Love of Money and Love of Sinners

Last Sunday morning after the service stood here, a family came and a little boy of five years old said he had a question for me.

You know, these are usually the toughest questions from children, but the question he asked was one I could answer. He asked why this church was called Calvary Church. He wanted to know the meaning of Calvary. And I told him, of course, and I pointed up and showed him the cross on the ceiling because Calvary, of course, is the name of the place where our Lord and Savior died. And the symbol of the Christian faith is a scene of dereliction, of carnage, of violence, of utter horror when we think of it, death on the cross. Martin Luther said, the cross alone is our theology.

When Paul came to Corinth, he said, I've determined to know just this one thing, and that is Christ crucified. That is the cross, as we say over and over again. The cross is central to the Christian faith. This makes the Christian faith distinctive. Other faiths talk about being nice and being good and being kind and loving our neighbor, but the distinctive of the Christian faith is the cross of Christ. And I believe that nowhere do we gain a fresher, warmer, deeper understanding of the cross than at the Lord's table as we come this morning to communion, which we'll celebrate in a few moments. The cross of Christ is central not just in our theology, it certainly is that, but it is to be central in our very lives.

It gives meaning and relevance to all of life, to our past, to our present, and even as we're thinking in that wonderful song, the choir song to our future. This morning, as we come then to the Lord's table and as we read and meditate and reflect on the words of our Lord, we do look back. And also, we rejoice in our present experience and we look forward to our glorious future.

This is the greatest privilege that you would have on earth. We anticipate many things, but many of the things that we anticipate are relatively trivial. I'm looking forward to the European Championship between Liverpool and Real Madrid and some of you think how trivial our past there is and that's true.

And it's amazing how we can focus on these things as if it really matters who wins a ball game. But think of the privilege that we have to come to the table of the Lord and to do what Christians have done, millions of Christians have done as we are going to do. Yes, different settings, some formal, some informal, different ways, yes, of celebrating communion, but the centrality is Christ and the cross of Christ. We open our Bibles to Matthew chapter 26. If you're new to Calvary, this is your first time. We give you a very warm welcome.

Thank you so much for coming. And we're going through consecutively the book of Matthew and we come today to Matthew chapter 26 and we're looking at verse 14 through 29. First I want to read verses 14, 15, and 16. Matthew 26, 14, then one of the 12 whose name was Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, what will you give me if I deliver him over to you? And they paid him 30 pieces of silver. And from that moment, he sought an opportunity to betray him.

The love of money leads to treachery and disaster. With an act of treacherous betrayal, Judas, one of the 12, one of the 12 apostles, accepts money in exchange for the death of Jesus. Judas is an insider. But when it came to the point, whatever he professed with his lips, when it came to the point, he loved money more than Jesus. Notice what he says in verse 15, what will you give me? You remember the story that Jesus told about the man who had two sons and one of the sons comes to the father and he says, father, give me, give me. It's all about him, give me. That's what Judas is saying, give me. He's putting himself at the very center of his life. And Matthew as he writes his gospel, as we reflected on last week, he shows the contrast of this woman and Matthew doesn't even name her.

With that expensive flask of ointment and breaks it and pours it all over Jesus. She gave, Judas takes. Are you a taker or a giver? Our society is very self-focused, isn't it? My rights, my entitlement, how I feel, I'm entitled to this, these are my rights.

Don't offend me. And it's so easy, isn't it, to put ourselves in the very center of our lives. Here is Judas, one of the twelve, one of the inner circle of Jesus. He's also, John tells us, if you turn to John chapter 12, John tells us and gives us an insight about Judas. Judas was the treasurer. I'm not saying all treasurers are greedy, of course not. But Judas was the treasurer for the twelve.

I don't think they had much money. But John chapter 12 verse 5, Judas is the one, as Mary anoints the Lord, as we saw last week, he says, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? Oh, that sounds so pious, doesn't it? That's like the person when we're about to do something at Calvary, standing up and saying, well, why was this money not given to the poor? Why was it not given to the missionaries rather than such and such?

Sounds very good, doesn't it? What a hypocrite. John says, he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. It's called embezzlement. It's called theft. It's greedy.

It's remarkable, isn't it? Jesus is only at 12 apostles and one of them is a thief, is an embezzler. He loves money and helped himself. Here is Mary.

