We now turn to our scripture reading for tonight, and you can find it in Mark chapter 14, beginning at verse 12, reading through to verse 28. Mark 14, 12 through 28. Let us give our undivided attention to the reading of God's precious word. And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go, and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, And there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the good man of the house, The master saith, Where is the gas chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared. there make ready for us.' And his disciples went forth and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. And in the evening he cometh with the twelve, and as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me. And they began to be sorrowful and to say, unto him one by one, Is it I? And another said, Is it I? And he answered and said unto them, It is the one of the twelve that dippeth with me in the dish. A son of man indeed goeth, as it is written, off him. But woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and break it, and gave it to them, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. Verily, I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.' And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. And Jesus saith unto them, O ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee." Thus far God's reading. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of us does not want to be present at a wedding feast? Weddings are enjoyable. We eat, we drink, we rejoice with the couple. Most of us probably find it less difficult to attend weddings than funerals. When we consider the Lord's Supper, some of us, perhaps because of our background, may be tempted to think that we come to a funeral. But actually, we're not coming to a funeral, because at the Lord's Supper we celebrate that our Lord Jesus Christ is alive. and lives in us. And therefore, it can and must be a true feast. But you may say, I don't deserve it. Well, that's absolutely true. None of us deserves it. That should indeed humble us. All the more reason to rejoice in the Lord. But don't you need to properly know your sins? Yes, we properly need to know our sins. And that doesn't discourage joyfulness. No, we need to, on account of our sins, we need to humble ourselves. But that shouldn't take our joy away. And next week we hope to consider how we ought to prepare for the Lord's Suffer. But you might say, well, you know, rejoicing, feasting. Aren't we remembering the deep, agonizing and grievous sufferings of our Savior? Yes, that's true. They are indeed grievous and agonizing and deep, and we are to remember those at the Lord's Supper. And again, those are not to take away our joy, they are to humble us deeply. At the Lord's Supper then we are to humbly rejoice in Christ's finished work and yet ongoing work in us. Let us look how and why we should feast in the Lord's Supper on the Lord Jesus Christ. Our text for this evening is taken from Mark 14, verses 22 to 25. At this time I only read verse 24. There we read, And He said unto them, This is My blood. of the New Testament which was, is shed rather, for many. We do this considering also question and answer 75 and 76 of the Heidelberg Catechism. 75 and 76 of the Heidelberg Catechism, page 57 and 58 in the back of your Psalter. There we read, How art thou admonished and assured in the Lord's Supper that thou art a partaker of that one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross and of all his benefits. Answer? Thus, that Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and to drink of this cup in remembrance of him, adding these promises. First, that his body was offered and broken on the cross for me and his blood shed for me as certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup communicated to me. And further, that he feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life with his crucified body and shed blood as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ." Question and answer 76. What is it then to eat the crucified body and drink the shed blood of Christ? And the answer is, it is not only to embrace with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ and thereby to obtain the pardon of sin and eternal life, but also, besides that, to become more and more united to His sacred body by the Holy Ghost, who dwells both in Christ and in us, so that we, though Christ is in heaven and we on earth, are notwithstanding flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, and that we live and are governed forever by one Spirit, as members of the same body are by one soul. So our theme with the Lord's help is Feasting on Christ in the Lord's Supper. We have four thoughts. Through forgiveness, through feeding, through faith, through fellowship. So first of all then, feasting on the Lord Jesus Christ through forgiveness. We just read Question and Answer 75, in which we really hear back the echoes of Lord's Day 26, about the sacrament of baptism. The way the question is formulated shows that the Lord's Supper is both a sign and a seal, because it speaks about admonishment and assurance. But also we see that just as baptism, so in the Lord's Supper, Christ's sacrifice for sin is the focal point. Question and answer 75 shows. And then it shows the benefits of Christ's sacrifice. The first benefit, which makes