[0:00] Could you turn with me now to words that we will find in Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah chapter 49 and we'll read there verses 13 to 16.
[0:22] Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains. For the Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
[0:36] But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
[0:51] Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before me.
[1:04] In these words we have God's love described in a marvelous way. This morning I would like to speak to you about that love.
[1:21] Because I believe it is the greatest thing in the world. It is the only thing that ultimately meets our deepest needs. Human love at all its different levels is a marvelous thing.
[1:36] And yet, ultimately, it is inadequate for our deepest needs. When we put too much pressure on it, it lets us down. And it leads to a cynicism.
[1:47] And there is great cynicism in the world today. Tina Turner sang, What's love? Just a second-hand emotion. What's love got to do with it?
[2:00] And I'm sure we all remember what's known as the fairy tale wedding of Charles and Diana. That ultimately led to tragedy.
[2:13] And so often in human experience, love does not bring all the rewards that we expect of it. And so often people become disappointed and cynical.
[2:27] George Matheson, as a young man, started to go blind. And his engagement was broken off. Much later on in life, on the occasion of his sister's wedding, he wrote the hymn that begins, O love that wilt not let me go.
[2:50] Human love may fail us, but God's love never. God's love is the only thing that can really change your life. And it's the only thing that can put you right with God.
[3:04] The moral law can't do that. Not even God's own laws revealed in the scriptures can put us right with God. Thomas Chalmers, Thomas Chalmers, the great 19th century preacher and leader of the early free church, started off his life as an unconverted minister in the parish of Kilmeny in North Fife.
[3:28] And for eight years, until he was converted, he preached the law. And this is what he said about it afterwards. All the vehemence with which I urged the virtues and proprieties of the social life had not the weight of a feather on the moral habits of my parishioners.
[3:48] It was not until the free offer of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ was urged upon the acceptance of my hearers that I ever heard of those subordinate reformations which I had made the ultimate object of my earlier ministry.
[4:06] You see, telling people that they're wrong and telling people what they should do to be right is basically what the law does. But it's not enough.
[4:18] It doesn't change the human heart. And that's as true today as it was when Thomas Chalmers ministered. It is the love of God. It is this message of the good news of Jesus Christ.
[4:31] The message of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ that brings about a saving transformation. And that remains still true today also. It is this good news about Jesus that still has the power to change the human heart.
[4:48] When your life is in a mess, when you've reached the bottom and everyone has given up on you, the love of God can still reach you. I remember in one of my previous congregations, I was in the church one weekday for a senior citizens meeting.
[5:07] And I wouldn't normally be in the church a weekday at that time. And I happened to be passing through a part of the church when I heard the phone ringing in the vestry. And again, I wouldn't normally have been there at that time.
[5:20] And I thought, well, I'd better answer the phone. So I went to answer the phone. And this was a woman who had just been looking through the directory for names of churches. And she happened to phone this church.
[5:31] And I happened to be there. And this was a woman at the end of her tether. She was an alcoholic and she didn't know where to turn. And she thought of phoning a church. And she thought of it.
[5:41] And she thought of it. And she thought of it. And she thought of it. And she thought of it. And she thought of it. And as a result, some women in the congregation helped her. And as a result, she came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The great love of God reaching out to that woman in these circumstances, so unlikely, yet the love of the Lord Jesus Christ touching her heart and bringing transformation into a situation that was hopeless.
[6:09] Do you know that same love? The love that's spoken of in this passage, the mercy and compassion of God. Can you say that you know that God loves you?
[6:22] Or are you perhaps a little bit like Zion as described in this passage? You see here, we have the great announcement of the good news. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth.
[6:32] Break forth into singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy upon his afflicted. This great announcement of the good news.
[6:43] And what's Zion's reaction? What's the reaction of the people of God? Do they rejoice? Do they praise God? No. Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me.
[7:00] And I think we can all identify with that, whether at various times in our lives or maybe at this very moment. You know the message of God's love. Yet, in your heart, there's not the reaction that you know there should be.
[7:15] You know the good news. Perhaps even you've experienced that good news in your own life in the past, but at the present time, you feel forsaken by God. You feel forgotten. Now, whether you feel like that at the moment or you can look back at such times, this passage is relevant to you.
