Communion

[0:00] Would you please turn in your Bible to 1st Corinthians. And in 1st Corinthians we'll be looking at chapter 1, verses 17 through 25.

[0:21] Again, 1st Corinthians chapter 1. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.

[0:49] For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

[1:03] For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.

[1:14] Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? He is not God, pardon me, has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world.

[1:33] For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God. God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

[1:50] For indeed, Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified.

[2:04] To the Jews, a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles, foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

[2:22] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

[2:32] Utterly fascinating passage of scripture that really sets forth what God has provided as opposed to what man considers what he thinks should have been provided.

[2:50] And it is a passage that I well remember having been brought before a number of years ago when a prominent atheist was debating a believer.

[3:03] I think it was William Lane Craig. I'm not sure. And he has established himself as an international apologist. Quite a reputation. And as they were discussing origins, of course, the speaker for the believers was addressing the issue of special creation that is set forth in Genesis.

[3:28] And the atheist completely dismissed it as just so much foolishness. And I thought at the time when he was actually using that word, that's precisely what they are expected to say.

[3:42] That it just comes across as so much foolishness. And as they went on debating back and forth and talking about the issues of creation, evolution, etc. He said, science has pretty much demonstrated that your Genesis account is nothing but mere mythology and it has no real scientific basis in fact at all.

[4:06] And of course, the Christian was not willing to concede that point, but he did come back with this. And he said, well, if you consider what Genesis says as mythology, what is it that you believe then is the true origin of everything that we see?

[4:24] How did it all come about? Where did people come from? And he said, many, many years ago, there were aliens from other planets who landed on earth and seeded the earth with human spores.

[4:44] And that's where everyone came from. and he considers Genesis mythological. Of course, there is not one single shred of evidence to support such an idea as that.

[5:03] But it just goes to show you the extreme lengths to which one will go in order to avoid the Genesis account of simple creation.

[5:13] salvation. We take the position unreservedly and unapologetically that this book we call the Bible consisting of an old and new testament is an intentional revelation from the God of creation.

[5:30] And in it, he has told us, he has divulged everything that he wants us to know. No, he has not answered all of our questions. We all have curiosity far beyond what the Bible goes.

[5:40] But at the same time, he has been pleased to reveal all that we need to know, not all that we want to know. And one day, perhaps that want will be satisfied.

[5:54] But in the meanwhile, this message called Christianity that is set forth in the Bible and the Christian part of it that we are all familiar with goes back about 2,000 years roughly.

[6:08] But the basis for it began much earlier than that, of course. And where it actually began, we cannot go except in our mind's eye. And we're talking about eternity.

[6:21] None of us here have any ability to contemplate what eternity would be like because as well as I understand it, which is not nearly as well as I would like, eternity is not really time stacked on top of time.

[6:37] eternity is timeless. It doesn't deal with time. No weeks, months, years, anything like that. And we are told that the God of heaven inhabits eternity.

[6:54] And if you can reverse your mind with a Star Trek motif and go with me to some place where man has never gone before and still hasn't gone, we go into this timeless area where God dwelt all alone in three persons.

[7:17] And the reason that God is comprised of three persons is because God is love and in order for love to be a reality, there has to be someone on the receiving end of that love.

[7:29] So it is the person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all of whom dwelt in some kind of a spirit form that none of us can really identify with either.

[7:42] Suffice it to say that the existence of God in this eternity was an immaterial existence. I can't contemplate this, I'm sure you can't either, but let's try just a little bit.

[7:56] No planet Earth, no stars, no moon, no heavens, no universe, no anything, no material substance, nothing physical of any kind in existence.

[8:13] Yet there is God. And this God is a spirit being, fits right into that mode because he is not a physical being.

[8:25] So I want you to think, if you can, in terms of the Father being spirit and the Son being spirit and the Spirit, Holy Spirit being spirit.

[8:38] Don't ask me what's the distinction between them, I don't know, other than the roles they play. And how long, and there I use a term that betrays the whole concept because when you talk about long, you're thinking months, years, centuries, millennia, whatever, but we have to divorce ourselves from long because it isn't a question of time.

