I invite you to turn with you to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11. The bulletin says, I was going to start reading verse 20, I want to start reading verse 17. Verse 17 to the end of chapter, or verse 34. So 1 Corinthians 11, beginning to read at verse 17. 1 Corinthians 11, beginning with verse 17, hear the word of God with me. Now, in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one is hungry and another is drunk. Do you not have houses to eat and to drink in, or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home. lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come." Then also I invite you to turn in the back of your Psalter hymnal to Lourdes Day 30, page 886 in the back of your Psalter, page 886, Lourdes Day 30, question and answer 80, 81, and 82. And as you see in your bulletin in the points that I have given you, question and answer 80 will teach us of the misuse of the table by Rome. Question and answer 81 will teach us who should come to the table, and 82 will teach us who should not come to the table. So, Lord's Day 30, page 886, question and answer 80, 81, and 82. This the church confesses to believe. How does the Lord's Supper differ from the Roman Catholic Mass? The Lord's Supper declares to us that all our sins are completely forgiven through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself accomplished on the cross once for all. It also declares to us that the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ, who with his true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father, where he wants us to worship him. But the Mass teaches that the living and the dead do not have their sins forgiven through the suffering of Christ unless Christ is still offered for them daily by the priest. It also teaches that Christ is bodily present under the form of bread and wine, where Christ is therefore to be worshipped, is therefore to be worshipped. And thus, the Mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry. Question answer 81. Who should come to the Lord's table? Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins, but who nevertheless trust that their sins are pardoned and that their remaining weakness is covered by the suffering and the death of Christ, and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and to lead a better life. Hypocrites and those who are unrepentant, however, eat and drink judgment on themselves. Should those be admitted to the Lord's Supper who show by what they profess or how they live that they are unbelieving and ungodly? No. That would dishonor God's covenant and bring down God's wrath upon the entire congregation. Therefore, according to the instruction of Christ and his apostles, the Christian Church is duty-bound to exclude such people by the official use of the keys of the kingdom until they reform their lives." Thus far, the reading of God's Holy Word. In the summary of that Word, as we found it in the creeds and confessions of the Church, may God once again add His blessing to the hearing, the reading, and the preaching of His Word. congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ gathered here in Salem with me this afternoon. This afternoon we continue with our study of the Sacrament of Communion, and I remind you again of the spiritual climate in which these statements of faith were penned. It was during the time of the great Protestant Reformation when the true Church distinguished herself from the false. It's for that reason that once again I need this afternoon to point out the serious fatal error of the Church of Rome. And my dear people of God, I have no desire to be unkind or uncharitable when I find fault with other religions. But in order to help us to understand what was at stake, I need to contrast truth from error. And if my critique of a false church offends you, I remind you that our fathers were willing to die for these truths. They dared to contrast the truth from error, and if necessary, give their lives to defend the truth. We may do no less today. And if you are familiar with scripture and with church history, you will know that the militant church has always had to be ready to defend herself, not only from the outside world, but oftentimes even from within her own walls. Darkness cannot tolerate light. And ever since the coming of the kingdom, there have been those who seek to destroy it. And we expect that from the world. The world does not know the things of the spirit, nor can it know them, for one must have the spirit of Christ in order to understand the things of the spirit. And so we would expect the world to hate and to attack the church. But the churches also always needed to be on guard against those whom the Belgian confession identifies as hypocrites, or if you will, wolves within the sheepfold. The church has always had among her those who played fast and loose with the holy things of God, and it was for that reason that Christ gave to the eldership the mandate to exercise the keys of the kingdom in order to remove from the church those who evidenced in doctrine and in life, or doctrine and or life, that they had no place among the assembly of the elect. It has always been so. We read already of that in 1 Corinthians 11, we read it together this afternoon, where we read of serious error in the manner in which the supper of the Lord was being celebrated in the early New Testament church, at least in that particular congregation. There in the church of Corinth, it was apparently the custom for the congregation to eat a meal together prior to the celebration of the sacrament. Members would bring food from home, and all would share together. And after the meal, it was custom to celebrate communion together. However, before long, certain abuses began to take place. It seems that certain well-to-do people would take more than their share of the food and drink, and they would neglect the needs of the lower classes. In fact, it was not unusual that some would eat and drink themselves into a drunken stupor, while