Be Merciful Part 2 Luke 6:36-49

I'd like to take you to the Gospel of Luke.

We are preparing our hearts to come to the table this morning, and we are continuing in the Sermon on the Plain.

And I'm just going to hit a few of the verses because the really the main thrust of this morning is seeing Jesus and enjoying our time with Him.

If you are a guest with us this morning, we're glad you're here.

We're glad that you get to be in worship with us.

We hope, we hope, I pray that you leave this building.

Honestly, you can think good, bad, indifferent, all in the middle about the people, but I hope you leave here knowing and loving Jesus more than when you walked in.

Because that's really why we're here.

It isn't about us, it isn't about the building, it isn't about just trying to put on a show and Lord forgive us when it is.

We really want you to know Jesus.

And this is Jesus' table, the Lord's table, as we come to communion.

And if you, once again, I'm I'm speaking to everyone, but and some of you know this, but it's not bad to be reminded.

Uh but when we come to the table, we're not coming as different levels of authority or position or privilege.

We come as children of the King.

We come as uh saved, redeemed, uh, born again by his grace.

And uh we're not asking, if you're new or if you haven't done this with us before, we're not asking that you go through uh certain steps or jump through certain hoops uh to take these elements honestly just out of respect for whose table it is.

We just ask that you know him, that you have received him as Savior, that you followed him in obedience and in baptism.

And and all of that is what his word commands and directs, and that's what we're asking you uh just out of respect for what we're doing.

Uh there is no one, I promise you, there aren't there aren't cameras and people's with cli people's people, people with clipboards and whistles walking around saying, Hey, are you sure you're supposed to take that cup?

I'm not so sure.

No, we're not gonna do that.

That's not what we're about.

Um so honestly, this is this is just so you know, uh, you don't have to be a member of this local fellowship, but we do ask that you be a member of the body of Christ.

Now, what we're doing this morning is this is the Sunday that uh the the children get to stay in the service, and I'm gonna speak with him in just a moment, and we're gonna come to the table after that, and we're going to spend time as the body of Christ taking those elements.

But just to remind you that that what this is, is it's it's reverence, it's worship, it's honoring him, the sacrifice.

We do this, that's why we say we do this in remembrance of him, of what he has done for us.

But it's also a celebration.

If you're the type that likes to go uh to eat a meal with family and friends, uh you you know those times when you're sitting there and the time just flies by because you get to be with those that you love.

That's what this is.

This is breaking bread.

This is this is coming together and enjoying the blessing of who he is and what what he has done for us and how he's worked in our life.

Now, part of what we're going to do, and like I say, I'm going to be talking about this in the weeks to come, Sermon on the Plain, going through the Gospel of Luke.

But I gave you plenty of time.

I hope you're there by now.

Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

If you're not, man, you're slow.

But if you would please go to Luke chapter 6, and I'm just going to pick up a few of the verses as we've gone through this Sermon on the Plain, uh, very similar to Sermon on the Mount and Matthew, and there's there's a reason for that, but he has a different focus.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

I love what he does as he goes through this.

We talked about this a few weeks ago, uh, starting around the roughly in the middle of chapter six of Luke, Luke chapter six, he goes through the beatitudes, the blessings, and the cursings.

And those who follow Jesus, they go against the world.

So the world will say that we're poor, hungry, weeping, and hated.

But Jesus, as our relationship with him, we understand that we have the attitude, regardless of circumstance, that we trust God.

And we may be poor according to the world's standards.

We may be hungry, we may be weeping, but the joys that we have, and he he does this if you if you're glancing in the chapter, he does this when he goes through the blessings and the woes, verse 21 and 22, 23, and he goes through and talks about this is who you are, this is what you have.

Uh, people will speak ill of you for my name's sake.

There will be times where you will have enemies who will aid you.

But he's very clear as he's going through this sermon, I'm just bringing you up to speed, as it's going through this sermon, that he wants us to love our enemies.

And so, starting in verse 29, he says, Whoever hits you on the cheek, um, offer him the other also.

Whoever takes away your coat, do without do it not withhold your shirt from him also, give to everyone who asks of you.

Um verse 31, the golden rule, treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

Um he talks about how what credit is it if someone who loves you, you love them back, sinners do that.

Verse 33, if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?

Uh sinners do the same.

Then 34, I'm still in Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

He says, if if you lend to those whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?

Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

All he's doing here, he's talking about not how you get to heaven.

This is not the entrance exam.

You don't have to follow all of these rules, quote unquote, for you to be a believer.

