Communion： Fully Taking In The Sweetness Of Jesus

As we prepare for communion, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts. In Matthew chapter 26, Jesus talks about communion and Jesus says that this is the new covenant. Verse 26, Matthew 26 verse 26. They were eating and Jesus took the bread and blessed it and he said, take this is my body. Verse 27, you drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the covenant. This is the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. And the King James uses a word that I don't like. It says for the remission of sins and I don't know what 1600 they talked about remission but that's a poor word to use to think about what Jesus' blood does for us because when we think about remission now, we think about cancer almost always. That's how I think of remission. I'm not an English expert but I think of remission. They say the cancer is a remission but what do I respond when I hear somebody's cancer is a remission? Good news but we have to check every three months, every six months. Is it coming back? Almost always I've talked to somebody whose cancer is remission. They'd be like, yep but I got it back. I have to go back every six months to check and it's a dangerous thing for us to think of the blood of Jesus as the remission of our sins that requires us every three months, every six months to go back and say, God did you really forgive me of those sins and we should not treat our forgiveness as just a remission as a, you know, well let's see how you perform the next six months and we'll see if your sins are really forgiven. That's not the attitude with which we can approach Jesus. The forgiveness of our sins I think Jesus said is forgiveness but Paul expands on that and makes a much bigger word with his blood and he says that we are justified by his blood. All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God having been justified by his blood that we have. That's in Romans chapter 3. I love the fact that Romans chapter 3 does not have a full stop, a period, a full stop after Romans chapter 3 23. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by his grace through the blood the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood. So the blood of Jesus is more than just remission. It is forgiveness into justification which is I look at you as if you've always obeyed. I look at you as being totally righteous. That is the the clarity with which we can stand before God with the with what the blood of God does for us. That's what Jesus did and it's a tremendous gift that God had to come all the way down from heaven to earth and die to obtain it for us. But what was on my heart also was and I was thinking about the darkest day in history. We hear of wars and when we think of wars we think of dark times. We think it's dark. I'm sure it's dark in Ukraine right now for them as they're suffering. Different people can suffer and have dark times in their own personal lives because loved ones die maybe unexpectedly. Different reasons like that. But what was the darkest time in all of history? The darkest time in all of history for me there's no comparison there's no doubt about it was when Jesus hung on the cross and took the penalty of our sins. So when we say we are justified by his blood it's a reflection to the darkest time of all of history. We talk about the dark ages we learn about that in history. I don't know much about the dark ages of history but it's nothing. It's nothing compared to the darkest time in history which is when God forsook his son for my sins for our sins and so I must weigh everything in my life all the dark ages in my life all the dark periods in my life all the afflictions and sufferings in my life on one side of the weighing balance is all of that and on the other side is the darkest time in all of history when Jesus took the penalty of my sins and was forsaken in that three-hour period even the the earth was darkened but it's a there's a picture of the darkest time in all of history that's the sobering part by which we receive our justification. What's the next darkest time in history? To me that's where I was thinking about which was when the disciples saw Jesus dead but was not alive. None of us will ever experience that need to have experienced that time after Jesus died and before Jesus rose again. Paul says that if there is no resurrection from the dead we are to be of all people the most pitied. These disciples for three days were to be the most pitied because there was the death but no resurrection as yet. Why am I saying that? Because it's in that view of the dark period that we then see how that darkness gave way to light and how it affects us because then Jesus came back. Jesus rose from the dead and then he appeared to his disciples again. Remember these disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus. He was their world in a way that probably is not our world. None of us have given quite as much and he was with them for three years and then it went dark. The light was almost completely extinguished from their lives. They had nobody. They didn't have the Holy Spirit as yet and they had all of their failures to live with. Then Jesus comes back and the light reappears. For 40 days he's with them and they're rejoicing. Their hearts burn within them. They see the fish multiply different things and then after 40 days Jesus is gone again but with the promise and again there was the expectation of what would come 10 days later which was the Holy Spirit coming upon us. How does that relate to communion? It relates in a very real way because when Jesus came back to this earth through the Holy Spirit he came for all of us. He didn't just come for the 120. When I said that when Jesus came back the spirit of Jesus is who lives in us. It's a separate being the Holy Spirit but he's called the spirit of Jesus. The Holy Spirit when he comes upon us. Jesus came now to be with us forever. When Jesus was here on this earth even after the ascension he wasn't. I want to show you this verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and help us understand this verse as we think about communion in that context. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 16. There are two chapters in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11 with more talk about communion and 1 Corinthians 11 is the passage that almost all of us often think about which is a remembrance of Jesus and remembering his death which is the darkest time of all of history as 1 Corinthians 11 and we proclaim the Lord's death but 1 Corinthians 10 has the flip side of that's the other side of the coin to communion and it says in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 16 is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing and that word is the same word that is translated elsewhere as fellowship. Union with the blood of Christ is not the bread we break a sharing a union with Christ so that's the joyous part of communion. Communion is reverent it's reverent but with joy rejoicing with trembling and there's a joy in communion because we are sharing with Jesus now and it's not the physical act of communion nothing to do with that but that's what our physical act is proclaiming to not only the Lord's death but a sharing a fellowship and a union with Jesus with the son of God whatever the disciples had with Jesus on for the three and a half years I'm sure was very special but when John said in 1 John chapter 1 what we saw and we heard we've proclaimed to