The Lord's Supper. Verse 20. For when you come together, therefore,
into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. You say
you're meeting to eat the Lord's Supper, but that's not what you
are doing. I don't want to say I'm doing
something when I'm not doing it. And that's what he says to
the church at Corinth. You're saying you're coming together
to eat the Lord's supper, but that is not what is taking place.
For in eating, every one of you taketh before the other his own
supper. And one is hungry and another
is drunken. This is a social feast. It's
a social get together. One's hungry, well let's go to
the Lord's Supper so we can get something to eat. One is drunk
and one actually becomes intoxicated during this time. What? Have you not houses to eat and
drink in? Do that in your own homes, not to come together to
observe the Lord's Supper. Or despise ye the church of God
and shame them that have not? There are those who had their
meal they brought for themselves and there's somebody else, a
poor saint that didn't have anything else to eat. And they would eat
their meal and watch the other person who didn't have anything
and not give them anything. Now, this is a true church. And
yet, foolishness like this is going on in this true church. What shall I say to you? Shall
I praise you in this? I praise you. Not. And then he goes on to give the
scriptural teaching with regard to what is called by Paul in
this passage of scripture, the Lord's supper. Now the church of Corinth had
changed it. They modified it. They were meeting for some other
reason than this due in remembrance of me. It was even called a love
feast. people getting together, but
it was not to observe the Lord's supper. Now, would you turn to
Matthew 26? I want to see how the Lord spoke of this. This is a commandment of the
Lord. It's just as important as baptism, the Lord's supper. Verse 26 of Matthew chapter 26,
as they were eating, this was the Passover meal. that last
Passover meal before the true Passover. And 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. And he took the cup and gave
thanks. I can't help but think, wouldn't
it have been a blessing to listen to the Lord give thanks? What
must have that sounded like as he gave thanks to his father. And he took the cup and gave
thanks and gave it to them and said, drink ye all of it. For
this is my blood of the new Testament. which is shed for many. Now,
why did he say many? Because it wasn't shed for all,
but it was shed for many. Whole lot of people. Somebody says, what if Christ
didn't die for me? What if he did? If you're somebody who needs
this, he did. This is which is shed for many
for the remission of sins. Now look in Mark chapter 14, verse 22. And as they did eat, eating the
Passover, Jesus took bread and blessed and break it and gave
it to them and said, take eat. This is my body. And he took. the cup and when he had given
thanks he gave it to them and they all drank of it and he said
unto them this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed
for many. Turn to Luke chapter 22. I've got a reason for reading
all of these accounts. Luke chapter 22 beginning in
verse 14. And when the hour was come, he
sat down and the 12 apostles with him. And he said unto them with desire, have I desired to
eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Now that gives us some
idea of what the Lord thinks of his people. He says, it's
just as much to you as he did to them. with desire have I desired
to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I'll not
eat 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 divided among yourselves. For
I say unto you, I'll not drink of the fruit of the vine into
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."
Now the Corinthians were not doing this in remembrance of
the Lord. This was a social gathering for
them. Verse 20, likewise, also the
cup after supper saying this cup is the new Testament in my
blood, which is shed for you. Now in John's gospel, he doesn't
give these details, but he gives the entire message the Lord brought
during this time together in John 13 through 17. All of those
chapters are what he said to the disciples during this time. Now, with that in mind, go back
to our text in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23. Paul says, for I've received
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. But the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And he
quotes what the Lord said. Now, Paul already had these records. Why does he give the same thing
the Lord said again? Well, the reason is because of
the wrong attitude the church at Corinth had developed in this
thing of observing the Lord's table. You know, the Lord said
this due in remembrance of me. And you know, I think it's very
sad that he says that in this sense. I mean, you'll forget.
