Paul is beginning a new section
in 1 Corinthians and he says, now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I would not have you ignorant. And you will notice
that gifts is in italics. I think it is a good insertion
in the sense that he is speaking of spiritual gifts. Look in verse
four of this chapter. Now there are diversities of
gifts. but the same spirit and their
difference of administrations, but the same Lord and their diversities
of operations. But it's the same God which worketh
all in all, but the manifestation of the spirit is given to every
man to profit with all. For to one is given by the spirit,
the word of wisdom, to another, the word of knowledge by the
same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another
gifts of healing, by the same spirit, to another working of
miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirit,
to another diverse kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of
these tongues. But all these things worketh
that one and the self, same spirit, dividing to every man severally
as he will." So he is talking about these supernatural gifts
given by the Holy Spirit. Now, while the Corinthians had
these gifts. They had the ability to work
miracles. They had the ability to heal the sick. They had the ability to speak
in tongues. They had all these various gifts
of the Holy Spirit and they were practicing them, but they were
abusing them. Now, what do I mean by that?
There, a spirit of competition had come in. Who had the most
outstanding gifts? Who had the greater gifts? Who
had the most gifts? And there was a spirit of competition.
There were some that were feeling hurt as you go on reading in
this passage of Scripture, saying, well, because I'm not of the
eye, I'm not of the body. I don't have this gift. I must
be inferior in some way. And there were some who said,
I have no need of thee. You can read about it all in
this chapter because I have this gift. And he's saying, this is
wrong. There's not any reason for anybody
to feel greater than the other. Now, I have actually thought,
I'm going to show you why the gifts are not in operation from
the scriptures, but I've actually thought it'd be great to have
those gifts. I'd like to go into Markey Cancer Center and heal
everybody there. And everybody'd be impressed.
And I guarantee you, we'd have to knock down these walls and
build bigger walls. There'd be all kinds of people
coming. If I could do these gifts, heal people, heal people that
are sick, perform miracles, But evidently they're not needed
because the Lord has caused them to pass away. And we're better
off not having these gifts. I can't totally explain that,
but I know it's so, because we don't have them. This is by divine
appointment. Now, somebody says, how do you
know these gifts are not in operation? Well, in Acts chapter eight,
Philip went down, one of those deacons, the seven deacons, he
went down to Samaria and preached the gospel. I love the way the
scripture says there was great joy in that city. There were
many people who were brought to a saving knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ through Phillips preaching. Great joy in that
city. Can you imagine an atmosphere
like that? I'd love to see great joy in
Lexington, Kentucky, but I'd like to see great joy in the
Todd Road Grace Church. I'm fine with that. Great joy in that
city. Now the apostles, James, Peter,
John, heard about this. So they left Jerusalem to go
to Samaria to lay hands on people. And these people were given these
supernatural gifts. They were given the ability to
speak in other languages. They were given the ability to
perform miracles. They were given the ability to
heal the sick, all these gifts we read of. Now, why did Philip
and, or why didn't Philip lay his hands on them to receive
these gifts? Well, matter of fact, look at
this, Acts chapter eight. Now I say, I hope No one's offended,
but I'm going to say it anyway. The entire charismatic movement
is phony. It's phony. Those who participated
in it are frauds and phonies. They might not think they are,
but they're making these things up. And if they did have the
power to heal, why don't they go to the hospital? If I had
the power to heal, I'd go to Markey Cancer Center. I'd go
to Baptist Health, whatever, and I'd start healing people.
These guys don't do that. Why? Because they're frauds and
they're phonies. That's the only reason given. Someone who claims to have the
gift of tongues, they're phonies. It is not real. Now you say,
why are you using such bold language about that? That's pretty intense.
I know a lot of people who say they practice these gifts. Why
would you speak so strongly like this and say, speak so negatively
about this? Well, look in Acts chapter eight, And when Simon saw that through
the laying on of the apostles hands, the Holy ghost was given,
he offered them money. Now who transferred these supernatural
gifts? The apostles. There were only
12 apostles. Paul took the place of Judas,
but the scripture speaks of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. There were only these 12 men
that had the power to transfer these gifts. They could lay their
hands on you and you would start healing people and performing
miracles and speaking in tongues. But when the last apostle died,
there wasn't anybody to transfer them. And this was God's purpose. This was by God's design. When
the last apostle died, no one could transfer the gifts. And
so when the last people who had the gifts died, it was gone. Now, as I said,
evidently, it's best that we don't have these gifts. As I
said, I kind of would like to have them, but it's best that
we don't have them. And those who claim to have them
are frauds, but the Corinthians did have them. Can you imagine
being in this church where these people have these gifts and there
was a spirit of competition going on. Who has the most gifts? Who
has the most power in their life? Who is being used the most? Who
can speak in the most languages? Who can heal the most sick? There
was a competition going on in the church and that's what Paul
is addressing at this time. Now turn back to Acts chapter
12. You know, when Paul said in 1
Corinthians 13, when that which is perfect has come, that which
is in part shall be done away with. What's the one perfect
thing we have in this world? the full canon of scripture that
reveals to us Jesus Christ, the word. And it's a closed revelation. There will be no new revelations.
