Once again, we have a wonderful opportunity that we never want to take for granted, be able to worship together and open up the Word of the living God. And I would invite you to do that right now by turning to Mark's gospel, chapter 14. We're going to be looking at verses 17 through 26, as we continue to make our way, verse by verse, through this gospel. And I've entitled my discourse to you this morning, "Instructive Drama in the Upper Room." And you will see that drama played out as we examine the text. Let me give you a little context here before I read the passage.

It is Thursday evening, the night before Jesus went to the cross to be the final sacrifice for all whom the Father had given him in eternity past before the foundation of the world; an innocent substitute, the spotless Lamb of God, the only sacrifice that would atone for our sins. And on that evening, Jesus celebrated the last divinely authorized Passover meal established some 1500 years earlier, by God, when he delivered his covenant people from the bondage of Egypt. And in this meal, he will close out the old celebration - which would close out actually the entire sacrificial system that could never fully atone for sin - and he would inaugurate a new celebration; the first communion that we also call the Lord's Supper, celebrating the final sacrifice that would be slain.

But there is much instructive drama in this scenario, here, especially if we look at all of the Gospels, we will see everything from hypocrisy, to betrayal, deception, immaturity, pride, spiritual overconfidence, basically, all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. And I might add to that, the sting of the lash will fall on all of our backs this morning. Because as we look at the text, we can all see ourselves in various ways. And I might also add, if you are unable to see yourself, you really have no basis to claim genuine saving faith. For the conviction of sin is one of the greatest works of the Spirit in regeneration. In fact, he was given to us, given to the world, to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. And it's my earnest prayer that we will all be convicted, that we will all be instructed and that we will all be encouraged by what we see here in this text, and most importantly, it is my prayer that we will all behold the glory of Christ in a new and a fresh way.

So with that, let me read the text. Mark 14, beginning with verse 17.

"When it was evening, He came with the 12.

As they were reclining at the table and eating Jesus said, 'Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray Me - one who is eating with Me.'

They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, 'Surely not I?'

And He said to them, 'It is one of the 12, one who dips with Me in the bowl.

For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.'

While they were eating, he took some bread and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to them and said, 'Take, eat, this is my body.'

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them and they all drank from 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 never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.'

After singing a hymn that went out to the Mount of Olives."

I'd like to look at this section of Scripture, we'll stop there, under two real simple headings. First of all, we're going to see the damning nature of self-deception. And secondly, we're going to see the inaugural celebration of the Lord's Supper. And I might also add that I have discovered over the many years that I've been in ministry that very few evangelicals understand either of those headings: the damning nature of self-deception, and really what the Lord's Supper is all about.

Now, let me give you a little historical context, the Passover celebration, was not like our sit down dinner, right? Where we would probably spend an hour, maybe an hour and a half at most, but rather, it would last for several hours. In fact, if we look at all of the Gospels, we will see that there would have been enough time for Jesus to wash the disciples’ feet, who by the way, were bickering over which one's going to be first in the kingdom. Also, there will be time for Jesus to confront Judas Iscariot; they will go through the various stages of the Passover meal, there will be time for him to institute the Lord's table or communion, as well as provide many lengthy discussions and instructions to the disciples. And we could read about all of them in John 13 through chapter 16; obviously will not cover all of this. But I want you to know that these are the things that are taking place on the eve of his sacrifice on our behalf.

But first, this morning, I want us to look at number one, the damning nature of self-deception. This is a frightening reality that we must all guard against in our heart. Notice verse 17, "When it was evening He came with the 12. And as they were reclining at the table, eating and drinking." I should say, it says table and eating. Let me pause there for a moment, here's what would have happened after opening with a prayer of thanksgiving for all that God has done. The first of four cups of diluted red wine would be offered followed by a ceremonial washing of the hands. Those of you that have participated in a Seder service, you probably remember how you wash the hands, which symbolizes the need for the cleansing of sin. And if you think about it, how easy it is, in the midst of a worship service, for that worship to become nothing more than ceremony, for it to become nothing more than a ritual, rather than a time of really examining our own hearts before the Lord. Instead, even in the midst of worship, as we're going to see here, you can be harboring all manner of pride and deception and somehow justify it in your heart. Because after all, you're worshiping the Lord. This is what was going on in the upper room.

