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[0:00] Take your Bibles, if you would, and turn with me to the book of Luke, chapter 22, Luke chapter 22. Here is a passage of Scripture where the Lord is giving the Lord's Supper himself.

[0:12] This is what Paul will later be given by the Holy Spirit. This is the actual experience being recorded. In Luke chapter 22 and verse 14, I just want you to look at a couple of things.

[0:25] We'll go from there to John chapter 14. Look, if you would, in chapter 22, verse 14, and when the hour was come, he sat down and the 12 apostles with him.

[0:35] Now, you don't know why that hour was come. You know, he knows that it's time for him to begin suffering, and it's time for him to go to the cross, and it's time for him to die.

[0:46] They haven't figured that out yet. He's told them over and over it's going to happen, but they keep thinking, well, he talks like a melancholy. He talks about morbid stuff, but he wouldn't really be going to die.

[0:57] They won't figure it out for a while, but he said, hey, it's time now. That's not what he says to them, but that's what the Scriptures tell us. And it says in verse 15, and he said unto them, I love this, and I hope you take the Lord's Supper so seriously when you do, look at this, Look at that.

[1:20] Jesus said to the 12 guys, men, you do not know how much I have wanted to have this supper with you, to have this Passover with you.

[1:31] And this is the church is going to have the Lord's Supper to take as a picture of this Old Testament thing that's the Passover, but I just wish you'd underline, I desired.

[1:43] He wanted that time of communion. He wanted that time of saying, I'm about to go to the cross, and I'm about to die, and I just want to spend some time with you before I do.

[1:57] I wish you'd underline it. Verse 15, he says in verse 15, before I suffer. Now, they may not have caught on to it yet, but he knows full well what's about to happen.

[2:09] He knows the betrayer is about to leave. He knows that the Roman soldiers are about to come. He knows about what's going to happen to him. He knows about giving his back to the spiders.

[2:19] It was recorded in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit already said all that, so it's going to happen. He knows that. He says, guys, come and let's eat together. Let's drink this cup and eat this bread together before I suffer.

[2:34] Then he says in verse 16, I'm coming back. I say unto you, I will not eat any more thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

[2:46] You see, when Jesus came the first time, he did not come to rule and reign, but to suffer and die. They thought many of them mistook him to be the Messiah as the reigning Messiah that would take over and free the country and set up a kingdom of Israel.

[3:03] And he will in the future. But at that time, he came and he didn't come for that reason. He said, so let's eat this. I'm about to suffer. We're entering into our parentheses. But the kingdom is coming.

[3:15] I am going to suffer, but the kingdom is coming. And I will not eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and he gave thanks and said, take this and divide it among yourselves.

[3:28] For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. Our Father, which are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.

[3:39] That's what Jesus had taught them to pray as a model prayer. And he said, the kingdom is coming. And he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave it to them saying, this is my body, which is given for you.

[3:51] This do in remembrance of me. Likewise, also the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

[4:02] And then he says, the guy that's going to betray me is right here. Now turn with me, if you would, to John chapter 14. So here's what happens in the supper. Jesus says, guys, let's eat the supper I'm about to leave.

[4:13] Before I leave, though, I will suffer. I am about to suffer. I'm about to die. All those things I've told you, and he told them repeatedly that they were going to happen. But Jesus was dying because he wanted to die.

[4:28] The Jews didn't kill Jesus. And the Romans didn't kill Jesus. And to be blunt honest, your sins didn't kill Jesus. Jesus gave himself.

[4:40] He wanted to die because he loved us. And he made a plan. And the father made a plan. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

[4:52] In Isaiah 53 that you'll be in tonight, Lord willing, you're going to hear the story. It pleased the father to bruise him. So the father wanted Jesus to suffer so that we could be saved.

[5:04] Jesus wanted to suffer so that we could be saved. And Jesus gave his life. And he was buried and he rose again. But it wasn't over. A lot of people died on a cross.

[5:16] Jesus is no exception. A lot of people have been scourged and lived and died. But that's not what the point is. Jesus died and was buried and rose again.

[5:27] And he knew that because he said, I'm about to suffer with you. But I won't drink this again until we do it in my kingdom. I am going to have a kingdom. I'll be back. Look, if you want in John chapter 14 and verse 1.

[5:41] This has got to be one of the most fantastic passages of Scripture in the Bible. Commonly used in funerals. But look at what it says. Let not your heart be troubled. Don't y'all be worried.

[5:52] Don't you be anxious. Don't you be nervous. Don't you be concerned. If you believe in God, you need to believe in me. If you believe there's a God, you need to believe in me.

[6:03] You believe God exists in heaven, then you need to believe in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If that were not the truth, I would have told you.

[6:14] I'm about to die. And look at this. I go to prepare a place for you. There is life after death. And when our loved ones die and we put their corpses, their bodies, their cadavers, and we put them in a grave and it seems like such a horrendous thing that we have to go through, the Bible's real clear.

[6:36] Jesus went to prepare a place for them. He said, I'll prepare a place. Verse 3, he said, and if I go. This has got to be it. Look at this. And if I go and prepare a place for you, circle this, draw arrows to it, put a star in the margin, I will come again.

[6:56] If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. Not only will he come again, he says he will receive you to himself. That where I am, there you may be also.

[7:10] Isn't that a beautiful thing? Jesus is going to die. He's going to go to heaven. He's going to prepare us a place. He's going to come back and get us. He's going to take them. Now, that doesn't make maybe as much sense to us.

