The Lord's Supper — A.J. Higgins

The Apostles’ Doctrine, Fellowship, and the Breaking of Bread

Acts chapter 2. I'm just reading verse number 42. Now I will mention here, just if you'll bear with me, just some editorial comments as we're reading this verse itself. And they continued, Acts 2 .42, they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine, and in the fellowship, there's actually a rendering here in the original, and in the fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers.

Now two things to mention about this verse. First of all is the order in which things are given to us. What I mean by that is, you have teaching or doctrine which is the basis. It leads to a brotherhood or a fellowship, which is then expressed in the breaking of bread, and is then strengthened by the breathing out of the believers in prayer.

So you have an order that is being followed. Doctrine, truth, that brings people into fellowship. So a basis and a brotherhood. That fellowship is then expressed in the breaking of bread, and that fellowship is strengthened by the prayers of the Lord's people.

Number two of significance in verse number 42 is the first mention in our New Testament of the word fellowship. Fellowship. So it is after Calvary, and the coming of the Spirit, and what we have here, the coming of the Spirit of God, that we are brought into a fellowship.

So truth is the basis for fellowship. So keep that in mind. Acts chapter 20, or a similar expression relative to the breaking of bread. Acts 20 in verse number 7. Well-known verses. Acts 20 in verse 7.

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continue his speech until midnight. And you can all thank United Airlines that I have a three o 'clock flight, so it won't be until midnight tonight, okay?

We're just going to be here for until about 12 noon. Turn to 1st Corinthians in chapter number 10. 1st Corinthians chapter 10 in verse number 16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion, that word could mean participation or fellowship, is it not the fellowship, participation, 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, one body, and we are all partakers of that one bread. Now chapter number 11, and breaking in at verse number 17.

The Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11

Now he has just praised them for keeping the traditions or the teaching of the Word of God concerning the head covering of the women, the sisters, and the uncovered head of the men. Now this, in verse 17, I clear to you, I praise you not, that you come together, not for the better, but for the worse.

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 heresies among you, that they which are proved, may be made manifest among you.

When you come together, therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating, everyone taketh before another his own supper. One is hungry, another is drunken. What? Have you not hassles to eat and drink, and or despise you, 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. 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.

When he had given thanks, he broke, and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. After this same matter also he took the cup. When he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament, or the New Covenant, in my blood.

This do ye, as oft as ye drink of it, in remembrance of me. As oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show, or proclaim, the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

Let a man examine himself, and so that he eat of that bread, and drink of that cup, he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation, or judgment, that's the disciplining hand of God, not anything to do with eternity, drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

For this cause many are weak, and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened with the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world, and so on.

Now God will add his blessing again to the public reading of his word. I'd like to just, in the moments before us, take up the subject of the Lord's Supper. Now, I know it's something that everyone here is very familiar with, and it'd be hard for me to say something new or different, but I just want you to think of it in light of some of the verses we have read in scriptures we have looked at, and perhaps there might be one or two things that we can add to what you already know about the Lord's Supper.

In the Gospels, we did not read Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In the Gospels, we have the Lord Jesus instituting the Lord's Supper. In the book of the Acts, we have the apostles and disciples implementing the breaking of bread, the Lord's Supper.

They carry it out. Here in the Epistles, 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, we have insights and instruction about the Lord's Supper. So, we have the Gospels, we have the Acts of the Apostles, we have the Epistle of 1 Corinthians chapters 10 and 11.

Now, even though the epistle we have just read from 1 Corinthians occupies, what is it, seventh in our New Testament, it actually would have probably been the first document that early Christians had tell them about the Lord's Supper, because it was written before Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

So, even though it is later in our Bibles, this may have been the first record that believers could read that would tell them about the Lord's Supper. So, we're not far behind in looking at 1 Corinthians 10 and 11 to gain insight and understanding about the Lord's Supper.

The Two Scriptural Names of the Lord’s Supper

So, I want you to think, first of all, very simple and easy to remember what I have to say. First of all, there are two scriptural names that are given. There is the breaking of bread, and there is the Lord's Supper.

When you think of the Lord's Supper, you're thinking about the dignity that is attached to it. It is the Lord's Supper. And you're thinking about ownership. It's the Lord's Supper. It's marked by dignity and reverence.

