Sunday, May 22, 2011 pm
STUDIES IN 1 CORINTHIANS
(36)
Coming Together For The Lord’s Supper (2)
1 Cor. 11:17-34
Tonight, we continue our study of 1 Corinthians.
Paul, having addressed ungodly and proper attitudes toward one
another and those outside the body of Christ, now turns his focus toward
conduct within the church – specifically conduct associated with our
worship toward God.
In our last lesson we began examining Paul’s concern as these brethren were abusing the Lord’s Supper. Specifically we noted some principles that are at the foundation of properly partaking of the Lord’s Supper and every other act of worship. First, we engaged in a study of coming together (11:17). We noted that they did come together to partake the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week. We studied the significance of the first day of the week and how it is the day we are to assemble. Secondly, we addressed Paul’s concerns about division in their worship services. WE discussed the importance of unity as we assemble together and made some observations about divisions. Today, we want to address the specifics of the Lord’s Supper as Paul addressed why what they were doing was wrong AND how the Lord’s Supper ought to be properly taken.
a.
They were NOT eating the
Lord’s Supper –
i.
The way this is stated
was NOT to say that it should not be done, but what they were doing was
NOT the Lord’s Supper as it was intended to be observed.
ii.
How is the Lord’s Supper
to be observed?
1.
WHEN is the Lord’s
Supper to be partaken? Acts 20:7, upon the first day of the week.
This text is the ONLY one that
indicates WHEN the Lord’s Supper was observed.
2.
That text does not
indicate that it was a “special service”, but it is recorded as
something that happened regularly.
The context of Acts 20:7 finds Paul on his way to Jerusalem.
He only has a few weeks to get there.
But he stays in Troas for 7 days and waits to meet with the
saints. If “the first day of
the week” was not a regular day of the saints coming together, WHY did
he wait 7 days? Why not meet
some evening where he didn’t have to depart the next day?
The implication is that the disciples met EVERY first day of the
week and they partook of the Lord’s Supper EVERY first day of the week.
Correspond that with our text
here – they “came together” to partake of the Lord’s Supper.
3.
The Lord’s Supper was
NOT intended to be a common meal.
It consisted of the unleavened bread and cup (fruit of the vine)
which was divided among those partaking.
Paul would remind them of the occasion when the memorial was
instituted in our next section (11:23-26).
4.
It was to be treated as
a memorial, with the dignity afforded such occasions – see vs. 26.
5.
It was to be done WHEN
they came together as a church.
This text implies that this act of worship can ONLY be carried
out when we are assembled as the church.
This will be further emphasized as Paul concludes this section –
1 Cor. 11:33.
Other acts of worship – singing, teaching, and prayers are not limited
to the assembly, but the Lord’s Supper and giving are specified.
b.
What had these brethren
done?
i.
What they were doing
could NOT be described as the Lord’s Supper.
They were doing something that they CALLED the Lord’s Supper, but
it was not according to the pattern.
ii.
They had turned this
memorial into a common meal, i.e. a “pot luck” meal.
It was treated as a festive occasion of food and fun (vs. 21).
iii.
They were not even doing
it together. It was a “come
and go as you please” event in which they excluded some of their
brethren. They shamed “those
who have nothing.”
iv.
Paul’s reaction, “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?”
v.
NOTE: There is a lesson
in this concerning what the work of the church actually consists of.
The assembly of the church is NOT a social occasion!
It is a time to assemble to solemnly worship God.
The work we read the church engaged in during the apostolic age was
about spreading the gospel, not satisfying the social needs of society.
Romans 14:17 says “the kingdom of
God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit.”
We will also be edified in our assemblies as we do what we ought to do.
Paul will address this in the coming chapters (12-14) and so will
we.
vi.
NOTE that their conduct
was described as despising the church of God.
When we reject God’s purpose and pattern in our conduct, we are
in essence rejecting His word in that matter.
He does NOT take lightly to such things.
vii.
Paul concludes by
saying, “Shall I praise you in this?
I do NOT praise you.”
a.
Paul goes back to the
time of the institution of the Lord’s Supper.
In the three synoptic gospels this occasion is recorded with Luke
providing the greatest amount of details.
It is found in Matt. 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25 and Luke 22:14-23.
b.
The occasion was the
Passover feast or “Feast of Unleavened Bread”.
This is mentioned in all three gospels – Matt. 26:17-19; Mark
14:12, 16; Luke 22:7-13, 14-16.
