WEBVTT

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the fruit of the vine, from now on until the

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kingdom of God comes. And when he had taken some

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bread and given thanks, he broke it and gave

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it to them, saying, This is my body which is

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given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

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And in the same way he took the cup after they

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had eaten, saying, This cup which is poured out

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for you is the new covenant in my blood. But

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behold, the hand of the one betraying me is with

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me on the table. For indeed, the Son of Man is

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going as it has been determined. But where to

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that man by whom he is betrayed? And then following

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a conversation, we read in verse 39, And he came

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out and proceeded, as was his custom, to the

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Mount of Olives. And the disciples also followed

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him. And when he arrived at the place, he said

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to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation.

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And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw,

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and he knelt down and began to pray, saying,

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Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup

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from me. Yet not my will, but thine be done.

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Now an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening

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him. And being in agony, he was praying very

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fervently. and his sweat became like drops of

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blood falling down upon the ground. And when

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he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples

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and found them sleeping from sorrow and said

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to them, Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray

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that you may not enter into temptation. And while

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he was still speaking, behold, a multitude came,

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and the one called Judas, one of the twelve,

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was preceding them. And then down in verse 54,

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And having arrested him, they led him away. And

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then followed the night of trial, of torture,

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culminating in his crucifixion on the cross by

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nine o 'clock the next morning. The Lord Jesus

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Christ ate that last Passover meal with his disciples

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and said to them, I will not eat like this with

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you again. observance of this until it is fulfilled

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in the kingdom. I believe that the Lord Jesus

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was referring to that time in the future that

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we call the marriage supper of the Lamb. When

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with the twelve and with those of us who have

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been saved during this age, he will sit down

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at a meal and it will be the meal celebrating

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his marriage to the Church, to those of us who've

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been saved during this time, during this dispensation.

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After they had eaten the meal together, he went

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to the garden. His suffering began. It began

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with prayer, because in his humanity, the thought

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of the cross and of the despicable shame, the

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agony that went with that, was grievous to him.

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Undoubtedly, as he prayed, he prayed for strength.

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When he said, if it be possible, take this cup

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from me, he was not shirking what had been determined

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from eternity past that he should fulfill. But

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it was simply in his humanity he was asking,

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if there is another way, let it be so. But of

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course there was no other way. And gladly he

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accepted that cup from the Father. Thus, he received

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the mandate. The garden was agony for Christ.

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We do not know how long he was there praying.

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We know that the disciples slept through most

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of that time. They had had an exhausting week

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and day. Even Peter, James, and John had been

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selected to go with him a little further into

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the garden, fell asleep. That Garden of Gethsemane

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was located at the foot of the Mount of Olives.

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It was a special place where, we are told, the

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elite people of Jerusalem often resorted. It

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was a place that was well manicured. The Mount

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of Olives was covered with many olive trees,

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but there was this special area set aside called

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the Garden of Gethsemane. And it was there that

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Jesus and his disciples apparently often went

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for times of prayer and meditation and fellowship.

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On that last night as they were there, Jesus,

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as we read in the other Gospels, prayed, falling

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upon the ground, and then he would get up and

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walk and pray and then fall upon the ground again.

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And over and over again that process occurred

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as he struggled in prayer. and as he cried out

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to God, and as he accepted what God had called

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him to do for us. And then he was arrested through

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betrayal and went to the cross, and there his

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blood was shed. He offered up his body for our

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sins, thus giving meaning to the elements that

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we observe tonight. He said to them at that last

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meal together, this is my body. And of course,

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he did not mean literally this bread is becoming

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my body any more than when he said, I am the

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door, he became a door. He's simply saying that

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this bread is symbolic of my body. This wine

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is symbolic of my blood. We come together tonight

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because we have been commanded by our Lord to

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do so. During this age, we are to observe this

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ordinance of the Lord's Supper. It is to accomplish

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a number of things for our fellowship. One of

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the most important is that it is to accomplish

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a cleansing, a catharsis of each of us individually

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and of us collectively. We see this, for example,

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in 1 Corinthians 5, and I will ask you again

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to turn there. draws a parallel between what

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we do and a situation that the Corinthian church

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was in. I simply remind you that there was a

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man who was a part of their fellowship who was

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living in open sin without any repentance, and

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the church up to this point had not rebuked him,

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but rather had with... pride accepted him, thinking

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that it was good to be broad -minded. And so

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the apostle writes that this man is to be removed

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from their fellowship. He says in verse 3, I

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on my part, though absent in body but present

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in spirit, have already judged him who has so

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committed this, as though I were present. In

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the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled,

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and I with you in spirit, Such an action is the

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most severe that any church can take in its discipline

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process. There are various stages of church discipline.

