[0:00] Let's give a word at communion about who should sit at the Lord's table. Again, this is not an attempt to keep anyone away from the Lord's table.
[0:14] It is once again a reminder that we must be clear about what we are doing. And I don't want to take up too much of your time. I just simply want to read a chapter in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 19.
[0:30] Matthew chapter 6 and verse 19. 19 to 24. Where Jesus says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
[0:47] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
[1:00] The eye is the lamp of the body. So if the eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light is in you is darkness. How great is the darkness?
[1:11] No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
[1:22] We live in a world today where separation is looked down on and frowned upon. And we are told that discrimination is pretty much in every case bad.
[1:37] But some separations are absolutely necessary. And the more I read my Bible, the more I come across the separation that God makes between those who are his people and those who are not.
[1:52] It's all the way through the Bible, through the Old Testament and through the New Testament as well. In fact, even in this passage that we have read in Matthew chapter 6, there are three examples of how God's people are separated.
[2:06] First of all, there are those who lay up for themselves treasures on earth as opposed to those who lay up for themselves treasures in heaven.
[2:17] That's the first example of the separation between God's people and those who do not know him. The second example is those whose eyes are good and those whose eyes are bad.
[2:30] The eye is the lamp of the body. So if the eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. That's the second. And it means exactly the same thing as the first example.
[2:44] It's just putting it a different way. Then the third example is in verse 24. No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
[2:57] So basically, Jesus is talking about the same separation, a separation that will exist on the day of judgment, when there are those when we must all appear before the judgment seat of Jesus.
[3:09] And he will separate everybody who has ever lived in the world into one camp or the other. Those who have lived and died in Jesus and those who have not.
[3:20] But that separation still exists, even in this life, between those who have come to faith in Jesus and those who have not. And by the way, what I say here is as much for everyone here in this church as it is for those who are at the table.
[3:36] The message of the gospel is clear. And God's desire is, I can say that with the New Testament authority, God's desire is for sinners to be saved.
[3:46] Because that's what has happened to everybody here at the table. In fact, this is what the table is about. This is me and you confessing that we have no other hope for our salvation except in Jesus Christ.
[4:00] So what Jesus is putting the question that he's putting, or rather the three questions that he's putting before us here today is, Where is your treasure?
[4:12] What do you treasure more than anything else in the world? What is your treasure? What means the most to you in this world?
[4:23] What lies at the center of your heart? And if it is the Lord Jesus Christ, Then you should be here, remembering his death.
[4:37] And then the second question is this, Do you understand the gospel? The person whose eye is good is a person who sees The truth of the gospel.
[4:48] Who understands why, maybe not with a perfect understanding, But who understands That in order for him or her to be saved and to be right with God, He must come to faith.
[5:01] And Jesus had to die on the cross as our sacrifice. And God gives us that understanding In which we're able to grasp And discern The Lord's body as it was broken for us On the cross.
[5:16] And then lastly, Who do you serve? Who do we serve today? Either we serve God or we serve someone. You have to serve somebody.
[5:28] It's either God Or something else. If you serve God today, And again, I'm not talking about perfect service. None of us obeys God perfectly.
[5:40] Every one of us, As we sit here today, We are constantly reminded within ourselves Of our own failures To serve God as we ought to. And yet, If the Lord came in that door today And he said to us, Do you wish to serve me?
[6:00] We would say yes. If he said to us, Do you love me? Just like he said to Peter, Do you love me? We would say yes.
[6:15] And if he said to us, Do you understand What I have done for you? We would say yes. It's not a head knowledge.
[6:26] It's a heart knowledge. It's a knowledge that comes to Jesus And grasps What he has done for us As our only hope For our salvation.
