Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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I'd like to turn tonight to 1St Corinthians chapter 10. It's on my heart to speak about these two chapters, 1 Corinthians 10 and 1St Corinthians 11, because I believe in one. We have the truth of the Lord's Table, and in first Corinthians 11 we have the truth of the Lord's Supper. And I believe that it's helpful for us to see what God has given to us in His Word in these two things.
So let's read first of all in First 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 then, 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 devils. He cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. He cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger?
Than he.
Now let's turn to 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.
God, this do ye as OFT as ye, drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.
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 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, carry 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, we know how important the Passover was in the Old Testament. In that remarkable night when God delivered his people out of the land of Egypt. We know that he made provision for them and the blood was put on the lentil and the two side pulse of their homes. And God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. It was the blood that made their homes secure. It was God's word that gave them peace.
And then there was a feast.
Inside those homes they had that roast lamb, they fed on the Passover lamb. And more than this, God said too, that they were to keep that feast by an ordinance forever. So we find through their history on through the years, those who were godly were always stirred up to the remembrance of that deliverance from Egypt. And we know how important it was that even the Lord Jesus.
On the very night of his.
Trail. He gathered his disciples around himself and said with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer now. About 1500 years had passed since the night of their deliverance from the land of Egypt, but it was still fresh in the mind of God, and the Lord Jesus gathered his disciples in that upper room.
And there we find that he himself.
Kept the Passover with them. Of course, He himself was the Passover lamb. And so that was the last time that it was observed according to the mind of God. And then we find on that occasion how the Lord instituted something new. He instituted what we speak of in Christianity as the Lord's Supper. The Passover looked onward to the cross.
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The Lord's Supper looks back to the cross.
US and so just as that Passover was so important in Israel's history, and I say as godly kings arose, they call the people back and the Spirit of God delights to mention that in the rain, for instance, of of Hezekiah and again in the reign of Josiah and again when the little remnant came back from the captivity in the time of Ezra Nehemiah.
How they observed again the Passover.
And then what was also important was that there was a place where that Passover was to be observed. Now they were told that they were not to offer their sacrifices in any place, but in the place which the Lord chose and saw. Every instructed Israelite knew and that there was a proper place where the Passover was to be observed. He also knew that God had given full instructions about how the Passover was to be observed. Who was to partake?
Of it, nothing was left to their own thoughts. They didn't just do it as they wished. There's a common expression today in the world. Go to the Church of your choice. But Israel didn't choose how they would keep the Passover or where they would keep the Passover. And this was all planned and ordered of God.
Now in Christianity, is it any less important that we should know where the Lord would have us to gather and how He would have us together? Oh, I believe He has given it to us in Christianity too. I believe He has marked it out in his precious word so that we might know his mind and so that we might walk in it. And you know, it's a remarkable thing that in the Epistle to the Corinthians.
We have.
Order in God's assembly brought before us we have such as the discipline and the assembly. We have about the collection We have about the Lord's Table and the Lord's Supper. All this brought before us in the first Epistle to the Corinthians. But I'm sure you've noticed how this epistle begins. The Spirit of God devotes 2 Chapters in the beginning of this epistle to set aside human wisdom. Why does he do this? Well, we meet.
So many Christians, and when we start to speak about the Lord's Supper and the Lord's Table, and they immediately say, well, I think this and I think that, well, dear friend, your thought is as good as mine, but in the things of God my thought isn't worth anything, and neither is yours. The Scripture says, and the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
It says in that scripture the foolishness of God is wise.
Greater than man. And so if you carefully read those first two chapters of Corinthians, you'll see that before the Spirit of God begins to instruct us in connection with his assembly, he shows that we must not introduce human wisdom into the things of God. We must bow to the precious word of God. Now man may have a great deal of wisdom and natural things.
God has given man a great deal of wisdom and He knows how to farm.
He knows how to produce all kinds of machinery, but when it comes to divine things, God says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. And so isn't it lovely that God has given us instruction in His Word, so that when we observe the remembrance of the Lord, that we could do it in a place and in a manner that is pleasing to Him? I think we ought to value this wonderful privilege.
Because as we were saying on Lord's Day evening, the cross is the center of to eternities. What more wonderful occasion was there in the history of this world? That when God's Son became a man, walked through this world as a man, glorified God about the question of sin at Calvary, and then went back to glory and took his place at the right hand of God as the head of the body, the church?
