[0:00] We're going to look for a short time in relation to our communion today at verses 9 to 11 in particular. Exodus 24 and verses 9 to 11.
[0:18] Especially the words of verse 11. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel.
[0:30] There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel.
[0:42] They beheld God and ate and drank. They beheld God and ate and drank. There are so many connections between Moses and Jesus that we can very rightly say that Moses is the clearest type of Jesus in the Old Testament.
[1:08] The type being representative or somebody who in his own life encapsulated the things which were fulfilled in Christ as a person, as a saviour, as a mediator.
[1:22] There are remarkable things about the birth of Moses, corresponding in some ways to the birth of Jesus. Moses being in Egypt, raised by Pharaoh's daughter, Jesus after his birth, being taken to Egypt for safety as Herod was seeking to put him to death.
[1:44] Then you have the miracles that Moses performed through God's power to actually demonstrate that he in fact had been sent by God and was to be a leader of God's people out of Egypt.
[1:56] And of course the miracles of Jesus are themselves part of the gospel record by which we find that Jesus authenticated his ministry by the miracles that he did along with other things as well, especially his words.
[2:13] And perhaps the clearest way in which you find Moses as a type of the Lord is in his mediatorship. Because on a number of occasions, Moses stood between the people and God, notably after their sin of creating the golden calf in Exodus 32 and saying, These are your gods, O Israel, who delivered you from the land of Egypt.
[2:41] And Moses came and stood between them and God and prayed for them and made intercession for them and even offered if there needed to be a death to atone for this sin.
[2:54] Then he said, let that be me to let the people be free. So you can see from that, the correspondence between what you find in Moses teaching us that this was going to be true especially of Jesus himself, of the Son of God, the mediator between God and his people.
[3:14] And of course, unlike Moses, when he came to stand between his people and God, the death of Jesus took place. It wasn't displaced to someone else.
[3:27] He actually died, whereas Moses didn't. So you could say in some ways that Exodus is the gospel according to Moses, because we take it that Moses wrote these first five books of the Bible under God's direction.
[3:42] And just like you find in the Gospels, the connection, if you like, between Exodus and the Gospels, the major part of the Gospels is taken up with the cross.
[3:54] The immediate, what took place immediately before the cross, the trial of Jesus, the cross itself, and then its aftermath. The main part of each of the Gospels is taken up with that.
[4:06] That's the biggest section of the Gospels. And in the same way, in the book of Exodus, the main section of the book of Exodus is taken up with Sinai. What happened at Mount Sinai, when God actually met with the people on Mount Sinai, when he gave them his law, and when these things are specified in these chapters around chapter 24 here.
[4:28] And when you come to chapter 24, what you find here is that the covenant that God made with the people, covenant that included at the very heart of it, a sacrifice, the people that he had gathered in such a way as to ratify that covenant, as it were, to sign themselves up to it again, or accept it from the hand of God, accepting the terms of that covenant for themselves.
[4:54] And it's done in what you can call a covenant meal, as they sat here and ate and drank in the presence of God. They beheld God and ate and drank.
[5:06] Three things I want to mention briefly in looking at this passage. First of all, summons, because God summoned them up. These were representatives of the people.
[5:17] So the people actually were present in their representatives, Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, Aaron himself, and 70. Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel.
[5:32] And they were to represent the whole people in the presence of God on the mountain. So they were summoned up by God to come up to the mountain, up the mountain. That's how the chapter begins.
[5:43] He said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel. That's the first thing that just summons here, which we'll see briefly is significant.
[5:55] Secondly, there is a sprinkling here. Because the sprinkling of the blood that Moses had taken, half of it he put in basins, half of it he threw against the altar.
[6:07] And then the half that was in the basins, he threw it, he sprinkled it upon the people. So there's a significant sprinkling both to the altar and also to the people.
[6:21] And thirdly, there's security. Along with the summons and the sprinkling, there is security. Because here you find in verse 11, he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel.
