An Examined Heart so that the Supper Conveys Christ

Dear Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

To come to this table we need an epiphany - not just of the historic Jesus - but that He is the Living One is alone has the remedy that we sin sick and ravaged death and hell bound creatures need. It really is quite simple to examine and prepare yourself to com e this table. It is like the second question of our catechism - what three things must you know/exp to live and die in the joy of this comfort - how great my sin and misery are = Guilt , how Christ alone delivers = Grace , how I am to live a thankful live of faith and obedience - seeking holiness = Gratitude.

The biggest mistake we could make about our text this morning, and your attitude to the Church's celebration of Jesus spiritual banqueting table is to think that the lord is instructing us to only come to this table if we are worthy. As if we can judge whether a person is worthy . Psalm 24 who can ascend the hill of the Lord - any ever lived clean hands and a pure heart - we know the answer is None are worthy in themselves but the King who has come - God -man Jesus Christ in our place - Why the last book of the Bible - asks that exact question - who is worthy to pen the scroll - I s He worthy - Worthy is the Lamb . So God’s instruction in coming to the table this morning isn’t are you worthy , Jesus Christ alone is, you and I come in our unworthiness. No look at 1 Cor 11:27

1 Corinthians 11:27 ESV

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

The issue this morning is not about who is a worthy person, but about coming in a worthy manner. Think about what the Lord is instructing us to do - their is nothing lacking in the work of Jesus, nothing lacking in this meal by which he communicates Himself and his saving benefits to us, if there is a lack it is in the way we approach this table. Think of a really really funny joke, not matter how hilarious the punch line the whole thing can be ruined in the telling of the joke. Same is true of a story, some have a knack for telling a great whopper of at le, others have just a good a story to tell, but they don’t have the art of story telling. Camp fire story like golden arm, and then … you’ve got it. Well, the Lord is saying there is a way to prepare yourself to partaking this meal so that it really is a sharing in Christ right now right here together. That is what is at stake in partaking in a worthy manner.

Key Truth: Examine yourself so that the Lord’s Supper not only represents Christ to you, but conveys Him and His Benefits

A. My Need: sin & misery

. And this is good news. We are not called to examine others, we are not to wait for God to examine us. We are actively called upon to test ourselves. 1 Cor 11:31

1 Corinthians 11:31 ESV

But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

The next verse goes on to say if we don’t test ourselves, God will have to judge us and discipline us. So what is this testing, this self-examination. Helpful to know both the word and the tense . It is an ongoing continuous testing and the word is a metallurgy, jewelry term. The Greek word "to examine" is a metaphor taken from the goldsmith who carefully tries his precious metals. So before we come to the Lord's Supper, we are to make a careful and discerning trial of ourselves by the Word. And this is tricky, because just like your eye can see everything but itself, so too we are really good at judging other people, but to look inward at the state of our own soul is difficult.

It is hard for a man to look inward—and see the face of his own soul.What is it that we are to discern, not morbid belly button looking - introspection - all of us plenty of sin. But more than the sins which are but symptoms, we are to look within to discern whether we have faith, true saving faith! If you were going to sell your home, or call, might have a mechanic or home assessor look it over - give an appraisal of the state of it. So too do you know the state of your soul. Do you have a saving interest in the covenant the relationship Jesus came to bring?

As you come to this table , realize its the Lord’s table, the Lord’s Supper - its not yours or mine or the church’s - come first of all - with a desperate sense of your need. - not self-satisfied, not mere custom , nor let's get this over, but Aware of how great our sin and misery are - Something at this table not only represents Jesus to us, but strengthens our participation by faith in who Jesus is and what he does about our need. Neither our faith, nor our repentance are the grounds of our faith, but as we know our need of Jesus our faith are the empty hands by which we receive Christ.

As you come do you recognize your need and Christ’s remedy. What is the symbol through which we are to partake in Christ? Consider your need in the picture of the bread. Like a seed dies buried in the ground, sprouts, Isaiah , that plant produces kernel, and what is done with the kernel -it is threshed, and then is crushed in wheels of great mill stone. And turned into flour. But what kind of bread? Without leaven. Do you understand the bread a perfect picture of Christ and his dealing with our sin and the consequences of sin which is all the death and resulting suffering and hell. He said I am the bread that came down from heaven. How a shoot grows up , but then offers himself as a substitute for your sin and mine. Wrath of God poured out - condemnation that out to be heaped not only our shortcomings but on our very person and nature - but what is this bread, it has no leaven - perfect sinless offering to the Lord - And so it satisfies.