[9:04] But in this non-physical environment where nothing physical exists, there is this immaterial being called God subsisting in three distinct persons, all of whom are also spirit and non-physical.

[9:25] people. Now, if you can grasp that maybe better than I can, you're welcome, but we're already in over our heads, aren't we?

[9:37] people. And this spirit being called God subsisting in three persons for reasons known only to themselves entered into some kind of a mutual plan or agreement.

[9:59] And it had to do with the creation of other spirit beings. angels. And these the Bible calls angels.

[10:12] And to these angels, these other non-physical beings, he endowed them with a volition, with a capacity to agree with the creator or to disagree with the creator, to obey the creator or to disobey the creator.

[10:30] That's what volition does. Volition is just another word for a will. You have a will as three moral agents and angels were created that way. And we won't go into the Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 that deal with Lucifer and his fall originally, but he apparently exercised his volition and his will and rebelled against his creator because he had the ability to do that.

[11:00] and this brings us to an objection that many people have today and I've heard it a number of times and I'm sure you probably have too. It's like, well, doesn't God know everything?

[11:12] Yes. Doesn't God know the past, present, and future? Yes. Well, then why did he create things as they were when he knew how they were going to turn out and result in all of the misery and heartache and wars and murders and everything?

[11:24] Why did he make people that way? Because God had only one other option. If he is not going to give people and angels a volition, a free moral will to exercise, then he has to withhold volition from them.

[11:41] In which case the only other alternative is everybody just does, angel and human alike, just does what they are programmed to do because they can't do anything else.

[11:53] They're just automatic. And God could have made them all so that all the angels and all of the humans beginning with Adam and Eve, Lucifer and all the rest, everybody would just be locked in to obedience and compliance with the will of God.

[12:12] That's an involuntary obedience. But it isn't worth much. Any more than an involuntary love. I do not think there is a wife anywhere who wants her husband to love her because he has to, but because he chooses to.

[12:33] He wants to. That's the only kind of love that is really worth anything. And an obedience, a willing obedience, is the only kind of obedience that is worth anything.

[12:44] Because if children or if adults are to behave because they have no choice, what value is there in that. There isn't any in that.

[12:55] So God is faced with these two options. He either creates people and angels with a will and a capacity to obey or to disobey, or he creates them puppet like beings that have no choice, that just automatically do the right thing, make all the right moves, no conflict, no anything, and no reality as far as obedience or love is concerned.

[13:20] So God chose the option of creating them with volition, angels and humans. And we know that it was only a question of time until Lucifer rebelled and succeeded in recruiting a third of the angelic spheres to follow him.

[13:43] And they did. And when this comes down to humans, God created Adam and Eve. And by the way, we are told that in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, this is also apparently when God created materiality.

[14:02] Because if you are going to make physical beings and you're going to have a physical world, then you've got to have space and time in which the physical can dwell.

[14:15] Because everything that is physical needs space and time to dwell in. Spirit does not. And that, I've never been able to get a hold of that. But each and every one of us have an essence within us that is immaterial and it is spirit.

[14:31] And it does not occupy time or space. But it is just as real as that which does. So, with the creation, of the planet and the universe and the galaxies and everything involved, physicality was brought into being where there was none at all at this point in time before God decided to create.

[15:01] And then, we are told in Genesis chapter 1 that he brought forth man and woman, and we won't go into the details, but you can read it in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, and gave them this volition and it was only a question of time until they exercised their volition contrary to God's.

[15:21] We don't know how long Eve was in the garden before she disobeyed. Some have suggested 15 minutes. Others give her a couple of months or whatever, but eventually she did and she gave to Adam.

[15:35] She recruited Adam and Adam ate and of course then they took unto themselves something that God did not put in them when he created them. They added another kind, another ingredient to their being and their person that was not original with God.

[15:57] It was an add-on or an add-in. And this thing we call sin. sin is anything that is contrary to the character and nature of God.

