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Amen. Right, we're in Luke chapter 22, it's a pretty long chapter there, I'm just going to remind you of a few verses there from verse 14. Luke 22, and we're going to look from verse 14 which says this, Luke 22, 14, and when the hour was come he sat down and the twelve apostles with him, and he said unto them with desire, I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer, for I say unto you I will not anymore eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave thanks and said take this and divide it among yourselves, for I say unto you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying, this is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper saying, this cup is a new testament in my blood which is shed for you. So in verse 19 the Lord Jesus Christ said this at the end of the verse, this do in remembrance of me, and the title of my sermon this morning is We're Commanded to Partake in the Lord's Supper. We're commanded to partake in the Lord's Supper. I'd like to pray before we get going with the message. Father, thank you Lord for your word. Thank you Lord for the Lord's Supper. Thank you that we're, you know, that it's an ordinance that we're commanded to, that we're able to partake in, Lord, and something that's an important part of the New Testament Church, Lord, help me to preach what we believe at this church, Lord, in a clear way, in an accurate way, in a way that people will be able to follow along, see, you know, what we teach in comparison to what the word of God says, Lord, and help me to be full of your spirit as I preach, just as I teach this today, Lord, and help everyone to be encouraged and also to be provoked and to go on to, you know, getting right with you, Lord, and preparing for our Lord's Supper in just over a month's time. In Jesus' name, pray all this. Amen. Okay, so like I said, the title is We're Commanded to Partake in the Lord's Supper, and we're a month away, just over a month away from our Lord's Supper service, so if you've been here for a while, you'll know that each year I'll end up preaching about it, so it's going to be a pretty similar sermon to that, as you've heard in the last few years now. I've preached about it. This will be the fourth time around this time of year, and I was thinking about this in a build-up to this, how few saved people actually partake in the Lord's Supper, if you think about it. How few saved people out there actually partake in a legitimate Lord's Supper, let alone, in fact, just partake in one at all, let alone how we're supposed to partake in it according to the Word of God. It's one of only two New Testament ordinances, but guess what it requires to be able to observe it? You know what it requires? It requires a church, doesn't it? It requires a church, or it requires being part of a church, to be able to partake in the Lord's Supper. As we're going to see later in 1 Corinthians 11, it is for a church to come together as the body of Christ partaking in the body and blood of Christ. That's what it's for, which creates a problem for the multitudes of, for example, internet blowhards out there, and there's a lot of those out there, if you ever look on Christianity Online and stuff like that, who consider most churches around the world as beneath them, and don't worry, they've got their own online Christianity. Well, the problem is, you can't then obey this command to partake in the Lord's Supper, can you, unless you do an internet Lord's Supper or something. That'll be next, actually, won't it? But regardless, the Lord said this here in Luke chapter 22 in verse 19, he said, this do in remembrance of me. That's a pretty clear command, isn't it? This do in remembrance of me. So today I want to explain how we're to partake in the Lord's Supper, how we're to do that, because there is a lot of confusion out there. There's a lot of conflicting teaching out there about the Lord's Supper. Even aside, even aside from the Catholic cult and the Catholic light Anglicans, or in this nation we call them the Church of England, who do still make up the majority of Christians, in inverted commas, the majority denominations in this nation, with their sort of alcohol-fueled morning Lord's Supper served by a fellow in a frock. I mean, that should be enough for you to smell a rat if you're at least mildly discerning. This doesn't make sense. They're taking the Lord's Supper in the morning, they're having booze, and the guy serving it looks like he's a cross-dresser. That should make you think, okay, that's probably not the right, I'm guessing they've probably got something wrong here. However, even amongst Bible-believing churches, even amongst Bible-believing Baptist churches, even amongst like-minded Bible-believing Baptist churches, there are variations to how people observe the Lord's Supper and how they partake in it. So I'd like to go over today not just how we do it, but why we do it the way we do by looking at scripture. Okay, so I really want you to just look at the scripture, listen to what I'm preaching, and then, you know, you should, I believe you'll come away from this going, yeah, I can't see how we're doing it, I believe how we're doing it, exactly how God wants us to do it, at least as close as possible. So let's go over today, okay, we're going to go over how we do that. And this is clearly an important command, isn't it? Okay, it's clearly important. The Lord spent his last night with the disciples, instructing them how to do it. I mean, for me, this is pretty important. Like I said, it's a funny old thing, you get a lot of people that love Jesus, you know, and it's just all about love, and, you know, and Christ, they try and tell you how Christ would and wouldn't act, how he would and wouldn't behave, and everything else, yet they can't even partake in a proper Lord's Supper. They can't even get in church a lot of these people who claim to love him so much, yet this is just a clear command right at the end of his ministry, where he's even spending the time to teach this on his last night with the disciples. So let's look at Luke 22, in verse 19, it says this, Luke 22, 19 says, And he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. And it wasn't only the bread, it was also the juice, because he then says in verse 20, Likewise, likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is a New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you. So clearly commanded, and as I've done previously, today I want to cover three topics, the when, the how, and the why. Okay, when, how, and why, I'm going to cover today. The Lord said this do in remembrance of me, we're commanded to partake in the Lord's