We've been going through 1 Corinthians
for our Bible study. And in the end of chapter 11, Paul is giving the Corinthians
the ordinances of the Lord's table. He's telling them how to partake of the Lord's
table and why. And we have said many times going
through this that the Corinthians were a congregation of believers
who were very troubled. They were very troubled. There was a lot of problems there
in Corinth. They did so many things wrong. So would we all. If the Lord
didn't teach us and have mercy on us, so would we all. We just
get it wrong, don't we? And I'm so thankful for the fact
that the Lord has recorded all this. He does not hide sin, does
he? He spells it all out. And the
reason is because he's teaching us and he's warning us through
their mistakes. So last week we began this chapter
with verse 2, it says, now I praise you brethren, Paul is telling
them that he praises them, that you remember me in all things
and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. He said I praise
you for coming together. and keeping the ordinances of
worship, all the things that we do in worship, as I delivered
them to you. But here's what he has to say
in verse 17. This is where we pick up today. Once again, there's a problem.
He said in verse 17, Now in this that I declare unto you, I praise
you not, that you come together, not for the better, but for the
worse. You're coming together as believers. That's what he told him. You
are actually coming together as believers in the name of fellowship
and worship. You know, in the name and mind
of fellowship and worship. But he said you're not coming
together for the better, it's for the worse. He's saying you're
actually gathering together in the church building. but you're
doing more harm than good. That's what he told them. Verse
18 says, For first of all, when you come together in the church,
I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe
it, for there must be also heresies, that word means divisions, among
you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you."
He said, there must be divisions among you. Now we know that there
must be divisions with God's church, but this is what's so
sad to me. He said, there must be divisions
among you. That breaks my heart. That really
breaks my heart. There must be divisions among
Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church. Doesn't that break your heart?
Doesn't that reality break your heart? Don't we love each other? This is my happiness. This is my earthly joy right
here. Our adversary is always sowing
tears among the wheat, always. Anything to distract from the
pure truth of God's Word, that's where that division, that's where
that separation comes in. Anything that gets the eyes of
believers off of the object of the Word, and the object of the
Word is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Anything
that brings in some sort of distraction. Just a distraction from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let's be on a strong guard. A strong spiritual guard against
division. It does not have to come to total
split of division. It doesn't have to come that
way. Let's be on guard against division here. How do we do that?
Everybody side with the Word of God. That's how we do it. Everybody side with the Word
of God. Whatever comes up, and I'm going
to tell you, things are going to come up. They already have,
and they will again. Whatever comes up, Let's all
run to the Word of God and see what does God have to say about
it. And that's it. That settles it. That's the best
and only way to stop division. Run to the Word of God. Verse
19 says, For there must be also heresies among you. that they
which are approved may be made manifest among you." How are
God's people made manifest? They bow to His Word. That's
how you come to know when a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. He bows to His Word. You preach this Word, you open
up this Word and read this Word and God lays it on the heart
of a sinner to say, I believe it. I bow to it. Believers believe
the Word of God. That's what they believe, every
single word. And when something comes up that
does not line up with what I believe, I change what I believe. It's
called repentance, a change of mind to God's Word. So we run to God's Word and we
side with God's Word and we believe it and we hang on it. But Paul
said, I praise you not because in verse 20, When you come together,
therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. I have a center reference in
my Bible that says you cannot eat. When you come together,
therefore, into one place, you cannot eat the Lord's supper. Not the way you're doing it.
What he's telling them is this is a thing of the heart. And
you're welcome to eat the bread all you want to. And you could
just pour gallons of that wine, but you're not eating the Lord's
supper. He said, you think you are, but
you're not. Verse 21, for in eating, every
one taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry and
another is drunken. They made a feast out of the
Lord's table. They attached a feast to it. They added something to what
God told them to do. And they were bringing food from
home to the church building. which we all do, but they were
making a big self-indulgent party out of it. That's what it turned
into. It just turned into a big party. We have fellowship dinners,
don't we? Every congregation I know of
has a fellowship dinner, and we love them. I love them. I look forward to them. It's
just so wonderful to laugh together and enjoy each other's company,
but there is a time for that. There's a time for us to set
that aside and have that, and there's a time for us to give
our minds and our hearts, and I even wrote down our stomachs
and our taste buds and our smells. to the sweet and savory, pure
and rich death of our Lord Jesus Christ during the ordinance of
His table. I get that wine. I love smelling that wine. I
feel it go down into my stomach. And at that moment in time, all
that we have, all that we are, all that our senses can do ought
to be thanking God and praising God for a broken body and His
shed blood. That's all we ought to be dwelling
on at that moment in time, if the Lord would enable us to.
