back to index2018-07-29 Meaning of Communion
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We joined a church in the last couple of years and we haven't reviewed, again, the meaning 00:00:10.480 |
And so we want to make sure that we participate not as a religious ritual, but something that 00:00:17.240 |
So I'm going to take some time today to cover that before we participate in communion. 00:00:23.720 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you so much for your continued grace, especially 00:00:31.880 |
as we prepare our hearts for this communion Sunday. 00:00:35.720 |
We ask, Lord, that you would search our hearts, know and show us, Lord God, if there's any 00:00:42.200 |
If our minds, our habits, what we run to for refuge and for Sabbath, if it is anything 00:00:49.280 |
but you, I pray, Father God, that this time of communion, the sacred time, Lord God, that 00:00:56.200 |
you've ordained would cause our church to be mindful of who you are and what you've 00:01:01.640 |
And that we would not just in our thinking, but in our hearts, in our wills, in the very 00:01:08.080 |
way that we spend our lives, Lord God, we'd be recalibrated according to your will. 00:01:18.520 |
There was a stretch of period while in the beginning of the church in order to make extra 00:01:25.200 |
And for about five years I taught various levels of ESL. 00:01:29.080 |
And one of the things that I learned from teaching ESL, being trained how to teach ESL, 00:01:34.040 |
is that English is a very difficult language to pick up. 00:01:37.520 |
And part of the reason why is because there's so many irregulars. 00:01:40.760 |
You know, when you teach grammar, you teach the rule, and then there's a lot of things 00:01:46.080 |
In fact, more than 45% of the grammar doesn't fit the rules that you teach. 00:01:50.840 |
So one of the things that I was taught in teaching ESL is to not teach grammar. 00:01:56.880 |
He said, not to teach, not at all, but he said, don't make teaching English about teaching 00:02:02.840 |
grammar because they're going to get confused. 00:02:11.040 |
And then you would say, this is what they would do when they go to the market. 00:02:13.120 |
And this is what they would do when they go to the post office. 00:02:16.200 |
And then we would just kind of mimic each other, and that's how people would pick up 00:02:19.720 |
There's a lot of things that we say in English that even we don't know where it comes from. 00:02:28.520 |
See if you can, see if maybe some of you guys can recognize some of this. 00:02:38.600 |
We know what it means, but what does that mean? 00:02:50.840 |
These are the things that we say all the time. 00:02:52.400 |
We just say it because you probably heard it somewhere and you just mimic, and that's 00:02:58.740 |
If you want to hear from somebody directly, what do you say? 00:03:01.320 |
You want to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. 00:03:10.080 |
But we use it all the time because that's what we heard, and so that's what it means. 00:03:14.360 |
We just say it, but we don't know where it comes from. 00:03:18.640 |
If somebody is staying quiet and they're not speaking, what do you say? 00:03:29.240 |
What does that have to do with staying quiet and not sharing? 00:03:37.440 |
I could just sit here for the next hour just talking about idioms that we don't really 00:03:40.920 |
understand we use, but it's part of our language. 00:03:44.800 |
When you get sick or you don't feel well, what do you say? 00:03:55.040 |
So if you're teaching English to a non-English speaking person and they tell you, "Okay, 00:03:59.880 |
when you're sick, you say you're under the weather." 00:04:06.280 |
I just heard it from my teachers and I heard it growing up, so I just repeat it. 00:04:10.900 |
When you go evangelism just randomly out on the street, what do you say? 00:04:18.080 |
What does cold turkey have to do with evangelism? 00:04:21.160 |
Or if you're doing sales and you're just calling people up randomly without any kind of previous 00:04:35.160 |
Some of these idioms I looked at and it had actually pretty decent reasons and where it 00:04:43.120 |
It's just been passed down from generation to generation and so it just became a part 00:04:46.680 |
of the English language and we know how to use it in context, but we don't exactly know 00:04:55.840 |
Anything that we do repeatedly year after year after year after year, there are certain 00:04:59.480 |
things that just kind of fall through without us ever really asking. 00:05:03.040 |
So when you're learning English for the first time, they will always ask, "What does that 00:05:10.800 |
But if you've been speaking English all your life, there's tons of things that we say that 00:05:21.120 |
Now there are certain things that we can get away with and it'll function fine, but a lot 00:05:25.680 |
of times what we do as Christians in the church also creep through without ever really knowing 00:05:36.440 |
Why does a church need to gather together in corporate worship? 00:05:41.440 |
Why can't you sit in front of a television and watch the program? 00:05:50.320 |
Why do some churches have praise teams and why do some churches only use organs? 00:05:57.920 |
Imagine all these things that happen that if you happen to have grown up in a church, 00:06:03.120 |
whatever culture that was normal in that church, you just kind of became part of what you believe 00:06:08.360 |
Christianity is without really thinking through why these things are happening. 00:06:13.580 |
And of all the things that we do, that we actually need to know what it is, one of the 00:06:20.960 |
most key things that we do as a church is the communion table. 00:06:30.240 |
