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Amen. So keep your place there in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. We're looking at the ordinances for the last couple of weeks, and we're going to be looking at the Lord's Supper this morning. Looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 11, if you have a red letter Bible, you'll see that there are some red words in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. This is one of the places where the words of institution of Jesus Christ are repeated in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. We're going to go through what's happening in the second half of 1 Corinthians chapter 11. But first of all, why is it considered, look at verse number 2, why is the Lord's Supper considered an ordinance of the church? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 in verse number 2, Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them unto you. So the ordinances is something, it's one of the things that we are commanded to do as Christians. Jesus repeats these words of institution at the last Passover meal that he was at in Matthew chapter 26, in Mark chapter 14, in Luke chapter 22. He repeats these. We're not going to go to each one of those because they are very similar to what is listed in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. But this is one of the things that we are commanded to do by our Lord Jesus Christ. And we do this as a congregation as they are doing in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. But there is a lot of lessons for us to be learned from what these people are doing in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, things that they are doing wrong, the reasons for it. So let's look at that this morning. Look down at 1 Corinthians chapter 11 in verse number 23. The Bible says this, it says, you know, Paul is teaching some doctrine in the first part of the chapter. He's talking about head coverings and things like this. I think no one from California has heard verse 14 where it says a man, it's a shame for a man to have long hair. But that's not the point of this sermon. I was just listening as we read it again. Look down at verse number 23 and let's look down at the Bible and see what the Lord's Supper is all about. What is this ordinance? How is it to be carried out? Verse number 23, the Bible reads, for I've 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. This is Jesus and what he says at the last supper with his disciples. They're having the Passover meal. Look at verse 24. And when he had given thanks he break it. So this is the bread. He gave thanks and he break it and said, take eat. This is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. Look at verse 25. After the same manner also he took the cup and we need to stop saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as often as you drink it. Again, in remembrance of me. So he's saying here, he is saying that the bread that they are eating is representing his body that is about to be broken and the blood is the New Testament of his blood that is given in Matthew 26. It says for the forgiveness of sins. We are covered, look, we are covered by the blood of Christ and we'll get to that in a little bit. But the Passover meal Jesus is showing is that it is a picture of him. It is a picture of Jesus Christ and what he is about to do. And the reason for taking the Lord's supper is to remember these things. Is to remember what Jesus has done for us. Look at verse number 26. He says, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. So the Passover, turn to Exodus chapter 12. The Passover meal here is a picture of Christ is what Jesus is showing us. Now there's so many pictures of Christ in the Old Testament. As we looked at Leviticus chapter 16, we looked at the Day of Atonement and we looked at all the different parts of the Day of Atonement. The Passover meal itself is very similar to that and whereas all the pieces of the Passover meal, Jesus Christ pictures everything of it. He is the complete answer to these rituals that they did in the Old Testament that show Jesus fulfills all of it. Look at Exodus chapter 12 and look at verse number 3. This is talking about the Passover meal. This was to be done in the first month which is actually, if you translate that into today's calendar, it's the month of April. So the month of April is the first month in the Hebrew calendar. Look at verse number 3 of Exodus chapter 12, speaking about the Passover meal now. Let's look at this for just a couple minutes. Speak ye unto 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. And if the household be too little for the lamb, 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 your account for the lamb. But this is a special lamb. Look at verse 5. And your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. This is not to be a lamb that is the worst one that you have. You're to take the best of your livestock without blemish, without any problems with it. And ye shall keep it up unto the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Showing that the congregation does this, you know, together or in unison. Obviously, they're in their own houses in this case. But look at verse 7. And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it. So this is a picture of the blood of Christ. So they were to put the blood of the lamb over their doorframe to their house. And then, of course, when God came through the country and killed all the firstborn, when he saw the blood, he passed over that house. This was the first Passover. And this is showing that the blood of Christ cleanses