Now, it was during this first stage of the ritual Passover meal, when they should have been honestly assessing their own heart, their own sinfulness and their desperate need for a Savior. That according to Luke 22:24, quote, "There arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest." Their worship, therefore, was merely kind of a mechanical, empty ritual at this point. To put it in our vernacular, it was all sizzle but no steak. From my cowboy days, it was all hat and no cattle. All right? You know, God condemned Judah for the same thing. In Isaiah 29, verse 13. He said this, "...people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition, learned by rote..." In fact, we see in Matthew five and Mark seven Jesus used that very verse to describe the phony worship of Judah in his Day. And we should all take heed, in light of that warning. We must all examine the attitudes of our heart when we come into the presence of the Lord, both privately as well as corporately. God hates religious hypocrisy. And dear friends, if you come to church, for example, on a Sunday morning, and you're not really here to worship the Lord, because you really don't love the Lord, you're doing it because that's just kind of what you do on Sundays, just kind of going through the motions, you want to see your friends, you want to show off your latest shoes, or whatever it might be, that is a mockery to God. If you truly know the Lord, there's something terribly wrong with your spiritual heart attitude. And if you continue that, it will get worse. And you will forfeit divine blessing in your life and even place yourself under a cloud of divine chastening. So I lovingly warn you, to that end, God hates religious hypocrisy.

So the disciples perform their perfunctory ritual which mask the outworking of pride in their heart as they demanded, which one should be greatest in the kingdom? I find it interesting. What did Jesus do? Well he used their sinfulness as a teaching moment to somehow expose their pride, to give them a lesson in humility. And after the ceremonial cleansing of the hands, we're going to see even more of what happened. But at this point, it would appear from the text that Jesus washed their feet. Can you imagine what they must have experienced--to know what they'd been up to in the midst of a worship service, so to speak. And Jesus now in essence, confronts them and washes their feet.

Well, after the cleansing of the hands, they would eat a mixture of a bitter herbs. Typically, horseradish, mixed with romaine lettuce as we would call it dipped in charoset, which was a paste, perhaps you've had it before I have nuts and apples, pears, and I believe they have some wine in it. And all of that symbolized their bitter bondage in Egypt. And then next, they would sing the first of two songs of the Hallel, as I mentioned earlier: Psalm 113, through 118, Psalms of praise. And then they would drink the second cup of wine. And at that point, the head of the house, in this case, it would be Jesus, would rehearse the miraculous deliverance from the bondage of Egypt and thus explain the meaning of the Passover, all the great theological truths that are embedded in that scenario.

And next, the hands would be washed, and Jesus would serve them the unleavened bread. So you have another hand washing, the serving of Unleavened Bread along with the sacrificial roasted lamb, which would be the main course. And after this, a third cup of wine would be poured and then drunk, and then they would have sung the rest of the Hallel, followed by the drinking of the fourth cup of wine. Now, somewhere in this process, we read this at the end of verse 18, Jesus said, "'Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me - one who is eating with Me.' They began to be grieved, and to say to Him one by one, 'Surely not I?'" My, talk about popping the worship bubble, right? Although Jesus had previously predicted his death on several occasions, this was the first time that he spoke of a betrayal by one of his own disciples, incomprehensible. But think about it, what better time to make such a shocking announcement than during a time celebrating his grace, his goodness, his deliverance, and at the same time, therefore exposing the very sin that deserve just the opposite.

