Christ's Meal

Do we believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do we actually believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ? I find myself asking this question quite often to myself, to others. Is the gospel, is it really the power of God to save sinners? Is it really the ministry of reconciliation that takes not only strangers but enemies and makes them friends and a family? Is it really able to heal, comfort, correct? Can God save sinners? I mean, real sinners. As we ask that question, I want to define for us, what is the gospel? We have to know what that is if we're going to ask if we really believe in it. If you're not a Christian this morning, this is the most important thing you're gonna hear. This is the truth of God that can save you, that can change your life. If you're a Christian this morning, this is the most important thing you're gonna hear, because it is the truth that has changed your life. The gospel is this. God looked at us. He saw us in our disgusting rebellion. And instead of turning away and letting us continue in that rebellion, instead of pouring out his wrath, instead of looking at us and just only seeing how unlovely we are, he decided he would send his own son to become like us in every way, except he did not have sin. He did not have that disgusting rebellion. Jesus was the only man to walk this earth who did not sin. However, he died as if a sinner, being counted as a sinner. Jesus being the perfectly innocent righteous one. Almighty God who's taken on flesh and lived that perfectly righteous life. God the Father poured out his wrath on his own son. the wrath all believers deserve. We're no longer counted as sinners. If we believe in Jesus, we're counted as forgiven. We're no longer under condemnation. We're free. That's the gospel. Jesus came so that we don't have to be judged for our sin. He came to be judged. so that we can be forgiven. We can have that new relationship with God. And it's not even a good relationship between a creator and creature, it's better. He now says we're sons. He now says we're family. He now says we're beloved. And then he calls us to love one another. And that's typically where we have to ask, do we really believe the gospel? You see, the gospel is the only reason we have for sharing our lives sacrificially with one another. The gospel is the only reason we have for sharing our lives with one another sacrificially. The belief in the gospel alone can create and establish the kind of love Christ actually commanded. Now, I want to acknowledge here Loving others, especially loving others as Christ loved, that's risky business. That's terrifying. Christ loved and therefore he was put to death. Therefore he was mocked, betrayed, he was let down, but he loved. Now he calls us to that same risky love. Do you believe in the gospel? Are you willing to sacrificially love? How willing are you to forgive, to confess, to be reconciled, to embrace those who have sinned against you? Really another question we're asking, how big is your God? Is he bigger than your sin? Is he bigger than everyone else's? Every week we should be pressed with this question because every week we as a church gather Ben just prayed for all the different gatherings. There are different local churches throughout Charlottesville, throughout the world. And those saints, they become a church when they gather. When the members of a body gather, there's the church. And every week, we should remember, on Sunday morning, we're going to gather. We're going to sing songs with and to one another. We're going to hear the word read and proclaimed with one another. We're going to pray for and with one another. Every week that presses us. Do we believe the gospel that leads us to reconciliation? Every month we actually have a very big, bold reminder. It's the Lord's Supper. It demands us Examine yourself. Consider the body. Discern the body. It reminds us that blood was spilt for our sins to make us united as a people purchased. I really wonder should we be taking this every week because we need that kind of reminder because we just are that forgetful. Christ has made the rule clear, Matthew 6. Verses 14, for if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. Paul exhorts us in the same manner. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. It all starts with the forgiveness we receive in the gospel, and then that has to be played out if we really believe. Friends, this morning we're going to think about how we are called to celebrate Christ's death together. We're going to continue our study on the church. We are thinking about the Lord's Supper this morning as we continue to think about the church. We've been doing a series. It's topical and expositional. You want to know what that means? We can talk later. We started with Ephesians 4, and it was a call to walk worthy of the calling of Christ. And that call required other Christians. Then we heard about how we're supposed to love one another. We're supposed to have the same mind of Christ, to consider others more important than ourselves. Last week, we heard the command, gather. The church has to gather. A believer has to gather with the church. Now we're going to think about one very specific particular thing we do when we gather the Lord's Supper. When we gather the church, we participate together in the Lord's Supper. This is an ordinance of Christ for his people to participate together when they gather. Something I've seen recently that stands out about the instruction, and I wanted to go ahead and lead you into where we're headed. Something that stands out as I've studied this text for the last few years, this text says more about what we're doing together when we gather for the Lord's Supper than I ever saw before. The focus is on how we're supposed to come in a worthy manner together to participate in the Lord's Supper. The way we do this together matters, as I hope we will clearly see. The one simple message this morning is this, the Lord's Supper unites us together in Christ. The Lord's Supper unites us together in Christ. And it says that it expresses our unity, it increases our unity, it exhorts us to be united in Christ. It's important that we see it's together in Christ. There are three things we'll see from our text this morning. Christ calls us to three things. Christ calls us to come together for the better. That's verses 17 through 22 of 1 Corinthians 11, sorry. 