the Lord's Supper a true feast, is forgiveness. After the answer has shown that we celebrate the Lord's Supper, 75, in remembrance of Christ's death, it also shows the first benefits. I read, first, that His body was offered and broken on the cross for me and His blood shed for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup communicated to me." And then when we look in question answer 76, we see what does that work involve. On the cross, what is that work all pointing to? Well, to pardon of sin, it says there, and eternal life. That's what it's all about. So just as we've seen with baptism, so the Lord's Supper is focusing on Christ's sacrifice. As we know, the sacraments are visible representations of the gospel. A broken body and shed blood point us to Christ's finished work on Golgotha for the forgiveness of our sins. Christ's perfect sacrifice is of inestimable worth. The Apostle Peter wrote about that and said, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, silver and gold from your vain conversation received by the tradition of your fathers. But how does he put it? It's valuable. He says, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. And congregation, maybe you think, oh, we are going to think about the sacrament again. But let us never be tired to hear about the sacrifice of Christ, because it's the focal point of our faith, it's the focal point in preaching, it's the focal point in the Paschal meal that preceded the Lord's Supper. And so none of us should be surprised that it is the focal point also of the Lord's Supper. Don't we need to hear those words of Paul again, 1 Corinthians 2, 2? For I determined not to know anything among you save, that means except, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Years before the actual sacrifice on the cross was made, Isaiah already showed the preciousness and the worth and the value of the sacrifice, as he says that the Lord was pleased with it. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grieve, when thou shalt make his soul, what? An offering for sin. In the Lord's Supper, the believer feasts on Christ's sacrifice, which has set him free from the bondage of sin. Because we know that He came to give His life a ransom for many. A ransom. What is a ransom? A ransom means that He paid the price that was needed for a slave to be set free. We slaves in the bondage of our sins, guilty, hell-worthy, condemned, set free. A sinner who knows that he is guilty before God. Do you know that tonight? Do you know that? That he, that you, are set free. You cannot pay your debt. You can only add more to your sins, to this enormous debt. But then you look to the Lord Jesus Christ and you see His sacrifice. You see Him on the cross. And with humble faith you embrace Him. Then He becomes a feast. He becomes a feast. Has He become a feast for you tonight? The Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, He came to be a ransom. Christ delivers from the guilt and the bondage of sin. Can you say, I was bound, but now I'm free. Free. And I'm not the only one. I'm not the only one. Because Christ sacrifices indeed for many. It's for many. Christ commands me and all true believers, the Heidelberg Catechism says, to celebrate this supper. Christ's sacrifice was not just for me. No, it's for me and all believers. He has not only forgiven me, but His work is sufficient for many. There's room for many more sinners, even tonight. Do you know this sacrifice already? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ already? It's for many. It doesn't give a specific name. May you be there too through faith, one of those many. The Lord reassured that also to His disciples when He was eating that sacrifice, that Lord's Supper and the Passover with His disciples. He said in Mark 14, verse 22, that His forgiveness would not only be for them who were celebrating there. Do you see it in verse 24? And He said unto them, This is My blood of the New Testament which is shed for many. for many. God's grace will be sufficient for many sinners. God's work goes on, and it's not just for a few. He gave His life as a ransom for many. Boys and girls, when you go to a wedding feast, you know that the bride and the bridegroom, they invite people whom they know, who are close to them. We want to invite those who have things in common with us. That's also true with the Lord's Supper. Although we can experience the joy of forgiveness on our own before the Lord's face, yes, we can experience that, but what a joy it is to sit around a table with others who have experienced that same forgiveness as we have. Don't you think, children, that gives a bond? that makes true friends, and a true feast with those who sit around. Lord's Supper is instituted for believers to celebrate this amazing forgiveness, this amazing sacrifice for me and for others. It's a feast, congregation. We are to celebrate it. Celebrate that we were bound in the misery of sin No, we cannot celebrate that. But now that we are set free from those, we were bound by the shackles of Satan. We were bound for hell. Hell. Let it sink in for a moment. Bound for hell. Unable to save ourselves. And now forgiven. Free. Now we, through Christ's sacrifice, receive full forgiveness of all our sins. And so the Lord's Supper must be a feast. People are feasting because it's liberating. It's liberating. And it's gracious. Paul said it in Ephesians 1, verse 7, In whom that is in Christ we have redemption. The other word, same word, ransom. A ransom. Someone who paid our debt. and sets us free through His blood, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. What is it based on? According to the riches of His grace. The sacrifice is a ransom paid, and it is free, and we deserve nothing of it. It's in accordance with the riches of His grace. But it's also a feast because the Lord remembers the sins of his people no more. Isaiah shows that. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, based on grace again, and will not remember thy sins. Through Christ, He wipes away our sins through His sacrifice and does not even remember our sins anymore. Hebrews says it as well, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Print it on your heart. Print it on your mind, dear believer. No more remembrance of sins. Once for all, that sacrifice pleases the Father. It pleased the Father to bruise Him. It's a complete sacrifice. It's a complete sacrifice. As far as the East is from the West, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Christ's work is done completely. And He did it. Not we. It's a feast because In the Lord's Supper we look to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and we see something of the covenant, the covenant of grace open to us. God has bound himself to us, bound himself with his blood to his people. Mark 14, verse 24, this is my blood of the New Testament. This word testament means covenant. Covenant. in the new covenant which is shed for many. In this covenant He bound Himself to His people in a covenant of faithfulness and love to save His people to the uttermost congregation. The Father and the Son agreed from eternity to send the Son to shed His dear and precious blood. They bound They made a covenant and they bound themselves to save the people to the uttermost. And now, through this sacrifice, He binds Himself to His people. I'm your God. I'm your Savior. That's what He does. Dear child of God, from this we learn that Christ's forgiveness is full and free. And that makes it a feast. That makes it a celebration. And that can only when we look to Him, to that cross. Have you looked to Him already? Have you looked already to this cross? To this sacrifice for many? For many. And you look by faith. That's our second thought. Question and answer 76 puts it like this. It's not only to embrace with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ, thereby to obtain the pardon of sin and life eternal. So it says it needs to be embraced with a believing heart what He has done. And that's what the supper directs our attention on. Faith embraces Christ's work on the cross with a believing heart through the Holy Spirit. simply confessing that His sacrifice satisfies God's wrath, which was because of my sin, over me and sets me free and reconciles me to the Father. Simply confessing through faith on the basis of God's wording, God's promises, that that brings peace with God. And now I'm in a right relationship with Him. through Christ's suffering, through His death. His work alone is the ground on which I stand. Forgiveness of sins, life eternal, a relationship with the Heavenly Father through the promises of the Gospel. Faith celebrates that God the Father is well pleased with His sacrifice and that He did it Again, I say it, for me. That's what faith says. Congregation personal pronouns are so crucial for true faith. Faith embraces and says, it's for me. And that's what also is showed in the sacrament. It says, for you. Christ's work is done. It's for you. Matthew, Mark, brother, 14, 22. There the Lord says it. Take, eat. This is my body. And Luke adds to this in Luke 22, verse 19. He says, This is my body which is given for you. Jesus encouraged his disciples and said, Take it. Take it. Believe. and take through the sacrifice of His body. Partake of it. So faith here we see in the Lord's Supper, it has a very simple picture. It's simply the empty hand that we stretch out and God puts the gift of grace in our hands and we receive it unworthily. Forgiveness. Deliverance from guilt and power of sin. He puts it into our hands. Deliverance from death. Christ given for me, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to that cross I cling. That's what we see pictured vividly in the Lord's Supper. It's not only the case with the bread, when the bread is given to us, but also when the cup is given to us. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples in Mark and Matthew, He said, first of all, drink ye all of it. And then Mark only records that He gave it to them and they drank all of it. So they all partook of it. They all received it. That's a picture of faith. Receiving. Not bringing. Nothing in my hand I bring. He fills an empty hand with His abundance. With a cup of joy. Eating and drinking. Those are the pictures which the Lord Himself also uses in John 6. Don't we remember those words? We heard something about that this morning already. John 6.35, And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life, and he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." In this text, the Lord Jesus connects the eating and the drinking with believing and coming to Him. Faith is like eating and drinking. Faith is receiving from Christ and being satisfied with what He has done. That's the only