Supper, clear as day, this is a command. So when do we do the Lord's Supper? Because for some it's every morning, some churches, again in inverted commas, some it's twice a day, you know, some it's mass, you know, the Catholics call it twice a day, some it's every evening service, you know, there's some churches where the evening service is the Lord's Supper, some it's once a month, some it's once a quarter, okay, so there are some variations. And you might be unaware, we have people here that maybe haven't been here that have joined within the last year, so I want to teach this from scratch with this. So point number one is when should we partake in the Lord's Supper? When should we partake in the Lord's Supper? Luke 22 and verse 7, said this, Luke 22 and look at verse 7, it said, Then came the day of unleavened bread when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, sorry, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a picture of water, follow him into the house where he entereth in. And you shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he shall show you a large upper room furnished, there make ready. And they went and found as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him, and he said unto them, With desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Anyone want to guess what it was that they were meeting to partake in? Anyone want to guess? What was it that they were meeting to partake in? No? Yeah, we got it. The Passover. It's the Passover. Okay, let's go back to Exodus 12 then to see a bit more about the Passover. So we're going to understand what that's about. Go back to Exodus 12. Clearly the Passover, I mean, it's said time and time again there, isn't it? He's meeting, the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, Where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples. I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. You're turning over to Exodus 12, where we're supposed nine out of the ten plagues of Egypt. Go, Pharaoh's being stubborn. He's not playing balls still. It says this in verse one, so Exodus 12 and verse one, it says, And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, this is verse two now of Exodus 12, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. If the household be too little for the land, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it, according to the number of the souls. Every man, according to his eating, shall make you count for the lamb. So the lamb represents the Lord Jesus Christ. In case you're wondering, for example, in Genesis, you have to turn to 22 in verse eight, when Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed, says this, And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. Jesus Christ is that lamb, which is why John 1 29 says, The next day, John saith, Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Jesus Christ, he is the eternal lamb. He is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's the Lord Jesus Christ, which is why it wasn't some nasty old crook backed mangy sort of, you know, lame lamb that they didn't mind sparing. It says here in verse five, Your lamb shall be without blemish. It will be without blemish. A male of the first year, ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goat. So without blemish, he's representing the sinless Christ. Okay, Second Corinthians 5 21 says that he knew no sin. Hebrews 4 15 says that he was yet without sin. That's the whole point of being the unblemished lamb. It's representing the sinless Lord Jesus Christ. Verse six then says, And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. So this pictures the blood of Christ being applied to us. Okay, that's the whole point in the blood being struck on the side posts on the upper door of the houses. Verse eight says, And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw nor sudden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head with his legs and with the pertinence thereof. And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth of it until the morning you shall burn with fire, which is clearly picturing Jesus Christ three days or three nights in the heart of the earth. Okay, and I know a lot of people get upset about this. That's what the Bible teaches. That's the whole point of being burnt with fire. Acts 2 31 says that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh should see corruption, because he was in hell. He tasted death for every man. Verse 11 says, And thus shall ye eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. So perhaps representing the urgency of salvation. Okay, it's something, look, if you hear the gospel, you understand the gospel, you need to get saved. Verse 12 says, For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. So that's picturing our deliverance due to the blood of Christ being applied to our account. He said in verse 14, And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. So this was in the month Abib, which corresponds with our springtime, around the end of March, early April. The Passover was supposed to be observed yearly, okay, but then Jesus Christ came and fulfills the Passover as that eternal lamb. Okay, so this was a yearly event. Jesus Christ comes, he fulfills it. So the Passover is looking forward, and it's picturing and looking forward to that eternal lamb of God being slain. He then fulfills that. So what do we do now? We're now looking back to that lamb that has been slain, that's fulfilled, and we're thinking about what he did. Let's look at verse, back in Luke 22 and look at verse 15. It says this in Luke 22, 15, And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not eat any more thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave thanks and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is a New Testament in my blood which is shed for you. So they're meeting for the yearly Passover. The Lord called it the Passover in verse 15. They were possibly maybe a little disappointed to not smell the roast lamb when they got there. We've been stitched up here, I was looking forward to the lamb. However, the reality of Christ being that lamb that takes away the sin of the world probably made up for that time multiplied a million times, right? But it's a yearly Passover in spring. He shared the bread and juice and said this. He said, Do this basically in remembrance of me. Which is why we believe in this church that the Lord's Supper replaces the Passover and is therefore to be observed once a year at springtime. That's what he's telling them to do, to basically this do what they were doing every single, they were supposed to be doing every single year, the Passover. Now it's changed to