You think about it, the sparkling diamond of saving grace shines most brightly on the black velvet of sin, does it not? And that's what we see happening here. And don't you know that there was never a time thereafter, when the disciples participated in communion and the Lord's Supper that they did not think about this. I mean, what a vivid memory of the exposure of their own sin and the reality that there can be sin that we don't even see amongst us. But a warning of the damning nature of self-deception. And this should be on all of our minds when we come to the Lord's table. We do it in remembrance of Him for all that he has done for us, in light of what we really deserve; all that awaits us in Christ. No man can truly sing "Amazing Grace" until he has first been amazed at his own sin.

Verse 19, they began to be grieved. The term in the original bears the idea of profoundly distressed. The text says, "They said to him, one by one, 'Surely not I?'" My, the power of the Word of the Lord, to cause us to ask the right questions; questions of our deceitful heart, a heart that we can't even fully know apart from the Spirit's work. So they're not only stunned with the fact that there was a traitor amongst them, but they're also at a stage now where they're seriously questioning their own love for Christ, their own loyalty? "Surely, not I?" Especially after he just exposed their self-promoting pride by washing their feet. What is even more astounding, according to Matthew's account in chapter 26, beginning in verse 25, we read, "And Judas, who was betraying Him said, 'Surely it is not I Rabbi?' Jesus said to him, 'You have said it yourself.'" Beloved, there we witness the damning nature of self-deception. Judas knew who Jesus was, he knew he was the Son of God, he witnessed his miracles. And he had to have known, that Jesus knew, he was lying through his teeth. He had witnessed things like that before. In fact, in John chapter two, beginning of verse 24, we read the Jesus, "...knew all men." And in verse 25, it goes on to say, "...and he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man." Yet here we see the deceitful power of the human heart, to somehow be so desperately wicked, that you could justify lying to God, and think that he doesn't see it, or you're going to get away with it. I'm just glad I've never done that. Haven't we all in very subtle ways, and sometimes not so subtle ways. I pray that you don't do that, folks. We need to guard ourselves against this, especially as we come to worship the Lord our God. If you lie to God, by pretending your sin isn't that bad, and that you're going to somehow make the cut, thinking that somehow, you're good enough to impress him; that on the scale of divine justice, your goodness outweighs your badness, you are a fool. And if you continue to lie to yourself and to Him, you will perish in your sins.

So they're eating the bitter herbs. They're dipping now their flat bread in the charoset, that paste, when Jesus announces a betrayer among them. And one by one, they say, "Surely not I?" Verse 20, "And He said to them, 'It is one of the 12, one who dips with Me in the bowl.'" Now, apparently, Judas was sitting close enough to Jesus that he was sharing the bowl with him and maybe with some of the others. But what's interesting is the disciples are completely lost here. They have no idea who it is. They're not even sure of their own heart. We read more about this in John's account in John 13, beginning in verse 24, "So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, 'Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.' He, leaning back thus on Jesus' bosom said to Him, 'Lord, who is it?' Jesus then answered, 'That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.' So when he had dipped the morsel, he took, and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore, Jesus said to him, 'What you do, do quickly.' Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. For some more supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, 'Buy the things we need for the feast'; or else, that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night." Oh, how clever the cloaks of hypocrisy. The damning nature of self-deception. The disciples never suspected Judas. And then to think Judas thought he could fool his creator. Like the self-deceived Christians in name only, who will one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, at the Great White Throne of Judgment. And with incredulity, they will try to defend themselves, continuing to lie to themselves and lying to God. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew seven, beginning in verse 22, "'Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name, cast out demons, and in Your name, perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'"