thing we bring, an empty hand. to receive of His bounty, to satisfy our souls. What a simple, what a clear picture. Empty. Yes, again, that should humble us. We have nothing to bring but our sins. But it should rejoice us at the same time. I don't need to bring anything. So we feast on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith and are satisfied. And our faith then feeds us, feeds on the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. And that's what our next thought shows us. We celebrate on and feast on the Lord Jesus Christ through feeding. Heidegger Catechism question, also 75, says it like this, and further, the second part, that he feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life with his crucified body and shed blood as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister and taste, the Dutch has here, and joy and joy or taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ." So the Lord's Supper contains various elements. Each element has its own picture. Both bread and wine are to be enjoyed, to feed and nourish our souls. And when we taste these elements, They should assure us of what Christ really has done when we look away, what He has done for me. So let us in this thought then zoom in at the pictures that we have in the Lord's Supper, given in the celebration of it. The first picture that we see is the broader picture, the picture of nourishment. Children, why do we eat? We eat because we want to stay alive, don't we? We eat our meals because we enjoy food. We enjoy our food and we want to be satisfied so that we can do the things that we need to do. But we also often eat, don't we, to celebrate, to celebrate. Now can we feast, children, can we feast with an empty stomach? I think we can, but it's not as easy. When we celebrate a wedding, for instance, how do we do that? We have a meal, we eat, we enjoy, we eat till we are satisfied. And it nourishes our body. We receive new strength from the food, don't we? We stay alive by it and we celebrate and we rejoice. Maybe you remember the Old Testament. What happened in the Old Testament? There were these sacrificial meals. Worshippers would come with their whole family to the tabernacle, and they would share a meal before the face of the Lord. They ate and drank before the Lord in the tabernacle, or later in the temple. And here we see something. We see something wonderful happening. In these meals we see a very clear link, which is also visible in the Lord's Supper, a link between the sacrifice and the enjoyment of the meal. That link was very obvious because they came and they brought the sacrifice and they put it on the altar and a part of it was eaten before the Lord. So it literally showed in those times that by eating that sacrifice, it now becomes part of me. It becomes part of me. It nourishes my body. It gives me life. It supplies me with new strength to walk in the ways of the Lord. And by the way, this is just an aside. In those sacrificial meals, Those sacrificial meals needed to be celebrated because seven times the Lord really presses it home in Deuteronomy and Leviticus that the people are commanded to come before the Lord and be rejoicing. Seven times. A full number. And so that is what the Lord's Supper pictures to us too. that sacrifice. It shows the Christ sacrifice and that we share in that sacrifice. This is my body. We come before the Lord with joy, the joy of forgiveness. And we eat and drink the bread and the wine and they become part of me. No, they don't nourish our body necessarily. But they nourish my soul. I find satisfaction. I find joy. I find nourishment in the Lord Jesus Christ for my soul. And that's what the Lord's Supper pictures. Jesus is my bread of life. He is my satisfaction. That's the big picture of the Lord's Supper. Christ's sacrifice satisfies my spiritual hunger and thirst. It nourishes. It feeds. And now these two separate elements that we have, bread and wine, what do they picture? A picture of the bread. Mark 14.22, the Lord says, our text says, And as they did eat, Jesus took the bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to them, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. From these words we understand and the context we learn that the Lord Jesus used what was on the table from the Passover. And there was bread on the table. He took that bread and used it to institute the Lord's Supper. Just readily available. Bread was a basic and a staple food in many places, also in Israel. It shows us something. of everyone needs this Lord Jesus, this bread from heaven. But especially in the Lord's Supper, bread especially, children, we remember that bread is broken. It's broken. It especially then pictures the brokenness of our Lord Jesus Christ, of His body. It shows us something of the deep and agonizing suffering that our Savior went through and had to endure. I say it with the words of Isaiah again. But He was wounded for our transgressions. And He was bruised for our iniquities. And in this marvelous good pleasure of the Lord, it pleased the Lord to bruise His Son, to bruise Him. For wounded has the idea of piercing through. He was pierced through for our transgressions. Pierced through, pointing to his physical sufferings. But also this word bruised that has the idea of he was crumbled, he was crushed for our iniquities. pointing especially to those emotional