The Church of Eleven22 - Passover - In The Arena: Wk 5

Episode Date: July 6, 2025

Life isn’t a playground- it’s an arena. In this message, we unpack how the story of the Passover points us to the ultimate battle Jesus fought and won for us on the cross. From the first Exodus to the final victory at the empty tomb, you’ll see how God steps in when we can’t win the fight ourselves. Whether you’re weary from your spiritual battles, feeling stuck in bondage or just need a reminder that God has never lost a fight, this message will help you stand firm and rest in the victory Jesus has already won. - The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to CoE22.com

Well, good morning, church. How's everybody doing? Good. Hey, if you've got a Bible, you're going to want to turn to Exodus chapter 12, Genesis Exodus, second book of the Bible. It's about right here in your Bible. And then you're also going to want to stick a finger or a bookmark somewhere back in Luke chapter 22. We'll get to those in just a minute. We've been in this series called In the Arena. We're in week five of it. And Kristen and I were having lunch yesterday talking about the series. And she asked if I'd ever been in a fight before. And we've been married 26 years. I don't know how this hadn't come up, but the last fight I was in was in high school. Somebody got a little mouthy at swim practice and ended up in a locker. So, and then that kind of went down a rabbit trail of us wondering how many people have actually been in fights before, like physical fights. And a poll was done in 20.

2019. I mean, we can do a poll on anything, can't you? 36% of American adults have been in a fight before. A few of us have raised the odds, haven't we? In all seriousness, though, we're doing this series because the truth of the matter is, every single one of us are in a fight. We are in a spiritual battle, whether you realize it or not.

we're in it. You see, when God created everything, in Genesis chapter 1 and 2, God creates everything. And he says, it is good, it is good, it is good, it is good, it is good. And then on the sixth day, he creates mankind in his image, male and female, he creates them. And he looks and he says, it is very good. And the earth and the garden that it represented, it was supposed to be this gallery of God's glory. and grace and goodness. But in my Bible, you don't even have to turn a page.

You just look over to the next page in Genesis chapter 3. And you see the enemy, Satan comes and he tempts Adam and Eve. He tempts Eve to go too far. He tempts Adam into passivity. And they give into those temptations and they sin. And ever since that moment, the gallery of God's glory and grace and goodness became an arena of rebellion. And one of the ways you can read through, not the only way, but one of the ways you can read through the scripture

and kind of see a red thread running through it is there are all kinds of battles going on. Have you ever wondered why there are so many battles? Like why the Bible at times can seem so bloody and there are so many fights? I'll tell you, it's not because God was one way in the Old Testament and he's another way in the New Testament. God never changes.

It's not because we're so much better than everybody else was years ago. We're just more sophisticated at it, right? Have you watched the news lately? The reason all of these battles are in here is because they are not an end to themselves. They're all pointing to the fact that there is a greater battle. There is an ultimate battle that you and I find ourselves in, a spiritual war that we find ourselves in. And so every time you read one of those accounts,

it shouldn't just be like, oh, wow, look, another battle, that's awesome, or that's bloody, or I don't like that. It should trigger in us, oh, that's right, I'm in a battle. I'm in a battle for my soul. I'm in a battle for my eternity. And it's not just the way the Bible has seen it. It's the way that Christians throughout the last 2,000 years have seen it. St. Augustine, he lived in Northern Africa, Bishop in Northern Africa, in the mid-300s. He wrote this,

what is the Christian life but a constant warfare against sin, against the world, against the devil, until death? Fast forward, 1,200 years, Martin Luther in Germany writes this, you must always fight against the world, the devil, and the flesh. these are your enemies. The life of a Christian is not an idle one. John Calvin in Switzerland, about the same time as Luther writes this, the life of a Christian is a continual warfare. Charles Spurge in the mid-1800s, you will not, listen, you will not be carried to heaven on a feather bed.