[6:34] They beheld God and ate and drank. In other words, there's a security that provided by God through the sprinkling of the blood. They have come to be secure and not actually any more subject to his wrath or to what they deserve in terms of sin.
[6:52] These three things briefly then, a summons, a sprinkling and a security. Now the summons is significant because these words come up at the beginning of the chapter, remind us and remind the people of God, the people of Israel, that God was in fact above them.
[7:08] And while this is significant just in terms of the mountain of Sinai that they had to literally ascend, it is also full of spiritual meaning because very often in the Bible, the Old Testament particularly, you find references to going up to God or going up to worship God, whether it's at the temple or Zion, but it's always an upwards direction.
[7:33] And God is always by them. He presents himself to them as up there, up above them. Something that they were to associate with the grandeur of his presence, with the majesty of God, with God being the most high God.
[7:51] You find that too in some of the Psalms. Psalm 121, for example, I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Let us go up to Jerusalem elsewhere.
[8:05] And in fact, you find Jesus himself in that great prayer before he went out to the cross in John 17, as he prayed there with the disciples. We read that he, knowing that his hour had come, he lifted up his eyes to heaven.
[8:22] As he was going to pray to God towards heaven is where he looked. So even Jesus there significantly looks above himself to the Father who sent him.
[8:34] And as he prays there as the servant of the Father, he looks up to him. Today we're looking up. What's wrong with the world around us is that many of them never look up.
[8:45] They never look beyond the height of this world or even their own lives in it. Today we, as God's people, we look up. We see here the language of majesty, the language that conveys God's wonderful height to us, God's supremacy, God's sovereignty, God's greatness, God's majesty.
[9:05] He is up. We look up. Our minds go up to him. Our hearts go up to him. And correspondingly, as we bow in his presence and acknowledge his majesty and acknowledge that he is above us, correspondingly the Bible speaks about God coming down.
[9:26] In other words, when God came to deliver Israel from Egypt, in this very book itself of Exodus, when you go back in Exodus to chapter 3 and verses 7 to 8, this is what God is saying.
[9:40] The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land.
[10:00] You see the significance of that? He didn't just say, I have come down to deliver them and to bring them out of that land. And he said, I have come to bring them up out of that land.
[10:11] In other words, God's redemption, God's salvation. What you are remembering here today, as you remember the death of Jesus, is that God came down, that God descended, that God lowered himself, humbled himself in the person of his son, and humbled himself even to the death of the cross.
[10:30] That's how Philippians 2 puts it, isn't it? When he came to take the form of human beings, when he took the form of a servant, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient, and was obedient even to death, even the death of the cross.
[10:50] Why did he do it? To lift you up. To lift you up out of the dunghill of sin. To set you, as the psalmist says elsewhere, among the princes of his people, to elevate you.
[11:03] And in order to elevate you, you remember today that he came down. And so as you remember that, and you remember Jesus in his death, you look upwards. You look up towards the height of heaven's majesty, and you wonder at the fact that for the likes of you and the likes of me, God would come down.
[11:26] God would step down. God would humble himself in the person of his son. There's the summons upwards then.
[11:36] There's the language that conveys the grace of God and the humbling of God as God humbled himself in the person of Jesus. He came down to lift us up.
[11:50] Secondly, there's this sprinkling mention. You come to the words that we have from verses 9 to 11, or verses 6 really to 11. You find Moses taking this blood, the blood of the sacrifice, and where he had made an altar at the foot of the mountain.
[12:09] He sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. And so he took half of the blood of what had been offered to the Lord and he put that in basins.
[12:20] He put it aside. And the other half he took and threw it or sprinkled it upon the altar, just as if you just took it and threw it like that, sprinkling it upon the altar.
[12:30] So he divided it in half. Half of the blood was for the altar towards God and half of the blood was upon the people towards the people.