the Lord's Supper. Do it in remembrance of me. So just before we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord at Easter, we celebrate, we partake in the Lord's Supper. Now keep a finger here and turn over to 1 Corinthians 11. And we're going to see a few other things as we go through this that I believe make that clear. The Lord said in verse 19, this do in remembrance of me. You're turning to 1 Corinthians 11 though. The title is we're commanded to partake in the Lord's Supper. And point number one, question number one, when should we partake in the Lord's Supper? The answer is once a year before Easter. Question number two is how should we partake in the Lord's Supper? How should we partake in the Lord's Supper? Now in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul is approving the Corinthian church for doing it wrong. Okay, so in 1 Corinthians 11 we're seeing how not to do it as well. He said this in verse 17, now in this I declare unto you, 1 Corinthians 11 17, now in this I declare unto you, I praise you not, that you come together not for the better but for the worse. So they could have come together for the better, couldn't they? So he said, I praise you not that you come together not for the better. So they could have, should have been coming together for the better, agreed? And the reason I say that is because some believe that they should have come together at all. Some people teach that, some people believe that, instead to do it in private groups at home. But that's not the issue here. And again, look, what independent churches teach, that's their business, okay? But what do we believe at this church? Okay, what have I taught from behind the pulpit here for now I think this is the fourth year, what did our pastor who planted this church teach and believe, and the pastor that planted him teach and believe, that we are meant to come together as a group. Okay, but some believe that they should come together in private, but that's not the issue. The issue is that they're coming together for the worse. They could have come together for the better, but they're coming together for the worse. I praise you not, he said I praise you not that you come together not for the better but for the worse. He said for first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. So just a point here, we're coming together because we're not meant to be divided. This is meant to be something that we come together to do. They're coming together as a body of Christ, partaking in the Lord's Supper. But there are divisions in the church, there are heresies, or we might say false teachings. Verse 20 says, when you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. Now what he's saying, he's not saying don't come together to do it, he's saying that what they're doing isn't the Lord's Supper. This isn't the Lord's Supper that you're doing. When you're coming together into one place, this isn't the Lord's Supper. For, this is the reason for, verse 21, in eating, everyone taketh before other his own supper and one is hungry and another is drunken. Now, if you jump forward to verse 33, it's pretty clear that we're expected to be coming together. Look at verse 33. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. Yeah, isn't that, I mean he's clearly saying when you come together. 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. So, he's making this really clear. And the reason I'm making this really clear today is because we had a guy here last year trying to sneak around teaching our church members the opposite. So he was sneaking around, going privately to individual church members, telling them we're not meant to all come together. No, no, no, because someone else teaches it otherwise. You don't do what they've been teaching for years at your church. You need to do what other people do, and you need to have a private little group meeting and not come together. Even on the morning of it was making it clear, came here for the first time, he hadn't even been in church for a month to come and show everyone that he wasn't staying for the Lord's Supper, having been trying to teach people privately. But it's so clear. It's so clear. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. He said, wait for each other. When ye come together, and if any man hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation. He said, look, don't come for a feast. No, stay at home if you're going to come just to have a feast up, so that you come not together unto condemnation, and the rest of us are set in order when I come. Part of the Lord's Supper is coming together as a body of Christ, not divided body parts. How should we partake in the Lord's Supper? We come together as a church to partake together. For an eating, verse 21, he said, for an eating everyone taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken. So the context is eating, with drunken here referring to being stuffed with food. That's the context, talking about eating. And some are taking before the other. Some's hungry and other is drunken, which, again, you can apply with food. Bear in mind that this is, by the way, in the same letter that he's just told them to kick out drunkards in Chapter 5. So even if they were, look, he's already said kick out drunkards. But I think it's referring to food. They're bringing their own personal food. Some can't afford much, and others are basically showing off stuff in their faces. So some are kind of bringing like, they don't have much money, they're not bringing much. Others are like, right, I've come with the three-course potluck. But it ain't a potluck because you ain't getting none of it. So verse 22 says, what? Have ye not houses to eat or 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. So how should we partake in the Lord's Supper? We don't bring our own food with us. Don't bring your own food to the Lord's Supper. And on that, and just something I was thinking when I was making these notes, I know that some people eat here after the regular evening service. Many will eat, and because it's a long drive, it sometimes finishes late, especially those with young kids and stuff. But can I ask that you just don't do that on the Lord's Supper? So on the Lord's Supper, it's a shorter service. We should be finishing earlier. If you maybe eat before, or please leave to eat. So otherwise we're basically doing exactly what we're told not to do here. So please don't, those families, et cetera, please don't bring your own food on the Lord's Supper to have a feast up while everyone else has kind of got a rumbling stomach after that little morsel of bread. He said in verse 23, if I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. So