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A follower of Jesus

Lord's Prayer

Lord’s Supper: Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves in Prayer

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Please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11.

At LBC, we observe the Lord’s Supper every other month. That’s in contrast to some churches that observe it every week and others that hardly observe it at all. The argument can be made not to observe it every week because if this is a weekly practice, this ordinance will lose its meaning. In fact, it can become nothing more than a meaningless ritual.

On the flip side, the death and resurrection of Christ is the core of our faith. It’s the gospel embodied and remembered. And for those who practice it too infrequently, there is danger that they will lose the central component and anchor of our faith and drift into all kinds of peripheral teachings.

I pray that the Lord’s Supper would never become a mundane routine. I pray that the gospel would always be held at the center of this church. Thus, we need to observe Communion with regularity and with enough frequency for its message to have impact in shaping this church.

With what kind of heart are we to partake?

28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

We can’t partake without first examining our hearts. Today, we talked about the sin of a judgmental spirit. And I would like us all in a moment to focus our prayers on this particular sin. Ask God to reveal areas of blindness. The plank in our eye. Examine your attitude toward others. Do you speak redemptively or with a condemning tone?

Pray through the gospel. Preach the gospel to yourself in your prayers. Remember how lost you were and how thankful you were when you were first saved. You used to be enemies of God. You deserved to be cast off forever. But God had mercy on you. He saved you. Nothing the world does to you can take your salvation away. Nothing anyone says about you will change your eternal destiny if you are a child of God. Think back to those days when you first believed. There was no judgmental spirit then. You were just overjoyed to be rescued from sin and embraced by the loving arms of your Savior and Lord. Let the gospel permeate your thoughts and your prayers. If you do that, your attitude toward others will change.

I am going to ask Brother Jae and Brother Matthew to come forward and stand facing the congregation. As you come to partake in the Lord’s Supper, the 3 of us are going to pray for you silently because it is our commitment to serve you and to lead this congregation first and foremost through the preaching of the Word and through prayer.

We are going to ask you to come forward twice. First, I will invite you to come forward to take the bread and you are free to take it whenever you are finished praying on your own. This is to stress the individual aspect of the Lord’s Supper. Second, I will ask you to come forward a second time to take the cup and this time, I ask that you wait until everyone has been served and we will take the cup altogether. This is to stress the corporate aspect of the Lord’s Supper.

Christians are all welcome to come forward. If you are not a committed member of a church, I would encourage you to commit here or somewhere else. Otherwise, you will not get the full impact of what the Lord’s Supper represents. If you don’t yet believe in Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, I would ask you to refrain from partaking in Communion because this ordinance has no meaning for you.

Let me read starting from the second half of v23 —

23 …The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Let’s spend some time in prayer – about 1-2 minutes. When you have finished praying, come forward and take the bread back to your seat. And when you are ready, please take it individually as a symbol of Christ’s forgiveness given to you personally.

You can come forward using either aisle. Let’s pray.

If you haven’t come forward to take the bread already, please come forward now because we will be moving on soon. [TAKE BREAD]

Now is the time we invite you to come forward for the cup. This time, I ask everyone to take the cup and wait at their seat until everyone has been served. Then, as a symbol of our corporate unity, we will take it together so please hold on to the cup and wait for everyone to be served. Please come forward. [TAKE CUP]

25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

You may take the cup. Closing prayer.

Matthew 6 – The Lord’s Prayer (pt4 of 4)

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Quick Recap
1) The first litmus test–Christianity is not a show. It’s not a performance. Don’t live before men.
2) Related to this, the second litmus test–a Christian knows how to cultivate a secret faith before God.
3) The third litmus test–a Christian is one who lives out his faith publicly in the world. As salt, as light so that men would see our good deeds and praise our heavenly Father.
4) A fourth litmus test for salvation–a Christian is consistent no matter the circumstance you place him in. There is integrity, wholeness, private life matching public life.
5) The fifth litmus test–a Christian is someone who is concerned about God’s name and His kingdom. Personally, wanting God’s name to be hallowed. Evangelistically, wanting God’s name and his renown to be spread among all the nations.
6) The sixth litmus test–a Christian is someone who has the ability to forgive others because he or she has already received a tremendous amount of forgiveness from God.

