Well, praise the Lord. How many of you are excited
about gathering at the Lord's table today? Well,
that was the sum of the Bible study. You're in
good shape. See you next week. Yeah, no. Yeah.
My pleasure. Now, today is a special day as we
gather together. as the body of Christ, and particularly
special because, yes, we are celebrating at the
Lord's table this morning. As you can see, after
my ordination last Sunday, I am dressed in the
requisite Calvary Chapel pastor tuxedo, and we're
good to go. So, today's message is entitled,
In Remembrance of Me. And we'll be obviously
centering around 1 Corinthians 11, 23 through
25. So if you want to turn there and follow along
as I read. 1 Corinthians 11, 23 through 25. This
starts off with Paul speaking. And in verse 23,
he says, For I received from the Lord what I
also passed on to you on the night that he was
betrayed. the Lord Jesus took bread. And when
he had given thanks, broke it and said, take,
eat. This is my body, which is broken for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way,
he also took the cup after supper and said, this
cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this.
as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
Do this in remembrance of me. What does that
mean? You know, as a worship leader, I've had
the awesome privilege of leading the body in
literally, I think, thousands of songs at this
point. And a long time ago, we had done a song
called Consuming Fire. And many of you probably
remember that song, but the song starts off like
this. It says, There must be more than this.
O breath of God, Come breathe within. There must
be more than this. Spirit of God, we wait for
you. Fill us anew, we pray. Fill us anew, we
pray. You know, when we started doing this song,
I was a young and stupid worship leader, right?
When we first started doing this, I actually
looked at this song from an outward focused perspective,
right? As you often do when you're young and
stupid, you have a lot of angst and you want
things your way and, you know, that's just the
way of things. I would look at those words, there
must be more than this, and I would look at it
from the perspective of God. I'm looking at the
church, I'm looking at the people, and there's
got to be more than this. And God, in His graciousness,
gave me time and filled me more with the Spirit.
so that I wasn't young and stupid anymore. And
after a while, I realize, nope, this song is
100 % pointed inwardly. And in reflection, looking
at myself and realizing, God, there must be more
than this. Fill me anew. You know, sometimes
I kind of look at it, you know, from the perspective
of, you know, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and
they're up in heaven in glory, and they're having
a conversation, and Jesus turns to the Holy Spirit,
and He motions Him over and says, so, I hear
you're working with wrong love today. What's
that like? And the Holy Spirit says, well, He's
young and stupid. There's a lot there. There's
an arrogance. There's, you know, kind of stuck
in his ways. His perspective is kind of askew.
But you know what? He has a heart for wanting
to know you. And he has a heart for wanting the
people in the body. to know you. And I can work
with that. And so I imagine the Lord saying to
the Holy Spirit, then do that. And that is what
has happened. The problem is that many, many
years later, I'm sure this is the conversation
that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are having, and
that is, I hear you're working with Ron Love
today. Any change? The Holy Spirit says, yeah,
there's some good change there. But, you know,
he's got, he still has rough edges. And, I mean,
dare I say barnacles. Some calcification even.
But you know what? I can scrape that off. And
I can work with that. And Jesus says the same
thing, and that is, then do it. That's my hope
for each of you today, whether you're here in
the room or whether you're online and you're
joining us as we walk through on this journey
through this passage of Scripture. Whether you're
young and stupid, you're in the middle of the
journey and everything's going great, or you're...
maybe more towards the end, very mature, but
maybe there's a little bit of calcification there,
you know, that God has to scrape off. I mean,
we're all in this together. My hope is that as
we go through this, you find where you're at
and that you hear what the Lord has to say and
that you are ready to move forward because He
is saying, okay, then do that. So let's talk
about this. Let's talk about this phrase that
Jesus presented to the disciples at what we call
the Last Supper, but at this Passover communion
time with his disciples, when he says, do this
in remembrance of me. So I think it's important,
and it just kind of presents itself, that there
are a few groups that are involved here, right?
