In this time of lockdown, I am constantly reminded of what we as local body learned from our studies on ACTS 2:42; how the early church devoted themselves to Prayer, Fellowship, The doctrines of the Apostles and the breaking of the bread.
To me the word devotion seems so much more than what we have made devotion to be in the modern church. Really being devoted to one another and the things of God. It just sounds so much more than a place we come to once a week, for an hour or so, to be serviced, to enjoy or to be entertained. Strangely enough, in the midst of this lockdown, I can see that church is moving beyond the one hour service in a week, mentality. I can see how the church is moving form house to house, people are becoming more devoted to the Word, to prayer and suddenly we are yearning for the fellowship of brothers & sisters in the Lord. I honestly believe that the Revival we have been praying for, will be ushered in through this time of difficulty. God is changing the wineskin of the church, in order for the church to receive the new wine, the new outpouring of His Glorious Spirit. Child of God, if you are being stretched, if you are being shaken, don’t be discouraged, God is preparing you, He is aligning you to receive a new outpouring from on high! BE patient, wait on Him. Just like the disciples had to wait in Jerusalem till the Spirit of the Lord was poured out on them, the first outpouring of God’s Spirit. So even now we have to patiently wait on Him for the last outpouring of His Spirit on all flesh, the last harvest, before His return. I will say this again and again; this is the best time to be alive.
One of the things that our Lord said we should do in devotion and remembrance of Him, until He returns, is the breaking of Bread, the Holy communion. Today I would like to read you a scripture out of Matthew and share a few thoughts I have on this subject of the Lord’s supper.
One thing I believe about Holy Communion is that it proclaims the full gospel, it takes away the focus from man, the preacher, the pulpit and makes Christ the centre of the gathering. So as we read the Word and discuss Christ’s sacrifice today, make Him the centre of your life and your family.
Matthew 26:17-21
Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” '
I can’t help to think of what the disciples went through that night as they prepared for that specific passover meal. What did their hearts and emotions bare that night? It was the last meal they would share with the Lord.
This they knew very well, as Jesus prepared them well in advance that He will be crucified. He told them in Matt 26:2 that in two days time it will be passover and that the son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.
In the house of Simon the leper while they were still in Bethany, 6 days before passover, Jesus was anointed with fragrant oil by Mary. Judas Iscariot complained in His heart about the waist of money, Jesus told them that the pouring of the oil was done for His burial, you can read this discussion in Matt 26:12. In our text we also heard Jesus sending His disciples to the owner of the upper room with the message that His time was at hand, speaking of His death. This tells me that the disciples knew that Jesus would die and they also knew how He would die. As they prepared the upper room and the passover meal they knew that this was going to be their last meal with Jesus. What a thought to have in your mind as you prepare for a meal. Without a shadow of a doubt; this meal would be etched into the minds and hearts of the disciples for eternity. A night they would never forget.
I remember a meal that we prepared for longtime friends immigrating to Australia. I mean we took out all the stops and we prepared a wonderful meal, no expenses spared. We had joy in our hearts as we lit the fires, started cooking & fellowshipping. We laughed and enjoyed each others company, but still in the back of our minds we couldn’t shake this feeling that this might be the last time we eat together. A happy sad moment all rolled up into one. Up to that point we only identified with them as friends being present in our lives not friends being absent from our lives. To be honest we did not know how to deal with the emotions of losing them permanently out of our lives.
Although my story does not even come close to compare with preparing a meal for someone who you know will be dying soon, I do think the disciples had a similar thing going on in their hearts. Up to that point they only identified with Jesus as the one who heals the sick, gives compassion to the poor and loves to His enemies. In the last three years of their lives He was central to their existence. He was the Messiah that would bring salvation to them all. But they still needed to identify with how He chose to bring salvation to all, they had yet to come to grips with the suffering He would endure. The uncertainty, the unbelief, the shock of the magnitude of Christ’ suffering was only lying ahead for these men. This realization was slowly creeping closer as they had that last supper and they all struggled with it.
The more Jesus spoke about His eminent death, the more Judas found reason in His heart to betray Him. And even though the rest of the Disciples did not betray Jesus they all were scattered when He was arrested and one of His beloved disciples rejected Him three times that very night. They struggled to identify with the suffering of Jesus and this showed through their actions in the following hours after the passover meal.
What can we learn from this real human story today?
1.God has prepared You.