[7:33] We go through times when we're not sure that God loves us. We're not sure that God is interested in us. We're not sure if we've got a saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[7:44] Things that perhaps have happened in life, just as here. You see, Isaiah is speaking prophetically about the time when the people of Israel, the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, will be carried away into captivity, into exile in Babylon.
[7:59] Their city of Jerusalem ruined. Exile hundreds and hundreds of miles from home. And here, the message of Isaiah would come to them.
[8:13] Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O air. And yet they couldn't see it. They felt forsaken by God, forgotten by Him. Or think about David, who wrote those words originally that we were singing.
[8:27] First words of Psalm 22. My God, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And there must have been something originally in David's experience that corresponded to that.
[8:39] And we know there were times in David's experience when he felt forsaken by God. Times of trouble and distress. Think of all the times of trouble and distress because of the opposition of King Saul or because of divisions in his own family.
[8:54] Because of his own sin. And yes, we as the people of God can identify with that also. And we know from time to time we're perhaps under God's hand of discipline.
[9:08] And yet we're not sure is it because He loves us or is it because we're utterly forsaken or perhaps we have no faith in the Lord Jesus at all. But here is the amazing thing.
[9:21] Those very same words almost exactly the words that are used here in verse 14 and exactly the words that are used in the first verse of Psalm 22 by David.
[9:33] These are the words that the Lord Jesus takes on His own lips as He is dying in agony upon the cross. At the very depth of that darkness when He is overwhelmed by the burdens of the sins of the world He cries out My God, My God Why hast Thou forsaken me?
[9:57] We can understand how Zion felt forsaken because they were under the judgment of God. We can understand how David felt forsaken because he too at various times was under the chastising hand of God.
[10:13] And yes, we can understand too why we ourselves may go through such times for we too are sinners. But Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God Jesus, the righteous one Jesus, the one who showed nothing but love to people even to His enemies Why was He forsaken upon the cross?
[10:34] Why did He cry out in such an agony? And there we have the key to the love of God in Jesus Christ. And the first element of it is simply this that however forsaken we may feel we know that Jesus has been there and Jesus has been deeper down there than we can ever be but He bore the sins of the world and the judgment due to the world because of our sin.
[11:08] So we know that in the very heart of God in the very heart of the Son of God there is understanding and compassion of our position there is solidarity with us because He knows what we go through and He knows it at an even deeper level.
[11:24] But I want to look with you this morning at the answer that God gives here to the cry of His people because they say we are forsaken we are forgotten this announcement of good news it's not relevant to us we don't feel it because we are forsaken.
[11:47] Does God just leave them to it? Does God say well if that's how you feel I'm not saying anymore no. How often we are like that when we get a bad reaction we say oh well that's it I'm not saying anymore but no the love of God is that He continues and He reaches out to His people He overcomes all our provocations He overcomes all our poor and bad reactions and He speaks to them in His love and I want to look with you at this threefold answer that He gives in these verses to this cry of His people and if there's something in your heart today that identifies with this cry then these answers are for you the first part of God's answer is this if you are my child I can never forget you and here He gives this amazing picture of a mother's love for her child now you know how in the Bible
[12:48] God uses various pictures of His love very often it's a father's love for His children think of the parable of the prodigal son or it may be a husband's love for his wife think of how in Ephesians chapter 5 that's referred to in the context of marriage love of a husband for his wife and Christ's love for the church but as if to say to us no one example of human love can exhaust all the meaning and all the power of God's love other pictures are taken and this is another one a mother's love for her child now there's something very special and something very tender about a mother's love for her child recently my daughter has had a baby she's made me a grandfather and just looking at her and the way she holds that baby you can see the love that protective and tender care that a mother has for her child and God is saying that is the love that I have for my children in fact it's even greater because He says though they may forget
[14:12] He says is it possible that a mother can forget her newborn child the child at the breast can she forget it no of course not but even if it were possible even if against nature this were true He says I will not forget you great though a mother's human love may be God's love is even greater I think the greatest example of a mother's love that I've ever known of is that shown by a young mother I had to visit this family in hospital in Aberdeen and they had been involved in a horrendous road accident this mother this mother had been driving along in her car her own sister was sitting beside her and her two children were in the back of the car and through some freak accident the petrol tank at the back of the car caught fire and within a few seconds the back of the car was engulfed in flames she brought the car to a halt she and her sister got out they were quite safe but that young mother did one of the bravest things
[15:17] I've heard of she went into the back of the car into that blazing inferno and she took out first one child and then she went back in and she took out the other child a mother's love for her children when I saw that family in hospital you couldn't believe it the two children you wouldn't believe that they had been in such a blazing inferno they had one or two burns on their body but they were not seriously burnt or harmed the mother was so badly injured that she died two weeks later in hospital a mother's love for her children and God says marvelous though that love is my love for my children is even greater there is no barrier that I will not cross to save my children there is no inferno that my son will not go into to rescue his people and the Lord Jesus Christ descended that into that inferno of God's judgment against our sin upon the cross to rescue us from death and judgment and hell how can I forget you
