Reflections on The First Lord’s Supper | Mark 14:22-25 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

I invite you to come with me to the Gospel of Mark chapter 14

Mark 14 · chapter mention

and look with me at verse 22 to verse 25.

Our time will be briefed before we partake of the Lord's Table

and you will see quickly how God's Providence is at work for

this Sunday. As we read verse 22 of Mark 14.

And as they were eating, he took bread and after a blessing it

broke it and gave it to them and said, take, this is my body.

And he took a cup and we 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. I thank God that in His perfect

Providence He has allowed us to come to this text on the day

that we regularly celebrate communion.

And as you know, whenever we do observe this ordinance, we do so

with meditation, sobriety, and joy.

And that is because we seek to observe this table the way that

the Scriptures tell us to. And to help us do this, we take

the time to remind ourselves of what this is about, of why it's

important for us, and how we as believers should approach it.

And while this message will will help us indeed prepare to

fellowship in this manner, its main focus will be to highlight

particular insights about the first ever Communion

observations, reflections from the original Lord's Supper, if

you will. And we've just seen in recent

times that this, this celebration is hated by the

world. It's hated by the enemy of our

souls. The world saw that on display a

few days ago, right? But God again, in his leading,

has brought us to a time where we are to remember why this is

so cherished, precious, important, vital to the life of

every believer in the church as a whole.

And it will be quite simple, because all we're going to do to

grasp this truth is consider one thought from every verse that we

read in Mark's gospel. Shall we do that?

So consider this time as a time of reflection through his word.

And immediately after we are going to come to this table

together. So look with me with your eyes

again at verse 22. And as they were eating, he took

bread. And after a blessing, it broke

it and gave it to them and said, take, this is my body.

Matthew, Mark and Luke are in harmony when it comes to

defining and describing the initial movements of Christ

here. So wherever you read this,

you're going to find that Jesus took bread, that he blessed it

and that he broke it. And then he gave it to the 12

saying, this is my body. And we previously devoted an

entire message on the misinterpretation of Jesus words

here of those who claim that he's speaking about this bread

becoming his actual flesh. And you can find that in our

archives if you'd like. But I, I'm going to assume that

all of us in here hopefully believe that what Jesus is

speaking about in these elements are symbolic and that He

instituted them to be instruments of recollection of

certain realities. So he takes the bread 1st and he

blesses it, and then he breaks it and then he extends it to his

own. But what are we to remember

about the bread which signifies His body?

What about His body? And I believe Luke's elaboration

helps us. So go to Luke 22 with me quickly

and look at verse 19, Luke 2219 reads and he took bread and when

he had given thanks. So we know the nature of the

blessing there. He's he's giving thanks.

He broke it and gave it to them saying this is my body which is

given for you. Do this in remembrance of me,

that that's an important phrase which is given for you.

And so you believer as you come and as you receive that bread,

in that moment you are charged to turn your attention and your

affection on this truth that God became flesh in the person of

Jesus Christ and his body was given for you.

In what sense is the body of Jesus given for me in a

substitutionary sense, the body of Jesus Christ was ordained by

the Father to be bruised, beaten, pierced, punctured,

slashed, ultimately crushed so that by faith you believer would

stand whole and complete before the Father.

And so as I take this bread, I'm zooming into that reality of his

incarnation. And practically speaking, then,

this bread is an emblem intended to strengthen your humility and

your hope. Humility because you are being

reminded in dramatic fashion. It's not about what I have

accomplished or failed to perform in my flesh.

This is not about me and what I've done with my hands or my

feet or my thinking or my words. What I've done privately, what

I've done secretly. It is the body of another.

It is the life of another that purchased my salvation and that

cancelled my punishment. It's the body of another who

lived my righteousness and cancelled my sinfulness.

And that's why hope with that humility, is excited.

At the same time, you're supposed to tangibly realize

that is it, is it accidental that the first expression, the

initial response here, so to speak, at the original Lord's

Supper is one of gratitude? What did, what did Luke tell us

Jesus, that he gave thanks? That was what sprung up

initially, and it sets the theme of this table.

It's one of gratitude. This is a celebration.

And I can tell you this, that one of the greatest joys for me

when we do this every month is that when I stand there and

every one of you approach this table, I don't know if you

realize this, but I've realized this.

Most, if not all of you come with a smile on your face.

