1 Corinthians 11:23-32 The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians 11:23–32 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, 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. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

Introduction:

Today we meet here as believers to worship the Lord and celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Now the churches that Paul is writing to in this passage of Scripture are doing the same thing then that we are now. The world they are in is not much different from the world we live in today….broken and sinful….living for self and not for the Lord. The people of the church then seem to be much the same as folks who are going to church today. For this to have been written so long ago it never ceases to amaze me how much the church then and the church today are alike….how the people of that time are so much like the people of today.

Illustration:

Have you ever done something so many times that it just becomes something that you do on autopilot. You get bored with it because it gets to be routine and you just do it without even putting your mind in gear. When you get done with whatever it is….it looks like it’s supposed to look…..or it sounds like it’s supposed to sound…..it works like it’s supposed to work…or maybe it tastes like its supposed to taste…but there is not thought or effort behind it at all...there is no heart in it…..it just got done and that was the whole point of the exercise right. Maybe it’s a recipe that you cook all the time…or something guys that you have worked on so many times you just know automatically how it comes apart and goes together. It works every single time for you without fail until it doesn’t. When it goes wrong it really goes wrong….when it goes wrong it becomes instantly clear there was no feeling in it and you were not there in the moment when you were doing it and you missed some crucial part of whatever it was. Maybe you left out a bolt or maybe you didn’t add the sugar or maybe not enough eggs or butter. Something got missed because you were not there when you did it.

One such thing in our walk of faith that comes to my mind is our prayer life. We pray so many times and so often that we pray and just do it to be done with it….or worse yet we get lost when we are praying and suddenly find ourselves wondering what we are going to cook for dinner tomorrow night…..if you mind works like mine does anyway… if I don’t stay focused and tuned in we are off and running down a hundred rabbit holes..The Lord’s Supper is significant in that Jesus the one who died for our sins celebrated His last Passover meal and established this supper as a remembrance of Him and His sacrifice for us. When we are celebrating this meal and we are participating in this sacrament we cannot afford to allow our minds to wander we need to be present here right now in the moment and understand what we are doing.

Point #1: We should reflect on the sacrifice of Our Lord during The Lord’s Supper….

Paul recounts how Jesus established the Lord’s Supper and I want you to hone in on what Jesus tells the disciples….1 Corinthians 11:23-26

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Both with the bread and with the cup he says “Do this in remembrance of me..” I want you to focus on me every single time you do this. I want you to remember what I am about to do for you…I want you to think about the sacrifice that I am going to make for you….I want you to remember….I want you to focus…..not just the first time but every single time you come to this table I want your heart, mind, soul, and body focused on me and what I am about to do for you.

We often times do the things that we do for the Lord with no thought given to why we are doing them. We are on autopilot….there are folks in churches today that are celebrating the Lord’s Supper and they have given no thought to the fact that it was instituted by Jesus during the passover meal. The passover meal….the lamb that was without blemish that was sacrificed and the blood put on the door posts and on the lintel of the house so that God would passover them and the firstborn of their houses were spared when His people were in Egypt.

Jesus the perfect lamb of God that was sacrificed and His precious blood applied for my sins and the sins of the whole world…..so that God’s judgement would pass over me. Jesus said do this in remembrance of me….why would I come to this table and not be focused or paying attention to all of it. I should not let me mind wander if the preacher is taking to long or the ushers ain’t holding the plate they way I think they should I ought to be focused in prayer. Someone should have to touch me or get my attention to let me know the plate or the cup is there……..

Point #2: Probably the most important part of coming to the table is that I should be examining myself before I come…

1 Corinthians 11:27–29 ESV

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

The unworthy manner that Paul is speaking of here is coming to this table with sin in my life that I have not confessed. My prayer life should always start with a time of confession. By the time I come to the Lord’s table I should have already confessed my sins to Him and my heart and conscience be clear. Look I get the fact that none of us or truly worthy to be in the presence of God or to partake in this meal if we do so without the blood of Jesus covering us.

This is why Paul says we are to examine ourselves. The truth of the matter is this right here I am only a man just like anyone else. I have to examine myself before I partake of this meal…I am no different, better or worse than any of you. Brothers and sisters hear me when I say there will not come a day when I tell someone they cannot come to this table. I cannot see your heart and I don’t know what your relationship with the Lord is and where you stand with God. I can only tell you PLEASE be sure that your heart is right before you partake.

I am not trying to scare anyone into not participating in the Lord’s Supper but I want you to understand the gravity of what you are doing. Jesus himself said do this in remembrance of Him. This is not just something that we do in the months that have five Sundays….it is an act of obedience and remembrance of the sacrifice that was made on our behalf. We are coming before a Holy God this morning and saying Lord I desire to be right with you and I desire to partake in this sacrifice that was made for me. I love you Lord and I understand what it means to be in a relationship with you.

Point #3: The last point I want to make is this….If I judged me honestly without blinders and without trying to hide something even from me….. then I would not need to be judged….

Look with me at verse 31 this is where I want to end this morning….1 Corinthians 11:31

1 Corinthians 11:31 ESV

But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

If I looked at my life and my walk with the Lord and I got real honest with myself and started making the changes that the Holy Spirit points out to me…I would have a much closer walk with God. If I called sin what it is in my life instead of putting me on autopilot and doing what I have always done and talking like I have always talked and acting like I have always acted…if I truly stopped and reflected on what I do and how I act and how I talk and I got real honest with myself about it…there would be some things that would have to change. Folks God still takes me to task for the way I think about things and the way I approach some things in my life……Praise God I am still learning and I pray that I continue to learn and grow…you won’t get it all right this side of heaven but you are supposed to try.

Paul says look if you are honest with yourself when you are talking to God and you truly repent of your sins and you truly honestly get on your face before God and you get real about your relationship with Him you don’t have to worry about the Lord’s Supper.

It will mean to you what it is supposed to mean and you are going to treat it with the respect and dignity that it deserves. You are going to be right with God that day because you are right with God through Jesus’ sacrifice everyday. Church let me be honest with you we should treat every single day with the same reverence that we treat Sunday. Just my opinion….everyday is the day the Lord has made and we should rejoice and be glad in it that we serve a risen Lord.

We say that it is the Lord’s day and we act a little better on Sunday…we talk a little sweeter on Sunday…we are more kind on Sunday but truth be told we should be the same person on Monday morning that I am on Sunday evening. I should be the same on every other day of the week as I am on Sunday morning. If I am not then there is an issue. If somehow God is less important on a Thursday that He is on Sunday morning then I need to revaluate my relationship.

If I truly judge myself everyday and make the necessary changes in my life then I don’t have to worry about being right with God when I come to His table……are you right with the Lord this morning…if not and there is something weighing on your heart I want you to feel free to come to this altar and pray before you partake…or you can pray right where you are but brothers and sisters please examine yourself and let this meal have the significance and reverence in your life that it is due. Let us remember the sacrifice that was made for us as we come to the table to celebrate this morning and if there is something in your life you need to confess talk to the Lord….

Invitation…..