Sermon in Phoenix 02.04.2015

May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever. Amen.

Let us quieten this evening in opening prayer and thanksgiving. Amen.

Holy and righteous God, our beloved Heavenly Father, we thank you, dear Father, on this day of grace for giving to us your Son, through whom, even on this day, we have been reminded that through him our sin debt has been paid. All of our sins are washed away and we are your children traveling towards heaven. We thank you, dear Father, for this gift. It is the most perfect gift that you've been able to give to mankind.

We also, on this day, dear Father, thank you for the abundant grace, the temporal blessings and gifts that you've given us that are needful for this endeavor in this strange and foreign land. Yet you have given us in such abundance that we have been without need and without want. And we thank you for this also, dear Father. Amen.

Thank you for your kingdom, where we can dwell as your children in this place of security and comfort, traveling with fellow escorts hand in hand towards our eternal destination. All of this comes from your hand.

And this evening, dear Father, as we gather again before your holy, holy and precious word, we pray for your service blessing. That you would break your word as crumbs of grace so that the weak and poor traveler might be nourished and fed. Amen.

And as we remember during this Easter season, all of that work which your Son, the Son of God, accomplished on our behalf, we even pray at the beginning of these services that through this weekend we would be again reminded of that great measure of love and grace that you have for us, your children. Feed us with your word. Comfort us in our journey of living faith. Carry us one day to the glory of heaven. All of this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before reading a text this evening for our mutual study, I would joy bring you, brothers and sisters, many loving greetings from your travel friends from Finland. We returned Monday from ten days there. We enjoyed an experience, God's blessings there. We were able to have those kinds of meetings and discussions where we shared around the mutual work that is before us. There were those kinds of brothers from Sweden and Finland and the US.

And in historical typesetting where we were able to share our work, the work of God. I think that will be our last. I will do my best to do my best to do my best. I will do my best to do my best where we were able to meet and visit around the work of God's kingdom. And as we join in this mutual work that God has left us with to do, there we experience the mutual love and unity of the Spirit. And I again marvel as to how perfectly God cares for His kingdom here on earth. Many loving greetings from there.

This evening, on this Maundy Thursday, I will read for our study of God's word from the 26th chapter of Matthew, beginning with the 17th verse. The words are as follows in Jesus' name.

Now the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Passover? And He said, Go into the city to such a man and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand, and I will keep the Passover at Thy house with My disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them. And they made ready the Passover.

Now when the even was come, He sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, He said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me. And they were exceeding sorrowful and began every one of them to say unto Him, Lord, is it I? And He answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me.

The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him, but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born.

Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto Him, Thou hast said.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to His disciples. And He said, Take, eat. This is My body.

And He took the cup and He gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it. For this is My blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Amen.

It was a late afternoon, early evening, when Jesus' disciples, who had left Bethany, only a few miles away from Jerusalem, they had left Bethany earlier that morning for their final walk together to the city of Jerusalem.

In Bethany, the disciples had stayed with their friends. Jesus had stayed with them. He had stayed with His friends, Mary and Martha and Lazarus. It wasn't the first year that they had stayed with them. This Feast of the Passover was an annual feast.

And it was often this way when the disciples, when Jesus, when they were in the house, would work in Jerusalem that He stayed in the home of their friends. Remember that home of Mary and Martha? It was that same home in which Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead.

Now it was time for Jesus to go to Jerusalem for the last time.

Mary took her baptism at Mount Sinai and in the house which is a meeting place where he lived. Before she had married Jesus, she knew Christ. And so, she knew Pharaoh, who came to Israel to seek her Time to obey Jesus.

Before she got married, she prepared for Christ by praying to Him.

The next day, the disciples would don their free stuff and they had a great family which they were blessed by. The disciples would mostly dress up with safety garde or one of Show's meisten pieces.

Of course, they would have gotten somewhat dirty and soiled from their trip, but they would have been more than presentable for that feast that was there prepared.

Jesus had sent a couple of his disciples earlier in the day to find the suitable home in which they would keep this feast.

