Sermon

Questions Surrounding the Lord's Supper 1st Corinthians 11:20-31

Key Life Fellowship - Pulpit Ministry

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. Thank you for joining us at Key Life Fellowship for her Pulpit

  2. Ministry, podcast. Each sermon on this podcast is

  3. from our 11 a.m. Sunday service.

  4. We are glad that you have joined us digitally, but would love to

  5. see you in person on Sunday mornings at either 9 a.m. or 11

  6. a.m. Now, let's open God's word and

  7. ask him to reveal his truths for our lives.

  8. You have your Bibles. I want you to turn First

  9. Corinthians. 11th chapter. And I want you to just put a

  10. bookmark there. Visitor card or hold a finger

  11. there. Then I want you to flip over to

  12. Matthew chapter 26. We're going to read Matthew

    Matthew 26 chapter mention Matthew 26 chapter mention

  13. chapter 26, Hazard introduction today.

  14. No fancy story. No fancy illustration.

  15. No joke. Just the truth of the Gospel.

  16. according to Matthew, Matthew chapter 26.

    Matthew 26 chapter mention

  17. Says this in verse 26, concerning the Lord's Supper.

  18. It says, while they were eating, Jesus Took bread.

  19. He gave thanks and broke it. Gave it to his disciples saying

  20. Take and Eat. This is my body.

  21. Then he took the cup. He gave thanks and he offered it

  22. to them. Sing drink from it, all of you.

  23. This is my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many for

  24. the Forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of

  25. the fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink

  26. it, a new with you in my father's Kingdom.

  27. When they had sung A Hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives

  28. in Matthew. Matthew gives us in chapter 26,

  29. the eyewitness account. Of what we know as the Lord's

  30. supper or the last supper or communion with the observance of

  31. the Eucharist. All of those titles, all apply

  32. to what we know as the Lord's supper.

  33. And in just a moment, we will be observing the Lord's supper

  34. together. We will be observing this

  35. ordinance that the Lord has himself commanded us to do.

  36. I know this that throughout the ages.

  37. There have been many questions about the Lord's Supper.

  38. To which many of them go unanswered.

  39. In fact, it is the basic ones that seem to go unanswered, most

  40. often that's what I want to do today as we look at the

  41. scriptures and as we prepare our hearts and our minds, and our

  42. souls to observe the Lord's Supper in accordance with the

  43. scriptures, I want us to ask these questions.

  44. And in my feeble attempt, I will attempt to answer the questions

  45. as best as I can find in Scripture.

  46. I told you to hold your place in First Corinthians chapter 11 and

    1 Corinthians 11 chapter mention

  47. I told you to hold your place there for a reason.

  48. If you would turn over there and we will spend most of our time.

  49. They're in First Corinthians chapter 11, as Paul is writing

    1 Corinthians 11 chapter mention

  50. here to the Corinthian Church and he is giving them

  51. instructions about the Lord's supper.

  52. And let me just tell you this, he's giving them instructions

  53. about the Lord's Supper, because they were majorly messing.

  54. The thing up, He's correcting them.

  55. I believe so many times in our church culture, we either ignore

  56. the importance of the Lord's supper or we completely mess it

  57. up. I told them in just a moment ago

  58. before, we had our time of men's prayer, prior to the service

  59. that we're going to be looking at.

  60. The Lord's Supper today in observing the Lord's supper

  61. together as the body of Christ and I don't like to do that

  62. without first teaching on the topic of the Lord's, supper or

  63. communion the reason that I don't is because I my church

  64. experience have been in those Services where no one explains

  65. the elements of the Lord's Supper.

  66. No one talks about the importance of the body or the

  67. blood of Christ. No one asked the questions and

  68. then answers the questions as to why we are to do this, why it's

  69. so important? What is the significance of

  70. these things? And so we go to the First

  71. Corinthian letter in chapter 11 and Paul is going to give us

  72. great insight into this as he begins to correct the church

  73. there in Corinth first. 20 starts out on.

  74. It says this when you come together it's not the Lord's.

  75. Supper you eat. He's letting them know the thing

  76. that you've made it into is not the Lord's supper and then watch

  77. what they made it into. He says, for as you eat Each of

  78. you goes ahead without waiting for anyone else.

  79. It's about you or we're going to see today.

  80. That the Lord's Supper is not about us at all.

  81. That's not why it is commanded. One remains hungry, another gets

  82. drunk other there and they are some of them committing

  83. gluttony. Some of them.

  84. Committing drunkenness. Don't you have homes to eat and

  85. drink it? Or do you despise the Church of

  86. God and humiliate? Those who have nothing?

  87. He said, there's some here you're not even sharing with

  88. them. They can't even participate.

  89. What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this

  90. certainly not Paul is not praising them here.

  91. In fact, he is doing the complete opposite.

  92. He's rebuking them for the way that they have mistreated the

  93. Lord's supper. And he says this in verse 23,

  94. for I received from the Lord, what I also passed on to you,

  95. the Lord Jesus on the night, he was betrayed took bread.

  96. And when he had given thanks, he broke it.

  97. And said, this is my body, which is for you.

  98. Do this in remembrance of me in the same way.

  99. After he took the cup saying this cup is the New Covenant in

  100. my blood. Do this whenever you drink it.

