Trust in Action: Hezekiah’s Case Study • 08.18.24
Trust In Action: Hezekiah’s Case Study
Isaiah 36-37
Witnessing the wisdom of trusting God
- Understand the historical context
- Consider the stakes of trusting God
- Learn from Hezekiah’s godly response
- Behold the glory of God in comparison to the nations
Good morning, church family! It’s so sweet to worship the Lord with you. I’m also looking forward to celebrating the Lord’s table together later in the service. If you’re new, welcome. My name is Pastor Nick, and I have the privilege of preaching the Word today.
Before we dive back into our study of Isaiah, I’d like to share a few important details of what’s coming in the weeks ahead. First, we are about to wrap up our study of Isaiah for this year. Today we’re covering chapters 36-37 and next week will be chapters 38-39. The plan after that is to push pause on Isaiah until the new year when we’ll cover chapters 40-66. For the rest of 2024, we’ll have several month-long sermon series. Our next series for the month of September will be the book of James: Faith that Works. Pastor Jack and I will be preaching through James to help us think through how authentic faith produces a transformed life.
I also want to remind you that September is when we will be kicking off our new year of Harvest Students and Adventure Club. Both ministries begin on Wednesday, September 4th. Parents, don’t forget to sign up your kids for Adventure Club, as this is the last week to register. Adventure Club is our new midweek systematic theology study for kids. I’m thankful for the volunteers who are serving in these ministries to invest in the next generation!
Finally, this very week we have our next prayer & praise night, also on Wednesday. We are partnering with Crossroads Community Church to pray for our community and its leaders. Please plan to come over to the Grimes Community Complex a little before 6:30pm to join us for a sweet night of worship and prayer!
All right, with those details out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the study of God’s Word this morning.
Ushers + Bibles (Isaiah 36; page 708)
What we’re reading today and next week is a break from the pattern of prophetic literature we’ve gotten used to in Isaiah. Chapters 36-39 contain a recounting of the historical narrative between the representatives of King Sennacherib of Assyria and the leaders of Judah, most notably, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is still going to speak on behalf of God, but as soon as I start reading, you’re going to hear the difference in the style of writing.
But don’t mistake the change in style for a change in purpose for writing. Isaiah is still drawing his readers attention to the sovereign power of God. In these chapters, we are going to see both the beauty of trusting God as well as the consequences of failing to do so. King Hezekiah is a “case study” if you will of the very things we have been learning about throughout the rest of the book. With that in mind, let’s go ahead and read chapter 36. I want you to keep your ears open for the themes of trust and being delivered.
Isaiah 36:1–22 (ESV)
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 3 And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.” ’ ”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’ ”
21 But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Can you imagine what it was like to be present for this conversation? The army and King that has been conquering cities and countries all around you now has its sight set on you! To make matters, worse, this is the outcome of God’s promised discipline for King Ahaz’s rejection of Yahweh. King Ahaz was Hezekiah’s father, and you may recall from Isaiah 7 how Ahaz refused to trust God to protect Judah from the combined nations of Syria and Ephraim. He thought his way was better and invited the Assyrians to come protect them… The outcome of that was this promise from God…
Isaiah 7:17–20 (ESV)
17 The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
18 In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
What God promised to King Ahaz is now coming to pass in the days of his son, King Hezekiah! How will this turn out?! As the sermon title reveals, in this situation, King Hezekiah will reveal the wisdom of trusting God. And that is our focus this morning…
Witnessing the wisdom of trusting God
In order to do this well, you need to…
- Understand the historical context
As I just mentioned, King Ahaz was Hezekiah’s father, yet he was known as an ungodly king. In 2 Kings 16, we hear that Ahaz took the throne at 20 years old and reigned for 16 years, but he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. Instead, he walked in the way of the wicked kings of Israel. He worshiped false gods from the surrounding nations, even burning one of his sons as an offering. Absolutely detestable. And he was known for encouraging idol worship at high places all around the country.