[16:33] God says to us how can I forget you when I have such a love for my children but you may say to me I know that it's marvelous but I know it but it still doesn't help me because you see I've said if you are God's child he will never forget you how do I know you say to me how do I know that I am God's child well it's very simple in John's gospel chapter 1 verse 12 we read and there John has just been explaining how Jesus came to his own and his own people did not receive him but he goes on to say this to all who did receive him to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God notice the language there he doesn't say he gives the possibility that they may become children of God no he gives the right to become children of God the authority to become children of God who are they those who receive
[17:57] Jesus those who welcome him those who believe in his name those who trust that what he is and what he has done for them on the cross is indeed for them so that they can say with the apostle Paul the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me think of those children in the back of the car all they had to do was to cry out to their mother and she came and all we have to do is to cry out to God through Jesus Christ his son to trust in him and he saves us there's no great works to be done no law to be fulfilled only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and if you trust in him and in him alone for your salvation then you are a child of God and all that I've said about God's marvelous love for his children is true for you you may not feel it at this moment you may feel forsaken you may feel you are passing through the flames or passing through the deep water but the words are true if you are my child
[19:10] I will not forget you the second part of God's answer to his people's cry is this he says I cannot forget you because I have a costly permanent record of you in verse 16 here we read these mysterious words behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands I say mysterious words because sometimes you know things that are difficult to understand in the Bible you may get some light on it from another passage in the Bible or you may find out from some background reading of something say from history or archaeology that shed some light on that particular custom or whatever I don't know there may be such evidence but I have not come across it this is a unique statement there is something of course in our own experience that I think we can relate to this you know if you've got to write something down to remember it and you haven't got a piece of paper handy sometimes you may write it on your hand and the reason for that is because of course you're always doing things with your hand you'll always see that phone number or whatever it is and you'll remember it well of course that's part of what's meant here but God doesn't say
[20:36] I have written you on the palms of my hands he uses a different word he says I have graven thee or as we would say nowadays I have engraved you now engraving is a kind of writing we engrave say on a gravestone the name of the person and some details about the person who has died but that is not usually just writing on the stone it is writing in the stone engraving is cut into the substance whether it's stone or metal or wood or whatever it is engraving is writing writing that is cut into that substance it is a permanent and costly record of what is recorded there and God is saying here I have an even greater and even more permanent and an even more costly record of all my children they are graven in the palms of my hands now I believe the ultimate fulfillment of this is that this refers to the
[21:51] Lord Jesus Christ for it is his hands that have rescued us Paul Brand was a missionary doctor in India he was a very famous surgeon he pioneered surgical techniques to restore the ravages of leprosy particularly in people's hands and one day when he was coming out of the hospital a lot of leprosy patients were gathered in the courtyard of the hospital and they approached him and they wanted him to speak to them to do the honor of addressing them and he was kind of taken off as guard as any one of us would be in a similar situation and at first he didn't know what to say but as he looked around at them the thing that struck him again as it had done before was their hands because leprosy ravages particularly the limbs often through injuries that are received because leprosy has taken away any sensation of pain so a person doesn't know if they've hurt or damaged themselves if they've put their hand on a hot place or in the fire they don't know they don't feel it we might think the lack of pain is a good thing but it's a terrible thing because you don't know the injury that's being done and many other effects leprosy and he saw those hands those hands that were perhaps paralysed by leprosy useless claw hands or other people would be concealing their hands under their clothes because they were ashamed of them and so he started speaking about hands and he said how he loved people's hands and that's why he dedicated his work to restoring people's hands he said he could tell a lot about people through looking at their hands he could tell what kind of work a man did through the places where the calluses and hard skin wear on his hands and he said there was one pair of hands that he would love to have seen the hands of Jesus and he started to speak just off the top of his head about the hands of Jesus he thought of the hands of Jesus as Jesus was a little infant a little baby how the prince of glory came into this world and limited himself to an infant's hand becoming vulnerable because he came into this world for us and he thought about Jesus as he grew up and we're told that he became the carpenter and how he used those hands to make things and create things to do good and then he thought about the hands of Jesus as Jesus went on into his public ministry and he would lay his hand on a sick person he would touch yes even a leper that nobody else would touch that everybody was afraid of touching
