Alba 8-10-2025
COMMUNION WITH JESUS
I Corinthians 10:14-22
If you have seen the film, “Mrs. Doubtfire”, you know that
Robin Williams plays a divorced man who dresses up as an English nanny in order to see his kids every day. He has three children. He becomes great friends with their mom (his ex-wife, who doesn’t realize his real identity).
Near the end of the film, Mrs. Doubtfire is invited to a very important family dinner with his ex-wife, her new boyfriend and the children. But at the same restaurant at the same time he has an interview with a T.V. producer who only knows him as a man, not as Mrs. Doubtfire.
He has to keep excusing himself to change from the disguise he wears for his family to his real person for his interview. Eventually, he gets mixed up and Mrs. Doubtfire sits at the TV producer’s table, and his mask fall off at his family’s table. Sitting at two tables becomes a disaster! Sitting at two tables is impossible.
God invites us to choose his table. But it is an all or nothing proposition. He doesn't want us going back and forth spiritually. He doesn't want us to stray, but to stay with Him. I like the way the New Living Translation has Genesis 6:9. It says, “This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.”
That is what God desires. He wants all of us to be in close fellowship with Him. And in the New Covenant relationship we have with Jesus, our time around the communion table as we partake in the Lord's Supper is a high point connecting us with Jesus in a special way.
In I Corinthians 10:14-17 the apostle Paul challenges the Corinthians with these words: “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.”
The Lord’s Supper is union with Christ. Paul believes that the Corinthians will be sensible enough to understand this. It is actual participation with Jesus by remembering the body and blood of Christ! It is a covenant renewal every time we take the cup and the bread. It is actual fellowship with Christ.
An important aspect of taking communion together is that we share our faith and love for Jesus and what He has done for us. When we partake of communion we are proclaiming oneness with Jesus and oneness with fellow believers and followers of Christ. The one loaf represents that though there are many in the body of Christ there is only one body. It is Christ’s table we come to and we do so together, remembering Jesus shed blood and broken body. Our time around the table is more than a memorial. Paul tells us that we fellowship or participate with the blood and body of Jesus when we have communion. Certainly, this is experienced through faith, but Christ is no less present. Communion is not a funeral. Jesus is alive and we eat at his table! There are debates about the substance of the emblems. There is the Catholic view that says the emblems literally change into the body and blood of Christ. Scripture does not seem to teach that. Because communion was instituted by Jesus prior to His crucifixion. And at that time when speaking to the disciples, He called the bread and wine His body and His blood. But notice, that was before His body was broken and His blood was shed on the cross.
By the way, I spoke of the bread and the wine. A number of churches require that actual wine be used in communion. I heard of a church that when people took the juice it was bitter, and they scrunched up their faces as they drank it. They expected grape juice and got something they didn’t expect. What happened? It turned out that the woman preparing communion found an unmarked bottle of prune juice in the refrigerator and assumed that it was the juice for communion.
What is interesting though, is that this woman developed cancer a short time after this. So she went to live with her daughter, but returned to the church a few weeks before she died to say goodbye to her friends. And in her honor, they served communion with prune juice that day. Well I assure you that we use 100% concord grape juice which is, as Jesus called it in Matthew 26:29 the “fruit of the vine”.
Also the bread we eat is made without yeast or leavening just as the bread Jesus used that Passover night when he gave us this way to remember His sacrifice. There was a church that decided to offer "gluten-free" bread at the Lord's Supper. But the first time it was provided didn't start off very well... thanks to the minister!
When he introduced the offer of glutten free communion bread he made what he calls “a horrible blooper” that the people will never let him forget. Here's what he said, "Before we take the Lord’s Supper today, remember that we have tables at the front with our staff behind them to pray for you or minister to you as you come to the altar. And, today, for the first time, we are offering a very special ministry to our church family. On the far left, there is a GLUTTON-FREE table for those of you who have need of that!”
The thing that is most important is for each of us to remember and to practice the Lord's Supper in a way that truly allows us to commune with Jesus. So we should do our best not to be distracted by what is going on around us or having thoughts that do not center on the fact of our salvation in Jesus Christ.
In our text for today, Paul gives a history lesson. Look at First Corinthians 10:18-22. “Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?”
This points out that when the Israelites sacrificed on the altar of God, and then ate at the table the meat of the sacrifice, they participated in everything that altar represented it united them with God. But in making that point, the same would be true if the Israelites had sacrificed on the altar of an idol and then ate the meat of that sacrifice. They then would be united to something or someone other than God. So these verses serve as a warning.
You have to remember that Corinth was a center for Greek culture and therefore Pagan idolatry. New converts to Christ did not always part ways with their old habits in the temples of Apollo, Aphrodite, and others. Temple prostitution was a normal part of religious expression and was rampant in Corinth. Likely that was the root of the problem of sexual immorality in the church that was dealt with in chapter five. And it was common for Corinthians to go to a temple and eat meat sacrificed to idols. Apparently, the Christians did not see the implications of these practices.
