(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) My mom's in rehab now, isn't she? Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. 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Good. chapter number 13 also please still be in prayer for miss Sarah Gomez and then as far as the preaching schedule pastor Bruce Mejia was scheduled to come preach this Sunday however he has just a personal problem that's not gonna allow him to travel at this time so if you just be in prayer for him and his family and specifically his wife just some health issues and so if you just please be in prayer for them and keep them in your in your thoughts and prayers but I am still gonna have a guest preacher coming brother Jeff Goodwin who has already come down here before he's gonna come down from Fort Worth he's me preaching both services and he's a really good preacher I'm really excited for him to come down here and kind of in a short time's notice but please make sure to still come and thank him for coming out here and taking of his time and his family's time to come and preach to you guys also May 31st brother Scott Campbell from Revival Baptist Church he's gonna be coming out here and preaching for us so really excited to have both of those men come out here also for upcoming events there's a men's conference that's gonna be June 18th through the 20th in steadfast Baptist Church area I still haven't got the exact details hopefully I'll get to those pretty soon but all men of the age of 16 and older are welcome to participate once I have the exact details on the accommodations everything thing like that minors will still most likely have to be chaperoned for the overnight with their parents or whomever but they would be willing to they'd be able to participate in the activities throughout the retreat one other announcement I was gonna make this evening we would normally be going through our bio study in Psalms chapter number three this evening but we're going to do a special service and the title of the sermon this evening is how to observe communion and so I haven't taught on this for the church yet but I have recently taught on this at steadfast Baptist Church just most recently I preached a couple sermons on that and I was gonna go ahead and preach a similar sermon it's not the exact same sermon it is different but I am gonna teach on that and then next Thursday we are actually gonna observe the Lord's Supper or communion as a church after the evening service so next Thursday evening that will be partaking I'll be here and so I just wanted to preach a sermon kind of about that this evening just so you have some chance to think about it and then we'll actually observe that next week on Thursday and you can check out the two sermons that I've recently preached at steadfast to give you some idea of some of the things I've taught but I'm gonna go through and teach a lot of things about that this evening too that should be sufficient but I'm really excited about getting to teach this and us doing this as a church so that's pretty much it for the announcements this evening let's go and go to our third song 25 wounded for me there in the first wounded for me wounded for me there on the cross he was wounded for me gone my transgressions and now I am free all because Jesus was wounded for me dying for me dying for me there on the cross he was dying for me now in his death my redemption I see all because Jesus was dying for me risen for me risen for me up from the grave he has risen for me now evermore from destiny I am free all because Jesus has risen for me living for me living for me up in the skies he is living for me daily he's bleeding and praying for me all because Jesus is living for me coming for me coming for me one day to earth he is coming for me then with what joy his dear face I shall see oh I praise him he's coming for me this time we'll turn our Bibles of 1st Corinthians 10 brother Samson's gonna read for us 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and we will pass the offering plate we'll read the entire chapter 1st Corinthians chapter number 10 all right 1st Corinthians chapter number 10 everyone will turn there and find your place follow along with me as I read starting verse number 1 1st Corinthians number 10 moreover brethren I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink for the drank of that spiritual rock that founded them and that rock was Christ but with many of them God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things and they also as they also lust it need to be you idolaters as were some of them as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to plate neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fail in one day three and twenty thousand neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer now all these things happen unto them for examples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come wherefore let him that think it he stand it take heed lest he fall there is no temptation taking you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer for you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it wherefore my dear blood flee from I idolatry I speak as to wise men judge you what I say the cup of the blessing which we bless is 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 all are partakers of that one bread behold Israel after the flesh or 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 it would not that ye should have fellowship with Devils you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of Devils do we provoke the Lord to jealousy or stronger than he all things are lawful for me but all things are not expedient all things are lawful for me but all things edify not let no man seek his own but every man another's will whatsoever he is sold in the shambles that eat asking no question for conscience sake for the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof if any of them that believe not bid you to a feast and ye be disposed to go whatsoever set before you eat asking no question of conscience sake but if a man saying to you this is offered in sacrifice unto idols eat not for his sake that showed it and for conscious sake for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof conscience I say not thine own but of the other for why is my liberty judge and another man's conscience where if I by grace be a partaker why am I evil spoken of for that for which I gave thanks whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do do all to the glory of God give non-offense neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles nor to the Church of God even as I please all men and all things not seeking my own prophet but the prophet of many that they may be saved by our head for a quick word of prayer the other father will come for you and give you thanks for your word and pray that you'll be with pastor Shelley this evening fill in with your Holy Spirit that he teach a bold sermon to us and let us take the lessons that he learned and the information from 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and apply it in our daily lives and we love you and we pray always in Jesus night amen like I said again this evening sermon is entitled how to observe communion and in 1st Corinthians chapter number 10 it starts off I and really the essence of this chapter is about spiritual pictures or spiritual symbolism it says in verse 1 more of a brethren I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and it all eat the same spiritual meat and it all drink the same spiritual drink for they drink of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ so he starts off the chapter by saying I don't want you guys to be ignorant what is ignorant unaware unlearned you know it could even be someone who's stupid but it's not really the fact that they're not in they don't have intelligence it's just that they're lacking information maybe they've never been instructed they've never been told or taught something and this context he's saying all of those things that happen in the Old Testament when they were talking about Moses and dragging the children of Israel through the wilderness had spiritual pictures or symbolism that was attached to that and he says I don't want you to be ignorant of the spiritual picture that they were being attached to how that rock that was gushing with waters was a picture about Jesus Christ is that rock and those waters that are flowing in the picture of the living waters that we receive as receiving eternal life so when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we put our trust in him he gives us water to drink of that will never thirst again now what's the point of that well he then is going through the rest of this chapter to explain some of the the problems that they have some of the sins that they have and they're saying the sins that you guys have really are no different than the sins of the children of Israel had you know fornication that's just a common sin of all centuries every generation that's a common thing also idolatry is something that's rampant under them and he's trying to help them understand that idolatry is really bad because of what it pictures what it symbolizes even though an idol is technically just a piece of rock I mean from a carnal perspective an idol is nothing we understand that it's nothing but it represents something spiritually and in fact they're sacrificing unto a false god unto devils in a dark spiritual realm so he uses a good spiritual picture to then contrast with the dark spiritual pictures look what he says in verse number 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 so he brings up this picture saying hey when we eat the bread of communion when we drink the drink of communion it's not just bread and juice what it is it's a picture of Christ's body that was broken for us it's a picture of Christ's blood and how we're a partaker of his death on the cross so he's saying there's a spiritual significance to what you're doing here there's also a spiritual significance to eating food sacrificed unto idols that's having fellowship with devils and with idols now I just wanted to give you that quick context of this chapter that's not really the focus of my sermon but I want to put that in context of saying what there is a spiritual significance to the Lord's Supper to observing what will be known as communion what does the word communion mean well it simply means to share or having things in common so you're having some kind of a group share something like that now I want to first start by just explaining how you observe communion from a carnal perspective before we get into those spiritual pictures go to Luke chapter 22 Luke chapter 22 and this sermon is designed to help people understand exactly what the Bible's teaching on communion how to observe it from a practical sense but not only just a practical sense what it means and what it symbolizes what's the importance of it well let's first understand the carnal aspect it says in Luke chapter 22 verse 17 it's talking of Jesus Christ and he took the cup and gave thanks and said take this and divide it among yourselves so if you look in the book of John in chapter number 13 we actually realize the timing of the Lord's Supper is a separate event from the meal in which they ate on Wednesday night so on Wednesday night they had what would be known as the first Passover meal it did not include the lamb the lamb was going to be the following evening okay but this meal would have included unleavened bread potentially juice they have something they're dipping their bread in otherwise it wouldn't be called as a sop what's a sop a sop is basically some kind of a soup you think of the word soup but it was probably just like oil or some kind of a juice that they're dipping their bread in and in eating it but after the meal is done it says in John chapter number 13 verse 1 and supper being ended okay Jesus Christ then girds himself with a towel and he washes the disciples feet then after washing the disciples feet he says hey one of you guys gonna betray me and they're like who is it you know John's like whistles like who is it he's like the one that dips with me in the dish and the first three Gospels in the book of John he says the one that I dip the sop and hand it to him and it says as soon as he dipped the sop and handed to Judas which was part of the Lord's Supper the devil entered into Judas and he says that thou doest do quickly okay so that's just kind of give you an idea of that timeline but let's get the carnal at how did they actually perform the Lord's Supper is a separate event from the actual just eating of a meal it was right after after he'd wash disciples feet but he says in verse 17 he gave thanks so he starts off with prayer then what he does is he takes the one cup that he had and he tells the disciples to divide it amongst themselves so now they're gonna share this beverage they divide it that does not mean they eat they drink in it yet but they divided the cup so it was divided and it's ready to be consumed by all of the disciples so the first step would be to pray the second step would be having the juice already divided okay the third step is again let's look at verse number 18 and keep reading fry saying you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come and he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying this is my body which is given for you this do in remembrance of me so he's generally giving thanks for the ceremony they're gonna partake in the Jews has already been divided it's been given to all the disciples then he says thanks again we notice and then he takes the bread that he has any breaks it and that's has a spiritual significance and we'll get into that but he breaks the bread and then he gives a piece under the disciples so they now have the pieces he gave that piece to Judas didn't he okay so Jesus is the one dealing out the food and he's broken it and has that picture of being his body being broken for them how did it break well it went on the cross okay it got beaten and smit upon and just all kinds of horrible things Isaiah 53 tells us that his face was so marred you couldn't even recognize him anymore and there was no beauty that we desire of him so it's just it was a gruesome sight and you look at that perfect you know crack or whatever you break it it's kind of rough looking all right so that's just kind of a picture of what Jesus did for us so after they given it they all eat it and then what does he say in verse 20 he says likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you so in the same manner they would have what given thanks partaken of the cup okay and that was basically how they performed the Lord's Supper so as a quick review you would have the juice divided you'd give thanks break the bread eat the bread give thanks partake of the cup as a group that's how they performed it from a carnal perspective now let's go back to 1st Corinthians and this time we're going to go and look at verse chapter number 11 now 1st Corinthians chapter number 11 addresses a few things and for sake of time I'm not going to preach this entire chapter it's not necessary but if you are interested in more detailed explanation of this chapter I did preach a sermon on Wednesday night on the Lord's Supper and I just went pretty much just spent the whole time in 1st Corinthians chapter number 11 but I'm going to give you the major points here now 1st Corinthians chapter number 11 starts out again 1st Corinthians is just a constant just like you guys screwed up all right let me tell you all the problems that you have okay and in chapter number 11 he's saying hey I'm glad you keep the ordinances look at verse 2 he says now I praise you brethren that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances I delivered them to you he says in verse 3 but okay so it's kind of like this is how I articulate it it's like if you give your kids a task list maybe you give them like 20 tasks to complete for the week or for the day and they do everything on the list yet a couple of the things they did on the list they didn't do it right okay they did it so you say hey clean your room and they just take all of their toys and they just throw them in the closet or under the bed and you're like well I'm glad you cleaned your room but you need to put your toys up properly you need to put your clothes away properly and fold them and all so this is how I view the the book of 1st Corinthians is basically hey he gave him a list of ordinances they tried them all they tried it they tinted them all and most of them they did a good job but a couple things they have issues with the first issue is guys need to get a haircut okay and then the women need to let their hair grow long okay but then the second thing that he's going to bring up is a problem with the Lord's Supper specifically he says in verse 17 now in this that I declare on you I praise you not they come together not for the better but for the worse now he's not praising them so this is a contrast so yeah they kept the ordinance but they're doing something wrong they're screwed up somehow and in fact they're so screwed up that it's worse they're worse off doing what they're doing then not doing it at all he's saying whatever you got the way you guys are doing this is really bad okay he says in verse 18 for first of all when you come together in the church I hear there be divisions among you and I partly believe it for there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you he's saying that there's division in the church which if you study the book of 1st Corinthians division is a major point brought up over and over one says I'm a Paul the other says I'm a Paulist you know I'm a Cephas I'm a Christ is Christ divided and the reality is we should only be here for one person and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ you don't come for me you don't come for your kids you don't come for your wife you come for Jesus Christ alone and since you're coming for Jesus Christ there's no reason not to come you know the pastor could let you down the preacher could let you down your kids could let you down your spouse could let you down but if you say you know what the only reason I'm going to church is because Jesus is there and I want to worship and serve him then there's never a motivation not to go to church you say well I don't know who's gonna be preaching this Sunday well Jesus is gonna be there anyways you know where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst okay you know I don't go to church you're thinking like well if so and so is not going I'm not going you know I'm going even I had to preach to the wall you know I'm like I'm gonna still gonna preach the Word of God and so that should be our attitude and they have division in this church he says one of the reasons why they have this division that he's speculating okay is he's saying heresy and heresy does cause division in the church that's why it's so important that we're all unified we believe the same things we we teach the same things sometimes me or my friends that you know believe the same will get accused of being this cult because we don't allow heresy to just creep into our church if we start spotting heresy we'll just kick people out or throw them out it's interesting how a cult is constantly throwing people out I thought cults are trying to keep people in at worst you could call me like an elitist you know but we're not a cult there's the door get out now I mean it's it's I don't think when I'm preaching sermons like how many keep them in I'm thinking if I preach that they're gonna all leave you know I got to figure out a way to word this that's not gonna offend every single person right so again we need to make sure that we're preaching the Word of God and the Word of God is gonna divide okay but we should be divided divided from the world we shouldn't be divided amongst ourselves we should all be rallied around the Lord Jesus Christ we should all be rallied around in the King James Bible we should all be rallied around the gospel when it comes to the core essentials of the faith you must have unity otherwise your church has major problems and a church where people have different views on the core doctrine is a church with heresy that's in fact why there's so many churches in this area and every area of the United States because of heresy why is it that I won't go to the Pentecostal Church over here well first of all they speak Spanish second of all because they believe heresy all right and I'm not gonna go to a church that believes rank heresy I'm not gonna go to church where they have the wrong Bible it's just not gonna happen I'm not gonna go to a church where they have a different gospel I'm not gonna go to a church where Joyce Meyer's getting up and preach me the Bible because only thing's gonna come from her mouth is heresy so we have to guard ourselves and we have to be on the same page we had to preach the fundamentals we have to believe in the fundamentals and then when we see people attacking them we have to mark and avoid them otherwise we're not gonna be rally together our church won't be strong and usually you can measure a church strength when it goes through a problem when it goes through a difficulty that's when you kind of see where everybody's at what is everybody's faith built on is it built on a man is it built on superficial means you know in our church has gone through some you know interesting paths and some interesting highs and lows and really it really didn't affect very many people and that was because from my perspective we're a very healthy Church because it's built on Jesus Christ it's not built on a person it's not built on a cult it's not built on certain relationships it's built on one thing and that's the rock of Jesus Christ okay and that's how it should stay that's what's gonna keep it a healthy Church okay now he's saying there's heresies amongst them and that's causing problems and of course here is using to cause problems what does heres he do causes division do you want to have a lot of division when you're having the Lord's Supper no you want to have unity you want to be you want to have things in common so he says in verse 20 when ye come together therefore what's the therefore because of the division when y'all are coming together therefore into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper now this is a very interesting verse it's one that I personally have struggled to fully grasp for a long time yet studying this chapter in depth I've come to what I believe is the correct interpretation of this verse there's a few ways you could look at this and I think that there's three ways you could say what the problem is here because he's saying there's a problem when he uses the phrase this is not to eat the Lord's Supper what does he mean there I think it could be first of all it could be a problem with the location okay because he brings up that right when you come together therefore into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper meaning the location could be the problem okay a second possibility is the purpose he's saying when you come together therefore in one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper meaning there's a different purpose right that's not the right purpose or that's not the main purpose okay or the third possibility is when he says when you come together therefore in one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper because you know what they're doing is different basically the execution is wrong okay now let me address the purpose for first because that's the easiest one to discard no one really believes that the main purpose of Church is the Lord's Supper okay maybe if you're Catholic I mean Catholics they've always had the Lord's Supper every single Sunday and they don't do a lot of preaching so maybe from their perspective they would think like the main purpose of Church is the Lord's Supper but that's kind of a straw man argument I don't think you really find anybody that would say like that's the main purpose so that interpretation really wouldn't make very much sense and with the text it doesn't really flow with what's problem why because of division hey because of division you're screwed up on the main purpose of Church like having the Lord's Supper it's like that doesn't really jive or fit well let's take the first definition location maybe there's a problem with the location well look at verse 33 he says wherefore my brethren when you come together to eat tarry one for another and if any man hunger let him eat at home they come not together unto condemnation now in verse 34 the word wherefore means for the cause of or for the reason of and he just brought up the Lord's Supper so because of the Lord's Supper when you come together to eat tarry one for another what does it mean when he comes together well he already said in verse 20 when you come together therefore into one place he says in the previous verse when you come together therefore into the church so that's been consistent we're talking about a church he's saying for the cup for that cause my brethren when you come together what to eat eat what would be the question I mean isn't this saying that sometime when you're together in the church or eating something otherwise there's no other way to interpret it but what does he say in verse 34 and if any man hunger let him eat at home so he's making a distinction between two places one's at church one's at home what is it that he's saying you do when you're at home you satisfy hunger okay so what is it so if that's true then what would you not do at church you would not satisfy hunger at church now let me help I'm gonna make this really simple okay I'm covering all our bases what is church is church a building no church is when we all come together gather together with a with a preacher he's preaching the Word of God so this does not mean you can't eat food in a church building okay it's not saying fellowships are bad but fellowships aren't Church either if I go and have a fellowship with someone that wasn't Church me and my family eating dinner every night is not Church you say well you're the pastor you know it doesn't matter that's not Church okay when we cut assemble together we sing the hymns and we preach the Word of God that's Church okay that's us coming together in one place to preach the Word of God so in that setting you would not use that setting to satisfy hunger okay that would be the wrong setting in order to satisfy some kind of a carnal need when we come together this is not to satisfy your carnal needs this is not the time to sleep this is not the time to nap this is not this is not about carnal things this is about spiritual things you say way it's kind of hot in here well we're not here to satisfy your obviously want to make it comfortable okay I'm not against that but this is not we're not coming here to satisfy any kind of carnal sensation it's here for spiritual needs and the Lord's Supper is something spiritual not carnal so if let's say they were satisfying carnal needs that wouldn't be partaking in the Lord's Supper would it that would be a bad execution so let's read verse 20 with 21 now and see if that matches the context when you come together therefore into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper for an eating everyone take it before other his own supper and one is hungry and another is drunken so he makes a distinction here he's saying when y'all are coming together this is indeed the Lord's Supper y'all are concerned about your own supper that's what he's saying there okay and that's it's worded in a way that's a little bit unique to how we would maybe say it but it makes perfect sense when you understand the context of the passage that he's saying y'all aren't coming together have the Lord's Supper you guys are coming together to have your own selfish barbecue basically he's saying you're coming you're coming with food that you brought hey I got a steak and potato for me I hope you enjoy watching me eat this I mean that's weird how is that the Lord's Supper what did Jesus do he broke the bread and said take right he gave them food he's sharing his food with him and again it wasn't to satisfy some kind of a hunger need it was to picture Jesus Christ now all the pictures of the Bible are not to satisfy carnal needs if if you say hey pastor show I need baptized I haven't taken a shower in a week I'm saying you got it wrong that this is not about washing your body okay it's about the symbol of what Jesus Christ did for us okay all the things we talked about chapter 10 were spiritual pictures okay we're not here to satisfy some kind of a carnal need just like circumcision in the Old Testament even though it's physical it wasn't for any kind of medical benefit or some carnal benefit because the Bible says circumcision avails nothing it was to picture the circumcision of your heart that you've been circumcised unto Jesus Christ and you've removed the foreskin from your heart which is the sin the iniquity the the darkness and you've now accepted Jesus Christ that's the picture that it was supposed to illustrate so again all the pictures we have in the Bible are always for a spiritual need not a carnal need so therefore when we have the Lord's Supper we're not going to just sit here and pig out you know we're not gonna have some big meal and we're certainly not gonna do it selfishly taking before other look what it says in verse 21 one is hungry and another is drunken meaning one gets nothing how did that guy partake the other guy is completely stuffed the other person is completely full the word drunken can just mean full took to fill up okay it's not what we think of someone being drunk okay it's talking about someone being full and it says in verse number 22 what have you not houses to eat or into drinking or despise of 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 notice he's saying if you want to satisfy hunger where do you do that at your house do you not have a house to eat in a drinking and what are you doing coming you're shaming people by having all this food and they have nothing it's like hey I'm I'm eating all this food what are you doing you know that would be rude that'd be very selfish and it could possibly be shaming other people that's not the purpose of the Lord's Supper the purpose of Lord's Supper is have all things common to have unity to be sharing of that picture and that symbol of Jesus Christ it would be weird if we all went to church and this half eats and this half doesn't eat that would be weird that's going to cause more division we want to have all the same things and be doing the same things he says in verse 23 for I 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 break it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you this due in remembrance of me so what's what's the number one point okay the number one point is at first they have a problem division okay there's division in the church that division is causing them to come to church and not really be thinking of other people just selfishly eating their own supper not partaking in the Lord's Supper okay and not ultimately doing it thinking of Jesus Christ so that division is causing problems in the church if we're all unified thinking of Jesus Christ then we're going to be partaking Lord's Supper thinking of him sharing and doing the way that he instructed us not to satisfy some kind of carnal need so I have four points this evening that I'm going to quickly go over number one was we have to think of Christ how to observe communion well I went through the practical steps okay of what that looked like but what does that mean when we do it from the spiritual picture well we need to be thinking of Jesus Christ if I'm thinking I hungry food eat that has nothing to do with spiritual matters I do that every single day we all do that every single day if you hand me a like a juicy ribeye I'll be honest I'm not thinking of Jesus Christ either okay this is oh I'll thank him I'll be like you know this is a great creature nothing to be refused if we receive with Thanksgiving you know I'm like praise the Lord for this steak but I'm not really thinking about his death okay and again you can think of Christ whenever you want I'm just being honest that in our carnal nature if I'm really enjoying the food I'm kind of thinking about the food I'm kind of thinking about satisfying my own loss my own carnal desires so when you're having unleavened bread which is literally flour and water okay you're not like wow this is the best thing I've ever eaten okay that's why you'd take something like that and you eat it why because you're trying to think about Jesus when you're partaking of this element and I can't think of a better element there's so many reasons why and we're gonna get to that in a minute but we need to be thinking of Jesus look what he said in verse 24 we just read this do in remembrance of me the whole purpose of the Lord's Supper is thinking of Jesus Christ okay so if we do anything if our observance in any way is taking away from that by carnal means we need to fix it now keep your finger here because I'm gonna come back to it probably in a little bit but go through it to John chapter 6 John chapter number 6 so number one point of how to observe the Lord's Supper is we need to think of Christ number two is we need to understand the spiritual verses of the carnal so we're eating a piece of bread why eat a piece of bread well look at John chapter 6 we're gonna go through a couple passages here it says in verse 27 labor not for the meat which perishes but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give unto you for him hath God the Father sealed so Jesus Christ says hey don't labor for just physical food you need to be going for the spiritual food which is ultimately everlasting life he says in verse 28 then said they unto him what shall we do that we might work the works of God Jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent so how do I get this spiritual meat that he just told me about believe exactly amen someone's reading the Bible and understanding it so it's very clear what we have to do he says in verse number 30 they said therefore in him what sign show us thou that we may see and believe thee what does that work so they even kind of get it at first they're like okay what do I have to believe what do I have to do right what's going on here he says in verse 35 and Jesus said to them I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hungry and he that believeth on me shall never thirst so notice he puts it in the boat hey it's eating and drinking but you know what it really is symbolizing believing on Jesus Christ that's what it means to eat and to drink okay that's what's taking place it says in verse number 40 and this is the will of him that sent me that everyone would see at the Sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I'll raise him up with last day so in John chapter 6 verse 40 what do I have to do to everlasting life I believe on him okay it's by faith it's by believing he's already said that just plainly stated it okay he's not like trying to hide things okay but this should just show you how blind unsaved people are you can quote John 3 16 to them and they still are just like do works be a good person go to church okay because they have to have spiritual eyes and ears and understand this it says in verse 51 Jesus says this again I am the living bread which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world so he's saying that that bread that he's talking about is picturing him personally he's saying this is my body which I'm going to give for the world how they gonna give it he's gonna die on the cross for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son and what sense did he give his son it wasn't that he was just born on this earth it was the fact that he died on the cross that was the giving he gave him he delivered him for our offenses and was raised again for our justification so his death was the picture of him giving his life his flesh for the world and it's going to be broken so that we can partake in his death and have forgiveness of sins now it says in verse 58 this is that bread which came down from heaven not as your father's did eat manna and are dead he that eateth of this bread shall live forever so notice he's saying when you eat the bread you live forever meaning what you have everlasting life you have eternal life so when he's bringing up the eating what does he mean you get everlasting life well what did he say earlier how'd you get everlasting life you believe on him he already said that okay but did they did the Jews get this no they couldn't understand in verse 52 we back up it says the Jews therefore strove among themselves saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat they were getting out a fork and a knife thinking they had to eat his arm or something the cannibals and this should just show you look there's no new thing under the Sun the Catholics today believe you have to literally eat his physical body and drink his physical blood to be saved that's why they have transubstantiation for their communion service and they literally believe that that cracker turns into his physical body okay I don't know they actually believe this but that's what their doctrine teaches okay a lot of them are probably delusional or they'd probably they're incredulous because they're just a pedophile anyways but they they teach that that cracker somehow turns into Jesus body you're eating his body when you kneel down and take that crack and you're drinking his blood even though the Bible constant tells you to never drink blood it tells you that obviously eating a number of persons flesh is a sick disgusting perverted concept okay and it's blasphemy because they basically try to teach that you have to re crucify Christ every single Sunday for the Eucharist so it's very blasphemous doctrine but the Jews are the ones that came up with the Catholics didn't come up with it the Jews are thinking like do we have to eat this guy no what did it mean to eat it meant to believe didn't now look at verse 63 it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life so he's saying look it's my words that have the life in them what does he say in verse 64 but there are some of you that what that believe not so notice he's bringing it up again what's the answer was that you don't believe he says in verse number 67 then Jesus said on the 12th you also go away a lot of people got offended this teaching says in verse 68 then Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life now that's a profound statement if you put it in context this chapter because he keeps saying hey that bread gives you everlasting life it's that bread that you eat that is for the last night and he says hey you have the words of everlasting life noticing he's connecting the two dots they realize it's by faith and Jesus Christ and where does the faith come from faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God so and we think about Jesus himself what is Jesus the Word became flesh and dwelt among us he is the Word of God he is that bread of life and we need that kind of bread to survive if I eat physical bread I will die but if I eat the bread of life I'll never die now obviously bread is a great example why because if I don't eat physical bread I'll also die quickly we need that sustain our life we have to eat food you can't survive without food and you can't survive the second death without spiritual food we have to have that bread of life which is Jesus Christ which is his words and we receive that by faith so when we break that bread what is it picturing well it's picturing his body being broken for us being crucified being killed on the cross so that we could believe in him and receive eternal life if he never died on the cross you could never go to heaven he had to be broken his flesh had to be broken just like me not breaking the bread you can't eat it if we're all gonna eat it it's got to get broken and the greatest thing that I that I believe is about this chapter okay we think about this is in this same chapter you have this cool parable about the feeding of the five thousand and how did Jesus do that well he just kept breaking up a piece of bread it was it ever gonna run out no and Jesus tasted death for every man his sacrifice is enough to cover for every single person whosoever will may come and drink of the water of life freely I mean there's it's not gonna run out his sacrifice is a full sacrifice he's the propitiation for our sins not for us only but also for the whole world there's no way his sacrifice can't cover all and so all you have to do is just come to that tree of life you just come and drink of those those living waters and you just get that bread of life okay now go if you would to back to Luke 22 for a second to slip to the right so this is a spiritual sacrament or spiritual ordinance or a spiritual ceremony in which we would perform okay and it's something that we observe not for any carnal means I don't have to eat this little cracker or drink this little juice for anything carnal it's a spiritual picture for me to think of Jesus Christ his sacrifice and what he's done for me and so our observance needs to be spiritual and needs this be spiritual not something carnal and we accept the bread we consume it and it brings us nourishment and physical sense right if I take a face piece of bread and I accept that you know I accept the bread I consume the bread it'll bring nourishment to my physical body that's the same spiritually whenever I accept this sacrifice and I consume his sacrifice by believing on it it brings me that spiritual nourishment praise the Lord it's forever praise the Lord it's everlasting nourishment so we've talked about that is spiritual not carnal I'm gonna get a little bit more of the symbolism okay we've already kind of talked about the bread what about the juice itself it says in Luke 22 verse number 18 so I said flip right and I did it I was meant to flip left okay Luke 22 look at verse 18 for I stand you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come okay and he says in verse 20 likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is said for you so that bread pictures his physical body the juice pictures his blood and his blood was truly shed for us now what's interesting you know about this is a lot of people say Jesus drunk wine but the King James Bible never uses that phrase it actually says the fruit of the vine now if you have a proper definition of the word wine you could say that's technically accurate however it does not say that it says that he drank of the fruit of the vine so what does that mean well it's basically taking some kind of a fruit off of the vine or the tree okay and you're squeezing the juice out of it into a cup and drinking that that's therefore in order to observe the Lord's Supper or communion it can't be alcoholic yet virtually majority of people is very Lord's Supper today are doing it with alcohol the Catholics the Episcopalians I mean the Lutherans a lot of these churches I think even some Baptist out I I don't know but that's scary Baptist having alcohol and observance of the Lord's Supper this is a no-no this is wrong okay and when it comes to things that cross the line for me on the Lord's Supper this is one of those if I showed up at a church and they were gonna have the Lord's Supper with alcohol I would refuse it I would not partake in it now me personally I'm pretty much gonna observe whatever the church I'm going to is communion the way they do it but that's a line for me and let me show you why go if you would to Genesis chapter 40 Genesis chapter 40 now some people say this oh you're so ignorant pastor Shelley maybe if you went to Bible College you would realize they hadn't even invented juice until like the Middle Ages or the most you know the last few hundred years you know juice wasn't even a thing pastor Shelley and it's like you're stupid you're an idiot if you think that juice did not exist until the last few hundred years okay and let me just prove it from the Bible how stupid you are okay Genesis chapter number 40 look at verse 11 and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and I gave the cup in a Pharaoh's hand juice I mean it's not that hard it's not that difficult a concept and in fact this is the first mention of the word cup in your King James Bible the first time you in mentions cup you know what's put in it juice I'm all juice wasn't invented until the last few hundred years you're an idiot if you believe that okay how did let's just stop for a second okay how in the world would you get alcoholic juice if juice hadn't been invented they had to even get the juice in the first place to make it alcoholic they're like oh there was only alcoholic juice it's like it starts out non-alcoholic it's called squeeze a grape squeeze any kind of juice okay this is the logic that Christian pastors will use they'll say well you so there's this theory out there there's different kinds of wine and some people so ignorant will say that they're you know juice well you know there was non-alcoholic juice back then but it hadn't even been invented and it's like how could you even listen another word of the guy's mouth after saying that what a fool what am you know and this is why I get so adamant about it or so angry about it because they're saying Jesus drank alcohol which would have made him a sinner according to the Bible let me prove this even further that it's non-alcoholic go to Proverbs chapter 9 Proverbs chapter number 9 if that wasn't enough for you I mean you're probably brain dead at this point but Proverbs chapter number 9 look at verse number 1 wisdom hath builded her house she hath hewn out her seven pillars she hath killed her beasts she hath mingled her wine she hath also furnished her table now this is super profound okay because Proverbs chapter 9 is saying who mingled wine wisdom itself okay keep your finger here because we're gonna come back go to Proverbs 20 verse 1 now if you don't believe that there's multiple kinds of wine you're gonna have some major problems in the Bible it's basically because you're drunk probably while you're reading it but look at Proverbs 20 verse 1 wine is a monker strong drink is raging and who serve as deceive thereby is not wise so you know what that verse would do it would say that wisdom is not wise if it was if wine is only means the same thing or you could just take the realistic understanding that says the wine in chapter 9 is not the wine mentioned in chapter number 20 okay why because the wine in chapter 20 is an alcoholic beverage the wine in chapter number 9 verse 1 or 2 is mentioning a non-alcoholic beverage okay and what does it mean to mingle it just means the mix now most of the juice that people drink today if not majority is always mingled usually if you look at any juice you go to the store and you buy juice it'll say a hundred percent juice you know it's the first ingredient on all of them water or filtered water if you got a good one okay it'll say water why cuz they mingle it most people it's expensive juice is very expensive it's a it's a process that takes a lot of effort and energy and it's seasonal because obviously it's fruit that's coming in so most orange juice grape juice apple juice I don't care what it is that you're buying at the store the majority of it is water with a little bit of juice mixed in and you know what they did back in the Bible times they would mix a lot of water with a little bit of juice you know why cuz you can water it down it still tastes very good it preserves it it lasts longer it's now cheaper if you buy pure yeah this have word it 100% juice 100% pure juice it's like it's like how many times I have to say that for it to mean it you know but it's very expensive you know I recently bought some for our you know communion that we performed it in steadfast and it's like seven dollars for a jar like this big it's like seven dollars and so you know pure juice is very expensive it is not easy to find necessarily why because you have to understand what they do and if you look up research a lot of times what they do with fruit is they would boil it down into a SAP okay and then it become concentrate and they could preserve that concentrate in a multiplicity of ways you know if you bury stuff under your ground and like a cellar it's actually acts kind of like a freezer or cooler or whatever and so they could keep that SAP and then they could re-boil it or whatever or they could take some that SAP mix it with some water just like you take frozen concentrate juice and mix it with water people do it all the time look there's no new thing under the Sun it's not like well we've just have all this new stuff you know we might have a cell phone but you know outside a lot of things like that it's always the same the same problems the same issues the same juice okay and alcohol might got a little bit more potent but it's still the same strong drink and it's wicked okay go to Proverbs 23 and let me show you the wine that you're not supposed to have this is another evidence of juice okay now in Proverbs chapters 9 that wisdom she's furnishing her table she's mingling that wine but what if you just let it sit for a really long time what have you just let juice just sit by itself you don't touch it you just let it just figure out what's going on it's going to ferment everybody knows it's going to firm it and then it will turn into an alcoholic beverage now what happens if I just take bread and I just set it on the counter and I don't do it touching it for a long time you know rot okay now who likes eating rotten bread moldy bread isn't that just kind of stupid to eat rotting food so if a beverage turns into a poison after you leave it alone for a long time why would I drink that you wouldn't now if I eat moldy bread what's gonna happen to throw up and I'm gonna feel sick nobody wants that necessarily but if I drink the poison beverage it's gonna make me kind of feel good and I'm gonna lose some my inhibitions and people do like doing that but you know it's the same thing drinking poison and eating poison is the same thing it's bad it's wrong the Bible always says this and it defines it for us Proverbs chapter number 23 look at verse 31 it says look not thou upon the wine when it is read when it giveth its color in the cup when it moveth itself aright so it's saying hey this this juice is just sitting there and then eventually it starts moving itself you know juice doesn't just move itself okay just for no reason it does when it starts fermenting though it starts bubbling it starts kind of spinning and turning but what happens before that happen could I drink it yeah it's called juice another proof that juice existed before alcohol okay this you're an idiot if you believe that that it juices never existed until the last 300 years okay but you're not supposed to drink it after it's fermented why why am I not supposed to it says in verse 32 at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder thine eye shall behold strange women and thine heart shall utter perverse things it's saying if I drink this beverage I'm gonna say perverted things and I'm gonna start having more lustful thoughts than I was originally having now who's that apple juice and that happened to them right after that apple juice grape juice yeah what kind of great juice you guys have it lemonade I mean look that doesn't happen when you drink juice but you know what it does happen to people when they drink alcohol look at Proverbs 31 Proverbs 31 and look at verse number four it is not for Kings o Lemuel it is not for Kings to drink wine nor Prince's strong drink they say what kind of wine is this well look at verse 5 lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the flicted notice they have memory problems when they're drinking this wine so is that Welch's is that apple juice no I've never had a memory problem after drinking fruit juice you know who does have fruit or memory problems drunks people that were drinking alcohol and any kind of beverage that's intoxicating that's what causes them to say perverted things make perverted judgments to forget things the blacking out they just lie at the top of a mast they fall down in the sea they just hurt themselves and they wake up in the morning and they seek it yet again is what the Bible says and to say that Jesus Christ drank this is blasphemy and proves you're an idiot you're a moron because the Bible says wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise and if you're not wise that means you're stupid so anybody that thinks that Jesus drank alcohol is literally stupid that's what the Bible says and that's what I say too because that's what the Bible says alright because that's my authority now go if you would to 1st Corinthians 11 go back so we have the Lord's Supper we're gonna have what unleavened bread and we're gonna have juice we're not gonna have alcohol what a blasphemous thing to do and in fact that Jesus had drink alcohol he would have sinned he would have not been right with God there's countless passages that say that it would have been wrong how about just Proverbs 31 it's not for Kings well I thought Jesus was the king of Kings therefore he's not allowed to drink that beverage is he on top of that he's not even supposed to look at is what the Bible says so it's multiple passages saying that have been wrong for him it said he was deceived by it he's not wise but we know he's infinite in wisdom he's God in the flesh he is the Word of God okay and you can't convince me the Word of God was ignorant of these passages you know when he's walking around here he is the word he's quoting the Bible constantly okay he knows all things he knew that he was going to be betrayed that night before it even happened okay now 1st Corinthians chapter number 11 is going to bring up one more aspect of this so we've talked about three aspects one in order to observe the Lord's the Lord's Supper communion we need to think of Christ number two we need to make it spiritual not carnal number three we need to understand the symbolism of what that bread represents a bread presents his body and that juice represents his blood which was perfect it was precious it's what cleanses us from our sins you're not going to take a sinful liquid and cleanse me of my sins no it takes the pure blood of Jesus Christ the unleavened blood of Jesus Christ which again to have an alcoholic beverage it has to have that leaven to even ferment in the first place so it destroys all the pictures of you use alcohol but number four the Bible warns about people partaking of the Lord's Supper unworthily okay and so in order to observe communion we have to make sure that we're not partaking Lord's Supper unworthily it says in verse 27 where for 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 drink of 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 were judged we were chasing the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world so in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 it brings up the idea of someone eating or drinking unworthily now I think there's three ways to understand someone who's drink who's partaking unworthily okay and it's three S's all right I'm trying to make this simple all right number one way there how you can avoid being oh this is being saved okay if you're not saved you're unworthy you're not worthy partake in the Lord's sacrifice his death you're picturing his death how could you sit there and eat and drink of his you know flesh and blood when you don't even believe in his sacrifice for salvation so in order to partake in the Lord's Supper you have to be saved and you have to be saved the way we say you have to be saved which is by faith alone in Jesus Christ and you can't lose your salvation if you don't believe that doctrine do not take the Lord's Supper with us because we we don't want you to here okay and taking that that sacrament because you're unworthy and you could have problems okay what happened to Judas when he took on worthily oh yeah the devil entered his body immediately okay so if you want Devils to inhabit your body take of the Lord's Supper unworthily all right but if you're saved greater is he that is in you than he's in the world you can't be possessed with the devil the devil can't come inside you and take over your body that's for the unsaved okay number two though would be that you're not taking it soberly okay what does sober mean it means that you're serious okay it means that you're thinking clearly so if I'm not thinking soberly that means I might not realize what I'm doing is about Jesus right I could be taking it in a carnal way or in a selfish way not really thinking of Jesus Christ wasn't that pretty much the whole essence of this chapter people that were taking before other their own supper they're doing with the vision and strife thinking of themselves he's saying when you partake of the Lord's Supper you need to be thinking of me do this do in remembrance of me so if we're doing the Lord's Supper irreverently not thinking of Jesus Christ making it a flippant just execution then that could cause the Lord to be displeased with us imagine when about Nadab and Abihu they enter into the the Lord's tabernacle and they offer strange fire under the Lord it wasn't that the fact they were offering a sacrifice was the problem it was that they were executing that sacrifice wrongly their execution of the worship of the Lord was wrong and in the same breath he brings up that you're not supposed to drink strong drink or wine unless he kills you so imagine me using alcohol God could severely judge us okay and to whom much is given of him shall much be required obviously the Catholics are doing this wrong every single day and nothing's really seems to happen to them but I think that God's just like you know doesn't care what they're doing they're just heathen pagan you know God's long suffering to the unsaved and to the wicked and whatever so don't take his mercy on the unsaved as a license for us to just how live however we want just because he doesn't judge the fornicators of this world and the murderers and the adulterers of this world don't think that you as a Christian can get away with it and don't think just because they observe the Lord's Supper blasphemously that we can just do it however we want no judgment must begin at the house of God okay now there's a third way that I believe someone could partake of the Lord's Supper unworthy and this is important because when you look at verse 30 he says for this cause many are weak and sickly among you many sleep sleep is only in reference to save people okay so he's definitely talking about save people coming under severe chastisement one way we're not doing it very seriously we're not being sober okay but there is another way I believe that this could take place go to chapter 5 just flip back to chapter number 5 and look at verse number 1 it is reported commonly there's fornication among you in such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife and you're puffed up and if not rather mourn that he that done this deed might be taken away from among you for I verily is absent a body but present a spirit of judge already as though I were present concerning him that has so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when you're gathered notice this together and my spirit with the power of Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such in one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh of the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus so the Apostle Paul saying there's somebody in your church that's an open fornication and really bad fornication and he's saying you guys when you come together toss them out have nothing to do with him now it is addressing the church I don't think that Corinthians the first Corinthians Church they may not have had a pastor at this point in time okay so that's why he's just kind of having the church and it's probably why there's so many problems okay they're just like it's a it's a free-for-all and they have a multiplicity of preachers and they have women preachers you know they have all kinds of stuff that's going on in this church people don't believe the resurrection I mean it's chaotic in this situation okay but they still need to exercise church discipline and cast that guy out and say get out of here we have nothing to do with you now he says in verse number seven purge out therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you're unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the feast now with 11 neither the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth so he says you coming together with this sin is like bringing leaven into the unleavened bread that we're supposed to be partaking in so what are we supposed to do when we have the Lord's Supper supposed to be unleavened bread physically but also spiritually so how can we just have a bunch of fornicators and drunks and extortioners amongst us partaking in the Lord's Supper when they're not even supposed to be there okay let alone you know the fact they have their own issues so here's my second or my third point you need to be saved to take the Lord's Supper you need to be sober about it but the last one is you need to be sincere isn't that what he says in verse number eight with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth now what's sincere okay well if you're showing up to church and you're an open fornication you're not taking the things of God sincerely and in fact any of these sins on this list what does he say in verse number in 10 or verse 11 but now I've written unto you not to get company if a man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or idolater or a railer or a drunkard or extortioner with such and one notice this know not to eat he's saying don't eat with these people so then how am I supposed to eat the Lord's Supper with someone I'm not even supposed to eat with all right so therefore we got to get rid of those people in order to partake in the Lord's Supper so we're not doing it unworthily God's gonna be very upset with the guy that's just in open fornication eating in the congregation the Lord's Supper of all things when he's not even supposed to be there okay it's like an aggravated transgression when you're partaking Lord's you're not supposed to be in church and then on top of that you're taking the Lord's Supper it's like you're just counting the blood of the Covenant where with your sanctified is an unholy thing and doing despite to the spirit of grace and you know what there's a fiery indignation to those that would just you know thumb their nose at God willfully go on sinning an open rebellion now these sins while I know about them I will deal with them I don't always know I can't know if you're in fornication necessarily I can't know because people don't commit fornication in public okay people don't do some of these things in public right but you know and God knows so like you should exam yourself and say am I on this list because if I'm in this list I need to throw myself out of church okay or fix it I'd prefer that you fix it right I don't want anybody to find a church that's not the goal that's not the intent but at the end of the day we need to worship God in sincerity and in truth and when people are in these you know sins they need to repent of them they need to get right with God so that they are in church sincerely not just making a show but not being an infiltrator not being someone that should be disciplined and just because someone's in one of these sins doesn't make them any worse than you or me it just means they need to fix it okay we you know a lot of people probably in this room have been on this list at some point in their life okay so and if you've been if you cleaned yourself up you're appended of it you know what it's not it's an active sin that someone's involved in okay so if you are not in that list you know you're saved and you're gonna take it seriously then I believe you should partake in the Lord's Supper but there is that warning of taking it unworthily so let me wrap up how to observe communion well number one we need to think of Christ it's all about Jesus Christ okay that's the point of the Lord's Supper number two we need to think of the spiritual aspects not the carnal aspects number three we need to think of the symbolism that's attached to what the bread means and what the juice symbolizes and then number four we need to examine ourselves and just make sure that we're right with God in the context that we're saved we're taking it seriously and we're sincerely you know showing up to church and wanting to serve him and I think the blessing comes with the Lord's Supper is it helps us continue to take the things that Christ has done for us seriously his blood I mean his blood was not shed in vain it's a serious thing and not only is it washes from our sins and a sense of going to heaven but it also is a daily thing you know we need to find grace to help in time of need daily we need to constantly confess our sins daily and forsake our sins daily and I think when you take of the Lord's Supper it helps remind you of the seriousness of what he did for us and how we needed to take our Christian walk seriously so let's close in prayer thank you father so much for this great series that we got to go through all these chapters and all this the symbolism of what your son has done for us that his body was broken for us and that his blood was shed so that we could go to heaven not based on anything that we've done but solely on his righteousness and his free gift and I just thank you for not only purging us from all of our sins so that we go to heaven but also giving us grace daily I pray that we would not take that lightly but rather we would take the Christian life seriously Bible says that you've purchased the church with your own blood and I thank you so much for the church I pray that we would all take church very seriously and that you'd bless the Lord's Supper as we take next week and that you just bless everyone in this room in Jesus name we pray amen let's go to our final song for the evening song 27 if for some reason you have any questions about the Lord's Supper you can always call or email me or something but I'd also recommend you listen to other sermons that I preached on it recently one other thing before we sing it I didn't get account for the soul winning this evening was there any salvation to report on here was that who are you with okay so y'all had y'all had one as a group okay you had one and y'all had I was great okay so we had nine for that's great praise the Lord on that song 27 the old rugged cross and the first on a hill far away stood an old rugged cross the emblem of suffering and shame and I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain so I'll is the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it some day for a crown oh that old rugged cross so despised by the world has a wondrous attraction for me for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above to bear it to dark cavalry so I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it some day for a crown in the old rugged cross stained with blood so divine a wondrous beauty I see for twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me so I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down I will clean to the old rugged cross and exchange it some day for a crown to the old rugged cross I will ever be true it's shame and reproach gladly bear then he'll call me someday to my home far away where is glory forever I'll share so I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it some day for a crown thank y'all so much for coming y'all are dismissed you