And the very first group is the obvious one,
and that's the disciples. So what does this mean
to the disciples? Do this in remembrance of me.
You know, when you look at, and again, I've said
this before, when you are studying the Bible,
always feel free, and I encourage you to look
at other translations in addition to the one
that you particularly like because it's very
helpful. The language outside of English is much
more descriptive and broad, and so it's just
good practice to see, especially in translations
that go specifically back to the Greek or the
Hebrew or anything like that, to see what are
the more descriptive meanings of some of the
words. So, when you look at that phrase, and
in this case, you know, I was looking at it in
the Amplified Bible, what it does is it renders
the phrase, do this in remembrance to me, to
this. Do this to call me affectionately to remembrance.
Do this to call me affectionately. to remembrance.
So, when we look at the disciples and what this
means to the disciples to do this in remembrance
of me, the obvious one that they only can participate
in, we will never be able to do this until we
are in heaven with Christ, right? And that is
that they could remember and have remembrance
of the personal time that they spent with Jesus.
Nobody else can do that. That is their particular
gift and frame of mind, right? So what does that
mean? Well, it means that those times when they're,
you know, sitting at the campfire. right, on
their journeys throughout Judea or Samaria, and
they're telling jokes about, you know, that Old
Testament prophet, you know, and just enjoying
their time and their fellowship together. That's
something that they can remember affectionately
about Jesus, you know, when they're running on
the beach of the Sea of Galilee and just having
a good time. you know, knowing His joy and His
tenderness and His goodness as He just fellowships
with them. That is something that they could
draw on in remembering Him, remembering their
personal time with Him. They also can remember
that personal time that they spent with Him as
He was teaching them, in particular, as His disciples,
when He was speaking one -on -one with each of
them. Again, something that the rest of us, we
don't have that opportunity today, right? But
they did. They heard his voice because he was
right there. They saw his face, the look in his
eyes. They knew what he was talking about. They
understood. Sometimes they didn't, but for the
most part, as he explained it, they understood.
what He was trying to show them, what He was
trying to teach them. They could see it and hear
it all right in front of them. They could remember
those times, those teachings that were just for
them as His disciples. They could remember that.
They could also remember the lessons that He
taught the crowd. They were right there. They
heard it all. And not only did they hear those
lessons that Jesus taught the crowds, they also
could talk to the people who were hearing Jesus
talk to them. And they were able to find out
what they thought about what He talked about,
what changes were being made in their lives because
of His words, because of His actions and deeds.
They were able to hear their testimonies. and
rejoice because of the work that Jesus was doing
in their lives as well. There's a very well -known
pastor, I'm sure many of you will recognize him,
and that is Alistair Begg. Alistair Begg is a
Scottish -born pastor. He pastors at Parkside
Church in Cleveland, Ohio. This is what he has
to say about memory. He says, Memory is surely
one of the great and most precious gifts that
God has given us in terms of our physical existence.
And it is for that reason that the loss of memory
is one of the saddest and most cruel things that
really can happen to an individual. And it's
in that vein that God, through His Word, causes
people to remembrance. He does that at many times
and in many different ways throughout His Word.
And let me give you a couple of specific examples
in the Old Testament. One example is you'll read
when you're studying the book of Samuel, and
I'm excited to get to Samuel at some point. Maybe
in about a year we'll get there. But in the book
of Samuel, The call is given out to set up. altars
or stones of remembrance in different places.
And the reason why they were called to erect
these altars or stones of remembrance is because
God had done something in the lives of the Hebrew
nation, the Jewish nation, and it usually was
in the saving of them from invaders, the vanquishing
of an enemy, but it was always God in His hand.
that had delivered them. And so he would tell
them or they would instinctively know because
of past instruction that what they needed to
do was set up an altar or a stone of remembrance
so that future generations would see that altar
or they would see that stone and they would ask,
what is that for? And then the people who erected
it, their forefathers would be able to tell them.