[16:13] Short definition, that's sin. So Adam and Eve entered into a new category of being and whatever this factor is that we call sin, it made a permanent impression, injection into their minds so that they could not, they could not procreate, they could not, between the two of them in the conjugal act of marriage, they could not create another being without that new part being transmitted to them.

[16:57] In the same way as hair coloring, skin coloring, eyes, shape, etc. that we're all very familiar with with the DNA and the physical. This sin factor, nobody has ever seen it.

[17:15] But we sure see what it does. We sure see the work of it. But no one has ever been able to say, ah, there goes sin, see? it doesn't work that way.

[17:28] But it works out in us. And God told Eve, who was the first one to engage in this, the first human to engage in this, that he was going to provide a remedy, a panacea, if you will, for the volitional error that she had made, and he was going to do something to right the ship, if you will.

[17:57] And he was going to use another human being which to do it. And this individual will be from your body.

[18:10] I don't know if she had any idea that the human race would have to wait 4,000 years for that to be fulfilled. Because from the time the proto-evangelium was given, the first evangelism in Genesis 315, until Jesus was born in Bethlehem, 4,000 years had lapsed.

[18:38] And these beings in eternity still subsist in their immaterial person. It's hard to think of Jesus as being purely spirit, isn't it?

[18:53] Remember after the resurrection when he appeared in their midst and they were scared to death because the door was locked. I mean, the door was bolted shut for fear of the Jews and all of a sudden, Jesus is there in the midst of them.

[19:08] How did he get there? Where did he come from? He didn't knock on the door, he was just there. And Jesus said, handle me and see for a spirit has not flesh and bone as you see me have.

[19:25] So they knew he wasn't a ghost, he wasn't a spook or a spirit, he had a real tangible body. Granted, it was a resurrection body, glorified body, different from the one they knew before the crucifixion, but it was a physical body.

[19:40] So a spirit does not have flesh and bone. And here is Jesus spirit being. Jesus is spirit.

[19:51] As the Father is spirit. As the Holy Spirit is spirit. What does that mean? I don't have a clue. All I mean is, all I know is it was not physical. They were not physical. And between the three of them, they came up with a plan.

[20:08] one of the songwriters talked about, oh, the love that drew salvation's plan. Oh, the grace that brought it down to man.

[20:24] Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary. and these three spirit beings decided among them that one of them would take upon him human flesh.

[20:48] That's going to result in the incarnation. The incarnation means the enfleshment. Carnation and carnivore refers to meat.

[21:01] meat. And we talk about carnivorous animals. These are meat-eating animals. And we eat chili con carn. Beans with meat.

[21:14] So here is this spirit being who is going to take on meat. And that's what Bethlehem was all about. Prior to that time, he didn't have a body.

[21:28] And from that time on, it appears that he will always have a body. And when we see Jesus, it will be a bodily Jesus. And this magnificent, incredible, this plan is so, I was going to say otherworldly, but of course it is.

[21:55] Of course it's otherworldly, isn't it? It is otherworldly. It is the kind of thing that no human being would ever have come up with. That out of this triune being, all of whom are spirit, one of them is assigned the responsibility of coming down to this earth and being born in such a way that he would be able to escape that sin pattern that was injected into Adam and Eve and passed on to all of their succeeding generations.

[22:31] And the evidence of that is we all die. That's part and parcel of these physical bodies. They all die. And I know there's Enoch and Elijah. There are special cases I don't understand about them, but they didn't go the same route that we do.

[22:47] But by and large, this is the lot of humanity. We all die. So, this spirit being is going to take upon him the form of flesh so that he can live among us as a human being and that he will have a body, a physical body like ours, capable of death.

[23:11] And this he was willing to do. So that, and by the way, this, you understand, necessitates the virgin birth. Because if Christ came into this world like you or like I did, then he would be tainted with the same problem and he would be ineligible to be our savior.

[23:34] So God devised a way, and we'll be looking at this, by the way, at the Tuesday morning Bible class. God devised a way whereby his son would be able to maintain his purity and holiness, be born a human being just like us, yet uncontaminated with the sin factor.

