If you have your Bibles with you this morning, I would invite you to open up to the New Testament and to the book of 1 Corinthians. We are back in 1 Corinthians as of last week. Today we'll be looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 17 through 34. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Verses 17 through 34. So if you have your Bibles, would you follow along with me? And this is God's Word written for you and for me today. But in the following instructions, I do not commend you. Because when you come together, it is not for the better, but for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. Now believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order for those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also, he took the cup 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 this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for judgment. About the other things, I will give directions when I come. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would give us insight into this, your word. We pray that you would give us your spirit, that you would show us the Savior, show us our salvation. We pray these sayings in Jesus' name. Amen. Worship. Worship is the highest act that we as Christians can engage in. We were created to worship. We have been redeemed to worship. We've been set free to worship. We've been set free from our slavery to worship our Savior. And in fact, we've been commanded to worship. The Lord commands us and He calls us to worship Him. And yes, all of life, on the one hand, all of life, as we talked about in Sunday school, is to be consecrated unto the Lord and is to be an act of spiritual worship before the Lord, quorum Deo, as our forefathers so often put it. But worship finds its... highest point. Worship finds its climax in Lord's Day gathered worship. What we do here, Sunday after Sunday, Lord's Day after Lord's Day, this is the highlight, this is the climax of our week, this is the climax of who we are as believers when we gather on the Lord's Day as the people of God in the house of God with the Word of God before us feeding on the very words of our Savior. The book of Hebrews in chapter 12 says that we have come to Mount Zion, that we've come to the heavenly Jerusalem when we gather as the Lord's people on His day. This is the highlight, the climax of our week. The climax of our week is not Saturday. The climax of our week is the Lord's Day. Therefore it comes as something of a shock At least it should and it would to the original readers Come as something of a shock when we turn to a passage and read in verse 17 that in the following instructions I do not commend you because when you come together And you'll note that that language of coming together is used four times in this passage reference being to when you come together as the church When you come together to meet on the Lord's Day It is not for the better, but rather for the worse." This is a shocking statement. When we understand the priority and the primacy of the Lord's Day and what happens when we gather as the church, this should cause us to pause. When Paul says, Corinthians, when you come together, it's not for the better. It is actually for the worse. Now you'll recall that last week we began a new major section in our study, chapters 11 through 14, deal with the big issue of worship, corporate worship, gathered worship. And last week we looked at men and women and how they were to be honoring their heads and honoring one another and honoring Christ in the worship service. But as we consider our passage this morning, verses 17 through 34, and we reflect on Paul's rebuke, we need to ask the question, why? What was going on? Why would Paul say something as shocking as this? What was the problem? What was going on? Well, the problem was not a secondary matter. It didn't concern running out of donuts, or the coffee getting cold, or you don't like the color of the wall, or when even it comes to music. It had nothing to do with that, those things that all too often and sadly we get all in a huff about in today's church. But rather, it concerned something core. something foundational, one of the very elements of worship that our Lord had given us. Look back at chapter verse 20, when you come together it is not the Lord's Supper, and Paul's rebuking them for that, because they were actually coming together to partake of the Lord's Supper. So the issue that Paul is dealing with is the Lord's Table, when the church came together and would partake of communion, the sacrament of communion. Indeed, the Bible teaches us that the Lord's Supper was given to us as a means of grace. All three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we'll call them the synoptics, all three of the synoptic Gospels refer and recount the institution of the Lord's Supper by our Lord Jesus. Matthew chapter 26. Mark chapter 14 and Luke chapter 22. Just as a little memory clue, each one of those is two chapters before the final chapter, just to help you remember where they are. The Lord's Supper was given to us as a means of grace, as a means of nourishment, to build us up, as an encouragement to us, as a wonderful gift of grace from the Lord, but in Corinth it was being greatly and tragically abused. Greatly and tragically abused. And so as we work our way through this passage, there's two main things I want us to note. First, the problem. I want us to look at what actually is going on. And then the prescription. What is the prescription that Paul gives them? So first, the problem, verses 17 through 22. Why does Paul say that when you come together it is not for the better, but rather for the worse? Well, look at verse 18. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part. There are divisions. The Lord's Supper was a means of divisiveness in the Corinthian church. And look down at verse 21. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. And so the picture that we gather of what was going on seems to be this. Follow along with me just for a moment. The divisions that Paul has in mind, Paul says there are divisions among you. The divisions that Paul has in mind likely are not the same divisions he referred to back in chapter 1. Remember way back when, Paul talked about there was divisions in the church. There was a party spirit. There were different groups gathering around. Some said, I am of Apollos. I am of Cephas. I am of Jesus. And there was great divisiveness surrounding personalities. Kind of a celebrity culture had arisen in the Corinthian church. Likely, that is not the kind of division that Paul has in view. Likely, what Paul has in view is division along economic lines. along the rich and the poor. Economic divisions. At this point in church history, the church met in homes. We read of churches meeting in various people's homes throughout the New Testament. And likely, they met in homes of the wealthy. It was the wealthy who would own homes that were large enough for a small body of believers to gather together. the poor, the poor brothers and sisters in the church, the dock workers, the day laborers, they would walk to the home after their daily labors for worship and to worship together and you partake of the Lord's table. But what was going on here we see in verse 21, for in eating, look back at verse 21, for in eating And keep in mind, at this point in the early church, the Lord's Supper was part of a larger meal. And that's the reference there to eating. Verse 21, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat in, to drink in? The wealthy, well, they were going ahead and helping themselves. They were saying, I think I'll go ahead and help myself. Their other brothers and sisters aren't here. Likely the poor day laborers, they're not here yet. It doesn't really matter. I might be a little hungry. I'm going to go ahead and help myself. And in fact, I'm going to go ahead and take all of it. They can fend for themselves. The wealthy were showing a complete disregard and absolute lack of love towards their brothers and sisters in Christ. They were simply helping themselves. taking all the food, taking all the wine, in fact, to the point of getting drunk. Paul says that some of you are actually getting drunk, and there's nothing left over. Note the extremes mentioned in verse 21. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. Note the extreme. One hungry, nothing to eat. The other, gluttonous. drinking to the point of drunkenness, partaking of the wine to the point of drunkenness. And so Paul can ask these rhetorical questions in verse 22. What does Paul think of this? Obviously, he's not pleased. Look at verse 22. These are rhetorical questions he asks to drive home his displeasure. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God? What you are doing is despising the church of God. It is shaming the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you are humiliating those who have nothing. You are humiliating your brothers and sisters in Christ. It was terrible what was going on in the Corinthian church. What shall I say to you? Paul doesn't have words to speak to them. Shall I commend you in this? Remember back, he commends them back in chapter 11, verse 2. I commend you, because you remember me and everything. He gives them a small little token of a compliment. Not for this. Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. Matthew Henry, the great Puritan commentator, says this, that what was intended to feed the souls of the saints was used to feed their lusts. And in so doing, the Corinthians were profaning the sacred table, profaning the Lord's table with their focus and worship on self, as we talked about in our Sunday school this morning. So much so that Paul can say in verse 20, when you come together, it is not the Lord's supper. When you come together, you may think you're partaking of the Lord's Supper, but because of your attitude, because of your unworthiness and of your blatant sin, this is of no benefit to you. This is not a means of grace to you. This is a curse to you. Because you are humiliating one another, you are despising the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you can see the seriousness of this down in verse 30. I think this verse often strikes us. Verse 30. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. This is God's covenant curse on His people. Now, this doesn't mean they're lost, because look down in verse 32. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. The Lord is disciplining those who are living in such blatant sin, despising their brothers and sisters, in Christ and bringing shame on the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So there's the problem. Divisiveness, self, this means of grace that was to be a means of building up the church is actually a means of division and bringing shame on the church of Christ. What's the prescription? What does Paul tell them to do? Well, two things. He gives them truth and he gives them a warning. He gives them truth, and he gives them a warning in verses 23 and following. The first thing he does is he gives them truth, instruction, teaching. He reminds them, look back in verse 23, for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. Note the past tense for the word delivered. Remember, the Apostle Paul planted this church back in Acts chapter 18, and no doubt he had given them instruction on the Lord's Supper. I delivered to you what the Lord Jesus delivered to me regarding the meaning and the instructions on the Lord's table." Two things to note regarding this truth that Paul gives them. First, he reminds them