[12:42] And that is itself significant because it tells us that God's covenant, this covenant that they were ratifying, that they were actually saying here, we accept the terms of it, that covenant is two-sided.
[12:55] It begins with God. He initiates it. He sets it up. But there's another side to it, in the acceptance of the people. And when Jesus said, this is my blood of the covenant, as he instituted the Lord's Supper, so he invited them to take of the cup and of the bread.
[13:14] And there are two sides of it today here. You are coming to remember what God initiated for you in his covenant with his people, of which you are a partaker.
[13:25] You remember that God himself set up this covenant in Jesus Christ, which has sacrifice at the very heart of it. And so this two-sided covenant, the sacrifice that's central to it, and that sacrifice is followed by the application of the blood both to the altar and to the people.
[13:50] And it's significant that the blood was used firstly in being sprinkled or thrown against the altar. He took half of the blood, he threw against the altar.
[14:03] And it reminds us very powerfully that the death of Jesus operates first and foremost towards God. Because there were things that God required to be done in order to answer his demands.
[14:18] His demands. His justice needed to be satisfied for one thing. Sin needed to be dealt with to remove the offense that stood between us and God.
[14:34] And so the blood thrown against the altar is really symbolic of the death of Jesus himself. The blood of Christ, the death of Christ.
[14:45] Christ did not save merely by the life that he lived though it was a perfect life. Without the shedding of blood as Hebrews puts it, there is no forgiveness, there is no remission.
[14:58] It is the death of Christ especially that you remember in the Lord's Supper. Jesus in his death. And while his life is significant for us, while his life as a perfect life is the kind of life that you and I should live as a human being, what is particularly crucial to our salvation is the death that he died.
[15:21] So, the death of Jesus first of all acts towards God. It deals with the wrath of God. It propitiates God to use the biblical word.
[15:34] It doesn't turn God into a God of love. I have to say this so often. It's not that God was an angry God that Jesus changed into a God of love.
[15:45] It was the love of God that provided the blood of Jesus. It was the love of God that provided the sacrifice that came to propitiate God in his wrath.
[15:56] The same God, the one God, the wonder of love coming to provide a sacrifice that deals with his wrath, the same God. What greater mystery is there than that?
[16:08] But what greater truth is there than that? And this is what today you also remember, that God in his own immeasurable love, his love for his people, that he sent his son into this world to be the sacrifice that propitiated himself by which this offense of sin, this guilt of sin, this barrier of sin was dealt with so that God dealt with himself, the blood of his throne against the altar.
[16:43] And, as you do remember that, you remember in the Lord's Supper what this blood means to God. What this blood means to God.
[16:57] That's why it's such a serious thing in its own way of staying away from the Lord's table if we have the right and the privilege to be there. because this is something that's precious to God, this blood of Christ, this death of Christ.
[17:14] We remember in the Lord's death not just something precious to ourselves though it is. We remember that this death of Christ dealt with God, was Godward first and foremost, that it's precious to God today, that it'll always be precious to God, that throughout all eternity this will be precious to God.
[17:32] It's where God finds absolute satisfaction, it's where God finds what He knows is necessary for the redemption of His people, for the pacifying of Himself and for their sanctification.
[17:49] Do this in remembrance of me, said Jesus. And as you do that, you remember how precious, how treasured by God is the death of His Son in our nature.
[18:03] But He then took the other half of the blood and threw it on the people. And He said, Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.
[18:16] Now it's significant that it's the same blood, the one blood. The one blood that was thrown on the altar signifying its Godward effect is the same blood half of which is then thrown or sprinkled on the people.
[18:33] It's so significant that we see that same blood that came to satisfy God in the death of Christ is effective towards the sanctifying of His people.
[18:43] It's not a different death. It's not a different Savior. It's not that Christ did something towards God and did something else towards us with a different kind of effect or emphasis.
[18:55] It's the one death of the one Savior, the one blood, the one death that covers both God's requirement, God's demands and our needs. Today you remember that.