So Jesus says, "'It is one of the 12, one who dips with Me in the bowl. Verse 21, "For the Son of Man is to go...'" Notice this, "'...just as it is written of Him.'" So in other words, this is all part of God's plan, "...but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.'" Now, you would think that perhaps they would have remembered that which was written of him, obviously, in the Old Testament. Remember Psalm 41, verse nine, "Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." The prophet Zechariah says in chapter 11, beginning of verse 12, "I said to them, 'If it is good in your sight give me my wages; but if not, nevermind!' So they weighed out 30 shekels of silver as my wages. Then the LORD said to me, 'Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.' So I took the 30 shekels of silver, and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD." All of this was part of God's sovereign plan. Now, please understand, though, God ordained to allow Judas' treachery; an act as we see here, according to Scripture, Judas is still considered culpable for his sin. I mean, think about this. He has spent basically three years with the Son of God. He has witnessed all of these miracles. He's experienced the power and the perfection of his character of his love. He's heard the clear and compelling truths of the gospel. He has even enjoyed Jesus compassionate care for him. Yet he squanders all of this. How can a person do that?

It was because he followed Jesus for the wrong reason, like so many people do today. He followed Jesus for what he could gain in this life to serve himself, not because he saw the horror of his sin and wanted to be reconciled to a holy God and live to the praise of his glory. He had no love for Christ. He had no brokenness over his own sin. So Jesus was merely a means to his selfish ends, rather than the all sufficient, all glorious end himself. "It would have been good for that man if he had not been born," Jesus said. O dear friends think of this, to exist on this earth, and then to willfully reject Christ, with full knowledge, hat is not only a mockery of our Creator, but that is also a rejection of the very purpose for our existence, which is to live to the praise of his glory, rather than to live just for ourselves. As I think about this, I'm reminded of the words we read in Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 29, "How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, 'VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.' And again, 'THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

As we were coming to church this morning, after we had spent time over at the Allens, knowing that our brother had just been called home to be with the Lord. It was fresh on our minds, how important it is for people to know and love Christ, because that day will come for all of us. And I remember driving by one man out mowing his yard, another man with his boat getting ready to go to the lake and fish. And we stopped to get a cup of coffee and something here at the little store, and I watched the people coming in. I watched the one lady come in with a little girl, you could tell they were very poor. She comes out with a pack of cigarettes and the little girl with a pack of doughnuts. And I said to Nancy, 'Honey, isn't it sad to see these people living their lives apart from Christ. They have no desire to be in church today, to worship the Lord, because they're at enmity with him. They're alienated from him." O how people need the gospel, how they need Christ. And folks, were it not for his grace, every one of us would be right there with them.

When it comes to Judas, later, we know according to Matthew 27 and verse three, "...he felt remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders...and went away and hanged himself." And Luke tells us in Acts one beginning in verse 18, "(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out. And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language, that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT'; and, LET ANOTHERMAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.'" Which later happened with Matthias. You know, when I think of the damning nature of self-deception, that is illustrated so graphically in the life of Judas, I'm reminded of what Jesus said regarding the Christ haters that Satan will deliberately plant in the world. And therefore, many of them will superficially attach themselves to the church, and many of them will build false churches. Wolves in sheep's clothing, and we're repeatedly warned about them. I'm reminded of the parable that Jesus gave in Matthew 13. Remember, it was a parable of a man who sowed seed in his field and then the enemy comes along and sabotages the field. Sows tares which are weeds, look like, virtually identical to wheat, but you won't know it until it matures and ripens. So this is a deliberate act of vandalism that's being described; it will destroy a person's crop. It will choke out all of the good growth and deprive the wheat of the nutrients they need, and therefore greatly reduced the yield. In fact, in the days in the first century, they had a Roman law against that very thing. So eventually, when the wheat ripens, the workers are horrified to discover all the tares amongst the wheat. And they ask, you know, "how could this happen?" And then we read that an enemy has done this. And then they asked, well, what should we try to pull them up? And the wise farmer says, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that. Even though all the roots are intertwined in the growth, if you uproot them, you will destroy the good with the bad. So in verse 30, we read, "'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.'" And all of this is explained later in verse 37, "'The one who sews the good seed is the Son of Man,'" verse 38, says, "'...and the field is the world,'" not the church. But the picture here is not the enemy planting seeds in the church, but rather Christ planting seeds in the world. And the good seed are "the sons of the kingdom," it says, the true believers, and the tares are "the sons of the evil one." And in verse 39, we read that, "...the enemy who sowed them is the devil."

