A Task For Titus
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Levels of intimacy in your home:
UPS Fedex makes it to the front porch
Mormons, politicians, and census takers make it to the foyer
Acquaintances come in and sit on your couch in your den
Intimate Friends and family come over for a meal in your kitchen.
The kitchen table is one of the most shared intimate experiences that we can have with others
Rosaria Butterfield quote
Sharing a meal together has always been a way to reflect a love towards others throughout history. Sharing a meal is about relationship.
This will be the point that the apostle Paul makes in regards to his return to discuss Christian liberty. As discussed previously, as Paul is trying to address a lack of love with some believers in the Corinthian church, he is explaining precisely the way that believers should demonstrate their liberty and Christ in conjunction with their love for their neighbor.
It seems like he has circled the topic like driving around on 243 or four times before finally landing on his concluding thoughts in these final verses of chapter 10.
As a reminder the context of this passage shows us that there were some Corinthians who were concerned about eating meat. They purchased in the marketplace in clients. This meat they knew were once involved in pagan sacrifices, and their concern was if they were consuming such meet, where they dishonoring the Lord. There were other Corinthians, who took this a step further, and they would participate in social gatherings in Corinth. These social gatherings did not happen in the public square or in friends houses. They actually occurred at pagan temples. Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians is that although they had freedom in Christ, they were actually participating once again in pagan worship by dining with other pagans in the temples.
What he shows them and us today is that our liberty does not allow us to do whatever we want but instead it is defined by what is worshipful to the Lord. I will make his point by showing us the connection that we have with the Lord Jesus, when we come to the table and dine with him.
When do we dine with the Lord Jesus? We dine with the Lord Jesus when we come to participate as a body of believers and the Lord supper
1. The Intimacy and Unity of the Table (vs. 15-18)
1. The Intimacy and Unity of the Table (vs. 15-18)
15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?
Paul begins by pleading with them to be wise and consider what he has to say. He has already dealt with the distinction of those who are living with wisdom from the Lord and those who are in foolishness he is pleading with them that they consider his exhortation about Christian liberty, using wisdom from the Lord and not a foolishness from the world.
What Paul does here is give us a wonderful look into the doctrine of the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper and what it means for the church. Notice with me two words that are used repeatedly in this passage. The first word is Share. We see in verse 16 we are "sharing in the blood of Christ”. In verse 18 told testament Israel were sharing in the altar when they made sacrifices to YHWH. In Verse 20, those who worship and pagan temples are sharing a table with demons. This is the word Koinonia in the Greek, and it is one of the more familiar Greek words in the church today.
Its basic meaning in relationship to the church and with Christ is the union that we share with others believers. Koininia with Christ is intimacy through a relationship with the Lord. We know that this intimacy, pounds because of the redemptive work of Christ on the cross, where he made peace between us and God by his blood. Therefore, we are united in Christ and our union with him means that we no longer at odds, but instead enjoy an intimate relationship with the Father through the Son by the Spirit.
You will notice that Paul is speaking to the church as those who share in the blood of Christ. This means that Quintanilla is not just in regards to fellowship with Christ through his death and resurrection, but also a fellowship with other believers who share in that union with Christ together. Therefore, we are first join to Christ, and because of that we are joined to each other by faith in him. We demonstrate that union and fellowship when we come to the Lords table, because the Lords table reflects intimacy with the Lord. This is why we would say that when we come to partake of the Lord supper, we are dining with Christ.
Therefore, as we consider, the Lord supper, Paul makes it clear that our fellowship and intimacy with the Lord, and with one another is a serious and reverent matter of worship. This is not some flippant moment in our time together where we are eating and drinking in a casual way. Instead, we are engaging in a spiritual experience, where we are remembering and celebrating, and enjoying the work of our Lord, while displaying a heart of humility, and gratitude and repentance toward all that he has done for us in redemption.
The best comparison that we might have in regards to the reverence and worship at the Lords table, is when considering the great efforts that go into a wedding reception. Imagine with me, the cost that goes into such an event. The time that it takes to prepare, prepare and plan the guest list, and the food and the decorations. Think about the effort to prepare the menu, the table placements, and any events that might occur at the reception that focus on not the audience, but the bride and groom. All eyes are upon this beautiful couple when they cut the cake, and when they have their first dance, and when speeches are made in their honor. It is a great celebration to which our eyes are continually focused upon this couple.The attendees of the wedding reception are participants in the celebration of the bride and groom, but it is never a celebration of themselves.