The Christian life is not a holiday, but a warfare. Martin Lloyd Jones in London and the mid-1900s, the whole life of a Christian is a conflict, a warfare. The late Tim Keller just a few years ago wrote this. To be a Christian is to fight a daily battle with the deep idols of your heart. You're either in the battle, listen to us, you're either in the battle or you're helping the enemy. John Piper, we've quoted this in the series. He says, life is war. that's not all it is but it's always that life is not a vacation from war it is a war

and so we're doing this series called in the arena not just because these battles are interesting we think these fights are really cool we're doing this series because we have to know there is a spiritual battle going on if you live in denizens if you live in dengue Nile, you're already done. And we're doing this series because it's not enough to know that there is a battle going on. You and I have to know that we're in the battle. This series is not so much a wake-up call to step into the arena, I mean an invitation to step into the arena, as much as it is a wake-up call for us to realize we're already in it. And if you don't know it's going on, you're already getting your tail handed to you. I mean, there's a cosmic battle that is occurring and there's a

personal battle that's occurring. I mean, if I'm really honest, I'm my own biggest enemy. Like, I mean, I picture sometimes like the demons run up to Satan and they're like, all right, let's get him. Let's get him. And Satan goes, hey, hold on a minute. I think he's doing just fine. by himself. He's got it. Look at the way he torments himself. Give him a second. He'll do it. We don't even have to exert any energy. You know, we don't just have struggles. We don't just have tough times. Like, you know, you know your temper? That's not just your temperament. That is a spiritual battleground. That glance at that. That glance at pornography, that's not just an eye movement. That's spiritual warfare that's going on. Like jealousy

with whatever toy your neighbor has or the promotion that somebody else at work got, you know, that's not just a simple little desire. Paul writes in Galatians that the desires of the flesh are against the spirit. Those are spiritual battles. Think about this. If you were Satan, how would you take you down? Where would you attack you? And whatever that is, that's your arena. And we have got to wake up to this. We've got to wake up to it.

And the other thing we're using this series is because you and I, we are powerless to fight this battle in our own strength. completely powerless. It's why we did in week two and week three, the battles that we did to show us we don't have the power. We don't have the strength on our own. Have you ever sworn,

I will never do whatever that is again? I'll never look at that. I'll never taste that. I'll never smoke that. I'll never go there. I'll never call her. And then what do you do? Well, one of two things,

happens. Either you fail and you do it again and then you feel shame and guilt and despair and you go through that cycle of promise and fail and promise and fail and guilt and guilt and guilt and eventually you just cash in and give up or maybe worse you get a little temporary relief. You get a minute and it feels like victory. You put all the things in place just right, and you get a little reprieve for a minute, and then you start to get a little arrogant. You start to get a little prideful.

You start to look at other people that are fighting the battle. You were just fighting, and you don't even know you're still fighting, and you sort of stick your nose up at them, and you go, I can't believe there and that. And then, wham! You get smashed.

Listen, we cannot win this fight with limited human tips and tricks. We can't do it. But we're also doing this series because we've got to know the good news is that God himself is our victory. He is. He's our victory. Do you realize, listen to this, do you realize read every battle? God has never lost a battle. Never.

He is always victorious. always will be victorious. All you have to do is look at the cross, which appears like the battle lost, and then three days later, Jesus is resurrected from the dead, and he defeats the final enemy, which is death. And if he can defeat that enemy, then he will never be beaten in any battle, ever, ever. And if you're in Christ, all of God's victory is yours. All of God's victory is yours. All of it. Listen, this is in Colossians chapter 2, verse 15. Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame.

Hebrews 2.14, through death, Jesus destroyed the one who has the power of death. That is the devil. Deuteronomy 20 verse 4. The Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you. you against your enemy and to give you the victory. Do you see that? He fights for you and then he gives you the victory. Second Chronicles 2017. I love this. Stand firm. Hold your position and it's like get ready. All right, you ready? One, two, three, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.