Does it have some special power over you that if you do it or don't do it, it's going to 00:06:36.360 |
We need to understand what we're participating in, that you don't just do it because you're 00:06:40.280 |
a member of the church and you just happen to come to Berean and then we have communion 00:06:46.360 |
We're told it's important, so it's important. 00:06:49.080 |
So I'm going to give you briefly the different views. 00:06:53.000 |
The first two views are not, we wouldn't consider that a debatable issue within the Christian 00:06:59.200 |
The first is the Roman Catholic, the second is the traditional Lutheran view. 00:07:02.960 |
The first view, the Roman Catholic view, is called a transubstantiation. 00:07:07.280 |
In transubstantiation, the wine and bread become the literal body and blood of Jesus 00:07:12.640 |
So when Jesus says, "Do this and this is my blood and this is my body," they take that 00:07:17.200 |
literally means that when the communion is given in service, that it literally becomes 00:07:23.040 |
the blood, literally becomes the flesh of Christ. 00:07:32.480 |
When Jesus says, "I am the vine," he didn't literally mean that he was the vine. 00:07:36.780 |
He was using it symbolically to mean something. 00:07:41.160 |
The Lutherans believe in what's called the consubstantiation. 00:07:44.760 |
So when Luther protested against the church, he evaluated what they were doing. 00:07:51.440 |
But he took maybe about half a step away from the Catholic Church, called consubstantiation, 00:07:57.000 |
where wine and bread, not literally the body blood, but Jesus Christ is literally present 00:08:03.560 |
Meaning that the bread and the wine doesn't necessarily literally become the body and 00:08:12.560 |
So the Lutherans believe whenever we have communion, Jesus physically, spiritually, 00:08:24.780 |
The next two views are the two views between the Presbyterians and the Baptists. 00:08:30.240 |
These majority of Protestants will fall into one or the other view. 00:08:35.400 |
We're Baptist, so let me give you the first, the Presbyterian view. 00:08:38.920 |
And their view is the sacramental view, memorial. 00:08:42.600 |
It's something done in remembrance of Jesus' death and in anticipation of his second coming, 00:08:49.280 |
Jesus is present spiritually in the wine and bread. 00:08:55.120 |
So there is some benefit of participating in it because there is a dynamic presence 00:09:05.480 |
Meaning that when you participate in it, there is some spiritual benefit to the church. 00:09:12.400 |
Literally there is some spiritual benefit because the dynamic presence of Christ is 00:09:18.120 |
So they tend to, some churches tend to do it more often, week after week after week. 00:09:22.360 |
Or some churches will do it even more than that. 00:09:25.440 |
Every time they get together, it's kind of like the Catholic church. 00:09:28.960 |
Every time they gather, whether it's Bible study or not, they will have some type of 00:09:38.060 |
And this is also related to the infant baptism. 00:09:42.400 |
Whether they confess Christ as Lord and Savior, there is some dynamic presence of Christ in 00:09:49.720 |
the baptism where there is a blessing over that child because of the baptism. 00:09:56.840 |
The Baptists believe, we call this a memorial, primary to remember. 00:10:05.280 |
Something done in remembrance of Jesus' death and in anticipation of his second coming. 00:10:09.400 |
And the reason why we don't believe that there is a blessing, but the blessing is primarily 00:10:17.040 |
And the reason why I believe that, the reason why the Baptists believe that, because in 00:10:21.360 |
the Old Testament, when the sacrifices were given, when they didn't do this in a manner 00:10:28.840 |
worthy of Christ, what did God say to the Israelites? 00:10:37.920 |
And the scripture says that all the sacrifices had absolutely no power to forgive sins. 00:10:42.960 |
All it did was to symbolically point to Christ. 00:10:47.480 |
And so when Christ came and fulfilled it, there is no power in and of the act of itself. 00:10:52.640 |
The only reason why there was power in it is because they participated in faith and 00:11:01.560 |
So when we come to the New Testament, we practice communion. 00:11:04.320 |
Communion, the purpose of it was ultimately symbolically cause us to remember. 00:11:09.520 |
And the benefit that we have in the communion table is that as we remember, and as we talked 00:11:15.240 |
about last week, when Paul says that he did this in order to stir up in them in remembrance 00:11:24.400 |
So the primary purpose of the communion table is to cause us to keep the death and resurrection 00:11:30.800 |
of Jesus Christ at the forefront of our thoughts, at the forefront of our singing, our Bible 00:11:39.240 |
Because the moment we stray away from that, everything else becomes just ritual. 00:11:43.680 |
Just like it did in the Old Testament when they were giving all these sacrifices, and 00:11:47.800 |
yet when it came to true devotion to God and mercy and grace toward those who are in need, 00:11:53.000 |
God said your sacrifices meant absolutely nothing. 00:11:56.880 |
So the Baptist view is strictly for the purpose of remembering, to stir up in us remembering. 00:12:04.740 |
In Luke chapter 11, verse 14 to 22, it says, "When the hour came, he reclined at table 00:12:11.960 |
And he said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, 00:12:16.960 |
for I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.'" 00:12:20.840 |
He's talking about his death and resurrection. 00:12:24.400 |
He took up a cup and when he had given thanks, he said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves, 00:12:29.400 |
for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom 00:12:34.280 |
