The Lord's Supper (Pastor Jeff Shipley)

Now I want you to pay attention. It wasn't anything in Israel. It wasn't their military size.

It wasn't the type of people. For those of you that are not believers,

I'm going to ask you just to hang for a second with me. You're not going to understand probably about 90 % of what

I'm about to say. And I hope to God you get saved before you leave here.

But that's that. For the family, mia familia, the beautiful feet of Jesus Christ, the beautiful hands of God the

Father extending love and service out to a lost and dying world, I would have you hear the

Word of God. I would have you be encouraged this morning. We're about to do the

Lord's Supper for 2 ,000 years. Not hyperbolic.

For 2 ,000 years the church, because how many churches are there?

There's only one. For 2 ,000 years, the church has gathered together as 1

Corinthians 16 says on the first day of the week. For 2 ,000 years, men, women, and children have come together from all backgrounds, from all nationalities.

They have put aside all of the cares of the world and come together as the body of Christ and they have taken and eaten of the

Lord's Supper to remember the death of Christ and also to remember the cause of hope.

I'm going to do an expository sermon today. Purely expository, no points.

And I'm going to go over 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 17 through the end of the chapter.

Then when we're done, we're going to have a moment to get your heart and mind wired right with Jesus and then we're going to take the

Lord's Supper as the family. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

I'm going to start in verse 17 and we're literally going to go verse by verse.

Paul says, verse 17, remember he's writing a church in Corinth.

Now Corinth is a city in Greece. Still there, you can go see it little Wikipedia nerds.

But verse 17 says this, but in the following instructions

I do not commend you. Sorry hippie Christians, it's not all love, peace, and joy.

Because when you come together, it is not for the better but for the worse.

Now let me say this to you here this morning. If you are here this morning, the lost or saved, you get a brownie point for at least being here.

Hebrews 10, 24, and 25 says, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.

So Paul's sitting there saying, you got together, that's good, but there are some things you are doing when you get together that are not good.

Now, why are we here? Let me dispel this, and I know, you know, some of you

Hillsong, suburban, you know, country kitchen Christians, well we're here to worship

God and to learn. No! Stop saying that! Worship is an outflowing of something that is consistent in your life.

Learning is not a one hour block on Sunday morning that is so myopic.

No! You know what you're here to do? You're here to work! I sat there when men prayed,

I said, uh, uh, love Jesus whatever we said, and then we did the little fight thing,

I don't remember, but Jesus! And I said, alright men, let's go to work! And little Owen came up to me and goes,

I don't have a job. I'm just like, come here, you little four -eyed nerd,

I love you so much. See, some of y 'all still don't understand that to show

Jesus Christ, don't talk about substitutionary atonement, don't worry about that.

Right? I am here today to minister to you, and you're here to minister to me.

And for those of you out there, you need, this, what I'm doing right now, is not ministry.

Singing in the choir, I'm sorry, is not ministry. Ministry is the sacrifice of something worthy that you have for the betterment of a brother and sister in Christ.

There's another word for it, it's called love. Guys, loving someone, when you come here and say, well,

I'm worshiping God, I'm learning, what is the common denominator of both of those statements? I, I know this is hard, especially the millennials, it's not about you.

It's not about your feelings. It's about a command of God, that we are to love each other and love

God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our mind. Brother Jeff, I don't feel close to God.

The reason you don't is because you're not washing His feet by washing a brother and sister in Christ's feet.

You have no concept of service and sacrifice, and so you keep eating from the buffet table, but you never give out.

You're a stagnant cesspool of water, that the Holy Spirit is just waiting for you to break that dam that He can flow through you and be the living waters of Psalms 23.

That is the piece that you're missing. Sacrifice for something other than yourself.

Look here at verse 18. For in the first place, now Paul's actually going to start listing it.

He was so serious about this, he made a list. Now, in the first place, when you come together as a church,

I hear that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part.