It feels like a big get ready to charge and take the hill, and then all of a sudden he goes, nope, just stand firm. Watch. God's going to win the battle for you. Revelation 12, 11, they talking about the followers of Jesus, have conquered Satan by the blood of the lamb. And then Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, he gets talking about the resurrection,

and he goes on and on and a whole chapter about the resurrection. at the end, he says, thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know what all of that means? All of that means that you and I don't fight for our victories. You and I fight from his victory. He's already won. And any fight we do is in his power, in his strength behind him as our shield for us. And so today we're going to look at one of the most epic battles in the Old Testament.

This battle, I mean, it became the centerpiece of the life, the rhythms, the calendars, the celebrations. And it's called the Exodus or the Passover. So you've got to go about 1,500 years before Jesus, give or take a little bit. and there's the Hebrew people, the Israelites, have been enslaved for about 430 years. Think about that. And it's a brutal dictatorship. And they are, they cannot, anything that they cannot get free. They are bound in slavery.

So there's this guy, Moses. He comes along. When day he's out in the desert and there's this bush that's burning, maybe you've heard this story. And in that moment, God appears to him and God speaks to him. And God says, hey, I've heard your cry. I've heard the cry of all of my people in slavery to Pharaoh. And so you know what? You're going to go back and you're going to tell Pharaoh, you let my people go.

Moses is like, all right, I'm quite sure how this is going to work. And who am I going to tell them sent me? And God goes, you tell him I am sent you. So Moses goes back and he tells him to let his people go. go and there's nine plagues that happen. Water to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock dies, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, every single one of those happen. And every time they happen, it looks like Pharaoh's going to relent. And then at the last moment, his heart is hardened and he doesn't let him go. Until finally the 10th plague is threatened. And here's where we pick it up

in Exodus chapter 12. It says, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses, a lamb for the household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each can eat. You shall make your count for the lamb. Verse five, listen to this, underline this. Your lamb shall be without blemish.

A male, a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. and you shall keep it until the 14th day of this month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Do you get the picture? Spotless lamb killed when it starts, day starts to go dark. Verse 7, and then they shall take some of the blood, take the blood of the lamb, and put it on the two doorposts and the lentils of the house. doorposts were these big giant pieces of wood that came down the side like this big piece of wood and the lentil came across does that remind you of anything big piece of wood that goes like this big piece of wood that goes like this

lamb dies blood says they shall eat that night eat the flesh that night roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it do not eat any of it raw or boil in water but roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts. You shall let none of it remain until morning, anything that remains until morning you shall burn. In this manner, you shall eat it, with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, staff in your hand, you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Now watch this. Verse 12, four. Okay, here's the battle. Here's why the lamb has to die. For, because, this is God speaking, I will pass through the land of Egypt that night. I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of

Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Here's God stepping into the arena. Here's the battle that they have tried and tried and tried and tried and they cannot win, they cannot get free. And finally God goes, okay, the lamb must die. The blood must go over your home. It must go on these wood pieces over you. And I'm going to enter in. I'm going to fight. I'm going to exercise judgment.

The blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are. and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. God goes on, down to verse 20. God's describing how they're supposed to celebrate this Passover meal year after year like this. And then Moses turns around and he tells all the people what God just told him. And then I love this in verse 26. And when your children say to you,

What do you mean by this service? I mean, why do you do this year after year? Why do you celebrate this meal together? You shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. For he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshipped. So the 10th plague comes.

And everybody with the blood of the lamb over them, death passes over them. And everybody that doesn't have the blood of the lamb, the firstborn, dies. And finally, Pharaoh relents. And he goes, okay, get it, go. You guys leave. And so they're already ready. Sandals, belt, staff, they go. They take off out into the desert.

