Hope Church LV Sermons
The Lord's Supper 6.5.11
I want to ask you a question, and I don't want you to answer out loud. I want you to just answer, kind of in your own heart. I want you to think about what your answer would be if you were put on the spot and made to answer out loud. Here's the question. What is a church? Again, don't answer out loud, but I want you to think about that question. What is a church? It's a word that we use in our vocabulary a lot, matter of fact, some of you probably used it today. You said, "Let's go to church," right? What is a church? Sometimes when we use the word "church," we're simply referring to an event. A lot of times when we say, "Hey, let's go to church," that's what we're talking about. "Church" is an event that we attend, but the reality is church is more than just an event that we attend, and unfortunately, many in our culture in North America understand church simply as an event that you go to, it's something that you attend. We even ask the question, "Do you go to church?" It's somewhere you go. It's an event that you attend. Other times, we refer to the word "church," and we're simply talking about a building. I drove by a church the other day. Now, it doesn't happen quite as often in Las Vegas as it does in other parts of the country. You drive by a church building, but we use the word "church" to refer to a building, but we know at Hope, right? Church is more than a building, and we thank God for that, right? We're nine years old. We don't have one, so we're glad that church is more than a building, right? Sometimes we use the word "church" to refer to just an organization, like we'll say something like why did the church not do something, or is the church going to do something for this family or for this situation? What's even more sometimes funny is when people that are a part of the church ask that question as if that doesn't refer to them. Well, isn't the church going to do something? Isn't the church going to get involved? You see, we've reduced the word "church" down to being an event we attend, a building that we go to, an organization that we're a part of that does some good things. The church is something much more than that. I want to put a definition up on the screen, one that we've used many times here at Hope, and I want you to read this out loud with me off the screen. It's really what a church is, and whether or not you're here in this service or in Boulder City, I want you to read this with me off the screen. You ready? Here we go. A community of Jesus' followers who gather to worship the person of Christ, connect as the body of Christ, and together share in the mission of Christ. That's what the church is. First and foremost, it is a community of Jesus' followers. There are a couple of things that jump out about that definition that I want you to see today. Number one, the church is all about Jesus, amen? Church is all about Jesus. You hear it? It's a community of Jesus' followers who gather to worship the person of Christ and who connect as the body of Christ and who share in the mission of Christ. You see, we've created a church culture in America that says the church is all about me. We've even come to church based on what we're going to get out of it. We pick the church that best suits our needs. We pick the church that does the music that we like or the preacher talks like we like him to, or he's the length of sermons that we enjoy, or it's the kind of people that I like being around. We've made the church all about us, but in reality, first and foremost, the church in about us, the church is about Jesus, right? Come on, say it. Jesus. It's okay to say it out loud, amen? I mean, come on. Take church and somebody asks you a question, odds are you answer Jesus, you're good, right? I mean, they can't tell you it's wrong if you say Jesus, and you least got to say, well, that's a pretty good shot at it, right? So the church first and foremost is all about Jesus, but secondly, the church is a community. It's a community. It's a community is defined like this, it's sharing in the mission of Jesus by sharing life with others. That's what a church is. It's a community. It's not an event that we attend, it's not an organization we're a part of, it's not a building that we go to. Church is a community of people who are sharing in the mission of Jesus by sharing life with each other. They're involved in one another's life. That's what the church is. That definition uses words like gather and connecting and sharing. What are all those things? Those are descriptions of what happens inside the context of the community that we know as the church. When Jesus was on the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus gathered together what was the very beginning of what you and I know as the church. Jesus pulled together a small community, just a small group of His followers, and they were having a meal together and in the middle of that meal Jesus began to introduce a practice to them. To be honest with you, when Jesus did this, it was on the evening before He was crucified. There's a lot of what He did that didn't even register with them until the next 24 hours had played out. There was a lot of what happened that they didn't even connect with because they hadn't seen it play out yet. They were