Turning our Bibles to God's Word in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, we'll read verses 20 through 34. 1 Corinthians 11, beginning at verse 20. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper, For in eating, everyone taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. After this, Samener also took the cup when he had supped, 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 shew 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. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come. God's Word thus far, and it's on the basis of that passage and many other like passages that we have the instruction of Lord's Day 30 of the Heidelberg Catechism that we turn to and consider this morning, Lord's Day 30, questions 80, 81, and 82. Question 80, what difference is there between the Lord's Supper and the Popish Mass? The Lord's Supper testifies to us that we have a full pardon of all sin by the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself has once accomplished on the cross, and that we, by the Holy Ghost, are engrafted into Christ, who according to his human nature is now not on earth, but in heaven at the right hand of God his Father. and will there be worshipped by us. But the Mass teaches that the living and dead have not the pardon of sins through the sufferings of Christ, unless Christ is also daily offered for them by the priests. And further, that Christ is bodily under the form of bread and wine and therefore is to be worshipped in them, so that the mass at bottom is nothing else than a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ and an accursed idolatry. For whom is the Lord's Supper instituted? for those who are truly sorrowful for their sins and yet trust that these are forgiven them for the sake of Christ and that their remaining infirmities are covered by His passion and death, and who also earnestly desire to have their faith more and more strengthened and their lives more holy. But hypocrites and such as turn not to God with sincere hearts eat and drink judgment to themselves. Are they also to be admitted to this supper who, by confession and life, declare themselves unbelieving and ungodly? No, for by this the covenant of God would be profaned and His wrath kindled against the whole congregation. Therefore, it is the duty of the Christian Church, according to the appointment of Christ and his apostles, to exclude such persons by the keys of the kingdom of heaven till they show amendment of life. The Lord's Supper, beloved, as we know, is a means of grace. And as a means of grace, the Lord's Supper is used by the Holy Spirit for our spiritual blessing. And there are various spiritual blessings that are specifically mentioned here in Lord's Day 30. Question and Answer 80 points out this blessing, that the Lord's Supper testifies to us that we have a full pardon of all sin. by the only sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And question 81, and the answer 81 points out these blessings. The Lord's Supper is a means of grace because it serves as a means to have our faith strengthened And secondly, it is a means of grace because it is a blessing that serves to lead to our lives becoming more holy. Those are spiritual blessings that God is pleased to grant us and to use the sacrament as a means to give to us. But you understand, beloved, the Lord's Supper does not automatically provide those blessings to all who partake. The Lord's Supper is not a blessing and the Lord's Supper is not a means for blessing to those who partake unworthily. Those who partake unworthily as we read in 1 Corinthians 11, and as is also stated in question and answer 81, they eat and drink judgment to themselves, that statement occurring in both places. And that word judgment, as that occurs in 1 Corinthians 11, is the word that literally means crisis or calamity. Those who eat and drink unworthily bring a crisis, bring a calamity upon themselves. by eating and drinking unworthily. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper, therefore, is not for everyone, and each church member is admonished in the words of 1 Corinthians 11 verse 28 to examine himself before partaking of the Lord's Supper. A significant question in this Lord's Day for us this morning is question 81. For whom is the Lord's Supper instituted? As a believer, it is your desire whenever the Lord's Supper is administered to be blessed through partaking of the Lord's Supper and not to eat and drink judgment to yourself by partaking. Therefore, we are very interested this morning in that question and its answer. For who is the Lord's Supper instituted? Consider that and consider this Lord's Day under the theme proper partakers of the Lord's Supper. We'll notice first of all their spiritual identity, secondly their spiritual preparation, and finally their spiritual blessedness. When it comes to the question of who may partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, there are many churches today who would answer that question this way, and they would say the Lord's Supper is pretty much for anyone and everyone. They practice what we know as open communion. The Lord's Supper is open to all who are adults. An announcement is made. We welcome all who are here with us today to partake with us of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The only important thing is that you believe that Jesus Christ is your Savior. If you believe that, then you may partake with us