He's saying, as disciples, he's talking to the believers, those within his mix, he, as the passage begins in verse 20, he says he turns his gaze toward his disciples.

He's saying, This is who you are, this is your identity.

And it isn't do this, you're saved.

He's saying, because of your relationship with me, this is what's going to start happening.

He picks it up in verse 35.

He says, Love your enemies.

I mean, that's amazing.

That's radical.

How could how could you how could you, this is amazing.

How do you love someone who hates you?

And Jesus is a very perfect example of that, loving us even when we hated him.

And he's going through it and he's talking about all of those things.

And then as a summary statement, that's why we're going to start in verse 36.

As a summary statement, he says, Be merciful just as your father is merciful.

Luke chapter 6, verse 36.

Luke 6:36

Now, he isn't saying something new.

He's been doing it, he's going to be doing it, he's been talking about it, he's going to talk about it, but he's saying, when you come into fellowship, into communion with me, something changes.

You're transformed from the inside out.

You have what the Bible talks about, a positional but also a progressive.

You have this, you have this identity in Christ where you have a new relationship with him.

But on this side of glory, you're going to be battling the flesh and the spirit.

Those two are going to be at odds with each other, and you're going to be growing more and more like him.

And he's calling us as his followers to be merciful as he is merciful.

And the merciful, the father, the way he treats those who hate him, he loves them anyway.

As a matter of fact, I would go so far to say is he doesn't let their hate influence his love.

It doesn't let someone else change who we are, but we love them, we are merciful, we give, even when we don't get anything back.

This agape, this unconditional, this no-strings attached kind of love.

So God is merciful.

And because he is merciful, you and I, as his children, should have some sort of family resemblance.

There ought to be something.

Now, honestly, if if you're like me, and passages like this kind of rock our world a little bit.

Because we're not that merciful.

Not usually.

And by nature, we we have a tendency to be a little more self-seeking than God-honoring, and there's there sends to be a part of us a little bit of a rebellious streak, uh things that happen in terms of our culture and our world and our perspective.

So we need this.

Not so that we can bang our head over, get our head over, bang it over our heads and abuse and shame us or manipulate us, but so that we can see that our connection with our Lord is more important, more significant than any other relationship, any other need, any other dependence, because he is merciful.

We celebrate that, and then we say, Lord, help us to be merciful as you are.

Now he continues in verse from verse 36.

He's going to continue talking about what that looks like, but I just want to show you a verse real quick because I think it helps it helps me to kind of get my head around this.

You don't have to turn there, but you can later if you'd like.

But Ephesians chapter 5, he says, Therefore be imitators of God, and that's really where he's going with this.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

You realize how outlandish that is?

To say, he who is perfect, we're supposed to act like that, he is holy, we're supposed to be holy.

But he he qualifies it, he says, as beloved children.

Because we are born again, because we are born of the Spirit, because He has given us this, He's calling us to that.

In verse 2, walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Because of who Christ is and what he has done for us, that allows us the privilege and the opportunity and the responsibility and the blessing of saying, Lord, help.

Help me to be merciful as you are merciful.

Now I'm gonna look at this verse, these verses real briefly because I really want to get to get in the young folks down here and talk about this.

But Luke chapter 6, verse 37.

Luke 6:37

He continues after be merciful in verse 36, and then in verse 37, he's gonna flesh it out some more.

He's already talked about it, now he's gonna talk about it some more.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

Is that enough?

This this this honestly, guys, this has been hard for me.

I'm not this is not placating, this is not false humility.

The more I studied this, the harder it got.

We live in a world where we use that phrase, do not judge, in such a wide variety of ways, and we misuse it that we fail to realize what it's talking about.

So let me let me just go over this real quick.

I won't be I won't belabor the point, but once again, coming to the table, do not judge.

So he what he's doing here, he's saying, do not judge, do not condemn, but forgive and give.

That's the verse in a nutshell.

So if you weren't with me, you didn't just see it, that's what it's talking about.

Uh judge, condemn, no.

Give, forgive, give, yes.

That's reflecting the mercy of God.

That's what he does.

So what we do as a culture is we use that phrase, do not judge, and we use it as a cop-out that we don't ever judge, discern, think about anything.

So you're sitting in a jury and someone's on trial for killing someone else, and you think to yourself, well, uh, Jesus said I'm not supposed to judge.

That's not what he's talking about.

This isn't about justice.

This isn't about discerning right from wrong.

