Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ

The Lord's Supper - Part 4

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name: JW00943 🔗

Date: 2006-02-12

Synopsis: In this sermon, John Weaver continues his series on the Lord's Supper by examining four additional requirements for partaking beyond the basic prerequisites of salvation, baptism, church membership, and an orderly life. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 11:20-34, he explains that Christians must not partake unworthily, must examine themselves, must discern the Lord's body, and must judge themselves. He clarifies that 'unworthily' refers to the manner of observance, not personal fitness, and warns that failure to meet these requirements can lead to divine chastening, including physical sickness and even death. The sermon emphasizes the need for reverence, self-examination, and a proper understanding of the ordinance to avoid treating it as a mere ritual.

[John Weaver] 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 20. We are coming today to part four, 1 Corinthians 11, verse 20. When you come together, therefore, to one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper, for in eating everyone take it before others his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken. What? Have you not houses to eat and drink in or despise you the church of God and shame them that have not?

[John Weaver] What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have delivered of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. For I have 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. And when he was given thanks, he broke it and said, Take ye, this is my body, which is broken for you.

[John Weaver] This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had stopped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do you as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord, you do show 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. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

[John Weaver] 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 of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, tarry one for another. and if ye demand hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation, and the rest will I set in order when I come."

[John Weaver] Just very quickly, by way of review, we've already pointed out the fact that the Lord's Supper is an ordinance. It is called a sovereign ordinance since God Himself ordained it. It is called a gospel ordinance because it portrays the realities of the gospel. And I pointed out there are only two ordinances like this in the Bible. They are baptism and the Lord's Supper. We've looked at the names that have been given to the Lord's Supper in the Bible, and they are the Lord's Table, the Lord's Supper, communion, the cup of blessing, the cup of the Lord, the breaking of bread, and Eucharist. And I pointed out the fact that the word Eucharist just simply means to be thankful, to be grateful. We looked at the significance of the Lord's Supper, and we saw the significance is that it is a sacrificial meal that is symbolically, it is not a sacrificial meal in and of itself, but it symbolizes a sacrificial meal. It is a covenantal meal, a memorial meal, a commemorative meal, a communion meal, a celebrational meal, a pictorial meal, a symbolical meal, and finally an eschatological meal.

[John Weaver] And when you look at all of those together, you understand the importance and the significance of it. Then having looked at that significance, we began to look last week very generally at the partakers of the Lord's Supper. And we have seen several truths, first of all, that the Lord's Supper was given to the church. That is, it was given as a church ordinance. And secondly, it was given to the assembled local church.

[John Weaver] Now, let me clarify something. Someone asked me about this and I thought I made it clear when I said that it was given to the local church and I said, you do not see individuals in their homes. observing the Lord's Supper, what I meant was this, by private individuals and private families. Certainly it would be all right to have the Lord's Supper in a home if that's where the church is meeting because that's where the early church met, in the homes. But I was talking about individual families and not just the local assembly as such that was meeting there. Then I pointed out that also that it was given to the church in the context of church discipline. That is, the church had to have the authority to exclude those who were unrepentant and disorderly.

[John Weaver] And I covered all that, I hope, in detail. And then I told you basically there were four prerequisites for observing the Lord's Supper. And they were, first of all, salvation, secondly, baptism, thirdly, church membership, and fourthly, an orderly life.

[John Weaver] Now, According to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, there's even more that would be required of a Christian than those four things. Well, what are they? Well, look in 1 Corinthians 11 and verses 30 and 31. He says this in verse 34, this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Obviously, there were some individuals who were partaking of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner, and they were bringing upon themselves judgment and condemnation.

[John Weaver] So this week I'm going to deal with the partakers part two, although this is take four, because I'm going to go a little bit further than the requirements of salvation and baptism and church membership and an orderly life. Certainly those things are the basics. They are the prerequisites. But the scripture gives us here at least four other points that we must consider. First of all, look in verses 27 and 29.