She comes with precious ointment. Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. He's the one who criticizes Mary for wasting money, but he is going to waste his life. Judas put a price on everything, but he valued nothing. And when it came to the point, please listen, when it came to the point, he preferred money to Jesus. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6 that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

And if you love money, you're going to end in disaster. Turn to Matthew 27. We'll skip ahead a little bit and see what happens to this greedy man, this thief, Judas. Matthew chapter 27 verse three, a little ahead of our story. But when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind, brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying, I've sinned by betraying innocent blood. They said, what is that to us?

See to it yourself. And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed and he went out and hanged himself. Suicide. But the chief priests taking the pieces of silver said, it's not lawful to put them into the treasury since it's blood money. So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the field of blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah saying, and they took the 30 pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel.

And they gave them for the potter's field as the Lord directed me. What was the result of the greed of Judas? Disaster. He betrayed the Lord and he now takes his own life. Did you notice as I read in chapter 27 verse 3, when Judas his betrayer saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind. Oh, someone says, well, why didn't the Lord Jesus forgive him? He did a change of mind. Well, he didn't have a change of heart. This was not true repentance. This was what we call remorse or regret as he began to see the consequences of his actions.

Now the one he had served for three years, the one he had watched heal the sick. Judas was there when the Lord sat on the Mount of Olives and taught them. When he began to think of the consequences of his action, he had a change of mind, but that is not repentance. There's many a man, there's many a woman when faced with their sin, cries. There's many a person when they are caught, as it were, with their hand in the tail, cry, have remorse.

That's true of most people who end in prison. And down through the years as a pastor, as I've met with people, yes, professing believers in Jesus Christ, as they look back on something they've done wrong, there's tears, there's regret. They say they wish they've never done it, but the question is, is there true repentance? Of course, you're sorry for the consequences. You're embarrassed.

You're humiliated. People now know of your sin. But as we come to the table of the Lord, as we'll see in a minute, we are to examine ourselves.

Is there true repentance? The prodigal in Luke chapter 15, he started by saying, give me, give me, give me. He goes off, he blows the money, he comes to his senses, and what does he say?

Make me. Make me, as one of the higher servants. And as he stands, he says, I've sinned. You say, well, he sinned against his father. But he first of all says, I've sinned against heaven.

And in your sight. Yes, our sin impacts other people. You now regret that you did that. You can see the devastation of your sin. But the question is, is there true repentance before God and before heaven? And is there the fruit of repentance? Because repentance is a spiritual work. We've seen over and over again in Matthew's gospel that when Jesus comes, the message is repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Judas is guilty and it leads to suicide. For three years, he was close to Jesus, but now he is eternally separated from God.

We'll read in a minute back to chapter 26, verse 24, Jesus says, it would have been better for that man, meaning Judas, if he had not been born. His creed. And for 30 pieces of silver, for some short gain, he betrayed innocent blood. The love of money. Anyone here who loves money?

Who would say they don't? The love of money will lead you to lie. It will lead you to be deceitful. The love of money breaks business partnerships. The love of money, here are professional men and women making a lot of money, but the more they make, it seems to be the greedier they have, and the partnership breaks because one person or others feels they've not got enough. In a work situation, here is envy.

Here is jealousy among fellow employees because people feel one person has got more than they have. Someone sees someone's car. Yesterday, I saw a beautiful new Ferrari.

It was almost perfect. I did think of the last commandment, I shall not covet. But I thought, well, I would love that. And I would love to see the faces of the members of Calvary Church when I drew up in the parking lot. They would say, we are so happy that our pastor has that.

And my fellow pastors would say, John, that is wonderful. We know you deserve it. We don't, but you do. It's very easy, isn't it? The love of money, it breaks homes. One of the common causes of divorce is a man and his wife arguing over money, the love of money. How sad. Think of the relationships that are broken.

Think of the families that are broken when brothers and sisters are arguing when their father or their mother or their uncle dies because they feel they didn't get enough. Be warned. Be warned. You betrayed Jesus for love and money, for envy, for pleasure, for popularity, for ambition, for your greed. When it comes down to it, there is something that you prefer rather than Jesus. We sang in the songs about giving everything to Jesus.

Really? Are you prepared to do that? Are you really prepared to surrender everything you have to put in the hands of Jesus and to trust Him for your future?

Are you prepared to do that? Do you remember the question Jesus asks? What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? That's Judas. He tried to gain the world, and in so doing, he lost his soul.

The love of money leads to treachery and disaster. But now, read with me chapter 26, verse 17. Let's read on. Notice how Matthew constructs his story. Now when 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. And they were very sorrowful and began to say to one another, is it I, Lord? He answered, he who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Judas who would betray him answered, is it I, Rabbi? He said to him, you have said so. On the very night that the Lord is betrayed, he institutes the Lord's Supper, as we will read a bit. And as we come to the Lord's Supper, we are remembering our Lord's love for us, and we also rejoice in the forgiveness of our sins. As we come now to the table of the Lord, one of the things we do, we are looking back.