and agonizing spiritual sufferings. And that's what the Lord was pleased to do. He allowed him to go through in order to save sinners such as you and me. That's what is pictured in the breaking of the bread. What a Savior we have! His body wounded for our transgressions. His emotions and spirit crushed for our iniquities. And that is what we celebrate, and therefore it should humble us when we look at the bread that is broken for us. He, for me, such an unworthy sinner as I am, broken, broken, wounded, crushed, His body, His life for me. We receive what He has done. We receive it in our hands as tokens of His love, and we eat it, and we fist on it, and it brings us spiritual joy. He, for me, He takes away all my sins because it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. And we go spiritually strengthened. Our bodies, just as bodies are strengthened by the food, so now our spirits are lifted up and strengthened. And we go from strength to strength till we all appear in Zion. That's the picture of the bread. Now the picture of the wine. Mark 14, 23, our text says, and he took the cup And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it." The cup of the Lord's Supper reminds us of that prayer, doesn't it? Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. It reminds us of the cup of God's wrath which was poured out over him. It reminds us of that cup. And He exchanges that cup, which I deserve, for the cup of blessing. He gives a cup of blessing through which we have communion with Him. That makes the Lord's Supper a feast. His cup points us to this blessed exchange. He, my sins. I, His righteousness. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after this righteousness. What does Jesus say? They shall be filled. The wine is in the cup that points to the blood itself, the blood that was shed, that was poured out. The bloody sweat in the garden of Gethsemane. Life crushing agony. That's what it shows. His back plowed by the scourging. Blood everywhere. His head crowned with a crown of thorns. Blood trickling down from His blessed head. His hands and His feet nailed to the cross. Blood. poured out, poured out. Why did His blood need to flow? Why? Because in Leviticus 17, we learn that the life is in the blood. He wanted to give His life for us. The blood, therefore, pictures the pouring out of His precious life. And in the Old Testament, we learn that shedding of blood was the term that was used for murder. Murder. He was shed. His blood was shed. And he was slaughtered. He had to give his life so that we could receive that life. To be able to share it with us. So that we may have life and may have life more abundantly. And therefore, when we think of that cup, when we take that cup, when we look at the wine, we remember Christ at that table, and we think about Him, and it's a bittersweet experience. A bittersweet joy when we take the cup of thanksgiving and remember He poured out His life because of my sins. He suffered hellish agonies because of my sins. He suffered so terribly because of me. So that I now may take and receive that cup and celebrate deliverance through His blood. So that I may now rejoice in Christ's finished work. Christ finished work with deep humility and with deep gratitude. The Lord's Supper congregation is such a precious time for God's children, when they come with faith and a prepared heart to celebrate His sacrifice, when their hearts are led to meditate on the deep sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we receive those simple pictures that He shares what He has done with us, what He accomplished at the cross. Doesn't it stir us up when we think about it again, children of God, to long to sit at His table and to confess with thankfulness and humility that He died for you? The Lord's Supper is such a precious time because in it our hearts are knit together, as it were, with our Savior. in heaven. It's so precious, because when it's celebrated aright, our hearts are able to grasp with the simplicity of the gospel. It's so precious, because our hearts are drawn toward Him in love, in love to Him and to His people. Finally then, feasting on Christ through fellowship. In Question and Answer 76, we read about a second benefit. We saw the first one was forgiveness, which Christ gives to those who believingly participate to the Lord's Supper, which he has given. That first benefit he has given already, the forgiveness, but here we see then, we read about a second benefit. And that is another reason why the Lord's Supper is a feast. I begin to read after, but also in question answer 76. Besides that, to become more and more united to his sacred body by the Holy Ghost who dwells both in Christ and in us, so that we, though Christ is in heaven and we on earth, are notwithstanding flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bones, and that we live and are governed forever by one spirit as members of the same body are by one soul. So what is the Catechism saying here? The Catechism is speaking here about the union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We receive forgiveness, we saw, but we also receive union with the Lord Jesus Christ and with his body. Do you see what it says? Through the Holy Spirit, we are increasingly united to Christ's body. And our connection is the Holy Spirit who indwells us. But also, through that same Holy Spirit who dwells