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may turn in your Bibles to 1 
Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, probably 
a review message for some here, but one that needs to be reviewed 
very often. If anyone ever asks you what 
is the gospel, it is very helpful to turn here to 1 Corinthians 
chapter 15. The context, the larger context 
is Paul is arguing for the future resurrection from the dead, for 
those who are in Jesus Christ. He is rebutting a false doctrine 
that had affected the church. In verse 12 of chapter 15, you'll 
notice, now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from 
the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection 
of the dead? That's sort of a controlling 
thought in this chapter. Again, the apostle is rebutting 
this heresy. He is refuting this idea, and 
so he is setting forth a positive treatment of the resurrection. Well, verses 1 to 11 lay the 
foundation for all that follows, the very gospel itself, those 
events connected to the life, the death, and the resurrection 
of our Lord Jesus. Essentially, what Paul proclaims 
is that because Jesus rose from the dead, that secures the future 
resurrection of all those in Jesus. So that's sort of an overview 
of the context. We're going to focus in primarily 
in the first section here, in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1 to 
11, just to make four observations on the gospel itself. For if, as we take the bread 
and we drink the cup, We are proclaiming the Lord's death 
until He comes in that visible corporate manner. It is helpful 
for us to review those redemptive truths, those redemptive facts, 
as they are specified here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So 
I'll just pick up reading in verse 1. Moreover, brethren, 
I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you. which also you 
received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, 
if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you 
believed in vain. For I delivered to you, first 
of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, 
according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that 
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he 
was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that he was seen 
by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater 
part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After 
that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, then last 
of all he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, 
who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted 
the church of God. But by the grace of God I am 
what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored 
more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God 
which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or 
they, so we preach, and so you believed. Amen. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father in heaven, we give 
you thanks for this passage of scripture. We give you thanks 
for the event. We thank you so very much for 
what Christ did. And our Father, we pray that 
you would just fill our minds now with understanding, guide 
us by your spirit. We crave illumination from on 
high, and we crave, Lord God, a proper understanding of the 
gospel of free and sovereign grace. How we thank you and how 
we bless you for the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. How we praise you for what Paul 
indicates here in this passage concerning Him. And God, as we 
remember him tonight at the supper, may we do so in an informed manner. May these things truly be an 
encouragement to our hearts. May they confirm our faith. May 
they strengthen us and may they nourish us. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, we'll 
look at four observations from this particular passage and then 
make some practical applications, specifically with reference to 
the Lord's supper or the Lord's table. Kind of goes along with 
some of the things that we considered this morning. But the first observation, 
the first truth is that we need to notice that the gospel is 
rooted in history. The gospel is rooted in history. Notice that the gospel is not 
our feeling. The gospel is not our transformed 
life. The gospel is not an experience. The gospel is not a warm and 
fuzzy feeling that we get once in a while. The Gospel, strictly 
defined, is the record of the redemptive activity associated 
with the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The 
Gospel is Christ-centered, not us-centered, and the Gospel is 
rooted in history. Notice Paul's emphasis. Christ died for our sins according 
to the Scriptures. Christ was buried. Christ rose 
again the third day according to the Scriptures. When we preach 
the Gospel, we are not preaching self-help. We are preaching help 
from on high, salvation from above, the work of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. We are preaching something that 
is supernatural that answers to the man in sin. We don't need 
feelings. We don't need experiences. We 
don't need mysticism. We need a bleeding, crucified, 
risen Savior to save us from our sins and from our desperation. I remember many years ago, those 
of you who have been here for some time, I'm sure have heard 
this illustration. I oftentimes worry that people 
are getting weary of my illustrations. I'm sorry I have a limited experience. I only know so many things. But 
if you remember early on in the life and ministry of Chris and 
Shirley Santiago, I remember they sent a prayer update, a 
prayer letter. They are ministering in the Far 
East. And they sent an update and it came just after Christmas 
time. And Shirley reported, or Chris 
reported, something that happened unique in the life of Shirley. 
