What Are You Most Aware of? (vers. 2)
We've come now in our service to the Lord's Supper. This is where we take a piece of bread and a cup of juice, and like Jesus taught us to do, eat it and drink it in remembrance of him.As you continue to prepare your heart for the Lord's Supper, let me ask you a question, "what are you most aware of?" Are you most aware of your sin? You're right, your sin is great. But if you are a believer and are more aware of your sin than God's grace, what we are doing here is exactly what you need. Paul explains that whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death. Christ, God in the flesh, came to earth and lived a perfect life, yet God punished him there on the cross, not for his sins, but for yours and mine.
What are you most aware of? Perhaps it is all you haven't done. Eat this bread and drink this cup to proclaim to yourself and everybody here, that Christ died. His last words as he hung there were, "It is finished." And Christ, who fulfilled every righteous requirement of the law, gives us his righteousness when he takes our sins.
We must be more aware of what Christ has accomplished than what we must do. We must be more aware of grace than we are of sin.
We must not forget the cross, but when we live as if what we do or don't do is more important than what Christ has already done, we have forgotten. Praise God for giving us such a vivid picture as a broken body and spilt blood so that we will not forget.
What are you most aware of? Be most aware of Christ and his finished work: For Christ died once [for all] for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
If you desire God above all else and if you trust in nothing other than Him to bring you to Him, even if this is your first time at this church, take the bread and the juice. But if you have hopes in your own self effort--your good works or your good intentions-to get you to heaven, consider the good news. God came to earth as a man to do what man could never do, and God punished Jesus on the cross, not for his sins, but for mine and for yours. What do you have to do? Like a beggar, receive with faith. So even if this is the first moment that you have trusted in Jesus for salvation, take the Lord's Supper with us. If you do not love God or do not trust in Him alone, we're glad to have you here, but please let the bread and juice pass by as this time is not for you. But please, before you leave, talk with me, one of the elders, or whoever brought you.
Men please come, and let us remember Christ and proclaim his death together. Take the Lord's Supper on your own.
(The above is the transcript from my Lord's Supper meditation at Grace Bible Church on 3/2/2008, This version was chosen instead of the previous post)