If we lose all our critical capacities, if we say, I'm never going to think about what God wants and what God doesn't want, we use that do not judge excuse, then you and I are lost.

Because how are we going to know we need a savior if we don't realize that we're a sinner?

We have to judge that.

We have to discern critical thinking, not critical negative, but critical positive.

We have to say, wait a minute, I'm a sinner in need of a savior.

I've got to have salvation, redemption, I've got to have somebody take care of me.

That is not judgment in terms of this verse.

That's discernment, that's understanding, that's wisdom, that's the following God.

So he's not talking about justice, he's not talking about knowing right from wrong.

He's definitely not saying, you know, put everything that you say as you reflect upon other people.

What he's talking about, and I'm going to dig into this more next week because I didn't want to get into it too deeply today.

What he's talking about when he's talking about judgment specifically, he's talking about the attitude where you're doing great, and boy, they need help.

He's talking about an attitude of looking at another person and not just seeing what they're doing wrong, but celebrating the fact that they're doing it wrong, and how you would never be that wrong.

How they are so sinful, ugly, wrong, bad.

And look how great we are.

That condescending, self-promoting, hypocritical attitude toward other people.

Now, if you're tempted to say people, well, I'm glad I don't got that.

Slow down.

Have you always talked to your spouse in a non-judgmental way?

Dads, how are you doing with your kids?

Bosses, how are you doing with your employees?

Pastors, how are you doing with your church members?

Church members, how you doing with your elders?

This is so wide, so common.

If I hadn't been reading this, I don't think I would have thought of it.

See, this is the beauty of the scripture.

He comes to us and says, okay, this is the mirror, this is the truth, this is God's Word, and he comes to us and said, Do you have this fault-finding spirit where you enjoy nitpicking other people?

Do you have an attitude of scrutinizing what everyone else is doing, pronouncing judgment on them, not for their own good, not for their redemption, not to restore them, but so that you can feel better about yourself rather than actually help the people that you are seeing are in need.

Oswald Chambers said this years ago.

He said, God doesn't show us the fault of others so that we can criticize or critique.

He shows us their faults so that we can pray for them.

It isn't so that we can say, we are so much better and they so much worse.

Rather, it's it's not status by negation.

It's it's it's not having an attitude where we say, hey, I really, I really am glad I'm not as bad as them or oblivious as them or cruel as them or rude as them or crude as them.

And the list goes on and on and on.

Jesus was gracious, he was forgiving, he did good, he was merciful, and he said, I want you to be that way too.

Now, when we look at these verses, we look at this passage, coming back to Luke chapter 6, do not judge, verse 37, you will not be judged.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

Do not condemn, you will not be condemned.

Pardon, and you will be pardoned.

Wait a minute.

Is he saying that if I have that critical sinceriousness, negative fault finding, focus on other people's problems, attitude that he's gonna be that way toward me?

Verse 38, give, and it will be given to you.

They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, for by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.

I love this.

What he's doing is he's he's talking about the mercy of God.

This all has to do with the mercy of God.

And he's saying, God is such a giving God that when God gives to you, verse 38, when God gives to you, it's like the in the olden days, and by olden days I don't mean 1800s, I mean zeros, whenever Jesus was walking on the earth.

In the olden days, they would go out into the fields and their their cloth, their cloak, their robe, they would have these laps or these belts, and it would it would be like a uh a basket, and he says, give, and it'll be given to you, verse 38.

They will pour into your lap your robe, all this grain, all of this stuff, and they'll keep pouring.

And they'll pour in such a way that they'll press down, which literally means that that the container, well, they're gonna keep pushing so they can get more and more and more in.

They're gonna shake it around in case there's any loose space, and they're gonna keep doing that, and then they're gonna keep doing it so much that it'll be overflowing, abundantly overflowing.

It says, if you want to know the difference between how you are acting toward other people and how God acts towards you, verse 38 says, this is the mercy of God.

Mercy of God flowing over, following me all the days of my life.

He helps us know his abundance, his love, his grace, his mercy.

That's where he's going with this.

So it isn't, it isn't tit for tat, because this is never going to be, I'll give a little bit here, I'll release a little bit here, and then God will give me the exact amount.

What he's doing here, he's saying, you can't measure the mercy of God by your feeble attempts.

What you do is you say, I'm giving it all, and God's gonna outgive what I give.

I'm gonna try a little bit and he's gonna expand that beyond my wildest imaginations.

I'm going to forgive, I'm going to give, I'm going to pardon, I'm not going to condemn, I'm not going to judge in the right way.

