Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians 11? We will begin with verse 27.
This morning, we would like to continue on the matter of the breaking of bread: preparation for the breaking of bread. Then our brother Jerry will speak on participation at the time of the breaking of bread.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.
For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait one for another.
If any man is hungry, let him eat at home; that your coming together be not unto judgment. And the rest will I set in order whensoever I come.
Then turn back to 1 Corinthians 10. We will read verses 31 and 32.
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Give no occasion of stumbling, whether to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God.
Let us have worship.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee that it is Thy mercy and grace, that great salvation, that has brought us to Thyself. We thank Thee for reminding us again, by the table, what love Thou hast bestowed upon us. Thou dost love us, and love us to the uttermost.
Lord, we are grateful. We thank Thee for all that Thou hast done for us. And we do want to take this table in a worthy manner, that Thou mayest be glorified.
So, Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, we pray that Thy Spirit will open Thy Word to us, and open our hearts to Thy Word, that we may really be brought into the reality of the breaking of bread. We give Thee all the glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
I want to begin with a question: Were you prepared this morning as you came to the breaking of bread?
Are you aware of what taking the loaf and drinking the cup means? Is it a formality that you go through, or is there a spiritual reality involved?
The Corinthian believers came together to break bread, but look at the way they came. Some ate and drank, and others were hungry. They had an atmosphere that was totally opposite to the atmosphere, to the spirit, of the breaking of bread.
And yet, after they ate and drank in such a selfish, unloving way, enjoying themselves and seeing those hungry ones waiting there, they started to take the Lord’s table. That is the reason why the Apostle Paul said, “I cannot commend you in this.”
You need to be prepared when you come to the Lord’s table. If you come in such a casual, worldly way, you are bringing judgment to yourself. It is a serious matter. Prove yourself before you come to eat and drink. Judge yourself, lest you be judged.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we need to be prepared. Prepare ourselves; prepare our spirit, that we may come to take the Lord’s table in the right spirit, with the right attitude. By doing so, we will receive the right consequence. Otherwise, we will only eat and drink judgment to ourselves.
Whenever we come to take the Lord’s table, we need to prepare ourselves.
You know, among the Brethren, there are responsible brothers or elders who guard the table. They have to make sure that those who partake of the table are really saved, know the Lord, and are in good spiritual condition.
Now, we do not have such people guarding the table. We believe the Holy Spirit guards the table. We feel that it is the duty of every brother and sister to examine themselves, to prove themselves, and to judge themselves before they partake of the loaf and the cup.
So, according to the Word of God, we feel that it is absolutely necessary: when you come to this time, you need to prepare beforehand.
You know, the reason why we suggest that, even though the meeting begins at ten o’clock, you come at least ten minutes before ten is so that, if we have not prepared ourselves, we will be given at least ten minutes to be quiet before the Lord and prepare our hearts for the Lord’s table.
But to me, I feel the best way to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s table is not just those ten minutes. The best way to prepare for the Lord’s table is daily. We need to be daily prepared for the Lord’s table.
You remember that in the old days, as you read Acts 2, in the beginning, when these people believed in the Lord Jesus—one hundred and twenty, and then three thousand, and then more were added—they broke bread every day.
In Acts 2, we are told that they met together at Solomon’s Porch, and they broke bread from house to house. Every time they ate, they used the opportunity to remember the Lord. They were prepared.
So, to them, they broke bread every day, and at every meal they wanted to remember the Lord. They loved the Lord. They wanted to have fresh fellowship with the Lord. They wanted to testify to the world of what the Lord had done for them. They wanted to wait for the Lord’s return.
So, brothers and sisters, to me, I feel the best way to prepare for the Lord’s table is to be prepared every day. And that is the way of our Christian life. Christian life is not Sunday life. Christian life is every day, every moment, every hour.
Whether you are at the office, at home, at school, or playing—wherever you are, whatever you are engaged with—your heart is ready for the Lord. This is Christian life.
You know, some people have the habit, before they go to bed, of examining themselves. They prove themselves. They try to look back and see whether, throughout the day, they have done something wrong or disgraceful to the Lord. They want to repent, confess before the Lord, and clear up everything before they go to bed.
Now, that is a good practice. But I think the better practice is this: during the day, whenever the Spirit of God convicts you of something, repent right away. Confess right away. Clear it up right away, so that your relationship with the Lord is always living and fresh, instead of waiting until evening.