That's why. And that's a sad commentary on
us, but I'm thankful for this admonition, aren't you? this
do in remembrance of me." This is concerning me, what I have
done for you. Don't ever forget that. This
is with regard to me, nothing else. Now Paul says, for I've
received of the Lord, the Lord gave him this. Now he had the
accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke He didn't have John yet. John had not yet written his
epistle when Paul wrote this, but he had the accounts of Matthew,
Mark, and Luke. And yet the Lord repeats himself
and the Lord comes to Paul and says, for I've received of the
Lord. Maybe this took place while he was up in the third heavens
and the Lord was giving him instruction with regard to the gospel. But
he said, I received this from the Lord himself. For I've received
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus,
The same night in which he was betrayed. Now we observe the
Lord's table at night. It happened the same night. in
which he was betrayed. Somebody's thinking, are you
saying it's wrong to do it in the day? I'm not saying it's
wrong to do it in the day. I wouldn't forbid somebody to
do it in the day, but they did it at night. And I just feel
a lot more comfortable doing it exactly as they did it. Somebody says, well, why don't
you have the Lord's table on Sunday morning where there are
more people there? Because they did it at night. And the more
people that don't come, they can come. They can come. If there
was a service I wouldn't miss, it'd be the service of the Lord's
table. I think that is so important. And to have a wrong attitude
about this, this is what he is dealing with in this passage
of scripture. Verse 24, and when he'd given thanks, this was that
same night in which he was betrayed by Judas. And when he had given
thanks, He'd break it and said, take, eat, this is my body, which
is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. Now the broken body, when he
took that unleavened bread, we take unleavened bread. That's
what they had at the Passover. That's why we take unleavened
bread. Does it matter? Well, they took unleavened bread,
I think we ought to too. The same thing with wine. They
were drinking unfermented wine. They didn't have grape juice
back then. People said, how do you know they weren't drinking
grape juice? Did you know that grape juice
didn't come about into the 18th century by a man named Welch,
who wanted to make sure nobody drank alcohol in the Lord's table,
and he thought he would help everybody by thinking that's
where Welch's grape juice comes from. We got grape juice instead
of, yeah? Yeah. wine and unleavened bread. And he says with regard to this
broken body, this is my body broken for you. Now, I don't even know how to
comment on that as I ought to comment on it, but the Lord Jesus
Christ's body was broken under the wrath of God. And the reason
his body was broken was because of sin. Now, if you commit a
sin and I suffer in your place, there's nothing just about it.
There's nothing righteous about it. The one who is punished is
the one who committed the sin. Now we know the Lord Jesus never
committed a sin. I love what the thief said about
him. This man had done nothing amiss. Holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. But the sins of God's elect became
his sins. He bore them in his own body
on the tree and he felt the shame of them. Now you can't feel shame
for something if it was what somebody else did. Those sins
truly became his to the extent that he felt the shame of them
when he cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he says, this is what I want
you to do. Eat this broken bread. And remember,
this is my body broken for you. Christ's reason for coming was
to die. If he would have lived and gone back up to heaven, what
good would that have done me or you? Nothing at all. He came to die. He said, what
shall I say? Father saved me from this hour, but for this
cause came I in to this hour. This is his eternal purpose. As the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, this is what they're going to be singing about in
heaven. Now unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood and made us kings and priests unto God. Worthy
is the lamb that was slain. That's the subject of the eternities. And right now, Everything pales
in comparison to the importance of this, his broken body, what
he accomplished by the breaking of his body. I think of 2 Corinthians
5.21, for he, God the Father, hath made him to be sin. You know, I think it's amazing
that people argue over what that means. You and I can't grasp it. We
don't know what all it means, but it does mean what it says
it means. He was made sin. When God forsook him, it's because
he was forsaking that one who was made sin. Remember when the scripture says,
I've never seen the righteous forsaken? Well, Christ was forsaken
because he was made sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And the way he said, this is
my body broken for you, broken for you. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us All things, this is my body broken for you. There's nothing general about
this. You know, you cannot preach the gospel and say his body could
be broken for somebody and they wind up in hell. It is impossible. Everybody he died for must be
saved. There will be no one in hell
that he shed his precious blood for. This is my body broken for
you. Individuals, all of God's elect. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. There's the answer. Now look what he says. After the same manner, also he
took the cup. when it's up saying this cup
is the New Testament in my blood. Someone says, what's the New
Testament? Is that talking about Matthew through Revelation? Well, that's
certainly included, but the New Testament is the gospel. Let
me show you that in scripture. Turn to Hebrews chapter eight.
