By His Authority
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1 Corinthians 11:23-32
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
Pray
Last time we talked about Peter’s sermon during Pentecost.
We talked about Peter proclaiming salvation for those who place their faith in Jesus.
He spoke of repentance and turning from sin.
We talked about the many people who recieved this message and were baptized into the faith.
We talked about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit equips the saints to stand under the authority of Jesus.
Before Jesus ascended to be seated on His heavenly throne awaiting His second advent, He promises the Holy Spirit.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Click #1 and #2
1. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to be with us.
The Advocate, the Helper, the Holy Spirit will come in the Name of Jesus teaching all things according to the Word and Will of God.
2. We are promised the hope found in the Holy Spirit.
We have the promise of His Holy Spirit dwelling within us to equip us in all that we need.
Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will come to help us remember.
He will remind us of all that Jesus has said.
This thought leads into what we are going to focus on this morning.
As I said, Jesus promises His Spirit to teach us and remind is of all that He has said.
In addition, He also gives us the elements of communion as a reminder.
Turn to Matthew 26
Context:
We are going to pick it up during the Last Supper.
Jesus was with the disciples in the upper room eating the Passover Meal.
The Passover Meal served as a reminder of deliverance from slavery in Egypt and salvation from God’s wrath as it was poured out upon those who refused to fall under the authority of God.
God provided a way, during the first Passover to be delivered and saved.
They were to take an innocent lamb.
Slaughter it and paint its blood upon the door frame of their homes.
The blood served as a symbol of God’s authority to deliver.
Since this first Passover, the people were instructed to continue the tradition as a means of remembrance of God’s provision.
It is during this meal, this time of remembrance that Jesus takes the bread and the cup.
And He says:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
When Jesus uttered these words, He know what was about to befall Him.
He knew He would be falsely accused, betrayed and arrested.
He knew that He would be beaten, ridiculed, spit on and given over to a horrible death on the Cross.
He knew that the time had come for Him to go to the cross to be the perpetual Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World.
Click #3
3. When Jesus institutes the elements of communion, in the bread and the cup, He is looking forward to the Cross.
He is looking forward to His broken body.
The bread of Life that was broken.
He is looking forward to His shed blood.
The symbol of authority to save.
The blood of the Lamb holding the power to perpetually save forever.
It is the blood of Jesus that has the authority to save perpetually.
No longer is there a need to pour out the blood of animals as a temporary atonement of sin.
Click #4
4. The blood of Jesus saves forever.
Jesus looks forward to the Cross.
And the culmination of what He had come to accomplish in His first advent.
Jesus uses the symbols of the bread and the cup to serve as a reminder of this covenant.
A promise that is upheld by God Himself. A covenant that is perpetual for those who repent and believe in Jesus as their Savior.
Jesus gives us the elements of communion to serve as a reminder of His live for us.
And that we are saved by His power.
By His authority.
Jesus looks forward to the Cross, as I said.
But He also looks back.
It was not a coincidence.
It was not an accidental occurence that Jesus chose this time to teach on the elements of communion.
Jesus also looked back to the first Passover.
He used this time to teach on the elements of communion, because the disciples would have understood the context.
They would have understood the history.
They would have known the account of deliverance and God’s provision
The would have known about God’s authority to save and to judge evil.
They would have understood the concept of atonement through the spilling of blood.
Jesus uses this time to teach on the elements of communion.
He condenses all of the history.
All of the meaning of the first Passover.
He condenses all of it to the elements of the bread and the cup.
Jesus tells us that the bread is His body.
It has been broken for us.
The Lamb of God, broken.
So that all who consume, or in other words receive Him, will be saved.
Those who receive the Bread of Life will find nourishment without end.
The cup, His blood.
Poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
A perpetual, unending, unblemished, incorruptable atonement for those who believe.
He condensed all of these thoughts down into the elements of the bread and the cup.
And Jesus tells us to receive the elements in remembrance of Him.
