Discerning the Lord's Body

Well, here we are already coming up to the Passover. We've been thinking about that. I spoke about the Passover and our preparation for that a little bit last week. I was thinking this week, in fact, I had a different sermon planned concerning the Passover.

My wife and I were just talking about different things, and I said, you know, she brought up something. I said, that would be a good thing to cover before the Passover. So as the week went on, I actually changed what I had planned to cover. Thinking about the Passover and how this is the central celebration of the entire year. Of all the Holy Days, and actually the Passover itself, interesting, is a holy convocation, but it's not a holy day.

This is the central point of everything else. If the reality of Jesus Christ as the Passover isn't true, none of the other holy days matter anyways. The Sabbath does matter. Actually, it doesn't matter. So this is the central point of all the religious things we do, the ceremonies, the observances we have throughout the year. It is the ceremony that heralds the Gospel.

It's the pivotal event in salvation history, and it reminds all of us that we are under the New Covenant. When we were baptized, we entered into a covenant with God. This is the renewal of a covenant that you and I have with the Almighty God. The Apostle Paul of course gives instructions to the Corinthians about the Passover. And every year, usually in a sermonette or in a sermon, we will cover those instructions.

We'll cover some of them on that night. Those instructions given to them, though, says that they are to examine themselves. Now, this is a very controversial statement. And throughout the years as a minister, I have talked to people with this, examine yourselves. What does that mean? And I've seen everything from an extreme where people almost become depressed, examining themselves, and come to the conclusion, I won't be at the Passover this year because I am unworthy.

To the other extreme, that they don't even examine themselves. I'm okay going to the Passover. It's almost like if we're not careful, people get into going to the Passover the same way other people go to Christmas and Easter. It's because of what they do. I'm amazed how many people I'll ask about Christmas and Easter. They'll say, oh, I know Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. My preacher said that. But it's what we do. The Passover can never be. It's just what we do. It can't be. So this idea of examining ourselves, what does that mean? How do we do that?

So what I want to do is review some of Paul's instructions, and then I want to go through some practical ways you and I can examine ourselves over the next few days. Practical ways we can fulfill what he's telling us to do. So let's go to 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11. Because we don't want to get into either ditch. The ditch that says, I've examined myself and I'm just scum. God can't love me. I'm unworthy, so I can't keep the Passover or God will judge me. To the other extreme that just was, oh, I don't worry about that.

I just sort of, I keep the Passover because it's what I do. It's part of my religion. You know, we never want to get to the place. It's like the people who show up, and we've all known people, who show up at Christmas and Easter services. You'll talk to them. They only show up once or twice a year at church. I know people that show up only at Passover time. There's something dramatically wrong in that if we've truly examined ourselves why we are supposed to do this.

It comes down to our identity, but we'll go through that in a minute. Let's start at verse 18 to get a little bit of the context here of why he says what he does. The Corinthian church was getting together on what we call the Passover, and it was an absolute, just like everything else that church did, it was absolute chaos. It was chaotic. It says in verse 18, for first of all, this is 1 Corinthians 11, for first of all, when you come together as a church, and we'll see when they're coming together here and why he says this, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

For there must 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. Now, the Lord's supper is a reference to the meal that Jesus had with the disciples on the night he was betrayed.

So this is the Passover. And he says, you're not coming together to eat a supper. I need to explain this. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one is hungry, and another is drunk. He doesn't say, well, some people are thirsty. He says, people are coming, drinking wine, and getting drunk at this meal. This is Corinth for you. So what do they do on the Passover? Well, first of all, they have a great big meal, and people bring roasted lamb, and they bring all this food, and they gorge themselves, but they bring their own.

It's a pot. It's not really a pot. Look, you bring your own. So the poor people are sitting over here, the rich people are having a big feast, and the poor people are eating their sandwiches. For some reason, the Earl of Sandwich wasn't around yet, so maybe they didn't have sandwiches yet, but they're eating whatever they eat.

So he says, this is what this is all about. People look and say, wow, you know, you've got a great meal there, and we're having our unleavened bread and a little piece of cheese. And the other people were literally getting drunk in this most important and holy observance of the whole year. He says, what? Do you know that you do not have houses to eat or 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. Paul is getting, you can tell, he's building up almost an anchor, and he's writing.