  101. In remembrance of me whenever you eat this bread and drink

  102. this cup, you proclaim, the Lord's death until he comes.

  103. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the

  104. Lord, in an unworthy manner. Will be guilty of sinning

  105. against the body and blood of the Lord.

  106. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and

  107. drink of the cup. Verse 29, says, for anyone who

  108. eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord

  109. eats and drinks judgment on himself.

  110. That is why many among you are weak and sick.

  111. And a number of you have fallen asleep but if we judge

  112. ourselves, we would not come under Her judgment with this

  113. text comes, lots of questions, I assure, you of that, three of

  114. which we will answer today. So if you're taking notes, let's

  115. write down at the first question that often times arises when

  116. observing the Lord's supper. And that is it this basic

  117. question, what is the Lord's Supper?

  118. What is this? What is it?

  119. All about? Verses, 20 through 25 and then

  120. 26 and we'll come back and grab Other verses, but verses 20

  121. through 25 and 26, tell us some things about what exactly the

  122. Lord's Supper really is verse 20.

  123. He begins by saying this don't miss this important part.

  124. When you come together, when you come together, it's not the

  125. Lord's Supper, you eat when you come together.

  126. And when we answer the question, what is the law?

  127. Lord's. Supper it is an ordinance for

  128. the church. You see that in this tax he said

  129. when you come together now I know we live in a day and age

  130. where people in errors. Say things like this or that are

  131. ridiculously unbiblical. Well I can be the church here

  132. all by myself. I don't have to go down there

  133. and participate. In organized religion.

  134. No you cannot be the church by yourself.

  135. Stop buying in. Into that lie of the enemy.

  136. He is instructing them when you leave your homes because he

  137. references back to their homes. He said if you're going to eat,

  138. go eat at home but when we come together, the assembling of the

  139. Saints and when do we do that on the Lord's Day?

  140. In fact, early church history, says that they would meet on the

  141. first day of the week on Sunday and they would observe the

  142. Lord's supper together. It is an ordinance for his

  143. church. In fact, even the word church

  144. ekklesia, Has the meaning of assembly.

  145. You can't have a necklace Iya by yourself because one person does

  146. not constitute an assembly. An assembly must be the many.

  147. Remember it said, this is the blood of the New Covenant, which

  148. I said for many, it is those who are God's elect his children

  149. coming together to remember what Jesus Christ has done for them.

  150. It is an ordinance for the church, when you come together

  151. or we joined together today, to observe the Lord's Supper, on

  152. this first day of 2023, this first day of the week, the

  153. Lord's day, what a privilege and honor it is.

  154. I would not rather be in any other place and all the Earth

  155. than to be right here, with this body of Believers on this

  156. particular day. Why?

  157. Because I'm just a moment. We are going to remember our

  158. Lord. And we're going to remember him

  159. properly, exactly for who he is and what he did for us at the

  160. cross. What is the Lord's Supper?

  161. It's an ordinance for the church.

  162. So if you're here today and you're not a blood-bought member

  163. of the church or not born again, brought into the church, by The

  164. Sovereign, Grace of God. If you're not a member of God's

  165. Church through faith in Christ and his finished work at

  166. Calvary, please do not participate in the Lord supper

  167. today, it is not for you often times in churches, they ignore

  168. the importance of that. But a person who does not know

  169. Christ, cannot understand the body and the blood of Christ are

  170. ignorant and they are in their sin.

  171. Just as I, once was unto the Holy Spirit, quickened, me and

  172. opened my eyes to the truth of who Jesus is and what he

  173. accomplished at the cross. So we see first, when we ask the

  174. question, what is the Lord's Supper?

  175. It's not something that anybody can participate in.

  176. It's for his people when they come together.

  177. We've come together today to observe the Lord's.

  178. Supper, it's an ordinance for the church, but not only that.

  179. What is the Lord's Supper? It is an observance of the

  180. Lord's, death verse 26 speaks of this verse 26 tells us for

  181. whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim,

  182. the Lord's death until he comes. It is it is an observance of the

  183. Lord's death. We ought to approach the

  184. observance of the Lord's death with appreciation for his work

  185. at the cross. Now, I want you to stop for a

  186. second and we are approaching the Lord's death here today, to

  187. remember what he's done for us, don't approach that lightly,

  188. don't approach, that nonchalantly, don't approach

  189. that without a hard in the attitude of worship approach

  190. Christ today. As we ought to approach crimes,

  191. recognizing his death Expressing our appreciation for.

  192. When's the last time brother and sister in Christ was the last

  193. time. That you bow down, broken moved

  194. in your Thanksgiving, not for the blessings that you have in

  195. this life that are only going to perish.

  196. For the death of Jesus Christ. The one who gave his all to

  197. rescue you from your sin and from your misery and from a

  198. certain hell that you were condemned to when's the last

  199. time that you showed your appreciation for the death of

  200. Jesus. Christ, it is an observance of

  201. his death where we might with appreciation approach, the

  202. throne of grace and to say Thank You Lord, once again, thank you.

  203. When I was lost in my sin. You rescued me by your death on

  204. a cross. Thank you.

  205. Lord. It's an observance of the Lord's

  206. death. We are to observe it with

  207. appreciation for his work at the cross but also with anticipation

  208. for his return. Verse 26 says, for whenever you

  209. eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's

  210. death. Yes you do.

