The Remedy for Divided Gatherings

Gratitude for those helping with
worship verbally prior to my prayer, but I trust that in praying
that the message was received. We’re just thrilled and thankful
for those that have stepped up to help in the way that they
can. And the door is open for those of you who may have gifts
in that regard. We will work you in. I want you to imagine yourself
this morning driving down a road alone in your car, a beautiful
dusky evening, perhaps with the radio on, turned down low. You know that feeling, just an
enjoyable drive alone, And you know the feel of your car, the
engine humming, all four tires rolling along smoothly. And that’s
the part you are hardly even conscious of, your tires. Your wheels are on, your engine
is humming, and everything is as it should be. And that’s what
enables you, really, to peacefully enjoy the evening, the fleeting
light of day. But suddenly there’s a strange
sensation, and you know it. There’s a funny feel to the road,
like you’re driving on mashed potatoes. And it’s getting worse. Your car, which only moments
ago was an afterthought, now screams for your attention. you
have a problem. And as you slow and more firmly
grip the wheel, you become more certain that one of your tires
is flat. I’m sure that we’ve all had that
inconvenient predicament. It’s not insurmountable, but
it is a problem, and it’s a problem that must be remedied, and soon. The Corinthian church, as we
have seen here in this 11th chapter of 1st Corinthians, were well
aware by now that they had a problem. As soon as Paul began to address
this issue back in verse 17, he knew they had a problem. Just
like that sickeningly familiar wobble of your crippled vehicle.
Paul made it immediately clear that the Corinthians had a problem.
was a behavior for which he could not, would not praise them. Because
by coming together as a church, coming together, that which made
the church the church, they were doing more harm than good. Their
coming together as a church only served to showcase the division
in their midst. The Corinthian church was dividing
itself into factions based upon, of all things, social standing,
economic status, and not even the most solemn occasion of worship
was spared. There, in the celebration of
the Lord’s table, where joy was supposed to be perfectly blended
together with solemnity in their focus upon Christ, The Corinthians
were instead demanding center stage. How completely disheartening
this was to Paul. How dishonoring this was to Christ. How disturbing this was for the
Corinthian church itself. How terrible that in this ordinance
which Jesus had instituted, this communion which was designed
for unity, that such divisive behavior would be exhibited. In no way could the Apostle Paul
praise this kind of behavior. But his saddest assessment of
all was that it would have been better for everyone just to stay
home than to come together like this. They had a problem and now they
know it. Still, there were some in their
midst whether out of naivety or just flat denial, who assumed
an attitude of surprise at this news, this news that Paul rebukes. Why, Paul, whatever can you mean? Paul is more than prepared. And
he moves immediately to provide the unpleasant details of the
problem in verses 20 through 22. We’ve seen them. Ostensibly,
the church was gathering, coming together to eat the Lord’s Supper,
blended together with a fellowship meal known tenderly as the Love
Feast. What could be more special than
that? And yet, Paul exposes this delicate occasion was blotted
and ruined by selfishness and gluttony. One is hungry and another is
drunk, he goes on to say. Their greed and their stinginess
was evident to everyone. They were not functioning like
a church, but like an exclusive club. And just like the ill-timed
flat tire, this was the occasion that the Corinthians chose to
be at their worst. Perhaps, according to Paul’s
gracious assessment, these believers had forgotten. Perhaps they’d
forgotten the purpose and the nature of this ordinance. Perhaps
they had forgotten what he himself had communicated to them about
it. Perhaps they forgot who it was
that had instituted this meaningful and unifying ordinance in the
first place. Perhaps they were overlooking
those representative elements, the bread representing Christ’s
body, the cup representing Christ’s blood. Perhaps they had lost
sight of the delicate significance of the Lord’s table, a remembrance
of their Savior and the price that He had paid for their salvation. But Paul patiently provides the
reminder, just as he had previously delivered it to them. This was an ordinance that Jesus
himself had ordained on of all nights, the very night in which
he was betrayed. And Paul walks them through that
solemn celebration, meaningful step by meaningful step, beginning
in verse 23. He brought these believers as
close as possible back into the upper room when Christ first
presented these elements, bread and wine, images of his body
and his blood. By now, The Corinthians, even the dullest
among them, certainly know now that they have a problem. They
knew that their version of celebrating communion looked nothing like
that which Jesus inaugurated. Just like we in our wobbly car,
which for a moment, we struggle even to keep on the road, right?