Now read verse 19 carefully. For there must be factions among you, in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

Now, once again, I know that some of you were brought up in church and you didn't learn nothing, and I want to smack your old pastors, okay?

But read this verse hermeneutically correct. Division bad, factions good.

Read it again, if you got to. There are divisions among you, not good, but there must be factions to prove who's real and who's not.

Ladies and gentlemen, Pastor John this morning was giving us a report in the pastor's meeting, and something like 60 people last year joined our church.

And I said this, how many of them are still here? He said, I'm going to get those numbers for you.

Here's the reality, guys. Not everybody belongs here.

Okay? Not everybody does. And that's okay. I am not in a popularity contest with Faith Baptist or with Bellevue.

I want them to succeed. They are not my enemies.

They are not my competition. I'm going to let y 'all in a secret, in case y 'all haven't noticed, I don't care about the mega church thing.

I don't want one. I can barely keep track of the 200 and something people

I got. You people are driving me nuts. Okay? I can't do more than this.

I'm not that smart. I can't keep up with it. Right? There are good to be factions.

Well, pastor, what's the difference between division and faction? I'll tell you this.

Doctrine and theology. That's the difference. I don't agree with pastor

Josiah on some theological things. And when we get to heaven, he's going to repent and get right with God.

Right? But we are unified doctrinally, and we will not be divided.

Things that don't matter, stop it! There are people who will split churches and leave in anger because we didn't have one cup.

We had many cups. Well, it says that Jesus took the cup. We should only have one cup. I am not drinking after Ava Shipley.

In her nose.

Right? That's working up a theological difference instead of something that matters.

Guys, I am not here. We as God's people are not here to get along with the world.

I'm here to love the world, and that's two different things. I'm going to love them, but I will not be part of them.

And you as a Christian better not want that either. Look what it says. Verse 20.

When you come together, this is what you did wrong, here's what you do right. When you come together, it's not the

Lord's Supper that you're eating. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal.

One goes hungry while another one gets drunk. What? He actually stops and said what?

I mean, it's so 2024. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?

Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those that have nothing? What shall I say to you?

Shall I commend you in this? No! In the

Greek, it says that. Never mind. Guys, there is a difference. I don't know if any of you visitors here have ever been to one of our big breakfasts, but it is fat guy happy approved.

Man! Dude! I mean, like the Deacons are like Hebrew slaves in the kitchen just, you know, like fry cooks at Waffle House, throwing the bacon out and the sausage down.

I mean, I eat tofu and fruit, but the other people are eating that stuff. And it is a cacophony of noise in here.

People are like and hugging and loving and eating and that's different than the

Lord's Supper. That's different than the Lord's Supper. And Paul actually makes the distinction between the two here.

If you want to eat and party, that's fine. But when you come together for the Lord's Supper, there is an air of reverence.

Now here's what people say, well yes, we should all be quiet and not say anything. That is not reverence!

Show me anywhere in scripture where reverence equals silence. We just read a verse today that throughout all time you're going to have in the throne room of God, holy, holy, holy is the

Lord. There ain't no silence there! Silence that is reverence.

It's thinking of others and God before yourself. That is reverence.

To revere means to hold holy. Means that you separate others for something better than yourself.

And remember, it goes from fellowship to remembering because he sits there and says whenever you do this, do this in remembrance of me.

We'll get to that in a second. Notice this, it says, do you despise, watch this, or do you despise the churches of God?

Ecclesia, it's in the singular form. When I say, how many churches, I'm not trying to be like hippie cool,

I'm just reading what scripture says. There's only one. And notice this, do you want to humiliate those that have nothing?

One of the things that I love about Whitman Baptist Church is this, and it's so cool, it's why we're so successful.

We have the Lord's, what's it called, big breakfast. We had the big breakfast out. It's funny, all the women and kids go first.

The men hang out. They just hang out. When all the women and kids are gone, then the men go.