1 Corinthians 11 is our text. So found on page 958 if you're using a pew Bible. Please take that with you if you would like to take that home with you and read. It contains the words of life. So first Christ comes together for the better. Christ calls us to come together for the better. Secondly, Christ calls us to come together to proclaim Christ. We're supposed to come together for the purpose of proclaiming Christ. That's in verses 23 through 26. And then we're to come together in a worthy manner. I want you to see something. There's three sections. The middle one really stands out. If you look at the first and the last, verses 17 through 22, Verses 27 to 34, as you're about to hear it, notice that is Paul applying directly to the very specific sinful situation of the Corinthians, the truth of what Christ has commanded. So the first and the last section, they're specific applications of the Lord's Supper to a very specific sin problem. The middle section is Paul stepping back and saying, this is what Christ said. What Christ has commanded changes the way we think about what we're doing to gather when we gather. A key phrase you will hear when you gather. Again, here are these three sections, 17 through 22. Come together for the better. 23 through 26, come together to proclaim Christ. 27 through 34, come together in a worthy manner. Hear the word of the Lord. But in the following instructions, I do not commend you. Because when you come together, it is not for the better, but for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink, drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then. And so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many of you are weak and ill And some have died. But if we judge ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home so that when you come together, it will not be for judgment. about the other things I will give direction when I come. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for your son. That we no longer fear wrath because he has satisfied your wrath in his death. We are forgiven. We are now free to worship you. We are free to worship you according to how you have commanded us to worship you. We thank you that you give us instruction. Lord, as we gather, allow us to hear from you. Correct us, Lord. Comfort us, Lord. Thank you for the forgiveness you give us. Help us to consider how we as a church can be commended in the way we worship you and the way we participate in the Lord's Supper. Help us as a church to consider how we will celebrate the death of Christ in a manner worthy of his great and high and exalted name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. First thing we'll see, we are called by Christ to come together for the better. There is a better way to gather. It's very clear here. Some come together for the worse, some together for the, you could come together for the better. Gathering together is something that we have to be thankful, we have to be thoughtful about. We have to be intentional. It's not casual. We're coming together to praise Almighty God, the death of Jesus Christ. Notice Paul, this is strong correction. Now it's important to notice, Something very clear. That last section, he says judgment, but not condemnation. There's a way to judge one another without that condemnation. We are to consider how we're going to judge ourselves, how we're gonna be judging one another, how God brings judgment, without it being condemnation. So this word judgment has been lost in our culture of tolerance. We are supposed to be making judgments. Paul is being very judgmental here. Can't commend you. He says that twice. It bookends the first section. There's a way in which we're supposed to be thinking very intentional about how we come together. That means there's conversations about how we are coming together. It's not everybody does what's right in their own eyes, but how we're going to seek to be obedient to God's word in a way that's better. We have to come, first we have to come together. You do have to be present to fulfill the law of Christ. You have to be intentional. It's not casual. See, friends, this is a somber celebration. We're meditating about the death of Christ. We're meditating about our own sin so that we can celebrate. The first thing we wanna see about coming together for the better is that it means we must share with one another. We must share with one another. The church, they're gathering, and they're supposed to be a family. They're supposed to have all things in common. The most important thing they have in common, they share, it's Christ. But this church, if you flip through the book, if you read it this afternoon, and I encourage you, challenge you to do so, This is a church divided. In chapter one, we hear that they're divided over Christian leaders. I'm of Paul, I'm of Cephas, I'm of Apollos. They're divided about which particular teacher they like best. Another way they're divided, some are commending a man because his fruit does not match his profession. That's 1 Corinthians 5. They're also divided in that some are participating in temple worship and the Lord's Supper. That's divided worship. We're supposed to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind. Another division following this, they're envying other members, their position, their gifts. Another division, their worship, it's disorderly. 