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Preached:

LR

Examine Yourself
(Christianity 101: Lesson 11)

Introduction
A. In Acts 20, we find a basic statement that contains important truth. Acts 20:7
begins with these words: “On the first day of the week, when we were
gathered together to break bread.” The rest of the context follows with the
sermon of Paul and the death of a young man who was raised from the dead.
B. However, the verse we read gives us a couple of important facts about the
worship conducted by the early church.
1. First, we note the time of it. Paul wrote that they met on the first day of
the week. Under the OT, the day of worship had been the Sabbath, or
what we know as Saturday, based upon the creation week and the
command given by God. However, after Jesus arose from the dead on the
first day of the week, that was established as the day of worship. The
early church met then, and we continue to meet on the first day of the
week, or what we know as Sunday.
2. But we also notice something of their focus. They met together “to break
bread.” While that phrase is used of regular, common meals from time-to-
time throughout the pages of the New Testament, it is also used, as it is
here, of a very special time for Christians. Jesus had broken bread with
His apostles on the night of His betrayal as He commanded them to
continue the feast in the kingdom. So, when the early church met, they
met to break bread. They met to partake of the Lord’s Supper. It is not
true that this was the only reason for which they came together. There
are five avenues of worship commanded by the Lord. We have studied
four in our Christianity 101 lessons: singing, praying, giving, and
preaching (or Bible study). Now we come to the fifth. We have studied
the Lord’s Supper before, but it is a part of our worship we need to think
about often. The early Christians knew the importance of these wonderful
moments, and we need to do better about making sure we remember the
importance of the time we spend in communion with our Lord through the
avenue of the Lord’s Supper.
C. Christ Himself had instituted the Lord’s Supper on the night of His betrayal at
the hands of Judas Iscariot. He met with the apostles in the upper room and
taught them many things. For you own study, it’s interesting to note that
John gives us a longer picture of the actual words spoken by Jesus on that
night, and they cover about 20% of the entire book that bears his name.
D. As they ate the Passover feast, as outlined in Exodus __, Jesus took one of the
items of food from that feast and then took the drink used and gave both
special significance to His followers.
E. Today, when Christians meet together to break the bread, we often go back to
Paul’s writing in First Corinthians 11 to discuss the Lord’s Supper and center
our thoughts on that feast. This morning, I want us to take that passage and
break it into parts to think about the basics of the wonderful feast Christ has
given us, through which we remember Him.

Body

I. Notice first, the situation in Corinth.


A. We often skip to verse 23 to read about the Lord’s Supper and we
begin with the word “for.” That word is a word of conclusion, or of
following a line of reasoning. So, what is the line of reasoning that Paul
is continuing?
B. Verses 17-22 give us a glimpse into one of the problems the church at
Corinth was experiencing. You’ll recall, just for the sake of information,
that there were many problems in this congregation. As you might
expect, then, there was a problem with unity. Notice verses 17-22:
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because
when you come together it is not for the better but for the
worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a
church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe
it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that
those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When
you come together, it is not the Lord’s supperthat you eat. For
in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes
hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to
eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and
humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you?
Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
C. Notice just two things from these verses.
1. First, we notice that there was a problem with understanding the
purpose of the Lord’s Supper.
a. It seems as though the Corinthians were eating the Lord’s
Supper, but were adding more to it, and turning it into a banquet
wherein some people were even getting drunk!
b. They had forgotten the simple plan for the Lord’s Supper and
were using this as an occasion to have some sort of feast in the
middle of their worship.
c. By the way, some use this passage to say that congregations
should not have fellowship halls or meals of any kind in a
building owned by the church. That’s not what this passage is
discussing! It is discussing turning our worship through the
eating of the Lord’s Supper into nothing more than another
meal.
2. Second, we notice that this lack of understanding led to a lack of
unity.
a. There were people going ahead in the eating. Paul went so far
as to expressly say that there were factions within the
congregation.
b. What does this have to do with the Lord’s Supper?
c. By reminding the Corinthians of these problems, Paul is pointing
out to them what the solution should be: the simple worship of
God, included in the eating of the Lord’s Supper.
d. When we come together and partake of the emblems of
communion, it should be one of the most unifying moments of
our entire week.
e. One song captures this picture beautifully with these lyrics:
We gather here in Jesus name;
His love is burning in our hearts like living flame,
For thro’ the loving Son the Father makes us one:
Come, take the bread; come, drink the cup; come share
the Lord.
D. Do you want the church to be unified? Do you want to avoid factions
and divisions? Partake in the simple supper of communion and realize
that we are all in this together under the leadership of the Lord.