But then, when you're thinking about the breaking of bread, you're thinking about its simplicity, its absolute simplicity. There is no place on planet Earth, no place, where bread and a cup are not available.

Absolute simplicity. But the Lord was making it as simple as possible for believers to carry out this breaking of bread as he speaks of it here. Speaks again, doesn't it? Think of the humility of the Lord Jesus.

Men want to be remembered. I do a lot of flying. I flew through O 'Hare Airport, named after a pilot. I go to San Diego because of family. I landed at Lindbergh Airport. I go through, there's Pharoah LaGuardia Airport in New York.

There's George W. Bush in Houston. Men named airports. Men named buildings after themselves. The Pharaohs began it long ago by building pyramids and naming them. And so, men want great monuments to be remembered by.

What did the Lord Jesus Christ choose? He chose a loaf of bread and a cup to be remembered by. No great monument here on Earth. No great edifice erected to honor him. The simplicity, the availability, the humility that is linked with the expression, the breaking of the bread.

So, two expressions. Two scriptural expressions for what we do. It is called the Lord's Supper. It's dignity. It is called the breaking of bread. It's simplicity. We always have to keep those two things in balance.

The Two Symbols: Christ’s Body and Blood

The two scriptural names. Two symbols. Two symbols. Bread and a cup. Ever think about why, why there are two? Wouldn't it have been enough just to have a cup? I mean, you know, his blood poured out for us.

Wouldn't that have been enough to signify his death? To remember his death? But there are two. There's a loaf and there's a cup. One speaking of his body. The other speaking of his blood. And so, we have two separate.

And certainly, when blood is separated from body, that's, that's death, isn't it? A body without blood is lifeless. So, if nothing else, it speaks to us about the reality of his death. Blood separated from a body, the reality of his death.

But there's far more there, could I just suggest. You need a body in which to suffer, right? You need a body to suffer. So, the body reminds us of his suffering. The blood reminds us of his death. Interesting, you go through Scripture.

The different expressions the Spirit of God brings together to tell us something of what happened. He suffered, reminded that he suffered, that he died, that his blood was shed, which speaks about the cross.

All the different expressions brought together. So, in his body, he suffered. The blood speaks about his death. But more than that, when I'm thinking about his blood being shed, I'm reminded that he died for my sins.

When I'm speaking, when I think about the body, and he gave his body for me, I'm thinking about the problem of sin. Put it, put it, put it another way that might be simpler. His blood reminds me that he died for what I did.

His body reminds me he died for what I am. Never forget, he not only died for what you did, he died for what we are. That we are sinners, we are part of an Adamic race that has fallen, that was absolutely under the judgment of God, and God has done with all that I was in Adam.

So, he died for my sins, he died for myself. When you think about a body, you think about a substitute, don't you? You think about someone who took your place, someone who stood where you should have stood, someone who went where you should have gone.

So, when you think about his body, you think about his being my substitute. When you think about the blood, you're thinking about someone who was my sacrifice. So, those two emblems, distinct, have tremendous messages linked with them.

My sins, myself, what I did, what I am, my substitute, my sacrifice, and on we could go. His sufferings and his death, all of that symbolized in those two distinct, separate symbols that we have before us in these two things.

The Cup Proclaims Forgiveness and Every Divine Blessing

So, the two symbols. But then I want to talk to you about two separate messages. There are two messages linked with the loaf, and there are two messages linked with a cup. Let me go to the cup because that's the easiest one to understand.

There are two things that we are preaching. I'll use that word preaching, proclaiming, when we take from the cup. Number one, the Lord Jesus Christ said, this cup is the new covenant of my blood which is shed for the remission of sins.

So, we're reminded that when we are taking from the cup, we are proclaiming what has been taken away, that this blood has taken my sins away. But when we take from the cup, we're also saying, this cup is the basis of every blessing that I enjoy.

So, in the one hand, it tells me what's been taken away. On the other, it tells me what's been brought in. See, it's not just that our sins have been forgiven, and the slate has been wiped clean, but the blood of Christ has secured every blessing we will ever enjoy eternally.

Eternally. Everything that we have, the forgiveness of sins, the reconciliation with God, the regeneration, everything that we have has been secured by precious blood. So, it is the cup, we read there in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, I read in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 for a couple of reasons, but among them this, it is the cup of blessing.