1 Corinthians 14. This division is very clear. They're not sharing. Some are coming together and they're eating their food without the rest of the body, without the rest of the family. Some are not waiting for the body to gather to share their meal, what would have been the love feast that was connected to the Lord's Supper. They're not waiting for the rest of the body. They're being selfish. It looks as if also there's something about classes, the rich and the poor. He says you're humiliating those who have nothing. It must have been those who have much were not waiting for those who have little to share with them. They were eating without thinking of the others. One was hungry, another was drunk. Paul is astounded by how this body is not acting out from the gospel. It's a bit more than just sharing. We have a hard time appreciating what's really happening here because it's not just sharing my stuff. Of course they're gonna share, but we can't appreciate how important food was for these people. We can't appreciate that food was not in great supply. They didn't have grocery stores. They had to labor for their food. Their food was life. When the church would come together, they would come with their food, their very sustenance for their own well-being and their biological family's well-being, and they would share it. They're sharing their life. It was personal, it was sacrificial. So we have a difficult time really appreciating what give us this day or daily bread means, because we have aisles full of bread. We don't get the kind of dependence Christ is actually calling us to have on God, the Father. We don't get that this sharing of bread, it was sharing their very life. They're not loving their brothers and sisters as they love themselves, much less like Christ has loved them. You see, Christ's gathering is supposed to be marked by loving one another, sacrificially. So you're marked by humility, considering others more important than yourself. It's supposed to be marked by making sure we're focused on loving and caring for the different members gathered. So we're supposed to be doing what we call fellowship. The Lord's Supper is a ordained means of fellowship. This is also a word I think we as a church, we use a lot without really putting it in its proper context. This is how I want us to think about fellowship when we use it. Fellowship is not hanging out together. Fellowship is experiencing Christ in one another. See, we all have friends. We have friends at the ball game, we root with one another. We have friends here, we have friends there. We do stuff with other people. Fellowship is unique because Christians are actually supposed to not be enjoying just the other person. They're supposed to be experiencing Christ through that other person. This is an ordained means of fellowship because we take it together. We together participate in Christ as a body gathered. We should expect, we should be expecting to experience the grace of Christ as we take this together. We've seen that we're called to remember Christ at the Lord's Supper. That was very clear in the text in the second point. I want to tell you there's a very, there's a couple spiritual blessings that we should expect to receive by taking the Lord's Supper together. This is one. One spiritual blessing we're supposed to receive from sharing the Lord's Supper together is that we feel more united as a body. This is supposed to remind us this is what unites us. Christ died for us. This is supposed to remind us that we are united and committed to walk worthy of Christ together. This is how we come together for the better. Notice verse 20. It's a bold statement we cannot miss. Verse 20. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat. Did they take a cracker? Did they take the fruit of the vine? Yeah. But it wasn't the Lord's Supper, why? Because they weren't united. The way we come together makes it the Lord's Supper or makes it not. Paul clearly says, you're coming together, you're partaking of the elements, but it's not the Lord's Supper. Do you see how dependent we are with one another, on one another, for worship? It's a united and shared commitment. We as individuals and consumers have a hard time getting this. Let me challenge you with something to hopefully help us think about this. Picture two twin sisters. One's named Susie, the other's Sally. They're identical twins. They're the closest kind of twin sisters you can imagine. They have the same mannerisms. They can finish other sentences. They're so alike. But when these two sisters walk into the gathering of the church, Sally is a converted believer. Susie's not. Sally has more in common with the other converted believers in the gathering than she does with her sister Susie. That's what makes the gathering so unique. She shares DNA, she shares manners, she shares the way she thinks with her sister. But when she gathers with the church, she has more, Sally, the converted believer, she has more in common because she shares the inheritance of Christ. She's a beloved child of God with the other believers. When we come together, something special happens. We unite under the headship of Christ because of his death as a family of God, the most important family. The family of God is the most important family because it is the beloved family of God who he purchased with the blood of Christ. This is how we come in a worthy manner, in a