After all the men go, then the pastors go. And it's funny, people who have never been here before, they don't have to be told that.

You know why? Because they're seeing it in true leadership by example. Yeah? Why do we do that?

So we can be cool? No, because we're trying to obey the word of God. I, listen,

I don't want Pastor Josiah and Pastor Jeremiah to go first. There wouldn't be nothing left for the rest of you.

Right? My gosh, y 'all know how he is already. You're sitting there eating your little three scraps of food, starving to death and malnourished.

He walks by and picks something off your plate? Cut him man, I'm telling you. But that's another story for another time.

He gets it from his mama. Verse 23.

For I received of the Lord that every pastor would hear this verse this morning.

Every pastor hear this verse. You know what is so important about standing behind this pulpit?

Is to not give you my feelings, my opinions, my values, my thoughts, my theology.

That I simply repeat that which God has given me. Not through some special vision or dream.

In fact, Paul is quoting Luke here. He got it from an apostle that was there when

Jesus, Paul wasn't there at the last supper. Luke was. Well actually he's recording about someone who was there.

And so Paul is getting this from the word of God himself. And so guys today, when we're around these tables, we're not practicing a tradition of wit.

We're practicing that which God told us. Look what it says. For what

I receive from the Lord, I also deliver to you. Verse 23.

That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed. Notice that word betrayed. It doesn't say arrested.

It says betrayed. The height of insult at that moment, at that moment, more was coming.

But the height of insult of Jesus is that he was betrayed by his own people, by his own disciple, by his own friends.

People always give Judas and Thomas a bad time. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, there wasn't none there but John.

Everybody else said I'm out of here. He was betrayed by everyone. Including sometimes me.

Mmm. And when he had given thanks knowing that had happened and what was going to happen.

By the way, for my papist friends in here, the word Eucharist is not some highly holy special Latin word.

It means to give thanks or thanksgiving. That's it. That's all it means. I'll call this the

Eucharist in that aspect. It says when he had given thanks, he broke it and said this is my body which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the

Lord's death until he comes. Transubstantiation.

I know. Pastor, that's theology. Let's not get into that. No, let's do.

Because there are some folks here, especially the proliferation of the Internet and these silly keyboard warriors out there.

It's important to know. Let me explain what transubstantiation is. In some places, in some other faiths, when

Pastor Jeremiah takes that lid off and touches the cup or touches the bread in there, it turns into the real blood of Jesus and the real flesh of Jesus.

You know, it's stuff like that that makes us just look stupid. I'm going to be honest with you.

It does, man. I don't want to explain that. I have a hard enough time explaining to people that God's three in one and one in three.

I don't need, you know, we're eating Jesus' skin. It feels like a scab.

I know, it's nasty, right? Notice the passage.

Notice he took the bread. He took the cup.

He took the bread and he said, this is my body. Okay? Watch this. Wait a minute, wrong hand.

This is my marriage. It's really not. It's really not.

As the pain of Gwen is, she encompasses more work than a silly ring. But it's a symbol of my marriage.

This is a symbol of the death of Jesus Christ. That's it.

And I know some of y 'all were brought up as I was. How many of y 'all were brought up Catholic in here?

Good Lord, a lot of papists. Listen, I know you were brought up and this was drilled into your head.

How many of y 'all remember confirmation class in your first Eucharist? Yeah. Oh, and that's right, baby.

Yeah. That's right, Jimmy. You didn't know what you were doing, did you? I didn't.

I was sitting there going, when is this going to be over? I got to go smoke a bowl, you know? Right? Guys, I promise you, this is just bread.

That's all it is. It's grape juice. And if it was wine, that would be cool, but we have too many addicts in here.

We can't use wine, okay? Way too many drunks up in this place. Right?

But listen to me. It's a symbol. So when you're standing around the table today, I want you to remember something.

It's not a church service. It's not a sermon. It's not a tradition.