I'd like you to look at this with me. Verse six, but now have he obtained
a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator
of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless. Are you saying the first covenant
is with fault? Well, I'm saying this, it couldn't
save. You can take that any way you want. That's the language
the writer to the Hebrews used. And I like this language. I mean,
you can't get past this. He says, with regard to the old
covenant, the covenant works. He said, if it had been faultless,
then should no place have been sought for the second. Now, the
fault's with us. You know that. It's not with the covenant. It's
with us. We're the problem. For finding fault with him, he
saith, behold, the days come, and saith the Lord, when I will
make a new covenant, 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 when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt." Now, the picture
I get is a two or three-year-old toddler. You know what I can
do? I can make them go anywhere I
want them to go. I grab them by the hand, I yank them here,
I yank them there, they're going where I bring them. But that's
not their heart. They may be rebelling in their
heart the whole time. Their heart might be rising up
in hatred of me for what I'm doing. But let's go on reading. Not according to the covenant
that I made with the fathers in the day when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Because they continued
not in my covenant and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For
this is the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into their mind. and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know the
Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. And
here's why. I will be, and that word is propitious. I will be propitious. I will
be a sin-removing sacrifice. I will be propitious to their unrighteousness and
because of that their sins and their iniquities. Well, I remember
no more because there's nothing there to remember because in
his propitiatory sacrifice he removed them so they are not. So if he Put away my sin. That means I stand before God
as one who has never sinned. That's my history. Perfect. Perfect. In God's sight. And he's the only one who sees
things as they really are. And that is every believer, they
have no sins to remember. In that he saith a new covenant,
he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxes
old is ready to vanish away. Look what he says in verse 26. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death until
he come. What are we doing when we're taking the Lord's Supper. We're
showing His death until He comes. Now that's the message of the
scripture, His death. That's the gospel, His death.
Where would we be without His death? Who is He that condemneth?
It's Christ that died. My hope, my life is because of
His death. And I have to have that placard
and plastered before my eyes all the time. My life is because
of His death. His death is the reason for my
life. Is that clear enough? There's
one reason for my life. and we shall see his death. Don't you love that passage of
scripture in Luke chapter nine, when Moses and Elijah appeared
to the Lord? And what did they talk about
in glory? They spake of the deceased, which he should accomplish. We show forth his death until
he come. My only hope is that Jesus Christ
died for me. That's the only hope I have.
I have no other hope. It never goes beyond that. It
never goes beyond that. When I die, I want to die with
this hope. Jesus Christ's death is all I
have. That's my only sin payment. That's
my only hope. Remember, that's why He came.
He came to die. That was His purpose in coming.
That's the purpose of eternity. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. That's why He created the world. That's
why He came in time. He came to die. The death of
Christ is the most God-like thing God ever did. Do you have and
do I have that estimation of His death? You know, Paul wasn't,
you know the way people exaggerate to make a point and they are
almost, dramatic drama to make a point. Was Paul being dramatic and trying
to make a point when I said I determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Was that just drama or was that
what he really believed? The only thing worth preaching
is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is what we are showing forth
when we take the Lord's Supper. Verse 27. Wherefore? Now, does this show
how important the Lord's Supper is? It's just as important as
baptism. Does baptism save? No. Is it
important? Absolutely. Does the Lord's Supper
save? No. Is it important? Absolutely. Just the name of
it, the Paul gives it, the Lord's Supper. Oh, that means something,
doesn't it? This is the Lord's Supper. Wherefore, whosoever therefore
shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. To take the Lord's supper in
an unworthy manner is no different than participating in the crucifixion
of Christ." That's strong, isn't it? That's the language of scripture. So my question is, is how do
you take the table of the Lord unworthily? Because what a serious
crime to take the table of the Lord in an unworthy manner is
to be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And does that
mean you're not serious enough and your feelings are not where
they ought to be? It doesn't mean that. Your feelings
never are where they ought to be, are they? They're always
insufficient. That's the inadequate. You never
have the perfect right attitude. But here's what it is to take
the table of the Lord unworthily. To think, well, I'm unworthy
to take it. You know what you say about that?