What? You think I'm going to say, this is good? I don't praise you at all. And you almost feel like he's working up inside of it. For I receive from the Lord, that which I also deliver to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. So he says, here's what we're going to do. Took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and said, take eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. And do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner he 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. So here he basically says, don't eat this meal. Don't come to eat the Lord's supper. Come to do what he did afterwards. You come to eat the representation of his body and of his blood, of his sacrifice. He doesn't mention foot washing, but of course, when we go back to the Gospel of John, we see the example of foot washing. So we add that in too. So he says, don't do the meal.

This is why we don't have a seder. This is why we don't serve lamb, because we eat the lamb. We eat the symbol of the real lamb. I don't have to eat a lamb. We're taking a symbol that the Passover lamb instituted himself and said, this is me. This is how you eat the lamb now. So that's what we do. So he's giving them very specific instructions to stop the chaos, to stop the problems they were having.

But he's very concerned because they're keeping the Passover in a way that is not the way you're supposed to keep the Passover. This isn't how we're supposed to do this. So let's go on to verse 27. He says, therefore, whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

That is an incredible statement. That should be an uncomfortable statement. The blood and body of the Lord is the symbol of how God forgives us, how we receive salvation, how we are free from our sins, how we can have eternal life. And he says, if you do this in an unworthy manner, he didn't say if you're unworthy to take it, by the way.

Because one thing we're going to find when you examine yourself, guess what? You're unworthy. So people come and say, I'm not worthy to keep the Passover. Why? Because I'm still a sinner. I said, oh, well, then you need to take it. Okay, the only reason you want to keep the Passover is, well, I'm perfect now. Okay, I guess you don't have to keep it, but I've never met anybody like that. So, you know. So we need to take it for the very reason I am not guilty, and my sins aren't hung over my head, and the penalty isn't over my head.

I am free from all this, and that's what I'm doing this for. He says, if you do this in an unworthy manner, you are now guilty of your sins. The blood and body of Jesus Christ doesn't apply to you. Now, doesn't that frighten you a little bit? It should. See, this is why I'm saying there's these two extremes. The one extreme is, I can't do this. I'm a sinner. I'm unworthy.

I despise myself. God can't love me. I'm so horrible, God can't love me, and Christ's sacrifice is even big enough for me. Now, we wouldn't say that, but that's what we're actually saying. So that's the one extreme. The other extreme is, oh yeah, I do the Passover. It's what I do. I was baptized, so I do the Passover. And the rest of my life is sort of detached from God, but I do that.

But the scary thing is both of those can lead you to a point where you do the Passover in an unworthy manner, and in doing so, you're still guilty of your sins. So what else does he say here? As he continues his thought through. He says, but let a man examine himself. Okay, so we are to examine ourselves. And so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. So he says, okay, look at yourselves. Stop all this confusion. Stop the problems they were having. He says, and let's get down to what we're supposed to do here. Forget the supper.

Do the part that Jesus instituted as the new covenant. And he said, then look at yourself and then do it. He doesn't say, look at yourself and then not do it. He says, look at yourself and then take it. But notice verse 29, because this is what I really want to zero on for the rest of the sermon. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself. You're no longer covered by the blood of Christ.

That's frightening to do this in an unworthy manner. And here's why. It's an unworthy manner. Why? He says, not discerning the Lord's body. The issue here we need to really examine is, when I partake of the Passover, am I discerning the Lord's body? And what does that even mean?

