SONG: "What a beautiful Name" - You have no equal, You have no rival.
KEY VERSES: Isa 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
1Cor 11:24, "And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my
body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me."
TITLE: "I GOT IT ALL"-Discerning the LORD's Broken Body. LORD Jesus, You didn't want hea- ven without us, so, You brought heaven down, therefore, We Got It All, because, You have no equal! I. INTRODUCTION:
1Cor 11:17-19, Paul writes to the Corinthians the way he might write to many church today. When they come together, it was to their credit that they gathered together, something neglected by many Christ- ian today, in disobedience to Heb 10:25, "Not forsaking the assembling ...; but exhorting one another... Sadly, it was not for the better but for the worse. The problem with the gatherings was a divisions among them, something Paul had heard and could believe, knowing the history and the character of the Corinthians. Paul already spoke to the problem of divisions among them in 1Cor 1:10-17,
"..., I am of Paul; ." This is theological approach. But here, the approach is more practical, dealing with the problem of divi- sion as it shows itself in the Corinthians during their gatherings.
We usually think of frictions and divisions among Christians as nothing but a problem. But Paul reveals a purpose God has in allowing frictions: that those who are approved may be recognized among you. God allows factions so that, those who really belong to God would be made evident. Here observe:
II. MESSAGE:
A. How the Corinthian Christians observed the LORD's supper.
1. The bad conduct of the Corinthian at their common meal (1Cor 11:20-22)
a) When you come together in one place. In this, Paul refers to the early church custom of combining the love-feast (like a shared-dish supper) and the Lord's Supper.
a-1) Because the risen LORD so often ate with His disciples, it made sense to the early church that eating together went together with celebrating the Lord's Supper.
b) Corinthian acted selfishly at their common meals. That disgraced their observance of the Lord's Supper. b-1) In the modern church, the Lord's Supper is commonly celebrated in an atmosphere of dignity. But the Corinthian came from a culture where the pagans commonly had wild, riotous banquets given in honor of a pagan god. This is how it might not seem so strange to them to even get drunk at a church common meal. c) One takes his supper ahead of the others... one is hungry. Why some be hungry at the church common meals? Because, some were more wealthy than others, and the poorer ones were being neglected.
c-1) In that day, at common meals, it was expected that the "upper class" would receive better and more food than the "lower class," they were not sharing the food fairly.
c-2) Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God. Paul's message is both strong and plain - "If you want to eat or drink selfishly, do it at home!"
d) Paul makes it clear. I do not praise you is repeated three times in this brief section. The apostle is not happy with the Corinthian at this point.
2. How to conduct the true Lord's Supper. In 1Cor 11:23-26
a) On the same night in which He was betrayed. Paul, in remembering the events of the night before Jesus' crucifixion, recalls that Jesus was not only executed by a foreign power, He was betrayed by His own. b) And when He had given thanks, He brake it and said...
b-1) The breaking of bread & the drinking of wine were important parts of the Passover celebration. Jesus took these important pictures & reminders of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, & added to them the meaning connected with His own death on the cross for us.
c) This is My body. In taking the bread, we are called to remember Jesus' body broken for you. The Passo- ver meal featured unleavened bread, made without yeast, because yeast is a picture of sin and corruption. c-1) The unleavened bread used at a Passover meal had the scorch-mark "stripes" & holes from baking that looked like "pierce" marks. In the same way, the body of Jesus was broken for us. He was without sin (as the bread had no leaven), and His body bore stripes and was pierced (as the bread appeared to be).
d) This cup is the new covenant in My blood. In receiving the cup, we are called to remember the blood of Jesus & the new covenant. The cup Jesus referred to was known as the cup of redemption, & Jesus added to the idea of redemption from slavery in Egypt & the idea that His blood confirmed a new covenant that has changed our relationship with God.
d-1) What is the new covenant all about?
* It is about an inner transformation, that cleanses us from all sin: For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jer 31:34).
* It is about God's Word & Will: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts (Jer 31:33). * It is about new (close) relationship with God: I will be their God, & they shall be My people (Jer 31:33). d-2) Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can have a new covenant relationship with God. But many Christians live as if there's no inner transformation. No cleansing from sin. No word & will of God in their hearts. No new & close relationship with God.
e) You proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. While the Lord's Supper does look back to what Jesus did on the cross, it also looks forward to the coming of Jesus, and the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev19:9). e-1) Jesus spoke of His longing expectation for the day when He would take communion with His people in heaven, the ultimate Lord's Supper. Mat 26:29, "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
f) You proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Proclaim is the same word translated "preach" in other places. When we take communion, we preach a sermon to God Himself, to the Devil and all his allies, and to the world who watches.
B. Taking Passover Unworthily. The main point of this entire passage (I Cor 11:17-34) is that those who partake of these Passover symbols is to "discern the Lord's body" (v-29). The apostle tells us how to discern the Lord's body in these same verses:
1. V-26, The eating and drinking of these symbols reminds us of our Savior's death. We should remember, not only that He died, but also what manner of death He suffered. More importantly, we are forced to rem- ember why His sacrifice was necessary.
