If you really believe that will
make your body happy. First Corinthians chapter 11. Verse 23. Paul says, For I have received
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And the Apostle Paul was the
last one to see the Lord Jesus Christ. He appeared to his disciples
on nine or ten different times, I can't remember, quite a number
of times after his resurrection. He was there 40 days appearing
to them. And Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
15, verse 8, he was seen of him last of all. And this was, I
think, after the ascension of the Lord. I know it was. He appeared
to Paul once again. And Paul is the man that God
used more than any other man to expound the gospel. Do you remember how he said in
Ephesians chapter 3 that he had received the gospel directly
from the Lord Jesus Christ by revelation? He says, this is
how I know this stuff, because he revealed it to me directly. Remember when he said in 2 Corinthians
chapter 12 that he was taken up into the third heavens. He
doesn't know whether he was in the body or out of the body,
but the Lord was teaching him the gospel. And he says, I'm
simply delivering to you what I received. I'm thankful for
that, and that's why he said it's required in a steward that
a man be found faithful. He's going to deliver me what
he received from the Lord, what we need from him, his faithfulness
to deliver exactly as he received it. And he was given by the Lord
special instructions regarding the Lord's table. He said, I'm
delivering to you that which I received from him regarding
the Lord's table. And we're meeting together to
observe the Lord's table. We use unleavened bread because
that's what they used. It was the Passover meal. We
use wine. Somebody says, well, how do you
know they were using wine? Well, they were getting drunk
at the Lord's table in First Corinthians chapter 11. They
were actually becoming intoxicated. And I don't think you can do
that with grape juice. I mean, they were using wine and we use
exactly what they used. I don't see any safety in doing
anything differently than the way they did it. I prefer doing it in the evening,
because they did in the evening. I like taking the bread first
because they took the bread first, and we take the wine after that.
They took the wine after that. It's a very important ordinance,
and the Lord gives special instructions regarding it to the church at
Corinth. Now, the church at Corinth, I
don't know how else to say this. But the church of Corinth reminds
me of how bad a church can be. I mean, they had problems galore. Just one problem after another. They had people suing each other,
church members suing each other, taking each other to courts of
law. They had sexual immorality. He said it's reported commonly
that there's fornication among you. Well, you read the book of Corinthians,
you'll find out that it was a church that had a lot of problems and
they were abusing the Lord's table. They were using it in
a wrong manner. And Paul warned them about the
way they'd been taking the Lord's table. He says, because of the
way you're all taking the Lord's table for this cause, many are
weak and sickly among you. And some of you, the Lord's killed.
Because of your irreverent way of taking the Lord's table. So
that gives us some idea of how important this is. And, you know,
I remember before I understood the Lord's table, I used to dread
it. And whenever I knew they were going to observe the Lord's
table, I would want to show up. because of that scripture where
it says, whosoever eats or drinks unworthily is guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord. And somewhere I got it in my
mind from different people, if you have known sin in your life,
you can't take the Lord's table. And I thought, oh, you know.
I've even heard people, they examine themselves. They say,
well, I'm trying to see if there's any known or allowed sin in my
life. And I'm thinking, listen, I can save you. I can save you
the time. I guarantee you there is. You know, you don't need
to go through that. What is the true teaching regarding
the Lord's table? There's been so many errors regarding
the Lord's table. People use it as a means of discipline. If you're not living right, we're
going to withhold the Lord's table from you. And that's the
way we discipline you. And I think, good grief, you
have the authority to do something like that? It's all found in
the Bible. It sure isn't, you know, and
we're going to withhold the Lord's oath, so you have the authority
and the ability to do that. That's ridiculous. It's also
looked upon, you've heard of the doctrine of transubstantiation,
where the bread literally becomes the body of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the wine literally becomes the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's observed in Catholicism like that, and then in other
denominations. There's, I think, consubstantiation,
where they think that only happens with believers. You know, with
believers, take it. That happens with unbelievers.
It doesn't. And so, I mean, there's been so many horrible things
taught regarding the Lord's people. But what a simple, special, precious
ordinance it is that the Lord has given us. And remember, he
said this do in remembrance of me. You know, something that
just cuts my heart is the fact that that has to be said to us.
That we could forget Him. And what a mercy it is that He
gives us this table and tells us this do in remembrance of
me. Now, the church at Corinth had
made the Lord's Supper a social gathering. And as you read in
the book of Corinthians, when he opens this epistle, he says
there's divisions among you. There's different sects, there's
different cliques, there's different divisions within the church.