She was doing a lady's Bible study on the events associated 
with the incarnation. And the people that she was speaking 
to had never heard these things. So I think we often forget, in 
communist China, or in the Middle East or in atheistic lands, they 
don't, you know, walk into Walmart at this time of the year and 
hear, you know, Christ the Lord is, you know, Christ the Lord 
coming through the loudspeaker. Don't know that we often consider 
just how in darkness much of the world is. But Shirley was 
explaining the incarnation to these ladies and they were just 
amazed. They were baffled. They said, 
is this stuff true? Well, Shirley was able to walk 
over to the map and point to Jerusalem. She was able to go 
to the map and locate Bethlehem. These things are not a cunningly 
devised fable. This isn't a myth that somehow 
makes you feel warm. and fuzzy. This isn't Scientology, 
where they just make up concepts, and they make up ideas, and they 
make up things to try and bring salve to the conscience of the 
recipients. This doctrine, or this gospel, 
is rooted in history. In Galatians 4.4, the Apostle 
says, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son, 
born of a woman. born under the law to redeem 
those under the law. The gospel, the good news, strictly 
defined, has to do with Jesus Christ, the Lord. Do not make 
the mistake of living the gospel. No, you live out the effects 
of God having applied the gospel or the good news of Christ in 
your life. You live in such a manner as 
to let your conduct be worthy of the gospel, but your life, 
dear brothers and sisters, will never lead anybody to eternal 
salvation. You follow me around for the 
day, you are not going to learn enough to get saved. We need 
the truth. We need the redemptive events. 
We need the historical record. You know, the Bible is uniquely 
historical. The Bible doesn't hide facts. It doesn't hide data. It doesn't 
obscure things. God is very clear with reference 
to what the gospel is. I already kind of vaguely mentioned 
this, but Peter says we did not follow cunningly devised fables 
when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty for he received 
from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came 
to him from the excellent glory this is my beloved son in whom 
I am well pleased and we heard this voice which came from heaven 
when we were with him on the holy mountain the transfiguration 
happened The miracles happen. Some of the neo-orthodox or the 
liberals in the early part of the 20th century said, it doesn't 
matter if it's true. It doesn't matter if it actually 
took place. What really matters is the event. 
What really matters is how it makes you feel. What really matters 
is the existential benefit it has in your life. Whether Jesus 
rose from the dead or not, that's incidental. That's what neo-orthodoxy 
and liberalism taught. The Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible teaches us that the 
gospel of Jesus Christ is about a historical event. Those things 
connected to the life, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. He grew, he worked, he ministered 
as a real man among real men, and he was ultimately delivered 
up, he was crucified, and he rose again. So that's our first 
observation. We are not here for experience. That could be a byproduct when 
you hear the truth and your heart is aflame with it. There's nothing 
wrong with experiencing the love of God, the power of God, the 
joy of the Lord. Hopefully we all have that. But 
we don't go for the experience at the expense of truth. The 
Puritan said we go through the mind to the heart. You have to 
have the understanding. Because if you're just caught 
up in the mystical event or in the experience, you're no better 
than a Baal worshipper. Secondly, second observation, 
the Gospel is revealed by God. The Gospel is revealed by God. Probably all of you, at this 
point, can tell me the two types of revelation. There is general 
revelation wherein God reveals himself through the created order. The heavens declare the glory 
of God. The firmament declares his handiwork. Romans chapter 
1. God reveals himself through the created order. But that created 
order and what we see when we behold a beautiful sunset or 
a landscape does not lead us to blood atonement. It does not 
lead us to understanding the Christ of God who died for sinners 
and who rose again. The gospel is revealed by God. This is why it's so important. 
We talk about evangelism. People want to evangelize. Well, your good life doesn't 
do the trick. Yes, live a good life. It's part 
of the strategy. Shine as lights in a crooked 
and perverse generation, but hold forth the word of truth. That's what evangelism is. You 
have to tell sinners about God. You have to tell sinners about 
themselves, and you have to tell sinners about the Christ who 
saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through Him. 
The Gospel is revealed by God. Notice what the Apostle says. 
I deliver to you first of all that which I also received, that 
Christ died for our sins, here it is, according to the Scriptures. and that he was buried, and that 
he rose again the third day, here it is, according to the 
Scriptures. It is the written revelation 
of God. It is special revelation that 
makes known these redemptive events. See, Christ died. The scriptures tell us not only 
the fact of His death, but it gives us the theological interpretation 
of the death. Why did He die? For our sins. Why was He raised up? For our 
justification. So the scripture, special revelation, 
reveals to us the event itself and then gives us the theological 
interpretation. And it's very interesting here 
that Paul is referring primarily to the Old Testament scriptures. 
At the time of Paul's writing 1 Corinthians, the New Testament 
was not complete. The New Testament canon was not 
finished. And so when Paul says Jesus died 
according to the scriptures, what passage do you think he 
has in mind? I hope you'd all say Isaiah 53. 
Remember that? We read it way long time ago. 
