Coming to the Lord’s Table (VIDEO)
Reestablishment of God’s Kingdom
Speaker, Sinclair Ferguson
Video Sermon from Basics Conference 2017*
Text added by Ken Pullen, Wednesday, May 8th, 2019
The Creation of the World
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expansea in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God madeb the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven.c And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth,d and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plantse yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,f and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birdsg fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make manh in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1 — English Standard Version
Footnotes:
a 6 Or a canopy; also verses 7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20
b 7 Or fashioned; also verse 16
c 8 Or Sky; also verses 9, 14, 15, 17, 20, 26, 28, 30; 2:1
d 10 Or Land; also verses 11, 12, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30; 2:1
e 11 Or small plants; also verses 12, 29
f 14 Or appointed times
g 20 Or flying things; see Leviticus 11:19 – 20
h 26 The Hebrew word for man (adam) is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam
In Genesis 1 we see God our Father, Jesus our Lord create all things which were created and proclaim them all good. Seven times proclaiming such. All the earth and all in it was good. Made by God our Father and Jesus our Lord. Contrary to the unsound and false teachings of the Gnostics and others who preach, teach the world was created by an inferior god and that the material world created is evil.
God and Jesus created man and woman to commune with Them. As friends, as companions. In the Garden God communed with Adam and Eve and they with Him. I believe this to be literal. The Holy Scriptures tell us Adam and Eve walked in the Garden and communed with God. He spoke to them and they in turn spoke to God. Literally. Because the world was all good. Evil had not revealed itself in the hearts and minds of the man and woman yet. It was Paradise. On earth. All good created by God and Jesus. God created man in His image to have an independent living being of free will to communicate with Him. Not like the angels. Not like any other living being.
There is no evil, no unsoundness, no falseness, no lying, nothing evil within God or Jesus. Nothing.
The world was not created inherently evil.
Man and woman of their free will in disobedience to God and in trusting in their independent natures and believing the father of lies, the Evil One rather than God brought evil upon themselves. Thus having to be banished from the Garden. To endure pain, suffering, pain in childbirth, sweat in labor, weeds and all things evil disobedience to the Lord brings.
The first Adam failed. Miserably.
And, all of us being heirs of the first Adam are within our natures exactly like he who we came from. We of our own doing, our independent, rebellious natures turn to evil. It’s in our hearts, in our minds, in our flesh and in our daily lives.
We all are sinners. Not were sinners — ARE sinners. We all fall short and are in need of the forgiveness, the mercy, the love and saving grace provided by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and He offering Himself up in body as sacrifice for the sins of us all. All my individual sins. All your individual sins. All the sins of everyone.
Imagine the pain, anguish, isolation and torment that brought to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We are to partake of the Lord’s Supper, to come to the Lord’s table in preparation.
On a regular basis. In preparation.
Yet, what do most us know or understand regarding this coming to the Lord’s table in remembrance of Him?
Let a dear, humble, measured out by the Holy Spirit man of God expound on this much greater than I could ever do in my feebleness in 100 years.
Knowing that all of God’s Word — from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 is all about the Second Adam, all about Jesus. All about coming to the Lord’s table to sup with Him.
The first Adam failed. And for that God had to come to earth in the flesh and sacrifice Himself, shed His blood, give up His flesh and die to rise on the third day conquering death and fulfilling the promise of God.
The Second Adam, Jesus Christ the Lord fails in nothing. Blameless. Spotless. Perfected. Loving, Caring. Desiring we come to Him as believers, growing into disciples, of sound teachings (all of the Holy Scriptures over the teachings of man, go to the Bible if in doubt on anything — no church, no person in the present has, is, or will experience anything new under the sun which does not appear somewhere in God’s Word with example and instruction as to how we ought to proceed to obey and please God) to walk with Him and to come to His table to sup with Him.
Here in the flesh and blood in remembrance, in preparation.
For what is to come.
Enough of my incompetence in this. Please, begin the video sermon of Sinclair Ferguson and he who is led by the Spirit of God in making all these things much clearer than I ever could;
*The Basics Conference is a Christian conference for minsters, pastors and those working in various ministries serving Jesus Christ the Lord. While Sinclair Ferguson’s sermon is addressed to these ministers it is also very relevant and apropos for all believers to partake of this very important sermon;
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
1 Corinthians 10:14-22 — English Standard Version
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, 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.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 — English Standard Version
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:20 — English Standard Version
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