I trust everyone here is excited to be celebrating the Lord's Supper today as we observe this sacrament. I feel kind of selfish today because, in case you haven't heard, Ezekiel is my favorite book. And we're going to be in Ezekiel. In fact, one of my favorite chapters, we're going to be in chapter 37 of Ezekiel, which is the Valley of Dry Bones. If you're familiar with that story, it's a beautiful image. And hopefully we'll unpack that as we go forward into the New Testament reading as well. but I can't help but start out in a teaching mode before transitioning over to the preaching just to give us an idea. We should be grounded in the truth of God's word, but I also like the historical reality of when things take place. So Ezekiel was one of the three contemporaries during the captivity and exile. You have Daniel, And as we look at the history of Israel, though, they continuously rebelled against the one who cared for them and ran to something else, usually Egypt, which is why they get a harsh decree against them. But Israel, God's people, are continuously running from God to something else. And so in 605, Daniel and his group are taken away. Israel rebels again. 597, Ezekiel and that group are taken away until the destruction of Jerusalem in 586. So these writings take place during that time, but just to give you some historical context. So as you're reading Daniel, you'll see some familiar names. As you're reading Jeremiah, who was not one of the captive prophets But Jeremiah shares something special with Ezekiel in that they were both sons of priests. All right, so that's important. And they were both not able to function as priests because of being under Babylonian and then other rule. But the beautiful thing about that was their fathers grew up serving under King Josiah. We talk about King David being the greatest king. That's not what scripture says. Scripture says Josiah. But then he also tells King Josiah, I'm sorry, the people messed up already. You're going into exile. So that's where we're at. I'm bringing up some other points of Ezekiel, not just because I love it, but John, the author of the Gospel of John and his letters and the revelation of John, you'll see a lot of similarity between Moses' writings and John's, but you also can't help but see the book of Ezekiel and the prophecies of Ezekiel and statements also in In fact, in Ezekiel, he's called Son of Man 90 times, more than 90 times. You'll get that same phrasing in John when we get to the New Testament readings. We're going to be looking at the consequences of rebellion within the mercy and God's grace, grace greater than anything in His people. We are reading Ezekiel 37. We're going to read the first 14 verses. In the hand of the Lord, I'm sorry, the hand of the Lord was upon me. And he brought me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley. It was full of bones. And he led me around among them. And behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley. And behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, you know. Then he said to me, prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones, behold, I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live and you shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, our bones are dried up and our hope is lost. We are indeed cut off. Therefore prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God. Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. This is a beautiful picture here. I could unpack the entire time here. Hopefully I won't. That was the joke. There's a lot in here, starting off with Ezekiel's proper understanding of God. And this is already well into lots of events have taken place. Ezekiel has seen a lot and have been used of God a lot for God's purpose. But he has a proper understanding of the omniscience and omnipotence of God. Even asking that question, you know, can these bones live? You know, God. All right. And then. I got to bring this up, and Lizzie has learned to use air quotes. She used them incorrectly. I'm going to give you a hug. I don't know what kind of hug you're giving me, but no thank you. But describing these bones, they're not mostly dead. All right, these are dead, very dry bones. These are falling apart, turning to dust kind of bones, very dry. So understanding that. This is not a mostly dead scenario. This is completely dead and drying. And then also notice the similarity between the first man. God creates man out of dust and puts his breath in him and gives him life. We see that again, but now the means are God's word through an emissary. All right, don't overlook that. He is telling us, he could show him just like, look, now they're living. You said, yes, I know, now they're living. We didn't say that. Son of man, prophesy, speak the word of God, and they're gonna hear that word of God, and they're gonna live. And again, just because we try to show the continuity of scripture, nothing is being contradicted in the New Testament understanding of salvation. This is not an offer. They heard the offer of God and went over to the table where he had sinews and put them on, went over to where he had flesh and