of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Those who practice open communion even open up the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to children, even little children. What's referred to as pedo-communion. NEA No need for one to make a confession of faith before partaking of the Lord's Supper. And to accommodate that, instead of using wine, grape juice is used. And in some instances, the elements of the bread and the grape juice that they use are even hand-fed to infants. If we were to ask them who is a proper partaker of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the answer would be the proper partaker is really anyone who wants to partake, anyone who wants to. Really, there is no such thing as an improper partaker. That would be how many, perhaps even most, view the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. As a Reformed church, we disagree with that. And on the basis of the Word of God, we practice what is called and what we refer to as close communion. And understand, beloved, close communion is not the same as closed communion. It can sometimes be confusing. but there is such a thing as closed communion, and that's a very restricted administration of the Lord's Supper, super restricted to members only of a particular congregation, and in some instances, even more restricted than that. so restricted that even among the members, only a few of them may partake of the Lord's Supper. That's not correct either. When we speak of close communion then, as you know, we are speaking of supervised communion. The sacrament is supervised by the church. The sacrament is supervised by the elders, by the consistory. They decide who may partake of the Lord's Supper. So the elders must answer the question, whom may we allow to partake of the Lord's Supper in our church? And one answer to that is not children, not children. Children cannot yet partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper because, as 1 Corinthians 11.29 points out, one must be able to discern the Lord's body. That is, one must be spiritually mature and spiritually mature enough to discern the elements that are used in the Lord's Supper, the bread and the wine, to understand clearly what they represent, to understand fully and clearly all that they represent, all that they say to us about Christ's atoning death on the cross, all that they say to us about limited atonement through the death of Christ, and then also being able to discern by faith how that applies to themselves personally. Spiritual maturity. is needed, which comes by the grace of God with age. And then secondly, the elders in answer to that question will say the members may partake, but not necessarily all of them. The members must be in good standing. The members must not be living, knowingly living and continuing in sin. The catechism itself touches on that in question and answer 82. Are those to be admitted to this supper who by confession and life declare themselves unbelieving and ungodly? And the answer is no. Members, but not necessarily all of them. A member who is under discipline may not partake of the Lord's Supper. And then thirdly, in answer to that question, whom may we as elders allow to partake, the elders answer, visitors, but not all. Not all visitors. There must be doctrinal unity among those who partake. There must be oneness in faith amongst those who partake. As Amos 3.3 says, can two walk together except they be agreed? And so those are significant answers that the elders give to the question, whom may we allow to partake? Not children, the members, but not necessarily all of them. and visitors, but not necessarily all visitors. And to put it positively, the elders consider the following to be worthy partakers of the Lord's Supper. Those who are members of this congregation, mature believers who have confessed their faith in Christ, and mature members, spiritually minded, not being disciplined currently for errors in doctrine or errors in life. And secondly, members of our denomination who are visiting may partake, if they are members in good standing in their own congregation. And to that end, they ask for and the consistory must grant them permission. And then also visitors from other denominations, but visitors who are one with us in faith and visitors who on account of the circumstances of their life, are currently unable to have the Lord's Supper in their own church for an extended time. And again, only after they receive permission from the elders. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is supervised. And this approach is not because we judge all others to be non-Christians, Not because we judge others to be unsaved. We're not judging someone's faith and saying that person may not partake because he or she is an unbeliever. And we're certainly not judging that someone is a reprobate and that's why he or she may not partake. But we understand from the word of God and even the passage that we read that it is biblically required and necessary for the church to guard the sacrament of the Lord, to guard that sacrament for the sake of the individual person who partakes so that that person is protected by the church from eating and drinking judgment to themselves, and to protect the church as a whole as well. from bringing the judgment of God upon the congregation. That's what happened in Corinth. In Corinth, they were sinning and they were erring in regards to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Their sin is described