whose table this is. He reminds them who is the author, or the creator, or the owner, we might say, of the sacrament. He says, I delivered to you what I received. Verse 23, I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. I received this from the Lord. Verse 20, it is the Lord's supper. It's a very interesting phrase. There's only two times in the New Testament when we read that kind of possessive phrase, the Lord's supper and the Lord's day. Revelation chapter 1, John says, he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, meaning that this was the special day. This is the day that belongs to the Lord in a special way. And in like manner, this is the Lord's supper. This is a meal that belongs to Him, set apart from the common meals that we eat the other six days of the week. This is a supper, a meal, a table that belongs to Him in a unique and special way. It is His table, we are the guests. He is the owner and we are the guests. And Paul says, you need to remember whose table this is. This is not a man-made ordinance. This is a divine ordinance. It belongs to God. Remember at whose table you are feasting. Remember at whose table you have come to feast. And then secondly, and we'll spend the next several minutes together, Paul reminds them of the meaning of communion, the meaning of the Lord's Table. What is it? What is it all about? And at the end of the day, it points us to Christ. At the end of the day, when we boil it all down, it points us to Christ, to God and His grace and mercy given us in the Lord Jesus Christ. I think there's a helpful way to think about the meaning and the significance of the Lord's Table is along three lines. There's a past element, a present aspect, and a future. Past, present, and future. So first, the past aspect of the Lord's Supper. Look at the time reference that Paul gives us. It says, for I delivered to you that which what I received from the Lord, what I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, on the night when he was betrayed. What night is that? It's Passover night. It's Passover night. Jesus was celebrating the Passover. We often refer to it as the Last Supper, the Passover with his disciples. Recall what the Passover was all about. The original Passover, the Passover event, was the Tenth Plague. Remember, Israel was in bondage in Egypt for 400 years. The Lord sends his plagues through Moses. The last, tenth, and final plague was the plague of the pass, of the death of the firstborn. Angel of death comes down and comes into Egypt and passes over, or takes the life of the firstborn except for those homes under the blood. The angel of death passes over those homes that were covered in the blood, which was the homes of the covenant community, the church, Israel. And God gave his people an ordinance, a meal, that each year at a set time they were to celebrate the Passover, the meal that reflected back on the Passover event. So they would gather as a family. Remember, the children would ask their father, what does this mean? What are we doing? And the father would tell them the Passover story, reminding them of that great Old Testament, salvific, redemptive event. And so Jesus is gathering with his disciples to celebrate the Passover, partaking the Passover meal with them. And the Passover meal followed a fairly standard pattern. But Jesus made some very profound and significant changes as he instituted the Lord's Supper. It was on this evening, as William Hendrickson says, the Passover passes over into the Lord's Supper. And Jesus says, if you look in verse 24, and Jesus said to them, this is my body, which is for you. which is implied there, which is given for you, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And then in verse 25, in the same way, Jesus also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me. The bread that Jesus took points to his body, his body that was given over for sinners, for the elect, for his people, that would be broken as a sacrifice, as the once and for all sacrifice for his people. His shed blood, or the wine, points to his shed blood that was poured out for us, by which we are covered and we are washed clean, whiter than snow. And note this language, note what he says regarding the cup. It's striking what he says. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Turn back to Exodus 24 for just a moment. Jesus is explicitly quoting from Exodus 24, verse 8. Exodus 24. If you recall, the Lord has brought His people out of the Exodus, or out of Egypt in the Exodus, He brought them to Sinai, and He has entered into covenant with them. And Exodus 24 is the ratification of that covenant. Look at what it says, Exodus 24 verse 8, And Moses took the blood. blood that was to remind them of the path of the blood, the blood of the sacrifice that protected God's people. Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. Look back at 1 Corinthians 11. The blood of the covenant, Acts 24.8. And here in 1 Corinthians 11.25, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. In essence, what Jesus is saying is, that blood back at the Passover, that blood of the sacrifice that protected you, that blood that Moses sprinkled on you, ratifying that covenant, that blood pointed to me, into my shed blood. Ephesians 1.7, in Christ we have redemption in his blood according to the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Think of it this way, the Passover event, Exodus 12, finds its fulfillment and culmination in the cross, the greater Passover. The Passover meal, which was given to Israel to point them back to the Passover event, finds its fulfillment in the Lord's table. Now we see the parallel. Exodus 12, the Passover event, points us to the cross. The Passover meal that Jesus was celebrating with His disciples. The Old Testament Church celebrated