​Lesson 4 - Christ's Final Moments
Jesus hung on the cross for 6 long hours. It was then that Jesus uttered his four final sayings.
​Jesus paid the price for us and fulfilled God's redemption plan for mankind.
​His is the recording of that lesson.

As I write this the world in in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. People are worried! None of us have lived through times like these. But we need to remember we are not left alone, God remains with us.

In this time of worry and stress we need to take time to practice the presence of God.  I mean, realising that God is constantly with us. There is nowhere we can go that God is not there.

Spend time each day in contemplation of God. Remember, "Be still, and know I am God." Ps 46:10.

Go to God in prayer - and spend time with Him each day.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

“Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:104,105)

Regarding the question of whether we can expect to hear God speak to us through an actual, audible voice, consider these words:
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)

Ho exciting it is, to have the pure Word of God handed down to us. We do not have to wonder what we are missing, we have the complete word of God.

Every time we read the Bible, God speaks to us. Think about that! God Speaks to us!

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions please send them to us and we will be happy to do our best to answer.

As we enter 2020 many of us tend to reflect on what we accomplished in the past year and set plans for the current year. With that in mind, Lets look to the bible for some motivation.

Often in scripture, we are admonished to look to God’s creation for wisdom and even answers to some of life’s dilemmas. The Psalmist David, for example, points to the power and majesty of God when he writes, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). As well, Job specifies how we can learn from the various elements of nature when he advises looking to the beasts, the birds, the fish, and even the earth itself to behold the power of God (Job 12:7-10). Paul carries on this theme when he says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). It is not surprising, then, that in our text in Proverbs 6, the preacher uses another of God’s creations from which we can learn, “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise.” Ants are the most numerous creatures on earth. Ironically, they can be found on every continent except ANT-arctica. God has left a model for all of us that transcends any geographically inhabited boundary. Ants are good teachers when it comes to considering laziness and a lack of discipline in our lives. In Proverbs 6, Solomon uses ants to teach his son a lesson about the sin of laziness. There are at least three ways we can look to the ant for wisdom.

1. Ants are legendary for being hard workers who work together. The life we are called to live as Christians should be an active one. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 begins by saying “Go.” This command is positive encouragement meant for all Christians who should be actively making disciples and finding ways to benefit the church. As a church, we are one body, working in harmony just as a colony of ants works together as a single unit. If a member of the body is idle, it can affect specific functions and productivity of the body. It’s important that when we see a member struggling, we encourage and build him or her up so that we can GO and fulfill the work we are called to do. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
2. Ants protect the colony. As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to hold fast to the truth and protect His church from those who wish to harm her. Again, every Christian should be active. Paul tells the overseers at Ephesus to “Keep watch” and to “Be on guard” because wolves would come in among them and not spare the flock (Acts 20:28-31). The sword of the Spirit is our weapon for both defense and attack (Ephesians 6:17). To wield this sword properly, we have to know the word of God. The Lord needs skilled swordsmen in the church, always being ready to defend the truth and protect this “colony” of Heaven. The writer of Hebrews states, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
 3. Ants spend their life in constant preparation for the future. Christians can relate to this mindset. We should live our lives focused on preparing for our heavenly home. “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2).
Christians need to be active in seeking things above. This world has a host of distractions that can misguide our focus away from eternity; so, we need to “…press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). God is not pleased with idle or lazy members of the body. Every Christian should look to the ant for wisdom. Paul says, “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:29). May these words always be ours as we strive to fulfill the Great Commission.
​