If I was worthy to take it, I'd take it. But I'm not worthy. And maybe the last time you took
it, you thought, well, I was worthy then. Having this sense
of worthy or unworthy, oh, I'm unworthy to take it. Well, if
you think you're unworthy to take it, that means you think
there's something you could do that would make you worthy to take it if
you just do everything right. I'm unworthy to take it. I'm
worthy to take it. Oh, well, how have you reached
that status? Well, I'm worthy to take it.
You know, just this whole idea of worthy and unworthy to take
the Lord's table is a complete denial of what it means in the
first place. To think of worthiness or unworthiness.
is to take it in an unworthy manner. It's a denial of what
it means in the first place. Now remember, the Corinthians
had changed. they were doing. Verse 20, when you come together,
therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
You say that's what you're doing, but it's not. For in eating,
every one of you taketh before his own supper, one is hungry
and another is drunken. Have you 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." Now, they've been gathering together for the
wrong reason. But in gathering together for the wrong reason,
they also left the only focus of the Lord's table, showing
forth his death till he come. Verse 27, wherefore, whosoever
shall eat the 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. Not somebody else. himself. The only person you
and I ought to be thinking about in the Lord's table is ourself. Don't examine somebody else.
You know, people use the Lord's table as a means of church discipline.
If somebody's walking in an unworthy manner, you're going to forbid
them to take the Lord's table. There are many churches that
do that and they call that the discipline of the church. That's
so evil. He can't be called anything but that. It's evil. It's ungodly.
This is the Lord's table. And I make myself a judge as
to whether or not I think somebody ought to be eating or drinking
the Lord's table. That's abominable. Let a man examine himself. Not
look at somebody else and examine their life. Let a man examine
himself. And if he doesn't measure up,
don't let him eat. Doesn't say that, does it? Let
a man examine himself and so let him eat. Well, better not. If you're not ready to eat the
Lord's table, you're not ready to die. You see, the only qualification
to take the Lord's table to see the death of Christ is the only
hope you have. That's why we eat the bread, the broken bread,
and drink the cup. Examine yourselves. Can you say
with Paul, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ? Can you say that? That's the
self-examination. Do you look to Christ only? Is the life, the death, and the
resurrection of Christ all in your salvation? Then eat the
bread and drink the wine with joy. That's what this is about. We're showing forth the Lord's
death until he come. For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation, condemnation to himself,
not discerning the Lord's body. If I eat and drink unworthily,
I fail to discern his body. I fail to discern his body when
I fail to discern that my salvation was accomplished in his body. I fail to discern his body when
I failed to discern my personal righteousness was performed in
His body when He kept the law. I failed to discern His body
when I failed to see my debt was paid by the death of His
body. The wages of sin is death. I failed to discern his body
when I failed to discern that my justification was accomplished
in his body, when he was delivered from my offenses and raised again
for my justification. You see, discerning his body
is discerning that all of your salvation was accomplished in
his body. That means it has nothing to
do with anything you have done. It was completely accomplished
in his body. You know, there's a body in glory right now. Flesh and
blood, the man Christ Jesus. One God, one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Right now, there's a body.