Discerning means understanding. So I've got to examine to see, do I understand the Lord's body? Because if I do not, I can actually partake of this in an unworthy manner. The only way you and I receive salvation is because we accept, we understand, that you and I can't save ourselves. And we understand, before the righteousness of the Almighty God, His law demands our eternal death. What was brought out in the sermonette was, but isn't it amazing? God says, you deserve this, but I'm going to do this. But you have to first come to grips with, oh, that's what I deserve. Therefore, God has to do something. God has to do something for me, and God has to do something in me, and in doing so, He saves me from something I can't save myself from. I can't make myself good enough. I can't give myself eternal life. I can't forgive myself for all the sins I've done against God. I can't, because they were against Him. Can you imagine walking up to somebody that you really abused, and you, I mean, you lied about Him, ruined their reputation, you stole from Him, you cheated Him, and you walk up and say, you know what? I've forgiven myself. So we're okay, right? See how that works. I've forgiven myself, so, yeah, you need to forget everything I did to you. That's not how this works. When we abuse somebody else, the forgiveness comes from this other person. Our sins against God, only God can forgive. You know, you and I can't even forgive somebody's sins against God. We can only forgive the sins people do against us. So we forgive people who sin against us, but they still have an issue with God, but they have to deal with. But once we forgive them, we're no longer controlled by what they did to us. Not discerning the Lord's body. I'm going to cover three areas, and this could be expanded out, but I just want to break it down into three areas where you and I can look at ourselves and say, am I discerning the Lord's body? Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to present each of these areas as a question. You know, an examination is easier to do when you have a test. I have an examination. Here's a question. How do I answer the question? So I have three questions for you. The first one. Are you intensely aware of the forgiveness and love of God that has been given to you through Christ? If I'm going to discern the Lord's body, I'm going to discern why He came, why He did what He did. If I'm going to be worthy or not keep that in an unworthy manner, I must go into that observance, intensely aware of the forgiveness and love of God that He has given to us through Jesus Christ. Remember, I said there's two extremes. The one is, even Christ isn't big enough. Even His sacrifice isn't big enough to forgive me. The other is, it's just something I do. But my day-to-day life really is not affected by the Passover. When the truth is, if you truly keep the Passover, every day of your life is affected by the Passover. So we have to go into it acutely aware, I need this. I am nothing without this. What God did through Christ brings me here. Every year it brings me here. Every year it brings me back to this point, that only God can do this. Only God can do this. And only God through Christ can do this. Suddenly the body of Christ becomes a focal point. What's funny is you do this, your sins, which are so despairing upon us, and so we get so discouraged and depressed, actually become less and less of the focal point. As you examine yourself, you know what becomes more and more the focal point? The body of Christ. How do I get out of this?

So that's why you have to... this is all about discerning the body of Christ.

Go to Philippians 2. This is one of those passages that... I have certain passages I find. There's a couple of Romans. There's Philippians 2. Three or four sermons throughout the year, this is going to get read because it's so important in so many different subjects. Philippians 2.

And let's start in verse 5.

Here Paul says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. In other words, did not consider it to be... it was just the way it was. He was equal to God. He was a divine being with the Father, but made himself... now this is real important. He decided to do this.

This is a decision he makes. He made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming the likeness of men. And being found in the appearance of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore God has also highly exalted and given him the name which is above every name. And at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, of those of the earth, and those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. So we go back to Him coming is the only way you and I get to God. And it is the only way you and I can experience the freedom from guilt, the freedom from the oppression of our own sin, to be healed from our own sins, and from the sins of others. You and I are always being affected by the sins of others. There's no way to be healed from that except through what God is doing through Jesus Christ. So we have to go into the Passover, acutely aware of this, acutely aware of this is the only method that this happens, that this can happen by. I can't add up enough good points to do this myself. I can't. So therefore, I come fully, completely understanding that this is the way I get there. And when we say, that's not big enough for me, we're not discerning the body of Christ as being big enough for us. Or when we go to the Passover, but really the rest of our lives, we just live like everybody else, well, we're not discerning the body of Christ. We're not discerning what's actually happening here so that you and I can be saved so you and I can be children in His Kingdom. And this is where the first step in our self-examination, am I acutely aware of my absolute need for this and the power of this? And that this is how God decided to show us how life works.

Seems like there had to be a lot easier way for Him and for Christ than this way.

But this is how God shows us. Now, this brings us to our second question.

Now, am I acutely aware of God's love and mercy exhibited in Jesus Christ?

But the second is, in appreciation of this grace of God, this mercy of God, are you intensely responsive to God as your Father? You know, if I'm acutely aware of what God is doing, I must now be intensely responsive to what He is doing. And this is where you and I do participate.

We have to respond to what He's doing.

See, well, I need to examine myself. Well, let me start making a list of all the sins I did this week. Well, all the sins I did since the last Passover. I'm not sure that's a lot of help.

But how about I need this because I am acutely aware that I am still a sinner.

And I am intensely aware of a need to respond to God. I need to react to God in what He's doing here.

This is what we call obedience. But some people obey God out of fear, or they obey God because they're compelled to. They hate it, but they do it anyways. This means I am acutely aware of what God is doing through Christ. Therefore, I desire to respond to that. Wow! What God is doing is so amazing for me. I wish to respond to God. Now, notice once again, if we examine ourselves in this way, we're no longer focused on ourselves. We're focused on God.

