Turn with me back to first Corinthians
11. My father was called to be the
pastor of Katie Baptist Church. In Fairmont, West Virginia. where
Brother Scott Richardson pastored for almost 50 years. And when my father got there in 2003,
he was there with Brother Scott for seven years, almost eight
years. And Brother Scott, before he
died, before the Lord took him, he passed along some sound wisdom
to my dad. He passed along his experience
over all those years. It was such a great help. He was a great help to my dad. He was a encouragement, a great
encouragement to him. And my father loved that man. I mean, he loved him. And Brother
Scott loved my dad. They were close. I mean, they
were close. And it was a precious relationship. Well, as time went on, Brother Scott realized he became
more and more frail and he realized and everybody else realized that
it was nearing the time that he would leave this world. So one day he walked up to my
dad and he reached into his pocket and he pulled out a pocket knife
and he said, I want to give you something to remember me by. And my dad said, Scott, you don't
have to give me anything to remember you by. I love you. And he said, well, I'm going
to give it to you anyway. So we did. And then in 2010, the
Lord took him to glory. And dad says to this day, every
time he grabs that pocket knife, he said, I think about Scott
every single time. Look right here in 1 Corinthians
11, 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 breaketh 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 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. 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. The word unworthily
means irreverently. That's what it means, irreverently. Whoever takes this, not reverencing
the Lord's body. not reverencing the Lord's body,
not giving all of the glory and all of the honor and all of the
thanks and all the credit to the Lord's broken body in his
shed blood for the salvation of sinners, salvation of souls. Whoever takes this just because
everybody else has taken it. Everybody's doing it. I don't
want to be left out. I don't want to be the only one
that does not reach. Whoever takes this because they're
curious what that bread tastes like and what that wine tastes
like. Whoever takes this thinking that it makes them more spiritual.
I'm going to do this because there's something really spiritual
about this and it's going to make me closer to God. Whoever
takes this for any other reason than a heart acknowledgment that
what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross is my only hope
for salvation. Whoever takes this not weighing
and pondering the Lord's body, not discerning in the heart that
His body and His blood satisfied every demand and every payment
that God required. If a person cannot discern that
in his heart, then I recommend that person does not partake
of this table. And the reason is because our
Lord said that person would be eating and drinking damnation
to his soul, not discerning the Lord's body. Seeing ourselves
as being worthy, worthy before God to take this table. Yes,
I'm a religious person. I'm a good person. I try to do
what's right. And I'm not as bad as a lot of
other people that I know. And in my mind, yes, I believe
I'm worthy to be counted among everybody and take this table.
That's taking the table unworthily. Seeing ourselves as being absolutely
unworthy before God, nothing I could ever do could make me
worthy to partake of the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus
Christ. What would make me worthy to
have access to that precious blood? What would make me worthy
of that body being broken for me? Seeing myself as being totally
unworthy, And Christ being the only worthy one that's taken
this table worthily. God gave this to us to remember
Him by. That's why He gave it to us.
To remember Him by. And that's all I want us to do
for just a couple of minutes. Let's just remember Him. Alright?
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 you drink
it in remembrance of me." Let's look at that night. Paul right
here is saying the same night that he said this. Let's look
at that night. Turn with me to Luke 22. Luke 22 verse 1. Now the feast of unleavened bread
drew nigh which is called the Passover. This feast drew nigh
of unleavened bread and it's called the Passover. And the
Jews, Israel, the Lord's chosen people, partook of this feast. They observed this feast. Now,
why did they do that? Who told them to do that? And
what did the feast mean? Every year they partook of Passover.