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And the one that is brought before us here is

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that final, culminating stage, when an individual

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shows no repentance or submission to the leadership

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of the Church and insists on going on in open

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sin. It becomes a flagrant, disgracing thing.

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In a case like that, such a one is to be removed

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from the Church, the sphere of the Church, and

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as the Apostle says that he is to be delivered

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to Satan. That does not mean that that individual

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somehow loses his salvation, of course. But it

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does mean that that person is put outside the

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sphere of the Church. He is returned to the world

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in that sense. And the result may well be that

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his body, physically, he will be torn down, will

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degenerate because of that. And yet the result

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of that is that his spirit will still be saved

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in the day of the Lord Jesus. No question about

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his salvation. But there's the awful possibility

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of wasting his life. For having been placed outside

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the sphere of the Church, he is in a place of

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chastisement by God and attack by Satan. Well,

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we know the result of this, don't we? In 2 Corinthians,

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the man was restored, and the Apostle writes

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to them at that time, Reach out to this one as

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a brother, and since he is repentant, restore

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him to your fellowship. But he goes on to say

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in verse 6, your boasting is not good. In other

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words, your boast about having this man in your

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fellowship. Do you not know that a little leaven

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leavens the whole lump of dough? Anytime you

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read about leaven in the Bible, it pictures evil.

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Leaven never pictures that which is good. It's

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always evil. He says, clean out the old leaven.

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that you may be a new lump, just as you are,

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in fact, unleavened. For Christ our Passover

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also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate

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the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the

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leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the

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unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Here's

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what the Apostle is doing. He is saying, Christ

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our Passover, Lamb. has been sacrificed for us

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in fulfillment of that feast in the Old Testament.

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And now he says we enjoy feasting upon Christ

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just as those Old Testament Jews feasted upon

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that lamb during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

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We now in this age are enjoying that Feast of

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Unleavened Bread. feasts that we enjoy in Christ

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spiritually, along with the fellowship that we

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have with one another. Now what the apostle says

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here is that fellowship needs to be kept clean

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and pure. We need to purge out the leaven so

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that we remain unleavened in our fellowship and

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pure and clean. Later in chapter 11 of Corinthians,

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the apostle again rebukes them because they had

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not done this. And he says as a result, the church

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was, was weakened and there were some people

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in their fellowship who were sick and some who

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had even died early. How important it is that

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we do that. We intend here at this church to

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practice before God as faithfully as we can and

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with love and with the gentleness of Christ,

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church discipline. As a matter of fact, for the

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last two months we've been dealing with one particular

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case that we thought we would have to bring before

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you tonight. for the removal of a person. And

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we thank God that as that began to get more and

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more serious, that it resulted in repentance

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on the part of that person. And it's unnecessary

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to do that. But when it becomes necessary for

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us as a fellowship to do exactly what the Apostle

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commands us to do here, it will be at this time

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as we come to the Lord's table. It will not be

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a time for us to point a finger and judge anyone.

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It would be a recognition of the importance of

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keeping ourselves clean. It would also be a rebuke

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to each of us and a reminder to each of us that

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our own lives need to be kept free of leaven.

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That's why the Apostle says that as we come to

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this table, we should not come unworthily. In

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other words, we should not come in an unworthy

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manner. We should not come unprepared. In fact,

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we should come to this observance with our hearts

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having been opened before God. We should have

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already gone through our lives and purged out

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any leaven that we have found which the Holy

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Spirit has showed to us. As we come to this table

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tonight, I would like for us to meditate upon

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these things and to allow the Spirit of God even

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now To reveal to us any leaven that would be

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in our lives so that we may quietly and humbly

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confess before him and cleanse that leaven so

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that as we observe this table we may do so without

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leaven and in a worthy manner that would be pleasing

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to him. Jesus said that we are to do this until

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he returns and that time that we observe it with

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him in heaven. May that day be hastened. that

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we will see him face to face. But until then,

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we draw near to him, and he draws near to us

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as we specifically set aside this time to observe

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this ordinance. I would like for us now to bow

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in prayer and to complete the preparation of

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our hearts, personally and individually, as we

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come to the bread and the juice. reminding us

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of the sacrifice that he made for us. Let's meditate

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and pray. Father, we thank you for the very special

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plan of salvation which you and your wisdom ordained

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before the world was founded. We thank you for

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your faithfulness in bringing about the fulfillment

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of your promise. We thank you for the Son who

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became flesh and dwelt amongst us. We thank you

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for his blessed submission in receiving the mandate.

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When he came into the world, he said, Lo, I come

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to do thy will, O God, a body you have prepared

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for me. We thank you for the body of Christ which

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was broken for us. We thank you that that veil

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has been rent and that now we may enter into

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the very holiest place and enjoy your fellowship.

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Thank you for Jesus. In his name we pray.