  211. You are identifying with the fact that the Lord died for you

  212. if you're in Christ, I assure you this, you died with him

  213. there upon that cross. We acknowledge that fact with

  214. appreciation but we also should acknowledge that fact with

  215. anticipation of his return. He goes on to say in verse 26,

  216. for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you

  217. proclaim, the Lord's death until he returns.

  218. Isn't that what we ought to be doing?

  219. Proclaiming the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which brought

  220. us live with every ounce, in fiber of our being until we

  221. leave this earth. I know you have other things to

  222. do But as a Christian, you ought to let those other things go.

  223. When you want to proclaim the death of the Lord, Jesus Christ,

  224. every opportunity that you have because it is in the death of

  225. Christ that we find life and life, eternal.

  226. So, when we ask the question, what is the Lord's Supper?

  227. It is an ordinance for the church.

  228. We have gathered today as his church, his bride.

  229. Observe this ordinance. As we have come together, it's

  230. an observance of his death. It's a time when we observe

  231. again through the word of God, we remember importance of

  232. Christ's death on the cross. What is the Lord's Supper?

  233. It is an ordinance for the church and it is an observance

  234. of the Lord's death according to verse 26 of chapter, 11 of that

  235. First Corinthian letter. Which brings us to the second

  236. question today. Now, second question, is this

  237. not only should we ask the question?

  238. What is the Lord's Supper? I pray that you do understand

  239. what it is. I pray that you have a clear

  240. understanding. Now, it's not just some ritual

  241. that we do for the sake of doing it.

  242. It is an act of worship and reflection and Remembrance upon

  243. Christ and what he did for us. But the second question that

  244. arises that we should ask from this text and also receive the

  245. answer from this text is why should we observe the Lord's

  246. Supper, why should we do this? Can't we just go along about our

  247. merry business and just every now and then think about Jesus

  248. and remember what he did for us and you can buy yourself and you

  249. should In fact, every moment of every second of every minute of

  250. your life you should, this is special time when we joined

  251. together to do that as the Lord has commanded us to do.

  252. Why should we observe the Lord's Supper?

  253. Well verses 24 and 25. Give us those answers there in

  254. chapter 11 verse 24 says this. And when he had given thanks, he

  255. broke it. And said this is my body which

  256. is for you. Do this in remembrance of me in

  257. the same way after supper. He took the cup saying this cup

  258. is the New Covenant in my blood, do this, whenever you drink it

  259. in remembrance of me. So as we look at this, I want

  260. you to see the answer that is contained there or answers for

  261. us to our question today. Why should we observe the Lord's

  262. Supper simply put I would ask you this question.

  263. Is he your lord? And if he is your lord, you

  264. know, that he is your Lord, because you Obey what He

  265. commands. And so it would be proper as we

  266. ask the question. Why should we observe the Lord's

  267. Supper to give you this clear and concise answer?

  268. Because it's commanded by the Lord Jesus, that's an easy

  269. enough. Answer to that question.

  270. It's commanded in fact, in Luke's Gospel of Luke chapter 22

    Luke 22:19

  271. verse 19. When he records it do this.

  272. In remembrance of me, it is very clear there by the context.

  273. That Jesus is not making a request, he's not giving a

  274. suggestion. If you know anything about the

  275. Greek language, what you know is that this the the mood and which

  276. it is written is very important and the mood of that phrase do

  277. this is in the imperative in the Greek.

  278. What does that mean? It means it's a command.

  279. It is Jesus saying of this is not optional.

  280. This is what you are to do, do this.

  281. Just like I have shown you this example where the Corinthians

  282. messed up Paul makes it very clear.

  283. They were getting outside of the example of Christ, they had made

  284. it into a big feast and a drunken party.

  285. It's not what the Lord's Supper is to be at all.

  286. It is a command from Christ to observe his body and his blood.

  287. He says do this. It's a command In fact, John

  288. Calvin and noted this, he said this, and I quote, he said,

  289. wherever we find the word of God, surely preached in heard

  290. wherever we walk into assembly, and they're preaching the word

  291. of God and the sacraments administered according to the

  292. institutions of Christ. He said in there, observing the

  293. Lord's, Supper, the sacraments, according to the institution of

  294. Christ Christ's teaching. He says, when you find a place

  295. and they're preaching the truth of the word of God, they're

  296. preaching, the truth of the gospel, and they are observing

  297. the body and the blood of Christ through the sacraments As they

  298. have been instituted of Christ there, he says it is not to be

  299. doubted is a Church of God. John Calvin, believe that was

  300. the mark of a true church. We see today many places claim

  301. to be churches and never ever observe communion and never

  302. observe the Lord's supper and thank you would ask them.

  303. Do you guys observe the Lord's Supper know, what is it?

  304. Why is that so important? Oh now sad, is it that we've

  305. gone so far in our church culture?

  306. That's no longer important to remember the body and the blood

  307. of Jesus Christ. We ask ourselves this question.

  308. Why should we observe the Lord's?

  309. Supper is commanded by the Lord. Why?

  310. Because it's indicative that we are truly a church.

  311. When we observe the body and the blood of Jesus Christ.

  312. Why should we observe the Lord's?

  313. Supper is commanded by the Lord Jesus.

  314. Secondly, not only is it commanded by the Lord Jesus, it

  315. is to commemorate the Lord Jesus.