Remember, some would say, I'm one of Apollos' disciples. And
another said, I'm Paul's disciple. Then the real pious one said,
I don't follow any man. I'm a disciple of Christ. You
know, they had all these divisions. And these were being observed
in the Lord's table. As a matter of fact, the wealthier
members were shaming the ones who didn't have anything. They
were getting together for a big feast and having a good time. And the
people who couldn't afford to have the same food, they were
shaming them. And it was a horrible thing that
they were doing with the Lord's table. Now, remember, this was
a true church. This was a true church. Remember when Paul was
in, I can't remember where it was at, but the Lord appeared
to him in Acts chapter 18. He said, fear not, hold not thy
peace. I have much people in this city. And he gave Paul that
encouragement to preach because he said, I've got much people
in this city. So this was a big church, but it was a church,
you know, wherever you have people, you know what you got? You got
simple problems. Now you can just write that down.
And that was very true with this church of Corinth. Look in verse
17 of 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Now in this that I declare unto
you, I praise you not that you've come together, not for the better,
but for the worse. I think what he says to these
people, he says, when you gather together, it's not for your benefit.
You end up being worse off because of this gathering you have. Now,
that's a pretty serious incrimination, isn't it? Coming together supposedly
to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says
you're not gathering together for better, but for worse. Verse 18. First of all, when
you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions
among you. And I partly believe it. Now,
remember, he opened up. Look over in the first Corinthians
chapter one. Verse 10. Now, I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That you all speak the
same thing. That there be no divisions among
you, but that you be perfectly joined together. in the same
mind and in the same judgment, for it had been declared unto
me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every
one of you says, I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos and I of Cephas
and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Are there
different divisions within the body of Christ? Are there different
denominations within the body of Christ? Is Christ divided? Are there different cliques and
sects and These people, no, Christ is not divided. He's everything.
We're all nothing. We're brethren. He's all. Christ
is not. He's taught us the same thing.
He's taught us the same gospel. We believe the same thing. If
we're believers, we believe the same thing. That's what believers
do. They believe. Christ is not divided. Was Paul crucified for you? Were
you baptized in the name of Paul? Look in chapter three. He picks
back up with this thing, and my brethren could not speak unto
you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes
in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with
meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither now
are you able, for you are yet carnal. For where is there among
you envying and strife and divisions? Are you not carnal and walk as
men? Now, he's dealing with these
divisions within this local church. Now, I'm not real sure that they're
doctrinal divisions either. They're just divisions. Just
divisions. You had the rich eating together
and the poor over here. Just divisions that they created,
which were ungodly. And he is, matter of fact, he
goes on to say, because of your attitude towards the Lord's table,
as we're going to see, many are weak and sickly among you. And
some of you, the Lord's even killed because of your attitude.
Now, that's scary. That's scary. You know, when
I read things like that, it just, or, you know, when I read where Paul
said, I, you know, he talked about this one fellow in Corinth
where he delivered him to Satan, that he might learn not to blaspheme.
I think, man, what does that mean? I don't know what all it
means, but it sure doesn't sound good. But Paul had this special
apostolic authority where he could do things like this. And
he was rebuking this church. Now back to 1 Corinthians chapter
11. You know, one of the things that,
before I go on, one of the things that this makes me want to do,
it wants me to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. Don't ever let there be divisions. We're all one in Christ Jesus. There's not male or female, there's
not clergy and laity, there's not big shots and little shots
and ought to be shots, as Tony Bell says. Everybody's nobody. And Christ is all. And we like
it that way, don't we? I feel so comfortable being in
nothing and him being everything. Now, he says in verse 18, for
first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there
be divisions among you. And I partly believe it. And
look what he says next, for there must also be heresies among you
that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Now, I think that's an interesting passage of scripture. He says
it's necessary for this to happen. You know, everything that happens,
who let it happen? God did. And if there are heresies
among you, what's a heresy? The word means literally a choosing. Do you know if you believe anything
false, it's because you chose to. And you believe the truth because
it's the truth. But if you believe something contrary to the truth,
you choose to believe something contrary to the truth. And there's
some kind of motive or agenda behind it. When I believe false
doctrine, it's to protect or cover up some kind of sin among.
And that's why people believe. It's not innocent. It's not,
well, they just haven't been informed, right? No, there's
a wicked motive behind all false doctrine. It's called a heresy.
And Paul tells these people, there must be heresies among
you, that they which are approved might be made manifest. You'll
see who's approved by who doesn't believe the heresies, by who
follows the truth, by who follows the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he
says in verse 20. When you come together, therefore,
into one place. This is not to eat the Lord's
Supper, you say it is, but that's not what's taking place. For
in eating, everyone take it before his own supper. They made a feast
out of it. It was to have a party. It was
to satisfy hunger. It wasn't to take the Lord's
Supper. There wasn't anything spiritual about it. I mean, let's
eat together. Let's have the Lord's table.