others went without. And then in that environment, the congregation celebrated the Lord's Supper. Apparently, the eldership ignored the abuse within the Corinthian congregation, and the entire congregation would suffer the consequence of their sin. That was not how God had intended the sacraments to be used, and His anger began to burn against the entire congregation for their profaning of the holy things of God. Obviously, the congregation was not healthy spiritually, but it's clear from our text that in His anger, God also caused much physical sickness among the members. Many suffered, and not a few had already died, and throughout it all, God's hand of judgment was heavy on the entire congregation and God was clearly indicating that he was not pleased with the conduct of the Corinthian church. He would have been especially displeased with the Corinthian consistory. Scripture indicates that apparently God removed a measure of his grace from the church, but unfortunately, the congregation, including the elders, had not made the connection between their unchristian living and their spiritual and physical weaknesses. And now to teach them that, to teach them that their physical suffering as a congregation was a direct result of their spiritual sinfulness, Paul comes to the church to explain that the unhealthiness of the entire congregation physically was caused by their disobedience in the manner in which they celebrated their Holy Communion. He admonishes them to eat their own food in their own homes, and he warns them that Holy Communion is to be preceded by a time of wholly serious self-examination. In other words, if they returned to a proper celebration of communion by way of serious self-examination, God would again return his blessing upon the flock. And that warning is also for the church of today. It is, in fact, relevant even for us here in Bowmanville this afternoon. So following the leading of the catechism, we would hear the word of the Lord, using as my theme the use and the misuse of the Lord's Supper, the use and the misuse. In question and answer 80, we will examine misuse by the Church of Rome. Question and answer 81, we will learn who should come, must come to the table. And then question and answer 82, we will learn who should not, may not come to the table of the Lord. Question and answer 80 examines the difference between the Roman Catholic Mass and the Protestant Lord's Supper. And in that context, I point you to Hebrews 10, verses 11 through 14, where we read, and every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifice, which can never, can never take away sins. But this man, Christ, this man, Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down at the right hand of God, for by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sacrificed." In that text, the author of the letter to the Hebrews distinguishes between the priests of the old dispensation who continually sacrificed for the sins of God's people. The Old Testament priests sacrificed on the altar daily. But these daily sacrifices were repeated over and over as a symbol of that one great sacrifice which was to come to take away the sins of the world. However, we in the New Testament dispensation we have our Savior Jesus Christ as our only High Priest, who with his supreme sacrifice has made that one sacrifice once and for all for all the sins of all of God's people. The Old Testament's shadows have fallen away. They've been fulfilled in the sacrifice of Christ on Golgotha. The sacrifice is finished. That now is what is taught us in the Lord's Supper in a visible demonstration that the body and the blood of Christ have been sacrificed as a complete remission for all our sin. But Rome disagrees. In the Church of Rome, the Mass becomes a sacrifice each time again. The same sacrifice already made by Christ is repeated again and again and again during every celebration of the Mass. To Rome, the Mass is not symbolic. It's not an image or even a memorial of that one sacrifice. No. According to Rome, it is a bloodless sacrifice of the same Christ, which must be repeated for the living and the dead. It is a complete denial of the Word of God, and it is important that we understand that what the Catechism says about the Mass is not our interpretation of their doctrine, but it is their own confession. And such a view, a repeated sacrifice of Christ, is unbiblical and impossible for Reformed Christians, Bible-believing Christians, to accept. According to Rome, during the consecration, in the words of the priest, By some mystical, magical power, the bread and the wine actually change into the physical body and the blood of Christ. According to them, Christ is physically present and is sacrificed on the altar each time again in the Mass. The mass then becomes not a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, but an actual sacrifice of atonement. Furthermore, according to Rome's writing, the sacrifice becomes beneficial to the believer not through faith, but in the manner that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is repeated by the priest. Salvation then is to them of the church through the priest, and not of Christ through his blood. The second heresy in the Mass has to do with the presence of Christ and the worship of him in the Mass. According to the scriptures, the Holy Spirit engrafts us into Christ, who is now bodily in heaven, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. The child of God lifts his heart and his eyes to heaven. where Christ is. But Rome teaches that since Christ is bodily present in the bread and the wine, in the elements of the Mass, he is to be worshipped there. Congregation, if you've ever watched a Roman Catholic Mass on television, you will notice that the ordinary members are not allowed to touch the wafer. The priest places it on their tongue. They're not allowed to touch the wine. The priest holds the goblet while they have a sip from that wine because that's Christ himself according to them. And so the ordinary