God knowest, Lord, I would believe. Lord, help us from above. Open the door of ourselves we
must. All right, go with me now to
1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians 11. As you know,
we have been going through this book off and on, and we were due to partake at the table just before
I left town, but Brother Todd Nyberg spoke to you. So we're
going to do that tonight. 1 Corinthians 11. We need to
cover all of the verses since we're going verse by verse through
this book. And so that's what we're going
to do. We want to dwell on the portion that deals with the Lord's
Table, but I want to look at each verse. Verse 17 is where
we left off. He says in verse 17, You remember the Apostle Paul
was writing to the church at Carth and says, now, in this
that I declare on you, I praise you not. He was rebuking them
because he says, you come together not for the better, but for the
worse. He says, your gatherings, your
church meetings are not what they're supposed to be. And in
verse 18, he says, first of all, when you come together in the
church, I hear that there be divisions, schisms, problems
among you. And I partly believe what he
says. The apostle just heard what was
told him by someone some way. And he says, I partly believe
what I heard. That's a good thing, is just
partly believe what you hear. But there were problems in the church. There were difficulties, divisions
and so forth, fussings and fighting going on, divisions. And he says,
and I believe it. I believe it. Now, I'm thankful. But this is not the case in this
small church right now. I'm thankful this is not the
case. I can't remember the last time we had any real problems
in our meeting. And I'm thankful God will give
him all the glory for that, because it's not due to us. It's not
due to me. But it's due to his grace. But
that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future. That doesn't mean
that we don't need this word of proof, and it has happened
in the past. And maybe there is somebody out
of sorts with somebody else right now, and I don't know about that.
Don't tell me. But I'm glad it's not going on
right now. But it was here at Carth, the
church at Carth. Verse 19. He says, but there
must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved
may be made manifest or clear among you. He said, I know there
must be some divisions because that's what the gospel does. It divides. And not only does
it unite God's people, He divides the goats from the sheep, the
gospel goat. And he says there must be heresies
too. Heresies meaning false doctrine,
false believers, pretenders. Paul called them false brethren
in one place. He said false brethren crept
in unawares. The Lord said, look over at 2
Peter, 2 Peter chapter 2. Our Lord said the tares must grow up with
the wheat, didn't he? And he said, he himself said,
there are goats amongst sheep. 2 Peter chapter 2, look at what
Peter writes, verse 1 and 2, he says, there were false prophets
also among the people. And when the prophets live, even
as there shall be false teachers among you who privately or sneakily
bring in damnable heresies, false doctrine, heresies, even denying
the Lord bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many, he said, shall follow their pernicious or lascivious,
covetous, money-hungry, fame-hungry ways. by reason of whom the way
of truth shall be evil spoken of." And that's so applicable
today, isn't it? That religion is in such a sorry
state that it's a laughingstock to this world. They've brought
great reproach on the word of God and what we call the gospel. But he says there must be heresies. Why is that? Why must there be?
Go back to the text now. Why must there be heresy? He
said in verse 19, that they which are
approved may be made manifest among you. There must be heresies. Just
like trials reveal true faith. You don't know if somebody has
true faith or not by what they say. Talk is cheap in most instances,
but trials are what reveal faith. Just like you don't know if a
boat is going to float, you don't know if it really is a boat until
it goes out on the water and withstands a few storms. So it
is with true faith. And heresies, false doctrine,
false preachers, false brethren and so forth that creep in. They
reveal, in a way, they reveal who the
true are. You can compare the true with
the false. You can see a crooked stick when
you, the best way to see a crooked stick is to put a straight one
down the side. And those who follow these fellows, They're
not Christ people are. Because Christ said they won't
hear a stranger's voice. They'll hear mine. And people
fall away. People leave the gospel. But the ones who stay, the ones
who stay over time, they are made manifest. And here's a fact. God's true church, true body
of If it is a true church, then Satan
is going to be against it. And he will do what he will to
sow terrors, seeking to destroy. So there must be heresy. Do you understand that? There
must be. All right, look at verses 20
through 22. Now see, he's still rebuking
them. He says, When you come together
into one place, You're not coming to eat the Lord's Supper. That's
what they were supposed to be doing. But he said, verse 21
and two, in eating, every one take it before the other his
own supper. One's hungry and other is drunken.
He says, what have you not houses to eat and to drink in? Do you
despise or have you brought such reproach on the church of God?
Shame. Shame those that have not, the
poor that is. What shall I say to you? Shall
I praise you in this? I praise you not. What was happening? What was happening back then
was that some were making what was supposed to be a worship
service, a time when you come together to read God's Word,
to call upon the Lord in prayer, to worship, to hear the Word
preached, to worship God. That's what this is all about.
