Standing on the promises of Christ
my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring. Glory in the highest I will shout
and sing, standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God, my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises that
cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises
of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God, my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises of Christ
the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord, Overcoming
daily with the Spirit's sword, Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I cannot
fail, Listening every moment to the Spirit's call, Resting
in my Saviour as my all in all, Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God, my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. Thank you. I would like to read from Luke
5, starting with verse 16. Luke 5, 16. And he withdrew himself into
the wilderness and prayed. And it came to pass on a certain
day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors
of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of
Galilee and Judah and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was
present to heal them. And behold, men brought in a
bed, in a bed a man, which was taken with palsy, and they sought
means to bring him in. and to lay him before him. And
when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because
of the multitude, they went up upon the housetop and let him
down through the tiling with his couch in the midst before
Jesus. And when he saw their faith,
he said unto them, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes
and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh
blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering,
said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether it is
easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Rise up and
walk? but that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon
earth to forgive sins. He said unto the sick of the
palsy, I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy couch, and go
into thine house. And immediately he rose up before
them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own
house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and
they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, we
have seen strange things today. Our Heavenly and Merciful Father,
we thank you, Lord, for allowing us to gather together to hear
your glorious gospel declared to us. Father, we have no other
comfort, we have no other hope, but in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Father, we thank you that we can come to this location
week after week, and you continue to allow us, Lord, to feed on
this gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you also for
Brother Eric. Will you continue to be with
him, Lord? Give him strength and health. and give him, Lord,
the messages that you would have us to hear. Remember him, Lord,
as he stands before us again a second time today. Father,
will you pour out your spirit upon him and also upon us as
we hope to listen. Father, give us a hunger and
a thirst after you and your righteousness, and that we may, Lord, have that
rest that you have given and that faith that that may be increased,
that we may decrease, and that we may see more and more of the
glorious the glorious gospel, and all that you have done, and
why you have done it, and for whom you have done it, and where
you are now. Father, remember also Brother
Scott. and others, Lord, that are part of this gathering, Lord,
that are struggling perhaps with things that we do not know about.
Remember Scott, Lord, and give him strength. We know he would
have a desire to be with us, but Father, will you give him
strength that he may once again come to this location and to
worship with us. Father, remember those also that
were struck with that tragedy of the tornadoes. Remember them,
Lord, those that are struggling, that have lost loved ones. Father,
we thank you for sparing us up until these very moments and
remember us in mercy. Father, we also think of our
children, our loved ones, our families, our relatives. Lord,
will you give us the words to speak? that we may declare your
goodness. And Lord, will you incline their
hearts that they may also receive a hunger and a thirst after your
righteousness, that they may receive a desire to worship and
to be with us here also. Remember us, Lord, with this
local community. Will you bring out your sheep
that they may also want to gather with us here also. Father, have
mercy upon us for Jesus' sake alone, amen. Let's sing, Revive Us Again,
485, Revive Us Again. Praise thee, O God, for the Son
of thy love, for Jesus who died and is now gone above. Hallelujah, thine the glory. Hallelujah, amen. Hallelujah, thine the glory. Revive us again. We praise Thee, O God, for Thy
Spirit of life, who has shown us our Savior and scattered our
night. Alleluia, Thine the glory. Alleluia, amen. Alleluia, Thine the glory. Revive us again. All glory and praise to the Lamb
that was slain, who has borne all our sins and has cleansed
every stain. Alleluia, thine the glory, alleluia,
amen. Alleluia, thine the glory, revive
us again. Revive us again. Fill each heart with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with
fire from above. Hallelujah, thine the glory. Hallelujah, amen. Hallelujah, thine the glory. Revive us again. Thank you. Good morning. Take your Bibles
and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and our
primary text today is verses 26 through 29. But I think it's important that
we pick up in verse 23. So let's read Three verses together, starting
in verse 23. Paul there says, I have received
of the Lord that which also I have delivered unto you, that the
Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks,
he break it and 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 ye drink
it in remembrance of me. Now Paul is writing this and
he confirms that this knowledge that he has of what the Lord
did on that night, he's received it. It was given to him. He said, I have received of the
Lord that which also I delivered unto you. And so we know who
it is that instituted this, which we call an ordinance, a command,
a practice that the Lord has given to us. It's the Lord Jesus
is the one who instituted it. And we know when this was given.