And I hope the reason why is not because you're greeting us at

the table, but because your heart has been enlarged with

Thanksgiving as you are rediscovering what this body

means for you. And if you need any verse to

help generate that sense of delight and Glee, I I think one

helpful verse is Hebrews 1010, not just because it's an easy

reference to remember, but because of what it says in that

one verse that connects to this truth.

What does the author of Hebrew say?

He says? And by that will we have been

sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once

for all. Do you understand the

implications of this, that when I am to think about the body of

Jesus Christ, what's supposed to spring up in my soul is that I

have been sanctified once and for all, once and for all.

So in terms of your standing before God, your justification

is the theological term. What this bread is supposed to

convey to you, what it is in a sense preaching to you is stop

looking at yourself. Stop trusting in yourself, stop

comparing you with others. Instead, savour this promise

that you are the recipient of a gift and that gift is the body

of the Son of God. And so as you come here, what

you're realizing again is His broken body has made my soul

complete and flawless forever, Forever.

It's not determined by your performance that week or that

year or that month. It's dealt with.

And that is what this is telling you.

It's remind you Christ instituted this ordinance so

that you can face that glorious truth.

Yes, your heart is prone to doubt.

It's prone to get calloused, it's prone to forget and this

body in this breath symbolizes it's meant to say, hey, it's

this is not about you. This is about what has been done

2000 years ago on your behalf. So take this is my body.

Turn your focus not on you anymore on who Christ is on your

behalf. Let's come to the next verse.

So take this is my body. But look at verse 23.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to

them, and they all drank of it. Now the cup is a separate

element, but the detail I want to draw your attention to is the

last part of this verse. And they all drank of it.

Why is that significant? Because there's a possible

interpretation of this that has great significance.

If they all drank of it, then could it be that Judas himself

participated in it? Some might object to this idea,

some would say we can't be certain.

And there is justification for that because it's not explicitly

told. But when you go to Luke's

account, he seems to be a little bit more specific to imply one

possible answer. So go to Luke again in 22, and

notice in verse 19 of Luke 22 down to verse 21.

And He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it

and gave it to them, saying, this is My body which is given

for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.

So notice He broke the bread and he gave it verse 20, and

likewise the cup after they had eaten.

So they already ate, saying this cup that is poured out for you

is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who

betrays me is with me on the table.

So I understand that this can spark some debate.

And again, we can't be certain about this, but let's consider

the possibility that if Judas was there that he did partake of

these elements. And if he did, then it has a

major truth to tell us. One truth that it does tell us

is that it dismantles the erroneous idea that the

Eucharist. Have you heard the term

Eucharist? You know what it means.

It simply means Thanksgiving, that the Eucharist is a

sacrament unto salvation. There are 1,000,000 today who

believe that when you partake of this, it will earn you more

points of righteousness, or that it will better your chance for

eternal life. Millions, millions who will not

go to service unless this is a part of it, in thinking that

this will in some way contain salvific virtue.

If you are prone to believe that, if you come from a

background that adheres to that view, can I ask you a question

then? How do you explain Judas's fate?

How do you explain that? Because here you have a man who

did what? Who potentially partook, And if

he potentially partook, you reconcile that with what?

The fact that Jesus in the same context pronounces a woe

concerning him and says that it would be better that if he had

not been born. And in John chapter 6, Jesus

John 6 · chapter mention

calls the same man a devil, and in John chapter 17, he refers to

John 17 · chapter mention

them as the son of destruction. So if you lean towards the idea

that Judas did engage in this exercise, then what a strong

lesson demonstrating that it's possible to participate in

communion and be completely lost at the same time.

This doesn't save you. This doesn't make you more

favourable in God's eyes. It doesn't, and Judas is a

strong illustration of that. So then why did the Lord allow

him to partake if he did partake?

We're not explicitly told, but one thing is for certain, that

in no way does it suggest that the Lord, that the Lord allows

unbelievers to participate in this ordinance, because

Scripture tells us otherwise. And I'll tell you why that's

important because Paul cautions those who wrongfully approach

the table in a very known passage.

But let me remind you of it. In first Corinthians 11 verse

1 Corinthians 11:27

27, Paul says as he elaborates the revelation of the Lord's

table as an apostle. Whoever, therefore, eats the

bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will

be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

And there are, because of the strong warnings, many sincere

overseers, elders, pastors and a church who, in wanting to do

everything possible to ensure that the bread and the cup will

not be distributed in an unworthy manner, will establish

certain ideas, severe screenings and standards to determine who

and who cannot come to the table.