What did it mean? We're going to come back to this,
but go with me to Exodus 11. Exodus 11, this is the last plague
that God sent to Egypt through Moses. Exodus 11, verse 1, and
the Lord said unto Moses, yet will I bring one more plague
upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterwards, he will let you go
hence. When he shall let you go, he
shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. Verse 4. And Moses said, Thus saith the
Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt,
and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from
the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even
unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill, and
all the firstborn of beasts. Chapter 12, verse 1 says, And
the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall
be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the
congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month
they shall take to them every man a lamb. according to the
house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. He said, you tell
all the congregation of Israel about this, all of them. You tell them that I'm coming
through. You tell them that death is coming
through and the firstborn in every single house shall die. You tell my people this. I'm
coming through. and the firstborn in every single
house is going to die. Verse three, speak ye unto all
the congregation of Israel saying, in the 10th day of this month,
they shall take unto them every man a lamb, according to the
house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. Every house. must have a lamb." That's what
God said. Every house, if you don't want
to die, every soul must lay hold of a lamb. Every single soul. That's what God said. If you
don't want to die, I'm coming through. And if you don't want
to die, you must lay hold on a lamb. Verse 5 says, shall be without blemish." Perfect,
spotless. It must be absolutely without
blemish. Verse five says, a male of the
first year, he must be the first born. He must be the first born. Verse five says, you shall take
it out from the sheep or from the goats, And ye shall keep
it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening." Everybody's not just going to kill their lamb when
they feel like it. They're not just all going to
go get them some lambs and then as they want to, they kill their
lambs and they do their thing. He said this is going to happen
at one given time. One moment in time. At the appointed
time, one great slaughter is going to take place for all of
my chosen people, all of Israel. Verse seven. And they shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post
of the houses wherein they shall eat it. Verse 11. And thus shall
you eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and
your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It
is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt, both man and beast, And against all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood
shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. And
when I see the blood, when you show that the body of
the firstborn of that house has already been broken, If I come
through and I see that the firstborn in that house has already been
slain, every firstborn shall be broken. Every firstborn. If you want to be your own firstborn,
you'll be slain. That's what he's saying. But
he said, when I pass through, if I see that blood on your door,
if you show that your firstborn has already been slain. Verse
13, the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where
you are. And when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day
shall be unto you for a memorial. That word means a reminder, a
remembrance. A remembrance of what? The Lamb
that saved your life. The Lamb that died in your place. The Lamb that satisfied God's
wrath and caused Him to Passover. Passover. Now, they observed that feast
right there for 2,000 years. Okay, Moses was about 2,000 years
before the Lord. They observed that feast. God
said, I want you to do this for a remembrance. I'm going to give
you something to remember this. And they observed it for 2,000
years. Now, why did God tell his people
to do that? Within just a few generations,
nobody would have been there that night in Egypt. Okay, he
said, this is what I'm doing for you. And on down in Exodus
12, he said, when your children ask, why are you doing this?
You remind them about this. But within just a few generations,
nobody would have been there that night. Nobody, it would
have been over. They wouldn't have gone through
that. They wouldn't have endured it. Much less a thousand years
or 2000 years later. They would not have had a door
that had blood on it. They would not have needed a
lamb to appease God's wrath. That's not so. That's just not
so. God said, you tell the people
that the wages of sin is death. This is what I want you to go
tell my people. The wages of sin is death. Death is coming through the land.
And the only hope they have of being spared the smiting of my
wrath is this, they must have a lamb, they must have a door,
and there must be blood on it. That's what he said. It is still
the case to this day. 2016, we are still in the same
case to this day. If we want to be spared, this
is not fairy tale, this is not ideal doctrine and all that kind
of stuff. This right here is reality. If all of us in this room want
to be spared, we're going to go meet God. God's wrath is coming
through the land. If He takes us before He comes
back, we'll go stand before a fiery throne. If he does not take us,
he's going to come back with vengeance. And we can read in
1 Thessalonians how he's coming back, and it is awful. It is
awful. He's coming through this land.
He said that Noah endured a flood. He said, I'll never flood it
again. I'm going to send a rainbow to be a reminder of that. He
said, the second time I'm coming is with fire and brimstone. I'm
burning everything up. I'm burning the world up. I'm
burning everything in it up. Wrath is coming. Judgment is
coming. That's the truth. That's reality. He said if you want to live,
if you want to be spared, you need a lamb, you need a door,
and it has to have blood on it. It has to. Go with me to John
chapter 1. John chapter 1 verse 29 says, The next day John
seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. You must have a
Lamb, there He is, lay hold of Him. Lay hold of him. We must have a lamb. I'm telling
you, we must have a lamb. We must have a lamb. There he
is. Lay hold of him. Lay hold of
him. We are not playing games. We're
not playing games. You think about when Abraham
took Isaac up on that mountain to sacrifice his son. And he
tied him up on that altar. They built that altar. And Isaac
said, I see the fire. I see the wood. Where's the lamb?