And he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This 00:12:44.440 |
And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you 00:12:52.880 |
So the benefit, again, of the communion table is to fulfill what Christ says. 00:12:57.920 |
That every time you do this, this Passover meal, which was replaced by the communion, 00:13:03.200 |
this is this communion meal that they had in the early church, breaking of bread, it 00:13:09.040 |
is no longer to talk about the deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians, but deliverance 00:13:19.820 |
So participating in the communion table in and of itself has no benefit for you. 00:13:27.320 |
If you came in here with hearts that are hardened, having communion doesn't cause you to be a 00:13:34.800 |
You are not better off in standing before God because you participate in the communion 00:13:42.180 |
You were somehow spiritually weak and then you participate in the communion table. 00:13:49.240 |
In fact, it can actually ruin you by not participating in a worthy manner. 00:13:59.120 |
In a nutshell, I've explained to you at least the Baptistic view of communion. 00:14:11.120 |
There's nothing in the scripture that mandates how often it should be done. 00:14:14.640 |
I've had plenty of debates with friends and saying that it should be done more regularly, 00:14:21.920 |
But again, all of that is completely arbitrary because it is not mandated in scripture. 00:14:27.400 |
Having it every month doesn't make it more precious. 00:14:30.220 |
Having it every week doesn't make it any less precious. 00:14:41.600 |
If the primary purpose of this is to cause us to remember and is a replacement of the 00:14:46.320 |
Passover meal, what was the purpose of the Passover meal? 00:14:53.600 |
There are three aspects of things that we need to focus on, and hopefully we'll get 00:14:57.960 |
a better understanding of what Christ desires from us. 00:15:01.360 |
Number one, the Passover meal was a celebration of God's deliverance of Israel. 00:15:06.080 |
So Israelites did that for hundreds of years, and every time they had the Passover meal, 00:15:11.200 |
it was causing them to think about the beginning of Israel, the deliverance. 00:15:15.720 |
So in Exodus chapter 13, it says, "Then Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day in 00:15:21.040 |
which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the 00:15:29.440 |
Their primary role was to declare God's glory and worship Him. 00:15:35.640 |
The moment that they forgot what God had done, their ability to worship God is tainted. 00:15:44.360 |
Because if the whole purpose of our gathering is to worship God, and then the whole motivation 00:15:50.040 |
and the fuel behind why we worship God is represented at this communion table, the moment 00:15:56.360 |
Christ's sacrifice and death and resurrection of Christ has become old to you, so has your 00:16:07.440 |
It doesn't matter how much money you put into the basket. 00:16:10.040 |
It doesn't matter how early you woke up to serve the church. 00:16:13.680 |
Because the primary fuel, primary motive in why we worship God is because of what Christ 00:16:23.000 |
And so the nation of Israel was commanded that every year, and the Passover was their 00:16:28.520 |
greatest holiday, that every Passover that they would reenact what happened in the beginning 00:16:37.960 |
And that's what we are to remember primarily at the communion table. 00:16:42.480 |
1 Corinthians 11, 26, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim 00:16:50.800 |
So when we participate in the communion table, it is to remind us of what he has done. 00:16:56.560 |
I can tell you, when I sit in front of somebody, and we can talk about church, we can talk 00:17:02.080 |
about evangelism, we can talk about feeding the poor and taking care of orphans, and we 00:17:07.680 |
can talk about all of that, and there's a lot of excitement and passion. 00:17:12.200 |
But if there is no passion for what Christ has done, all of that is nothing more than 00:17:20.420 |
Because the primary thing that God wants us to do is to give him worship. 00:17:25.440 |
So if Christ's death and resurrection has just become idioms that have just kind of 00:17:32.040 |
passed through from generation to generation, it just kind of happened to stop with you. 00:17:37.680 |
And if somebody asks you, like, "What do you believe?" 00:17:42.280 |
You don't know how many times I've been out on the street sharing the gospel with somebody, 00:17:45.120 |
and they chased me out saying, "I know that already. 00:17:50.120 |
Or even within the church, we'd have a conversation about Christ, and there's this kind of blank 00:17:54.320 |
look on their face as if it has nothing to do with them. 00:18:01.200 |
It's almost kind of like I've done my part already. 00:18:03.440 |
I'm already justified, so stop telling me this." 00:18:08.800 |
The moment that the news of the gospel becomes old, everything that you're doing as a Christian 00:18:16.960 |
It's no different than the Israelites who are coming and giving meaningless sacrifices 00:18:22.920 |
where they're singing songs and they're serving the temple, and God says, "Your assembly is 00:18:32.680 |
That's why he implemented this year after year after year to remind them, to fuel them 00:18:41.080 |
Let me ask you, and the same question I asked last week, remember when the cross of Christ 00:18:53.700 |
Not because of some event, not because you're meeting your friends, where you wanted to 00:18:58.560 |
meet Christ, because what Christ has done affected you so deeply. 00:19:05.280 |
Some of you are brand new Christians, and you know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:19:08.200 |