On the night in which he was betrayed. On the night in which
he was betrayed and arrested, going willingly to fulfill the
will of God for his people. And we generally call this the
Lord's Table or the Lord's Supper. And in this supper, there are
two elements. There's the bread and the wine. These two things. Now, the bread
would have been unleavened bread because it was during the time
of Passover. So there was no leaven in the
house. And that unleavened bread pictures
the sinless body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was broken
for you. that believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that wine, it pictures the
precious blood of the Lord which was spilled, which was given
for you that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we eat this
bread and we drink this wine together in remembrance of our
Lord and Savior, as a remembrance of our Lord and Savior. And we're
told then in verse 26, 1 Corinthians 11, 26, what this means. He says,
for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show
the Lord's death till he come. And so Paul here gives us the
purpose in our coming together to partake of this bread and
this wine. It's that we do show the Lord's
death till he come. And what that means essentially
is all our hope. All our hope to stand before
Holy God in that day is fixed in the Lord Jesus Christ. I have
no other hope. I have no other righteousness.
I want no other righteousness. I want to be found in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's your hope. who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, who trust Him with all your life.
You have no life apart from Him. Your hope is fixed in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and that's what we remember. We remember our
Lord in taking this bread and wine. We remember His coming. We remember His death, what He
accomplished in His death. We remember His resurrection,
and that means He shall come again. And so let me just take
a moment here to cover four things that we remember regarding our
Lord's death that are fixed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And these
four things explain or give substance to what it is that we're remembering.
What are we remembering here? Well, first, we're remembering
that our Lord came in the flesh. He took upon Him this flesh being
sent of God to be the surety of His people, to be the one
who would pay the debt that His people owe. And He came taking
upon Him flesh in order to be the substitute, to take the place
of His people. to bear their sin debt, to bear
their burden, to bear their stripes, the punishment and wrath of God,
the holy wrath of God against our sins, our just due. Christ came as the surety and
the substitute, taking the place of his people, paying the debt
that we owe because of our sin and iniquity. And so our Lord
is called our Redeemer. He's called our Redeemer, the
one who purchased us. We're His possession. Isaiah
47, verse 4 says, As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is
His name, the Holy One of Israel. So first, we remember that the
Lord came in the flesh. We remember He came in the flesh. The fact that our Lord came in
the flesh, that says something about me. That says something
about me and you that believe on the Lord. It says, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I have no righteousness
of my own. I have no means of making myself
righteous before holy God. And so Christ's coming and His
death declares to me plainly, I am a sinner. And I need the
salvation that God has provided in his son. I'm a sinner. I can't cleanse myself of my
sin. I need a redeemer. I need a savior. I need the salvation that God
has provided. Romans 7, 14, Paul said, we know
that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal. I'm born of the flesh,
sold under sin, in Adam, by my own works. I'm a sinner. So we remember Christ came in
the flesh and we're reminded I'm a sinner in need of salvation. Third, we remember in remembering
our Lord's redemption that He actually came and accomplished
that which He came to do. He's successful. He finished
the work. He fulfilled all that the Father
sent Him to do. He made an end of our sin. He
made His people righteous, accepted of God. Romans 5 11 we also joy
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received
the atonement the covering of our sins the putting away of
our sins the remembering of our sins no more and in Christ we
are Reconciled unto God We have peace with God and fellowship
with him in the Lord Jesus Christ fourth So we remember that Christ
came in the flesh, declaring, therefore, that I'm a sinner,
that I can't save myself. I need that salvation. And third,
he did it. He accomplished that work. And
in fourth, Christ is risen, God justifying his son by raising
him from the dead, declaring unto all who hope in him, we're
justified. justified of God. God has accepted
the sacrifice. He's accepted the atonement.
You are forgiven for your sins. You and the Lord Jesus Christ
are forgiven and our Savior has entered before us. He's gone
before us into the Holy of Holies to prepare a place for us, a
standing for us before Holy God for all eternity. Your Savior
has done that. We read of this in Hebrews 6
20 which says, Whither the forerunner, Christ is the forerunner who
for us is entered, even Jesus, made in high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. And now our Savior who went before
us is now seated in the heavens at the right hand of the throne
of God, meaning he's ruling and reigning and implementing the
will of God in heaven and in earth. Hebrews 12, 2, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. And in that same point, in that
same thing, he's going to return again. He's going to redeem those
whom he purchased with his own blood. He's coming again to pick
up that which he purchased. He's not leaving it behind. He's
going to pick it up and bring us to himself. Romans 8.23 says,
and not only they, those who have died before us, who have
gone to sleep before us, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit. We have the down payment given
to us by God, His Holy Spirit. Even we ourselves, so this is
the fruit being produced in us, we ourselves grown within ourselves
waiting for the adoption. to wit, the redemption of the
body. We are redeemed by the Lord Jesus
Christ, but this body still has sin in its members. We still
see the effects of the fall in this flesh, and our Lord says,
when He comes again, we're going to be made like unto Him, for
we shall see Him as He is. You say, well, I don't know how
I'm going to flip the switch and make myself to be like him.
