[0:00] I wonder if you'd turn me to Psalm 32 in your Bibles, please.
[0:26] Psalm 32. And we're going to read the psalm by way of introduction to our worship, and particularly to the theme that's going to be coming out in God's Word a bit later on this evening.
[0:42] So Psalm 32. I'll read the passage. Just follow along in your Bible, please.
[0:57] It's a psalm of David. Psalm 32. Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
[1:09] Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them, and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
[1:22] For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not cover up my iniquity.
[1:34] I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found.
[1:46] Surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
[2:00] I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule which have no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and bridle, or they will not come to you.
[2:13] Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad you're righteous. Sing all you who are upright in heart.
[2:27] David was a man who knew much of what it was to sin. He wasn't a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination. He was a sinful man. He knew that, but he recognizes the fact that whenever he confessed his sin, there was a wonderful liberty and freedom that came with that.
[2:47] He speaks about the fact that when he once kept his sin hidden from God, kept it to himself, when he didn't acknowledge it and confess it, he said, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
[3:01] It ate away at him. That's what sin does. It eats away at us. It creates in us a terrible sense of pain, guilt, shame. But here's the wonderful truth.
[3:14] There is blessing. There is happiness. There is satisfaction in knowing our sins are forgiven. And that is something only God can give. Nobody can tell us our sins are forgiven.
[3:25] And it's no good us trying to convince ourselves that we're okay. We're good people. We're all right. It's only when God, by his grace, gives to us that wonderful confidence and assurance as we confess our sins to him, that he has forgiven us, that there is peace that flows, joy that flows, and delivers us from so many things.
[3:47] I wonder this evening, are we anything like the horse or the mule? David likens those people, us perhaps as well, when we will not come to God and confess our sins.
[3:59] He says we're stubborn, and we're stubborn and hard-headed and hard-hearted, and we bring upon ourselves many woes, but rejoice, there's joy in forgiveness.
[4:09] And so our first hymn is a hymn that reminds us of this glorious truth, that one of the things that makes God so great, one of the things that makes him so lovely to us, is the fact that he is the God who forgives our sins.
[4:24] Great God of wonders. We think of all the amazing things God has done, but the best thing of all for us is, he's a pardoning God who has free grace. One, two, eight.
[4:34] Let's stand as we sing. Let's continue in our worship in prayer together, and perhaps as we do from time to time, a few of us would like to bring our praise, our thanksgiving to God, our thankfulness particularly for what we've been singing of, his pardon and forgiveness and mercy.
[5:02] I'll lead briefly, and then those who feel able lead us in prayer too. There is no one like you, O Lord. There is no one who compares to you, no God who is wonderful like you are.
[5:16] There's nothing, Lord, in all the earth that really holds a candle to you in love and mercy and grace, in all the great people of the world and of history, people who've been world changers in one sense, people who've done tremendous good.
[5:31] They still, O Lord, are tiny, a tiny spark in compared to the blazing brightness of your great love and grace to us. Love that sent your Son into the world.
[5:43] Love that took him to the cross to die in our place. Love that means that there he was punished for our iniquities and our sins. Love that means that we, no matter what our sin may be, no matter our failing, our wickedness, no matter how dark our past or even our present, Lord, in you there is forgiveness if we will simply come and confess and ask.
[6:09] So, Lord, help us now as we rejoice in your forgiveness, as we rejoice in your salvation. Help us to continue to bring our praises to you and lead us by your Holy Spirit who has been poured out into our hearts and given us the assurance that we are children of God.
[6:27] Amen. 1 Corinthians and chapter 11. So, if you'd like to turn there in your Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, if you've got one of the church Bibles, one of the church Bibles, that's page 1152, page 1152 in the church Bible, 1 Corinthians 11.
[6:49] And we're going to pick up from verse 17. We looked at the first half of the chapter last week and we're going to continue now into verse 17 through to verse 34 with some words which are particularly familiar to us and words even that we thought about last week, last Sunday evening we shared together in the Lord's Supper and we're going to think now about Paul's directives concerning that.
[7:14] So, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning at verse 17. Here is our faithful Saviour's word. In the following directives, I have no praise for you for your meetings do more harm than good.
[7:30] In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.
[7:43] So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat. For when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
[7:58] Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you?
[8:10] Certainly not in this matter. For I received from the Lord while I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you.
[8:27] 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.
[8:39] For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. So then, 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.
[8:56] Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
[9:08] That is why many among you are weak and ill and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
[9:21] Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.
[9:37] Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home so that when you meet together, it may not result in judgment. When I come, I will give further instructions.
[9:50] I thank God for his word. I'm going to ask you