The Remnant Song – part 2
Isaiah 12:1-6 (4-6)
June 18, 2023
This morning we conclude the first major segment of the book of Isaiah.
And we can conclude it with this summation statement:
“The enemies of God have now become His children and His witnesses.”
That is really what we have seen,
And not only is that the message of the first 12 chapters of Isaiah,
But it is the message of the gospel.
It is the message of the whole of Scripture.
Think back for a moment to the mysterious life of Paul.
Do you remember the day God told Ananias He wanted him to go talk to Saul?
Acts 9:10-14 “Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
• Ananias was not overly excited about his new directive from the Lord.
• This Saul was a bad man.
• He was an enemy of God.
• He arrested and incarcerated and killed Christians.
But God had a plan for this rebel enemy.
Acts 9:15-19a “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened.”
God had determined to make a missionary out of His enemy.
And it happened.
Acts 9:19b-22 “Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”
God took an enemy and made him a missionary.
But then again that story is NOT unique.
Isn’t that what God did for Isaiah?
• Didn’t we read in Isaiah 6 how Isaiah was a self-professed hypocrite?
• Didn’t we hear Isaiah confess that he was a man of unclean lips?
But after God forgave him we remember his inspiring response to God.
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah also went from enemy to missionary.
But isn’t that also what God is doing in your life and my life?
Paul wrote:
Romans 5:6-11 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
• We were all enemies of God.
• We were all evil men and women.
• We all had unclean lips.
• But God sent His son to justify the ungodly and to save us and to reconcile us to Himself.
• And then He also commissioned us to take His gospel to the world.
This is not a unique story, it is the very story of the gospel.
It is the change that God works in the hearts of those He redeems.
And surely you also realize now that
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT GOD HAS BEEN DOING IN ISRAEL
Here in the first 12 chapters of Isaiah’s book.
DO WE REMEMBER that Israel was categorized as ENEMIES OF GOD?
Isaiah 1:4 “Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.”
Isaiah 1:14-15 “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”
Isaiah 1:21 “How the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, But now murderers.”
Isaiah 3:8-9 “For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence. The expression of their faces bears witness against them, And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.”
And that’s just to name a few.
• They weren’t friends of God, they were enemies of God.
• They lived in sin and loved it.
In chapter 5 God actually compared them to a fruitless vineyard that needed to be destroyed.
Isaiah 5:5-6 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
• They were a fruitless vineyard.
• They had unclean lips.
• They were enemies of God.
And we saw that GOD’S WRATH rightly abided on them.
Isaiah 5:24-25 “Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. On this account the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out.”
They deserved judgment and it seemed that judgment
Would be all that they would get from the hand of God.
BUT…
• Instead of wiping them out by flood…
• Instead of raining fire and brimstone on them…
God raised up a prophet
And commissioned him to go to these sinful enemies.
Certainly most of the people would not listen to Isaiah and for most of them his ministry would only expose them and harden their hearts for judgment.
But God would use Isaiah to save a few of them; 10% God said.
WE CALL THEM THE REMNANT.
And we saw how God used “The Assyrian Rod” to accomplish His purposes of saving that remnant.
• He brought in Assyria who rained judgment on the stagnant hearts of God’s enemies.
• But there were a few who learned their lesson and repented of their sin and returned to God for salvation.
Isaiah 10:20-25 “Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did. “For in a very little while My indignation against you will be spent and My anger will be directed to their destruction.”
They all had been God’s enemies, but through God’s discipline,
The remnant had their eyes opened.
They returned to God in repentance and God saved them.
It’s like the song we sometimes sing.
“Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table, Jesus thank You!”
THAT WAS THEM.
• God saved them.
• God redeemed them.
• God moved them from being and enemy to being a son.
That is what this entire segment has been about.
And now Isaiah brings this SEGMENT TO A CLOSE
With chapter 12 and the SONG OF THAT REMNANT.
This is the remnant’s response
To such an unlikely and undeserved salvation.
We started looking at this last Sunday night
And we noted that we see 2 major changes in this remnant.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
• We know that Christ changes those He saves.
• We know that once a man is redeemed his life will be different.
Isaiah 12 shows us the two major changes that occurred in this remnant.
#1 THEIR WORSHIP
Isaiah 12:1-3
As I said, we studied this last Sunday night
So we won’t dwell long here, but it is worth seeing again.