And they start going. And they think they've made it. And Pharaoh's heart is hardened and he changes his mind and he and the Egyptian army pursue after him. They end up right at the edge of the sea. Miraculously, the waters part. God's people pass through the waters. As they get to the other side, the Egyptian army is coming through. God closes the ocean back up, swallows them back up, and now they're going heading towards the promised land to freedom.

that's the battle now I love this story I heard d.A carson he's a pastor theologian and he told this story he says imagine you're there that night you're standing around with a bunch of your friends and there's there's two dads one of the dads looks at the other dad and he's like do you hear what's going to go down and they're like yeah he said can you I mean are you a little scared? Like, this is, sounds terrible. Death and blood and all of this. I'm not scared at all. I mean, you heard him, right? Just put the blood on your door, over your doorpost, and God will pass over and you'll be spared. And the other one goes, well, I mean, and that's easy for you to say, you have three sons. I only have one. Sounds terrible. Now, fast forward. That night,

God passes over and he passes over both of those families' homes. Which of those families' homes does the firstborn die in? The answer is neither. Neither. Because salvation is not on the grounds of the strength or the amount of your faith. Like they both had the blood of the lamb over them. It's not the amount of faith. Jesus says it's just like a mustard seed of faith. This little itty-bitty thing.

It's not on the amount or strength of faith. Salvation is on the grounds of the blood of the lamb. That's what saves us. And so listen, Exodus was never meant to just be the biggest battle. It was always meant to point to something more. It was always meant to point to the ultimate exodus. And the ultimate exodus that the first Exodus was pointing to. I wrote this down because I want to say it right.

The ultimate exodus that the first Exodus was pointing to was that our ultimate freedom, our forgiveness, from our ultimate bondage, the wages of sin is death, was won for us by the ultimate Lamb, Jesus. in the ultimate battle where his life, death, and resurrection, where Jesus stepped into the arena and he fought and he won and he delivered us to the ultimate promised land, which is eternity with our Heavenly Father.

That's the ultimate Exodus, and that's what that Exodus was always pointing towards. Listen, all the Gospels, Acts, 1 Corinthians, Hebrews, 2nd Peter, Jude, Revelation, they all directly mention this Exodus. All the New Testament authors reference Passover and Exodus. Every New Testament book uses the language of bondage and freedom. We have a whole book, Galatians, that is all about how Jesus Christ sets us free. I love this in Luke chapter 9.

Jesus takes some of the disciples up on a mountain. It's often called the Mountain of Transfiguration. He goes up there and he's there with Moses, from Exodus, Moses, and Elijah. And there's this moment where Jesus' glory, like his divinity, breaks through. And in that moment, Luke 9.31, they, meaning Moses and Elijah and Jesus, spoke about his departure. Do you know what word departure is? They spoke about his exodus.

There's Jesus with Moses from the original Exodus, and Moses and Elijah and Jesus have a conversation about Jesus' ultimate Exodus. Jesus is the better Moses. Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. provides for us the ultimate exodus, the ultimate freedom. And Jesus is the ultimate, perfect, promised Passover lamb. John the Baptist, Jesus's cousin, he's out baptizing in the Jordan River, and he sees Jesus walking down towards the river, and he looks at Jesus, and he yells out,

behold, the Lamb of God. He points at Jesus, and he goes, There's the perfect lamb. There he is. 1 Corinthians 5, 7, Paul writes this. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. 1.18 says, it's by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. Where do you think that came from?

And I love this. in the book of Revelation 28 times Jesus is referred to as the lamb. And that first Passover meal was really pointing, just the way Exodus was pointing to the ultimate Exodus in Jesus, the first Passover meal was ultimately pointing to the ultimate Passover meal, which is the Last Supper. So if you've got your marked in there on Luke 22, turn over to Luke 22. and we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper this morning together.

And so I want to just take some time and I want to unpack what's going on in this thing. So in Luke chapter 22, verse 7, I love hearing all the pages turn. You know how much that makes a preacher's heart warm? Then came the day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare. the Passover for us that we may eat it. And they said to him, where will you have us prepare it? And he said to them, behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell him the master of the house. The teacher says to you, where is the guest

room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished, prepare it there. And they went in and found it just as he had told them. And they prepared the Passover. And when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him. And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup. And when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves.