better manner. Food is in great supply. Your time is not. I want to challenge you as we think about coming together for the better. Are we coming to seek, seeking to spend time with other members? I want to challenge you with something. Make it your goal every Sunday to spend time with another member so that you know them, so that when we take the part in the Lord's Supper together, it's more meaningful. I realize after the service it's hard to have very deep conversations because there's people talking all around us. I praise God that we're a church that likes to spend time together afterwards. Invite someone you do not normally spend time with out so that you get to know them because I believe the Bible is telling us that will make the Lord's Supper all the more sweeter. A challenge. Does the person next to you that I assume you're about to take the Lord's Supper with, if you're a member of this church, do they know you better than your coworkers and your non-Christian friends? We're supposed to be doing this together in a way that we're watchful for one another, loving one another. It matters for us to take it better. One thing I want us to see before we move on to our next section. Paul says, end of verse 18, verse 18. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear there are divisions among you. I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you. I want to think about why there are factions. Now most books, whenever there's factions and divisions, we bemoan this because it's painful. Paul actually says he believes it, and it has a benefit. Notice what he says. I believe there are factions, there must be, so that, or in order that, those who are genuine among you may be recognized. Church is always gonna have factions and divisions. If you're a visitor here and you're looking for a perfectly united church, you're not gonna find it. It's impossible because all the members are still sinners. If you go back to Ephesians 4, remember that that call to walk worthy of Christ is a call to maintain the unity. Whose unity? Maybe we need to go back to Ephesians 4 and remember what we said there. It's the Spirit's unity. The Spirit is uniting His church. Our sin breaks that. We have to recognize that divisions and factions, they're our sin. It's when we stop maintaining the unity. When divisions and factions come, we see that there are some who are insincere in their faith. We see that there are some that are weak in their faith. Here's what I'm afraid of. Some will see those who are weak in their faith and they'll want to avoid them. Some will see those who are not completely genuine in their faith and they'll say, I'm gonna stay away from them. Because when divisions and factions, sin comes out. In divisions and factions, we see people's sin. That's what causes it. What we're supposed to do as a church is we're supposed to seek to restore those who are insincere in their faith, who are weak in their faith. We're supposed to seek reconciliation to restore them. Let's look to our second section. Come together to proclaim Christ. He's told them that I cannot commend you. When you come together, it's not the Lord's Supper, it's for the worse. Notice what Paul does here. He just jumps straight in to the very words of Christ, not his own words, what he received. For I receive from the Lord what I also deliver to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. When he gave him thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Paul says he receives this. It's the authoritative word of Christ. There are only two ordinances. There are only two things that Christ ordained his saints to do throughout all of history. And in the sense of the church has these two ordinances. Their baptism and their Lord's Supper. We have to understand how these two actually relate to one another. Baptism is the public declaration of the believer that they're a new creation in Christ. Baptism is also the public declaration by the church that they believe the one being baptized has genuine faith. There's two things that have to come together for baptism to be what Christ ordained. There's the public professor, there's the church. Baptism is an ordinance for the church. It's a one-time ordinance. I realize why we do it, but we've gotta stop. We've gotta stop saying we've been baptized three, four, five, six, seven times. It's a one-time thing. There's only one baptism. I get that it's difficult to say, you know, I had this one time, and I got wet this time, and I got a little moist this time, and I wasn't sure about this time. No, there's one baptism. It's the time you, when you're a believer, We're anointed with water at a church in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It's a one-time event. Our language matters. Baptism matters. It's important. Because, you see, the Lord's Supper, that's that regular reminder. Baptism is that great public declaration, I'm a new creation. It's a great public declaration, yes, we affirm, we believe you are a new creation. The Lord's Supper is that regular reminder we need. You see, the Lord's Supper is, I'll explain a little more later. The Lord's Supper, the other spiritual blessing I believe it gives us, is assurance. The Lord's Supper is an assurance because we're coming together and we are all saying we believe this is who Christ has purchased with His blood. The fact that you're willing to the Lord's Supper with me gives me assurance that you actually think, you see evidence of grace and fruit in my life that Christ purchased me. That's the way you need to think about the Lord's Supper when you gather as a body. In Matthew 26, the scripture reading from earlier in the service, we see a few things. If you go back and look at the section before, they've