We noted that their new worship was seen in 3 ways.
1) THEIR GRATITUDE: They went from condemnation to comfort
(1) “Then you will say on that day, ‘I will give thanks to You, O LORD; For although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, And You comforted me.”
They worship in gratitude because God has turned His anger from them.
And God would do this by turning His anger toward Christ.
• ON THE CROSS, God treated Jesus as though He were a sinner so that God
could treat His remnant as though they are His sons.
• He imputed our sin to Christ and He imputes His righteousness to us.
And in a moment those who are enemies are reconciled and adopted.
What other response could there be to such a salvation but gratitude?
The Christian life is a life characterized by gratitude toward God.
• We are no longer grumblers like those in the wilderness.
• We are no longer characterized by bitterness and complaining.
• Even in adversity we fall down like Job and say, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away, blessed be the name of the LORD.”
The worship of the redeemed is filled with gratitude for an undeserved salvation.
• He has moved us from condemnation to comfort.
• We were His enemies, but He has redeemed us and made us sons.
We saw another new aspect of their worship.
2) THEIR FAITH: They went from fear to faith
(2) “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”
• No longer do they view God as a dreadful enemy.
• No longer do they shy away from His presence.
Now they proclaim, “I will trust and not be afraid.”
The nearness of God is my good!
They don’t want God to keep His distance,
They want to draw as near to God as they possibly can.
“the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”
He didn’t just save me, He IS my salvation.
• He is what I was missing.
• He is what I was longing for.
My unfulfillment and bitterness and struggle
Was because I was too far away from Him.
It is His return into my life that has made all the difference.
That is a CHANGE in the life of the redeemed.
• They used to despise His presence.
• They used to want to hide in the caves from the Holy One of Israel.
Now through the blood of Jesus they tear through the veil
And go boldly into the holy place to commune with their heavenly Father.
It is a change that was made in their lives.
And we saw one more change in their worship.
3) JOY: They went from cisterns to springs
(3) “Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.”
We remember that conversation Jesus had with the woman at the well.
John 4:10-14 “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? “You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
We remember His sermon in Jerusalem:
John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
When we come to Jesus we don’t drink out of a stagnant old cistern,
We drink from fresh springs of living water.
Old religion with all its traditions and ordinances and burdens and yokes can be such a broken system.
• Israel was faithful to bring all those sacrifices and attend all those feasts and festivals
• And they hated it.
• It was a burden, it was dead.
But when Christ saves a person, and fills them with His Spirit,
Death is gone and life is new.
There is no burden, now it is joy!
And that joy is compared to “springs of salvation”
DO YOU REMEMBER when the children of Israel wandered in the desert?
• It was hot, it was dry, they were thirsty, and they grumbled against God.
Exodus 17:3-6 “But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
They grumbled against God for their thirst and God commanded Moses to strike the rock that it might yield to them water.
That scene is further explained to us in the New Testament.
1 Corinthians 10:4 “and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”
• Paul said that even in that day it was Christ who gave them water.
• And that rock produced a river which followed them.
When that rock opened, it came out like Niagara Falls
And that river followed them throughout the desert
That they might have water and the life that comes with it.
AND THAT ROCK WAS A PICTURE OF CHRIST.
“Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.”
Raymond Ortlund wrote:
“The prospect of thirst, weary, dirty people pulling up bucket after bucket of fresh, cool water in endless supply – drinking deeply, pouring it over their heads, dunking their faces into it, splashing one another – that is a vision of God’s gifts of salvation widely shared. Joyfully drawing water from the wells of salvation is the very life of God, openly accessible to us all, entering into our actual experience. And the deeper we drink, the greater our praise.”
(Ortlund, Raymond [Isaiah: God Saves Sinners; Preaching The Word Commentary Series; Crossway Publishers; Wheaton, Il; 2005] pg. 123)
David said:
Psalms 63:1 “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
THAT IS THE REALITY OF SALVATION.
It is joy like a river of water
To a man who has been walking through a desert.
It’s no wonder our worship is filled with joy now.
No longer cold and dead and dry, but we joyfully worship our King!
We saw that last Sunday night.
• As pardoned enemies and comforted rebels…
• He took those who hated Him and called them near…
And now as full recipients of God’s grace,
We are fully satisfied in Jesus!
That is the first great difference redemption makes in the remnant.
