Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2699
“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” 1 Corinthians 11:28.
IT can never be too clearly understood that spiritual ordinances are only for spiritual persons. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper belong to Believers and to none but Believers. It is an evil thing for any church to give either the one or the other of those two ordinances to those who are destitute of “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” There would have been no necessity for Paul to say, “Let a man examine himself,” if the Lord’s Table were free to all. If every man might come to it, then every man might come simply because he was a man, and he would have no occasion to examine himself at all. The very fact that there is an examination, presupposes that there are some persons who have no right to “eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” And our own personal examination is in order that we may discover whether we have a right to participate in this ordinance or not. Therefore, let every man clearly understand that the Lord’s Table is for the Lord’s people. As in a man’s house, his table is for his family, so, in God’s House, His Table is for His family, and if we do not belong to the family of God, we have no right to draw near to His Table at all!
I fear that there are some unconverted people who imagine that they have performed a meritorious action when, on certain days in the year, they have, as they say, “taken the sacrament.” But, my Friend, if your heart is not right with God, you were a thief and a robber when you came to His Table and took what He provided for His children alone! You did not come in by the Door, that is, Christ, but you climbed up some other way, and you were really sinning against God in that very act which you supposed to have some merit in it! Unless you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Unless you have been born again by the effectual operation of the Holy Spirit. Unless you truly belong to the household of faith, as you have no part in the spiritual mystery, so you have no right to the outward and visible sign by which that mystery is set forth. All this is implied in our text, “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”
The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is not meant for the conversion of sinners. It is not intended to lead men to salvation, but it is intended for those who are already saved, those who are converted. I have heard of unconverted persons coming to the Lord’s Table and the solemn impressions experienced there have led them to repentance and faith in Christ. We must always remember that God works how He pleases and, in such cases as those, He overlooked the communicants’ great mistake and even in the midst of their error He worked according to the Sovereignty of His Divine Grace. Yet this is no excuse for ungodly persons venturing to come to the Communion Table, for they will be eating and drinking condemnation to themselves! And if it should please God to forgive the transgression and to save their souls, this will be an exception, and a surprising work of Grace, for it is not according to the Law of the Master’s House. If any of you think that by being baptized and coming to the Lord’s Table, you will thereby be saved, you “err, not knowing the Scriptures.” You have no right to either ordinance till you have first come to Christ and are saved. But when you have passed from death unto life, when you have been washed in the Savior’s precious blood, then is your time to come forward and, by being buried with Christ in Baptism, acknowledge your conversion and, by sitting with your fellow Believers at His Table and meditating upon His wondrous Sacrifice, of which the bread and the wine are the significant symbols, feed the spiritual life that God has imparted to you.
Having given you this plain warning, I now come to my text, which teaches us, first, the objective of the examination commanded in it—“Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” Secondly, it points out to us the matter of that examination. And, thirdly, the duty that follows after the examination—“Let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”
I. First, our text teaches us THE OBJECTIVE OF THE EXAMINATION COMMANDED IN IT—“Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”
The distinct objective of the examination is that the communicant may eat and drink at the Lord’s Table. In some churches, there is a practice which is called, “fencing the tables,” defending the Table of the Lord against the approach of improper characters. This is a very right and necessary thing to do, but some ministers have so guarded the table that very few have dared to come to it—and those who have come have often been persons who had more conceit than Grace, while the better part—the truly humble and broken-hearted ones—have been frightened away! It would appear, from the exhortations of these ministers, as if Paul must have said, “Let a man examine himself, but never let him eat of this bread, nor drink of this cup. Let him so examine himself that he shall come to the conclusion that he has no right to sit at the Table of the Lord and, therefore, shall go his way feeling that he is utterly unworthy of that high privilege.” Beloved Friends, this is not my objective in preaching from this text, nor should it be yours in obeying it. Examine yourselves with the hope and the strong desire that you may be permitted to come to the Lord’s Table. Do not let the examination take so morbid and melancholy a form that you almost look out for causes of self-suspicion, but the rather, especially as many of you have known the Lord for years, let your examination be made in order that you may come aright to the table, that you may come there in a right spirit, and not that you may be compelled to stay away. “Let a man examine himself,” and then, in the spirit of self-examination, let him eat of this bread, and drink of this cup.