Disciples had this kind of question. How will we know where that house is where we will keep that feast? Jesus had told them, you will see a man walking with a pail of water or a bucket of water, a vessel of water on his head, and follow him.

They did. They followed him to that house, and there he went into that upper chamber of that home. It was there that they began to prepare for the feast of the Passover.

Now, in our text, it speaks of that time when they were there gathered. That feast was held yearly. It had been from the time of Moses that this feast of the Passover had been kept.

It was a certain feast where there were those kinds of foods that were already used, eaten in that first Passover. There was a lamb, an unblemished lamb, a yearling. A lamb that was older than eight days and younger than a year. And that lamb was without spot or blemish.

There was also bitter herbs that were part of that feast. And those bitter herbs reminded the children of Israel of the bitterness that they experienced when they were in bondage in Egypt.

That lamb was roasted in the fire. It was a whole lamb, again symbolizing the whole nation of Israel.

And also with that, there was unleavened bread. That unleavened bread was that which was given at that time of the first Passover.

Unleavened bread was a very fast bread to make. It didn't require any kind of yeast or time for raising. And so it was given at that first Passover.

The first feast when they were preparing to leave the land of Egypt on their journey towards the promised land.

And it was given in this way that the children of Israel could prepare it very quickly because they would need to leave at a moment's notice on that journey home.

This commemorative feast had been celebrated for hundreds, hundreds and hundreds of years. One that was very special for the children of Israel. It reminded them of that time when God preserved them from Egypt and allowed them to return to their promised land.

Now when the disciples were preparing for this feast, they also prepared it as they had for generations and generations.

So earlier in the day, they were those ones who had to prepare that lamb. It was roasted.

And this meal of remembrance was kept in such a way that all of the food needed to be eaten. And if there was anything left from that evening, the evening's meal needed to be burned the next day.

And so now when Jesus gathered his friends, his disciples, for this last meal, it would have been so that the table would have been set there, a low table.

Those tables in those days were about 12 inches high off the floor and they would sit on the floor. And they would often lean on their elbow. And they would eat with their right hand.

The table that was prepared would have been a horseshoe type table. An open end where the servants could come and serve. And then the disciples would have been around the table with Jesus at the head of that closed end.

And on either side of them were the disciples. It is thought that Peter, who was often the spokesman for Jesus, or for the disciples, would have sat close.

There would have been that kind of bantering and that kind of jostling among the disciples even, as they often did. They even had these kinds of questions that who was the greatest among us?

There would have been that kind of silent jostling where they would have fought for the best seat. And surely, the best seat would have been next to Jesus.

Perhaps one was reserved for Peter, who was thought to be that kind of leader of the disciples, often outspoken. But we also know from the scriptures that John, the apostle John, was another. Perhaps he sat on Jesus' right.

And so when Jesus leaned on his elbow this way to eat, John, on his right, would have also leaned on Jesus' arm.

And then as that configuration of the table continued, there would have been those disciples that would have sat next to each other towards the open end of that table.

The feast then was prepared in such a way where they first ate, of that bitter herb. And those herbs would have been prepared in a way where it would have been like a salad.

And as they ate those bitter herbs, they would have been reminded of those years prior when the children of Israel lived in the bondage there in Egypt.

Also, they ate of this unleavened bread. And mixing that bread with those herbs would have been a feast where they again remembered.

During this feast then, the servants would come with a basin of water. And the disciples, those ones that were eating this meal, would wash their hands in that basin of water as they ate.

This meal wasn't only being kept this evening, in that upper chamber of this house, but throughout all of Jerusalem.

The children of Israel, Israelites, the Jewish people would travel there. It was a traveling feast where people came from throughout the region and area to celebrate this feast of remembrance.

So there would have been these kinds of meals that would have been being prepared in each of those homes. They would have gathered friends, and they would have been eating.

They would have gathered their friends and family together. There would have been those amounts of guests invited so that they would make sure there was enough food for all of the guests, but also not too much food so that they wouldn't waste anything until the next day.