Okay, how am I responding to God? Am I responding to God very well? Well, maybe that's why I'm sinning. Maybe that's why I'm having trouble with my marriage. Maybe that's why I'm doing this. Because I'm not really responding to God. And yet God's done this for me. God's worked through Christ, and I need to respond to God more. Or we say, I just need to overcome sin more and obey more, and I hate it. We move this from simply law into relationship.

Now, does that mean the law's done away with it? Of course not! But why am I doing it?

I mean, how many times do you drive 70 miles an hour? Not because you want to, but because you're afraid of a policeman?

I don't know. And I have to ask, how many times do you obey God? Not because you want to, but do you? God's a big cop in the sky.

We respond to God because He's God.

Look at what Paul wrote in Colossians. Paul deals with this a lot, Colossians.

Colossians 1 verse 9.

He starts this thought back in verse 3, but we're going to pick it up in verse 9 here.

In the middle of a sentence here, so it seems sort of weird at first, but we'll see where it comes together. For this reason, we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will. Now, so he's telling the people in Colossae, you know, he talks about how God, he thanks God for calling them for creating this congregation, and he says, I pray for you all the time. We hear, he says, it's not him, but those who are with him, they pray for the people of Colossae, so that they will be filled with the knowledge of his will, God's will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. He says, I pray that God will give you knowledge of his will. Now, we have to respond to God's will. We're actually a time sacrifice under our own will, aren't we? The obedience is, you sacrifice your own will. God says this, I do it. So you sacrifice your will for God. He says, so I'm praying that you will have understanding, that you have spiritual knowledge, and that you will see clearly God's will.

Notice verse 10, though, because now this sort of ties into what we just read in 1 Corinthians, that you may walk worthy. Okay, so we have to do things in this worthy manner. I may not be worthy of salvation, but God can make me worthy. Ah, God can make me worthy. So you walk in a worthy manner, and may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him. Now, when we start getting into, am I responding to God? We have to get into a response mode because we understand what God is doing through Christ, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We'll get into that in a minute. We now have a relationship with God that we wish to please him. We wish, we want God. Just like a little child, once mommy and daddy did, you know, they bring up that little picture, there's a bunch of scribbling, I made this for you. And you say, that's stupid, that's just a bunch of scribbling. What's that do to that child? They just want to please you. When you look at it and say, well that's really nice, thank you, and they give you a big hug because I pleased mom, I pleased dad. So we have to examine ourselves, and what am I doing? Am I doing this to please God so that my walk is worthy? Now look how he breaks this down. Paul sometimes just breaks things down in little bitty pieces. Worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him. Now when you're fully pleasing God, this is what happens. Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. So this is what we want. This is what, as we just want to please God, we start to do good works. Now, we get, well I'm going to do good works to earn salvation. That doesn't work.

If I accept what God is doing through Christ, and now I wish to please God, He'll do good works at us.

It doesn't mean we don't respond. Yes, we obey. Yes, we have a part to play in this. That's why we have to examine ourselves. It is possible for us to keep the Passover in an unworthy manner, and Paul says it's dangerous to do that because you're now back under your sins. So, you know, this is very important.

So, we need to be walking in a worthy manner, but why? We're so thankful. We're so grateful for what God is doing that we now wish to please Him. And in doing so, we begin to have good works.

We increase in the knowledge of God. We're strengthened with all might, and according to His glorious power for all patience and long suffering and with joy. Whoa! That's what I want. I want every good work. I want fruitful good works. I want the knowledge of God. I want might. I want patience and long suffering and joy. I want all those things.

But notice in the middle of this, he says, according to His glorious power. We understand where this comes from. We have this humility before God, where we are responding to Him saying, I can't do this, but you can. And I understand this. Why? Because Christ was my Passover.

Because Christ was my Passover. I've met many people throughout the years who were baptized and never got it. They never understood Christ as their Passover. It never became part of them.

It was just a religious thing they did. And they just never responded in this way. Because notice what he says in verse 12. Now, this is all one sentence in Greek. He says, giving thanks to the Father. All this is being driven by this gratefulness to God. Because He's doing this in our lives. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us. In other words, He's the one who says, you are forgiven.

We can't hold on to our past sins. We gotta let those things go. You can't carry that rock around.

Because it is God who forgives you. So therefore, it is God who qualifies you.

