Why Communion | Matthew 26:26-28, Revelation 21:1-5, John 10:10 | Pastor Wade Burgess

Wade Burgess, Executive Pastor
Grand Parkway Baptist Church

Why Communion
Matthew 26:26-28, Revelation 21:1-5, John 10:10

Remembering What Jesus Did - Matthew 26:28
Celebrating What Jesus Will Do - Revelation 21:1-5
Recognize What Jesus is Doing - John 10:10

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

See, this ceremony of bread and wine being analogous to the body and the blood, it was given for the forgiveness of sin. And you might say, well, what's the big deal with that? I mean, sin is everywhere, it's all around us. It's gotten so customary, we can't even recognize it at times. And what I would tell you is it is a very big deal. In fact, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans, he says, there was one act of sin, the idea that Adam and Eve being the first humans that God created, they sinned, and therefore, because we are all descendants of theirs, we have inherited a sin nature. But Paul also writes that there's very good news. And it is this one act of obedience, a perfectly lived life that was sacrificed, justified, or paid for that wrath of a holy God, that now we can be in a right relationship with Him because of it.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Pray with me. God, when we say your mercies are more exactly what does that mean? It means that you do not give us what we deserve. We were born into a sin nature, and instead you said, I've got a solution for that. So God, thank you. Thank you for your mercies. They're new every morning, you tell us. And they have to be because of our lives before you were so not worthy. And you said, It's not your worth, it's me and it's mine and what I'm going to do. And so, God, thanks for what you did by sending your son Jesus to die for us. And today we get to celebrate that and remember that as we do every day in believers in you. We ask all of this in your name, Jesus, our saving Lord. Amen. Well, you may be seated. Well, good morning. My name is Wade Burgess. I'm the executive pastor here, and uh I want to make you aware, if you're visiting, of two things. One, July is the annual preaching hiatus for Neil McClendon, our lead pastor. And so for the month of July, you get myself and some of our other pastors, but in August, we'll return to that regular schedule programming with Neil in the pulpit. The second thing is Neil, uh, excuse me, as Clyde said at the onset, uh, today looks a little bit different because of communion. Now, about three or four times of year, we as a church take the whole service and dedicate it to the remembering of what Jesus has done. This idea of the Lord's Supper or communion, an ordinance of the church. And what I want to do is I want to use the Bible and borrow a little bit from Paul Tripp's book, New Morning Mercies, and let's talk about just for a few moments why communion? Why would we do this? Why would we make such a big deal of it and why is it worth all that it is? Well, I would tell you that first it's following Jesus' example and his instructions along with the Apostle Paul, giving some direction about what is it that you do when you come to a certain celebration and remembrance as this. The bread being a reminder of Jesus' body, and the juice a reminder of his blood that was given for us. But where do we get all of that? What do you mean, body, juice, blood? What in the world? Well, it's not gory, but it is uh, I think, allegory to what Jesus was giving. We get it from Matthew 26. Let's look together. If you don't have a Bible, the words will come up on the screen behind me. This is Matthew 26, starting in verse 26. And Jesus has gathered his disciples for this first communion. In just a few hours, Jesus will be betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and then be moved on toward uh his execution. But this is what he has to say. Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples. And he said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had 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. See, this ceremony of bread and wine being analogous to the body and the blood, it was given for the forgiveness of sin. And you might say, Well, what's the big deal with that? I mean, sin is everywhere, it's all around us. It's gotten so customary, we can't even recognize it at times. And what I would tell you is it is a very big deal. In fact, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans, he says, there was one act of sin, the idea that Adam and Eve being the first humans that God created, they sinned, and therefore, because we are all descendants of theirs, we have inherited a sin nature. But Paul also writes that there's very good news. And it is this one act of obedience, a perfectly lived life that was sacrificed, justified, or paid for that wrath of a holy God, that now we can be in a right relationship with Him because of it. And so, why communion? Well, it's remembering what Jesus did. But it's also a celebration of what's to come. And what's to come is all things will be made new. Way in the back of the Bible, almost before you get to maps, Revelation 21. And the Apostle John is toward the end of his life, and he has uh this revelation. And so this is what he writes in 21, starting in verse 1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I'm making all things new. See, we get a new heaven and a new earth, and as believers in Christ, we get to be made new as well. And so we get to celebrate the light of the glory of God will forever illuminate and we'll forever worship him. That is absolutely worth celebrating. See, what I think is that God knew that we would have a short-term memory problem, and so he placed in his word for us this idea of remembering what I did for you. But also, God knows that we don't celebrate the right things often enough. And so he said, I want you to celebrate and think about this hope that I've given you of what's to come. But I would also argue that communion is for the now as well. See, Jesus died for our sins, and when we reunite with him in heaven, we'll be made new. But this big gap that is in between, well, that's for the now. And Jesus died for that as well. In fact, he addresses this in John chapter 10, and Jesus' teaching, and he kind of gives a little bit of a comparison between Satan and himself, and he says this in verse 10 The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. See, Jesus was telling his disciples after he had risen from the grave, he said, I will go now to the Father. And they said, Well, Jesus, wait, wait, now what are we going to do without you? And he said, Oh, I'm sending a helper. Now, without me ascending, you can't have the helper, but with that helper, with the Holy Spirit, here's what we get. We get it for the now. We get the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and that allows us to raise our kids the way the Bible instructs. By the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we get to treat our spouse the way the Bible commands. By the Holy Spirit living inside of us, now is the time that we get to ensure absolutes in our home even when teenagers push against them. Now is the time that we get to not insist on giving our way, but instead loving people even when, and especially if, and it almost always is inconvenient. See, Jesus died for the now, so that we can say no to our anger and addiction, so that that sometimes tormenting anxiety doesn't win. Yes, Jesus died for our sins. And yes, Jesus has set it up so that we'll celebrate with him brand new forever. But in the meantime, he's also died for our now. And so why communion? Well, it's for all three of those. And today, we get to remember and celebrate and live in the now, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let me pray for us. God, you're quite the orchestrator. From the very beginning, you knew that we were going to need salvation, and you loved us. It was your idea. You pursued us, and not only did you pursue us, but you said, I'm gonna make a way as well. I'm going to sacrifice this perfect life, my son. And it's not an afterthought. No, it was from originally designed, and you provided that means of us to know you and to be in a right relationship as you reveal yourself to us. Thank you for that. Thank you for all that it means, and thank you that we get to spend time today remembering and celebrating all because of you, Jesus. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the one who left heaven and died for us, even when we weren't worth it. We ask all this in your name.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Amen. Thank you for listening to this message. Be sure to give us a five star rating and review and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you'd like to go deeper with our sermon content, you can hear more on our circling back with Neil McClendon podcast at Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.