Let's have a good time. One is hungry and another is drunk,
and they had actually become intoxicated while observing the
Lord's table. That's how off this church had
become with regard to this. They actually became intoxicated. What, he says in verse 22? Have
you not houses to eat and drink in? Or despise ye the church
of God, and shame them that have not? Now, the rich fellows, they
come in with all kinds of good food and good things to drink
and just leave the poor people over here. Well, you all do what
you can, but he says you're despising the church of God in that kind
of attitude. And you're shaming your brethren. Shame them that
have not? What shall I say to you? Shall
I praise you for this? I praise you not. I have received
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. I'm interested in that, aren't
you? I want to know exactly what the Lord delivered to him, and
that's what he's doing. That the Lord Jesus, the same
night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given
thanks, you know, that's an awesome thought,
isn't it? You know, the Lord knows he's getting ready to be
crucified. He knows he's getting ready to be betrayed. He knows
he's getting ready to bear the sins of his people. And he takes
the bread and he gives thanks. And nobody thanked his father
like the Lord Jesus. He gave thanks and said, take,
eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. This do in remembrance of me. Now, he took that unleavened
bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body. Now, is it literally his body? Well, you know better than that,
it's bread. When he said, I am the door,
did somebody say, see, he's a literal door? Nobody does that. But yet
for this, he says it's his body. It represents something. It represents
substitution. This is my body broken for you. Now, why was his body broken? I hope that every time I preach. Even if I don't say it this way
or say it, I hope this is behind everything I say. On the cross, in Gethsemane's
garden, my personal sin became His. It became His. Now, He never
committed sin, but my sin became His so that He became guilty
of it. Now, I don't understand this,
but I believe this. He experienced everything that's involved in
sin, with the exception of the commission of it. He experienced
the guilt of it, the shame of it. God's wrath came down upon
him and broke him because he had it coming. My sin became
his sin, and this is my body broken for you. Now, you do this
in remembrance of me. That's why we take this bread
and eat it, and we think of the wrath of God coming down upon
the holy, spotless Lamb of God, the one who was without blemish
and without spot, yet He became the substitute for sinners, and
His body was broken. Makes you feel bad, doesn't it?
Makes you feel good in one sense, but it makes you feel bad. It
shows the enormity of our sin, the vileness of our sin, as to
what he had to go through to put it away. This is my body
broken for you. This do in remembrance of me.
Verse 25. After the same manner, also,
he took the cup. When he'd sucked, saying, this
cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye, as oft as
ye drink it in remembrance of me." Now, once again, you know
that that wine didn't turn into blood. It represented the New
Testament. Now, the New Testament, or the
New Covenant, is salvation by grace. Every aspect of salvation,
God said, I'm giving you. You've got it. Not only I'm giving
you, you've already got it. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That means every
blessing God has to give, I've got it. And the reason it's all
sure is because of His blood. You see, His broken body speaks
of the wrath that he endured, but his shed blood speaks of
the salvation he secured for us. We read of the blood of the
everlasting covenant. What he accomplished by his blood
is the full and complete salvation of everybody that he died for,
the new covenant. And once again, he gives us his
reason for doing this, this do in remembrance of me. You know,
we sing this song Lest I forget, Gethsemane. Lest I forget thine
agony. Lest I forget thy love to me. Lead me to Calvary." You know, we forget And he never forgets us. Lord. Remember me. He's going to remember. This do. In remembrance. Of me, verse 26. Now there's
two things we're thinking of when we are taking the Lord's
table. We're thinking of what he had
to go through in our behalf. And we're also thinking about
what he accomplished. It is a celebration. And we're
going to see that more as we go on reading. Look at 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 a sermon
that every one of us preach. We show forth the Lord's death. That's what the Lord's table
is about. It's showing forth the Lord's death. The Lord's
death is my life. What he accomplished is why I
live. I show forth the Lord's death.
Now you say, listen to this scripture. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that I can't be condemned. I cannot be condemned because
Christ died. That's the only answer. I need
no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. We show forth the Lord's death. until he come. 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. Now, can you see
how serious this is? To observe the Lord's in an unworthy
manner is to be guilty of crucifying Him. Now, that ought to stop
us in our tracks, shouldn't it? That's a solemn warning. And like I said, this used to
make me dread the Lord's table because I didn't really understand
it. Now, verse 28, it says, But let a man examine himself. Now, that's important. You don't
need to be examining anybody else. Let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat. Examine yourself whether you
be in the faith. Now, I have known people who
examine whether or not, like I said at the first of this message,
they examine themselves to see whether or not they had any known
sin in their lives or any allowed sin in their lives. And I've
seen, you know, I've actually, I've been in service before where
people will just look down and think and they're examining themselves
real clearly to see if there's any hypocrisy or any sin. Like I said, I can save you the
time. I can save you the time. You do. This is not to examine
whether your life is good enough to take it. If you think that
your life is good enough to take the Lord's table, you're guilty
of the body and blood of the Lord. That is taking the Lord's
table in an unworthy manner. He said, let a man examine himself
and so let him eat. Not refrain from eating, examine
yourselves, whether you be in faith. I want you to examine
yourself right now. Are you the chief of sinners? Is the blood of Christ all that's
needed to make you holy? Eat. The Lord's table is for
you. Let a man examine himself, and
so let him eat and drink of that cup. Verse
29, for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." Now, here's
what it is to eat and drink unworthily, to not discern, to not understand
what the Lord was doing. You know, my worthiness comes
from His death. I understand that. I understand. A little bit. A little bit. I don't have complete understanding
of anything. I realize that. I mean, everything
we believe, we don't completely comprehend. I realize that. But
I have this much understanding. I know he died because of sin.