But think of the context as I've just read. On the very night of his betrayal, and Paul is going to say this in 1 Corinthians 11, the Lord celebrates the Passover with his disciples. Jesus and his disciples leave Bethany and go into Jerusalem, the capital of Israel where the temple is, to celebrate the Passover. Clear instructions are given to the disciples as to how the Passover is going to be celebrated as we read.

The Passover was to be eaten after sunset and completed before midnight. You say, what is the Passover? Do you have your Bible there? Exodus 12. I said last week that one of our goals at Calvary is to teach you the Bible. That's very difficult if you don't have a Bible. Second book of the Bible. I said to our new members yesterday if they didn't have a Bible, I would buy them a Bible.

And I say that to you. Get a Bible. Exodus 12 verse 3. Here's the institution of the Passover. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's house, a lamb for a household. Verse 5.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male, a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats and you shall keep it until the 14th day of this month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat. They shall eat the flesh that night roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall eat it. Verse 11. In this manner you shall eat it with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand and you shall eat it in haste.

It is, notice this, the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments.

I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And no plague shall befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. We'll read a little more in a minute.

Next is 12. We think of this. The lamb has to die. His blood has to be applied to the doorposts of the lintel. And when the destroyer comes, remember there's slaves in Egypt, when the destroyer comes and sees the blood, it will pass over.

No judgment of God on that home. The Passover then was an ordinance. It was written into the very life of the children of Israel.

And what was it about? It was a feast of remembrance, of looking back. God wanted His people never ever to forget that once there were slaves in Egypt. And by His mighty hand and through His grace, He delivers them from the bondage of Egypt, leads them through the Red Sea, through the wilderness and into the promised land. Exodus 12 again, verse 24. You shall observe this right as a statue for you and your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, the promised land, as He has promised, you shall keep this service.

And when your children say to you, what do you mean by this service? You shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. For He passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians but spared their houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. So here's the Lord, the very night in which He's betraying, and they are performing the feast of Passover.

And they're looking back to their deliverance from Egypt. Verse 26, have you got the setting? Now as they were eating, that's the Passover, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take heat, this is my body.

And He took a cup and when He'd given thanks, He gave it to them saying, drink of it all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day, when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. One of the things that we do at the Lord's Supper is that we look back. Israel looked back to their deliverance.

What do we look back to? Jesus says, as we'll read it in 1 Corinthians 11, this do in remembrance of me. We as the people of God sitting here at Calvary Church, Charlotte, North Carolina, on this beautiful day, we're looking back to an even greater event than Israel's deliverance from Egypt.

You say, what's that event across? And Jesus Christ is the true Lamb of the Passover. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5, 7, for Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. That lamb that the Israelites took, which was without blemish, it was a type of the Lamb of God who's going to take away the sin of the world.

That perfect Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ without spot or blemish. And when the Lamb of God comes into time and space, He comes as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. And His redemptive work is perfectly and fully completed. The sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, the Lamb on the cross, unlike all of the Old Testament sacrifices, is final, it's unrepeatable, it's perfect, and it is complete. And it ends all sacrifices.

Do we understand that? That's the wonder of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10, verse 12, but when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. The sacrifice is over.

No more sacrifices. We are not resacrificing Christ this morning. I said this at Good Friday service that many of you were at, and I repeat it now.

We do not have an altar at Calvary Church. We have many people who come into this building just to see it. And if I'm there and I'm speaking with a visitor, I always ask them, what's your impression of this building? And they may say, well, it's a very big building. Yes, but what's your spiritual understanding?

As you look around. And one of the things sometimes they say is, well, where's the altar? Many churches still have an altar, haven't they? Calvary Church does not have an altar. This is not an altar.

Please understand. What's our altar? The cross of Christ. The sacrifice. The Lord's Supper today is not a sacrifice offered by a priest on an altar.

Rather, it is a supper served from a table or a difference. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the host, and He invites all of His people, those saved by His blood, those who've been born again by His grace. He invites all of us come to do what?

One of the things we do is to remember Him. No longer on a cross. That cross up there is empty. No, Jesus is not on a cross. He's on His throne. His work is completed.