The moment that that gospel message that you may have heard all your life and you understood 00:19:13.400 |
bits and pieces, but all of a sudden by his Holy Spirit took his words and it was yours. 00:19:19.840 |
He didn't just forgive sins, he forgave your sins. 00:19:24.640 |
As a result of that, you wanted to sing like you've never sung before. 00:19:28.640 |
All of a sudden, sitting and having conversation about Christ was enjoyable. 00:19:35.040 |
You wanted to study to know what the Word of God says, because the God who wrote it 00:19:47.940 |
When evangelism becomes a duty where you have to share or else God's going to be angry, 00:19:53.920 |
we're just not effective no matter how much effort we put into it. 00:19:59.800 |
No matter how hard we study and put all the newest techniques, it's just not effective 00:20:04.880 |
because people look right through it and say, "Well, you don't believe it." 00:20:10.420 |
We are the best in worship, our fellowship, our evangelism. 00:20:15.540 |
Everything that we do is directly affected by how you are affected by the cross. 00:20:21.640 |
We all talk about how we want to be like the early church. 00:20:24.960 |
The early church described in Acts 2, 44 to 47, "And all who believed were together and 00:20:33.840 |
They were all just openly sharing with one another. 00:20:36.560 |
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to 00:20:43.920 |
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received 00:20:47.440 |
their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the 00:20:52.920 |
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 00:20:55.640 |
I mean, you're talking about an ideal church who was generous, they loved to get together, 00:21:01.220 |
they were devoted to the study and prayer, and then evangelism was happening. 00:21:07.400 |
As a result of their devotion, the Lord was adding to their number constantly. 00:21:14.300 |
So we look back at them and say, "Well, how do we become like the early church? 00:21:23.100 |
What kind of discipleship led to this church? 00:21:29.780 |
What kind of teaching, what was it that caused all of them to be generous? 00:21:36.780 |
To get together and just couldn't wait to fellowship? 00:21:40.380 |
Where people were just coming to participate? 00:21:45.020 |
How were they running the church that they had that kind of a church that we all envy? 00:21:52.680 |
Only thing that we knew is they heard the preaching of the cross and they were convicted 00:22:02.580 |
The preaching of the cross caused them to be convicted and they repented and then all 00:22:06.540 |
of a sudden you have a church that was generous. 00:22:08.660 |
It wasn't because they had years of training of stewardship. 00:22:12.020 |
It wasn't because they were taught this great doctrine they dug and the more they understood 00:22:21.060 |
No, they were people who had just simply heard the preaching of the cross and they were convicted. 00:22:28.840 |
At the core of discipleship is what we're participating in today. 00:22:33.500 |
Is to remember and to rethink and reconsider where is your heart in line with what we are 00:22:43.060 |
When we talk about the cross has your heart become numb? 00:22:46.480 |
Has it become old information when we talk about his death and resurrection? 00:22:50.460 |
When we talk about the judgment of the world and the glory that is coming with Christ has 00:23:01.900 |
Something has caused you to be hardened in your heart and the only remedy that the scripture 00:23:13.880 |
The scripture does tell us to teach them to observe all that I have commanded in the great 00:23:17.940 |
commission that it is our duty in the church to teach and to disciple. 00:23:23.540 |
But the primary thing that causes us to be better worshippers is what this table represents. 00:23:39.260 |
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 00:23:42.900 |
Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 00:24:01.740 |
The joy of his salvation was quenched because of his sins. 00:24:08.660 |
It causes us to examine ourselves, to see, because we need to confess our sins. 00:24:14.780 |
We need to acknowledge and receive forgiveness. 00:24:18.960 |
There is no power in and of itself if you do not come in repentance, without self-examination, 00:24:26.380 |
because the communion table is the open door where we can approach the throne of grace 00:24:32.900 |
But if we're nonchalant about our sins, we're probably nonchalant about our salvation. 00:24:38.980 |
And so when David pleads, the primary thing that he pleads for is to restore the joy of 00:24:44.060 |
my salvation, because without the joy of my salvation, it doesn't matter how loud you 00:24:52.340 |
It doesn't matter how hard you study the Bible. 00:24:56.020 |
It doesn't matter how much sweat equity you put into building up the church, because what 00:25:01.740 |
God desires more than anything else is worshippers who will worship in spirit and in truth. 00:25:09.740 |
But if the joy of your salvation has been quenched, possibly because of compromise, 00:25:15.020 |
maybe neglect, whatever it may be, the communion table was given to us so that we can remember 00:25:25.360 |
The second thing, the reason why God gave the Passover meal, number two, the Passover 00:25:30.260 |
served to remind Israel of God's care and deliverance during times of hardship. 00:25:35.660 |
In Deuteronomy 7, 17 and on, it says, "If you say in your heart, 'These nations are 00:25:45.220 |
You shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh 00:25:52.060 |
God already knew as he delivered them that times of hardship is going to come. 00:25:58.260 |
