Sermon Brief
Date Written: April 10, 2014
Date Preached: April 13, 2014
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Series from 1 Corinthians
Sermon Title: Don’t Pervert What God Holds Sacred
(Prep 4 Good Friday Lord’s Supper)
Sermon Text: 1 Cor 11:17-34 [NLT]
Introduction:
What we have learned so far is that the believers in the church at Corinth were under spiritual duress & the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to address the issues they were facing!
Paul encouraged them by letting them know how much he loved and cared for them AND that he believes God is NOT done with them!
Several weeks ago we saw Paul reminding them about the foundation he had laid for them…a foundation of Jesus, & that anyone who attempted to build on that foundation must use WORTHY building materials…
I encouraged OUR fellowship to build wisely on the foundation of Christ in our lives as we seek to grow in Christ… we must use building materials that are of worth & not cut corners!
Last week we took a look at the final part of ch3 (v18-23) and found Paul admonishing & warning those in the church to realize & KNOW what they had in Christ! He warned them NOT to be deceived by false teaching and we learned that Paul was telling them:
Don’t Be Deceived! V18-20
Stop Bragging! V21-22
WHY? Because You Belong to Christ! V23
This morning we are going to jump forward in the letter and we are going to jump all the way to ch11 and to the final 18 verses of that chapter!
This coming Friday is a very solemn and holy day for ALL believers and we are going to come together as a body to commemorate and pay tribute to Jesus for what He has done for us…
Good Friday is ALL about the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross of Calvary for our sin… it is ALL about the message of the Cross and if we learned ANYTHING last week it was that the message of the Cross was central to our faith.
So as we approach the time we have to offer up communion to Him through the ordinance we call “The Lord’s Supper” I believe it is IMPERATIVE that our hearts are ready and we are humble in spirit before God… BEFORE we can partake of this sacred act.
I want us to take a look at the passage of 1 Cor 11:17-34 and know that Paul is addressing Christians here… NOT those in the world, but Christians! What do we find Paul saying to these people who profess Christ with their lips, but with their actions reflect a desire to please no one but themselves?
1. We find Paul admonishing them for their IGNORANCE of the sacredness of what Jesus had established (Lord’s Supper)…
2. We find Paul teaching them the INSTRUCTIONs on how they MUST act to hold this observance sacred…
3. We find Paul warning them that any IRREVERENCE of what God has deemed sacred results only in His wrath and discipline
IGNORANCE of the Sacred Leads to Sin! V17-22
17But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. 18First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. 19But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized! 20When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. 21For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. 22What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!
Now I have told you that Paul loved this church and was sure that God was NOT yet done with them, but in these verse Paul unloads on this church for some behavior that he finds reprehensible for believers!
We know what he is referring to by the verses that come after this section, but Paul discovered that this fellowship was playing fast and loose with a sacred ordinance given by God thru Jesus…we are talking about what we call “The Lords Supper” or “Communion”…
First we can see Paul’s frustration when he says in v17, “...I cannot praise you…” This was Paul’s way of telling them that he was highly upset at their actions regarding the Lord’s Supper. I would compare this to a parent looking at their child when they find out their child has been doing something they do not approve of and saying, “You KNOW this does NOT make me happy!” It is a nice way to say, “I am really angry!”
Paul was upset but why was he upset with them? Let’s explore what the Scripture tells us so we can understand Paul’s emotions.
Paul speaks of divisions among the believers when they meet. This is a direct contradiction to the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus when He prayed that the church would be UNIFIED… that we would be ONE…
Jesus gave us a commandment to love one another and so that the world would see us and would know us for our love FOR one another…BUT, this church’s reputation was one that reflected division and strife. It was NOT one of projecting unity and love for one another.
Paul was angry about their lack of unity, but we can also see he was mad about their apathetic approach to worship. It was the epitome of gluttony and a self-centered, selfish heart! The picture that it cast to the world around them was that this event was all about self-pleasure…
Paul was hurt and angry that they cared more about gratifying their own desires than they were about honoring and remembering Jesus for what He had done for them on the Cross…
Paul was simply horrified that those who professed faith in Christ and proclaimed the love of Jesus had changed their lives… they were coming to church and defaming the name of who they said they served!
Their actions were in direct contradiction to what Jesus called His believers to do… They were focused on themselves and not GOD… AND Paul takes it a step further here referencing Jesus in Matt 22…
He says that their actions not only brought disgraced the fellowship but it also shamed the poor. In other words, those who had means were fulfilling their own needs and desires at these services and those who did not have means were left with nothing… speaking loud and clear that they did NOT care about those less fortunate… that their focus on was on themselves!
Illustration: The church thanksgiving potluck… overcrowded church, great turnout, LONG line at the potluck and a man cuts the line to get 2nds before you ever get your 1st plate and he cleans out the last of the sweet potatoes OR green bean casserole OR even worse the last bit of Turkey or dressing…his focus was NOT on fellowship, but on his selfish desire to please his want!
