And I've never heard it sung.
Did you, where'd you get that? I mean, did you write the, okay.
Well, I've always wanted to hear it sung and never have, but wasn't
that great? That was a blessing. Turn with
me to first Corinthians chapter 11. Who should take the Lord's table? And that's what we're going to
consider tonight. Who should take the Lord's table? Now, I can remember hearing a
preacher one time, it wasn't my pastor, but I was somewhere
where the preacher said, if there is sin in your life, don't take
the Lord's table. You would be doing so unworthily. And I remember at that point,
I dreaded the Lord's table because I don't remember a second when
I could say, well, there's not sin in my life. And then they
would even say things, or if there is a loud sin in your life,
well, what sin is. You can see where I'm going with
that. And it used to trouble me. And
I used to dread taking the Lord's table because of that. I thought
I needed to get myself in some kind of worthy state before I
could take it. And looking back, how blind I
would be, how evil I would be if I thought I'd attained a worthy
state to where now I deserve to take the Lord's table. I'm
sufficiently holy now. I'm sufficiently righteous. You
can see how wrong that type of thinking is. I suppose that one
of the clearest examples of the depravity of men is how they
can pervert the things of God. And there's nothing that's been
perverted more than the Lord's table. Now the Lord's table is
so wonderfully simple. Look in verse 23 of 1 Corinthians
chapter 11. 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." That's so simple. I love the way it's set forth
in scriptures. Yet men have perverted this in so many amazing ways. I've got to make some comments
on that. If any of you were raised Catholic, which quite a number
of you were, you're familiar with the doctrine of transubstantiation,
how that According to the Catholic teaching, the bread actually
literally becomes the body of Christ. And the wine actually
becomes literally the blood of Christ. And men will say, well,
Christ said, this is my body. He did say that regarding this
bread. This is my body. And this cup
is my blood. It's the blood of the Testament,
shed for many. Well, he also said I'm the door. And nobody ever thought he was
a wooden door, did they? He also said, I'm the vine. And
nobody ever looked at him and thought he was a grapevine. You
see, there is no real presence in this wonderfully simple thing
we're doing. When I pull out a picture of
Lynn, when I'm out of town, I'll say, this is my wife. Does anybody
think that pictures my wife? Does anybody even suspect that?
No, they don't think anything like that. They know it's a picture
of my wife. They know it's not the actual woman that I'm married
to. The Lord's Table does not turn
into the body and blood of Christ. It's not a means through which
grace is conveyed. No grace comes through taking
the bread and drinking the wine. It's not a tool for church discipline. Now, Paul lays out some very
clear guidelines as to who should take the Lord's table and who
shouldn't. Look in verse 27 of our text.
He gives us some warnings about taking the Lord's table unworthily.
Look in verse 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. 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. For this cause many
are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. Now when I read
that passage of scripture, it sure enough makes me not want
to take the Lord's table unworthily. Whatever it means to take it
unworthily, that scares me when I read that. But this is not
to be used for church discipline. Did you notice he said, let a
man examine himself. You're not to examine somebody
else. You're to examine yourself. And then he says, so let him
eat. He doesn't say after examining yourself and Don't eat. No, he said examine yourself
and so let him eat. You know, I wouldn't dare take
it upon myself to judge who can and who cannot take the Lord's
table. That's a responsibility that I do not want. I'm to examine myself. I'm not
to examine you. I'm to examine myself. And then
so let me eat. will not practice what they call
closed communion because I don't see it in the Bible. I don't
even see it hinted at in the Bible. You know, I've been in
churches where they don't let you take the Lord's table if