For I tell you that from now on I will not judge. drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God has come. And he took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten saying, this is the cup that is poured out for you, is the new covenant in my blood. So what's happening in the Lord's What's happening in this last supper that we call the Lord's Supper or communion? Well, one thing that's happening is it's fulfillment. It's fulfilling what that first Passover was pointing to.

Did you hear him seven times, eight, six times? It's referred to as Passover, Passover, Passover, Passover, Passover, Passover. It's fulfilling it. The Lord's supper is an ordinance. It's a command. Jesus says, okay, take, that's a command, eat, that's a command, do in remembrance of me, that's a command. But it's so much more. If you stop at simply Jesus said do it, so I do it, you miss it.

It's so much more than that. It's a sign. And the thing about signs is signs aren't the place, signs point. to the place, right? So last week, our family went down to Rainbow River. If you've never been there, you should go. It's awesome. And the way we get from our house down to Rando River is we go out I-10, we turn on 301, we start heading south, and you start seeing signs for what? No. Gainesville, the promised land, folks. Now listen, Waldo ain't the promised land. Stark for sure isn't. I got a fat ticket there once. But Gainesville? But the sign isn't the thing,

right? The sign points to the thing. And so listen, the Lord's Supper isn't bodily Jesus. It points to Jesus. Jesus is in heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father. The Lord's supper isn't grace. It points to grace. The Lord's Supper doesn't dispense grace to us. The Lord's Supper points to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It's not a re-sacrificing of Jesus. Hebrews 10 tells us that Jesus was sacrificed once and for all. It's not a re-sacrificing of this.

The Lord's Supper points to salvation. It doesn't give salvation. It's like the bread and the wine don't contain salvation. it points to the fact that Jesus's body was broken, that his blood was poured out, that the Lamb of God died for us. It points to a new covenant in his blood. But it's even more than that.

It's sacramental. When we share this meal together, something sacred, something set apart happens in this moment. there is a special, unique, sacred meeting between us and God that happens in this moment. There is something mysterious that happens. Don't reduce it down so far that you miss the supernatural meeting with God. And this Lord's Supper is a work of Jesus that is a gift to us. It's his work that he gives.

to us, right? Jesus takes the bread and he gives it to them. And he takes the cup and he gives it to them. Think about this. In worship, we pray to God. We sing to God. We preach to God. Almost everything we do is us towards God in worship. but when we come to the Lord's supper, the tables turn. And Jesus serves us. When you get the bread and the cup in your hand in a minute, you think about the fact that in that moment, the risen Lord by the power of the spirit is serving you. But listen, we're not just passive in this thing.

We actually are doing something. And so here's what we're doing. We're remembering. Jesus says, do this in remembrance of me. Like, we remember that Jesus died on the cross. Kristen and I just had our 26th anniversary. We went out to a great dinner. You know what we didn't do?

We didn't just go, hey, you remember that day we were married? Yep. Cool day. remember that it happened yep i remember that it happened remember that that you wore a dress and i wore tucks yep remember those events no i was like do you do you remember you were walking in to the chapel and i was walking around the side and all of a sudden there we ran into each other and we hadn't planned on so do you remember when we saw each other before the wedding and we were we were taking those events we weren't just

remembering that it occurred. Something so much more happens when we take the Lord's supper. You're remembering. You're recalling. You're reaching back by the power of the spirit. You're reaching back into the past. That Jesus died. That he was resurrected. And you're pulling it up and remembering, remaking it an ever-present reality in our life. that there is a present moment that this is happening. That anniversary dinner, it isn't just the past. We're trying to drag up all those years and bring them right here into the present and go, look at this. This moment is 26 years.