What a blessed, what a wonderful thing.
I remember one time the manager in the office where I worked, he said to me, he said, well, I'm not very much interested in what happened 2000 years ago. He said, I'm interested in what's happening in the world today. Well, I said to him, but Sir, the creator of this world was down here in this world about 2000 years ago. And to me that's the most important part of the world's history.
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He asked the Lord Jesus, God's beloved Son.
And came down into this world and all. What a marvelous work he accomplished. And all. How blessed is the privilege of remembering Him. Could there be a heart here that belongs to Christ who is not desirous of remembering Him? How could we appreciate what He has done for us without desiring to show our appreciation in some way? Well, perhaps you say all, but there are many ways that we can show our appreciation. Yes, that's true.
And you say, well, I do remember the Lord in my heart and for what he's done for me over and over again. Why do you put such stress on that? Because of two little words in the Scripture. It says this, this do Remember Me. This do Remember Me now. That is, it didn't just ask us to remember Him, but He said this, do Remember Me now. That is, there was a way that He established that is pleasing to Him.
And that does not touch your heart and mind. When we think of the cost to Himself to redeem us, when we think of His precious bloodshed for us, oh, how there is something that stirs in our hearts. And we say, I do want to show my appreciation. I am sure if a friend did something for you, you'd want to show your appreciation. But who has done so much as He has done? Who has done so much for your soul and mine as the Lord?
Jesus, and not for time, but for all eternity.
Now as I said in this 10th chapter, what is particularly brought before us is the truth of the Lord's table. And so he says, I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. Now that is, God addresses us as those who are indwelled by the Spirit of God, because it says in the first part of this epistle he that is spiritual.
And discerneth all things now. That is, God has not only given us his word.
About the Spirit of God indwells the believer, so that the things of Christ might be made known to us, as it says that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. God has written a book that cannot be understood apart from the Spirit of God, but he has given to every believer the Holy Spirit of God to indwell us. It says after that she believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, and which is the earnest of.
Inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. So He addresses us as those who not only have His Word, but by the Spirit we have the capacity of laying hold of His mind as revealed in His Word. And if there's a hindrance, it's because there's something wrong on our part. He wants us to know His will. He wants us to know His will.
It's the hindrance I say is often because our eye is not single, we partially.
We want to do our own well. We're not fully resigned to do his will about His promises. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine. Notice it doesn't say if any man will know his well. Sometimes you'll meet people and say, well, I really want to know, but it's a little bit more when we say, Lord Jesus, I really want to do thy will.
Sometimes we want to know because it's sort of nice to be.
Intelligent and to be able to talk intelligently on different subjects. But it's more when our wills are yielded and we say, well, I not only want to know his will, but I want to do it. And the Lord has given His promise that if we do desire that He will reveal it to us. And He also goes further in Philippians 3 and says, and if in anything ye be otherwise minded.
God shall reveal even this unto you, that it shows how willing He is.
To make his mind known to us, and he has marked it out in his Word. So the apostle addressed these Corinthians as those who now, through the light of God's Word, had wisdom to know the mind of God in this important subject.
And now another thing for us to notice in the 10th chapter where we have the subject of the Lord's Table, it mentions the cup first. In First Corinthians 11, which I also read, it mentions the loaf 1St. And of course, I'm sure we're all aware that when the Lord Jesus instituted the Feast of Remembrance, He broke the bread and then afterward he passed the cuff. It says likewise also the cup after supper. Now that.
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The loaf was first and then the cup. Now there must be a reason why when Speaking of the Lord's table, the cup comes first. And I think there's a very blessed reason for it, because when we think of the Lord's table, we think of the dignity and the glory of that person whose table it is. If I was invited to the table of the queen or the table of the president.
Why? I'd want to be quite sure that my clothes were acceptable.
My appearance was acceptable or I couldn't feel at all relaxed when I sat there at his table or her table. No, I would feel a little uncomfortable unless I was perfectly sure that my appearance there was acceptable. Well, what is it that gives us title to be at the Lord's table?