[7:23] And we're like, what in the world? Does he need to prepare a place? But see, he was dealing with Jews and they knew exactly what's going on. That's a wedding picture. In a Jewish wedding, the husband would say, I love you.

[7:34] I'm going to go get you a place ready. As soon as I get our place ready, I'm coming back to get you. And I'll take you back to our place. And Jesus looked at him and said, y'all know the story. So let me just tell you what it is. You're the bride of Christ, the church, the bride of Christ.

[7:46] I'm going to prepare you a place. And I'll be back. And whether I go, you know. And the way, you know. You know I'm going to heaven. You know I'm going to heaven.

[7:57] And you know how to get there. I am the way, by the way. He'll say that in verse 6. And Thomas said, Lord, we know not whether thou goest. How can we know the way? God, come on.

[8:08] Jesus, come on. You said we know where you're going. And we don't. And you said we know how to get there. And we don't. We don't know where you're going. I don't, that's, what are you doing here?

[8:19] Talking code? What are you doing here? And Jesus said, well, I'll tell you what I'm saying. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes to the Father but by me.

[8:31] If you go back up to verse 1, he said, if you believe in God, you've got to believe in me. And now he says the only way to get to God is through me. And if you had known me, you should have known my Father also.

[8:44] And from henceforth you know him and have seen him. You know me, you know him. You know me, you have seen the Father.

[8:56] There's a whole lot more going on, I think, than maybe our minds want to accept unless we're just strong believers. This isn't just a Bible story.

[9:07] This is Jesus looking at people and saying, I'm fixing to die and be buried and rise again. And it's going to look like everything is over. But that is not what's happening.

[9:18] And y'all need to know up front that when I die, I'm doing it on purpose. And when I'm buried, I will rise again. I'm going, really, what I'm actually doing here, I'm going to heaven.

[9:29] And I'm preparing a place for you, and I'll be back to get you. I'll come back to that in just a second. But I want you to look down here. Philip said in verse 8, after he said, y'all have seen the Father.

[9:41] In verse 7, the last part, he said, you've seen him. Jesus said, Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and that'll be enough. It'll suffice us.

[9:52] And Jesus said, excuse me? Excuse me? Excuse me? Have you been with me that long, and you don't know me, Philip?

[10:03] You've been running around me the last three years, and you haven't figured out who I am? He that has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say to me then, show us the Father?

[10:16] I just wish you'd go back up to verse 3. I will come again. And I want to leave this with you just as serious and as real and as genuine as anything.

[10:28] In the world you live in, it would appear to you that we're going to live and die, and it's over. That's how the world lives. The world lives like this here is really important.

[10:41] The world lives like we are animals that die without a soul or spirit, and it's over. And we're buried, and we just go get a new animal. That's not what happens with us.

[10:53] Every human being who dies will spend eternity, will spend forever somewhere. They'll either be forever in heaven, or they'll be forever in hell, but they will be somewhere forever.

[11:05] And Jesus made it real clear to those people that knew him, those people that followed him, you can't get to my Father, which is the only God there is. And you can't get to him unless you come through me.

[11:17] You can't get to him unless you come through me. You can't get to him through saints, and you can't get to him through good works, and you can't get to him through being baptized or taking the Lord's Supper. It's through me.

[11:28] And he said this, I'm dying, but I will come back. And I will take you to be with me. So here's what we have a promise of. And with all my heart, I believe this.

[11:41] At any time, at any moment, Jesus is coming back. I have young people say to me sometimes, you reckon that means when we die? Nope. I don't think that's what it means at all.

[11:52] I think Jesus is going to come back. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, he'll come in the clouds. And then in the book of Acts, he's going to come a later time, and his feet will touch the Mount of Olives, and it'll split and make a big valley.

[12:07] God is, this is not our world. It's his world. And we aren't living our lives. We're living his life. And what I'm doing right here is only getting me ready for where he's taking me.

[12:19] And so if you haven't trusted Jesus today, you need to. You need to understand this isn't religion. This isn't church. This isn't a Bible lecture.

[12:30] There is a God in heaven. There is a God who made this world and will judge this world. There is a God who loves you enough that he died on a cross to take your place.

[12:40] That's why we took the Lord's Supper. We took the Lord's Supper because we were saying Jesus physically came to earth and died. His body was broken. His blood was shed so that you could be saved.

[12:53] Jesus did all that. That wasn't just a church ritual. That wasn't a weekly get-together and have a mass thing. It is a remembering that Jesus really died.

[13:04] But when Jesus died, he said, you show forth my death till I come back. I showed you that in 1 Corinthians. That's what we're doing, remembering Jesus died for us. And some of you might be here this morning.

[13:16] It's a Sunday morning. You've not yet trusted Christ as your Savior. You might even be baptized and you might be a member of the church, but you don't go to heaven from any of that. You see, there's only one way to the Father and that's through Jesus.

[13:29] I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Baptists are going to populate hell, just so you know. Baptists are going to populate hell because Baptists don't go to heaven.

[13:43] People that know Jesus go to heaven. I'll say it another way. People that Jesus knows go to heaven. So if you know him and he don't know you, you don't really know him. And so I would challenge you today to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.

[13:58] I would challenge you to decide that you're not going to be religious and you're not just going to go through the regular emotions, but that you will trust the wonderful God of all eternity and what Jesus did for you on the cross.

[14:14] Well, when it comes time for you to die, I doubt you'll be able to say like Jesus did, where I go and whether I go, you know, and the way you know. There's only one person that really knows what happens after we get out of here.

[14:27] That's him. I'd like to know him. I'd like to know him because he's the one that will take me from here to there. If you haven't trusted him, I invite you to do that today.