Thank you, Carol and Meredith. Would you open your Bible with me, please, to Ephesians chapter 4. Today we are observing together the Lord's Supper, and therefore the remainder of our service is going to be different than usual. Our remarks in preparation for our observance come from the fourth verse of Ephesians 4, where it says, There is one body and one spirit, just as also you
were called in one hope of your calling. So we are returning today to this statement outlining the sevenfold uniqueness of the Christian faith. To focus on one particular clause dealing with the calling we share together as members of the family of God. The first occasion of the word calling in the book of Ephesians is in the first chapter in the 18th verse. For there it speaks of the hope of his calling. It's the same calling
that's in view in both locations. However, in Ephesians 1, the calling is from the perspective of the originator of the calling. It's his calling. Whereas here in the fourth chapter, it's from the perspective of the recipient. It's called your calling. This calling is our calling to salvation. It is the summons of God. to partake
of the blessings of salvation. We recognize that the Bible teaches there is a general external call which is given to all men, and an invitation is given to receive the blessings of salvation through it. But there is also an effective or effectual internal call of the Spirit of God to some. whom the Bible calls vessels of mercy. This call results not only in their hearing the gospel, but in their believing response to it.
All genuine children of God share in this effectual calling of the Holy Spirit to the blessings of salvation. We share together this calling and its accompanying hope. Consider with me this morning three aspects of this shared calling that we have as a people. In the first place, it is a calling that is personal. You notice he says, you were called in one hope of your calling. You and your, it's a personal calling. God indeed does have purposes for groups. of
people or for entire nations. An example would be, of course, national Israel in the Old Testament, or even those Gentile nations at that time to whom the prophets like Isaiah wrote. God has a purpose for the church as a whole, as a corporate body of people. But the point I'm making here is that the calling to salvation It is an individual calling of God. God does not save whole groups of people except that he does it one at a time. Because, you see, salvation is a personal matter.
It is an individual relationship between the believing sinner and God. When the Spirit of God calls, he calls individual peoples. not units of them or groupings of them. No one can be convicted for a group or for one other person for that matter. Each person must be convicted for himself. And when the sinner responds, he does so as an individual person. No one can repent for anyone else. No one can believe for someone else. Salvation
is an individual calling. This truth is suggested, I think, in the way that God identifies himself in the Old Testament with this name, the God of Abraham and others. Is that what it says? No. It doesn't even say the God of Abraham and his family. But rather it says, I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. You see, the emphasis is upon the individual believing.
The promise of God. Now my point is this. Just because others in your family or in your church or in your peer group may have trusted Christ and been saved, that is no reason for you to presume that you yourself are therefore saved. One can be raised in a godly, fine, Christian home. and still go into eternity at death without Jesus Christ as personal Savior. This calling that we share together in Christ Jesus is a personal calling. The gate to life is narrow, my friend.
In fact, it is so narrow that only one person may enter it at a time. And it may be that this today is your time. You know, the Bible says, Today is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. And so it is that while you and I hear the voice of the Spirit of God within us speaking, that is the time to respond. At that moment that we hear Him, that is our day
of salvation. And if today you hear the Spirit of God speaking within you, calling you to personal faith in Jesus Christ, if you hear Him rowing you away from all that you've trusted in before to place your faith solely and alone in Jesus Christ for your soul's salvation, then I beg you today to respond. This is the accepted time for you. Trust in Him today. That calling of God is a personal calling between you and Him.