Well, it says in Hebrews chapter 10. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. And so just as I would walk and take my place at the table of the president, conscious that I was dressed and appeared in an acceptable way, then I could sit down with confidence. What is it that gives us confidence in coming to the Lord's table?
Oh, how blessed the precious blood of Christ.
Has so perfectly cleansed us that God himself cannot see one spot upon us.
It says in first John chapter 1 and verse 7. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Now when it says there if we walk in the light, he doesn't mean that all Christians don't walk in the light. All Christians do walk in the light when he says if he's contrasting.
Believers with unbelievers. Unbelievers are not only darkness, but they walk in.
Darkness and they don't know whether they go, but it says in Ephesians ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye children of light. But it says walk as children of light. So I say again, every believer has been brought into the light. And what is it that has fitted us for the light? It's the blood. It's the blood as though God were saying something like this.
That all the light and holiness of His presence.
Cannot discover one spot upon us because the blood has so perfectly cleansed us. We couldn't be any more cleansed. Couldn't have any better title to be in His presence than we have right now. And the title is His precious blood. Oh, what a blessed thing it is to know that.
So that's the place that we have been brought into. And so the cup is mentioned first here because the subject I say is the Lord's Table and God, what as it were, have us to know that He has given us a perfect title to be there through the precious blood of Christ.
And notice too, that it's it's called a cup of blessing. You know, we deserved a cup of judgment, but the Lord Jesus drank the cup of judgment. And now it tells us that he puts into our hands a couple blessing. A little hymn expresses it nicely. The Father's face of radiant grace shines now in light on me. So the cup is a cup of blessing. And then just a little word about this communion. You know, we hear people.
Sometimes speak about taking communion. Well the word communion means common thoughts and we actually cannot take common thoughts. That's sort of a contradiction of terms to speak about taking common thoughts. You can have common thoughts, but you don't take common thoughts. And so when it says here that the cup of blessing which we bless.
Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? It just simply means this.
Now that you and I have the privilege in sitting there at the table to enter into the very thoughts of God in connection with the blood of Christ, some Christians have doubts because they don't enter into the thoughts of God about the blood of Christ. But friends, it's not what the value that you and I put upon the blood, it's the value that God puts upon it. And we have the privilege of having God's thoughts about the blood. Well, doesn't that give you peace? It's what God thinks about it.
And if there's someone here that's doubting, don't think about your own thoughts. Think about what God says about that blood, how it has cleansed us, how it's our title to the holiest, how it's our theme for endless ages when we are there in the glory and saying, thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. So it's the communion or the common thoughts of the blood of Christ.
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And then it says the bread.
Which we break? Is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread. Or the proper translation is and the meaning is 1 loaf. For we being many are one loaf and one body, for we are all partakers of that one loaf.
Now you'll notice here in the 10th chapter that we are told that the one loaf is a symbol of the one body of Christ. Now when you come to the 11TH chapter, you'll notice that the loaf is only presented to us there as a symbol or a remembrance of the physical body of Christ that is on the cross of Calvary. The Lord Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree, but that one loaf on.
On the table is a symbol of the mystical body of Christ. And for those who are younger, when I say that the mystical body of Christ, I mean what it tells us by 1 Spirit. We are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free. And again where it says Christ is the head of the body of the Church. And again we are.
Members of his body.
Of his flesh and of his bones. This is a great mystery, for I speak concerning Christ and the Church, so that when we speak of the mystical Body of Christ, we mean the body of Christ composed of all believers. Every person who has believed in the Lord Jesus and is indwelled by the Spirit of God is a member of the body of Christ.
And when that one loaf is placed there upon the table, it represents.
The one body of Christ. That's why it's so important to see this in the Scripture, because surely when we lay hold of this and then we can see that the only scriptural way that we could call it the Lord's Table is that the truth of the one body should be expressed there. And there's no such thing in the Bible as joining a church or being a member of a church.
We are members of the.
The body of Christ, but we didn't have to join that. It says the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. And when a person is received at the Lord's table to remember the Lord, it isn't by that that he becomes part of the body of Christ. We receive him because he is part of the body of Christ. He is that by having received Christ.
And by the indwelling spirit of God now that's how he became part of the Bible of.
Christ and the Lord's Supper is the expression of it, and that's what is scripturally expressed at the Lord's Table. So if I were to set up a group of Christians and gather together a real nice group of Christians, and we met together as members of an organization that I had formed, then that wouldn't be an expression of the body of Christ because they would be members of a particular company.