  316. He says, do this that imperative and then he tells you.

  317. Why in remembrance of Of me in remembrance of me there

  318. monuments all over our country. Unfortunately, many of them

  319. being torn down for political reasons and that's a whole

  320. nother topic. But there are monuments all over

  321. our country. In fact, I talked to someone

  322. this morning who during the Christmas holiday, went to DC

  323. and got to see all of The Monuments there and all of the

  324. things that commemorated soldiers and battles.

  325. And all the things that we know. Our history is full of as a

  326. nation. We spend lots of time and lots

  327. of money. Commemorating these things.

  328. If you were to Google the average cost of a funeral where

  329. you commemorate a loved one or if you have recently had a

  330. funeral service for a loved one. You know, this is no easy task

  331. and it comes at a great expense and we go through great extent

  332. to commemorate others. Ben often times when it's time

  333. to commemorate Christ. We approach it with a nonchalant

  334. attitude. He says, do this in remembrance

  335. of me, commemorate me by doing this, when you come together for

  336. the Lord's Supper, it's not something that is just a

  337. flippant ritual. It is a commemoration of your

  338. savior, if you know him, you will take this moment and this

  339. opportunity very seriously be something that you approach

  340. haphazardly. Be something that you approach

  341. with great, all you approach with great reverence and great

  342. honor and respect. It is to commemorate the Lord

  343. Jesus. He said, do this, I command you

  344. so that you don't forget Oh, how quick we are to forget, aren't

  345. we? You know this many of you are

  346. struggling in your Christian, Life is In.

  347. It's because you constantly forget what Christ has done for

  348. you. You constantly forget that he is

  349. your justification and that he is your sanctification.

  350. He is your adoption and one day, he will be your glorification.

  351. You forget constantly of what Christ has done for you.

  352. This is the time where we come together and we say let's not

  353. forget Let's commemorate him for who he is and for what he has

  354. done, bringing God glory and bringing Sinners to

  355. reconciliation with God, it is to commemorate the Lord Jesus.

  356. He says, do this in remembrance of me and when we commemorate

  357. the Lord Jesus, we see there are some elements to that, that we

  358. must. Remember, I'm going to give you

  359. some theological terms and I know some of you the moment I

  360. say that you turn your ear off and you say, oh I'm not a

  361. theologian. What you need to learn to be?

  362. Did they is a good start first day of the first year?

  363. The first day of the week. Let's start.

  364. Now. And the first thing that we see

  365. that we ought to commemorate, the Lord for is his

  366. propitiation. I know this that's a big

  367. theological word, don't be afraid of it.

  368. Oh, I remember when I would sit in churches and they would dumb

  369. everything down so that they could keep people dumb, so that

  370. they could seem smart. How about we do something new?

  371. How about I tell you what propitiation means.

  372. And then, from this point on, you will understand how we are

  373. to commemorate the propitiation of Jesus Christ.

  374. Who weren't propitiation. The easy-to-remember definition

  375. is this. It means to appease wrath means

  376. to appease wrath. Oh, wait a second pastor.

  377. You're going to talk about wrath and in the middle of the Lord's

  378. Supper. Oh yes, I am.

  379. I'm going to tell you that it is the body and the blood of Jesus

  380. Christ that has freed you from the wrath of God.

  381. And so, as we look at this, I want you to understand when we

  382. talk about propitiation, we talk about his body, his bodily

  383. death, the death that he died on the cross, the beating that he

  384. took in the suffering that he endured under the Wrath of the

  385. father. That bothers so many people in

  386. modern Christianity. That the father would pour His

  387. wrath out upon the Sun but I promise you biblically, that is

  388. exactly what happened. You want me to Fleur.

  389. You even more and it was God's will.

  390. It was God's will, in fact, Isaiah 53:10, Watch what it says

    Isaiah 53:10

  391. here. As God spoke through the

  392. prophet. He says in verse 10 yet, it was

  393. the Lord's. Will some of your chance could

  394. say this yet? It pleased, the Lord to crush

  395. him and cause him to suffer. And though, the Lord makes his

  396. life, a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong

  397. his days and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hands.

  398. We look at the propitiation of Jesus.

  399. Christ is Christ. At the cross, satisfying, the

  400. wrath of God. On our behalf as Believers.

  401. And we need to think about that for just a moment.

  402. Christ, was not deserving of the Wrath, Christ was perfect and

  403. righteous and holy and complete in all of his ways, never

  404. breaking one of God's Commandments.

  405. I on the other hand was a sinner.

  406. How do I know the scriptures? True for all have sinned and

  407. come short of the glory of God, there's none righteous?

  408. No, not one no one seeks after him.

  409. You can put Kerr calls name in there.

  410. Her called did not seek after him for call was not righteous

  411. by his own. it is the righteousness of Christ, it has

  412. been accredited to Kirk all That God counts is enough.

  413. Why? Because of the body of Jesus

  414. Christ. Appeasing, the wrath of God in

  415. my stead. What are you saying, pastor?

  416. I'm saying this. That the Wrath that Christ

  417. endured at Calvary. Should have been mine.