And if Judas is a hint to anything, it is that overseers

in the church do not have ultimate knowledge.

What is in people's hearts. Are there regulations?

Yes. Do leaders have the

responsibility to instruct and to warn the people about the

why, the what, the how, the whens of this ordinance?

You better believe it. But I want you to also see where

the Holy Spirit of God places the responsibility, the primary

responsibility of examination. It's in the next verse of First

Corinthians 11/27. You read it in 28.

Let a person examine himself, himself.

After all that the church does to ensure that this is treated

and handled the way the Bible tells us to, Examination

ultimately falls on the individual.

Let a person examine himself then, and so eat the bread and

drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks

without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself.

So this is a corporate experience, Paul, in the same

context as when you come together, when you come

together, when you come together, there's the bait.

Can I take communion alone? That's not the rule, that's not

the real God intended, that this ordinance draws the church to

come together and we experience this meal as a family.

So I don't think God had in mind virtual communion when he

instituted the supper. He intended for us to be here

flesh and blood. And so, though it's a corporate

experience, there is an individual responsibility for

examining our own hearts. And though publicly known and

unrepentant, sin helps identify one's spiritual condition and

should be lovingly confronted by the church, A person's heart can

only reveal so much, can only reveal so much.

You know what I find so interesting about an observation

of the original Lord's Supper is that there was self examination

taking place. Have you ever considered this?

Look at Mark again in 1400 main text.

It's before verse 22 where we started.

Scroll back and look here at verse 18.

We touched on this last week. It says here and as they were

reclining at table and eating, Jesus said truly I say to you,

one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.

Now look at this in verse 19. They began to be sorrowful and

to say to him, one after another, is it I?

Isn't that fascinating? In the context of the

institution of the Lord's Supper, you have self reflection

going on, indirectly reminding us that what this is about is an

opportunity for each of us to ruminate, reflect and assess if

our hearts are rightly aligned with the will of the Lord.

Because this call to self examination is primarily for the

church. It's primarily for believers.

Yes, even the believer can invite a particular discipline

in their lives. And the way that they treat

this, this is very holy. It breaks my heart.

And I've been in those services when I was first a believer of

how the Lord's table is treated like a drive through thing.

It's like, OK, open it up, let's eat, drink, OK, and then just

let's just rush out. That's not what the Lord had in

mind. The Lord had in mind that this

would be a sanctifying agent for the people of God.

It calls for us to pause and reflect, yes, joyfully reflect

and remember the positional promise of Jesus Christ being

our Savior. But it also challenges us and

calls us to reflect on our practical allegiance to Jesus as

Lord. So it's this paradoxical kind of

thing. We are coming with smiles.

We are looking at one another as family.

We are. We are rejoicing in that.

It's not about this body. It's about another body, the

Holy 1, the righteous one who lived and died on my behalf.

And yet this positional promise also asks us to reflect on our

practical allegiance. If I claim that to be true now,

is my life aligned to that? Now, here's the thing.

I have to say this there are some who take this a little too

far, and as they reflect, they realize that there's always

leftovers of sin somewhere, and they come to this point where

they feel as though they're never worthy to come to the

table. Worthiness is not sinlessness.

That's not what the Holy Spirit is trying to convey.

The whole point of the table is you confessing that you're not

worthy. In a sense, worthiness is

ultimately determined by you and your heart determining that you

renounce sin and that there's nowhere in your life that you

are justifying disobedience and that you want to fight and war

against the things that break your God's heart.

That's what worthiness is. Unworthiness would be to come to

this table in a callous, cavalier manner, without

thought, without reflection, without consideration of where

you're at today with your walk with Jesus Christ.

That's what breaks God's heart. That's what would invoke and

invite His discipline in His child's life when they are

absent minded as they come to this table.

Absent minded and how this reminds you that you're not

saved by works, and also absent minded and how this also reminds

you that you live differently because of what Christ has done

for you. And so there is even in the

institution a model of sorts, though not directly implied.

It's there by inference. Let's come to verse 24.

Here's the third observation. And he said to them in Mark

1424, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out.

For many, this is a very important statement that the

Lord Jesus Christ makes. This is my blood of the

covenant. Luke records it differently by

saying the new covenant in my blood, the new covenant in my

blood. Now this word covenant, it's the

first time that Jesus utters it in the Gospel of Mark, at least

recorded. What is a covenant?