Who knows his heart, Lord search me!! Psalm 19:12 “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.”

And Paul is saying to these Corinthians - do you come to this meal - realizing not about our religious rituals, not about - but it is the Lord speaking into our sin and a forgiveness that transforms - and a death that Jesus alone can release us from. Only those who know themselves to be sinners, and the more you know it the more desperate you are to get a bite, deeper your hunger for Jesus and all he represents.

The sacrament seeks a hungry, thirsty, and desirous soul that yearns for it. But those who go only because of command or out of habit feel no desire or longing for it, but rather horror or dread, so that they would rather be away from it than near it. St. Augustine

Judge for yourself, come with serious-ness about your sin, about the plight of death and bondage to Satan - this isn’t our meal its Jesus meal to remind us and strengthen us in faith in him dealing with sin in our lives.

That’s the beginning of the heart search on a faith level. But then you search out do recognize those parts of my life - like the Corinthians where I have fallen into sin and am coming repenting and turning to Christ for forgiveness. Sexual sin, their was lust for position, pleasures of this world, their was a real breaking of unity … Do I look upon the broken body of Christ and see that I have died to sin with Him, he died for me, and I have as hare in killing of sin in my life and the coming to life of his … This is the first way we must approve ourselves, not as Pharisaical big shots, who think worthy to come in themselves, but discern the value of Christ to me & I am hungry for what Christ does in in me.

B. My Deliverance: my trust in Christ’s remedy

Here it is significant that our parable text in Matt 22 speaks of the Messiah’s desires to bring us to a wedding feast … real communion between the bride and bridegrooom. There is a reason that this meal is called by Christians both Eucharist - thanksgiving and communion the deepest most joy-filled fellowship .. Not just somber meal where we see our sin and what sin does to either us or to our Lord on the Chross. It is also most joyful meal. We are to test whether we have intelligent hearts, that discern and know and experience the body of Christ -

There ought to be a competent measure of knowledge, that we may discern the Lord's body. As we are to pray with understanding, 1 Corinthians 14:15, so ought we to communicate at the Lord's Supper with understanding. Those who do not know the meaning of the Supper—do not feel the comfort of it. We must know—God the Father in His attributes - love gave His Son, in holiness his justice is satisfie. Knowing God the Son in His offices, God the Holy Spirit in His graces. Some say they have good hearts—yet lack knowledge. We may as well call that a good eye—which lacks sight.

Not just the Does the death of Jesus live in me, am I dead to sin, drink his cup But also ; Does life and fellowship fellowship of Jesus live in us, come knowing He has promised to be our provider and protector. And having all things in Christ, we share those things in His family here: in our goods, assistance, counsel, teaching, honor, and life. 1 Corinthians 11:27 “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.” But with knowing heart it is truly a participation in life of Christ, - resurrection life…

And so when you examine yourself and recognize your need and then see in this offering of Christ for you - then you come with a heart that is longing! Jesus himself said: "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover," Luke 22:15. I haven’t prepared this feast God prepares a feast—we must get an appetite. As David longed for the water of the well of Bethlehem, 2 Samuel 23:15, so should we long for Christ in the Lord's Supper. Thomas Watson powerfully puts it this way: Holy desires are the sails of the soul which are spread to receive the gale of a heavenly blessing. For the exciting of holy desires and longings, consider:

God said in Isaiah that ("The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines," Isaiah 25:6. Here in this Supper, is the juice of that grape which comes from the true Vine. The Lord's Supper is a repository and storehouse of celestial blessings. Behold here, life and peace and salvation set before us! All the sweet delicacies of heaven are served in this feast!