Compare that to the legacy of King Hezekiah, which we find in 2 Kings 18 or 2 Chronicles 29-30. These chapters give an extensive understanding that he was a king who sought to do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He removed the high places and broke down the idols that his father had made. Of Hezekiah it was said, “He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.” Hezekiah led revival in the land of Judah. He cleaned out the temple and restored it back to worship of Yahweh. He led the land to celebrate the first Passover feast since the days of Solomon. He also rebelled against the King of Assyria and refused to submit to their oppression. This godly leadership was good and right and faithful before the LORD and God blessed it. You can read all about the details of the passages listed on the screen.
All that to say, these two kings were very different from one another. Yet the scenarios they found themselves in were very similar. The Assyrian army came knocking. They will not suffer any nation to rebel against their power. Life and death are on the line here. The leadership of the kings will directly impact the nation.
And what we find as we continue to study Isaiah 36-37 is that it is far better to live as a man/woman who trusts the Lord and follows Him rather than one who rejects Him and invites destruction. The kind of man/woman you are matters, both for you and for those under your care/influence. King Hezekiah’s response of trusting the Lord is the correct one, but before we consider that further, I want you to…
- Consider the stakes of trusting God
As we’ve heard from the Rabshakeh’s speech, Assyria intends to siege them, destroy their city, and take them into exile, just as it had done with so many other cities in Judah. This smooth talking military leader threatens the citizens of Jerusalem to consider carefully whom they will trust! “Who do you trust? Who will deliver you?” These are recurring ideas woven throughout his speech. He even mocks them for having trusted in Egypt, whom the Assyrians had already defeated in battle. He mocks them for being woefully underequipped compared to the Assyrian army – offering to give them horses if they could even muster enough men to put on them! He mocks them for trusting in Yahweh when, to their perception, Hezekiah just destroyed all the high places and altars throughout the land. This is an interesting comment for a few reasons. First, it reveals that the Assyrians had spies in the land and were very aware of what Hezekiah was doing. Second, it reveals they didn’t understand that the very things Hezekiah destroyed were steps towards trusting in Yahweh not turning away from Him!
Nevertheless, the Rabshakeh’s not really concerned about the truthfulness of his speech. His goal is intimidation. To pressure the people to turn them against their leaders. His job is to win the siege of Jerusalem through a war of words rather than soldiers. He even deceptively paints this picture of a peaceful deportation that they could choose for themselves. “Just make peace with us and we’ll make sure you’re taken care of in our land!” What a bald-faced lie. Assyria would take them into exile and force them to assimilate to their own culture, destroying their identity as the people of God.
So, a lot is at stake here in trusting God! The people have two competing voices at work– the slithery serpent-like speech of the Rabshakeh promising a good life in a foreign land if they would just reject Yahweh and their king, or the prophetic words of God given to them by Isaiah and repeated by King Hezekiah. As you can imagine, this was a distressing situation. We see the envoys of the king of Judah going away from the interactions in a state of lament, with their clothes torn.
Who should they trust? Who will deliver them?
The point I’m making is trusting God is an act of faith, especially in the face of overwhelming circumstances against you! Trusting God and living by faith is not necessarily the “easy” path through life. This same idea is taught by Jesus during his time on earth. Let me take you to hear some of his teaching:
Matthew 7:14 (ESV)
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Trusting God and living by faith is the hard way that leads to life… Have you ever stopped to consider that?
I don’t know about you, but I think often about the cost of following God. It’s a teaching that I believe is woefully undertaught in the modern church, yet Jesus’ teachings invite us to consider it. Trusting God and following Him will cost you something (everything!). The cost of following Christ is your entire life.
Luke 9:23–24 (ESV)
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Luke 14:33 (ESV)
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
These are hard teachings! For the Judeans of Isaiah’s day, trusting God meant entrusting their very life to Him. They had to believe that Yahweh was greater than the enemy army parked down the road in Lachish. That God would perform a miracle to rescue them from a seemingly impossible situation lest they die a horrible death at the hands of the Assyrians.
That’s not our situation, but, as we just heard from Jesus, trusting and following Him has its own cost to this day. Self-denial. No longer living for you. Not living for worldly values/treasures. Death to your selfish ambitions and pride in order to believe in and follow Jesus. In other teachings, Jesus told his disciples that those who follow Him will be hated by the unbelieving world, because the world hates Him. These are real stakes/costs to trusting God and living for Him in our day. Are you willing to count these costs and trust Him?