That stone is there in remembrance of God's deliverance
when we were fighting the Amalekites, you know,
or fighting, insert name, and God alone saved
us and redeemed us. And so when we see that,
we worship and we remember God's providence and
his delivery for us and his people. Another example,
certainly to the disciples, right at this moment
when Jesus is giving them the instruction for
communion and to remember them, to remember him,
and also for the early Jewish church is the implements
or the elements of the Passover meal, right?
The Passover meal, each element actually has
a significance of a remembrance. So, for instance,
the different elements are there to remind them
of their bondage in Egypt, God's salvation, through
the blood of the Passover lamb, you know, with
the blood on the doorposts and the lentil, right?
Also you could look at the element of the unleavened
bread. The unleavened bread was a symbol of sin,
of having no sin. right? So, the leaven was sin.
You would take the leaven out of the bread, and
that was to represent being sinless and pure
before the Lord. We do that with the striped
cracker, right? That is, in essence, unleavened
bread. It doesn't rise. It doesn't puff up or
whatever. That's the symbol for it. The bitter
herbs, they would eat bitter herbs, and they
would dip them in salt water. Well, the bitter
herbs were to remind them of the bitterness and
harshness of their bondage, of their slavery,
and the salt water was to remind them of their
tears and their cries out to the Lord for salvation,
right? There was even the symbol of, I think
it was... chopped up apples or something and
nuts, and that was to represent, remind them
of their hardship in having to build the bricks
with the mortar and all that. I mean, all these
elements mean something, not just for the sake
of meaning something, but for the sake of causing
them to remember what God had done, what the
purpose of the Passover meal really was for.
You know, the words remembrance, remember, or
the derivative of either of those words, that
is found over 200 times in the Old Testament.
The call to remember, or remember this, or remember
that, 200 times. So what I want to do is I want
to share with you that just as... the early Jewish
church, and as the Jewish nation had been called
to remember God through the Old Testament, I
want to show you what that looks like. So, I'm
going to read through some verses just so you
can get a feel for what that would mean to them
as they see God in the Old Testament Scriptures.
So, Genesis 9 verses 15, for example, it says,
I will remember my covenant between me and you
and all the living creatures. water will never
again become a flood to destroy every creature.
Genesis 9, 16, the bow will be in the clouds
and I will look at it and remember the permanent
covenant between God and all the living creatures
on the earth. Genesis 19, 29, so it was when
God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered
Abraham and brought out Lot of the middle of
the upheaval when he demolished the cities where
Lot had lived. Genesis 30, 22. Exodus 2, 24.
God heard their groaning and God remembered his
covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exodus 3 .15, God also said to Moses, say this
to the Israelites, the Lord, the God of your
ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This
is my name forever. This is how I am to be remembered
in every generation. Exodus 13 .3, then Moses
said to the people, remember this day when you
came out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery,
for the Lord brought you out of here by the strength
of his hand. Nothing leaven shall be eaten. Exodus
28, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Exodus 20, 24, make an earth an altar to me and
sacrifice it on your burnt offerings and fellowship
offerings, your flocks and herds. I will come
to you and bless you in every place where I cause
my name to be remembered. Numbers 10, 10. Also,
in the day of rejoicing and in your set feasts
and at the beginning of your months, you shall
blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and
your peace offerings. Thus it may be a remembrance
before your God. I am the Lord your God. Numbers
15 .40, this way you will remember and obey all
my commands and be holy to your God. Deuteronomy
5 .15, remember that you were a slave in the
land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you
out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched
arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded
you to keep the Sabbath day. And Deuteronomy
32 .7, remember the days of old. Consider the
years of past generations. Ask your father, and
he will tell you, your elders, and they will
teach you. Remember, remember, remember again
and again. And that's only the first five books
of the Bible. This is how important God believes
that your remembrance of him truly is. And it's
not just the remembering of the specific events
or the characteristic of God in that particular
situation, but really the meaning behind remembrance.