Now, I know the background could be the Jewish Passover, and the four different cups on the table, and the one of them was called a cup of blessing, but he's obviously using it here as a background for what we have done this morning when we took from the cup.

We were taking a cup of blessing, meaning we were saying every blessing we have is because of this cup, or what the cup represents. So, we think about our forgiveness of our sins, wasn't because of what we did, wasn't because of our good efforts, our sincere hearts, none of that was the blood of Christ that brought forgiveness.

Think about redemption, being freed from the bondage and slavery of sin, think about regeneration, think about reconciliation, all that's linked, all the blessings that we have, all because of precious blood shed.

So, it tells us what's been taken away, and it tells us what's been brought in, and always remember that when God takes something away, and brings something in, what he brings in is always greater than what he's taken away, right?

God always adds abundantly. In fact, you all know Romans chapter 5, that the much more is of grace, much more, much more than much more. God is the God who gives much more, and so we are reminded that in the cup, then, there is the remission of sins, and there is the reception of all divine blessing God desires to give.

The Bread Proclaims Identification with Christ and His People

What about the break? Come with me to first century Asia Minor, where most of this is occurring at the onset. The Lord Jesus Christ had been crucified in the eyes of people. Now, remember, we've got to go back to their day, and think as they go.

In the eyes of the populace, Christ was crucified as a criminal. To the eyes of the populace, the death of Christ meant nothing. Now, here's a group of people gathering together, and in their remembrance of the Lord Jesus, they're passing around a loaf of bread, and each of them partaking from it, and what they are saying is, I am identifying with what men call useless.

I am saying that in what men view as a useless, wasted life and death, I find everything. So, they were identifying with the death of Christ. He speaks of that as if it's not our participation, our fellowship, our, if you will, our identification with the death of Christ.

So, this morning we identified, I know we don't live in, you know, first century Asia Minor, or first century Europe, but we are, we were identifying with the value of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, of his body being given.

We were proclaiming, that's the word that's used there, word for preach, proclaim. You might say, to who? Well, it's to everyone, to the entire universe. Angels looking on, we are proclaiming that we are identified with the body of the Lord Jesus Christ that was given for us.

But, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 tells me there's another thing I'm doing. Not only am I identifying with the body of Christ, I am identifying with everyone else in the company who is taking from that loaf.

Now, just look at chapter 10, so you don't think I'm being too fancy, back at chapter 10 in verse number 16 and 17, breaking into the middle of verse 16, the bread which we break, is it not the participation of the body of Christ, our identification with it.

For we being many, are one bread, one body, we are all partakers of that one bread. Now, remember we go back to Acts chapter 2. We said there that the Apostles doctrine, truth, creates a fellowship, and that fellowship is expressed by everyone taking from the bread.

That's what he's saying here in chapter 10, that we being many, all of us gathered together this morning, we being many, are one bread, we are one body ourselves, we are body-like in character. Now, I know that there are two ways the Scriptures use the expression body in terms of a church, the body of Christ, the body of Christ, which includes every believer saved from the day of Pentecost all the way through to the day the Lord comes, but it also speaks about a local church being body-like in character.

Now, there's many, many things that come from that, how we need each other, how we are all valuable and all have a role to play, but that's not what's in view here so much. We are one body, we are expressing our oneness as we partake of that loaf.

For we being many are one bread, one body, for we are all. Why are we one bread, one body? Because we are all partaking of that one loaf. That means that when I take from the loaf, I am saying that I'm in fellowship with everyone else who is partaking from this loaf.

Now, we could go many directions with that. Let me just go one or two directions with it. Number one is, this has nothing, I'm not aware of any problems here in here where I am in Ankeny in any way, so you'll just, this is just a principle that I'm enunciating.

For me to take from that loaf, reach out my hand, take from the loaf, but then refuse to reach out my hand and shake hands with someone else who's taking from the loaf. That's sort of a lie, isn't it?

I'm saying I'm in fellowship with everybody, but I'm not going to shake your hand, because I don't really like, you know, you did something to me 20 years ago, and I'm never going to forgive you, so don't expect me to shake your hand.

I cannot reach my hand out and take from the loaf. I refuse to reach my hand out and shake your hand. Okay, just a simple truth of what I'm doing. So when I take from that loaf, I'm saying everyone else here, we are in fellowship together.