  418. So I don't know that. I really could say that.

  419. You don't understand it yet and I pray today that God would open

  420. your eyes so that you could understand it.

  421. So, it would bring you to a place of bended knee and

  422. humbleness and Brokenness before God, Almighty saying Thank You.

  423. Lord, thank you that when I could not come to you.

  424. When I deserve the wrath of God, you did not bore your ass out on

  425. me because you could have just lie at any moment in time but

  426. you were patient with me and you poured your ass out on your only

  427. begotten son so that at the appointed time that you had

  428. decided. And Or infinite mind in eternity

  429. past. So that the appointed time Kirk

  430. Hall could get in on the deal that you had in store for him.

  431. That's by his grace and his grace alone.

  432. So it is to commemorate the Lord Jesus Christ for his

  433. propitiation. Oh, second Corinthians, five and

  434. a verse. You all should know at this

  435. point. In time verse 21 says this, God

  436. made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him.

  437. We might become the righteousness of God.

  438. Pastor, are you trying to tell me?

  439. That Jesus put on the filth of our sin.

  440. And gave us his garments of righteousness.

  441. Watch me, watch me closely. That's exactly what I'm telling

  442. you. That is his propitiation he

  443. appeased the will and the wrath of God in my place and in the

  444. place of all those who would believe past present and future.

  445. And we should commemorate. Is propitiation.

  446. Not only his propitiation theological term.

  447. Number two. Are you ready?

  448. Is expiation is expiation. You say another big word.

  449. It's not that big. It's only a few letters.

  450. Don't let it throw you off. Look at what it means.

  451. And see how amazing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

  452. Is he was our opinion, which means he appeased and satisfied,

  453. the Wrath of the father, but he's also our expiation.

  454. And expiation means this to cover or to cleanse from sin.

  455. I don't know about you, but I do know about me and I can speak

  456. for myself. Had Jesus not become my

  457. expiation on the cross, there would be no cleansing and

  458. covering from my sin. It was far too great.

  459. But in Christ, he has indeed become our expiation are

  460. covering our cleansing, the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.

  461. That is what we were all remembering.

  462. When we take the cup, just as we take the body and we remember

  463. his propitiation, how he was crushed there on the on the

  464. cross according to the plan, in the will of God.

  465. We look at his Pro. We look at his expiation and we

  466. leave his propitiation. We see that he was not only the

  467. one who's satisfied, the wrath of God, he's the one who

  468. cleanses The wicked sinner, not only did Christ satisfy, the

  469. wrath of God that belongs to me. But he also cleanse me, of all

  470. of my sin. He is my expiation, all of my

  471. sin, watch this, dear believer, past present, and future sin.

  472. There will never be a sin held to the charge of a True

  473. Believer. Why?

  474. Because Christ is your expiation, he's your expiation.

  475. He is recovering. He is your cleansing.

  476. When the father sees the believer, he no longer sees the

  477. believer as a. Filthy wretched sinner, he sees

  478. the believer clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

  479. An heir to the throne and a son of the Living.

  480. God thinks be to Christ and what he did for us at the cross.

  481. What is in this time of commemoration?

  482. in remembrance of me, he said, we remember his propitiation and

  483. his expiation atoning work that he accomplished through his

  484. death and through his blood Is where we remember?

  485. The gift that he gave us to by faith.

  486. Trust in that blood, the by faith.

  487. Trust in that blood, I can assure you of this without

  488. faith. In the blood of Jesus Christ,

  489. you will remain a filthy unacceptable sinner, When it

  490. comes to a holy God. You cannot approach him.

  491. You cannot fellowship with them. And you are completely cut off

  492. from your creator but it is through the expiation, the

  493. covering the cleansing of the blood of Christ.

  494. That one can be forgiven back in Ephesians 1:7 and says this.

    Ephesians 1:7

  495. In him Christ, we have Redemption through his blood,

  496. the forgiveness of sin. Oh, you will not be forgiven by

  497. God for your sins. Lest you be cleansed by the

  498. precious blood of Jesus. Jesus Christ, I assure you of

  499. that he says, we have Redemption through his blood, the

  500. Forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of

  501. God's grace, God did it all that he lavished on us with all

  502. wisdom, and understanding. And Colossians Paul says this,

  503. in verse 14 of chapter one in whom talking about Christ, we

  504. have Redemption, the forgiveness of sin.

  505. These should be familiar, passages and familiar verses.

  506. You hear them all the time? But don't forget them, remind

  507. yourself of them constantly. When you feel dirty because you

  508. do as a Believer, commit, a sin. Remember this?

  509. You're a clan, you're forgiven, you recovered, why not?

  510. Because you always get it right? But because Christ died in your

  511. place on a cross and his blood has cleansed you of your sin.

  512. Many a man, even a believer spends his life in a miserable

  513. State because he doesn't understand the expiation of

  514. Jesus Christ his covering in his cleansing by his blood.

  515. That there will be no sin held to the charge of Kirk Hall any

  516. longer because of his faith in the expiation of Jesus Christ.

  517. You say none? Yes, none Christ, died.

  518. Once for all sin. I'm thankful for that.

  519. He died for my sin. He is my expiation Without faith

  520. in his blood. You're an eternal trouble.

