Simple Church #4 - More than a Meal: The Lord's Table (Has Low Audio due to tech issues)

Okay, how's that sound? Okay. One, two. All right.

Sitting in the pews of churches across this nation, around the world, for whom the Lord's Supper is part of the Christian routine. Faithfully and while, and they think about Jesus while they are partaking, but they do not understand everything that is going on during the observance.

This afternoon, and like I said, I agree with Dr. Matheson, I think many of us don't fully appreciate what's going on when we come to, as we will at the end of our service today, this thing we call the Lord's Table.

It's the fact that I've titled our message this. It's more than a meal. Yes, it is a meal. It's a simple meal. There's only two elements in it. But I would argue that it is more than that. In fact, I would say to us that this is one of the most spiritually critical things which the Church does.

For a moment, I need to do a quick theology of eating. I might write some of these passages down. You see, when you read the Bible, one of the mysterious things you notice is just how much eating happens with God.

Start with me in Genesis chapter 18 for a moment. In Genesis chapter 18, you have the story of God appearing to Abraham with two visitors. We know the two visitors to be two angels. And it's interesting, what happens in that context when God appears with Abraham, to Abraham, excuse me, with these two visitors?

Abraham prepares a meal. And God and these visitors eat with Abraham. And it's in that context that God gives the promise, once again, that he will have a son. In fact, he names the son. So you've got to call his name, Isaac.

In last week's Lord's Table, in Exodus chapter 24, verses 9 -11, you have that wonderful scene of Moses, the priest, and 70 of Israel's elders going up the mountain into Yahweh's presence. And as they go into Yahweh's presence, what does the text say?

That as they're up there, they eat and they drink in the presence of Yahweh. In the next chapter, Exodus chapter 25, God gives instruction for this interesting set of loaves called the Bread of the Presence.

Twelve loaves for the twelve tribes, illuminated by the light of the light of this lampstand, which symbolizes God's presence. It's interesting that in God's presence, there is food present. In Deuteronomy chapter 14, God commands the nation of Israel to bring their tithe before him.

The interesting thing is that one, the tithe is not money in that passage, it's food. That's a whole other subject for another time as to whether the Bible teaches tithing. But now, it's interesting. Deuteronomy chapter 14, verse 26, God tells his people that, listen, if the place that I tell you to bring the tithe is too far, find the nearest place where there's a lead light.

Go there and exchange the food for money. Spend that money, Deuteronomy 14, verse 26, spend the silver on anything you want. Cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there, in the presence of Yahweh your God, and rejoice with your family.

Deuteronomy, uh, not Deuteronomy, Psalm 23, excuse me, we all know it, the Shepherd's Psalm. Again, there's this connection with food and the presence of Yahweh. Psalm 23, 5, I've read it multiple times, I'm sure.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Isaiah 25, Isaiah looks into the future and sees Yahweh preparing a meal for his people. On this mountain, Yahweh your host will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat.

A feast with aged wine, prime cups of choice meat, fine vintage wine. Maybe that's just a metaphor in the Old Testament. Well, we cross over into the New Testament, we'll cross over to the Book of Revelation with me for a moment.

And in Matthew chapter 8, verse 11, Jesus says this. And this is just one place, but multiple, where he talks about a feast that is laid in the presence of God, in the kingdom of God. So Matthew 8, verse 11, Jesus says, I tell you that many will come from east and west to share in the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of heaven.

When we get to the Bible's final book, Revelation chapter 19, we read a portion of it for our scripture read, uh, call to worship, excuse me, this morning. Revelation chapter 19, verses 6 -9, God in his word says,.

Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling loud thunder saying, Alleluia, because our Lord God the Almighty reigns, let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.

She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure, for the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, Right, blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb.

Now here's this picture once again of a feast in the presence of God. He also said to me, These words of God are true. As you read the Bible, it becomes apparent that there is this intimate connection between being in the presence of God and food.

And guess what's the missing link in this little gastropheology that I'm pulling together this afternoon? I would argue it's this thing we often call the Lord's Table. More than anything, I would argue that the Lord's Table is more than just a symbolic meal reminding us of a dead man's sacrifice.

In fact, this is there in your study guide. Here's my big idea for this message. The Lord's Table is a sacrament given to us by Christ for the strengthening of our faith and the deepening of our communion with him and each other.