When we read this passage we can see that these believers had acted just like that… they had taken what Jesus set forth as sacred and they had made a mockery it!
My brothers and sisters, this coming Friday evening we are going to enter into the most sacred of ordinances we have… it is an ordinance given to us DIRECTLY from our Savior, Jesus Christ!
We must come to this sacred assembly and solemn ceremony with a heart that is focused on Him! We cannot…we MUST not come with an unconcerned approach or with a selfish attitude!
In Paul’s day the Lord’s Supper was an actual meal for all the believers and some were being left out and some were gorging themselves in excess… the spirit of what Jesus made sacred was being ignored and this spiritual ignorance by the church was wrong and it was upsetting to Paul.
People, the Lord’s Supper is NOT something we can take lightly! Communion with God thru this sacred remembrance is a template for remembering what He accomplished on the cross of Calvary! When you observe the Lords Supper… when you partake in Communion, do YOU hold it sacred and respect it for what it is--a sacred observance of what God has done!
These believers had shown great ignorance toward the sacred remembrance of Christ’s act of sacred love and Paul was NOT going to stand idly by and allow it to continue… he says in v22, “…what am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this…”
It is a most negative of response by Paul… NO WAY am I going to say this is OK… because it is NOT ok! They were being sinful in their actions and Paul was not going to condone their disgraceful behavior in this sacred remembrance of Jesus and what He had done!
Paul was basically saying, “I am NOT going to stand for it…” so in the following verses Paul takes them from IGNORANCE of the sacred to giving them INSTRUCTION on the Sacred…
INSTRUCTION on the Sacred! V23-26
23For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” 25In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” 26For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
After Paul revealed his anger and frustration with the Corinthian fellowship, he does like any good parent will do…He wants to use this as a teachable moment and wants them to learn how NOT to make this mistake again… so Paul say in v23
“…I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself…”
He is going to instruct them but notice that he goes out of his way to let them know that this was not HIS teaching, but that this came straight from God!
Jesus imparted this to him & he was passing along he had been taught about this very sacred observance…Paul begins:
On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.”
Paul tells of how Jesus’ body was broken… it was broken physically thru the pain of being beaten and tortured! A crown of thorns shoved onto His head and being crucified on a cross… nails in his hands/feet and a spear pierced into His side!
His body was broken physically but also broken in that His mission was to take the sin of the world onto His shoulders! Broken because when He became sin…the Father looked away… and ALL His life in this world He had experienced the continuous presence of the Father and now he was alone… alone with the sin of the world pressing in on Him! He was truly BROKEN for us!
He was broken for us in that His body took on the eternal punishment of sin so that all who received Him would NOT have to face that punishment! As one of our Scripture said today, “…because of His grace (what He did for us) He declared us righteous and gave us confidence we will inherit eternal life…”
Paul tells these believers that when they partake of that bread, they are to remember that Jesus’ body was been broken--both physically (with all the pain/torture/penalty) & spiritually with all the sin of the world pressing in on Him…
I know that when we have friends do favors for us, we often say thank you… many of us will go a step further and send a thank you card… others among us will go another step forward and give a gift to our friend for their generosity…
If we can be like this those of us in this world, how are we supposed to react when that friend is Jesus and what He has done for us? We can say thank you but thank you is not enough!
We are called to confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that what He has done for us gives us the confidence of eternal salvation because of His promise!
We are called to REMEMBER what He has done and when we remember His broken body – when we remember Jesus on the Cross and that he took on the sin of the world… the sin that was OURS… the sin that condemns us for all eternity… the sin we could NOT get rid of on our own… We must remember this in reverence and with a humble, broken and thankful heart!
We must never forget that Jesus died for our sin and His death paid the price for our redemption!
But not only did Paul teach that Jesus’ body was broken but we also see where Paul taught them that His blood that was shed on the Cross AND that His blood was the new covenant between God and humanity…
Now blood has always played a part in a covenant with God. When Abraham and Moses made covenants with God they had to shed the blood of animals… but those covenants were always meant to be temporary and a shadow of what was to come… they were NOT eternal covenants!
The covenant brought forth by God thru His Son Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary is an eternal covenant! The blood of Jesus covers ALL sin… the sin of your past, the sin of your present and the sin of your future! Covers the sin of ALL the world, not just a few…
For God so loved the WORLD He gave His Son… that WHOSOEVER believes (has faith in) Him shall not die but have eternal/everlasting life!
Scripture teaches us that the blood of Jesus brings about eternal redemption as it establishes an eternal covenant between God and humanity and IN that covenant whoever receives Christ as Savior… THEIR eternity is secure WITH Him in Heaven.