​The term “Christ” highlights our glaring need for the Old Testament and understanding this helps us realise that Christ had a name long before Matthew called Him the Christ. The title “Christ” is Greek, its Hebrew counterpart would be “The Messiah”, it can the be said that “both words mean the same thing, ‘Anointed’: the ‘One Anointed’” Understanding Jesus as The Anointed one is helpful, but again is incomplete without the Old Testament. The right question to ask is “Who were anointed”? For this answer we have to look outside of the New Testament. The Old Testament writers speak often of the roles of God’s people, three roles that are of interest in regards to anointing are the positions of: Priests (Exodus 28:41; 30:30), Kings (1 Samuel 9:16; 10:1; 15:1), and Prophets (1 Kings 19:16). These three roles are the roles God set aside in the Old Testament as anointed position. They were filled by God’s chosen men to carry out God’s will. 
    We then come to the New Testament where Jesus is given the title “Anointed One” (Christ), not to confuse the reader as to which role He would fill, but to show that Christ came to fill all three roles in one person. The writer of Hebrews thoroughly demonstrates that Christ is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14; 7:26). Jesus would take up the role of High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, a priesthood that would last forever (Hebrews 5:6; 6:20). During Christ’s final week as He entered Jerusalem it would also be announced “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt” (John 12:16; Zech. 9:9; Revelation 19:16). Christ as King is firmly established within the New Testament, a role we know He is to fill from His very birth when we understand the term Christ. For His third position, Christians are called back to the Old Testament to show Christ as a Prophet. To Moses God would say “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him” (Deuteronomy 18:18) this is shown to be fulfilled in Christ in Acts 3:8-26. 
    The title of Christ then magnificently fits Jesus and His life. To the fullest extent He accepted and fulfilled each office, yet within each position Christ was greater than any Old Testament shadow for which He would be the substance. Christ has exceeded the priests like Aaron, prophets like Elisha, and kings like David, and is the only one to hold all three positions in one person. This is why David would write of Christ as being anointed “more than [His] companions” (Psalms 45:7). Yet without our Old Testament acting as our dictionary we fall short of this marvellous definition.

This is the scriptural promise.  No church can be scriptural unless it was founded by Christ.  If it was established by Henry VIII, John Calvin, John Wesley or any other human, it is a man-made church and not scriptural, not recognised by Christ.

This means that Peter was the one who told people how to become a part of the church (cf Acts 2:38, 10:48).  Notice that he didn’t get to make the rules, but rather “...whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven...” (NASB).  Peter had delegated authority to announce the rules that had been made in heaven, because Peter wasn’t the builder of the church, Christ was.

Many people assume that the church was built by John the Baptist, but the fact that Jesus promised to build His church is evidence that John didn’t.
 
In fact, John was dead at the time that Jesus made the promise of Matthew 16.

In Matthew 16, Jesus promises that He will build His church in the future tense, ie long after John was dead.  John was a great prophet and served the Lord by acting as the Messiah’s herald (cf Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1, Luke 1:17), but building the church wasn’t his work.
 
Furthermore, John was never a member of the church.

How could John be one of the greatest men born, but someone who is least in the kingdom of heaven be greater than him?  Jesus goes on in the passage to explain that John was proclaiming the coming kingdom (cf Matthew 3:1-2), and so wasn’t part of it.  Since he was never a part of the church, which is a greater covenant than the Law of Moses, it can be said that the least in the church is greater than the greatest in Israel.  In the same way, it can be said that the least in high school is greater than the greatest in primary school.

​While Jesus promised that the gates of Hades will not overcome His church, He also promised that every religious body not established by God will be destroyed.

Membership of a church cannot save you if that church is destroyed.  There is only one church that Jesus promised would last forever: the church that He built.  If you want to be saved, you need to be a part of that church: the church of Christ.

This is the second article on the Lord’s Supper and I would like to take time to concentrate on the cup and the contents.

We noticed in Part 1 that Jesus gave spiritual significance to the bread.  He also gave spiritual significance to the next part of the Lord’s supper.

Matthew 26:27–28
(27) And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; (28) for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

Jesus talks about the drink but we are not left wondering what it was they were to drink, Jesus tells us in the next verse (Matthew 26:29).  We are told it was “fruit of the vine”: grape juice.  This is not to be confused with “wine” which could not have even been in the house during the Passover feast (the Feast of Unleavened Bread).  As we have seen in the last article, all leavening was to be removed from the house during the feast.  It is interesting to note that what turns fruit of the vine into wine is leaven: therefore wine could not be present.

Jesus tells us that the fruit of the vine in the Lord’s supper represents His blood of the new covenant.  Moses used the blood to ratify the old covenant using practically the same words, “the blood of the covenant (Exodus 24:6-8).

Hebrews 9:19–20
(19) For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, (20) saying, “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.”

As Moses used blood to ratify the covenant God made with the children of Israel, so too Jesus used blood to ratify the new covenant: the covenant God has with us.  The blood of the New Covenant is Christ’s blood, and that is what we remember when we drink the fruit of the vine.