More than just a memorial, we actually partake of Christ by faith. Three questions about the Lord's Table that I hope will kind of open up your biblical understanding of what this table is. I think I said it in yesterday's email, but if you didn't get it, I might go along today.

In fact, I am more than likely going to go along today. And if you need to leave, I fully understand that. But I need to take some time because this is not a simple subject to get our heads around.

So, three questions.

Question number one. Let's just start there. What is the Lord's Table? Well, a good place to start, I would venture to say, is for us to define what the Lord's Table is. Now, thankfully, we don't have to try and reinvent the wheel here.

Our fathers in the faith, as you know, I'm very fond of quoting, not because they are an authority equal to Scripture, but because I love their mature reflection on Scripture as the Word of God. This is how they define the Lord's Table.

It's there in that little blue box in your study bag if you have one. Here's how they define the Lord's Table. The Lord's Supper is a sacrament of the new covenant in which, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to the pattern set up by Jesus Christ, His death is shown forth.

Those who worthily take part feed on His body and blood to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace, have their union and communion with Him confirmed, and testify and renew their thankfulness and commitment to God and their mutual love to one another as members of the same mystical body.

As always, I like to break things down. The second half of that definition we'll think about in our next question. A few points here as we think about the Lord's Table, two of them in particular. First of all, our fathers in the faith refer to the Lord's Table as a sacrament.

They refer to it as a sacrament. I touched on this last week as we talked about the sacrament of baptism. I didn't get to get too deep into this, so allow me a moment to dig a little deeper into what exactly a sacrament is.

I have to be careful because I'm speaking to evangelicals in the Western world. When I call the Lord's Table a sacrament, as our fathers in the faith would, for some I'm keenly aware that that sounds a little too close to Roman Catholicism for their liking.

I mean, after all, we come in from the stock of the Protestant Reformation, we have an in-built dislike for the Catholic Church. And so if we hear something that sounds a little too much like that, our natural tendency is to kind of switch the brain off, I'm not listening to that, I know who I am.

The danger with calling it a sacrament for some people is that you're thinking that there's something mystical that goes on when we partake of this bread and this cup. Or worse, there's something that's meaninglessly ceremonial about it.

Well, if I can answer that on two levels. First of all, sacrament is not a Roman Catholic word. It's not, it's a Christian word, it's a word the churches used long before there was a Roman Catholic Church.

In fact, the Protestant Reformers had no qualms with using that word, so much so that they even give us a definition of what it is. So again, it wasn't as large a catechism. Question 162. A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ in His Church to signify, seal, and exhibit the benefits of His mediation to those who are within His covenant, to strengthen and increase their graces, their faith, excuse me, and all other graces, to increase their sense of duty to obedience, to testify to and give sweetness to their love and communion with one another, and to distinguish them from those who are outside the covenant of grace.

I want to come back to that first part that they say, this idea of the sacraments signifying, sealing, and exhibiting the benefits of Christ's mediation. Sacraments, baptism in the Lord's Table, they're given to us by God, and they have a dual function built into them.

Follow me here for a moment. You have the physical sign, the physical thing that we are able to see. So in baptism, it's the water. In the Lord's Table, it's the bread and the cup. But behind this physical sign, and it's important to know it's behind this physical sign, we do not say that this becomes spiritual reality.

But behind this physical sign, we can see it's a spiritual reality that the sign points us to. Let me see if I can make this simple. So a lot of people talk about baptism. He said that baptism pictures our union with Christ.

Everyone remember that? Can you see union with Christ?

You can't.

You can't see it. It's not a tangible glow that comes over you when you become a Christian, symbolizing that you are now connected to Christ. That, for most of us, doesn't happen. So you can't see that reality.

But what does baptism do, according to God's Word? It pictures to us, it signifies to us, the spiritual reality that has already taken place. It's not that baptism unites you to Christ, but it points you to the fact that you have been united to Christ.

You can't see union with Christ, but you don't always need it, but you can see water. And it's the same thing when we talk about the Lord's Table. You cannot see the benefit of the Lord's Table, the spiritual reality behind it.