And we're looking forward. We look back. We make it present and we look forward. Jesus said, I'm not going to do this again until I do it in my father's kingdom. The way the book of Revelation describes eternity is one of the things that it's like is it's going to be like a giant wedding feast. Because it the marriage supper of the lamb. There's going to be a huge feast and a huge banquet.

And it is going to be the celebration of all celebrations. And you and I who have faith in Jesus will get to sit down at the table with Jesus and celebrate his victory, our Exodus, forever. And so we look back, we make present, we look forward, and we are proclaiming. Jesus says, I mean, Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 1126. He says, often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. comes again. When you eat that little piece of bread and you drink that little cup, you are proclaiming,

you are professing faith in Jesus. It's a big deal. It's a really big deal. There is a proclamation to the world of what you believe about Jesus. And it's participatory. not just like active in the moment, it's participating in Christ. Paul says in 1st Corinthians 1016, the cup of blessing that we bless. He's talking about the cup at communion.

Is it not participation in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? what you're saying when you take this we say all right i'm in christ and christ is in me there is something so mysterious that happens in that moment there there is a union with us in christ that we're attesting to that we say i'm participating in christ and christ in me i am his he is mine and we are embracing Jesus by faith in that moment. So when should we take the Lord's Supper? I love this. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1126, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup. He doesn't say you have to do it every time you get together, every week, once a month, once a quarter. He just goes, hey, whenever you do it,

here's how you do it. He says, when you come together as a church, we do this thing when we're gathered. It's not a private individualistic thing that I go off behind a curtain and do alone. Our faith is not private. You realize that, right? It's deeply personal because it's a proclamation. And so we do it. When we gather, we gather up. And Paul says in 1st Corinthians 10, 1017, it's one body and one bread. It's why we call it communion sometimes, that like one body, we're like one body, like one loaf of bread. And we commune together with one another. And we commune with Christ in this moment.

So the question is, how is he present? I mean, Jesus says in Luke 2219, this is my body. Verse 20, this is my blood. So is the bread and the cup actually the physical, carnal body of Jesus and blood of Jesus? Is he actually present bodily? Now listen, the question is not, is Jesus present? The question is, how is he present? That's the question.

and there's sort of two ends of the spectrum errors that we need to say it's not he's not physically bodily present Jesus is physically bodily in heaven he isn't parceled up and dispersed all over the place throughout time he's not physically bodily here have you ever seen somebody do magic they have a little wand right what do they say when they're going to do magic. Hocus, pocus, right? Hocus, focus, and they do it. You know where that came from? When Roman Catholics used to say Latin Mass,

they would get to the part where they would have the bread and the priest would hold it up. And in Latin, he would say, horpus, corpus, hocus, pocus. People would be like, what do he say? I think he said hocus, pocus. I think that's when the bread turned into the body. And they would think something magical.

occurred at that moment. Nothing magical is occurring. There's no hocus pocus. Jesus is in heaven. He's seated bodily there. But it's not just symbolic. Like it's not just a memorial. Jesus is actually present among us. He's present among us when we take this by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith. I love this quote. Charles Spurgeon says this. Faith is the mouth with which the soul feeds upon Christ. In the Lord's Supper, Christ is not received into the mouth that were carnal, but into the heart and their spiritually, thereby faith.

Which means this thing that we do, it's not some dead, rote, ancient ritual of religion. this is a really powerful moment and so we take it reverently like we take it with serious joy serious because it costs Jesus' life and joy because it gives us freedom forever we take it with serious joy we celebrate

this thing last question is this who should take the Lord's supper. There's two people that shouldn't take the Lord's supper. Unbelievers and perfect people. You're like, I don't get it. How's that word? So Paul says in 1st Corinthians 11, 26, and then down in verse 29, he says that when you do this,

you proclaim the Lord's death. This meal is for those of us that proclaim Christ's death. Not just that it happened, but that. that it happened for me. It counted for me. And Paul says, if anyone, for anyone who eats or drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. And so I would tell you, if you discern in you that you don't have faith in Jesus, I would just say, there's no shame, there's no condemnation. We're so glad you are here. But in that moment, just let it go by. I don't want any more judgment heaped on you. But here's the other thing.