It is God who makes you prepared for what? Who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has qualified us to be His children.

How did you and I become qualified to be His children? Because we recognized we were His enemies. We repented. We received the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And that we were baptized. We received the Holy Spirit. And who did that? Well, we played our little responsive part.

What is our response? I'm happy being a sinner. God says, by the way, your life's messed up because you're a sinner. Oh, I'm sorry. Good. Now you're gonna have to understand how you stop being a sinner. Oh, here's the definition of sin. Oh, I gotta keep the Ten Commandments. Oh, that's a start. God says, it's more than that, but that's a good start. And then you take the next step. He says, now I want you to repent. And you start praying. You start interacting. All this is response. Notice it's all response to what God is doing. And God takes us through these steps, through His glorious power, and then we become His children. And we respond. The only way that response continues through a lifetime is because we're saying, thank you, God. Thank you. We begin to take for granted what He's doing. And if we take it for granted, we can end up taking the Passover in an unworthy manner because we're not discerning the body of Christ. We're not discerning how He does this. And it is through the physical life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the penalty for our sins and to show us how life is supposed to be done or lived. Notice verse 13.

He has delivered us. And He's giving thanks in the beginning or in the middle of the last sentence. And this is part of what we're giving thanks for. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, at whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Why are we to be thankful? Why is this work done? Why is God working in us through His Spirit? Why is He building this love and this joy and this long suffering and this might and this knowledge and these works? Why is He doing all this? Because we have been partakers of the blood of Christ and receive the forgiveness of sins. So I'm going to examine myself and see how many sins I did the last year. It probably won't do you a lot of good. It's not a bad exercise because we have to overcome. It's okay, where do I need to overcome? But that's not going to bring you into the Passover with this open mind and this open heart.

It's going to start with, I really don't belong there except you say I belong there. Here's the point. God does say you and I belong there. You and I don't determine whether we belong there or not.

So He says, oh, I don't belong in the Passover. That's not your call. That's not my call. That's God's call. And God says, no, you belong there and you belong there. And here's the sacrifice of my Son that makes it possible for you to be there and you accept that and you can come.

And then we come. And then the rest of our life is an expression of thankfulness for that.

You remove the Passover and the other holy days have no meaning. They just don't.

Because they're all extensions of what the Passover starts.

Right? Can you imagine no Passover and the Feast of Trumpets? No forgiveness, no washing and blood, no relationship with God. What would the Feast of Trumpets be?

Nothing but judgment and wrath of God. That's all it would be. There could be no Day of Atonement.

There could be no Millennium. None of that could happen. This starts it all.

That's amazing. We keep those Old Testament holy days. And there's no way anybody in the Old Testament knew what I just said to the depth that you and I understand it. They couldn't. I stand and come in.

So, the second point is we have to respond to God in this examination, in appreciation of God's grace, so that we are intensely responsive to God, daily responsive to God. And that's what you need to ask yourself. Am I daily, intensely responsive to God, and appreciation of this mercy that the Passover is all about? If you're not baptized, you may find that God... You know, one thing God will do is they eventually get you there. You're going to become intensely aware of this. That's how He gets you there, by making you intensely aware of it.

Our third point. Are you expressing grateful appreciation towards God by living as a disciple of Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ is the one who came and did this. That's why we just read. God says, you know what? You don't understand. Even the people who go to the lake of fire will bow before Jesus Christ, before they go to the lake of fire. God says, everybody, everybody will acknowledge what He did, even if you don't accept it. Everybody's going to see. He may force them. He may force them on their knees, but God's going to force them on their knees so that they bow before Jesus Christ.

And so we now, because of this, what He did of His sacrifice and His resurrection, which is part of it. We have to live our lives in appreciation towards God by being disciples of Jesus Christ. Luke 14. I read this to everyone who I counsel for baptism. Probably most of you, or many of you, had this read to you, too. Jesus says in verse 26 in Luke 14, if anyone comes to me and does not hate, it's a very interesting word in Greek, as you all know. It means that in comparing these two things, this one I love so much, it's like I hate this. It doesn't mean you actually hate something. It means you're comparing two things, and this one, you know, I may love ice cream, but I love chocolate ice cream, okay? And compared to chocolate ice cream, all other ice cream is inferior. So he says you have to come to him. Now this is Jesus Christ talking. He says, anyone who comes to me does not hate, love less. In other words, his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, his own life also cannot be my disciple. When you and I are baptized, we enter into this covenant, this covenant that we renew every year at Passover. We are saying, I have committed my life to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Nothing less.