first of all in verses 20 through 22. They were coming to the Lord's Supper hungry. They had turned the Lord's Supper into a regular feast, a regular dinner. They were eating themselves full, and some were even becoming drunk. They were desecrating the sacrament. And then likewise, in verses 27 and 29, they were erring. They were eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord unworthily. They were eating and drinking damnation to themselves because they were not discerning the Lord's body. They were not eating and drinking spiritually. They were not eating and drinking with a clear understanding. the understanding of faith as to what the elements represented and how the Lord's Supper works as a means of grace for those who partake. And God brought judgment on that. Verse 30, for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. the judgment of God was brought upon them. And so today, too, the elders are careful, and must be, because if the sacrament of the supper is administered to those who are unworthy, and the elders knowingly administer it to them, as the catechism says, by this the covenant of God would be profaned. and his wrath kindled against the whole congregation. The Lord's Supper is guarded, is supervised. But it's not only the elders. It's also the calling of each member, each believer who purposes to partake, to ask and answer the question May I partake? May I partake?" And that's where the Catechism guides us this morning in answering that question, especially in Answer 81. You'll notice that Answer 81 sets before us three spiritual traits or three spiritual characteristics of those who are worthy partakers of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. They are truly sorrowful for their sins. They trust that their sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ. They earnestly desire to have their faith more and more strengthened and their lives more holy. The Spirit works in the child of God and lets you know whether you have, by His grace and Spirit, those essential spiritual traits. The first one is that you are truly sorrowful for your sin. That's the same as the form for the administration of the Lord's Supper mentions when it refers to knowing our misery. The Lord's Supper, you understand, is for sinners. The Lord's Supper is for those who have many sins in their hearts and many sins in their lives. The Lord's Supper is for those who have erred, who have done wrong. They have not done good but evil, they have not loved but have hated, they have not been kind but have been bitter against others, and many other sins besides. But the Lord's Supper is not simply for someone who is a sinner, but the question is, what is that person's attitude? What is your attitude toward your sin? Toward the wrong that you have done? Do you hate the wrong? And are you sorry for it? And do you strive truly to repent from it, to turn from it. Catechism points that out. We must be truly sorrowful for our sins. Not simply, well, I got caught for doing this sin. Others know the errors and sins that I'm guilty of. I've brought great shame upon myself. But this. truly sorrowful, the child of God says, I have sinned against God. I have offended the God who has only ever been good to me. And that's my greatest burden. And that's why I am miserable. And that's why I need Christ. Secondly, Answer 81 points out that the Lord's Supper is for those who believe. They trust that their sins are forgiven them for the sake of Christ and that their remaining infirmities are covered by His passion and death. The Lord's Supper is for sinners who believe. to believe and trust in Christ. They have faith. They don't only see their sins. They don't simply say, what have I done? But they also say, what has Christ done? What has Christ done for me? and they believe that Christ has done great things for them. They believe this, Jesus Christ by his passion and death has cleared me in the sight of God from all guilt for my sin and cleared me in the sight of God from all the punishment that I deserve for my sin. and that for all my sins, all of them, including also, as the catechism points out, our remaining infirmities, the things that will perhaps cling to us until we die. The Lord's Supper is for those who believe. And then thirdly, the proper partaker is someone who knows and who sees the evidence in himself by the grace of God that he, she is thankful, thankful. They desire to have their faith strengthened and to have their lives more holy. Notice what the answer does not say. The answer does not say the proper partaker is those whose faith never falters. It doesn't say that. The answer does not say the Lord's Supper is for those whose faith doesn't need strengthening. And it doesn't say the Lord's Supper is for those whose lives are already holy, who live almost a sin-free life, then they can partake of the Lord's Supper. But it is for those who desire to have their faith strengthened and who desire to have their lives more holy, to live a more godly life. And they have those desires because, by the grace of God, they know they can't even begin to do that on their own. They cannot strengthen their own faith. They cannot make their own lives more holy. They need the spiritual strength of Christ. and therefore they come to the Lord's Supper understanding that they need to receive Christ, they need to partake of Christ. And what is pictured in the Lord's Supper as we partake of the bread and wine is pointing to the