"17 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 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.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come."
I Corinthians 11:17-34
Good Morning Beloved,
Welcome to worship!
We're so glad to have you here with us today.
Let's bow our heads in prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We thank You for Your clear Word for us today. Lord, help us to love as You have loved us.
Thank You for the high calling that You’ve placed upon us, may we live up to that high calling. Let us not be ones who pervert everything, but to keep it holy, as You are Holy. Teach us how to make peace. Teach us O' Lord, how to bring peace and unity. And above all, give us the desire to be obedient to You. Save us from our self-centeredness, our selfishness and self-righteousness. Don’t allow us be divisive, separated into theological cliques, sociological cliques, or cliques built around the opinions that come and go with every passing wind. Preserve within us the beauty of oneness, in Christ, that bond that binds us together. Deepen our love and affection for one another, in such a way so that we are willing to sacrifice our needs in order to meet the needs of others.
This we ask and pray in Christ’s precious name
Amen
As we continue in our study of I Corinthians chapter 11, and we come today to verses 17 to 34. Now, this is a very significant and critical part of the New Testament because it deals with the celebration of the Lord’s Table. It concerns the communion.
Anyone who has been a Christian for any amount of time, or who has been around the church for some time, are more than aware of the significance that the Church attaches to two particular rights: one is baptism, and the other is the Lord’s Table or communion.
And the reason that we place so much significance to these two ordinances, is that the Lord has told us to Himself. They are commanded ordinances of the Church. Both of them were commanded and instituted, and the example which was set by our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, I feel so strongly about these two ordinances given to us by our Lord, I believe that a Christian should question his own commitment of obedience to the Lord, if he has not been obedient in these two areas. In the Bible,
I know that many of us may struggle to know what God wants and then obey it, I do not see how there can be any level of confusion with these. "Be Baptized" and "Do this in remembrance of me."
I believe these two are pretty clear.
And as I have stated many times before, this is a vital part of the Christian experience and it is not to be ignored or some last minute add on at the end of a particular Sunday service, as it is not to be some sort of ritualistic event, it is to be woven into the fabric of the lives of the believer. And, I strongly encourage all of you to view it as such, with great importance and significance.
Many times, we end up doing the right things for the wrong reasons. And much of the time, it is because no one ever stopped to ask why. And, in doing this, we often develop habits and traditions sometimes based on nothing more than false information.
We have a time of communion where we partake of emblems that remind us of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. In fact, some of you may even be a little uncomfortable right now because we aren’t doing things the way we have always done them today. Today, I am teaching from the Word of God, on the subject of communion. As we study verses 17-34, I believe that we will be encouraged.
We have now reached the end of the eleventh chapter, we can see that Paul is very, very upset. So much so, that he uses very strong terms in correcting what they’re doing. Believe it or not, they had turned the Lord's Table into a drunken, gluttonous feast. Paul says, not only is this serious In fact, it is so serious that God has moved into your congregation and taken the life of some of your members and others are weak and sick.
In order that we would see the urgency of this issue, we need to understand something about the Lord’s Supper. So, let’s go back in history just a little bit. On the night before His death, our Lord Jesus Christ gathered with His disciples in the upper room to eat the Passover meal. Historically, the Jews met, at that particular period of history, to gather and eat the Passover. And the Passover was a special meal designed by God to commemorate the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, which had been in bondage some 400 years.
God began to deliver them by a series of plagues which were designed to free them from Pharaoh’s captivity. And the only way the children of Israel could protect themselves from the death angel, who would take the firstborn in every house, was to kill a lamb, take the blood of the lamb, put it on the doorpost and the lintel, and then they ate the lamb along with some unleavened bread, as the Passover meal.
By the time the last plague arrived, which was the killing of the firstborn throughout the entire land of Egypt, Pharaoh said, "Take your people and just get out."
Acts 20:7, says "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight."
The term "breaking of bread," has a historical meaning apart from the death of Christ. It is the term referring to the Palestinian custom of having a fellowship meal. It was quite common in those days for fellowship to revolve around a table. And, it still does. And it was common during that period of time to have people over and to eat together.