You're not. I'm not. The Lord Jesus Christ
does it. He's got the power and the authority
and he shall make us like unto himself when we see him as he
is. And so these four things, brethren,
these make up the examination of a man of himself in partaking
of the Lord's table. That is what Christ did for you,
His people, in redeeming you. He is your fitness. He is your
worthiness. partaking of this table. Now the reason why I bring that
out is because in verse 28 1st Corinthians 11 28 Paul said,
but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup. I was drawn to this passage a
couple weeks ago, thinking about a man examining himself, and
I tell you, we're here today because there's words of comfort
here. My heart was comforted, and therefore
I believe you brethren who love the Lord Jesus Christ will be
comforted also by what the Lord is teaching you his people here.
This is a joyful time, a comforting time for the people of the Lord. So that's what we're going to
focus on now. I titled this message, Let a Man Examine Himself. OK, so what are we examining?
Examining what? What are we examining? Because Paul gives a very serious
charge in verse 27 and 29. Look at those with me. 1 Corinthians 11 27 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.
Verse 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and
drinketh damnation, or judgment, to himself, not discerning the
Lord's body. So to avoid this horrible offense,
Paul tells the brethren in Corinth and he tells us here in verse
28, but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup. Now typically when we read those
words we think this is going to be a discouraging message. Here it comes. I'm going to be
led to slip my neck under the law, and I'm going to bear a
burden that even the forefathers of the Jews couldn't bear and
couldn't uphold that law and do that which was necessary to
make themselves righteous. And that charge, let a man examine
himself, it often brings up in our minds some horrible sin.
Something that we still feel guilty for. Something I said,
oh, I shouldn't have said that. I should have never done that.
I shouldn't have thought that. And so we begin to beat ourselves
up as these past sins come up in our minds, as we examine ourselves
and look over ourselves. And we're troubled in our tender
conscience, remembering these things. But if Paul means by
these words that we examine ourselves, if he means that we should be
able to look over our life since the last time we took of the
supper, or over our life, and that we should find no sin. Or that we should find unacceptable
sins that we think are okay. These are white sins, or these
are less ugly sins. These aren't so filthy, so this
is okay. If that's what we're defined.
or we're to find some good works, something that helps counteract
and fight against or weigh against those bad things that we've done
since then, that God would allow us. If that's what we're to find,
then every believer being made honest with themselves before
God would have to confess, I'm not worthy. I'm not fit to partake
of the Lord's table. And we'd be asking our God and
Father Lord, excuse me again, I'm just still not worthy. I'm not worthy to partake of
this table here. You'll have to excuse me again,
Lord, I'm sorry. But thankfully, that's not what
Paul is saying when he says, let a man examine himself. How do I know that? Well, look
at how he continues that very sentence. Let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. There
is a following on that examination. It's eating that bread and drinking
that cup. Let a man examine himself, and
so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. So these
words are an encouragement to us, brethren. It's to comfort
you and to encourage your hearts to remember we do show forth
the Lord's death till he come. We're remembering the Lord's
death and what he's done for us and accomplished for us until
he comes again. We're showing our hope that in
spite of my sin, In spite of my unworthiness, I have a Savior
whom my God has given me a hope in. to look to Him, to not look
to myself, to not weigh myself, and to labor under the law, trying
to work a righteousness for myself, which is impossible. But He's
provided salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. So our hope is
fixed in our Savior, who has come and accomplished in His
death and was buried and rose again. where he is seated at
the right hand of the throne of God, gathering together his
sheep, doing all things that are good for us, and he shall
come again to take his church unto himself. And so the Lord
teaches us that we are dead to sin in our members. We see sin in our members. We're
dead to sin in our members because we have been made partakers of
our Lord in His death, in His life. We're partakers in the
Lord. So we're dead to sin in the members. Look at Romans 6, 6 with me. Romans 6 verse 6. Paul writes, knowing this, he's
writing to you brethren, knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin. That body of sin, we have
no more place in there. That's not our inheritance. That's
not our hope. He's saying, you've been crucified
with Christ so that you don't serve sin. And we're going to
come back to that point. I'll explain that a little more
in a moment. Now go over to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians 2, verse 20 and verse
21. And here Paul writes, saying,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Now look at verse 21. I do not
frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain. So our God, we're not
now trying to earn or obtain a righteousness by the law. That's
not what Christ has accomplished. We have life in Him. He's our
life. He's our salvation. So we're
dead to the law, and we're dead to having to work a righteousness
by the law. We're dead to the law. The law
is dead to us. And so keeping the law and living
by the law for a righteousness, that's not our place. It's not
keeping the law and living by the law. That's not our righteousness,
brethren. Christ, Jesus Christ, is your
righteousness. He's all our hope, all our confidence
to stand before God in that day accepted of Him. Christ is all