us. Look at Hebrews chapter 9 in verse number 22. Hebrews chapter 9 in verse number 22. So the Passover, just like the rituals in the Old Testament, they are a picture of Jesus Christ. They are a picture through the lamb. They are a picture through the blood, you know, causing, you know, God to pass over those houses that had the blood covering them or covering their door. Look at Hebrews chapter 9 in verse 22. The Bible says in Hebrews 9 22, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And without shedding of blood, there is no remission. Go back to Exodus chapter 12. Sorry, I hope I don't think I told you to keep your place there. But Exodus chapter 12, verse number 8, still talking about the Passover and the Passover meal, we can see the picture of Christ continuing. Look at verse number 8 of Exodus chapter 12. And they shall eat the flesh in that night and roast with fire and unleaven bread with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Now you can go ahead and you can turn to Acts chapter 2, or I can just read it for you, it's up to you. But what I want to point out to you here is that this picture of the Passover meal is very similar to the ritual that we see in Leviticus chapter 16 with the Day of Atonement. We see that there is blood that is spilled. We see that the sacrifice is then at the last part, it is burnt, it is roasted with fire. In Leviticus chapter 16, it's the same pattern. And this is a picture of why Jesus, after he died on the cross, the Bible actually says in Acts chapter 2 and verse 31, that Jesus' soul actually went to hell. It's a picture of what's happening in Leviticus chapter 16 and also in the Passover meal, it being roasted with fire. Look at Acts chapter 2 and verse 31. It says, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. This is just showing that Christ was the completed picture of all of these rituals. Okay, now Jesus' soul going to hell, I know there's a lot to that, that's a sermon in itself, but I just want to show you that the whole death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a completed picture of the Passover meal and also Leviticus chapter 16, the day of atonement sacrifices. Go to Leviticus chapter 2, if you would. Now I want to focus on the unleavened bread. In Exodus 12, 8, I read for you, it says, an unleavened bread and with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Look at Leviticus chapter 2 in verse number 11. So you see here that the bread is to be a different type of bread. It is to not be a bread that has leaven in it. Leaven meaning yeast. You put yeast in bread, so the bread rises and it's fluffy in the oven. If you've ever had unleavened bread or flat bread, it's bread that didn't rise. There's no leaven, there's no yeast in it. Look at verse number 11 of Leviticus chapter 2. The Bible says, no meat offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven. So the Bible here is saying not only the Passover bread, but no offerings that have bread in them are to have leaven in the bread. There's no yeast to be used at all for ye shall burn no leaven or any honey or any offering of the Lord made by fire. Now turn to Hosea chapter 7. So the leaven, we're seeing a pattern here. God doesn't want any sacrifice made to him that has leaven in the bread. What does that mean? What is that about? Go to Hosea chapter 7. Hosea chapter 7. Right after Daniel in the Bible, you will find the book of Hosea. Go to Hosea chapter 7 and look down at verse number 1. The reason for this is that leaven in the Bible pictures something. Let's look down at Hosea chapter 7 and look at verse number 1. Hosea chapter 7 and verse number 1. So we're not to have, you're not to give a sacrifice of bread to the Lord that has leaven in it. The Passover meal which pictured Christ was not to have leaven in that bread either. So leaven is something that God does not want. Look at verse number 1 of Hosea chapter 7. When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered and the wickedness of Samaria. For they commit falsehood and the thief cometh in and the troop of robbers spoileth without. So here we see that these people are doing, they're doing iniquity. Another word for iniquity is sin. It says here, it says they're doing wickedness. They're committing falsehoods. Look at verse number 2. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. There you see more sin. Now their own doings have beset them about their before my face. They may make the king glad with their wickedness and their princes with their lies. Then look what he says. So they're lying, they're wicked, they're in iniquity. Then it says they are all adulterers. And then he says as and. Remember how we decide, we read the Bible? We read the Bible literally. We read the Bible literally unless there's a clear metaphor being made, a clear analogy being made. Look what it says here. It says as and. He's saying it's like unto. It's like this. So he's saying that this wickedness, this iniquity, this sin, these falsehoods, these lies, all this sin in this nation, it says they're all adulterers just like he's saying. He says as an oven heated by the baker who sees this from raising after he has kneaded the dough until it be leavened. So here it's saying it's comparing, it's comparing, you know, the leaven to all this wickedness and lies and falsehoods that these people are doing. And it says that he's just letting, he's just letting the, he leavens the bread and then he just goes to sleep and just lets it just, what happens to bread when it's leavened and it's in the oven? It just, it grows and it grows and it grows. And this is such a perfect example of sin, this yeast in