So the family and friends gathered together.

Now this evening, as we are going to be eating, we also gather around this same feast of remembrance. We also gather with our believing friends.

We gather remembering not so much anymore the Passover, but rather we remember that which Jesus performed on our behalf.

That night, as Jesus, as a servant, would have taken that basin of water partway through that meal, He would have taken that basin of water and as He approached the disciples and they would have went to dip their hands in that basin of water, Jesus then took off His garments and He said, girded Himself with a towel and He knelt down at the disciples' feet to wash their feet.

This was the place of the servant.

Think, brothers and sisters, of this occasion. You were there as an honored guest. You were there with your friends. You were there with Jesus.

And Jesus then Himself took on the role of a servant and He went before His disciples and He knelt before them to wash their feet.

I'm sure at first, the first disciple that He would have went to, perhaps at the end of the table, would have been so amazed that Jesus would do this, that He was without words, that pondering, that why is Jesus washing my feet?

And as Jesus went from one disciple to the other, He came to Peter. And Peter told Jesus that you cannot wash my feet.

And I wondered that what was the reason why Peter would have rejected this washing? Perhaps it was pride.

He recognized and knew that Jesus was the Son of God. Remember in Peter's life when even this question was asked that who do men say that I am? Jesus. Or Peter answered and said, Thou art Christ.

And with this confession, we remember that Jesus said that Thou art Peter. And upon that confession of Peter, He would build His church.

Upon that faith of Peter was Christ's church built.

But that even in the evening when Peter recognized that Jesus was the Savior, the Son of God. I'm sure many of us would be in the same place as Peter who wouldn't want our feet to be washed by the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

So when Peter rejected this, remember what Jesus told him, except that I wash your feet, you have no part of me.

So then, when Peter, in his impetuous ways, he said, not only my feet, but my hands and my head also.

But what did Jesus tell him? It is enough that I wash your feet.

Think of that when they had already bathed earlier in Bethany and they were clean. The only thing that would have become soiled was the feet of the disciples.

So it shows, it's also a picture of the journey of a child of God.

It wouldn't be far from us to consider that when we fall into sin, we fall away from faith. But that's not true.

The child of God falls into sin daily. And it's not like the child of God falls in and out of faith every time we fall into sin.

But sin does accumulate. And if we don't put away sin, then sin can separate us from God.

So this teaching also of this would be that the child of God endeavors to put sin away. And that we would walk with that kind of clean conscience and a heart that is clean. A conscience that is voidable since before man and God.

So when Jesus told Peter that except that I wash your feet you have no part of me. And Peter responded that not only my feet but my hands and my head also.

And Jesus then said all of you are clean but one.

And so he was speaking of Judas Iscariot of which we also read in this text.

This Judas was that one that betrayed Christ. And he was the one to whom Jesus was turned over to the Roman soldiers.

And so Jesus also was able to see into the heart of this man. This Judas Iscariot. And he knew there wasn't faith in Judas' heart.

And as we read in this text when they sat down with the twelve and as they did eat he said verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me.

And the disciples began to ask among themselves is it I?

There was that kind of heart in the believers. In those believing disciples who would have been worried that is this one that's to betray you? Is it I?

Because he had said that the one that betrays me has no part of me. And surely is not a child of God.

And so they began to ponder these things among themselves.

And when he answered and he began to answer he said the one that dips his hand with me in the dish is the same that shall betray me.

And I wonder when Jesus was speaking this that did he say it quietly enough that perhaps Judas didn't hear him?

Maybe in their discussion as they were ongoing, they were distracted.

But anyway Judas also asked this question. That is it I?

Judas would have known surely that he was the one.

Because this same Judas already had made a deal with the high priest that he would sell Jesus to them for 30 pieces of silver.

And he would sell them for 30 pieces of silver. The price of a slave.

There was this kind of unbelieving heart this deviant heart in Judas.

He was the treasurer of those disciples. He carried the money. And he was the one that paid for the services that were rendered. He collected money. He paid bills.