[John Weaver] 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. Verse 29, For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. So the first requirement beyond the four basic prerequisites is this, that Christians are not to partake of the Lord's table unworthily. Look in verse 28. Here's the second requirement. But let a man examine himself. That is, Christians must examine themselves. Thirdly, look in verse 29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation, not discerning the Lord's body. Thirdly, Christians must discern the Lord's body. And then verse 31, if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. And the fourth point is that Christians must judge themselves. So here are four additional requirements. Christians are not to partake of the supper unworthily. We are to examine ourselves. We are to discern the Lord's body and we're to judge ourselves.

[John Weaver] Now, the question that you have to ask is this. Are these four requirements identical? Are they different? Or are they just simply interrelated? Well, the answer to that question is this. Certainly, all of these things are interrelated. And yes, there are occasions when they are basically the same, and yet there are differences And I want to explain those to you. So let's begin with this first one that Christians are not to partake of the Lord's Supper unworthily. Look in verse 27. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily. And then he says the same thing in verse 29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you that the word worth indicates a certain value. And that value is attached to the meal. So he then who partakes of the Lord's Supper without recognizing its value or its worth is partaking then unworthily. Let me put this very plainly for you. We must not give the Lord's Supper a value that God himself does not give it. By that I mean this, we must not use the Lord's Supper superstitiously, or we must not view it as some magical incantation, or we must not view it as some means of acquiring grace as if it was a work that helped us earn or merit either forgiveness or salvation. But on the other hand, We must not devalue or undervalue the Lord's Supper either. We dare not diminish its worth. In other words, we must place the same value and the same worth upon the Lord's table that God Himself does.

[John Weaver] Now let me emphasize this truth. I want you to look in verse 27. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, Now, the word unworthily is very significant. What happens is this. Most people try to interpret verse 27 and verse 29 to refer to their personal qualifications or rather to their unfitness to partake of the Lord's table or not. You must look at this and understand that the word unworthily is an adverb and not an adjective. So what verse 27 and verse 29 is doing is this. It is describing a manner in which the Lord's table must not be observed. It has nothing to do with our personal fitness to receive the Lord's table or not. In other words, it deals with the manner of observing the ordinance. The truth of the matter is this. If you want to deal with personal fitness, we are all unworthy of salvation. We're all unworthy of any grace. We're all unworthy of any mercy.

[John Weaver] But that's not what it's referring to. It's referring to the manner in which the Lord's table is observed. He that eateth and drinketh unworthily. So it's not dealing with personal qualifications. It's only dealing with the manner in which it is observed. I've only known of one man in my entire life who is a professing Christian man, and he probably was. He's a very meek man, a very gentle man, but he would never, ever partake of the Lord's table. Never. And I asked him one day, why?

[John Weaver] And his answer was this. I'm so unworthy. I looked at him and I said, well, so am I. But Christ makes us worthy. It has nothing to do with our personal fitness or personal qualification. This passage, which he misinterpreted, has to deal with the manner of observing the Lord's Supper. So, yes, we can come to the Lord's Supper with a deep sense of our sinfulness and our need and recognition of the Savior and with some just views of the Lord's Supper, but it deals with the manner and not our unfitness. So whatever our consciousness is of our sins, and of our unworthiness, and I'm not going to say that that cannot be too deep. The problem is most of the time it's not deep enough. Yet, such is our love for Christ and such is our attitude that should be biblical and godly, no matter how unworthy we are, we may partake of it in a worthy manner. So, remember please, it deals with the manner of partaking and not with our personal fitness. Well, let me just throw out a couple of ideas to you as to how it may be partaken unworthily in an unworthy manner.

[John Weaver] Well, there could be an indecent observance of the Lord's Supper, such as at the Church of Corinth, which I'm going to explain even more next week what their problems were. But in the context, one of their problems was gluttony and insensitivity. I mean, intemperance, unconcern for the brethren. I mean, that was one way in which they partook unworthily. Another one is when there was no distinction between what would be a common meal and a holy meal. And I will deal with that more next week, but that's exactly what they were doing here. They had their agape meal, or their love feast, and they had it intermingled in with the Lord's Supper, and there was no discernment between that which would be common and that which would be holy.

