As we are about to open our Bibles and hear God's Word read and also preach to us, let us ask the Lord to bless His Word. Let us pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, here too we pray for thankful hearts, for open hearts, that Your Word may be a blessing to us. We pray, Lord, that You would keep us from being distracted, from thinking about other things, We do know that the devil loves that, that we would go through the outward motions of listening but our thoughts and minds would be far away. We pray instead in the name of Jesus Christ that you would bind Satan and that you would keep him from doing what he plans to do and that you would have victory now. Grant that your servant might be used as you as your mouthpiece that we may hear you speaking to us And we might be edified and built up and encouraged by Your Word through Your Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As you see in the bulletin, we have scripture reading from three different passages. All of them are rather brief. First of all, we'll read from the Gospel of John, Chapter 6. John, Chapter 6, and then from 1 Corinthians 10 and also 1 Corinthians 11 a little bit. First of all, John, Chapter 6. We'll read verses 26 through 40. John, Chapter 6, starting at verse 26. The Levite congregation, listen to the Word of God. Jesus answered them and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. Then they said to him, What shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he sent. Therefore they said to him, what sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate the man in the desert as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven. But my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' Then they said to him, Lord, give us this bread always. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all He has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the last day. Now, please turn over to 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10, and we'll also read a bit from chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 14 through 22. Continuing on in the reading of God's Holy Word. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread. Observe Israel after the flesh. Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? And then also 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23 to 32. 11 verse 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also 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 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. May the Lord bless His word to us this morning. As in the bulletin, the sermon is God's Word as summarized in the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 28, which we've read already. Beloved congregation, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, earlier we have been called to prepare for the Lord's Supper. Each one who partakes is to examine his life and then to consider his sins. Each one who partakes is to examine his heart to be sure that he trusts in Jesus Christ. Each one is to examine his conscience to be sure that he resolves to live a life of faith and obedience. But why? Why are we called to such a self-examination? Well, it's true and the scripture is very clear as we read. We are to examine ourselves lest we eat and drink in an unworthy manner. And then we would eat and drink judgment upon ourselves. And also as we read, if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But I trust it also struck you when we read, when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. Well, the world labors for food that perishes. As Jesus said in John 6, you seek me because you ate of the loaves and were filled. So, Jesus teaches, seek me. Labor for food which endures to everlasting life. He said, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me, that is, he who believes in me, shall never hunger. He shall never thirst. He has, not he will have, he has everlasting life. This morning we hear God's Word, as summarized in this catechism section, that shows us that we also examine ourselves so that we may come to the Lord's Supper in anticipation. And that's our theme. True believers anticipate the Lord's Supper. And even in the call to repair, we were led into this idea of anticipation. When, as we heard, may we receive this sacrament as a comfort and strengthening of our faith. So, in anticipation we come, first of all, we come in faith to be strengthened in certainty, so that we are made more sure. First of all, you notice, and I'd encourage you to keep your bulletin where the catechism is open, because we're going to be referring to it. In answer 75, you notice, first of all, there's a command of Christ. The command is that me and all believers, we are to partake. And with that command, Jesus also gives us promises. And it's in those promises that we are given certainty. You remember how in baptism, as we see the water, we receive certainty? That just as water washes dirt off our bodies, so certainly does the blood of Jesus Christ, that is His death, wash away sin from our lives. Well, here in the Lord's Supper, we also have certainty. A certainty of Christ's body and blood. What it was given for and poured out for. That this is for me. For you and me as we believe. May we see that we have certainty of a spiritual reality that comes through our physical senses. That's the design of the sacraments and the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a God-given picture. Here's a picture that's allowed in worship. You know that in many things a picture can tell a thousand words. I had friends in high school who could draw a picture and it could tell a whole story. And I admired it always. I tried it myself. Tried to make notes by drawing pictures and I got pretty good at it. But we need to see. We need to understand that when it comes to spiritual truths, A picture tells a thousand lies. That's why God gave the second commandment about no images. And yet, having said that, that a picture tells a thousand lies when it comes to spiritual truths. Here in the Lord's Supper, God gives us pictures. And He gives that to teach us. We will see a table. And we will see bread on that table. And we see that with our eyes. It's physical. It's