I'm going to do all of that because I know my God does that for me.

And more so, overwhelmingly.

Okay.

So that's that's part of the sermon that I wanted to draw out, and I wanted to talk to the young people about it.

So if you are a kingdom kid and you would be willing to come down, would you please join me down here?

I just thought about it.

If you're not willing, I guess we could come to you, but it'd be awkward.

So would please please come forward.

And we're going to talk for just a second.

This won't take long, but I want to I want to make sure that we're we're all here.

Don't be I know Pastor Matt's not here.

I know I'm not Pastor Matt.

It's okay, you'll be fine.

That's it.

We got three?

We got four?

Five.

Five?

Uh the oh good.

I was thinking it's gonna be all guys, you know how hard that is?

All right, oh, here we come.

Here we got some more coming.

Yeah.

Good morning, good morning.

Anyone else?

Anyone else?

We got some youth over there.

Hey guys, youth, you guys want to come sit with the guys?

You can you can chill out?

Come on, come on.

We'll have some more.

There they go.

Here comes JJ.

There we go.

Oh, I like those boots.

All right, got that.

Alright, here they come.

I'm gonna keep y'all coming.

You okay?

Did I scare you?

Is that why you're away over there?

Okay, all right, all right.

Okay, well, okay, can you see yourself up there?

Isn't that cool?

It's one of my favorite parts, is watching y'all up there.

Okay, so in just a few minutes, and you guys are gonna hang out during the whole service, right?

Okay, and you you're doing okay, right?

Yeah, okay.

So, just a few minutes, we're gonna do the Lord's Supper.

So I want to make sure that you guys know what we're doing and why, and then I'm gonna talk about what I just talked about.

Were you here about five minutes ago when I was talking about the mercy of God?

Yeah.

Okay, you were here, right?

Did your parents have to wake you up and say, go down there and talk to the pastor?

You're good.

All right, you're still here.

Okay.

So in just a few minutes, we're gonna be coming to the table.

Have y'all seen the Lord's Supper before?

You've done this before?

Have you any of you ever taken part in this?

You ever done?

Okay, all right.

So there's the bread and there's the juice, and we're gonna do it in just a few minutes.

We'll pass it out.

We'll start with the bread, we'll pass out the pieces of the bread, that represents Jesus' body, and then we'll do the juice, that represents his blood, and then we'll read the passage out of scripture that talks about why we're doing it.

Okay, so my question, or I wanted to talk about this for a second, then I want to talk about the mercy of God.

Okay, okay, Lord's Supper.

Do you guys know?

Can you see me okay?

Everybody okay?

Do I need to stand out there?

This is much more comfortable for me, and it's all about me.

But anyway, are you guys good?

All right.

Um, you guys, you guys see what this is here?

On my ring finger, on my wedding ring finger.

You see this thing here on my wedding ring finger, this thing here that's round and looks like a ring.

It's on my wedding ring finger.

Any guesses on what this is?

You guys are so smart.

Okay, so here let me tell you the story of my wedding ring.

There's a lot to this story, and I won't belabor it, but I don't know if you can tell.

You see, there's little jewels on there.

That's kind of cool, right?

All right.

You can't tell?

All right, I'd pass it around, but uh anyway.

Um, so when I got married, I put my birthstone and my wife's birthstone, and as soon as when we have kids and grandkids, we put their both birthstone.

So I'm hoping that this whole ring will be covered with jewels by the time I'm done.

But okay, so um let me tell you the story of this ring.

Back in 1991, were any of y'all alive in 1991?

Were any of your parents alive?

This is so sad.

All right, anyway, uh, back in 1991, I went into a jewelry store in Oklahoma.

It's a state, it's west of here, it doesn't matter right now.

Um I went in a jewelry store in Oklahoma.

You guys with me so far?

I I I went in across the counter, I handed handed this gentleman some money, which was a whole lot of money for me then, it probably is now too, but um, and he handed me this ring.

And I'm standing there, it was great.

I'm standing there in the in the jewelry store, and I take this ring and I put it on my finger, and I'm standing right there, and poof, I'm married.

It was great.

I mean, nobody else was there but me and him, but still I knew because I put this ring on my finger.

I'm married.

Isn't that cool?

That's a great story, isn't it?

Uh you don't believe me.

So what's what's the problem with that story?

It didn't happen.

Okay, well that's a simple one.

Yeah, all right.

What what does it take more than putting a ring on your finger to get married?

What what what what?

You gotta find a lady.

You gotta find a lady that's really important.