Nothing less. If he died for me, then this is my response to live life as his disciple. See, I've seen people baptized for forgiveness, but never accept that they now must live their lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. You and I need to examine ourselves before the Passover and say, am I living my life as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Is that what my life is? Since it's his death, I am commemorating. Remember what we read. Paul said, do this in remembrance of his death.

If it's his death that I'm commemorating and his death for me, because if he didn't die for me, I have to die for me. I have to suffer eternal death if he didn't die for me.

Then my response has to be, I wish to be your disciple. Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be a disciple. He picked up and carried his cross through the streets till they nailed him to it. You and I pick up this cross and we carry it until we're nailed to it. That's how long we carry it. We pick up the cross. Christ says, here, here's your cross.

Just like mine, pick it up and you carry it till you die.

He says, if you can't do this, then you don't understand what's happening. Now remember, we already went through. It's through God's power. So we're resisting God's power. To not discern the Lord's body is to resist the power of God. Because it is God who does it. We respond.

He says, for which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost?

Whether he is enough to finish it? Lest after he has laid the foundation, he is not able to finish it. All who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build was not able to finish.

Skipping down to verse 33, so likewise, whoever of you who does not forsake all that he has, he cannot be my disciple. See, this idea of just accepting Jesus, and that's all there is to this, Jesus didn't say that. He said, when you accept me, you respond to me because you love me.

And you love me so much, you want to be just like me. You would act like me and talk like me. You would be a Christian, follower of Christ. That's what it means. You wish to be my follower, and you're going to be my disciple. And disciples weren't just students, they were imitators of the teacher. They imitated the teacher. So that if you were a disciple of some rabbi, people say, ah, you're a disciple of rabbi, so and so.

So you're one of... Remember what they said to Peter? You're one of his disciples.

You're one of the guys that imitates him.

This is what we commit to. We examine ourselves. Actually, making a little list of sins would be the easiest way, but that's not what we're supposed to do here.

We have to discern the Lord's body. What's happening here? What does this symbol mean? What does this bread mean? What does this wine mean? And God's bringing me to this, and I may be unworthy, but that isn't the issue. God's making me worthy, and I come here because of his worthiness, and because of the worthiness of Jesus Christ, and I can't do it in an unworthy manner. Therefore, am I responding to God in absolute grateful appreciation for what he's doing, and am I following Jesus Christ in absolute grateful appreciation for what he did and what he's doing now, so that I'm his disciple. I imitate him. I do what he says.

We keep the Sabbath because we're disciples of Jesus Christ, because he kept the Ten Commandments, and I'm going to keep the Ten Commandments. How about you? Right? So all these other arguments become superfluous. So much of what we do becomes superfluous if we're disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus did it. That's good enough for me.

Do you know about washing feet? Jesus did it and said, this is an example for you? That's good enough for me. Right? Look at 2 Corinthians 13. Paul here talks a little bit about examination again.

2 Corinthians 13. By the way, I believe there are people that have been baptized in the church.

Who never understood the body of Christ and never received God's Spirit.

Because I've seen them. And never, they never repented. They understood their guilt. They understood a need for God, but they never discerned this. And God is not going to give his Spirit to somebody who is now doomed to failure. He's not going to. I mean, we can't fail, but it's our decision to fail. If somebody isn't even able to make the choice to fail, he's not going to give him his Spirit. So if they... You see what I mean? You can't... If the requirements for baptism are set of things and you don't do those things and you convince a minister to baptize you, it doesn't mean God gives you his Spirit. And if you don't believe that, read the story of Simon Magus. He got baptized in the church. The leader said, you're not going to get the Holy Spirit here.

You really don't understand this. And that happens sometimes even in the church.

That's okay, because God will bring him there sometime.

Everybody eventually has to make a choice because their mind is open. That's what Larry was talking about in the sermonette. He's not going to judge all these people who never saw the light. I'm going to judge you for being in darkness, but I never turned the light on.

Only God can turn the light on. So he's going to judge everybody for being in darkness because he never turned the light on? That is unfair. 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5. He says, examine yourselves. How do you do this?