I want to end with v11.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

Finally, the seventh litmus test–a Christian is someone who humbly depends on God daily.

Daily bread refers to daily provision, things like food and shelter and clothes. We don’t often talk about finances. It’s an uncomfortable topic, but it’s in the text so I want to end by taking a moment to address it. Let me start by saying this. A Christian can be rich or poor. The key is not the size of your bank account per se. But if you look at the context, you can’t deny that there’s a link between finances and faith. Verses 19-21 talk about finances.

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In verses 25 through the end of the chapter, again, Jesus talks about finances. Jesus exhorts us not to worry about what you will eat or drink, or what you will wear. Why? Because God even feeds the birds of the air. Birds still have to go out early in the morning and find their food. It’s not like they’re just lounging around in their nests and God drops worms from heaven. They have to work. But they’re not stressed, why? Because even birds are taken care of by God. If you have a goldfish and you forget to feed it for a few weeks and he dies, oops, it’s no big deal. You flush him down the toilet and buy another one. If you are an animal lover, sorry if I am offending you.

But if your son or daughter is starving, it’s a big deal. If God cares for birds, how much more, you and I, as children of God, how much more God loves us and cares for us. Therefore, we don’t have to worry. Pagans worry about things pertaining to finances. But we, the people of God, we’re covered. God has taken care of our physical needs. Look around. Hasn’t he? Isn’t he faithful? We’re covered. Why? So that in v33-34, we can–

33 …seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

So we have the verses about not storing up treasures on earth but storing up treasures in heaven and these verses are followed by not worrying about physical provisions and instead seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. And in between, we have a sobering verse which connects these two sections together.

24 No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

God and Money. These are the only two masters in life. You’re either serving one or the other. It doesn’t say, God or Self. Or God vs. Pride. Or God’s kingdom vs. my kingdom. But God and Money. In life, these are the two masters. Have you ever thought about this verse? We all fall under one of these two. One Master will free you. The other will enslave you.

I know for a fact, few if any of us would admit, my god is money. We can easily justify ourselves, I am not greedy. I’m not trying to be a millionaire. I just want to be comfortable. I want to cauthion you–our hearts are more deceptive than we think. Anything we worship other than God is an idol and an idol can be something quite small. We think an idol has to be this huge thing that is so hard to surrender. An idol can be something as small as comfort. An idol is not defined by its size but by how tightly we are holding onto it. The idol can be small but if you are holding onto it with clenched fists and you are unwilling to let it go, then it’s an idol.

How do we know if we are serving God or Money? I bet few of us would believe that we would serve something as base as Money. The rich young ruler didn’t think money was an idol until Jesus exposed his heart and he was unwilling to let it go in order to be saved. For us, we don’t have the luxury of Jesus standing in front of us and revealing what idols are lurking in our hearts. So how do we know what our idols are? Specifically, how do we know if we are serving God or Money?

Jesus gives us a litmus test. Examine your prayer life. Do you pray like this, give us this day our daily bread? Do you pray with this attitude? With that kind of humble dependence on God? If not, could it be that Money is your god? In this country, we’re all rich. And because we live in such plenty, our lives can be propped up by so many things. And what’s the result? We don’t feel the need to pray with this kind of desperation day in and day out.

Where is your treasure? Wherever you invest your time and your energy and your desires, there your heart will be also. If you are focused on earthly treasures, could it be that Money is your god?

Or take the opposite of prayer–worry. Do you worry? If so, what do you worry about? I doubt for most of us that our worries are what to eat or drink or what clothes to wear. It’s our school, grades, career, vacation, luxury items. Wouldn’t those thing fall under the category of earthly treasures where moth and rust destroy? Could it be that worrying is a sign that we are bowing down to the god of Money?