And I believe God's desire in you remembering
Him in these things is so that you recall the
gravity of it all behind it. For instance, it's
not just that He wanted them to remember that
they were slaves. Anybody can remember that,
right? But what it meant to remember was that
you remembered what it was to be a slave as an
individual and as a people. You remembered what
it meant to be delivered, and not by just a mere
man, but by their God. And they remembered what
it meant that God was righteous, that God was
holy, that God was powerful, and that strength,
and full of strength, and what that meant in
comparison to themselves, being a people who
were unrighteous, unholy, impotent. and weak
in comparison to their God who loved them and
who delivered them. True remembrance is not just
recall or a casual reminder. It's a deep consideration
of the event and the ramifications of what has
transpired, as well as a deep reflection of all
those involved. So, what about the early Gentile
believers who would later on hear the words of
Jesus when He said, do this in remembrance of
Me? What does that mean for them? I mean, really,
they are obviously different than the disciples,
right? They came later, right? They're a little
different than the… the early church that was
made up of Jews, right? They didn't have the
same history, the same instruction that they
had already been drawing on to look back and
remember what God had done and incorporate that
into their understanding then of who Jesus was
as they were celebrating communion and recognizing
who He was. They didn't have the direct interaction
with Jesus like the disciples. So what did the
call to remember look like to them? Well, I think
maybe instead of looking at what they didn't
have, maybe we should look at what they did have.
So what they did have was that some of them,
at least some of them, had memories of hearing
Jesus speak. They actually had been in the crowds.
When Jesus was teaching, like say when he was
in Judea and he was giving the, what we call
the Sermon on the Mount. Perhaps they were part
of that crowd. Or perhaps they were either a
Greek or a Roman that was in Jerusalem. You know,
when Jesus was in Jerusalem and teaching in the
outer courts of the temple. Maybe they actually
did hear him or his words. So they would have
that memory to draw from. Also, there were others
that had testimonies from those who had heard
Jesus speak, their friends and their family,
right, who happened to be in those same types
of circumstances, but now they're getting it
maybe second or third hand. But they can draw
then on that, what their testimonies were of
having heard those things personally. As you
continue on, you know, down the line, kind of
like, as I said in first service, kind of like
telephone, but not really the game telephone,
right? But more and more as you go down the line,
their interaction with Jesus' words are the words,
the letters, and the teachings of the apostles,
right? Testifying that Jesus is the Messiah and
Savior of the world, the only true God and the
only one who could save them. And also they had
the testimony of their own family members or
friends who had experienced forgiveness, restoration,
maybe they even experienced healing or a filling
of the Holy Spirit, all in the name of Jesus,
the Creator and Lamb of God. And then lastly,
what they had was their own testimonies. testimonies
of what God had done in their own lives, now
transformed and changed, works that He had begun
to do in their lives, changes that they had seen.
They were once like this, but now they're like
this in Christ. They had that to draw on, coming
from Jesus. So kind of what you see is you go
from the very personal and central, and you keep
going farther and farther removed. and then farther
and farther removed. But the beauty of that is
that these people over here who seem to be farther
and farther removed, they actually have more
tools and resources maybe than the disciples
themselves, right? That's God and God's providence.
We get to, just like the Jews did, look backwards
and see what the Lord has done. So they weren't
left out in the cold, right? The early Gentile
church certainly had the tools to work with.
But here we are 10 ,000, no. So here we are 2
,000 years later, right? So what do these words
mean to us today, right? We're very far removed.
We don't know anybody personally who knew or
heard Jesus. We're left with... writings. We're
left with testimonies. So what does it mean?
Well, it essentially means the same thing, that
it meant for all of those who came before. But
again, we have the greater blessing because we
get to draw from all of it, not only those testimonies
of people who were with Jesus or knew Jesus,
but we actually get to draw on the Old Testament.
Just like the Gentile church, the early Gentile
church, even though that wasn't their history,
they got to draw on that knowing that Jesus Himself
had talked about Himself as being God, that same
God. God the Son. And so they could dive into
that word as well. And they weren't looking at
it though from their own perspective of this
is my shared history, but they're looking at
it from the perspective of this is what God did
in the life of the people that He set aside for
Himself. This is how He revealed Himself to them.
