1 Corinthians 11:17-34 - Remembrance

[NOTE:This sermon was originally preached on September 14, 2014 and preached again on November 24, 2024.]

Introduction

God’s people were on the run.

God had sent plague after plague on Pharaoh and his idolatrous kingdom.

The last of those plagues was the plague of the first born, in which the Spirit of God passed over the land and killed every firstborn male whose house was not covered with the blood of the lamb.

After this plague, Pharaoh was forced to let God’s people go.

Later, God’s people were commanded to always remember this rescue with a Passover celebration, which was to crescendo with the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb.

But that initial Passover in Egypt and every Passover celebration that followed was just a preview of the greater Passover to come.

When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son to die as our Passover Lamb to take away our sins.

The blood of Jesus Christ has covered all who will trust in Him.

This is what Jesus revealed to His first disciples at His last passover supper with His disciples…

Luke 22:17–20 NASB95

17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

With these words, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper as a memorial in the life of the local church.

[CONTEXT] But the Corinthian church was having difficulty celebrating the Lord’s Supper as a church.

A church is a community of people brought together through a shared faith in Jesus Christ, but the Corinthian church seldom looked like a church brought together.

They divided themselves up according to their favorite preachers.

They were divided by immorality that was allowed to remain in the congregation.

They were divided by lawsuits, divided by views on marriage and singleness, divided by the use of Christian freedom, divided by a lack of order in the worship service, and divided in their partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

[INTER] One thing that every church should be asking is, “How do we properly celebrate the Lord’s Supper?”

[CIT] In 1 Corinthians 11:23ff, the Apostle Paul laid out the proper understanding for the proper celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

[PROP] As we’ll see, to partake of the Lord’s Supper in the way we should, we have to understand how it calls us to unification, proclamation, and sanctification.

[TS] Those are the three PURPOSES for the Lord’s Supper celebration in this passage.

Let look at each one…

Major Ideas

PURPOSE #1: The Lord’s Supper is about unification (1 Cor. 11:20-22)

1 Corinthians 11:20–22 NASB95

20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.

[EXP] Despite the divisions withing the church, Paul praised the Corinthian Christians for some things done well in their public worship, but he could not commend their observance of the Lord’s Supper.

In fact, when they came together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, it was so negative that it could hardly be recognized as the Lord’s Supper.

Very likely the Corinthian church was celebrating the Lord’s Supper by having individual members bring their own food and drink from home.

This food and drink was supposed to be used in remembering Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross, but some of the wealthier members of the Corinthian church apparently brought a feast for themselves while impoverished brothers and sisters in Christ had very little or nothing at all.

Those who had an abundance were actually using the Lord’s Supper as opportunity for gluttony and drunkenness while brothers and sisters in Christ with no food and no drink had nothing with which to remember the sacrifice of Jesus.

Paul said that this behavior was possibly an indication that some of the Corinthians despised the church of God and longed to humiliate the people of God.

In other words, if the Corinthians who acted this way were willing to treat the Lord’s Supper with such disrespect and use it as an opportunity to exalt themselves over others, then the question should be asked, “Would a real Christian even do that?”

It was at least possible, if not likely, that those acting this way really didn’t belong to God through faith in Jesus and despised the church which Jesus purchased with His blood and were looking to humiliate those who were genuine (cf. v. 19) followers of Jesus.

In any event, this is contrary to one of the purposes of the Lord’s Supper—unification.

[APP] The Lord’s Supper is about coming together; it’s not about coming apart.

The phrase come together is used repeatedly 1 Corinthians 11:17-34;it’s used repeatedly because this is what should be happening as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

We should be coming together at the Lord’s table as we remember together the work of Jesus, which has brought us together.

[ILLUS] The picture of our togetherness is the one bread we break together as we partake of the Lord’s Supper.

The bread represents the body of Christ which was given for us on the cross, and it also represents the church and its unity as the body of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 10:16b-17, Paul wrote...

1 Corinthians 10:16b–17 (NASB95)

16b 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.

When we observe the Lord’s Supper, we all eat the one bread because we are one.

No one is given more bread or better bread depending on how wealthy they are or how important they may seem.

