service. Our father, we thank
you this evening for the blessed privilege to be able to assemble
ourselves together in the name of the Lord Jesus. We pray that
you'd bless the preaching of Christ this evening. Bless it,
Lord, to the salvation and comfort of your people, to the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it's in his name we pray. The Apostle Paul has been moved
upon by the Spirit of God to give answer to questions that
were asked him by the church at Corinth. Obviously there were
many questions that were being raised by this congregation and
by the good providence of God, it's for our benefit also, not
just theirs, but ours too. Now, there's only, there's two
ordinances that were left by the Lord Jesus Christ for the
church. That's believers baptism and
then the Lord's Supper. But there were a lot of traditions
and there were a lot of things that were done during that time
and even now that raised questions. Paul had been dealing with those,
but tonight he's going to now begin dealing with one of the
ordinances and that is the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. Now, Lord's Supper and Baptism,
both of those ordinances deal with the redemptive work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Both of them set forth His glory,
His honor in redeeming His people. But this evening, as he deals
with this blessed ordinance, which he's going to just completely
go from one end of the spectrum of things that they were doing,
and then go to the end of telling them how they were to be observing
the Lord's table. And the thing that he's going
to start off with tonight is an abuse. that he saw that was
being observed while they were doing what they called observing
the Lord's Supper. Now, I want us to just for a
minute realize who gave this supper. It was the Lord. The Lord gave this. And with
the Lord giving this supper, it is to be observed with the
utmost respect and reverence for Him who loved us and gave
Himself for us. We must remember Him while we're
eating. It is a remembrance of the Lord's
mercy to a people everlastingly loved, there's coming a time
when we're going to see Him as He is. We're going to see Him.
He's going to return. And until He returns, He has
given us instruction concerning His supper. He said, this do
in remembrance of Me. Thankfully, let's reverently
consider that as we eat and drink to the honor and glory of Him
who is worthy of all praise and all glory, all honor, that we're
doing this unto the Master Himself. Now, the Apostle Paul, again,
he's heard some things that's been going on, and he's going
to deal with them. And he starts off in verse 17,
and I'm going to go, Lord willing, to verse 34. I'm going to try
to finish this chapter. Verse 17 and 18. He said, Now
in this that I declare unto you, I praise you not, that you come
together not for the better, but for the worse. For first
of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there
are divisions among you, and I partly believe it." Now, Paul
had formerly praised the church at Corinth because what they
had done is they had taken his advice, They adhered to the divine
recommendations. I mean, he was moved upon by
the Spirit of God to say what he said. I mean, these words
right here were divinely inspired, but now he's going to condemn
them on something that they were doing and it's going to be a
sharp rebuke for observing what should have been done in a very
reverential manner. the way that they were observing
what they called the Lord's Supper. Now, Paul said what we just read,
he heard that the people, when they came together, they should
have been coming together in a spirit of unity, fellowship,
and he said, I'm hearing that there's divisions among you,
there's schisms among you. And he said, what's happening
is, He said, the attitudes that you're having, he said, you're
causing more harm than you are good. Now here they are, you
know, I'm not praising you, verse 17, when you come together, not
for the better, he said, when you come together, it's not for
the betterment, but it's for the worse of the body. He said, when you come together
in the church, I hear that there's divisions, that there's schisms,
And he said, I partly believe it. And here's the reason he
said, I partly believe it. He said in verse 19, for there
must be also heresies. Now this word heresy is not,
there is a word that we recognize as heresy and it's concerning
preaching of doctrine that's not correct. It's untruthful. Antichrist, it's against the
scriptures, but that's not what this word means. This word means
it's the same thing as the divisions that's found in verse 18, the
schisms, the factions. He said, there must be, he said,
I'm hearing that when you come together, in what should be unity
and oneness and everybody is together. And he said, I'm hearing
that there's heresies, that there's divisions within the bodies. And now he said, I believe it.