This is the word of God. It's perfect. And that is all
we need. We don't need these miracle,
ability to work miracles. If we did, the Lord would give
them to us, but it is not needed at this time. And they had to
have these gifts to go all over the world to preach the gospel.
They'd have to have the gift to speak in other languages. They
couldn't set aside five years to learn a language and then
go. No, they were given these supernatural gifts to go and
spread the gospel. Now we're going to look at this
more in the next couple of weeks, but I want to focus just on this
one word now concerning spiritual. Now concerning spiritual. Yes, the word gifts inserting
there, I can see why they did it, but it's not in the original.
Now, concerning spiritual brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Now, I would say that if you
would come up to pretty much anybody on the street and say,
are you a spiritual person? They'd say, yes. Yes, I'm a spiritual
person. I mean, there's people who are
not religious. I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual. I'm a spiritual
person. Their concerns rise above material
things. How much stuff you have, how
much money you have in the bank, what kind of car you're driving. They're concerned more about
social justice and the impact we have on people for good. I'm
concerned, the spiritual person says, about treating people fairly.
Caring for people, not just material things. I'm concerned about generosity
and loyalty. What the world needs now is love,
sweet love. Now, let me assure you, as commendable
as that may be, and I'm not criticizing that, I want people to be good,
merciful, seek social justice and all those things. I'm not
diminishing those things in any way. but that has nothing to
do with what the Bible means by spiritual. Nothing to do. A spiritual man or a spiritual
woman is someone who has the spirit of God dwelling in them. That is a spiritual man. That
is a spiritual woman. He has been birthed by the Spirit
of God and now has a spiritual nature. Peter called it partakers
of the divine nature. He no longer only has that nature
that Paul spoke of when he said we were, what is it? By nature, children
of wrath. Even as others, he now has a
new nature birthed by the spirit of God, a nature that was not
there before. That's the spiritual man. The
spiritual man is the one who has a spiritual nature. God is
spirit. God, the Holy Spirit births us
into the kingdom of heaven. And we're now said by Peter to
be partakers of the divine nature. Do I know what all to say about
that? No, I do not. Nor does anyone
else, but that's powerful language, isn't it? Partakers of the divine
nature. Turn with me to the book of Jude
for a moment. Right before the book of Revelation,
next to the last book in the Bible, Jude. Verse 17, but beloved, remember
ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our
Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there should be mockers
in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly
lusts. These be they who separate themselves,
sensual, having not the Spirit. Now this person is identified
as sensual. Now when we think of sensual,
we generally think of someone who is into fleshly sin and so
on, and no doubt that's part of it, but that's the teaching,
is if you're sensual. And that word is the same word
as translated in 1 Corinthians 2, natural. Natural. These are they which are sensual
Having not the Spirit. And notice it says they separate
themselves. Now let me tell you what a sensual man is. The Pharisee
in the temple. He separated himself. As a matter
of fact, the word Pharisee means separated one. He separated himself
from other men. God, I thank Thee that I'm not
as other men are. And he talked about what he did
do and what he didn't do, and that's what made him different
from everybody else. I'm separate from them. I am different. These be they
who separate themselves, sensual having not the Spirit. Now this same word, sensual,
is translated in natural in 1 Corinthians 2.14, The natural man, the sensual
man, same thing. The sensual man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him,
neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. You have to be spiritual. You have to be born of the Spirit
to understand and discern spiritual things. A natural man cannot
understand the things of the Spirit of God. I must be given
a spiritual nature. Now, where did this sensual nature
come from, this natural nature? Well, turn with me to Genesis
chapter two. Genesis chapter two, verse 16. And the Lord God commanded
the man saying of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely
eat. And I love to think about this.
