encouraged

we are

blessed

as we

are enclosed

together

one

in

Christ

but the

word

fence

has another

quite

different

meaning

and it

means

fencing

or to

fence

to fight

with a

sword

I don't

know if

anybody

has ever

tried

it

you see

it

I think

it's

part of

the

Olympic

Games

they have

these

fencing

competitions

and they're

fighting each

other with a

sword

and in

some ways

that reminds

us what

the Lord's

table

is like

as well

because

there's often

a fight

going on

a fight

going on

of the

battle

of coming

to acknowledge

the Lord

and who

is

Lord

but as

we look

to the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

and trust

in him

we are

reminded

that he

has won

the victory

when you

go back

to the

book of

Genesis

when the

man and

the woman

were cast

out of

the garden

of Eden

there was

a flaming

sword

that was

to protect

them from

getting back

in

the axis

was denied

but when

we look

to Jesus

Christ

we find

in him

the victory

that he

has broken

down

that barrier

that he

has fought

that fight

for us

and that we

have access

once more

to God

we are to

come

victorious

in him

he has

opened

up

the way

so the

fencing

is important

it does

show that

there is

a division

but it's

not a divide

that we

want always

there

we want

others

to come

because it

means

enclosing

together

coming near

to God

together

as one

and remembering

the victory

of Christ

well as

we prepare

to come

to the

Lord's

table

we're going

to sing

to God's

praise

in Psalm

118

the Scottish

Psalter

version of

the Psalm

Psalm 118

we're going

to sing

from verse

15

to verse

23

page 398

of the

psalm books

Psalm 118

at verse

15

we'll sing

from verse

15

to verse

23

to God's

praise

B

The bright hand of the mighty Lord, exalted is all night.

The bright hand of the mighty Lord, the faithful, valiantly.

I shall not die, but live and shall the works of God discover.

The Lord not be just eyes and sore, but not to death in over.

O set ye open unto me, the gates of righteousness.

Then will I enter into them, and I the Lord will bless.

This is the gate of God, I am, that I shall enter in.

The gate of God, I am, that I shall not be.

And so this make a cornerstone, which builders did despise.

This is the doing of the Lord, and wondrous in our eyes.