THE LORD'S SUPPER

THE LORD'S SUPPER

1 Corinthians 11:16-34 (KJV)

But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

Paul brings a new thought to bear in verse 17, but I began with verse 16 to bring up the word “contentious.”

Notice also in verse 34 the phrase “set in order.”[1]

So, though this is a new subject, it is absolutely related to all he has been addressing.

The subject of the Lord’s Supper is, I believe, a major one in the letter of 1 Corinthians.

It was hinted at in,

1 Corinthians 5:7-11 (KJV)

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

It seems to be further developed in the whole subject of Christian liberty and eating meat sacrificed to idols,

1 Corinthians 10:16-19 (KJV)

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?

For our consideration this morning is Paul’s rebuke for their abuses of the Lord's Supper, 

There are three things we want to look at:

*I. THEIR MISUSE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER

The Lord's Supper is not to be taken too lightly. It is a time of joy for the true believer, and something that a Christian should desire to do.

 But it ought not to be taken improperly.

A. Their were divisions in this church

1 Corinthians 11:17-19 (KJV)

Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

Paul had dealt with these divisions earlier. He told them they were carnal and not spiritual and the proof of that was that they were fightings and divisions in the church.

If the Lord's Supper is to do anything, it ought to picture the unity of the church as a body.

The Bible says that we can't have real fellowship with Christ if we do not have fellowship with the saints.

I John 4:20 (KJV)

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 

It is wrong to 

·   gather together 

·   take the Lord's Supper and to 

·   pretend to have fellowship with God 

if you do not really have fellowship with the Christians in the church.

B. There were some coming just for the Lord's Supper

1 Corinthians 11:20 (KJV)

When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

The Lord's Supper is to be a memorial taken by the Church family as a PART of our family worship. 

However, it is the nature of man to turn good things into bad things, idolizing them.

Many Christians have turned the Lord's Supper into their god.

Some with come for the Lord’s Supper when they won’t come to the church for anything else.

*II. THE MEANING OF THE LORD'S SUPPER

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (KJV)

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

A good friend of mine, when I first began to go to church, was married to a practicing Catholic lady. She believed that each time she took the Lord's Supper she was actually receiving Christ as her Saviour.

There are three things Paul teaches:

A. Ye do shew the Lord's Death till He come

1 Corinthians 11:26 (KJV)

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

The Lord's Supper is A MEMORIAL.

 It is not a sacrament.

·   A memorial is something you do to REMEMBER God has been gracious to you.

·   A sacrament is something you do to RECEIVE God's grace to you

When Israel went into the Promised Land and defeated the Canaanites, there were 2 ½ tribes, who had asked for and received their land on the other side of the Jordan river.

Once they went back home, they made an altar just like the one their brothers had over in the Promised Land.

When their brothers heard about it, they assembled for war and were about to go fight them.

The two and a half tribes said, "This altar is not made to worship on, but as a reminder that we are related to you."

With that, the others were satisfied and the war was called off.

The Lord's Supper is NOT a sacrament where we receive God's salvation. It is a reminder to those of us who are saved that we have received it.

*B. The bread reminds us of the broken body of Christ

1 Corinthians 11:24 (KJV)

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Each time we partake of the broken bread in the Lord's Supper, we are saying; "Christ suffered in the body that I could be saved.”

C. The cup reminds us of the blood of Christ shed at Calvary. 

1 Corinthians 11:25 (KJV)

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

When we drink that little cup of grape juice, we are saying, "Christ shed His blood so I could be saved."

So the Lord's Supper is a picture, a memorialof what Christ has already done for us.

To make it more than that is sinful.

*III. THE MANNER OF THE LORD'S SUPPER

A. It is to be taken as a Supper

Supper is the evening meal.

When Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, it was at night. The Scriptural time to take it is at night.

B.  It is to be taken together

1 Corinthians 11:33 (KJV)

Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

This does not mean we have to wait until every member of the church is here at the same time.

It means that we wait until all are served before we partake of the Lord's Supper.

We take the Lord's Supper at the same time. Every one gets served, and once we are all served, we follow the pastor's leadership in taking it together.

C. It is to be taken after examination

1 Corinthians 11:27-31 (KJV)

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

The Lord's Supper should not be taken in a casual way.

*The Bible indicates at least four qualifications for partaking in the Lord's Supper,

1. Saved

2. Baptized

3. Church membership

4. Examination for sin

Jesus said if you bring a gift to the altar to give the Lord, and there remember that you have ought with a brother, leave your gift, go make things right with the brother, and then you can make things right with God.

Prior to taking the Lord's Supper a person should examine himself or herself. Paul says, if we would judge ourselves, we would not need to be judged by anyone else.

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[1]Some will, I hope, remember that last week’s lesson on the first part of this chapter was entitled, “Order! Order!”