But soon we resign ourselves. to the trouble into which we’ve
fallen. And we slowly pull to the side
of the road. We acknowledge that we have a
problem. And in like manner, the Corinthians first confronted
with the problem of divine gatherings in 17 through 19, and then shown
the disturbing evidence of their divided gatherings in 20 through
22. and then reminded of the glaring contrast to the divided
gatherings that they were conducting, contrasted with the Lord’s table
as Christ inaugurated it in 23 through 26. Surely the Corinthians
by now know that they have a problem. And just like us pulling to the
side of the road with a crippled vehicle, the Corinthians knew
they needed to fix the problem. They needed a remedy for these
divided gatherings, and their faithful shepherd, Paul, cannot
leave them hanging. And in the fourth section of
this address, Paul provides just that, the remedy for divided
gatherings. We see it in verses 27 through
32. And given that we’ve just reviewed
those previous sections, verses 17 through 26, you’ll hear it
as we read. I want to take it in its fullness
again this morning. Verse 17 all the way down through
verse 32. But in giving this instruction,
I do not praise you because you come together not for the better,
but for the worse. For in the first place, when
you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among
you. And in part, I believe it. For
there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved
may become evident within you, among you, pardon me. Therefore,
when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in your eating, each one
takes his own supper first, and one is hungry and another is
drunk. What? Do you not have houses in which
to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church
of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to
you? Shall I praise you? In this I
will not praise you. For I received from the Lord
that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in
the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given
thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for
you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the
cup also after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant
in my blood. Do this as often as you drink
it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until
he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread
or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be
guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine
himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink
of the cup, for he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment
to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason,
many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep. But if we
judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when
we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not
be condemned along with the world. By the time we pull to the side
of the road, in our unsteady vehicle, we know what the problem
is. And we know what the solution
is. We know we’re going to need to change the tire. For the Corinthians,
however, it may not have been so cut and dried. They might
well have been smarting too much from the initial rebuke. Too
ashamed by the clear evidence that Paul presented against them.
too caught up in the dramatic contrast between the way they
were celebrating communion and the way Christ intended it, that
perhaps they had not yet transitioned to the stage of being able to
make the necessary adjustments. They knew the problem, but not
likely the solution. And we can understand that too,
right? We instinctively have to get out of the car, especially
us men, to actually see the flat tire. Yup, tire’s flat, but we’re not
done yet. Where is the owner’s manual?
Where is the jack? Is the spare tire even full of
air? Who do I call? Do we still have
AAA? Sometimes the remedy to our problem
isn’t as plain as we’d like. And this was surely the case
with the Corinthians. This is Paul’s kind course here
in these verses. He walks them through the remedy.
And we see it beginning in verse 27. Therefore, whoever eats the bread
or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be
guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.” And opening to
this discussion, Paul will provide the remedy for these divided
gatherings. But he begins with this conclusive
word translated in the New American Standard as, therefore. It could
well be translated, so then or so that. Either way, it introduces
the sentence pronounced upon one who abuses the Lord’s table. And with that one little word,
Paul gathers up everything that he has said thus far in this
entire section. from verse 17 on, with one word,
in light of the disgrace of your divided gatherings, in light
of the evidence of these divided gatherings, in light of the contrast
to these divided gatherings, therefore. And Paul, as a faithful
shepherd, must give the appropriate caution here, not unlike our
owner’s manual, that will warn us not to drive on a flat tire,
it will warn us to turn on our flashing hazards, it will warn
us to set the brake if indeed we are going to change the tire,
and on and on and on. Likewise, Paul begins with the
caution to attend to this problem. Do not ignore this. Essentially,
he urges Misusing and troubling the celebration of communion
is a serious violation of that ordinance. And he spells it out
to them in simple terms. Whoever eats the bread or drinks
the cup in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and
the blood of the Lord. We don’t even know yet what that
means. But it sounds gravely serious. Guilty. guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord. And Paul takes them back to the
communion table, not like the one they had been abusing, but
to the original table as the Lord designed it. And says, if
you participate in the celebration of the Lord’s table by eating
the bread or drinking the cup as you do in an unworthy manner,
then you will personally be guilty of the most horrible crime ever
committed, guilty of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s basically what Paul says. And before we deal with the more
pressing details of this verse, I need to point out one small
thing, and it’s a very small thing. In the Greek, it’s a single
letter. Translated into English, it’s
a two-letter word, or. Whoever eats the bread or drinks
the cup. And I call your attention to
this really out of, I guess, what I would call academic honesty.
