Matthew 26, look at verse 26. This is after they were in the upper room. Judas has been exposed as being the betrayer. You know how the disciples, you know when the Lord told them this, they had no idea that Judas was the man and he showed no signs of this before and again that tells us that a person can seem or look like a believer but not be one and what that should do is not scare us to the point of legal investigations of ourselves but it should cause us to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith as it says in the book of second corinthians and when i when i talk about self-examination there's basically two things that we need to understand there number one i need to know that the christ i believe in and rest in and trust is the true christ of this book because there are false christs There are false messiahs. Paul spoke of that in 2 Corinthians 11. He said they come preaching another Jesus. And of course Christ identifies himself in the book of God as God manifest in the flesh. He's God man. And that's a concept that is so awesome. to wrap your mind around that. Somebody told me one time, said, I can't wrap my mind around that. And I said, well, join the club. But he is, he is fully God. And he's fully manned without sin. And I always emphasize the without sin because of the current heresies that are going around today about Christ being made a sinner and stuff like that. He was never made a sinner. He was the sinless, spotless lamb of God. And he was made sin, the scripture says, but how was he made sin? That's by the imputation or the charging, the accounting of our sin debt to him. And that's why he died on the cross. And that's where he's headed now. So Judas has been exposed. And so the finished work of Christ, that he successfully brought about the salvation of all for whom he died. There'll be no one in hell for whom Christ died. And they'll all be brought to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works. So that's the first thing in self-examination. Am I trusting the true Christ of this book and not a counterfeit? The second thing we need to be concerned with is, am I really trusting? Am I looking elsewhere for salvation? A lot of people will tell you, they'll say, well, you trust Christ, but then you've got to do this and do that and get right with God. No, it's all Christ. And the Bible, there's so many places in God's word And so many verses and so many statements that say this, but one that I go to quite often, you'll hear me in my preaching, is Hebrews 12 too, where it talks about living the Christian life and how we live it. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the what? Finisher of our faith. He didn't start it and we finish it. He's the author of it and the finisher of it. And that doesn't give us an excuse to sin. That causes us to look to him and rest in him and follow him and fight the sins of the flesh. We're in a warfare. And that's another thing about self-examination. Am I in a warfare with the flesh and the devil and the world? You see what I'm saying? And how do we find rest in this warfare? Christ has already won it. Paul said, he said, who shall deliver me from this body of death? He said, I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord. And he said, there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ, those who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And what is it to walk after the spirit? Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So here he is, look at verse 26. It says, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, This is Matthew 26, 26. And he blessed it. That means that he gave thanks is what that means. When we take the Lord's Supper, Brother Mark and Brother Jim are gonna give thanks over the elements. And that's what Christ did here. He gave thanks and he break it, the bread, he tore it. They had one piece and he tore it in pieces. And it says he gave it to the disciples and said, take eat, this is my body. And then in verse 27, it says, he took the cup and he gave thanks. And he gave it to them, said, drink ye all of it. And then verse 28, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. So there he's instituting the Lord's Supper, which is a memorial ordinance. Now from what we see in the New Testament, there are two New Testament ordinances. And number one is believer's baptism. Go into all the world and preach the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. And that's not saying that you've got to be baptized to be saved. when you're saved by the grace of God, brought to the new birth, then you confess Christ in believer's baptism, which is by immersion, not pouring or sprinkling now. Because what happens, see, we're identifying with Christ. You remember when Christ was baptized in Matthew three, he went down into the water and he said, suffer it to be so for us to fulfill all righteousness. How was he gonna do that? His obedience unto death, his burial and his resurrection. So that when we confess Christ publicly by believer's baptism, we confess that we died with Him as He's our surety, our representative. We go down into the grave with Him and we come up out of the grave risen with Him. And that's what believer's baptism is about. So there's no such thing in the Bible as any command from God to be baptized in order to be saved. And listen to me here now. The ordinance of baptism does not apply the blood of Christ to our persons. Now, there's some who say that, and that's kind of a subtle thing, you know. They'll say, well, you're not saved by, but when you get down to the water, that's the blood being applied to. No, the blood's already applied to us. It was applied to us long ago. So, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, the scripture says. And so that's the first ordinance. The second ordinance is the Lord's Supper. And that's just what he's instituting here. Now there's arguments