[24:42] Jesus would touch him and lay his hand upon him to heal him and then Paul Brand thought about the fact that cruel brutal men took those hands those hands that had done nothing but good those hands that had brought healing and hope and they drove iron nails through them into the solid wood of the cross and Paul Brand said how as a surgeon that very thought pained him because he knew the damage that would be done to a hand by an iron spike being drawn driven into it how that hand would be paralysed and it was funny he said that he said it was as if something electric ran round the courtyard because suddenly these people who suffered from leprosy who had these paralysed claw hands they realised that Jesus on the cross had experienced what they experienced and realised the extent of the identification of Jesus Christ with us in our misery as he there came to die on the cross for us but of course the story of the hands of Jesus is not finished because we know through Thomas of course it is particularly that there remains something special about the hands of Jesus after he rose from the dead remember how Thomas said
[26:18] I can't believe it you see Jesus had appeared to the other disciples and Thomas hadn't been there and he said I can't believe it I won't believe it I won't believe it unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and I can put my finger into those marks well Jesus appeared again to his disciples and Thomas was there and Jesus knew and Jesus said to Thomas come on Thomas look at my hand look at the marks in my hands and put your finger there and stop doubting but believe and so we know that Jesus still bears the marks of those nails in his hands after he has risen from the dead unless you think that this was just in his appearances in those early days and it is no permanent reference think of what is said of the Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation chapter 5 he is described as the Lamb as it had been slain there he is the Lion of the tribe of Judah also the Lamb of God he is at the centre of the throne from which the universe is governed and yet he still bears the marks of one who has been slain and he always will and so I don't think it is fancy to say that these words are fulfilled in Jesus
[27:47] Jesus says how can I forget my child how can I forget my children when my son bears a costly permanent record in his own person in his hands and in his feet and in his side speaking of that great work that he has done to atone for sin to liberate sinners from sin and misery and to bring them to glory I can never forget my child that young mother I told you about earlier who died as a result of saving her children before she died she raised up her hands hands that were burnt and she said these are the hands that saved my babies the Lord Jesus Christ today looks at his hands and he says these are the hands that saved my babies my children my people how can God ever forget you how can you be forsaken by God when such a price has been paid when such love has been shown and will be shown throughout all eternity but the third and final thing is just this
[29:08] God says I will always protect my children it's these words at the end of verse 16 words that we may very easily pass over in light of the glorious things that are being said here in Isaiah but they're worth thinking about for a moment thy walls are continually before me now you might think well that's rather mundane that's rather ordinary and down to earth walls or walls are things we don't think about all that much we have them in our houses and in our gardens or whatever but what's so important about walls well of course walls are very important even in our own day without walls this building wouldn't stand up without walls we wouldn't have protection and in the ancient world the protective quality of a wall was even more important because the walls that are being referred to here in the first instance are the walls of the city of Jerusalem because after all here it's Zion that's been spoken about Zion at a time which he felt forsaken what had happened what was Isaiah speaking about prophetically that was going to happen he was speaking about that time when these great walls of Jerusalem these walls of solid stone that provided protection these walls in which they took so much pride and in which they had so much confidence these walls were going to lie in ruins
[30:34] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had battered those walls into dust and conquered the city and God says thy walls are continually before me and the first aspect of that I think is this is he says to the people your walls are in ruins I know I know those great walls in which you took so much pride in which you had so much faith they failed you they're in ruins and it seems as if all your confidence and all your hope lies shattered and he says the same kind of thing to us you see we may have put confidence in all sorts of things and taken pride in all sorts of things even religious things even spiritual things even in our church or whatever and sometimes these things receive a battery sometimes they seem shattered by the power of opposition in this world or by the evil one or whatever and God says to us
[31:34] I know your walls are continually before me these things that you thought would protect you these things that you took pride in these things you put faith in I know the situation it's continually before me but I think there's more to it than that more to it than this expression of God's sympathy and knowledge in our feeling of forsakenness and our feeling of ruin because you see God is saying to his people the source that you look to for protection it was the wrong one you thought that these walls would protect you and protect you forever you thought that just because you were Jerusalem you thought that just because you at the temple there you would always be alright and it was not so he says I am the source of protection and I can put walls around you no matter where you are there in Babylon I have my wall of protection around you no power on earth is going to be able to destroy or to root out the seed of Israel because from that seed is going to come the Christ the descendant of Abraham the seed of the woman promised who would destroy the power of Satan and God protects his people there and he brings them back to the promised land and God continues to protect his people down through the ages remember in the Old Testament how Elisha was being pursued by the Syrians and his servant was terrified when he saw this army pursuing him and Elisha prayed that the Lord would open his eyes and his eyes were opened and he saw the horsemen and chariots of God chariots of fire surrounding