And because we live in this physical world, when you see your enemies coming, when you 00:26:02.540 |
see hardship coming, and you forget who you serve, that every time that you have the Passover 00:26:09.100 |
meal, we are to remember God's power and deliverance and care for us so we would not fall into 00:26:16.300 |
Verse 19, "The great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand 00:26:19.980 |
and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out, so will the Lord 00:26:24.180 |
your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid." 00:26:29.580 |
So the second meaning of the communion table are for believers who confess that Christ 00:26:38.380 |
And again, I want you to really consider what that means. 00:26:42.180 |
Those of you who are worried about not being able to pay your bills tomorrow, those of 00:26:46.340 |
you who are worried about the future of your children, those of you who are worried about 00:26:50.660 |
your jobs, maybe even your health, whatever it is that causes anxiousness while living 00:26:56.060 |
on this earth, this fear that somehow we're not keeping up with the Joneses or the Kims 00:27:04.180 |
All that anxiety that is created because we forget who we serve, that we're comparing 00:27:12.420 |
ourselves with the rest of the world and we want to be where they are, where God calls 00:27:17.760 |
us to be light and where they are to look at us and to be envy where we are at. 00:27:24.060 |
And so if we're living our life looking at them with envy, something has seriously gone 00:27:30.820 |
Romans chapter 8, 31 to 36 says, "What shall we say then to these things? 00:27:41.840 |
Can you possibly be sick and God looks at it and says, "Oh my gosh, I forgot him for 00:27:47.340 |
A God who sent his only begotten Son to die for us and he said he counts the very hairs 00:27:53.060 |
on our head, could he have possibly forgotten about you? 00:27:58.620 |
Could he have possibly looked at the world and said, "Oh shoot, I forgot." 00:28:04.140 |
You take our children and no matter how much we love them, if the three-year-old runs off 00:28:08.020 |
and we're constantly living in anxiety that we're going to lose them when we're in public. 00:28:12.460 |
You think that's what happened to God whenever we feel lost and we are anxious? 00:28:17.820 |
He just has too many kids to look after and he just lost some. 00:28:23.500 |
Verse 32, "He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us, how will he not also 00:28:33.160 |
How will he not if he gave his only begotten Son?" 00:28:39.980 |
If somebody gave you a brand new car, you think he's going to be stingy with gas? 00:28:44.900 |
"I gave you this car, I spent $25,000 to give you this car and I just worked so hard to 00:28:52.380 |
give you this car but I can't use it because I don't have gas money." 00:29:00.940 |
He who did not spare his own son, how will he not along with him give us all things? 00:29:07.260 |
That's what the communion table was to do, is to cause us to remember. 00:29:20.700 |
These are just thoughts, this is part of theology, this is what the church teaches. 00:29:26.260 |
But if you believe this, how can you not be affected? 00:29:30.980 |
The moment anxiousness comes, our first thought is, "I have a sovereign God who loves me and 00:29:39.120 |
And that's what this communion table was meant to do, cause you to take a step back and ask 00:29:44.140 |
yourself, "Do you believe in what this represents? 00:29:49.300 |
Do you believe that this is the body of Christ that was broken for you? 00:29:53.240 |
Do you believe that he shed his only begotten Son's blood to save you from hell? 00:30:01.480 |
And if you believe that, do you think that anything that's happening in your life, any 00:30:05.520 |
anxiousness that you feel, is because somehow God has forgotten about you? 00:30:14.120 |
That somehow his hands is too short to reach you? 00:30:18.920 |
It is to remind us of who he is and what he has given. 00:30:24.080 |
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? 00:30:30.520 |
More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding 00:30:35.920 |
Not only did he send his only begotten Son, he is continually working, praying on our 00:30:42.360 |
Again, this is only effective if you believe. 00:30:49.160 |
If you don't believe it, or you just kind of received it out of kind of like inheritance, 00:30:54.640 |
you think you received your faith as an inheritance from your parents, you grew up in the church, 00:30:58.960 |
so there's more superstition in you than real faith. 00:31:05.720 |
You're more afraid of not doing the right thing superstitiously. 00:31:08.520 |
So somehow God's not going to bless you, your kids aren't going to be healthy, or you started 00:31:17.120 |
And so if you're living your life out of superstition, you will do what is required, absolute minimum 00:31:28.820 |
But if you believe this, this becomes your pursuit. 00:31:45.660 |
Again, you know, the reason why I keep saying this is because we live in a place of the 00:31:52.060 |
world where Christianity is assumed, and so we grow up in churches where we just assume 00:31:59.380 |
we're believers because we've been doing this physically, never really giving serious thought, 00:32:07.100 |
And if I do believe this, what does this mean? 00:32:13.540 |
You can't confess to believe this and then think and act and feel like the rest of the 00:32:18.740 |
world because your actions contradict your faith. 00:32:24.060 |
It needs to be consistent, and so that's what this is. 00:32:26.220 |
It is a recalibration of believers who may have drifted. 00:32:31.660 |
Thirdly, the Passover served to remind Israel of God's provision during times of abundance. 00:32:40.260 |