bread as it rises. Because here's the funny thing. If you would take a bunch of dough and you would leaven it and you would set it right next to a bunch of dough that wasn't leavened, you would not be able to tell the difference, especially not right away. This is exactly how sin is in our lives. If somebody has sin, where does sin begin? Sin begins inside you. Sin begins in your heart. And you know what? Somebody that's struggling with sin in their hearts, you probably wouldn't be able to tell right away. You probably wouldn't be able to tell that bread had leaven in it right away. But the problem is as you get sin in your heart, as you get leaven in your heart and then you just forget the things of God, you just go to sleep like this baker, you just walk away from your spiritual life, that leaven, it grows within you. It grows within you. And then that bread, now you can, it goes in the oven and it cooks and you can start to see that leaven doing its work. And that sin, it will manifest itself in you. It will come out in the things that you do. The Bible says it will come out. What's in your heart? It says will come out of your mouth. It will come out in the things that you do, the things that you say, that leaven will grow inside you and it will spread and it will become very visible to those around you. So this is a perfect example of why leaven. Jesus called the Pharisees, he says beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. He said he's talking about the sin, the false doctrine that is coming out of them. In Galatians 5, 9 it says a little leaven is talking about the church, talking about the church. It's saying like look, you just can't have certain sins in the church. Why? Because those sins, they will grow. They will grow in the church. Sins like fornication and extortion and covetousness, these types of sin, they can't be allowed in the church because a little leaven, leaven at the whole lump, the Bible says. The bread of this church will become, you know, it'll just grow and grow and grow and you could kind of see how that would happen, couldn't you? Couldn't you? If I sat up here and I preached against all these sins and said look the Bible says this and then we just had it going on in the church, nobody would take it seriously and it would spread and it would grow and I preached separation. We need to be separated from the world. We need to be different from the way the world is but we weren't really different from the world. What difference would it make? It would spread and that's what Galatians chapter 5 and verse number 9 is telling us that a little leaven will leaven this whole lump. It'll come out of you, it'll grow in your heart and it'll come out of you but it'll also leaven the entire church. Go back to Exodus chapter 12. So leaven is a picture of sin. All that to say that is that leaven is a picture of sin and that's why, you know, Jesus and the Passover meal is using unleavened bread. It's to be sin. It is to be bread that is not infected. You are to be unleavened as you take the Lord's Supper. Look at Exodus chapter 12 and verse number 9. Eat not of it raw nor sodden it with water but roast with fire. Again, his head with his legs and the pertinence thereof. He shall let nothing of it remain until the morning and that which remain of it until morning you shall burn with fire again and thus you shall eat it with your loins girded your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. So we see that the Passover meal in the Old Testament, look God was, he was implementing, he wasn't just implementing these rituals and these specific ways that they should do things for no reason. He was showing them a picture of the Messiah and how he was going to save the world is what he was doing. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. This is such a great couple of verses here in verse 7 and verse 8. The Bible says purge out there for the old leaven that you may be a new lump. This is what we should do. This is what we should do in our lives as we are a new man. We're to purge out the old sins in our lives as you're unleavened. For even Christ what? For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Christ is the Passover is what the Bible here is saying. Christ is the whole thing. Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So all that to say that Jesus Christ is the picture or the Passover is a picture that is fulfilled completely in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ is the Passover. He is the completed picture of that. Go to Numbers chapter 9. So who was to take the Passover? So now we need to know like who was to take the Passover meal? Who was to eat the Passover? The Bible tells us in Numbers chapter 9 and in many other places but look at Numbers chapter 9 in verse number 1. The Bible says and the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt saying let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season. In the 14th day of this month, the first month, which again is April of our calendar, at even ye shall keep it in this appointed season according to all the rights of it. He's saying follow all the exact rules that I just read you in Exodus chapter 12 according to all the ceremonies thereof ye shall keep it and Moses spake unto the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover and they kept the Passover on the 14th day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai according to all the Lord commanded Moses so did the children of Israel. So all the children of God were to keep the Passover. As a matter of fact, if you look at Numbers chapter 9 in verse number 14, keeping the Passover was actually a sign of a believer. It was one of the outward signs of a believer. Look at Numbers chapter 9. This is talking about somebody from another nation, somebody that was a stranger in the land, somebody that was not a born Israelite so to speak. Look at verse number 14. The Bible says and if a stranger in Numbers chapter 9 verse 14, if a stranger shall sojourn among you, that means if a stranger comes and stays among you and will keep the Passover unto the Lord according to the ordinance of the Passover and according to the manner thereof so shall you do you shall have one ordinance both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land. This is what the Bible is saying here. You have a foreigner that comes in and wants to stay with you and he's keeping the Passover. That's an outward sign that he's now a believer. Obviously, he's not saved by doing that but it's saying it's just as far as applying what law to who? He's to have the same law applied to you as everyone else in the nation of Israel because this is an outward sign that he has accepted your God, that he is a believer. First of all, what do we see so far about the Lord's Supper? The Passover was for believers. We see that. You know the Passover, it pictured Christ, you know from the unleavened bread to the burnt sacrifice to the unblemished lamb's blood and then Christ, he replaced the Passover. He is the Passover. Then Jesus in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 back to where we came in Matthew, you know, Matthew 26 and Luke and Mark also. He directs us, the Passover lamb directs us to perform the Lord's Supper to remember his body and his blood. He directs us to do this. Okay, so how is it to be administered and what were the problems that were happening in this church? Because there were problems in the Corinthian church and Paul was pretty hard on these people. As a matter of fact, God was pretty hard on these people for what they were doing. So we need to pay attention to what they were doing wrong here. Look at verse 16 of 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Look down at verse number 16 of 1 Corinthians chapter 11. This is very important that we all understand the mistakes that were being made here so we can make sure that we take the Lord's Supper in with the right heart, in the right spirit, for the right reasons. Look at verse 16 of 1 Corinthians chapter 11. The Bible says, but if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. Meaning there should be no contention in the church. It's like there should be no contention in the church. Look at verse 17. Now in this that I declare unto you, I praise you not that you come together not for the better but for the worse. He's saying, he's saying that the way that you are doing this, he's like the way that you are coming together to have the Lord's Supper, he's like it would be better, he's like if you're doing it the way you're doing it, you'd be better if you didn't do it, is what Paul is saying here. Look at verse 18. Now he goes into what is wrong. So it'd be better if we never had the Lord's Supper. Let's get this point for, you know, taken care of. If we never had the Lord's Supper, then if we did it wrong. Okay, so that's what Paul says first. He's like, it'd be better to not do it than to do it this way. Look at verse 18. Let's see what they're doing. Let's see what they're doing so we can not repeat it. Look, you can learn from your own mistakes, you can learn from the mistakes of others. Learning from the mistakes of others is a much better way to learn in your life. Look at verse 18. First of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it. So there's contentions. Here we see that there's divisions. For there must also be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be manifest among you. He kind of compares, you know, what they're doing wrong here to a heresy. So this is pretty strong language, but it gets even worse. Look at verse 20. When ye come together, therefore, in one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. He's saying, he's saying what you're doing, what you're doing is not the Lord's Supper, is what he's saying in verse number 20. Look at verse 21. He said, for in eating everyone taketh before his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken. So the things to underline there is his own supper. So in verse 20, they're to take the Lord's Supper, but these people are taking what? They're taking their own supper. Okay, and it says in detail, it says one is hungry and another is drunken. Look at verse 22. He says, what? Have you not houses to eat and 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? He's like, I praise you not. So here's what was happening. Here's what was happening. First of all, people were not coming there for the Lord's Supper. People were coming there for their own supper. That's the first problem. We were coming there for their own selves, for their own supper. Like I'm hungry. I'm going to church Wednesday night because I'm hungry and I don't want to spend a bunch of money in an outburger or wherever you go. Okay. I mean, it's getting expensive. I get it. But Wednesday night is not the time to come to get yourself filled. Okay. It's not your supper. It is the Lord's Supper. He's like, what? Don't you have a house to eat food in? Instead, these people were coming together and they were just gorging themselves. And what's even worse than that is that some were just gorging themselves and then others were just getting nothing. So it was like a potluck. It was like a potluck where if you didn't bring anything, we didn't feed you. Guess what? You come to a potluck here if you don't bring anything, which nobody in this church does this by the way. We have crazy potlucks here. But anyway, it's like if a potluck, you're like that guy from some other church that we've heard of before that comes to a potluck and like brings nothing. And then it's like, yeah, you sit over there and we're all going to eat. That's what was going on here. And they were just, they were, you know, there's implication that some people were actually bringing alcoholic wine and they were even getting drunk possibly. But what the point is, is that there was divisions that were being created in the church because of this. Because some people would get nothing and some people would get a lot. So it was creating divisions. Then they were using the Lord's Supper as a place to just gorge themselves on food and to even possibly get drunk with alcoholic wine in this church. But first of all, what wine will we use on Wednesday night? Go to Proverbs chapter 23. Wine in the Bible, just to sidetrack this for a little bit, wine in the Bible can be either an alcoholic drink or not. It can just be the juice of the grape. Okay, in Exodus it talks about, you know, I think it's Genesis chapter 40, you know, in whose dream? It's like the baker's dream where he just gets the grape. They squeeze the grape directly into his cup. That would be considered wine. Look, it's an expensive drink. Grapes are expensive. You've gone to the store and look at how much grapes are today. It's a luxury. It's a king's drink. It's a luxurious drink. It could be alcoholic or not. And obviously if it was squeezed directly from the grape, did not have time to ferment, it would just be non-alcoholic wine. Look at Proverbs chapter 23 in verse number 31. The Bible is pretty clear as far as believers on whether or not we should drink alcoholic drinks or not. Look at Proverbs 23 and verse 31. Look not upon the wine when it is red and giveth its color in the cup when it moveth itself a ripe. So this right here, it proves two things. It proves two things. First of all, there's a time when the wine is not red. There's a time when the wine is not giving its color in the cup. There's a time when the wine does not move itself a ripe. It moving itself, it becoming red, all this. This is the fermentation process. When the chemical change is happening, when there's what? When there's what in the wine, by the way? Yeast in the wine. Leaven in the wine. On the outside of the skin of the grape and the wine has had a chance to ferment. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 10. Ecclesiastes chapter 10. To get alcoholic wine from grape juice or the juice from the grape, you would have to have the skin of the grape that contains the yeast on it inside the grape and then it would have to actually ferment. It's a chemical process of breaking down or actually it's kind of like rotting is what it is. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 10. Look at verse number 1. The Bible says dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking saver. So doth a little folly in him that is a reputation for wisdom and honor. So here this is talking about something that rots and it's comparing it to, again, sin, to folly. It's taking something that is pure and you put something in it that rots or you could even compare this to fermentation and it compares it to sin. Just like the leaven in the bread. So it would not make sense that the bread that we're going to take is leavened by the way and then we're going to have leavened wine. It wouldn't make any sense. But clearly we are instructed in the Bible, go back to Proverbs chapter 31, we are clearly, just on a side note, we are clearly instructed in the Bible to not drink alcohol as Christians. Look at verse number 4 of Proverbs chapter 31. The Bible says this, it says, it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes strong drink. This is talking about that leavened wine, this fermented wine. Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto them that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Now you say, oh, that's for kings though. Yeah, but in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 6, guess what? We are kings and priests. So we are not to drink, you know, alcoholic beverages. I mean, the Bible says that's for people who are, that's for unsaved people. Just that's for people that are going to perish. You know, it's not for us. It will pervert your judgment. Go back to Proverbs 23. It will pervert your judgment. In Proverbs chapter 23 verse 29, a couple of verses before what we read earlier, it says, who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath what? What was happening in the first Corinthians chapter 11 church? What was happening to this church? What did they have in the church? They had contention. They had divisions. Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? And then it goes into, it's the people that are drinking. It's the people that are drinking alcohol. They have all these problems. We are clearly commanded to not drink alcohol in the Bible. So of course we will have non-alcoholic, you know, grape juice, the juice of the grape at our Lord's supper. So some were gorging. Let's go back to first Corinthians chapter 11. Some were gorging and some went without. First Corinthians chapter 11 and look at verse 22. There was contentions in the church. There was divisions in the church. Verse 22 it says, what have you not houses to eat and 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 we see two problems so far. This meal is not, this meal of the Lord's supper is not for food and drink for you. That is not what it's about. And then second of all, there was divisions and contentions amongst this congregation. Okay. Probably, look, it was probably class division amongst those who had a lot and those who had a little in this case. And I'm sure this caused many contentions amongst the church. But what Paul says in verse number, look, it's just, it would be better if you were doing nothing, Paul says, than doing it this way, than the things that they were doing. So what is the answer? Look at verse 23. So they were doing all these things wrong. And then Paul goes ahead and he lists out the consequences that are going to happen to them. And then he also gives them the answer of how to fix what they're doing wrong. Look at verse 23. The Bible says, for I've received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. Now he's going to teach them here, you know, what they should be doing. 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. This is Jesus's words. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, this do ye as often as you drink it, again in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. It's to remember the death of Jesus Christ, remember his broken body, and to remember his blood that covers our sins. Verse 27, wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily. He's saying, like with contentions, with divisions, with, you know, eating it for your own food, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. It's like that sounds pretty bad, but then he gets into even more detail. He says, but let a man examine himself, so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup, for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, he that do what you all are doing, he's saying, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Now a lot of people take this verse and just, you know, run south with it. What he's saying here is that you eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. What he's saying is, you know, you can just say take that damnation and he explains it in the next few verses, but what he means there is severe judgment. He means you have severe judgment coming to you if you do the things that you all have been doing. Well, what about this church? What about, you know, the first Corinthians church that was doing all these things wrong? Were they under judgment? Well, look, look at verse 30. Look at what was happening to these people. These people were just using this as a riotous, you know, get together. They were excluding some. They were causing divisions. They had many contentions in the church and then they were taking the Lord's Supper. It says, for this cause, because you are doing the things that I just listed to you, many are, many are weak and sickly among you. Look, these people are literally getting sick and worse and many sleep. Look, God was bringing judgment on this church to the point where they were getting sick and they were dying because of this. That's what he means by damnation in verse number 29. You say, oh, I don't believe you. Look, he continues to explain that this is judgment. Look at verse 31. Now, this is just great, you know, advice for the Christian life right here in verse 31. This is just great general advice for you as a Christian. It says, for if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. You know, it would be nice in our Christian life if we could correct ourselves and then God wouldn't have to come down and beat us, is what the Bible is saying here. Police yourself so God doesn't have to do it for you. It's a good general rule of thumb for anybody who's saved. Look at verse 32. But when we are judged, now he explains, because a lot of people say, oh, you know, the people that teach that the Lord's Supper is a sacrament and that the Lord's Supper has something to do with your salvation, they'll just take that damnation verse in verse 29 and they'll just run with it and say, see, you have to do the Lord's Supper or you're going to go to hell. But look what he says in verse 32. He explains that that's not what he meant. He explains that it means severe judgment of getting sick, getting weak, and possibly even dying on this earth. He says, but when we are judged, we are what? What's the difference between us? What's the difference between us? When you get saved, when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you now became adopted into God's family. You became a child of God and God will chastise his children. That's the difference between you and somebody that's not saved. If you want to know, if you want to know, like, why do people seem to get away with such wicked things in this world? It's because they're not saved. They're going to pay in hell. They're going to pay an eternity in hell, which is worse than anything God could ever do to them on this earth. But look at verse 32. It says, when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Look, we're not going to be condemned. Nothing we could ever do in our lives will condemn us to hell, just like the world. But we're going to be chastened of the Lord. This is the difference between us and the unsaved. I mean, condemned with the world means going to hell for eternity. That's what condemned with the world means. We won't go to hell. But in Hebrews chapter 12, it talks about how we'll be chastened of the Lord. In Hebrews chapter 10, this chastening of the Lord is called fiery indignation, will be brought upon us. Look, you as a saved person could end up with God's fiery indignation on your life. Who wants that? You could be sick. You could be weakened. You could be killed. God could end your life on this earth. You'll never go to hell, because that's the condemnation that the world will receive. But you could be in severe judgment on this earth, and pretty severe in the case of these people who are abusing the Lord's Supper. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. So the point is, this is something that we should take very seriously, that we're doing the Lord's Supper the way Jesus wanted us to do it with the right attitude. Look at verse 33. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat tarry for one another? He's like, wait for one another. Be together. Be in unison with one 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 saying, look, you can't be doing things the way you're doing things. Okay, so how does this apply to us? What do we need to get squared away here before we would take the Lord's Supper? Look, the Lord's Supper to remember. What is it all about? It's to remember the Lord's broken body, and it's to remember the blood of Jesus Christ. It is not to eat and drink. Okay, it is not to just, you know, you went on a hike and you need something to drink. That's not what it's for. Okay, but go back to verse number 28. First Corinthians chapter 11, look at verse number 28. This is what you need to do before Wednesday. If you are saved, if you are a believer, and you want to take the Lord's Supper to remember the broken body of Jesus Christ, to remember the blood of Christ that saves you, that covers your sins, just as the Passover did, this is what you need to do. It says, but let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. I'm going to read for you Matthew 26, the words of institution of Matthew chapter 26 in verse number 27. We get a little bit more detail where Jesus says, and he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, drink ye all of it, for this is the blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. So this is, we are to remember the blood, but a lot of people will take Matthew chapter 26 and verse number 28. This is where the Catholics and the Lutherans and the Protestants say that the Lord's Supper is for you to get remission of sins. No. It's for us to, what did it say again and again when I read it to you? It's like, this do in remembrance of my body. You do this in remembrance of the blood. The Lord's Supper is not for you to receive forgiveness of sins. As a matter of fact, in verse number 28, if you look back down at that, it says you should examine yourself. It is, look, you are to come to the Lord's Supper with a clean conscience, is what the Bible is saying. You are to come to the Lord's Supper without contention between you and God, or without contention between, you know, any of your brothers and sisters in Christ. There shouldn't be any contention in the church. There shouldn't be any divisions in the church. It's not, it's, look, that means that you've confessed your sins, 1 John 1.9. You know, he that confesses, confesses his sin, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous. You're to do that before you come to the Lord's Supper. You know, and particularly towards your brothers and sisters in Christ. So basically, let me give you a quick little flow chart to examine yourself. Here's what you need to do before Wednesday. Every single person in this church that's going to take the Lord's Supper, myself included, for the remembrance of Jesus's body and his blood for us, here's what you need to do. Here's the path, okay? So if there's contention, if there's contention between you and God, if there's contention between you and some other person in the church or brother and sister in Christ, here's the thing. You've either been wronged or you've done wrong. One of those two things, okay? If you've been wronged, you have two paths, okay? If you've been wronged, like if you're sitting in the church today and you feel like I've been wronged by somebody in the church, we're talking about examining ourselves, getting all the contention out, getting all the division out. Let's say you feel like you've been wronged, okay? You've been wronged. Well, you have two choices. You have two choices. You have two choices. The first choice is if you've been wronged by somebody, you can just, 1 Corinthians 6, 7, just suffer yourself to be defrauded. Just, here's what you do. I've been wronged, just let it go. That's one choice. Look, this is a choice I pick most of the time. And if you are a strong, mature Christian, it's a good choice to pick. Just suffer yourself to be defrauded. Just assume the best and just suffer yourself to be defrauded, forgive, just let it go. Or the other path is this, if you've been wronged. If you've been wronged, the other path is that you just, you start the Matthew 18 process. You just go to the person who wronged you and said, and say, you know, brother so-and-so or sister so-and-so, you know, you said this or did this or whatever and I'm offended. And then 99% of the time it ends at that point. Most of the time people don't even know they offended you in cases like that. So you can either suffer yourself to be defrauded if you've been wronged or just nicely confront the person that has offended you and just get that worked out. You should do this before Wednesday if you have these types of things in your life. So you've either been wronged or you've done wrong. Now, if you've done wrong, if you've done wrong, you need to, you know, and it's, and it's, you've done wrong against God, which I'm telling you, this is all of us. You need to 1 John 1-9 that thing before Wednesday. You need to confess your sins to God. You need to get right with God before Wednesday, before you take the Lord's Supper. You need to confess your sins before God. And look, God, who is faithful and just, he will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He will, he will forgive you your sins. Or go, if it's, if you've done wrong against your brother, go to James chapter 5. Go to James chapter 5. So if you've done wrong, you could either have done wrong against God, or you could have done wrong against your brother and sister in Christ or both. Go to James chapter 5. James chapter 5. It's interesting. It's interesting because as far as contentions and things that, things that happen, you know, between brothers and sisters in Christ, what they really should never be any contentions that stand because God gives us direction from both sides. He gives direction to the person who did the wrong, and then he gives direction to the person who's done the wrong. So look at James chapter 5 and verse 16. The Bible says, confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another that you may be healed. Okay, this isn't saying that, you know, this isn't saying that we should all come to church and tell everybody every sin that we did every single day of our lives, every single week. That's not what it's saying. It's saying where there's a contention that needs to be healed. Just, if I've wronged brother Matt, I just need to go to brother Matt and say, brother Matt, you know, I wronged you, you know, last Tuesday, whatever, when I, you know, said whatever, and I'm sorry about that. And look, that will heal our situation, because he's been commanded to, look, there's no risk in the Christian life. He's literally commanded to forgive me. There's no risk here. So the Bible covers it from Matthew 18, where somebody that's been wronged can go to a person and say, you've wronged me, brother. And then it also covers it from this side, where somebody that's done the wrong can go and just confess the wrong. Now, a lot of times people that have done the wrong, they don't want to admit it or whatever. So, you know, the Matthew 18 process gets it from the other side. But the point is, two Christians, two people with right hearts, they should never have any contention, because the Bible just cures it from both sides. So that's what we need to do. We need to get things right in our personal lives. There shouldn't be any divisions. There shouldn't be any contentions in the church. We should either James 5, 1 John chapter 1, verse number 9, or Matthew 18. And this should just cover everything. Okay? If somebody's done you wrong and you can suffer yourself to be defrauded, that's a good path. Just do that. You know, show some mercy in your life. I mean, why would we not show mercy unless you think you don't need mercy in your life? Okay, so suffer yourself to be defrauded if you can. But look, do this in the next couple of days. Get things right. You know, have some prayer time in the next couple of days. If you don't normally have prayer time, have some prayer time today, tomorrow, Tuesday. And get things right between you and your Heavenly Father. Because if you don't, judgment will follow. I'm not trying to scare you. I'm just reading the Bible to you this morning. Okay, judgment will follow. You're not going to lose your salvation. But who wants the spanking? Who wants to get beaten? Who wants the fiery indignation of the Lord? And this church in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 is just a great example for us. So spend the next few days thinking about this. You know, who's to take the Lord's Supper on Wednesday? It's any saved member. It's any saved person that comes to this church. If you're saved and you're here, you're a member of this church. Okay, if you're saved and you're here. Now, you know, all the people that have done, I mean, as your pastor, I recommend that you have everything, you know, cleared up in your lives between you and the Lord and you and your brothers and sisters. I mean, I strongly recommend that you do that. But obviously, we can't see that on the outside. So that's up to you. You know, as far as kids go, I know kids can get saved at a young age. I will say this, as far as kids go, I mean, that's up to the parents. But the parents this, if you have saved young children, and you feel like they can understand the significance of what we're doing on Wednesday night, I leave that up to you. I think that we waited a year or two personally in our family, after our kids got saved before they took the Lord's Supper. If you don't want to, if you have children that are saved, that are young, and you feel like they understand the significance of it, that's completely up to you as the father and the leader of your home. So every saved person, you know, that has done these things will participate in remembering the Lord Jesus Christ through this ordinance on Wednesday night. And it's a serious thing. It's a somber thing because, you know, what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us is serious. And it is the thing that saves, you know, saves us for eternity. So it's a way for us to show Jesus Christ, the person that saved us, even though we didn't deserve it, it's a way for us to show him that we remember him. Because look, what's the one thing that we do as Christians, as human beings, living in this country? We take things for granted. We take things for granted, we forget things. We've been given the best gift that we could possibly receive in our lives. And God has promised us that there's nothing that we could ever do to lose that gift. And the least we can do is follow his direction and just remember what he did for us. That's what the Lord's Supper will be about on Wednesday night. Let's bow our heads. Let's bow our heads.