1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Celebrating the Lord’s Supper

Open your Bible to…

1Cor. 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

1Cor. 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1Cor. 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Pray

Intro

√ Celebrating the Lord’s Supper

Jesus gave the Church two ordinances…

Baptism and Communion.

Speaking of the bread and wine at the Passover meal Jesus asked the disciples to…

“…do this in remembrance of Me.” ~ Luke 22:19

And Before ascending to Heaven He told the disciples to…

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Matt. 28:19

Two simple activities that symbolize the work of Christ to save us from our sins, and the new birth we experience when we place our trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Yet, as simple as baptism and communion are each can be a powerful and meaningful spiritual experience for us.

Not that the rituals themselves, or the elements of communion are endued with any mystical powers, rather, the symbolism of baptism and the partaking of communion are powerful reminders of the spiritual reality we have in Christ.

However, the value of the experience depends on our heart condition!

If we come with a wrong attitude we will not experience any benefit.

If we come with a right attitude then we will experience a great benefit!

Ex. Weddings and anniversaries

Your attitude determines the value of the experience for you and your spouse.

√ Corinth

Well, not too surprisingly our friends at Corinth had destroyed the beauty of the Communion experience by their wrong attitudes and behavior at the Agape feast.

So, in verses 17-34 Paul sets them straight by giving them specific instructions (“do’s” & “don’ts”) about how to approach the Communion Table.

His instructions are timeless because every Christian in every age is at risk for missing out on the rich spiritual experience Jesus intended Communion to be if we approach His table with a wrong attitude.

Wrong Attitude (vs. 17-22)

1Cor. 11:17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.

1Cor. 11:18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

1Cor. 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

1Cor. 11:20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.

1Cor. 11:21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.

1Cor. 11:22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? 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 do not praise you.

√ Wrong attitude

In the early Church the celebration of Communion was different than the way most churches practice it today; there were two parts…

First a communal meal called the “agape feast” (love feast) was shared ~ we’d call it a Potluck or a Pot blessing!

Followed by a time of worship during which the bread and wine were shared.

It came to be know as the “Eucharist” ~ the Greek word for “Thanksgiving”.

Both parts were meant to reinforce the foundational truths of the Christian faith…

The sacrifice of Jesus to redeem us, and the unity we have with God and Man through faith in Jesus Christ.

These love feasts were the hallmark of the reality of the Christian faith prompting one Roman historian to write…

“Their Lord makes them think they are brothers.”

The reason?

Because the world looked on in wonder at these Christian gatherings were rich and poor, slave and free, Jews and Gentiles…

…sat and ate together loudly celebrating their love for the Lord and one another!

But, the believers at Corinth had found a way to ruin the love feast turning it into a nauseating display of hypocrisy.

As Paul writes in the verses we’ve just read their gatherings were marked by…

Divisions

Discourteousness

Drunkenness

They were so bad that Paul writes in vs. 17 that their Communion service did more harm than good!

√ Divisions

In vs. 17 and 18 Paul writes that he had heard from reliable sources that their love feasts were marked by…

“Divisions” & “Factions”

Today we’d call them “cliques”.

That is, while they were supposed to be gathering together to celebrate their unity in Christ represented by the sharing of their resources at the love feast and eating from one loaf and drinking from one cup at Communion…

…what they actually did was divide into little groups and eat separately.

The cause of these divisions was that they either…

Didn’t want to associate with others they thought were beneath their social standing.

Sat only with those who aligned themselves with the same apostle (i.e. “I’m of Apollos”, “Peter” “Paul”.)

Regardless of why it was that they separated into their little junior high cliques the end result was that their divisions had destroyed the unity of the Body of Christ in Corinth.

Ap. Look out for one another

We’re all prone to gravitate to the people we’re comfortable with…

People who are like-minded

Similar likes and dislikes

Equal social status and education

That’s just human nature.

But we have a new nature in Christ!

He has filled us with His Spirit and given us the “mind of Christ”.

The Spirit who lives within us is the same Spirit that led Jesus to fellowship with the rich and poor, the weak and the powerful, the healthy and the leper, and to give His life for all mankind!

So, if you find yourself week after week talking with the same people after service may I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and get to know the other people in this fellowship?

√ Discourteousness

Look at vss. 21-22…

1Cor. 11:21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.

1Cor. 11:22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? 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 do not praise you.

The wealthy Corinthians brought heaps of food to the Agape Feast but rather than share with the poor they sat together and stuffed themselves while the poorer Christians sat on the other side of the room without anything to eat!

Worse the wealthy drank to the point of drunkenness, obviously in excess without ever thinking to offer to share the wine they brought with those who had none.

So, what was supposed to be a demonstration of unity within the Body of Christ had become a gross display of self-indulgence.

No wonder Paul wrote that their Love Feasts did more harm than good for rather than demonstrating love for one another…

…the wealthy were by their self-indulgence treating their less fortunate brethren in a discourteous manner.

Ex. The egg toss

√ Drunkenness

Drinking to the point of drunkenness is never appropriate for a Christian, but even more so in church at a Love Feast!

Can you imagine!

At the table of the Lord where they’re supposed to be sober-minded about the blood of Jesus, which washes us from our sin…

…they drank so much wine (the symbol of His blood) that they were sinning (ref. Eph. 5:18) while “celebrating” Jesus’ death for their sins!