This is the work that He did in and within them.
This is how He saved them, delivered them, redeemed
them. This is all the plan that He has done.
And the glory to God, he has extended the same
thing to me and grafted me into that family.
This is what I think it means or should mean
to us today. And this is what I believe Jesus
is saying. If I were to, of course, this is what
we all do. We take God's simple words and we
expand them all when the simple words are probably
enough. but play with me. This is what I believe
Jesus is saying. Remember and cause your heart,
soul, and mind to dwell upon every time you gather
and partake of the Lord's table. Everything that
I am, everything I've done, my faithful and unyielding
love in your life, as it was in the lives of
those who came before you. Remember my teaching
and admonitions to hear my voice and follow me.
Remember that you were a lost sinner who dwelt
in darkness and faced judgment. Remember your
need for forgiveness and your need for me. Remember
my suffering. Remember my horrific death and
sacrifice for your sake. Remember my power over
sin, hell, death, and the grave. as evidenced
by my resurrection. Remember the gift of my Holy
Spirit to you and those who came before you.
Remember my complete word as a means and a tool
to help you remember all of these things. And
remember the hope of my glorious return for my
church. Did you do that before you came today?
Do you remember all that? Let me ask you another
question. And this question is not, I repeat,
is not to bring condemnation. Because I ask the
question of myself, right? I know that I am woefully
lacking in this area. So I ask myself this question.
But ultimately my hope... is that what it does
in asking the question and finding the answer
is that it builds up or it shores up the walls,
so to speak. So here's the question to you. What
did you do to prepare for the Lord's table this
morning? Where have your thoughts been as we
made our way here today? Where have your thoughts
been while you're sitting here listening to me
ramble on? Perhaps your answer is, well, my thoughts
have been on Jesus. It's Sunday, of course. How
could I ever forget about Jesus? You know, to
what degree is it possible for us to forget about
Jesus, right? And I'm not talking about the wholesale
forgetting. that Jesus existed or that He did
this or He did that while He was on earth. I'm
not even talking about similar forgetting of
God and the things that He did in the Old Testament
or the New Testament. What I'm speaking of is
a forgetting or a laying aside of all that that
truly means. In other words, having a head knowledge
rather than a heart knowledge. Now, I don't know
about you, but one of the most difficult times
to remain focused on Jesus is when I'm getting
ready to come to church on Sunday morning, right?
So this is how this generally goes for me. First,
the alarm doesn't go off, or more likely, I don't
get up on time. Then the water in the shower
is too cold or too hot. My clothes are wrinkled
because, well, the dryer didn't get them drying.
The coffee maker didn't work. My car is out of
gas. We're running late. Hurry up, hurry up,
hurry up. And then if you have kids, multiply
that by 20. Where was my remembrance of Jesus
during all of that? Or what about when you get
here and you're in the sanctuary, right, during
service? This is how my thoughts track, right?
What is that person doing over there? Who is
that guy with the funny hair? Who is that guy
without hair? Why does the worship team insist
on picking that song? The sound guys are not
on their game today. The media guys can't seem
to flip the slides. Genesis again? It's too hot
in here. It's too cold in here. I wonder how
long this is going to go today. What do I want
for lunch? Communion 2? Maybe they'll cut the
last song. How can we possibly lose our memory
of Jesus? The preacher Charles Spurgeon put it
this way. He said, alas, alas, our thoughts.
if left to themselves, are as a cage of unclean
birds or a den of wild beasts. And as Hercules
needed a stream of water to clean out the filthy
stable, so our Lord Jesus Christ needed to pour
rivers of water out of his own heart to cleanse
the foul stable of our corrupt thoughts. And
that's the key, right? We can't remember Jesus
without exercising the tools and the power of
the Spirit that He's given us. And what are those
tools? Well, it's as we've been saying since
the very beginning. The tools are our remembrance
and deep reflection on the Word of God, our testimony
of the work of God in our lives, and the testimony
of others, and the work... of the Spirit of God
in and around us. And it's only through the exercising
of those tools and the power of the Spirit that
we can enter into a true remembrance of Jesus.