Let’s keep reading chapter 37 to see how King Hezekiah responded in his situation.
Isaiah 37:1–20 (ESV)
As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’ ”
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’ ”
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 17 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
King Hezekiah demonstrates a godly response to incredibly hard circumstances. Rather than caving to the pressure, he turns to the Lord. Verse 1-4 reveal a response of humility, of lamenting and seeking God’s wisdom. His words reveal that his concern was for God’s glory and the remnant of God’s people rather than himself. This is such a great example for us! We have plenty to…
- Learn from Hezekiah’s godly response
Trust the Lord! Turn to Him in time of need! Seek the Lord’s glory in your situation! And trust Him no matter the outcome.
In Hezekiah’s case, Isaiah was ready with the Lord’s response. God already knew! How cool is that? What a sweet reminder of God’s sovereign power and control.
‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’
I absolutely love how God refers to the Rabshakeh and his cronies as “the young men of the king of Assyria”. These men who were of great renown in the Assyrian army are NOT impressive to the LORD of the Universe. They are little boys talking a big game but unable to back it up. He has heard their reviling, and he will answer, and it will not end well for them. His plan has never been at risk, he will deal with Assyria just as he intended.
How incredible is it that what the Lord declares then happens!? I love it!
It’s not entirely clear how much the Assyrian king understands what is happening to him, but he does choose to write a letter to Hezekiah after being distracted by fighting at Libnah. Verses 10-13 capture the content of that letter intent on mocking Yahweh and undermining Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord. Sennacherib points to all the other nations around them that Assyria has destroyed and how their gods failed them. His pointed question to Hezekiah is “And shall you be delivered?”
What’s the answer to his question? A resounding, “YES!” Because Yahweh is not like the false gods of these other nations. He is the One, True God and He will not be mocked. Sennacherib’s comparisons are meaningless because they are comparing lies with the truth. Yahweh IS able and WILL keep his promise to deliver!
But that hasn’t happened yet, so Hezekiah responds a second time with great humility. Upon receiving the letter, he heads to the house of the LORD to pray. In his prayer he exalts God and shares his concern for God’s glory. He acknowledges the falsehood of these other gods, they are mere idols, but not Yahweh – he is the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, the living God, the only God of all the kingdoms of the earth, who made all things. Hezekiah’s prayer reveals he has a BIG view of God. He knows the God who is ABLE to save, therefore he seeks him in time of need. Do you realize your view of God directly impacts your willingness to trust Him in time of need? Do you have a BIG view of God?
Hezekiah’s request is that God would save them from Sennacherib’s hand, “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.” God’s glory is Hezekiah’s concern. “I want everyone, everywhere to know that you are God alone!”
Is that how you pray? Is that your goal in life? When you face trials is your prayer for help motivated by God’s glory or your own comfort/ease?
I’ll be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn from Hezekiah’s example. “Lord, help me to be most concerned with your glory! May I trust you in my circumstances, knowing that you are in control. You are doing a good work. Your will, not mine, be done.” It’s one thing to say that here, when things are calm, but what about in the midst of the storm? Lord, help us! *pause*
But perhaps you are a here today and your response to trials is not to turn to the Lord… Perhaps you are more like King Ahaz, trusting in your own plans to get you through. My hope is that you would consider the way each of these men conducted themselves and learn from their examples. King Ahaz trusted in self, and it ended poorly. King Hezekiah trusted in God, and it ended in deliverance. Let’s keep reading in Isaiah 37.
Isaiah 37:21–38 (ESV)
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“ ‘She despises you, she scorns you—
the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 “ ‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.
26 “ ‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted before it is grown.
28 “ ‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
36 And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Notice that Isaiah sent a response to Hezekiah with no prompting from the King! God led Isaiah to respond with words of comfort and deliverance. It was God’s will to deliver his people from the Assyrian army.
This is not to say that every time you turn to the Lord in trust that it will result in the situation going the way you desire. God is not manipulated by our actions. He has a sovereign plan that He is working out and it is true that it is always best to trust Him in that plan! In this case, God’s plan was to deliver Judah through Hezekiah’s faithful prayer. But we know there have been many godly men and women throughout history who have died for their faith, and we trust that this was the sovereign plan of God for them. He knows what is best for the good of His people and His own glory.