[John Weaver] And thus they were partaking then in an unworthy manner. And then, of course, you could also say when it is done for mockery, and for the purpose of deriding Christ and Christianity, or the ordinances of the gospel. And let me tell you something, folks. This may surprise you. But even in witchcraft, they mock the Lord's table and deride it. There have been noted infidels that would pervert it and mock it. And they did so gladly because they hated Christ so much. There is nothing that will make manifest more the hatred of men's hearts for Christ and the gospel than their hostility and their mockery of the Lord's table. I might point out that some who began by mocking the Lord's table probably also ended up converted later on as well. It's like two of the infidels who began to try to prove that Christ did not exist and that Christ was not God. And as they wrote their book and did their investigation, One of them became convicted and then converted and became a wonderful godly man because he realized that yes, Christianity was indeed true.

[John Weaver] But here's another thing. We must not descend to the state where we view the Lord's Supper as a ritual or ceremony or an empty waste of time. We cannot view it as common or insignificant and meaningless. When we do so, we're going to partake of it in an unworthy manner. So when he says then, look carefully now in verse 27, wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, if I were to summarize that, I can do it like this, to eat and drink unworthily then would be to pervert the pure and right use of it by our abuse of the supper. When we abuse it, when we pervert it, when we misuse the right use, then we're eating and drinking unworthily. Now, in the immediate context, to eat and drink unworthily would be to eat and drink as the Corinthians did, who did not eat and drink in reference to Jesus Christ and his sacrificial meal. or any sacrificial life and death.

[John Weaver] The point I'm trying to make is this. I want you to look in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 12 and then to John chapter 2. Here's what I'm trying to demonstrate. And I think this will make it exceedingly clear. Look in Exodus chapter 12. Notice if you would please verse 11. You'll remember how that God sovereignly, graciously and mercifully delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. You remember that?

[John Weaver] And they put the blood on the doorpost and he said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. In Exodus 12 and verse 11, he told those Israelites and thus shall you eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is what? The Lord's Passover. Would you please tell me whose Passover it is? The Lord's.

[John Weaver] In other words, here is an institution in the Old Testament that was ordained by God to commemorate the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt. It is the Lord's Passover. In other words, it was something to be special and holy, right? Well, look in your Bible, John chapter 2 and verse 13. Let me show you what the Lord's Passover descended into. John 2 and look at it very clearly in verse 13. John 2 verse 13. And the Jews Passover was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, whose Passover is it in John chapter 2? The Jews. Whose Passover was it when it was initiated? The Lord's. Now it's descended to the Jews Passover. What's that mean? It's descended in nothing more than a ritual and a ceremony and something that you have to do and something that you just go through to be going through it. So what started out as something that God ordained has now ended up as something that man does, and you're expected to do it because this is our Passover.

[John Weaver] Now, let me point out the fact that in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 16, the Bible in talking about Esau says, lest there be any profane person among you such as Esau. Do you remember what the word profane means? I told you this in time past. The word profane comes from the Latin. Pro is a preposition which means to or toward and phantom is the Latin word for temple. So a profane person is someone who is facing to or toward the temple. What's that mean? That means he's outside of the temple. What is a profane person? Not someone necessarily who curses and takes God's name in vain or uses slang incessantly. A profane person is someone who lives as if God does not exist or that God has not spoken or that God has no control or authority over his life. In other words, he lives independently of God. Well, how can you profane the Lord's temple?

[John Weaver] The answer is very easy. by counting it as common, by making it into a ritual or ceremony or something that is hollow and has no meaning to it. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel 22, you will see why God condemned the priests. And by the way, God forbade this in the law of Moses, but still It came to pass, if you'll notice, in Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 26, God had told those priests that they must put a difference between the unholy and the unholy, or the holy and the profane. So in Ezekiel 22 and verse 26, when God condemns the priest, he says this, her priests have violated my law. and have profaned my holy things. How do they profane His holy things? And they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." So one of the ways then that you abuse and misuse and pervert the Lord's Supper is simply by counting it basically As a ritual, a ceremony, something we've got to do, something we just go through, hollow, meaningless.