If God would send his spirit and break the glaze of the flesh
and let us enter into his presence and enter into what he has done
and what he has given us in show. Thank God for that broken body
and that shed blood. May we learn to let nothing distract
us from that sincere heartfelt worship. That's what it is. That's
why I said in verse 22, what, have you not houses to eat and
to drink in? Don't you have houses you can
have a party in? He said it in verse 34, if any
man hunger, let him eat at home. Eat at home. Now, let me ask
us this question. Verse 21 says, for in eating,
everyone taketh before other his own supper, And one is hungry
and another is drunk. When the early church partook
of the Lord's table, when they partook of this ordinance, did
they drink wine or grape juice? The word drunken means well drunk. It means intoxicated. And how
could they become that way on grape juice? How? This is what the Lord told them
to use. Everything they were doing was
clearly too much. It was just too much. Too much
excess. In some cases it was too much
neglect. They were all bringing this food
and they weren't sharing it with each other. The poor ones, they
didn't have much to bring and they were hungry. They ended
up going hungry. The rich ones were getting drunk. So Paul said in verse 22, what?
Have you not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise you the
church of God and shame them that have not? He's saying, do
you not love your brethren? Why are you not providing for
those that don't have anything? All that we have is common. It's all things common, isn't
it? He goes on to say, What shall I say to you? Shall
I praise you in this? He said, I praise you not. For
I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. This is the commandment that
God has given on how to partake of his table. And it really hit
me that Paul said, this is one of the things the Lord personally
instructed me on. The Lord, Paul met with the Lord
face to face and he personally taught him things for the New
Testament church. And he said, this is one of the
things the Lord personally instructed me on. Verse 23, he said, 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. He himself laid hold of unleavened
bread. Turn with me over to Matthew
26. Matthew 26 verse 17 says, Now the first day of the feast
of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying unto him,
Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?
And in verse 26 it says, As they were eating, Jesus took bread,
and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the disciples,
and said, Take, eat, this is my body. Our Lord laid hold of
unleavened bread. It must be unleavened bread. It must be unleavened bread. If we are going to show His death,
if we have elements that show His death, it must be unleavened
bread. Now if we are going to show our
own death, it must be leavened bread. And the reason is because
leaven represents sin. It represents sin. Leaven in
bread represents sin in the body. And in this holy sacrifice of
himself, God Almighty laid hold of a sinless body. I mean a sinless body, a sinless
man, a spotless lamb, a perfect substitute. God the Father took this perfect,
sinless man and laid on him the sin of his people. Laid on him the iniquity of them
all. And then God broke him. God broke
him for you and me. That's the reason it must be
unleavened bread. It has to be. If we are showing
his body, we are showing that innocence died for the guilty. Innocence did. That's the only
way that a sacrifice on my behalf would be accepted. It had to
be a sinless sacrifice. All right, go with me back to
1 Corinthians 11. Verse 23, he said, 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'd break it. Nobody broke this
but God himself. He said, nobody takes my life
from me, I lay it down. He'd break it and he said, take,
eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. This do in remembrance of me. Now so many people when they
partake of what they call the Lord's table, they believe it
turns into the actual body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not. It stays bread and
it stays wine. And we know that because he said
this do in remembrance of me. This does not become him, it's
in remembrance of him. Verse 25 says, After the same
manner also he took the cup when he had sucked, saying, This cup
is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as oft as you drink
it in remembrance of me. Now, we've already established
that it was wine. He used wine. Over in Luke 22,
I can read this to you if you want to just listen to it. In
Luke 22, 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." He said, I will not take until
the fruit of the vine. Grapes. Grapes are the fruit
of the vine. So we use grape wine specifically. Grape wine, knowing that in order
to have that cup, that cup of grape wine, those grapes had
to be crushed. They had to be squeezed. They
had to be bled out. They had to endure fermentation. And now that cup is not something
that decays anymore. It's something that gets better
and sweeter to the taste. And it's something that every
partaker of it, every heart that partakes of it, is made glad. Every single one, made glad.
