[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 4th of October, 2015. Today's service also included the observance of Holy Communion. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
In Psalm 51 verse 10, King David asked God to…
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
--Psalm 51:10 (NKJV)
Today, as we prepare to approach our Lord’s table in commemoration of His Last Meal on this earth, we need to create within ourselves a right heart. For in the very passage that institutes Holy Communion, the Apostle Paul issues a stern warning. Listen and follow along as I read from Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 23 through 32, from the New King James Version of our Bible…
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
--1 Corinthians 11:23-32 (NKJV)
Let us pray… O Father who sits upon the throne of heaven, we come before You this morning to worship You and to hear what You would tell us. Speak to us through Your Holy Spirit, touch our hearts, and show us how to be right with You. In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.
A lady writes:
My sister and her children moved to my city not long ago and began attending church for the first time in their lives. They particularly loved the singing and the communion service. One day while babysitting the kids, I fixed them their favorite lunch of burritos and apple juice. As I left the room, I heard four-year old Alisha begin to celebrate communion with her lunch items. She seemed to have memorized the words of institution quite well, until she came to the cup. That’s when I heard her say, “And Jesus took the cup, and He blessed it, and He gave God thanks for it, and He said, ‘Fill it with Folgers and wake ‘em up!’”
[*Based on “The Mouth of Babes”, #120 on page 57 of 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking. *]
You may be wondering if my forgetfulness hit high gear this week and I thought this was Christmastime, but in many ways our first hymn represents that cup of Folgers and Jesus’ cup of the New Covenant all in one. “Joy to the World” was a special request from a very special member of this church family, and I think it is a very fitting song as we prepare for Communion.
For one, it’s a nice peppy song that should have woken everyone up, if for no other reason than you thought I’d finally gone completely crazy. But we should approach our Lord’s table with joy, because of what He did for us.
Yes, this is the most sacred ritual we observe, and yes we should be reverent when doing so. But we should also be joyful, for the Lord has come to intercede on our behalf! We should be joyful to receive our King. We should repeat the sounding joy, for He rules with truth and grace and showers us with the glories of His righteousness and the wonders of His love. And we should each one of us prepare our hearts for Him. We must each one be of a right heart with God before we take of the body and blood of our Savior Jesus.
Paul isn’t the only Apostle to caution us to get right with God. Do you remember the story of Simon the magician? He heard the disciples teaching about Jesus and saw how the people would receive the Holy Spirit after Peter and John laid hands on them and prayed over them. And he took note of the huge crowds that they attracted. Naturally, he wanted to get in on this and get a cut of the action.
So he went up to Peter and John and offered them money to give him the power to do what they could do, so he could transfer the Holy Spirit too. Listen to how Peter responded, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in the Book of Acts, chapter 8, verses 20 through 22…
A lady writes:
My sister and her children moved to my city not long ago and began attending church for the first time in their lives. They particularly loved the singing and the communion service. One day while babysitting the kids, I fixed them their favorite lunch of burritos and apple juice. As I left the room, I heard four-year old Alisha begin to celebrate communion with her lunch items. She seemed to have memorized the words of institution quite well, until she came to the cup. That’s when I heard her say, “And Jesus took the cup, and He blessed it, and He gave God thanks for it, and He said, ‘Fill it with Folgers and wake ‘em up!’”
[*Based on “The Mouth of Babes”, #120 on page 57 of 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking. *]
You may be wondering if my forgetfulness hit high gear this week and I thought this was Christmastime, but in many ways our first hymn represents that cup of Folgers and Jesus’ cup of the New Covenant all in one. “Joy to the World” was a special request from a very special member of this church family, and I think it is a very fitting song as we prepare for Communion.
For one, it’s a nice peppy song that should have woken everyone up, if for no other reason than you thought I’d finally gone completely crazy. But we should approach our Lord’s table with joy, because of what He did for us.