[19:08] And this blood that was sprinkled on the people was itself sufficient to deal with their need. That's so important. There's nothing extra required of you today as you remember the death of Jesus.
[19:21] There's nothing extra to the death that you remember. There's no additional bits. You can't get an improved version of it. There's nothing other than the one blood that satisfied God that was applied in the benefits of it to you as a sinner for your salvation.
[19:41] Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12 reminds us of that. Hebrews, of course, that great epistle that deals so much with sacrifice and takes the Old Testament types and makes them see how they're realized and fulfilled in Jesus.
[19:59] Well, one of the places there is Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12. When Christ appeared, he says, as a high priest, the good things that have come, he entered once for all into the holy places not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood thus securing an eternal redemption for of the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
[20:46] Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant. He entered in with his own blood the blood that God required the death he required to meet his own demands.
[21:02] It's then sprinkled upon the people to signify the benefits that flow from that death that flow from that blood flow from the sprinkling of the altar and that's why we have to so carefully yet vehemently insist on the fact that there is no other salvation properly speaking than the one that's in Jesus and the one that is through the death of Jesus.
[21:27] There is no other savior despite the fact that there are many types of kinds of philosophies or religions that will actually suggest to you that there are equally valid ways of thinking about God and thinking about a relationship with God and thinking about what we need in order to have eternal life.
[21:45] I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but by me.
[21:57] These are the words of the same Jesus. He is exclusively our savior and you know what that's not something that you're sorry about that's something that you celebrate because every single thing every iota of your need is met in this Jesus in this death of Jesus and as Jesus met every single item of God's demands as the blood sprinkled on the altar actually symbolizes so this same Jesus today meets every single iota of your need without question.
[22:40] the stew in remembrance of me and there's nothing beyond that me that's required that's needed that's valid it's all there.
[22:57] And you see he took the stones or pillars that he took and formed this altar it's very significant he took twelve pillars or they would have been made of stone according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
[23:12] In other words the whole of the people are represented not just in the representatives there but also this altar the altar that was sprinkled itself represented the twelve tribes of Israel the whole people if you like are represented fully in the altar that was sprinkled with the blood just as they are and the people that God had required be present there for them.
[23:39] And that's why you find the whole covenant for the whole people of God it's all actually there in what represents the death of Christ. Everyone for whom Christ died will be in heaven.
[23:55] Nobody will be in heaven but those for whom Christ died. There's a lot of filling out needed to actually amplify that statement but that is the teaching of the Bible and the whole of the covenant people as they are represented there are symbolic of how we ourselves belong to God's saved people and how God's saved people come under the provision of that blood.
[24:25] So that blood is sprinkled upon the altar signifying God word is also sprinkled on the people the whole people and you remember 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 2 where Peter speaks about those people of God that are chosen they're chosen by God they are God's select people that's God's own that's God's own work but they are selected by God they are chosen by God unto certain things unto certain ends and one of them is the sprinkling and obedience of the blood of Christ.