he's already told them how to do it, but he's having to remind them again because of these issues now that have crept in. That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he break 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 a New Testament in my blood, this do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. How should we partake in the Lord's Supper? We break the bread before we pass it out. So we don't get these kind of little specially already made little funny white wafers if anyone's ever seen those in the Catholic or C of E churches. I don't even know what they're made of. I think they're meant to be bread, I don't know. But we break it before and we break unleavened bread and we pass it out. A sup is a sip, so we give out a small amount of something to drink. Here he called it the cup. Look back at Luke 22, keep something in 1 Corinthians 11 though. Look back at Luke 22 and verse 17 to 18 we're going to look at where Jesus refers to it as the cup and the fruit of the vine. He said in verse 17 of Luke 22, and he took the cup, the cup, and gave thanks and said take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say unto you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. By the way, Matthew 26 and Mark 14 he called it the cup and the fruit of the vine. It's not even slightly like, well, which sort of wine is he talking about here? It's the cup, it's the fruit of the vine. Anyone think we should be knocking back hard booze? Of course not. It represents Jesus Christ's pure blood, so we certainly don't use alcohol, if anyone was wondering. In the same way that the unleavened bread is a picture of what? Of his sinless body. The unleavened bread is a picture of his sinless body. The unleavened, so no yeast, not fermented, juice, wine, whatever you want to call it, but it's what we call nowadays juice, is a picture of his pure blood. Okay, he's definitely not going to be alcoholic. Okay, and there's no reason, well, unless you're like some sozzled, you know, trying to excuse it Catholics and the rest. To be honest, it's not just the Catholics, it's all over the place. Trying to excuse a little extra and it saves them a few quid for when they really get stuck in in the evening when they get home. But we use pure grape juice as a picture of his pure blood. Okay, and just on that as well, we don't use some nasty grape juice drink, or grape flavored drink, or something, we use some pure grape juice. Okay, to picture his blood, and we use simple unleavened bread. Again, not some pre-made, you know, sort of filled with all sorts, just some simple unleavened bread, simple ingredients. Back in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 25, it said this, 1 Corinthians 11, 25 said, after the same man who also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, this do ye, as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, notice he said that, as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. So the often isn't talking about every time you eat unleavened bread and drink grape juice. Okay, he said this bread and this cup, and no, we didn't get flogged some 2,000 year old so-called genuine Lord's Supper bread and wine by some Catholic tradesman somewhere, claiming not only has he got some relics, he's also got some preserved bread and wine. No, so what's it talking about this one, this cup, this bread? It's as often as ye drink what was previously the Passover cup and the Passover bread, isn't it? This bread and this cup of this ordinance. That's the point, right? It's of this ordinance of what was the Passover. As often as ye drink, not just as often as ye drink bread and wine. As often as you have, every time you have a glass of fruit juice in the morning, you know, which one is it? Well, if it's grape juice it is, I mean, that's not what he's talking about, okay? It's as often as you drink what was previously this Passover cup and bread, this ordinance that they're now replacing, that's being replaced with the Lord's Supper. So how should we partake in the Lord's Supper? We eat unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice. Paul then said this in verse 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup to the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation 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 ye 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. So this is some pretty strong stuff here, isn't it? That's some strong warnings that we want to make sure we're on the right side of, okay? It also has a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation out there. So let's understand it fully here. Verse 27 said, 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. How do you do this unworthily? How could you do this unworthily? Well first off you need to make sure that you're saved. So if you're going to partake in the Lord's Supper, well you need to examine yourself and make sure that yeah, I do believe the Gospel. I'm not adding some works. I don't believe I can lose my salvation. I don't believe I did an extra bit of holiness to get saved in the first place. I'm lucky I gave up that sin and everything is thanks to my work. No, you've got to just make sure it's grace through faith. You believe the Gospel. You're saved, yeah? Go back to Luke 22 again, but again keep a finger with 1 Corinthians 11. Go back to Luke 22 which said, And when the hour was come he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him, verse 14 said that, and the twelve apostles with him. Look at verse 21 though. Verse 21 says, But behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on this table. And truly the Son of Man goeth, verse 22, as it was determined, but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed. So woe unto that man and woe to any Judas types in God's church is partake in the Lord's Supper. Woe unto them. Back in 1 Corinthians 11 27, okay, so we've seen there's that clearly Judas unsaved, okay, unsaved devil. But back in 1 Corinthians 11 27, Paul said, Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthy shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. There are other ways though you can partake unworthy. So this is just talking about saved or unsaved. Because he then says this in verse 28, But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthy, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. That's talking about chastisement. And using the term sleep instead of die, what's the term sleep referring to? It's believers. Believers physically dying. Sleep. This isn't talking about the unsaved now. This is talking about saved people. Okay, many are weak and sickly and many sleep. This isn't unsaved people dropping