And so he was the one that carried this money. And it was a temptation for him.

And this same Judas was the one of whom now when this dish went and Jesus took his fingers and he broke that bread and he would have dipped from that bitter herb and he would have fed it to Judas.

Judas would have eaten it. And then he would have known and not only he but also the other disciples as to who was that one that was going to betray him.

So it was the son of man goeth as it is written but woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed.

It would have been good for this man if he had never been born.

This testimony of this Judas Iscariot was not a good one. It meant that there was no eternal life for him.

To the point that it would have been better that he would have never ever been born.

I have wondered sometimes even for the child of God and perhaps it's my own feeble mind wondering.

But I thought of the child of God and the blessings that have been given to us as God's children.

And those blessings those who have been called into God's kingdom we have been given a special gift.

And I wonder about those who have rejected that gift. Those who have turned their back on that gift that God gave them.

Rejected that call of a child of God. Rejected the life of a believer and went into the ways of this world.

What would be their end?

I don't know that there would be any more punishment.

It seems to imply here that for Judas there was some additional punishment whatever that might be.

It says that it would be better that he was never born.

But for the child of God who was called into this kingdom and granted grace to believe I've pondered that at that time of judgment when the children of God's names are being called from the Lamb's book of life and as we're waiting there at that time of judgment to be called would it be possible there that we might see those kinds of friends who are not who are still believing who died as a believer but we are those who have denied faith as they look to those who are being called into the glory of heaven and those who are left as Jesus even teaches of that time of judgment when he says for those on the left hand that depart from me workers of iniquity.

What will it be for those who once believed and have denied faith to stand there at that time of judgment and to see those friends or family or loved ones being welcomed into the glory of heaven and then they being rejected.

I wonder if there could be a more pitiful place to be a more sorrowful place to be.

All of us in life have had those kinds of moments where we've at least I have where you wish you had done something different.

You have those kinds of moments where you think oh I shouldn't have done that.

Whether it's a behavioral thing or a decision we've made in life.

Sometimes we live to regret those decisions but would there be a greater regret than this than to have once believed and to have denied that gift of faith?

I don't think so.

How could we imagine being so close and yet so far?

How could we be so close to the rest of us?

I think this is one of the most important things in the life of Jesus.

It speaks about Judas Iscariot. He was called to be one of the twelve disciples. He traveled with Jesus. He walked with him. He was taught by him. He lived during those days but he gave that up for what? For a few pieces of silver.

We sing in those songs and hymns of Zion we sing of those who have denied faith and that which waits for them.

Of the pain and suffering in eternity.

Brothers and sisters this evening it seems so important that we as God's children who have been called take a moment to step back and to ponder that which is before us.

What is waiting? Nothing beyond time but eternity.

And we have opportunity as God's children to live in eternity in the glory of heaven.

But also there are those who have denied faith. Such a sad end to their lives.

But as it was this Judas which betrayed Jesus, he asked, This is then Judas which betrayed him, answered and said, Master is it I? And Jesus then said, Thou hast said.

So then as this meal continued, it says then as they were eating, then Jesus took bread, He blessed it, and He broke it and He gave it to His disciples and said unto them, Take eat, this is my body.

And He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it. For this is my blood in the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Now this meal of remembrance where they had eaten of that Passover lamb, that Paschal lamb.

Now when Jesus took this bread and He said, Take eat, this is my body.

Now there is such a deep mystery that here takes place when we can eat and drink of the body and blood of Christ.

Tonight, as we celebrate the Lord's Holy Supper, we also eat of His body and drink of His blood.

And we do this in remembrance of all of that which Jesus has done on our behalf.

We will remember this weekend, tomorrow being Good Friday, when Jesus was tried and He was nailed to the cross.

And we will ponder on Saturday the day that Jesus spent in the grave.

We will also remember on Sunday of the resurrection story.

When we ponder these things, we ponder them even this evening.

And when we eat and drink of this body and blood, we eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus.