II. Next, after addressing the situation, Paul gives the solemnity of
the supper.
A. First, it is serious because it is divinely-given. It is truly the LORD’S
supper, not our own. Paul wrote in verse 23, “I received FROM THE
LORD what I also delivered to you.”
1. It is interesting to note that Paul was not there when Christ
instituted the Lord’s Supper. He was not yet an apostle when that
occurred, thus he was not in that upper room.
2. However, that Paul is making mention of these commands gives us
wonderful hope in at least two things:
a. First, it gives us trust in the consistency of the Scriptures. Jesus
didn’t institute something with the original apostles, and then
change things for Paul later. He didn’t expect something of the
early Christians right after Acts 2, and then expect something
different after the Gospel spread. His message was perfectly
consistent.
b. Next—and more to our point—we gain some insight into the
seriousness of the Lord’s Supper, since it is His and He instituted it.
c. The rest of the verse reminds us that it was on the night that Jesus
was betrayed that this supper was instituted.
3. With those words, Paul immediately makes sure our minds are
focused on the serious nature of that which we are doing.
4. We need to remember, when we partake of the supper, that it is not
ours. Oh, there is a part of it that is for us. We can focus our minds
during that time on the One who died for us, and we can be drawn
closer to Him through those few moments of quietness, but this is
the Lord’s Supper, and the focus is upon Him.
B. Next, it is serious because we see the thanksgiving Christ gave for the
emblems.
1. This is a minor point, but it is worth our notation, that Christ “gave
thanks” (verse 24) before distributing the parts of the supper.
2. One quick note here, then we’ll move on, since this is a minor point:
a. This brief note in the text shows us the attitude of Christ, and it was
a perfectly grateful attitude. He was the Oneinstituting the supper,
and He was the One Who would be dying for the salvation of men,
but He still had the gratitude for this meal.
b. Christ was always grateful to His Father, and we can do no less than
to be thankful to God for everything. When we gather for the
supper, we need to be grateful.
3. While we can think of Christ and be grateful for His sacrifice on the
cross, are we ever grateful for the emblems and the supper that we are
privileged to partake in? We are blessed to have the moments we set
aside to partake of the Lord’s Supper, so let’s be thankful when we
take those moments with our Lord.

C. Next, as we come through the passage, our attention turns to


the remembering that Christ commanded.
1. As Christ gave both the bread and the fruit of the vine, He told His
disciples, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (verses 24 and 25).
2. Memory is a very powerful thing. Think of those who originally read
that command from Paul.
a. It is possible that there were some who had been there when Christ
was crucified.
b. More likely, though, they knew some who had been there. Maybe a
parent or family friend. They had heard the stories first-hand of all
that Christ suffered on the cross.
c. Now, they were being asked to put these things into memory as
they ate of the bread and drank of the cup.
d. Why these two elements?
a. The bread was from the Passover feast and was to be bread
made without a leavening agent, such as yeast. In Exodus 12,
God had instituted the Passover feast by instructing the
Israelites to eat, among other things, unleavened bread (verse
15). In fact, they were to remove the leaven from their house
for a period of seven days to follow the command. Christ took
that element of the Passover feast and told His disciples, “This is
my body which is for you.” Many early manuscripts have, “This
is my body which is broken for you,” and that seems to be
supported by the fact that Christ then broke the bread. As we
eat that same unleavened bread, we can picture, by faith,
Christ’s body on the cross being nailed with spikes, being torn by
the rough wood on his back, being cut with a spear, and more.
While no bones of his body were broken, His body was cut
through over and over.
b. Then Christ took the fruit of the vine. The phrase, “the cup,”
was often used of that which it contained. We still do that
sometimes today when we speak of drinking liquid. That fruit of
the vine—the juice of the supper—was chosen due to its
availability and its symbolic nature. When we use grape juice it
is eerily similar to several qualities of blood. It stains, its color is
similar, and it is somewhat bitter. Christ told His followers, “The
cup is the new covenant in my blood.” Earlier, in the Gospels,
we are told that He had also told them that it was symbolic of
His blood, shed for the remission of sins. As we drink the fruit of
the vine, we need to think of the horrible death and the blood
that Christ spilled, but we also need to be mindful of the hope
that His blood brings to our lives, as it is the only hope we have
of salvation.
3. When you partake of the Lord’s Supper, don’t let your mind drift. Let it
go back to that body and that blood that was bruised, battered, and
bleeding for you and for me.
D. Finally, as we think of the solemn nature of the Lord’s Supper, we are
told of our proclamation. In verse 26, Paul wrote, “For as often as you
eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he
comes.” Three things here.
1. First, we have the Practice. “As often as you eat.” Again, we are
reminded of the timing of the Lord’s Supper. Every first day of the
week, the disciples met to break bread. It is interesting to me that
some denominations only partake of the Lord’s Supper monthly,
quarterly, or on special occasions. They usually claim that, by
doing so less often, they are making it a “bigger deal” to the
worshiper and that those eating the Lord’s Supper can concentrate
better. I just don’t see how doing something lessoften makes it
more special! Besides how I feel about it, though, God has
commanded that we partake of it every first day of the week. As a
side note, do you not find it interesting that the same places that
say they only need to partake of the Lord’s Supper every few
weeks, still take up a collection every week?
2. Next, we have the Proclamation. We are telling the world,
symbolically as we eat, of the death of Christ. While that may be a
simple message, it is themessage the world needs to hear! The
world needs to know about Christ and His love and sacrifice on the
cross. You may not be a gifted speaker and you may be somewhat
intimidated by the prospect of preaching a sermon or teaching a
class, but every time you faithfully eat the Lord’s Supper, you are
teaching a powerful lesson about your faith in the Savior of the
world.
3. Third, we have the Prolonging. We are not delaying the coming of
Christ by eating the Lord’s Supper, but we are to continue to
partake of it until He does return. As we continue to meet together
and enjoy this meal together, the world—each week—sees our faith
in His death and knows that we are looking forward to His return.
E. How solemn is the supper in your mind? Is it really a time to thank and
think? When we think of the most serious subject the world has ever
known—the death of the very Son of God for our salvation—we should
be thankful for the supper, and we should do our best to think of it in a
serious, solemn way.