They once despised the Holy One,
Now they WORSHIP Him in gratitude, faith, and joy.
THIS MORNING, let’s look at the second major change that has occurred in their lives.
#2 THEIR WITNESS
Isaiah 12:4-6
You see the change in verse 4.
• Earlier, up in verse 1 the statement was “I will give thanks”
• Now in verse 4 this remnant is giving a directive to everyone else and commanding them to “Give thanks to the LORD”
It is not a testimony, it is a call.
They aren’t just worshipers, they are missionaries.
They have followed Isaiah’s example
And responded to God with a “Here am I. Send me!”
We can see aspects of their witness here as well.
1) THEIR SERMON: His Exalted Name (4)
“And in that day you will say, “Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.”
What a sermon they preach!
It is all about the greatness of the LORD
And how sinful man must respond to Him.
YOU SEE HERE FIRST THAT there is an expectation that those who have been forgiven will now go and be ambassadors to others.
• There is no version of Christianity where one gets saved and then tells no one.
• There is no version of Christianity where a true believer takes his light and
hides it under a basket.
In fact, those who do that indicate that their salvation is not genuine.
Remember the Sermon on the Mount?
Jesus sarcastically confronted Israel for this very thing.
• They were convinced that they were a light to sinners in darkness.
• They were convinced that they were the carriers of truth.
Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
I hope you can hear the sarcasm in His confrontation there.
• You call yourselves the salt of the earth and yet you have no flavor.
• You call yourselves the light of the world and yet it must be hidden under a bucket.
No, if you were truly salt, you’d taste
And if you were truly light you’d shine.
Luke 8:16 “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.”
Those who have been saved tell others about their salvation.
That is why Spurgeon said:
“Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”
You see that expectation here.
• You’ve been saved.
• You’ve been redeemed.
• You’ve been moved from being an enemy to being a son.
• You’ve found true fulfillment and joy.
Go and proclaim to others what you have found!
And look at this sermon, it is great!
• In fact, do you want to know what you should go and preach to sinners?
• Are you looking for a simple sermon to preach to the lost?
WELL CHECK THIS ONE OUT.
(It’s a 3 point sermon)
“Give thanks” – it is a call for sinners to realize the grace of God in their lives.
• Paul taught us in Romans 1 that an unredeemed world does not honor Him as God or give thanks.
So go to the lost, show them the greatness of God.
Show them the benefits they have received from His hand
And tell them that they owe God gratitude.
Do you remember Paul’s preaching in Athens?
He was surrounded by pagans but notice what he preached.
Acts 17:24-25 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;”
That is not only a reminder of the greatness and glory of God,
But it is also a reminder that you owe your very life to Him.
“He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.”
You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Him.
That’s a great way to start a sermon to the lost!
You should recognize what God has already done for you and humble yourself and thank Him for it.
But it’s more than just telling God, “Thank You” for giving you life.
There is an EXPECTATION for sinners as well.
“call on His name” – it is a gospel directive to sinners that they must submit to Him as Lord and trust in Him alone for salvation.
• They are sinful men and they need salvation.
When Paul continues preaching in Athens he went on to say:
Acts 17:26-27 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
It is a reminder to the lost that they were put here for a purpose.
• It is not to please themselves, but to please the One who made them.
• They are here to seek God and submit their lives to Him.
That is another great message to the lost.
And finally:
“Make them remember that His name is exalted” – when sinners don’t want to seek and submit to Him then remind them who He is and that bowing to Him is not optional.
Paul went on to say:
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
See when we go to the world we aren’t salesmen
Who are seeking to sell salvation to sinners.
We aren’t out there trying to make God look as good as possible
So that sinners might want to give Him a try.
We are heralds who proclaim to sinners what God demands of them.
• Their response to Him is not optional.
• This is not a “take it or leave it” offer.
“Make them remember that His name is exalted.”
They need to know that He is the high and exalted One
And that every knee will bow to Him.
Peter preached at Pentecost and said:
Acts 2:33-35 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.” ’
• And when the people heard that they were gripped with fear and asked what they should do.
• Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus.
• They had to submit to Him as Lord!
THIS IS WHAT THE REDEEMED DO.
Having been saved, they become preachers of the glory of God to the world.
It is a change that God brings about in their heart.
And you see the sermon they preach.
It is about His exalted name.
He has the name that is above every name! He is Lord!
