Now friends we come to that part in our service this morning that is known as the fencing of the table. I want to base this on some words that we read in 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5. Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith Prove your own selves, know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. Examine your own selves. People will often say, we do not have a biblical warrant for the fencing of the table. And of course that is not correct. We do have a biblical warrant for the fencing of the table. Because that is what the Apostle Paul was doing in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. There was no discipline in the church in Corinth. And so the Apostle Paul has to come, and in that epistle he fences the table of the Lord. And he says who may come and in what way they may come to that table. Now what was, or what is, the purpose of the fencing of the table? Well, there is a threefold aspect to the fencing of the table. The first one is this. It is to encourage the Lord's people. When you have the table fenced, you see in relation to it some of the marks that are an encouragement to you. You can look at those marks, not that you rest on them, but you can see that there are evidences of that saving work in your life. So the first reason is the fencing of the table encourages the Lord's people. The second is this. It reminds unbelievers what is expected of those who come to the table of the Lord. And it is to dissuade those coming from the table who have not this saving work in their heart. So the third thing is this. It is in order to prick the conscience of anyone who's making a false profession. And without previous self-examination, Paul tells us we are eating and drinking unworthily. The Lord's table is for the Lord's family. I want to share with you something that I read this morning probably in one of the best books I have read so far on the Lord's Supper. And it's recently been republished by John Schauer. And it's on this aspect of worthiness. You know, people often come and they think, well the worthiness must mean how I am in relation to my works. Now we have to be very careful that we don't get into a legalism. Because you see, with that there is the thought that one day, if I'm good enough, I can be worthy. And the thing is, friends, we are never worthy. Because that worthiness that we look at, that's legalism. Rather, the worthiness is the worthiness in Christ Jesus himself. And this is what Schauer says. He says, worthiness sounds high and great at first, but it must be understood aright. It must be understood because this worthiness is to be comprehended in humility. Humility. It is to be comprehended in a repentance. It is comprehended in godly sorrow for sin. It is comprehended in hunger and thirst after Christ, prizing his blood, breathing after his Spirit, That is the one where we have a sense of our many needs, our earnest desire of a supply with an appreciation of your unworthiness, of the least mercy. That, friends, is your worthiness to come to the table of the Lord. When you see all of these things, when you desire all of these things, there is one who is worthy to come to the table of the Lord. Question 97 of the catechism asks this question, what is required to be the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper? It is required of them that they would worthily partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love and human obedience, lest coming on worthily they eat and drink judgment to themselves. It requires knowledge. What is the knowledge? That Christ is the propitiation for our sins. That's how we discern the Lord's body. That Christ is the propitiation for our sins. That He is the atonement for our sins. That our heart as a result is full of gratitude. As a result of that. And then it is faith. Faith to feed upon the Substitute. Faith to feed upon Him. The one who took our place. The one who died in our stead. Repentance. Repentance is not just being sorry. Repentance is a godly sorrow for sin. It is indeed a heart towards the Lord. It is a turning of the back upon sin, but it is a facing onto the Lord. And it is a love for Christ. the One who expressed such love for us. There is the new obedience, the new obedience to the Gospel. Friends, this side of eternity we cannot walk in perfection. But let us set our aim so high that by God's help we continue to walk. It is so often in the Christian life, as John Calvin says, it's two steps forward and one step back. But we're thankful it's not one step forward and two steps back. The Lord is the one who comes to us and gives us that grace. And it's not the amount of graces in our life. but it is the reality of them. Oh, you say this morning, my love to him is too little. Yes, friends, it is. But at least you know it. At least you know it. You wish to love him more. Oh, isn't that a wonderful thing, this morning? You perhaps come this morning and you say, I see my weakness. And you know this morning what you're to do is you're to love your weakness. You're to love it and you're to love the burden that you have of the sin that is within your life. Because that is indeed is a result of the work of the Spirit in the heart. We need what He gives to strengthen us. We need what it is. to be with us on this journey. These are some of the marks of those who are to come to the table of the Lord this morning. Now we sing from Psalm 118, while the elements are brought in and placed on the table. And we take our singing up at verse 15 and we sing until the elements are on the table. Psalm 118 and verse 15. And dwellings of the righteous has heard the