You see, for those who provide only one of the elements of the
Lord’s table, say the bread, This verse, this one-letter word,
is one of the justifications for that practice, an either-or
proposition. But if Paul, or God himself,
did not want the cup to be shared among believers, why address
it at all here? The elements of the Lord’s table,
the bread and the cup, as we saw last week, is not an either-or
proposition. It’s both. That’s what Jesus
himself set forth, the bread and the cup. So in the celebration
of the Lord’s table, it extends both of these elements to the
believing recipients. So why then does Paul say or
here? One popular explanation is that
perhaps during the observance of the Lord’s table, The individual
is appropriately attentive during the presentation of one of the
elements, but inappropriately inattentive during the presentation
of the other. That’s certainly a possibility.
It’s a good approach. Focused during the bread, but
daydreaming and just going through the motions during the cup, that’s
possible. But it could simply be interpreted
this way, that by separating the two elements by the word
or, Paul is really drawing attention to each of those elements individually. This little one letter word is
used the exact same way in Romans 121. Just listen. There in Romans
121, Paul says about the heathen world, they did not honor him
as God, or give thanks. The bottom line there is that
the ungodly didn’t do either of those things. They neither
honored God nor gave thanks. Essentially, to honor God and
to give thanks is one and the same thing. We cannot do one
or omit one without doing or omitting the other. And likewise
with the bread and the cup. In the end, both the bread and
the cup are equally in view here. The Lord’s table includes both
elements, and both elements are equally violated if either of
them is violated. And so Paul just warns that whether
it is the bread or the cup, to be careless or flippant is to
partake in an unworthy manner. Now, now that I’ve lulled you
to sleep with that explanation, it is absolutely vital before
we proceed that we have a brief English grammar lesson. And it’s
centered around this word unworthy. When Paul issues his caution
here, he uses an adverb, not an adjective. And I know many
of us will have to go home and look that up. What’s the difference?
Here’s the difference, a lot. Listen to this. Paul does not
address the worthiness or the unworthiness of the individual
who is partaking of communion. That’s not what he’s addressing. That would be an adjective. His
caution is not about our inherent unworthiness. That’s a given. We are unworthy of God’s grace. That’s what makes it grace. It
goes without saying that we’re not worthy of any of God’s blessings. He uses an adverb here. And Paul’s
concern is not the believers themselves gathered around the
Lord’s table, but the way that they are celebrating that table. And so the proper translation
here would be unworthily. We are not to partake of the
Lord’s table unworthily. But many people read that and
understand it to mean something about themselves, in some way
that they might be partaking unworthily. that they are unworthy to participate
in communion. I’ve had many people confess
to me that they abstained from the Lord’s table because they
did not feel worthy. Again, the word is an adverb,
not an adjective. It’s not addressing the individual’s
worth or value at all. It’s addressing the way in which
the table is approached. Our mindset, our heart, This
is why our translation is sure to supply the word manner. We are not to partake of communion
in an unworthy manner, in an unworthy way. He’s talking about
the way, the manner in which an individual partakes of the
Lord’s table. And by this word, he says that
the Lord’s table possesses a certain value or worth. and even a forgiven sinner, inherently
undeserving of God’s grace, can partake of the elements of communion
worthily. He or she can approach the Lord’s
table in an appropriate manner. Of course, one can also, and
too often does, participate unworthily, and that’s what Paul is addressing.