Shared Doctrine as the Basis of Table Fellowship

And again, keep them, now the second thing that I want to stress is that it is truth that establishes the fellowship, that in turn leads to the breaking of bread. Now, supposing I have a relative, and they go to some nice church somewhere else, so they come to visit, and they don't agree with me that there's the priesthood of all believers, they don't agree with me that there should be multiplicity of overseers in an assembly, they don't agree that women should have their heads covered, men should have their heads uncovered, women should be taking the place that they are given in scripture, men should be taking the role of leadership, they don't agree with any of that, and they come along and say, why can't I break bread?

Well, are you in fellowship? Well, I don't agree with this truth, that truth, that truth, you know, well then to just say, well, just come in happily, and see, it is, the breaking of bread is the expression of a fellowship that's based on truth.

Now, again, has nothing to do with whether I think my relative is really saved. He could be far more spiritual than I am, but for him to come in, and to sit down, and to break bread together with us, saying he really is in fellowship with us, when he really isn't, is again, I am causing him to lie.

So, when we do as we do, we are really protecting him from lying, as well as ourselves, because we're really not in fellowship. You may say, well, aren't you in fellowship as far as being saved? Yes, but that may be as far as it goes.

The Apostles' Doctrine is not just about being saved, right? The Apostles' Doctrine is all the truth of the New Testament. Now, you may say, well, in Acts chapter 2, what did they have? They did not have a lot, but it was all added to as time went on, and we are responsible for all that the New Testament teaches.

Now, I know there can be differences. There can be areas which we may disagree on in some small way, and certainly prophecy and the rest. We're not looking at that, but we're talking about what is the basis?

What is the basis of our fellowship together? What brings us together? Why is it that we don't have an ordained minister? Why is it we don't have a huge choir, aside from the fact we're not that big, okay?

You'd have to be in the choir all by yourself, okay, John? You know, some obviously, but why don't we have, because we don't find that in the Word of God. So that fellowship in an assembly is based on truth that we share together.

The Apostles' Doctrine, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. So that as a result of truth that is shared, we are brought into fellowship. That fellowship then is expressed or displayed by the breaking of bread.

And again, a visitor who is asked to sit back and observe is not being given a second-class treatment. It could be a genuinely saved individual, spiritual person, but we want to preserve him from telling a lie that he really is in total fellowship with us by the breaking of bread.

And so it is one of the most difficult things for believers to understand, but this is the teaching of the Word of God, that a fellowship is based upon shared truth, and we express that unity, as we see here in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, by the breaking of bread.

The Two Solemn Outcomes of Christian Gatherings

So two separate messages from the two different symbols. The cup, what God has taken away, the remission of sins, what God has brought in, the reception of blessing. The bread, identification with the body of Christ, His death for me, identification with all the other believers in the company who are partaking of that same one loaf.

Just to go on, two solemn outcomes. Two solemn outcomes. You come together not for the better, but for the worse. Now, have you ever thought that every time we meet, whether it's Wednesday night for prayer and Bible study, whether it's Sunday morning, whatever it may be, every opportunity when we come together can be either for the better or for the worse.

So how do I come? Do I come to a meeting of the Christians, contributing so that the meeting will be for the better? Now, the background here, of course, in 1 Corinthians, the background here in 1 Corinthians is the tragic occurrence where those who were rich, they had a meal prior to the breaking of bread.

We have a snack afterwards, they had meals before, because likely, being a lot of them were slaves, a lot of them were very poor people, likely the only time they could meet would be at night. So that we read there in Acts chapter 20, that Paul preached until midnight.

So I don't think it began at 10 in the morning. It probably was an evening meal, and then the breaking of bread, and then ministry and so on. Well, some of them who were rich were bringing lots of food for themselves, and some who were poor had very little.

And the rich were eating to their heart's content, and even getting drunk on their wine, and the poor had very little. And so he says, you know, when you come together, you're not really eating though or supper, you're taking your own meal, and someone is drunk, and he says, you're actually shaming those that have not.

And are you despising or looking down on other believers? Isn't it strange that the meeting that was supposed to express unity, was actually expressing division? That's why he says, you're not coming together for the better, you're coming together for the worse.

Now, you may say, well, we don't have a big meal, we don't get drunk, we don't, and so, but still, coming together has these two solemn outcomes, potentials. Everyone being blessed and helped, or people going away worse than they came.