And of course, the spiritual truth is simply this, Jesus plants true believers all around the world, sons of the kingdom. And then Satan, plants, even more unbelievers, and many of them filter into the church; sabotage not only the world, but the church; try to choke out the church. So what should we do? Should we uproot them? Do we go to war against unbelievers? Do we try to legislate Christianity, like Constantine once did, but kill all the Muslims? Resurrect the Crusades? Execute torture and imprison those who will not bow the knee to Christ, as the Roman Catholics did during the inquisitions of the Reformation? No, no, no, no, no. We're not to go to war against the enemies of Christ, but to coexist with them and love them for the sake of the gospel. Let the Christians and the non-Christians live together, though they will try to choke us out, though they will try to malign us and destroy us, even as Judas did, and many others. We know that vengeance is the Lord's, so we never tried to uproot the tares.

In verse 39, of that text it says, "'...the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.'" My what a sobering reminder of the inconceivable judgment that awaits those who reject Christ. His angels will be dispatched as divine reapers, to execute judgment. Think about that, those magnificent beings created by God to communicate his will, to do his... execute his purposes, to celebrate the glory and eternal praise of God. To us, they are ministering spirits, they rejoice over every sinner that is saved, but to unbelievers, they are the enumerable and indomitable executioners of divine judgment. Imagine what that will be like when Christ returns, in all of his glory as the almighty judge. And we read finally in verse 42, of that text that these will be cast, "...into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

Well, my point with all of this is true, there's always going to be Judas' in the world, Judas' is in the church. In fact, in First Corinthians 11, we read how there's always going to be divisive and factious people in every church, quote, "...so that those who were approved may become evident among them." First Corinthians 11:19. In other words, when evil factions manifest themselves, it provides a fitting contrast of the true believers that will remain that are approved of God. But repeatedly we're warned to be on guard against these kinds of people. That's why it's so important to have sound doctrine because that's what protects us from unsound doctrine from false teachers. I was thinking about this, just this last week in some things that I was reading, I was reminded that in the 1700s in colonial America, God raised up men like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield to bring about the Great Awakening. And now, in the last 20 years in my lifetime, we see Satan raising up people like Andy Stanley and Rick Warren and Russell Moore, Beth Moore, even Tim Keller, to bring about the "Great Awokening." So called Christians promoting social justice and critical race theory, DEI, intersectionality, the LGBTQ cult, on and on it goes. Folks, this is how Satan works, and he has a million Judas' at his command. They serve in every system of influence from government to our public schools and universities, from big tech to big pharma, and the liberal media to liberal churches and seminaries. And because of the living illustration, of the damning nature of self-deception, that the disciples witnessed in Judas, they could see the tremendous threat, the tremendous danger of this in the church. And therefore, their discernment level skyrocketed. And we read about this, and all of their warnings, throughout the New Testament, in the gospels, as well as in the epistles.

So we move from the damning nature of self-deception to something much more positive. And that is the inaugural celebration of the Lord's Supper. Now, mind you, what we're about to read here would have occurred somewhere in the middle stage of the Passover celebration when the roasted lamb and the unleavened bread were served. Verse 22, "While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 'Take it; this is My body.' And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank it. And He said to them, 'This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many.'" Now remember, the Passover looked back to the temporary rescue of God's covenant people from the physical bondage that they were enduring in Egypt. Whereas the Lord's supper now, points to the ultimate deliverance of God's people from the slavery and even the penalty of sin; the eternal death and separation from God that we deserve. And this now marked the end of all of the Old Covenant ceremonies and sacrifices and rituals, all of which pointed to Christ. The lamb slaughtered at Passover, merely foreshadowed the final sacrifice and perfect sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God, who died on the cross to redeem sinners once for all. His atoning work on the cross, perfectly fulfilled all of those things that were promised in Scripture.