My brothers and sisters, as we approach this Good Friday service and the celebration of the Lords Supper, we must KNOW that it is so MUCH more than just a ceremony that we have every quarter or several times a year…
Communion is God’s sacred reminder of what Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary as His broken body brought forgiveness of sin and the shedding of His blood brought about an eternal covenant with God to eternally shelter and love all those who entered into that covenant!
What a JOY it IS for the believer as we partake of the bread and of the cup… as we celebrate the love of God thru His actions of love on the Cross of Calvary!
Paul instructed these believers that the Lords Supper was NOT a party of self-gratification, but rather it was a sacred reminder of God’s love thru Jesus Christ our Savior… Communion is NOT a time to focus on ourselves but on HE who has saved us…it is a time to focus on Him and be thankful for what He has done!
But Paul knew that as soon as they could, these people whose only desire was self-gratification, would revert back to their selfish ways, so Paul lets them know what it means when they profane the sacred ordinance of the Lord’s Supper…
IRREVERENCE toward the Sacred leads to Discipline V27-34
27So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. 31But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. 32Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world. 33So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other. 34If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.
Paul wanted those who thought they could do as they please to know that IRREVERANCE of the sacred always will lead to discipline!
What is IRREVERENCE of the sacred? Well Paul basically lists ONE particular approach that leads to IRREVERANCE and it is the lack of humility… or should I say, an arrogant heart!
In v27 Paul tells us, “…anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord…”
Partaking of this observance in an unworthy manner is approaching it with a heart that is NOT humble and a heart NOT willing to serve God or others! The people were coming to this sacred observance with a heart bent on selfish pleasure… not on worshipping God or serving others!
People when we come to partake of the Lords Supper we must come with a pure heart. This doesn’t mean are perfect, but what it means is that any sin we have in our lives…we confess that sin and we surrender to serve God in our hearts!
BUT if we come with an un-yielded heart then when we seek to worship we bring shame on the fellowship and shame on the Savior we profess to serve.
As parents we know what it’s like for our children to want to act ONE way when we instruct them to act another way. We also know how it hurts our heart to discipline them when they refuse to submit in obedience to our instruction… this is what Paul is saying here about this sacred observance!
Just as you would discipline your child for active or willing disobedience, God is going to discipline all who profane what He has deemed sacred. When we worship, we are to worship in spirit and truth, but when we come to worship with a heart filled with lust, pride, and selfishness… our worship is NOT truthful… our worship is NOT spiritual!
When you come to partake of this sacred observance we know as the Lords Supper, you are to ‘examine yourself’ just as the Psalmist said in Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts. 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
We must seek to know our sin and then confess that sin to receive God cleansing mercy and grace! DO NOT partake of this sacred event on Friday night if you have NOT examined yourself and confessed your sin!
WHY? Well because when we do NOT examine ourselves we let things slide, we overlook things… we have the tendency to see things in the lives of others rather than in our own! We must look at OURSELVES and confess our sin to the One who will forgive us and make us whole again!
Also when you come together to worship… to observe this sacred event… do so with a heart of unity! Look what Paul says:
33So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other.
Paul was specifically referring to waiting on one another to eat, but the spirit of what Paul is saying here is that you come with a servant’s heart desiring to serve your fellow believer!
We examine ourselves so that we come ‘clean’ into worship… this shows love and respect to the God we profess to serve…
We come to worship with a heart of unity shows love and respect for our fellow believers…
These 2 things reflect what Jesus taught in Matt 22 when He instructed us to ‘…love God with all your heart, soul, mind and love your neighbor as yourself…”
People when we come to the sacred assembly of the Lord’s Supper we must be confessed of our sin and come with a heart that seek unity and seeks to serve others!
Conclusion:
What can we learn and apply in our lives from today’s message?
Ignoring the sacred reveals our lust, lack of compassion and selfish heart! If you ignore what God has set as sacred your heart is NOT with God!
Instruction for the sacred lead us to know WHY God has made this time/event sacred. It reveals to us WHAT Jesus has done and show us how special we are in His eyes…
Irreverence toward God’s sacred things will bring punishment and discipline! WE must examine ourselves before we come into to worship!
The one truth we can take from this message today is that God’s sacred things must be kept sacred. In other words, what God has made sacred… is ALWAYS sacred… and it does not matter what the world says about it… or what tradition may say about it… or what ‘new’ thing may be added or taken away… what God has made sacred REMAINS sacred and we must honor that in our hearts and in our actions!
So this morning as you begin to think about this coming Friday evening I want you to listen to what Paul has said to the Corinthian church and apply it to YOUR life…
Have you ignored God’s sacred so that you can fulfill your own desires?
Are there unconfessed sins in your life that you need to bring to the Savior?
Have you been irreverent in your approach to worship, coming to worship with a heart of arrogance and pride?