But there's such a tight relationship between the sign and the thing signified. There's such an intimate relationship. Such that the former, the thing that we can see, in this case the bread and the cup, signifies, it testifies to, it confirms.

That's what they mean by it's sealed. And it exhibits, it demonstrates publicly, the fact of Christ's Body and Blood that is shed for us. So the Lord's Table is a sacrament. But let's talk more specifically about the Lord's Table.

It's a sacrament that involves, I know, it stays in the obvious here, bread and wine. At the Last Supper, Jesus took the Passover meal, the event that signified the deliverance of God's people. It's interesting, it's a meal and God commands people to do this thing constantly.

Well Jesus takes that Passover meal and he does the following. Turn with me to Matthew 26, I'm sure you've read it before. Matthew chapter 26, if someone could grab me a glass of water that would be great.

Matthew chapter 26, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples and said, Take and eat it, this is my body. Then he took a cup and after giving thanks he gave it to them and said, Drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

But I tell you, I will run you from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. So Jesus, who was the head of the church, he takes the physical sign of bread and tells us explicitly that this speaks to his body.

By the way, if you know church history, you know people have fought tooth and nail about what does that phrase, this is my body and what is actually me. Natural reading is Jesus is not saying the bread is his body as much as it symbolizes, it points to his body.

So you have the physical sign of bread and you have the physical sign of the fruit of the vine as Jesus describes it, which speaks to the blood according to Jesus. If I can make a side note for a moment, Jesus ordained bread and wine, literally in the original language, the fruit of the vine.

That's what Jesus ordained as the elements to be used. Brothers and sisters, we don't get to remix this according to our preferences. I remember being in college and being in my Christian union, and our Christian union decided to have communion.

I will have a whole lot to say about that in a few moments. Thank you so much. They decided to have communion, and since we didn't, I mean, we're colleges, you know. So, since we didn't allegedly have the body to get the actual elements, guess what they decided to use as the elements that day?

Try Coke and French bread. I would argue that that was kind of a mockery of what Jesus instituted for the church. He gets to determine everything about it, and we don't get to tinker with the elements of the meal that he ordained any more than we get to baptize somebody in game show slime instead of water.

So, Jesus ordains his sacrament, and he specifically says that it is simple, bread and the fruit of the vine. Now, some people argue about should it be alcoholic or not. I don't think that's necessarily the point.

Personally, Jesus explicitly says in Reveille in Matthew 26, 29, that he's referring to the fruit of the vine. That's my personal take on that. Others may disagree, and that's fine. But that's what the Lord's table is.

It's a sacrament, and it's a sacrament that involves bread and wine. So far, so good. Now we're getting to the slightly more controversial part. Question number two. What does the Lord's table do for us?

Exactly what does the Lord's table do for us as God's people? So far, so good. That's the New Evangelicals. We are typically taught from the earliest that the Lord's table is the memorial, that we remember Christ as we come to this table, and that we renew our love and commitment to him every time we partake of that.

Now, that much is indeed true.

So Luke chapter 22, verse 19, Jesus says, This is my warning which is given to you.

Do this in remembrance of me. So it's not less than that. It absolutely is a commemoration of the fact that Jesus was going to the cross to bear the sins of God's people, and he does command us to partake of this in remembrance of him.

So it's definitely a commemoration of his death. The question is, is that all that the Lord's table is? I would say no. I would actually say that multiple things are happening when we partake of the Lord's table.

In particular, I would say four things happen. First of all, I would argue, this may be the most controversial of all the points I make, that this is a real feeding on Christ. It is a real feeding on Christ.

Turn back with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, where we started in our scripture reading.

1 Corinthians chapter 10.

Let's dive in here for a moment, because I'm going to argue that Paul communicates to us from this passage that the Lord's table is a true feeding on Christ. I need to do a little bit of background work.

1 Corinthians chapter 10 is the tail end of an argument that begins all the way back in chapter 8. And it's really to do with the issue of food sacrificed to idols and the liberty of the Christian. So in chapter 8, verses 4 through 6, Paul kind of starts his argument and says that, listen, we all know that idols have no real existence since there is only one true God.

There are not multiple gods out there. Paul also notes verse 7 that not everyone has this knowledge. And so for them, if they eat food that is offered to idols, they really believe it's offered to an idol, and thus they defile their conscience.