Noticed that Paul includes both elements of the ordinance of the Lord supper. He reminds them that they share in the blood of Christ. He also mentions the breaking of bread as we share in the body of Christ. As Paul mentioned sharing in the blood of Christ, he is bringing emphasis to the life of Christ that was sacrificed upon the Cross. There is nowhere in the Bible that emphasizes the blood of Christ is having some mystical element that brings about spiritual work of redemption. Instead, the blood represents the life of Christ that was sacrificed upon the cross. It is his life that was given as a substitute for our sin therefore, the sharing of the blood of Christ is sharing in the sacrificed life of the Lord Jesus, as the sacrificial lamb.
It's believed that the cup of Blessing which Paul refers to is a look back to the old testament practice of the Passover. In this celebration of the exodus and salvation, the Lord provided from Egypt, the Israelites celebrated the Passover meal in their history by using four different cups throughout the Seder meal, representing different elements of their remembrance. History shows us that the 3rd and 4th cups of the Passover meal, reflected the celebration and worship of the Redemption as the people Dave thinks and offered blessing to the Lord for the Redemption. Paul makes his connection to the New Testament church so that we might see that the Lord's supper includes a reflection back up on a celebration of the Lord for his redemptive work.
The other element mentioned is the breaking of bread that represents the body of Christ. Bread is significant because it is nourishing to the body.
Jesus was called the bread of life in John. The bread represents the spiritual nourishment that Christ brings us in his sacrifice.
Thomas Watson writes,
Bread is satisfying. If a man is hungry, flowers or pictures do not satisfy, but bread does. So Jesus Christ, the Bread of the soul, satisfies. He satisfies the eye with beauty, the heart with sweetness, the conscience with peace.
Watson, Thomas. The Lord's Supper . Kindle Edition.
Some believe that the the bread at the Passover was broken by the Lord Jesus to point forward to the sacrifice of his body up on the cross, with, of course, his body being represented in the bread. Other people simply see the breaking of bread as the practical way to distribute the bread among the people and the breaking of it has no significance. Either way, we understand that as we break the bread symbolically, we are breaking it from one loaf as Paul makes clear in verse 17. That dividing up the bread into small pieces from one loaf, represents the second word that is significant in this passage, which is partake. Here partake means to share with someone or have a share with something.
For example, to have a share of an inheritance is to have one piece of the larger lump sum of the inheritance. The Israelites were given a share of the promise land that was divided up by the Lord to the chosen families.
Similarly the pieces of bread the pieces of bread that are broken, represent a unity and participation that we as the church have together as we celebrate Christ and his body that was hung up on the tree. His body, of course, represents his humanity that he that he possessed. It reminds us that the Lord Jesus was both God and man that he lived a perfect life, that his life was taken from him when he was crucified on the cross. His body was buried in a tomb and on the third day his body was resurrected from the grave with a new resurrected body, just as we will also receive when Christ returns.
This means of course, that our participation in the Lord supper together, occurs when we gather together in the local church worship. This does not allow for the church to individually take communion as families or even as individuals who do not attend church for whatever reason instead as the church gathers to celebrate the risen, Christ in the work of Redemption they participate together in reference to worship of the Lord, by remembering and celebrating the salvation that they share through him.
Of course, there are varying views of the Lord supper, and the way that it is celebrated. We know that the Roman Catholic theology teaches that doctrine of transubstantiation. This long word simply means that the Roman Catholics believe that the elements of the juice, and the bread transform into the literal body of Christ as you partake of them. They would proclaim that as a person partakes of this literal body of Christ, they are imported grace towards their sins. As they repeatedly observe the mass, the sacrifice of Christ is repeated over and over again.
The catholic theologian Ludwig Ott writes in Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma,
“In every Mass Christ also performs an actual immediate sacrificial activity which, however, must not be conceived as a totality of many successive acts but as one single uninterrupted sacrificial act of the Transfigured Christ”
This of course differs from a Protestant view of the Lord’s Supper. We do not attribute any mystical transformation of the bread into Christ’s literal body, nor the wine or juice into the physical blood of Christ. When Jesus states that we are to observe these elements, we are doing so to remember him, not eat him. Remembering Him affirms that the elements of the bread and the cup are symbolic elements for our remembering. In addition, we as Protestants affirm a finished sacrificial work of Christ meaning that Christ is not continually suffering as we take the LS together. His suffering on Calvary was massive as he bore the weight of God’s wrath against sin, but it was momentary and it had a completion already.
Getting back then to Paul’s point, the observance of the Lord’s Supper connects us to Christ in our identity and our fellowship in his work of redemption. It also connects us to one anther in unity and partnership in the work of Christ for our sins. I pray that this elevates and increases your desire to take the Lord’s Supper and your understanding at just how intimate that observance is in our worship gathering.
