Communion – 7 Things to Consider
1 Corinthians 11:17-29 (NKJV)
(Back ground)
The city of Corinth was like Hollywood, Las Vegas, and New York all rolled up into one. It was the
capital of the Roman province of Achaia; it was the most populous and wealthy in Greece. The finest
athletes were attracted to the Isthmian Games. Corinth enjoyed fertile soil; grapes and other crops
flourished. Corinth was intellectually alert, materially prosperous, but morally corrupt. Its citizens
were devoted to the reckless development of the individual. Merchants gained by all and every
means; men of pleasure, surrendering to every lust; men recognized no superior and no law but their
own desires. Women were much emancipated and threw off the customs and traditions of the day.
(Dr. Chuck Missler – 1 Corinthians Commentary p. 6)
Paul is the writer of this letter and:
He had three visits:
1) When the church was founded;
2) The “painful” visit;
3) A visit after 2 Corinthians had been sent.
He wrote four letters:
1) The “Previous Letter”;
2) 1 Corinthians;
3) The “Sever Letter”;
4) 2 Corinthians.
This letter is not only the response to the questions that the Corinthian church had to Paul, but also it
contains the earliest records of the Lord’s Supper. Remember that this letter was written earlier
(chronologically) than the Gospels. We have the luxury of reading the account in the Gospel and can
view this text in the light of those writings.
Read all of 11:17-29
(Love Feast vs. Lord’s Supper)
[17] Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come
together not for the better but for the worse.
1. I do not praise you: There was unseemly behavior at their gatherings: some were left
hungry; some were drunk. This was not a “love” feast.
i. Why is important to confront bad behavior when you become aware
of it?
[18] For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there
are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. [19] For there must also be
factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among
you.
2. There are divisions among you: Factions: different cultural, social, economic backgrounds;
Jews, Greeks, Romans, et al; merchants, government officials, professionals living in spacious
homes, as well as laborers and dock workers.
a. Might I suggest; longtime believers, longtime growing believers, newcomers, addicts,
backsliders, and the recommitted; cliques create divisions.
i. What makes cliques harmful?
[20] Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the
Lord’s Supper. [21] For in eating, each on takes his own supper ahead of
others; and one is hungry and another drunk. [22] What! Do you not have
houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame
those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in
this? I do not praise you.
3. It is not to eat the Lord’s Supper: The Lord’s Supper and “Love Feast” or social gathering
should not be mixed.
4. I do not praise you: We should be aware of this kind of unacceptable behavior. “Agape
feasts” (Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7, 11) were the hallmark of the early church and potlucks are the
hallmark for the contemporary church. However, back then they quickly degenerated into a
discriminatory nasty display of human behavior.
i. Have you ever seen nasty behavior at a party? What do you think of
that kind of behavior?
[23] For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that
the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread;
5. Received from the Lord! Jesus communicated to Paul directly on a number of occasions:
on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:4), in Arabia, three years in Tarsus before Barnabas has him
come to Antioch (Acts 18:9f; 22;18; 23:11; 27;23-25; 2 Cor 12:9; Gal 1:12; 2:2).
a. “betrayed” is actually in the Greek is “while He was being betrayed.”
i. What is the most painful part of betrayal?
[24] and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat, this is
My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
6. “This is My body” is referring to the symbolism of what He is about to do, and it is prophetic
“broken for you…”
7. Broken for you: Why? Because we are walking dead.
Ephesians 2:1-3 (NKJV), “And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of
the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who
now works in sons of obedience, among whom also we all once conducted
ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
Passover Taking on New Meaning
Exodus 11 & 12 (Teach this)
Romans 5:7-8 (NKJV) “ 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet
perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.”
a. Exodus 12:7 “[blood applied to the doorposts and lintel]” of our hearts. So
that death, the penalty of sin, passes over our eternal lives.
b. Transubstantiation: Dogma (creed) in the Roman Catholic and some Christian
churches; the view that the bread and wine change in substance (though not in
appearance) into His body and blood. First called transubstantiation in the 12 th century;
elaborated by theologians from the 13 th – 15 th century, and incorporated in documents
at the Council of Trent (1545-63).
c. Consubstantiation: A variant view in which Christ’s body and blood substantially
coexist with the consecrated bread and wine. Often associated with the Lutheran
doctrine.
d. He was still in His body as He instituted the sacrament.