Paul then says in chapter 8, verses 8 through 13, those who have the knowledge that this thing that is offered to idols is not really offered to an idol, well, just because you know that, you don't have the right to make other people stumble because of that.

Your responsibility as a stronger person is to bear with the weaker person. That takes me to chapter 9 where Paul sets his own example, both in terms of whether he gets paid for ministry and also in terms of his approach to various people groups, saying that he himself understood the liberty that he had and yet kept that liberty in check for the sake of his brother or sister.

That brings us to chapter 10, and in chapter 10, Paul starts to talk about this theme of idolatry, because at the heart of all of us clinging to our rights and refusing to give up our liberties for others is idolatry, mostly idolatry of self.

And so Paul, verses 1 through 13 of chapter 10, talks about the idolatry that was modeled in Israel's past, and his point is this, that listen, they had all kinds of great spiritual privileges, and yet they abused every one of their privileges, and so God judged them, be careful, the same thing can happen to you.

That brings us to our text in verse 14. So verse 14, Paul says, So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. He says, I am speaking as susceptible people.

Judge for yourselves what I am saying.

Here's the verse I want to get to, verse 16. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ, the bread that we break? Is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Paul is still talking about idolatry, that's still his main point in chapter 10.

But as Paul is very wont to do, he's going to use one truth as a master teacher to elucidate another truth. He's going to use one principle to help us understand an even bigger principle. And so he uses the principle of the Lord's table and what it is, as a warning against participating in idolatry.

And so he says, listen, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? The key term here is this word sharing that appears to us.

Some of your Bibles will say, a participation. Say my name. It's the word that I actually get more fellowship from. He says that the cup and the bread are a sharing, a participation, in the blood and body of Christ.

Respectively. I would argue that the word here has a due meaning to me. That it's vertical. And he says that participation in this table is participation in Christ himself. And it's horizontal because that participation happens with other beliefs.

Paul goes back to the Feast of the Old Testament, so look at verse 18. He says, consider the people of Israel. Do you know those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Israel has these sacrificial meals.

We read about all of them in Deuteronomy 14. Paul's point is that, listen, the people who sacrifice, don't they participate in what the altar is designed to do? The meal itself, the sacrificial meal they have, was not a sacrifice.

Neither is this meal of the Lord's table a sacrifice. We're not Roman Catholics. We don't believe that this Lord's table is another sacrificing of Christ. Jesus is the one who will sacrifice. But Paul's point, when he says that this is a sharing in the blood and the body of Christ, is that we are participating in the blessings made possible by this sacrifice.

So it's not so much that we are partaking of Christ's sacrifice once again. As much as by faith, we are participating in the blessings that come to us through this sacrifice. The American theologian B .B. Warfield, in his article, The Fundamental Significance of the Lord's Supper, he says this, quote, the sacrificial feast is not the sacrifice in the sense of the act of offering.

It is, however, the sacrifice in the sense of the thing offered, that is eaten in it. And therefore it presupposes the sacrifice in the sense of the act of offering and implies that this offering has already been performed.

So the Lord's table as a sacrificial feast is accordingly not the sacrifice, that is the act of offering of Christ's body and blood. It is, however, the sacrifice, that is the body and blood of Christ that were offered, which is eaten in it.

And therefore it presupposes the sacrifice as an act of offering and implies that this has already been performed once for all. Paul's point is really profound. The Lord's table isn't a sacrifice in itself, but it's a participation, a very real participation, in the one true sacrifice of Christ.

That's why Paul can say, jumping on to verse 21, he can say, verse 51, verse 21, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord's table and the table of demons.

The reason he can say that is very simple. You cannot say I'm partaking of Christ's sacrifice and the benefit of that sacrifice and then turn around and go partaking of that which is offered to demons.

In Paul's mind, it's inconceivable. That's what Paul can say in chapter 11 if you want to turn over there. Chapter 11, verse 27. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord.

That person examined himself in this way, that he would eat the bread and drink from the cup. For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. Paul's point is that you are mocking Christ's sacrifice when you partake of this in an unworthy manner.

Can I pause for a moment and say, this is why it's so dangerous. When churches let people who are in unrepentant sin partake of this meal, that's why Paul can say, listen, a person who eats this without recognizing what this is, you are eating and drinking judgment.