[6:37] May the Lord bless These thoughts to us This morning. We're going to sing And as we sing, We'll remain seated as we sing. We're going to sing Psalm 118 In the new version In the Sing Psalms version And it's verse 15 to 24 Psalm 118 It's on page 156 And it's 15 to 24 Triumphant shouts of joy resound In places where the righteous dwell The Lord's right hand is lifted high His mighty hand does all things well I shall not die, but I shall live The Lord's great works I will proclaim The Lord severely chastened me But rescued me from death's domain We'll sing as many verses As are required for the elements To be placed on the table We're going to sing from verse 15 Triumphant shouts of joy resound
[7:37] And we'll remain seated as we sing Triumphant shouts of joy resound In places where the righteous dwell The Lord's right hand is lifted high It's my holy hand that all things well I shall not die but I shall live Thou und fly Thou terrible faith ARE modelling The Lord shall hear me chasten thee,
[8:42] But rest your King, O guest of name. Oh, why the gates of righteousness I let the land give thanks to God.
[9:08] This is the gift of God through which The righteous come before the Lord.
[9:25] You answer me, I will give thanks. Salvation comes from you alone.
[9:42] Bloodstone the builders hath refused, Has there become the cornerstone?
[10:00] The Lord himself has good knowledge. It is a marvel in our sight.
[10:18] This is the day the Lord hath made. In it there not in great delight.
[10:34] Our warrant for the dispensing of the Lord's Supper Is found in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23.
[10:51] For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, And when he had given thanks, he broke it, And said, this is my body which is for you.
[11:06] And we're going to give thanks now. Our Father in heaven, we give thanks that we're able to recognize And to perceive what Jesus has done for us.
[11:17] We are able to discern the body of the Lord and what it is. We give thanks that we're able to understand what it is. Something of what we are doing when we take the bread and the wine Which represent to us the body and blood of Jesus Having been given to us on the cross.
[11:36] Having been given for us for the remission of our sins. We give thanks that they represent to us the love of God in Jesus Christ From which nothing can separate us.
[11:48] We give thanks that it is the demonstration of the love of God in Jesus Christ. For God commendeth his own love towards us In that while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.
[12:03] We give thanks that it represents to us the completeness of the process Of our redemption. We give thanks that the work of Jesus was finished on the cross.
[12:17] And that our sins were paid for. They were atoned for. So that now we can accept and we can rejoice in the truth That we are redeemed and that we are set free from the guilt of sin.
[12:35] And so Lord, as free people, as those who have been cleansed And washed in the blood of Christ, we come now And we ask that we may fulfill his command In faith with all our heart And with recognition of the extraordinary love of God towards us.
[12:55] We confess our sin once again And we ask that that sin will be cleansed and removed. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. In Mark chapter 9 There's the story of the man who brought his son to Jesus Whose son was possessed by a demon And Jesus said All things are possible for one who believes Immediately the father of the child cried out and said I believe Help my unbelief.
[13:34] I said before A few moments ago I asked the question Where is your treasure? That's a very searching question for all of us.
[13:45] We would love to be able to say In perfection We would love to be able to say Without any hesitation My treasure is The Lord Jesus Christ And yet We know That there are so many things That have come into our own hearts That spoil Who Jesus means And what Jesus means to us All of us As we saw last night Are polluted and defiled By our own inconsistency Our own prayerlessness Our own faithlessness And yet When we go to the Bible We find people like ourselves People whose faith rested In the Lord Jesus Christ And yet Whose faith was defective Wherever you have true faith You always have a measure of unbelief And so Whilst we say today
[14:47] Our treasure lies In Jesus Christ We are aware Of our own sinfulness The sinfulness of that faith Itself Whatever we do in this life There's always an element Of sin in it Even when we sit At the Lord's table We come here As sinners I love The phrase that I believe Was coined by Martin Luther When he said This That a Christian Is a sinner And at the same time Justified And that's what we are today We are sinners And at the same time We are justified And each one of us Comes here With that same expression Lord I believe But help My unbelief And with that We proceed To remember
[15:47] The Lord's death As he commanded Until He comes With that defective faith With that defective obedience And with that defective commitment It rests Nonetheless On the Lord Jesus Christ And what he did For us At Calvary Paul tells us In 1 Corinthians And chapter 11 For I received From the Lord What I also Delivered to you That the Lord Jesus On the night He was betrayed He took bread And 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 He also 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 In the same way
[17:16] In the same way In the same way