[33:27] Elisha and him there on the mountain and God has put an invisible protection around his people so that no matter what their experience no matter what their troubles no matter what their distress he protects his children the Lord Jesus Christ said no one is able to snatch them out of my hand and make no mistake the devil rages against the church the devil rages against the Christian the devil seeks to undermine and to destroy and to make us useless in Christ's service but Christ has us in his hand and no one is going to be able to snatch us out of that hand that hand that bears those scars that testify of his love I'm sure you know the story of the man who had a dream about his life and in that dream he saw his life as a series of footsteps in sand and from the time in his life when he trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord promised to him that he would never leave him nor forsake him he saw in his dream two sets of footprints in the sand symbolizing the fact that the Lord was with him but then at various points in his experience he saw that there was only one set of footprints again and it occurred to him that these were the very times when he was at his lowest when he was in distress when he was in trouble and he turns to the Lord in the dream and he says
[34:56] Lord why was it that those times when I most needed you you weren't there and isn't that our experience so often isn't that the experience Zion speaking of here the Lord has forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me and the Lord turns to him and says child that was when I carried you one set of footprints was the Lord Jesus Christ don't rely upon your feelings Zion felt forsaken but they weren't David felt forsaken but he wasn't you may feel forsaken but if you are a child of God of your faith as in Christ you're not forsaken underneath of the everlasting hour the Lord Jesus Christ felt forsaken upon the cross and he was forsaken and it is because he was forsaken that you will never be forsaken as a child of God what's love got to do with it in our cynical age people are cynical about love may even be cynical about the love of God well we've seen that though human love may fail and does fail
[36:18] God's love will never fail us God has committed himself to his people in his son Jesus Christ and he will bring us through every experience because he died on the cross because he suffered to such a death because he bore the sins of the world because he took away the sins of the world we are the children of God and we will never be forsaken let us pray our loving heavenly father we praise you for your great love to us for we know that no other power could shift us and change us and transform us we know from our own consciences what we ought to have done we know from your word what we ought to have done and we know in our frail and fallen human natures we cannot do it but we praise you for the power of love the power of the love of God in Jesus Christ that power that shatters the kingdom of Satan that power that liberates us from sin and gracious Lord we pray that you would turn our eyes to Jesus Christ turning our eyes even away from our own experience to look at Jesus to see Jesus lifted up to see Jesus lifted up upon the cross to see Jesus lifted up in glory teach us to glory in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ for there in the midst of the darkness and the cruelty and the hatred we see that amazing rock of the love of God which cannot be destroyed and which reaches out to us today oh Lord our God heal us restore us reassure us of your love towards us and build us up in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we ask it in his name
[38:33] Amen now we sing to God's praise in Psalm 103 and we're singing there from verse 8 verse 8 to 13 and the tune is Morvan the Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious long suffering and slow to wrath in mercy plenteous he will not chide continually nor keep his anger still with us he dealt not as we sinned nor did requite our ill from verse 8 to the verse Mark 13 to God's praise the Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious long suffering and slow to wrath in mercy in mercy in mercy in mercy in mercy in mercy in mercy plenteous he will not try continually nor keep his anger still with us he dealt not as we sinned nor did we quite a hill for us the heavenly side the earth the earth surmounted fire so gave to those that to him re-eared his tender mercy love as far as he's his children from the west so far at the he promised we move it in his love love all our iniquity such pity as the father had unto his children dear dear like it he chose the
[42:06] Lord to such as worship him in fear fear could you turn with me for a moment to Luke's gospel Luke chapter 22 and verses 19 and 20 Luke chapter 22 verse 19 and he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying this is my body which is given for you this do in remembrance of me likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you
[43:11] I must say a few words about who should take part in the Lord's supper and to answer that question properly I think we must first answer another question and that question is what is the Lord's supper and I want to try to answer this very simply the Lord's supper is bread and wine in a moment the elders will bring bread and wine in to the table and bread and wine of course in those days in which Jesus lived bread and wine was the simple everyday food of the people and so it spoke to people and so it spoke to people of what food did food satisfies hunger and thirst it does you good it gives you life so whatever the Lord's so whatever the Lord's supper is about there is something of that symbol in symbolism in it whatever is involved here it's about something that satisfies hunger something that does you good and something that gives you life but of course but of course it would not be the Lord's supper if the elder simply brought in bread and wine set it on the table and we all sat and looked at it that would not be the Lord's supper
[44:50] I in a few moments when we come down to the table will say the words of Jesus as we have them here or as we have them in first Corinthians 11 this is my body this is my blood and this adds you see a new dimension because here Jesus is saying there's something about this bread and this wine that speaks of my body and blood now in what sense does Jesus say this?