gathered for the Passover. Christ institutes the Lord's Supper because it's better than the Passover at the Passover. See, the Passover goes back and it reminds Israel of that great deliverance, their great salvation, when every family took the blood of the lamb and they put it over the doorpost so that when the judgment of God passed over, when they saw the blood of the lamb, he would not execute the firstborn child. The blood of the lamb covered their sin so that judgment didn't come down. That's what the Passover reminds us of. We don't have a lamb that simply covers over our sin. We have a lamb who takes away our sin. Jesus Christ, he died as a righteous man. He satisfied the wrath of God because the wrath of God isn't covering, isn't covered from the wrath of God, he satisfies it. Judgment doesn't pass over us, it's satisfied in Christ. It's done, it's abolished. That's why we don't observe the Passover. We don't observe the Passover because we observe the Lord's Supper because it's better. We don't go back to something that's lesser. There are two things that take place here. As I said earlier, I mentioned earlier that what Christ is doing is he's taking one piece of bread and one cup and he's saying these two elements, they represent something very important. My body, my blood. It followed the feast. Well, the feast followed it. That's what we see Paul describing in 17 through 22. In case you're wondering, how did anybody get drunk over that little cup of juice? It was wine then. There was a meal, there's a symbol. We are going to take part in the symbol to remind one another to remember, and then we're going to share in the feast afterwards. As we think about the Lord's Supper, the bread represents his body that was broken for us. He was like us in every way except he was without sin. He became sin for us so that we would no longer be counted as a sinner. The cup represents his blood that was spilt for us. It washes away our sin and death. As one of our songs that we sing here says, holy God in love became. perfect man to take my blame. On the cross, he took my sin. By his death, I live again. As Christ makes it clear, we do this to remember because we're forgetful. We have to remember we're forgiven. We have to remember we're in Christ. We have to remember we're new creations. We have to remember we're alive. We're free. You know, we come in from a whole week of sin, and we can be overwhelmed with guilt. This reminds us, as we remind one another, we're forgiven. We're reminded the gospel is the power of God to save sinners. His grace is sufficient. It's especially important for the sins we have against one another. We cannot pretend to celebrate the forgiveness of Christ when we are withholding forgiveness. See, the Lord's Supper is a heart check. It puts us in check. We have to recognize he died for us. Yes, we have to recognize he died to unite us with all these other sinners that we now have to forgive. Repentance and reconciliation lead to celebration. Our repentance and reconciliation are the only thing that really leads to the celebration. Let's look at that last verse. You proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Realize this is what's happening. We, as a body, are proclaiming the Lord's death in this ordinance. We're reminding one another he died to change us, to make us different, to make us anew. Taking this together is a witness together of Christ's death. We're reminding one another of that death. We're proclaiming it to one another. We're proclaiming it to the world. First, I want us to see as we partake of this together, we're proclaiming Christ's death to one another. The Lord's Supper is not something you do individually. It's something you do with a body. It's a spiritual blessing. First, we saw there's a unity. We partake this to remind one another we're supposed to be doing this together. Secondly, this is a means of assurance. Taking the Lord's Supper together should give us great assurance. One, we're proclaiming Christ's death. Two, we have to appreciate, and we need to think this way, these other people who know me are willing to the Lord's Supper with me. That's not insignificant. Those who know me, those who know you, we're willing to the Lord's Supper together. When that happens, we are giving an assurance. That is a spiritual blessing that's supposed to be taking place when we do this together. This is why we need to know one another well. Second, we proclaim to the world his death. We proclaim to the world, we proclaim to those who do not believe in Jesus Christ. If you're not a Christian and you're with us today, I'm thankful you're here. I praise God you're here. I want to tell you the Lord's Supper isn't for you. So when we take the Lord's Supper, when that bread passes and that cup passes and we take it, it represents our faith that He's died for us to save us. When that bread and that cup passes and you abstain, that represents your rejection of Jesus Christ. I want that to be waiting for you. If you're visiting with us and you're not a Christian, recognize you're letting the only salvation of your sin pass by. I want you to wrestle with the fact, are you a sinner? Have you lied? Have you cheated? Have you been angry? Have you lusted? These make you a sinner. And the only way you can be saved from that sin, the only way you can be saved from the wrath of God and the condemnation is to believe in Jesus who took that wrath for you. Let that cup pass and let it be weighty. Church, I want to also point out that when we gather, we are a witness to Christ's death for some very important little eyes and little ears. We have to realize that we come together, our children are watching. Over time, they will get what's happening. It's