[John Weaver] And therefore, when we do that with our attitude, we are partaking of it in an unworthy manner. Now, I want you to go back to first Corinthians 11 and look at verse 29, because before I go any further, I want to clear up. This last phrase, notice first Corinthians 11. And verse 27, it is. He says, wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, note this next sentence or part of the sentence, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. Wow. When you partake in an unworthy manner. Then he says you shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, what does that mean? Well, the Greek word for guilty is anokos, which literally means to be in danger, to be guilty of, and when it is used in a forensic sense, it denotes the connection of the person with his crime, or with the penalty of that crime, or with that against whom he has offended." So, what he is saying is that you have offended the Lord, you have committed a crime or sin, and there is going to be a penalty attached to that crime or that sin. So the phrase then, shall be guilty of the body and blood of Christ, means that if one uses the Lord's Supper irreverently, If he denies the truth that Christ suffered unjustly, he then in effect joins issue or joins with the Jews in their condemnation and crucifixion of Christ himself. Wow.

[John Weaver] You remember there when Pilate said, I find no fault in him. And what did the Jews cry out? His blood be upon us and upon our children. Crucify Him. Crucify Him. That's bad company to be in.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm going to cover this a little bit later. Some would go on to say that the word guilty then would refer to the penalty of partaking unworthily. And that penalty is given to you in verse 30, for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. But I'll go over that in just a moment. But let me put it like this. When one desecrates the symbol. He desecrates that which a simple symbol represents.

[John Weaver] Thus, to trample our flag insults our countrymen. Does it not make your blood boil even to see in the South our Confederate flag hated, mocked, ridiculed, despised? Well, of course it does. Why? Because that's an affront to our ancestors and those who fought and bled and died and for what they stood for. Well, if we're going to get our blood boiling over our flag. How about getting our blood boiling over the abuse and misuse?

[John Weaver] And slander against Jesus Christ. I'm just simply saying This verse is dealing with the fact that you cannot irreverently and unworthily partake and escape the consequences of it. Let me give you a direct quote. John Trapp, one of the old scholars, said this. Listen. Because they profane the holy symbols and pledges of Christ's blessed body and blood, These are in some sense as guilty as those that spit upon Christ's face or that spilt his blood."

[John Weaver] You remember how those Jews mocked him and ridiculed him and spat upon him when he was hanging on the cross? What does Trapp say? Trapp says when you abuse and pervert the symbols of Christ, It is as if you were there spitting upon Him and spilling His blood. So the point I'm trying to make is this. There is a biblical attitude and a biblical manner that must be adhered to in the partaking of the Lord's Supper.

[John Weaver] We cannot come to it flippantly and irreverently, unthinkingly. No. We've got to make sure that when we partake, it is in a worthy manner. And remember the adverb unworthily does not refer to our persons, but to the manner in which Lord's Supper is observed.

[John Weaver] Secondly, if you look in verse 28, Christians must examine themselves. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. What does that mean? That means before we partake, there must be self-examination.

[John Weaver] Now, there is an interesting word here, and the Greek word is doikimazo. And let me tell you what the word means. It means to examine so as to approve. Isn't that interesting? To examine so as to approve.

[John Weaver] Now, Paul is demanding here that each person, before he partakes of the Lord's Supper, prove himself, that he sift out the wrong attitudes and the wrong thinking and anything that is evil, and he does so, so that he may be proved or approved. Now, let me just quote, turn there, you're close, 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5. Look at what the Apostle Paul says here. Second Corinthians 13 in verse five. Here's a command, he says, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know you're not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates. Now, notice that examine yourselves. And then he says, prove your own selves. Now, what in the world is he demanding when he says prove your own selves.

[John Weaver] Well, Doinky Monzo implies a special kind of proving. The special kind of proving that this word suggests is that you test or try or examine yourself so that the result will be good. In other words, the purpose of doing this self-examination is not to keep you away from the Lord's table, but so that you may be sure that you come to it in the right manner. In other words, the result is good. So this act of examining then that Paul is commanding cannot ever be used to say, well, it's leading me away from the Lord's table. No, it's not. It's leading you to the Lord's table. It's just telling you when you come, you must come in the worthy manner and you're examining yourself to make sure that you prove yourself.

[John Weaver] Yes, I do have an understanding. Yes, I do have the biblical attitude. Yes, I'm not using this unreverently or irreverently and unthinkingly. No, I'm coming the way God commands me to come. So the examination, then, is that which would clear us so that we may partake in a worthy manner. Naturally, and I'm going to cover this a few minutes later too, but naturally when we examine ourselves, we would have to deal with what you and I would say are our known sins. We must deal with our known sins. We cannot approach an ordinance which pictures our deliverance from sin with known sin in our lives.