Not the surface, factual, cursory remembrance
of His existence, but the deep remembrance of
all He was and all He is and all He will be.
and all he has done, and all he is doing, and
all that he will do as Lord and King of all.
A true flooding of your heart, soul, and mind
of his very being and essence. And what is the
effect of beholding him in his glory? his power
and strength, and remembering all that he's done
in order to ransom your soul from hell and judgment.
Well, when we focus on him and acknowledge his
position as Lord and King of all, our Savior,
our forgiveness, the one who bore our stripes,
our sacrifice for our sin, our comfort, and the
very air we breathe, It's at that point that
humility comes in, and we see our position compared
to His, and realize the depths and unthinkable
lengths that Jesus went to redeem us, to redeem
me, a wretch, unworthy of even a glance from
the Creator King. And it's out of this humility
that gratitude and praise can be birthed. It's
at this moment that I slide off the throne of
my heart. And the king takes his rightful place.
Now I can worship and proclaim my remembrance
of him from my heart and my soul and my mind
and mouth. for his good pleasure, and as my testimony
to the world. So I'm sure some of you are saying,
Pastor Ron, that all sounds great. But how do
we begin to practically put this into practice?
Well, I don't know what to tell you. Because...
How you begin is the same way you begin with
so many other points of your walk with God. And
that is, it begins with opening up His Word daily.
No way around it. You have to open up His Word
to see Him. And you have to read what He reveals
about Himself in that Word. The entirety of the
book speaks of Him. And I'm not merely talking
about reading it like you would a grocery list
or a history book. I'm talking about reading
His Word with the intention of finding Him in
the pages and then the testimonies within the
book, just like the disciples did when remembering
the words of the Torah, the story of the first
Passover. the Psalms, the prophets, just like
the early church did and just like each of us
is encouraged and instructed to do. Sometimes
it's easy. It's just there. When you read it,
you see God, you see Jesus in all his glory and
wonder. But sometimes it takes more work. But
he is always there. I'm going to give you one
example real quick. You know, when Pastor Nathan
so graciously asked me to teach today, and this
was a number of weeks ago, I had an idea of where
I was going to go and what I was going to teach.
And what I thought I was going to teach about
was in the book of Ruth, right? I have a history
with the book of Ruth because When I first started
coming to Hosanna, before then, I had been at
several different types of churches and denominations
throughout my early life. And it wasn't until
I was here at Hosanna that I heard the Word preached
verse by verse and chapter by chapter in context.
And it wasn't until that journey that I started
to actually see, really see God in it all. And
I think the second book that we were setting
in when I first started here was the book of
Ruth. The book of Ruth is a beautiful story,
and I'm excited to eventually get to that book
too, right? But the book of Ruth just... As a
quick reminder is the story of Ruth, who was
a Gentile widow, who had a mother -in -law named
Naomi, and famine in the land, they came back
to Israel, and Ruth committed herself to taking
care of Naomi and staying with her, and Naomi's
God being her God and putting away her Gentile
gods for forever. And then in the story, you
know, there's this question of, well, what's
going to happen to Ruth as a widow? And the Lord
leads her to Boaz. And Boaz has the title that
will be brought forth and is often brought forth
that he is the kinsman redeemer, right? Boaz
is the picture of Christ, right? And Ruth is
the picture of us. right, in our lost state and
the one who is being redeemed. And it's just,
it's a beautiful, beautiful story, not just because
it's a beautiful story about Ruth and Boaz, but
it's a beautiful story because it's about Christ
and us, right? So, I'm reading through the book
of Ruth, and it's been a while since I had read
the book, and I'm just going through it verse
by verse, and I can't tell you how many times
I just had to stop. and go, wow, he's right there.
