The Lord's Supper

We move now from the roles of men and women in the church to the roles of every believer in the church. This section deals with the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper and is divided into 5 parts:

Paul’s Criticism 17-22

Christ’s Command 23-26

God’s Chastisement 27-30

Believer’s “Choice” 31-32

Paul’s Counsel 33-34

Paul’s Criticism

The Divided Church, v. 17-19

Compare 1 Cor. 11:2

1 Corinthians 11:2 KJV 1900

2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

1 Corinthians 11:17 KJV 1900

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

Paul could not praise the church for the way they “kept” the Lord’s Supper

Instead of coming together for their overall good, they ended up making things worse!

Acts 2:42–47 KJV 1900

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Hebrews 10:24–25 KJV 1900

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Verse 18 mentions “Divisions” 1 Cor 11:18

1 Corinthians 11:18 KJV 1900

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

Divisions - schisms, from which we get our word “scissors”

Meaning is to split or rend something in two

Obviously the church in Corinth struggled with divisiveness as is evident in the earliest chapters

Notice the phrase “First of all”

This marks the problem of division to be something dealt with before anything else.

Notice the word “heresies” in 1 Cor. 11:19

1 Corinthians 11:19 KJV 1900

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

Heresies = disunion, another word would be party, such as political party

Talk about a good way to divide a church today!

The usage of this word is another indicator of the division in the church, its actually a statement of fact, “There must be heresies among you.”

It there were no heresies, then no one would have mentioned it to him:

Verse 18, “…I hear...”

The problem in Corinth was so bad that it was easy to spot the truth from error. Those “approved” (those that loved the Lord and followed His example)

We see also a :

Selfish Church

Their attitude and their actions proved this to be true: 1 Cor. 11:20-21

1 Corinthians 11:20–21 KJV 1900

20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

History Lesson

Christ ate the Passover meal with His disciples BEFORE instituting the ordinance of Communion

The early church kept this tradition by eating an evening meal (called the love feast) before observing the Lord’s Supper

Shameful Church

Problem:

In the Corinthians Church, the feast gave birth to another division: social division

Those who were well off brought with them their “supper” and ate it before the observation

What’s wrong with that?

There were some among them, poor believers as well as slaves, who had nothing to eat. Instead of sharing and caring, they let them sit and watch while they ate and were filled.

Reminder: God is not a respecter of persons, but this church certainly was!

Christ’s Command

Let it be known that Paul was not physically present when Jesus instituted this ordinance, how then does he know the details?

Notice 1 Cor. 11:23

1 Corinthians 11:23 KJV 1900

23 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:

He learned, not from the other apostles, but from Jesus Himself!

Jesus revealed Himself to Paul on several occasions, and on at least one of these He taught him about the Lord’s Supper.

Jesus commanded His followers keep the Lord’s Supper…but in Corinth their divisive nature got the best of them!

They ignored the needs of others in the church, eating while others went hungry. This demonstrated their respecting people, not God.

Paul’s account of the Lord’s Supper serves as a reminder that Jesus was no respecter of persons, having given His life for everyone in payment for their sin.

Interesting Fact

The “love feast” is not mentioned in this passage

This demonstrates that the practice of enjoying a meal before the Lord’s Supper was not intended by God to be kept

The Lord’s Supper, however, is meant to be repeated, and “…often...”

Let it be known that, like baptism, this ordinance does not offer, produce, or complete salvation!

Both NT ordinances are to be observed in obedience by those in Christ, and for different purposes.

Baptism is a once in a lifetime presentation of your position in Christ

The Lord’s Supper is repeated within the church on a regular basis in order to commemorate His sacrifice on the cross.

Symbolism

Bread - 1 Cor. 11:24

1 Corinthians 11:24 KJV 1900

24 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.

Represents the body of Christ

Points to His suffering before the cross

Cup - 1 Cor. 11:25 “25 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.”

Represents His blood shed on the cross

The Importance for the church:

The emphasis is not on how regularly this ordinance is observed but on the message behind it

1 Corinthians 11:24–25 KJV 1900

24 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. 25 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.

This is an object lesson of the gospel!

When we observe the ordinance we are remembering the gospel

It is a special time to focus on the sacrifice of Jesus

The danger

The Corinthians, like many today, were just going through the motions.

Before we move to the next section, it would be beneficial to heed the warning in 1 Cor. 11:27

1 Corinthians 11:27 KJV 1900

27 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.