Now, worse than that is if you wait until the time when you take the Lord’s table. That is the reason why, in some places, they have the practice of not having the Lord’s table every Lord’s Day, because it would be too much for them. So, they have it once a week, once a month, or even four times a year. They set apart a day—Saturday, for instance—to prepare themselves for the Lord’s table.
Now, it looks good, but it is not the best way. The best way is, brothers and sisters, that we need to be prepared for the Lord’s table every day, every moment.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
That is 1 John 1:7. That is the way that we should prepare ourselves: every day, every moment.
So, when we come to the Lord’s Day, that preparation is a tidying up. We need that. We need the time that we can come before the meeting—not after or during the meeting.
You know, if you will excuse me for saying one thing: every Lord’s Day when I came, I passed through a number of so-called churches. Hugon Road is a road of many churches. You have Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and you even have a Jewish reading room.
I thank God that, when I rode here, I saw that every place was packed with cars. I usually left home at nine-fifty, and I saw that every place was already packed with cars. But when I arrived here, how many cars could I see?
On the one hand, I thank the Lord for what I saw. On the other hand, I felt ashamed.
We need to prepare ourselves. Are you so spiritual, super-spiritual, that you need no preparation? Thank God if that is the case. But we need to be prepared.
You know, here in 1 Corinthians 11, in verse 28:
But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
Now, the word prove here, in some versions, is translated examine. In other words, before we take the bread and the cup, one thing we must do is examine ourselves. We cannot come casually or carelessly. We have to prove ourselves, that we are in a worthy manner.
Now, this proving ourselves, or examining ourselves, is not self-examination. It is not self-introspection. It is not trying to examine yourself in your own light. No.
If you turn to Isaiah 50:11, what will happen if you try to examine yourself in your own light? Let me read it to you.
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands, walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled.
This shall ye have at My hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
Think of that. If you kindle a fire and encompass yourself about with sparks, walking in the light of your fire—in other words, when we try to examine ourselves, how do we do it? We search our minds. We try to kindle a light to see whether we are right or wrong, or whether somewhere something is not quite right.
Now, if we do that—self-examination, self-introspection—this is the best the world can offer. But what is the result? It is said, “This shall ye have of My hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”
If you are honest, and if you really examine yourself, what will happen? You will lie down in sorrow. You will be condemned. You will feel your conscience accusing you. You will have no peace, no rest. This will happen.
So, when the Bible says, “Prove yourself; examine yourself,” it does not mean that you try to kindle your own fire and try to see where you are, how you are, and what you are. No.
What the Bible means by “prove yourself” and “examine yourself” is not in your own light, but in the light of His countenance.
If we walk in the light—and what is that light? In 1 John 1:5, it says, “God is light.” In other words, we need to prove ourselves; we need to examine ourselves. But the only way that really works is not to examine yourself in your own light.
Because if it is only your own light, you will lie down in sorrow. Either you will be so condemned and accused, or your light is nothing but darkness, and that deceives you. So the result is the same: you lie down in sorrow. But God is light.
We need to place ourselves, as it were, in the light of God. We need to come to God and say, “Lord, I want to expose myself before Your light. May Your light enlighten me. Show me where I am, whether there is something in which I have sinned against Thee and am not conscious of.”
Let the light of God shine upon you. If we walk in the light as God is in the light, God is light. His light is perfect.
I often use the illustration that His light is one hundred candlepower. When we come into His light, and the light of His life shines within us, when we first believed in the Lord Jesus, it was only one candlepower. In other words, the life within us is light, because it is God, it is Christ. But we have such a small measure of Christ that it only gives us one candlepower of light.
But even so, if we walk in the light that we now have, as God is in the light, what happens? We have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all our sins.
Why? Because if one hundred candlepower of light shone upon you at once, you would die. You could not bear it; it would overwhelm you. So God is so gracious, so patient. He will lead you step by step into fuller and fuller light.
So, what we need is to walk in the light that we have now. Some people may have ten candlepower; you may have only one candlepower. But if you walk in that one candlepower of light, you have fellowship with God. But if you have ten candlepower and walk only in five candlepower, fellowship with God is broken.
That is the way that we have a living relationship with the Lord. The only way to have a living relationship with the Lord day by day is to walk in the light, as God is in the light. We have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all our sins.
Our condition will be at peace, and we will have unclouded fellowship with God. That is the way to prepare ourselves. That is the way that we may come to the Lord’s table. That is the way that we may wait for the coming of the Lord.
It is a daily matter. So, dear brothers and sisters, the question is: Do you have a daily relationship with the Lord? Do you have a real Christian life in your daily living?