you but that's not the triumph that's not the crowning achievement of all of what that happened John said I don't care about that because what I look for is fellowship with the father and the son with all of us and that word fellowship to me I just want to use that word union and dear brothers and sisters was we drink the cup and we eat the bread he did the sacrifice now he asks will there be the union and that's what we do when we're taking the bread in the cup and we are saying Lord Jesus I want to be one with you a total oneness with Jesus is what I'm proclaiming when I take in the bread in the cup it's not just a great immense infinite gratitude for what Jesus did by justifying me that's wonderful for us that to accept that and receive that that's one side of the coin but there's another side of the coin very active very joyous very happy to say Lord Jesus in view of all that you've done for me I am privileged I'm joyfully taking you in all the way in just like I take that bread all the way in just like I take that cup all the way and I drink it I don't taste it and spit it out just so that I can have the flavor of the grape juice and taste the quality of the bread I'm not a food connoisseur as I take in the bread in the cup I'm taking Jesus all the way and I'm not tasting just as good words I'm taking him all the way in that's the tremendous union that I have with Jesus and so when Jesus says this is the new covenant he says I'm making a contract I'm making a new deal with you that's what Jesus did Moses had the old agreement that was the old agreement with the Israelites and Jesus says I'm going to make a new agreement and I'm going to have a piece of paper here and I'm going to sign and you're going to sign and so Jesus says what do you come with oh he says here's what I'm coming with I'm coming with my blood which is an indication of everything I gave up for you we start with the darkest time of all of all of history those three hours and he says that's what I'm coming to the table with what are you coming to the table with well it depends what we how we consider that blood of Jesus we think of it in a jar imagine that the blood of Jesus in a jar and say he says that's what I'm bringing my entire life all that I gave up for you what are you bringing he says offer me your bodies offer your selfish will that has constantly said that's what God says very clearly right in Romans um there's something that Bobby said my biggest problem is not my suffering but my self-life my biggest problem is not my suffering but my self-life that's the the big I the big ego the self-life that pushes me up in so many different situations as we heard and God says that's what I want you to sign you give that up and accept full union with Jesus so that's what we're doing we're not tasting the bread and spitting it out we're not tasting the cup and spitting it out we're taking him all the way in and we don't have to be old enough to do that in our spirit so children you don't have to take communion until you're old enough to know what that means to make a lifetime commitment to that but you can do that in your heart all of us can do that to say Lord Jesus I want to take you all the way in and what happened on the day of Pentecost was the Holy Spirit came upon them to have that union with Jesus that's the way you get that union with Jesus not by the bread and the cup children you don't get union with Jesus with the bread and the cup you get union with Jesus by asking the Holy Spirit to come inside of you and there's no age limit for that so we can set aside all of our track records of yesterday teenager did you sin last night teenager did you sin this morning there's forgiveness in the blood of Jesus total justification not just forgiveness and God can look at you right now and say you're perfectly righteous I know I struggled with that as a teenager and my 20s and my 30s a little bit less in my 40s but it doesn't have to be that long we can accept the total justification that Jesus paid the ultimate penalty for it and then he places that penalty that he took for us and says Sunday what's your response to that don't treat the blood of Jesus lightly don't treat the blood of Jesus as common tap water as we've heard in light of the darkest age in history nothing compares to that no war no sickness no suffering what is our response in view of the great mercy of God we offer our bodies as our living sacrifice our selfishness our selfish will that wants to push me up and says Lord I want total union with you I want total union with you I want to know you marriage is a poor the best marriage is the is the best picture Jesus God could come up with but it's still a pathetic description of the true union that God wants to have with us it's so full it's so complete and all God is waiting for is for us to open up our house and say I want that complete union with you Lord I want to surrender all of my ambitions my desires my preferences my preference for a pain-free life as we heard all of my griefs Lord all of them are done I bring nothing I've emptied my hand of all of my desires preferences ambitions anything I want full union with you my cup is completely empty I've emptied it of all the dregs of selfishness that I want and we have to make that choice over and over again every day but that's what the Lord has blessed me with as I thought about communion today 1 Corinthians 11 says let a man examine himself let women examine themselves men and women we can all examine ourselves so let's take a few moments in light of the darkest time in all of history dear brothers and sisters what's our response he's inviting you to union with Christ communion union with Christ and he's got the paper out and he signed it in his blood and he's saying will you sign it by surrendering everything let's take a minute to be quiet and sisters you can please pass out the bread and the cup this is for those who have made a public confession of faith in Christ through baptism and who are serious not who those who have been successful but those who are serious in wanting to follow the Lord teenager if you desire to be baptized please come and talk to your parents come talk to the elders we want the children to at least be teenagers before they make that choice so they have an understanding of what the pressures of this world feels like but if you are committed in your life to following Jesus don't take the cup today but please talk to your parents talk to your elders you don't have to wait till tomorrow in view of the darkest age of history dear brothers and sisters what do we want to do with three hours he was forsaken for us we proclaim his death for our justification how can i sit still while angels sing and all the saints on high cry glory to the king of kings the lamb who wants to die such joyful beings they never sleep their love is ever new they clap their wings they fling their crowns to him upon the throne did god the father love me so did jesus leave his throne to come to earth this world of woe for guilty worms to die then we the human race that fell and i more than the rest have greatest cause with humblest soul to love and praise him most no longer then will i repose but watch and pray on obey to live for god and glorify the riches of his grace lord by your grace i'll die to sin and run this christian race and keep increasing my song till we reach that eternal day we the human race that fell and i more than the rest have greatest cause with humblest soul to love and praise him the most