Yes, this is the most sacred ritual we observe, and yes we should be reverent when doing so. But we should also be joyful, for the Lord has come to intercede on our behalf! We should be joyful to receive our King. We should repeat the sounding joy, for He rules with truth and grace and showers us with the glories of His righteousness and the wonders of His love. And we should each one of us prepare our hearts for Him. We must each one be of a right heart with God before we take of the body and blood of our Savior Jesus.
Paul isn’t the only Apostle to caution us to get right with God. Do you remember the story of Simon the magician? He heard the disciples teaching about Jesus and saw how the people would receive the Holy Spirit after Peter and John laid hands on them and prayed over them. And he took note of the huge crowds that they attracted. Naturally, he wanted to get in on this and get a cut of the action.
So he went up to Peter and John and offered them money to give him the power to do what they could do, so he could transfer the Holy Spirit too. Listen to how Peter responded, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in the Book of Acts, chapter 8, verses 20 through 22…
20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
--Acts 8:20-22 (NKJV)
Peter told Simon that he needed to get his heart right in the sight of God by repenting of his wickedness, of his sin. And Peter added that Simon should pray that the “thought of his heart” might be forgiven. Remember: in God’s eyes, it doesn’t matter if we actually follow through and commit a sin, just that we thought it in our heads or felt it in our hearts – that alone makes it a sin and a disobedience of God.
In our message text this morning, in verses 27 through 29, Paul says do not eat this bread or drink of this cup in an unworthy manner, lest we risk bringing judgment upon ourselves. If we come to this table with unclean hearts, we will be just as guilty of our Lord’s broken body and spilt blood as those who condemned Him to the cross!
And family, one of the signs of an unclean heart and an unworthy manner can be seen at the end of verse 29: “not discerning the Lord’s body”. Now it would be real easy to skim right past that line if we don’t understand what Paul meant about discerning the Lord’s body. We need to realize that one of the problems Paul was attempting to address in the church in Corinth was that some people, by their words and actions, were tearing the church apart rather than trying to help maintain the unity of the church, the body of our Lord on earth.
And folks, this is still a problem today, in churches all across the land, and among church members as well as the secular public. There are people that are picking at the flesh of Jesus’ body, the church, and ripping it off in chunks. Some are doing it on purpose while some may not even realize the impact their words and actions can have on others they share worship with each week. They find fault with everything, they bicker and argue with each other, they don’t come into the worship service with a worshipful attitude. They’re not discerning the body of Christ our Lord.
Of course, there’s far more to it than that - there are many other ways we displease God. But how can we make ourselves right in God’s eyes? Peter gives us the answer, just as he told Simon. We need to repent of our sin and pray to God for forgiveness. Repent – fully turn from our sin and not go back to it. Stop doing that thing we are doing and don’t do it again. Just as Jesus told the woman accused of adultery: go, and sin no more.
And Paul adds this, from his letter to the Romans, chapter 10 verses 9 and 10…
In our message text this morning, in verses 27 through 29, Paul says do not eat this bread or drink of this cup in an unworthy manner, lest we risk bringing judgment upon ourselves. If we come to this table with unclean hearts, we will be just as guilty of our Lord’s broken body and spilt blood as those who condemned Him to the cross!
And family, one of the signs of an unclean heart and an unworthy manner can be seen at the end of verse 29: “not discerning the Lord’s body”. Now it would be real easy to skim right past that line if we don’t understand what Paul meant about discerning the Lord’s body. We need to realize that one of the problems Paul was attempting to address in the church in Corinth was that some people, by their words and actions, were tearing the church apart rather than trying to help maintain the unity of the church, the body of our Lord on earth.
And folks, this is still a problem today, in churches all across the land, and among church members as well as the secular public. There are people that are picking at the flesh of Jesus’ body, the church, and ripping it off in chunks. Some are doing it on purpose while some may not even realize the impact their words and actions can have on others they share worship with each week. They find fault with everything, they bicker and argue with each other, they don’t come into the worship service with a worshipful attitude. They’re not discerning the body of Christ our Lord.