When we come together to partake of the Lord’s Supper, we really come to the table together because are one in Jesus Christ.

[TS] Purpose #1: The Lord’s Supper is about unification.

Purpose #2: The Lord’s Supper is about proclamation (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NASB95

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 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.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

[EXP] This is the primary purpose of the Lord’s Supper—the proclamation of the Lord’s death until He comes.

That phrase at the end of v. 26—proclaim that Lord’s death until He comes—means that the observance of the Lord’s Supper is preaching even when no sermon precedes it or follows it.

The Lord’s Supper in itself is a proclaiming of the Lord’s death until He comes.

Paul even shows us how this is the case by referring back to Jesus’ own words on the night He instituted the Lord’s Supper.

As I’ve said, the broken bread represents Jesus’ body broken for us on the cross.

The wine in the cup represents Jesus’ blood poured out for us on the cross.

The entire celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a declaration that Jesus, the ultimate and perfect Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed, and our sins are forgiven.

Every time the Lord’s Supper is celebrated that is what is proclaimed!

But that is not all that is proclaimed, for the phrase at the end of v. 26 ends with “until He comes.”

The Lords Supper is a proclamation of the death of Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins, but it also a proclamation of the return of Jesus as well.

Jesus didn’t just die on the cross as He said He would, He also rose from the dead as He said He would; then He ascended to Heaven as He said He would; And one day He will return as He said He would.

In John 14:1-3, Jesus said…

John 14:1–3 NASB95

1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Jesus said He would return, and so He will.

Until He comes we proclaim His death, resurrection, ascension, and return in the observance of the Lord’s Supper.

This is how we remember what He has done for us, what He is doing for us, and what He will do for us when He comes.

This remembrance of Him is our proclamation of Him.

[APP] As we participate in the Lord’s Supper, we must remember that the Lord’s Supper is about Him. It’s not about us.

It’s not about exalting ourselves but proclaiming Him.

[TS] Purpose #2: The Lord’s Supper is about proclamation.

Purpose #3: The Lord’s Supper is about sanctification (1 Cor. 11:27-32)

1 Corinthians 11:27–32 NASB95

27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 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. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

[EXP] The Lord’s Supper is also about examining ourselves to see if there by any wicked way in us.

If we will not do this work of examining ourselves, then there may be grave consequences.

If we eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, we will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

In the context of what Paul writes to the Corinthians, to partake of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner refers to using the Lord’s Supper as an opportunity to exalt oneself and humiliate other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Sinning with the Lord’s Supper in this way is not just a sin against a fellow Christian, but it is also a sin against the body and blood of the Lord—i.e. it’s a sin against Jesus Himself.

It is also a way of inviting judgment on one’s self (cf. v. 29).

Paul said that some in Corinth had taken part in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner and ended up weak, ill, or dead (cf. v. 30).

All of this could have been avoided if they would’ve just examined themselves honestly and repented before partaking.

That’s the choice everyone faces—repent of sin by trusting in the pierced body and spilled blood of Jesus or stand condemned.

[APP] As we meditate on the Holy Spirit-inspired words of 1 Corinthians 11, we should be thinking to ourselves, “This Lord’s Supper stuff is serious business. I had better not take it lightly or treat it flippantly. I had better examine myself and repent if there be any wicked way in me.

We also must examine ourselves as a church.

We must make sure that we are treating each other in accord with the Gospel we remember in the Lord’s Supper.

In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus said…

Matthew 5:23–24 NASB95

23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Does someone in this church have something against you? Something that you need to go make right before you partake of the Lord’s Supper?

By examination and repentance, the Lord’s Supper is about living a life that is set apart to God alone—it’s about sanctification.

[TS] …

Conclusion

Have you trusted in Jesus as the sacrifice in your place? Have you admitted that you are a sinner and that God sent Jesus to pay the price for your sins?

Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

Have you confessed Jesus as Savior and Lord through baptism?

Then the Lord’s Supper is for you.

As we come to the Lord’s table…

…we come unified as the body of Christ.

…we come proclaiming the death, resurrection, ascension, and return of the Lord Jesus.

…we come examining ourselves and repenting of sin so that we might be even further sanctified in living for Jesus.

[PRAYER]