over how often should you take it. Now I know some who take it every Sunday. Others take it, we do it every quarter, every fifth Sunday. So if you want to mark that on your calendars, unless we, for some providential reason, we have to change. But look, the Lord's Supper is a New Testament memorial ordinance. We don't take the Lord's Supper to be saved. We take the Lord's Supper in memory of our salvation by Christ, the grace of God. And it's a constant reminder. Now, every service, when I sit here, I started to say stand here, and when I sit here and preach, I remind you and myself of what Christ has done for us. But in these elements, symbolically, we're reminded too. And it's a good thing. And he gave it to us. It's a New Testament memorial ordinance given to the church as a constant reminder of his obedience unto death to put away our sins and to establish righteousness. That's the perfection of the law that Christ accomplished in his obedience unto death for our salvation, our justification. And that's what we do. Now, those who believe are commanded to take the Lord's Supper. If you're an unbeliever, you do wrong to take it. In fact, there's a scripture in 2 Corinthians where it says that you eat and drink to your damnation. In other words, you're just performing a religious act that doesn't mean anything to you. So that's why I caution people, and we don't have a committee or a board that tries to figure out who everybody is and what you believe. It's up to you to examine yourself. Let a man examine himself, or a woman examine herself, and so let him eat. So that's between you and the Lord. But that's what this is about. Now, what's the difference between his body and his blood? The body represents his sinless human body, which was offered as a sacrifice for our sins. And I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter two. I want you to look at this. I always go to this verse, and there are other verses we can go to, but this kind of like summarizes it. You know, Hebrews chapter two, Christ, the Bible talks about those whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life. This is Revelation 13. The names written before the foundation of the world, the Lamb slain. So Christ, that's who he is. He's the Lamb slain. Well now, he's God. And you can't kill God. God cannot die. You understand that? And therefore, in order for him to die, he had to have a human body and soul, a sinless human body and soul. And that was set out from the very beginning in God's plan and purpose to save his people. Christ having been made the surety of his people, which means our sins, the sins of Christ's sheep, were imputed to him. And learn that word imputed, because it is important. Sin imputed to Christ, and righteousness, his righteousness, imputed to us. That's the great exchange. That's what 2 Corinthians 5.21, for God made him to be sin for us, Christ who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's our justification. And the ground of that justification is his righteousness imputed to us. Well, he was a sinless person. So how could he justly go under the wrath of God? Because he had no sin. He never committed sin. He never had a thought of sin. Spotlessly. Well, there's only one way. Based upon our sins charged to him. God justly poured his wrath down upon his son. And he drank damnation dry. He drank the cup of the wrath of God for the sins of his people. in order for him to do the work of assurity. You know what assurity is, somebody who stands for the dead of another. And that's what Christ was made before the foundation of the world for his people, for God's elect. Our sins were charged to him. He had our sin dead on. Well, look at verse 14 of Hebrews chapter two. It says, for as much then as the children, that's God's children, that's the elect, that's the ones whom he chose before the foundation of the world, are partakers of flesh and blood, he, Christ, also himself likewise, took part of the same. That is, he had to have flesh and blood, because the ones for whom he stood surety, the ones for whom he represented, for whom he died and was buried and rose again, were flesh and blood. And he had to die. Well, as I said, God cannot die. But this person who is God did die and that's to be attributed to his human self, his humanity. This is my body which is broken for you. And so he took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Now the devil doesn't have any power to kill anybody. So what power does the devil have? He's the accuser of the brethren. He's going to accuse you. And you know what he's gonna say? You're a sinner. You deserve death. And he's right. Except there's one thing that stands in his way by which we cannot be condemned. His accusations don't stick when it comes to God's people. Romans 8, 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather He's risen again. Seated at the right hand of the Father. Ever living to make intercession for us. We have a substitute. We have a surety. Who died in our place. Who took the death that we deserved. And He satisfied the justice of God. So that when the devil accuses us, either himself or through his minions, The charges don't stick because Christ died in our place. And everyone for whom he died shall be saved. So he says in verse 15 here of Hebrews, deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. And that's what we are. In our natural state as unbelievers, we're subject to bondage. And you know what that bondage is? The law. Because by nature, before we're saved, before we're born again, before we hear the gospel and believe, we think salvation's conditioned on us. And that's bondage. Well, what conditions do you have to meet? Depends on what denomination you go to. But they're all wrong. Salvation was conditioned on Christ. And all the promises of God are in him, yea, and in him, amen. He fulfilled those conditions. For by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And