This transcript was generated automatically and may contain minor errors.

Well, good morning. Would you take out your bible, please, and turn to first Corinthians chapter 11? First Corinthians chapter 11. We'll read some verses there and then come back to that chapter toward the end of our lesson this morning. First Corinthians chapter 11.

We'll start reading in verse 23 here in just a second. I appreciate your good participation this morning, and I appreciate Eric and Preston for humoring me in the arrangement of our songs this morning. I wanted to do that where we sang the songs of or the verses of When My Love to Christ Grows Weak, the first four, and then sang the fifth verse at the end. And the reason why I did that is because a number of years ago, this has been before I moved here, actually, I was in a service, and the guy got up there before the Lord's supper and sang, led the first four verses of when my love to Christ grows weak and didn't lead the last verse, the fifth verse that we just sang together, then to life I turn again. And so after the service, as I'm prone to do when I don't understand something, I asked.

And so I went up to him. I said, why'd you choose to do that? Why did you leave those four verses, but then you didn't leave the fifth verse at the end that kinda, in my mind, kinda ties everything together? And his response was something like this. He says, well, that last verse is not about the Lord's Supper, and we were about to partake of the Lord's Supper, and so that's why I didn't lead it.

It's not about the Lord's Supper. That stuck with me for a long time because I think that represents well the attitude and understanding of many Christians regarding the Lord's Supper, at least in practice. It's something, the Lord's Supper, that we do for a few minutes on Sunday, focusing solely on remembering Christ on the cross. And while it is immensely important, and we would all admit that and say that, it doesn't really impact the rest of the week. Now we wouldn't say that, but maybe that's the way we think about it in truth.

But what is partaking supposed to do for us? What is partaking of the Lord's Supper supposed to do to us? And may I suggest this morning that I don't get up Monday morning and forget all about forget all about the things that I did the day before. The very point of this is to remember. Instead, I should live my life in light of what I have done the day before in partaking of the Lord's Supper and in anticipation of coming back the next week to partake again and to remember him again.

As the song says, as we just sang together, then to life I turn again, learning all the worth of pain, learning all the might that lies in a full self sacrifice. That's exactly right. Partaking of these emblems as we've all just done together in remembrance of him should point me to the life that I should be living. And a weekly reminder is just what I need of not just of what Jesus did, but what I should do response. And Preston's words in leading us and thinking about those things, I think, was exactly on point of what we should be doing, not just today, not just in those few minutes we spent together, but what we should do for the rest of the week.

So let's consider that for a few minutes this morning. Then to life, I turn again and think about the Lord's Supper in this way. The impact of the Lord's Supper, the impact of what we've all just done together on the rest of the week, not just on the Lord's day, not just on Sunday, but on the other six days as well as we go through our lives. And so to think about those things, I want us to begin first in first Corinthians chapter 11 and begin reading in verse 23. First Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 23.

Would you read with me, please? For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, That the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Four, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup every first day of the week, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. Do this in remembrance of me, proclaiming the Lord's death till he comes. What is it that we remember? We remember, of course, his suffering on the cross.

We remember the shame that was involved. We remember the sacrifice and what that means for our salvation. But may I suggest that we also remember the things leading to the cross. Right? And I want us to think for a few moments this morning about what Jesus did and what he did between in a very specific period of time.

What Jesus did between instituting the Lord's Supper on the night on which he was gonna be betrayed as he partook of the Passover with his disciples. So from there, until his actual death on the cross, which those those things represented, what did Jesus do in between? And maybe that gives us some insight into what we should be doing as we turn to life again and impact the rest of our life and the rest of our week by the things that we've done together. Now I don't know about you. Well, I know about some of you.

Some of you are better people than me, and that's okay. I emulate you. I wanna live up to you, but I don't know about you. But if I knew what was going to happen to me that night and Jesus the truth to this supper about what's immediately gonna happen to him and just just hours away. If I knew what was gonna happen to me that night, I think I would be tempted to be a little bit selfish in terms of what I was thinking about and what I was doing.

Maybe if I put myself in Jesus' shoes, and I'm really honest about that, I might say to them, you know what, guys? I've got some focusing I've gotta do. I've gotta focus on what it is that I'm about to go through. So can you just leave me alone for a little bit? Can I have one night where I'm not thinking about y'all and your needs and your growth, but not Jesus as we know?