[23:58] And that's where the virgin birth comes in. Because we know Joseph was not the father, and we know that Mary did not contribute her seed to the physical birth of Jesus.

[24:13] Jesus. This was a seed, we are told, by the angel that was implanted in the womb of the virgin Mary by God himself.

[24:25] And Mary housed the seed and the development of it and brought that seed to full term so that he was born as a human being, that God man, only one who ever was or ever will be.

[24:42] He is the theanthropic person. This is where Jesus has his total uniqueness. Nobody ever born like that before or after. And by the way, the virgin birth of Christ, well, technically it wasn't a virgin birth so much as it was, and it was a virgin birth, but the real miracle was in the conception.

[25:07] And we talked in our Reformation series about how our Roman Catholic friends had great difficulty with the virgin birth of Christ because they perceived that Jesus was born of Mary and that Mary had contributed and that therefore that would make Jesus contaminated.

[25:30] So how are they going to get around that? And I think it was in 1857 that the Pope passed or the council passed a finding or a ruling that was called the immaculate virginity of Mary.

[25:46] I'm sorry, the immaculate conception of Mary. And this simply meant that Mary was able to bear an uncontaminated child because she was uncontaminated herself.

[26:03] And that's how she was able to do that. And I don't know why they stopped there because you would think that it would call for Mary's mother to be uncontaminated. I mean, how far back does this go?

[26:15] But anyway, that's beside the point. So what we've got is a situation that is totally unique in every way. And we've got a creator God of the universe because he is before all things and by him all things consist and he is the word and without him was nothing made that was made, taking upon himself human flesh and dwelling among us and going to a cross and suffering death on behalf of the entirety of the human race and then gaining victory over that death by his resurrection.

[26:57] Now you tell me that that's not pretty wild stuff. That's pretty wild, isn't it? I mean, that is absolutely amazing.

[27:12] And yet, this is precisely what the scriptures set forth. And along with that, I want you to consider this as I bring this to a close.

[27:26] Beginning with the sin of man and the perpetuation of it through humanity and the way humanity has responded with that, with all of the evil and corruption and everything that we see going on, God has sent into his world that he created a remedy and this remedy is carried out by one of the members of this triune Godhead who previously was spirit and became flesh for this sole purpose and has put this whole thing together, has crafted it and presented it to humanity as God's final solution to the sin problem.

[28:15] And on your way out, I hope you will pick up a copy of the article that I placed there. It's one of the new handouts. It's an article by Cal Thomas and it talks about the Bible and the Bible Museum in Washington, D.C., just opening up and it ties in beautifully with what we're talking about now because, as he points out, in the scriptures, in this book, we have an explanation of why the world is the way it is, how it got this way, where it's going, and what is the effect of it all.

[28:53] You will not find this information anywhere else on the planet. It does not exist any place else. And if you do not go with the biblical record, then you are resigned to the alien spaceships from other planets who sowed the seed of humanity on the earth.

[29:15] It's an amazing thing how this book has our number. It really has us all figured out, and it explains better than we can explain ourselves who we are, why we are, what we are about, where we are going, how we got this way, and all the rest.

[29:32] It's all right here. It's all right here. And yet, it seems to be the last place people are willing to look. A lot going on in Washington now.

[29:46] A lot going on internationally, and mosques are being bombed, churches are being shot up, and people are being beheaded, and everybody seems to talk about how terrible it is, and what can we do to prevent it.

[30:04] But I don't hear any of them asking the question, why are people like this? Why do people do these kind of things to fellow human beings?

[30:16] Hey, there's where the answer is. And it's right here in this book. And it's been here all along. This is why we are where we are right now.

[30:28] This is what church is all about. It's understanding who we are, what we are, why we are, where we've come from, where we're going, what it's all about. And yet, how many people are in church to get this information?

[30:42] And, sad to say, how many churches even provide this information? That's another issue. thing. So, it's always and ever, back to the book, what have I told you so many times?

[30:56] It's all about authority. Always has been, always will be. Whatever you accept as your ultimate authority, that will provide your answers for you.