hearing some things that they just didn't have quite all the box to put it in yet. If you have your Bible, I want you to turn to the 26th chapter of the book of Matthew. And Matthew chapter 26, Jesus sits down with this community and He gives them this practice. And here's why I've shared what I've shared with you so far. This practice that we call the Lord's Supper. This practice was given to celebrate the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus in the context of community. That's why we have it. We don't have this as a ritual that we're to perform. It's not a rite of passage. It's not a ceremony that brings us merit and favor with God. No. This practice was given to us for one reason and one reason only. And that reason is to celebrate the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus in the context of the community of believers. So I want to read it together. Matthew chapter 26, beginning in verse 26, exactly what happened, says, "While they were eating, Jesus took some bread. And after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat. This is my body." Now again, I want you to think about this. Some of these verses that we're reading are verses that some of us who are Christians have read so many times. We read them with the perspective of looking back on an event 2,000 years ago where Jesus died was buried in rose again. They just gathered with Jesus to have a meal. There'd been no crucifixion yet, there'd been no resurrection yet. He takes the bread and he says this prayer, "I would love to have heard the words of the prayer." But then he says to him, "I want you to take this and eat it. It's my body." And I'm sure they kind of looked at each other, not really sure what was going on. He said in verse 27, "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them saying, 'Drink from it all of you.'" For this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many, for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Now we know the rest of the story, right? We know what happened in the Mount of Olives. They went there. Jesus took Peter, James and John and they prayed and after a season of praying and falling asleep and praying and falling asleep, they begin to see in the distance the approaching torches of a Roman cohort being led by somebody that they knew very well, Judas Iscariot. They come into that garden there where Jesus and the disciples had been praying and Judas comes and he kisses Jesus on the cheek. They arrest Jesus to the dismay. Even though Jesus had been telling them what was about to happen, you can tell they were shocked because Simon Peter's reaction was, "Hey, we're stopping this train," right? I mean, he grabs his sword and he just swings at the first thing he can hit and thank God he's a bad shot. Amen? He cuts a guy's ear off. Jesus stops and puts the ear back on. They arrest Jesus and that night they lead him through a series of mock trials, 11 of them to be exact, shows you the mockery of justice that was taking place. Here in the middle of the night, they convene the judicial system to run Jesus through a series of 11 trials in the dark of night. They take him for all to see and they beat him publicly. The disciples watch as his body is beaten and mutilated. They throw a purple robe on him and a crown of thorns on his head and they beat him in the head and they mock him as the king of the Jews. Early that morning they march him out to a lonely hill called Golgotha. Where Jesus is crucified for the sins of the world, your sin, my sin. And on that cross, Jesus experiences things that we can't even begin to fathom, separation from God the Father, spiritual death, physical death, eternal death, all the punishment of God against sin, poured out on Jesus on the cross and he dies there. But we're also grateful that's not the end of the story, amen? Sunday morning comes and they run to the tomb where he'd been buried and Jesus is alive. He's risen from the dead just like he said he would and the disciples begin to celebrate and they begin to rejoice because Jesus who had died is now alive. And I don't know when it happened. Maybe it was that night, maybe it was the next day, maybe it was the next week, but at some point soon, the community came back together to do what Jesus had told them. And can you imagine the emotion of the moment? You see, the last time they'd seen it, Jesus had the bread in his hands. I don't know who the job fell to, probably Simon Peter. Can you imagine how his hands must have trembled? Now understanding what it just transpired. Now understanding what Jesus meant when he said this is my body. And having seen Jesus himself take this bread, now it falls in your lap to be the one to hold it and try to remember everything Jesus had described and you begin to lead the community of believers through this moment of remembering. That's why Jesus gave it to us. Now unfortunately, our culture is so churched and we do this so frequently. Our attitude sometimes is, "Oh well, Lord's up are we again again?" What I want you to try to do for just a moment is try to take yourself back to that moment when those believers for the very first time held these elements in their hand and begin to practice the Lord's supper because as we gather here this weekend, we are standing in the line of two