It's not a social club. This is not a poor man's country
club. This is a house of worship. Do you remember when the Lord
went into the temple and plaited a whip and drove out all those
people who were buying and selling and all that merchandising and
so forth? It sounds very familiar, doesn't
it, to what's going on today? And our Lord drove them all out.
And what did He say? He said, My house shall be called a house
of prayer. He made it a den of thieves. And what was happening
at Corinth at this time was they were making us just a social
time out of it like modern religion has done today. Let me give you
just one instance. Every time I see and hear things
in religion today, I think it can't get any worse than this.
It can't get any worse than this. But it is. It's just one of many
instances. And this is so typical all over
this is what our religion is pretty much all about a local
so-called pastor. Around here locally. Was petitioning
our county put up a larger sign. They're building a large religious
clubhouse. And they were petitioning the
county in order to get a larger sign than the codes allowed. And his very words verbatim his
very words to the county commissioners on this subject were that he
said we need to get the word out about our chicken dinners
and our fundraisers. That's pretty much what religion
has degenerated into social club raising money chicken dinners
We need to get the word out about our chicken. I thought the church was a place
where you got the word of God out. I thought it was a place,
a house of worship, where the word of the Lord was to be heard.
That's just one of many. That's a pretty good illustration
of what's going on today. Amazingly, though, Something
similar was going on back then in the true church of Corinth,
and it was amazing. And some of them were coming
to the services just to eat. They didn't have a pastor at
this time. That's part of the problem. Some of them were coming
to the services to eat, to drink, socialize, and not to worship.
And they were people actually getting drunk. And they were
bringing a big table, and it was just a mess. And they were
supposed to be taking up the Lord's table, but it was just
a big mess. Big mess. So he's rebuking them. Look at verses 27 through 30. He said, Wherefore, whosoever
shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. He's not saying
anyone is worthy. to take the Lord's table. You know he's not saying that.
What he's saying is, we'll read on, verse 28. Let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that
cup. For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discernment. The Lord's body, for this cause
many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep or die. What he's saying is that of some,
they weren't considering what they were doing. And this needs
to be carefully, prayerfully, seriously, somberly considered
what we're doing here. and discern what we're doing.
Discern means to think about it. Take stock, he says, judge. Well, and many, he says, were
weak, that is spiritually weak, and ill, spiritually ill, didn't
have it. Well, and some the Lord put to
death because they were messing around with what they shouldn't
have been messing around with. Verses 31 and 32, he says, Now
if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Boy,
that's a good verse. That is so full of truth. We judge ourselves. If we would
truly judge ourselves on the basis of this book, if we take
a good look at ourselves, what this book, what God's Word says
about us, What judgment would we make about ourselves? If all
human beings would truly read God's Word, ask the Lord to tell
them about themselves, to reveal themselves to them, what would
be the conclusion? And I'll tell you what the book
says. Romans 3, 19 says all the world is guilty before God, sinners,
unworthy. And if we would judge ourselves
What we would come up with is that we're guilty as charged,
not worthy of salvation. So many say that, you know, we
deserve a chance to be saved. No, we don't either. No, we don't.
Salvation is all about mercy. We don't deserve salvation. We
don't deserve the love of God. We don't deserve the grace of
God. Mercy is not something to deserve.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Like a death row prisoner
is spared. His life is spared. And that's
what mercy, salvation of God is all about. So if we would
judge ourselves, we would condemn ourselves. We would justify God
in what he says about us. And if we would condemn ourselves,
if we would judge ourselves, truly judge ourselves, it says
here, We would not be judged. We would not be judged. There
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in pride, those
who judge themselves, those who examine, take stock, search.
And he says to do this in reference to the Lord's table too. We come
here. Why do we do this? Well, like baptism, you don't
wait until you feel worthy. But when you feel the least worthy,
then that's when you need to take it. Then you're worthy. Only when
you feel the least worthy are you truly worthy. Judge yourself. And the Lord, He says in verse
32, when we're judged, we're chastened of the Lord. for our
sin, that we should not be condemned with the world. The world, everybody
justifies themselves. I'm a pretty bad fellow, but
I'm not as bad as that fellow. Well, they that compare themselves
with themselves are not wise, strictly speaking. Because if we judge ourselves,
we wouldn't be judged. And this, that's true of everything.
