Last week we spent a little bit of time towards the end of our service after Simon had preached such a wonderful message on be still and know that I am God, which is stand still in the midst of all the trials and see that I am God. But we looked at the Lord's Supper last week, so if you turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, The Lord has left his church with two precious, precious ordinances.

They are not means of grace. They are ordinances of God by which we remember the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. And one, of course, is baptism. and baptism is a precious ordinance. It is a picture of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ in his life and his death and his burial and his resurrection. Baptism speaks of Christ, it speaks of Us in Him, we are immersed in Him and hidden from this world. And the Lord's Supper speaks of Christ in us.

It's a precious, precious ordinance. I love the fact that it's called the Lord's Supper. It's not a supper that man ordained. It's not a supper that man rules in any way. We simply do as he said. Let's read these verses again from verse 23 of 1 Corinthians 11. I love the description of what it is to be a minister here. I received, I delivered.

For 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 it and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this, this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup and when he had supped saying this cup is the New Testament, the new covenant in my blood, this do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

Both of them are memorials. It's a remembrance of his body. It's a remembrance of his blood. And the reason is for or because as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.

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. But 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 discerning the Lord's body. So there are two questions that we looked at last week and the first one is what is it to eat and drink worthily and what is it to examine yourself And the issue for both of them is, in the end of verse 29, it's discerning the body of the Lord. And as you know, with everything else that is associated with the glory of our God and his church, these matters are completely and utterly distorted by this religious world and so the people are left confused and people think that some people think by not eating and drinking they're drinking worthily and some people think all sorts of things about it and we looked last week at what it is to eat and drink worthily and simply it is to eat and drink in faith and that faith has an object and we spoke a little last week and I was asked if I would say a little bit more about what it is to discern the Lord's body. What it is to discern, and that word to discern is to know, to assess, to judge, to make a right declaration about it, as it were.

And ultimately, it's to agree with God about the Lord's body. And of course, there's so much to say about the body of the Lord, but there is so much that is so profoundly significant that I don't want to eat and drink damnation to myself. I don't want anyone that I know and love to be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is to be guilty of crucifying him. I don't want that.

I want us to know whom, know whom we have believed. And what it is for the Lord Jesus Christ to recognize his body. I want us to see how serious this is. If you turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 4, and if you want to discern whether someone is teaching you the truth or not, and whether someone is a false teacher or not, the issue is again, God has placed his glory in one person, and one event.

This universe was created for the Lord Jesus Christ to be crucified on the cross of Calvary. He was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. The only reason that sun is still shining out there, the only reason those raindrops fell this morning, was because of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. And once that Glorious work has reached its culmination, and the last of God's blood-bought children is saved. There is no need for this creation to exist at all, and God will wrap it up, and there is a new creation coming.

Listen to what 1 John 4 says. This is talking about testing the spirits. It says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, and the spirit is someone who is preaching to you. A spirit is someone who comes and speaks to other people on behalf of God. He said, Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits. You test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God.

Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist, where have you have heard that should come, and even now already is it in the world.

What is to confess? Just quickly, confess is to say the same. That's exactly what the word means, is to say the same. To confess is to say the same as God. It literally says to speak the same words. So to confess him is to say what God said about him.

He said, You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world, therefore they speak of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. We apostles are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. All the people that know God hear the apostles. That's all they want to hear. They want to hear what God says. They want to hear what God's word says. He that is not of God, heareth not us.

Hereby we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. Everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us. because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

That's what it is for the Lord Jesus Christ to come in the flesh, that he is the propitiation for our sins. He is the sin-removing sacrifice. He is the one, for him to be the propitiation, he's the one that absorbed the infinite holy wrath of God in his body on the cross of Calvary and took the reason for the wrath away by bearing it in his body and suffering the punishment for it. The Lord Jesus Christ went to hell for his people. He suffered the infinite wrath, and God says those sins are gone forever.

The children of God have no sin before God Almighty. They are pure in His sight. He's purified their hearts by faith, by the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ unto death, and by their faith that He gives them in Him. And faith rests, faith the verb, faith the doing, rests on faith the noun. The faith is the Lord, the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's just declaring who he is and what he's done.

There's a well-known preacher that had 15 years to sort of contemplate his blasphemy against God Almighty in the light of what it was for the Lord Jesus Christ to come in the flesh. And I couldn't believe it, he went back into into a church after many, many years, and he preached on this very passage of scripture which you've just read. And the whole issue that we had with him was his blasphemy about the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the propitiation for the sins of people. He had a long, long time to contemplate that blasphemy. And he preached a sermon on those verses, and denied everything that those verses said. He didn't confess, nor did he lead anyone else to confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. To go back to 1 Corinthians, how many, how many, fearfully, how many are eating and drinking damnation to their souls, not discerning the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it to discern this body?