you're not a member of that particular church. I like what Roland Beal
said. He was preaching in a place and they observed the Lord's
table where he was preaching and they wouldn't let him partake
of it. And he said, Oh, I'm sorry. He said, I thought it was the
Lord's table, not your church's table. So I will not practice
this thing of close communion. I'm not going to use it as a
tool of discipline to try to withhold somebody that's not
measuring up the way I think they ought to be living and then
not eating at the Lord's table. The elements of the Lord's table,
what are they? They're unleavened bread and
wine. They were forbidden at this time
to have any leaven in the whole house. They were eating the Passover,
so they were eating unleavened bread. That's the only kind of
bread they have, and that's what we're to eat when we eat the
Lord's table, unleavened bread. And we're to eat wine. It wasn't
grape juice. As a matter of fact, they were
abusing the Lord's table. Look in verse 21, for in eating
every one taketh before after his own supper, and one is hungry,
and another is drunken, and another is intoxicated. They had people
actually becoming intoxicated during this time. Now you can't
get intoxicated by grape juice, can you? It is wine they took,
fermented wine. They took unleavened bread and
fermented wine, and that's the only elements of the Lord's table. Now, look in verse 23. Paul says, For I received of
the Lord that which also I delivered to you. There was a special revelation
given to Paul at this time. This is not just him reading
the accounts of the New Testament. Evidently, at this time, the
Lord actually appeared to him and gave him special instruction
regarding the Lord's table. And here's what I want out of
a true messenger. He said, what he delivered to me, I deliver
to you. Is that what you want? I just
want somebody to tell me what the Lord said. And that's what
he's saying. He says, for I received of the
Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. Now I've
had people ask me before, why don't you have the Lord's table
in the morning service? Well, I know this, when they took it
at this time, when was it? It was a night, wasn't it? It
was the night. And I just don't feel comfortable
doing anything different than the way they did it in the scriptures.
And so I'm not going to make a big, hard, fast rule and say,
well, you should never take the Lord's table in the morning.
But I know this, they did it at night. And that's when we're going to
do it, at night. And there's something, the same
night in which he was betrayed. I don't understand this. The
Lord knew Judas was a child of perdition from the beginning,
but I have no doubt that Judas was his friend and he felt the
pain of betrayal the same night that he was betrayed. What did he do? He took bread,
verse 24, 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. Now, did the disciples understand
what was going on at this time? I don't think so. I don't think
they had a clue as to what he was doing. It's just how many
times have I taken the Lord's table and maybe not really completely
understood what I was doing, but I'm doing it in obedience
to Christ. When I was first baptized, I did not understand baptism. I just knew I was supposed to
do it. And that's why I did it. I didn't really have an understanding
of everything that it meant. There's been many times when
I've actually thought, well, maybe I ought to get baptized again.
I understand more now. Well, you know, and I hope five
years from now I'll understand more. But that doesn't mean...
Baptism is an act of obedience to Christ. Taking the Lord's
table is an act of obedience to Christ. He said, this do.
This do, as often as you do it, in remembrance of me. Now, he
took the bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body
broken for you. This broken bread symbolizes
the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the first thing
you got to think about is his physical suffering. I wouldn't
in any way diminish that. He was nailed to a cross. He was beat to a pulp before
this took place. Beat with the cat of nine tails.
He had his beard ripped out. Can you imagine the physical
pain that our Lord went through having his hands and feet nailed
to a cross, having that crown of thorns pressed upon his head?
