Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Okay, maybe the Church is essential, but certainly not baptism or communion.
Too superstitious.
Don’t like needing others.
Why would Baptism and Communion be essential to the ministry of reconciliation?
The Body of Christ in Corinth was sick and immature—divided, ignorant, sinful, selfish—and Paul is going to make a surprising diagnosis:
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Paul examines the Body and diagnoses a dietary problem: they have an eating disorder.
17: Gatherings are doing more harm than good because of the way they eat the Lord’s Supper.
29-30: The reason for the sickness, weakness and death is because of their failure to discern the body.
So why is communion so important?
Look at verse 23-27. The point is, the bread and cup really are the body and blood of Christ.
Communion and baptism are SACRAMENTS—human ACTIONS that transmit God’s GRACE. (11:23-27; Acts 2:38)
They each carry instructions and a promise.
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.”
I am here. Do this (eat the bread and cup together).
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We don’t like the idea that we would receive grace through someone else’s actions, but that’s because we’ve forgotten that God’s goal is the Body of Christ.
Jesus gave us SACRAMENTS to NOURISH the Body of Christ. (12:13; 10:16-17)
The point of these sacraments is to reconcile you to God and to others at the same time. We participate in God’s grace together.
Paul makes this point to the Corinthians about both baptism and communion.
For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
When we abuse them, the Body of Christ SICKENS and STARVES. (11:19, 29-30)
Paul is talking about spiritual sickness, weakness and death.
Explain the problem.
No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
You actually require divisions in your gatherings because you actually want the elite to stand out!
We have done the same thing throughout history:
Pew prices
Rich churches and poor churches
White churches and black churches
The symptoms in the Corinthian church match:
They fought over preachers and spiritual gifts.
They sued each other
They approved of sexual sin that even the pagans rejected.
Their worship services were chaotic and self-centered.
They indulged false teachers.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
This is the Corinthian church exactly.
They are not receiving random judgment—this is a consequences of being cut off from their nourishment.
You may be getting more food, but you’re eating empty calories.
The same reason we say that communion is for believers—not to exclude non-believers, but because for them it is empty calories.
When we use them properly, the Body of Christ GROWS and MATURES. (Acts 2:42-47, 11:15-18)
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Responses:
Have you been baptized?
How should that form you?
Do you discern the body at the table? How should that form you?’
How should that form your expectations coming to the table?
How should that form your attitude leaving the table?