It is, of course, the body that was prepared by the Father. Hebrews 10 says that sacrifice and offerings thou would not, but a body you have prepared for me. This was a body that was prepared by God the Father. It's prepared in the eternal covenant of grace. He says, Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Then I said in this body, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me. This body is a body. Discerning this body is to discern this body in light of all of what the scriptures say of him. And listen to what he says. I come to do thy will, O God. He did the will of God Almighty. he came to do the will of God Almighty. A body was prepared for him.

And it was a body, as we saw last week, that was made to be like us. In Hebrews 2, verse 14, he says, for as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. He took not on him, verse 16, he took not on him in this body the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. He took on him the seed of all of the faith children of Abraham. So therefore to say that the Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh to save all mankind and to die for all mankind is, according to 1 Corinthians 15, not to discern the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is to be guilty of that. And if you think as a result of that, that there are countless multitudes, millions of people, not discerning the body of the Lord Jesus Christ as they participate in what they call the Lord's Supper, then you are dead right. You are dead right. You think of what the Catholics are doing, and it's easy to pick on the Catholics because so much of what they do is so evil, but they actually believe that they are representing the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father again by an earthly priest. It's impossible for a child of God to think of the Catholic mass in anything other than horror. and horror.

It's a body prepared by the Father. It's a body that was made of a woman, made under the law. It's a body that's a holy body. Mary is told that that body that was formed in her at conception is a holy thing. He's holy. He's holy. It's a body born of a woman, and it's a body that is fully man, except sin. And it's a body that cannot sin. The Lord Jesus Christ can be tempted, but he cannot sin. It is impossible for he who is holy to sin. It's a body in which the fullness of the Godhead dwells in a body. And it's a body We are members of his body. It's a remarkable thing to think, isn't it, of the eternal union between the Lord Jesus Christ and all of his people. We are members of his body, flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone.

But I love how the Lord Jesus Christ, in his first public act at his baptism, he came to John the Baptist and said, he comes in verse 13 of Matthew 3, he says, then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan under John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptised of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answered and said unto him, Suffer it now, let it be now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Who's the us?

John the Baptist and all of the faith children of Abraham, all of the children All of the children of God were in that body. When he lived before the law of God, when he lived before God Almighty and lived in perfect holiness, in perfect love for his Father, he did it as us. When he obeyed the law of God, from his heart, with love, with delight, every it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. That's why the scriptures speak of us in eternal union with him, the glory of eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are one with him, brothers and sisters in Christ. One with him when he came into this world, one with him when he lived in this world for those 33 years in perfect love for his neighbours, in perfect love for God, in perfect obedience. to God the Father every jot and tittle of that law. We love the law of God because we can go to the law of God and say, Amen, Amen. I love it. I love the law of God. And I see it in the hands of my Redeemer, fulfilling all righteousness.

We were circumcised with him. We were buried with him in baptism. We were crucified with him. body, in this body, it's the body of a sovereign saviour. He came into this world, it's a body of which in which he perfectly was and is the covenant of God. It's a body in which all the promises of God are yay and amen to you. It's a body tempted in all points as we are without sin. It's a body that was weary. It was a body that wept. It was a body that thirsted. It was a very real human body. We are members of his body. It's the body resurrected.

And all, all of the fruitfulness of God's children is related to the fact that we are married now, children of God, we are married to a resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. This is part of what it is, there's so much to say isn't it, but this is part of what it is, to discern the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are married.

He says, wherefore, in Romans 7 verse four, wherefore, my brethren, you are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another. Paul says, I was crucified with Christ. I was crucified with him. The law took out the full punishment of God's wrath upon that broken law in the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. But listen to what it says. You're also become dead to the law by the body of Christ that you should be married to another. God's children are married to the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ who's fulfilled, who's done all of that. It's finished, he said.

We should be married to Mother, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Our fruit unto God comes from our union with the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns and rules over all things now. He's a victorious and reigning Saviour, our great God and Saviour. When we participate in that Lord's Supper, we are saying that we are discerning that body. Just in closing, I want us to look at two glorious pictures in the scriptures of people.

The only two that discerned the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that we can say that they saw his death. The only two people who saw the body of the Lord Jesus Christ as a crucified body and lived in faith and love to him, Mary who anointed the Lord's feet and the thief on the cross. They discerned the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. They discerned a crucified body. I'm not saying that other people didn't discern it.