As to whether you are in the faith. Examine yourselves to see if you are truly discerning the Lord's body. If you are truly repentant, you've truly received God's Spirit. You're truly responding to God, and you're a disciple of Jesus Christ. Are you into faith?

Now what I find interesting, because he's pretty hard on Corinth, because Corinth is a mess.

Examine yourselves to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves? Here's a great problem.

Sometimes we face even in the church.

Especially now, you know, some of us have been around a long time. My children are fourth generation. There's people that have been in this in the churches of God, fifth generation.

And what happens is, you do it. It's all you know. As is, test yourself.

Okay, well how do I do that? Well, let's see. I've kept the Sabbath all my life. I've never worshiped an idol. I never stole anything. Does that sound like Paul? But he made a list of what he always did and then said, and then I met Christ and said, oh my. I learned it.

So sometimes for us who grew up in the church, we have to really do this examination. It can be a little harder for us than those who came into the church as a first generation. Because like, why did all of it? And God says, uh, no. Well, we're going to have to help you understand it.

Let you come face to face with Christ. Oh my. And we have to do that.

And he says, so do you not know yourselves? And you could be in the church long enough.

You know, there's people... we've been around as a... the church of God in the United States has been around for really... I mean, you go back to Seventh-day Baptist who believed many things we teach. I mean, you got a couple hundred years here. Three, four hundred years.

Most of them die out. It's amazing. Most congregations die out by the fourth generation.

Not all, but many do. That's for this very reason. Okay. Test yourself to see what?

He says, so you will know yourselves. Do you know yourself? Do I know who I am?

Who am I? This is what this all comes down to. I'm a child of God.

I'm a child of God because God made me his job.

And I'm not worthy of that, but he makes me worthy. He forgives me. I can let go of it all.

And I can learn to be a new person. And once a year I show up and say, yes, God, I'm still a sinner.

Thank you for what you're doing.

And I'm here to respond more deeply. And I'm here to be a better disciple. That's what I want.

To respond to you more deeply and to be a better disciple in Jesus Christ.

Because of what you've done and because of what you're doing. This is the examination.

Look what he says. He says, do you not know yourself? Don't you even know who you are?

That Jesus Christ is in you?

Do you not know what this is?

Examine yourselves. Okay. I'll examine myself and I'll make a list of, you know, I need to pray more. So I'm going to get up every morning at five o'clock and pray for a half hour. And I'm not saying that's wrong. I'm just saying that's not exactly what this examination is.

If you're saying to yourself, I need to respond to God more. I need to pray more. So let me find ways to do that. That's fine. If you're saying I need to pray more because that'll earn me a better position to God's kingdom or whatever your motivation is, you fail the test. It's interesting. I say fail the test in the King James, the rest of the sentences. And unless indeed you are disqualified, test yourselves. Do you not know yourself that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you are disqualified? That is not how that's translated in most translations. Most translations translate that unless you have failed the test.

Test yourselves to see if Jesus Christ is in you, then you'll know who you are. Unless you fail the test, you won't know who you are. You won't see Jesus Christ in you. So you won't know who you are.

This process of Jesus Christ being in us.

Okay, now that could be discouraging too because, oh man, I'm a far, I'm a long way from being Christ-like. Well, join the club! I mean, wow!

Then we go to another place here by Paul. Paul talks a lot about examining yourself here in 2 Corinthians 3. 2 Corinthians 3 is one of my favorite passages because it explains the difference between the Old and New Covenant. But I'm just going to pick up this part of verse 18.

So where he sort of wraps up here as part of his argument here, he says, But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

What he says here, and it is sort of Pauline, complicated way of saying things, he says this is what Christianity is all about under the New Covenant, because it's different than some of the things under the Old Covenant.

When you and I go keep the Passover, it is to remind us. Here's your examination. You look into what appears to be a portrait of Jesus Christ, and you realize it's a mirror, and you sort of move around and it's like, I sort of don't look like him. Well, I sort of look like him there. You know, it's like Jesus is like I have the same eyes. Boy, we have a different nose, a different mouth. Okay. He says, what's happening here is you're being transformed so that spiritually speaking we should look into that mirror. Here's the, you know, what's an examination? I'm looking at a mirror. Here's the criteria. I'm looking at the mirror and I'm saying, okay, I'm still not a complete disciple yet. I'm not there yet.

Now I know what I need to do, or I need to have God do, and I need to respond.