There are people in our church who are struggling, who have loved ones who are sick or having 00:32:45.780 |
financial issues or serious issues, marriage problems, but there are greater numbers of 00:32:54.060 |
us who are living in absolute peace and in abundance, and we are wrestling to remind 00:33:04.820 |
And every Sunday you come, you are reminded that you need Christ, but the moment the Sunday 00:33:09.500 |
service is over, everything about your life says you don't really need him. 00:33:17.260 |
Deuteronomy chapter 8, 11, it says, "Take care lest you forget the Lord your God." 00:33:23.020 |
And again, this is the constant struggle of where we live because your bills are paid 00:33:32.640 |
Your children are well-educated, well-fed, well-entertained. 00:33:38.780 |
And so we have a tendency to forget, constantly forget. 00:33:42.880 |
And we are comforted by the fact that we go to church, which is very, very, very, very 00:33:48.860 |
dangerous to rely on church attendance for our safety because the people who are rebuked 00:33:54.540 |
the harshest were the Pharisees, who are the busiest at the temple. 00:34:00.140 |
Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules 00:34:03.960 |
and his statutes which I commanded you, lest when you have eaten and are full and have 00:34:08.340 |
built good houses and live in them, when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver 00:34:13.920 |
and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heartbeat lift it 00:34:20.120 |
up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house 00:34:27.620 |
Let me say something that's going to be really disturbing to you, and hopefully it's not, 00:34:34.340 |
If you're a Christian who are living in abundance and peace and your heart has become dull and 00:34:40.460 |
drifted away from God, disaster is the greatest thing that can happen to you. 00:34:49.020 |
Sickness is the greatest thing that will happen to you. 00:34:53.300 |
Hardship is the greatest thing that will happen to you because God will use that to recalibrate 00:35:01.660 |
If you're not a Christian and you're living in peace and you're drifting, that's the worst 00:35:06.620 |
thing that can happen because God has released you and allowed you to drift. 00:35:11.540 |
You're drifting far and far and far away from God and you're living in peace and you feel 00:35:16.340 |
no anxiousness, there's no sense of urgency to get right with God. 00:35:20.580 |
You're just watching your boat floating away and nothing is happening in your life. 00:35:26.460 |
That's the worst thing that can happen to you. 00:35:30.340 |
If you're a believer that has drifted and your heart has hardened and you are a genuine 00:35:36.740 |
believer and God truly does love you, he will discipline you. 00:35:46.780 |
Not because he hates you, not necessarily simply as a punishment, but to bring you back 00:35:56.060 |
So the communion table is to remind us not to become arrogant, to remember that we are 00:36:00.380 |
in dire need of Christ, to recalibrate a sense of urgency for him. 00:36:06.420 |
That even while our bills are paid, even when our children are well and our marriage is 00:36:11.060 |
going well and ministry on the surface looks like it's going well, that when we look to 00:36:16.740 |
the cross and why he came and what the scripture says about the end, collegians, everybody 00:36:24.500 |
else, we just came out of studying the book of Revelation. 00:36:28.940 |
Maybe we've already forgotten where this is headed. 00:36:32.540 |
And so the purpose of this is to restore in us a sense of urgency for your sins and for 00:36:39.360 |
Maybe you have a mom or a dad or brother or a sister or co-worker or even a stranger or 00:36:44.760 |
neighbor who do not believe and your heart has become hardened toward them and them going 00:36:49.340 |
to hell is something that you confess, but there's no urgency to share the gospel. 00:36:55.580 |
This is to remind us of what you and I confess every single Sunday and that your life and 00:37:01.260 |
your speech and your heart, the way you spend your money, the way you spend your time, what 00:37:05.820 |
you are looking for, who you are comparing with, what you envy, when it does not match 00:37:11.220 |
what we celebrate at this table, the communion table is to recalibrate us, to bring us back, 00:37:18.540 |
to remind us that we are desperate without Christ, that we are desperate and that the 00:37:28.100 |
See, a Christian cannot confess that and say, "Oh well," and walk away. 00:37:37.860 |
By your action, you confess you do not believe. 00:37:42.660 |
So again, if you are a believer, it is to recalibrate that. 00:37:47.500 |
If you are not a believer, it may cause you to confirm that you do not believe. 00:37:55.260 |
Hosea chapter 13, verse 4-6, "But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt. 00:37:59.500 |
You know no God but Me, and beside Me there is no Savior. 00:38:04.100 |
It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of the drought. 00:38:10.140 |
They were filled and their heart was lifted up. 00:38:13.900 |
And that's our constant challenge because our life is getting better and better because 00:38:31.520 |
People said hello to you when you entered, right? 00:38:37.100 |
And I know superficially there's other stuff going on in your life, but for the most part, 00:38:46.100 |
And as a result of that, maybe you're drifting. 00:38:48.900 |
Hebrews chapter 2-1, it says, "Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what 00:38:57.660 |
Can a Christian who lives in a constant drift have assurance of salvation? 00:39:06.460 |
You can come talk to me if this disturbs you, right? 00:39:14.540 |