  521. There is no cleansing for you. That first John says this and

  522. John's first epistle, he says in verse 7, but if we walk in the

  523. light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another

  524. and the blood of Jesus his son purifies us from all sin.

  525. Anyone here thankful that you have been cleansed and purified

  526. by the blood of Jesus Christ. Allowing you communion that's

  527. exactly what John is talking about with the father Communion

  528. with the father comes because you have been cleansed.

  529. Is expiation. Something that we ought to

  530. commemorate when we observe the Lord's Supper.

  531. So we asked the first question, what is the Lord's Supper to an

  532. ordinance for the church and observance of the Lord's death.

  533. The second question was, why should we observe the Lord's

  534. Supper? Because the Lord said to do it,

  535. And because it is to commemorate the Lord for what he has done.

  536. Do this in remembrance of me, you say, well, I don't think I

  537. have to do this. To remember what Jesus did for

  538. me really. You didn't know where your car

  539. keys were this morning. So we do this so that we don't

  540. forget so that we are reminded of this propitiation through his

  541. body. And his expiation provided by

  542. his blood. Third question, who should

  543. observe the Lord's Supper? Oh, I have seen churches in

  544. error. Run people through the communion

  545. lines as if they were cattle being vaccinated.

  546. I want you to pay close attention to what the Apostle

  547. teaches here in verse 27 of chapter 11.

  548. As we answer the question, who should observe the Lord's

  549. Supper, is this for everyone. Therefore, whoever eats the

  550. bread or drinks the cup of the Lord, in an unworthy manner will

  551. be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

  552. He says, in verse 28, a man ought to examine himself before

  553. he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

  554. Why should he do that? Verse 29, says, for anyone who

  555. eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord

  556. eats and drinks? Judgment on himself.

  557. I would say this to you. Anyone who eats or drinks

  558. without recognizing the body and the blood of the Lord eats and

  559. drinks judgment upon himself, pay attention to what he's

  560. saying here, only a True Believer can fully understand

  561. the body and the blood of Jesus Christ.

  562. Why? Because that was not revealed by

  563. your own human intellect. It was revealed by God himself,

  564. we know that Peter, when he confessed the Lord Jesus, you

  565. are the Christ, the son of the Living God.

  566. He said, yes, Peter and Flesh. And Blood did not reveal this to

  567. you, but God's spirit has revealed this to you.

  568. So as we think on these things, understand the first thing that

  569. I want you to understand about who should observe the Lord's

  570. Supper, it's only those who understand the body and the

  571. blood of Christ. If you're sitting here right now

  572. and you're going man, us is really making sense.

  573. We're going to eat a body and drink some blood.

  574. This is weird. These people are car Navarra

  575. cannibals. If that's your attitude, let me

  576. say this, don't protect. If the cup You have no idea.

  577. Oh I pray this. I pray that before we're done

  578. today that God would sovereignly open your eyes to see the truth

  579. that he would Quicken your dead Spirit to understand and to

  580. Believe In Christ. and 42 in for the first time in your life, to

  581. see him for who he truly is, Who should observe the Lord's

  582. Supper? He makes it very clear.

  583. The real believers Those who by faith have been given true

  584. Enlightenment from the Holy Spirit.

  585. True Enlightenment, true, Enlightenment concerning the

  586. magnitude of Christ's atoning death because a True Believer is

  587. going to understand that. That's interesting when I talk

  588. to people, I ask them if they're a Believer and they said, yeah,

  589. that's will tell me about when you became a Christian and they

  590. never talk about Sin. He never talked about Brokenness

  591. and never talk about repentance and never talk about the death,

  592. and the blood of Jesus Christ, and his cross, and his death,

  593. and it's very real. And his resurrection.

  594. All they talk about is their free ticket to Heaven.

  595. That some shyster sold them yet, because I walk the, I prayed a

  596. little prayer, you have no understanding of the sacrifice

  597. of Jesus Christ. Do not partake of his table.

  598. You don't belong here. Some for you.

  599. It's only for the real believer is it will Pastor?

  600. That's kind of bold. I'd been in churches where they

  601. invite everyone to take Community.

  602. Yeah they do. No those are living an active

  603. sin. Those are living a sinful

  604. Lifestyles, those who aren't Believers at all and they abuse

  605. the table of the Lord. And if the Lord was going to

  606. write another letter to the church, it would address the

  607. fact that they have abused and abused and abused, the table of

  608. the Lord, we're not going to do it just because others do.

  609. This for real believers. You know, Christ and were known

  610. of Christ. We've been brought the true

  611. Faith. True repentance.

  612. We're broken over their sin and humbled by the sacrifice of

  613. Jesus Christ. It is for the real Believers

  614. because only a True Believer will really understand this at

  615. all. The rest, it would just be

  616. something that people do. Oh, don't let this just be

  617. something that people do a ritual.

  618. See this for what it really is. Is a picture of the communion

  619. that we have with the father through the son because we are

  620. true. Believers who have been saved by

  621. grace alone through faith alone. In Christ alone.

  622. We can come as true believers to his table.

  623. Why? Because he has invited us Sup

  624. with him to fellowship with him to have that intimate

  625. relationship with him who should observe the Lord's Supper the

  626. real Believers, but it doesn't just stop there Paul goes on.

  627. He says in verse 27, he talks about therefore whoever eats the

  628. bread and drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will

  629. be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord

  630. and a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the

  631. bread and drinks of the God. He goes on to say for anyone who

  632. eats and drinks without recognizing the body of Lord

  633. eats and drinks judgment. I meant on himself.

  634. That is why many among you are weak and sick and a number of

  635. you have fallen asleep. See the seriousness of what the

  636. Apostle Paul teaches here that he has received from the Lord.

  637. He's saying many of you have read are receiving discipline

  638. and have received discipline from the Lord in the form of

  639. sickness and even death. That's what it means when it

  640. talks about asleep. When we refer to Believers

  641. dying. It is the fact that we refer to

  642. it in scripture as those who have fallen asleep in Christ.

  643. He's saying there are many believers who are right now.

  644. Now undergoing sickness and some have even died.

  645. Because they have mishandled and abused the Lord's Supper.

  646. It's beginning to make sense. Now, why I take this topic?

  647. So seriously when others do not Because I have been placed in a

  648. position of Under Shepherd to this body of Christ, and is my

  649. duty to warn the sheep of the danger that lie ahead.

  650. And I say to you. True sheep of God, do not take

  651. of the Lord's table today. Do not partake of the body and

  652. the blood. Lets you first, examine

  653. yourself, why? Because, as we have seen this

  654. observances for the real Believers, but it's also for the

  655. repentant Believers though, those who are walking in a

  656. constant state of examination, followed by confession and

  657. repentance. Oh, so many times Christians.

  658. Leave repentance and confession to this one-time experience.

  659. Can I tell you this? That is the biggest error that

  660. anyone has ever taught you. We as Christians are to walk in

  661. a continual state of repentance. In fact Charles Spurgeon said it

  662. best. He said this sincere, repentance

  663. is continual are you will repent at Salvation and you will

  664. continue to repent. He's a sincere.

  665. Repentance is continual Believers repent until their

  666. dying day. Christian, we must never ever

  667. ever neglect that continual examination.

  668. That the Lord calls for that continual confession and

  669. repentance that he calls for. Each day of our life, but

  670. especially, especially when we approach the Lord's table as we

  671. are going to do in just a few moment.

  672. Who should observe the Lord's Supper?

  673. Only the real believer. I tell you this today, if you're

  674. not a Believer here today, Do not partake of this cop.

  675. You are per taking judgment upon yourself.

  676. It's only for the real believers.

  677. It's only for the repentant Believers.

  678. If you're a True Believer here today, I want you to listen to

  679. me. I want you to listen to me

  680. clearly. You are a True Believer here

  681. today. And there's active sin in your

  682. life that the Holy Spirit has made you aware of And I assure

  683. you this, if he lives inside of you, you can't sin unaware.

  684. If you are holding onto it, oh and is even your little pet

  685. secrets in that goes on on the internet that you think no one

  686. knows about because you're pretty good at covering your

  687. tracks. You know.

  688. And to partake of the supper with that unconfessed and

  689. unrepented of sin in your life is to bring judgment and

  690. discipline upon yourself. You say current, do you really

  691. believe that? Yes, I believe all of the word

  692. of God. Hebrews chapter 12, says those,

    Hebrews 12 chapter mention

  693. he loves he disciplines and he chastens with Rod.

  694. If you're a truly loved by Christ today, if you were truly

  695. his, I assure you of this, he is not going to let you approached

  696. his table with unconfessed sin in.

  697. Your life without consequence. How do I know this?

  698. Look what? He says there in verse 31.

  699. Verse 31, he says, but if we judged ourselves, we would not

  700. come under judgment. What is he talking about?

  701. He's talking about the self-examination that ought to

  702. go on in the life of a Believer every day.

  703. He's talking about the preaching of the Gospel to yourself.

  704. He's talking about the preaching of the truth of the scripture to

  705. yourself constantly. Are you doing that?

  706. Are you doing like the psalmist? Who invites the Lord.

  707. That's me. Try me.

  708. See if there's any wickedness in me at all.

  709. Are you doing that believer? Are you today approaching his

  710. table with the attitude of Lord? Show me if there's anything in

  711. my life? That is a defilement to you.

  712. That is offensive to you. Everybody's worried about

  713. offending, everybody in this culture and no one seems to

  714. worry about offending God. Would you pray that?

  715. What if there's something offensive in my life?

  716. Is that my language that I use on a day-to-day basis?

  717. I Repent of that. Is it?

  718. My lustful thoughts? I Repent of that.

  719. Is it my lustful Deeds? I Repent of that.

  720. Is it? My greed?

  721. Is it my covetousness, is it my lack of contentment Lord, I

  722. Repent of that and I confess it to you by name.

  723. I am in need of your body and your blood.

  724. I'm in need of your cleansing constantly.

  725. Thank you. Lord.

  726. Jesus. What would happen?

  727. We approached his table like that.

  728. So it would be what it was intended to be.

  729. The time of worship and adoration a time of remembrance.

  730. The time, sweet, sweet, intimate Fellowship because of what

  731. Christ has done for us all the attention now goes off of us.

  732. Well, that was the big problem with the Corinthian Church.

  733. All the attention was on them. They were having a party.

  734. Paul says, this is not about a party.

  735. This is about Christ. This is about remembering

  736. Christ, his body and his blood. Walking in a manner. that is

  737. consistent with someone who truly understands that Who

  738. should observe the Lord's? Supper the real believers. and

  739. the repentant Believers perhaps today, as we prepare our hearts

  740. and our minds to observe the Lord's Supper You would examine

  741. yourself. In fact, I would implore you to

  742. do that. To examine yourself to test

  743. yourself, as Paul said to see, if you're truly of the faith.