people in the pew are not allowed to touch the Christ. And so Rome teaches that since Christ is bodily present in the bread and the wine, He is to be worshipped there. The bread and the wine, then, have been transformed into the body and the blood of the real Christ, and it is raised high and demonstrated to the congregation, and the congregation is urged to worship Him there in the Lord's Supper, in the Mass. The congregation lifts their hearts to Christ in heaven and they worship him who sits at the Father's throne, but in the Mass, the priest and the congregation kneel at the altar, holding the consecrated wine and wafer, and they worship it as the physical Christ. And the Catechism calls such a practice A denial of the one sacrifice of Christ and a condemnable idolatry. I want to repeat that. A denial of the one sacrifice of Christ and a condemnable idolatry. And understandably, that language is offensive to some members of the church, to all the members of the Church of Rome, But tragically, this question and answer 80 has come under attack from even within the Protestant churches. And many have quietly removed the entire question and answer 80 from their church doctrines in perhaps a sincere but very misguided desire to be charitable. They do not wish to be offensive to the people in Rome. And so they've quietly removed it from their confession. But my dear people of God, when the churches of the Reformation called the mass a condemnable idolatry and a denial of the sacrifice of Christ, the language was not too strong. Some would say, but what else are we to say of those who worship a wafer instead of Christ? Is it not idolatry when priests believe that they are able to magically create the Christ? Congregation, this is not a minor, insignificant difference. When you see that you worship a Christ who has made atonement for sin once and for all on the cross, and someone else says that he too worships the Christ, but he worships a Christ being repeatedly sacrificed every Sunday on the altar at the hands of the priest who alone are able to make atonement through that sacrifice, are we then worshiping the same Christ? I think not. During the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Mass was a denial of the once and all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ and a condemnable idolatry, and it is still so in the Roman Catholic Church of today. And so in answer to the question of what is the difference between the Protestant celebration of the Lord's Supper and the Roman Catholic celebration of the Mass, the answer is that the one worships an ascended Christ, no longer physically present, who has once for all shed his blood on Golgotha in sacrifice for sin. The other worships a physically present Christ, magically produced by the church, who sacrifices him again and again during every Mass. a condemnable idolatry. The next two questions in our catechism ask who may and who may not come to the Lord's Supper table, and what becomes clear to us here is that participation at the Lord's Supper brings with it an obligation of self-examination. The question here is, for whom was the table of the Lord intended? And the answer is for all confessing Christians. However, understand well, when we say confessing, we understand by that to mean confessing and practicing Christians. The catechism points us in that direction of certain self-examination that it is required on the part of those who would sit at the Lord's table. And in such self-examination, three things must be determined by the recipient. First of all, a sorrow for sin. Secondly, assurance of forgiveness of that sin. And thirdly, a desire to lead a better life. In other words, the table is reserved for those who know themselves to be truly Christian. Are you one of them? Are you among them? Are you a Christian? A true Christian? How can you know? Well, the catechism points you the way this afternoon to a proper self-examination. Are you conscious of, are you conscious of, are you aware of, and are you sorry for your sin? The Lord's Supper is not intended for the self-righteous man or the Pharisee who pats himself on the back. No, it is intended for the poor publican who beats on his breast in earnest confession, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Blessed are the poor in spirit. The Lord's Supper is intended, first of all, for those who are consciously aware of and who experience in the depth of their souls a godly sorrow for sin. It's intended for those who fall on their knees daily, who bury their face in their hands and cry out with, David, against thee and against thee only have I sinned. and I am sorry for my sin. Are you one of them? Secondly, we must also be consciously aware that we are in possession of a deep-rooted conviction and assurance created in us by the Holy Spirit that not only others but I too personally, verse seven, that not only others but I too personally have all my sins forgiven in Christ. The participant must examine his heart to determine the presence of true and saving faith there. Now, while we're not suggesting that the table is only for sinless people, we heard that already, but the seed of faith, even the size of a tiny mustard seed, must be present. Are you convinced that Jesus Christ has atoned and cleansed you from all your sin? You need to answer that. before the face of God. Then finally, we learned that those who are qualified to participate must also possess a desire to strengthen their faith and to strive towards holiness and sanctification. The desire to strengthen faith was addressed in the previous Lord's Day. You will remember that it was taught us that if we want to strengthen our faith, that it must be done through the God-ordained means. And we learned those means were preaching of the word in the sacraments. Examine then for a moment your posture toward those two means. If skipping church services is your practice, or if the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is easily neglected by you because you have