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[0:00] I want to talk about being partakers.

[0:15] And we're invited guests today.! He beckons us to feast with him, to come to this table.

[0:50] The early church participated in this. They participated. They took part. They were partakers in this. This that is called, as they called it, the love feast.

[1:01] The love feast. There's a feast in together as we remember God's love at the cross. And let us keep the feast, we're told. Keep the feast, not with the unleavened, the leaven which represents sin, but the unleavened bread which represents a lack of sin.

[1:19] With sincerity and with truth is the picture here. And so he says, come. He invites you. He invites us to come and partake. Partake with sincerity and with truth.

[1:32] With sincerity, with humility, with honesty, with repentance, with reverence, with faith, with truth. And our Lord shows us his love at the cross.

[1:44] And in love he beckons us to come to this table, to be partakers of that one bread. He invites us to this feast. He says, let us keep the feast to this table.

[1:58] A feast, a simple feast. A sacred feast. A significant feast. And in 1 Corinthians 10 through 16 through 7 it says, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?

[2:14] The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread. We, being many, are one bread.

[2:27] And one body. For we are all partakers of that one bread. For we are all partakers of that one bread. You know, to probably truly picture it, we'd have one loaf that we would break into individual pieces.

[2:45] One loaf, one piece of loaf, one bread. And it's our privilege to partake in this, this picture of this one bread. To partake. To partake. It means to take part in.

[2:57] To participate. I like to the word communion. There's a participating, there's a joining together. We've been participating in our singing, in our fellowshipping, in our praising, in our praying.

[3:10] And now too, at this time, there's a communion and participating together. It pictures our union with Christ. And not just that, but our union as brothers and sisters together in Him.

[3:22] It pictures our unity together as the body of Christ. And it's good to ask ourselves to take stock. What am I joining together with? What am I joining in with?

[3:33] There's many causes, many beliefs, many philosophies, many good causes that we can join together with. There's many things we can join in partnership with.

[3:44] But we know that this is a holy thing. Participating and partaking together. This is not just a signing up to some worthy cause, some great charity or some worldly effort or some group or club or some social event.

[4:01] This is the body of Christ. The body of Christ. I know Adam referred to that in the newsletter. The picture of the body of Christ. What that means for us. And we're reminded of that today.

[4:13] And communion is not just that signing up to a worthy cause, but a one body. And when we partake, when we take part, when we participate as that one body in this memorial feast, we're reminded of that one loaf, that one bread, that one body.

[4:32] Verse 17 again, it says, For we, being many, are one bread. For we are all participators, partakers of that one bread. So who is to partake?

[4:44] Those who belong to the body. If you are a member of the body. If you are a part of the body. That picture of the body of Christ. If you're a part of the body, partake today.

[4:59] This one bread, it represents the one body. The one body of Christ. And there are many people worldwide who identify with the Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:09] Who are his own people. One bread. One piece of loaf. One body. One bread. Yet diverse. And diverse. Spread throughout the whole globe.

[5:21] And we're just the local expression of that. In this moment. At this time. Here and now. It's a picture of unity, isn't it? How are we to partake? 1 Corinthians 5 verse 8.

[5:32] Again it says, Therefore let us keep the feast. Not with the old leaven. Neither with the leaven of malice and of wickedness. But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

[5:46] Keep the feast. Faithfully. The love feast. The Bible talks about the sincere love of the brethren. There's an honesty here this morning. Sincerity.

[5:58] It speaks to us of being honest with God. We've got nothing that we can hide from him anyway. But let's bring our heart to him. Bring our needs to him. Bring our petitions to him.

[6:09] Be honest with God today. Bring to him your unconfessed sin. Bring to him your need. Bring to him your heart. And humility. And love. And find his healing and cleansing just now.

[6:21] And it says, Keep the feast not with sincerity only, but with truth. We are participants in truth today. We're loudly proclaiming, we're declaring his death until he come.

[6:33] We're loudly proclaiming the truth of the Lord's coming again. Of his first coming and in light of his coming again. Which is nearing every day. And we're remembering that.

[6:43] We're remembering the cross. We're remembering the life changing, soul saving truth today. That the cross is. So let us keep the feast today. And we partake with remembrance.

[6:55] We partake with gratefulness. With thankfulness. We are to partake in a worthy manner, it says. A worthy manner. There is bread to partake of.

[7:06] It says in Acts 2, 42 of the early church. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship. And in breaking of bread. And in prayers.

[7:17] In breaking of bread. Literally, it's the breaking of the bread. Of the loaf. It's the picture of a breaking of a loaf. And we are fed from that one loaf today.