But that’s not all you see from these witnesses. It’s not just a sermon.
2) THEIR SONG: His Excellent Deeds (5)
“Praise the LORD in song, for He has done excellent things; Let this be known throughout the earth.”
It is a song of praise and it is worship
Like what we saw in the first 3 verses.
The difference is that the song in verses 1-3 occurred in the sanctuary,
This one is sung “throughout the earth”
• This is an evangelistic song.
• This is a song of praise for the world to hear.
This is the song of Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, having been severely flogged and placed in the stocks, now at midnight singing hymns of praise to God.
• Even in their adversity…
• Even in their persecution…
• They marvel the world because they sing “He has done excellent things”
Want to blow the mind of the world?
Then praise God for doing excellent things
While you are in the midst of your tribulation.
Anyone can praise God when they score a touchdown
Or get a new car or on payday.
But sing of His excellent things in the jail cell
After having been flogged and the world will wonder.
This is the song of the redeemed.
This is the song of the remnant.
They PREACH that His name is exalted
Then they SING of all the great things He has done.
Their Sermon, Their Song
3) THEIR SHOUT: His Eminent Presence (6)
“Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
“Cry aloud and shout for joy”
It sounds like a stadium full of fans who just witnessed a homerun.
It is the very OPPOSITE of Isaiah’s cry in the temple.
Isaiah, in his hypocrisy cried “OUI – DAMAH”
Remember? “Woe!” “I am undone!”
He shouted of his own demise.
• God’s nearness was not a good thing.
• He was a sinful hypocrite
• A sinful hypocrite does not want to be in the presence of God.
But now we see redemption.
• Now forgiveness has occurred.
• And this shout is different.
This shout is a “shout for joy”
And they are joyful because “great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Do you see how they have come full circle from what they were?
Isaiah 1:4 “Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.”
When we started Isaiah we were confronted with a people
Who wanted nothing to do with the presence of God.
We read words like “abandoned”, “despised”, and “turned away”
That is the behavior of lost men.
But now, they have been saved.
Now they have been forgiven.
And now they shout for joy at His presence.
They shout: “Behold our God seated on His throne. Come, let us adore Him!
Behold our King! Nothing can compare. Come, let us adore Him!”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
It is men who once despised the presence of God
And now they shout for joy at His arrival.
They are heralds!
They are like John the Baptist crying out, “Make straight the way of the LORD!”
THAT IS WHO THE REDEEMED ARE!
• They have moved from enemy to worshiper.
• They have moved from hypocrite to witness.
• They love Christ!
• They love His appearing!
• They long to announce it to the world!
It is the change God has wrought in the heart of those He has saved.
And the obvious and only question is:
Has this change been wrought in your heart?
• Are you filled with gratitude?
• Are you filled with faith?
• Are you filled with joy?
• Do you preach His exalted name to the world?
• Do you sing of His excellent deeds?
• Do you shout of His eminent presence to the world?
That is what the remnant does.
If that is not you, perhaps you are stuck
In that same cold dead religious cistern of hypocrisy
That Isaiah and his contemporaries were in.
Perhaps it is time for you also to repent and return to Christ.
But for THOSE WHO ARE REDEEMED
All we seek to do is worship and witness of His greatness.
And that is why we come to the Lord’s Supper this morning.
It is both a time of worship and a time of witness.
1 Corinthians 11:25-26 “In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
When we partake we do so with GRATITUDE, FAITH, and JOY.
• For we were enemies made sons.
• Our fear of His judgment has been removed.
• He has satisfied us with unspeakable joy.
This is a time of worship for us.
But it is also a Witness.
For Paul says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
This is our testimony
• Of the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Savior.
• That His death is the only means of atonement.
• And that He will return to claim what He has purchased.
So this morning, as we always do,
We will have a TIME OF PREPARATION to examine ourselves.
And then we will partake in gratitude, faith, and joy
As we bear witness that only the death of Christ can bring life.
Pray
LORD’S SUPPER
• Deacons Come
Colossians 1:9-14 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
• Give Bread to Deacons
• Deacon Prayer
• Deacons Pass out Bread
Matthew 26:26 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
• Take Bread
Colossians 1:15-20 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
• Give Juice to Deacons
• Deacon Prayer
• Deacons Pass out Juice
Matthew 26:27-28 “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
• Deacon Prayer
• Parting Hymn