put them on and then took the breath in. This is God causing the sinews, causing the bones to go together. This is God. So understanding salvation starts, is continued and is finished by God. But the Word of God being spoken through man. And even today, yes, we are to be good disciples and study the Word of God, but God has appointed men. God has appointed pastors to speak the Word. We're called elders here, but He has provided a means to hear His Word. We have His Word saved for us in many translations, many languages. It's still the Word of God that is giving life. He gives life to the dead, not making it possible. And why? So you will know that I am the Lord. He goes on to say he's going to gather his people from all the nations and make them one nation. We could read this entire chapter and just find so much to glean from it. But he goes on to save many people. And I love this image of salvation here. That's what this is. It's a picture of salvation. But then John has mentioned it, and we hear it a lot of times as people, I don't have an exciting salvation experience. This is what happened to you. That's miraculous. Whether it's a crisis, I was overdosing on cocaine, dead twice, and they brought me back to life, and God got a hold of me, and now I'm living for him, or I was blessed with godly parents who thought the importance of God should be a priority, and I've just always believed. Either way, Word of God brought them to life. So don't ever discount your salvation. This is beautiful. This is what happened. This is miraculous. And yes, a little creepy imagery, as Zoe would say. It's kind of creepy. But as we're going on into our New Testament reading, it's gonna be the Gospel of John, the beloved disciple. And as I said, he was very much influenced by Moses and Ezekiel. You see it in all of his writings, particularly the Gospel of John and then in the book of Revelation. Our New Testament reading is gonna be in John chapter five. This is another situation when you're trying to prepare, and you have an idea, but then all this other stuff that relates to that. It's like, I understand now why you're like, no, we're going to go a little bit longer today, or I can't finish this, so we have to shrink it down a little bit. God's Word is beautiful. The more you're in it, the more you see, it's hard not to add more stuff to it. So hopefully, bear with me and we'll see how this connects. And that is our desire to show the continuity from the Old Testament and the New Testament. These truths that they were seen in shadows are now revealed and we cannot discount the writers of the Old Testament. The spirit of God who inspired to write the Old Testament. But this is taking place in John chapter five. We're gonna start in verse 19. It's taking place. After there was a healing incident at one of the pools at the Sheep's Gate, and Christ heals this man, and it's not just the jealousy of those in leadership position of the Jewish leaders, but also it was a Sabbath. So anytime for their over legalizing things, they're now upset at Christ for healing this man on a Sabbath. And then, of course, in response, Jesus puts himself on equal terms with God. This is why anybody who says Christ never claimed to be God, that's the reason the Jewish leaders tried to kill him, because he very much did. In their eyes, it was blasphemy, and he needed to be killed. All right, so Jesus answers them, and that's what we're gonna read here in 19 and 29. There's some grumbling taking place here, and I say it as being equal to God. So starting in verse 19, So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does, that the son does likewise. For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel. For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here. when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. That last part is carried over into, before we observe the sacrament, we will recite the Apostles' Creed, and that is an element there of the judging. So we see lots of elements of this doctrine of basic Christian understanding and truths in this creed, but here's, I'm hoping we see a, I like connecting the dots. I mentioned that before when reading scripture. So in Ezekiel, we have the father giving life to the dead, giving life. And now we hear the Son also has that, and He's going to speak, and those who hear the Son will live. So just a few things to point out here before we do get into our sermon text. We see this unity. The Son can only do what He sees the Father doing. So first of all, we have unity in the Godhead. And even to throw in the whole Trinity The whole counsel of God, as we saw the breath and the spirit being put into them in Ezekiel, and as we go forward in the scripture, we'll also see that being reiterated in the New Testament. As a father gives life, so does the son to whomever he chooses. All right, and then this honoring the son. If you say that you love God, but don't honor the son, don't follow the son, don't believe the son, you are not honoring and worshiping God. God. But the highlight of this reading is in verse 24 where he says, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. Again, it