Elsewhere in that text, he says explicitly, not only are you drinking judgment, they're drinking damnation on themselves. Just out of nowhere, it seemed like the church started imploding. Because sin was tolerated, even at this table, and God is not mocked.

I have to wonder how many churches are split because people in the church actively hated each other, and their beat hated each other, or their leaders, and then they, like nothing had ever happened, came to this table.

I say it every week when we partake of this table. This table is not for perfect people. We acknowledge that. But it's also not for people who willfully wallow in their sin. A group in Geneva called the Libertines.

The Libertines were an antinomian faction, but they were extremely good in Geneva. Basically, he says, listen, under no circumstances are you in unrepentant sin going to partake of Paul's table. Partake in their head, it's kind of hard.

So what did they decide to do? Well, one Sunday, they roll up into church, swords in hand, to rush the Lord's table. And history tells us that Calvin, literally, if you've ever seen the pictures of the church, and you can still see it today, the Cathedral Saint-Pierre, St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva, it's got a high pulpit.

History tells us Calvin rushed down from that pulpit. Calvin wasn't a very well man, by the way. But he rushes down the pulpit, gets behind the communion table, and as it were, stretches out his hands and says, you will have to lock off my arms before you partake of this table.

Why? Because he understood that something serious is happening here. This Lord's table is a real feeding on Christ. And we are not going to bring damnation on ourselves by allowing somebody who is in unrepentant sin to partake of this.

That's why Paul could say, listen, for this reason, some of you are weak, and he says, some of you are dead. God terminated your earthly assignments. Discipline of the Lord took a very sudden and very final form.

Why? Because they were mocking this meal, which is a participation in Christ's sacrifice for sin. I blame it on this point somewhat, because understanding this makes the rest of the story, not just simple to understand, beloved, it makes it logical.

If this is a real feeding on Christ, then it follows that secondly, it's a means of nourishing the soul of the believer. It's a means of nourishing the soul of the believer. That as the believer enjoys spiritual communion with Christ, a communion that is communicated to us through these elements, his faith is strengthened.

Chapter 6 is one of the most beloved chapters in the Bible. It's the passage where Jesus refers to himself as the bread of life. In fact, I'll read it to you, John chapter 6, verses 47 -51. Truly I tell you, anyone who believes has eternal life.

I, Jesus, I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna of the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Just in case anybody was unclear, Jesus was even more plain than that. John chapter 6, verses 53 -58.

So Jesus said to them, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. Can I pause and ask you to put yourself in the audience the first time they heard that?

Jesus goes on, the one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, just in case you missed it the first time. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, how many times is that now? I'm going to say this is number three. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the man of your ancestors, he and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever. Isn't it funny, Jesus refers to himself and the sacrifice that he will make as bread that is to be eaten and he particularly says, you ready?

Three times the believer is to eat his flesh and to drink his blood. While we don't believe that these physical elements are the flesh and the blood of Christ, I don't think that this language of the body and blood which is picked up in the communion narratives and picked up in 1 Corinthians should be ignored here.

As one writer puts it, the context of John 6 shows that to eat and drink Christ's flesh and blood is not a carnal act, a physical act, but rather a spiritual act of trusting in Christ. John chapter 6, verses 20 -59 parallels the eating that leads to eternal life with belief,.

Making the two things identical.

The Lord's Supper signs and seals this belief, showing that the one in whom we believe is both God and man, having a true human body. We need the humanity of Christ no less than we need his deity. And the physical elements of the Supper impress this on our hearts and minds.

It's a real feeding of Christ, it's a means of nourishing the soul of the believer. Thirdly, it's a means of renewing our commitment to Christ. Every time we come around this table we are saying in the act of eating and drinking that we are committed to Christ and to Christ alone for eternal life.

That's why Paul could say you can't claim commitment to Christ by coming to his table and then go through the sacred demons. Pick one! It's a means of nourishing the soul of the believer, it's a means of renewing our commitment to Christ.

Fourthly, it's a means of renewing our fellowship with one another. I'll be honest, this is why myself and lots of pastors have an issue with communion that's done at home or done in small groups and it's not done as part of the gathered assembly.