[45:29] now we know that there are those who take these words in a completely literal sense and say they say when Jesus says this bread is my body that that bread is transformed into his body and that that wine is transformed into his blood now on a moment's reflection we know that that is nonsense for the early disciples sitting there with Jesus they could see his body and it was different from the piece of bread he held in his hand when Jesus said I am the door nobody was supposed to think that Jesus was saying he was literally a wooden door made up of several planks of wood so why should they think the same when he says this is my body and this is my blood no, Jesus was as he so often was using language figuratively and so he says this bread and this wine symbolize my body and blood they stand for my body and blood they teach my body and blood they bring something about my body and blood to my people in what respect?
[46:51] well again if we think about it reasonably simply we see that he was speaking of his death first of all the body and blood are separate as they are in violent death in the death that he suffered his blood poured out and also of course the very process by which bread and wine are produced is a violent process wine cannot be produced unless the grapes are crushed the process of fermentation only begins when the enzymes in the skin of the grape comes in contact with the juices and sugars in the centre of the fruit the grape must be crushed to produce that good wine and in the same way bread is produced by pounding kneading and so it speaks to us of the great suffering of Jesus Christ as he was bruised and as he was crushed for us
[48:03] Jesus speaks of body broken blood poured out but you know it wouldn't be the Lord's Supper if we had the bread and wine on the table and I stood there and said the words of Jesus that Jesus said this is my body and this is my blood that's important but that wouldn't make it the Lord's Supper it is the Lord's Supper when the Lord's people take the bread and eat the bread and take the cup and drink the wine now what is someone saying by doing that?
[48:43] they are making a statement you make a statement every day when you eat your meals when you ate your breakfast this morning if you had some breakfast you were making a statement maybe you didn't know you were making a statement but you were and the statement you were making was this I depend upon this food to satisfy my hunger to do me good to give me life because if you didn't eat and drink you would die in the same way in the same way the person who comes to the Lord's table is making an even more profound statement but they are saying basically the same thing in spiritual terms they are saying this bread and wine symbolises the death of Jesus in this way the death of Jesus is brought to me Jesus is brought to me Jesus is brought to me in this way the symbolic form as he instituted this supper for me and by my taking part in it I am saying I depend upon Jesus' death to satisfy my spiritual hunger to do me spiritual good and to give me eternal life the person who comes is saying there is salvation in no other name it is only through Jesus only through his death that we have reconciliation with God and that we have eternal life the person who can truly without hypocrisy make that statement in their own heart of hearts that is the person who is entitled to be at the Lord's table that is the person in whom a work has begun a work of transformation a work by which God brings that person eventually to glory and so it is in the light of what the Lord's Supper is that the Lord's people are invited to come and to remember the Lord's death it is not any worthiness in us it is not any righteousness of our own our righteousness is as filthy rags it is the righteousness of Jesus it is the work he has done for sinners upon the cross it is only in that way that we can come and by coming and eating we are saying the cross is at the centre
[50:59] I have hope in nothing else but in the cross of Jesus Christ let's now sing to God's praise and we are singing in Psalm 118 from verse 15 verse 15 verse 15 verse 15 verse 15 verse 15 verse 15 verse 15 verse 15