I do believe it. I believe that they're really
going on. And here's the reason I believe that they're truly
going on. But there must be also heresies
among you. There must be divisions among
you. There must be factions. The Lord
has divinely allowed that. Why? That they which are approved,
those that are truly God's people, may be made manifest among you. God allows, permits, this unchecked
evil for a while. of that carnal heart that it
might be openly discovered, that they might be made manifest,
that those which are approved among you. So brother Henry made
this statement on this, he said, is always busy sowing tares and
false prophets, causing the Scriptures to be wrested, twisted, that
God might make a distinction between that which is true and
that which is false. And he said, these things don't
come by chance. He said, there must be. There
must be divisions. There must be factions among
you. God is going to allow there to
be a faction among you. Why? To prove that which is true
and honorable and right. Then he says in verse 20 and
21, he said, when you come together, therefore into one place. This
is not to eat the Lord's supper, for in eating every one taketh
before other his own supper. One's hungry. and another's drunk,
and he said, what made the whole situation worse was that what
was outwardly declared to be the Lord's Supper, he said, that's
what you're doing, that's not the Lord's Supper. He said, you
come together and your actions actually prove that you're not
coming together as brethren. He said, you're coming together
and there's a division. There's a faction. There's a
heresy there. There's a separation. He said,
that's not love. That's not fellowship and oneness
with each other to remember the Lord. He said, no. What you call
coming together for the Lord's Supper is, he said, that's not
it. He said what you're doing is
you're coming together to satisfy or gratify your own lustful desires. They actually were separating
themselves into their own little group and depending on their
ability. Now some would have lavish meals,
they would prepare their meal and bring it and go over here
by themselves and separate themselves from everybody else. And they
would just have their own little clique over here while others
who were not able, they weren't Maybe financially. They were
poor. Maybe they couldn't do it. And
they were going hungry. And then some over here, they
were drinking to the point of drunkenness. You know, calling
it Christian liberty. And there was no order. There
was no respect. There was no fellowship. There
was no sympathy. There was no worship. He said
it was chaos. That's what he said. When you
come together, verse 20, into one place. He said it's not to
eat the Lord's Supper. That's what you called it. For
in eating, everyone taketh before his own supper. You don't even
wait, you just have your own little party. Over here, here's
some over here, one's hungry, you're eating, another one's
drunk. And then he asked him in verse 22, what? What are you
doing? He said, have you not houses
to eat and drink in? or despise ye the church of God
and shame them that have not, what shall I say to you? Shall
I praise you in this? I praise you not." Paul said,
what you're doing, this separating of yourself and you're having
this faction over here. He said, you think I'm going
to praise you? I'm not going to praise you for
that. He said, you're wrong. You're wrong in what you're doing.
He said, don't you have houses? If you're going to come and and
eat and indulge your appetites. Don't you have a house? Why do you have such contempt
where the Lord has raised up the body? Why do you act in such
a way where He sent the gospel of God's free grace and He's
blessed the Word? Why are you acting that way?
Why are you doing what you're doing? He said, I'm not praising
you for this. I'm condemning you for this.
You're wrong in what you... He said, if you want to act in
such a disrespectful way and separate yourself, do it in the
privacy of your own home. Don't act so disrespectfully
in the place that has been so divinely blessed. He said, then
the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, set forth God's
revelation concerning the order and the respect that should be
given in the partaking of the Lord's table. This is what we
read every time we partake of the Lord's table. He said, this
is what I want you to understand. What you're doing. And you're
a little clique, and you're a little separation, and you're a little
alienation. He said, I'm not praising you.
You're wrong. You're wrong. He said, this is
the way the Lord's supper. This is the way God's people
come together to eat. He said, verse 23, I've received
of the Lord. So when he says this, he said,
I'm telling you, this is the way that is to be done. I've
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'd break it. And he
said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he
took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament
in my blood. This do ye, as oft as you drink
it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he come. This is the proper, respectable,
honorable way in which the body meets together in the observance
of the Lord's table, in the observance of worship. This is what you
do. We come together as brethren and we take the bread that sets
forth His body. We take that bread that represents
the body that was willingly laid down for His sheep, and then
we take that little cup of wine, I said last time, that cup of
blessing, and it's when we're partaking of that supper, and
we eat, somebody said, well it's just, you know, it's not, it's
just a piece of bread. It is a piece of bread, but what
it represents is divine. That's a cup of wine. It's just
wine, someone says. That wine sets forth the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we eat and we drink,
we come together as brethren. And we eat and we drink together
in honor unto Him. We eat this bread and we drink
this cup. as a memorial unto Him, remembering
to freshly keep in our minds, in our hearts, His sacrifice. He put away our guilt. Listen. Think about what He has done
for us. Think of the love that was shed
toward His people when He came into this world, made flesh,
made of a woman, made under the law, humbled himself, and made
himself of no reputation, walked this earth 33 plus years, and
obeyed God, obeyed his Father, who he willingly submitted to
as the servant of Jehovah. to earn the righteousness that
is imputed to his people, and came and laid down his life.