[John Weaver] How could you do that? What does David say in Psalm 66 and verse 18? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

[John Weaver] Now, if God will not hear our prayer, if we come to Him with known sin and iniquity and rebellion in our hearts, how much more is He going to judge us if we come to His table, which pictures delivered from our sins by the death of His Son, and we come there knowingly holding known sin and rebellion? You follow me? What does 1 John 1 9 say?

[John Weaver] Let me just quote it for you. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Isn't that amazing? So that means this, if I come to partake of the Lord's suffering, I say, oh, I remember fussing at Alice this morning. I ought not to have done that. Lord, please forgive me. Alice, please forgive me. You see what I'm saying? I'm dealing with that sin. Well, I'm mad at Dr. Holmes. He did it again. No. Well, Lord, forgive me for my madness. Doc, please forgive me of my madness. You see what I'm saying? You're dealing honestly with your sins. And when you confess them, when you acknowledge them, He's faithful and just to cleanse us from all our sins so that we may partake in a holy and righteous manner.

[John Weaver] So let me emphasize again, when the Bible tells us that we are to examine ourselves, the examination is not to disbar or disjoin us from partaking. It is to prepare us in order that we may partake in a worthy manner. OK, now look in verse 29, because here's the third point. Verse 29, for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. That means this, we must discern the Lord's body. Now actually, verse 29, assigns the reason as to why we must examine ourselves in verse 28. Why? so that we make sure that we discern the Lord's body. Because he that eateth and drinketh to himself unworthily, eateth and drinketh condemnation or damnation. Now, if you look in verse 29, the word damnation, the Greek word is crema, which just simply means judgment, condemnation, or damnation.

[John Weaver] It does not have the definite article in front of it, and it does not refer the final perdition. Rather, all it is saying is this. If we partake unworthily, we're actually condemning ourselves. We are bringing ourselves under judgment. What kind of judgment? Well, look in verse 30. He says, For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

[John Weaver] Now, that should be self-explanatory. In other words, those who partake wrongly of the Lord's supper, those who partake unworthily, many times are judged by God and they have physical sickness, physical weakness, and many sleep. What's that mean? They died. You see, sleep is a euphemistic term for death. You remember the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 14, and those that sleep in Jesus will He bring with Him.

[John Weaver] And you know, look what He said. Now, I don't want to misread this. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. You know, isn't that interesting? You know, most of us have never attached physical sickness and even death to a wrong-taking of the Lord's Supper. And yet that's exactly what this verse is saying. You know, the Bible says in 1 John 5, there is a sin unto death. Therefore, he says, we must discern the Lord's body.

[John Weaver] Why did they eat and drink unworthily? They did not discern the Lord's body.

[John Weaver] Now, the word discern is the Greek word diakrino, which literally means to separate, to distinguish, or to cut through. Basically, it is used in two ways. First, it is used in the sense of discriminating one thing from another. And second, it is used in the sense of estimating a right. So when you read that in verse 29, he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation, not estimating aright the Lord's body or not discerning the Lord's body, that is separating it as a difference between a common meal and a holy meal and a special meal that's been ordained by God. So, therefore, to discern the Lord's body in one sense of the word would be equated with receiving it in a worthy manner. If you do not discern the Lord's body, then you are partaking in an unworthy manner. When you discern the Lord's body, you are partaking in a worthy manner.

[John Weaver] Now, notice what he says. Not only must we discern the Lord's body, Not only must we examine ourselves, but Scripture says that we must partake of it in a worthy manner. Now, notice if you would please, fourthly, in verse 31. He says, For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. So that means, fourthly, Christians must judge themselves. If you will read that verse again with me, for if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. What does that mean?

[John Weaver] Let me spell it out for you. In reality, it means we don't have any choice of the matter. We will either judge ourselves or God will judge us. We're going to be judged one way or the other. Now, the easy way out is to judge yourself. By the way, the word judged in verse 31 is the same word that is translated discern in verse 29. So literally, he says, if we would discern ourselves, we should not be discerned by God. In other words, if we give a right estimate of ourselves, we're not going to be discerned by God as being sinful and wicked.