so it says in verse 16, for verily he took not on him the nature of angels. See, when Christ united himself with his humanity, it wasn't angelic, it wasn't the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Now who's the seed of Abraham? all who are brought by God to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." That's Abraham's spiritual seed, you can read about that in Galatians 3 and we won't go there. But look at verse 17, wherefore for this reason in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, he had to have a human body and soul. And that word behooved is the Greek word for debt, he had a debt laid upon him for the foundation of the world and because he had that debt and had to pay that debt he had to be made like unto his brethren humanity but he had to be sinless the scripture says. And he says that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. And he did that by his death. Now let's go back to Matthew 26. So that's his humanity, the human body and soul. Now the cup is the wine that represents his blood. So here's his body, broken. That's his suffering under death. And what was the result? His blood, which is his death, means this, satisfaction. Get that word in your mind. Satisfaction to God's law and justice for the sins of his people. The Bible summarized in a word that you don't hear very much today, but it's propitiation. Used, what, four times in the New Testament? And you find it in other forms. In fact, you remember the story of the Pharisee and the publican? Where the Pharisee stood up and said, I thank God I'm not like other men. I don't do this, I don't do that. See the ground of his salvation was what he thought God had enabled him to do but that's wrong. The ground of our salvation is not what God enabled. Now listen, in salvation God enables us to do things that we couldn't do before. For example, he enables us to believe and in our natural state we couldn't do that. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. So we're unable to do that. But God doesn't save us or forgive us or justify us based upon what he enables us to do. He saves us and forgives us and justifies us based upon what Christ did in his obedience unto death. So the blood means satisfaction to God's law and justice. He drank damnation dry. He didn't leave it for us to do anything in order to attain or maintain salvation. You got that? We have it, it's a free gift. That's what grace is all about. God's righteousness that we find in Christ. And that's what the blood is all about. He says in verse 28, this is my blood of the New Testament. Now that word testament is covenant. And that's the new covenant. Well, if you read the book of Hebrews, it really settles that issue. The old covenant is over. It's abolished by way of fulfillment. And you might hear some other preachers say, well, no, you're preaching replacement theology. No, I'm not. I'm preaching fulfillment theology. In other words, Christ fulfilled the law. All those pictures and types of the old covenant, He fulfilled it, and it's over. And he's instituted the new covenant. Well, what is the new covenant? Well, it's the gospel covenant. It's the span of time that God worked out for his church leading up to his second coming, whereupon the church goes out into the world, preaching the gospel, seeking his sheep, that's what we're doing, preaching to anybody who'll listen, Telling that the salvation is for anybody who wants it, but as I said last week, the problem with man by nature, he doesn't want it. Or he wants it his own way. But if you're one of Christ's sheep, if you're one of God's elect, you're gonna want it, he's gonna make you want it. That's why he said in Jeremiah 31, he said, I'll give them a new heart, I'll give them a new spirit, I'll cause them to walk in my statutes, they'll believe. It's the gift of faith, you see. All of that, that new covenant. Well, the new covenant is the fulfillment in time of an everlasting covenant made before time. Now did you get that? That's what the new covenant is. The new covenant is just the manifestation that Christ has already come and he's already done what he was purposed to do and we're living in that span of time. but the covenant is one of grace, and really, the terms and the conditions of the new covenant are older than the world itself. Think about that. The gospel, we believe. 2 Timothy chapter one speaks of a salvation that was given us in Jesus Christ before the world began. Now, how's that possible? Well, that's in the mind and the purpose of God. So what God purposed before time in the salvation of his people by his grace through Christ is accomplished in time. And so what he purposed before time, that's the everlasting covenant of grace. Hebrews 13, 20 and 21 took the blood of Jesus Christ is the blood of the everlasting covenant. So the new covenant is the actual accomplishment of all that in time. And so we're a new covenant church. We don't sacrifice lambs today. We don't have a building called a temple or a tabernacle. Some people say, well, the church is. Not this building. The church is his people. You see that? And Christ is the tabernacle. John 1 14, the word was made flesh. And what does it say, Jim? The word was made flesh. Dwelt among us, that word dwelt is tabernacled. That's what it is literally. So he tabernacled among us. You want to find the presence of God, look to Christ and his people surrounded by him. Now, the eating of this bread and the drinking of this cup symbolizes God-given faith in him. And I've got listed in here John chapter 6. You go read that whole passage. You know, this is where Christ said, if you don't eat my body and drink my blood, you cannot be. He's not talking about cannibalism there. He's talking about faith. And that's what we do, we believe in him. And that's what eating this bread and drinking this cup symbolizes. And listen, the