[7:28] So we too, being many, are one bread. We are one body. The body of Christ. For we being many are one bread and one body.

[7:39] For we all are partakers of that one bread. So not only is there bread. There is a cup. There is a cup today. And the cup speaks of the blood shed for us.

[7:51] The blood brings life to the body. Without the blood, there is no life. And we see the blood today too. The blood poured out. The truth of the blood.

[8:02] It prompts me to think of Rahab, the harlot. And as an example of how can we partake worthily. Rahab, the harlot, could partake. Because of the grace of God.

[8:15] Rahab, the prostitute. The harlot. If you think of the grossest example of sin. Here is one who God extended grace to.

[8:26] Rahab, the harlot. And the grace of God was shown to her. And as he shows his grace to us too. Sinful Gentiles. And Rahab's salvation wasn't based on her own doings.

[8:43] On her own character. Certainly not. On her own merits. There was nothing she could claim. Rahab, the harlot. It's in Joshua chapter 2. You can read the whole story of Rahab.

[8:55] Of her salvation. She was in the condemned city of Jericho. She practiced the condemned profession as a harlot. But Rahab acted in faith.

[9:07] She sheltered the two spies. And she claimed the promises of God. She claimed by faith God's redeeming power. And she was saved from death.

[9:20] And her family. As she acted on God's word. And they were spared the judgment of God. As Rahab tied the scarlet cord.

[9:32] This was a rope the two spies were let down. Out of the city of Jericho. And they instructed her to tie this red cord. To her window. The scarlet cord.

[9:43] And as she hung that scarlet cord out of her window. She was saved. The people walked around Jericho seven times.

[9:53] And then another seven times. And as they walked around the city. They saw the scarlet cord. They saw the scarlet thread.

[10:06] Thirteen times. As they saw the scarlet thread. And that blood red thread. Hanging out of the prostitute's window.

[10:17] Was a sign of her redemption. It pointed to the blood. To be shed. Of the redeemer.

[10:28] Christ. On the cross. Shedding his precious blood. And that picture. Of the scarlet cord. Is a picture here. Of the cup.

[10:39] The same truth. Is here for us today. Of the redeeming blood. Precious blood. Shed for unworthy. Such as we. Such as Rahab.

[10:50] Yet she could claim the promises. In 2 Peter 1. Verse 4. It says. Whereby are given unto us. Exceeding great and precious promises.

[11:01] That by these. You might be. Partakers. Partakers. Of the divine nature. Having escaped the corruption. That is in the world's true lust.

[11:12] Partakers. Partakers. We can be partakers today. Think of Christ. It says of Christ. He partook. Of our nature. It says he partook.

[11:23] Of flesh and blood. He partook. As partakers. Of human nature. And so we can. Partake.

[11:33] And be partakers. Of. The divine nature. He. As the captain. Of our salvation. Was made perfect. Through suffering.

[11:44] And friends. I urge you. To partake. Partake. Not just. Tangibly. Physically. In these symbols. But spiritually. In the reality. Of what it means.

[11:55] Of salvation. Just as Rahab did. Just as those. From Genesis. To Revelation. Who saw him coming. And who saw. Looking back. That he had come.

[12:05] They saw the cross. They saw. The blood. And what it meant. Keep the feast. Be a partaker.

[12:16] Take part. We are partakers. You look up. The word partake. Partakers. Partaking. In your concordance. And there's many examples. What we are partakers of. And we are partakers of grace.

[12:28] Today. Isn't that wonderful? Just as Rahab was. She could partake worthily. As it were. Because she was made worthy. Because of the scarlet cord. That was the sign.

[12:40] Of God's redeeming grace. And God's redeeming blood. In Christ. So we can be partakers. In holy wonder. That God should choose. That God should receive.

[12:51] Such as we. And we are joined to him. And this bread. This loaf. It pictures Christ. Broken for you. You who are pardoned. Can partake.

[13:02] You who are pardoned. Can partake. May he satisfy your soul. As you do. We'll call the ushers now. Those that have been appointed. If you'd like to come forward. And we'll be waited on.

[13:14] As we. Hold together. And join. As one. And let's be prayerful. The word instructs us to. Examine ourselves. Examine ourselves.

[13:25] Examine ourselves. And so. Let us eat and drink. If you are. If you are. Pardoned. You can. You can. Partake. And you can be pardoned.

[13:35] In simple faith. As you call upon him. In. Turning from your way. And turning. And letting him. Revolutionize. Your life. And change your heart.

[13:48]  From inside out. To be partakers. Of the divine nature. That's our privilege. Isn't it? Today. Today.