Oh, I plead with you. to respond to the voice of God's Spirit and trust Jesus Christ today. This calling that we share together as the children of God is a personal calling, but secondly, I want to point out to you that this calling is eternal. It says this in our clause in verse 4, you were called. Notice that verb. It's in a tense that indicates that it's a once and for all calling. It's settled. I'd like to say three
things about that. In the first place, this calling, which is eternal, was ordained before creation. That is, before God brought into existence matter and space and time, before Genesis 1 -1 occurred, this calling to salvation was ordained. of God. We see that back in chapter 1 of Ephesians. Do you remember this? Verse 3 reminds us of our blessings, and then he begins to enumerate them
in verse 4. He says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 4, just as He chose us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world. And then he says in verse 5, He predestined us to adoption as sons. That is God's work. The calling to salvation that you and I share is eternal. It was ordained even before the creation of the worlds. But secondly, it's
a calling which was obtained at the cross. Ordained before creation, but my friend, obtained at the cross, for without the cross there would be no salvation. This is suggested to us in verse 7 of Ephesians 1, where it says, In Him we have redemption through His blood. The blood of a Savior had to be shed. His life had to be poured out so that that calling of God to salvation could be realized. It was at the cross that that
calling was obtained for us. In the second chapter, And the 13th verse, it says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. And then look down a few more verses to verse 16 where it says, and that he might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross. Never lose sight of the fact that the cross is central in the plan of God's salvation. It is at the cross that salvation, this calling to salvation, was
obtained for us. It was paid for through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, a payment that you and I could never make on our own. He made it on our behalf as our vicarious Savior. But thirdly, I want you to notice regarding this eternal calling that it's a calling that was obeyed at conversion. That is, you personally appropriated this calling at that moment of conversion
when you believed on Christ. Look again in chapter 1 and verse 13 where it says, In him, in Christ, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise. There's a little process that is suggested here. The first stage is somebody declaring the message. That's presumed. The second stage is listening. You listened, you heard that message of Christ and Calvary, his resurrection from
the dead. But then he says the third stage is when you believed. And that is when you responded to that calling of God within. Someone may do it this morning. Many of us have done it in past years and months. That calling to salvation in Jesus Christ is eternal. In that, before God created the worlds, He ordained that salvation and your calling to it personally. And secondly, it was at the cross that it was obtained for
you through the payment of Christ's blood. Thirdly, you personally obeyed at the time of your conversion and appropriated the promise of God for eternal life. Our calling to salvation that we share is, in the first place, one that is eternal, or rather personal, and then it's eternal. This calling stretches from eternity past into eternity future. And on its way, it passes through your life so that at some point that calling comes to you personally. Now the real thrust that I
want to get to here is this. The calling of God cannot be changed. It's eternal. It is unchanging. It is immutable. It is without repentance. In Romans 11, the Apostle Paul says the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. God does not, He cannot change that. So when you and I are called of God, we are called with an eternal calling and we are kept secure for it. What God has determined in His purposes, He will
fully consummate. He who has begun a good work in you will complete it, will consummate it in the day of Jesus Christ. This work of grace, this calling to salvation cannot be reversed. You and I cannot be uncalled. There is no such concept in the Bible. We can only be called to it. It is a completed act of God. As represented in that verb, you were called. It is only to be fully realized in its consequences at the
coming of Christ. But a third aspect that I want to talk about is this, that your calling to salvation, this calling that we share together, is purposeful. That is, there is a goal to it. There is an aim to it, and that is represented by this word hope. He says that there is one hope of our calling. That is the destiny that we are sharing together in Christ Jesus. We may call it the glory of God. That is God's purpose, my friend. Your calling to salvation has that in view for you. It is
Christ's glory that we share. Ruth Paxton wrote these words, and to be like his Lord. While he praises God for the progressive sanctification which goes on day by day on earth, every truly earnest Christian longs for that day when the partial will give way to the perfect and redemption will be consummated in glorification. The one hope that in these days unifies the Lord's own, as perhaps no other, is the blessed hope of his
soon return. to take them unto himself. That's the calling that we share and the hope that's a part of it. It is the glory of Jesus Christ. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And this is for all of us who share in this calling, not just for some. It's not just for the Jew or for the Gentile. It's not just for the slave or for the free. It's not just
for men or just for women. It's not just for black or white or yellow or red, but it's for all who share this calling to salvation so that today we are an expectant people. For we share together an eager waiting for Christ's return. And that waiting is not an idle one. It's an involved one. We are not to be characterized by indolence in the light of His soon return, but rather by encouragement and motivation and
faithfulness in serving Jesus Christ. The table that we come to today represents the calling that we share. It represents the fact that this calling is personal, for we come as individuals to this table, while as a group. While as a church, we come individually to partake of this bread and drink of this cup, reminding us of the calling that we have in Christ Jesus, a calling which is eternal. As we come to this table, we are reminded of the fact that we will not always
come to this table. We come to this table while we are on the earth. And there will one day be a great supper, the married supper of the Lamb, that we will share with Jesus himself as the host. But we will not share in this table in heaven in eternity to come. As far as I know, there's no indication in Scripture that we will come to the Lord's table then, because we have but to lift our eyes and look upon him then.