false Catholic Church, I'm sorry, their doctrine of what they call transubstantiation, where they actually say that when the priest blesses the wafer and the wine, it actually turns into the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. And then they eat it. even though it retains the properties of bread and wine. But they claim that it does. And that's why they have their mass. Why is a mass an abomination? Because they're crucifying the Lord of glory again. Every time they meet. And that's blasphemy. By one offering, he settled the issue. One time. We're not meet here to crucify him again. We're met here to preach about the one time that he was crucified and put away our sins forever. So all that stuff about him turning, and there are some who believe what they call the doctrine of consubstantiation, where they say it symbolically turns into the, no it doesn't. These are symbols, period. And that's all they are. So when we drink the wine and eat the unleavened bread, and it's got to be unleavened bread because leaven in the Bible usually is a type of sin. Christ had no sin. His broken body was not a sinful body. Sin was imputed to him. but he broke it, he's suffering unto death, all of that. Now let's go on, look at verse 29. He says, 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. Did I skip a verse or something? Oh no, okay. He says in verse 30, okay, I got it. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives, And then Jesus saith unto them all you shall be offended because of me this night for it is written I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. That's quoted from Zechariah 13 7 prophesying and he says. But after I'm risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Now what's he talking about in verse 29? I won't eat this with you again until henceforth, until the day when I drink it new in the Father's kingdom. He's talking about that future great feast, which in Revelation 19 is called the marriage supper of the Lamb. It's when all of Christ's sheep are called into the kingdom, and he comes again and gathers his church up together, and we'll feast with him in that day. That's what he's talking about. And then he tells the disciples, he says, after they sang a hymn, they were worshiping, they sang hymns, and went to the Mount of Olives, he said, you shall be offended. That means you're gonna stumble. And brother, that's a story of our lives a lot of time, isn't it? Stumbling. We believe in the doctrine of perseverance of the saints. All right? The security of the saved. Saved by the grace of God, kept by the grace of God, and in her glory by the grace of God. I believe this, and I know this is so, that when we stand before God, there's not one blessing of salvation that I can look at Christ and say, well, I earned that. I deserve that, not one. And that includes the very next breath you take. That's a gift from God. Believers realize that. Now, unbelievers, it's still even a providential gift, but they don't realize it. And that's why we hope and pray that God will bring them to faith. But the very next breath I take is a gift from God. It's all. They're going to stumble. Now, when he was arrested and taken to trial, they scattered somewhat. Of course, you know about Peter's situation, how he denied the Lord three times. And we'll see about that later on. But eventually, after the crucifixion and after the resurrection, they came back together. They were brought back together for a while. And they pretty much stayed together until a little bit after Pentecost. And then people like Saul of Tarsus made havoc of the church, and they were scattered throughout. And of course, we know that's the plan and the purpose of God to get the gospel out all over the world, because God has a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. But one thing you need to see here is this. What he's reminding them of is, look, we're just weak people. If we're saved, We're saved by the grace of God. If we persevere, it's the preservation of the Lord. Do you know, you can think about this. Look at verse 32. He says, but after I'm risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet I will never be offended. I won't stumble. Verse 34, Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice, three times. Peter said unto him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee? Likewise also said all the disciples. The other disciples said the same thing. Well, we know what happened. Peter in his weakness, he denied Christ three times. But you know what? Peter being one of God's sheep, one of Christ's elect, Christ didn't let him go, held him. So if we persevere, it's because he preserves, and that's it. And of course, you know what happened to Peter. He wept bitterly, wept bitterly, and that's what we do. But like all of us, Peter needed to learn the grace and the gift of godly humility. Don't ever look around and say, I won't do what that person did. Understand me here. You're either a sinner lost in your sins or a sinner saved by grace. And somebody asked me one time, said, well, what is it that believers will not do? I can only think of one thing in the scriptures that I could say I will not do if I'm one of God's sheep. And that is, I will not apostatize unto damnation. I will not totally leave Christ unto damnation. And you can read about that in 1 John 2 and 3 and other passages. Jude 24 and 25, he keeps us. He says, none shall pluck them out of my Father's hand. But you know, in his weak human flesh, Peter was no different than Judas. That's right. Peter denied it, Judas denied it, Peter did too. What made the difference then? The grace of God. The grace of God makes us, what makes us to differ in any area? Spiritual gifts, whatever, who makes us to differ? God does. And if he doesn't make the difference, there'll be no difference. But thank God that by His grace we're saved and kept unto glory. Amen. Okay.