And when we come together as brethren, one, one, one together,
we come to show the Lord's death. We come to declare or to proclaim
his work. of redemption on our behalf. And we do it just exactly the
way He said to do it until He returns. And so when we eat this
bread, drink this cup, we're declaring our belief in Christ,
God's Messiah. all according to His everlasting
covenant of grace. And we declare that that body
that was broken was broken for us, His people, His sheep, those
He came to save, God's elect. That's who He's dying for. That's
who we are. We as sheep, we honor and worship
the Master. So we drink that cup. We eat that bread. as setting
forth our love for Him. Now Paul said, now, wherefore,
knowing that that is the way that it's to be done, you do
it as brethren, you do it together, you do it as one, you do it as
loving a church, a body of believers, 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. Now, whosoever shall
eat of this bread and drink of this cup unworthily. Now, let me just say this. He did not use the word whoever
is unworthy to eat this bread because everybody in here is
unworthy. No one in here is worthy to eat
the bread. Someone says, I just don't think
I should because I don't think that I'm worthy enough. My friend,
that's the only qualification. The word is not unworthy, because
as I said, we're all unworthy. But he said, whosoever shall
eat unworthily, irreverently, irreverently. One who is said
to eat this bread and drink this cup unworthily, Let me tell you
what that means. When we eat this bread and drink
this cup, we're honoring the Master. We're honoring the Lord
Jesus Christ. As He says, He is. And when we preach the gospel,
we're preaching the Christ that we believe and trust to be the
one whose body was broken and blood was shed. to eat and drink
of this cup and this bread unworthily would be one that as the gospel
is set forth, the gospel of God's sovereign grace, electing grace,
particular redeeming grace, irresistible fetching grace, and keeping grace,
for one to believe in his heart to not believe that gospel. For one, to believe, I believe
that Christ died for everyone's sins. I believe that Christ died
to make salvation possible. I believe that Christ loves everybody. I believe God loves everybody
and wants everybody to be saved and has made salvation possible
if you will just exercise your free will. That's the God I'm
worshiping right here. That is to eat the bread and
drink the cup unworthily. Why? Because you do not discern. This is what he's going to say.
Let a man, let a man, verse 28, examine himself, let him eat
of that bread and drink of that cup. If he drinks that cup and
eats that bread unworthily, that is to eat and drink with the
thought that salvation is not totally of the Lord, but it is
by man's ability, that is to treat the blood of Christ, the
body of Christ unworthily. So then, who is to eat? Those that believe that salvation
is all of grace. That salvation is of the Lord.
that God Almighty has chosen a people unto salvation, that
Christ redeemed those people, that the Spirit of God effectually
calls those people out and makes them willing, spontaneously willing,
in the day of His power. That's the gospel, that's the
truth, and to eat and drink Not believing that is to eat and
drink unworthily. That's not the Christ that laid
down His life. You're dishonoring Him. That's
what Paul is saying. So what do we do? Examine yourself. I'm going to tell you this. Whenever
we have the bread and the cup, and these men will come up and
we're going to pass out these elements. Who is to take? Believers. Believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ. They are to take. Now let me
tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to sit here
and watch who takes. I don't ever look up. Next time
we have it, watch me. I'll just make it a point to
look down. Why? The scripture says, let a man
examine himself. Well, what if somebody comes
in here and they're not a believer? Let a man examine himself. We're not to examine men and
tell men who can and who can't. Let a man examine himself. If
you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has died for you, You
believe the gospel of God's grace. You believe God loved you, chose
you, Christ redeemed you, and the Spirit of God called you.