No perfect people allowed. When we discern, we're not discerning for perfection within us. We're discerning for a mustard-sized seed of faith in a perfect Lamb of God, Jesus. That's what we're looking for. And so we stop and we go, listen, here's what this meal is for. Here's who it's for. Messy, grimy, needy, desperate people. who believed Jesus fought and won for us.

The Lord's Supper is admitting that you're not just imperfect, but you're a great sinner in need of an even greater Savior. And so here's the invitation. Maybe you're not a believer. But there's something inside of you that goes, no, I really do want the freedom. of Jesus. I don't know what's happening, but I believe that when Jesus came, he stepped into the arena

and he fought my greatest enemy, sin and death. And Jesus took my place on the cross. And when he died on the cross, the wages of sin being death, he who knew no sin, Jesus became sin. that I might become the righteousness of God, that I might have complete and total freedom from bondage to myself, to sin, to Satan, to death. That Jesus stepped in, fought for me.

And maybe for the first time, you would say, I believe that. And when that happens, it counts for you. All of God's victories become yours in Jesus Christ. And so you can celebrate communion with us. You can participate in the body of Christ with us. You're invited. And I would beg and I would plead for you, accept the victory of Jesus for you.

Take it. He's offering it. receive it right now. So would you bow your heads? And if for the first time you would like to receive Christ's victory for you, would you raise your hand, raise it up high and say, I admit that I need Jesus. I admit that I want, I confess my sin and I receive his victory for me. Would you raise your hand high in that. Heavenly Father, thank you for the victory that is in Jesus Christ. Thank you that he fought and won for us. Thank you for his life. Thank you for his death. Thank you for his resurrection. We pray it all in Jesus' name. Amen. So we've heard the word preached. Now we're going to

taste and see that the Lord is good. And so our servers are going to come forward. They're going to pass the trays down with the cup and the bread that's in there. You can just take one of those. And the Apostle Paul, when he's writing in 1st Corinthians, we read this passage. He says that we should do this in a discerning way. Again, not discerning for perfection, but discerning for faith in Jesus. discerning our need,

discerning repentance in our heart. And life is so busy. There's so much noise. There's so much distraction. I mean, it can be that even this way in a room where we set apart some time. And so here's what we're going to do before you take and eat the bread

and drink the cup. I want you to just take a moment. And I want you to just take a moment. still your heart. I want you to just have a moment between you and the Lord and ask him to reveal anything that doesn't look like Jesus in your life and repent of that. And then confess that Jesus is victorious over it for you. Let's take a minute and do that. So on the night of which Jesus was betrayed, he was gathered in that upper room with his disciples. and he took some bread, unleavened bread, just like Exodus 12 had said to do.

And they were sharing the Passover meal, but now he was about to do something that had never been done before. He was about to completely fulfill everything that meal pointed towards. So he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it. And he looked at his disciples and he said, take, eat. This is my body broken for you. As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me. And then after supper, he took a cup. And he looked at the disciples and he said,

this is a cup of a new covenant. The old covenant was a covenant of works. This is a covenant of grace. Pure, unmerited, unearned, ill-deserved favor of God forever. This is a new covenant, a new promise of that grace sealed in my blood for the forgiveness of sins. Years later, the Apostle Paul would write that as often as we, We eat this bread and we drink this cup. We proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again.

And so we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ for us by faith. So let's take these elements together now. When you're done, would you stand? And we're going to continue to respond in faith. We're going to sing. We're going to pray. We're going to bring our gifts back to God. for all that he has done in the ultimate Passover Lamb providing us with the ultimate Exodus.

Let's respond.