They had every tree at their disposal except one, but the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Now you know when they ate of
the fruit they did not die physically did they? They were still alive,
they still ate and drank, they still talked, they still had
living souls, but they died spiritually. And he said, you'll surely die
that day. They died spiritually. They no longer had the spiritual
capacity to worship, to have fellowship with God, to hear
the gospel. They were spiritually dead. In the day you eat thereof, You'll
surely die. He didn't say, if you eat, he
said, when you do, he said, what's going to take place? You're surely
going to die. I have listened to somebody said,
well, God was merciful because he didn't execute his punishment
that very day. They didn't die that day. Yeah,
they did. They died spiritually. Now look in verse 25 of the same
chapter, Genesis chapter two, and they were both naked, the
man and his wife. and were not ashamed. This was not an issue. If I tried to talk about this,
all I'd do is bring things into our mind. But with them, it wasn't
an issue. They were naked, and they were
not ashamed. ashamed. They didn't have a sinful
nature. They didn't have sinful desires.
They were without guilt. They were naked and not ashamed. That's the Garden of Eden. They
had innocent natures. They didn't have sinful natures
the way you and I do. Now, we know what happened when
they ate. Verse 7, and the eyes of them
both were opened. Chapter 3, verse 7, and the eyes
of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked.
Now they were naked before this took place, but something happened. They became spiritually dead. And that's what Paul's talking
about when he says, and you have he quickened who were dead, dead
in trespasses. and sins, utterly dead. And what's the first thing that
they did in this spiritual deadness, this inability, this blindness
that they experienced? They tried to make a covering
for their nakedness. They tried to make a covering
for their sin. They tried to make their own
covering. And whenever somebody's spiritually
dead, you can write this down, they're trying to make a covering
for their own sin. They don't look to the covering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. they try to make their own covering. And you go on reading in chapter
three, they ran from the presence of God. Wherever God was, they
didn't want to be. They ran from his presence and
hid themselves away from God. What happened? They're now spiritually
dead. They no longer relish God's presence. I think it's so eye-opening when
they both are victims. The serpent gave me the fruit
and I did eat. If you wouldn't have put that
serpent on the scene, everything would be okay. And what did Adam
say? The woman that you gave me, she
gave me of the fruit. And I did eat. I'm a victim.
This is your fault. You shouldn't have let this happen.
I know I ate the fruit, but ultimately, it's your fault. That is the
reasoning of a corrupt, blind nature. Spiritually blind. 1 Corinthians 15, 22 says, in Adam,
anybody know the rest of the verse? All died. When Adam died and became spiritually
dead, me and you ate of that fruit and became spiritually
dead. And this is very important for
us to understand. Somebody says, how can I be held
responsible for something somebody else did? You're not, you did
it. When Adam did it, you did it.
By one man, sin entered the world, death by sin, so death passed
upon all men and that all have sinned. When Adam ate the fruit,
Todd Nybert, ate the fruit. You ate the fruit. You were in
him, in the loins of him. In Adam, all die. Now turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter two for a moment. Verse seven. But we speak the wisdom of God.
in a mystery. Don't you love the mysteries
of God? They're in the scripture. You just proclaim them and believe
them. You can't really explain them,
but you can proclaim them. You can't completely intellectually
grasp them, but you can believe them. These are mysteries. Can
you understand the mystery of how God is one God and three
distinct persons? God, the Father, God, the Son,
God, the Holy Spirit. Well, no, I can't grasp that,
but I believe it with all my heart. That's the mystery of
scripture. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. We speak the wisdom of God in
a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world and our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory, but as it's written, I
have not seen nor heard, neither has entered into the heart of
man, the things which God had prepared for them that love.
But God hath revealed them, these things that never entered into
the heart of a natural man, but God hath revealed them to us
by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of man, save the spirit of a man which is in him? How
can you know what's going on in my mind? You can't. The only
one that knows is me. You can't. The only way you can
know is if I tell you. That's the only way you can truly
know. You can guess, but the only way you know is if I tell
you. Now we've received, in verse 11, for what man knoweth the
things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him? Even
so, the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God.
The spirit of God is the only one who knows the mind of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak. not
in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. You know
the only one who can understand spiritual things? A spiritual
man, born of the Spirit of God, the natural man. Well, look what
he says in verse 14. But the natural man, the sensual
man, The man who has not been born of God, but the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they
are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned. I can't understand without a
spiritual nature given to me in the new birth. A monkey can't understand calculus.
It's beyond his capacity. And a natural man cannot understand
the gospel. They might understand some of
the mechanics of it and give you some textbook definitions,
but a true heart understanding only the spiritual man has, that
one that God has revealed himself to. Verse 15, but he that is
spiritual judges, discerns all things. You know, let me tell
you what that means. I know the gospel when I hear
it. I can discern. I know. I know that which is
not the gospel. I know that which is the gospel.
