The Lord's Supper

Amen and amen.

Aren't you thankful this morning?

Amen.

It's been a great month of looking into the Word of God and seeing the reasons we're to be thankful.

And I want you to turn with me in your Bibles this morning to 1 Corinthians 11.

Today we end this series, and then we start next Sunday, our Christmas series, the circumstances surrounding Christmas.

It's going to be awesome.

In fact, Rick will be starting next Sunday morning with uh opening our Christmas series because your pastor's got a little procedure that I've got to do on my right knee.

And it's scheduled on what, December the 1st, I think.

I've got to have my right knee scoped.

And uh I knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time, but uh four and a half years ago I had my left knee scoped, and the doctor told me then, he said, you know, preacher, I'll see you another three or four years from now, because the right one's wearing out too.

So I said, Well, thanks, doctor, that's very encouraging.

And uh, but anyway, so I've got to have my knee scoped, and uh with all this COVID stuff, you have to take a COVID test, and then I gotta be quarantined before I have surgery.

And uh so I said, Can't I go to church and at least sit on the front row, hear my associate preach, and then just go out the back door.

I won't touch anybody, won't won't, won't say hi to anybody.

I just nope, you're gonna be secluded.

Yeah, they know me.

I wouldn't do that anyway.

I still may stink in.

Yeah.

So anyway, be uh you can be praying for me to have a it's it's not a major thing.

The next morning I'll be in physical therapy.

I think I have to stay on crutches a couple of days and uh walking with them.

And then I'll be back.

I'll be back next Sunday preaching, I guarantee it.

And uh so may not be playing pickleball real quick, but uh, but uh give me about four weeks and I'll be back.

But uh anyway, so I'm excited about our Christmas messages.

I'm gonna probably start out with the message on Mary.

I'm gonna take Mary.

And Benji's gonna sing Mary, did you know, for me that morning.

And so uh go ahead and tell you.

That's the first he's hearing of you.

Yeah, but he's got two weeks.

He's all right, he can handle it.

And uh, but uh I I believe I'm spontaneity on the spot, right?

But that's who I am.

But anyway, but it's been a great time of Thanksgiving, and we wanted to, we're so excited about having our love feast back today.

Can we get a hand?

Amen.

Now, I hope you have not planned to go anywhere else, but right here for lunch.

We've got chicken and dressing, we've got desserts.

It's gonna be fabulous.

And we'll turn this place into a lunchroom very quick, or should I say very quickly, because that's what we did for eight years, and we haven't done it since uh what, April, March?

So I know a lot of people are excited about that.

Getting back to just fellowshipping with one another.

And my wife, I'm telling you, I know, and Heather, they have cooked all kind of Heather's done all the work.

Well, you cooked a lot of dressing at the house because I wanted to get into it, but I wasn't able to.

And we've got uh uh I know he was smelling, you ought to see my dogs at the house.

They were like, you know, not dressing, cooking, and and I'm thinking I'm getting over there like a dog too.

I want some too, but I didn't get any.

But uh anyway, I'm gonna get some in a little bit.

But it's gonna be a great day this morning.

We're gonna have, I've got to preach on the Lord's Supper, then we're gonna partake of the Lord's Supper, and then we're gonna break bread together.

I what a what actually we are doing what they did every Sunday in 1 Corinthians 11.

And how fitting for us to actually kind of participate in what they did every week in church.

So people ask me all the time, where did you get the idea of having a love feast every Sunday?

Right here, 1 Corinthians 11.

So, 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

Does everyone have their outline?

Does everyone have their outline?

Does anyone need an outline?

And by the way, you can cheat.

Go online.

We have the blanks already filled in for you.

I was wondering why Susan wasn't taking any notes.

She cheats.

She goes online and fills in the blanks because we already got them there for you.

So we're making it easy for you to learn the word of God.

So if everyone have one, does anyone need a sheep?

Anyone at all?

All right, good.

Well, let's go to the Word of God and let's see what God's going to teach us this morning about the Lord's Supper.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, starting at verse 23.

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

What a beautiful picture here.

Now let me go on record saying when we start this passage of scripture, you've got to realize, and one thing I want to bring out in the introduction, is that Paul is writing to the church at Corinth.

And sadly to say, Paul basically is rebuking this church for the mishandling of the Lord's Supper.

And what I mean by that, they were taking the Lord's Supper casually.

They were taking the Lord's Supper unworthily.

In fact, they had gotten to the point that it was just a real bad situation.

I meant some were even coming to the Lord's Supper drunk, literally.

And they had their cliques.

Oh, they had this group over here, and this group over here, and that group over here, and the poor people were kind of ostracized.

They didn't want anything to do with them.

Some of the cliques, not all.

So it was a church that, and we're going to see that, and he he calls out the church on their disunity, their distractions, their selfishness, oh, their cliqueshness.

I meant the discrimination they were doing to the poor.

I mean, he lets them have it.

But within that, then he really gives us a beautiful picture of what the Lord's Supper is supposed to be.

So, with that said, pick up with me, verse 23.

For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you.

That the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.

In other words, he said, This is not my revelation about the Lord's table.

It's the Lord Himself's divine revelation about the Lord's Supper.

In fact, he goes on to say that he's the one that instituted the Lord's Supper, and he did it during Passover time the night before he went to the cross.

He had what we call the Lord's Supper with the disciples that evening.

So it's very important.

This is not a man-made idea.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take eat.

This is my body, which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

And verse 25, in the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

This do as often as you drank it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.

In other words, you honor the Lord's death till he comes back.

This is one of the ways that we show him honor and gratitude and all the glory that he so rightly deserves.

Therefore, verse 27, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthily manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

In other words, you'll be guilty of bringing dishonor to the Lord.

You'll be guilty in disgracing the Lord.

In other words, this is pretty important.

The Lord Himself instituted this what we call Lord's Supper to be in recognition of who he is and what he did for us.

So it's very important.

It's one of the main ordinances of the church.

And then he says, but let a man examine himself.

And remember now, when he says this, he's saying it because we'll go back and look at all the things the church was doing wrongly.

That's why he kind of hits it pretty hard.

Do not come to the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner.

But let a man examine himself, verse 28.

And so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For who?

Now watch, for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment.

That's pretty powerful, folks, to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

In other words, not understanding the purpose of the Lord's Supper, not understanding why we do the Lord's Supper, not giving glory to the Lord because of what he's done.

And we do that in recognition of all that he has done for us and is to us.

And then he goes on, for this reason.

Many are weak.

In other words, people have gotten sick because they were bringing dishonor to the Lord's Supper.

And many sleep.

That's pretty powerful.

In other words, some had even died.

That's pretty strong, folks.

For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world.

Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

And I love that.

In other words, be verse 29.

And there he says, For he who eats and drinks unworthy.

But then he says, Be concerned with each other, be concerned about the body of Christ.

When you come together to eat, wait for one another.

In other words, love on one another.

Consider one another.

But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment, and the rest I will set in order when I come.

In other words, he's dealing right there, all these people coming, just coming to drink and to be gluttons, basically.

That's what was going on with some of the people within that church at this love feast.

So, with that said, let's look at the truths in this passage of Scripture, the Lord's Supper, the practice.

First of all, we got to realize that it's one of the two ordinances that we observe here at the church at Chelsea Westover.

The other ordinance we'll be doing in a few weeks.

Baptism.

We got several people that need to follow the Lord in believers' baptism.

And if you have not been scripturally baptized since you've been saved, this would be a good time.

What a beautiful setting to be baptized during Christmas season.

And especially during the same Sunday, we're dedicating children and babies to the Lord.

We do that twice a year at Christmas and at Easter.

So it's going to be a beautiful, beautiful service.

But we also know that the church, and I love this, the supper is also called, hey, in 1 Corinthians 10, 16, now are you ready?

It's called communion.

And the word communion literally means Thanksgiving.

And what a way to end our series this month on Thanksgiving by giving thanks to the Lord by observing the Lord's Supper.

So with that said, it is a serious, serious thing to come to the communion with an, hey, unprepared heart.

You're not to come with an unprepared heart.

It's very serious observance that we're about to take part of.

It is also a serious thing to receive the supper in a careless manner.

Because the Corinthians had been doing that, and it was breaking Paul's heart, and I know it was breaking the Lord's heart.

And because of that, people were sick, and like I said, some had even died.

But the Lord's Supper gives us an opportunity for spiritual growth and blessings if we approach it in the right attitude.

And this morning, we're going to look at what that means.

What then must we do if we want to observe the Lord's Supper this morning and we will, and have such a blessing and understanding and growth into all that it means?

There's four things we're going to do this morning that we should do.

And here's number one.

First, we should look back.

Verses 23 through 26.

The broken bread here reminds us as Christ's body that was broken and bruised for us.

In fact, the Bible very clearly says, and Jesus makes this a profound statement in John 6.35.

He says, I am the bread of life.

He that comes and eats of this bread shall never hunger.

It is a symbol of his body hanging on Calvary over 2,000 years ago.

And really it goes through, and I'm not going to go through the uh that's for an Easter service, but all the should I say torture and unbelievable beatings and treatment that our Lord and Savior took on himself for you and for me.

During that unbelievable week, and how they ended up on Friday crucifying him.

So he reminds us each and every time we take of the bread this morning, it will remind us of all that he went through.

And then the cup, it reminds us of the blood.

The blood that he shed on Calvary, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.

Oh, ladies and gentlemen.

Now let me remind you eating the bread is not literally eating the body of Christ.

And drinking the juice or the wine is not literally drinking his blood.

In fact, and that's another tradition, and I'm not going to go in to try to explain all that.

But the problem is, one of the strongest proofs that it was symbolic was that Jesus himself partook of the Lord's Supper.

He was not dead.

He had not, hey, he had not gone to the cross yet.

So it was a symbol of what he's about to do, what he was going to do for the disciples and for the world.

And the cup was also very symbolic.

So we must remember, and I really believe this, what hey, he did.

What he paid for our freedom and for the liberty of forgiving us of our sins.

This is part of the gospel message.

1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4.

I think you have those there.

It says Christ died for our sins.

Christ died for our sins according to the riches of his glory.

That he was buried, that he rose again the third day.

That's what he did for you and for me.

So we must uh remember what he did.

And it's not, by the way, it was not the life of Jesus.

It was not the miracles of Jesus.

It was not even the teachings of Jesus.

It was his death that saves us from our sins.

He had to go to the cross and die, folks.

I mean, he did.

Now thank God for his teachings.

Thanks God for his miracles.

Thank God for his life.

But for God, and you know it, quote it with me, John 3.16.

And think about it.

Just picture him going through that horrible, horrible 24 hours of being beaten and bruised.

He was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed.

Isaiah 53.

Think about that as we quote John 3.16.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

You can't just quote that nonchalantly.

You can't do that.

You can't just quote that flippantly.

You've got to think about it.

And that's what the Lord's Supper does.

It brings us back to that time, realizing what he did, why he did it.

Christ died for our sins.

He was our substitute.

There's another verse up here I'd like for you to see.

Isaiah 53, 6.

All we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way.

Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

Wow.

We should remember why.

Why?

Why did he do it?

He did it because he loves me and you.

And we just quoted the greatest verse in John for the exhibiting the love that he had for us.

And then we should remember the how.

He died willingly, meekly, showing forth his love.

Remember what Jesus said?

I could have called 10,000 angels.

He could have called the angels to rescue him and to take care of the whole Roman tyranny and army.

He could have, but he didn't.

Why?

Romans 5, 8.

But God commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to realize that is why we are so thankful.

Here's another verse that I really love.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 21.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For he had made him who knew no sin.

Now watch this.

To be sin for us.

Why?

That we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank God.

When God looks down at Danny Levin, he doesn't see my imperfections, he doesn't see my bad attitudes, he doesn't see my rotten attitude, he doesn't see my sinfulness, he sees his righteousness through Christ Jesus our Lord.

In fact, when he looks down, and he and in fact, when Satan starts saying, Do you know that pastor at CCW?

He's a rotten, no good sinner.

He's this, he's that, he's done this, he's got a bad attitude, he blah, blah, blah, blah.

And you know what Jesus says?

He says, all of a sudden he'll say, Yes, stop.

That's true.

Yes, he's guilty, yes.

But I paid his price.

I paid his debt.

So, Satan, you cannot condemn that preacher.

He's mine.

One God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

Amen.

God doesn't see my filthiness, because my rags are filthy rags.

Isaiah 64, 6.

All my righteousness is as filthy rags.

So when you partake of that Lord's Supper today, you're saying, thank you, Jesus, for interceding for me.

However, this remembering here, Paul says, is not simply the recalling of historical facts, it is a participation in a spiritual reality.

You know what that means when he says, remember.

Go back to when you got saved.

Start thinking about when you got saved.

When I start to partake of the Lord's Supper, I start thinking about going back to First Baptist Church in Sylvester, Georgia, up in the balcony, sitting with the cheerleaders.

That's why I went to church before I got saved.

And I'll never forget.

God had been, the pastor had been witnessing to me personally.

I was playing basket.

I was a pretty good athlete in high school, and he had been sharing with how God could use my athleticism if I gave my life to Christ to be a living testimony and share.

And I was under conviction.

And so he was preaching that day.

And I'll never forget, God had been dealing with me, and he preached that day, and he gave the invitation.

And I'm sitting up there and I'm saying, I know I need to go.

Lord, I know.

I know I need to be saved.

But I said, So I I bargained with God.

You ever done that?

Yes.

I said, Lord, I tell you what, if they sing one more stanza, I'm going down.

Now you've got to realize this church, there's two types of Baptist churches.

The chosen frozen and the happy clappy.

And this was not a happy clappy.

It was pretty, I mean, you could buy the clock, 15 minutes, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, gotta do, but, bye.

Everybody leaves, nobody says anything to anybody, nobody hugs anybody neck.

They sure didn't eat together.

You know what I'm talking about.

You've been there.

So I knew I was safe when I said, if they say saying one more stanza, well, guess what?

That's the church bells ringing.

Guess what?

That pastor stood there and he said, I'm gonna do something that I've not done before.

I feel led of the Lord, but we need to sing one more stanza.

Guess what?

I didn't even remember what happened next.

But all I know was I when I really came to my senses, because I was crying, weeping, I was standing in front of that chosen, frozen church, telling the pastor I need to get saved.

Go back to that time.

Remember when you got saved.

It may not be the exact date or the time and all that.

Now I went back and looked it up.

It was April the 15th.

But but you know, you know when you gave your life to Christ, and you know when you changed.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ Jesus, he's a new creation.

Go back to that time.

Some of you was here.

A lot of you, it was right here.

And if you go back and you say, well, I don't know, I'm not sure.

Hey, hey.

And everybody said, Well, you really don't have to know when you really got saved, do you?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's not a and it's not a metamorphosis.

People think, well, I just get better.

No, you don't get better to get saved, you get saved to get better.

Hello?

You okay out there?

You may lose your birth certificate, but you still, but you have a pulse of your life.

That's pretty good, honey.

Amen.

But what I'm saying is, you know when the change took place in your life.

Amen?

And by the way, I've got good news for you.

If you're not sure, make sure.

Somebody said, oh no.

I'd rather, hey, I'd rather do it again and make sure I was saved than the think I'm saved and then end up in hell.

Hello?

Can I get an amen on that one?

Because let me tell you, now let me use, because someone, I don't know.

Let me give the scripture.

1 John 5.13.

These things have a written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.

Now watch, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.

Amen.

You gotta know it.

You gotta nail it down.

That way Satan can't tell me.

Well, you know when he comes to tempt me and says, which I hadn't doubted my salvation.

I did a little bit there when I first got saved, but then as I grew, I haven't doubted my salvation because I can take you back.

I remember, I know.

Have I been perfect?

Absolutely not.

Will I ever be perfect?

Yes, when I go to be with him.

But not until.

But I know.

So you gotta look back to what he did on the cross for you and remember when you received him.

Secondly, number two, verse 26 again.

We should look ahead.

We observe the supper.

Now notice what he says in verse 26, second phrase.

Till he comes.

Till he comes.

The return of Jesus Christ is that blessed hope of the church and the individual Christian.

Jesus not only died for us, but he rose again and ascended to heaven, and one day he shall return to take us to heaven.

Today we are not all that we should be, but when we see him, are you ready for this?

1 John 3, 2, but when we see him, we'll be like him.

Oh the Lord Himself.

I think I have it there for you too.

1 John, I meant 1 Thessalonians 4.

The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And then verse 18, he says, Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm telling you, Jesus is coming again.

And I believe it's sooner than you think.

A lot of people are on all this election, everything's going on.

I just got news for you.

God's in charge and God's got a platform, and God's prophecy will be fulfilled.

333 prophecies have been fulfilled.

Verbatim from the Old Testament.

Hey, after the writing of the New Testament, and up to this date, right now, 333 prophecies have been fulfilled.

Verbatim, I've been doing some reviewing on all this.

And Paul did say in 2 Timothy 3, 12, 13, that it'll wax worse and worse.

And all I'm saying is, God's in charge, but he says, you'll not know the day, you'll not know the time, you'll not know the hour, but you'll know the signs.

And I've got news for you.

The next prophetic thing to take place in God's plan.

Are you ready?

Is the rapture of the church.

I told Rick, Rick said, preacher, we may have to practice rapture practice.

Oh, I used to do that.

I used to do it.

Where's Rick?

I better do it for my knee surgery.

What do you think, Rick?

Think you ought to do it?

No, he's barried.

He's embarrassed back there.

In the twinkling of an eye, we're gone.

I'm not I'm not upset.

Well, I'm upset, but I'm kind of getting excited.

So, he's coming.

It's our blessed hope.

How many of you got people that you love that have died and gone on to be with Jesus?

Raise your hand.

Oh, all my family.

I'm the only, me and my sisters are the only ones left.

Most of my mentors, all but one,'s already gone to heaven.

I'm gonna tell you something, folks.

It's gonna be a family reunion that you will never under under, we will never underestimate.

I'm telling you, it's gonna be heaven.

And I'm gonna preach on heaven in in February.

I was gonna thinking about preaching in on January, but I'm gonna wait because God's really grabbed my heart.

Let me tell you what we're gonna preach in January.

I think there's five Sundays.

God's gonna do it again.

And Satan can't stop it.

God's gonna do it again, and you get to be a part of it.

God's gonna do it again, and your family gets to see it.

The miraculous, the unbelievable.

And God's gonna do it again if he gets all the praise.

We're gonna come out of the chute for this New Year's with a banner held high.

God's not dead.

God's in charge.

And God's gonna do it again.

And Satan can't stop it.

We're gonna charge hell with a water pistol.

Amen?

Number three, with the Lord's Supper.

We should look within.

Verses 27 through 28 and 31, verse 32, that we read.

Paul did not say that we had to be worthy to partake of the Lord's Supper.

Can I say something?

There's not one of us in here worthy to partake of the Lord's Supper.

Amen?

Not one of us.

Not one of us.

And he didn't say that.

What he said that we should partake in a watch, worthy manner.

At a communion service.

We should realize that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Can I say amen to that?

There's none righteous, no, not one.

There's none that understandeth.

There's none that seeketh after God.

Romans 3.

Romans 5.11, for by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.

So death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.

Romans 5.12, Adam.

So take it from me, a dear sinner.

By God's grace, we come to the Lord's Supper in a sin, hey, a hey, in a sinful manner, knowing, and I like this.

1 John 1 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Can I get an amen?

For it was sin that nailed him to the cross.

If we will not judge our own sins, then God will judge our sins.

And he will chasten us until we do confess and forsake our sins.

Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

God chastens the ones that he loves.

The Corinthians neglected to examine themselves.

But before we take off the Lord's Supper, that's what we're doing this morning.

We are examining ourselves as we look back, as we look ahead, and now as we're looking within.

In fact, there was division in the church in this chapter, verse 18.

Division.

If there's any division between you and God, you need to get it right.

If there's any sin standing between us and God, we need to get it right.

Amen.

We do.

If there's any division between you and some of your church family or some of your immediate family, you need to get it right.

And the way you do that, you can go ahead and come, you say, but I do I you can confess that sin right now.

And you can still, if you mean it, partake of the Lord's Supper and then make it right when you leave.

Write a letter, call them, whatever you need to do, and make it right.

I've done that more than once.

I really have.

There was also, I've already told you, but in verse 19, the factions, the clicks, the heresy.

They were even gotten to the point that they didn't believe all the word of God to be the word of God.

Some of them had.

They were opening their ears, itching ears to false doctrines.

Thank God for a church that believes the word, stands on the word, preaches the word.

The whole counsel of God.

There was deception.

Darren, you said something about that, verse 20.

There was selfishness and indulgence, verse 21.

That was all about them.