That's what we opened worship with. Hopefully you would remember 
Psalm 22, the psalm of the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me? Hopefully you would all consider 
Daniel chapter 9, where it speaks of the 70 weeks and Messiah being 
cut off with a specific end in view. You see, Jesus Christ crucified 
was not an afterthought in the mind of God. It was prophesied 
in the Old Testament, it was fulfilled by Christ, and it is 
commented on, interpreted for us by the Apostles 
in the New Testament. The texts as well that would 
come up in the mind and the heart of the Apostles, 16 refers to 
the burial, refers to the resurrection. This is what Peter cites on the 
day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. So you see the gospel itself 
is revealed. That's why you need to pray that 
God will raise men up to preach the gospel. All our good deeds 
won't win men to Christ. They might see something good. 
They might say, you have a nice life. Why do you have a nice 
life? Well, it's just the way things go. No, it's because Christ 
was crucified and rose again from the dead. We got to tell 
people. We gotta go out as the hymn says 
and sing, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. We need to pray that God 
will raise men up and send them out into those Muslim nations. 
That God will raise men up and send them out to proclaim the 
special revelatory word that focuses in upon and is rooted 
in the work of Jesus Christ in history. Third observation, the 
gospel is the record of Christ's work. The gospel is the record 
of Christ's Word. Now, the triune God is actively 
involved in salvation. The Father chose us in Him before 
the foundation of the world. In fact, turn there for just 
a moment to the book of Ephesians, just so you can see that I'm 
not making this up. Ephesians 1, 3, blessed be the 
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with 
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. just 
as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, 
that we should be holy and without blame before Him. In love, having 
predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, 
according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of 
the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. You see, it's not your free will 
that brings you into salvation. It's the powerful, sovereign, 
omnipotent, glorious will of God Most High, who chooses, who 
predestines, who elects, and who does it in the context of 
love and places us in His sign. The Father is certainly involved 
in the Gospel. The Spirit, to be sure. Notice 
in verse 13, In Him you also trusted, after you heard the 
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, 
having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 
who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased 
possession to the praise of His glory." So certainly, Father 
and Spirit are involved to be sure. In fact, I believe there 
was a pact made in eternity past between the persons of the Godhead, 
the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, to redeem the elect. 
Theologians call this the Covenant of Redemption, or the Covenant 
of Peace. And then that covenant is fleshed 
out in history in the Covenant of Grace, wherein Christ comes 
as the messenger, as the mediator, as the surety, and as the Lord, 
to save His people from their sins. The Father gives a people 
to His Son, the Son covenants to come to live on their behalf, 
to die on their behalf, and to rise on their behalf. It's a 
beautiful and wonderful macrocosmic structure that we find in the 
scripture. But the focus in terms of the 
gospel is on the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. 
I'm not suggesting you never tell people about the new birth. 
I'm not suggesting you never tell people about election. I'm 
not suggesting you never tell people about predestination. 
Those are all biblical truths, biblical doctrine that we most 
certainly propound to the people. But what does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 
1? He speaks of the message of the 
cross. He says that Jews seek after 
signs and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. The focus, the primary emphasis 
in terms of the gospel is the doing, the dying and the rising 
of the Lord Jesus. He died, He was buried, He rose 
again. When you follow the apostles 
in the book of Acts and you ask the question, what did they preach? They preached Christ. They were 
conspicuous. They were obvious. They were 
positively about that activity of setting forth before their 
hearers a crucified and a risen Savior. Peter, on the day of 
Pentecost, Peter in Acts chapter 3. We see it in Acts 4, Acts 
5. We see Philip in the Ethiopian 
unit. What does Philip preach to that 
unit? He preaches Jesus from the prophet 
Isaiah, specifically chapter 53. Again, don't leave here saying, 
Butler says we're never to talk about the Father or we're never 
to talk about the Spirit. certainly talk about the Father 
and the Spirit to be sure. But when Paul comes to tell us 
what the gospel is about, he says that it's about Christ died 
for our sins, Christ was buried, and Christ rose again the third 
day. Preach Christ and Him crucified. Spurgeon said this, I believe 
that those sermons which are fullest of Christ are the most 
likely to be blessed to the conversion of the hearers. Let your sermons 
be full of Christ from beginning to end, crammed full of the gospel." 