goes back to the word. All right. And I like that the hour is now here. The hour is coming and is now here. That's what he's saying. And we hear John the Baptist saying that, you know, the kingdom of God is here. All right. It's near, it's here. It's just what's, what's taking place in this time and The dead shall hear Christ's voice, and those who hear will live. Again, we can unpack a lot here that the proclamation of the gospel, well, everybody hears that. It's not what it's talking about hearing here. We saw that. The bones had nothing. They heard the voice of God and obeyed. It wasn't a choice. It wasn't an action. It was God giving life. Here we see the Son giving life. Those who hear the Word of the Son of Man, the Son of God, Christ, live. And then before we get into our sermon, I really do want to hit this up, though, because the final part is that an hour is coming. when all will hear and be resurrected. All right, and this is, we have certain things called warning verses. I don't believe this falls into that same line, but it is very much a warning verse. One that's giving us this beautiful promise, though, of a future resurrection. All right, we go all over the rest of the scriptures, particularly in Paul's writings, and we'll see it in Peter about this glorious body, this in glory with Christ. All right, but an hour is coming when all are gonna hear, those who have done good unto the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to the judgment, to the resurrection of the judgment. And we use a big word around here, antinomianism, and this is where Jim wants to use this warning. I love, sometimes it's funny because when we're picking songs, if the author is calling himself a sinner, I have to caveat that because John will be like, you're a saint. Like, I love it, yes. Saints are not under the condemnation of God. that does not give liberty to sin. That has to be expressed. You are no longer under condemnation. But if you are freely sinning out there, you're probably not giving that resurrection unto life. Okay, so this is just an antinomianism, not obeying the laws of God. That's the word, essentially means anti these laws. And again, get my Lizzie air quotes there. So we're gonna stay in the book of John, going over to chapter six for our sermon text. Be in chapter six, starting in verse 66. And if you would, as is our practice here, if you would stand as we read, and then we will pray, and see if we can connect some more docks and see this beautiful beautiful salvation of God through his word, through his son, through our mediator. John chapter six, starting in verse 66. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the 12, do you want to go away as well? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Let's pray. Oh Holy God, Father, Son, and Spirit, we pray that you would illuminate your truth to us and glorify yourself through your people gathered here today. Amen. Please be seated. I love John's gospel, but he does kind of have it... I love it probably because his gospel is more like my first essay papers. They're kind of all over the place and trying to find a rhyme or rhythm, but it's beautiful. And that's why when people start saying there's hypocrisy, Well, no, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are synoptic Gospels. They have a kind of a synergy where they're very similar in how they tell the events of Christ's life, whereas John has a different perspective, a different approach. But there's a lot, all that to say there's a lot that took place between our New Testament reading and the sermon text, and we are going to go over a little bit of it because it does have a lot of impact on Peter's statement here. So we read about Christ and his authority from the Father, our only doing and seeing what the Father has done. So from that authority, then we get the feeding of the 5,000, that miraculous feeding, the multitudes feeding the 5,000. And then we'll read about Christ and the walking on water incident, again, Peter involved with that. I love Peter. He fails and gets back up and gets beat up, and it's beautiful. walking on water, and then we get this I am statement, I am the bread of life. And I'm kinda tying them into it, I know that it might not seem like it makes sense, but since Christ and his seven I am statements, which again, just my plug for Ezekiel, you will find all of them, some of them a lot clearer than others, the bread of life, the resurrection of life, the good shepherd, all these I am statements of Christ, I see them being pulled from, usually it's a shadow, so where we had the condemnation of the bad shepherds, And then Ezekiel promises a good shepherd. Well, now we have Christ saying, I am the good shepherd. So anyways, we have here, I am the bread of life. All right, this is taking place, like I say, after the miraculous feeding of the 5,000. But then Christ is talking to them about, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you cannot have eternal life. All right, so here they're being taught this, and if you understand the Jewish culture, too, with blood, and then what he's saying, and again, if you know Zoe, you know her