And they would have to join that company.
Company to become members of that church. But you see what the scripture shows us is that we are members of the body of Christ by receiving Christ as our Savior and by being indwelled by the Spirit. And that the scriptural way to express this is in the breaking of bread. And I'm bold to say that any company of Christians to be scripturally gathered must be gathered on this ground. They must be gathered as members of.
Body of Christ, the moment you set up a church and you have members to that church, then you have in practice denied that there is one body. You may say, well, I believe it. I believe that all true Christians are members of the body of Christ. But if we deny it in practice, how could it be called the Lord's Table? Because on the Lord's Table the one loaf expresses the fact that we are members of that one body.
And So what a blessed privilege it is to say that we gather as members of the body of Christ. I remember an incident back in the East where there was a dear Christian man, and he was a member of an organization which had a a certain well known name in Christendom.
Then he was a friend of a brother who was gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus as a member of the body of Christ, and they often spoke together about the things of the Lord. And one day this Christian man who was gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. Yesterday when we gathered to remember the Lord, Oh no, he said, not me. He said, I went to my own church.
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Oh, yes, he said. I'm sure I saw you there. No, no, he said. You made a mistake, he said.
I was at my own church, and he mentioned the name of the church. Oh, he said, I saw you there in that one loaf on the table. Oh, don't you see now that that is where the truth of the one body is expressed? And that was what was begun by the Spirit of God in the early days of Christianity. Why the departure from it? Well, we can only say that man has brought in some departure from this, but this was what God laid down.
Word. And just as he established asunder in Jerusalem, and then afterwards a Jeroboam set up another center down in Bethel. Was that what God established? No, that was something that Jeroboam did. And what God had established was a place where all the 12 tribes could go and where they could enjoy the fact that God saw them as one nation before him.
And So what a lovely thing it is that there is such a privilege.
On earth as being gathered as members of the body of Christ. And now I just like to say a little bit more too about this, and that is that it's a privilege to enter into this As for our own souls so that we enjoy the remembrance of the Lord in a fuller way.
Shall I put it like this, that we don't just break bread as forgiven sinners, but we break bread as members of the body of Christ? Perhaps you say, well, aren't we forgiven sinners? Oh yes, but we're much more. And I've sometimes used little illustration to help bring this point home. We know that there's a story recorded in the Bible.
About a poor woman who lived in the city of Jericho long ago, her name was raised.
And she lived a very loose, careless life.
But she put her her trust in the Lord and she put the scarlet line in her window. And when the judgment fell upon the city of Jericho, Rahab the harlot escaped. She didn't fall in the judgment that fell on the city of Jericho. What made her home safe was that scarlet line in the window. But the story didn't end there. No, God has told us a little more about her and his word. And tracing on in her story, we find out that this woman.
Actually married into the royal line of Israel, she actually became the wife of a man whose name is given in the lineage of the Lord Jesus in the 1St chapter of Matthew. This man's name was Salmon. Now let us just suppose that the time came when she is now married to this man and she sits down at the table. She looks across the table to him, and she says, well, it's a wonderful thing to be a forgiven harlot.
Well, I think I can hear there will be just just a silence and I think he would look across the table to her. Oh, he said, certainly you're forgiven, but you're far more than that to me. I don't think about that because I look upon you as the bride of my choice. I love you. And isn't it blessed, brethren, now that the question of sin has been so perfectly settled that it tells us that when the Lord Jesus comes again, he'll appear without.
Him unto salvation now, that is, He's so perfectly settled the question of sin that we can sit at his table in the nearest possible relationship. And it's as though he looked across the table and said.
Thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. O brethren, can't you see some wonderful things that God has revealed to us about the Lord's table?
As I said before, if I was to come to the table of the President, I would first of all want to feel now that I was there in an acceptable way. But wouldn't it be more if I knew that I was in a very near relationship to me and to him rather, and that he looked upon me with favor and with affection, and that he saw me there in a place of very special love to himself?
Well.
How blessed it is that we considered His table and know how that were in the very nearest possible relationship. We're not only cleansed, but how blessed we are there as members of His body. And may I say to any Christian here that I don't believe you'll really enjoy the remembrance of the Lord as you should until you lay hold of this. And I believe that's why God gives the 10th.
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Chapter before he gives the 11TH Because we all know what it is to be invited to a meal. And when we sit down at the table and feel that we're accepted and that we're loved and we're wanted, we enjoy the meal a great deal more. And you know, when God wants to invite us to partake of his supper, he gives us a chapter to show us the place that he has brought us into and that we can sit there in this blessed and near.
Relationship as members of His body. And that's why the whole subject in this 10th chapter is the subject of fellowship and communion, because the Lord's table is the expression of this, as I say, entering into having the very common thoughts of God. And so in order to bring this home to us, He shows us that by eating of the sacrifices we become partakers with what?
The altar stands for, and so he shows that in the Judaistic worship, when a person partook of the sacrifices, he was a partaker with the altar. If a heathen went into his idol's temple and partook of the sacrifices in the idol's temple, he had fellowship with the idol's temple. He might say, well, I just ate it, but I didn't intend to have fellowship with the temple.
But he says, are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers with?
At the altar he says if you go to the idol temple, you're a partaker with what the idol stands for. And that's why it exercises me this way that wherever I break bread I have fellowship with what the table stands for. Whatever the table stands for, I have fellowship with it by being there if the if the thing stands for a certain organization in Christendom. And if I break bread I have fellowship with a man made organization.
If I go to an an idol's temple, I have fellowship with the idol, even if I say, well, I didn't intend to have fellowship, I just went there to please a friend. But he shows us here that the act of partaking was the expression of fellowship. And the reason he brings it in, brethren, is to show us that true separation is founded upon the blessed truth of knowing where the Lord wants us to be.
Being gathered around himself.
So that it's not a Pharisee occult separation, but it's a separation that is the result of us learning what it is to be partakers of at the at the Lord's table, to be there as members of his body. If I could explain it like this, what would you think of Rahab if she said, well, can I be excused? I'd like to go back to be with my friends again.
Just for one time. It isn't that I really want to live with them again, but.
I just like to go back one time. Oh, wouldn't you be surprised that she would want to have fellowship with what she had left? And so Paul says, if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. He had learned something and that was precious to him. And so I just commend it to your heart. If you have learned what it is to be gathered as a member of the body of Christ, surely that has satisfied your heart. Surely it has made you desire to.
Enjoy this precious privilege as that which is your privilege and mine until the Lord Jesus comes.
Perhaps I could just mention one other thing in passing here, that some are concerned as to whether the loaf should be leavened. They say, well, it should be an unleavened loaf, shouldn't it? Well, I just like to mention this, and at the very first time that we have the disciples gathered after the coming of the Holy Spirit for the breaking of bread was on the day of Pentecost, because it tells us there in the second of Acts.
The Spirit of God came down on the day of Pentecost, and then in the end of the chapter it says and a continued daily in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. Now if you were to go back to the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, you would find out something quite remarkable that on the day of Pentecost. Now they were told that they should bring out of their habitation.
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Two wave loaves bacon with leaven.
And that these were the first fruits unto the Lord. God was showing to them in the figure in the Old Testament on the feast of Pentecost, that there was going to be something new. And those two wave loaves, Bacon with leaven represented Jew and Gentile, who were to be brought in together. For it says by 1 Spirit he hath. We are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile. And why was it bacon with leaven?
That was the only occasion where God allowed them to present something to him that had leaven in it. And why did he allow that on the day of Pentecost? And why do we have a loaf that has 11 Remember the Lord? Well, I, I believe I can tell you why, because when we gather as members of the body of Christ, we don't profess that there's no, no evil nature within us. We know that inside of us.
There is still that fallen nature. If it wasn't so, why none of us could sit at the Lord's Table? Because the old nature's still there. But when that, when that?
Loaf was bacon, and then the activity of the Easter, of the leaven within it was brought to a stop. And so you and I have the old nature within it within us, but we're to have it in the place of death. And thank God we can sit there at the Lord's table and with that old nature still in US and remember the Lord. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be here next Lord's Day to remember the Lord, because I know I still have the old nature about the Lord.
Gives us grace to help, help us to keep that old nature in the place of death. So that one loaf on the table represents all believers. And so we find that the loaf that they had on the day of Pentecost was a loaf that was vacant with leaven. The very first time that they gathered scripturally as members of the body of Christ to remember the Lord, they must have had.
A loaf bacon with leaven. Well, I just mentioned this because sometimes this question is question is asked.
But isn't it lovely that the Word of God always gives us the answer to these things? Now let's turn over to the 11TH chapter.
And so I just like to mention here that between the 10th chapter and the 11TH chapter, we have three things brought before us.
And that is, we mentioned the first one, and that is separation. That is, when we have learned the truth of the Lord's Table, we ought to also learn with it the truth of separation. Because if we have been gathered as members of the body of Christ, then we're not part of the world or the world's systems. And then the second thing that we find out is submission. And we find this typified in the sister who has her long hair and who covers her head now.
This is a sign of submission, we're told. We know it's being given up in Christendom today, and but nevertheless it's in the Scripture. And it's so important that between the 10th and 11TH chapter, the Spirit of God devotes quite a few verses to this subject in order to show us just what is meant by these things. And so just as the church occupies the place of submission to Christ.
The sister, by her covering upon her head, recognizes that she is.
The one who is the type and the shadow of this in Christianity. And if you read Ephesians 5, you'll see this clearly brought before you too. Oh, you say that's just a small thing, but you know, we often show our desire to please the Lord in small things when our children did small things for us, but we knew they did it out of love. It pleased us a great deal. Perhaps it was only some little thing that was made out of a piece of cardboard that.
Had a few little markings on it, but some of these things were so dear to us that we still keep them because they expressed the love of their hearts. And you know, we can show our love to the Lord and our submission to His will in very little things in our lives if we really want to please Him.
And then the third thing that I mentioned here is that we have brought before us the.
Sobriety, that is. When they came, it was not to eat their own supper, it was to eat the Lord's Supper, we're told. Because I believe when we come in on Lord's Day morning that we should be conscious of this too. And we're not there just to eat a meal, but we're there to remember the Lord in his death. We're there to think of one who is.
Infinitely dear to us, and who went into death for us. And so here we find the truth of the sobriety that they were to remember the purpose for which they came together. It was to remember the Lord in his death. And let us remember this, brethren, when we come in on Lord's Day morning to remember that it's a very serious purpose that we come for a very blessed purpose. And that is to remember what our precious Savior did for us.
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Now when we come to the details in the 11TH chapter, as I mentioned before, we have the loaf 1St and then the cup. And the reason is that what is brought before us in this chapter is the actual remembrance of what the Lord Jesus passed through for us and saw that the loaf, when broken, brings before us the physical body of Christ.
Because in those hours of darkness upon the cross of Calvary, the Lord Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Now that is we think of Him.
There upon that cross, as the strokes of divine judgment rolled over his blessed head, and the suffering that he endured there during those hours of darkness when he was made sin for us, as the psalmist puts it, deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water spouts all thy waves, and thy billows are gone over me. And so as we partake of that loaf that is broken.
And we think of the Lord Jesus.
In the suffering that he endured. And you'll notice in this chapter, it doesn't speak about the communion. It speaks about the remembrance because in the 10th chapter, it's entering into the thoughts of God in connection with those things that we spoke of and that are brought before us there. But here it's entering into what the Lord Jesus had to suffer and we can never fully enter into what he endured for us.
None of the ransomed ever knew.
How deep were the waters crossed, or how dark was the night that the Lord passed through ere he found his sheep that was lost? Or as another little hymn says.
The depth of all I suffering no heart could ere conceive. The cup of wrath or flowing for us Thou didst receive. And so we find that the Lord Jesus first bore all the wrath and judgment, and then that blood that flowed from His pierced side tells us of a finished work. And the reason I call attention to this, and the reason the Spirit of God calls attention to it, is that.
In all the sacrifices of Judahism.
The blood of the animal was shed 1St, and then the animal was afterwards offered in sacrifice. Now that is.
When you looked at the blood of the animal now, that didn't tell you of something that was finished because the blood was shed before the animal was placed upon the altar in sacrifice. But the Lord Jesus bore all the judgment of God against sin. And then the Spirit of God calls our attention to the blood that flowed from His side, because He would show us that that spoke of something that was finished and when.
John saw that blood flow from the Savior's side.
It didn't speak of something that was yet to be done. It spoke of something that had been accomplished. And oh, how blessed it is that when we partake of the loaf and drink of the cup that we are thinking, or should be thinking of what the Lord Jesus endured for us when He was made sin for us upon that cross. And then how that precious blood bore witness to the fact that He had died for us, that He had borne the judgment, because without.
Of blood there is no remission. So you can see that in the Lord's Supper there is the actual remembrance of His sufferings and death, whereas in the Lord's Table there are precious things expressed to our hearts. And I say again, the Spirit of God sets us at ease in His presence, and then tells us what it cost Him to bring us there.
Oh, how blessed to sit down at his table and know and as we sing those.
Hymns and rejoice in our place of acceptance before him. Rejoice in what that work of Christ means to the heart of God. And then after we have sat down, sung those hymns, and then we remember what it cost him to bring us there. And we partake of that bread and we drink of that cup. What a privilege. And it's only ours until He comes. And we show to the world that would like to forget about it, we show His death.
The world would like to forget what they did to God.
00:45:01
Son, they make a great celebration over his birth, but they'd like to forget that they put the Son of God upon a cross. But you and I look back to that cross as everything to us, what he suffered there. And so we delight, and God delights to have us remember him in his death.
Now I'd like to say a few words here about what follows, because sometimes these following verses have been, shall I say, difficult for some to understand. Notice this 27th verse. 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 so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation. Or if you have a margin, it says judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
Now what he is talking about here is not really unbelievers. He's talking about true believers here. And when he speaks about eating and drinking judgment to ourselves, why? If you read on, notice the 34th verse, 31St verse rather. 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 of the world.
These verses make it very clear that he's not talking about an.
Unbeliever here, he's talking about the Lord having to deal with us in his governmental ways and so when it speaks about eating and drinking unworthily.
We never had and never will have any worthiness in ourselves. You know, I've often said, if I had been writing this, I might have put these verses in the 10th chapter, but the Spirit of God put them in the 11TH chapter. And why? Well, because in the 10th chapter. What more perfect title could we have to be there than the precious blood? What nearer place could we have than members of the body of Christ?
But why do they come in in the 11TH chapter? Well, perhaps I could.
Put it this way, there is a worthy way to remember the Lord, and there is an unworthy way to remember the Lord.
If I had a great debt and I was unable to pay it and you kindly paid the debt for me and you had to sell your home to pay the debt. And I thank you very, very much for your kindness.
But then I decide that I'll make a trip over to your house after a month's time and thank you again. But in the meantime, I have become just as careless about my affairs as I was before. I'm just as careless about my debts as I was before you paid them. And I come over to your house and I pretend to say how grateful I am for what you've done for me. And you look me in the face and say, Gordon, I can't understand.
You, you're just as careless as you were before. Don't you realize something of what it cost me to have to pay that debt for you? Don't you think that you're very unappreciative to be living that way still? And so if you and I are going on in our lives with the very things that caused the Lord Jesus all that suffering and all that agony, He says that when we come to.
Thank Him and we haven't judged those things that we're doing it in an unworthy way. We're doing it unworthily. And when it says he shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, it means that we're going on with the very things in our lives that caused him all that suffering that we say that we're remembering all that. Can't you see what a serious thing this is and how important it is now that ere we come to remember?
Him and his death.
That we should get before him and that we should own to him those things that have come between ourselves and him. If I was to come over to your house in that situation. And when when I came, I said, oh, I, I must say I'm very, very sorry. I've become careless again. And I know a little bit of what it costs you to pay the debt for me. And I'm very sorry I've been careless because I do appreciate.
What you've done for me, that would be different, wouldn't it? That would be different. And so it says, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat. If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. And so if you and I form the habit in our Christian life of judging the little things that come into our lives, the the little things before they grow into great things.
00:50:10
Then we will be able to continue.
You know, in communion with the Lord in our souls, we'll still enjoy the remembrance of Him and His death. But sometimes I think of it this way. The Lord has given us His supper as a remembrance of what it cost him to take our place and bear our judgment. He knows how forgetful we would be. He knows how soon we would forget all His wondrous love. And so He instituted this feast for us every week.
And so that we could come and think of what he has done for us. And it's as though he were saying to us like this, If the thoughts of my suffering and death, if the thoughts of what I've done for you to put away your sins, that doesn't move your heart to self judgment, then I'll have to put my hand upon you in discipline.
Because He intends that the thoughts of His love should bring our souls to self judgment. Just as if I were coming over. I say again to thank you for the debt you paid. And as I think of going and as I think of what you've done, it stirs in me a feeling of being ashamed. And I want to say I'm sorry. And how could you and I come into the Lord's presence to remember him and have those things?
Unjudged in our hearts, if so it says.
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. Let me make it very clear. A Christian can never be lost. A Christian can never have to do with God again, as a judge. The question of the judgment of our sins was settled at the cross, but God does have to deal with us as His disobedient children.
And He has given us this feast of remembrance to produce in US self judgment and a deeper desire to please Him. And if it doesn't, then he has to use discipline to bring it about.
That he should have instituted this feast for us. Isn't it gracious on his part that he should have done it? And I'd just like to say this too, that I believe, brethren, if we practice the habit of self judgment in little things, they'll not grow into great things in our lives. I've often said like this, opposing, I took you out to my garden and when we're walking out to look at the garden, I said to you.
Well, you know, I've made the habit of.
Pulling all the weeds out of my garden every week. And so you walk out and you start looking at my garden. And here you find a big weed this high, and you pull it out and say, well, Gordon, I guess you missed this one. And then you walk a little farther. Here's another big one. You pull it out and say, well, Gordon, I guess you missed that one.
I assure you did it every week. Well, I'd have to say, well, I'm afraid I was a little bit careless. And brethren, there'll never be the great sins in our lives that call for the governmental ways of God in a solemn way upon us, or the discipline of the assembly perhaps, if we learn to practice self judgment in little things.
And isn't it gracious that the Lord should have instituted the Feast of Remembrance as His gracious way of reminding us each week what He has done for us, so that we would seek to live in communion with Him, with nothing between our souls and Him? And so it doesn't say, let a man examine himself and stay away, but let a man examine himself, and so let him eat. And if we do this, then we can go on and walk in communion with the Lord and enjoy.
Precious privilege until he comes.
Well, just one more thing here that I'd like to call attention to and that's the 34th verse and the last part. It says the last sentence and the West will I said in order when I come. I think that's very gracious of the Spirit of God to have put those words at the end of the chapter. And why has he put them there? Well, because.
We're never going to find the perfect group of Christians. You know, there's some Christians and.
They're looking around to try and find the perfect group and they're disappointed. And as someone said, if you ever do find a perfect group, it wouldn't be a good idea to join it. Because if I found a perfect group, why? I knew if I go with them I would spoil it because I'm not perfect. But isn't it gracious of the Spirit of God to put in these words at the end of the chapter? And the rest will I set in order when I come and so.
00:55:03
We're poor, failing.
Things, but we have this precious truth, we have what God has brought before us in his Word, but we need to learn grace and forbearance with one another. And when we get home to glory, then it says we'll see eye to eye.
Will look within and see no stain abroad, no curse to trace. Will not just see a few gathered to his precious name. But it tells us that now we have the privilege where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst. But we're looking forward to a time when all the family of God, every member of the body of Christ, will be gathered around the Lord Jesus. That'll be a glorious time.
That's what we're looking forward to. In the meanwhile, we're gathered to a rejected Christ as members of His body. When we get there, we won't need the emblems anymore, but we'll have Himself, and we'll be just like him, and every member of the body of Christ will be there, and there'll be nothing to set in order up there. We'll be with him and like Him for all eternity. But all brethren, may we value the privilege that God has given to us.
I've been much impressed how the Lord Jesus.
Us after all, Israel's failure, after all the failure of his disciples on the very night of his betrayal, said, I have heartily desired. That's the way the margin puts it. I have heartily desired to eat this Passover with you. Wouldn't you have thought when the Lord knew all about those disciples that he would have said, Oh, there's such a failing lot, But he said, I heartily desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Are we in the last days of the Church?
History, brethren, is there a lot of failure among the Saints? Well may we enter into those thoughts of the precious Savior and heartily desire to remember Him. He heartily desires to have us there. May we value the privilege of being gathered to His name as members of His body until He comes.