Look at verses 33 and 34. Now he says, my brethren, when
you come together, talking to believers, when you come together
to eat, wait one for another, wait on one another, serve one
another, leave any one out. Verse 34, if any man hunger,
don't come here to get your belly filled, but eat at home. Don't
come, come not together under condemnation. And he says, everything
else I will set in order when I come. We've come to worship. He said, all right. Now we've
dealt with those verses. Now let's look at why we're here
and what this table is all about. The Lord's table. This is the
reason for our gathering tonight. It should have been the reason
for their gathering. The Lord's table. This is the
table, this is not. Well, this is what the Lord ordained,
this is what the Lord Jesus Christ told us to do. This wasn't sanctioned
by some little pies fellow with a funny hat on his head in Rome.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who set this forth,
who's ordained this and he himself started this, he himself served
his disciples this very table. They did exactly what we're going
to do tonight. And the Lord Himself. One of
these men is going to serve you the bread. The Lord Himself did
that. And I believe someday we'll do it again. I know that's it.
He said it. All right, look at verses 23
and 24. This is what this is all about. Paul says, I received
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. that the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when
he had given thanks, he broke the bread and said, Take, eat,
this is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance
of me. Verse 25, after the same manner
also he took a cup when he had This cup is a New Testament in
my blood. This do you, as oft as you drink
it, in remembrance of me." He said that twice, in remembrance
of me. What is this all about? What
is this table all about? It is in remembrance of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, I don't like God's Word
to be permanently displayed anywhere, like so many people like to do.
I don't like that. Scriptures don't teach us to
do that. I don't like for God's Word to be displayed in a common,
ordinary fashion, like on T-shirts or bumper stickers or billboards
and all that. I think that is desecrating God's
Word. I don't like it on furniture,
but there it is. You can't get one of these tables
hardly without that written on it. But if I did put something
on this table, if we were going to put something on this table
which would sum up what this table is all about, that's what
I put. Because that's what this is all
about. In remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a
memorial supper. a memorial supper. We gather
around this table to commemorate the Lord Jesus Christ. We gather
around this table to remember, and how easily we forget. To
our shame, we forget. But to remember, to bring to
remembrance what the Lord did for us, to honor Him. table where we honor him. He
is the honored one at this table. Not us, but the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what this is all about.
This day in remembrance of me, the Lord said. A memorial supper. He said in verse 26, as oft as
you eat. He doesn't tell us how oft to
do it. He doesn't tell us what day to do it. That's left up
to a local pastor or however you fail the land that I personally
like to do it on Wednesday night like that and not announce it
before. But it's often it doesn't tell
us how often to do it. I personally do not believe in
doing it very often because I think anything you do too often it
becomes too common to ordinary. So he says this do as often as
you eat this bread and drink this cup. What are you doing?
You are showing the Lord's death till he come. You do show, you're
illustrating the Lord's death. And I like those three words,
till he come. Now there are only two things
that are ordered by our Lord in the New Testament as symbols
Only two symbols that the Lord handed down to the church to
be used in worship, not crosses, not pictures, not holy water,
not any of that stuff. You'll notice there's none of
that stuff here. Notice I don't wear a robe and all that crap.
That's what it is, religious. There are only two symbols which
the Lord I'm going to quit using that word, it's too gross. But that's what I think about
modern religion. Dung, bull maneuver, all that
stuff these fellas are wearing, all that stuff they're going
through. Only two things our Lord handed down and told us
to use as object lessons. Symbolic. Baptism, and this is
the Lord's tape. That's it. That's it. There's nothing special about
these things. That's just a pool of water with old Franklin County
well water in it. It doesn't do anything for anybody
or to anybody. It's just a symbolic thing. We're going to serve in a moment
bread that I bought at Winn-Dixon. We're going to serve wine that
I bought at Winn-Dixon. It's just common, ordinary, but they're
symbolic of something. And they don't turn into anything.
They don't confer anything on anybody. They don't make anybody
feel any way or don't put away sin. They don't do anything.
They're just symbolic. That's all they are. Symbolic.
Object lesson. Quite often we need some kind
of object lesson, don't we? Well, these are the only two
the Lord gave. Baptism is a picture of the Lord's
death. You see somebody go down under
the water Lord died and was buried. He rose again. We always bring
them up. And the Lord's table is the same
thing. We're going to see that in a moment. A picture of Christ's
death, yes, and burial and resurrection. So all we do, what we're doing
here, what this is all about is in order to remember the Lord
Jesus Christ, an object lesson of two things in this table.
Broken bread, unleavened bread. That means it doesn't have yeast
in it. And wine. Two emblems, two symbols of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, before we go into these
symbols, these elements, let me ask you first, why is it that
Christ had to die? Why did Christ die? Why did he
come? He said, I am come. He said,
for this cause came I into this world, to die. He didn't come
to show us how to live so we'll live that way and get to heaven.