7 Things to Consider
1. A Divine Command (vs. 24 – take eat)
a. It is a solemn obligation to assemble with the people of God for the celebration of the
memorial of the death of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. To neglect to do so is to be
disobedient to the Lord’s direct wish.
b. If you think that you are not worthy, then I suggest that the only ones who have a right
to come are those who really believe and confess that they are unworthy.
A Blessed Privilege
a. Jesus Christ is the Host and it is His Table we come to. We…who murdered Him, who
reviled Him, and by our sin spit upon Him, and drove the cruel nails through His blessed
hands – we are invited to come and sit at His Table with Him as our Host and feast with
Him by His grace. What a privilege! And what an insult if we refuse that invitation.
i. Do you view Communion as a privilege? Explain.A Necessary Memorial
a. This reminds us of the infinite cost of our purchased salvation. It is His faithfulness, not
ours, that saves us.
i. What part of Jesus’ sacrifice most impacts you?
1 Peter 1:18-19 (NKJV) “knowing that you were not redeemed with
corruptible things, like silver and gold, from you aimless conduct received by
tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot.”
[25] In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This
cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of Me.”
b. This is third cup at the Passover Meal (Jewish Seder):
i. 1 st cup – Sanctification = thanksgiving and brining out.
ii. 2 nd cup – Judgment = plagues and deliverance.
iii. 3 rd cup – Redemption = blessing.
iv. 4 th cup – Praise = taking out.
c. This cup is the new covenant in His blood (not the blood itself).
i. What is a covenant? A contract between two people? Not really. A unilateral
disposition made by God in favor of man. Not to understood as a mutual
agreement between two parties of equal standing.
Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV) “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” “It” what? It = the faith is even
a gift of God.
4. A Willing Testimony
a. The one loaf of bread signifies that all who participate partake of the one Body of Christ
(1 Cor 10:17) and for a covenant community. We are His covenant community.
- A Humbling Confession
[26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the
Lord’s death till He comes.
a. It is a memorial only for imperfect people. Perfect people would have no need of this
memorial. We are at times powerless over our own compulsive behaviors and we have
a way of making our lives are unmanageable.
b. Our identification with Him also involves our humbling confession of our own
helplessness and unworthiness as well. Away go all of our excuses, rationalizations,
and justifications. The death of Christ is the death of all man’s righteousness. I hereby
declare myself to be completely unfit in myself.
An Act of Faith
a. We “proclaim His death” and we “proclaim His return.” The Lord’s Supper not only
looks back to the Cross but forward to the Crown.A Solemn Warning
[27] Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
a. “Unworthy manner” means that we should not take the Lord’s Supper frivolously and
carelessly, but focused and committed. If we eat the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy
manner we are guilty of the murder of Jesus Christ. This is speaking of your approach
and not your condition.
i. What are some ways that we can approach Communion in an
unworthy manner?
[28] But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and
drink of the cup. [29] For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner
eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
b. Self-examination is the key. The guest at the Lord’s Table must be (Psalm 15:1)
blameless, righteous, truthful, morally upright, and obedient to God’s law. How?
Humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings. 1 John 1:9 (Christian’s body wash) “If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.”
In conclusion let’s look at two things;
c. Are you a Christian? (1 Corinthians 1:18)
d. If you love Him, then are you feeding His sheep? (John 21:15)
e. You might be asking…What does all this have to do with my Christian walk?
i. Because we leave this place and practice denial.
f. When Jesus left the Last Supper with His disciples, He went out to die for them. The
disciples went out, one to betray Him, others prayerless and forgetful, all to desert Him.
Often, we have broken this bread together around the Lord’s Table, and then we have
gone out to do just what those disciples did – we have denied Him.