What did Jesus do to the world, brothers and sisters? He gave of His life for us so that on this day none of us need to perish but all have hope of eternal life one day in the glory of heaven.

Think of that which the disciples at that feast in that evening of remembrance, the last time they were able to eat with Jesus.

In this text, Jesus says it's the last time that you will eat. We will eat this together before the glory of heaven.

So it was the last meal, the last supper.

What they ate and it was for this reason that their faith would be strengthened.

Jesus knew of those things that the disciples were going to face. He knew of their weakness.

He had traveled with them for some years. He had taught them. He had instructed them. He had witnessed how they were as we travelers.

And He knew that they were going to need that kind of refreshment in their journey to be strengthened in their faith.

He knew that many of them were going to lose their life over their faith.

He knew that they would be called before magistrates. They would be called before those leaders and those judges and to be testifying of how they believed.

It hasn't changed today, brothers and sisters.

Either we are still as God's children traveling towards heaven and we still have this kind of a journey that is a trial.

There are those kinds of temptations that we face.

There are those times when we are even faced with that kind of question, that are you a believer?

When I was in Finland, it became very evident that there in Finland the believers face some very heavy pressures from the world and also from those who were once believing.

When I witnessed, when I saw, when I heard of those things that the brothers and sisters in faith faced there, I in some ways was able to understand more perfectly what it means now that the child of God in the end days will be persecuted.

Surely the believers aren't persecuted yet to the degree as they once were.

When you think of and read from the time of the Book of Revelations, those believers were tormented, ridiculed, and persecuted.

Many of those during that time denied faith. They couldn't remain believing for fear of their life.

There are those kinds of pressures from the world even today that the child of God trembles and wonders that will I be able to confess my faith in the face of this evil and corrupt world.

It was for that reason that Jesus knew the lives of His disciples and He knew that they would need to be strengthened in their faith.

It is for that reason that we also this evening, brothers and sisters, can come to this feast of remembrance that has been prepared for us where we can look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

He's promised through His word to keep us as His own.

The only matter that is necessary for us is that tonight we believe and that we have that kind of faith in our hearts trusting upon the merit work of Christ.

Jesus fulfilled everything for us. Nothing we can do or there is nothing that we can do or should do to merit salvation.

The disciples asked this question, that what works can we do? Jesus told them, You can work the works of my Father and believe on Him whom He sent.

It means this that we simply believe in that which Jesus has done on our behalf.

This evening, brothers and sisters, you can uplift your heart to believe that your sins are all forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atoning blood.

It is that which Jesus wanted His own to remember where He said in that meal of remembrance, Drink ye all of it. For this is the blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

But then He goes on to say, But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new with you and my Father's kingdom.

This would be the last meal for them.

And when this meal was accomplished and when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.

It was that kind of meal where the disciples again were taught by Jesus about all that He would do for them in their behalf.

And for them we today, brothers and sisters, still journey as those believing disciples did, gathering those blood drops of Jesus.

Remain believing your sins and doubts forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atoning blood.

Jesus wanted to eat that meal with His loved ones.

Luke writes that with desire, that with desire I have desired to eat this feast with you.

He still desires His children to come close.

And when we eat of that bread, when we eat of that body, and when we drink of that wine, when we drink of that blood, Jesus then by faith lives with us.

There's a mystery. It is only attained through faith.

Paul writes that he who eats and drinks unworthily, meaning he who eats and drinks without faith, is that kind of it has no blessing or merit for him or rather eateth and drinketh unto damnation as Paul writes.

So what is required for the communion guest? Simply this, that you believe that you're a believer and through faith you'll be strengthened in this meal.

So come as you find yourself weak and doubting, fearful perhaps, feeling the effects of your own corruption, your own sin, your own flesh which we carry and how close it feels some days.

But this is the reason why Jesus gave His life so that we can believe through Him.

This evening I also find myself with many doubts and those kinds of temptations, feeling my own corruption that can I also hear the gospel.

I want to believe as you believe in Jesus' name. Amen.