other priorities, then obviously you have no desire to strengthen your faith, and perhaps you have no true faith at all. Examine yourselves, says the catechism, to answer those questions. but a striving for holiness must also be evident in our lives, we read, and to define all of what is encompassed in that concept would word a whole series of sermons, and is far beyond the scope of this afternoon. However, I do want to take a few moments to develop with you a couple of biblical principles in this context, a principle, especially a principle which warrants careful consideration. Follow this with me. The Catechism insists that those who come to the table must have true faith. But true faith and conversion, I'm not talking regeneration, conversion, daily conversion, is inseparable. True faith and daily conversion are inseparable. The greater tragedy now is the fact that there are many people who believe it is possible to have faith without daily personal conversion. People have gone, it is not at all unusual to find church members who would pass off something that looks like true faith, which in reality is nothing more than an ordinary, an orderly, pious life and lifestyle. but it is a life and a lifestyle which is totally bereft of any authentic God-initiated Christian piety. Such people have deceived themselves. They have no real love for God and the kingdom. They go to church to save the hassle and the arguments of parents or loved ones or family or husbands and wives, and often they are themselves convinced that they have true faith. But Christ lays on me the obligation today to warn such people that it is not the kind of faith that the confession speaks about as being necessary for proper participation in the sacrament. That kind of faith, a faith without works, is as the Apostle James puts it, is a dead faith. It is no faith at all. One who has true faith has come to know that sin brings with it eternal condemnation, and such a person cannot remain in his sin. Such a person is truly desires of amending their lives, amending their ways, changing their ways, and that new life of faith will become apparent. and how they daily conduct themselves. Those three things then are required. Sorrow for sin, assurance of salvation, and a striving after holiness. If we are in good conscience to participate in the sacrament of communion, such examination, such self-examination is crucial, paramount for us. The Church cannot and may not judge the hearts of men. We gladly leave that prerogative to God, yet what the Church is forbidden to attempt is yet an obligation and a command to every member who would seek to attend the Lord's Supper. The Lord requires that we examine our hearts each time again. Then finally, the question is asked, are those to be admitted to the Lord's Supper who show by what they say and or what they do that they are unbelieving and ungodly? The answer is emphatic, no, no. We read further that the church is duty bound to exclude such people by the official use of the keys of the kingdom until they reform their lives. And what is meant by the keys of the kingdom will be examined, Lord willing, next Lord's Day. Lord's Day 31, we'll talk about that. However, here I point you to the two reasons why certain persons are to be excluded from the Lord's table, namely the unbelieving and the ungodly. Unbelieving and ungodly. Note carefully with me. A demonstration of unbelief comes to expression in the confessions or doctrines of men. In other words, when a man denies the fundamentals of the Christian faith, when a man denies the once and for all sacrifice of Christ on the cross, then such people are to be excluded. Therefore, you would never welcome a Roman Catholic, a practicing believer Roman Catholic to the Lord's supper table. He is to be excluded from the Lord. Ungodliness, on the other hand, is demonstrated primarily in a life or a lifestyle. the way a person lives and conducts himself. And now we read that those who demonstrate in doctrine or in life that they do not believe in the Christ, to them, the table of the Lord is to be fenced, if you will, or kept closed. Therefore, clearly we see here that although the church cannot judge the hearts of men, the church is commanded to carefully examine and scrutinize the doctrines held and the lives lived by men and women. to determine their relationship to Christ and his table in the church. The church, through the office bearer, is commanded to take careful note of the doctrines held by her members, and she's also commanded to carefully and critically supervise the lifestyle of her members. Some of us don't like that. When it happens that the consistory discovers people whose confession demonstrates unbelief, or when the elder determines that certain members live in a way that is inconsistent with the teachings of scripture, the elders are commanded by Christ to pick up the keys of the kingdom. With trembling hands and with broken hearts, they are to declare to such members that there is no place for them at the table of the Lord, for there is no place for them in the kingdom of God or in the kingdom of heaven unless and until they reform their lives. That's one of the primary tasks of the eldership. And it was a task sinfully neglected by the eldership in Corinth. But tragically, it has been sorted and neglected for so many years in so many church communions in the contemporary church. Church elders are commanded to discern to the best of their ability the condition of the hearts of those who call themselves members. The elders of Salem are currently conducting their annual home visits, and my dear people of God gather here with me. When they come to your home, you need to be ready with your confession of faith, and they need to be able to see that your life corresponds to that confession. And when that is so, then with great joy and eager anticipation, They invite and accept you, they invite and to accept you to sit at the table of the Lord and to taste and see that he is good. People have got serious