But now we see him not. And therefore we come to this table of the Lord that we might remind ourselves of his presence. And remind ourselves of his sacrifice. And remind ourselves that we do this till he comes. And he's coming soon. The fact that is that we have not yet arrived at our hope. We are today a pilgrim people. We are waiting to eat and to drink. with Jesus Christ
personally. We are strangers in this world moving through it, and we come together as often as we do and partake of this table, reminding ourselves that we belong to each other as we belong to the Lord. The Word of God tells us that our calling is to be, to be holy, 1 Peter 1 .15. Our calling is to become, to become like Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5, 24 and 25. Our calling is to proclaim, to proclaim the glories of him who's called us out of darkness to his marvelous light, 1 Peter 2,
9. Our calling is to inherit, to inherit the glory and the kingdom of God, 1 Thessalonians 2, 12. And our calling is to belong. to belong to Christ, for we are His, 1 Corinthians 3 .23. As we come to this table, it is a reminder that we are His, and He is ours. If today you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, and if you are walking in obedience to His Lordship, we welcome you to the Lord's table. This is not merely for the members of our church, but for all who share
together the calling unto salvation. For anyone who can say, I am his and he is mine. Let's sing about that in Hymn 70. We will sing the first and last verses of this hymn by Wade Robinson. Wade Robinson was... Born in Ireland in 1838, he died when he was but 39 years of age. Just a year before he died, this poem of his was published. Notice the assurance. Notice the hope with which he speaks. And let's sing in that same way this
morning. And as we sing, I'm going to ask those who are serving communion to please come to the front. Let's stand together as we sing verses 1 and 4. And now would you join me, please, for a prayer of thanks for the body of our Savior. And our Lord, as we pause before partaking of this bread, we do so in remembrance. We thank you for the justification from our sins that you have provided through the offering up of
yourself to God on our behalf. We bless you that your body was broken so that we might enter into that narrow way by faith and come into the very presence of God. Lord, as we partake, it is with gratitude, and we pray that you would speak to us deeply and personally of your sacrifice for us. Amen. When you come together as a church, be sure that no divisions exist among you. Let each examine himself that he eat not the bread in an unworthy manner and be guilty of the body
of the Lord. So it came about that in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp of the Israelites. And when the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake -like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. And when the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it? For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. And the house of Israel named it
manna. And the rabble who were among them had greedy desires. And also the son of Israel wept and said, There is nothing at all to eat except this manna. Jesus said unto the people, Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life. which the Son of Man shall give to you. Moses gave your fathers manna from heaven, and
they died. But it is my Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. I am the bread of life, living bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. Anyone who eats of this bread shall live forever and never hunger. Moses said to the people, you shall remember all the ways in which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these 40 years, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would
keep his commandments or not. And he let you be hungry and fed you with manna, that he might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone. but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. So the sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. And they entered Canaan and celebrated the Passover
on the plains of Jericho. And Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And we celebrate it anew in the kingdom of God. Blood, blood that was of a lamb, as of a lamb, without blemish, without spot.
Blood by which we have been redeemed. The purchase price having been paid so that we might belong to you. As we partake of this cup, it is with gratitude. Speak to us deeply of the sacrifice.
which you made for us. now god said to abraham take your son your only son whom you love and go to the land of moriah and offer him there is a burnt offering on one of the mountains which i will tell you and isaac spoke to abraham his father and said behold the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for the burnt offering and abraham said God will provide for himself the lamb. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, tell the people to take an unblemished lamb.
and kill it at twilight and put some of the blood on the two door posts and on the lintel of the houses in which each household shall eat you shall eat with your loins girded your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hands and you shall eat it in haste for it is the lord's passover for i will execute judgment against the land but when i see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy
you. Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations, you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken. smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastising for our bond of peace fell upon him. And by his scourging
we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all. to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. He poured out himself to death and was numbered with the sinners. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors.
Jesus said, You know that the Passover is coming and the Son of Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion. Truly, each one of you will betray me. Then he prayed, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not as I will, but as thou wilt. I ask that all who believe in me may be one, even as thou, Father, art in
me. and i indeed that they may also may be in us and that they may be perfected in the unity that the world may believe that you did send me therefore if any man is in christ he is a new creature the old things passed away behold new things have come and now all these things are from god who reconciled us to himself through christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses
against them, and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are Christ's ambassadors. As though God were entreating through us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And so let each one examine himself. And in the same way, Jesus took the cup, and he said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for
you. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes, and we celebrate it anew in the kingdom of God. Would you please open your hymnal to reading 624. It is an affirmation of faith for us as a congregation. We affirm our faith in the Bible. We affirm our faith in God. We affirm our faith in Jesus Christ. We affirm our faith in salvation. We affirm our faith in the Holy Spirit. We affirm our faith
in the resurrection. We will form our faith in spiritual unity. And now let's turn together to Hymn 270. This may be new to some of you, but it's a delightful tune, a Swedish tune, and I think you'll pick it up quickly. We will sing verses 1 and 3. And as you're turning to that, may I ask you to please take the cup that you've used and dispose of it in a container in the hallway that will be provided.