faces, but I was talking about that, eating the flesh of Christ and drinking his blood, and that's how you live, and she made her crazy face, but then she got her Zoe big smile, and said, well, with the proper context, that's okay, but otherwise, it just sounds creepy. Like, yes, the proper context, I am the bread of life, Alright, and he's discussing it with the Jews, eating his body. And just go back a little bit in chapter 6, verse 33. He's talking about this bread of life. So John six, verse 33. So we have this Christ claiming he is the bread of life and if you see, We talk about type and antitype or shadow and substance. That manna is what he's talking about. The people of Israel, they're starving. God provides. He rains down manna, food from heaven that gives them life. This is a temporary feeling though. And now Christ is saying the real bread that comes down from heaven is here. The real bread, the true bread of heaven that gives life is here. And just because I, again, love showing the similarities, we're going to go to Ezekiel 3. I have it on the board if you don't want to turn there. Again, this was not intentional, but I can't not do it. Speaking of this, particularly with this bread idea, this feeding, and in chapter 3 of Ezekiel, after he's given his commission and God has selected him to prophesy for his people, Chapter 3, verse 1, and he said to me, I just like this picture. has now commissioned Ezekiel and gives him a word, gives him a scroll, and he tells him, fill your stomach with it. All right, you see some type imagery here? And then Ezekiel says it tastes as sweet as honey. So I have to throw that in there because if we are saying we eat of Christ, all right, we share fellowship with him, he is our bread of life, is it sweet taste of honey in our mouth? All right, we're studying his word, we're reading his word, we're hearing his word proclaimed and singing and prayer and the preaching text here. Is it sweet to us? I love that imagery of Ezekiel, it was sweet as honey. All right, that should be how the word of God tastes to us, it should be sweet. And even that, some of the disciples are grumbling, so to them this is a hard saying. This is a hard saying. Who can do this? We don't have to turn there, but continuing in chapter 6, John writes that Christ says to them, This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. The Father grants allowance to come to the Son. Again, going back to that hearing, yes, the proclamation, but it is God who grants this allowance. No one comes to Christ but through the Son, and God calls him. And no one is going to, you can work around that however you want to, and that's why I love the continuity in the Old Testament and the New Testament. But continuing on in 6, Jesus continues that, it's written in the prophets, and they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. So again, this understanding of the hearing, those who are God's hear and obey, and those who are given allowance to come to Christ, the bread of life, the giver of life. And I know that this is even some hard sayings today because I hear some wheels turning and getting this idea of God choosing and predestination. They had a hard time with these teachings then. Some godly men still have a hard time with this teaching today. But as long as we are crediting the author, sustainer, and finisher of our salvation as God and God alone and not of our own, we can wrestle in some of these areas. God's word is foolishness. Some of these might not even have been disciples. He's calling them disciples because they followed Him, but it doesn't mean that they were actually His sheep. These sayings are hard, but for God's people, they're not hard, which is why Christ turns to the Twelve. Again, just to go back into the teaching for a moment, when you hear disciples, Jesus' disciples, we automatically default. He's talking about the Twelve. But there's an incident where he sends out groups, 72, I think, groups of disciples to go out and proclaim. So there is a larger gathering than just the 12. The 12 is just the inner circle. This is who Jesus turns to in our text, though. And he asks them, do you want to go as well? All these are leaving. They're leaving and not following Christ anymore. Are you 12 going to go as well? And I just love that it is Peter that answers, though. Peter, who is the first one to acknowledge the deity of Christ. When Christ says, who do they say I am? Some say this, some say that. Well, who do you say I am? You're the Christ, the Holy One of God. So that's Peter's proclamation. Peter's gonna acknowledge it here. Are you guys gonna leave too? Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And then we know that Peter's gonna have his time of trial and struggle and he's going to deny his Savior. Then we get that beautiful picture though when Jesus is talking to him. Hey Peter, do you love me? Yes Lord, I love you. Feed my sheep. Three times. So one, that conviction of what was done, but look at the allowance of repentance, the restoration, and then a commission to Peter. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. After the doubt, After being reminded of this, after the denial, Christ still tells him, feed my sheep. All right, feed my sheep. Teach them of the mighty works of God, the word of God, the bread of life. And Peter, as we see through the book of Acts and then his letters, done, I think, a great job. He had his struggles as well with giving in to the Judaizers, but again, his example shows us that in God there is forgiveness. Even as a, would anyone say that Peter was not redeemed? I don't think I've ever met anybody who said that, but he constantly has these little areas and he's granted repentance and he continues on. Repent, turn away, and move on. Even today, we turn away from some of these readings. I really don't like the separation of the Old Testament and the New Testament. As I say, we still get that, though. There is this idea of Jesus seeing what God didn't know, God of the Old Testament. This includes Jim. It wasn't until recently that I realized I was a Marcionite. There was an Old Testament God and then a New Testament God. I didn't understand that this is the three in one. And even today, we often overlook the spirit. But people today are turning God into, I use the three letter acronym is what they're doing. G.O.D. stands for genie on demand. All right. So when Peter's saying here, whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. It's been corrupted and distorted to meet my needs. And the irony to this, though, is going back to his, I am the bread of life and feeding the multitude. They saw this miracle. They were fed, and he even tells them, this is only temporary. You need to seek the bread that gives you eternal life, the bread that you will never hunger when you take. So there were many that partook of this, I rubbed the genie lamp, and I'm hungry, and I got fed. All right, so yes, I'm following Jesus. No, you're following the bread. You're not following the bread of life. And this is, over and over again, see a lot of the examples are, well, that's a hard saying. I don't want to do this. Well, what do I have to do to follow you, give up all that you have and follow me? I would do anything for you, but I won't do that. My musical reference for the day, John. Lord, to whom shall we go? Looking back at the Old Testament, we see that Israel turned from God. They were the keepers of the oracles. They were given the word, they were given the law of God. They were chosen by him to be a beacon in the wilderness. They saw all the mighty works of God and they turned away. Ah, Egypt's looking good over there. Or, you know what, Babylon's coming, we don't like them so much, let's be friends with Egypt over here. Or, uh-oh, we're gonna see who wins this battle and that's who we're gonna side with. Oh, you have, the creator of the universe is yours. So this turning away, it's not a new thing, and we do see these disciples that turned away. I'm not talking about the 11 that were faithful, but they turned away because the sayings were hard. They turned away because that's not how I want God to treat me. I wasn't talking about all that stuff. I was talking about this other stuff I want God to do for me. And Christians, turning to anything but Christ today is wrong, and there's many reasons. But I love that Peter says it best, though. You've tasted this goodness, but like dogs, you're returning to your own vomit. That's what it is. We have this, again, I pray this is true, this sweet, honey-tasting Word of God. It's like, ah, that was okay, but I like what the world has for me over here. Let me go lap up that vomit. There is forgiveness in the Lord, though. So oftentimes, even temporarily, we will fall away. We'll turn to something. Our focus will be taken from the only one worthy of our adoration and focus, and we will turn to something else. But God grants repentance and forgiveness. All right. So let's not lose track of that either. This is where that saint-sinner mentality comes in. If you're just going out, holding on to the world for all its worth and everything like that, you probably don't call yourself a follower of Christ. But if there is conviction, if there is repentance, and this is, I don't know how to say it without coming off as arrogant a lot of times, but when you're thinking of certain examples and how to follow them, like we were just discussing in the Philippians though, the godly men and women in your lives to follow, as long as they are following Christ, it is a good example. I'm one of the classes hearing some interesting, I don't want to bore you with the history, but I'm going through a Benjamin Keech class, and some of the men who've impacted his life weren't even of the same denomination, had different philosophies, but the way that they were faithful to God's word, and even when they were wrong, continue on, that's the example that we want to be. And again, there are times when we say that. I finally got this figured out. God has enlightened me to this. I understand this, and I want to share it. So that's what we're trying to do. And I say some people are, it does come off as arrogant at times, but the truth is, compare it to the word of God. All right, that's all you have to do. Some people are, I won't