Now, this is Spurgeon's observation. This doesn't mean God can't save 
in a sermon from Romans 9 to 11. In fact, there's a man by 
the name, I think it was Ian Campbell, wrote a little essay 
about Or it might have been that Don Kistler one, now that I think 
back to it. Somebody was bringing their unconverted 
daughter, an older adult daughter, to the church and the minister 
wanted, if it was Don Kistler, make sure you preach the gospel. 
Or no, it was Ian Campbell talking about William Still. And William 
Still was not in the habit of departing from what he had prepared. He happened to be in Romans 9 
to 11. The mother of the lady is quite irritated that her daughter's 
sitting there needing, you know, a double-barrel shot of the gospel 
and we're getting a lecture on the Jews. God save the daughter. So, this isn't a hard and fast, 
this is always the way it ought to be. I am suggesting to you 
the gospel isn't about us. The gospel is about the triune 
God to be sure But specifically, it's about the doing and the 
dying and the rising of God the Son. Spurgeon said, let your 
sermons be full of Christ, from beginning to end, crammed full 
of the gospel. He says, as for myself, brethren, 
I cannot preach anything else but Christ and His cross. For 
I know nothing else, and long ago, like the Apostle Paul, I 
determined not to know anything else save Jesus Christ and Him 
crucified. People have often asked me, what 
is the secret of your success? I always answer that I have no 
other secret but this, that I have preached the gospel, not about 
the gospel, but the gospel, the full, free, glorious gospel of 
the living Christ, who is the incarnation of the good news. Preach Jesus Christ, brethren, 
always and everywhere, and every time you preach, be sure to have 
much of Jesus Christ in the sermon. That's a good observation. That's 
a beautiful observation. There's a trend that I'm noticing 
among the young. They're not restless. The young 
and the restless, not necessarily reformed. There's a couple of 
guys that are big-name preachers today, probably guys that wouldn't 
be in our radar, so don't, you know, get to, well, what about 
these guys? But they sound just like these 
prosperity guys, but in different guise. Remember the old prosperity 
guys who come up in their suits and their boastfulness, and it's 
all about health, wealth, and prosperity, and it's all about 
what Jesus can give you and what Jesus can do for you? That's 
going on today with a class of younger men. The dress is a little 
bit different. The emphases are not exactly 
the same. But it's about the gospel bringing 
greatness to you. The gospel making you better. The gospel doing this in your 
life. That's the prosperity gospel, 
which is no gospel. It's about Christ. It's about 
the Lord Jesus. It's about His death. It's about 
His burial. It's about His resurrection. 
That's what the Gospel centers in upon. That's what the focal 
point is. That's what we need to preach. 
And then the fourth observation is that the Gospel is received 
by faith. It is received by faith. Notice Paul's emphasis in verse 
2. By which also you are saved if 
you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you 
believed in vain. It's not about your performance, 
it's not about your works, it's not about your righteousness, 
it's not about your ability, it's about the grace of God moving 
you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ so that you may be saved. Verse 1, Moreover, brethren, 
I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also 
you received and in which you stand, by which... The whole 
idea there in the context is the reception is via faith. And then he ends this segment 
in verse 11, Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach, 
and so you believe. This message is received by faith. This goes along with what we 
studied this morning. Doing the will of the Father 
in heaven is to believe proper theology. It is to believe the 
truth. It is to believe concerning Jesus 
Christ the Lord. The gospel isn't self-help. The 
gospel isn't health. The gospel isn't wealth. The 
gospel isn't prosperity. In fact, when you take up that 
cross and you follow Jesus, you may find just the opposite. The 
absence of health, the absence of wealth, and the absence of 
prosperity. Ask those brothers in Hebrews 
11. Ask Isaiah as he's being sawn in two. Are you being unleashed? Is your greatness being achieved? 
Ask those men who are wandering around in goat skins if they 
have become all that they can be. Jesus isn't the army. That's the army slogan in the 
United States, be all you can be. The gospel is all that Christ 
is. That's Paul's emphasis in this 
particular section. Let's move finally to some practical 
application. The first flows out of our text, 
the first two. And the third is specifically 
connected to the Lord's table. The first is that the gospel 
is essential. The gospel is essential. Paul 
emphasizes in verse 1, "...Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the 
gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in 
which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast 
that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain." 