  744. To do as the word commands in to work out your own salvation with

  745. fear. And trembling, are you a real

  746. believer here today? Go to examine yourself.

  747. As a believer. My repentant believer today.

  748. Are there things in my life that I need to let go of and and

  749. Trust Christ power. Free me from them today.

  750. The things that I need to confess by name that I've never

  751. mentioned hoping God would somehow look the other way.

  752. Can I say this? Your forgiveness came at the

  753. price of his only begotten, son. He's not going to look the other

  754. way. Did you hear me?

  755. It's not going to look the other way.

  756. God does not cast a blind eye to your sin.

  757. You confess your sin to Christ today.

  758. Your mediator Walking, the Forgiveness that he has provided

  759. for you first. John 1:9 says that if we confess

    1 John 1:9

  760. our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to

  761. cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

  762. Would you take Christ up on that today before coming to his

  763. table? Did you hear the words of John

  764. and that same epistle where he said?

  765. I would that you not sin. but if you do, But if you do you have

  766. an advocate with the Father the Lord Jesus Christ.

  767. Would you today approach The Advocate the Lord Jesus Christ.

  768. Confess those sins. And walking the Forgiveness that

  769. he died for you to walk in. Would you approach the table?

  770. With a clear conscience. Knowing that you have not

  771. trampled over the body in the blood of Jesus Christ, is the

  772. Corinthian Church did but that you as best as you could.

  773. Your broken state. Relied upon the grace and the

  774. mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, you identified with his body.

  775. With his blood. We answer the questions

  776. surrounding the Lord's Supper what is the Lord's?

  777. Supper. It's an ordinance for the

  778. church, as for the Believers and observance of the Lord's death.

  779. It is where we observe and commemorate the Lord and his

  780. death. Why should we observe the Lord's

  781. Supper? Because it is commanded by the

  782. Lord. And his to commemorate the Lord.

  783. His propitiation aren't you. Glad that?

  784. You know what that means now? and as expiation this

  785. propitiation provided by his body where he bore the wrath of

  786. God on the cross for you and Main died in our place,

  787. Fulfilling the wrath of God. Why satisfying it completely,

  788. why? The wages of sin is death, he

  789. bore our sin and he died our death but the gift of God is

  790. eternal life through Jesus Christ, Our Lord giving us

  791. eternal life It is to commemorate his propitiation and

  792. is expiation. What of atonement but of

  793. atonement that the whole Old Testament sacrificial system

  794. pointed to, it is to commemorate, the Fulfillment of

  795. that to commemorate, the true Passover Lamb.

  796. It's no coincidence that this happened at Passover, where

  797. Jesus stood, he took the bread and he took the cup, it's no

  798. coincidence that it happened that way.

  799. He was saying, I am the one that all of this pointed to all of

  800. this time, just as John, the Baptist identified him there and

  801. he said, behold the lamb Lamb of God who takes away the sin of

  802. the world as he walked the banks of the Jordan River.

  803. So now that these questions have been answered.

  804. I pray hopefully, clearly now that these questions have been

  805. answered, I want us to go into a time of careful examination.

  806. Careful examination. I'm going to ask that you not

  807. examine your husband husbands. Don't examine your wives lives.

  808. Don't examine the lives of your children, your grandchildren,

  809. just a moment. Would you examine your own life?

  810. Would you rely on the power of the Holy Spirit?

  811. To show you the things that maybe you would miss your

  812. fallible state. Would you be bold enough and

  813. brave enough to confess those things to the Lord?

  814. He already knows. And to repent you say well I

  815. can't I've tried yeah that's why you haven't because you keep

  816. trying. You call in the name of Jesus in

  817. the power of the Holy Spirit today.

  818. Let you walk out from that sin, that you've played around with

  819. so long. May this be a day?

  820. You remember forever the day you took communion for the first

  821. time with a pure heart toward God.

  822. Would you stand your feet? Every head, bowed?

  823. Every eye closed. Let's free together.

  824. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you.

  825. For the picture. You have given us.

  826. Your body and your blood that we might remember you but we thank

  827. you for the lessons in your word that make it so clear as we do

  828. have questions or thank you for the grace of answering those

  829. questions that we have. Got a preacher.

  830. Now that now that we would all approach your table with the

  831. right heart in the right mind. That it would be a time of

  832. worship appreciation and adoration toward you what you

  833. did for us at Calvary. 2000 years ago, we pray and we ask

  834. all these things in Christ's name.

  835. Amen. Thank you for listening to the

  836. key Life Fellowship, Pulpit Ministry podcast.

  837. If you would like to talk with one of our pastors, please email

  838. us at info at Key Life Fellowship, dot org or call us

  839. at 28 1689 1604. You can also visit our website

  840. at www.piofl.com. We hope and pray.

  841. You have a blessed week and remember you are lying.

  842. Light in the dark. Light in the dark.