1 Corinthians 11:27-29 (NIV) 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. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
1 Corinthians 11:17 (NIV) In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
1 Corinthians 11:18 (NIV) 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.
1 Corinthians 11:19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
1 Corinthians 11:20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
1 Corinthians 11:21 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. 22 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!
Blessings are blocked and judgement is faced when the church is not treating one another with love.
THREE PEOPLE PROBLEMS THAT BLOCK GOD’S BLESSINGS
1. Unforgiveness Blocks Forgiveness
Matthew 6:12 (NIV)
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV) For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Bitterness blocks the forgiveness of God.
Hebrews 12:14-15 (NIV) Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Matthew 18:35 (NIV) “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
You will not know forgiveness until you forgive.
Colossians 3:13 (NIV) Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Forgiven people forgive.
Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV) “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
Your service to God is affected by your relationships with others.
You can be right with God even if someone is not right with you.
2. A Wrong Attitude Blocks Prayers
Isaiah 1:15-17 (NIV)
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
Injustice Blocks Prayers
James 4:3 (NIV) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
A Wrong Motive Blocks Prayers
James 4:1-3 (NIV) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
1 Peter 3:7 (NIV) Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
Disrespect In Marriage Blocks Prayers
Ephesians 5:22-24 (NIV) Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Ephesians 5:25 (NIV) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
Ephesians 5:25-28 (NIV) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Mutual, sacrificial love is the key to a marriage blessed by God.
3. A Lack of Love Blocks Blessing
1 Peter 3:8-12 (NIV)
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
There is an inheritance of blessing for people of love.
1 John 4:20-21 (NIV) Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
If you love God, you will love others.
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 (NIV) 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. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
1 Corinthians 11 is a general call to repentance before Communion.
1 Corinthians 11 is a specific call to loving relationships before Communion.
1 Corinthians 11:30-32 (NIV) That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 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.
Worse than blocking blessing, unloving actions towards another opens you up to the judgement of God.
1 Corinthians 11:33-34 (NIV) So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 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.
When you love others, you position yourself to receive the blessings of God in your life.
COMMUNION
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 (NIV) For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 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.”
1 Corinthians 11:25-26 (NIV) 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.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
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