He's risen from the dead. And what we do and what we are going to do, I trust you're going to do it, you're going to look back to the cross and rejoice at the forgiveness of our sins. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. We look back to that unique, never to be forgotten, unrepeatable, perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

We take bread. Does that symbolize? It symbolizes His incarnation. The Lord of glory is a man on earth.

Our choir sang that, didn't they? Our Lord Jesus Christ was and is and ever shall be God. What happens at the incarnation?

He comes into time and space. The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. And He comes not only as a man, as He comes as a servant, not only as a servant, He comes as one obedient to death. Yes, death on the cross. Yes, death on the cross.

And we remember that. We take His blood, we take the cup. The cup symbolizes His out poured blood. Verse 28, this is my blood. No, the bread and wine don't actually turn into the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ, as some teach, honestly.

No, we don't believe in transubstantiation. What we're doing is understanding that the bread symbolizes His body, broken for us. The cup symbolizes His blood poured out so that your sins and mine may be forgiven. We remember our Savior who's beaten and pierced. His precious blood is shed for the forgiveness of sins. And we come and we praise Him that our sins are forgiven. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11, that we do this in remembrance of me. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23, I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed, that's true, isn't it? Took bread.

When He had given thanks, He broke it. Notice, 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. Do you ever forget the cross in your busy life? It's central to the life of the church. As commanded by the Lord Jesus is this feast, this ordinance so that you would never forget that your salvation is not based on what you do.

It's all of the grace of God accomplished through His redemptive work. And we drink that cup and we remember. And sometimes said, the world drinks to forget, we drink to remember. And the Lord's supper today is a reminder, please hear me, that you are not the center of your world. Do this, not in remembrance of John Monroe, not in remembrance of anyone here, do this in remembrance of me. Who is the central person in your life? You, give me, give me, satisfy me. You offended me, you didn't help me the way you should.

Right? This is the way we live. As you come to the Lord's table, if you're a follower of Christ, can you ask God's help that that selfish, self-seeking, self-absorption which characterizes us in our flesh is transformed by the Spirit as the more we meditate on the sacrifice of Christ, the more we're transformed and that we're surrendered to our Savior.

Let's do in remembrance of me. Now also at the Lord's supper, we examine ourselves and we rejoice in the gift of present salvation. Did you read, did you catch as we read, that all of the disciples as the Lord Jesus is talking about betrayal said, is it I?

Now Judas also said it in tremendous hypocrisy, but isn't it significant that Peter and James and Andrew said, is it I? And when Paul is giving his account of the Lord's supper in 1 Corinthians 11, he says, let a man examine himself. I'm to examine myself, I can't see into your heart. You may be a Judas and you say, oh it's not me, I'm alright. You may question me and I can put defense mechanisms and I can deflect. But you're to examine yourself in the light of Scripture and in the light of the cross of Christ.

Would you do that today? It's possible to be the Lord's table and yet to be spiritually lost. That was Judas. Says Jesus, it would have been better for that man if he'd never been born.

He's an insider, but he's eternally lost. Judas, a false professor, a hypocrite. We've dealt with hypocrites in Scripture, haven't we? Any hypocrites here? Anyone who's pretending, you can give the glib answer. I want you to allow the Spirit of God to examine you.

Whoever you are, would you? Some sin. You're living a double life and you're here today, but I'm asking you, do you know Jesus Christ? Have you experienced the forgiveness of sins?

Have you? I'm speaking to you. We welcome you whoever you are. Thank you for coming, but I have to ask you as your pastor to challenge you as Scripture does, will you examine yourself to see, am I truly a child of God?

So I come, I look back. I examine myself, but Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. What are we doing? We are proclaiming the Lord's death. We are presently rejoicing in all of the benefits of salvation.

This is my body. This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Isaiah writes about the Messiah.

He pours out His soul to death. This is the blood of the new covenant. The old covenant is a covenant of condemnation. John, you cannot keep the law. John, you are a sinner.

John, you come short. I'm condemned, and I'm condemned forever if I continue like that. My Lord Jesus Christ comes and says, repent. And the Lord's Supper helps us to understand how God deals with our sin. The wages of sin is dead. The wages of sin is dead. Why did our Savior have to die? He goes into our death. He dies for me. The bread is broken for me. The cup is poured for the forgiveness of my sins.

Jesus is giving His life and love for me. The indictment of my sin has been nailed to His cross. He is my substitute. We call that in theology the substitutionary atonement, that our Lord Jesus Christ goes on the cross as our substitute in place of us.

He's sometimes saying, I'm not sure if we're seeing it today, to Him, bearing shame and scoffing root in my place. Condemned, He stood. You deserve the condemnation under the law. You've sinned.