She or he can participate in a way that is dishonoring and
displeasing to the Lord. And this is Paul’s caution. Partaking
of the Lord’s table, either eating the bread, drinking the cup unworthily,
in an unworthy manner. Well, what does that look like?
And it’s a broad ranging caution that Paul provides here. Consider
these suggestions. It could refer to simply partaking
with a distracted mind. You’re not really into it. You’re
not really paying attention. You’re not really in prayer.
Your mind is caught up thinking about the business deal the next
day or something else, anything else. I love the way one writer said
it, that if you’re in worship and you’re not thinking about
God, you’re not worshiping. It could be that you are partaking
with an unrepentant heart. You’re maintaining a hold on
some secret sin, refusing to confess it, refusing to abandon
it, refusing to mortify it, or you’re harboring a grudge, some
disdain for a fellow believer. It could be that you’re participating,
partaking with an irreverent, flippant attitude, carelessly
maintaining a mindset that is unbecoming of so solemn an occasion
as the Lord’s table. It could be that you are partaking
without a due examination of yourself before the Lord. You
know that something happened this past week, but you’d rather
not dwell on it. You’d rather not ask the Lord
for his help in examining your heart. Perhaps, You are partaking
without having a humble, thankful heart for what God overall has
done for you, for what Jesus in particular has done for you,
and for the Holy Spirit’s role in bringing us to repentance
and faith. All that God has done for us.
You’re not of that mindset. You’re somewhere else. It could
be that we are partaking without a remembrance of the sacrifice,
the very thing that the bread and the cup represent. Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf
on a cruel cross. It could be that you’re partaking
not in faith. Partaking in the Lord’s table
if you’re not a Christian. This is not a table for everyone. And Paul will go on to give grave
caution to partaking if you are not a Christian. Or if you are a Christian, perhaps
you’re partaking in communion, but you’re not prepared or willing
to repent of your sin. And if so, without a contrite
heart for this sin, this is the sin. If there were no others,
this is the sin that sent Jesus to the cross. and you’re unwilling
to own it? Or it could be that you’re partaking,
even reducing the ordinance to this personal approach to God,
rather than an intentionally corporate celebration. In such a case, as the Corinthians
were doing, treating it with selfishness, thinking that they
were coming essentially to save themselves by partaking. There
are many, many ways in which we can possibly partake of the
Lord’s table in an unworthy manner. In any and all of those ways,
one can approach and participate in the Lord’s table unworthily,
that is in a way or a manner that demeans or diminishes the
significance of the ordinance. That’s Paul’s very serious caution. Well, Paul closes this sentence
by declaring that to do so, To partake in the Lord’s table unworthily
is to make a person guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
That is a strong statement and it’s intentionally strong. Paul
effectively says here that to partake of the Lord’s table in
an unworthy manner makes a man in part affirming of sending
the Lord to the cross, affirming of his death, almost as if he
were crying out himself, crucify him. There’s a sense in which all
sinners have contributed to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. After all, he bore our sin in
his body on the cross. But to come to the celebration
of communion with a wrong heart is to make a mockery of the Lord’s
sacrifice. It is to downplay that sacrifice
to make light of it. It always stirs our hearts deeply,
doesn’t it? To see the American flag desecrated,
stomped on, burned. We react strongly to that because
of what the flag represents. It represents our nation, our
freedoms, all of those who sacrifice for those freedoms. Well, in
a far greater fashion, to make light of the elements of the
Lord’s table, the bread and the cup, is to dishonor that which
they represent. Jesus Christ’s body and blood
shed for us. So to partake of the Lord’s table,
to eat of the bread, to drink of the cup in an unworthy manner
is a dreadful thing. How then can this be avoided? After all, this subsection we’ve
labeled, remember, as the remedy for divided gatherings. Paul
provides that in verse 28. Would you glance at that verse? the remedy for divided gatherings,
but a man must examine himself, and in so doing, he is to eat
of the bread and drink of the cup. And it is here in verse
28 where Paul begins to speak of this corrective approach,
a remedy, if you will, a remedy for partaking unworthily. What
must we do? Paul says simply here, a man
must examine himself. If we are to partake in the Lord’s
table as the Lord Jesus intended it to be observed, then we must
examine ourselves. The word here examine is that
which so frequently in the New Testament is translated as prove
or proven, proving. It speaks of a state of having
been examined and found true. In other words, it’s not just
a simple glance at one’s self. It’s a purifying examination.