You may say, how could they ever come away worse than they came? When problems arise in an assembly, you know what happens? Someone gets up to preach. You wonder, whose side is he on? So the Word of God becomes almost neutralized, it doesn't have any value.

And someone else gets up, they're preaching, you wonder, who's he hitting at? I wonder who he's getting at? Someone gets up to pray, and you're not listening for the purpose of the request being made unto God, you think, who's he preaching at in his prayer?

Who's he getting at? And the Word of God has lost its value, prayer has lost its value, and we leave more polarized, more against each other than when we came. So problems can cause that, and rivalries can cause that, and hard feelings can cause that.

He says, you're not coming together for the better, but for the worse. But what about, what about the tremendous possibility that we could come together for the better? That means preparing for a Bible reading, that means coming with my heart desiring to worship, it means coming with a desire for the gospel to cross, coming to a meeting, recognizing I've got to contribute, even if it's silently, even if it's just by my interest and my desire.

But coming, and every gathering having this tremendous possibility that we could all leave the better. And not only we would leave the better, but that God would get something from the meeting, instead of God getting nothing from the meeting, and believers leaving the worse.

Self-Examination and the Lord’s Chastening

So, two scriptural names, two symbols, two separate messages, two solemn outcomes, two separate judgments, two separate judgments. We have the choice of either examining ourselves, or having the Lord judge us.

Now, I don't think it's so much the idea of a very, very severe review of your week, you know, what did I do here, what did I do there, before I come to the breaking bread. The problem at Corinth was, not that they were failing to recognize that they were sinners, and confessing sin, it was more that they were failing to recognize why they were coming together, and what they were doing.

They were coming together with really, they had lost sight of the purpose of their gathering. They had lost sight of why they were meeting. They were coming together for a feast, coming together to show all that they had, and display their gifts, and their spiritual gifts, that we have when we get to chapters 12, 13, and 14.

They had lost sight of the reason for coming. And so here, the Apostle says, let a man examine himself. Not a ritual to be observed, like, okay, it's Saturday night, ten o 'clock, let me go over my week and see where I made mistakes.

But, Saturday night, let me begin to prepare, let me prepare for the breaking of bread, and not ten o 'clock at night, but let me prepare for the breaking of bread, and really appreciate what I'm coming to do.

He says, because if you don't, if you come mindless, just like you're going through a ritual, just like this is part of what our church does, and we just do it, if you come without really any understanding, he says, then there's another judgment we'll face, the chastening hand of God.

Now, things were so bad at Corinth, he says, for this cause, many are weak and sickly, and some have died. That's how bad things were at Corinth. Strange thing is, it didn't seem to have fazed them in the least.

Didn't wait with it. Now, I'm not saying that God is, please, please, please, never, never, could I, how do I, if I were typing it to you, I'd put it in bold, okay? Never assume when someone else is sick, that that's God's judgment.

You just examine yourself. If you get, something happens to you, whether, but when someone else is sick, you pray for them, you do all you can to support them and encourage them. If it is God's hand on them, they'll know.

They don't need you to tell them. It's never for me to judge how God is dealing with someone else, but here at Corinth, there were some who are coming under the disciplining hand of God, because of their own failure to appreciate what they were doing.

They were shaming the other believers, they were despising the Church of God, and the result of that was, they came under God's disciplining hand, for which cause many are weak and sickly among you. Two separate judgments.

Worthy and Unworthy Participation

Two significant manners. What do we mean by that? Eating and drinking unworthily, eating and drinking worthily. Two manners in which we can partake. Now, it has nothing to do with merit. Not that I deserve it or I don't deserve it.

It's not merit that's involved here. It's the manner. They were doing it in an unworthy manner, because they were not discerning. That means they didn't understand that when they took from that bread, they were identifying with the body of the Lord Jesus.

They were not discerning His body. They were doing it just out of a ritual, just out of a routine. Now, we can unfortunately, at times, descend into that. You know, some of you are businessmen, some of you have careers and responsibilities, and the week can be overwhelming, and everything takes precedent and priority, and you come to a Sunday morning, and you're mentally, physically spent, and you just kind of come and go.

Now, the Lord is understanding. He is not a harsh taskmaster. He knows what you're going through at times. But, if I allow myself that as a routine, I am not taking in a worthy manner. Again, it has nothing to do with me thinking, you know, I had a bad week.