[John Weaver] and approaching the table in an irreverent manner. So there's what he's saying, we must judge or discern the Lord's body, and as we judge and discern the Lord's body, we must also judge and discern ourselves. So once again it means this, that any unbiblical attitudes must be dealt with Any unbiblical actions must be dealt with. Any sins, any rebellion must be dealt with. In other words, if we do not judge them, God will. Now, if God judges us upon our refusal to do so, why would God do that?

[John Weaver] Well, skip down to verse 32. He says this, But when we are judged, we are what? Chastened of the Lord. Why? That we should not be condemned with the world.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you something. As a Christian, had you rather have a little spanking or final destruction? I don't know about you, but I'll take the little spanking. But the truth of the matter is, I don't really want the little spanking. I had enough of those when I was a child. I tell people we had a peach tree out behind our house and they never did bloom till after I left home. Never had any limbs on it.

[John Weaver] But when God does judge us, he chastens us. Now, the interesting thing is in verse 32, but when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord. You know what that word chastened means? Child-trained. Child-trained. But when we are judged of God, we are child-trained of the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, if you will hold 1 Corinthians 11, but turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 12, let me show you this classic passage on child-training. Every time you see the word chastening or chastened, it deals with child training. It's the same Greek word, child training. Look in verse 5. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews 12 and verse 5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening or the child-training of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he child-trains, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening or child-training, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth or child-trains not? But if you be without child-training, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards and not sons.

[John Weaver] Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection of the Father's spirits and live?

[John Weaver] Now watch, for they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening or child training for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterwards it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby." Now I want you to know that there are a number of things that God points out about His child training here.

[John Weaver] First of all, He tells us not to faint. He tells us not to fall out over this child training. He tells us that everyone who is genuinely saved, genuinely converted is child trained. There is no Christian that escapes child training. None. He scourged every son whom he received. What does he say? If you endure chastening, then God deals with you as with sons. Then he said, if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards and not sons. Now, why does God chasten us?

[John Weaver] Well, he said that we might not be condemned with the world. That's true, but there's more to it than that. Look in verse nine. He said, furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh who corrected us and we gave them reverence. You know, I found out when I was a boy. There's two ways that you can whip a child. You can whip him just enough to make him mad at you and he'll hate you. Or you can take a limb and beat the devil out of him and he'll love you. I'm serious about that. Now you just stop and think about the whippings that you got as a child. Those little fanny slaps with the palm of the hand, they just irritated you. They just made you mad.

[John Weaver] But when that dad got that belt or that switch and wore you out, it broke your heart. Most of you know that I don't smoke. I've never smoked. But when I was seven years old, I thought I wanted to. And I stole some of my father's cigarettes. And I went around behind the house, and I was smoking me a cigarette. And my sister came around and saw me. Well, you know how sisters are.

[John Weaver] She had to go tell Daddy. Well, Daddy was kind of a hypocrite about it, because it was his cigarettes. Hey, but you were smoking too, you know. But boy, when he came around the corner of that house, I never will forget how he whipped me. And you know the sad thing is, he didn't just whip me one time. He'd go off and start thinking about getting mad and come back and whip me again.

[John Weaver] I don't even remember how many whippings I got that day. I know five or six. But when I got to be 16, of course Daddy had quit smoking by then, but when I got to be 16 he said, son if you want to smoke go ahead. I said, no thank you sir. I don't think I want any more of those things. Now you know, I didn't appreciate those five or six whippings that day, but I do today and I'm really thankful.

[John Weaver] Well that's what he said. Now look at it. He said in chapter 12 there, verse 9, furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh who correct us. And we gave them reverence. What did I do? I submitted. I said, all right, dad, you're right. No more cigarettes for me, OK? I gave him reverence. I submitted. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the father of spirits and lint? Well, sure. If I'm going to honor my earthly father, how much more should I honor my heavenly father? If my Father's physical chastisement causes me to submit to Him, well, shall not my Heavenly Father's chastisement cause me to submit to Him?

[John Weaver] And shall I not do so more willingly because I know His is for my benefit? Look at it in verse 11. He says, Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. How many of you really enjoyed getting whippings when you were a child? None of us. None of us. They were grievous. We didn't like that. Now, no chasing for the present seemed but grievous.