Can I give you the simplest definition?

It's an agreement that it's oath bound between two or more

parties. It's a contract.

That's what a covenant is. And Christ now is coming to his

own, and he's letting them know that he is establishing a new

covenant with fresh terms of agreement for all of humanity,

not just the 12. That's why he says here what

that he had did it for many. It was poured out for many, not

just you. Matthew elaborates for the

forgiveness of many. And so here's Jesus now

establishing a new covenant with humanity.

And it's about his promise of forgiving humanity.

Those who would apply themselves to faith repented faith on the

grounds of Christ's sacrifice. But why blood?

Why does he say here, this is my blood of the covenant?

Because when you study the Bible carefully, you'll realize that

whenever God makes a covenant with man, it's confirmed with

blood. It's confirmed with blood being

shed. You'll see it in Genesis 8 with

Noah, you'll see it in Genesis 15 with Abraham, and you'll see

it in Exodus when Moses, as the mediator of the Old Covenant, is

establishing an agreement between the people of Israel and

God Almighty. In fact, it's there.

It's particularly there in Exodus 24, eight.

Turn there quickly. It's an Exodus 24, eight where

you have Jesus echoing the words of Moses.

I want you to see it. Exodus 24, verse 8.

Exodus 24:8

So what did Jesus say? This is my blood of the

covenant. And this is what Moses said in

Exodus 24, eight. And Moses took the blood and

threw it on the people and said, behold the blood of the covenant

that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these

words. If you haven't paid attention to

anything, please pay attention. Now here's Moses as a mediator

of a covenant under the law, and he takes the blood of animals.

And what does he do? The Bible is so precise.

It says here that he took the the blood and he threw it on the

people. He threw the blood on the

people. And now Jesus comes to establish

a new covenant with man, and he takes this cup and he says this

symbolizes my blood. But he doesn't sprinkle it on

people. He tells his people to do what

with it? Drink it.

Signifying what? Signifying that the covenant

under the law provides cleanliness only for the

external. But the new covenant that Jesus

establishes purifies the inner man.

And that is precisely the feature of the new covenant that

was foretold by the prophets while the old covenant was in

effect. Jesus didn't just come out of

nowhere and say, you know, I think I'm going to establish a

new covenant with mankind. He fulfilled what was foretold

ages ago, and ages ago the prophets, as they were being led

by the Spirit, couldn't help but highlight that the feature of

this new covenant is something happening inside, not outside.

And whatever happens outside out of this new covenant is a result

of what springs out from the inner man.

So if you have any doubt about that, let me remind you of one

of the clearest prophecies about the new covenant and Jeremiah

3131. A lot of easy references today.

Hebrews 10/10. Jeremiah 3131.

Here's what the prophet says about this new covenant that you

and I are enjoying today. I'll wait for the wrestling of

the leaves to settle. It's a good habit to bring the

Bible to church. Jeremiah 3131 Behold, the days

are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant

with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, not like the

covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took

them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

When did that happen? You read it earlier when Moses

was used as the instrument to bring Israel into the wilderness

at Mount Sinai to establish that covenant, and he sprinkled the

blood on the people. And Jeremiah says there's coming

a covenant that's not going to be like that.

My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband

declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I

will make with the House of Israel after those days,

declares the Lord. I will put my law within them.

The law is not going to be written on tablets of stone.

No, no, no, the tablet of your heart.

I will put my law within them and I will write it on their

hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

This is this cup signifies my blood and I'm symbolically

showing you that it's not applied externally.

No, no, no, it's applied internally.

I deal with the innermost part of your being.

When you put your faith in this blood, it changes you.

It really changes you. And so when you and I come to

this table, what are we doing? We're remembering, yes, Christ,

but we're also remembering other things connected to Christ.

And here's this one thing. You are coming to this table and

you're remembering, and you are recollecting and you are

rehearsing this. We have a greater covenant.

We have a greater promise. We have a greater agreement with

God. Oh, yeah, I know you want to see

the miracles. And I wish I lived in this time

to see God move in this way. Do you realize that the people

that you envy are the ones who envy you?

Do you realize that the prophets of old and the miracle workers

were were looking and investigating to see when these

things would be, when God would do a supernatural work in the

human heart? That's why I believe when a

person becomes a Christian, it's a supernatural thing because the

Bible describes it as a supernatural thing.