melody of joy and health the Lord's right hand that ever valiantly. The right hand of the mighty Lord exalted is on high. The right hand of the mighty Lord that ever valiantly. And we sing from verse 15 of Psalm 118 until the elements are on the table. Well friends we are at the table of the Lord. And we have indeed a warrant for what we do this morning. And that warrant is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And at verse 23, For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, to the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he break it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you 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 ye, as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye 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." Now we are told there and that in that night, the Lord at that supper gave thanks. And now we give thanks. Let us pray. Our gracious and eternal Lord, as we bow before Thee today, we are conscious that this side of eternity, we are indeed pilgrims in the world. We are sojourners here. We suffer all of the frailties of this life and even our life itself is bound in so many ways to the things around us. Here our bodies are those who hunger and who thirst. Here it is that we are reminded that there is indeed a purpose of the body, and the purpose of the body, the reason for our existence, is that we might glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And so, as we suffer all of the frailties of this life, even in spiritual things, we thank Thee for Thy mercies to us, and that Thou dost give us those things which strengthen us in the outward man, so that we are strengthened also in the inward man. But as we come now to set aside the common elements of life from a temporal use to a spiritual use, we pray that Thou would bless them to us. And when we partake of the bread and partake of the wine, We pray that we would let go of the senses and that we would feed upon Christ in faith spiritually upon him. We thank thee Lord afresh for being with us this day for the encouragement and the sense of thy presence and all we ask is in Jesus name and for his sake. Amen. We read some words in the Song of Solomon, chapter 5. The Song of Solomon, chapter 5, and from the beginning, the opening verse. I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O Beloved. Eat, O friends. That's what the Lord says. Eat, O friends. You will notice at the very end of chapter 4, in the last part of verse 16, the church itself addresses Christ and it gives the invitation. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits. And then this invitation that the church has people give to Christ, Christ comes in the very opening of verse 1 of chapter 5, I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. He accepts that invitation. Having accepted of the fruits of the Spirit in the church, he now returns this invitation. to us this morning. And what does he say? Eat, O friends. Eat, O friends. He's saying that there is a feast that is prepared. There is the feast for his people. Remember later on in Isaiah chapter 53, he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. What shall he see? He sees you this morning. You are the travail of his soul. You are the work of his soul. When you think of the sufferings as we have attempted to do this morning, all of them, and we can only so feebly recount them. We can see their horror, we can see their pain, we can see the physical, we can see the spiritual. We will never, the side of eternity, be able to articulate in any way those sufferings of Christ. But you know He's satisfied. He's delighted with that because he sees the work of that redemptive plan even here this morning as we are gathered around this table. The feast has been prepared. speaks of it in some measure in chapter 25, and in words that are so beautiful, a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, a feast full of marrow, wines on the lees, well refined. See, this feast is a spiritual feast. The feast this morning is not a temporal feast. It's a spiritual feast. It is a feeding on Christ with the heart. It is a longing communion and fellowship with Him. It is of a spiritual nature. That is why this morning, if you were to take in people from the streets and they were to see what we were engaged in, they wouldn't understand. Because, you see, the heart has never been touched. The heart has never been worked upon. It's of a spiritual nature. And he has prepared this feast as we considered in part this morning. And that was the preparation of that feast. He took in Gethsemane of that cup so that you might not only take of this cup here below but that you will partake of that cup of communion and fellowship in glory for all eternity. So there is a feast prepared. But that feast that is prepared is because there is a people in need. We are in need this morning. What does a feast do? Well, if you think about it in the physical way, a feast nourishes. It feeds, it strengthens. Well, this is what this feast is to do here, it's to nourish. It is to nourish the graces. And what is the encouragement that you have this morning? Well, as well as the feeding and the nourishing, you have the encouraging. And it is the encouragement that is to be found in the truth and in the gift and in the life of Christ himself. That's what he's given to you. Why has he given it to you? Well, he has given it to you and he has given it to me. Because you will remember that in 1 Kings 19, verse 7, the angel of the Lord comes to Elijah. He says to Elijah, as he was in that state of fleeing, he says to Elijah, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for