The very next thing that we see Jesus doing chronologically after instituting the Lord's Supper is what? We see him taking a towel, girding himself, and washing the disciples' feet. So after being reminded of his impending death, we're gonna try and go through these chronologically. Here's what Jesus did next. And the very next thing is he immediately left an example of humble service.

Would you turn to John chapter 13? John chapter 13. John gives us a in a gospel that was written later than the other three and with a slightly different emphasis, he often gives us insight into things that the synoptic gospels do not, and this is one of those occasions. So in John chapter 13, the supper is ended in verse two. And in verse three, this is what it says.

Jesus, knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel, and girded himself. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Then he came to Simon Peter, and Peter said to him, Lord? I don't know how Peter said this. I've imagined it a lot of different ways, but I think maybe I imagine it almost as if Peter is whispering to him saying, hey, Lord.

Lord, are you washing my feet? What what's implied by that question? Why are you doing this? What's going on? Why are you washing my feet?

He goes on to say, well, you're not gonna wash my feet. Jesus says, well, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part in me. Peter misunderstands that and says, well, wash my head and my hands also. And in verse 12, Jesus really does try and explain what it is he's doing. So when he had washed their feet, taken his garments, and sat down again, he said to them, do you know, do you understand what I have done to you?

You call me teacher and lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I then, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

So Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper, and the very next thing that he does is give them an example. He says that you do as I have done to you. And I wanna suggest that this first immediate example of humble service is not where Jesus ended in giving that example of what they ought to be doing, but the rest of the night really reflects what he does here. Have you ever thought about how odd this situation was? Why Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet?

What are you doing here? And Jesus admits, yeah, I am your master and Lord. You say that I am and you say, well, because that's the truth. And if I'm doing this, then you ought to be willing to do this too. A number of years ago, Stephanie and I had the opportunity to go to Florida, and we went and heard Tim Tebow speak.

It was this big benefit dinner, and Tim Tebow was there. And he was paid an unknown amount, unknown to me, of thousands of dollars in order to come and speak that night and to be there with this big group of people. Now I want you to imagine for a moment that Tim Tebow is supposed to come and speak to this big group of people, but instead of coming and speaking, he spends the whole night just being a waiter. And so he's got his table, and he's working with his table, and he's serving at that table now. Is there anything wrong with being a waiter?

No. But it's like, well, why is he the one that's doing that? And even though Tim Tebow has this reputation of being a good person and a good servant and all those sorts of things, you say, well, that doesn't make any sense for the one who's there and supposed to be honored and supposed to be speaking and doing all of those things. It doesn't make any sense for him to then go and be the one who is serving, who is waiting on the tables. He's there to be served by others before he speaks.

That's the way it's supposed to work. And if we can take Tim Tebow, I mean, our Florida people back there, as great as Tim Tebow is, and apply that to our lord, the god of heaven and earth, and that he was the one taking a towel and washing feet. We say that doesn't make any sense. This is a supper that we've just eaten of at the lord's table. We eat with the king of kings.

We eat with the lord of lords, the one who has all authority and might and dominion, who could command anyone to do the serving for him. And yet the example that we have is that the king not just serves the meal. He puts himself in the lowest place. He comes down from his throne in heaven to be among us as one who serves and what an example he gives. We partake weekly in part to be reminded that our lives, as of the life of our Lord, are lives of service.

And something that I've thought a lot about for the last number of years is I think about the Lord's Supper and then what I'm supposed to be doing. When the supper ends, the foot washing begins. That's the example that we're left chronologically, the supper being ended, he takes the towel, and he washes the disciples' feet. And may I suggest for us, it's exactly the same. When the supper ends and we're reminded of these things, that's when the foot washing, that's when the service truly can begin for all of us.

And we are reminded that this is the focus. This is the emphasis of our lives every week. And the rest of the night and the next day of Jesus' life reveals that reality that he was constantly serving and helping and praying for and thinking of and focusing, not on himself and the things that he was going through, but primarily on others and what they needed. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever traced these events and thought about it from that perspective?