[31:08] And for much of humanity, it's science, so-called, or something else, or this expert, or that expert. But we just have to keep coming back to the book.

[31:20] And the Bible says that this represents what a lot of people would call nothing but just foolishness. And Paul writes and talks about the foolishness of God being wiser than the wisdom of man.

[31:36] It pleased God through what the world calls foolishness. It pleased God through the foolishness of the thing preached. What is the foolishness of the thing preached?

[31:49] That which man regards as the foolishness of the thing preached is simply this. Christ died for your sins. Ah! You don't believe that stuff, do you? That's mythological.

[32:02] That's, you've got this faraway God who comes to earth and becomes a baby and grows up and dies for the sins of the whole world. Such bunkum.

[32:13] they call it foolishness. But I'll tell you what, to those who are saved, it is the power of God. And it is amazing how this so-called foolishness and bunkum, how it succeeds in radically changing people's lives and thinking and agendas and ideas and desires and everything else.

[32:43] And it does it from the inside out in a way that nobody's ever been able to explain. But you cannot deny the reality of it. What do your aliens from outer space have to compare with that?

[32:57] Absolutely nothing. Science can offer nothing to compare with that. John Lennox, one of my heroes, he's faculty member at Oxford University in London and he's debated Richard Dawkins a number of times and when we heard him at an apologetics conference just a couple of months ago, he was an 18-year-old student and had just enrolled at Oxford University and was talking with one of the professors there and he said they were having lunch together and he said I couldn't help but notice that the more I talked to this professor and told him about my background, the more uncomfortable he became and it became quite obvious and after a while he cut the conversation short and said, Mr. Lennox, I want to see you in my office.

[34:00] That's such and such a time this afternoon. Whoa, what's this all about? So anyway, he said, all right. So he showed up his office at the right time. He sat down and he said, now I want to tell you something.

[34:13] If you are going to succeed in this university and ever amount to anything, you're going to have to scrap all of this Bible nonsense and all of this religion stuff because they're not going to appreciate it here and it's going to retard you greatly and hold you back in making any progress.

[34:35] You need to get rid of all that stuff. Now here is a well-respected, high-powered, highly degreed university professor talking to this 18-year-old freshman.

[34:50] How intimidating do you think that would be? And I simply said to him, well, what do you have to offer in place of what I already have?

[35:13] And he had nothing. Nothing. Well, thank you, but I'll just stick with what I've got. And he went all the way through that way.

[35:24] And now, by the way, John Bunnix is a revered mathematics professor at Oxford University and has done the Christian community a great service in holding forth the word of God in various debates, along with Richard Dawkins and several others.

[35:43] So the book has got the only answer there is. And this is why we keep coming back to it. This is why we keep hammering without apology. The answers are in this book, and you will not find them anyplace else.

[35:55] That's why grace is a Bible church, and if we ever cease to be a Bible church, we will not be able to justify our existence. This is what it's all about. And that's what this is all about, because this communion is in remembrance of him, who he was and is, and why he came, what he did, and why it matters.

[36:17] It's all about this one that we are remembering today. And we would invite you to the table to partake with us, and if you will open your hymnal to number 312, Calvary covers it all.

[36:36] Hymn number 312. Hymnal 312. Hymnal 312. Hymnal 312. Hymnal 312. Hymnal 312. Hymnal 312.

[36:47] As we sing the first stanza, we'll ask elders if you will come forward and prepare for the communion. Hymnal 312. Hymnal 412.

[36:58] Hymnal 412. Hymnal 412. Hymnal 412. Hymnal 412. Hymnal 512. Hymnal 512. Hymnal 512.

[37:08] Hymnal 512. Hymnal 512. Hymnal 512. Hymnal 512. 512. Hymnal 512. Hymnal 512.

[37:20] 512. 612. 612. 612. 712. 712. 712. 812. 712. 712.

[37:31] 712. 812. 912. 812. 912. 912. 912. 912. 913. 812. 912.

[37:42] 1013. 1013. 914. 1015. 1015. 1015. 1115. 1116. 1115. 20 whitewash, 1120 sfx, 1115.