We practice this ordinance not as an appendage to our worship at the end, but a placement after the praise has been rendered and the Word of God has been declared so that in response to the Spirit working in us, we reflect on Christ and remember his his sacrifice made for sinners.
Now look at Paul’s second point with me...
2. The Impossibility of Eating at Two Tables (vs. 19-22)
2. The Impossibility of Eating at Two Tables (vs. 19-22)
19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
Paul's argument leads him to contrast the practice and meaning of the Lord supper in the church to the Corinthians, participating in pagan feasts in the Corinthian society. Paul wants them to see the inconsistency of dining at the table with Christ, and in conjunction dining win the table with the demons. Some of the current in church are demonstrating an improper view of Christian liberty, and thinking that they can participate in these pagan meals and not be affecting their Christian walk with Christ. The Paul is correct in this error and showing them that the intimacy they share and taking the Lord supper, cannot be connected to participating in pagan meals. He wants them to see that in their participation in the pagan feast, they are not merely eating a meal in public, but they are participating in public Worship of demons.
In v 19-20, Paul is correcting their theology. While the meat offered in the marketplace is merely meat which is permissible to eat, the act of eating with other unbelievers and pagan temples was not a-moral act. Instead, eating in the temples was engaging in pagan worship of demons. Paul is emphasizing the truth that all false religions of the world are not harmless acts, they are direct attacks of Satan and his demons against the Lord, their enemy.
In Moses’ song at the end of his life, Moses recounts the faithfulness of the Lord and the rebellion of Israel. He writes,
17 “They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread. 18 “You neglected the Rock who begot you, And forgot the God who gave you birth.
We also must see the same language that he used in regards to the Lord supper. He states that the Corinthians were eating meals at these pagan feasts which meant they were “sharers with demons.”
Paul’s rebuke is clear after teaching them the reality that they were succumbing to the worldly influences to which they once belonged. in verse 19-20 he states, “I do not want you…you are not able to…”. Not only does Paul desire with apostolic authority that they refrain from pagan worship while claiming the name of Christ, but he states the impossibility that a believer in Jesus Christ can entertain both the Lord and demons at the same dinner party. It is a spiritual impossibility.
Paul makes this same contrast in 1 Corinthians 6:15
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
Similarly, Jesus made the same point when he told his disciples that you cannot serve two masters. Paul’s admonition is that while these believers thought they were expressing liberty in Christ, in actuality, they were engaging in idolatry and offending the one who saved them. It is a necessary correction from the apostle to His people and it is one that brings great attention to our ears today.
When we approach the LS, we must come with a reverence and a repentance. We have spoke of the reverence previously whereby we affirm our faith in Christ and celebrate the work He has done for us as our substitute. When we come to the table to dine with the Lord, we remember the great work He has done.
But we also come with repentance. This means that we are careful to no dishonor the Lord by coming to remember his sacrifice while worshipping idols of our heart at the same time. It is easy to do if we are not careful to examine ourselves properly. This might not mean that we are attending pagan temples, but if the heart is prone to idolatry, then we must be careful to examine it before we come to the table.
This is why Paul will tell us in the next chapter the grave consequences of coming to the Lord’s table in an irreverant and unrepentant manner,
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.
Next week, the LS will be observed in our gathering. What this means is that there might be those who abstain from taking it. They might abstain for one of two reasons:
They might abstain because in examining their hearts, they realize that Christ’s sacrifice isn’t meaningful to them. They may understand it to be an important act but to them, they love their sin more than a Savior. They are not willing to surrender their live under the leadership and authority of Jesus Christ and his spirit who tells them to“Flee Idolatry.”
Their also might some who abstain who are Christian but who are struggling with sin. They are wrestling with bitterness, or addiction, and they haven’t put these things away. They know it dishonors Christ to be enslaved to sin. They abstain not because they have lost their salvation, but they abstain so that they do not dishonor the name and work of Christ on the cross.
Only those who are practicing the turning from sin and turning to faith in Christ are truly displaying a heart that is submitted to the Lord. This is why we take a moment to have you examine your heart so that the HS may reveal to you some sinful habits you have overlooked or some you most recently engaged in.
For those living repentant lives of faith, who do not abstain, come to the table with joy. The Lord has invited you in to the table. He is a faithful host and the meal has been prepared properly to meet all your needs. You have been chosen to come to this table, not by some social or moral work you committed to gain access. You are invited by the sovereign choice of the host to invite the beggars and the spiritual scum of the earth. Jesus cleaned you up, gave you clean clothes to wear and the meal is a remembrance of that spiritual work in your lives. So come to the table with thanksgiving and joy for all Christ has done!