Examination

[0:00] Some thoughts around the Lord's table. We remember His beating, His bleeding, His bearing of the cross.! We remember that today, together as we gather and we reflect again on what it means for us.

[0:15] ! We come to this time not thoughtless, but believing. He calls us to prepare our hearts. In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 28, that familiar text, But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.

[0:36] Paul urges us, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat and drink of that cup. The one that we adore and remember is risen.

[0:50] Risen indeed. But back to that fateful night. That he was betrayed. He himself was examined.

[1:01] He was examined. In fact, he underwent six trials. Six trials. That fateful night.

[1:13] And the early hours. Three religious trials that were Jewish. And three Roman trials that were civil. And all of these six trials were carried out on the Friday.

[1:27] From 2am to 10am. In eight very stormy hours. Six trials. Eight hours. Three Jewish religious trials proclaimed him a sinner.

[1:46] The sinless one. Proclaimed a sinner. In these three religious trials. Firstly, there was the trial before Annas.

[1:58] The religious trial, the Jewish one. The first one was before Annas. In John 18. And Annas gave the go signal. To execute Jesus.

[2:11] Guilty. The second religious trial was Caiaphas. In Matthew 26. Before Caiaphas. This religious trial.

[2:24] And the decision was. The death sentence. The charge of blasphemy. Because Jesus proclaimed himself the Messiah. God the Son.

[2:37] The second religious trial. The third religious trial. Was before the Sanhedrin. The Jewish council. In Matthew 27. And Luke 22. We read of the. Third religious trial.

[2:49] The decision. Guilty. Death. They were the three. Religious or Jewish trials. And then there was the three Roman. Or civic trials.

[3:01] Where the Lord Jesus. Was proclaimed innocent. Three Roman. Civic trials. The first. The first. Was before Pilate. In John 18. The decision.

[3:14] Not guilty. The second civil trial. Before Herod. In Luke 23. The decision. Not guilty. And the third civil trial.

[3:28] Was then back. With Pilate again. In John 18. Through 19. The decision. Not guilty. But he was turned over. To the Jews.

[3:38] To be crucified. Our Lord was examined. Six trials. In eight hours. From 2 AM.

[3:50] To 10 AM. The trials. The trials were a miscarriage. Of justice. He was unjustly. Condemned. And our Lord says to us.

[4:02] Through Paul today. He says to you. To me. He says. But let a man. Examine. Himself. And so let him. Eat of that bread. And drink of that cup.

[4:13] Now I used to work in a factory. In a tire processing factory. And before that. In an air condition. An air conditioner.

[4:25] Processing factory. On the processing line. And in the factories. In both factories. They had. These men and women. In white coats. They were the.

[4:39] You know. The step above. Us mere. Production workers. They had these white coats on. And they were the quality control. Quality control. And they would scrutinize.

[4:50] The things that we. Passed through to them. And they would. Cast their eyes over them. And check every. Nuts and bolts. And every detail of these. Things that we were.

[5:03] Producing. The quality control. They had to examine. And check. For the quality. They had to check. That everything was right. We examine ourselves today.

[5:17] We examine ourselves. Check if everything is right. Is everything right? Is everything right? Between me and my maker? Is everything right? Between me and my God?

[5:30] Examine. Ourselves. Is what we do. Have we got that authentic. Faith in Christ? Is there some unresolved. Sin in my life? When we examine ourselves.

[5:41] It leads us to repentance. When we examine ourselves. It leads us to confession. When we examine ourselves. It leads us to his forgiveness. This table.

[5:53] Is a reminder. Of forgiveness of sins. So we must not trivialize this time. And take it lightly. Make a light thing of it. Nor are we to make it some mere traditional ritual.

[6:07] That just becomes by rote. Or by tradition. But this is a time to examine ourselves. Our sin. Has offended.

[6:18] A holy God. And we examine ourselves. With that complete assurance. That the perfect one. Has made the way.

[6:29] Possible. For us. To know his salvation. The perfect one. As we examine ourselves. We find that our worthiness. Comes from. Christ.

[6:41] Not from ourselves. That is how we are worthy. To partake. That is how. We are made worthy. As we consider his work at the cross. And everything it means for us.

[6:52] We know that this is good news. Good news for the unworthy. So if we are feeling unworthy. We can know. His worthiness.

[7:04] His worth. In our worthlessness. We see. As we notice and reflect on our sin. And our lack. And our need. We see.

[7:15] Our sin was judged there. As his outstretched arms. Bear. Our sin. In his own body. On the tree. The Lord. Jesus. Christ. Paid it all.

[7:27] Paid for our sin. And this is a declaration of our faith. As we join. As the body of Christ here. In this place. At this time. In this moment. We are making a declaration of faith here.

[7:40] We laid hold of him. Who alone. Has the power. To cleanse. And forgive. And we are reminded afresh. Of who he is. And what he has done.

[7:50] And we give thanks. To God. For his unspeakable gift. We can't put it into human language. His unspeakable gift. It's inexpressible. What it means for us.

[8:01] What he has done. He is risen. Risen indeed. He is risen indeed. Death could not hold him captive. He has reigned. And ruled over death.

[8:12] And vanquished it. And triumphed over it. And he has power over sin. And death. In our life. He has power. And we examine ourselves.

[8:23] And know our absolute need of him. Our risen Lord. I'll call the ushers. I've just appointed two today. Because we're just going to have these two fellows here.

[8:34] Brother Mustaki and Bobby. If we just pass the bread and cup. We'll go through the aisles today. And pass the bread and cup. And hold together.

[8:45] So let's wait for one another. As we reflect on what this means for us now. Let's be prayerful. We can hold the bread and cup.

[9:05] And wait for one another. It's a declaration of faith today. That's what it is. Six trials.

[9:16] In eight hours. He was examined. Three trials found him a sinner. Three trials. Found him.

[9:30] Guiltless. Guiltless. Innocent. Of course we know the trumped up charges of the religious Jewish trials.

[9:43] Was really a falsehood. A miscarriage of justice. And so. We know that our Lord was without sin.

[9:55] Without sin. And how dare these. False charges be. Arraigned against him. To declare him.

[10:06] The perfect one. To have any stain. He was examined. But the trials were a miscarriage of justice.

[10:20] He was unjustly condemned. And there's equality control. Here this morning. As we examine ourselves.

[10:31] And we know. Our lack and need of him. But. The good news is. That our worthiness comes from him.

[10:43] Not from us. Not from any of us. Or any of what we do. Or can ever do. Our worth whileness. Our worthiness. Comes entirely from him. Let a man examine himself.

[10:55] And so let him eat of that bread. And drink of that cup. Well. Just. Pray. Pray. As we. Remember. Our Lord's death.

[11:06] Until he come. And this is a time. For every believer. To know. That in Christ. We have victory. And. He is worthy. Amen.