I don't know. even have any idea what kind
of physical pain he must have suffered. But I am equally sure
that the physical pain did not compare to the soul sufferings
of our Lord Jesus Christ. His soul was made an offering
for sin. He was made to be sin. Now, I was reading I was reading
out of Hebrews chapter 12, and somebody just read it in the
study, either tonight or this morning, but I was thinking about
this. It's that passage of Scripture that says, looking unto Jesus,
who for the joy that was set before Him, the joy of doing
His Father's will, the joy of saving me, the joy of saving
all of His people, looking unto Jesus, who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising, counting as nothing,
the shame. The shame. Now here's what hit
me about this passage of scripture. You know, of all the bad emotions
I've ever felt, powerful, strong emotions, you know what one hits
me the most? Have you ever been ashamed? exposed and you're so ashamed,
you've been caught, you're ashamed, you're embarrassed, you're humiliated,
you've been exposed. That's, to me, there's several
instances in my life where I was shamed. And I look back on those
things and I cringe even now thinking about it. I mean, and
I bet everybody here has got experiences like that where you
just felt shame. You've been exposed and you're
humiliated. The Lord Jesus, my sin, so truly
became His. Now you know He never sinned. He never sinned. The only holy
man to ever live. Yet my sin became so truly his
that he felt all of the shame of it before his father. He was
embarrassed, ashamed, and humiliated before his father. Now that just,
I don't know what else to say about that, but that's how truly
my sin, the sins of the elect, became his so much that he was
made sin. You wouldn't be ashamed if you
didn't do it. Now, you know that in himself, he didn't do it,
but it so truly became his that he bore the shame of it and the
embarrassment of it, looking unto Jesus, who for the joy that
was set before him, endured the cross, despising, counting as
nothing, the shame. Oh, the shame of my sin. Now,
you think about how ashamed you would be if all of your thoughts
were known by everybody in this room, everything that you've
thought in the last 24 hours. You'd be so ashamed you wouldn't
be able to look anybody in the face. All of the sins of God's
people became his and he bore the shame of it and he bore the
wrath of it. He actually deserved to die. His body was broken. What's the
one reason for death? There's only one reason isn't
there? Sin. My sin became his, so much so
that God killed him. God would not show him mercy. At this time, he couldn't even
call God Father. He said, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Oh, the wrath, the wrath that
he endured. None of us know anything about
it. We can just read about it, be astounded by it. But oh, he
said, this is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance
of me. Now, when our Lord says, this
do in remembrance of me, you know what amazes me? Just the
fact that he said that tells me that I can forget him. That's a humbling thought, isn't
it? That you could forget the Lord of glory. that you can fail
to remember him so he in his mercy gives us this wonderfully
simple thing to do and he reminds us this do as often as you do
it not as seldom as you do it but as often as you do it in
remembrance of me now this was instituted by Christ himself
and he commands us to partake of it and I tell you what with
regard to the Lord's table I'm afraid not to be here You know,
somebody that professes to be a believer, the Lord said, this
do in remembrance of me. Well, I'm going to show up. The
Lord said to do it. This do in remembrance of me.
It really bothers me how people can just not show up for the
Lord's table. He said, This do, as oft as ye do it in remembrance
of me. Do you see how special this is?
It's a fearful thing, isn't it? Yes, it's a celebration, but
it's also a fearful thing. He said, This do, as oft as ye
do it in remembrance of me. What it says in verse 25, After
the same manner also he took the cup. He did it the same way he took
the bread. He first gave thanks. It's a time of Thanksgiving,
isn't it? After the same manner, also, he took the cup, which
he had, when he had supped, he said, this cup is the New Testament
in my blood, this do ye, as oft as ye drink it in remembrance
of me. Now, he gives thanks for the
wine. And he says, this dew, this is the wine, this represents
the blood of the New Testament, the blood of the New Covenant.
We read that phrase twice in the book of Hebrews, the blood
of the covenant. That's talking about the covenant
of grace. God elected a people before time began. He gave those
people to his son. His son lived for them. He didn't
live for other people. He lived for them. He died for
them. He was raised for them. This
is what this is a reference to, the blood of the Testament, the
blood of the covenant. I tell you what, there isn't
anything that creeps me out any more than people talking about
Christ's blood being shed for everybody. I despise that doctrine. It's just not taught in the scripture.
It takes away my hope because if he died for people who can
wind up in hell, where's my hope? I mean, you take it away. My
hope is that he died for me. And when he died for me, my salvation
was accomplished. Everybody he died for must be
saved. This is the blood of the covenant.
This is the blood of the testament. This is the blood of the New
Testament. It's always new. It's always fresh. It's always
powerful. This is the one thing I love
about the gospel. A lot of things I love about the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, but this is something I really, it's always new. Do
you know the gospel right now comes to me as good a news as
it ever has? The complete salvation that I
have in Christ Jesus. Now this is the cup of the New
Testament in my blood, sealed with His blood. I love to think
of our Lord's last words from the cross. It is finished. My salvation, my acceptance with
God, my complete and full salvation was finished, accomplished. Isn't that wonderful? This is
the New Testament, the New Covenant sealed in my blood. This is to be done in remembrance
of his blessed and glorious person. This do in remembrance of me.