No, sir. He came to die. All of the messiahs
that the world has known, Mohammed and All these other false messiah
came to live, to show their followers how to live. Christ said, I came
to die. Why? Why did he die? Why was it necessary? Who did
he, what did he do it for? What did he accomplish? Well,
where would you turn, if I were to ask you who professed to be
a believer, where would you turn? Somebody asked you that question.
Why did Christ die? Where would you turn? Well, one of
you said Romans. That's a good book. Romans 3. Turn over there. You could turn
about anywhere, couldn't you? But I'd hope you would find the
place. I hope you know at least one or two places that tell us
why Christ died. The essence of the gospel is
the death. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans
chapter three, why did Jesus Christ die? Well, we already
said we'd judge ourselves, we'd not be judged. See, God has already
judged us. The law of God, the justice of
God does not say you're innocent until proven guilty. That's man's
justice. The law of God says you're guilty.
You're born that way. Born in sin. Born in Adam. And
Adam all die. All of sin. You're born that
way. Born guilty. Whether Sam and Hannah have a
darling, sweet little girl, she's just as beautiful as she can
be. Second prettiest girl ever to be born. You take an issue with that,
Sam? She's beautiful. week. She's precious. She's a saint. And it's not going to be long
before she's going to start revealing that. She's going to be crying
for no reason. She's going to be full. She's
going to be content. She's going to be dry. But she's
just going to cry because she's not getting her way. And then
when she's old enough to put it in words, she's going to say,
No. She's going to say, My. Finish
it. like all. OK verse nineteen is where I
read you the world is guilty before God. See that very clear. All right. But verse twenty four
says we are justified freely by his grace. That is all sin
forgiven all sin blotted out freely. That is you don't do
anything to put it away. You don't do anything to put
away one charge against you. Not community service. Not church
service. You can't do it. You can't put
away one. But by His grace, through the redemption, that means a
price paid. A price paid for your justification,
for the forgiveness of a price paid. What was the price? Blood. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission, not of one sin. Oh my, if I'm not careful I'll
take too long, but look and read on. Let's just read it. I hope
the Lord will apply it. Verse 25, Whom God, Christ, God
set forth to be a propitiation, that means a bloody sacrifice,
through faith in his blood, that is those who look for forgiveness
from God one way, through his blood, to declare his righteousness. for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance. So that is the goodness and the
mercy of God. Chapter 5, go over there real
quickly. Romans 5 and verse 8 says, God
committed his love toward us. Who's the us? I asked you who
Christ lived as for. Why did Christ die? He died as
a God made him to be seen as a. Christ bore that penalty. He
took our place subject to God's people who all the way through
here says we us we us we us that kept the war and said those who
call. All of these. Chapter eight very
clearly says that before the. When he did foreknew, he predestinated,
and when he predestinated, he called, and when he called, he
justified, and when he justified, he glorified. What do you say
to these things? Amen. Us, we, us, that's for
whom he did it. For whom did Christ die? He said,
I lay down my life for my sheep. Well, was it successful? Christ committed his love toward
us while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. Verse ten
says, now verse nine, being justified by his blood. Past tense. We're saved from wrath. We shall
be saved. Not might be. We shall be saved.
How? Through him. Through him. Verse ten, if when we were enemies
we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more
being reconciled, we're saved by his life. Was it successful? I wanted to
go over to chapter eight, but yes, it was. Justified. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? God justify? Who is he that condemneth? Christ. He died. He's risen again. And he's at
the right hand of God and ever lives to make intercession for
his people. All right, why bread? Why does
the Lord tell us to use bread? Go to John chapter 12, John 12,
very quickly. John chapter 12, the Lord ordained
that we use this unleavened bread. Well, if you remember, back in
the Old Testament, in the tabernacle, that's where it first talks about
using show bread. Remember that table? Something
like this one, about this size. Had on it, inside the tabernacle,
this table which had on it show bread. Show bread. Bread for show. Okay, symbolic bread. Now, this is show bread. We're not going to eat this to
get full. Christ is true bread. But we're going to, by faith,
be thinking about Him. And he makes us full. This is showbread. This bread,
because look at John 12, verse 23 and 24. The Lord answered
and said, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Talking about His death, burial,
His resurrection. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Had not Christ come to this earth
as a seed, like a corn of wheat, no one would have got the glory. He would have died alone. But
he came. The seed, the woman's seed, the