material. It's tangible. I touch it. I taste it. And so on. But also, I see that that bread is broken for me. broken on my behalf. It's not that I take the bread and I break it. No, it is done for me. You see, brothers and sisters, that's given to us as a picture of the body of Jesus Christ. There was a body that was freely offered up to a terrible, cruel, horrible death for you and for all believers. And so it is pictured to us that this was totally apart from what I can do for myself. Yeah, in other words, it's a picture that speaks to us of grace. Of an undeserved gift. And it's the same with the cup, of course. It's given for me to see. It's very physical. And I drink it. But it is given to me. It's not something, you know, I reach out and take for myself. No, I only receive it as it is given. And the Heidelberg Catechism says it's given from Christ through the hand of His minister. It's already there. You see how unbiblical it is. And this is becoming more and more common where people have Lord's Supper in their homes. When I was in college, some people, very untrained, no doubt well-meaning, they had Lord's Supper in their college dormitory. Well, that's just like saying, I'll take it for myself. And instead, you see, here's a picture of Jesus Christ and His blood that is poured out in free grace. There's nothing I do. Nothing I pay for, if you will. And so, as sure as I see this bread, and I see it broken for me, and as sure as I see the wine and it's given to me, As sure as I see that, so certainly, so certainly was Christ's body offered and broken for me and His blood poured out, His life poured out for me on that cross so long ago. In the bread and in the wine, there's a physical picture that is meant to strengthen you in absolute certainty. It's not, you know, I think, It's not, I hope. It's not, I feel it. It's, I know. I know He is given to me. May you grasp the beauty of it, the joy of it, the comfort of that certainty. Brothers and sisters, When you think of the need for the certainty, think about the teaching of Christ's sacrifice for sin, His atonement. You know, in the Canons of Dort, we confess that it was the most free counsel of God the Father, that the life-giving and the saving work of the death of His Son, that that should extend to all those whom the Father chose to save. And that's Almost straight from the Scriptures. And the canons, they go on and they teach Scriptures and they say how it was the Father's will. And it was His intention, His design, His plan. To give them alone. That is, to the elect alone. They only are given justifying faith so as to bring them to salvation. Well, you see then, some of those words, those truths, That can make us wonder. If this precious salvation is given only to those who are elect or chosen of God the Father, the effect of Christ's death is given to them alone? And they only are given justifying faith? Saving faith? Well, then we may wonder, do I have that justifying faith? Do I have true faith? And then at the Lord's Supper, at the table, the Lord Himself strengthens you in certainty that, yes, and He does it through seeing. As you see, as the Catechism says, as I see with my eyes, then you know that Christ's body and His blood is for you, or for me. Yeah, well, maybe you're thinking now, wow, that's pretty simple. Does that mean that I just have to partake and that's it? I have certainty because I partook? No. No, it's not like that. Remember, we said right at the beginning, we must come in faith. That's why we are called to examine ourselves. The Lord's Supper presupposes, assumes in advance, true faith. It's different than in baptism. In baptism, we are completely passive. Baptism is a sign that through faith, God will grant us cleansing. But in the Lord's Supper, that faith is something that must be there in advance so that the one who partakes has been given already new birth, regeneration, forgiveness of sins. Because to come to the Lord's Supper without true faith, That means, as we read in 1 Corinthians 11 and confess in Heidelberg Catechism, we eat and drink in an unworthy manner, not discerning the Lord's body. And that's why the answer in number 75 of the Heidelberg says, He has commanded me and all believers. And number 76 says to accept with a believing heart. And number 77 in the question, it says, he will nourish and refresh believers. You notice none of this says partakers, does it? It keeps talking about those who have true faith. So it's not simply that all who partake are strengthened in certainty. No, to be strengthened in certainty, you are called to examine yourself. You are called to see if you truly look to that broken body and that shed blood alone, only for your personal salvation, the forgiveness of your sins. And then you come in faith. And at that table, as you see the wine and you see the bread, then God's Spirit strengthens you in certainty. Certainty that the work of Jesus Christ is truly for you. But then you notice it's not only in seeing, it's also in eating and drinking. In answer 75 it says, as I receive the bread in the cup from the hand of the minister. And it says, as sure as I taste with my mouth the bread in the cup. See, I'm active. But you notice there's an emphasis here. It's only in faith do I receive and I taste. See, by faith I receive and I taste these as signs or as pictures of the body and blood of Christ. Otherwise, I'm just seeing it as food that perishes. And that's why we do not go wrong. We are not being unbiblical. When we see that that food and that drink has been set apart for a sacramental use and it's not just common anymore. It's set apart. It is holy things. Because of what Christ has given it to picture. So it's not something to be carelessly, you know, giving to a young child because they're a little hungry. I've seen that happen in churches. In fact, in one church, they stopped having the Lord's Supper every service because of that carelessness of partaking. But you see, when I in faith, I see it as a picture of Christ's body and blood, that's when Jesus Christ Himself strengthens me in certainty. That He Himself nourishes and refreshes my soul to everlasting life. In Jesus, you have food which endures to everlasting life. And then