Now remember, the gospel is a person. The gospel is a person. The Lord Jesus Christ. And he said this do as often
as you do it in remembrance of me. Now, look in verse 26. For
as often As you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he comes. Now here's why we observe the
Lord's table. I could give other reasons for its great benefit,
but here is the main purpose. We show forth the Lord's death
until he comes. That's what this is all about.
Do you know the death? of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
heart and soul of the gospel. What if he came here and kept
God's law perfectly and went back up to heaven? What good
would that do you? It wouldn't do you any good at
all, would it? It's his death that saves and we show forth
the Lord's death until he comes. Who died It's Christ that died. What good would it do you if
I died for you, as far as you're standing before God? It wouldn't
do you any good at all. There's nothing I can do for
you. There's nothing you can do for me. But it's Christ that
died. This was not the death of a mere
man. This is the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one
who died. It's Christ that died. My sin
became His, and He died. Well, why did He die? That's
a good question. Why did he die? I mean, he never
sinned. Why did he die? Because the sins
of his people became his. He became guilty before God,
and he died under the wrath of God as a sin-bearing substitute. My sin became his, and he suffered
the wrath of God. That's why he died. He died because
of sin. There's only one reason for death. Get that. There's
only one reason for death. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. The sins of God's people became
his, and he died. What did he accomplish by that
death? He accomplished the full and complete salvation of everybody
he died for. You do show forth the Lord's
death till he come. Paul said when he defined the
gospel in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 3, it's how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures, exactly as the
scriptures sets forth his death. Now believer, you're going to
be preaching tonight. I'm not the only preacher tonight.
Everybody who takes the Lord's table, they will be showing forth
the Lord's death, and we keep doing it until he comes again. His broken body and shed blood
saved me, and that's what I'm showing forth. You know, when
we take the Lord's table, remember, this is, it's so ridiculous that
that people have perverted the Lord's table to where you think
you've got to reach some kind of attain of worthiness and personal
merit and so on. If you get good enough, then
you take the Lord's table. Why, that's a denial of what
the Lord's table is about anyway. I'm a sinner. You know, the only
one who can take the Lord's table is a sinner, needing a sacrifice,
needing the Lord Jesus Christ, needing to shed blood. And we're
rejoicing as we take the Lord's table. What a blessing it is
to take the Lord's table. It's a blessing. Who should take
the Lord's table? Everybody who's a believer. Now,
I've heard preachers say, you shouldn't take the Lord's table
unless you've been baptized. I've heard that many times by
different preachers. Now, you ought to be baptized. If you're a believer and you
haven't been baptized, you're disobeying the Lord. You ought
to confess Christ in believer's baptism. There's no question
about that. There's no excuse not to. But
is that a requisite for taking the Lord's table? I don't see
anywhere in the Bible where it says you have to be baptized
before you can take the Lord's table. You ought to be baptized.
There's no question about that. But all the requirement there
is in taking the Lord's table is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe on Christ, the
Lord's tables for you. Isn't that wonderful? If you trust Christ Jesus, if
you trust His shed blood as successful, if you trust His righteousness
as your righteousness before God, if you trust the Lord Jesus
Christ, you are to take the Lord's table. Don't not take it. I'm
waiting. What are you waiting on? What
are you waiting on? If you're a believer, if you're
a believer. Now, if you're an unbeliever, Oh, don't take the
Lord's table. We're going to see why it's such
a dangerous thing to take it if you're an unbeliever. But
if you're a believer, you are to take the Lord's table. Now, let's go on reading verse
27. Verse 26, he says, for as often
as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show forth the
Lord's death to you. That's what we're preaching is
death is our salvation. And let me ask you a question. is his death. We show forth his
death until he comes. At all times, under all circumstances,
his death is our hope. We show forth his death until
he comes. Do you ever get tired of the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He lives! But oh, how I love to hear of
his death and what he accomplished. And that's where I'm always going,
to his death. I don't have anywhere else to
turn. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my hope. And we
show that forth until he comes. Now let's go on to read verse
27. He gives this warning. 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." To drink this cup
and to eat this bread in an unworthy manner is no different than being
an actual murderer of Jesus Christ. Now that's how serious this is.