God is right there. And one verse in particular,
where Ruth has gone into the threshing floor,
and she's laying at Boaz's feet at night, and
he wakes up in the morning and finds her there,
and it's like, what are you doing here? Well,
don't worry about it. I'll take care of this.
And what the verse says, and I don't have it
in front of me, but in essence what the verse
says is that Boaz looks at Ruth and he says,
Ruth, I have seen you and I know what you have
done in committing to Naomi and the love that
you've given her. And I've seen how you've committed
yourself to our God. And I've seen how You have
conducted yourself in all of that and you're
respected and admired by many. And then he says,
stay here close to me. Don't go anywhere or with
anyone else. And then he says, I know what has
to be done. and I will do it until it is completed.
That's the kind of reading that I'm describing,
because how can you not see the Lord? How can
you not see yourself in that place? And where
he says, I've seen you. And you've committed
yourself to me. And so I tell you, do not leave
me. Stay close. I need to perfect your salvation.
I know what has to be done. I know what I have
to sacrifice. I know what I have to give to pay.
And I... We'll do it until it is completed. And
maybe you're sitting there and you're going,
Ron, you're really emotional. And I'm just not
that way. I'm just not built that way. And you
know, I can only say this to you, is that When
I get emotional about seeing God in the Bible,
that comes unbidden. I am not looking to be that
way. It's downright embarrassing to do that,
right? I want to be strong. I want to be seen
as strong and all that, but it's simply a response
to the revelation of God's greatness and His
goodness towards me. Me. a sinful and undeserving
worm who doesn't have to die now. Again, it's
not just the head knowledge of knowing the fact
of it all, but knowing it, truly knowing it,
and feeling it through every fiber of my being,
my heart, my soul, and my mind. You know, I think
about the angels in heaven in Revelation. Revelation
4, verse 8, and you've read this before with
me before, and it says, Day and night they never
stop saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God,
the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to
come. Such is the power and the outcome of seeing
the glory of God, even the smallest glimpse of
it, and I think these angels know more about
it than we currently do. And I hope that someday
we're all right there in the same place. But
until then, the only thing I can tell you is
practice, practice, practice. Let's be on our
guard. not to fall into the place of the church
in Ephesus in Revelation 2 who had forgotten
their first love. And if you're still not convinced
or don't believe that the memory of Jesus is
contained in the very life manual God has given
us, the Bible, His Word, I'd like to read something
for you that was recited many years ago by a
young man named Josiah Willis. from Bent Tree
Fellowship in Texas. And perhaps you've heard
this before, you watched the video and saw it,
but let me tell you, this bears remembrance.
Okay, you ready? We're going to see how far I
can get, how far I can get. And this is what
it says. It's called Jesus Throughout the Bible.
In Genesis, Jesus Christ is the breath of life.
In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb. In Leviticus,
He is our High Priest. In Numbers, He is the
pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire
by night. In Deuteronomy, He is the prophet like
unto Moses. In Joshua, He is the captain of our
salvation. In Judges, he is the judge and lawgiver.
In Ruth, he is our kinsman redeemer. In 1 and
2 Samuel, he is our trusted prophet. In Kings
and Chronicles, he is the reigning king. In Ezra
and Nehemiah, he is the rebuilder of the broken
down walls of human life. In Esther, he is our
Mordecai. In Job, he is our ever -living Redeemer.
In Psalms, he is our shepherd. In Proverbs and
Ecclesiastics, he is our wisdom. In the Song
of Solomon, he is the loving bridegroom. In Isaiah,
he is the prince of peace. In Jeremiah, he is
the righteous branch. In Lamentations, he is
our weeping prophet. In Ezekiel, he is the wonderful
four -faced man. In Daniel, he is the fourth
man in life's fiery furnace. In Hosea, he is
the faithful husband forever married to the backslider.
