Communion Message
(Endure hardship as discipline)
October 14, 2001
Pastor Leighton Sheley

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned or judged with the world.

In these last couple of verses there are numerous -- there are 3 different words in the original language that are all translated with the word judge or judged the first word is, but if we judged ourselves, and that word means to contend-to contend with our self, to argue with our self. A picture that is found in Romans chapter 7 when the apostle Paul writes, that which I would like to do, that which I know is good, those of the things that I don't do; but the things that I know I shouldn't do, the things that do not please God, those are the things that I do. O wretched man that I am. Who will save me from this body of death? And then he goes on to give glory to God for the salvation that is found in Christ. If we contend with ourselves, we would not come under judgment. And that word is a word for discipline as a father would discipline a child. That when we are disciplined by the Lord, same word, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned or judged with the world. That word condemned is katakrino, as in catastrophic, and has to do with the final judgment. So we are disciplined by the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world, because we are His children.

We find these words in Hebrews chapter 12; Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fixed our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as children or sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart and he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we might share in his holiness. Now no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Sometimes in my role as an earthly father I'm required to bring discipline to my children, because I want them to grow to be men and women that are godly. Sometimes our heavenly Father disciplines us because He wants us to grow into mature, godly men and women. And so He is our Father; and let us pray: our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Now I'd like to invite you to join with me as we kneel in the presence of our Lord and Savior, and as the Scriptures tell us we should do, we examine ourselves at this time.

Lord, in these few moments that we have here we've invited Your Holy Spirit to speak to us as we've examine ourselves. And once again, Lord, we are reminded of how sinful we are. For each and every one of us have done things that are displeasing to You each and every day. Thank you Lord that You who is most holy would love us who are so unholy, so much as to send Jesus Christ to bring salvation to us. Lord as we hold these elements we are reminded of the body and the blood of Christ, and Calvary's cross where the wages of our sin were paid for. Lord we thank you for Your word that says if we confess our sins You are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all on righteousness. Lord this day we desire to be forgiven of our sins and cleansed of our unrighteousness. And Lord we ask You to purify our hearts and our minds against even the inclination to sin. And Lord we thank you for hearing our prayer.

Let's partake of the bread and also the cup. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you Lord. Let's say thank you Lord together, shall we? Thank you Lord. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. And thank you Lord that we will be able to be able to praise Your name forever and ever, in Jesus' name we pray, and together we say, amen. Let's stand and let's greet our neighbors.