Every believer has that because they have God, the Holy Spirit,
this spiritual nature. He that is spiritual judges all
things, yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man. No man
understands a believer. He lacks the capacity to. He
does not have a holy nature. He doesn't have an understanding
of what sin really is. And he does not understand the
things the believer says. He can't enter in. For who had
known the mind of the Lord, verse 16, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. It doesn't say we think like
he does. It says we have his mind. Turn with me to Romans
eight for a moment. Verse five. For they that are after the flesh,
their origin is flesh. They've never known anything
else. You know, when Paul said the gospel which was preached
to me was not after man, Same word, the gospel was preached
to me was of no human origin. It didn't come from man. So they
that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but
they that are after the spirit, their origin is the spirit of
God. The things of the spirit for to be carnally minded, fleshly
minded, the way you and I are born is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life. and peace because the carnal
mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But you're not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of
his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead, that that body
you're carrying around that Paul called the body of this death
because of sin, the body's dead because of sin, but the spirit
is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by a spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we're
debtors, not to the flesh. to live after the flesh. For
if you live after the flesh, according to the principles of
the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. He that's spiritual, having the
Holy Spirit, I can remember a time in my life
when I thought, what does it mean to believe? I'd do it if
I knew how. What does it mean? And then I
found myself believing. I didn't decide I'm going to
believe. Faith didn't come from some choice
I made. I'm going to make a decision
to believe. I remember a song I heard by somebody who said,
I have decided I'm going to live like a believer. Turn my back
on the deceiver. I'm going to live what I believe.
I didn't decide to become a Christian. God, the Holy Spirit, through
the word of God, birthed me into the kingdom of heaven. And I
found myself believing with a spiritual nature. Now think of what Paul
said in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3, when he said, blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. And every blessing God has is
a spiritual blessing. You might have all kinds of money
and be under God's curse. You may have perfect health and
be under God's curse. You may be healthy, wealthy,
and wise and be under the curse of God. Material blessings are
not necessarily, they're certainly not necessarily because of God's
grace. Now, I'd like to have enough money to pay my bills. I'd like to have enough money
to live in a warm house with air conditioning and heating.
And I'd like to drive a car that I don't have to take to the garage
all the time. I like to go on vacation. I mean, I'm thankful
for any kind of material blessings the Lord sends our way. What
a privilege to be able to give to the cause of Christ. Do you
have any idea? I hope you do. I hope I do. What
a blessing it is for the Lord to allow us to give for the advance
of his kingdom. That's a blessing. It's called
a grace. Those blessings, I'm thankful for that material in
that sense. I would not want to dismiss that
in any way. I'm thankful for that and you
should be too. But His blessings are spiritual blessings. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ of himself according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved spiritual
blessings, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins." Spiritual blessings. Now to the natural man, these
spiritual blessings are Foolishness, but not to us. Now, when Paul
makes this statement now concerning spiritual in the original, the
definite article is used now concerning the spiritual. Now concerning the spiritual,
how does one become spiritual in his experience? Well, you gotta be born of the spirit. He that's born of the spirit,
that which is born of the spirit is spirit. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh. And what's the evidence that
you've been born of the spirit? You believe the gospel. I'm not gonna give you any other
evidence than that. That's enough. You trust Jesus
Christ as all in your salvation. You believe the report. You believe
that he's the son of God. You believe that he's God manifest
in the flesh. You believe he's all that God
is. You believe that if he saves
you, you're saved. You believe that you need nothing
else. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died. and that he died for me. You
believe that. You've been born of the Spirit
of God. That's above the strength and energy of this flesh. You
know, when the Lord spoke to Nicodemus in John chapter three
about this, Nicodemus said, how can these things be? And the
Lord said, are you a master in Israel and don't know these things?