Whenever you have to go through the most difficult times in your life, God has already prepared you for it. You might only see it it in Hindsight or after the fact, but take courage, in faith, God has prepared you for a time like this. Moses thought He could not be the leader of Israel, but God prepared Him. Gideon was questioning the calling the Lord, but yet God called him a mighty man of valor. When Jesus died on the cross, it felt like too much to bare, yet Jesus prepared them for it. You have to take heart today, you are prepared, by God Himself to go through your battles. Declare it now: You are prepared.
2. You will make mistakes.
The second thought I have on this is: No matter how prepared you are, you will still make wrong decisions. Being prepared is one thing but to apply it in battle is another thing all together. The Lord Almighty, the one who raised the dead, healed the sick, cast out demons and took on the religious system of that day, prepared the disciples for His own death and yet when His time came, Peter almost killed Malgas, he rejected Jesus and all his close buddies where scattered. Jonah knew the ways of the Lord. God prepared Him for it, but still He made a wrong turn. David who was described as a man after God’s own heart, still had murder in His heart when the flesh called out towards his own dark desires. Don’t be so hard on yourself, you will make mistakes as you grow in the Lord.
3. Our success is not dependent on ourselves
The fact that we are prone to make no matter how prepared we are tells me that our eternal destination and security is not dependent on our perfection, it is dependent on the perfection of Christ’s sacrifice. The disciples struggled with this the most. Even though they where prepared by Jesus Himself, they had to go through a battle of suffering themselves, before they truly understood what Christ meant when He said He is going to die for the sins of the world. You see, It is easy to identify with the good things of God, the things that make us warm and fuzzy inside, the prophetic that build us up, that power that make us feel unstoppable. But the moment we don’t understand His ways, or we find ourselves not even agreeing with His ways, we will, through our wrong turns and decisions, enter into the ugly battlefield of self discovery. Once we honestly look at our own true reflection and see that we haven’t got it all figured out, we come to the point of surrender. The place were we know, understand and believe we need a saviour! And once you have an accurate revelation of what Christ accomplished on the cross, and come face to face with the magnitude of the sin in your own life, that is when you are ready to identify with the beauty of the suffering of our Lord.
This reminds me of a story that will explain this: There was a lady who was very beautiful everything about her was beautiful except her hands, which were miss formed and marred. For many years her little daughter had wondered what was the meaning of these ugly, repulsive hands. One day she gathered the courage to say to her Mother: "Mother, I love your face, and I love your eyes and your hair, they are so beautiful. But I cannot love your hands, they are so ugly." And then the mother told her about her hands: how ten years ago their house was on fire, and how the baby room upstairs was in a blaze, she had rushed to the cradle and snatched the baby from it, and how her hands from that day had been destroyed. The baby saved was her little listening daughter. After hearing this story for the first time the daughter kissed the shapeless hands (that she used to shrink from, before she knew their story), and she said: "Mother, I love your face and your eyes and your hair; but I love your hands now best of all.”
The things that the world struggle to understand of God is best understood through the lens of His sacrifice for us. If you do not have clear revelation of the price Christ paid on that day, you will struggle to see the beauty of His nail scared hands.
The things you have in question is best understood through His love and sacrifice for you. The sufferings you go through becomes clearer through the light of the old rugged cross. That is why the old hymn says: I will cling to that old ragged cross, because everything becomes clear at the cross.
You have been called, prepared and purposed to be here today, but being called, prepared and purpose does not excuse you form making mistakes and falling into sin. Let us humbly turn our eyes toward Jesus and thank Him for the perfect gift of His beautiful sacrifice. This humble action of gratitude will place us in the great company of those who have denied themselves and fully relied on the One who paid it all.
Paul says, in His revelation that He received form God Himself in his first letter to the Corinthians.
1 Cor 11:24-26
'and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. '
What is it that you will remember as you partake of the table of the Lord? Will you remember the feeling of unpreparedness to face your battles, or will you put your remembrance on your previous victories?
Maybe you are placing your remembrance on your past mistakes.
Let me help you today. As you take the bread and as you partake of the cup, remember the nail scarred hands and feet of Jesus, the emblem of shame that become a beacon of victory for you. Remember the blood that Jesus shed, it abolished the power of sin in your life.
Remember that he has prepared you for a time as this
Remember that your Mistakes does not define you
Remember that His price was sufficient for all of us to enter into the presence of His holiness.
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