How do you make important decisions? Who to marry, what job to take, where to go for grad school? Do you use worldly criteria–who is the best looking, what job pays the most, what school is ranked higher? Or do you seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness? Do you base these important decisions on kingdom values? How you make decisions? Depending on your answer, could this be a clue that your god is Money?

Throughout this chapter, there are only two choices. You either serve God OR Money. You either live before God OR you live before men. Either your faith is real, genuine, it’s a saving faith, or it’s fake, false, it’s a show. Either you live out your faith publicly to the world through good deeds and in secret before the church OR you are the complete opposite–you live in secret before the world and publicly before the church. Either your faith is consistent and whole or it depends on the circumstance and who’s watching. Either you are concerned with God’s name and His kingdom OR you don’t really care all too much about those things. Either you can forgive others or you can’t. Either you are saved or you’re not.

Please spend some time in your prayer closet this week examining where you stand. I encourage you to use the Lord’s Prayer as a model.

Matthew 6 – The Lord’s Prayer (pt3 of 4)

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The fifth litmus test–a Christian is someone who is concerned about God’s name and His kingdom.

Verse 9. We start with acknowledging who we are talking to. Our Father in heaven. He is the Creator, we are the creature. We start by acknowledging the immense gap between us and God. God is not our buddy. We are not peers, we are not equals. What a privilege that we get to pray to the God who spoke the universe into being.

Verses 9-10 are connected.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We are to hallow God’s name and then we are to ask for the kingdom of God to come and for God’s will to be done here on earth.

What does it mean to hallow his name? The word “hallow” means sanctified. Jesus tells us to pray, Let your name be sanctified. Sanctify can mean make holy or treat as holy. When God sanctifies us, it means that he makes us holy. But when we sanctify God, it means that we treat him as holy. So Jesus is teaching us to pray that God would cause his name to be treated as holy, distinct, special. What are we asking God to do when we pray that he cause his name to be treated as holy?

There is most definitely a personal element. In your life and mine, we are asking that the name of the Lord be hallowed, that it be set apart, that it be lifted up and in a category all by itself, separate from other things that may vie for our attention. But the name of God being hallowed doesn’t remain a personal matter only. How do we know this? The next verse, we are to pray for God’s kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Is it enough that individually, we have Jesus as the reigning king in our hearts? No, the verse talks about the entire earth being a place where God’s kingdom comes and His will is done. The whole earth. All the nations of the world. The name of the Lord spreading to the world was an idea that was present from the Old Testament. Please turn with me to Isaiah 26:8-9.

Isaiah 26
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. 9 My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

God’s name and his renown. If you are a believer, this is the desire of your heart. You want God to be famous among all the nations. We want the whole world to know what true righteousness is. We want God’s kingdom to invade every nation, every unreached corner of the world, every heart, we want everyone to bow down before the name that is higher than any other name. You can’t pray this prayer and be content with the fact that you know God’s name. You can’t be content bringing your problems, your will, your desires and closing the prayer in Jesus name. But you start with a concern for God’s name and His will and His will is that all people would not perish but have a chance to hear the name of God and be saved.

This relates to v13–

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Evil is not an abstract concept. The translation is evil one. Evil is a person. Satan is not a fictional character in horror movies. He is a real person and we shouldn’t be surprised that those whose heart desires to advance God’s kingdom on earth will experience opposition, persecution, hardship. Expect spiritual battle, esp. the more our church prays in this way and engages in activities that advance God’s kingdom on earth.

The sixth litmus test–a Christian is someone who has the ability to forgive others.

12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

There is an obvious link here with the sermon I preached 2 weeks ago. We are to love our enemies. These verses do not mean that our forgiveness of others earns us the right to be forgiven. Rather, the proof that one understands the forgiveness of God is a forgiving spirit toward others. People who are forgiven by God and are saved are the only ones who can genuinely forgive others. Once our eyes have been opened to see the enormity of our offense against God, the injuries which others have done to us appear by comparison extremely minimal. If, on the other hand, we have an exaggerated view of the offense of others, it proves that we have minimized our own offense before God.