"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
Acts 2:42
Early historians have documented that the early church observed communion every week. The smaller groups possibly took communion every day, but the church as a whole took communion every Lord’s Day. Following that precedent, I believe that the church today, should also observe communion every week. I believe that we should simply practice the example that we see the church in the 1st Century practicing.
One of the biggest complaints, that I have heard about taking weekly communion is that it becomes "too common." If you take communion every week it isn’t as special. So, with that in mind, I want us to look at why we take communion.
Open your Bibles with me if you would, to the book of I Corinthians chapter 11. I Corinthians 11:17-34, follow along with me while I read to you from this very critical section of Scripture.
"But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the 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, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come."
I believe a very important reason to take communion is because…JESUS STARTED IT.
The origins of communion come from Jesus. In fact, communion is also called "The Lord’s Supper" because of the fact that Jesus started it.
In verses 23-25, Paul says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
God, Who created us, knows that we do not have the greatest memories. Throughout the entire Bible we see that God was always setting up memorials for His people. Whenever a significant event would happen, the patriarchs would build an altar. When the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River they set 12 stones by the river bank to serve as a memorial to that event. Whenever their children walked by and saw the stones the parents could tell them about God’s miraculous entrance for them into the Promise Land.
As I mentioned a little earlier, another significant memorial for the Israelites was Passover. Passover was a meal celebrated to remember their escape from Egypt. During the meal they would eat bitter herbs to remind them of their years in slavery. They would also eat sweet honey to remind them of how good the Lord is. It was during this celebration that Jesus met with His disciples and started the Lord’s Supper.
Every family would set an additional place setting for the Messiah. This was a reminder that they were looking for the One coming from God. It is from this place that scholars believe Jesus took the bread and the cup. So this hold strong significance. Because the primary purpose of communion is the symbolic reminder of Christs' death. The Lord’s Supper is the most meaningful memorial ever established. You can see the wisdom of God written all over it.
It is incredibly symbolic. The unleavened bread is to remind us of Christ’s sinless body being broken for us. The blood colored juice, reminds us of Christs' blood that was shed for our sin.
It is portable. You don’t have to travel to some special cathedral to participate. It can be observed anywhere. It is interactive. It is not just something we look at. It is something we participate in.
Communion is so much more than some religious tradition or ritual. It is more than a mid or end service snack. It is a memorial. A vivid picture of remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ. It focuses our hearts and minds on Jesus.
And as Paul says in verse 26, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes."
Every time you and I eat the Lord’s Supper, it is a sermon without words about the cross. Jesus left us with a picture so we would never forget. In fact, another reason we take communion is because it demonstrates the unity of the church.
It’s not always easy to be around someone who is better at something than you are. And it often makes us even worse when it seems like a person is better at being a Christian than you? Isn't that true? Well, the Lord’s Supper erases all of that.
Paul told the church starting in verse 20. "Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you."
In the Corinthian culture, it was common practice to show favoritism during mealtimes. Those who were higher on the social and economic ladder got to go first, oftentimes, leaving nothing for those who weren’t rich or prestigious. And sadly, the Christians at Corinth had allowed this practice to creep into the church. Because of this practice, haves were jumping ahead of the have-nots.
So, Paul encourages them, in I Corinthians 11:33, "So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another."
Paul was instructing them to wait for one another because, when it comes to the Lord’s Supper, we’re all equal, we're all on the same level. Social and economic distinctions vanish. Our spiritual inferiority complexes also disappear. Jesus died for each and every one of us. Why? Because we are all sinners, we are all hopelessly lost apart from the grace of God. That is what we remember at the Lord’s Supper. A brand new Christian and a believer of 50 years are on the same level at the Lord’s Supper. By way of the leveling ground of the foot of the cross!
In fact, in verses 27-29, he says, "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly."