2. V-27, It is possible to eat the Passover unworthily. When we do so, we take upon ourselves the guilt of Christ's death. That is, our attitude mocks His sacrifice, and, in effect, it is as though He died in vain.
3. V-28, Self-examination of our manner of life and our attitude is therefore paramount in discerning the Lord's body, what He suffered and why. Once we come to realize these things, the Passover's significance becomes very personal, and it becomes crucial for us to participate in it.
4. V-29to30: The result of taking the Passover unworthily is that we come under judgment, for we will not be cleared of our transgressions. Thus, our lives will not be protected, even as the Egyptians were not prot- ected from the death angel during the tenth plague. Lack of self-examination brought upon many Christians much bodily suffering and untimely death.
5. It is very edifying, and could well save one's life to study what discerning the Lord's broken body has to do with self-examination, sickness and early death, healing and our ultimate reward in God's Kingdom. C. Breaking the Bread. Since it is part of the annual ceremony, we need to be reminded at least once a year that the true Bread from heaven, which we must eat in order to live was also broken for us.
1. First, how was Christ's body "broken"? The soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals crucified at Jesus' side to hasten their deaths before the annual Sabbath (Jhn 19:31-32). But Jesus' death was confirmed by the tip of a soldier's spear puncturing His side & spilling His blood on the earth (v-33to34 & Zec 12:10). Not a bone was broken in Jesus' body, as was prophesied (v-35to37; Exo 12:46; Psa 34:20).
2. Christ's body was "broken," not by the breaking of His bones, but by the breaking of His skin. Besides the spear that pierced His side and the metal spikes that nailed His wrists and feet to the stake, He was subjected to a most severe beating or whipping. This latter torture, foretold in Isa 52:14, made Him nearly unrecogni- zable. His body bore a multitude of welts (latay), skin lacerations, and open wounds, spilling His blood over all His body and to the ground.
3. Our Key verse in Isa 53:5 expands upon His scourging. A stripe is "a stroke or blow made with a rod or lash." This is how His body was broken. We can't but be deeply embarrassed, ashamed, that we should be- nefit from His beating, His suffering, His stripes, especially, when we consider that in God's eyes we broke His body! But it is prophesied that by the stripes He received, we should be healed. How is this possible? 4. When we eat the broken, unleavened bread at Passover, we, as baptized members, must ask ourselves: "Have I been healed by His stripes? Am I in the process of being healed by them? Do I really believe this promise?" If we cannot answer these questions positively, then something may be wrong. We may not be discerning the Lord's body properly.
5. Discerning the Lord's body means recognizing our personal guilt for Christ's suffering. It means acknow- ledging our transgression of God's law. Discerning the Lord's body means, "Go sin no more..." (Jhn 8:11). Otherwise, we "crucify again for [ourselves] the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame" (Heb 6:6).
III. CONCLUSION:
Acknowledging Our Sin (Lke 23:39-42). Two malefactors, one blasphemed Him, the other is humble.
1. Discerning Christ's body must include serious acknowledgment of our sins which made His sacrifice ne- cessity. His body was broken because of what we did & because of our inherited or chosen lifestyles! 2. God's laws are the greatest gift He ever gave to us. We may say the Lord Jesus and His death on the cross is the greatest gift God ever gave us. But we wouldn't have needed that if we hadn't broken God's law! 3. Christ's death on the cross is merely to wipe out the penalty that we have incurred so we can come to God and can begin to be obedient to His law! So that we can be reconciled to Him and receive His Spirit (Love). D. Judging Ourselves (Lke 23:41). After admitting his own guilt & just punishment, the malefactor ackno- wledged Christ's guiltlessness and innocent suffering.
1. Only then did he turn to the Savior for salvation. He did not ask Christ to take him off the cross and spare him. He accepted it as just & fair, expressing repentance & faith in the Savior & future resurrection to life!
2. ICor 11:30 says that many of Christ's followers suffered and even died because they failed to discern the Lord's body. It is hoped that they all had deathbed repentances, but verses 31-32 describe
3. A much better way to salvation. "For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (I Cor 11:31).
4. If we would judge ourselves, we would come to full repentance much sooner. We would discern that we are the cause of Christ's suffering. God would not need to correct us so severely.
5. Often when judging and chastening, God allows sickness, disease, infirmities and death. He wishes for us to live a long repentant life in good health, as free from sin as possible, running over with love, joy & peace.
6. If we fail to examine ourselves, chances are good that we will not discipline our carnal drives and will not overcome our sinful ways. This is "not discerning the Lord's body."
7. We are treating lightly the noble sacrifice of our Savior by continuing in our ingrained habits of transgressing the law which regulates our relationship with Christ, the Father God and our brethren.