You know that. My Lord Jesus Christ comes and says, John, I love you. And I'm stepping into the place of condemnation. Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah.

What? A Savior. That's what we're doing. We're remembering the Lord.

Have you been there? And as we do this, we renew our commitment to the Lord Jesus. We thank Him for our salvation. We ask for an outpouring of His grace and peace. We hear again our Savior say, I love you.

I forgive you. You are my child forever. This is our present experience. Yes, we experience this, but the experience is based on truth, on reality.

A few days ago, someone sent me a copy of the words on the step of the Mint Museum in uptown Charlotte, and there it is. There is no rhyme or reason. Your purpose is only to experience. Is that biblical truth? It's kind of with all due respect to whoever wrote it.

It's a kind of silly statement as well. It's telling me there is no purpose. There's no rhyme or reason, but apparently the purpose is to experience. That's self-contradicting, isn't it? Is the Christian faith to be experienced?

Of course it is. We experience it as we come to the table of the Lord, but in the Gospel, there is reason to believe. There is a purpose. There is doctrine. There is an understanding of the truth of the cross, but then the wonder that I and you, as we come here, we experience afresh the forgiveness of sins.

Think of the wonder of it, that you can walk out into that parking lot and understand all of your sins are forgiven. We sometimes find it hard to forgive people, don't we? They offend us. They let us down, and we're bitter over some petty little thing.

People don't speak to each other for years. We're so slow to forgive. There is forgiveness through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. His blood is poured out for the forgiveness of our sins, and we experience it there. Savior is saying to you, take it.

Eat it. It's for sinners like you. We look back. We examine ourselves in the present. Finally, very quickly, at the Lord's Supper, we eagerly and joyfully anticipate the return of our Lord and the messianic banquet. Did you notice verse 29? I tell you, says Jesus, you will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

Paul says we proclaim the Lord's death in 1 Corinthians 11 until He comes. We are eagerly, and we've thought of this recently as we looked at Matthew 24 and 25, we are eagerly anticipating the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wonderful to experience the forgiveness of sins. Wonderful to worship here this morning, but the best is yet to be. Can you imagine what eternity is like?

I think sometimes we forget that. It's as if some people want to live to their 120 and spend the last 10 years in a nursing home in a wheelchair. Quite honestly, I'd rather be with the Lord. That's all in the Lord's hands, isn't it? Life here can be very difficult. There are problems. There are tears. There's sadness.

Life is difficult. We experience disappointments and tensions and bereavements and tragedies and unbelievable sorrow sometimes here. We come to the Lord's table. Yes, we look back. We examine ourselves. We experience once again the joy of the forgiveness of our sins, but we don't stop there, and Jesus didn't stop there, and Paul didn't stop there. We look forward.

We've got a tremendous future. Soon, our Savior will come. In John chapter 14, disciples who were devastated, he says to them, let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God? Believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, what? I will come again. He's coming back, and Paul says we do this until He comes, and the Lord's Supper then points forward to that great unending day. Isaiah 37 verse 10, everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow, and sighing shall flee away, and we anticipate another feast. It's called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

We don't know all about much about that. It's described in Revelation 19, but Jesus refers to it here. He says you will not drink again of this fruit until that day.

That is that great eternal day, which begins with His messianic kingdom, and goes on into eternity. When I drink it, you — notice the words — with you in my Father's kingdom. There is someone you admire, someone you respect, perhaps some celebrity that you admire, and that person invites you to their home for a meal. How wonderful to eat with such a person, to have fellowship with such a person. Can you imagine what Jesus is saying to you and to me? That through His grace, we're going to be part of that great messianic kingdom, that great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and He will drink it with you. Notice the person relationship, the eternal relationship that the Lord Jesus had with the eleven. The eleven apostles are going to be there with Christ. You take the bread, it's for you.

The cup, it's for you. The best is yet to be. We're going to drink and eat and feast with our Savior and with Him in the Father's kingdom. You ready for that kingdom?

Are you part of that kingdom? Your trust in Jesus Christ. Do this in remembrance of me.

Do this until I come. Let me pray to prepare our hearts to break bread. Eternal God and our Father, we thank You for these reminders of Your Word and we do rejoice at the wonder of Your salvation. Thank You that the Lord Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God and even now as we prepare our hearts, help us to examine ourselves. There are some here perhaps who have loved money more than Christ and they're not yet saved. May even at the Lord's table, they will look to the Savior who's lifted up and who draws all kinds of people to Him. Help us. Now we pray in Christ's name. Amen.