What is Paul's implication? Without this gospel you're not 
saved. Without faith in this truth, you're not saved. Without 
belief in this truth, you are damned to hell. Paul is simply 
asserting what he does elsewhere and what the other New Testament 
apostles indicate, that there is no other name given under 
heaven among men by which we must be saved. Paul says in Romans 
1.16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it alone is the power 
of God unto salvation. You say you add it alone. The 
emphasis is there. The stress and the accent falls 
upon the gospel as the power of God. Because only in the gospel 
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. That as 
it is written, the just shall live by faith. The gospel is 
crucial. If you are here tonight and you 
have not believed the truth, if you have not believed on the 
Lord Jesus, you are outside of Christ. You are under the wrath 
of God. The Baptist says this in John 
3, 36. He that believes the Son has everlasting life. It's beautiful. You ever stop 
and think about that? You've got a bad day. It's a 
trying day. There's difficult people in your 
life. But by God's grace, you are believing 
the gospel. So what is true of you? You have, 
presently, everlasting life. That'll hopefully make that frown 
turn upside down. Right? I love when I've heard a certain 
man in this church pray. about the gospel and about its 
effects. This man has prayed thus, put 
a spring in our step. Gospel does that. That's not 
the gospel, the spring in our step. The gospel, the truth, 
it sets us free, puts the spring in our step. Right? He that believeth 
the Son has everlasting life, currently, right now, already 
possesses. It's not yet been realized, the 
blessing, the beauty and the fullness of it, but you are a 
current possessor of everlasting life. Whatever you may have in 
this world, if you have Jesus, you have everything. But the 
text goes on in John 3.36, but he who does not believe the Son 
shall not see life. What's their current possession? 
What's their current inheritance? John says, but the wrath of God 
abides on him. So wherever you go or whatever 
you do in a given day, you may have fun, you may have good food, 
you may have good friends, you may have a loving wife, you may 
have a loving husband, you may have a minivan, you may have 
a good car, you may have gold in your bank, you may have a 
portfolio, but if you don't have Jesus Christ, what God through 
John says is that the wrath of God abides on you. It's terrible. This gospel is absolutely essential. A second practical application 
flowing from our particular passage is that the gospel is powerful 
for the worst of sinners. I like that one. The gospel is 
powerful for the worst of sinners. Is it worst or worse? I don't 
know. The really bad ones. The terrible 
ones. Wasn't this Jesus' emphasis? 
Isn't this what Jesus said? It's not the healthy who needs 
the physician. It's the sick. It's the diseased. It's the ailing. That's not an 
exact parallel to what he does in the gospel. We're not sick, 
diseased, and ailing. We're dead. gone, buried. But based on that statement, 
in terms of the physician and the sick man, Jesus said, I did 
not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. In our text, notice what Paul 
says in verse 9. For I am the least of the apostles, 
who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted 
the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am 
what I am." He was a bad man. He was a terrible sinner. In 
1 Timothy 1.15, he describes himself as the chief of sinners. He was the CEO in Centerville. That sounded really cheesy, but 
I'm looking at Cam. Something Cam might say. Dictionary.cam. I'm sorry, brother. I don't mean 
to pick on you there. He's going to beat me up later. Give me noogies. That's what 
Paul says, isn't it? That means crack dealers. It 
means murderers. That means self-righteous, professing 
Christians have hope in the gospel. You should love what he says 
there. Paul doesn't play games, does 
he? He's not a power pastor. He doesn't always look polished. 
He's not the kind of guy you come up to and he's always great. 
How you doing? I'm great. It's a great day, 
sun shining, great. Great day, clouds over us, raining. Great, great. Everything's great. 
Great, great, great. Great, great, great. Everybody's great. Not 
Paul. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 1. And I, 
brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence 
of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. 