Where was the focus of Jesus as he was going through that this night? So let's go through that. Let's see if we can go through that rather quickly, but I wanna give some examples of this. So immediately, he leaves an example of humble service. What does he do next?

Well, next, he spends chapter 13 of John and fourteen and fifteen and sixteen teaching. And not just teaching, bringing comfort to his disciples who are confused about all these things that he's saying that he's gonna leave them and that he's gonna send the helper, the comforter, and they're upset about that. And if anybody had a right to be upset that night, it was Jesus, and yet Jesus spends his time comforting them. Let me give you just one example of this. John chapter 14 beginning in verse one.

We still read these verses as a as a means of comfort, don't we? Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. The disciples needed comforting, and they needed some final admonition and teaching, and that's exactly what Jesus gives. And after all of this teaching and comforting, what does he do next? Well, he prays for the disciples.

Chapter 17 is one long prayer that Jesus prays. We won't read all these verses, but look with me in verse one of John chapter 17. Jesus spoke these words of teaching and comfort, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son also may glorify you. So he goes to God in prayer.

And among the things he prays for, drop down to verse 15. He says, I do not pray that you should take them, my apostles, my disciples, out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth.

And then the prayer turns even wider in verse 20. I do not pray for these alone, these 11 now who are here with me, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. If you break down this prayer, what do you find? You find verses one through five where Jesus prays for himself, and then you find verses six through 26 where Jesus prays for others. He prays for his apostles, and he prays for you and me who would believe on their name.

As we keep going through the night chronologically again, I want you to go back to the gospel of Matthew for just a little bit. Go back to Matthew chapter 26. He goes into the garden, and there he does pray for himself. But even in the midst of this prayer where his his sweat becomes like great drops of blood, and those closest to him, his inner circle, Peter and James and John, are supposed to be there providing comfort to him. He goes and he finds them sleeping.

And what does he do? He warns his disciples. He warns them of temptation. In verse forty and forty one. When he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, he said to Peter, what?

Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. If we drop down further in the gospel of Matthew in the twenty sixth chapter, you know, one of the things that Jesus did not do has always stuck out to me has been powerful. He did not call 12 legions of angels.

He makes that clear to Peter that he could do that, that he could call 12 legions of angels at that time in verse 53. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to my father and he will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels? Well, let me ask you from a purely selfish perspective. If Jesus had been thinking about himself, call those angels in these proceedings. But he wasn't thinking about himself.

He did not do that, did not exercise that power because he was thinking of others, including you and me. And we see that he was thinking of those directly there with him. He sought to protect the disciples from harm. Again, John gives us just a little bit of an insight in John chapter 18 and verse eight and nine. The only place that this is found in the gospel accounts, Jesus says to that lynch mob that has come to arrest him, if you are looking for me, then let these men go.

This happened so that the words that he had spoken would be fulfilled. I have not lost one of those you gave me. Now we know his disciples fled and there was cowardice in that. But Jesus' request was that they might be let go and not arrested along with him. Among those who came was a man who was the high priest servant, a man named Malcolm.

And what does Jesus do with him? Well, Peter draws his sword, chopped off his ear, and Jesus, in response, heals the ear of the one in the mob. Jesus, who had healed so many, is still healing, even healing those who were coming to arrest him. And after he heals this ear of the one in the mob, he is taken to these trials, these shams of trials, and is eventually condemned to die. And I think we get even more insight.

Well, maybe maybe we could say to ourselves, you know, I could hang in there just like Jesus was, but then when he went to the cross, on the cross, maybe I'd start thinking about myself and the pain, and I've just gotta get through this. And no doubt, Jesus cries out on the cross in a couple of places. I thirst for water. My god. My god.

Why have you forsaken me? And there are I think there's more to both of those statements than meets the eye, but certainly, there's a sense in which Jesus is thinking of himself. But who primarily was Jesus thinking about while on the cross? I want you to turn to Luke's gospel now. Luke chapter 23, if you would.

Luke chapter 23. On the way to the cross, on the way to the place where he would be crucified, in verse 27 of Luke chapter 23, Jesus comforts and warns the women on the road. And a great multitude of the people followed him and women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed, the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore and breasts which never nursed.