in us, we are first and foremost united to Christ himself. and we belong to Him, so much so that we can say we are His flesh, flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bones. Knowing that through this indwelling Spirit we are governed, just as the Spirit, our will, our actions, our desires, everything, governs what we do with our body. So we see that the same picture is used here again. The Holy Spirit connects to Christ. And through that indwelling Spirit, we are connected more and more to the body of the Church in obedience that honors Him. Let's look at those two things. At the Lord's Supper, it's a true feast when we celebrate that union with the Lord Jesus Christ and the unity with the brethren. So we are more and more united to the Lord Jesus Christ so that we are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones. Here we come to the marriage aspect of the Lord's Supper. We are united. That means we are married to the Lord Jesus Christ through faith and through His Spirit in us. He lives in us. and we are one with Him through His Spirit who now rules in us. That means we become more and more one with Him with regard to our desires, what we want in our lives, with regard for the love for Christian brothers and sisters and for people, lost people around us, with His desire also for His own glory, that He glorifies only Himself, We become more and more one with that, with His will for our lives, and with a hatred against sin. The Catechism here then alludes to a verse in the Bible that is repeated a few times. Flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones. And the first time, the first time we read about this and this kind of language, we see Adam. Adam excitedly celebrating how beautifully Eve is completing him. That's what we see in Genesis 2.23. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Here Adam burst forth in a wedding song. He shares His joy that God has given her to Him. And so, in the Lord's Supper, the believers now celebrate how amazingly well this perfect Savior fits us and meets our needs. And that gives us joy. We are one with Him. bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh. But the second time we see it in the time of David, when the tribes of Israel swear their allegiance to David as their king. 2 Samuel 5, verse 1, the people come, and then the people, all the tribes of Israel, come to David, unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. So we first saw about the wedding, how Adam celebrates, but here we see something else. Here we see a wedding bond between the Davidic king, David, and a covenant with his people. And they say, we are dying, we belong to thee. Isn't that what we do in the Lord's Supper as well? We say, Lord, I'm Thine. I'm Thy servant. We renew our allegiance to Him and say, Lord, take me completely. Thou art my bridegroom. Thou art my greater David. Thou art my Lord Jesus, my King. Rule in me. Reign in me. And then the third time we read it, and what it completes is found in Ephesians 5. that beautiful chapter about the relationship between Christ and His church. His people are married to Him. He says there, Paul writes there, through the Holy Spirit, for we are members of His body and of His flesh and of His bones. Through faith, the believer is united to the Lord Jesus Christ, is married to Him. And just as married couples become one flesh and become more and more like each other, you could say become one spirit with each other if everything goes well, they are more and more thinking and talking alike and doing things as the partner, as the spouse. So it's with Christ and the Church. When we look to the Lord Jesus Christ and we understand this unbreakable bond, Between Him and us, we become more like Him, we become more like the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's so visually pictured also in the Lord's Supper. When we take that cup, when we eat that bread, just as the bread and the wine become part of our life, It's taken up with our bodies. When it's digested, it gives us strength. And so it's also with that relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. When we look to the Lord Jesus Christ, His sacrifice and His indwelling Spirit, it lives in us. It gives us joy. It gives us strength. when we embrace Him, when we love Him, when we swear our allegiance to Him. Here I am, Lord. Here I am. I'm Thine. And so then that Holy Spirit works in us so that we are governed by that love and by His will more and more. In the Lord's Supper congregation, dear believer, Dear believer, you celebrate this. Christ is in you. He lives His life through you. He is enjoyed by you. And He is with His sanctifying Spirit in you. Do you understand, believers? You are married to Christ. You are one with Him. That's what you celebrate at the Lord's Supper. That's also why Mark 14, 24 speaks about this New Testament, this New Covenant, this marriage bond to the Lord Jesus Christ in His blood. Binds Him to us so that we more and more understand His work. And when we understand that work in us through the power of the Spirit, it also works in us that love. That love that comes from above and that comes and wants to overflow to fellow believers. So that we have fellowship, not only with Him, but with the believers around us. unity with the brethren, we celebrate the supper knowing that He not only worked in us, we