[25:02] We'll come to that later on at the sacrament itself but that's that's what God had in mind always had in mind as he chose his people as his love rested upon them it was with a view to them ultimately being sprinkled with the blood of Christ with the benefits of Christ's blood that was the purpose that was the end in view and it's represented here in the words of our text today so the sprinkling of this blood is firstly Godward and then it's manward it's on the people after the altar has been sprinkled first and as we remember in the Lord's Supper how precious this blood is to God as you think of its sprinkle on the altar so now you remember how precious this blood is to you as someone sprinkled with the blood of Christ someone to whom the blood of Christ has been applied by the Holy Spirit not only are you saying today as you remember the death of Christ
[26:05] Lord I know and I remember in that remembrance that this is precious to you Lord it's precious to me also and it's precious to us because this is not an occasion for just individuals in their individual relationship with God to be here to take communion communion is communion with God and with each other it's for the body the spiritual the mystical body of Christ to come to be in one place for this remembrance this act of remembrance and so it's precious to ourselves there's summons there's sprinkling and thirdly finally there's also security this is very interesting it's not easy to explain it theologically but they saw the God of Israel verse 10 there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone like the very heaven for clearness and he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel and then it says again they beheld God twice it mentions that they saw God that they beheld God and ate and drank in other words the sight of God there is a significant feature of what's described that doesn't mean that they actually saw
[27:30] God physically with their eyes God is spiritual he's a spiritual being and yet the sight that God gave of himself however however you describe it was an actual sight of something which represented God they knew that God was there they saw God they beheld God in that appearance in this theophany in this revelation that God gave them and there's an emphasis there on the blueness the sapphire stone this pavement so clear as clear as the very heavens it's really you might say Moses in a sense struggling to put words to what was seen and no wonder because it's God revealed but nevertheless there's a definite presence of God a definite sight of God in a mysterious way and that's important because they didn't just eat this meal by themselves they ate this meal with God present with them that's so significant as we'll see later at the table that it's not just you and I together that are sharing in this meal
[28:41] Jesus by his presence by his spirit is also here and he's here as the head of the table he's the unseen presence but he's the known presence by which you come and take part and partake of the sacrament and so they're given really essentially what you might say is a foretaste of heaven isn't that what heaven is about we'll also mention at the table the steps between this and the banquet above the table that's in heaven for the Lord's people but this is a foretaste of it God is present they beheld God they ate and drank in his presence but it isn't just merely the sight of God that's referred to there's also that they were spared by God there's security within this for them he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel they beheld God and ate and drank in his very presence they ate and drank they took part in this meal this covenant meal this ratifying of the covenant the signing of the covenant if you like and there's an emphasis there he did not lay his hand upon in the middle verse 11 there is very suggestive that actually properly speaking he ought to have laid his hand on him that laying his hand on him means coming for judgment he did not do that he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel and that's what you're conscious of yourself as you sit at the Lord's table you're thankful for the blood under which you have this eternal security where the judgment of God will never reach you but you're still saying at the same time it ought to have been the case because that's what I deserve and there's a sense of wonder in the words there he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel there's really an effect saying to this is what you would expect to happen this is what you would expect for people to come to see
[30:55] God to be in the presence of God to be there with God really present with them yet he did not lay his hand on them why didn't he lay his hand on them because what had been done in terms of the shedding of the blood and the sprinkling of the blood is the basis of their security without that they would have been dead because you cannot come into the presence of God unless you're sheltered by the blood of Christ but when you are then you can come when you do come knowing that he is he is fully accepted in other words what you're reading about here really is in a sense what the New Testament calls being accepted by God it's more than just spared it's not just that he didn't lay his hand on them the other side of that is also true they were accepted by him they were received by him as his covenant people and you remember the death of
[31:56] Jesus not just in the sense in which you're spared you're spared what you deserve but more than that you're given what you are not deserving of you have that security you have eternal life you have the guarantee that judgment and the sense of condemnation will never touch you you have remission of sin in order to have admission to God you are admitted into his presence and accepted by him through the forgiveness of your sins which itself has come through the death of Christ as the ground of it so there is where you have they are spared by God they are accepted by God but what a great contrast in what you remember in the Lord's Supper today Romans chapter 8 and verses verse 32 where there is an emphasis on the guarantee of abundant life that