It's not a superficial thing. It's not a surface level thing.

It's not just mere words coming out of somebody's mouth.

Something happens in the heart when this blood is applied.

Surgery takes place. So I come to this table every

time, as often as you do and I and I realize God in his perfect

wisdom, his sovereignty has allowed me to be a part of in

this time of history, a greater covenant, a greater covenant.

And with that you also say and think to yourself, he keeps his

promises. He keeps his promises because

the prophet said there was a new covenant coming.

Jesus comes into the world and he inaugurates it.

God is faithful. He keeps His word, which is an

important point for the last one in our study of Mark.

Look at Mark 14 as we consider the last verse.

Jesus says, 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. So you and I as we celebrate God

fulfilling His promise of giving us a new covenant, we are given

another promise to embrace and believe in.

Do you see the part that says until that day when I drink it

new in the Kingdom? Matthew adds 2 very important

words that I'm sure will warm your heart.

Matthew says in Matthew 2629. Until that day when I drink it

new, hear the two words with you, with you in my Father's

Kingdom. So this for the disciples would

have been very reassuring because what they're about to

experience in a very few moments, the brutal death of

Jesus Christ would not be the end of the story.

They would remember what Christ had said and realizing that he

is going to return. This is not the end of it.

There is another thing that he is going to fulfill.

And this means that the bread in the cup, as we come and eat and

drink is a foretaste of a banquet in the future, a feast

that Christ listen to this. This is astounding to me, a

feast that Christ himself will abstain from until his church is

gathered again with him. I will not drink until you and I

are gathered together again in the fulfillment of the Kingdom.

So every time we gather, you know what's taking place here.

When you take a piece of that bread and a little bit of that

cup, it's a sample. It's an appetizer of a future

feast that you and I will enjoy with the very person of Jesus

Christ. Is there any window in the Bible

that gives us a little glimpse of what that feast will look

like? Yeah, you can find it in a

revelation, but my heart was reminded of a text in Isaiah.

Even Isaiah gives us not just the promise of a new covenant

that we are a part of, but of the promise within that new

covenant of something to come. OK, here's our final text before

we actually experience this together in Isaiah 25.

And look at verse 6. Meditating on these passages in

Isaiah made me extra excited for today.

Extra excited for today. Notice what the prophet says in

Isaiah 25. Six on this mountain the Lord of

hosts will make for all peoples. This is a universal thing for

all peoples. Not just the nation of Israel,

not just the people of Jacob, for all peoples.

A feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wine, of rich food

full of marrow of age wine well refined.

Who's the one who's setting up this feast, by the way?

The Lord himself, the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples.

He's saying really, Yes, really. And you get a little glimpse of

it when Jesus makes breakfast for his, the sum of his

disciples in John 21, right? Oh, it's going to be far greater

than some fish and bread, though, far greater than that.

Look at the description of this, a feast of rich food.

This is not going to be a cheap thing.

It's going to be a lavishing thing, a glorious thing, a

wedding that you have never seen before, that no magazine that

nothing could ever put together. But look at verse 7.

And he will swallow up on this mountain, the covering that is

cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death forever.

And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the

reproach of his people He will take away from all the earth.

For the Lord has spoken. So there's something permanent

about this feast. So you and I, every time we

partake of this, we get a little glimpse, just just a wafer of

what's happening, what's going to happen.

And then we go back into this world and what happens, We're

exposed to trials, tribulations, pain, betrayal, sin, satanic

forces. But there's something about this

feast that as we come to it and as we enjoy it, there's going to

be the removal of tears forever, forever and ever and ever.

And what will we say at that feast?

This is how specific the prophet is.

You want to get an idea of what you're going to utter and what

I'm going to utter in unison, verse nine, It will be said on

that day, behold, this is our God.

We have waited for Him that He might save us.

This is the Lord. We have waited for him.

Let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.

Finally here. The Lord kept His word that we

would feast together, that we would come together.

We are pilgrims. You're a Pilgrim and constantly

exposed to all these fractured elements of our universe.

But you know what happens when we come together, what we're

about to do in a few minutes. We escape that briefly.

Please listen to this. We escape that briefly, and we

are almost transported to this truth.

And what is this truth? There is a feast coming, and

Jesus Christ purchased my seat at that table.

When's the last time you thought about that?

When you held these elements and ate them?