[37:54] 12ิ3ưом 1115. 1215. 1316. 1416. 1717. 141. 1519. 1417.

[38:05] 1519. Thank you.

[38:36] Thank you.

[39:06] We'll sing the remaining verses after we conclude serving a portion of the communion table. Be seated, elders, if you would, please. As we mentioned earlier, this is a memorial service.

[39:23] And we partake of these elements simply because they serve as a reminder of the physical, the body and the blood that Christ shed for us. There is no way that we can depict the spiritual price that he paid because that involved the separation between the father and the son.

[39:43] The separation that had never occurred before, yet that took place during three dreadful hours from 12 noon to 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

[39:56] When he was severed from his father in a way that they had never been separated before, that caused Jesus to cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, abandoned me?

[40:10] And the father abandoned the son because the son was laden with the sins of the world. How could one person accomplish a payment for billions of people?

[40:28] The answer lay in his identity. Jesus could do and accomplish what he did because of who he was.

[40:42] Very God of very God. That means he was more than able to affect the penalty that needed to be paid for the sins of the world.

[40:53] And this is why the scriptures make it so clear. God so loved the world that he gave. Christ died for the sins of the world. And he is the propitiation for our sins and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

[41:11] Christ did not waste the sins of the sins of the sins of individual people, but not dice of mankind before ens nichts of sin before any sort of sins.

[41:39] Who else do you know? That's entitled to wear that title. Nobody we know of. So that's why we gather together and we do this in remembrance of him.

[42:11] Amen. Amen.

[43:11] Amen. It was a single common loaf or almost like a pancake shaped piece of bread that Jesus took.

[43:41] And tore off part of it. A breaking of the bread. They never cut it by the way. It was broken off. And he identified that as being symbolic.

[43:53] We believe limited to symbolism and not in actuality. But he is saying this bread represents or speaks of my body which is given for you.

[44:05] Amen. Let's take our hymnals please and sing if we may that third stanza. Number 312. How matchless the grace when I looked on the face.

[44:18] How matchless the grace when I looked on the face.

[44:31] Of this Jesus crucified Lord. My redemption complete. I then fell at his feet.

[44:44] And now the recovered in all. Recovered in all.

[44:54] And in the same manner.

[45:17] He took the cup. And it was a common cup. That our Lord held up. And said this cup.

[45:30] Is the new covenant. In my blood. As often as you eat of this bread. And drink of this cup. You do show forth the Lord's death. Until he comes.

[45:40] In connection with our communion service.

[45:52] Even though we normally. Do not pass the plates. Or receive an offering at our regular services. That's what we had the box outside the door for. Nonetheless. Our tradition has been.

[46:05] To do so in connection with the communion service. Because it funds. What is referred to as. The elders benevolent fund. And when needs arise.

[46:16] Of a physical nature. That people are unable to meet. Very often the. Elder board is able to meet. And to discuss the situation. And assign funds.

[46:27] To help certain situations. That may arise. Very often. Matter of fact. As is usually the case. The monies are dispatched. To people who are.

[46:39] Not from Grace Bible Church. And have never been here. But they have real needs. Such as. We've. Evidenced so many times. With. Young single mothers.

[46:51] With multiple children. And facing real financial crises. Of one kind or another. We've often been able to. Address those issues. And. You make that possible. Through your generosity.

[47:02] For the elders benevolent fund. So. One hundred cents. Of each dollar. That is given. Is used. Exclusively. To. Help someone.

[47:13] With a material need. And. You make that possible. And. We are grateful. So elders. If you will. Please wait upon the folks. For their. Offering. And. By the way. At.

[47:24] Any other time. And. It's entirely possible. That. That some may not be prepared. To good this morning. But you can. You can give to the elders fund. Anytime. Just designate.

[47:35] On an envelope. Or something. That is for the benevolent fund. And put it in the offering box. And it will be used. For that purpose. So. Thank you for your generosity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[47:46] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[48:18] Thank you.

[48:48] 共 and be herein'.

[49:17] The scripture said, and they sung a hymn, and they went out.