III. Finally, we turn our attention to the seriousness of the abuse of


the supper.
A. Now that we have thought about the supper and its wonderful
message, we must ask the question, “What if we fail to take it
seriously?” Remember our first point. The Corinthianswere not taking
the supper seriously at all. While we have not abused the supper to
the level that they had, we can still—individually or collectively—abuse
the Lord’s Supper and fail to take it as it should be taken.
B. Read verses 27-32 with me for the context:
Whosever, therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of
the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning
the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine
himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the
cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning
the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is
why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so
that we may not be condemned along with the world.
C. Just a couple of notes from this paragraph before we close:
1. First, what does it mean to take the Lord’s supper in an unworthy
manner?
a. It does not mean that some are worthy of eating the supper and
others are not. None of us is truly worthy, except that Christ’s
blood makes us worthy through our obedience.
b. Rather, it is connected to the idea of examining ourselves and
the cross. If we fail to take the emblems in a way where we are
examining our lives and thinking (or “discerning”) about Christ’s
sacrifice, we are eating unworthily.
c. In context, the Corinthians could not have been so doing,
because they were simply having a banquet and were only
worried about themselves and their selfish desires. While that
was a collective problem, we can be guilty of the same by being
selfish during our personal eating of the Lord’s Supper and not
thinking of Christ.
2. Second, what is the significance of verse 30?
a. Listen to the words of brother James Burton Coffman on this
verse:
This [verse 30] has usually been interpreted to mean that
physical sickness and death had been visited upon the
sinful Corinthians, due to their shameful perversion and
abuse of the Lord’s Supper; an while it must be allowed
that in that age of the church, God did send visitations of
divine wrath against wrongdoers, as in the case of
Ananias and Sapphira, and perhaps also the incestuous
man mentioned earlier in this epistle; nevertheless, the
convictionhere is that, if that had been in Paul’s mind, he
could hardly have said that “some sleep,” sleep being too
mild a word to use with reference to victim of divine
wrath. The meaning which appears to be most likely is
that Paul was speaking of those who had become
spiritually weak and sickly, some no doubt having
perished spiritually. (First and Second Corinthians, pg.
185)
b. I agree with Coffman. When we fail to discern the Lord’s body
and when we no longer really feel anything at the time of the
Lord’s Supper, it should cause us great concern. It can be a sign
that there is something much deeper that is wrong. Our ability
to concentrate, think, and feel about Christ during these few
moments is a great indicator of the true depth of our faith.
c. If you have trouble concentrating on the life and death of our
Lord for even the 5-10 minutes the Lord’s Supper takes, then we
should be truly concerned about our soul.

Conclusion

1. The Lord’s Supper is a simple, but beautiful reminder of Christ and His
sacrifice.
2. The time is spent in an amazing way. Everyone who partakes is doing so
individually and is thinking of Christ in a personal way. We are thankful for
His life and sacrifice.
3. But it is also a time when, collectively, we are proclaiming to the world that
we truly believe that Christ is, that He really did die for our sins, and that He
is coming again. It is one of the most profound and beautiful sermons we will
ever present.
4. As we close, listen to the words of brother Everett Chambers:
In the Lord’s Supper, we have a weekly reminder that the Christ
will come again and will take us unto Himself that where He is,
there we may be also. The communion serves as reminder that
we should stay ready so that, upon His return, the Lord can take
us with Him to inherit the eternal abode that He went to prepare
for us. To live unprepared is to sabotage the very reason why
we are Christians. Each week, through the Lord’s Supper, we
are reminded of the goal of our salvation and are provided with
the highest possible motivation and example. Worship that
Pleases God, pg. 38

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