For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus 
Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in 
fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching 
were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration 
of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the 
wisdom of men, but in the power of God." You see, Paul understood 
this all too well. God takes gospel treasure puts 
it in earthenware vessels, which really means cracked pots, so 
that when people actually get saved, they don't give credit 
to Paul. They say it's of God. He used 
that man who hobbled in here with weakness, with fear, and 
with much trembling, and God saved my soul. Praise be to God, 
not praise be to Paul. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 9, I am 
the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an 
apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Remember that 
incident in Acts chapter 7? Remember that martyr for Jesus, 
that man named Stephen? Remember what his tormentors, 
his murderers did with their outer garments? They laid them 
at the feet of Saul of Tarsus. Remember what Saul of Tarsus 
was busy doing in Acts 8 and Acts 9, specifically Acts chapter 
9? He got extradition papers so 
he can go into other regions and take people forcibly out 
of there and bring them back and throw them into prison. That 
Paul persecuted the Church of God, but that Christ came and 
saved him by His grace and for His glory. Never believe that 
you are outside of hope or you are devoid of hope. There's always 
hope in the Gospel. There's always hope in Jesus 
Christ. There's always hope in Him whom God has sent. And then a final practical application 
flowing more out generally with reference to the supper. Our 
confession says, the supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted 
by him the same night wherein he was betrayed to be observed 
in his churches unto the end of the world for the perpetual 
remembrance and showing to all the world the sacrifice of himself 
in his death. It goes on to specify this isn't 
a sacrifice, it isn't atonement, rather it is an emblem of that 
particular activity. But it then designates or highlights 
the benefits accrued by believers. It says, for confirmation of 
the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof, their spiritual 
nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in, 
and to all duties which they owe Him, and to be a bond and 
pledge of their communion with Him and with each other. All 
that to say this, we need the supper. I talked to a young man 
recently who went to church And it was the Lord's supper. And 
he said, you know, I really didn't feel worthy to take. I said, 
that's good. That's a good thing, right? He 
says, but I took anyway. I said, that's good. Now, let 
me just make a couple of qualifications. Do not take the supper if you're 
not a Christian. That's just bottom line. It is 
not a converting ordinance. It is not given to you so that 
you may get saved. It is for Christians. Okay? So if you're not a Christian 
tonight, no harm, no foul. Just don't take it. But one of 
the things I think we as Christians fall prey to is that we treat 
the supper as a reward for a good week. And if we didn't have a good 
week, we shouldn't take the reward. No, the supper is for spiritual nourishment. When do you go to the dinner 
table? When you're stuffed? No, when you're hungry. This is a means of grace to nourish 
God's people. This is a help, this is a benefit, 
this is a blessed thing that the Lord Jesus instituted, that 
he has given by positive institution for the good of his church, so 
that we can feast the very metaphor that is used, the idea behind 
it. He uses bread and wine. Why? Because we relate to that 
three times a day. We understand what it is to have 
need. We understand what it is to search 
out food. We understand what it is to be 
destitute and need to be filled. This is not a reward for your 
positive behavior. It is an ordinance given to help 
you. It is an ordinance spread out 
before you by God the Lord Himself to feed you and to quicken you 
and to nourish you and to strengthen you. To say, you know, I've had 
a bad week, I've had a bad few months, I'm not doing well spiritually. If you are believing in Christ, 
you must go to the table. You must take. This is wherein 
nourishment lies. This unworthy manner means you 
have sin you're not dealing with. It's not the general ebb and 
flow of, man, I've got this remaining corruption. I'm trying to kill 
sin. I'm trying to put to death these 
deeds of the body. I'm seeking the blessed influence 
of God. What do you think of that particular 
sin? Would you like to get rid of it? Yes, I want to be done 
with it. Well, with that attitude, come, take and eat. It's the 
guy who's harboring sin. It's the guy who's got an axe 
to grind against God or against his brethren. That's the unworthy 
partakers in the passage. Specifically, vis-a-vis in the 
context, in terms of Corinth, you've got people gathering together 
to eat and drink together, and the haves are excluding the have-nots. Don't do that. It's wicked. Eat 
at home. Come here for worship. This is 
a time for refreshment, a time for blessed ingestion, a time 
so that we are strengthened in the faith. I think Baptists can 
fall prey to this idea that it's a memorial only. It is a memorial 
to be sure, but our confession highlights some things there 
probably some Baptists aren't comfortable with. Confirmation 
of the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof, their 
spiritual nourishment and growth in him and their further engagement 
in. and to all duties which they 
owe Him, to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him and 
with each other." So do not take if you're not a Christian. If 
you are a Christian and by the grace of God you're seeking to, 
you know, pull out eyes and cut off hands and you're trying to 
deal with your sin the way God calls you to, then by all means 
take. I missed my Bible reading on 
Thursday. I'm going to punish myself by 
not taking. That's how we treat it. We treat 
it like it's a holy horseshoe, or it's a lucky charm, or it's 
something designed with some magical powers. That's not it 
at all. Just as much as we need 1 Corinthians 
15 preached, and we need to understand the death, burial, and resurrection 
of Jesus, that's what this shows forth. As much as you need to 
hear the gospel as a Christian, so you need to feast on the gospel 
as a Christian. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for this section 
in 1 Corinthians 15. We pray and ask that you would 
cause us to understand these truths, cause us to embrace these 
truths, and cause us to delight in them. We just thank you for 
this opportunity now to come together as the church and to 
proclaim corporately the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
it's in his most blessed name that we pray. Amen.