If you'll turn with me in God's Word to Paul's letter to the Corinthians, the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. We'll consider what Paul had to say to the Corinthian church about the Lord's Supper and their practice of it. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning at verse 17, and reading together through the end of the chapter. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning at verse 17. Hear now the word of our God. In the following directives, I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat. For as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not. For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together, it may not result in judgment. And when I come, I will give further directions. Thus far, the reading of God's Word, may He bless it to us. We often read a portion of 1 Corinthians 11 in connection with preparing to come to the Lord's table. And in preparing this sermon, it's striking how Paul is talking to this church. He is not happy. He is not happy with what they're doing. He is not happy about how they are participating in the Lord's Supper. In fact, he says when you get together, it's not even the Lord's Supper that you're celebrating. Whatever it is, it's not the Lord's Supper. And maybe we can be thankful that we're not in that church in Corinth when Paul got there to give further directions. That sounds kind of ominous. I'm very unhappy with how you're doing and we'll sort this out when I get home. Maybe, boys and girls, you've heard that from your mom. When your dad gets home, we'll see what he has to say about this. Paul is not happy with the church. He's not happy with what's going on. And as a remedy for what's going on, he proposes an important thing that they need to be doing. They need to be examining themselves. They need to be considering themselves in the light of what the Lord's Supper is, in light of what this sacrament is. And of course, every time we anticipate celebrating the Lord's Supper, we give consideration to preparing. It's our tradition. But it's more than simply a tradition. It's a scriptural directive from the Apostle Paul. That's why we enter into this self-examination. That's why we spend time, because Paul admonishes us to do that. And this morning, we're called to that self-examination by the Word of God in preparation for our own coming to the Lord's table. And Paul, I think, here wants us to examine ourselves in light of what this sacrament is. And I think there's really three things he's driving at in this passage. We need to examine ourselves in light of what this sacrament is. And what this sacrament is, is the Lord's Supper, it's a holy communion, and it's a holy Eucharist. We need to think of Paul's direction to examine ourselves in light of the fact that this sacrament is the Lord's Supper, it's a holy communion, and it's a holy Eucharist. Now why is it important to take particular note of the fact that this is the Lord's Supper? Because right off the bat, Paul is unhappy because whatever they are doing is not the Lord's Supper. Paul wants to make it clear from the outset that this sacrament is not up to the whim and will of the people who are participating in it. that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has established it and that those who want to come to this supper have to come to this supper as the Lord has commanded them to. And just as they needed to be reminded of that, we need to be reminded of that in our day too. The Lord's Supper is not something we can do however we want. It's increasingly common throughout the world for this Lord's Supper to be seen as some personal act of devotion. that I can do whenever I see fit. Increasingly, you hear stories of Christian colleges having chapels where they celebrate the Lord's Supper. Or a speaker comes through and he has a piece of bread and juice in a little bag and he gives it to you to take home, and you can celebrate the Lord's Supper whenever you see fit. And if you don't have bread and wine, that's okay. Use Coke and M&M's. You think, I'm joking. That's seriously what people say. You see, because we've lost the idea that this supper is the Lord's, that we do it because our king commands it, because our Lord calls his people to obey his commands, that this is a serious thing, that this is the Lord's table, and he commands those who are his people to come to his table. Boys and girls, maybe you can think of this when your moms and dads tell you to clean your room. Sometimes you ask why. Sometimes the reason is because your dirty clothes are piling up and it smells. Sometimes it's because your toys are all over the floor and you're going to step on them and break them. But oftentimes your mom or dad might say to you, because I said so. That's why you have to clean up your room. And sometimes we don't like that. We're Americans. We want reasons. We don't like just to be commanded to do things. But what Paul is reminding the people here is that this comes as a command from your Lord to the Lord's people to come to the table that He's prepared. And we have to do it because He says so. Because that's who God's people are. The Lord's people come to the Lord's table because the Lord's people obey the Lord's commands. That's how you show that you are one of the people of God. That you are those who obey his commands. And undergirding all of this is Paul's admonition to the, or when he starts addressing the Corinthian church, he's addressing them as saints. If you read 1 Corinthians 1, verse 3 particularly, Paul is addressing those who are being sanctified in Jesus Christ. He's addressing believers. And so Paul is saying the first thing that the Lord's people do in obeying the Lord's commands is turn from their sins in repentance and faith. That's what the message of the Gospel is throughout the New Testament. And when people ask the Lord, what is the work that you require? What is the work that God requires? It's believing in the one who He sent. That's the word that the apostles took forward. What are we to do? Repent and believe. And so underlying all of this is Paul's first admonition. Those who are the Lord's people respond to the Lord's command, and that first command is repent and believe. Repent and believe. That's how you show yourself to be the people of God. That's how you respond to the command of your Lord. And then more particularly in this passage, God's people who have responded in faith and repented of their sins are also to come to the table that He has prepared. That's another of the Lord's commands. Come to the table that He has prepared. So this morning I want to particularly talk to young people to think about this command that the Lord has