And they will say to the mountains, fall on us and the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in green wood, what will be done in the dry? Jesus warns them of what is coming with the destruction of Jerusalem, and he gives comfort to them to a certain degree in saying that they should mourn for themselves. We drop down to verse 34, perhaps the most famous thing that Jesus says on the cross. He spoke forgiveness for those who were crucifying him.

Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. He reassured the thief who was next to him who repented saying, today, you will be with me in paradise in Luke chapter 23 in verse 43. He looked down off of the cross and saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved, and he said to them, woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.

And from that day forward, John took the mother of Jesus into his home. He provided for his mother's physical needs as he is hanging on the cross. And Jesus, at the very end, as he yields up his spirit, he says these three words, it is finished, as he fulfills the plans and the purposes of God. So what do we see? What do we see in this list of things that Jesus did from instituting the Lord's Supper until he died on the cross?

We see someone who was focused on what he was doing for others. Look here, an example to the disciples, and the disciples and us consideration. He was thinking about the mob that was coming to arrest him and even healing one. He was thinking about these women and those who were crucifying, thinking of the thief and his mother, and he was thinking of his father in heaven. All of this was in service to others.

And Jesus was going through the most difficult day of his life, perhaps the most difficult day of any life, and his focus was still on service to others. Raise your hand if you've had a difficult day the last week, the last month, the last year. Where was your focus? Where was mine? Hopefully, it was on others.

But I am reminded every first day of the week where my focus is supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing. Then to life, I turn again. And thinking about Jesus and where he was focused and what he was doing should cause us to examine ourselves and see if we are partaking in a worthy manner in light of what he did. I want you to turn back to first Corinthians chapter 11. I promise we would come back here at the end of the lesson, and here we are.

First Corinthians chapter 11. Let's read verse 26 again and read down through verse 29. Now there's a lot of other things we could consider in this chapter, but I want us to focus on these verses. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. So it's not just that you remember, you're reminding other people as well.

Right? You're proclaiming his death so that they might remember also. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. You profaned it. You've not viewed it in the highest theme it should be viewed.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat the bread and drink the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body, not putting it in its proper place. And he goes on to talk about how, hey. This is the reason why many in here are sick spiritually. These are why some are dying spiritually, that you're not focusing on what the Lord's body represents and what that means to you.

So from that perspective of turning to life again, an unworthy manner, I suggest, would include partaking. And maybe you're focusing on the lord and you're focusing on his death and his sacrifice, but you partake here on Sunday and then do nothing in service to others or in imitation to Christ throughout the week. What makes you worthy of partaking when you are not imitating the one that you're remembering, when you're not serving others? The greatest in Christ's kingdom, he reminds his disciples over and over, is the greatest servant. And so we examine ourselves and examine the week that we've lived before partaking.

Have I lived that that week? Have I lived that life in such a way that I'm imitating Jesus and his service? Was this past week a week of service? Did you think about that this morning? Did you think about that not two seconds before you partook of the bread or before Preston got up there?

Were you thinking about that yesterday? Were you thinking about that this morning? Has this week been a week of service? And it's not just looking back. As we partake, may it motivate us for this week to be a week of service.

I really like what Nathan Ward says about this concept. We can meditate about Jesus' sacrifice, he says, for fifteen minutes while taking of the memorial feast on Sunday, but still do so in an unworthy manner if we later go out and live a life contrary to that sacrifice. That really is the crux of the matter. We are to live lives that are focused on Jesus' sacrifice, and that shouldn't be too much to ask since he made his sacrifice focused on us. As Jesus was sacrificing himself, his focus was always on us and what he was doing for others.

So examine yourself. Do you serve others like Christ? Is service what your life is about? Maybe I can put it this way, and maybe it's an oversimplification, but maybe it will be helpful to you. The point of the Lord's Supper is what?

To remember Christ's sacrifice. The point of the Lord's Supper is not to get us to remember and think about the Lord's Supper. The point of the Lord's Supper is to get us to remember and think about the Lord, to think about Christ so that we might be motivated by that reminder to live like him. Then to life I turn again, it is when the supper ends that the service begins. Well, the supper is now ended.

And Preston and I talked about this and what's the right order to go about doing those things. I think we made the right choice. We partook, the supper is ended, and now we turn to life. Let us go through those doors and start serving motivated by Christ's example this week and every week. But I don't wanna leave that hanging just in some sort of general sort of way.