Because, not because you're saved by your works, not because you have some emotion in 00:39:19.380 |
your heart, but to be in a constant drift may be evidence that you don't believe. 00:39:30.640 |
To be in constant state of lukewarmness and to have accepted that, to be in constant state 00:39:37.860 |
of apathy and to have accepted that as a normal part of your life could be evidence that you 00:39:48.300 |
Because if you really believe, time to time, the Holy Spirit is going to jolt you up. 00:39:55.600 |
Because He's going to remind us where we're headed. 00:40:02.240 |
The Christ that we serve looks at this world and says, "It is condemned." 00:40:06.780 |
And it's no different than Lot's wife, who as she is running, looking back with envy. 00:40:17.160 |
Hebrews 2.3, "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" 00:40:23.000 |
How shall we escape if we're living in constant neglect? 00:40:30.920 |
We fill our schedules with things that have nothing to do with God. 00:40:38.720 |
You don't sit there and we're just like, "Oh, I'm not going to think about God." 00:40:41.560 |
You fill your mind with things that have nothing to do with God. 00:40:47.600 |
Every free time we have, we run to fill it with entertainment. 00:40:55.720 |
And again, none of these things in and of itself are evil. 00:41:02.240 |
It is at the core cause of our drift and our apathy. 00:41:09.520 |
And we're living in that constant, because I don't want to be disturbed. 00:41:13.160 |
I don't want anybody to tell me what to do, what not to do. 00:41:17.160 |
And so we can easily dismiss the speaker, dismiss this, and this is that Bible study. 00:41:21.240 |
But when we come to the communion table and we confess that God of the universe died for 00:41:27.840 |
me and then he gave us a great commission to now go to the world, baptizing them in 00:41:35.200 |
the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teach them to observe all that I've 00:41:37.520 |
commanded you, and then we say, "Maybe not me." 00:41:43.960 |
You can't come to the communion table if you reject that, if you're apathetic toward that. 00:41:51.120 |
I'm going to conclude with a quick fire, four different words of this communion table, just 00:41:58.640 |
There are four different words in different groups that use the term to describe the communion 00:42:05.200 |
It comes from a Latin word to mean holy or sacred. 00:42:08.200 |
In 1 Corinthians 11.27 it says, "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of 00:42:12.160 |
the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the 00:42:17.640 |
Here the unworthy manner was talking about they were getting together and they weren't 00:42:21.760 |
So they were eating and drinking and having fun, and then when the poor people came, they 00:42:26.000 |
had nothing to eat and they couldn't care because they were self-focused. 00:42:30.400 |
Now here when it says unworthy manner, they didn't consider it sacred, and as a result 00:42:34.800 |
of that in verse 30, it says people are actually dying. 00:42:39.680 |
It was completely symbolic, but it was given by the Lord. 00:42:45.340 |
Just because it's symbolic doesn't mean it's not sacred, just like the Old Testament sacrifices, 00:42:49.440 |
just because it was symbolic didn't mean that God didn't care how you handled it. 00:42:53.320 |
Nadab and Nebihu, they came and were giving symbolic sacrifices, but because it was unauthorized, 00:43:00.640 |
So the communion table was two of the sacraments that God gave to be sacred. 00:43:07.120 |
So when you come to the table in an unworthy manner, meaning unrepentant, unrepentant of 00:43:15.080 |
a self-centered, apathetic, uncaring, unforgiving, bitter heart, we participate in an unworthy 00:43:29.360 |
And so this sacred time that we have should cause the church to reflect. 00:43:34.840 |
Now you can say, you know what, my heart's not ready, apathetic, so I shouldn't participate 00:43:38.880 |
Not participating in it means that I am outside of the fellowship of the body of Christ. 00:43:47.240 |
So a believer can only participate in a worthy manner, and it is a cause of repentance in 00:43:59.600 |
Communion is where we get the word kononia, togetherness. 00:44:03.240 |
In 1 Corinthians 11, 29, "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of 00:44:07.840 |
the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 00:44:10.060 |
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep." 00:44:15.240 |
Communion table, this communion table, is not to be done in isolation. 00:44:24.080 |
I hear and see more and more people say, "Oh, we want to have an intimate time of communion, 00:44:31.460 |
Communion was meant to be done in the context of the body of Christ, because it symbolizes 00:44:38.140 |
In the early part of the church, we used to have one loaf of bread, and everybody kind 00:44:41.700 |
of take a chunk of that to symbolize that we're breaking the body of Christ. 00:44:45.580 |
And then we realized that the bread just tasted too good, and then people were just chomping 00:44:48.940 |
on it, and then it didn't convey what we wanted. 00:44:54.340 |
But the idea behind it is that the whole body of Christ are recognizing that we are one. 00:45:01.460 |
So if we come up here with bitterness of heart, unforgiving, holding grudges, unreconciled 00:45:10.260 |
relationships, it says you're coming to the communion table in an unworthy manner. 00:45:18.180 |
People will always say, "Well, you don't know what they've done to me." 00:45:20.300 |
And we talk about, again, the last 10 years, the gospel-centered this, gospel-centered 00:45:25.660 |
There is nothing that truly tests gospel-centeredness than when you feel wronged, how you treat 00:45:33.820 |