I really lost my temper, and I said things I shouldn't say, or I looked at things I shouldn't say, and I went places I shouldn't go. I really, I don't think I'm worthy to be at the Lord's Supper today.

I think I'll stay home. Listen, you're never worthy to be here, nor am I. None of us are worthy. Nothing to do with my worth. It's got to do with how I do it. Am I doing it in a way that is worthy of what it means?

Something that really is worthy of what that bread means, what that cup means? So, I can do it either in an unworthy manner, or in a worthy manner. So, being conscious, being aware, being prepared, and coming and doing it conscious that we are identifying with the body and blood of Christ, we are identifying with other believers as we do it together.

The Lord’s Supper and the Believer’s Whole Life

Two significant manners. Two simultaneous results. Two simultaneous results. Now, follow me here, because this is, this will take some explaining. In 1st Corinthians chapter 10, the problem was believers were going to the idol's temple to have a meal.

We hardly know how difficult it was for these early believers. If they belonged to trade unions or guilds, they had to, they had to profess worship for the god of the guild. Every guild had its own god, and so on.

But, be it as it may, they would go to the temple and have a meal there. Maybe they had cut rate prices, but the meal had, the meat had been offered to idols. And there they were, sitting in the temple, having a meal with pagan idolaters, and eating the meat was offered to idols.

Now, Paul says, here's the problem. You have partaken of the bread, and in partaking of the bread, you said to the whole, to the entire universe, that you are in fellowship with everyone else who partook of that bread.

They said, how can you go to the temple and be in fellowship with that? He says, you can't be in fellowship with two things at the same time, right? I mean, if you're in fellowship there, you can't be in fellowship there.

So, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, if I understand what I am doing when I take from the loaf, it will control my behavior when I'm out there in society. It will control what I link myself with out there, okay?

Now, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, if I understand what I am doing when I take from the bread, it will control my behavior while I'm here with the believers. So, again, you see the two spheres. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, if I understand the breaking of bread, the Lord's Supper, it will control what I do when I'm not here.

1 Corinthians chapter 11, if I understand the breaking of bread, it will control what I do when I am here. You may say, well, that's my whole life. Yeah, you get the idea. It's your whole life. That's why the breaking of bread, I sometimes think about the centrality of the supper.

In His infinite wisdom, the Lord Jesus gave us this remembrance week by week because it should control my entire life. It should control everything I associate with out there and how I treat others when I'm here.

Everything should be controlled by what we do on the Lord's Day morning. That's why what we do is not just a, I hate to call it a ritual, you know, it's not just an insignia of the assembly. What we are doing when we come together on the Lord's Day morning has incredible implications.

Holiness, Harmony, Humility, and Service

That's why I mentioned here in the epistles we have not just the instruction, but we have insights and implications. The tremendous implications of sitting together with believers to remember the Lord Jesus Christ.

It should, number one, it should make me holy, right? When we look at what sin cost the Lord Jesus Christ, when we look at what my sin cost Him, it should make me hate sin. It should make me holy. It should cause harmony, right?

We're all partaking of that bread, we're professing to be in fellowship with each other, so it should create harmony. It should make us closer, the oneness should be enhanced every time we come together.

It should create some sense of humility in me to think that I am linked with a race and the epitome of our wisdom was to put our Creator upon the tree. Can't be too proud of how wise you are when you think of that, can you?

That in our infinite wisdom and judgment and discernment, we saw our Creator come live amongst us and decided He doesn't deserve to live. Not only does He not deserve to live, let's give Him the worst, most disgraceful death we possibly can give.

Hang Him on a tree. It should make me humble. It should foster humility in me. So holiness, harmony, humility, it should strengthen my hands for service as well. It should make me want to do what I can to please Him.

C .T. Stubb was a, I guess the best way I can put it, he was the equivalent of an all-American football player, but he was an all-English cricketeer. I can never understand the game of cricket, but he was an all-English cricketeer back at the end of the 1800s, early 1900s.

Along with that he was a millionaire. Eventually he went out to both India and China to serve Lord as a missionary. C .T. Stubb said, if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, no sacrifice that I make for Him could be too great.

When we think of His sacrifice, when we look upon the cross every Lord's Day, it should strengthen our hands to want to serve Him far better than we've ever had before. And the last thing I would think about is, with shame I have to confess, it's not true of me.