I think that is the best preparation. And even that does not mean that you do not need a little more tidying up. We need to come into the presence of the Lord before we partake of the Lord’s table.
That is the first thing. Then you find in the Word of God that there is a second thing. It is also in 1 Corinthians 11, in verse 31:
But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.
Now, brothers and sisters, those who know Greek tell us that here in 1 Corinthians 11 there are two different words in the Greek original that are translated judge.
Here it says, “But if we judge ourselves.” The word judge here is the same word as is used in verse 29: discern.
For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.
The word discern, or distinguish, is the same word that you find in verse 31 the first time: “If we judge ourselves.” So the word judge here is not the sentence of a judge. The word here is to discern, to distinguish.
But then the other word, as you read on—“so we should not be judged”—is really the sentence of a judge. It is the same as verse 29: “The eater and drinker eats and drinks judgment to himself.” It is also the word used in verse 32: “But when we are judged.” In other words, that is the regular word used for judgment, sentence, as by a judge.
So, here you find that, when we come to the Lord’s table, there is something we need to do. We need to judge ourselves, not in the sense of passing judgment as if we were a judge, but in the sense of discerning, distinguishing.
We need to have a certain discernment, a certain understanding, before we take the Lord’s table.
Now, “prove yourself” is personal. In other words, you have to prove or examine yourself as to whether you have a living relationship with the Lord. It is a matter of life.
But here, “judge yourselves,” or distinguish yourselves, or discern yourselves, is not in the matter of your life. It is the matter of what you are doing. In other words, you should know what you are doing. You should discern it. You should distinguish that this is not just an ordinary thing.
You see, the bread—we have said that it is not literally the body of Christ, nor is it merely symbolic of the body of Christ. It is a spiritual reality, and we need to discern it. We need to see what we are doing.
You know, sometimes we come to the Lord’s table and take the bread and the cup as if it were nothing. No, that is not distinguishing the body. That is not discerning the body. We need to know what we are doing.
And that is important. Why? Because if we do not know what we are doing, and we do it carelessly, we will be judged. God will judge us.
So it follows and says, “But when we are judged.” Now, that is a step backward. If we take the bread and drink the wine without distinguishing or discerning what we are doing, what will happen? We will be judged. We will be judged by none other than God.
But this judgment is discipline. It is not like the people of the world. When God judges them, it is judgment, a sentence of death. But when God’s people are judged, it is discipline. Whom the Lord loves, He chastens; He disciplines. And, thank God, by that we will not be condemned with the world.
So, dear brothers and sisters, when we come to the Lord’s table, I think these are at least two things for which we must be prepared.
First, we must prepare ourselves in the sense of proving ourselves, of examining ourselves in the light of God, that there is a living relationship with Him and that it is in tune with the meaning of the breaking of bread.
Second, we need to discern and distinguish, and know and understand, what we are doing—that this is not a small thing. There is a spiritual reality there, and that is the reason why our Lord Jesus commands us to do it.
Finally, we find in 1 Corinthians 10, which also deals with the Lord’s table, an exhortation:
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Everything we do in our life, even in this matter of eating or drinking—in 1 Corinthians 10, you find eating and drinking has something to do with the Lord’s table—we cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons. We need to be separated.
So, whatever we do, there is a principle behind it. The principle behind all Christian behavior is to do all to the glory of God.
Nobody lives for himself or herself. We are bought with a price. We live here not for ourselves; we live here for the glory of God. Glorify the Lord in our life. So, whether we eat or drink, it is for the glory of God.
God is glorified when He sees His children remember what He has done for us, when His children are maintained in first love. That is the way to glorify God.
Why do we break bread Sunday after Sunday? Why? Not just to benefit ourselves. We are spiritually blessed, but more and foremost, God is glorified.
God has done it, and we appreciate it. That glorifies Him. It is more than just our blessing; it is God’s glory. So, we need to see that when we come together to break bread, God is glorified.
Then He says:
Give no occasion of stumbling, whether to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God.
That is the negative side. On the positive side, we do all things to the glory of God. On the negative side, give no occasion of stumbling to anybody.
If we are doing something unpleasing to God, we may stumble someone. If we do it carelessly, people will imitate us and do it carelessly. If we do it without any preparation, we give occasion of stumbling to the weaker ones.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this is not just something for our own benefit. It is something for the church of God, even for the Jews and the Gentiles, that everything may really glorify God and give no occasion of stumbling to anybody.
So, that is the preparation.
I am afraid I have occupied too much time, and our brother has only five minutes.