spiritual reality of receiving Christ himself. Then their faith is strengthened. by Christ whom they have received, and then their lives are more holy through Christ whom they have received. It is such humble and believing sinners who have those godly desires that are proper partakers of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Whenever the Lord's Supper is administered, there is also preparation that needs to be done. And that preparation needs to be done, first of all, by the church. And then also, as we will see shortly, by every member. But first of all, the church must make preparation The Lord's Day mentions what the church's responsibility is in question and answer 82, when it speaks of the church being called to exclude some and the church being reminded of the fact, really, that Christ has given to the church the keys of the kingdom of heaven. There are two keys to the kingdom of heaven that Christ has given to His church, and those keys that He has given are, and they will be explained in more detail in the next Lord's Day, but they are the preaching and Christian discipline. Those are the keys by which the kingdom of heaven is opened to believers and shut against unbelievers. And those keys come up in this Lord's Day concerning the Lord's Supper and concerning proper partaking of the Lord's Supper because those keys must be used by the church in connection with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And so the church must prepare her members by using the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And the first key of the kingdom of heaven is the preaching of the gospel, and that's what the church uses, what ultimately it is the consistory, the elders use, to prepare the members for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The consistory requires a preparatory sermon. preparatory sermon that is preached on the Sunday prior to which the Lord's Supper will be administered. That's the preaching being used as a key of the kingdom of heaven to teach and to guide the members of the church with regards to self-examination and becoming spiritually prepared by means of the word and spirit to partake of the Lord's Supper. But then secondly, the church must use the key of Christian discipline. And if it is necessary, then the church must, the elders must keep some members from partaking. Members can expect to be excluded from partaking of the Lord's Supper if they err in doctrine, or if they err in life, And with regard to both, they remain impenitent. They've been admonished, they refuse to repent. And implied, of course, is this too, that the consistory, by exercising the key of Christian discipline, also exercises that key when anyone comes to the consistory and desires to become a member of the church, whether that is through making confession of faith or whether that is through coming from another church, having already made confession of faith and desiring to become a member of this church. And the exercise of the keys in that connection means that elders do not and may not approve of a confession of faith or of a request for someone to become a member of this church if they, by confession or life, declare themselves to be unbelieving and ungodly. That's guarding the Lord's Supper. And again, the elders do that, not because they are making a judgment concerning whether one is a believer or an unbeliever, whether one is elect or reprobate, but they do that to keep the Lord's Supper from being profane. And from the judgment of God coming upon the whole congregation, And they do that also for the sake of the individual who is involved, to keep one from partaking unworthily and eating and drinking judgment to himself. But even beyond that, That is, beyond the work of the elders in preparing the members, there is the calling of the members to prepare themselves. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat, and so let him drink. The church helps the members. by having the minister preach a preparatory sermon, but then the members must ask themselves, do I have the spiritual characteristics that are pointed out in question and answer 81 of this Lord's Day? Do I know and believe that I am a sinner? And do I know and believe and trust in Christ for deliverance? And do I desire to be thankful, my faith strengthened, and my life more holy? If we have those spiritual characteristics, If we see the evidence of the work of God's Spirit in us to give us those spiritual characteristics, then we may partake. And it's certainly a shame and a terrible thing that there are some churches who forbid such sincere believers from partaking of the Lord's Supper. One thing to keep in mind, though, with regard to self-examination, and that is this, we call it self-examination. But the realization we have is we cannot properly examine ourselves. We cannot examine ourselves very well. We need the grace of God to do it. If we examine ourselves without the work of God's spirit and grace in us, then it will just result in a very superficial consideration of our misery and of our sins. We will see many sins in others, but not in ourselves. We will see sins in others that are large, that are terrible, that are unbelievably bad, but we would not notice that we have those same sins and even worse in ourselves. We cannot examine ourselves properly. We cannot examine ourselves well. Thus we need to pray for God's help, God's grace, God's strength, God's spirit, and certainly a very appropriate prayer for us is the one we sang earlier from Psalm 139, 23, and 24. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. And those who are By the grace of God, proper partakers will be spiritually blessed. When the Lord's Supper is administered, all of the work that the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us is set before us in the bread and the wine, the bread being broken, the wine being poured, the bread and wine being distributed and given to us, the bread being eaten and the wine being drunk. His lifelong suffering for sin is set before us. His suffering and death on the cross is set before us. His body being broken and his blood being shed, his giving his life for us is set before us. is enduring through all of that the eternal wrath of God and the punishment of hell for us. The Lord's Supper declares that God has provided for you in Jesus Christ exactly what you need What is it that you need? If we go back to question and answer 80 of this Lord's Day, this is what the Lord's Supper tells us. The Lord's Supper testifies to us that we have a full pardon of all sin by the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself has once accomplished on the cross. The Lord's Supper is a means for us to experience and know that blessing, the full pardon of all sin through Jesus Christ. And to know this too, that nothing more is needed besides that work of Christ. If it's a full pardon, That means he has fully accomplished that salvation for us. He has done it all. Our sins have been fully paid for. There is nothing that we must do that we must add in order to have that full pardon of all our sins. That stands in sharp contrast, as this Lord's Day points out, to the Roman Catholic Mass. What does the Mass teach? The Mass teaches that the living and dead, so also those who have already died, The Mass teaches that the living and the dead have not the pardon of sins through the suffering of Christ unless Christ is also daily offered for them by the priest. Now the Mass involves, as we know, the continued sacrifice of Christ. They say there is a need for Christ to continue to be offered by the priest. And in order for that offering that the priest makes of Christ, supposedly, as he offers daily bread and wine, in order for that offering to be a valid offering of Christ, the bread and the wine must be Christ. Transubstantiation. Christ is the bread, Christ is the wine. The bread is Christ, the wine is Christ. And therefore, as the catechism points out further there in answer 80, they worship the bread and the wine. And if they worship the bread and the wine, then that's idolatry, and the mass is an accursed idolatry. But more significantly, that answer points out that the Mass is void of spiritual benefit for those who partake. And that's because it means that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't enough. He did so much, but he didn't do it all. He didn't pay fully for our sins. He didn't pay fully for all our sins. And so, you need a priest to continue sacrificing Christ. And you need people to add to the work of Christ. Not only the priest adding to the work of Christ, but the people themselves have to add to the work of Christ by works of penance. and by years of punishment in purgatory. Christ didn't do enough. And as the catechism correctly points out, there is no blessing for those who partake of the mass. There is no assurance of pardon and there cannot be an assurance of pardon because there is not a finished work of Christ as the basis for pardon. It's an empty, it's a vain sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church. That serves, beloved, to underscore and highlight what a blessing the Lord's Supper is for us. The Spirit uses this blessed sacrament to strengthen our faith and specifically the assurance of faith. The believer can say partaking of the Lord's Supper by faith, this, I am more sure through partaking of the Lord's Supper that Christ died on the cross for my sins. And I am more sure through partaking of the Lord's Supper that I do not have to be cursed by God, and I do not have to die eternally for my sins against God. And the believer can say, I am more sure that because the Lord Jesus Christ did those things, I am saved from the wrath of God, and I am saved from hell. And being more sure than the believer is more thankful, and being more thankful believer is motivated by means of partaking of the sacrament to strive to be more holy in life, thereby to express thankfulness to God. Soon, the Lord willing, in February, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper will be administered again, preceded by a preparatory sermon. I trust, beloved, that what we have considered today will encourage us to prepare ourselves spiritually at that time and really even now already to partake of the Lord's Supper. so that we can come as we should to the table of the Lord and by the grace of God come as worthy partakers and profit spiritually from partaking. May God grant us always those blessings. Amen. Father in heaven, we ask Thee to bless to our hearts and write upon them Thy Word Through the work of thy mighty Spirit, cause us to humble ourselves before thee, confessing we are sinners who need Christ, and need the salvation that thou hast provided for us who are thine, in and through him, and through him alone. We're thankful for faith, may it continue to be strengthened by thee, even by the preaching of the gospel, and also through the sacraments. In Jesus' name, amen.