Division and the Lord's Supper
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In light of the fact that we are observing the Lord’s Supper this morning, I have chosen to jump to 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and return to 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 next week. Let us now hear God’s Word:
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
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.
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. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.
May God now bless this reading of His holy and infallible Word.
Within my life span there has been no time when I have witness more division in the church than today. As our culture has moved more and more to an anti-Christian position, many in the church are embracing the culture rather than Christ. The first waves of this division began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the rise of liberal theology. Our congregation is a produce of those divisions when Rev. Kelly bravely lead our congregation out of the apostate United Presbyterian Church. Today a fresh wave of worldly compromise is tearing the church apart, as the so called “Progressive Evangelicals” are undermining the gospel. Our denomination narrowly avoided a major church split this summer, as General Assembly affirmed biblical standards. Sadly, the Southern Baptist Convention failed to do so and already a few conservative congregations have left and many more are prepared to do so if they see the convention continue its present course. If this were not enough, in 2020 our nation was stuck by a global pandemic and a very contentious election. Our nation is divided, with one half of the nation hating the other half and unfortunately this division has spilled over into the church.
As wrong and discouraging all this is, we need to remind ourselves that division is not new in the church. We see it throughout church history and we see it in our text this morning. In the midst of this tragedy, Paul says something surprising—division is necessary!
for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
Division is one of the means God uses to purify His church and one of the ways the Lord accomplishes this purification is through the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; thus the title of this sermon: Division and the Lord’s Supper.
I want to cover three areas this morning:
The Necessity of Division
The Purifying Power to the Lord’s Supper
The Call to Self-examination
We begin with...
The Necessity of Division
The Necessity of Division
When Paul speaks of the necessity of division, he is not saying division within the church is a good thing. We can see very clearly in this text that Paul is heartbroken by what is happening in Corinth and condemns it as sinful. Nor is Paul saying that God is the author of this division. As James reminds us, God is not temped by sin, nor does He tempt anyone to sin.
Division is necessary first of all because it is a necessary consequence of the sin. All of us are sinners; both Christians and non-Christians. Where people gather together there will be sin and where there is sin there will be division. If you recall, 1 Corinthians opens with Paul addressing divisions within the Corinthian church caused by a party spirit. This party spirit, as we learned was caused by many in Corinth relying upon the wisdom of this world rather than the wisdom of God. As I said in my introduction, this reliance upon worldly wisdom is behind the divisions we are currently experiencing in the church today. In addition, as we see in our text today, worldly thinking leads to worldly practice.
There is another way in which division is necessary—division reveals the genuineness of a person’s faith.
for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
Although true believers will not be totally freed from the corrupting influences of sin on this side of glory, the true believer’s life will not be characterized by sin. Those who are born again are controlled by the Spirit, not by sin. From the moment a person trust in Christ, the Holy Spirit is progressively putting to death sin. The Holy Spirit does this through three primary means: 1) the Word of God, especially as it is preach in public worship; 2) the right observance of the Sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism; and 3) the proper exercise of church discipline.
In our passage today, Paul is pointing us to:
The Purifying Power of the Lord’s Supper
The Purifying Power of the Lord’s Supper
In the early church, many congregations chose to observe the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in a communal meal, often called the Agape Feast. The best way to describe it in contemporary terms is a church potluck, with Communion as a part of it. The church of Corinth was one of those congregations that chose to celibate Communion in this way; however, there was nothing “communal” about the meals in Corinth. Rather, than sharing the food equally among themselves, the rich segregated themselves from the rest of the congregation and ate a feast, while the poorer members had to fend for themselves, often returning home with empty stomachs!
What does Paul do to combat this sin? He points them to the Lord’s Supper, “What I received from the Lord, I also delivered unto you”. He goes on to say that the Lord’s Supper causes us to do two things that combats division: It causes us to remember and to proclaim, but before he gets to this Paul first points out that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Jesus on “the night he was betrayed”.
Why does he do this? He does it in order to remind us of Jesus’ self-giving love. Jesus’ attitude it totally different to those who are causing division. The rich in Corinth were self-serving, while Jesus was self-giving. Reflecting on Jesus’ self-giving spirit, Paul writes the Philippians:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
With this in mind, we can easily see why the act of “remembering” and “proclaiming” are so powerful. As we participate in Communion rightly we “remember” as the bread is broken that His body was “broken, for us” and as we take the cup we remember that “His blood was shed for us”. To truly remember these things in faith cannot help but move our hearts. Sometimes tears weal up in my eyes as I take Communion, I am sure the same is true of you; and if our hearts are truly moved, our actions are effected. How can we live in selfishness and division when Christ gave Himself in such a self-giving way?
When we partake of Communion, we are also “proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes again”. The Lord’s Supper points not only to Jesus as Savior, but Jesus as Lord. When Donald Trump was elected as President half the nation said, “He is not my President”; now half the nation says of Joe Biden, “He is not my President”. When Christ comes again, “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” This worldly wisdom I spoke of earlier has no place in the church. All wisdom must bow before the wisdom of Christ which has been revealed to us in His inerrant and infallible Word.
With the power of the Lord’s Supper in mind, Paul calls us to examine ourselves.
The Call to Self-examination
The Call to Self-examination
Paul gives us a frightening warning:
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. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
I do not like how the ESV translated the final phrase “some have died”; literally, the text says “some have fallen asleep.” The phrase “fallen asleep” is used exclusively for believers; not unbelievers in the bible. Christ bore the full wrath of God for those who trust in Him. When God judges the elect, it is for the purpose of disciple, not wrath. Throughout Scripture we are told God “disciplines those He loves.” God will complete His work of sanctification in you; “those who are justified, will be glorified”; there is no break in God’s golden chain of salvation! We see this truth in verse 32:
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Those in Corinth who were disciplined by “falling asleep” opened their eyes not to the horrors of Hell, but to the glories of Heaven!
However, you have a choice this morning how God will discipline you. You can be disciplined by God’s Word or you can be disciplined by God’s judgement. Clearly, it is preferable to be disciplined by God’s Word, rather than by God’s judgement; this is why Paul is calling us to self-examination. Is your life in conformity to the example of Christ? The end of divisions begins at the Table of the Lord!