thousand years of history where communities of believers have gathered all over the world and held the bread and the fruit of the vine in their hands and celebrated the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we do this together, this weekend, we do this as a community but we're a part of something that is way bigger than us. There were three simple realities that Jesus wanted them to understand and they're right in these verses. We'll give them to you and then we're going to take this together, here's the first one. They had a sacrifice to remember. Jesus gave them this practice because they had a sacrifice to remember. One of the great hymn writers of the days gone by was a man named Isaac Watts. Some of you may know the name Isaac Watts. If you're a student of the hymns at all from the church tradition, then you know the name Isaac Watts. There were hundreds of hymns that the church sang for centuries and one of those great hymns of the faith that Isaac Watts wrote was simply entitled when I survey the wondrous cross. Here's kind of how the first paragraph of that song when he said, "When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died, my richest gain. I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride." The opening line is what got me when I survey, meaning that it was obviously the pattern and practice of Isaac Watts' life to survey the cross. The word "survey" means to stop, to look carefully at, to pay close attention to, to examine closely and carefully. The practice of Isaac Watts' life was apparently to stop in moments and seasons and linger long on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and contemplate all that it meant in his life. And I'm afraid in our church culture today. We don't take time to simply sit and marvel at the cross of the Lord Jesus. I'll be honest, in the contemporary churches, we know it today in America. We don't even like to talk much about the cross and the blood and sin and shame on us. We're not for the cross of Jesus Christ. We have no hope. Luke and Paul added to what Matthew gave us here in this gospel, Luke and Paul add the phrase that Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me." It's an imperative and it's a word remembrance here is a Greek word that simply means a memorial. Jesus said, "I want you to do this to have a time of memorial, a time of remembering, a memorial is when we take the opportunity to remember the life of someone who has lived and celebrate all that they live for." Jesus said, "I want you to do this not as a dead ritual. I want you to do this not as a ceremony to earn favor with God. I want you to do this so that you'll sit for a moment and think about the power and the wonder and the glory of the cross of Jesus Christ." You see, this gives us an opportunity to sit and think about the gospel. Listen to me. Listen to me, Church. The gospel's not just for lost people. It's not just for lost people. The gospel's for you and me. Hey, yeah. For a lost person, the gospel is the good news that He died for me. That because of the death, barrel and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I can be forgiven of my sin and I can be given a relationship with God. But the gospel is also for you and me as safe people because Jesus didn't just die for our sin. He rose again from the dead. You see, His death is not just my death. His life is my life and now I get to walk in the power of the gospel and that is Christ manifesting His life in and through me on a day in and day out basis. That's the power of the gospel. And when we come together to celebrate the Lord's table, we're remembering all that the gospel has done for us. They had a sacrifice to remember. Secondly, they had a story to share. Look at verse 28, "Jesus said, 'For this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" You see that word? You can maybe underline it in your Bible. It's the word "many." This is my blood which is poured out for many. It's a word that means multitudes of people. You know what Jesus was doing right there? He was reminding that little band of followers, "Hey, this isn't just about you. It's bigger than you." He was reminding them that this gospel was not just something for them to rejoice in, but this gospel was something that He had called them to take to the very ends of the earth. Hey, two chapters later in the gospel of Matthew, two chapters later Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all the nations," baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. Two chapters later Jesus said, "Hey, this gospel, take it to the ends of the earth." And when we come together and celebrate the Lord's table, it's an opportunity for us to remember that. Listen to what John MacArthur said. Look at it on the screen. He said, "That blood made atonement for the sins of all mankind, Gentile as well as Jew, who placed their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ." Many includes those who trusted in God before Christ died, as well as those who have and will trust in Him after His death. Listen to me. When Jesus, this is so awesome, when Jesus said to them, "Many," He was talking about you and me. You're in the Bible. Jesus said, "This blood is for many." They're going to be some 2,000 years from now in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's for them too. Last weekend, we get the opportunity to host this pastor's conference where our prayer is, we're going to get to penetrate pioneer areas of North America and unreach peoples in the world. Did you know that there are 3,800 people groups in the world that have no access to the gospel in their language? 