Regardless of the outcome, God is faithful and true. He is worthy of your trust. He is able to be relied upon. He is the unchanging God who keeps his promises. It is God’s character that we trust in and therefore act upon. This requires you to know God so you can trust Him. And God reveals Himself most fully in His Word. Isaiah 37 has revealed that God alone is sovereign and able to deliver. He is the one who determined to use Assyria as a source of discipline for the nations, but He also decides when and how to curtail their power. God does not allow the wicked to mock Him and get away with it. He will deliver His people and deal with those who oppose Him.
And this is exactly what happened. God preserved the city of Jerusalem and protected the people from the Assyrians. The Assyrian army suffered a devastating blow and left to return to their own land. Even the writings of 3rd century Babylonian historian Berossus said that 185,000 Assyrians died due to a pestilence from God sent upon them. The Judeans were able to remain while the Assyrians went back to their land, where their king was ultimately killed by his own sons, just as God had said.
As we wrap up our study of Isaiah 36-37 today, I want to encourage you to…
- Behold the glory of God in comparison to the nations
Throughout this book, God has revealed through Isaiah that He is INCOMPARABLY GREAT. The nations are nothing in comparison to Him. They mock and scorn Him, but He determines the extent of their borders and length of their days. He calls them to accomplish His will and disciplines them when they reject Him.
God alone can save. He alone is worthy of our trust. Trust in God is never misplaced. In his power and eternal rule, God can bring about what He promises, but the nations and those who rule them are here today and gone tomorrow. In the end, Assyria falls, Jerusalem stands, and God reigns.
I hope our study of King Hezekiah’s trust in action has been helpful to you today. By no means was he a perfect man. As we will learn next week, King Hezekiah was a man who struggled with faithfulness to God. But this only serves to make the lessons about the wisdom of trusting God that much sweeter… God is faithful, even when we are faithless. *pause*
Communion
We are going to close out our services today by worshiping the Lord through the celebration of communion or the Lord’s table.
Communion is an opportunity for Christians to remember all that the Lord has done for us through his death, burial, and resurrection. This is an opportunity for Christians to remember that we have embraced the promised hope of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and salvation of our souls!
We will celebrate by partaking of both the bread and the cup as a symbol and reminder of Jesus’ body broken in our place and his blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Communion is an opportunity to remember how great a price was paid so that we could be saved from our sin. It is a sobering, yet joyful celebration for Christians. Sobering that the Son of God would give himself for us as a ransom. Joyful that he did, and the result is a living hope that cannot be taken from us! Jesus is victorious; therefore, we have the hope of heaven with Him!
At this time, I’d like to invite the ushers forward with the elements.
Before we pass them, I want to share the biblical requirements for joining in this celebration.
This celebration was given by Jesus to his followers. We invite anyone who has trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation to join us in this celebration today. If your faith is not in Jesus Christ alone, then we would encourage you to let the elements pass by you and simply consider what you’ve heard so far during the service this morning and reflect on what is keeping you from trusting him for the forgiveness of your sins and salvation of your soul.
The second requirement we see in Scripture is a call to examine ourselves. This is the idea of making sure that you’ve confessed any known sins and sought to turn away from it. It would not be wise to partake of the table if you have sin in your life for which you are not repentant. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 that taking the table while living in sin is eating and drinking judgment on yourself. I would ask you not to do that, for your sake and the sake of God’s glory. Instead, I would encourage you to use this time to confess that sin and make a plan to address it right away. If you know you need to be reconciled to someone else in this church, please take care of that during this time. The table is time to protect the unity of the church.
The ushers are going to pass the elements now as we have a time of silent reflection and prayer to prepare for the table. Please use this time to reflect on all that we’ve talked about today and to prepare yourself to take communion by confessing and repenting of any known sin. After the elements have been passed, I’ll lead us in prayer and taking communion together.
Ushers pass elements
Silent prayer. Corporate prayer.
1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV)
23 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, 24 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.”
Take bread.
25 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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Take cup
Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus!