Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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We turn tonight to 1St Corinthians chapter 10. I'd like to read some verses and the 10th chapter and also in the 11TH chapter, the 10th chapter about the Lords Table and in the 11TH chapter about the Lord's Supper, 1St Corinthians 10 and verse 15. I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the.
Body of Christ, for we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
Behold Israel after the flesh, Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I them that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything but? I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that ye should have fellowship with. How shall we turn over the 11TH chapter?
And the.
23rd verse.
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also He took the cup when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood.
This do ye as OFT as ye drink it in remembrance of.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He comes. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself and soul out of eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation the margin word, judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world.
Wherefore my?
Brethren, when you come together to eat, tarry one for another, and if any man hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation, and the rest will I set in order when I come. Well, in these two chapters, as I remark in the 10th chapter, we have the truth about the Lord's Table, and in the 11TH chapter about the Lord's Supper. Notice the mention of the Lord's Supper in the 20th verse of the 11TH chapter.
And I believe it's very helpful for us to see.
What the Word of God tells us about these two things.
You know, there are many people that enjoy the truth of the Lord's Supper, but they don't enjoy the truth of the Lord's Table. And the Lord would have us to enter into and enjoy the truth of both these things. And they're both brought before us in such a precious way in this chapter, in these two chapters.
Now there are many dear Christians, and if you ask them, Are you saved? Oh, they would give you a verse of Scripture, and they would be sure of salvation from some verse of God's precious word, like Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, or such a verse as he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. But if you said to them, And why do you meet as you do?
They couldn't give you any scriptural answer. Perhaps they have gone to some particular.
Group because they've been brought up in it, perhaps because they like the preacher, perhaps because it's an active group, but they couldn't give you a scriptural reason as to why they are gathered as they are. But it's lovely that in the Word of God we're not left to our own wills. It's a blessing to know not only the way of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, but to know Him also as the gathering center. He is the gathering Center for His people.
Well, in this 15th verse where we began in the 10th chapter, it says I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. No, we have the Spirit of God indwelling us so that what we do as Christians is to be an intelligent service with an Israelite. He fulfills certain things in connection with the ritual of Judaism without really knowing why. If you were to ask an Israelite, well, why is that animal cut in such a way and why are.
Parts washed for the sacrifice. He would have to say, well, that's what Jehovah said, and our part is to do what he has told us. But if you ask an intelligent Christian, he can give you an answer from God's word so that he knows what is the mind of God and he knows why he meets in the way he does. He knows what the Lord's table means. He knows what the loaf is a symbol of. He knows what the cup is a symbol of and he.
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Into it and enjoys it. And so he speaks to those who are able by the Spirit to understand and judge of these precious things.
Now I want to call your attention in this 10th chapter to the fact that the cup comes first. I'm sure we're all aware that when the Lord Jesus instituted the supper Himself on the night of His betrayal, that He first broke the bread. And then it says after supper He gave them the cup. That is, that the loaf was broken, and after that the cup. And that is the order in First Corinthians 11. But in 1St Corinthians 10, the cup comes first.
Because the thought in the 10th chapter is our remark is the Lord's Table.
And I'm sure that when you and I think of the person whose table it is, we think of the glory of the One who is in our midst as gathered to His precious name. The first thought that would come to our minds is, how am I suited to be at the Lord's table? How am I, who was once so far off, able to be in His presence and sit at His table?
Well, how beautifully it's answered in Hebrews chapter 10. It says having therefore brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. And so here this precious thought of the cup comes before us. First of all, because coming into his presence, coming at his table, I know that I have perfect acceptance. I know that the blood of Christ has put away every sin so that God himself.
Can say clean every whip and there I can be in his presence and know that he doesn't see one spot upon me. We know very well if we ask someone to our table, why we want that person to come to the table relaxed. We want him to come and feel that he's accepted there. Well, when he the the Lord brings before us the truth of his table. He brings before us first of all the cup.
And it says here it's the communion of the blood of Christ. Now, sometimes we hear Christians talking about taking communion. Well, you know, actually communion cannot be taken. Communion means common thoughts. And we can have common thoughts, but we can't actually take common thoughts. And there's no such thought in the Bible as taking communion. But we can be in communion with the Lord in the act.
We can enter into His thoughts about what that cup means. And so that as we see it sitting there on the table when we come in on Lord's Day morning, it speaks to us of the infinite value of that precious blood that gives us boldness to be in His presence that has cleansed us from all sin. And it is the theme of our song when we get home to glory. And so we have fellowship with God. We have His thoughts about these precious things when we come.
On Lords Day morning.
And then the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Now notice here that in this chapter the one loaf is given to us as a symbol of the one body of Christ.
In the 11TH chapter where it speaks of the law, it speaks of it as being a symbol of the physical body of Christ, that body that was bruised for us on Calvary, and the Lord Jesus went into death and died for us. Christ died for our sins. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. That's the truth that is particularly set before us in the 11TH chapter. But in the 10th chapter you'll notice it says we.
Seeing many our one bread, one body or if you have another translation.
This one bread is translated one loaf. That's what it means.
Now you know, isn't it a wonderful thing here that the loaf is brought before us at the Lord's table as being the symbol of the one body of Christ?
In many places it's all cut up. In other places they have unleavened bread or crackers and so that they, instead of seeing one loaf on the table, you see something that represents a broken condition. That is all. There's no knowledge of what it means to be gathered around the Lord as members of His body.
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Well, perhaps someone might have a difficulty as to why.
We don't use unleavened bread. Well, you know, here we're told that it's a symbol of believers. And you know, it's a lovely thing to think that as we sit here in the Lord's presence, we still have the old nature within us. We can't say that there's no old nature within us, but when there is, when the leaven is bacon.
Why then it's not working? And so as we sit there, the old.
Nature is to be in the place of death. But here, when we have the one loaf as a symbol of believers, it is somewhat similar to what we have in Leviticus 23. I'd like you to turn back.
And.
See what it tells us in the 23rd of Leviticus.
About the day of Pentecost.
23 and verse 15 And you shall count unto you from the moral after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave, offering seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Even unto the moral after the seven Sabbath shall ye #50 days, or Pentecost. That's what Pentecost means. And ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
He shall bring out of your.
Habitations 2 wave loaves of 210 steel. They shall be of fine flour, they shall be bacon with leaven. They are the first fruits unto the Lord. You notice here that these two wave leaves, wave loaves were taken with leaven, and they pictured to us Jew and Gentile, because on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God came down, it says he came in cloven tongues as a fire.
And so there we have the thought that God's purpose was to bring Jew and Gentile together and make them one body in Christ.
Particularly one to call your attention to was that these laws were bacon with leaven. And so when the loaf is looked upon as a symbol of believers, why we still have the old nature within us, and yet we can sit in His presence as members of His body.
And now it's a very precious thing to see that that loaf is a symbol of the one body of Christ.
And that's why it wouldn't be right for us to call ourselves by some name, or even to call ourselves the Church of the brethren. What is the Church of God? Well, it tells us in the 12TH chapter of First Corinthians. For by 1 Spirit are ye all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit.
And So what is the Church of God? What is the body of Christ? Well, it's composed of all believers. And if we are going to meet on the ground that is set before us in 1St Corinthians 10, then it represents all believers. But they're not all there. I'm sure that in Buena Park there are many true believers who are not gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, who don't gather as members of His body and yet.
All represented in that one loft. And this is the only scriptural way in which we can gather, if we would gather at the Lord's table. And so we can't call ourselves by a church name. We can't say that we are the Church of God because the Church of God is composed of all believers. But we can meet to give expression to this truth. And I've sometimes illustrated it like this.
Supposing there was a father, and he had.
Ten children and when he died he asked that his children would gather every so often and give expression to the fact that they were one family. And then after a little while something happens and the family gets divided and there are only 5 of them that want to gather to fulfill their father's request.
Well.
The other five are not present. The other five are part of the family, though. And So what are we going to do when there's only five? Well, the five say, well, we're going to gather like our father requested. We're not going to profess to be the whole family. We're going to recognize that the other five who are not present with us are equally part of the family with ourselves. But we're going to fulfill our father's request even though there are only five of us.
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Supposing their numbers got down to 2 and the other eight wouldn't come, or the other eight were going someplace else.
And they said, well, we're not going to give up asking what our father asked us to do, doing what our father asked us to do. And even two of us can gather together and fulfill our father's request and come together as part of one family and recognize that the other eight are equally part of the family.
Two of them come together. They give expression to the fact that there is one family even though the other eight are absent. Well, brethren, in a simple way this is what is expressed at the Lord's table. And if only two or three came together with the one loaf on the table gathered by the Spirit of God around the Lord Jesus Christ, they could give expression to the truth that there is.
One body? Well, what a precious privilege this is. How dear it must.
Of the heart of Christ, who prayed that his own might be 1. To look down and see some who are endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We can't keep the unity of the body. We can't drag all the Christians together and make them come, but we can endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. We can gather and represent in that simple way, and give expression to the truth.
But there is one body. So here we find that at the Lord's table this precious truth is expressed, and the one loaf sitting on the table is a symbol of the one body of Christ.
Some years ago back in Canada, there was a Christian man who had laid hold of this precious truth, and he was gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, and it was very dear to his heart.
And he was going home from the meeting having remembered the Lord that morning. And he met another Christian whom he knew and loved. And he said to him, I saw you at the Lord's table this morning. Oh, he said, I went to my own church this morning. He said, well, I saw you there. No, he said, you mistook someone else for me, I guess because I wasn't there.
He said I saw you in that one loaf. Well, isn't it a lovely thing?
That when we gather in this way, we can see represented in that one loft every member of the body of Christ.
But now I believe there's also another truth that's very precious in this, and that is that we break bread not merely as forgiven sinners, but in a wonderful nearness as members of the body of Christ.
Perhaps to make this plain I could use an illustration.
Back in the Old Testament we read about a sinful woman named Rahab, and she put her faith in the God of Israel. She hung the scarlet line in her window, and when the judgment fell upon Jericho, she escaped.
But that wasn't the end of the story. It tells us in Matthew chapter one that she actually married into the royal line of Israel and became the wife of a man named Salman. Well, time would come when they would sit down at the table together and he could look across the table at her and supposing she looked over and she said, well, it's wonderful to be a forgiven harlot.
Well, I think he'd look back and say, oh, you're far more than that to me. It's true, you're forgiven. But I want you to know that I look upon you and love you as the bride of my choice.
Well, brethren, if you and I just break bread is forgiven. Sinners, we haven't entered fully into the thoughts of God. It's true, we are forgiven. But I love to sit at the Lord's table and think that he's looking at me and saying, thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee. This is more than forgiveness. And I say that you will enjoy the privilege of remembering the Lord much more if you realize the truth of the Lord's table.
And if you just lay hold of the truth that is spoken of in His supper. And so here we find ourselves at His table. We come there with holy boldness. The blood has removed every stain. We sit there in a conscious and enjoyed relationship. The One who is in our midst is the Bridegroom of the Church, and we sit there as members of His body. Could there be a more wonderful privileged granted to us? Could anything be dearer to our hearts?
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Or to his than to be gathered around himself in this relationship. All, brethren, is it any wonder that the enemy attacks this truth? Is it any wonder that he tries to smash up such a testimony, because it's so dear to the heart of Christ? He loved the church and gave himself for it. And he looks down and he sees a few Christians part of that church that he gave himself for. And they're calling themselves by such and such a name, another place.
Another group and they're calling themselves by another name and he finds a few.
Who say, well, we don't want any other name but the name of the Lord Jesus, and we meet as members of his body, but we don't boast. We don't say we're the only ones. We say that there's a place at the table for all who will lay hold of this precious truth and come there not as members of some organization that come there as members of the body of Christ.
Well, what a place and privilege is ours.
I say again, no wonder the enemy tries to attack it, because when the Lord Jesus comes, what will be his great joy to present to Himself that bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing? And what joy it must give him now to find some who have entered into his thoughts and are gathered at his table to express this precious truth.
Now there are just a few thoughts in connection with what follows the 18th verse. Behold Israel after the flesh. Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
These verses that follow are to teach us, I believe, a very important lesson, and that is that the act of partaking is identification with that which the table stands for. Just as the one who partook of the sacrifices in Judaism became identified with the altar and with what it stood for, the heathen who went into his temple and partook of the sacrifices there became identified with the idol.
And.
So some Christians say, well, why can't I break bread in other places?
Lay hold of this truth, it becomes very simple to us. That is, we become identified with that which the table or the altar or whatever it may be stands for by partaking there. And so an Israelite might say, well, I don't really wish to have fellowship with Judaism any longer, but you know, my family go there.
And this was a religion that was given of God.
But says the apostle, you're having fellowship with the altar and with Judaism, with all of it stands for a heathen slave might say, like you remember name. And the leper said, why? He said, my master is going to expect me to go into the House of Rimmon. And he seemed to sense that it wasn't right. And he said, the Lord pardon my servant in this thing. And perhaps one of these Corinthians were slaves.
And he might say, but my.
My master wants me to go into the idols temple and partake of the sacrifice in there. The idol doesn't mean anything to me, Paul says. He said the idol isn't anything, but he said you're having fellowship with it If you do. The idol isn't anything, it's true, but you're having fellowship with it. And I believe that there's an important principle for us to bear in mind and that is that when we come to the Lord's table, we have fellowship with the Lord.
About what that?
Up cup and evoke what that love means. And if we have laid hold of that, do we want to have fellowship with anything that is not according to his mind in this precious and wonderful truth?
Could I go out then, and freely and with a good conscience go and break bread in something that was in separation from that which I believe the Lord owned as His table, and where the truth of the one body was expressed? Well, He shows this principle. Now I wish to say that we don't think, and the Scripture doesn't teach.
That these tables that have been set up by man are tables of devils. It's not so.
But I do say that there's a principle taught here because in Corinth there were only three things. There was the place of Judaistic worship, there was idolatry, and there was a company gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. At this time there were no divisions among the people of God. The Spirit of it was at work, but there were no open divisions. So he sets before them a principle here, using the things that existed at that time.
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I would say that if a group of Christians go out and set up a table in Independence, then it would be man's table. Because what have they left? If what they were gathered to in the 1St place was the Lord's Table, than what they left cannot be the same as what they went to. And so it must be something that the human energy, the energy of man has done. Well, one would say these things very humbly.
One doesn't intend that we should boast, but I believe there is a very.
Very precious and wonderful truth set before us here, and that is that there is such a thing as the Lord's table, and that we can come there with blessed and holy confidence, because we are fitted through the precious blood of Christ. We can sit at His table in a conscious and enjoyed relationship, and where, if I can use the expression, were on the largest ground in the whole of Christendom at the Lord's table.
At the Lord's Table we have the largest ground. Why? Well, because it includes every member of the Body of Christ. Anything that makes a group of people under a name or forms an organization to unite Christians together is a practical denial of the truth that they are one and members of the Body of Christ. And so let me go back to the little illustration again. Even if there are only two, and we know that there are far, far more who are.
So gathered, let us not give up the precious truth and the precious privilege of being gathered where two or three are gathered around the Lord Jesus as members of His body.
Now, I'd just like to make a few comments in what comes between here. We have spoken briefly about it, but in the latter part of the 10th chapter, I believe in this way He brings before us the truth of separation. That is, they were not. Once they had learned the truth of the Lord's Table, it brought about separation from everything that was not of God in connection with Christian worship.
Then I believe we could say that in the first part of the 11TH.
Chapter We have the truth of submission brought before us in the woman's place, because it tells us in Ephesians chapter 5.
That the woman is to submit to her husband as well. I'll read the verse to Ephesians chapter 5.
And verse 22 wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body.
And so all these verses are devoted to the truth of the covering on a sister's head and the fact that the man is not covered. Well, some people consider this is a very small, a very unimportant thing. Why should it come between the 10th chapter and the 11TH chapter? Why should God bring in these verses between the truth of the Lord's Table and the truth of the Lord's Supper?
Well, I believe that as as Christians.
When we have learned the truth, seeing the woman's place signifies the place of the church. There is a beautiful lesson of submission, and each one of us can apply it to ourselves. And the sister shows it by the covering upon her head. But in our lives, there should be submission to the will of God. And I have wondered if the Spirit of God took it up in this chapter because some people say, Oh well, that's just a small thing. That's a very.
Important thing, but he takes up something very small. Because I believe often the submission of our will is tested in small things. It's in little things that we prove our love. Very often when someone we love does some little thing to please us, how it touches us. And if they do some great thing, well, this is another matter. But it seems to me that when they know that some very small thing.
Pleases us, and they do it.
Because they wish to show that they desire to fulfill our wish, our desire. I believe that's specially pleasing to us. And I believe the Lord shows in this chapter the truth of submission in the sisters long hair and the covering.
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And then the next one that is brought before us is just before the verses that we read.
Perhaps we could notice the 20th verse. When you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating everyone taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken. What have ye not houses to eat, and to drink in, or despise ye the Church of God, and shame them that have not?
What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
Well, they were coming together, and in a somewhat disorderly way. You were making just an ordinary supper out of coming together. And he said that when they came together for the Lord's Supper there should be sobriety, there should be soberness. And I believe that this is an important thing. They were to come together.
Into the Lord's presence, thinking of his death.
We know very well if someone whom we love has died. We walk into the room, we walk in quietly, we take our place quietly. We feel that there's a, shall I say, a solemnity that is suited to such an occasion.
And the Apostle Paul had to speak to these Saints because when they came together, they were just making it just sort of a feast. And he said that there was a certain sobriety that was suited to coming together.
In the Lord's presence as an Assembly of God to remember the Lord and his death. And may I suggest that we should all bear this in mind?
When we come in on Lord's Day morning, come in quietly, take our place soberly, or in the presence of those emblems on the table that speak of the Lord's sufferings and death for us, we're remembering him in his death. So perhaps we could summarize it like this. We have the Lord's Table, and then we have separation, submission, and sobriety.
Well, these things are very important for us in connection with the things that are.
Before us in these two chapters. Now the 23rd verse. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. Now he calls her thoughts back to the night when the Lord Jesus Himself instituted this feast, because He is about to bring before us the truth of the Lord's Supper, the actual.
Remembrance of the Lord Jesus in His death for us.
And perhaps we could think of it like this, that having set our minds fully at ease in the 10th chapter, and having told us that we are there as members of His body, now we can sit in His presence quietly to enjoy this blessed privilege that we have of remembering Him in his death. And so.
Just as though I were to come to your place, If I don't feel accepted there, if I don't feel relaxed at the table, how can I enjoy the privilege of being there? But once he has told us our place and our acceptance and all that that table means, now he brings us to the precious privilege that we have in connection with the breaking of bread and the drinking of the cup.
And he calls us back to the thought that the Lord Jesus, on the very night of his betrayal, instituted this feast. And as we often sing together on that same night, Lord Jesus, when all around thee join, I'm sure it stirs each one of our hearts to think that it was on the very night of the Lord's betrayal that he asked that we should remember him in this way if someone that we loved on the very night before they were taken from us.
Made some special request? I'm sure that would mean a great deal to us. And the more that person meant to us, the more their request would mean to us. And the more the Lord Jesus means to us, the more we realize what He suffered for us, the more our hearts go out with an earnest desire to fulfill His dying request.
And now just a little word in connection with why the loaf comes first and then the cup in the actual remembrance of the Lord. Well, I believe in the actual remembrance of the Lord. We are thinking of the Lord suffering for us upon that cross, and we know very well that they nailed Him to that cross and in the first three hours that He was there.
Men, our wretched hearts displayed themselves in all kinds of ill treatment.
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Of that blessed, precious Savior. But in the last three hours, those hours of darkness.
Darkness covered the whole scene, and God himself placed upon that blessed holy victim, our Savior, the Lord of sin, that would have forever sunk us down into hell, and he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, and after he had borne all the judgment and said, it is finished.
You remember how he bowed his head and dismissed his spirit, and then the soldier with the spear pierced his side and the blood flowed out from the Lord's side after he had died. I want to call attention to this because I believe it's the reason why that we break the bread 1St and then drink the cup in all the sacrifices of Judaism.
The blood of the animal was shed before the sacrifice was made.
The animal was put to death and its blood was taken, and then the animal was cut in pieces and it was burned upon the altar. So as anyone looked upon that blood that was shed and that was sprinkled there on the altar and before the veil and so on, he would have to say, well, that blood was shed before the sacrifice was actually made.
It's all that the blood of those beasts, and there were thousands of them that were put to death on the altars of Israel. All the blood of those animals was shed before the sacrifice was made. A constant reminder to the Israelite that it was not telling of a finished work, but it spoke of something that was yet to be done.
And so the blood of the animal did not tell of a finished work.
It pointed on to Christ. But how wonderful the Lord Jesus bore the judgment. First. He bore and exhausted it, and when his blood was shed, the sacrifice had been completed, and that blood spoke of a finished work. The little hymn expresses it nicely. The atoning work is done.
The victim's blood is shed. Or another one we sing sometimes twas past.
Or that dreadful pain when forth the lifeblood flow. And so he first bore the judgment. And as that precious blood flowed from his riven side, it tells us that the work is done. Never will it be necessary for a sacrifice for sin to be made again. His sacrifice was complete. He could say it is finished. And we're remembering this precious fact.
And so when it comes to the remembrance of the Lord.
Why we partake of the bread and we think of him suffering for us, and then we partake of the cup and are reminded that when that blood flowed forth, the work was finished. It was done. And so that's why in the 10th chapter it's spoken of as a cup of blessing because the Lord Jesus had exhausted all the judgment and at his table its blessing to us to know that all is finished. And so how precious.
The accuracy of God's word now that when we come to the Lord's table, we think of acceptance in our place there, when we think of his supper, we're actually remembering his sufferings for us. And I believe as we sit there in his presence and as we break bread, our thoughts should, and I'm sure do go back to that scene of Calvary and think of his agony for us and.
That he has borne all the judgment.
Another thing that's quite interesting notice is that actually in the Old Testament the animal never.
Felt the fire, it was dead before it was placed upon the altar. But the Lord Jesus, he bore the fire of God's judgment. He could say, The fire hath entered into my bones. The Lord Jesus felt it all. He could say, all I waves, and thy billows are gone over me. He felt fully the suffering that He endured.
For sin in those hours of darkness. Indeed, brethren, we'll never. Never.
What He did have to suffer. It has struck me to think that when the Lord Jesus had borne my sins, He could say it is finished. But what a solemn thought that the loss to her in eternity will never be able to say it's finished never. They can never exhaust it. There was only one person who could exhaust divine wrath and judgment, and He did it for you and me. What a wonderful thing that we can look back and say it's finished never.
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Or will the lost be able to say that, well, there's one here that's unsaved. How terrible to reject a finished work to bear in a lost eternity, that which you can never, never exhaust the wrath of God against sin. Well, how precious it ought to be to our hearts to remember what He did for us.
Well, how long are we going to have this privilege?
Just till he comes, it says here, For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, eat who show the Lord's death till he comes.
In connection with showing the Lord's death, I believe that it brings before us the thought.
That while the world would like to forget that they put him to death, we look back and say, oh, it means everything to us, means everything to us. We never want to forget it. If others want to forget it, we never want to forget it. And indeed, up there in glory, we won't need the bread and the wine, but we will enjoy the precious remembrance of himself.
Forever as we sing redemption song and see Him in the midst as the Lamb that was slain. As I say, we won't have the the emblems, but we'll have the eternal remembrance of all that He suffered for us as we gaze into his blessed face and praise Him. Well, may we value this privilege then, until He comes, I'm sure.
That in the measure in which we expect his return to be close at hand in that measure.
We value the privilege of being able to remember him.
To say a few words about these verses at the end of the chapter.
The reason we don't read them when we read on Lord's Day morning is because this is something that ought to have taken place before we come.
A place to examine ourselves, place to judge ourselves, is not when we come there, we ought to come there as those who have already done this.
Just the same as if you came to my house and I stood up and said, well, did you wash your hands? You sure you're all ready to sit down at the table? Is your face clean? You'd say? How strange that he's calling that to our attention now and we're just about to enjoy the meal. Well, this is something that you and I should think of when we think of the privilege that's ours. We should do it before we come. And when we come there, we ought to come.
In the consciousness that there's nothing between our souls and the Lord to enjoy.
By this happy privilege, I've sometimes said, if I had been writing it, I might have introduced these verses in the 10th chapter. I would have thought, well, it's the Lord's Table, so eating and drinking in an unworthy way should be brought before us in connection with the Lord's Table. But oh, how could anything ever affect the wondrous truth that the blood of Christ has made us clean every whit?
How could anything affect the fact that we are there?
As members of his body. But then what does it mean about eating and drinking unworthily, you say?
Well, I believe it means in an unworthy manner.
Perhaps I could illustrate it like this, supposing I had a great debt that I was unable to pay.
And you said give me the bills and I'll pay them for you.
And this debt has been contracted through absolute carelessness on my part. And you take those bills and you pay them for me. And it costs you so much that you have to take out a mortgage in your home to pay my debts.
And I, after a little while, I go over to your home and say I want to thank you for your kindness and paying those debts.
And while I'm thanking you, I'm going on in the same careless way that caused those debts to be made in the 1St place. I'm just absolutely careless about the fact that I was just, uh.
Careless and thoughtless in contracting those debts. And I come over and I pretend to be thanking you very heartily for what you did. And you know very well that I'm just being careless about my debts. Now, wouldn't you say, well, that's a funny way to thank me. That's a funny way to thank me. I would think if you appreciated what I've done, that you would want to act in a way that would be pleasing to me.
And now, dear fellow Christians, that's just what.
The Lord is bringing before us here that if you and I really appreciate what he did for us, do you think we'll want to go on in the things that caused him all that suffering? And of course, my illustration fails in this fact that the Lord Jesus settled a debt once for all.
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Our sins were all future when he died and he settled the whole thing. But still the illustration does show this, that there is a worthy way to give thanks and there's an unworthy way. And if we come into his presence, professing to partake of that loaf and drink of that cup in grateful appreciation for what He has done and in our lives were going on with things that show that we're not.
Really appreciating what he did. Why this grieves the heart of the Lord. It doesn't change our acceptance before God. It doesn't change the blessed fact that we have a perfect standing before God. And so in this chapter it tells us that when the Lord has to deal in discipline, it's that we should not be condemned with the world.
There is no such thing as a Christian being condemned with the world. And even if he were put away from the Lords Table, it still wouldn't change his standing before God if he was a true believer. But it would be the loss of a privilege, the loss of a wonderful privilege of coming into his presence gratefully to thank him for what he has done for us. And so when it says shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, it means that it was those things that.
Going on with unjudged in our lives that caused him that suffering. What a solemn thing, what a serious thing. And so he says, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. That is the thought of coming into his presence to remember him, to thank him, produces self judgment in me. Now I don't mean that we should just leave self judgment until right before we're coming to the Lord's Table.
But I think it's very beautiful the way it's introduced here because the true basis of self judgment.
Is what the Lord suffered for sin, and that's set before us at his table. Every time we confess sin in our lives, it ought to be with the thought before us of what the Lord Jesus had to suffer for our sins. And so I think it's most beautiful that the simplest scripture about self judgment is in connection with the Lord's Supper. Because where is the thought of his sufferings and death set so sweetly before us as at his table?
And Saul were told that in view of this, that we should examine ourselves and judge in his presence anything that has come between our souls and him. Perhaps someone might say, well, what is self judgment? Well, it's just to allow the Word of God to be applied to our walking ways. Perhaps it could be best illustrated by what the Lord Jesus did to his disciples.
He said to Peter. You're clean every wet, but you do need to have your feet washed.
And in the presence of God, he had a perfect standing. In the presence of the Lord Jesus, he was perfect, but his feet were defiled, and the application of the water cleansed his feet. And the application of the word of God to our walking ways is the way we judge ourselves. That is, we recognize something in our lives that's not pleasing to him, and we own it before Him. We own it as we think of.
His sufferings and death.
But now it doesn't say, Let a man examine himself, and so let him stay away, but so let him eat. That is, we we don't come there as those who have never failed, but we come there with nothing on our consciences before the Lord, nothing that would hinder communion with him.
Now I might just pause here to say that if we would practice this habit of self judgment in little things, then they wouldn't grow into the greater things that caused the Lord to have to deal with us in discipline, or perhaps even the assembly to have to deal with us as we have in First Corinthians 5.
And so he has brought before them assembly discipline in First Corinthians 5. Now he brings before them the Lords discipline and he says for this cause.
Many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. That is because they didn't discern in that loft the Lord's body given in death for them, because they just did it as an ordinance without any thought of the Lord's sufferings and death. Then the Lord had to say, Well, I'll have to put my hand on you and deal with you.
Because.
Shall I put it this way as though the Lord should say to us, well, it's the thought of my sufferings and death does not move your heart to self judgment. I'll have to put my hand upon you in correction. And so he deals with us and sometimes the trials and difficulties of the way, as we all know, are because there has been something unjudged in our lives, and the Lord is seeking to call it to our attention so that we.
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Could act in self judgment. When it says many sleep, it shows that the Lord might even have to take one of his own away if we go on in self will. That's what it means by the sin unto death. But isn't it lovely even when it brings this before us, Sickness or even death, that's what it means by sleep. It still says that we should not be condemned with the world. I sometimes thought of the sin unto death like the recalling of an ambassador from a country.
Now, when an ambassador is sent to another country, he is to represent his own country in that place. If he fails to do it as he should, his country will bring it before him. They'll they'll remind him that they're not pleased with the way he is fulfilling his office of representing his country, and if he doesn't pay any attention to their correction, if he acts in independence.
While the country may say, well, you'll have to come back, we'll put out another ambassador in Europe place.
He doesn't lose his citizenship, but he loses A privilege, and the Lord may have to deal with us and we may lose the privilege of remembering the Lord, but worse still, we may lose the privilege of being in this world for Christ. But it says that we should not be condemned with the world. Our standing before God is in Christ. It's perfect. But what is being set before us in these chapters is the precious privilege we have of being at His table. And then.
Being there of remembering the love and the grace that brought us there, his sufferings, his death for us that have brought us into this wonderful place. And now I'd just like to add a little comment before we close of the last phrase of the 34th verse he says and the rest will I set in order when I come. I just mentioned this because.
We must never look for perfection in our brethren, we all.
Have little things that in time perhaps we see and we correct, but sometimes we can be so occupied with little things in one another that we spoil the privilege of remembering the Lord. So as you look around and as your brethren look at you and as they look at me, we're not perfect, but there's a time coming. We will be.
When the Lord Jesus comes and calls us home, every believer will be there.
The bride will be presented without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. There will be no hindrance to praise. The assembly will be complete. The praise will be perfect. But down here there will always be little things to bear with in one another. But may the Lord make these things precious to our hearts, and give us the value, the privilege of being at His table, and partaking of His supper until He comes.