There's only one reason for death. It's sin. And my only hope is
that my sin became his. He suffered God's wrath as my
substitute, and his perfect righteousness is mine, and I am worthy by what
he did. Now, that's what it is to eat
in a worthy manner and to fail to discern that, to think, well,
I'm worthy. My life's pretty good. I don't
see anything in my life that would prevent me from taking
the Lord's table. That's a denial of the Lord's table means to
begin with. It's about sacrifice for sin. It's about the accomplishments
of the Lord Jesus. Look what he says in verse 30. For this cause, because these
people are eating and drinking the Lord's table in an unworthy
manner, many are weak and sickly among you. and many sleep. I mean dead. I mean to dead. Likewise says in verse 31. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Condemn yourself Here we have this promise. If
we judge ourselves, we won't be judged. I take my place as
guilty, needing the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
to make me holy before God. Now, he says in verse 32, but
when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not
be condemned with the world. Now, they were chastened. You
know, all this kind of chasing, you know. Now, next time somebody
gets sick, don't think, wonder what they've done. Don't think
that. But the next time you get sick, maybe you ought to think
that. I don't know. You know, I've been, somebody
said, how could you talk that way with a bunch of sicknesses
that you've gone through? That's a good question. I mean, you know, I've
wondered. I've wondered, you know, I mean,
I've had cancer twice. You know, I just, one thing after
another. I need it evidently, but every time I think, Lord,
what are you teaching me from this? I need to know. And I do
need to know. I don't know. But here's my point. Don't look at what somebody else
is going through and think, what do you reckon they've done? Why,
you're such a hypocrite if you think something like that. You're
worse. You really are. You believe that? You're worse.
If you're tempted with what they're tempted with, you'll fall farther
than they did. So don't have that kind of attitude. But whatever
the Lord sends your way, ask Him, why? Why? And you know, I want to be chastened,
don't you? No, I don't want to be chastened, but I don't want
to be without chastisement. Because the Scripture says, bastards
are without chastisement. There in Hebrews chapter 12.
I want to be his child. I don't want to be whipped, but
I'd rather be whipped than be left to myself, wouldn't you?
I want to be. Whom the Lord loveth. chasteneth,
and discourages every son that he receives. Verse 33, Wherefore, my brethren,
when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. You know,
when we observe the Lord's table, we don't do it by ourselves,
do we? We do it with the church of the living God. We do it with
our brothers and sisters in Christ. And that word, Terry, means literally
receive and wait for one another in the church. There are no divisions.
There's no hierarchy. We're all one in Christ. We all
have. The same salvation. We're all
brethren, we have the same Savior, we're saved the same way. We've
been taught the same thing. And we really believe that his
death is our life. This is all. Now, listen to me. You do show forth the Lord's
death until he come. I've got one hope. Of being saved. His death. What about resurrection? Yeah, that's in there, too. But
the scripture speaks of his death, what he accomplished by his death. You do show forth the Lord's
death. Do he come and don't get together
for the Lord's table? He says to have a party or to
satisfy your hunger or to have a good time. You're here to show
for and we do have a good time doing it. I mean, I love this. But we show forth the Lord's
death until he come. We eat the Lord's supper as members
of the same body, having the same love and care of one another. Verse 34, And if any man hunger,
let him eat at home, that you come not together unto condemnation,
and the rest will I set in order when I come. Now, should I take
the Lord's table? What are the requirements to
take the Lord's table? I know You've got to be a sinner
needing the Savior. You've got to believe the gospel.
You've got to believe the gospel. And I won't say anything else.
Somebody says, well, should you be baptized? Sure, you ought
to be baptized if you haven't been baptized. Sure, you should.
But that's not the requirement to take the Lord's table. Now,
you ought to be baptized. I'm not taking away from the
importance of baptism in any way. But baptism is not the requirement
to take the Lord's table. Being a believer is. Believing
the gospel. If you believe the gospel, if
you believe that Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, is your salvation,
you are to take the Lord's table. And what a blessing it is, we're
doing this in remembrance of him. Let's pray.