you see, when we have that, we also see, secondly, we come in faith to be strengthened in fellowship. It's important to see that the Lord's Supper, it's a communion table. It's a table of fellowship. So, in the Lord's Supper, we have another picture of what we confess, for example, in the Apostles' Creed. In the Apostles' Creed, we say, I believe in the communion of saints. And at the Lord's Supper, we're given a very visible picture, an evidence, if you will, of that communion. So, we confess in answer 76, when it answers to the question, what does it mean to eat of the crucified body of Christ and drink His blood? Well, the answer is, number 76, not only to come with a believing heart, but also more and more to be united to His sacred body through the Holy Spirit. Well, brothers and sisters, that speaks of fellowship, communion. Look at the question and answers in Lk. 28 there. In Lk. 75, I confess about me. Where it says, for me on the cross. His blood was shed for me. As certainly as I see with my eyes. As I receive from the hand of the minister. And I taste with my mouth. Now, look at Lk. 76. It speaks about us. Christ dwelling by His Holy Spirit in us. Though Christ is in heaven and we are on earth. We are the flesh of His flesh. We forever live and are governed by one Spirit. So how does this happen? How is it that the I becomes us and we? Well, it's only through participation in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The communion, the togetherness, the fellowship is in the body of Christ. So, Lord willing, next Lord's Day, we will have a beautiful object lesson, if you will, that shows us that in participating together, we are one in Christ. You notice the Heidelberg Catechism speaks of His sacred body? That refers to the Church. that is united together through the Holy Spirit. See, this is not a man-made communion. It's done by God, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ who abides in Him and in us. So, when you think about this kind of communion and fellowship, this union, think about God as He is, a Trinity. Son, Spirit, Father. Not to belabor the point, but as you know, they're all co-equal. There's no hierarchy there. They're all co-eternal. They've always existed and always will. The Spirit was never apart from the Son, and so on. There's always an intimate union. And you see, brothers and sisters, that union is shown to us in the Lord's Supper. Because we have that union with Christ and in Him with one another. With all those in true faith. When you think about the union, think of the union that takes place in eating and drinking physical stuff. The nourishment of food and drink It goes into our body and it becomes part of us, an intimate part of us. Well, so too, in the eating of the Lord's Supper, we're strengthened in that kind of intimate fellowship. That's why the Heidelberg Catechism refers to 1 Corinthians 10, as we read. It reminds us, there is one bread. That's Jesus Christ. It says, we who are many. That's the many believers who are partaking. We are one body. That's union in Christ. And that union in Christ means that though we are many, we are still one. For we all partake of one bread. So you see, as we partake in a unity of faith, we are strengthened in fellowship. So you see, it's important. This is not a side issue. That at the Lord's Supper, we have a unity of faith in the sense that we also have a unity of confession. Think of it. If we allow to come to the table of the Lord, those who do not confess the same doctrines and truths. And here that means just simple, basic biblical truth about God, of Jesus Christ, of sin and of salvation. If we willfully sit with such who do not believe in those things, and we partake with them, well, we are making a mockery of fellowship in Jesus Christ. Then it's just a man-made fellowship. And then it's not the Holy Spirit dwelling among us. because, we've seen this and talked about it many times, the Holy Spirit only dwells among us through the truth, through the Word. But the opposite is also true and it's so wonderful that as we more and more grow together in a common confession, as we grow together in a common understanding of truth and we confess it and we live it, then more and more We have union with one another, so that we are truly a sacred body, as it says. That's the church, where God dwells, by His Word and by His Spirit. And that leads us then to our final point. Thirdly, we see we come in faith to be strengthened in obedience. Now, brothers and sisters, we've seen that in partaking together, we have a beautiful picture to be strengthened in certainty, And to be strengthened in fellowship in Christ and one another, right? But brothers and sisters, we cannot have that certainty and we cannot have that fellowship apart from obeying His commands. We only truly have the certainty and fellowship as we grow in obedience. You notice in answer number 76 it says, and we confess, that although Christ is in heaven and we are on earth, yet we are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones. And notice it says, we forever live and are governed by one Spirit. And that's not the human spirit, that's the Holy Spirit. Capital S. We live and we are ruled by one and the same Holy Spirit. It's not as if there are, you know, different kinds of Holy Spirits. As if, you know, to one person, the Holy Spirit, okay, yeah, He rules through the Word there. But to another person, the Holy Spirit rules through something else. You know, some mystical thought through a dream. You know all the ways that people talk about this apart from the Word. No. 1 Corinthians 10 says, we eat one bread as one body. And then you notice right away 1 Corinthians 10 speaks of idols and demons. It almost seems out of place there. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and the table of demons. And also that's why earlier it says, and it was the beginning of our scripture reading in 1 Corinthians 10, my beloved flee from idolatry. There's a reason why it says that there in that context. Because as one body, a holy, a sacred body, we together are the body of Jesus Christ. And that means His one Spirit, through His Word, governs us. And anything else is idols and demons. Yeah, I know, that's not popular. But that's what the Bible teaches. But it's a beautiful confession, isn't it? That this holy body, she obeys the life giver of that body. He's the bread of life. And we all eat of the same bread. So brothers and sisters, when you think of God's blessing in our lives, God's blessings in our families. God's blessings in our congregation. We only know those blessings as we obey doing what He has called us to do. And you know, that's even a pattern in Lords Day 28. I won't take a lot of time here, but in the context of promises, of certainty and fellowship as we've seen, Then it speaks about Christ's command to partake. And that speaks to us about a pattern for our lives. And it's a pattern for our lives, you know, not only in the Lord's table, but also in our lives. That we will see and we will know God's blessing along the path of obeying His commands. Obedience. And it's not as if obedience earns His blessing. No, His blessing, that's by grace too. As we've seen, all of the Lord's Supper speaks to us of grace. The bread is broken for you. The cup and the wine is given to you and you receive it. And so also, we look to our life giver for grace so that we grow in obedience. Just like in the cult repair, it says, we examine ourselves to be sure that He desires to live in faith and obedience. You see, our desire, that's a response to God's grace in saving us. So, it's not like we have to drum up the desire. We have to understand the matter of God's grace in saving us. That's why we examine ourselves. That's our anticipation. So, at the Lord's Supper, as we partake together, He strengthens us in the desire to live in faith and obedience. We see that we are one with Him and we are one with one another because of Him. We are truly a sacred body. or a holy one. Sacred means set apart. Holy means cut out from sin, right? And His one Spirit governs us. So, in participation, the Lord suffered. Yeah, we consider God's holiness. As we prepare for the Lord's Supper, we consider God's holiness. And we even consider that in Jesus Christ we're made partakers of that holiness. And yeah, then we see how very weak we are. We see that sins still cling to us. So then what? Do we say, well, I can't come to Lord's Supper. After all, that's a Holy Supper. And I'm not good enough. But brothers and sisters, we don't come because we are good enough. If anyone comes thinking they're good enough, they're the ones who shouldn't partake. Because you see, if you're good enough, you don't need the death of Christ for you. If you're good enough, you don't need fellowship. And you don't even need certainty. So you see, here is the point. The Lord's Supper is for those who see and who know they are not good enough. And they know it because they hate their sins. And they even know that they have a long way to go in obedience. And then, we are strengthened in obedience at the Lord's Supper. We are strengthened in it because Think of this. When was the Lord's Supper instituted? The Catechism reminds us. It wasn't, you know, instituted before Jesus is about to return to heaven and to his glory. No, he instituted the Lord's Supper on the same night in which he was betrayed. It was instituted when he was about to enter into death. And on that night, He was sitting there with his disciples, the church of that day, if you will. It was Thursday night before Good Friday. And after they ate together, he took bread, he gave thanks for it, and he broke it for them and he said, take eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Yeah, maybe you're thinking, but the one who was to betray him, he was there too. He sure didn't discern the Lord's body broken for Him. You know the story. Sin was in His heart. But the others, may that be true of us, they proclaimed the Lord's death. And we proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. That is, by partaking of the bread and cup, we've declared Jesus paid for my sins. So you see, at the Lord's Supper we confess that His death, His death is the only way that I am free from my sins. The sins that plague me every day. And that's how we are also strengthened in a response of glad obedience. So this is not a dark cloud. This is the light This is the sun shining on us to be strengthened in glad obedience. In conclusion, dear congregation, may we together anticipate the Lord's Supper next Sunday. You know, I don't know if you ever have disciplined a child by keeping them away from the supper table. And I'm not saying it's a good form of discipline. And maybe you've seen it done. How that must break the heart of a parent. Because that action is saying that that child doesn't belong in the family. He's broken covenant. But how happy a parent is when the child repents and he can be forgiven. And then he's welcomed to the table to eat together. But yeah, then the child, even though he's sorry, and he's forgiven, and he's been welcomed to the table, and he sits there and he eats. But he feels so guilty. And he sits there and he eats, but he hangs his head. Well, brothers and sisters, I'm only saying all of this Because when we come to the Lord's Supper, when we come in repentance and faith and knowing forgiveness, because we've anticipated it, then we lift up our hearts before God. We don't come with heads hanging down with bad feelings. No. We come knowing we are cleansed. Not in what we can do. Because we trust only, underline only, capital letters, bold letters, only. In other words, nothing you did for yourself, nothing you're going to suffer, only in Jesus Christ are my sins forgiven. That gives you a pure heart and a clean conscience. And then you rejoice to proclaim that the Lord's death was for me, for you. I am forgiven. So, may the Lord lift up our hearts to Him as we anticipate the Lord's Supper next Sunday. Amen. Let us pray. Most loving and gracious Heavenly Father, Your grace really overwhelms us sometimes. And I pray it would now. And that it would move us to anticipate coming to the Lord's Supper with glad hearts. To celebrate that our sins are forgiven. To proclaim the Lord's death for us. May your word accomplish the purposes for which you have sent it forth to us here this morning, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.