In Joel, he is the baptizer of the Holy Ghost
and fire. In Amos, he is our burden bearer. In
Obadiah, he is mighty to save. In Jonah, he is
our great foreign missionary. In Micah, he is
the messenger of beautiful feet. In Nahum, he
is our strength and shield. In Habakkuk, he is
God's evangelist crying, revive thy works in
the midst of the years. In Zephaniah, he is our
savior. In Haggai, he is the... story of God's
lost heritage. In Zechariah, he is the fountain
opened up in the house of David for sin and uncleanliness.
And in Malachi, he is the son of righteousness
rising with healing in his wings. In Matthew,
he is the king of the Jews. In Mark, He is the
servant. In Luke, he is the son of man, feeling
what you feel. In John, he is the son of God.
In Acts, he is the savior of the world. In Romans,
he is the righteousness of God. In 1 Corinthians,
he is the rock and father of Israel. In 2 Corinthians,
he is the triumphant one given victory. In Galatians,
he is your liberty. He has set you free. In Ephesians,
he is the head. of the church. In Philippians,
He is your joy. In Colossians, He is your completeness.
In 1 and 2 Thessalonians, He is your hope. In
1 Timothy, He is your faith. In 2 Timothy, He
is your stability. In Titus, He is truth. In
Philemon, He is your benefactor. In Hebrews,
He is your perfection. In James, He is the power
behind your faith. In 1 Peter, He is your example.
In 2 Peter, he is your purity. In 1 John, he
is your life. In 2 John, he is your pattern.
In 3 John, he is your motivation. In Jude, he
is the foundation of your faith. And in Revelation,
he is your coming king. He is the first and the
last, the beginning and the end. He is the keeper
of creation and the creator of all. He is the
architect of the universe and the manager of
all times. He always was, He always is, and He
always will be, unmoved, unchanged, undefeated,
and never undone. He was bruised and brought
healing. He was pierced in his pain. He was persecuted
and brought freedom. He was dead and brought
life. He is risen and brings power. He reigns
and brings peace. The world can't understand
him. The armies can't defeat him. The schools
can't explain him, and the leaders can't ignore
him. Herod couldn't kill him. The Pharisees couldn't
confuse him. People couldn't hold him. Nero couldn't
crush him. Hitler couldn't silence him. This
age can't replace him, and science can't explain
him away. He is life, love, longevity, and more.
He is goodness, kindness, gentleness, and God.
He is holy, righteous, mighty, powerful, and
pure. His ways are right, and the word is eternal.
He is unchanging, and his mind is on me. He is
my redeemer. He is my savior. He is my guide.
He is my peace. He is my joy. He is my comfort.
He is my Lord. And he rules my life. Let's pray.
God, thank you. Thank you for reminding us of
who you are. Thank you for reminding us of what
you have done, what you are doing, and what you
will do. Thank you that you have saved us and
you have redeemed us. Thank you that you gave
your life for us as a sacrifice. God, we want
to remember all of this about you and more. So,
Lord, thank you for your word. that you've given
us to always look back to. Thank you for the
testimonies of those in the Old Testament and
in the New Testament. Thank you for the teachings.
Thank you for the letters and the encouragements
within the words of the apostles and the letters
to the church. Thank you, God, for the people
that you surround us with today as we hear their
testimonies of the wonderful works of God alive
and in motion. in the lives of your people today.
Thank you for what you have done in our lives
and you continue to do in changing us and molding
us and shaping us. Thank you, God, that you don't
leave us where we begin, but you carry us forward
until the work that you started is completed.
Thank you, God, that you have given us the means
and the tools to remember you. That as we enter
into a time of communion, that as you have commanded
us, and as we do this, we remember and do it
in remembrance of you. Thank you. And it's in
Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, with all of this
now, I'm going to ask the men of the communion
board to go ahead and please come forward at
this time. As we gather together as the body
of Christ, His bride at the Lord's table. And
let us enter in through the totality of remembrance
of who He is, what He has done, and what He is
doing, and what He will continue to do. until
all things are complete.