We also remember that it is Christ’s blood that takes away our sins.  We have redemption through Christ’s blood and receive the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 1:7).

I Peter 1:18–19
(18) knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, (19) but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Jesus gave spiritual significance to a third item on the table.  Notice what we read in Luke’s account of the Lord’s supper (see also I Corinthians 11:25)

Luke 22:20
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” [emphases mine] 

We notice here that Jesus gives significance to the cup: He tells us that it represents the new covenant.
It is important to recognise that the covenant is not Christ’s blood and the blood is not the covenant. So too, the cup is not the fruit of the vine: they are different but connected.  The new covenant came into being through the shedding of Christ’s blood; without the blood there would be no covenant.  Likewise, the cup and the fruit of the vine are connected, we could not drink out of the cup without the fruit of the vine and we could not drink it if we did not have the cup.

Not only did Jesus teach us about the fruit of the vine, He also taught us about the cup. He uses very similar language when talking about the cup as he did when talking about the bread.  Of the bread He said “this is My body" (Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19, I Corinthians 11:24).  Of the cup He says, “this cup is the new covenant” (Luke 22:20, I Corinthians 11:25).

Jesus gave significance to three items on the table the night he instituted the Lord’s supper. When we look at what He said we notice;

1. “Take, eat; this is My body.” (Matthew 26:26)
2. “...for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)
3. “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (I Corinthians 11:25)

When we partake of the Lord's supper on the first day of the week we need to recognise the significance Jesus gave to these three items. Through doing this we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes (I Corinthians 11:26).

One of the greatest privileges we have as Christians is being able to partake in the Lord’s Supper.  When we partake in this sacred meal we partake in a memorial: we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (I Corinthians 11:26).  In partaking in the Lord’s Supper each Sunday we continue a pattern that was given to the first century church (Acts 20:7).  We are fulfilling the Lord’s command to worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24).

Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper during the Jewish Passover, this has a great significance for us when we study the Lord’s Supper.  The Passover is also called the Feast of Unleavened bread (Matthew 26:17).  The significance of this is that it determined the items that could be in the house and therefore used during the Lord’s Supper.

It was called the Feast of Unleavened bread because the Jews had to only use unleavened bread in the feast, in fact they were to have no leavening in the house at all!  In preparation for their departure from Egypt Moses told the children of Israel to remove all leaven from their houses and prepare unleavened bread (Exodus 12:15).  These were part of the instructions for the first Passover and became a perpetual law for the Jews (Exodus 12:14).  Thus there would have been no leavening in the house when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper.

Therefore we know the bread that Jesus used was unleavened: it contained no leavening (or yeast).  This is important for us as we continue this God given tradition.

Jesus gave the bread of the Lord’s Supper very important spiritual significance.  He said of the bread, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19). Jesus’ body was pure just like the pure unleavened bread. His body was not tainted with the leavening of sin.
For this reason the bread which we partake in the Lord’s Supper needs to be unleavened, just like the bread Jesus used in that first memorial meal.

When Jesus taught us that the bread represents His body (I Corinthians 11:24), He points us to his physical body that was nailed to the cross and the church which is His body today on the earth (Ephesians 1:22-23).

When Jesus was crucified, along side of Him were two thieves.  Towards the end of their torment the thieves legs were broken.  When the soldiers came to Jesus they saw He had already died, so they did not break His legs (John 19:32-33).  This was to fulfill the Scripture, “not a bone of Him shall be broken” (John 19:36).  Jesus' unbroken body gives us an important picture today as we consider the Lord’s Supper.

We are taught that today the church is Christ’s body: “He is also head of the body, the church…” (Colossians 1:18).  As there is only one head, so too there is only one body (Ephesians 4:4).  The church is to be unified, without any divisions (John 17:20-21, I Corithians 1:13).

Once again we can see this is an important picture that can be seen in the Lord’s Supper.

I Corinthians 10:16–17
(16) Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? (17) Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

As there is one body (Ephesians 4:4) so too there is one bread (loaf) on the table as we partake in the Lord’s Supper. This bread is not divided (that would signify a divided body). We each share in the body by breaking the bread. As the undivided loaf is passed to us we see unity symbolised. We then break a piece of the bread to eat, thereby sharing in the body of Christ.

The one unbroken loaf of unleavened bread has great significance us each Lord’s Day, as we partake in the Lord’s Supper.