not just adult snack time. They're gonna get this mean something because it was the body of Christ, it was the blood of Christ. And they're gonna see what we proclaim by taking that together, and then they're gonna see how we treat one another. Are we gonna be hypocrites? What do our children see? And I'm not just talking to parents here, I'm talking about every member who is a witness for all of these children proclaiming Christ. Do they see us prioritizing Christ? Do they see us making much of Christ? Do they see us prioritizing the worship of Christ? It's not just for parents. We are all witnesses. What are our children seeing? You see, you can judge a faithfulness of a church, really the best 15 years later, what do the children turn out to be? We have to wait to see, but I am terrified that we will turn out casual Christians that are biblically illiterate, but enjoy the broad way that goes straight to hell. I'm terrified of our children seeing our church casually coming together so that we're late. We casually come together, it doesn't matter. Are you proclaiming Christ to our children by the way you intentionally and regularly gather as a body? This matters. Are we hindering them with our own sin? I don't remember much of my youth. I, I proactively did that to myself. I don't remember many events, but I remember one specific event. I was on a church basketball team, first mistake of the church for letting me play. I was okay. I wasn't good because I was skilled or athletic. I was always a little bigger, I was a little stronger, always a lot meaner. There was a church we played twice. Down the street, I would elbow the other players. I would intentionally abuse them. It was so bad, when going down the court, half court, I would actually elbow them there, not down low. I was a bully. I'm embarrassed by that, but I wanna tell you, to warn you, what happened the second time we played this church, when I was in the hallway, the parents of that church, the parents of those youth, they came by and they elbowed me. One ran over me. I looked back and I remember how I responded. I became so proud, I said, I beat those Christians. I proved they were nothing but hypocrites. We went out that night and we got stoned, we made fun of them. How are we gonna treat, how are we gonna be a witness to our children? Are they going to see the gospel? Are they gonna see retaliation? See, what I needed to hear, young man, I don't know why you're so angry, but because God sent his son to die for me and forgive me, I forgive you. Will you believe in the gospel of Christ? I ruined my life for three more years until I heard the gospel and he saved me. Do we believe in the gospel that changes the way we treat one another? Let's look at our last section. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died. But if we judge ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home so that when you come together, it will not be for judgment. But the other things, I will give directions when I come. There's two truths that really need to be focused here as we think about this particular section following 23 through 26. He says you're coming in an unworthy manner. I want us to keep two truths in mind as we think about this. One, no one is worthy to come to the marriage feast of the Lamb unless Christ purchases him with his blood. We're only worthy because Christ says we're invited. Blessed are those who are invited. So it's not about who's worthy. It's about how we come in a worthy manner. No one is worthy to be invited. We're only invited because Christ, that name above all names, he invites us. But when we come to celebrate that reminder of our invitation, We must do so in a worthy manner. The invitation is by grace and so are the instructions. No one is worthy, we're all called to worship God in a worthy manner. Worshiping the right God the wrong way is still not true worship. Christ calls us to worship him in a worthy manner. We saw this in Philippians 1, Ephesians 4. We're supposed to come, in a worthy manner. When we come, I want us to see this, this is weighty for us as a body who's about to have a membership meeting. Who we come together to worship with, it actually affects our worship. If we're going to worship him in a worthy manner, who we're doing that with, it affects our worship. This is why we desire a pure membership, because we long for pure worship. There's three frightening aspects of this section. One, partaking of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner makes us guilty concerning the body and blood. Two, we drink judgment on ourselves. And three, we are to be judged so that we are not condemned with the world. This is why it's a somber celebration. We're all sinners. I want us to explain something here. All sickness is not caused by sin. That's not what he's saying. We don't believe every sickness has a sin root. He is saying sometimes it does. James 5 also says this. Sometimes weakness and illness, it's caused by sin. And here is the very sin among the body. Now, here's what I want to lead you into thinking about this. If you ask the question, why am I sick? God oftentimes doesn't answer that question as in, what's the cause? The answer for why you're sick is always the purpose, the glory of God. I do believe that if we ask God, why am I sick? And the reason is sin, he will reveal that to us. because God wants us to repent so that we are renewed for worship. I want you to notice the sickness is a mercy of God. It's a judgment so that we will not be condemned. Sickness is merciful because it's a warning so that we will not be condemned. All this reminds us, this is a foretaste. We open the service, reading of the marriage supper of the Lamb, we long for that. Because