Watson says, we are like Elijah on his desert journey. God sends him an angel:) Elijah to take a little of the cake and jar of water that he might not faint in his journey. "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you," 1 Kings 19:7

1 Kings 19:7 ESV

And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”

So truly we have a great journey—from earth to heaven. Therefore, we need to refresh ourselves along the way. Consider How many sins have we to subdue! How many duties to perform! How many needs to supply! How many graces to strengthen! How many adversaries to battle with! So that we need refreshment along the way. By feeding upon the body and blood of the Lord in the Supper—we renew our strength as the eagle.

So we are to test ourselves for the sense of our need and of our faith in the remedy Christ promises here. But there is a last type of testing, and it s why the church through the ages requires first a credible profession a tested wakl - not perfection, but direction. Neither the strength of my faith nor amount of my repentance.

C. My Thankfulness: my repentance & desire for holiness

If your faith nor the degree of your repentance is ground for coming, but its because we actually turn from sin and suffering without God, to life with Him - it is a necessary component in cooing to this table!

This is what it means to come with penitent hearts, with true though not yet perfect repentance. We grieve our sin, taste the bitterness of it. The Passover was to be eaten with bitter herbs. We must bring our myrrh of repentance which, though it is bitter to us—is sweet to Christ. "They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced—and mourn for Him," Zechariah 12:10. A broken Christ is to be received with a broken heart. We who have sinned with Peter—should weep with Peter. Our eyes should be filled with tears—and our hearts steeped in the brinish waters of repentance. Say, "Lord Jesus, though I cannot bring sweet spices, and perfume Your body as Mary did—yet I will wash Your feet with my tears." The more bitterness we taste in sin—the more sweetness we shall taste in Christ!

Interesting story of Israel starting out again with King Hezekiah, hadn’t celebrated the Passover for a long time and some unable to keep it to the letter of the law: But we read: 6. We must come with SINCERE hearts. The tribes of Israel, being straitened in time, lacked some legal purifications. Yet because their hearts were sincere and they came with desire to meet with God in the Passover, therefore the Lord healed the people, 2 Chronicles 30:19-20. Bad aims will spoil good actions.

You don’t need a perfect heart, but you need sincere one - my aim in coming to Christ is that I may have more more victory over our corruptions and be more confirmed in holiness? Then God will be good to us and heal us. Sincerity, like true gold, shall allow for some grains of impurity.

In Corinth this meant repenting of coming with selfishness, and lack of love for each particular member you were coming to the table with. The leaven of malice will sour the ordinance to us. We must come with bitter tears—yet not with bitter spirits. How many church’s ripped apart in this pandemic because not coming together with this spirit. The Lord's Supper is a love-feast. Christ's blood was shed not only to reconcile us to God—but to one another. Christ's body was broken to make up the breaches among Christians. How sad is it that those who profess they are going to eat Christ's flesh in the Lord's Supper—should tear the flesh of one another! "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer!" 1 John 3:15. Listen to Watson again who comes to the Lord's Supper in hatred—is a Judas to Christ—and a Cain to his brother! What benefit can he receive at the Lord's Supper, whose heart is poisoned with malice?

Come partake this food together in true Christian love. Come living with Christ and one another inn the gospel of peace! . Listen to how the brother of our Lord put it: . He has none of the wisdom which comes from heaven, James 3:17. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. Oh, that Christians were rooted and cemented together in love!

James 3:17 ESV

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Coming with repentance, and devotion means we come with prayer asking God to make the table effectual not just to confirm in our hearts and minds who Jesus is and what He has done for us, but to actually convey Christ and His presence in our lives and to assure and seal our union and participation in Him.

The only time Christians should refrain from the Table is when they find hardened apathy within themselves about their relationship with God and/or others. 1 Corinthians 11:17 . And it is ultimately out of love that elders would tell someone need to examine yourself - keep yourself from table till resolve to repent, to live by faith, and in extreme of excommunication. But for we who come, for those beginning to discern yes I trust in Jesus this way, I offer my life dedicated devotion; we come to this table examining ourselves, and aware of the manner in which we come!

There is so much that can distract you with all our worldly cares, amusements, - but come prepared and this will be a feast for all the grace of Christ within in you, and a funeral for for all our corruptions! There is no such things as coming as a worthy person, only coming in a worthy manner. Knowing our sin, our Saviour, and committed from now on to live in fellowship and devotion with Him, in the Spirit. Amen.