“WHY DO WE DO THAT? – LORD’S SUPPER”
1 Cor. 11:23-28
FBCF – 1/15/23
Jon Daniels
INTRO – There are so many areas in life where we obedience is necessary.
- Traffic laws
- Dr’s instructions – Pharmacist’s instructions
- Rules & regulations in athletics
- Hunting regulations
Reasons:
- For our safety & well-being
- For the good of the people around us
- For peace in our families & communities
Christian life is a life of obedience. Not a drudgery or a burdensome obedience, but a joyful obedience. It’s an obedience that is prompted & motivated by our love for Jesus & our thankfulness for all He has done for us, is doing for us right now, & will do for us in the future. God honors our obedience & opens doors for us serve Him. Henry Blackaby – “One ordinary Christian in the hand of Almighty God can do anything God commands.”
“Why Do We Do That?” series could really be summed up in one word: obedience. Last week: baptism – obedience. This week: Lord’s Supper – obedience. Our lives as Christ-followers should be totally consumed w/ a passionate desire to obey Jesus in every area of our lives – individually &, as w/ the Lord’s Supper, corporately w/ our brothers & sisters in Christ.
EXPLANATION – 1 Corinthians 11:23-28 (p. 958)
Church at Corinth had many problems. Struggled w/ unity issues – immorality issues – leadership issues – pride issues – misunderstandings about spiritual gifts.
They also struggled w/ properly observing the Lord’s Supper in a way that honored God. When it was celebrated in the early Church, they would have a fellowship meal first & then observe the Lord’s Supper – “dinner on the grounds.” Problem was that some folks were being selfish, gluttonous, & actually getting drunk during the fellowship meal. They didn’t care about each other – weren’t sharing w/ each other – just concerned about their own wants & desires, which is exactly what sin is.
So, Paul took this opportunity to correct their sinful actions & teach them about the Lord’s Supper. In v. 23, he gives an authoritative reason for his teaching – he had received it from the Lord Himself, most likely by a dream or vision from Jesus. Then he reminds them that Jesus Himself instituted the Lord’s Supper in the Upper Room w/ His disciples as they observed the Passover Meal. He quotes Jesus’ words about the bread (v. 24) & the cup (v. 25). Verse 26 then powerfully summarizes why we observe the Lord’s Supper – to “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Paul then moves back to the present problem in the church – people coming to the Lord’s Supper in “an unworthy manner” (v. 27). What does that mean? It means to participate in it w/out thinking of the seriousness of its meaning. It means to come to the table flippantly, casually, w/ unconfessed sin & an unrepentant heart. It means that we participate in it but are not truly committed to the call of Christ on our lives. We may not think it’s that big of a deal, but there were some in the Corinthian church who got sick & even died as a result of the discipline of God on their lives due to their attitude toward the Lord’s Supper. That’s pretty serious!
APPLICATION – As Christ-followers, we should live in a manner worthy to receive the Lord’s Supper.
WHY DO WE OBSERVE THE LORD’S SUPPER?
TO REMIND US OF THE PRICE THAT WAS PAID FOR US
The payment for sin has always been by the blood of a sacrifice. Hebrews 9:22 – “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” In the OT, God established the sacrificial system that allowed His people to be temporarily forgiven of their sins. But these animal sacrifices would have to happen over & over again. They all pointed to a day when the ultimate sacrifice would be made.
When Jesus died on the cross, His blood paid the final & total price for the forgiveness of our sins. His sacrifice was a once-for-all sacrifice. When He cried out, “It is finished!”, He was proclaiming that the price had been paid in full by His blood.
TO REMIND US OF THE PAIN THAT WAS ENDURED FOR US
Every aspect of Jesus arrest, abuse at the hands of the Roman soldiers, & crucifixion was incredibly, excruciatingly painful. I’m afraid that in our video-driven, media-driven society, we’ve grown numb & desensitized to physical pain & suffering. But let me just remind you of some of the pain Jesus endured for us:
- Began in Garden when His “sweat became like great drops of blood” (Luke 22:45) – hematidrosis
- First punch thrown in Luke 22:63 – “Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him as they beat Him.” More punches & spit in His face in Matthew 26:67 & Mark 14:65
- Then the scourging & the mocking by the Roman soldiers (probably about 600 of them) – the crown of thorns, beat Him w/ the reed, more spit
- The actual crucifixion
- Moment of death – “Jesus did not die from suffocation as most victims of crucifixion did. Rather, He had cardiac rupture or cardio respiratory failure, associated hypovolemia, hyperemia, and an altered coagulable state. Also, friable (brittle), non-infective, thrombotic vegetations could have formed on the aortic or mitral valve, aggravated by His state of exhaustion and the severity of the scourging. Jesus died of heart failure! This is evidenced by the presence of water, which is caused by the shock and constriction of the cardiac tissues being filled by fluid from the pericardium. Our Lord died from a broken heart caused by our sin.” (http://www.actsweb.org/medical_crucifixion.php)
I asked a doctor friend of mine to put that in layman’s terms for me:
- Yes. His heart literally burst open for us (rupture)
- Due to his extreme lack of fluids and loss of blood (hypovolemia) he was dehydrated and in shock.
- In a desperate effort to survive, his body’s clotting system went into overdrive and formed too many clots on too many vital organs. At some point, his body ran out of clotting factors and he then continued to freely bleed to death.
- It was a horrible, awful, slow and painful way to die
“God was smashed to the cross for us!” (Dennis Pethers)
TO REMIND US OF THE PURPOSE THAT WAS GIVEN TO US
What is our purpose?
- Fix our mind’s attention & our heart’s affection on God – we are worshipers – I want to worship the God who loved me so much that He sent His only-begotten Son to die for me. I want to worship THAT God. And to worship Him means…
- Follow Him in obedience – “Love God – Love others” – cross showed that to us. “Greater love…” - “Take up your cross…”
- Face up to our own failures – He died for all of them – blood covers them – “Father, forgive them…”
- Fix those failures – His resurrection power is in us to enable us to repent of our sins & to fix the damage our sins have caused when we are able to.
CONCLUSION – Although we aren’t going to take the Lord’s Supper today (2 weeks from today), I have proclaimed His death to you. And the Good News is that He didn’t stay dead – He rose again, victorious over death & the grave so that you & I can be victorious, too. Come to Him today!