given to us to come to the Lord's table. We've discussed this is a command. This is not an option. The Lord wants you, if you have believed and repented of your sins, He wants you at His table. Now, I tried to look up in Abraham Kuyper has a new book on worship and I wanted to see what he had to say about what age you should make profession of faith. He said, sometime after you've left childhood, but before you become a know-it-all. So I don't know how helpful that is in helping you determine where you stand. But his point is this, you want to be old enough that you understand the commands of the Lord and can respond to them. And if you're anything like me, when I was a teenager, there's any number of reasons to stay away from making profession of faith. You're nervous about going and seeing those intimidating pastors. You're nervous about having to go and stand before the elders and make profession of your faith. You're nervous about having to stand up, like Katie did this morning, or even worse, having to come up here and stand. there's all these things we are worried about, there's all those things we are concerned about, but I ask you to try not to think of those things, but to think of the call that the Lord Jesus Christ is giving you. If you believe in me, if you have truly repented of your sins, then you belong at my table. The only reason to stay away are for the opposites of the reasons that he calls you. He calls those who are believing and repentant, and he tells those who are unbelieving and unrepentant to stay away. And Paul says there are reasons for personal unworthiness that you ought to stay away from the table. If you don't believe, stay away. If you have sin that you are not repenting of, stay away. Stay away until you believe, until you repent. You see, this is all directed with the goal of having those who do not believe to turn and believe in the promises of Jesus Christ. To acknowledge your sin. To acknowledge your need for a Savior. To turn and believe in Jesus Christ, the only hope of mankind. And if you are participating in some sin, to repent of it. To be restored. To come before the table in fellowship with your Lord. But Paul also moves into a more particular concern. A concern he has not only for personal unworthiness, but for corporate or group unworthiness. Look at what he says in verse 20. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat. See, Paul now is not just pointing to those personal attributes that you need to have to come before the Lord's table, but he also says there is a corporate sense, there is a group sense as which we come to the Lord's table as a group, and you can be corporately unworthy by unworthy practices. And that really is what Paul is dealing with. The effect of unworthiness of these group practices. He says, when you come in an unworthy manner as a church, you are eating and drinking judgment to yourselves. And what does he mean by this, that we're eating and drinking judgment to ourselves? If we truly believe in Jesus Christ, can we ever fall away from that faith? Can we ever lose that salvation that Jesus has given to us? No, if you truly believe in Jesus Christ and have accepted him as your Lord and Savior, there's nothing you can do to make God love you less. There's nothing you can do to make God love you more. What Paul is saying is those who eat and drink drink judgment to themselves. They drink the Lord's discipline. They eat the Lord's discipline. That's what's going to happen to them. They're going to be disciplined. Paul says that's why many of you are sick. That's why some of you have even fallen asleep. Which we know is what Paul says when he means you've died. Now, Paul is not saying that the effect of eating and drinking unworthily is always that you'll get sick or die. But he is saying that the Lord disciplines those who disobey his commands. That's the effect that unworthiness can have on God's people. And so Paul says, remember that this is the Lord's Supper. And so examine yourself and ask the question, how is it with us and the Lord? Or particularly, how is it with me and the Lord? Or with you and the Lord? This is to be an individual self-examination. Do you come to the Lord's table in a worthy manner? And so that's the first thing we need to do to examine ourselves. And the next thing we have to do is examine ourselves in the light of the fact that this supper is a holy communion. It's a holy communion. And it's not just a communion with the Lord. That's what we often think of in communion. But we sort of considered that already in the first point. This is more driving at the fact that it's a communion with one another. Paul is particularly concerned with how the believers in this church are relating to one another. Look back at 1 Corinthians 10, 16, and 17. We're familiar with these verses. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. What Paul is particularly angry about in their practice of the Lord's Supper is that they are not behaving like one body. He says everybody just goes whenever they want to go. nobody's waiting for one another. Some of you are partying and some of you are starving. Now what is Paul talking about? Is it just that he wants us all to do it at the same time? Is that all he's concerned about when he says nobody's waiting? Is he just concerned with time? No, what I think he's saying is the way you're taking the Lord's Supper is trying to indicate who among you is the most holy, is the most righteous. Who of you has the greatest standing in the church of the Lord? Because some of you have a lot, Paul says, are bringing a lot to the Lord's table. You're making it a huge feast. You're showing how much you love the Lord by all the bounty that you're bringing before Him. And those other people who come in with empty hands, who have nothing to bring before the Lord, certainly they are lesser in the kingdom of God. And so you see, it's not an issue of time, it's an issue of priority. it's a status symbol for this church. Who are the ones who really make a big deal of this supper? Who are the ones who really show that they love the Lord? See, Paul's saying, that shouldn't be. We are one body. We are one people. This supper is not about who is the greatest among us. This supper is about the great Lord of the feast. The one who came and whose body was broken and whose blood was poured out. He's the one we're to be focused on in this feast. Not each other. Not trying to determine who's the greatest. Who loves the Lord more than the person next to Him. No, Paul says this is to be a symbol of unity. Recognizing that whether the Lord has blessed you with a lot or whether the Lord has blessed you with a little. That we all are sinners in need of a Savior. That we all come to the table with the same needs. And the Lord makes us all worthy in the same way. And that's why Paul says, wait for one another. Manifest that unity that is yours in Jesus Christ. Acknowledge that no matter what your standing is with one another, your standing before the Lord is the same. and he has lifted you up to a high place in his Son. And so the Lord says, examine yourselves in that light as well. How does it stand with you and your brothers and sisters in Christ? And remember again that this is a call to self-examination. Not, well, it doesn't stand very well with him or with her because of who they are. They started this after all. The Lord's Supper, unfortunately, in many places can be a manifestation of divisions in a congregation. Where people will not take the supper because they have a problem with the elder who's handing it out. Or they have a problem with the minister who's officiating. Or they have a problem with the person sitting down the bench from them. And Paul says, and the Lord says, this shouldn't be. This is a place where we all come recognizing that we have a common need and we have a common Savior who raises us to an uncommon height. And it's to be a celebration of that fact. So whatever is in you that detracts from that unity, this is the time to examine it. This is the time to repent of it. This is the time to put it away so that when we come to the table of the Lord, we can truly come as one body. And briefly, that's our last point. To be reminded in all this examination that's required because of what the sacrament is, we are to be reminded that it is also a holy Eucharist. You might say, wait a minute, I've heard that word before. Always in connection with either the Roman Catholic Church or the Anglican Church. But I think we need to hold on to that word. Because it simply means a thanksgiving. And sometimes this time of self-examination can be a somber time. A serious time. Where we wrestle with our sinfulness. Where we are made to see perhaps more clearly than we look at ourselves in other times how deep our sin goes. How much our lives do not measure up to what the Lord has commanded for us. It can be a somber and sad time. Some people delve into that self-examination so deeply that when the plate actually comes before them, they can't take the Lord's Supper. They feel their sin so deeply that they feel disqualified. I read a story of an elder who was in a church and a woman in the front row was given the plate and she was weeping over her sins. And she let the plate pass her by. And the man came down to her and said, take it, take it. He died for sinners. You see, this time of self-examination is not to leave us in despair. It's not to leave us in despair. What does the Apostle say about this process of self-examination. Examine yourself and so eat and drink. The purpose of this is not to examine ourselves so that we become so depressed with our own state that we say, I cannot come to this table. I am not worthy of the body and the blood. Paul says examine yourself. Look inside yourself and reach that conclusion so that you can look out to your only hope. So that you can visibly see that broken body and shed blood that was broken for you, that was poured out for you precisely because you are a sinner. Precisely because I am a sinner. Precisely because we needed that. And we have to remember that when we examine ourselves, we're to give thanks for this God. Give thanks for this God who made the way to heaven open. And He shows us at His table that body and blood. And it's a help to the people of God because it's a past remembrance of what was accomplished for us in history, that Christ came and His body was broken and His blood was poured out for us. And it serves a present purpose because we're told that every time we gather together, every time we partake of the Lord's table, we proclaim His death in remembrance of Him. That we say to a world who will not acknowledge Him that there is a Lord who came and died and who offers salvation to all who would come. That you can eat and drink without price because the Lord has paid it all. It's not just a past reminder. It's not just a present reminder, but it's a future reminder too because we're reminded that He's coming again. That this thing that celebrates an event in history and is a present proclamation of His death is also with a view towards His coming again. And that as often as we eat of the bread and drink the cup, we can remember that His body was broken and that His blood was poured out. But we also can know that that body was restored. That that blood still courses in the veins of a living Savior who is seated at the right hand of the Father and is surely coming again. And every time we meet and proclaim that death, We proclaim the death, but we also proclaim the life of that Savior, who is surely coming again for his people. And so part of that self-examination is, do we have that thanksgiving in our hearts? Do we acknowledge not only that we are great sinners, but that Christ is a great Savior? So while we examine ourselves, while we go through the devotional that's been provided, while we spend this week thinking about our sins, always remember that we look in so that we won't find anything of worth and it will cause us to look out to that Savior who is worthy. And we can come to the table acknowledging that we are great sinners, but we have a greater Savior. And we can come with great joy to that table knowing that all we bring is unworthiness, but everything there is provided that makes us worthy. and that he's pleased to love us for the sake of his Son. So examine yourselves. We need to examine ourselves this week. But examine yourself and then come. Eat of the bread, drink of the cup, proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. And let us pray that that day might come quickly. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this reminder from your word that we need to be examining ourselves. Lord, we know that that process is often ugly. For despite the fact that Christ has redeemed us, we still see much sin, much evil still at work in our lives. We pray that when we look inside ourselves, we might not despair, but we might be reminded of why we needed a Savior. and that the eyes of our hearts might be turned outside of ourselves, might behold our Savior, that we might listen to his voice when he says, Come, eat of the bread, drink of the cup, for my death is for you now and forevermore. And that living Lord is coming again to take his people to be with him in glory. May we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. It's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.