Drunkenness, verse 21, neglect of the poor, verse 21, and irreverence and carelessness toward God and his word, verse 22.

That's pretty serious, folks.

But that's what he dealt with.

And he pleaded with the church to make it right.

And then the fourth thing.

Finally, we should look around.

We should not look around in order to criticize other believers, but in order to discern the Lord's body.

1 Corinthians 11, 29.

Oh, listen to what he says.

It's beautiful, really.

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthy, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

In other words, you look to yourself.

See if any of those principles are real in your life that you need to deal with and ask God to forgive you.

And by the way, this is not just the body, church body, but your own intimate family body.

There's a lot of there's that there's, you know, there's divisions with parents and kids and grandparents, and I mean brothers and sisters, I could go down the list.

And by the way, let me help you here.

You're not responsible for how they react back to you.

But you are responsible for your part.

See, I can't control how Darren reacts back to me.

But I can control how I react toward Darren.

And what's my responsibility to say I'm sorry.

Forgive me.

Sorry and forgiveness are two hard words.

Did anybody grow up on Fonzie?

Oh boy, we are telling our age now, aren't we?

Remember when he'd have to say he was wrong?

He couldn't do it.

He'd say, I was.

He could never get it out.

He's the fox.

But listen, folks, sorry, forgiveness are two of the most powerful words we can use as a Christian.

I'm sorry, will you forgive me?

And let me say something.

You're holding grudges, and maybe whoever you're holding the grudge against, they don't know about it.

Hello?

Give me a chance if I've hurt you in any way as your pastor, before we partake of this Lord's Supper, give me a chance to make it right.

Hello?

Now a lot of preachers wouldn't say that.

I may have a line all the way out the door.

So be it.

Last thing I want to do is to take this Lord's Supper.

Unworthily.

I've hurt my wife in any way.

I think I've been pretty good lately because I knew the Lord's Supper was coming.

Short accounts are good.

But, and I said that so we could laugh because we were all, I know I it's serious business, folks.

This is serious business.

But don't sit there and say, well, I'm just not going to take.

That's not the purpose, is to scare you not to take the Lord's Supper.

And it's not to scare you, it's to present the truth to you so you can get your hearts right with God and anyone else that it needs to be right with.

Can I get an amen?

So you can have that sweet fellowship.

So you can have that comfort and that love and knowing that you are assured that God's going to listen to your prayers.

Do you realize if things aren't right, God can't even hear your prayers?

Do you understand that?

If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear me.

Psalm 66, 18.

That's powerful, folks.

Look around.

The supper should be a demonstration.

Here's what Paul said of the unity of the church.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.

Psalms 133, verse 1.

Psalms 133:1

Beloved, 1 John 4, 11.

If God so loved us, we ought to also love one another.

No one ought to come to the table.

Here it is, as I'm winding this up, and we're going to get ready to partake of the Lord's Supper.

No one ought to come to the table who is not a true believer.

You've got to know that you know.

But that you can settle that too.

You can get saved right now and then, wouldn't that be awesome?

To get saved this morning, and then the first thing you do to make it public is to partake of the Lord's Supper.

Woo! Man.

Wouldn't that be awesome?

From then on, every time you do in remembrance of me, every time you would partake of the Lord's Supper, you'd say, I got saved.

Woo! I can't wait for the Lord's Supper.

It reminds me, my life got changed.

I became a new creation.

The Lord's Supper is a family meal, and the Lord of the family desires his children to love one another and care for one another.

So, a true believer comes to the table.

If his heart is, hey, not right with God, he gets his heart right and he comes to the table.

So, let me close with this.

I wrote this to myself.

Because I can beat myself up.

Nobody knows that but me.

But I can beat myself up pretty good.

The communion is not supposed to be a time of spiritual.

Now listen, autopsy and grief, no.

Even though confession of sin is important, it should be a time of thanksgiving and joyful anticipation of seeing the Lord.

Hey, Jesus gave thanks even though he was about to suffer and die.

Hebrews 12, 2 says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Now listen, who for the joy was set before him, joy endured the cross.

Wow.

Just think, we're about to partake of the greatest opportunity of remembering what God did for us.

He sent his son Jesus 2,000 years ago to die on a cross so that you and me could be set free.

Every head bow, every eye close.