[John Weaver] Nevertheless, afterwards, it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby. Why does God chasten us? Not only that we should not be condemned with the world, but that we should have the peaceable fruit of righteousness in our lives. He does it for our profit to make us more holy and to make us more godly.

[John Weaver] Now go back in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Look at what he says in verse 29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation or condemnation or judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. What happens when you eat in an unworthy manner? What happens when you fail to examine yourself? What happens when you fail to discern the Lord's body? You're chastened that you might not be condemned with the world, and that chastening can include not only physical sickness and weakness. But death. And God says he does it. For our benefit. So if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged by God. What does that mean? That means when I come to observe the Lord's table, I must be brutally honest with myself. And I must see my sins in the same light as God sees them. And I must deal with them confess them, acknowledge them, and repent of them. For if I fail to judge myself, my Heavenly Father will judge me.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make just a couple of applications. The first one is this. We must either hear God's Word or we will feel his rod. I've told you, and I want to remind you today, that just as you have two ways of child training in your home, God has two ways of child training in His home. The first way we child train is by word. We teach our children, we explain to our children, We beseech them, we exhort them, we encourage them. And you know, as long as the child heeds our words, there's no problem. But when the child refuses to listen and refuses to obey, then we get the rod. Why? There's a biblical principle that we try to impress upon the child. He who sins must suffer. If you don't listen to the word, you're going to heed the rod. You know what the Bible says in Micah 6 and verse 9, God is speaking, just let me quote it.

[John Weaver] The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name. Hear ye the rod and him who hath appointed it. Now, God said, if you don't hear my word, you're going to hear my rod. Because just as surely as you disobey my word, the rod is going to fall. I don't know about you, but I found in my life it's a whole lot easier to listen and obey than it is to be quipped. And you know, the funny thing is, when you talk about your earthly father, they only had one way of chasing us, and that was with a rod. I mean, basically. Our heavenly father still uses a rod. But he can apply that rod in a whole lot of more ways than our earthly fathers could ever apply the rod. They could just apply it physically. He can apply it financially. He can apply it physically. He can apply it emotionally. He can apply it mentally. He can apply it many, many ways. But what he's saying is if you don't heed my word, you will hear my rod.

[John Weaver] It follows secondly. And he does it for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness and the peaceable fruit of righteousness might be in our lives. Here's the second application. We must make sure that we discern the Lord's body in observing the Lord's Supper and that we must understand the Lord's Supper is not something to be treated as common profane or an empty, meaningless ceremony or ritual. I'm afraid sometimes that those who observe the Lord's Table too frequently fall into the same trap that the Jews fell into in observing the Passover. It descended from the Lord's Passover to the Jews Passover. The Lord's table should never be viewed as just something we do or something we have to do or something that just needs to be taken care of so we can get on with the rest of the service. You follow me? That's to make it an empty, meaningless ritual or ceremony when you have that attitude.

[John Weaver] The third observation is this. In relationship to the Lord's Supper, it's not enough to be saved and baptized and a church member with an orderly life. We must learn to partake in a worthy manner. As we partake in the worthy manner, we must examine ourselves, discern the Lord's body, and judge ourselves in order that we might not be chastened by our Heavenly Father. All of this is involved in partaking in a worthy manner. Remember, worth is not attached to the individual, for none of us are worthy in and of ourselves. The worth is attached to the manner of partaking of that supper. So we must always learn to eat and drink in a worthy manner, discerning the Lord's body, how by examining and judging ourselves and making sure that we have the biblical attitude and the biblical knowledge required by God. Let's pray. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that you would help us to understand and know that the table is indeed special in the sense it was ordained by thee and it betrays gospel realities and it's not to be observed in a flippant or irreverent manner.

[John Weaver] Help us, Lord, as we prepare our hearts in the not-too-distant future to make sure that we partake in a worthy manner, discerning your body, judging ourselves and examining ourselves, that we may honor Thee and glorify Thee. Teach us, build us up in the most holy faith. In Thy name we ask and pray, Amen. This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, You may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abracorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N, Street, Suite 705, P-M-B 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406.

[John Weaver] Or give us a call at 912-925-7000.

[John Weaver] You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com