And that's scary, isn't it? I want to be very cautious about
this. I want to understand what it
means to to eat and drink worthily. So what does he tell us to do?
Verse 28, 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. For this cause Because many of
you are eating and drinking the Lord's table unworthily, many
are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." The Lord's killed
some of these people. Now, this passage of Scripture,
it says what it says. Many in their assembly were weak
and sickly, and some had even been killed because they had
taken the Lord's table in an unworthy manner. And that ought
to get our attention. Now, does that mean that every
time you get sick, it's some kind of punishment for doing
something in an unworthy manner? Is that what that means? You
know, I don't know how many times I've asked myself, I've been
through some pretty serious sicknesses, as you know. I've had my share
of illnesses over the years. And I've always asked myself
the question, well, is the Lord chasing me about something? Well,
if he is, What am I going to do about it? If He is, He is. But I couldn't help but think
of that passage of Scripture in John chapter 9. And listen,
if he is chasing me, I got it coming, I need it, it's for my
good and his glory. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth,
and he scourges every son whom he receives. I don't want to
be punished, but I want to be one of those folks the Lord loves
who he chastens every son that he receives. Now, I want that,
but what about that passage of Scripture in John chapter 9?
The disciples, they go past that fellow that was born blind. And
what do they ask? Lord, who sinned? This man or
his parents that he was born blind? That's the question. What
did they do? Who is guilty that caused this?
And the Lord said, neither. Neither. But that the glory of
God might be revealed. Now, it may be my sickness. I
wouldn't say the Lord's not chasing me. I've got it coming. Anything that happens to me,
I've got it coming. And so if that's the Lord's chasing, OK.
But we also can see that it's to glorify God. It's to glorify
God. It's that the glory of God might
be revealed. But at any rate, he says to these
people, because you're not taking the Lord's table in a worthy
manner, many are weak and sickly among you. Now, what are we supposed
to do? Verse 28 says, but let a man examine himself. Don't
examine somebody else. Can you believe they're taking
the Lord's table? They ought not be taking the Lord's table.
Don't say that. to fence the table. Examine yourself. Don't worry about anybody else.
Don't worry about anybody else. You examine yourself. Let a man
examine himself. And so let him be. Turn over
to 2 Corinthians chapter 13. Verse 5. Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Now here's what I'm to examine.
Do I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I in the faith? Do I really believe that His
righteousness is the only righteousness that I possess? Do I believe
that? Do I really believe that His shed blood is sufficient
to make me holy before God without sin, so I stand before Him without
fault? Do I really believe that? Am
I in the faith? Yes, I am. I believe God. I believe the gospel. So that
makes you worthy to eat? Yes, it does. Yes, it does. I believe the gospel. Listen,
you're looking at somebody who really does trust Christ only. Nothing more, nothing less, and
nothing else. I am trusting Him only. So let Him be. It's for me. It's
for you. Do you believe? It's for you. Examine yourselves whether you
be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know you
not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except
you be reprobates. How do you know Jesus Christ
is in you? Because I believe the gospel. I'm a believer. I am a believer. I can say that. I'm a believer.
I really do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm in the faith. The Lord's table is for me. He
says, Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat. Not don't eat. It doesn't mean
you examine yourself to see how holy you are and see if you're
worthy. That's a denial of the meaning altogether. It says,
Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat. Back to our text
in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 29. For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. What's
he doing? He's not discerning the Lord's
body. Now, what is it to discern the
Lord's body? I have some discernment. I have
some understanding as to why that body was broken. I have
some understanding as to what His blood actually accomplished. I discern the Lord's body. I
discern that He is my salvation. I discern that. I understand
that. to take the Lord's table for
this reason. Well, I think I'm holy enough.
I think I'm good enough. I think I've got a holy enough
life to where I can take the Lord's table. That's to fail
to discern the Lord's body. And that's the person who eats
and drinks damnation to themselves. That's an insult to the Lord.
