CHURCH OF GOD!
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Introduction (Text: NIV)
WILMINGTON FIRST PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS CHURCH
NOT MY CHURCH! THE CHURCH OF GOD!
Sunday, October 21, 2018
In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
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 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.
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.
So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.
Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
Paul F. Evans
Introduction (Text: NIV)
“Do you despise the church of God?”
Of course not, I love my church!
-This is the question Paul asked the Corinthians
-It's strange question to ask a bunch of enthusiastic believers! What provoked the question in the first place?
-Did he really mean it?
1 Corinthians is a confrontational letter
-Paul takes on the practices and attitudes of the believers there
-Including divisions in the church, lawsuits between fellow- believers, the abuse of spiritual gifts, false teaching about resurrection, immorality and spiritual pride
-He calls them carnal and immature, claiming to be spiritual but lacking spirituality ()
-It was their quarreling among themselves (Paul's word not mine) that provoked Paul's strong reaction and strongly worded letters (cf. )
Divisions in the church undermined the unity of the the body and hindered not only fellowship with one another, but the work of God and the mission to the lost
-It presented the gospel to the world in a bad light
Development (Text: NIV)
1. Why the Church Must Have Unity!
A. Paul presented them the rationale for unity in the church
-Because it is the body of Christ in the world ()
B. The church consists at one and the same time of a diversity and unity
-A diversity of people, service and gifts
-A unity of the Spirit, purpose and mission ()
C. The unity of the church requires diversity, that is various functions and kinds of gifts operating together in pursuit of the common good of the church and for the mission of God
-That is how it is made whole and complete
D. In the church, unity and diversity held in tension
-That tension is what makes the church healthy and functional
-So that nothing is left undone and everyone benefits from the operation of God's grace
2. Why Paul Was Shocked by the Corinthian Church!
A. Paul was scandalized with what he witnessed and heard about in the Corinthian church
-In our passage, he addresses one of those issues
-An outward and visible result of the underlying attitudes and jealousies at work among them
B. The early church was in the habit of having meals together which led to into celebrating communion
-This was something that even the Gentile churches practiced
-It arose from the practice of the Jersualem church after Pentecost ()
-This was called the love feast
-It was modeled on the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples prior to his crucifixion
C. The meal was technically a celebration of the Passover, but Jesus took bread at the conclusion of the meal, after which nothing was to be eaten and broke it to give to his disciples and commanded them to eat it in remembrance of him () -He described it as a symbol of his body broken for them, a reminder that God had instituted a new covenant ()
-The cup from which they were all to drink he said was symbolic of his blood that was to be shed on the cross, a sacrifice that would make it possible for their sins to be forgiven ()
-John calls Jesus' death a propitiation ().
D. Paul describes how they conducted themselves at the meal, the love feast. -The disunity and divisions among them prevented them from sharing their food or provisions with one another ()
-The fellowship was less than cordial because there were hard feelings and tensions in the church
-When the meal was convened some went ahead eating, while others had nothing to eat because they were too poor
-Paul accuses them of getting drunk in church ()
E. When Paul accuses them of sinning against the body and blood of Christ, he is condemning them of not recognizing the sacredness of the gathering which involved a celebration of the Eucharist ()
-They failed to recognize that they were remembering the sacrifice of Jesus body and blood on the cross for their sins
-It was to brush it aside, to disregard it ()
F. However, the idea of "Christ's body" does double duty
- is a segue into a discussion of spiritual gifts, where the key to the operation of the gifts is encouragement and edification of the church as the body of Christ ()
-So as Paul's speaks about the body of Christ also as metaphor of the church
-The church has become the body of Christ in his absence from the world in the physical sense since his ascension
-He even likens the church to a loaf of bread, and its members to the crumbs that make it up - one loaf ()!
Conclusion (Text: NIV)
So, when at the communion service some eat and refuse to share their food with one another, or to show basic compassion and concern for others in the church, they are abusing the body of Christ, the church! They are despising the church. When we do not treat one another properly or despise one another, when we fail to show concern for one another, we are abusing the body of Christ, we are despising the church of God, the church that belongs to God! The key to growth and success of the church is that each doing its part ()! We are called to support, edify, love and encourage one another faithfully.