Peter, later on, wrote about this in First Peter one, verse 18, he says, "...you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life, inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." I want to point something out here that is very important and very precious. And that is the symbolism here of the bread; you're familiar with the symbolism of the wine and the blood of Christ, and so on, but I want to speak about the bread just for a moment. While the unleavened bread of the original Passover, represented their need to leave all of the influences of their idolatry of Egypt's idolatry and immorality and wickedness to leave all of that behind, in the Lord's Supper, the Lord Jesus gave the bread a new meaning. While certainly all of those things are true, there's a new meaning here, it became a figure representing his body, which he would soon offer as the final sacrifice to propitiate the just wrath of God, that should fall upon every sinner. Moreover, and this is very important, it symbolized the believer’s union with Christ, because each of the disciples ate of the same loaf. In fact, it's very important, we have very strict guidelines for our communion service; we have one loaf; you don't get to see it's all broken up, alright? By the time you get there, but it's one loaf. In First Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul says this in verse 16, "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread." So there's wonderful unity that is symbolized in the bread. Roman six, verse five, "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection." Folks, I pray that you will never lose the wonder of our union with Christ; what a magnificent truth. Colossians one beginning of verse 21, "...you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach..." And folks, this must be central to our Gospel message - those without Christ must be told about the terrifying separation that exists between them and a holy God. In every gospel presentation, there must be a sober recognition of that horrifying reality, which makes our union with Christ all the more glorious. Because remember, sin is lawlessness. It separates man from a holy God. It exposes his rebellion against God. In fact, sin is man's innate inability to conform to the moral character and desires of God. And so apart from faith in Christ, apart from the human being united to Christ, every person without Christ, lives in alienation, a state of alienation and hostility toward God, whether they realize it or not, and the wrath of God abides upon them.

In Ephesians four, verse 17, we read about the unsaved. And this was us before we came to Christ by his grace. It says to, "...walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk." And here's how the unsaved walk, "...in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness." And certainly, that is a perfect picture of the culture in which we live. But dear friends, unless God breathed spiritual life into the sinner, that sinner's mind will remain set on his own flesh. That's all he lives for. He's absolutely ruled by his flesh, by the desires of his heart. Romans eight beginning of verse six, "For the mind, set on the flesh is death." That's where it's going to lead. "The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." But what an amazing promise when we think of our union with Christ that the bread will symbolize. For example, in Ephesians, one, beginning in verse three and following, we read that before the foundation of the world, God chose by himself and for himself, those who determined to bless quote, "in Christ," that's where the blessing is. It's in Christ. Ephesians one beginning of verse five, "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace." Folks, this is absolutely astounding--God's everlasting grace that united his elect to Christ, was ordained and it was accomplished in eternity past. In some inscrutable sense, this is what God has done for us already. And therefore it is not something that needs to happen and that's going to be somehow determined upon us, that's waiting to happen to us through self-effort.

This is why we must never pervert the Lord's Supper, as the Roman Catholics do, with the doctrine of Transubstantiation, in which the substance of the bread and the cup are supposedly transformed into the actual body and the actual blood of Jesus Christ. You see, for them, the Eucharist is regarded as an actual sacrifice that has to be repeated. What a damning heresy. Obviously, this undermines the reality that Christ's death on the cross was once for all sacrifice, fully completed at Calvary. In John 19 and verse 30, Jesus said, "'It is...'" what? "'It is finished!'" He didn't say "It is possible." He didn't say "It is available." He didn't say "It is now potential." No, "'It is finished!'"