say some people, I'll say a lot of people are better speakers than I am, definitely have better handwriting. We're going to have a contest to see who actually has the worst, and I put money on myself. Going on, to whom shall we go? And Peter said, we believe and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. In Hebrews, and John had mentioned earlier today when he was up for speaking though, that Christ is a mediator. In Hebrews chapter nine, the author writes, therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. All right, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. And what we've just been reading in John chapters five and six, the dead will hear and live. All right, they will hear and live. The bread of life has the words of life because he is life. That's why I brought in the, I am the bread of life. It's hard to cut off any of these titles and functions that the Son of God, Christ, Christ Jesus, is for us. The word incarnate comes down from heaven as the bread of life. Jesus said that the bread that God is sending from heaven is the bread of life, is me. The word incarnate, the word in flesh, down from heaven as a bread of life to give life to his sheep, given to him by the Father and sealed by the Spirit unto salvation." Again, we see the workings of the triune God here. We see the unity. Again, going back to, I can only do what I see the Father do. There is unity in the Godhead. There is salvation in God. And what we see, example for us though, it's the hearing of the word. In today, how is God saving people? What is the means being used? And we even see that in the New Testament. How will they believe if they don't hear? How will they hear if there's not somebody to preach to them? So it's this word of God, this word of God, the bread of life. that is saving. In the beginning was the word, John says. And if we go to Genesis, in the beginning God said. So again, I just love John using Moses there, but these truths of God and his character and what he does for us. Well, as we do get ready to celebrate the Lord's Supper, what do we do with this truth? Lord, to whom shall we go? That is the question. That is what I was focusing on here because there is There's nowhere I'd rather be. We read in Paul that he says, I wanna be with Christ right now. Take me away right now. So that aside, there's nowhere I'd rather be than with the people of God as we're gonna celebrate what was done for us. This is a day that we set apart, that we come together. My brothers and sisters I'm seeing out there, there's nowhere I'd rather be. Okay, I wanna look at Ephesians and then we are gonna look at 1 Peter to finish here, but how we can deal with this beautiful truth. And in Ephesians chapter 2. Is it good or bad when you start running out of bookmarks just for one week? I've got index cards in here and such. I'm just going to read three verses in Ephesians here though. Again, going back to showing the picture that we see in the Valley of Dry Bones, the understanding of the truth that Christ proclaims, this dead in sin versus literal dead that we also see addressed by Christ. But in Ephesians 2, we start, And you were dead in the trespasses and sin in which you once walked. Following this course of the world, following the prince of power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived, the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Dead in sin, completely dead, called to life, given life, God's law put into our hearts, But he goes on in verse 4, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And we can go into the good works, and there are some classes that we did speaking of that. I love the way the confession addresses that. But all this is to say that we are given life, and there's a purpose. Man was created, we have a purpose. We are gonna glorify God, and we see here in Ephesians, we are his worksmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God had prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So as I said, there's nowhere I'd rather be. And as we have seen in the Corinthians text we're going through, that we are gifted individually to serve each other collectively. So as we are going to gather around the table and celebrate what was done for us, it's not individual, it's collective. Yes, there is an individual time of searching, which is why when we are preparing for Lord's Supper, we tell you that start examining yourself. That antinomian little caveat I had to give there, because there are some who call themselves a Christian, but they don't know Christ. If that is you, don't partake. If you are a brother or sister in Christ, and you're not under church discipline somewhere else, if you don't have any unrepentant sin, if you don't have anything against a brother or a sister, nothing is preventing you from joining as we celebrate the Lord's Supper. But if any of those do pertain to you, we advise you to abstain at this time. All right, this is going back to those who are called. It's called the fencing of the table, but we're doing this because of the heart of ministry, and if you are taking it unworthily, there are consequences for that. Okay, I do