our righteousness. So Christ has delivered us from
sin and death. That means we don't serve sin. Paul has already written, the
body of sin is destroyed. We don't serve sin. That's already
been put away, destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So turn over to Hebrews chapter
2. And I believe this will help us better understand what it
means by we don't serve sin. We don't serve sin anymore. Hebrews
2, verse 14 and 15. I know we've seen this verse
a lot in the last six months, I'd say about, but see it in
the context that we don't serve sin. All right, he says, for
as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
Christ 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, and deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage." And what he's saying
is before Christ came, before we were delivered in the power
of the Lord Jesus Christ and had a knowledge of him were born
again. Before then, we labored in fear. We were afraid to die
because of our sin. And so we didn't want to die
because we thought, well, wait a minute. I maybe haven't done
enough to make up for that sin. Maybe God didn't accept those
works that I did. And I still have more to do because
I still feel guilty and I still feel shame for that. So I guess
I better labor harder, I better work more for, I better work
for this. That's laboring, that's serving
sin. You're afraid to die because
you're still serving sin. You still think that there's
something you have to do to clean it up, to earn a forgiveness
with the Lord. That's what he's saying. That's
serving sin. And Christ died to destroy all
that, to put that all away, to deliver you from your neck from
under the yoke of the law and trying to obtain a righteousness
for yourself. Now turn over to 1 Peter 1. Go to 1 Peter chapter 1 and let's
look at verses 18 and 19. And we see here our good hope
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a declaration of our
hope in Christ, not works. For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. We're not spending money and
laboring for that which isn't the bread of heaven and that
which does not satisfy. put away our sin. That's not
what we're doing. We're not spending like silver
and gold. We've been redeemed or purchased
by something more precious. Verse 19, with the precious blood
of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. And so sin, we still see it. I see it in my members. Sin still
dwells in this flesh. But Christ declares it's defeated. It's already overcome. He's already
overcome our sin. He's overcome all our enemies. We are whole and washed in the
blood of Christ. We now live by the faith of the
Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And so we walk
in faith, believing our Lord, believing all that He's declared
to us. We walk by the Spirit of God
and are led of the Spirit of God. It's not that we're looking
now to be partakers of sin and the filth of the flesh. We're not declaring Christ to
use our hope of Christ as a cloak for unrighteousness, but we're
not looking to or trusting in the things of this flesh We trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and as Paul quoted three times, Habakkuk
2.4, which says, the just shall live by his faith. by his faith. And so all those
weaknesses and our failings and shortcomings and stumblings,
it all brings us back to see, it's not me, it's not my righteousness. But Lord, you've declared salvation
in your son. Lord, keep me ever looking to
the Lord. All the ends of the earth And
look unto the Lord and be saved, all ye ends of the earth. For
our God is the true and living God. He's revealed himself in
the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, by whom we have received
redemption and forgiveness of sins. And so we walk by faith. And he's gathering together his
sheep. As a shepherd gathers his sheep
into his fold, Ezekiel 34, 12. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock, And the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And so our Lord is gathering
together his people. giving them life by His Spirit
who regenerates us, making us born again of the seed of Christ,
whereby we are brought into the fellowship of our Savior, into
the beloved family of God, born through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so the Spirit which is given
unto us gives us a hearing ear to hear the voice of our Savior
and faith whereby we believe Him and trust Him and follow
Him. And our Lord promises to those
of you who would say, well, you need to go back to the law now.
He says, no, no. He says, I'm the light of the world. And those
who follow me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. We believe that promise of our
Savior. He keeps us. He keeps us ever
following Him and looking after Him. And we are justified of
our God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we show our hope in the
resurrection of our Lord, as it says, till He come. till he
returns again, meaning that he arose, that he ascended, that
he's in control of all things, ruling and reigning and providing
everything that is necessary for his people. And we're waiting
for his return. Okay, so having said that, let
me just return now with you to those four encouraging words
to us that we remember in our examining when Paul said, let
a man examine himself, And so let him eat of that bread and
drink of that cup." Our examining is a remembering of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that He is our fitness, He is our worthiness
to have a place at that table. He's gone before us to prepare
a place for you that have no righteousness. But He alone is
our righteousness. He's prepared it. So first, every
spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
is of God. And we remember and declare our
Lord came in the flesh to do that which we ourselves could
not do for ourselves. He came and established the covenant
of God's grace, the covenant of grace, so that God is both
just and justifier of them which believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are examining our hope in
Him that He came to do this work. Second, we remember I am a sinner
in need of His grace. It's not about my worthiness.