So when using grape wine, we're showing our Lord's blood. Unleavened
bread is His sinless body. Grape wine is His crushed, pressed,
bled out blood. All right, verse 26 says, For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he come." He didn't say how often to do it. He just said as often
as you do it, you are showing your complete union with him
in his death. Not just that he died. Alright? Every soul on earth believes
Jesus Christ died. Every soul on earth. So in taking
of his table, I'm not saying Jesus Christ died. I'm not just
saying that. Go with me over to John chapter
6. John chapter 6 verse 48, our
Lord said, I am that bread of life. Your fathers
did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread
that cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and
not die. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." The
Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, how can this man give
us his flesh to eat? Later on, they said, this is
a hard saying. I don't understand what he means. How can this man
give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus saith unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed and
my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. As the living Father hath
sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. There is no greater union with
something than to eat it. There's no greater union with
something than to eat it because it becomes a part of you. It's
not just with you. It is you. It is you. It becomes you. You actually
live on it and by it. He said, my body and my blood
was given so that you and I might become one. Might become one. I mean, in a way that I could
say that's a hard saying. Who can understand that? Absolutely
one. Back in 1 Corinthians 11, verse
27 says, 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." If someone eats
and drinks this table unworthily, they're guilty of the body and
blood of the Lord. Now, if a person does not partake
of the table, If a person says, just in case, I've always been
afraid of that verse, and just in case I'm going to refrain
from it, I'm just not going to take it, that does not mean that
that person is sparing himself from being guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord. All are guilty. We are born guilty. Guilty and unworthy. None of us are worthy. If a person is trying to decide,
am I worthy to take this? The answer is no. No. None of us are worthy. There is one alone who is worthy. One alone, all of heaven will
be crying throughout all eternity, thou art worthy. Always. Thou alone art worthy. The only way that a sinner can
partake of the Lord's table worthily is totally looking to Christ. totally look into Christ. He
is my worthiness. So verse 28 says, 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, look into anything other than Christ. eateth and
drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."
Again, if a person refrains from the table, he is not sparing
himself damnation. Sinners are already damned. Already
damned. But if a sinner takes the table,
not looking to Christ, Not totally looking to the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Not clinging alone to that broken
body and that shed blood. Then he is adding damnation to
himself because he is clinging to something that cannot save. That's what everybody's doing.
He's just now found him something else to cling to. that cannot
save. If I'm clinging to bread and
wine, I'm damned. If I am clinging to Christ, I'm
saved. If my hope is in my goodness,
my Christianity, I'm damned. If my hope is in the blood of
Christ, I'm saved. So Paul said, let every man examine
himself. Every man, every woman examine
himself or herself. And this is what we all must
do when that table is set before us again. Let's all ask ourselves in our
own heart, the one that these elements represent, the one that
they represent, who do I believe in my heart that man was? Who was that man? That man was God. That was God. The God man. God come down. God manifest in the flesh. Why did he come? Why did he come? He came to show me the better
way. No, he didn't. He came to save his people. Did he do it? Before I take that
element next time, let me ask myself, did he do it? Absolutely. How do I know that? Here I sit
in 2016. How do I know that? God raised
him from the dead. God raised him from the dead.
Where is this man now? Standing at my heart's door knocking.
No, seated in the heavens on his throne. That's what it means
to discern the Lord's body and take the table worthily. But
to just take it flippantly, just, oh yeah, everybody else is doing
it. I think I'll do it too. Take it carelessly, trusting in something
other than Christ alone. Verse 30 says, For this cause
many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. All the
commentators said because of their unworthy treatment of the
table, their careless treatment of the table, the Lord afflicted
many of the Corinthians with sickness. Isn't that something?
and even death. He killed some of them just because
they took that table, not handling it with the fear and reverence
it deserves. Showing the Lord's death. So
verse 31, if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. If we
will in our hearts absolutely condemn ourselves. Am I worthy
to take that table? No. I'm nothing but a sinner if we will condemn ourselves,
acknowledge our sin, and look to the Lord's body. The wages
of my sin hangs right there. Look to the Lord's body for mercy.
We will not be judged. Verse 32 says, but when we are
judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned
with the world. He's saying when God does have
to deal with us, there are times that he does have to chasten
us. But we can take comfort by this. He is dealing with us as
a father to his child. Whom he loves, he chastens, so
that we will not be condemned with this world. He won't just
let us go on with the world. Verse 33, wherefore, my brethren,
when you come together to eat, tarry one for another. Wait for
each other, just like a family would. Partake of it together,
one heart, one mind, one body, one soul, all looking to Christ. Verse 34, and if any man hunger,
let him eat at home that you come not together unto condemnation. He's saying, take this time of
worship to do nothing but remember and dwell on and meditate on
our Lord. All focus and heart unto the
Lord. And then he said, the rest will
I set in order when I come. All right, you're dismissed.