things have been set before us this afternoon. We've heard of the perversion of Rome. We've been warned that we place our very souls in peril by giving room to their teaching. We've heard that it is absolutely paramount that each church member carefully examine their own heart to find the three marks of the Christian before coming to the table. We've learned that in order to benefit from this sacrament, we must also abhor ourselves and hate our sin. Away with this false pride and self-esteem. Away with it all. We must abhor ourselves and hate our sin. We must know of the forgiveness. We must know of the forgiveness and the reconciliation through the blood of Christ. And finally, we must find in our hearts a desire to live obedient, sanctified, holy lives. We've learned also that there is a right participation, that a right participation is mandatory, since our often weak faith is strengthened through the use of the sacrament. But we've also learned this afternoon that to participate wrongly makes our condemnation so much the greater. Think carefully with me now. That creates a serious dilemma, for that means then that excluding ourselves from the sacrament is never an option. Christ commands and demands our participation, and when we refuse to accept the invitation, we offend the Lord and we injure our own spiritual health, and yet when we come in the wrong spirit, we also stand condemned. and people of God, as you sit in your pew and listen to these words. And as I sat in my study in preparation for this explanation of our confession, unless you're much different from me, the whole thing becomes rather uncomfortable. I wrestled with these things in so many ways. There was so much here that I would rather ignore and not even discuss, let alone preach, even with myself, let alone with you, On the one hand, I recognized my own sinful shortcomings. And to further complicate matters, my own sinful human pride also kept confusing me. And as I reflected on these things in my own sinful pride, I found so much sin in my own life, but then the Holy Spirit reminded me of how Christ had forgiven me. He reminded me that once I too was a child of wrath, worthy of eternal condemnation, but the Lord had reconciled me unto himself through the blood of his Son. The Lord reminded me of how much I had been forgiven, and then he reminded me of my obligation to go and to do likewise. People of God, ministers and elders are called to be examples to the flock in every way, but they struggle against the same sins as do the members of the pew. Ministers and elders and deacons are not free from sinful human pride, and they too fall so often, and they fail so miserably. And even for me as a pastor, it is necessary, perhaps even more than it is for you to pray, oh, Father, forgive me my sins again this day. My dear people of God, I can assure you that I am no less sinful than those to whom I am called to preach. But I also assure you that each time I stand in this pulpit and point an accusing finger at any one of you, I'm pointing three fingers back at myself, for I too, I listen to the same sermon as you, and I receive the same admonition with you. Oh, ministers, elders, and deacons are no less sinful than the man in the pew. And in fact, their sin is so much more serious because of their calling in their office. But I can assure you of this. Each time that the table is prepared, they long eagerly, earnestly to sit with each and every one of their sinful brothers and sisters because of the forgiveness of their sin and the sin of the people in the pew. There is some time yet. before the next celebration of the Lord's Supper in this congregation. Prior to that time, you are given specific opportunity for self-examination. Use that time well. Use that time well. Examine your own heart first of all to determine your relationship with the Lord. And then remember that when you determine that you are indeed loved by the Lord, then remember that in His love, you must work that that love of Christ must work itself out in the way you love other members of the flock. Use the time of self-examination well. If there is anything that hinders a right and complete love for other members, if it has perhaps happened that something was said or done by a fellow member, or worse yet, Even something said or done by one of the elders or deacons, what makes it difficult for you to have your faith strengthened through participation in the sacraments, I beg of you to follow the Lord's commandment immediately. The Lord demands reconciliation. Go to that guilty party. Go to the elder, the deacon, or the man or the woman who sits next to you. Go to them soon, not to blame them. not to point fingers first of all, but in an honest effort to seek reconciliation. Anything less than that is never a biblical option. Never may we deny ourselves the means of grace. Never may we use the sacrament as a means to protest any perceived or even any real injustice, but neither may we participate if our heart is not right with Christ or with the congregation or with each other. The form says, just as many berries are pressed together and one wine flows, just so many members make up that one body. At the table of the Lord, we demonstrate our union with Christ and our unity with one another. To participate without being in a right relationship, either with Christ or with one another, is to place your very souls in peril. Let us follow the Lord's example. Let us forgive one another. And as much as lies within us, let us live in peace with one another. How good and pleasant is the sight when brethren make it their delight to dwell in blessed accord. The Lord commands his blessing there, and they that walk in love shall share in life that never ends. Amen. Shall we pray? Oh, taste and see that God is good to all that seek his face. Yea, bless the man that trusts in him, confiding in his grace. Oh, fear the Lord. Oh, ye his saints, no want shall bring distress. The lion jung may pine for food, but the saints of God, all good possess.