It's not my righteousness that I've worked up in this flesh
by the law. That's not my worthiness. That
doesn't make me fit to sit at the table, because if that was
the case, I'd be left out from the table. I wouldn't have a
place at the table. Christ is all our worthiness. Christ is our fitness. He and
He alone. And so we confess, I need a Savior. I need the salvation God's provided.
And third, we're looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. He's the one who came and accomplished
that work which God determined was necessary to save His people,
which God chose to do before the foundation of the world.
declared him to be the lamb slain from the foundation of the earth. And he came and he accomplished
that work. He finished it, brethren. It's done. The works are finished
in our Lord from the foundation of the world. He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. And then
fourth, we rejoice in Christ, our risen Savior, who is now
in the heavens at the right hand of the throne of God, ruling
and reigning, fulfilling all the will of God for his people. Romans 8.34 says, Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. And then 1 John 3.2, the
Apostle John says, Beloved, now Right now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. And so, brethren, be thankful
for your Lord and Savior. Rejoice in the salvation your
God has freely given to us in grace. We're all unworthy sinners. We're all unfit to partake of
our Lord. And yet God in grace calls us
to himself, has given us the earnest, the down payment by
his spirit, whereby we cry out, Abba, Father, have mercy on me. Cover me in the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. So if Christ is all your
hope, if He's your salvation, if He's your righteousness, then
so eat of that bread and drink of that cup because in doing
so you do show the Lord's death till He come. We're declaring
our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and being made partakers of the
table of this supper of our Lord. The only ones who are unworthy
that are being spoken of here are those that aren't born again,
that have no spiritual life, that are trusting in themselves,
that are trusting in their works, that are finding a fitness in
themselves to come to the table. or who look to the bread and
the wine as though it's some kind of good luck charm that
they're adding to their bracelet of good luck charms, right? Saying,
oh, well, God will be pleased with me for doing this spiritual
work. And when I need it, I'll have this little bit of grace
to fall back on because I did a religious ceremonial thing
one day. No, that's unworthy. That's someone
who's not fit to partake. But you that are sinners, saved
by grace, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, you remember
the Lord. And so let him eat of this bread
and drink of this cup. For in it you do show the Lord's
death till he comes. So I pray Let the Lord comfort
your hearts with those words. When you come to the table, don't
have any fear. You that trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's all your fitness that God
requires. He's our righteousness. Amen. Let's pray and then we'll hand
out the bread and the wine. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace, Lord, in showing us how that you make
us fit and righteous, how that you have prepared a place for
us at this table with our Lord and his people in the kingdom
of God. Lord, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and everything
he's done for us. Lord, in ourselves we find no
worth, no value, no fitness, no righteousness of this flesh.
Lord we thank you that in the Lord Jesus Christ we find everything
because Lord this is not of our flesh that we see this and understand
it but it's it's given unto us the fruits of our Lord and Savior
by your spirit whereby we see and believe on the Lord and know
that he is the righteousness of our God given for us that
we may have fellowship that we may would be born again into
the family of God by the seed of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Lord, help us, because you know how we struggle. You know our
weakness. You know our doubts and fears.
Lord, you know us. And Lord, we thank you for your
provision, and ask that you would continue to lead us by your Spirit,
causing us to walk by faith, rejoicing evermore in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray and
give thanks. Amen. All right, so let me just hand
these out. So I'm just going to read 1 Corinthians
11, verse 23 through 26 here. Verse 28. So verse 23 says, for
I have 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 break it and 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 ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat
this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till
he come. And so Paul then said, Let a
man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink
of that cup. I'll sit down and then we'll
take it together. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn, 292, Surely Goodness and Mercy. 292. The pilgrim was I and a wandering
In the cold night of sin I did roam When Jesus the kind shepherd
found me And now I am on my way home Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. He restoreth my soul when I'm
weary. He giveth me strength day by
day. He leads me besides the still
waters. He guards me each step of the
way. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. When I walk through the dark,
lonesome valley My Savior will walk with me there And safely
His great hand will lead me To the mansions He's gone to prepare Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house
of the Lord forever, and I shall feast at the table spread for
me. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days, all the days of my life. All the days, all the days of
my life. Thank you.