The Passover was a feast which commemorated the exodus of the Israelites
from Egypt. It is recorded
in Exodus 12 and was instituted the night of the 10th plague
when the angel of death would pass through the land of Egypt and strike
the first born of both people and creatures.
Israel in preparing to leave the land slew a lamb and prepared it
as specified and ate it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (12:8-9).
Instructions were given as to how this feast was to be observed every
year. IT was to take place
from the 14th to the 21st of the first month
(12:18). During the feast
all leaven was to be removed from the house and they were to eat
unleavened bread. Vs. 20
says they were to eat nothing leavened lest they be cut off.
We need to keep these thoughts in mind as we partake of and consider the
Lord’s Supper.
c.
From our account in 1
Cor. 11 we notice that the cup was taken AFTER supper.
Thus it was NOT part of the meal.
Rather Jesus took elements that were present on the occasion of
the Passover meal and instituted them to be used as He prescribed to
remember His death.
d.
He took bread and gave
thanks – said, “Take, eat, this is my body…in remembrance of Me.”
i.
What type of bread did
Jesus use? The feast called for
unleavened bread and that is what Jesus used on this occasion.
ii.
IF we want to follow the
pattern with surety, then we will observe this detail.
iii.
Consider also 1
Corinthians 5:7-8 where Paul said, “Therefore
purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly
are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with
the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.”
This text, while addressing purity in the Lord’s church makes reference
to our keeping “the feast” properly.
While this may or may not refer to the Lord’s Supper (it could be
a general reference to the purified life of a Christian in all things –
INCLUDING how we worship God) one thing is clear: emphasis is made as to
the unleavened bread as part of that feast.
We certainly do not keep the Passover, but we do keep the
memorial that was instituted on that occasion by our Lord.
Jesus used unleavened bread.
So should we!
iv.
The bread was symbolic
of His body which was sacrificed on the cross for our sins.
His body is a reminder that He was a man who physically suffered
for us.
e.
He 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.”
i.
In our text Paul
describes this element simply as “the cup”, indicating that which Jesus
offered as drink as part of this memorial.
ii.
We find from all three
synoptic accounts that what Jesus offered was described as “the fruit of
the vine.” It is interesting
to note that in each instance where this element is referred to, the
expression is “fruit of the vine” and not “wine.”
There is a Greek word for wine (oi=vnos,
oinos) which can refer to either fermented or unfermented juice of the
grape. But that is not the
word used.
When we accompany this with the fact that yeast is a leavening agent
produced in fermented grape juice, it is safe to assume that what was
offered was grape juice and nothing more.
If not, why was not the word for “wine” used?
iii.
As with the bread, Jesus
said here what the cup represented – His blood.
IT was shed for the remission of our sins (Matt. 26:28).
There is so much to be said about His precious blood.
As we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we must keep this in mind!
f.
Why were they to
partake?
i.
Vs. 26, “As often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He
comes.”
ii.
Paul reminds these
brethren that this was a memorial commemorating what Jesus has done for
us. As a memorial, it ought
to be observed with reverence and dignity.
Paul will emphasize the importance of this in the next section.
iii.
What does it mean “to
proclaim the Lord’s death”?
It means that as this memorial was taken, there was an acknowledgment of
belief in what Jesus had done for them.
In his death, burial and resurrection they enjoyed a hope of
salvation beyond this life.
The Lord’s Supper is to be an occasion distinguished from what we
normally do. It is a
ritual (i.e. tradition) which follows God’s pattern unlike anything else
we do (such as eating a common meal, getting together for a party,
etc.). When you think about
the way the Lord’s Supper is offered we see it is certainly different
from anything else we engage in throughout our lives and even other acts
of worship. That is why one
will often ask WHY we do what we do.
iv.
Contrast that with the
way they had abused this occasion turning it into a common meal in which
little, if any thought, was given to the Lord’s death OR how His blood
was to unify them. If
visitors had come into their midst, would they have seen anything
different?
v.
How long is this
memorial to continue? “Until He comes”.
Paul is telling these brethren, and us, that we need to remember
this occasion as long as this world continues to exist.
And
thus we can see HOW the Lord’s Supper is to be taken.
We seek to follow the pattern we have in God’s word in this as we
do in every other aspect of our worship and our lives.
But we are not done.
In the final section of this discourse, Paul warns them of the danger of
partaking in an unworthy manner.
In our next lesson, we will examine in detail the proper attitude
we need both as a church and individually as we partake.