It is a command of God that you remember Him.

Let me finish this up real quick. Verse 27.

Here comes a warning. You ready? Whoever, therefore, eats the bread, the bread, the bread, or drinks the cup of the

Lord in an unworthy manner, will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the

Lord. Let a person examine themselves, and then so eat the bread and drink the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some of you have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

But when we are judged of the Lord, we are disciplined that we may not be condemned along with the world.

A couple of months ago, we did the Lord's Supper and I had a lady come up and say to me, I can't take the

Lord's Supper. I'm not worthy. And I let you on a secret.

You're never going to be. As long as you look at yourself. Look at the text.

What's it say? That you're unworthy? Or read it? Unworthy?

Go ahead and say manner. It's okay. We're all waiting. Manner. Well, pastor, what's the difference?

The only way I'm ever going to be worthy of anything is through the death of Jesus Christ.

I have no self -righteousness of my own. I am a big poo -poo face.

You know, people say, you have to be a certain holiness before you take the Lord's Supper. Okay. Tell me how.

I'm being honest. Tell me how to do that. We have to be without sin. Okay.

Um, there was only one dude. He was born in a manger and walked on water. And I don't see none of y 'all counting skiing as walking on water.

So how are you perfect? Crackhead, listen to me. You cannot earn the grace of God.

That's why some of you are constantly defeated in your Christian life because you feel like you should be here and you feel like you're here and you feel like you'll never get here because you keep feeling this and thinking this and doing this.

Stop! People think God's always like going He doesn't have to do that.

You're your own worst critic. Didn't you put the Holy Spirit, if you're really a Christian, convicting you?

Oh my gosh, he doesn't need help mentally because he's going Jeff?

Jeff? Jeff? Hey, son, you know you shouldn't be doing that. When it says unworthy manner, it's talking about the flippancy of it.

It's Sunday. I'll do the Lord's supper. I'll ease on down there and eat that cracker.

Get me some juice. No! But watch what it says.

See, because of our overcritical thought processes, we immediately say if we're unworthy, we shouldn't do it.

I want someone in this room to raise their hand that if you are in perfect stead with God right now, you're perfect in every way.

Well then why do we have this crap set up? We might as well all take a break, go home and watch the

Titans lose. Unworthy manner.

Could it be, in hermeneutical context, going back to what

Paul said at first? Here's what an unworthy manner is.

I care about me more than I care about you. And by the way, did y 'all see that shirt

Carla was wearing today? Oh my God, it's so unflattering. She thinks she's so smoking hot and she's not.

You know what I mean? Did y 'all see brother David Abbott? You know, the bald guy?

You know? Did y 'all see Rachel Shipley? She thinks she's a pastor's wife.

Well, I know some things about Rachel's past. That's an unworthy manner.

That's what it's talking about. It doesn't mean that I am sinless. It means that before I come to this table,

I am right with God and with each other. Because it's gone, the whole passage has gone through about how our attitude should be and how our love should be one to another.

If you got ill against someone in this room, yes, you need to take care of that before you come to the

Lord's Supper. Because there is a warning here. I'm not gonna cookie cut it.

Or what's it called? Yeah, sugar coat it. That stuff. I ain't gonna sugar coat it.

He said because some of y 'all come to this table in an unworthy manner, that's why some of you are sick.

And that's why some of you are fitting to die. Guys, in other words, you better take this seriously.

This ain't a joke. Okay, Pastor Jeff, but now I'm worried. Oh my gosh, I don't have time to die.

I just had to stomach, but man, was that thing fun or what? That was 24 hours of whoop!

I thought I was buying a Buick every five seconds. You know, never mind.

Guys, do you hate someone in this room? Have you been a snot to someone in this room?

Then let's, if you have, listen, look right here. Instead of being a First Baptist Church dummy, instead of sitting there on your hands, why don't you do something like really radical, like humble yourself, walk up to them and say, will you please forgive me?