You see, this is not quote New Testament doctrine. This is not
something that began in the New Testament. This is always the
way it's been. Anybody who's ever been saved
has been born of the spirit. Let me show you that in Ezekiel
chapter 36. Well, first let's look at Ezekiel
chapter 37. We're getting an example of this. Chapter 37, the hand of the Lord
was upon me and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord and
set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones,
and caused me to pass by them round about. Behold, there were
very many in the open valley and lo, they were very dry, sun
bleached bones. And he said unto me, son of man,
can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou
knowest. Again, he said unto me, prophesy unto these bones
and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus
saith the Lord God unto these bones, behold, I will cause breath
to enter into you. You know, that's the same word
of spirit, breath, spirit. I will cause breath, spirit to
enter into you. I will bring up flesh upon you
and cover you with skin and put breath in you. and you shall
live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied
as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold,
a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone, and
when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them,
and the skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them,
there was no spirit in them. Then said he unto me, prophesy
unto the wind, The breath, same word, son of man say to the wind,
thus saith the Lord God come from the four winds, oh, breathe
and breathe upon these slain that they may live. So I prophesied
as he commanded me and the breath came unto them and they lived
and stood upon their feet in exceeding great army. What a beautiful picture of what
God does in the new birth. Look in chapter 36. This is what the old Testament
has always taught. Verse 26, a new heart also will
I give you and a new spirit will I put within you. And I'll take
away the stony heart out of your flesh and I'll give you an heart
of flesh. I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk
in my statutes and you should keep my judgments and do them. Look in Jeremiah chapter 31 for
a moment. One other passage of scripture. This is what the Old
Testament is always taught. And this passage of scripture
is quoted in Hebrews chapter eight and chapter 10, Jeremiah
31. I've got it written, verse 31,
Jeremiah 31, verse 31. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which by covenant
they break. Although I was a husband unto
them, said the Lord, but this should be the covenant that I'll
make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord,
I'll put my law in their inward parts write it in their hearts
and will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall
teach no more every man and his neighbor and every man and his
brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the
least of them unto the greatest say if the Lord will forgive
their iniquity and I'll remember their sin no more." Now that
is quoted in both Hebrews chapter 8 and Hebrews chapter 10, the
spiritual man. Do you remember when the Lord
Jesus said to us in John chapter 24, God is spirit. And they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. A natural man can't worship. I must have a spiritual nature. They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. There's no worship of God in
the spirit apart from the truth of how He saves sinners, by His
grace. We're bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. Now I want to close with Galatians
chapter six, if you'll turn with me there. Now concerning spiritual brethren,
I would not have you ignorant. Yes, he's talking about gifts
and we're going to be considering that more in the next couple
of weeks, but In Galatians chapter six, verse one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
a trespass is the way the word is generally translated, a sin. If a man be overtaken in a fault,
Ye which are what? Spiritual. You know, it's only a spiritual
man that can do this. Ye which are spiritual, restore
such in one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted. A spiritual man has some understanding
of sin. Only a spiritual man has an understanding
of sin. A non-spiritual man will think
he's being morose and negative when he speaks of sin, thinks
something's wrong with him. What's wrong with you? What are
you doing? He doesn't have an understanding of the reality
of sin. Now this spiritual man, when he sees someone overtaken,
in a fault. He knows it could just as easily
happen to him apart from the restraining grace of God. I don't care what fault it is.
Somebody says a believer would never do that. That's foolish. Read the Bible and you won't
be able to make a statement like that. If a man is overtaken in
a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness and humility, considering yourself. Lest thou also be tempted,
knowing that if you're tempted the way your brother was, you'll
fall like him. And you say, Lord, lead us not
into temptation, but a hedge around us, deliver us from that,
you which are spiritual. Am I a spiritual man? I'm going
to end it with this statement. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. That's a spiritual man. Whoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born, birthed of the Spirit
of God. Now, before we take the Lord's
Table, would you turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11? We looked
at this last Sunday night, but let me point out these things
that I want us to keep in mind as we prepare to take the Lord's
Table, because up to this point in my life, every time I've ever
taken the Lord's Table, I have been very disappointed in myself
that I haven't felt more of what I ought to feel in doing what
I'm doing in remembrance of him. But there are three things I
want to point out as we take the bread and wine. Number one,
the Lord said this due in remembrance of me. What else needs to be said? This
dude remembered to me. And look what he says in verse
26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
do show forth the Lord's death till he come. Now here's what
we're doing. When we're eating the bread and
drinking the wine, it has to do with his death. And we're
showing forth his death as the only hope of our salvation. The only hope I have is that
Jesus Christ died for me. That's it. No other hope. And I'm saying that when we're
taking the Lord to the table. We're saying it together. And
then in verse 29, well, let's go on 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. Don't
eat. Examine yourself, condemn yourself, judge yourself. And
so let him eat. You know, if you think, well,
I'm not worthy of the Lord's table this time. Well, you're desecrating
the meaning of it. That's as if to say you could
be worthy at some other time, or maybe some other time you
were worthy. Don't think of worthiness on your part. That is to eat
the Lord's table unworthily, to think of your personal worthiness
or unworthiness. And he says, but let a man examine
himself. 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. Now I do not discern the Lord's
body when I do not discern that my whole salvation was accomplished
in His body. Do you discern that? Your whole
salvation was accomplished by what was done in His body. His righteousness, His law-keeping,
and His death, who bear our sins in His own body on the tree. And may the Lord enable us while
we're doing this to do in remembrance of Him. And we're showing His
death is our salvation. If all He did was live, He wouldn't
do us any good. He had to die. And we're discerning
that all of our salvation is in the Lord's body. God bless
you.