I'm just saying that these two in the gospel accounts give us a great picture of what it is to discern the Lord's body. And the story of Mary is a wonderful story. Mary they made him a supper John chapter 12 verse 2 they made him a supper and Mary served this is a great picture of the of the Church of God. Martha served, Lazarus sat, he was one of them that sat with him at the table, and then Mary took a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

Isn't that a wonderful picture? And then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? And he said this because he didn't care for the poor because he was a thief.

But I love what the Lord said to her. Because the Lord's Supper is a memorial, we're remembering are declaring the death of the Lord Jesus Christ till he come. Then said Jesus, let her alone against the day of my burying has she kept it. For the day of my burying has she kept it. In Mark's account, he says, the Lord says that everywhere this gospel is preached, She has done what she could, Mark 14,

8. She has come, therefore, to anoint my body to the burying. Mary was the one of all of that apostolic company that seemed to really believe what the Lord Jesus Christ said. When he said again and again and again to them, I'm going to be crucified. I'm going to Rome. I'm going to be crucified. I'm going to be buried. And I'm going to rise again.

And Mary came. He says to her, she has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body to the bearing. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she has done shall be spoken of for a memorial her. We're speaking now of a memorial. We're speaking of a memorial of a memorial.

What a glorious, glorious picture it was. I just love the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ in Exodus chapter 17 is the rock that was smitten by Moses' rod. By the very law of God, that rock was smitten and out of that rock flowed water. Mary took a rock, a specially and beautifully carved rock that was made into this vessel to hold this alabaster ointment, and she broke that rock and she anointed the Lord's head And I love the picture, isn't it?

That the fragrance of his anointing for his death and his burial filled the whole house. No matter whether you were serving like Martha or sitting like Lazarus or working in the kitchen, the aroma of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified filled the whole room. I want us to turn to the other I pray that that will be our case, that we will be rejoicing as that the aroma of his blood fills the whole room. So turn with me in your Bibles to Luke's gospel. And I want us to look very briefly at the thief on the cross, what it is to discern the Lord's body. This thief on the cross discerned the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You might recall that the thief earlier that day And earlier on that cross he had been cursing the Lord Jesus Christ exactly the same as the other fellow had. They were there on that cross because the Lord Jesus Christ was revealed and he'd come to this place. And one of the malefactors, verse 39 of Luke chapter 23, one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, This is what happened in the life of this fellow. this happen to him? What had happened in that moment on the cross for this man to go from cursing the Lord Jesus Christ to saying these remarkable words? He discerned the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen to what he says. Does thou not fear God? seeing thou art in the same condemnation. Listen to what he says about him. He says, we indeed justly, he says, I'm a sinner. This is what it is to discern the body of the Lord. I'm a sinner and I'm receiving the due reward of my deeds. What a remarkable thing. How did he come? This is what it is to discern the body. This is such a beautiful, beautiful picture of what the Lord does in the hearts of his people when he, by his Spirit, reveals Christ to them and Christ in them.

And listen to what he says. This man has done nothing amiss. all of the cursing and all the swearing and you think of what he was looking at. Just beside him, hanging on another cross, was a man whose face was so marred he was unrecognisable as a human being, blood pouring from all of his body, covered in blood. Listen to what he describes, listen to what he says when he discerns the Lord's body.

He said unto Jesus, Lord, Lord. Isn't that wonderful? You are Lord of all. You look so unlike the Lord that any man could ever be on this earth and yet you are the Lord. How did he see that through all of that? That's the eyes of faith, isn't it? That's the eyes of the new creation. That's the eyes of someone whose eyes are opened and Christ dwells in him. Lord, and then he makes the most wonderful prayer.

I'm a sinner. That's what it is to discern the Lord's body and to drink and eat worthily. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Anything I ever receive from you must be purely by your grace because I have earned nothing and I can earn nothing. I'm a sinner. That's what it is to be a sinner. He's one of the few people in the scriptures that actually declares himself to be a sinner. They're very rare people in this world. Sinners are very rare. The Holy Spirit only makes them sinners. And he has this most wonderful prayer.

Everything is so simple, isn't it? You're the Lord. Lord, will you remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom? You there, hanging like a piece of meat in a butcher's shop, are the Lord of all of this creation. And you, like me, are going to die. And you, after your death, are going to reign in a triumphal kingdom. And I want to be with you there. I want to be with you in a kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

What is it to eat and drink worthily? is to know you're a sinner, and to know that as a sinner, you only have one hope in this world. You only have one hope of getting into paradise. You only have one hope, and that's all in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you are relying on him. That thief was utterly and totally dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ for everything. He couldn't work, he couldn't walk, could do nothing, and he could glorify God in all of his nothingness. Remember me. That's why we are to examine ourselves and drink. The examination is the examination of discerning the Lord's body, the glory of the God-man. Let's pray.