saw that before, but we sit with people, with brothers and sisters in Christ who have the same love for Christ, who have received that same Spirit of God, who have the same struggle against sin, and we are comforted because we are not alone in this struggle. What a comfort! We are fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters around this table in the Lord. What a joy! Christ is the one on whom we feast in the Lord's Supper. We are not alone. We are all bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh. And we are all belonging to Him. The Apostle John says it so beautifully, doesn't he? 1 John 1. that which we have seen and heard declaring unto you, that's about Lord Jesus Christ, he's an eyewitness, that ye also may have fellowship with us, so that we have fellowship with the apostles, so that we have fellowship horizontally. But now, he continues, and truly, our fellowship is with the Father, And with His Son, Jesus Christ. And why does He write these things? That your joy may be full. That's why He writes it. That we have fellowship vertical and horizontal. And that we are filled with joy. We are not alone. God is for us. And we have brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. How can we be sad? How can we be sad? What would people say about your marriage when you walk around with a sad face day after day after day? People would think there must be something wrong with that marriage. It's not quite right. Don't you think? How much more should we joy in our heavenly bridegroom, in our fellowship with Him, in our fellowship with all the other believers, who also confess Him, who are also indwelled with that same Spirit. Christ's Supper is truly a picture of that Marriage Supper of the Lamb which is to come, where all His children will truly joy forever in the Lord. Truly, their joy will be full there. But here it begins. Here we learn to rejoice. Here we gather and we come to this Lord's Supper, confessing, gathering as unworthy, yet worthy in Christ, because He is with us there at the table when we sup with Him in faith. And He is gathering this church still. Are you part of that church? Are you one of those who are blessed with this joy? Have you known some of this foretaste of this true Marriage Supper of the Lamb? He's gathering His church. He's gathering His church. Do you belong to Him? Look to Him. Look to Him in faith. Fall before Him and say, Lord, make me one of Thine. Make me one of Thine. Beloved congregation, the Apostle Paul, as we conclude, I would like to conclude with this, with the words of the Apostle. 2 Corinthians 11. There he says, I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to the Lord Jesus Christ." It was Paul's desire to present the Corinthians as a pure virgin to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it's both your pastors and the consistory's desire to present you that day when He comes and will bring in this marriage feast supper of the Lamb, to present you at that day as a pure virgin to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. We desire that you would be married to Him and to Him alone. Believers, we are to marry Christ wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly, if you are to come to the Lord's Supper with joy and to rejoice and feast on Him. Christ, our Savior, our Bridegroom, our Host, our Bread of Life, our Wine that rejoices the heart, the one that unites us to God the Father Himself, and the one that brings unity among the brethren. I ask, do you understand that you are married to Him? That your allegiance needs to be with Him first and foremost? That this involves your whole life and your whole being Unbeliever, I speak a word to you. It's been much about what believers experience. Don't you want to serve this king? Don't you want to be married to this bridegroom? I urge you, if you are living outside, if you are living backslidden, if you are living outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, I urge you with the words of Jeremiah 3.14, turn, that means repent, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am merry to you. He has brought you into the covenant. I'm in covenant with you. Leave then all your other lovers and find all in Christ. He alone can save to the uttermost. If you will be found outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He returns, your place will be in the fire that burns unquenchably. Why? Maybe you have been under the covenant, but you have become, through unbelief and unrepentance, a covenant breaker. And if you read Revelation, that's where you go, to the fire that burns inquenchably. I plead with you. There's only one Husband. There's only one Christ. And He brings us all the way to that Merit Supper of the Lamb. considering that our Lord's Supper celebrations here are just small foretastes of what will happen there. They are only rehearsals. Only rehearsals. We are practicing for that great day when faith will be sight and Christ will be present. As our text says, I will be present to drink of the fruit of the vine. new in the kingdom of heaven. He will be there. And He will be the feast. He will be the feast. What a feast that will be as we prepare for that day. Let us already feast now on Him during our Lord's Suppers until we die or until He returns. And let us submit to our Heavenly Bridegroom with joy, with love, and with celebration. Amen.