Thank you.

Thank you.

She wins.

She wins.

We're not taking score, but she wins.

Um all right, good.

That's really good.

And the lady has to say yes, that's important.

Okay.

Is that it?

Is that it?

You just find a lady and then put a ring on and you're married?

There's more.

Oh, there's a wedding.

Sometimes you have to say yes.

Okay, I'll talk to you in about 10 years.

All right.

Um is there anything else that needs to happen?

Have you ever been to a wedding?

Tell me, tell me about it.

What would you you've been to you've a I'm not saying if you got married, I'm asking if you've been to a wedding.

You've been to a wedding.

What happens?

You got people up front?

Usually there's a bride and a groom and a preacher and a best man and a bridesmaid, and usually a party of people and you know, flowers and music and stuff, right?

What?

Oh yeah.

Did you flow you throw the flowers or did you hold the rings, or did you Yeah, that's cool.

That's cool.

You threw them.

I'm seeing I got celebrities here.

Okay, so here's my point.

This ring doesn't make me married any more than taking the bread and the juice makes me a Christian.

But what this ring does do for me is every time I look down on my at my ring finger and I see this ring, I remember the covenant that I came in with Kim, my wife.

I remember the day, I remember the the commitment, I remember the faithfulness, I remember all of that, and it's a blessing to me.

So in a few minutes, we're gonna take the cup and we're gonna take the bread and we're gonna take part in it, we're gonna eat it and drink it, but that's not what makes us saved.

What that does is we take it and we look at it and say, yeah, yeah, this is what Jesus did.

This is what this is what this is all about.

And we celebrate that, we enjoy it.

So what I was thinking about whenever I was reading the passage about being merciful, I was thinking about maybe maybe if we looked at it this way.

So I've got something in my pocket that I wanted to show you this morning.

I feel like Colombo, I know where it is, but I'm just gonna tell you where it's right here.

All right.

I want you to tell me if you know what this is.

It's a magnifying glass.

Have you ever seen one of these?

That's pretty cool, isn't it?

Yeah, that's me.

I just I posed for that.

No, that's not me.

Who are you related to?

All right.

Okay, so have you have y'all ever seen one of these before?

Have you ever played with and I mean I mean use them in a scientific experience?

I mean, have you ever played with one of these before?

Have you seen one?

Do you see what you can look at this?

Can you is your eye okay, okay, look.

Can you see her eye?

Look how big that isn't that cool.

What about an ear?

Can I see an ear with an ear or a nose or a hand?

Isn't that cool?

Isn't that cool what you do with the magnet?

So what do you do with something like this?

That's okay.

You had it.

You were right there.

Yeah, you said fire, didn't you?

Yeah, I heard the words are yeah.

That's right, you could use it.

Oh, that's right.

That does help it see a little bit better.

Yeah, the birth stones.

What else would you do with a few?

Oh, that's right, close up.

So something that may be small or maybe kind of hard to read, you could you could put it up there and you can see it like that.

They use stuff like this for like telescopes too, right?

Where you it's like a big magnifying glass, but you'd you'd be able to see from a long distance.

Now, do you guys remember what I was talking about a minute ago with be merciful as our father is merciful?

Mercy is where you you don't give something that someone deserves, but you're patient with them, you're forgiving and giving.

You don't look judgmentally, condescending, mean toward them, you don't expect the worst, you expect the best.

It's really loving somebody, being merciful toward them.

So I want you to think about something, okay?

It really matters how you use this magnifying glass.

I'll give you an example.

If you use this magnifying glass and you go around and you make sure that you can find all of the bad things with all of your friends and your family members, you're gonna use this magnifying glass, you're gonna you're gonna look, you're gonna nitpick, you're gonna look and see, oh, I don't like the way they talk, I don't like the way they smell, I don't like the way they act, I don't like what they just did there, and you keep looking, looking and looking through the magnifying glass because you want to see how bad they are.

So you're using your your magnifying glass to look and look and look and look.

There's something that's happening at the same time that you're using the magnifying glass.

How can you see you while you're looking at the magnifying glass?

Are you bigger or smaller when you're looking through the magnifying glass?

You see them and they're really big.

Are you as big as they are when you're looking through the magnifying glass?

No.

Because you don't see, you don't put the magnifying glass on yourself, you put it on other people.

So, oh, I can't believe that you're so bad that you did all those wrong things.

And while you're doing that, everything else around the magnifying glass is not as big as what's in the magnifying glass.