thee. See, this journey here, friends below, it's too great for us. Faith, yes, faith is the substance of things not seen, but sometimes faith is so weak that it needs these things to strengthen us. Well, you will remember why it was necessary, but also remember this. that so often we are backward to come forward, even to the table of the Lord. And I speak to those who are outside the table this morning. If you see within your life not the perfection of the graces, but you see those graces even as they are the little shoots above the ground, Weak and fragile, needing the tender care and protection. This table of the Lord is for the weak. We're backward, aren't we? We don't want to press ourselves in. But remember that word as it came to Elijah. Arise and eat. It didn't just come once. It came the second time. because he himself held back. And the Lord the second time, through his angels, said, Arise and eat. Well, in a feast, there is the abundance of the value. And Christ is the one who is the abundance this morning. He is the one that this is all about. He is the one that we feed upon and we delight in. Now we are reminded of why we're here and with that in mind we keep these elements from you no longer. Now we read, and when he had given thanks, as we have endeavoured to do, he took the bread and he said, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. And 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 ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. A feast prepared. A people in need. An encouragement given. When we feast ourselves, it is indeed for nourishment, but we also delight in it. We also delight in it. And we come away from the table of the Lord, delighting in what the Lord has done for us, the good things that are provided. We have gathered today, one with another, around here as friends. Friends one with another, but more importantly, friends with Christ. Because as we were reminded last evening, He is the one who has that friendship with us as our blessed Redeemer. And you know, it might be, as you heard on Thursday evening, the waves might come upon us, and we see the weakness of our faith. And when you remember Peter, You remember him, no doubt, for many things. And in relation to the waves, you will no doubt think about the fact that here was one who began to sink. But let us remember this. He was one that had started out to actually walk. There was the strength of his faith. And he got distracted. He got distracted by the waves around about him. And they took away his eyes from Christ. Well, you see, the feast here below is to remind us to keep our eyes upon Christ. Because when we're watching him, when we're gazing upon him, when we're close to him, then we're walking with him. We're walking with him. And what are we as Christians to do? Well, when this work of grace is within the heart, we are to grow in grace, but we're like Him. We're like Him. We're like Him. We are attracted to Him. We love Him. Because we know He first loved us. We're with Him. We're with Him here below on this Christian walk. Ah, but one day we will be with Him in glory. We'll be delighting in Him. And here, I know it is so difficult, but there is a devotion towards Him. And that will be so in eternity. You are, this morning in Christ Jesus, the beloved of Him. He's the one who loved you in eternity. He's the one who knew your weakness. He knew your weakness. He knew the doubts that you would have. He knew the frailties that you would have and I would have. But you know he loves us because we are the image of him. Conscious that There are two verses in scripture, I'll maybe deal with those, let your minister deal with those another time. And one of them is in the Song of Solomon later on, and it is that when Christ looks upon his people, they overcome him. His eyes are overcome when he beholds his people. because he sees of that travail of his soul and he shall be satisfied. You've come this morning because you see your spiritual need and you see it that it can only be fulfilled in Jesus Christ himself. And you've come joyfully thanking the Lord for the benefits of the Gospel. thanking the Lord for what he has done for you upon the cross of Calvary. And so he says, eat, O friends, and you have eaten, but you will continue to eat tomorrow, the next day, and the next day, as you feed upon him. May the Lord bless these few thoughts to us for his name's sake. Now we have come to this table and now we shall rise from this table Singing to the Lord from Psalm 103. A psalm of David, O thou my soul bless God the Lord and all that in me is. We stir it up his holy name to magnify and bless. Bless, O my soul, the Lord thy God, and not forgetful be of all his gracious benefits he hath bestowed on thee, all thine iniquities, who doth most graciously forgive, who thy diseases, all, and pains that heal in thee relieve, who doth redeem thy life, that thou to death mayst not go down. who they with loving kindness doth and tender mercies crown, who with abundance of good things doth satisfy thy mouth, so that even as the eagle's age reneweth, is thy youth. You see the thought there in verse 5. The thought there in verse 5 is that the eagle, the eagle as he grows old, his beak grows long. and he's not able to feed. He becomes weak and he becomes wasted. But then there comes the point in time when that beak actually falls off and he's able to feed again. And so it is with ourselves. Through the trials, the difficulties of life, we look forward. to the time, and it will come, when that beak will be removed and we continue to feed again. Psalm 103, 1 to 5, O thou my soul, bless God the Lord.