Has that ever run through your mind Where you where you thought

there is a banquet coming and the blood of Jesus has purchased

my reservation. I will sit at that table, a

table that will commemorate and will celebrate the fact that

death has been defeated forever. I will come to a banquet that

toast the arrival of my inheritance of unending joy in a

new world, and I will feast not merely on food, but with

unhindered, untainted fellowship with God himself and God's

people for eternity. Are you ready to partake?

I hope your heart is stirred. I I hope that these truths

didn't skim over your mind and just kiss the surface of your

heart. I I pray that you would bind

these things on your heart and you would realize Jesus in

student this for the church has so much to say so much grace to

dispense in me. And so here's my call for you

and I as we're about to sing and then line up and feast together.

Examine yourself at this time. Examine yourself.

Examine the truth of His body. Your humility and your hope

should be exploding at this time.

And at the same time that if you're not walking in a manner

worthy of the Lord, God wants you to turn.

Jesus Christ is inviting you to repent, to be made right with

Him, and He would find greater pleasure in you taking the time

to examine yourself. And if you've made right with

that sin, if you've repent of that sin, then to come.

If you can't let go of that sin, if you're still trying to

justify it or try to debate with God of why you should be doing

what you're doing or thinking the way you should be thinking,

then just stay and remain and come when you're ready.

The same time as you're standing there and as you're following

the other person, remember this. It's not about you, it's about

him. And this, this is a snapshot of

a glorious thing that is coming. And if you believe in Christ,

you're going there. And Jesus Christ, listen to

this, is excited for that feast. I hope you are because he wants

you to be. This is not your world.

This is not your permanent residence.

This feast reminds you that a Kingdom is coming.

It will rule everything. And if you're in Christ, you

will rule and reign with him if you're an unbeliever in this

place. Respectfully, it is my duty and

it is our responsibility as leaders to remind you that yes,

you're welcome here. We're so glad that you're here

to reserve yourself from participating and instead to

participate in this way by observing a people who believe

that they've been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ of

Nazareth and that they have assurance of salvation.

And if you do the same as they did, then one day you can

partake of these elements for yourself.

But until then, watch and realize that we are people who

have been purchased by God, and that invitation is extended to

you as the priest name comes up to prepare us to sing.

Let us not treat this as a drive through experience.

Take some time to commune with the Lord.

Take some time to reflect on what He's done for you.

Take some time to realize the treasure that is your

inheritance. It's your portion, and it will

come together. Can you do that?

If you're going to look at one another, look at each other with

joy and realizing this is my family, not in a distracting

way. Let's, let's prepare our hearts

and come to this table together. I'm going to join you in that.

But we think about our salvation and Lord, we choose to trust in

the saving work of Christ. We think about our shortcomings,

our failures. We think about the things that

we would never want anybody else to know.

And perhaps even at this moment we feel the condemnation, the

shame, the guilt, the filth below.

Your word says that when our hearts condemn us, God is

greater than our hearts and he knows all things.

Thank you that when you see us, you see the spotless record of

Jesus. Thank you that when you see us

and you look for debt, there's no debt that we owe.

Thank you that when you look for all our wrongs, you will not

find us. You'll find that record nailed

on that cross. Thank you that though we do not

deserve it, you've extended it to us, this gift.

So, Lord, we don't reflect in terms of our salvation how we

can earn it, how we might have weakened our security for it.

We rest in Jesus. Help us rest in Jesus.

And now look, we, we Lord, we do look to our lives as professors

of Jesus, of confessors of the Christ, or if there's anything

in our hearts that grieve the Spirit, if there's anything that

we're justifying that we excuse, we renounce it.

Lord, if we can be perfectly holy at the snap of the finger,

we would want it. We want to be pure.

We want to be blameless. We want to be the way you've

designed and called us to be. Help us really believe that

you're coming back. Help us really believe.

With all the busyness, the bills, the plans, this is all

going to come to an end one day. And we're going to, with our own

eyes, see Jesus establishing his Kingdom on the earth.

That is, that is our destination.

Help us really believe that there's a feast being prepared

and the same people that will be sitting with in this room will

be the same people we'll be sitting with at that table,

glorified, perfected, in the unfiltered presence of God.

Help us believe that. Help us remember to not plant

our feet too strongly on the earth.

We sing to you with Thanksgiving, knowing that we've

been purchased, that we're free, that we're secure forever.

In Jesus name, Amen. Let's stand, let's sing, let's

give thanks.