people that you think wronged you, because that's at the core of the gospel message. 00:45:40.140 |
Sinners who are rebellious against God came and died for us. 00:45:46.700 |
Thirdly, Eucharist, literally the word means good grace, and it's the word that is used 00:45:54.020 |
So the communion table is meant for people to come and to remember and to, as an act 00:46:00.740 |
First Thessalonians 5, 16, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, 00:46:05.100 |
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 00:46:08.180 |
This is God's will, to give thanks and worship. 00:46:13.340 |
Fifth and finally, the Lord's table, which is the term that we oftentimes use. 00:46:18.500 |
And the Lord's table, in that Asian culture, typically meant an opportunity for celebration. 00:46:24.900 |
So whenever people have weddings, it's followed by some sort of banquet. 00:46:30.420 |
You may have different kinds of food, different venue, different activity, but the intention 00:46:36.820 |
And so the Lord's table is an act of worship, and to celebrate. 00:46:41.100 |
It isn't simply meant to be an opportunity for us to weep and to repent. 00:46:49.700 |
But the table itself is to remind us that we have reasons to celebrate. 00:46:54.300 |
And let me conclude with this, Revelation 19, 7-9, "Let us rejoice and exalt and give 00:47:00.340 |
him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 00:47:05.320 |
It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine 00:47:10.860 |
An angel said to me, 'Write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage 00:47:15.020 |
supper of the Lamb,' and he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.'" 00:47:19.260 |
So participating in the Lord's table is a declaration of his death and resurrection. 00:47:24.140 |
It is a reminder to us that this is where we're headed. 00:47:27.820 |
It's the marriage supper of the Lamb, and this is a taste of what is coming. 00:47:32.700 |
And if we have forgotten about that, it is to remind us of that. 00:47:37.380 |
So this morning, as we come to the communion table, you know, before I open it up, you 00:47:46.860 |
know, as a pastor, you know, I was talking to a pastor in India, you know, and saying, 00:47:51.340 |
you know, it must be hard to minister over there because of persecution and all this 00:47:55.580 |
And he said, "Well, you know, where we are, we have sheep. 00:48:02.060 |
And they're in danger, so they're very eager to listen to the shepherd because you have 00:48:07.900 |
one place where you eat, and in between you have wolves coming to get them. 00:48:11.780 |
And so when the shepherd says, 'We're going to go,' they're always running close by the 00:48:14.940 |
shepherd to get them to the other side to eat." 00:48:17.500 |
He said, "But we know who our sheep is, and our sheep are eager to move." 00:48:22.980 |
You know, he said, "But where you are, you're in the city. 00:48:27.460 |
You're trying to guide the sheep through the city where there's trash everywhere, and there's 00:48:32.300 |
red lights and honking, and every turn you have, you have another one just kind of going 00:48:39.140 |
And so it's hard to move your sheep, and oftentimes don't even know who your sheep are, even in 00:48:47.780 |
We're in the big city with so much destruction constantly, even today. 00:48:58.980 |
Think practically about what you're entertained by. 00:49:08.740 |
Don't make these big judgments about, "I want to love Jesus. 00:49:16.100 |
And then you go, and you spend the next three hours doing things that have nothing to do 00:49:19.700 |
with God, and then that desire is gone already. 00:49:33.620 |
Our biggest problem is constantly being distracted by the honking, and the trash, and the smell 00:49:44.380 |
And we take our eyes off of where we're headed and where we're going, and we don't have an 00:49:56.300 |
So I want to challenge you and encourage you. 00:50:00.020 |
Don't make commitments that are broad and big, because you're not going to follow through 00:50:14.100 |
What did your conversations with your friend, your Christian friend, sounded like? 00:50:23.940 |
Is it something that you're wanting to buy, and that's kind of filled your heart? 00:50:29.380 |
What are the sins that so easily entangles you today? 00:50:38.740 |
How can I stir up a hungering and thirsting for God today that's going to lead me to remain 00:50:46.900 |
So as we open up this communion table, again, I'm going to ask you guys to take some time 00:50:52.300 |
And don't say, "All my friends are doing it." 00:50:54.740 |
Sometimes the church could be the biggest hindrance of genuine love for Christ. 00:50:59.000 |
So don't use your friends and your environment as an excuse. 00:51:15.460 |
I want to invite our worship team to come up. 00:51:19.100 |
Take some time to prepare your hearts for the communion table. 00:51:31.980 |
The scripture says, "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the 00:51:35.180 |
Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread. 00:51:38.580 |
And when He had given things, He broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. 00:51:44.140 |
In the same way also He took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant 00:51:49.460 |
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.'" 00:51:52.540 |
Heavenly Father, as we come before you to remember what Christ has done, may His sacrifice 00:52:00.980 |
have a deep effect in our thoughts, our lives, what we pursue. 00:52:06.600 |
Help us, Lord God, not to simply confess with our mouth that you are our treasure, but it 00:52:11.300 |
would be evident, Lord God, in all that we do. 00:52:15.180 |
We pray, Father God, that you would bless this church through this time.