Let a man examine himself. So let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup. You let a man ask himself, do
I believe this glorious message of God's salvation is by grace
alone? Do I believe that? Or am I trusting
Him for my life? Am I trusting Him apart from
anything that I can do? Apart from looking to myself.
I'm not looking to my work. I'm trusting Christ. My hope
is in Christ. I believe if God Almighty doesn't
save me, for Christ's sake, I'm going to perish because I can't
save myself. You believe that? Then eat. Then
eat. Examine yourself. If you don't
believe God, if you're trusting in your decision, if you're trusting
in your will, if you're trusting in your works, then you are eating
and drinking to your own damnation and judgment because you do not
discern the Lord's body. That's what he said in verse
29. and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." What does that
mean, not discerning the Lord's body? It means you're failing
to recognize and believe by faith what the Scriptures reveal concerning
Christ. It's a failure to understand
God's message from heaven concerning His Son. You're not discerning. the Lord's body. You're not truly
discerning what God has done through His Son, by His Son,
for His people. You're not discerning what God
has said, what God has reported. You're not discerning that. You're
eating and drinking damnation to yourself. Verse 30, For this
cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For
if we would judge ourselves, We should not be judged. But
when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not
be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when
we come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man
hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto
condemnation. And the rest will I set in order
when I come." He says for this cause, verse 30, Many are weak,
sickly among you. Many sleep. I do not know, except
by divine revelation, the judgment that God has poured out upon
many because of the disrespect toward His Son, toward His Word,
toward His Supper, toward His Gospel, before His people. Therefore, may the Spirit of
God give us understanding to judge ourselves to examine ourselves
concerning our own attitude toward Christ and His blessed ordinance. I mean, this is what I meant
when I said, when we come together, this is not, we're not just,
oh, we're just gonna have the Lord's Supper. I was listening
to a message the other day, and I truly wanted to hear what this
man had to say. I'd heard of him, I'd heard him,
and it was, I just wanted to hear what he said on a passage
of Scripture. But he made a statement, and it was concerning the Proverbs.
And he made this statement. He said, the thing about the
Proverbs is that, he said, by and large, it's just a hodgepodge
of statements that are made, you know, spiritual things. And I thought, I'm done. I'm
done. I'm done. I mean, that one statement
right there was enough to say, I'd rather not even hear. I will
say this, the proverbs, it does appear that very often it goes
from one thought to another blessed thought, to another blessed thought.
But it is not a hodgepodge. And when we come together to
observe the Lord's table, it's not just the Lord's table. It's
when we come together to eat of this, you know, I think, may
understand a little bit more, hopefully I do, concerning what
Brother Henry said, when we observe the Lord's table, we're no closer
to true worship than when we observe the Lord's table. So
Paul reveals that when the Lord grants us the blessed privilege
to eat, to eat the bread and drink the cup, let's judge ourselves,
that's what he says. Examine yourself. You know a
believer's gonna do that. That's what a believer does.
He examines himself. This is what a believer, he hears
these words and a believer judges himself according to these words
right here. Lord, as Newton said, if I've
never believed before, let me begin today. Lord, if I have
never truly seen you. Lord, if everything I've ever
heard, I know it up here and I've never truly believed. Lord,
don't let my old deceitful heart deceive me. Lord, don't leave
me to myself. Don't let me leave this world
not knowing Christ. I don't want to stand before
you without a substitute. I don't want to stand before
you without the Redeemer. Lord, let the blood be upon me. A believer knows something of
the frailty of this flesh and the deceitfulness of that heart.
He knows the attempts of Satan to draw him away, but he rests
in Christ. Wherefore, brother, he said,
when we come together to observe the Lord's table, Let us meet
together as a body. Let us come together loving one
another, seeking as His body, His honor and glory. And then
Paul ends that last verse, 34. He said, if any man hunger, let
him eat at home. He said, look, if you're hungry,
eat at home. Don't come together and let there
be factions and divisions and separations. gratify your own
appetite, separate yourself from one another. He said this is
a time of worship. This is a time to honor the Lord
in the taking of His supper. And I pray that God be pleased
to bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen. All
right.