As I stated, Jesus looks ahead to the Cross.
Click #5 and #6
5. Jesus uses the elements of communion to serve as symbols of remembrance.
He tells the disciples and all those coming after to remember Him.
Each time we partake of the bread and the cup, we are to do it in remembrance of what Jesus has done for us.
6. We are to remember that He is THE LAMB OF GOD who has the authority to forgive us our sins in our repentance.
His body was broken and His blood shed.
He went to the Cross because He loves you.
He has the authority to perpetually save us.
When we partake in communion, this is what we are to remember.
Do this in remembrance of me.
In reverence of who Jesus is and the hope we can find i Him.
Turn to the text for this morning
1 Corinthians 11
Beginning in verse 23, Paul gives us instruction on how we are to receive the elements of communion.
He gives this instruction in response to the church in Corinth.
Just a few verses earlier starting in 17, Paul rebuked the church for participating in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner.
You come together not for the better, but for the worse.
Meaning they did not come together to build one another up or encourage one another in faith.
The gathering together enhanced divisions or factions within this church.
Paul offers instruction on the correct attitude we are to have when partaking in communion.
Look at verse 23
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
Paul tells us that he has recieved the instruction from the Lord.
He goes on to say that He is passing this instruction on to the church.
In other words, the practice of taking communion together is not something that was made up by men.
This is not something that someone thought would be a good idea.
This is something that has been given by Jesus Himself.
And Jesus instructs us on the purpose, intent and meaning of communion.
Click #7 and #8
7. Clearly Jesus instructs us that the elements of communion serve as a reminder of His sacrifice.
8. Therefore, we should strive to receive these symbols with humility.
Don’t allow this remembrance to be polluted with human failing.
That is really what Paul is correcting.
He confronts the church for bringing personal preferences,
Personal agendas or divisions into the service.
Rather than focusing on what truly should be considered during communion, the Corinthian church was distracted.
Paul gives this warning not only to the church in Corinth, but also to us.
We should receive the bread and the cup with humility and reverence for Jesus.
Look at 1 Corinthians 11:23-24
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In these verses Jesus gives us the meaning of the bread.
He says this is His body which was broken for you.
When we partake of the bread, we are to remember what He did for us.
We are to remember that He willfully went to the cross.
He willfully allowed His body to be beaten and broken receiving the punishment that was due us.
He was innocent.
We are those who bear the guilt of sin.
Yet in His innocence, He went to the cross for us.
Click #9
9. Jesus gives us a symbol of the bread as a reminder of His sacrifice.
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Jesus gives us the significance of the cup.
10. This cup is the new covenant in His blood.
11. It is the promise of salvation for all those who declare faith in Jesus.
We are covered by His blood.
Redeemed by His love.
Whenever we drink the cup, we are to remember this promise.
Look at verses 27-32
So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
Paul instructs us to examine ourselves before we receive the bread and the cup.
Recognize the significance of what the bread and the cup represent.
It is a symbol of the broken body and shed blood that was given to offer us Salvation.
12. Receiving the bread and cup is a declaration of Jesus as Lord in your life.
We are under His authority and protection.
Remember this as you receive communion.
We should take these symbols with reverence, but at the same time you are invited.
You are welcomed to be in fellowship with Jesus.
You are welcomed to His table to receive His salvation.
If the Lord is stirring in your heart right now to express your faith in Jesus, come forward and we will pray.
Read and reflect on the following as we are led into the time of communion
Leading into communion: 1 John 1
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
This is going to be our prayer as we prepare to receive the bread and the cup.
We declare that Jesus is life.
We claim to be in fellowship with Him through His provision.
May the Lord help us to lay anything at the foot of the Cross that we hold within our heart that is dishonoring to the covenant we have with our Savior.
I am going to allow time to pray before we receive communion.
Pray silently, if you are led to come forward to pray at the altar, you are invited.
Invite the Deacons to prepare the elements.
Give instructions on how to come forward.
Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’