So, what you're doing is you're not being merciful as you're supposed to be merciful.

So you're using a magnifying glass and you're using it on other people, and you're doing it in a way that is really kind of mean.

So, what I want to suggest to you this morning, instead of using the magnifying glass on other people, or even on yourself, because you can start using the magnifying glass on yourself, and then everybody else is is really small.

Everybody else isn't even important.

What if what if we took the magnifying glass and we came over here and we said, wow, look how loving God is.

Look what he did for us.

He broke his body so that we could have life.

He he shed his blood so that our sins could be forgiven.

I don't have time to criticize you or to be self-obsessed about me when I'm magnifying him.

As a matter of fact, the Bible talks about that.

It says, oh, let us magnify the Lord together.

You keep all of the focus on him.

It keeps everything else in perspective.

Does that make sense?

So could you could you help me know what I just said?

Could you kind of summarize it for me?

Give me give me something that you just heard, if for no other reason than I know that you're still here.

Yes.

Magnify Jesus and your life rather than magnifying other people, that would lead you down to a road of safety.

That's right.

That's perfect.

So magnify Jesus instead of magnifying other people.

When other people are big, God is small and you're small.

When when you're big, God is small and other people are small.

But when God is big, it puts everything else in perspective.

Keeps everything else where it belongs.

I love it.

You guys are so smart.

Okay.

We're going to move in to the time to take the elements.

I'm going to let you, I'm going to pray for you and with you.

I'm going to let you go back to your seats, and then we're going to go through taking it.

But I want to remind you, the whole purpose is using this of looking at who God is.

Okay?

Can you pray with me now?

Is that week?

Okay.

All right, let's bow our heads.

Lord, thank you.

That you are more than enough.

Help us to see you more than we see ourselves, more than we see others.

Help us to magnify you.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you.

Please go back to your seat.

If the deacons would like to head to the back and start preparing to come to the table, I just want to share a few verses with you as we prepare our hearts.

Being in covenant with the body of Christ.

I want to share show you a little slide that this is this is who we are.

When you come into relationship with Jesus Christ, it's that salvation of understanding your identity in Christ and then following him in New Testament baptism.

And then understanding the covenant that we have with each other.

I'm not suggesting that the Lord's Supper is the only time this happens.

This is a reflection of what has happened, is happening.

Just like baptism is an expression of an inward conversion, the Lord's Supper is a reflection of the covenant.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, he says, now you are Christ's body and individually members of it.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

He also says in verse 26, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.

If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

So we're not solos here.

We're not individuals just doing our own thing and then going about our way.

We are the body of Christ.

Acts 4.32.

Congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

Not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

Understanding that one heart and soul and desire for us as the body.

D.A.

Carson wrote about this years ago, and I love the way he put this.

He says, no less than the ancient Israels, Christians are called to covenant renewal.

That is one of the large purposes of the Lord's Supper.

It is a time for self-examination, confession of sin, remembering what the Lord Jesus endured to secure our redemption, and together with the people of God in local assembly, a time to remember and proclaim his death until he comes.

Thereby, we renew our pledge of allegiance.

We permit the Lord's Supper, if we permit the Lord's Supper, to descend to the level of meaningless right, all the while hardening our hearts against the living God we face grave in danger.

It will do us good in solemn assembly to review our sins and confess them, to grasp anew the Lord's faithfulness, and to pledge fresh loyalty to the new covenant.

You see, when when we are married, we don't enter a contract, we enter a covenant.

When we enter into the body of Christ, this is not a tit for tat, you break a rule, I break a rule.

That's not what this is.

This is covenant.

And in the body of Christ, because we follow him in salvation, obedience, and baptism, we are in covenant with him.

So the whole purpose of this is to celebrate that.

So I'd like to lead us in a time of prayer, and then after the prayer time, then we're going to move into the taking of the Lord's Supper together.

Would you pray with me, please?

Lord, I thank you for your word and the call to be merciful.

And I thank you how it strikes us as very, very difficult in our own strength.

Thank you.

That coming to the table, we get to magnify you.

We get to see you before we see ourselves or others.

We get to see your love, your sacrifice, your provision.

In this Pledge of Allegiance, we get to we get to say yes.

We're yours.

I pray for the next few moments as we enjoy the fellowship, the communion, that we get to celebrate you.

In Christ's name we pray.

Thank you for what you gave.

And thank you for the fact that you allow us to receive.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

That the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, I think that's a good thing.

Closing handle closing.

Let's be the time.

Go in his strength and in his peace this week.