See, this is very positive because he doesn't say you look at the mirror and you look at yourself and say, oh look, I look like Jesus. He says, you look at the mirror and it's like, whoa, I don't know. It's sort of. Isn't that a great way he puts this? But I'm being transformed.

Every time I look in that mirror, you know, whichever passover we should, it's like, uh, yeah, a little bit more. In fact, what happens is, when you go through the examination, you'll see ways you're not like Christ that you used to think you were.

Who shows you that? Do you and I come up with that? He does.

It's like the people come to me six months after they're baptized and say, I never received God's Spirit. I've had this happen numerous times. And I'll say, well, why? Why do you say that?

I had no idea I had so many sins. So, welcome to the mirror.

Uncomfortable, isn't it? You would have never seen those things except God put you in this transformation process. And now you see them. Welcome to the club again. Welcome to the family. Now, we all got to learn to be like the older brother. And it's a transformation process.

So, the Passover again reminds us it's a transformation process that we're part of.

So, now we can be encouraged even when we look into that mirror and say, wow, I still got a long ways to go.

A guy says, yes, but you see it. Yes, but you've... Okay, you're passing the test.

I just think that word Paul says, unless you fail the test, you're not going to see Christ in you at all. And of course, what we read was written right at, you know, a couple chapters after this. So, these two thoughts are tied together. Here he says, you look in the mirror and you see Christ and you see how you're being developed into and transformed into Christ. Later he says, and so you examine yourself. So, remember the same context and then says, of course, unless you fail the test, unless you look in the mirror and you don't even look at anything like it, or you don't even see Christ, you just see yourself.

That would be bad. You failed the test. One last scripture, 2 Corinthians 5. So, now we're right still in the 2 Corinthians where Paul's talking about this. Verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, so if we have entered into this new covenant and we go to the Passover to renew it, we go to the Passover understanding that, wow, I am not completed. I still have sin. I still need forgiveness. But I'm in this relationship that allows this forgiveness. That God does forgive me. That Christ is working with me. That I am being transformed. I am His disciple. I am responding to God of gratefulness. And sometimes, you know, in this process, you end up saying, God, help me to respond to you more. Help me to be more thankful.

Help me to understand more what you're doing. Think of all the things we read there, where Paul talked about in Colossians, you know, knowledge and power and long suffering and joy.

I need all these things. And he says, well, you get this by the power of God, the glorious power of God.

And we need to go ask for them. Part of this examination is to go ask God.

It isn't to go to God and say, I'm unworthy. You know, He already knows that. You can say it. I mean, it's not bad to say it. God, I'm unworthy of this. He says, I know that. But I'll make you worthy. That's His response every time. But I can do this. You have to work with me. You have to respond to me. But I could do this. He could do it without a response. He just won't do it without a response because it would mean he has to make his pets. And he doesn't want pets. He wants beings who think for themselves. Pets would be easy. Right. I could do this by just feeling. I could do my power. But I could make dogs all day long. I don't want more dogs. I want children. They have to make decisions.

You have to love me. You have to respond to me, God says.

So He says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now, all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. This is what the Passover is all about. For He made Him, this is Jesus, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.

Why? That we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He made Him sin for us so that we can become righteousness, so that we can become His children.

Paul's instructions are clear. You and I have to examine ourselves before the Passover because to keep it in an unworthy manner can put us under the judgment of God. So, we have to examine ourselves. And how? We must examine ourselves so that we discern the Lord's Body. We discern this is the method by which we can receive forgiveness. This is the method by which God has shown His grace and mercy. And we must respond. We must respond with gratefulness to God to be intensely responsive to Him in His Spirit. And we must be dedicated to living lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. Both of those things take a relationship. A relationship with God as Father and a relationship with Jesus Christ as our Master and our Brother.

Those relationships are what motivate us and drive us and take us into this family, which is what God is doing. He's transforming us into images of Jesus Christ. So, it is important that you take those three questions, but over the next few days, think about those three questions, examine yourself, pray about it, and then go keep the Passover. And at the Passover there, you will feel a bit unworthy. You should. I do.

I would worry if I didn't. I would worry if I didn't, because that would mean, man, am I in trouble. I've drifted from God too far. But at the same time, at the end, you feel healed. At the end, it's like, yes, God could do this. God is worthy. Christ is worthy. And it's God's power that takes you through it. And you will find yourself rededicated to the new covenant that God made with you in baptism.