Of course we recognise that there are exceptions for the sick and the shunted, of course we get that. But by and large the practice of God's people through the ages that we partake of this as part of the gathered assembly, our gathering around this table is designed to strengthen our bonds with one another or at least it should.

We started this message by reading from 1 Corinthians chapter 11. What does one say about the church at Corinth? I think if you were to put it nicely, they were probable. Of all the New Testament letters, we spend a bunch of time in Galatians.

I'll put it to you then, the church at Corinth are probably worse than the church at Galatians. These are some of the most carnal, divisive, self-centred, and frankly spiritually miserable people in New Testament.

They couldn't see past themselves that even at the Lord's table, even as they come to the table of Jesus so to speak, they were still finding ways to divide from each other. I just put it so that people would say, well we're no better than the Corinthians, well we're not as bad as them.

You know, we can be. But if I may take a moment of privilege, can I make a point that the Corinthians had an excuse at least, but we don't?

Think about it.

Did the Corinthians have 1 Corinthians 11 up until the point that Paul writes this? No they didn't.

You and I do.

Beloved, isn't it terrifying?

I don't know if you've seen this, I've seen this myself.

Isn't it terrifying when Galatians 5 .15 becomes a reality? Galatians 5 .15, if you divide and devour one another, watch out or you will be consumed by one another. Do you know what's off the menu for Christians and on the menu for Christians?

Very specific to Redeemer for a moment. What if our church was so united around this table, we were so united and satisfied by its rich fare, that we had no appetite for each other in the negative sense?

What if our mouths were so full from this table and the spiritual reality that it represents, that our mouths had no room for murmuring, complaining, and our own opinions? This section in 1 Corinthians 11 is followed up by a discussion of spiritual gifts, and it's exactly the same thing.

Paul is designed not to tear us apart, but to bring us together. That's why it's often practiced, and I agree with this, that they tell people, listen, if you've got a disagreement with somebody in the church, if you're not on good terms with someone in the church, don't partake of this.

And I'll be honest, there have been days where I got to church and I was fine.

I was ready. And I'll give you a real example.

It actually happened, well, back before this church was called Redeemer. There was one time.

I was running the slides and stuff, like normal.

And so we're going for our worship service, and there was one of the songs that was given that had completely the wrong words. Not verses in the wrong order, completely the wrong words. People who've worked with me have probably gathered that I get really, especially when I have been asking all week, can I get the words for this song?

Can I get the words for this song? Can I get the words for this song? I can actually tell you, I texted her in the middle of the service,.

And said, I am this close to walking out.

And we were going to have the Lord's table that day. So they passed around the elements, and I did take it. So I said, you know what, I found it. And of course, I was asked what happened, and it's simple.

I was annoyed.

But I was not so annoyed that I was going to mock this by pretending that everything was fine. No, this happened, we need to talk about it. And we need to talk about it before the next time we have a Lord's table so that I don't miss out on this.

What if we took the Lord's table that seriously, that we would settle petty squabbles, maybe it's not somebody in this church, maybe it's another believer somewhere else. What if we were willing to say, you know what, I value this so much.

Go and squash whatever issue it is. It might not even be your fault, but I'll do whatever it takes. The rich benefits that are afforded to us in this. We've asked, what is the Lord's table? We've asked, what does the Lord's table do for us?

Finally and quickly, how can we benefit from the Lord's table? How can we benefit from the Lord's table? We come to the table with proper self-examination. We come to the table with proper self-examination.

Did you catch that when we read 1 Corinthians 11? Verse 28.

Let a person examine himself in this way. Let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. This is not the morbid self-examination of the legalist. This is not the flippant self-examination of the self-sufficient.

No, brothers and sisters. This is the honest self-examination of the one who knows their need for Christ. The way a hungry man knows his need for food. Come to the table fully aware of your need. Come to the table fully aware of your need.

We live in a nature that just holds us to terrible things about need. Number one, nobody's really needy. And two, it's okay. I put it to you that Jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 3 that blessed are the poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

I'm struck by how, I'm always struck by how the New Living Translation translates and renders this verse. Matthew 5, 3, New Living Translation. God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him.

Because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. There's a reason why in our Reformation tradition. Churches typically place the Lord's table after the preaching of the word. It's precisely because God's law shows us our need.