wanna read from the confession on the Lord's Supper, because in light of being created as workmanship for Christ Jesus for good works, I love the way they, summarized in paragraph 1 of chapter 30, and that should be an insert as well if you want it. Otherwise, we do have copies of the Confession Round. But of the Lord's Supper, And they write, the supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him the same night wherein he was betrayed to be observed in his churches until the end of the world for the perpetual remembrance and showing to all the world the sacrifice of himself in his death. Confirmation of the faith of believers and all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe to him and to be a bond and a pledge of their communion with him and with each other. It is worthy. They do have a first Corinthians several texts for that but even this and we've talked about and I agree with it the sign of the New Testament for where you had circumcision under the Old Covenant the New Covenant I believe the sign is this Lord's Supper and I like the way they do that though This is a showing all the world the sacrifice of Christ. So this is something that's observed. It is something that should only be taken by by born again, by if you've been baptized and if you're not under any of those situations we said, to join together and encourage you to partake. All right. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. You are the bread of life. I know that was a hard saying for them. I know that I still talk to people. Oh, you Christians and that vampirism. What are you talking about? Eating flesh and drinking blood, yes. It's foolish to you because you haven't been enlightened, that the imagery is showing is the bread of life, the one who gives life. Lord, to whom shall we go? But that admonition, even in the confession there, to further live as a bond and a pledge to Christ and to each other. Live lives worthy of the gifts we've received. The people of God are meant to live together. That's what I, when I say there's no place I'd rather be, I mean that. And yes, you guys see me sometimes stressed and running, but I look forward to every meeting of God's people. This is beautiful. This is where I want to be. And this is just a rehearsal for what's going to take place. What we're going to do as well, the observing of the Lord's Supper, that's just rehearsing the wedding feast of the Lamb. This is going to be beautiful. So as we're rehearsing, imperfectly we're doing these things, but we are looking on to the one who is perfect. We worship our great God together. We encourage and lift each other up. We serve Christ by serving each other. So these are examples we should see, especially as we're partaking here. And I do want to finish in 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2. And that is Hebrews, not 1 Peter. There we go. First Peter, chapter two, verses 24 and 25. Again, Peter's the one who proclaimed, who do you say I am? You're the Christ. And Peter's the one who said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And Peter's the one who denied and then returned. And Peter's the one who went back fishing and then was commissioned to feed Christ's sheep. In verse 24 of chapter two, 1 Peter, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you are straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Peter never forgot that. Lord, to whom shall we go? He never forgot that. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. the bread of life, the giver of life, the word of God. Such a beautiful, beautiful story, the story of salvation. And I definitely encourage you, if you're not making Old Testament reading a part of your practice, Do so with a good commentary to help show you how it's revealed in the New Testament. And it is beautiful, and I pray that the Word of God does taste like sweet honey when you are reading it, when you are feeding on it. So we'll go ahead in a closing prayer, and then ready ourselves for partaking of the Lord's Supper. O Lord, Holy Ruler of all, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Lord, you have the words of eternal life. You alone are the giver of life. You alone are worthy of all glory. As we prepare to observe this beautiful sacrament that you have given to us, We ask that you help us to see the mighty works you have done, causing our hearts to cry out to you in adoration and worship. We thank you for the miracle of salvation. We thank you for giving life to that which was dead. Lord, we thank you for providing the means for us to be reconciled and adopted as your sons and daughters. Thank you for your precious body and blood of the dear Savior. Lord, thank you for your word and enabling us to hear your word. You called us to salvation. You gave us life in Christ. May your word continually speak to us, encourage us, and guide us. We thank you for your spirit, our God of all comfort, who quickens, enlightens, convicts, and sanctifies us. Keep us walking in your ways, Lord, and grant us repentance when we fail. May we all think, say, and do things that only bring you honor, Lord, that you are glorified through your people.