[33:06] God has given to his people through Christ but how does he describe it he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us or graciously give us all things you see on the one hand there is the sparing of the people he did not lay his hand on them he does not lay his hand on you today as his people and it's all because he laid his hand on his own dear son in your place he did not spare him in order that you might be accepted and that doesn't lead to any presumption on your part it doesn't lead to coming before God with a sense of your own worthiness it's the very opposite Hebrews chapter 10 puts it this way in verse 19 therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of
[34:14] Jesus by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh and since we have a great priest of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he is faithful who has promised let us consider one another to stir one another up to love and to good works far from causing sinful presumption it causes believing confidence in coming into the presence of God may he bless his word to us we're going to sing some verses and while we're singing these verses the children will be joining us from the
[35:18] Sunday school so we're singing in psalm number 50 on page 276 psalm 50 verses 1 to 6 the mighty God the Lord has spoken and that call the earth from rising of the sun to where he hath his fall from out of Zion hill which of excellency and beauty the perfection is God shined gloriously our God shall surely come keep silence shall not he before him fire shall waste great storms shall round about him be together let my saints unto me gathered be those that by sacrifice have made a covenant with me verses 1 to 6 in psalm 200 psalm 50 and page 276 the mighty God the
[36:18] Lord has spoken and held it call the earth from rising of the sun to waiting as is all from out of Zion earth with your excellency and beauty the perfection is God shining gloriously our God child surely God keep silent shall not eat before him fire shall this great storm shall rise the heart in fear unto the heavens see and he from above shall call and to the earth like wise the king may just his people all together let my say unto me other be close that my sacrifice have made a covenant with me and then the heaven shall his righteousness declare declare because the
[38:50] Lord himself is he by whom men judge come come now to what we usually refer to as fencing the Lord's table that's just giving directions in regard to who have the duty and the right and the privilege of coming to the Lord's table to take communion and those who may not be in that situation at this time is to think of the matter of consecration or obedience consecration to God through obedience because that also comes across in Exodus 24 when we're looking at that passage a short time ago when Moses was instructed by God in verse 3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the
[39:52] Lord and all the rules and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words that the Lord has spoken we will do and you will have noticed the repetition of the word all throughout these verses these two verses there's all the words of the Lord all the rules and then all the people answered and said all the words that the Lord has spoken we will do in other words the Lord was crystal clear in what he set before the people the rules the commands the terms of the covenant God specified most clearly he specified all that was required of the people and all the people all the people responded by saying all that the Lord has spoken we will do and then after the shedding of the blood the sprinkling of the blood you have the same thing emphasized again where the people said all that the
[40:54] Lord has spoken in verse 7 we will do and we will be obedient in other words those who come to the Lord's table have the qualification that they are themselves accepting of the terms of God's covenant the terms of God's provision in Christ you come to the Lord's table you are convinced this is all that's necessary for you to be right with God and you respond by saying I obey I give myself to you that's what the people of Israel did and as you come today to the Lord's table that's clear as well from your own being here from the fact that you have come again to sit at the Lord's table this is what you are saying all that the Lord has spoken we will do we are his people he is our God he specifies the term our business is to obey to accept them to be obedient to him in other words it's really telling us too that our obedience from the heart as
[42:04] Romans 6 verse 7 puts it you remember Paul there saying you have obeyed from the heart that form of teaching that shape of teaching to which you have been delivered in other words our coming to be Christians is that we are obeying from the heart the teaching that God has given us the truth of God and we are delivered to that truth just as Israel were to the commands and rules of God so that that would shape their lives and that's what we deliver to today that truth of God the gospel and we're saying all that the Lord we will obey we will be obedient to that in other words there's a sense in which the law of God is still very significant in the Christian life some people will tell you the law is no longer relevant to the life of a
