The Lord's Supper

1 Corinthians 11:23–34 NASB95

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 He took the cup also 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. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.

INTRO: Have you ever been in the position where you were struggling to do a task, but then someone shows or teaches you something that revolutionizes how you approach it? This has happened to me on a number of occasions. For example, when I finally figured out the technique to cutting crown moulding, I wasn’t overwhelmed anymore when I had to put it up. When I started Bible College and I learned how to study the Bible, I found it invigorating instead of daunting.

For many of us in the room today, we’ve observed the Lord’s Supper on a number of occasions. Perhaps you have a good understanding and you truly treasure the ordinance. Or, maybe you have a vague understanding and you feel like you are missing something when we observe it. Or perhaps you just figure it’s a tradition and you don’t think much about it either way.

Well, this morning in our time together, I hope that you see the Lord’s Supper with a freshness and clarity that perhaps you’ve never experienced.

As we’ve learned over the past several weeks, the Apostle Paul wrote a couple letters to the Corinthian Church in order to give correction and to answer some questions that had arisen in the body. Last week, we studied about their corporate worship and learned that this church was not unified. In fact, they were hypocrites in their proclamation and their gathering.

Following Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthian Church for misusing the elements of the Lord’s Supper and disregarding the intent of this ordinance, he offers a clarifying teaching, which we will examine today.

So, if you picked up a bulletin on your way in, I invite you to make use of the sermon guide as we study together in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34, The Lord’s Supper.

Verse 23 begins with a reminder that Paul is not teaching on his own authority. Indeed, he reminds his readers that this teaching which Paul already gave in person, but is rehashing now in writing, was received by him from Jesus.

In other words, he is telling them that this is not some arbitrary tradition nor is it a product of any mere man, but instead is the institution established by Jesus before he went to the cross.

It’s worth noting, that Jesus taught this on the night that He was betrayed. That is, it was on the eve of His sacrifice. Further, we should note that this teaching was offered to the disciples, including Judas. Judas shared in this ordinance too - we’ll revisit that in a few moments, so hang on to it.

But first, we want to look at this teaching of Jesus, which illuminates:

The Significance of the Ordinance (24-26)

These verses should be familiar to most of you- we often read them as we observe this ordinance ourselves. But let’s read v. 24-26 again. (READ)

Jesus first points to his body, that is his body that was given as a physical sacrifice for you and me.

We must remember that Jesus took on a body- becoming fully human and fully divine. This is what we celebrate at Christmas- that Jesus, who is eternally God, took on flesh and entered the world He created. This was done because sin had entered the world and corrupted it. **Sin is that which is not aligned with the character of God.**

And sin, being incongruent with God’s character requires justice to be paid. The wages of sin, Paul reminds the Romans, is death.

This death is not simply a physical death, but a separation from God. For man to pay the price for his sin is to be separated from God for eternity.

To understand the penalty for sin, we simply must understand the absolute holiness of God. Because God is holy, there can be no sin in His presence. We cannot approach God in our sin and live.

Jesus came in order to take our sin upon Himself and accept the just penalty for it. The theological term for this is called Penal Substitutionary Atonement.

Next, Jesus points us to His blood, which is a new covenant. A covenant is a promise or contract. There was an old covenant made between God and the Israelites in which God gave a law for them to obey. The law would demonstrate God’s character and shine a light on the need for God’s mercy. (We talked about this a few weeks ago at Easter) This covenant was meant to point them toward the covenant that Christ made. Covenants were made around a sacrifice. Only with a sacrifice could the OT priests enter the Holy inner room of the temple and ask forgiveness for the people’s sin. Jesus gave his own blood - perfect, once for all before the throne in Heaven so that we could come before God.

The blood of the new covenant covers our iniquity and transfers the perfect standing of Christ to our account.

Taking the bread and drink in accordance to the teaching of Jesus demonstrates our unity in Him.

We take of the same bread- a symbol of our participation in Christ’s death and resurrection. That is, we are proclaiming that we have died to the old sinful life, and are now living as a new creation because of Christ. Our faith in Him that was demonstrated in our baptism is retold each time we take of the Lord’s Supper.

We take of the same drink- a symbol of the promise that Jesus made that “Whosoever believes in Me will not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)

And each time we observe this ordinance, Jesus says we proclaim His death. Why His death? Why not His life?

Because His death is what brings salvation. He came to give His life to save sinners! The Gospel is not simply that Jesus was a good teacher or a healer, but that He is the perfect God-man who paid the price for our sins through His death on the cross, securing life and restoration with God the Father for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The significance of The Lord’s Supper is that each time we observe it, we are drawn back to the cross where our Savior laid down His life in order that we could be redeemed. This is central to our faith, for if our sins have not been paid for, we remain condemned.