You make yourself worthy of the death of Christ? You've become
good enough to... Well, that's blasphemy. That's
the worst thing I could think. That's to fail to discern. the
Lord's body. Now what happened, verse 30,
for this cause? Many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep. Now look what it says in verse 31. If we would judge
ourselves, we'd not be condemned. Well I'm
judging myself right now. Guilty. Nothing but sin. And the only hope that I have
is Jesus Christ himself. I've judged myself. Guilty. And what does the Bible say concerning
that one who judges himself? He's not going to be condemned. There is therefore now No condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. 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. Now remember, whom the Lord loveth,
what? He's chastened us. And he scourgeth
every son that he receiveth. And I want the Lord's chasing.
I don't want to be punished. But let's turn over to Hebrews
12 for a moment. I've been thinking about this passage of Scripture.
Hebrews 12. Verse 5. You've forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, Despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. And he scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. Now if you endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom
the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. I don't know how many people
have looked at a passage of scripture like that and they start worrying,
am I being chastened? I'm afraid I'm not being chastened. Remember this, chastisement.
I believe this is what chastisement principally is. It's where the
Lord, it's not where he makes you sick or makes you lose something. Chastening is the Lord withdrawing
his presence to where you feel alone. You feel like you're by
yourself. A believer cannot bear the thought
of being without Christ. That's what chastening is, to
feel like you don't have his presence. You can't feel his
presence. You feel all alone. Somebody
says, well, you're talking about feeling. Well, listen. Faith
is not a feeling, but faith sure enough has feelings. It surely
does. A faith without feelings is not
really saving faith. There's joy. You can't believe the gospel
and not rejoice in it, can you? That's impossible. Try to completely
trust Christ with no rejoicing. Can't be done, can it? And you
mourn the absence of it, where you feel like you're alone. That's
the chastening of the Lord. Now, the Lord chastens. Verse
7, if you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with
sons. For what son is he whom the Lord for the Father chastens
not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then
are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers
of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits, and live? For they barely for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure. You know, they didn't
have perfect sense into it. And I was whipped a couple of
times for unjust reasons. A couple of times. I can remember
how my little self-righteous soul was so indignant over the
horrible things that were taking place and, you know, wanting
to run away and all that kind of stuff. But there's a whole lot more times
I didn't get caught, you know, and same with you. But our fathers
chasing us after their own pleasure, but look what it says here. But
he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now I don't know what all that
means, but I believe it exactly as it is stated. We are actually
partakers, sharers of His holiness. That's what it says. We're partakers
of His holiness. That blows me away. I read that
and I'm dumbfounded by it, I'm amazed by it, but there it is.
That's the heritage of every believer. Verse 11, And no chastening
for the present time seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless,
afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby. Now turn back to 1 Corinthians
11. Verse 33, Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, tearing one for another, you
know, something that I wouldn't dare do. I wouldn't try to take
the Lord's table by myself. It's to be done with the church.
It's to be done with the children of God. were to tarry one for
another." Now, what had been going on? Look at verse 21, "...for
an eating every one of you taketh..." Well, look at what he says in
verse 20, "...when ye come together therefore into one place..."
This is not to eat the Lord's Supper. You say that's what you're
doing, but that's not what you're doing. "...for an eating every
one taketh before after his own supper, and one is hungry, and
another is drunken. What have ye 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." The Lord's table is what we do as
a church body and we're to tarry one for another. You know, it's
a joy to eat and drink the Lord's table with the children of God
in it. There's something special and powerful and supernatural
about it. It's amazing. Verse 34, And if any man hunger,
let him eat at home, that ye come together not into condemnation.
And the rest will I set in order when I come. Don't make it a
fleshly thing. Our Lord said this do in remembrance
of me. May the Lord give us grace. We
do it so privately, so individually. I'm doing this in remembrance
of Him. I'm remembering His broken body shed for me. His blood shed
for me. I'm rejoicing as I take the Lord's
table. I do it fearfully. I mean, it's
not a flippant thing. I do it fearfully. I read these
warnings. They scare me. But I am discerning
the Lord's body. Let's pray together.