incorruptible seed, The seed of God and he was planted. Wasn't it? Planted. It came forth
as a root out of dry ground. Scripture says, grew up and brought
forth much fruit. Bread is made this way. This is a good symbol, illustration
of our Lord, what he did. The seed is planted. planted by somebody. See, it
doesn't get there by itself. It's planted. Our Lord was planted
by God himself. Christ became a seed, a child. And he grew up, as we said, a
tender plant, like a stalk of wheat. And when it gets in its
prime, when a stalk of wheat or corn gets in its prime, It
becomes full of kernels, doesn't it? Full of fruit. Wheat is called fruit, by the
Lord. Full of fruit, corn. It's wheat
here. And when it's in its prime, it
is what? Cut down. Cut off, the scripture
says. He's cut off from the land of
the living, in Isaiah 53. Cut off. And then you take that
fruit, that seed and you grind it to powder. Ground number of
wheat. Somebody, you read that, and
Charles read that tonight in Psalm 32. It says, I'm under
the wrath of God. Christ bore the wrath of God. Pressing weight And it's kneaded into dough and
then finally it's put into an oven, a hot oven in a fiery furnace. And so our Lord endures the wrath
of God, our God who is a consuming fire. That's when he said, I
thirst. When he was hanging on the cross
and said, I thirst, he was enduring the wrath of God. Going through
hell. Don't you ever say that. I went
through hell. I know you haven't. But he did. He went into the fiery furnace
of God's wrath. But what comes out of the furnace? Life-giving bread. Sweet to the
taste. And to those of you who have
tasted it, The death, the burial, the resurrection,
our Lord arose with healing in His wings, the bread of life.
He said, I'm the bread of life, the bread of life. Delicious, nutritious, satisfying. There's nothing, I think it's
very significant that modern man is trying to do away with
bread in our diet. That's what religion has done.
We've got a breadless diet and a Christless religion. Our Lord commanded, you can live
on it. You can live on it. And he says, broken bread, this
is my body which is broken for you. Christ's body was bruised
and broken. And so when we eat this bread,
we're going to eat this bread in a moment, you need to remember,
we need to remember, Christ, what he did, procured your life. His body was literally sacrificed
on Calvary's tree for us. And the cup, back in our text
it says, look at verse 25, after the same manner he took the cup
when he had sucked, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my
blood. It doesn't say wine, does it?
Well, it doesn't say that, but it certainly is because some
were getting drunk on it. But wine is spoken of quite often
throughout the scriptures, Old Testament in particular. It was
a common drink. And wine best represents the
blood of the great. The blood of the great. And wine
is a fermented substance which, if properly fermented, never
spoils. It will not waste. And it is medicinal,
medicinal. Good for you. It makes glad your
heart. It's good for you, all your ailments. It's the blood
of the grape and the fruit of the vine, our Lord called it,
the fruit of the vine. Our Lord is the, His blood is
that wine. This cup, He does say though,
this cup, and that's good. This cup, cup is a vessel isn't
it? a receptacle which holds something. Cut is a vessel and Christ is
the vessel of God's mercy. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body. We beheld his glory, John said,
The only begotten of the father full of grace and truth. He says drink me grace come to
me. I'm full of truth. I am the truth
and it's a new covenant. It says new verse 25 says this
cup is the New Testament in my blood a new covenant law was
given by Moses the law says this do and live. Do you hear what the law says?
You do it. Some don't. You do it. God bless it, are
you? The Father revealed that to you.
The law was a curse, but now Christ came. And the law says
just do and live, but grace, the new covenant, the covenant
of grace says, Christ says, I did it. Now you do it. and say do
and you'll get to heaven. Grace says I've done it. And
I'm going to take you there. That's the new covenant. I prefer
that, don't you? Grace. Blood, as in the beginning. It's a new covenant in my blood. We've been studying through Exodus,
haven't we? Do you remember chapter 7 of
Exodus? That story all the way through there. Blood, blood,
blood, rivers of blood, the Egyptians' blood. You remember that? I hope
you'll never forget that. The Lord made the seas full of
blood, the rivers full of blood, their vessels full of blood,
as a vivid reminder of everybody. Blood. Death. Death. Everywhere. But in Christ's blood
there's life. Only in his blood. The blood
of the Lamb poured out on the mercy seat and the Holy of Holies
by the great high priest himself is our life. Spirit is in his
blood. And he by himself purged our
sins. He obtained eternal redemption
for all of God's sake. So when you do this, when we
do this, we're getting ready to do it. This is for believers. You do this in remembrance of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what this is about. This
is nothing sanctimonious or It's just a memory. It's a remembrance. The message was just preached.
Why we do it, why Christ died, what it's all about. And when
you partake of this, think back on what His body, what the bread
represents, and what the wine represents. And remember Him.
And remember Him. All right. Brother Roy has served
the bread.