Even though it has already been made clear in chapter eight that an idol in nothing, there were people whose conscience was troubled by the practice of eating meat from idol sacrifices. But it was also apparent that some Christians in Corinth believed they could go to the temples and eat the meat sacrificed to idols because they knew that there was only one God, so what did it matter? Paul agreed to this view when it came to eating meat off the streets, as long as it didn’t cause anyone to stumble. But to actually go to the place where the meat was sacrificed and eat it in the temple was different.
And verse 20 explains why it was different. It says, “the Gentiles sacrifice... to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” This is a striking verse. Paul says that there are demons behind idolatry. That shouldn’t surprise us. Satan has always been about trying to get all of us to worship something other than God. If the Corinthian Christians ate that sacrificial meal they would fellowship with actual demons! The other side of this is that when eating the Lord's Supper they were partaking of the body and blood of Christ. To go to a pagan temple was to do the opposite. It was a most serious problem.
The wonderful thing is, God never forces His will upon us. That means we have to choose. Jesus said we can’t serve both Him and money. Joshua said, “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” It has always been a choice. We can’t serve demons and the Lord. We can't sit at both tables. It is an extreme division of loyalty to take the cup of the Lord's Supper and the cup of demons. God’s invitation to His table is open to all, but He will not be second choice or any other choice, but the only choice.
Verse 22 reminds us that God is a jealous God. One of the Ten Commandments makes that clear. There He tells us that we are not to have any other god but Him, and we are not to bow down to them or serve them.
God does not share loyalty with anyone. And just in case we think we can get away with it, Paul reminds us of our weakness before God. We are not stronger than God. We will not be wise if we mix our relationship in the Lord with what is against His will and way. If we do, things go screwy.
For example, when Abraham married Sarah, they were to have a union of one man and one woman to produce the future Savior of the world. However, when Sarah got the bright idea to have Abraham sleep with Hagar her maidservant - things went awry. When Hagar became pregnant - things went from bad to worse. Eventually, the two couldn’t live with each other, and Hagar had to be sent away.
Our communion with Jesus needs to be a one on one relationship. What is communion? The word breaks up easily into “union”, and its prefix “com”, which means with, “union with.” Such communion is ours by personal fellowship with the Lord Jesus. He is a Savior, and to be a Savior there must be a sinner to be saved. That is us. And when we come to Christ, it brings us into union and communion with Him.
So what we see in this text is that the apostle Paul is telling the Corinthian Christians that, even though the gods in those temples were not real, they needed to be careful not to associate with them in a way that connected them to any false worship.
Now we obviously don’t go to pagan temples and fellowship with demons. That’s good, but do you think that the principle of loyalty could extend beyond pagan temples? What we struggle with may not be the same as Pagan temples, but there are times we do things that dares to arouse God’s jealousy.
Sitting at Christ’s table on Sunday is a commitment to live by His table the rest of the week. But what of the rest of the week? It is relevant to ask if our true loyalty is only in Christ, or do we sit at other tables? Do we sit at the Lord’s Table on Sunday, and other tables the rest of the week? Sunday is not the only time to proclaim our allegiance to Jesus. It should be evident every day of our lives.
There are things that can all become idols and be just as dangerous as any other. The idols that ensnare us most are those that are not necessarily religious—money, work, power, possessions, and more. Even good things can get in the way if done for the wrong reasons. The Pharisees thought they were doing everything right because of their many laws, but Jesus pointed out that their hearts were not in fellowship with God. We don't want to be like that. We certainly don't want to fellowship with demons. We need to commune with Jesus.
A minister asked a group of children what they thought of communion. A 12-year old stated, “It’s the closest we can get to Jesus.” Good answer. When we take the Lord’s Supper we proclaim that we have chosen the table of Christ.
We renew our covenant with Him every time we take communion. It is a time to commune with God, to reflect on His great love for us that caused Him to give His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
It reminds us of the cross. It reminds us of the love Jesus has for each of us. Communion is not mere symbolism; it’s about abiding. It’s about an ongoing spiritual union that we can have with the living Christ. Commune with Jesus.
CLOSE:
Steve Winger told of his last college exam in Logic class. He said, the professor was known for giving difficult exams but made one concession for the final exam. “To help on your test,” the professor told them, “you can bring as much information as can fit on a piece of notebook paper.” Most students crammed as many facts as possible on their 8 ½ by 11 sheet of paper.
But one student walked into class, put a piece of paper on the floor, and had an advanced Logic student stand on the paper. The advanced Logic student told him everything he needed to know. And he was the only student to receive an “A.”
On your final life exam, you had better have Jesus with you. Otherwise, what will your grade be? The test will only have one question on it: “Why should I let you into heaven???”
When your time comes for that final exam, it will do little good to cram onto the page all of your good deeds, all of the committees you’ve belonged to, all of the congregations you’ve joined. The only way you’ll pass that final exam will be to place the paper on the floor and place Jesus, and Him alone by your side.
This message is an adaptation of a sermon on SermonCentral by David Heflin entitled “My Table and No Others”.