Beloved, Communion requires serious self-examination, serious self-examination. And, it is in this self-examination that we realize none of us are worthy to take communion. Self-examination forces us to be real with ourselves and with God. None of us are perfect, none are worthy. We are all sinners. But we are sinners saved by God’s grace. And because of that grace shown to us we are now part of Christ’s body, the church.
I believe that when Paul talks about recognizing the body of the Lord, he is referring to this in two ways. First, we are to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. This is why we have the emblems. And secondly, we are to remember our fellow church members.
Remember what was going on in Corinth? They were not considering each others needs. There were major divisions in the church. If you have an issue or a problem with someone in the church, you need to work things out with them before you take communion. Otherwise, you are not recognizing the body of the Lord.
Our Lord Jesus, said in Matthew 5:23-24, "Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering."
Allow me to just summarize this by saying that I believe, there are the times when you should not take communion. First of all, you don’t take communion if you are not a believer, if you are not a Christian. If you haven’t made Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life, communion is a meaningless meal to you.
Secondly, you are not to take communion if there is someone in your life you haven’t forgiven. If you are not truly trying to forgive someone who has wronged you then I believe that you need to take care of that first. I know that there are a great number of churches, who do not follow this line of belief, however, I believe, there is sufficient Scriptural evidence to substantiate this.
And, I will take it a step further, I do not believe that you should take communion if you are distracted or irritated. If you’re thinking more about what you have to do this afternoon, or if you’re worried about beating the crowd to the restaurant, then let the Lord's Table pass by. The reason I believe this, is because we need to focus on the body and blood of Christ during communion. Not our own personal to-do lists. If we are distracted then it is a time to just pass it by and take it later, when we can focus our attention on the One Who has sacrificially given His body and blood for us.
I believe that Communion is also a time when we need to rededicate ourselves to Christ. To come to terms with the fact, He is God and we are not. There is an attitude among many "Christians," about God today. The overall thought that God is my good ole buddy. I recall sometime ago, there was a t-shirt that said, "Jesus is my homeboy." Allow me to clear something up here, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is King, He is not on your level, nor are you on His. People elevate celebrities, athletes and politicians, however, they treat our Lord as if He is on their level. I find this practice saddening and deeply disturbing. Jesus is not your equal, He is the Creator, not the created, therefore, He is superior. And deserves to be worshiped as such. Despite of the high opinion many believe of themselves, our best is but filthy rags! In and of ourselves, we are NOTHING!
Now don’t misunderstand me, yes, there is the friendship aspect of our relationship with Jesus Christ. He is our friend. In fact, John 15 says that Jesus called His disciples "friends." However, first and foremost, He is God! So, when we come into worship there needs to be time when we just want to jump up and down and shout for joy. However, there also needs to be the times when we are still, so quiet you can hear a pin drop, to be in awe of Him and know that He is God.
When we partaking in Communion, we are celebrating our relationship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ, by taking seriously as He said in His own words on the night before he died, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." And, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
God has spoken about our worship through the Lord’s Supper. Let’s turn all our energy and attention on him. Allow the shadow of the cross fall over take your every thought as we prepare to commune with our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us be reminded of the exchange taking place at The Lord's Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is representative of a horrible torture, the death that Jesus suffered on a cross. He died for your sins and for mine. His body was beaten and broken, His blood was shed, not because of His sins, but because of ours. When you come to the Lord's Table, to the fellowship of saints that meets here, I hope you don’t come with any feelings of hatred or racism, because if you are truly in Christ, there isn't any. Christ died for all!!
On the cross, Jesus took each and every one of our mistakes, our failures, our shortcomings, and our sin. He takes upon Himself, the deepest, and darkest things we have ever done. And in return, we are clothed with His perfection, righteousness and holiness. And this offer is made to everyone who will receive Him. However, we need to choose to accept it. If you’ve never accepted this sacrificial exchange that Christ offers, I encourage you to do so today, while there is still time.
Today, you have a choice to bow in worship of our Lord Jesus, however, there will soon come a day,
"For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God." Romans 14:11
When we come together for fellowship, beloved, we come together to worship God, we come together to celebrate our unity in Christ. Let it be pure. May it be so...
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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