He said, God will provide himself a lamb. And he took him up there
and he bound him on that. And he took a knife in his hand
and he raised it up. And just before his brain told
his muscles to jerk, God said, Abraham, turn around. And there
was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. How long do you
think it took Abraham to lay hold of that ram and get him
on that altar? You think he took his time? Lay hold of him. Lay hold of
him. We need a lamb. There he is. Lay hold of him. Lay hold of
him. Go to John 10. John 10 verse 7 says, Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I love those two words. He's telling you,
I'm telling you the truth. I'm telling you the truth. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door. I am the door of the sheep. He
said in verse 9, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. We must have a door. There it is. Enter into it. There he is. Enter into him. Christ is our lamb. Christ is
our door. Now go with me back to Luke 22. Luke chapter 22, verse 1 says, Now the feast of
unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. And the
chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for
they feared the people. Then entered Satan into Judas,
surnamed Iscariot, being one of the 12. And he went his way
and communed with the chief priest and captains how he might betray
him unto them. And they were glad and covenanted
to give him money. And he promised and sought opportunity
to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. Then
came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed.
And the Lord sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the
Passover that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where
wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold,
when you are entered into the city, there shall a man meet
you bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where
he entereth in. And you shall say unto the good
man of the house, the master saith unto thee, where is the
guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples?
And he shall show you a large upper room furnished, there make
ready. And they went and found as he
had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. And
when the hour was come, he sat down and the 12 apostles with
him, And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat
this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you,
I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the
kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave
thanks and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves. For
I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until
the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread and gave thanks
and break it and gave unto them saying, this is my body which
is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.
Likewise, also the cup after supper saying, this cup is the
New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you. Verse 47. And while he yet spake, behold,
a multitude and he that was called Judas, one of the 12 went before
them and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto
him, Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? Verse
54, then took they him and led him and brought him into the
high priest's house and Peter followed afar off. God said in
Exodus 12, take your lamb out from among the people and keep
him. confine him, set him aside, separate
him, keep all eyes on him. Chapter 23, verse 4. Then said Pilate to the chief
priest and to the people, I find no fault in this man. God said in Exodus 12, your lamb
shall be without blemish. Perfect. Pilate said, I can't
find one fault in him. Not one fault. Verse 18, And
they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release
unto us Barabbas, who for a certain sedition made in the city, and
for murder was cast into prison. Pilate therefore, willing to
release Jesus, spake again to them, but they cried saying,
crucify him, crucify him. Verse 23, and they were instant
with loud voices requiring that he might be crucified and the
voices of them and of the chief priest prevailed. God said in
Exodus 12, the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel
shall kill that lamb. Verse 33, And when they were
come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified
him and the male factors, one on the right hand and the other
on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them. I am the lamb. I am the door. Father, shed my blood and forgive
them. Verse 44, And it was about the
sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the
ninth hour. That was three o'clock p.m. It
was the time of the evening sacrifice. They had a morning sacrifice
and an evening sacrifice. It was at three p.m. Verse 46,
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. God said in Exodus 12, this death
is going to be at one time in the evening. It's going to happen
in the evening. That right there is the sinner's
only hope. That's the only offering. That's the only sacrifice that
a sinner has to God. It's God's only begotten. God's firstborn. He died to be
our substitute. We could not leave this holy
ground right here without looking at this verse of scripture. Go
with me over to John 19. John 19 verse 32. Then came the soldiers and break
the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified
with him. But when they came to Jesus and
saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. But
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith
came there out blood and water, the blood of the lamb. It was smeared all over the door.
all over the door. God said in Exodus 12, when I
see that blood, I will pass over you. When I see the blood of
the Lamb smeared on the door, I'll pass over you. Verse 35,
and he that saw it bear record, and his record is true, and he
knoweth that he sayeth true that you might believe. That's what
it is to discern the Lord's body. That's what it is. It's to believe
in the heart that God's wrath is coming to sinners, and I'm
the sinner. I'm the sinner. It's to believe
that God requires a lamb and Christ is that lamb. It's to
believe that God requires a door and Christ is that door. It's
to believe that God requires blood on that door and Christ
shed it. And as long as I'm in that door,
and as long as I'm under that blood, I'm safe. I'm safe. He said, you'll be safe. You
get in that house and you stay in that house and don't come
out. And as long as you're in that
door and under that blood, you'll be safe. A show has been made
to God that his wrath has already been satisfied here. It's already
taken care of. It's already done. Now, if God
has given you and given me a heart to discern that, Then he has
said to us, I want to give you something to remember me by.
This do in remembrance of me. All right, Brother David, you
come up and read for us.