Okay. Serve. That's good. We need to do that. But being reminded of Christ's death, we should then go out and do the same kinds of things to the same kinds of people.

Think about it in those terms. Let's look at our list again. Again, we need to be doing the same kinds of things to the same kinds of people. Ask yourself. Look at this list and think about what Jesus did between instituting the Lord's Supper and actually dying on the cross.

Ask yourself every week, how can I live a life in similar ways? How can I humbly serve and be an example of service to others? How can I teach and comfort others who need teaching and comforting? How can I pray for others? Who can I warn?

How can I use or not use the power that that I have to be a benefit to others? How can I protect and provide for the weak? How can I be willing to forgive and reassure those who are forgiven? How can I provide for those who are in need? And how can I fulfill the plans and purposes of God?

I imitate Christ. The supper should remind us and motivate us to serve in those ways, but it should also remind us and motivate us to serve the same kinds of people. Think about the people that he served again. That started with his disciples and those who were closest to him who were partaking of that supper with him, and I think that's a helpful place for us to begin as well. We just partook of the Lord's supper.

And while that's individual, maybe people say horizontal. Right? So that's between me and Christ, God the father, the holy spirit are involved in that, but that's me and God. Individually, I'm doing that. It's also not just in individual.

It's communal. It's horizontal. Right? There are other people who are partaking as well. Do I start when thinking about my service to others with the people in this room who are partaking with me?

And even more, am I motivated to serve those people because of what we've done together? Now y'all know probably too well after all these years how my weird brain works, and I have to have things that I tie on to. And so I've told you before, one of the things that I do now that we have these baggies with these little cups in them is is I listen. And by the way, y'all have gotten a lot quieter about this. If you could get loud again, that would be helpful to me.

Because I listen to these baggies and the people putting them in there, and I hear that all over the all over the auditorium. And I say to myself, as I hear those things, is that someone that Jesus died for. That someone saved by the blood of Jesus. And as we think about all these people who partook with us, those are my brothers and sisters in Christ who were saved by him, who he died for. And that's where my service should begin with these people.

But it can't. It can't end there. It can't stop there just with these people. These are all people I need to serve as we partake together, but I need to be reminded of that way of thinking. That way of thinking that I have when I partake.

These are people that I need to serve. These are people that Jesus died for. I need to take that with me as I go through the week. How much different would my interactions with people be? How much easier would it be to serve people, even people who are prickly?

How much easier would it be if with every one of those people, it was as if the baggie is rattling and I say to myself, Jesus died for that person? That he came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many, even the mob, even those crucifying him, even the thief on the cross. That Jesus died for them too, and some of those very people would be saved by his blood. That someone Jesus died to save applies to every person that I have contact with. Those who are against us, those who rely on us, those who need forgiveness, the supper should remind us and motivate us to serve those people.

And, of course, Jesus fulfilled the plans and purposes of God on the cross, and the supper should remind us to fulfill God's plans and purposes in our lives. That God gave his only begotten son, the fulfillment of his plans from before the foundation of the world, and I remember that when I partake so that I might be motivated to fulfill God's plans for me. Then to life I turn again, that that makes an impact. That makes a difference if I'm doing that, but maybe we might sing then to life we turn again. And imagine the impact imagine the impact if every single one of us here didn't just partake of these emblems today even with a good heart, even focusing on the right things and leave it here, But every single one of us here this morning walked through those doors and said, now I go back to life, but I don't leave the supper here.

I don't leave what that represents here. I walk through those doors in remembrance of him so that I might live my life, my whole life from that perspective. So if you're here this morning and you're visiting with us, we're so grateful for your presence. Can we serve you? Can we study with you?

Can we pray with you? If you're a Christian, think to yourself, how can I serve others? But, also, we're thinking how might we serve you? And if you're not a Christian, Jesus came and died so that you might have the opportunity to have your sins forgiven. He suffered and he sacrificed himself, and he serves for your salvation.

Will you not serve him in response? Will you not respond to that grace this morning and be baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins so that you might walk in newness of life, a life that is now focused and remembering him? Can help you with that even this morning. Won't you come? Altogether we stand and while we sing.