It’s a search to every nook and cranny, every corner of our heart
for anything that would be dishonoring to the Lord. We must humbly and
prayerfully look to the Lord first to reveal any faulty mindset,
any unconfessed transgression, anything in attitude or action
that is unbecoming of Christ’s ordinance. Paul loves this word. Paul, as I’m sure you can all
recall, uses this word in 2 Corinthians 13, 5, to call individuals to
make certain of their salvation. That’s not what he’s doing here
in 1 Corinthians, but it would help. In 2 Corinthians 13, five,
he says, examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Well, that’s the most basic examination
in coming to the Lord’s table. Am I a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ? If not, I should not be communing. Paul uses this word plentifully. He uses it in Romans chapter
12. Romans chapter 12, we are to
be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Why? So that we
can prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect. We are to examine everything,
as Paul says elsewhere, carefully. Earlier in this same epistle,
1 Corinthians 3, Paul tells us that one day our own work, that
is our efforts here on earth as believers, our own work will
be tested, examined with fire. Everything else is going to be
burned up, but what we accomplished by God’s grace, for God’s glory. In 2nd Corinthians 8.22, Paul
speaks of the fellow workers of the gospel who have been tested
and found diligent. They were tested, examined, and
then affirmed. Of practices, Paul uses it in
Philippians 1.10, that you may approve the things that are excellent,
tested and found to be true, and therefore we can, we must
participate in these things. Of doctrine, it’s used in 1 Thessalonians
5.21, examine everything carefully. And of deacons, 1 Timothy 3.19,
these men must first be tested. So when Paul says here, when
he uses this same word of a believer coming to the Lord’s table, he
says first, test, examine, verify, prove your readiness for this
Solomon ordinance. Do not approach the Lord’s table
flippantly. Further. As the Lord brings those
things to mind, we are to confess them promptly and immediately
ask for grace to overcome them. We don’t want to wallow in this
sin. We don’t want to come and confess this sin again in a month
or a year. We want to overcome this by God’s
grace. So what Paul is calling for here
in this verse is a deep personal examination by the Holy Spirit
of the motives of the heart that by necessary confession, one
may be readied to partake of communion. This is spiritual
heart work. When we personally prepare for
the Lord’s table, we are to scrutinize our own lives before the Lord. Our goal in this, with the Holy
Spirit’s assistance, is not to determine, not to find something
by which we are spiritually prohibited, but to ensure that we are spiritually
ready. When we discover those things,
we confess them and we rid our heart of them. This is the greatest
observance in which a human can participate. It’s the Lord’s
table. The aim is not to discover something
by which we’re disqualified, but to ensure that we are spiritually
ready. And so upon examination, we’ll
find ourselves either already prepared, we’ve done our heart
work during the week, We’re eager to come to the Lord’s table.
We know that we’ve been forgiven. We know that it’s only by the
blood of Christ. Or perhaps we discover some sin. Some sad thing that we did during
the week that we confess, we own. We make ourselves ready
by God’s grace. We discover some evil and rid
our heart of it by confession. By God’s Spirit, we make ourselves
right for the Lord’s table. Of that lengthy list I provided
a moment ago, those things that possibly stand in the way, that
would be, render us unworthily to take the Lord’s table, this
is the modified version of that. The first question you have to
ask is, am I saved? Have I placed my faith in Jesus
Christ alone for salvation? No person should partake of the
Lord’s table who is not a Christian. Paul will go on to say that to
do so is to eat and drink judgment to themselves. Secondly, are
we coming to the Lord’s table with a correct understanding
of its purpose? It’s not a means of salvation.