their sin won't be a hindrance. Their will worship constantly with pure hearts, with renewed minds, without the presence of sin. For now, to come in a worthy manner, we must examine ourselves, we must discern the body. Notice these are two very clear commands. If you want to come in a worthy manner, not being guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, verse 28, let a person examine himself and then eat. The Lord's Supper is a time to reflect on your worship and your love. We must come to worship in a worthy manner because the one whom we are worshiping is worthy. We need to reflect upon the fact that God loves us when we're unlovely and that he commands us to love him with all of our heart, with all of our strength. It's a time to realign our hearts that are so prone to idols. Go back to 1 Corinthians 10 later. They're taking a meal with idols and trying to take the Lord's Supper. You can't do that. The Lord's Supper is a reminder, stop. Stop flirting with idols. Stop participating with idols. This is a time to repent of idolatry. When should you examine yourself? Before the service. Now we give a brief time of examination because we wanna make sure we're leading you and helping you think through it. But if the only time you're examining yourself is in that five minutes, you have sinned that's lingering in the darkness. Our sin's thick, it runs deep. Before you gather, take time to prepare yourself. This is a way to be ready and expectant. Ask God, show me my sin so that I can come ready to repent. How do you do examination? First question is how have I sinned against God? One way to look at that, what have I done this week? What have I let take more time than I've given to God? What have I done this week that I thought to myself, I'm gonna hide from God while I do it? What have I compartmentalized as my time, not time to worship? The other question is this, have I sinned against others? a way to help you think through your own examination. Read through the 10 Commandments. Read Ephesians 4, the putting off of sin, the putting on to Christ. Let the word of God probe you for blind spots. Ask the Holy Spirit for illumination. And I'll be clear, sometimes we need other believers to come alongside and show us our blind spots. The second command. Discern the body. Now, I believe that this command, this particular command for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, drinks, judgment, and stuff, I believe this truth of discerning the body, I don't believe it's referring to Christ's body, as in his physical body that was beaten. I believe it's referring to the church, because the whole thing is about judgment and how they've not been thinking about one another. As we come to the Lord's table, we must discern the body, we must think about the body, we must consider one another. Three things we have to consider as we come together, discerning the body. First, realize none of us belong there. None of us belong by our own nature, by our own boasting. We're all invited by grace. We all get to come because of grace. So first, realize we're all here by grace. Second, recognize and encourage one another. This is key to being a family. It's being familiar. The Lord's Supper will be sweeter the more we are united, connected as a family. And third, repent of any way we've sinned against one another, how we've acted out against another member, Usually behind their back. How we have withheld grace and forgiveness. Usually something they've unknowingly did, but yet we hold it over them. How we've withheld ourselves from other members. Not seeking out to love the other members of the body. This series on the church has been built around the idea of one another's. Bear with one another. maintain unity with one another, love one another, have that same mind in Christ, considering one another more important than yourself. We now come to the one another. Verse 33. So then, my brothers, when you come together, wait for one another. It's interesting, it's a family meal. Family that eats together, stays together. When you have Thanksgiving, Most families have that one uncle who's always late. I see Snickers, I see some eyes. Everybody has that one uncle. You have to wait for him. You know he's gonna be late, but he's part of the family. You can't start without him. One of the things I want us to see here, there's a certain expectation of who's supposed to be there, because you're waiting. There's an awareness of who's around you because you've waited on who you expect to come. Are we that aware of who else is around us as we partake of the Lord's Supper together? Can only end with the challenge I first gave you. Do you believe the gospel? Do you believe it's the power of God to save you a sinner, to forgive you a sinner as you partake of the elements? Do you believe the gospel that it's actually supposed to be uniting you close to other believers as you partake of the Lord's Supper together? Let's pray. Father, we praise you and we thank you that you have saved us. We praise you and thank you that you've given us this reminder of who we are in Christ, who we're supposed to be to one another. Help us to come together now for the better. Help us to come together in a worthy manner, in a way that truly partakes of the Lord's Supper as we not only consider what you have done for us, but who we are with one another. Thank you, God, for this church, for the way you have united us, for the way we do strive to be knit together, to be built up. I pray that we would be committed to this ministry, to be committed to being built up into the headship of Christ together, and that it would lead us to celebrate and enjoy the Lord's Supper all the more. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.