There's a Problem in the Church at Corinth!
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Intro
Intro
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. 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. 19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 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. 22 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. 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: 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. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 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. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians was addressing a problem inside the church...
Division was a regular issue that the Apostle Paul had to bring up in the church at Corinth...
The entire first half of I Corinthians was Paul addressing the issue of division...
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Leading up to the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, Paul was addressing the issue of sin in the congregation of the Corinthians...
That sin was division among the people...
Chapter 6 they are suing each other...
It all leads up to the teaching in I Corinthians 11, where Paul tells the Corinthians that they are taking something that is supposed to be holy and right and have turned it into something unholy and wrong...
The entire purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to REMEMBER what He did for us on the cross with His blood and body...
Think about it: His blood was shed and His body was torn for our sin.
Now you have the Corinthians who are taking the Lord’s Supper and every bit of it is covered in their sin because they are divided as a people...
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.
He tells them “I praise you not” for taking the Lord’s Supper because they’ve done it unworthily...
In II Corinthians we find the Apostle Paul addressing his tone and first letter to the Corinthians:
8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Paul said:
“I’m not sorry I made you feel bad with the truth...”
“I rejoice because the truth of God’s Word is what led you to a sorrowful heart and true repentance...”
So, here’s the question:
How to approach the examination?
1. Look back
1. Look back
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: 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. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
This is a remembrance...
Remembering that Christ shed his blood and tore his body for what? The sins of the world...
The very thing the Corinthians were so recklessly intertwining with the Lord’s Supper...
They were remembering Jesus’ death with sin?
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned every one to his own way;
And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
As we examine ourselves before partaking of the Lord’s Supper, we must look back at what Jesus did for us and why...
It was my sins...
I cannot bring my sins with me to a memorial of what Jesus went through for… my sins...
2. Look Ahead
2. Look Ahead
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
One day:
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is
We must continue this remembrance till He come...
Why?
We are able to go up to Heaven with Him because of the very thing we are remembering...
Without His blood and body, we are destined for an eternity in hell...
If I look ahead at what is to come because of what He did for me on the cross, it helps me truly examine my heart and the things that are important to God...
3. Look Within
3. Look Within
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. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
We ourselves are unworthy to have anything to do with God...
However, it is not our worthiness that allows us to remember the Lord’s death, but how we observe the Lord’s supper...
The call is to:
Examine our own hearts
Judge ourselves
Confess our sins
This is a personal time between you and God...
It is not time to examine someone else...
It is time to examine yourself...
If I look back, I see what Jesus did for me because of my sins… it should encourage me to be rid of my sins before coming to the Lord’s Supper… it should encourage me to be right with my brothers and sisters before partaking of the very thing that is to be a reminder of what my sin did to Jesus...
If I look ahead, I see what Jesus has prepared for me… it should encourage me to be rid of my sins before coming to the Lord’s Supper… it should encourage me to be right with my brothers and sisters before partaking of the Lord’s Supper because I am thankful and want to be right with God when He comes back for me or I meet Him in eternity at death...
If I look within, I should be encouraged to honestly allow the Lord to examine my heart and be rid of sin because of the chastisement that comes from partaking unworthily...
2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me;
Try my reins and my heart.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