And my hope of God accepting me is found in that body of the
one who represents me as my intercessor. There's a body who's going to
return and his return is going to be such that everybody who
sees him as he is, this vision is so glorious that everyone
who sees him as he is will be conformed to his image. When I'm in heaven, what a thought that I'm gonna
be in heaven. But when I'm in heaven, I'm going to look at
his body and I'm going to look at the scars and I'm going to
know here's the only reason I'm there, his body. Verse 30, for this cause, because
of this wrong attitude toward the Lord's
table, Many are weak and sickly among you, many sleep." Now,
physical problems, spiritual problems, physical weakness. Now, don't anybody think somebody's
getting sick. Well, what'd they do? They've
displeased the Lord. Don't think like that. But there
is a chastening of the Lord. And it has something to do with
not discerning his body. Looking somewhere other than
his body is a reason for your salvation. And can a believer
go wrong here? Well, evidently they can because
the Corinthians did. And he says, for this cause,
many are weakly among you. Many are weak and sickly among
you, and many sleep, many die. Now, this is talking about the
chasing of the Lord. I don't know what all to say
about that, but I do know the scripture says, whom the Lord
loveth, he chaseth. and he scourges everyone he receives. Now, if
you're sick, it's for your good. So don't start thinking I'm being
chastened, I'm being punished, or if somebody else is sick,
it's for their good. Don't think they're being chastened,
they're being punished. Only the Lord knows what he's
doing in his sickness. You don't. You don't have a clue
at any time. And we trust that whatever he
does is right. But look what he says. I love this. For this cause, verse 30, many
are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. For if we would
judge ourselves, we should not be judged." Self-condemnation. Let me show
you what that looks like. So turn to Psalm 51. Now, remember this too, when
the Lord brings sickness into one of his people's life, it's
not punishment. It's chasing him for their good.
Everything the Lord does is merciful and gracious, whatever it might
be. But look here in Psalm 51. Here's
what it is to condemn yourself. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from mine iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin as ever before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when you speak and be clear when you judge. That's called self-condemnation.
In this acknowledgement of his transgression, He said, you're
justified in whatever you say. And you are clear when you're
judged. Now, if we condemn ourselves,
we wouldn't be condemned. May the Lord make us always quick
to condemn ourselves. You know, it's pretty easy to
condemn somebody else, but oh, that I might be quick to condemn
myself. Put the rope around my own neck.
and say, Lord, you're just in whatever you do. Would you please
do something about my sin? That's what David says in Psalm
51. For if we would judge ourselves,
we would not be judged. But when we're judged, we're
chastened of the Lord. Now that's because of child. You don't chasten somebody else's
children. You chasten your own. And while I don't want to be
chastened, I don't want to be without chastisement either.
Do you? I don't want to be left to myself. I want the Lord's
hand to be on me. But when we are judged and we
are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with
the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat,
tarry one for another. Don't make this a time to satisfy
your hunger. The Lord's tables will be done
together. And if any man hunger, let him
eat at home, that you come not together until condemnation,
and the rest will I set in order when I come. Now we're going
to, I thought about having the Lord's table tonight because
I'm preaching on it, but I thought just going to have it next week
and I hope we'll have some understanding of what we're doing. And I would
want us to be deeply impressed with the importance of the Lord's
table. We're showing forth his death. Now, every time I've ever taken
the Lord's table, I've never done so without feeling bad about
the way I feel. I ought to be more moved. I ought to be more
touched. I ought to have more love in
my heart. Yeah, I should. But that's not what the Lord's
table is about. The Lord's table is about showing
forth his death, the salvation that's in him. My only hope until
he come." Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you've
given us what you've called the Lord's Supper. And Lord, as we consider what's taught in the
Lord's Supper, Teach us to prize the broken
body and shed blood of Christ as our all in salvation. Lord, we pray that you would
deliver us, the Todd Road Grace Church, from being what we will
be apart from your grace and cause us to judge ourselves,
condemn ourselves, cause us to be unified in rejoicing in the
accomplishments of the shed blood and broken body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, we pray for your favor.
We pray for your grace. Bless us for Christ's sake. As
we face this coming week, we ask that we would be enabled
to feast on your son and know that his body and blood are everything
in our salvation and we need nothing else. Lord, we ask that
according to your will, you would open up doors for us to preach
your gospel to other people and we pray that we might, according
to your will, see sinners brought to a saving faith and knowledge
of your son. Bless us for Christ's sake. Oh
Lord, bless us for Christ's sake. In His name we pray.