Sermon Snippet – Remember – Part III
INTRODUCTION – In I Corinthians 11:23-25, we are reminded that Jesus created the Communion service and twice said, “This do in remembrance of me.” A central part of communion, then, is remembering what Jesus has done for us. Because our faith is fact-based, Christians should be realists, godly people living in an evil culture. Jesus speaks to us directly about this dilemma.
1. JESUS PREPARES US FOR PERSECUTION
John 15:20 is direct: “Remember the word that I said unto you, ‘The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.’” Because we are all created in God’s image, each one of us makes choices. All of God’s decisions are good; ours may be good or bad. If we follow Jesus, many will oppose us; some will agree with us. Our Savior has given us this clear warning, and we should be grateful for it. In John 16:4a, Jesus restates this warning: “But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.” Christians need to have this realistic view of life, and we need to be appreciative that our Lord has so frankly alerted us to the certainty of persecution. When others want to do evil to us, He desires good for us. Let us remember His winsome warning and thank Him for preparing us for persecution.
2. JESUS PROMISES HEAVENLY HELP IN REMEMBERING
How could these confused and frightened men think and remember clearly? Before the crucifixion of Christ, they could simply ask Him to clarify matters. They asked repeated questions, and Jesus graciously answered them, using a variety of teaching methods. With Jesus physically absent from their lives, though, they could quickly forget and become misguided. In John 16:7-15, Jesus promised that God the Holy Spirit would “guide” each believer into “truth” (verse 13). The Spirit is fully God (“another” in John 14:16 means “another of exactly the same kind”), indwells each believer (I Corinthians 6:19), and specifically will “bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). Additionally, we now have the completed Word of God, each word inspired by the Spirit (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21). It is thus easier for us to remember than it was for those disciples with Jesus at the terrible time of His death on the Cross. Let us remember the heavenly help of the indwelling Spirit and the Spirit-breathed Word.
3. JESUS PROVIDES A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE FROM THE LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL
II Timothy 2:7-10 records that Paul was in prison for preaching the “Gospel” (verse 8); yes, he was being persecuted for presenting the Good News of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ – and he would soon be executed by the Roman government (II Timothy 4:6). Persecution? Yes. Power? Also yes – a different kind of power. Paul’s strength was Spirit-saturated. His full focus was undeterred by the efforts of evil men: “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (verse 10). Paul, like us, was just a human being. Let us remember his example and be encouraged to fully follow Jesus.
CONCLUSION – We come now to the Communion remembrance. May we be sure that we have called upon Jesus as Savior, and may we remember how good He is to us, even in warning us about evil.