So, their divisions, discourteous behavior toward one another, and their drunkenness were evidence that they were approaching the Lord’s Table with a wrong attitude.

Correct Attitude (vs. 23-34)

√ Correct attitude

It’s pretty obvious from Paul’s description of the Love Feasts at Corinth that the people in that church were approaching the table of the Lord with a wrong attitude.

If I had been in Paul’s sandals I would have been tempted to tell them to just shut the thing down!

If they couldn’t even partake of Communion without sinning why even do it.

But the apostle Paul understood Jesus’ heart regarding the sharing of Communion and that it was important to Him that His people…

“…do this in remembrance of Me.” ~ Luke 22:19

So, rather than telling them to stop celebrating the Lord’s Supper he gives them instruction on how to bring their celebration back to a place where it would glorify the Lord and unify the church.

√ Look back ~ vs. 23-26a

His first instruction is to look back…

1Cor. 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

1Cor. 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1Cor. 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

1Cor. 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death…

A correct attitude toward Communion begins with a look back at what Jesus…

Did

Why He did it

How He did

What did Jesus do?

He implemented the communion meal to remind His people of His death.

That may seem odd as most of the time we do our best to forget the death of someone close to us.

We don’t want to be reminded of the fact that a loved one had died, especially if he/she died a tragic or painful death, like crucifixion!

But Jesus told the disciples that we were to eat the bread and drink of the cup to remind us that He did die.

Why?

Because Jesus’ great teachings and mighty miracles do not save us.

Only His death was sufficient to save us!

As Paul wrote later in this same letter…

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” ~ I Cor. 15:’

Why did Jesus die? Because it was the Father’s plan to save us from our sin from which we could not save ourselves…

“All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” ~ Isa. 53:6

How did He die? Willingly…

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Rom. 5:8

The Communion table should remind us that no one forced Jesus to the Cross…

His death wasn’t a mistake as some teach.

The Romans didn’t kill Jesus.

Rather Jesus willingly allowed His own creation, the very people He loves, to pin Him to a Cross.

“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” ~ John 10:18

So, the first step toward making Communion a meaningful spiritual experience is to look back at Jesus’ death and call to mind that He did die, why He did, and...

…that He willingly died so you can live!

√ Look forward ~ vs. 26b

The second thing we should do as we consider the bread and the cup is to look forward to Jesus’ return!

1Cor. 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

As we partake in Communion, especially as we drink of the cup, we are to look forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we drink with Jesus!

“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” ~ Matt. 26:29

The glorious truth is that Jesus didn’t stay dead!

He rose again and has ascended back to His home in Heaven from which He promised to return!

When He returns He will destroy all evil, set up His Kingdom on Earth and rule and reign over all of the world for a thousand years!

During that reign it will be the privilege of all who have placed their trust in Jesus to sit and eat and drink with Him at His table!

So, as we take Communion we are to look forward with joy, excitement, and anticipation that this may be the last time we drink out of a little plastic cup…

…and that the next time will be from a goblet at the King’s table!

√ Look within ~ vs. 27-34

Lastly before we place the bread in our mouth or press the cup to our lips Paul tells us that we must look within to make sure that our heart is clean before the Lord.

1Cor. 11:27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1Cor. 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

1Cor. 11:29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

1Cor. 11:30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

1Cor. 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

1Cor. 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

1Cor. 11:33 Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

1Cor. 11:34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

Paul’s final instructions were meant to remind the Corinthians that their behavior and attitude toward Communion was important to the Lord.

That to come to the Lord’s table and to eat and drink of the symbols of His body and blood while harboring sin in their hearts, or with a disrespectful attitude…

…was to invite the Lord’s judgment in their lives!

Remember, chapter 11 is building upon Paul’s commentary in chapter 10 where he made the case that since God judged the people of the Exodus for their sin…

…that the people of Corinth were not exempt from the same judgment if they persisted in their sin.

In fact, according to vs. 30 some in Corinth had already come under the judgment of God!

“For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep (had died!).”

A heavy price for mishandling Communion!

Ex. Moses

Just as he was disqualified from entering the Promised Land because he misrepresented the Lord…

…so too some of the believers at Corinth had been disqualified by their wrong attitude and behavior at the Lord’s Supper.

Like Moses they hadn’t lost their salvation, they were still children of God by their faith in Jesus.

However, their sin had disqualified them and they did not finish their race well.

So, Paul encourages the believers at Corinth and us this morning to look within and make sure our heart is clean before we share in the symbols of Jesus’ body and blood.

Close

√ Celebrating the Lord’s Supper

As the men come forward to distribute the bread and the cup take a moment to make sure that you’re coming to the table of the Lord with a correct attitude…

Looking back ~ reminding yourself that Jesus had to die to save you from your sins and that He did so willingly because He loves you!

Looking forward ~ with an eager expectation of the Lord’s return to earth to set up His Kingdom where you will rule and reign with Him!

Looking inward ~ examining your heart, judging any sin that is there, confessing it to Jesus, and then joyfully partaking of communion the symbols of the price that was paid to wash your sins away!

If you’re not a Christian then please don’t partake or ask Jesus to become your Lord and Savior today and then partake as a child of His