dead after partaking the Lord's Supper. This is believers being chastised, even unto death. I mean this is some serious warnings, isn't it? Believers being chastised, even unto death. He said, Many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. Yeah, just a reminder. Yeah, God does chastise, okay? He's talking about his children, his people being chastened. Said in verse 31, For if we would judge ourselves, talking about believers, 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. So definitely referring to believers, the chastisement of God clearly is real. We see that here. And he's saying that if we judge ourselves, we can avoid God's judgment and chasten him. That's what he's saying. So how might believers partake unworthily? How might we partake unworthily? The obvious point in the passage was don't treat the Lord's Supper like he eats as much as you can buffet. Okay, that's pretty obvious, isn't it? Don't do that. He's even said, For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. So they were like, do it. They were turning this into some sort of party and, you know, there's stuff in their face and everything else. That's not what it's talking about. Okay, that's not what we should be doing, sorry. That is one way that you could be partaking unworthily. Paul said in verse 33, Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together, tarry one for another. So he said, Don't just help yourself, wait for everyone. Verse 34, 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. So again, the home is for the person that wants to feed up. The coming together is a given. Okay, he just doesn't want it to be condemnation. And we safeguard this with a small amount of bread and juice. Okay, so I don't think you're going to have much chance of that the way we do it. Okay, but aside from this, if you've been in other churches, you may have heard different interpretations of how else you might be supposed to judge yourself. So I don't know if anyone's been in different churches with the Lord's Supper. I've heard a few different things in a few different churches over the years. And they just, even when I was newly saved and sitting in a church teaching this, it's like, this does not make sense at all. Because I've heard, for example, one church has a, this is not for you if you have any sin in your life. Really? Okay, so the Lord's Supper's a write-off. Okay, because we're all sinners. If we say we have no sin, we've deceived ourselves and the truth's not in us, right? Okay, that's ridiculous. But some it'll be, well, if you've got any, unconfess it. Okay, well that involves a lot of Bible study now to make sure that, you know, there's not anything here that I miss confessing. I do, oh, do we just have to do a kind of, just an open, I just, anything I've missed, I confess. Oh, that's right, you could get involved now. I mean, again, it makes no sense, does it? How does that even work? Now, some will say things like, if you're in sin, oh, it's just if you're in sin, you shouldn't really be. Well, again, what does that mean? Can you define what that means to be in sin? Is it at that point in time? Well, I'm standing in church, I seem to be doing alright right now, I don't think I'm, okay, I'm alright, just make sure I don't have, like, a sinful thought before I kind of, am I in sin? As long as I'm not chewing when I'm, I don't know. Again, what does that even, and again, look, this is some serious warnings here, isn't it? So we want to make sure we're right on this, don't we? Not just some ambiguous thought of, oh, if you're in sin, I'm not sinning your life on certain sins. Okay, what do we believe in this church, with that in mind? That as well as being saved, first off, you should be baptised. Okay, and just to make it clear, it's believer's baptism. So to partake in the Lord's Supper that you're commanded by taking. Okay? If you're not saved, get saved, okay? That should be an obvious one, okay? Not so that you can have a little bit of unleavened bread and a little thimble of juice, okay? Probably more likely so you don't go to hell for eternity, yeah? Okay, but if you're saved, get baptised. Throughout the New Testament, people get saved and then they get baptised. Pretty soon after, right? If you're saved and not baptised, you're clearly out of God's will. God wants us to do things decently and in order in a church. Get saved, get baptised, and then we've got the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. It's the answer of a good conscience toward God. You're not in God's will if you're not baptised, you're saved. Why are you not baptised if you're saved? Is water that scary? You've even got a heater. It's heated water. Nowadays, you should pay us for that. How much my gas bill is at home. I'm kidding. You don't have to pay us for baptism. But really, you can have a nice hot bath. In all seriousness, why not get baptized? If you're saved, get baptised, right? Because God tells you to do it. So how important is it whether it's pride or whether it's, I don't know, worried about getting a bit of water in your ears or something else? God wants you to be baptised. So how should we partake of the Lord's Supper? By being saved and baptised, for starters. What else do we believe? What else do we believe? So this passage is in the middle of a letter where one of the main subjects is what? It's kicking someone out for, it's church discipline. Kicking someone out for fornication. That's a big theme, isn't it? That's like, chapter five is a big chapter. He's talking about them judging things in chapter six as well. It kind of builds up to it from chapter four. So there is that theme. Turn to 1 Corinthians 5. We're with the church discipline. Paul uses a comparison to the Passover and the Lord's Supper. So just to make it even clearer for you. In the first few verses, he's saying that there's this guy that has been fornicating with his father's wife. So that's kind of what is relayed to us in 1 Corinthians 5 at the beginning of it. And for him to be fornicating, which is between unmarried people with his father's wife, for me this occurred before they were married. Okay, so he was fornicating with this woman. She's married his father. This is like sort of the big news in the church. I mean, what a mess, right? How disgusting. Fornicating with this woman. His father's obviously remarried or maybe, you know, is maybe widowed and married, but he's fornicated with this woman, the son of this father. Paul says to kick him out for the destruction of the flesh, which is chastisement. So he says kick him out so he gets chastised. He then says this in verse 6, verse 6 of 1 Corinthians 5. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? So leaven here representing sin, how eventually it affects the whole church. Sin destroys churches, okay? Many churches who maybe used to be good churches, solid churches, so many churches are wrecked because of various sin, because letting sin go, not dealing with things like this stuff which destroys churches. He said in verse 7, purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. So definitely the eternal lamb, isn't he, fulfilling the Passover, Christ our Passover. He said therefore let us keep the feast. What's a feast? The Lord's Supper. But he's just referred to the Passover, it's clearly replacing the Passover, right? Let us keep the feast, us together keep the feast, it's a group thing, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So again, another verse that indicates the Passover, it shows it's a feast together, and that there are people that should be removed from it. He's saying to get rid of this guy and this sin first. He then says to keep the feast, not with the old sin, or by replacing it with malice and wickedness, which seems to be, could have been a result of this fornication. So you can imagine maybe some malice there, maybe, you know, there would have been some issues between the different parties involved with this, friends on either side, etc., the wickedness, you know, we've got this fornication that had been going on. I mean, he's saying, look, get rid of all that stuff, that it should be observed with sincerity and truth. With that in mind, okay, we believe that the following then list of sins to be partaking in would make you unworthy of partaking in the Lord's Supper. Why? Because you should be getting kicked out of church. So if you're on the list that we then, you know, a list that I've gone over many times, it's a really important part of the Bible for church, right? 1 Corinthians 5, if you're on that list, then you shouldn't be in church, because I don't have cameras in your eyes, okay? It's not that years ago. There's only one heart, no, no, it's not true. Okay, but I don't know, I don't know, but you need to judge yourself, right? And if you're on the list here, then you shouldn't be partaking, you shouldn't be as part of the body of Christ, because you shouldn't be kicked out, as we're going to see. So he said this in verse 9, I wrote unto you an epistle not to company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters, for then must your needs go out of the world. But now I've written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such a one know not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within, but them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. So we looked at these recently on the subject of disfellowship, and it's talking about church members. Okay, but just to remind you again, he said in verse 11, but now I've written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother, so this is talking about a member, this would include a sister as well, be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such a one know not to eat. Okay, so I know I've gone over this before, just to remind you again, fornication, a fornicator, this is someone that's having physical relations outside of marriage. If that's you, you need to get right, or basically you need to remove yourself, don't you? But you know what you should do, get right, get right with God. Give up the fornication, fornication. We've got covetous, so covetous now, again, you might, now and again, people might covet something, right? But someone who's described as covetous, this is an inordinate desire, they focus, ultimately they're putting money or things, stuff, above God. Okay, it's idolatry. They're covetous, they're coveting usually money and goods and things like that, or sometimes it's things of other people's, okay? Someone who's just, who's not, that's kind of a part of, they're a covetous person, okay? Again, that's someone that needs to get right or get out. Idolaters, and that's someone that makes an idol of things, okay? It can be of anything, it can be a false version of God, a false Christ, and it can, and people make idols of men, idols of things, idols of stuff, idols of things in their life. Again, make sure you're not an idolater, okay? If you're an idolater, if you lifted someone or something up here above God, then you need to get right, or again, you need to get shot, right? But again, get right, this is what I want to encourage everyone, just get right. That's the great thing about the Lord's Supper, good time for us to get right, yeah? Railers, and railers are people that are basically making up lies, it's always dishonest in a bow. You always see dishonesty with railing, there's always some lie, and think, you know, we've had this before with false accusers, etc. People making up lies about people, railers. And drunkards, so drunkards, again, are people that drink to get drunk, or are drinking regularly, okay? If you're drinking a lot, you're a drunkard. What's the balance, what's the line? You know what I would just say, and I've said this many times, if you've got to question yourself there, you know, well, am I or aren't I, why don't you just don't drink? Pretty simple, because God said, be sober. Why don't you just obey God and don't drink? You go, oh yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm a drunkard, yeah, but if you can't not drink, maybe you are. But, you know, you know, if it's something that you can't not do, you know that it's something that you're regularly doing, you know that you're getting drunk, then you're a drunkard. And again, just get right with God, get right with God. Extortioners, and we've looked at, there's different jobs, which you might describe some as an extortioner, you know, the obvious ones like the clampers and things like that, but there's different types of things. But also, like I said before, people that try and blag money out of people, and I get a lot of this, I get a lot of extortioners try and get in touch with me on email, they're trying to extort money for their, you know, so-called ministries and things, a lot of the time it's just extortion. And people do it by trying to pull on the heartstrings, things like that, that's extortion, yeah. And another one is people, and there are people out there that just try and blackmail, they're trying to force, trying to extort people to do what they want. Go back again to 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 11. Another church discipline offense would be Romans 16 17. Romans 16 17 says, Now beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. Now the irony that we had someone here trying to cause division with his own private Lord's Supper, I think the irony was probably lost on this guy, right? The Apostle Paul also brought up division causing, when reproving them in 1 Corinthians 11 18 to 19. He said, For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it, for there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. Now again, there can be divisions, people can be devices, but there are just people that cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine. There are people just going around trying to teach false doctrine, cause division in the church in one way or another, and again, to be honest, people like that usually, I mean like it says in Romans 16, you know, they don't serve the Lord Jesus Christ by the way, they do. Okay, these are usually very bad people. Okay, so most people say just get out. Don't worry about getting right, just get out, because they ain't gonna get right, okay? Maybe for a time. But we've got fornicators, covetous, idolaters, railers, drunkards, extortioners, and division causes. Now, you say, well what if I'm on that list? Okay, what if I am on that list? Well, I'm gonna use a phrase here, this is a popular phrase, okay? Repent of your sin. Someone's gonna take a clip of this, yeah? Pass the tabernacle, repent of their sin! Yeah, do you know why? Because you're believers! Because we should repent of our sin, shouldn't we? But not to get saved, okay? But because you are saved, repent of that sin, right? Get that out of your life. Turn from that sin, yeah? Okay? Get right with God, as opposed to sinning more by either. And this is two ways you could do it. You could sin more by partaking the Lord's Supper and being on this list, and then risk some chastisement of God. Or you could sin by not partaking the Lord's Supper, which he clearly commanded you to do. Oh, well, okay, I might be on that list, I just won't turn up in a moment's time. Job done. Okay, you shouldn't even be in church. And, you know, that's the great thing about the Lord's Supper is it's a time for us to examine ourselves and to clean this place up a little bit, right? And I'm not saying it doesn't seem, I don't think it needs cleaning up, but look, you know yourselves, right? This is a time for us to examine ourselves, judge ourselves. You have to come to me, he said examine yourself, judge yourselves, right? Get right with God. How should we partake in the Lord's Supper by examining and judging ourselves? Examine and judge ourselves. The Lord said in Luke 22 19, this do in remembrance of me. So we're commanded to partake in the Lord's Supper. Number one, when should we partake in the Lord's Supper? The answer is once a year before Easter. Number two, how should we partake in the Lord's Supper? The answer is we come together, we don't bring our own, we break and eat unleavened bread and sip unleavened juice, we do it worthily by judging and examining ourselves and getting right with God first. Number three, why should we partake in the Lord's Supper? Why should we partake in the Lord's Supper? Now the obvious point, as I've mentioned a few times, it's the kind of main point of this sermon, is it's just a clear command. It's a clear command. Luke 22 19 said this do in remembrance of me. I put this on our, on our, I put this on our bulletin a long time ago, okay? So look, you know, if you're all, I'm doing this, I'm doing that, well you messed up because it's a once a year Lord's Supper and we're commanded to do it and it's on the bulletin, right? He said this do in remembrance of me. Here in 1 Corinthians 11 24 it says this, and when he had given thanks he break it and said, take eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. Clear, clear command. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had stopped saying this cup is a new testament in my blood, this do ye, as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. It's a clear command, it's a clear command, and aside from avoiding clear disobedience, aside from avoiding maybe the potential repercussions for that, John 14 15 says if you love me keep my commandments. Do you love the Lord? Is this quite clear? I mean he spent, like I said, last night with the disciples running through how to do this. This is important, isn't it? He said if you love me keep my commandments. Do you love the Lord? Do you love the Lord? Then why aren't you partaking the Lord's Supper? Why are all these people out there in the world who claim to love the Lord not partaking the Lord's Supper? And by the way, I mean, thank God that the believers at least, who are at all these clown churches, thank God it's not a legitimate Lord's Supper. I mean, because half of them would be banging trouble, wouldn't they? With all those sins on that list. Well, I mean, the drunkenness alone, the fornication stuff, there are people all over this town, there are people right now, probably as we're talking, sharing some goblet of alcoholic wine with some nasty bit of cloth, nasty tea towel-y thing, but it's like a posh one, wiping the brim before they give it to the next person. It's vile really, isn't it? This is what they do in these Catholic churches, in the C of E churches, sharing this goblet of alcoholic wine, thinking they're partaking the Lord's Supper. Thank God they're not, because otherwise they'd probably be banging trouble. However, it's not the reason to go, well, you know, just don't get involved with it, because look, are they really serving God? Are they really doing the things of God in those places? No, but we've been given such a wheel. We talk often about the blessing of this church. What blessing was it? A blessing that Pastor Thompson planted this church. What blessing it's been for us, but we don't want to then go, yeah, that Lord's Supper sounds a bit, you've got to get right with God, just forget that, I'll just forsake that. It's a command, right, and it's a blessing to have a church, but with that, there are certain things that God wants us to do, right? Well, do you love the Lord? And then especially considering what it is that we're focusing on, what it is that we're remembering, what it is that we show when we do. Verse 26 said, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. When we partake in the Lord's Supper, we're focusing on something extra special. It's the Lord's death, the Lord's death. It's something that maybe we don't always want to focus on so much, like focusing on heaven, eternal life, maybe focus on the fact that we're not going to hell, maybe focus, and at Easter we'll be focused on that resurrection, and that's a great thing to focus on, isn't it, right? The Lord rising from death, yeah, three days, three nights, he rose again, amazing! But when it comes to the Lord's Supper, we're focusing specifically on that death, on his giving his body, in shedding his precious blood for us. It's not really grievous for us, really, for us, is it? Is that really a grievous thing to do? We're going to have a bit of bread and sip a bit of wine. I'm talking about non-alcoholic wine, right? I don't know. I don't know how we cope. Oh, it's such a hardship. Forget that. That church, I mean, they make you do a Lord's Supper. They tell you to examine yourself. I mean, it's not really a hardship, considering what he did for us. That's what we're focusing on. 1 John 5, 3 says, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous. They're not grievous, I mean, because it is actually good for us to focus on. It should help us be maybe that little bit more grateful as well, because it's the love of God, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. You know it's a loving thing for us to keep his commandments, and this is a really clear commandment. It helps us to be more grateful, to be less resentful, doesn't it? Just that little bit. Maybe it'll only be for a fleeting moment. Maybe it might only sadly be when you're sitting here thinking about it for that moment, when we're looking at the scriptures, reminding ourselves what he did for us, reminding what that bread, what that cup signifies. But that's a time when you're going to think, wow, all that was done for me. That death, I mean, that's some love, isn't it? That's some love. Maybe we might be that little bit less self-pitying. Maybe for that moment, maybe for that day, maybe for a week after, maybe in the build up and after. Maybe we'll be that little less self-pitying about ourselves and what we feel like we're going through right now. Perhaps even provoke, it might even provoke a little bit more love towards God, because there are levels, aren't there? And the desire to give at least something of ourselves to him, maybe. When you're focusing really on that death, just specifically on that death and what the Lord Jesus Christ went through for us, maybe it will provoke us to want to do more for him. He said, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. So it's therefore a reverent time. It's a time to appreciate what the Lord went through for each and every one of us. It's one of only two ordinances in the New Testament, okay, baptism and the Lord's Supper. And like I said, it's not grievous. If you read the Old Testament, yeah, and realize how little we're expected to do in comparison. I mean there was a lot of ordinances in the Old Testament, weren't there? Yeah, a lot of meats, drinks, divers, washing, carnal ordinances. I mean Paul could be out the question for starters. Some of us are thinking, what would I even have for breakfast? And lunch? Dinner? It's the only affordable meat nowadays, isn't it? I don't know, but there's a lot of stuff we could be having to do, right? Which we don't. It's not really much. It's not really grievous. But also, we're sanctifying before. So this is another big benefit of the Lord's Supper. As a group, as a church, we're sanctifying, aren't we? We're cleaning, we're examining ourselves, we're looking at ourselves, we're looking at these scriptures, we're saying I need to make sure I'm right with God in these areas. Yeah, it'd be a great thing to think, oh of course, no one in the church would even think about anything on the list of churches qualifying sin. Yeah, but we live in the real world, yeah, and we know the reality of it is that maybe it takes something like that, some harsh warnings, knowing yeah, I'm commanded to partake in the Lord's Supper, so I need to get right in these areas. And we're uniting as a holy lump together, aren't we? We're getting that leaven out, hopefully you're getting that out of, you know, you're getting that out of your life, whatever though, maybe some things on there. You're making sure yeah, I'm right with God, and then we unite together as that holy lump, and it should benefit our church as a whole. So why should we partake in the Lord's Supper? Because we're commanded to, because we should love the Lord, because we're showing and hopefully appreciating the Lord's death, because it's one of only two ordinances to keep, and because it sanctifies and unites us together. So he said in Luke 22 19, this do in remembrance of me, we're commanded to partake in the Lord's Supper. Number one, when should we partake in the Lord's Supper? The answer is once a year before Easter. Number two, how should we partake in the Lord's Supper? The answer is we come together, we don't bring our own, we break and eat unleavened bread and sip unleavened juice. We do it, we do it worthily by judging and examining ourselves and getting right with God first. Number three, why should we partake in the Lord's Supper? The answer is because we're commanded to, because we should love the Lord, because we're showing and hopefully appreciating the Lord's death, because it's one of only two major ordinances to keep, because it's sanctifying and unites us together. Our Lord's Supper service this year in 2025 is on April the 13th at 4pm, and I hope everyone here and everyone listening and everyone who's a part of our church will make as much effort as they can to get right for it and to be there for it. That's April 13th, 4pm, and on that we're going to finish in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for sending your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to not only teach us, show us amazing things, teach us, you know, how to observe the replacement of what was the Passover, the Lord's Supper, but also what it is that we're thinking of, what it is that we're partaking in, and that's a symbolism of his body, his blood, being given to us for us to be able to have eternal life, Lord. Help us not to take it lightly, Lord, help us to focus on it as we come up to that period now in our church where we get close to partaking the Lord's Supper, help us to appreciate everything that's been done for us, Lord, and help us to want to get right, want to want to get right for not just ourselves but also for the church as a whole, Lord, for it to be, you know, a holy lump, for it to be a sanctified place for us to just get right, Lord, and observe ourselves, examine ourselves, and make sure that we're prepared for the Lord's Supper. We've got just over a month, Lord, to help us to get right, help us to do it in the right way, Lord, in a reverent way, all of us here, Lord, and please just bless our church, bless us also as we, you know, some of us go our separate ways now, some of us go out and preach the gospel to the lost, help us get many saved in return for the evening service. If you stand for all of this, amen.