Of course, there’s far more to it than that - there are many other ways we displease God. But how can we make ourselves right in God’s eyes? Peter gives us the answer, just as he told Simon. We need to repent of our sin and pray to God for forgiveness. Repent – fully turn from our sin and not go back to it. Stop doing that thing we are doing and don’t do it again. Just as Jesus told the woman accused of adultery: go, and sin no more.
And Paul adds this, from his letter to the Romans, chapter 10 verses 9 and 10…
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
--Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV)
We must repent of our sin, confess Jesus with our mouth, and believe with all our heart in Him and that God the Father raised Him from the dead. The words from our mouth can carry us to salvation, or to eternal punishment. The belief we hold in our heart can lead us to righteousness, or to ruin. The choice really is ours – that’s what free will is all about.
The time to make that choice is right now, before we approach this table! The time to put your heart right with God is right this very second! As we pray, confess your sin and your belief in Jesus straight from your heart and beg for forgiveness. If you feel the need to come to the foot of the cross before we go to the altar, then please do so. Whatever it takes, we must have a right heart with God before we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, so that we are not deemed guilty of our Savior’s body and blood.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You give us every opportunity possible to get our hearts right in Your eyes. It takes so little for us, but we seem to struggle so much in carrying it through. We know we must repent, but some of the things we do and say have just become so much of our daily lifestyle, so much a habit, that we just can’t turn completely from them.
Father, we are weak but You are strong. Our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. We know we can do all things through Jesus because He strengths us. Give us that strength, Lord Jesus, to stand firm against Satan and all he throws at us. Give us the strength to resist temptation. Make us aware any time we do or say something that might tear at the fabric of Your church and give us the strength to not continue that behavior. We want to do what is right in the eyes of our Father God, and not have to share the guilt of the breaking of Your body and the spilling of Your blood.
Hear us now, Lord, as we cry out to You silently from our hearts, aid us as we promise to repent, hear our confession of Jesus as Christ and Lord, cleanse our hearts and make us right in Your sight…
Father God, we come to the table of Your Son Jesus to observe His final meal. We come to remember Him and the great sacrifice He made on our behalf. We come to celebrate the New Covenant You made with us through His precious blood. May our hearts be right with You, now and always. This we pray in the name of Him who gave His all for us, the glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
The time to make that choice is right now, before we approach this table! The time to put your heart right with God is right this very second! As we pray, confess your sin and your belief in Jesus straight from your heart and beg for forgiveness. If you feel the need to come to the foot of the cross before we go to the altar, then please do so. Whatever it takes, we must have a right heart with God before we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, so that we are not deemed guilty of our Savior’s body and blood.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You give us every opportunity possible to get our hearts right in Your eyes. It takes so little for us, but we seem to struggle so much in carrying it through. We know we must repent, but some of the things we do and say have just become so much of our daily lifestyle, so much a habit, that we just can’t turn completely from them.
Father, we are weak but You are strong. Our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. We know we can do all things through Jesus because He strengths us. Give us that strength, Lord Jesus, to stand firm against Satan and all he throws at us. Give us the strength to resist temptation. Make us aware any time we do or say something that might tear at the fabric of Your church and give us the strength to not continue that behavior. We want to do what is right in the eyes of our Father God, and not have to share the guilt of the breaking of Your body and the spilling of Your blood.
Hear us now, Lord, as we cry out to You silently from our hearts, aid us as we promise to repent, hear our confession of Jesus as Christ and Lord, cleanse our hearts and make us right in Your sight…
Father God, we come to the table of Your Son Jesus to observe His final meal. We come to remember Him and the great sacrifice He made on our behalf. We come to celebrate the New Covenant You made with us through His precious blood. May our hearts be right with You, now and always. This we pray in the name of Him who gave His all for us, the glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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