Discuss: What is the ‘new covenant’ Jesus spoke of in verse 25? How would you explain this to an unbeliever?

It is because of the significance of this ordinance that Paul reminded the Corinthians (and us) about:

The Seriousness of Participation (27-31)

Verse 27 offers a simple, yet severe warning. Let’s read v. 27 again. (READ)

Taking of this ordinance in an unworthy manner is a serious offense.

NOTE- Paul didn’t say that you had to be worthy, but rather that your must take the supper in a worthy manner.

Friends, we are not worthy- that’s why Christ died for us!

In order to take the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner, Paul instructs us to examine ourselves (28).

What does this mean?

Paul did not say to examine your neighbor. We are much better at doing this, but that is not the call.

We must look at our own life.

We must have a sincere heart. Is Jesus really your Lord? Do you trust Him?

We must have a pure heart- that is, we must not have un-confessed, unrepentant sin.

We must have a loving heart- We must love God and love our neighbor.

Paul taught that if we take of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, we share the guilt of those who crucified Jesus-

That is to put us as equal with the Pharisees who falsely accused Him and demanded his life, the Romans who mocked Him and drove the nails through his hands and feet - perhaps most clearly the guilt of Judas who partook of the supper, yet that very evening betrayed Jesus, demonstrating his insincerity, his greed, and his lack of love.

Folks, this is why we take time to reflect before we observe the Lord’s Supper. It’s time to repent, to right the course, etc.

Let me just pause for a moment here and give you some self-examination diagnostic questions:

Am I really surrendered to Jesus? Do I honor Him in my life? Am I living like Jesus is coming back?

Have I acknowledged the sin in my life, asked forgiveness and turned from it?

Think specifics- Have you lied? Lusted? Coveted? Gossiped?

I like to pray Scripture-

Psalm 139:23–24 NASB95

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

Am I so familiar with the Lord’s Supper that I just go through the motions?

I’m sure you can come up with more, but this would be a good start.

This is serious. We must not take the Lord’s Supper flippantly or deceptively. Paul even states that it was this lackadaisical approach to the Lord’s Supper that led many of the Corinthians to be sick, weak, or even to have died early.

Yet, as v. 31 says, in our examination of ourselves, we can keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus. If we are willing to take the step to examine ourselves, then we will not find ourselves sharing in the guilt of Judas.

Taking the Lord’s Supper demonstrates our faith- for this reason we must recognize the significance of the ordinance and the seriousness of our participation.

Discuss: Have you taken the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner? How can you ensure you do not?

Finally, having understood this, I want to point us to:

The Sweetness of Assurance (32)

Let me read v. 32 again (READ)

I know that when we examine ourselves and when the Holy Spirit brings to light our sins, we can feel kinda rotten. I know I do. I hate the feeling of guilt!

But it’s here that Paul reminds the Corinthians of the truth of our adoption. God disciplines those who are His.

The writer of Hebrews informs us:

Hebrews 12:7–11 NASB95

It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

It’s in this discipline that we find assurance of our acceptance before God. We will not face the condemnation of the world, for we are grafted into God’s family through Jesus Christ.

So, even as we weep over our transgressions and perhaps find ourselves week after week upon our knees confessing our sins, we can rejoice because we are secure in the hands of God.

We can acknowledge our complete dependence upon Him and know that is exactly what God desires. A few musicians and song-writers have grasped this truth and from time to time we get to join with them in declaring,

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus!

My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness!

My God, my Savior has ransomed Me!

Thank you Jesus for the blood applied...

As we bring our time together to a close, I want to ask those who are serving the Lord’s Supper to come as we prepare to observe this ordinance and proclaim our unity as a body in Christ.

AT LRBC, we invite you to participate if you have trusted Christ and have been baptized. If not, please refrain from taking the elements.

As we serve the elements to you this morning, I want to ask you to take this time and examine yourself; Repent of known sin. Restore broken relationships. Renew your commitment to God. .

Let’s pray and ask God’s blessing upon this Lord’s Supper.

Discuss: What do you celebrate in taking the Lord’s Supper? How can discipline be joy?

[PRAY]

Having examined our lives and confessed and repented of known sin, I invite you to take the bread.

As Jesus told His disciples, so also He says to us:

1 Corinthians 11:24 NASB95

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.”

Now, if you will take the cup,

1 Corinthians 11:25 NASB95

In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Let close our time by lifting our voices in celebration of the covenant! Let us sing of that Blessed Assurance.