It’s not a means of staying saved. It’s a remembrance of what Christ
has accomplished for us and a crying out for more of his grace. Are
we distracted and focused on other things? This is an opportunity
in prayer to zero in, to focus our heart on what Christ has
done. Are we intentional about our approach to the Lord’s table?
Are we reverent? Are we worshipful? Have we paused
to gratefully reflect upon what the Lord has accomplished on
our behalf, the great price by which our salvation was secured?
Having examined our hearts, having asked the Holy Spirit to reveal
any unconfessed sin, have we then properly confessed it to
the Lord? Have we asked God for help in
this regard? that he would pour out upon us
the necessary grace to overcome the sins we’ve confessed. Are
we right? This is a great question for
the Corinthian church. Are we right with those with
whom we commune? Are we right with our fellow
believers in Christ? Are we harboring any grudge,
any unforgiveness? Is there any unresolved tension
between me and my brother? Only then does Paul say, having
examined ourselves, then we should eat of the bread and drink of
the cup. The older translations here just say, so let him eat. If a man has examined himself,
confessed his sin, cried out for the grace of change, then
so let him eat in that sanctified condition. This is the only condition
in which a person should participate, an examined and proven condition. The cadence of this sentence
is such that it expects the Christian to persevere through this examination,
so as to partake. Paul is not throwing down a gauntlet
here, and neither is the Lord. He is not trying to close the
door to the celebration of communion. This is the condition of which
the child of God partakes in the Lord’s table. It is a proven
condition. It is a self-examined, spirit-ready
condition of heart and mind. God desires, even commands, that
his children partake of the Lord’s table. But at the same time,
he expects that we do so appropriately. The approach to the Lord’s table
is a gracious provision of God. The believer is indwelled by
the Spirit of God. He has ready access, not only
to his own heart and mind, but also to the source of all truth,
God’s Word. And he has all of this for real-time
correction. as he bows in prayer before his
or her Lord. And if the child of God is found
wanting, if their mind is wandering, if their heart attitude is not
right, if there’s anything to confess, God’s grace can be employed
in that very moment to aid in preparation for the appropriate
reception of the elements of communion. A person can be made
ready. Why is it so important to examine
oneself before partaking of the Lord’s table? Because as Paul
will proceed to explain in the ensuing verses, to partake in
an unworthy manner is to eat and drink judgment to oneself.
The Lord’s table is not a game. It is not an ordinance to be
treated with careless disregard. Depending on how it is approached,
it is either life-sustaining, spiritually speaking, or life-threatening. Would you humble yourself before
our God? Lord God, we do humble ourselves
in your glorious presence. And we thank you for this ordinance
that we look forward in days to come of celebrating, With
perhaps a renewed passion, with perhaps a better understanding
of what communion is, what communion is for, what your purpose was
in inaugurating this sweet ordinance, Lord, we thank you for the privilege
that we have to pause and to reflect upon these passages,
to learn again with the Corinthians, what the lessons were at the
Lord’s table to guard our hearts against these divided gatherings
that were so common, so common, not just for the Corinthians,
but common to the Christian church. Lord, we do pray that you would
give us understanding in this particular passage as Paul seeks
to provide the remedy that of examining our hearts, of scrutinizing
our hearts, of listening to the Spirit of God as we lay ourselves
before you. Lord God, we look to next week’s
consideration of this solemn passage. Lord, we know that to
eat and drink judgment to themselves, has such a horrible sound to
it. And we look forward to discovering the significance of that statement
next Lord’s Day. Father, if there are any in our
midst, the Lord’s table celebrating communion, being baptized, observing
any other ordinance or ritual does not save. Lord, the only means of salvation is to place our faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, to repent of our sin, and to look to Christ
in faith for salvation. Father, we pray that if there
are any here who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, that they
would humbly and gently look to Him who has already paid the
price for sinners on the cross. Lord, for us, who’ve already
placed our faith, we humbly come before you and thank you. Thank you for your sacrifice
on our behalf. And Lord, we thank you for this
ordinance by which to remember that sacrifice. We lay all of
these things before you and plead them in Jesus name. Amen.