3,800 people representing almost 2 billion people that have no gospel, no preacher, no Bible, no radio broadcast in their language, meaning if they wanted to hear about Christ, the first thing they'd have to do is learn another language. Think about that. When Jesus said, "Many," He's talking about them. We have a story to share, and it makes me want to ask us a question. When's the last time you shared it? Well, isn't that the church's job? It's not an organization, it's a community. Say, "We are the church." Set out loud. "We are the church." Yep, it is the church's job. We have a story to share. When we come together to take the Lord's Supper, we're reminded of a story that we have to share. Third reality, He wanted them to understand is they had a promise to celebrate. They had a promise to celebrate. Look at verse 29. He said, "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day. When I drink it with you new in my Father's kingdom." Now, we don't get to see their faces, but I'd love to have seen their faces when He said that phrase, because I'm sure somebody looked at them and said, "What days are He talking about?" Let me tell you what day He's talking about. The day when the world as we know it comes to an end, hey, I know a couple of weeks ago we had this guy make a prediction, right? It's interesting to me when people do that, Jesus said of Himself, "He doesn't even know the day or the hour." I find it odd that the Father would tell somebody else before He told Jesus, but although we disagree with the methods of the gentleman that made the prediction, let me tell you one thing He's dead on about. One day it's coming to an end, and we're closer today than we've ever been. Think about it. The Bible says one day the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, and then the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the air to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we will always, the Bible says, be with the Lord. One day that's going to happen, and that's the day that He was talking about. And here's what He was saying, "Until then I've given you this practice to celebrate in my honor," but on that day we will not celebrate in His honor. We will celebrate in His presence. Every time we take this, we have a promise to celebrate Jesus said, "I'm coming back, and one day I'll be with you." That's what He said in the text, "With you, I'll drink it with you in my Father's Kingdom." So let me give you a closing thought. Paul, when writing about this in the book of 1 Corinthians, gives us some prescriptives about how to take this up. And I want to emphasize one of them, verse 28 of 1 Corinthians 11, look at it on the screen. It says, "But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread, and drink of the cup." That word "examine" means to inspect closely, to test by question. Here's what He's saying. God gave us this to remind us of the cross, and to celebrate the promise, and to encourage us to share the gospel with other people. But every time we do this, it's an opportunity for us to examine our own heart. What do we do examine? Remember where we started? What is the church? It's all about Jesus, and it's all about community. Here's what we're to do. When we come to this opportunity, we're the first and foremost to examine our relationship with Jesus. Number one, do you know Him? Can I be honest with you? This right here? It means nothing if you don't know Him. There's nothing mystical or magical or spiritual about any of this. We bought it at the same grocery stores you shop at, all right? Only significance this has is when there's a relationship in my life with the one for whom it stands. Do you know Christ? If you don't know Him, listen, today you can give your life to Christ. If you do know Him, you should examine your heart and see if there's anything in your life that's not right with God. This is an opportunity for you to ask some questions about your walk with God and examine it. But also it's an opportunity for you to examine your relationships with others. We said it's also about community. You can think about the relationships in your small group or in your home. Paul, when he wrote 1 Corinthians 11, talked about some divisions that existed in that church there. He was reminding them, "Hey, before you come and celebrate this, you need to make sure those relationships are right with your brothers and sisters in Christ." I'll give you one more John MacArthur quote. Look what he says on the screen. "True worship is not enhanced by better music, better prayers, better architecture, or even better preaching. True worship is enhanced by better relationships between those who come to worship." So in just a moment, we're going to take this supper together. But before we do, I want you to examine yourselves. If you live here in our Boulder City campus, take a moment now. Just ask some questions about your relationship with God and your relationship with each other. [BLANK_AUDIO]