[43:04] Christian and Ten Commandments they're gone Christ has fulfilled them there's no relationship at all for us with them well that's not true to the Bible because the law of God remains as a standard as a pattern for our lives to be measured by it's not our keeping of the law of God that itself puts us right with God we're not accepted on the basis of our obedience we're accepted on the basis of Christ's obedience but our obedience is a response to the confession or acknowledgement or acceptance of that I'm just going to finish by reading something from Calvin's first catechism Calvin in Geneva established a catechism for the people there as well and this is something from his first catechism where he speaks about the law of God and its relation to Christians he says now Christians make a far different use of the law than those without faith can make of it for where the
[44:10] Lord has engraved on our hearts the love of his righteousness the outward teaching of the law which previously was accusing us of nothing but weakness and transgression is now a lantern for our feet to keep us from wandering from the straight path that's the first thing he says it's a lantern for our feet to keep us from straying spiritually secondly he says it's also our wisdom by which we are formed and instructed to complete uprightness and thirdly he says it's our discipline by which it's our discipline which does not permit us to abandon ourselves in more wicked license in other words you can see how the law is a controlling factor a precious controlling factor in the experience of a Christian and today while you know you are not saved by the works of the law
[45:12] Christ has fulfilled that for you nevertheless that hasn't dispensed with the law and in a real sense you're saying the same as Israel said then all that the Lord has spoken we will do and be obedient we're placed under the form of God's own truth and that's really what you're renewing in the Lord's table sometimes we focus on fencing the table almost entirely on what you need to have in place for you to come to the table but when you've done that many times or a number of times as all of you have coming to the Lord's table again is a matter of renewal you've already signed this covenant by being there before by being there previously you've said previously I accept the terms Lord this is the evidence that
[46:12] I accepted I come to remember you but that's what you're saying again today these terms that God has set for you in Christ here you are renewing if you like re-signing the covenant for yourself all that the Lord has spoken we will be obedient we will do we will accept again we are his people he is our God that's what we're renewing today at the Lord's supper now the children it's really great to see you here today children it's wonderful that you're here to see the Lord's supper once again I want to just use this one minute just to tell you about how this is a table we speak about it as the Lord's table and that's because the Bible speaks about it as the Lord's table in first Corinthians chapter nine first Corinthians speaks about the Lord's table and the supper being the
[47:14] Lord's table and a table is something that you sit at in order to eat isn't it and all of those people today are sitting here in these pews as the Lord's table because they're going to eat some bread piece of bread and they're going to drink from a cup which contains wine they're eating and drinking ordinary things bread and wine but there's more than that to it because what that really represents or what that is a picture of what they're really doing spiritually or by using their faith is their coming to feed upon what Christ has provided for them or on Christ himself they're taking from Jesus who's now alive in heaven they're taking from the Jesus who died the spiritual strength the spiritual feeding the spiritual nourishment that's represented by taking food the ordinary food remains ordinary but as well as that they are feeding upon
[48:26] Jesus in his death Jesus is the one that they take from this life this strengthening and I hope for yourselves as you see this that you will apply that to yourselves as well and realize that what you're seeing today here is really really precious really really special not just special to those who are going to take a communion it's special to them that you are here and it's special to you that you're here to see it so remember what you see today and think of it as a table and ask yourselves how can I benefit how can I actually spiritually be strengthened by Jesus you can do that by trusting in him by taking him as your savior so that one day you too will come and remember the death of Jesus by taking the communion may God bless these thoughts to us on his word now we're going to sing some verses from psalm 118 while we're singing some of these verses the elders will take out the elements that represent the death of Jesus and place them on the table psalm 118 and at verse 15 you'll find that on page 398 and we'll sing on until the elements are placed on the table and if there is anyone else who needs to come to the table please do that during these verses being sung psalm 118 verse 15 in dwellings of the righteous is heard the melody of joy and health the Lord's right hand doth ever valiantly from that point onwards in dwellings of the righteous ever the well of joy and health the Lord life come the power will be the right of hope the mighty
[51:05] Lord exalted in tonight the right and of the mighty Lord doth ever quietly I shall not die but live and shall the works of God discover discover the Lord not each of thy zest soar but not to death below us O send thee open unto me me the gifts of righteousness then will
[52:22] I enter into earth and like the Lord will end the Lord will end this is the gift of all by him the job shall end shall end he will thy praise for thy believers and does my safety be as is customary we read out warrant for the observance of the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 23 what I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way also he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes whoever therefore eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord let a person examine himself then and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup