Getting Ready For The Lord's Supper

Getting Ready For The Lord's Supper

Summary: Most families have requirements to be met in order for people to get ready for supper; God does too.

What are the Requirements at Your House for “Getting Ready for Supper”[Most have Some]

The Requirements Are Probably as Varied in Our Households as the Meals are Varied

Wash Up---Put Shirt On—--Turn T.V. Off—--Put Suit/Dress On—--Wait for Others—--Prayer?

This A.M. As you Can See by the Preparations, We are Going to Have the Lord’s Supper

Is there Anything that You & I Are Required To Do to Get Ready For this Supper?[Yes]

In My Text this Morning Our Father Reminds Us How to Get Ready For Supper

READ TEXT: In V-28 God says thru Paul, “But let a man examine himself, and so…......”

Let us Examine the Text & Ourselves to Be Sure that We Are Ready For Supper

1. We Need to Be SAVED to be Ready for Supper [V-17 says “You” = Church Member]

A. Paul is Writing to the Believers in Corinth—the Saved—Children of God

B. This Supper & Instructions Are For the Family of God [Non-family Not Invited]

2. We Need to Be UNITED to be Ready for Supper [V-18 Condemns Division]

A. Jesus Came to ReUnite Us With God….Surely We Can Reunite Ourselves to Others

B. Ever Shared a Meal With a Disfunctional Family [No Fun}Father says Unite

3. We Need to Be FOCUSED to be Ready for Supper [V-24-25 In Remembrance]

A. Jewish Converts in Corinth Treated Supper Like Passover [Big Meal Plus This Add On]

B. The Focus Is to Be Jesus---Remembering Jesus [Not a Big Meal]Eat at Home

4. We Need to Be REVERENT to be Ready for Supper [24-25 Body & Blood]

A. This is Not a Funeral Service---But It Is a Memorial Service [Honor Greatly]

B. The Elements of the Lord’s Supper That We Handle Are Very Special

5. We Need to Be EXPECTANT to be Ready for Supper [26-Til He Come]

A. Sure Jesus is Here in Spirit…But We are Waiting for Him to Come Bodily

B. As A Place Set at a Supper Table for Family Member Who’s Not There Yet

C. Our Faith is in Action at this Supper When We Are Watching 4 Jesus

6. We Need to Be CAREFUL to be Ready for Supper [29-Or We Condemn Selves]

A. Coming to the Family Supper Table Improperly Prepared Is Disrespectful

B. Have You or Family Member Ever Been Sent Away [Condemned Self]

C. Not to Properly Get Ready For This Supper Disrespects Our Heavenly Father{Condemns Self]

7. Finally, We Need to Be INSPECTED to be Ready for Supper [28-Self Inspected}

A. Most Everyone Looks in a Mirror Several Times a Day to See If We Are Presentable to Others

B. We Examine Selves to See if What Others See is Acceptable to Us

C. We Then Make Adjustments to Ourselves as We Think Necessary

D. Text Says We Should Examine Selves Spiritually Before Coming to This Supper

E. We Should See Ourselves as God Sees us and Make the Necessary Adjustments

F. Sometimes Getting Ready for the Lord’s Supper is a Prayer Away..Let Us Pray

Invitation: Were You Really Ready For Supper? Now is the Time For Adjustments

Illustration: A heart transplant recipient was asked one time if he ever thinks of the person who gave him the heart, that he died and all. And the response was that it was too hard to think of someone dying for you. Several years ago in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, George and Vera Bajenksi’s lives were changed forever. February 16, 1989. A very normal Thursday morning. The phone rang at 9:15 a.m. "There’s been an accident..." It involved their son Ben. As they approached the intersection of Adelaide and Simcoe Streets near the high school, they could see the flashing lights of the police cars and ambulance units. Vera noticed a photographer and followed the direction of his camera lens to the largest pool of blood she had ever seen. All she could say was, "George, Ben went home--home to be with his Heavenly Father!" Her first reaction was to jump out of the car, somehow collect the blood and put it back into her son. "That blood, for me, at that moment, became the most precious thing in the world because it was life. It was life-giving blood and it belonged in my son, my only son, the one I loved so much." The road was dirty and the blood just didn’t belong there. George noticed that cars were driving right through the intersection--right through the blood. His heart was smitten. He wanted to cover the blood with his coat and cry, "You will not drive over the blood of my son!" Then Vera understood for the first time in her life, one of God’s greatest and most beautiful truths...why blood? Because it was the strongest language God could have used. It was the most precious thing He could give-- the highest price He could pay. Through God’s amazing love we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ (). May we never treat lightly nor trample underfoot the blood of God’s Son ().

Illustration: Regular maintenance on life, like a physical, or ropes for climbers, or nets, John Leadley Dagg, the author of a well-known and influential [Southern Baptist] church manual of the nineteenth century, noted: ‘It has been remarked, that when discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with it.’”

Illustration: Andrew Murray, whose devotional books are still popular nearly a century after his death, said this: It is when we face ourselves and face Christ, that we are lost in wonder, love and praise. We need to rediscover the almost lost discipline of self-examination; and then a re-awakened sense of sin will beget a reawakened sense of wonder. "Self-examination Questions for Spiritual People." And he meant that we should ask ourselves these questions each and every day! 1. Did I awake spiritual, and was I watchful in keeping my mind from wandering this morning when I was rising? 2. Have I this day got nearer to God in times of prayer, or have I given way to a lazy, idle spirit? 3. Has my faith been weakened by unwatchfulness, or quickened by diligence this day? 4. Have I this day walked by faith and eyed God in all things? 5. Have I denied myself in all unkind words and thoughts? Have I delighted in seeing others preferred before me? 6. Have I made the most of my precious time, as far as I had light, strength, and opportunity? 7. Have I kept the issues of my heart in the means of grace, so as to profit by them? 8. What have I done this day for the souls and bodies of God’s dear saints? 9. Have I laid out anything to please myself when I might have saved the money for the cause of God? 10. Have I governed well my tongue this day, remembering that in a multitude of words there wanteth not sin? 11. In how many instances have I denied myself? 12. Do my life and conversation adorn the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

illustration: “In 1949, my father had just returned from the war. On every highway you could see soldiers in uniform hitchhiking home to their families. The thrill of the reunion with his family was soon overshadowed by my grandmother’s illness. There was a problem with her kidneys. The doctors told my father that she needed a blood transfusion immediately or she would not live through the night. Grandmother’s blood type was AB negative, a very rare type. In those days there were no blood banks like there are today. No one in the family had that type blood and the hospital had not been able to find anyone with that rare type. The Doctor gave our family little hope. My Dad decided to head home for a little while to change clothes and then return for the inevitable good-byes. As my father was driving home he passed a soldier in uniform hitchhiking. Deep in grief, my father was not going to stop. But something compelled him to pull over. The soldier climbed in but my father never spoke. He just continued driving down the road toward home. The soldier could tell my father was upset as a tear ran down his cheek. The soldier asked about the tear. My father began telling the stranger that his mother was going to die because the hospital couldn’t find anyone who could donate AB negative blood. My father explained that he was just heading home to change clothes. That is when he noticed the soldier’s open hand holding dog tags that read AB negative. The soldier told my father to turn the car around and head back to the hospital. My grandmother lived until 1996, 47 more years, about the slaughtering of the lambs