Moreover, we must understand that although the application of redemption is effectually, applied at the moment of regeneration--when the Spirit of God raises a sinner from spiritual death to spiritual life, and implants within him a governing disposition of the soul that is radically new, that governs his life--he must understand that he has already, quote, "made us alive together with Christ," Ephesians, two, five. What a glorious thought, that once separated from God by sin, because of his great mercy, and his great love that was set upon us before the foundation of the world, when he chose us in Christ, according to Second Timothy one and verse nine, Paul says, he "...saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity." Literally, before time began. And all these magnificent truths, dear friends, are symbolized in the Lord's Supper.

Now, Jesus himself commanded that we commemorate his death on a consistent basis, we read about this in First Corinthians 11:24, and following, and we do so here at Calvary Bible Church, on the first Sunday of every month. We choose not to do it every Sunday, as some people do, to avoid reducing it to some kind of mechanical, kind of an empty ritual, that loses its meaning through constant repetition and runs the danger of fostering indifference towards what's going on in that celebration. But whenever we celebrate the Lord's table, we are told that we are to examine our heart, to repent of any known sin, less we make a mockery of the whole thing that we're celebrating here. In fact, Paul says in first Corinthians 11, beginning of verse 27, "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself and in so doing, he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly." Which by the way, the disciples were not doing at that time. But I have a feeling they did thereafter, given all that happened. And then finally, Paul says, "For this reason, many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep." God is very serious about the way we approach him, and the way we honor him in our worship.

John MacArthur and Richard Mahew, who have a good summary, they say this, quote, "The Lord's Table is best understood as a memorial celebration that strengthens believers in their walk with Christ because it one, commemorates Jesus substitutionary sacrifice, symbolized by the elements of the bread and the cup. Two, reminds believers of the historical truths of the gospel, including Christ's incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension. Three, prompts believers, to repent of any known sin. Four, causes them to rejoice in their redemption from sin, and in their saving union with Christ. Five, motivates them to continue walking in loving obedience to the Lord. And six, reminds them to hope in His imminent return." And that's what Jesus said here in verse 25, "'Truly, I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.'" But don't you know, that was a wonderful word of encouragement to those disciples. What were they longing for? The kingdom. And now Jesus is going to leave? I mean, they're all confused. But he's basically saying, I'm going to return. And I believe this is referring to his millennial kingdom that they all long for, you will recall in Acts one and verse three, Jesus "...presented Himself," it says, "alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." This is what he did after his resurrection. And verse six we read, "So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, 'Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?' And of course, that part of the kingdom was yet to come. But that's where their hearts longed, and wasn't at wonderful for Jesus to say, you know what day is going to come when we're going to do this in the kingdom?

Well, it's foreign to our Gentile minds. I might add that there are certain commemorative sacrifices from the Old Testament that will be restored during the Millennial Kingdom. We read about this in Ezekiel chapters 43 and 45, through 45, in particular. In fact, annual feasts of the nations will include three of the six Levitical feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles. However, it's also interesting that three Levitical feasts that looked forward to what Christ fulfilled at Calvary will be excluded: the Feast of Pentecost, Trumpets and Atonement.

But until Christ's promised return, as King of kings and Lord of lords, we are to consistently celebrate communion; not only to look back at the cross--to remember what Christ has done on our behalf, but to also look forward to his glorious return. Despite the bittersweet realities of that eventful night, and though Jesus knew the torture that awaited him, I find it interesting that they sing a hymn of thanksgiving and praise. Verse 26, "After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." My what a lesson there is for all of us, despite the difficulties that are known, as well as unknown, we still have a song to sing because of what Christ has done, amen? So let's sing it with all of our hearts. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word. May they bear much fruit in our heart to the praise of your glory. And Lord, for those who may not know what it is to truly, be born again, to truly be saved, to truly be in a right relationship with you through faith in Christ, Father, I pray that you will bring such overwhelming conviction to their soul that today will be the day that they bow in humble recognition of their sinfulness and embrace the cross fully, and experience the miracle of the new birth. And then live to the praise of your glory. We thank you; we give you praise in all things, that in all of our lives, Christ might have the preeminence. Amen.