year after year after year. That finds its fulfillment and culmination in the Lord's Table. So that just as God's people under the old covenant, when they gathered for the Passover, what did they do? They looked back and were reminded of God's deliverance of them from Egypt. In like manner, when we gather around the table, what do we do? One thing we do is that we are reminded of the cross. We look back, just as Israel looked back to Passover, so we look back to that ultimate, final, greater Passover, the cross, on which Jesus' body was given and his blood was shed for forgiveness once and for all. In fact, let me give you one more passage. Jeremiah 31 is the promise of the new covenant. Jeremiah 31, 34. Jeremiah 31-34. This is the prophet Jeremiah looking forward to that once and for all final new covenant. The final deal, so to speak, of God's promise with His people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor, and each his brother say, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord." Here's the phrase. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. And Jesus is saying, this cup is the new covenant. What Jeremiah was talking about, that is in me. That is what I am accomplishing in my work on the cross. New covenant in my blood, in which forgiveness has been purchased once and for all. So first, there's a past element. We look back to the cross when Jesus' body was given and his blood was shed for us. There's also a present element. It's not just a remembrance. We don't just look back. It's not just like a picture, like a picture album that reminds us of something long ago. It's also a present means of grace. Something happens when we partake. We are being presently nourished and built up. God's grace is being given to us, communicated to us, not in a mechanical way, as the Roman Catholic Church would teach, not in a mechanical way. but rather as we receive it by faith. Jesus commands us to eat and to drink in the present. Verse 26, as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup. But this present blessing is brought out even more, for example, in John chapter 6. And for time's sake, you don't need to turn there. John chapter 6, Jesus would say that he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And Jesus would say that I am the bread that has come down from heaven. I am the bread of life. So that as we partake of the meal, we are feasting with Christ. This is a banquet. This is a table. We are feeding on Christ by faith. B.B. Warfield said that this table is the Christian Passover. This is the Christian's Passover. And this afternoon, if you have time, go think through the Gospels and all of the parables and the teaching when Jesus sits and feasts and eats with sinners. Luke 15, verses 1 and 2. Let me just read you one verse. Luke 15, verses 1 and 2. Because this is what is going on at the Lord's table. Luke 15, 1 and 2. Now the tax collectors and the sinners were all drawing near to hear Him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. Revelation 3, verse 20. The verse is very often taken out of context. Revelation 3 verse 20. Behold, Jesus says, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me. That's what we're doing at the Lord's table. We are dining. We are feasting with our Savior. He is the host and we are the guests. We are the guests at His table enjoying table fellowship. Table fellowship with our Savior, presently being nourished and encouraged and built up. And then thirdly and finally, there's a future element. That we are to do this, verse 26, until He comes again. What happens when He comes again? But when He comes again, we will be sitting with Him at the great banquet, at the marriage supper of the Lamb. That banquet that this table is just an appetizer for, is just a mere foretaste, describing fellowship, describing communion. And when He comes again, we will dine at the great table. We will dine with our King at the King's table as invited and purchased guests. What a feast, dear friends, that will be. That's what's going on at the Lord's table. Sinners saved by the blood of Christ enjoying table fellowship with our Savior. communion with Him. So there's a past element, a present element, and a future element. So first, the Apostle Paul gives them truth, but he also gives them a warning. I'm going to run through this rather quickly for time's sake. Verses 27 and following, he gives them a warning. He reminds them of truth, of teaching, but he also says, verse 27 and following, that when you come to the table, you are to do so thoughtfully. Humbly by faith with a repentant heart look at some of these phrases. He uses verse 27 Whoever therefore eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner That's what the Corinthians were doing. They were coming to the table in an unworthy manner with divisions with divisions growing even stronger Verse 28, let a person examine himself, and then so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. This is what the Corinthians weren't doing. And this is what we are called to do. We are called to examine ourselves. What does that mean? We're called to come by faith. We're called to come and partake by faith, by faith and in repentance. And perhaps as we are partaking and we are quietly praying when we receive the bread and the wine, we might pray something like this. Lord Jesus, thank you for your grace. I confess that you saved me and I did not deserve it. And I am unworthy. And I confess that I fall short. But Lord, thank you for your mercies that are new every day. Lord, show me those areas where I continue to stumble. Help me to continue to grow closer to you. Perhaps something along those lines, as we come by faith and we come with a repentant heart. It doesn't mean that everything is perfect, or none of us could come. But we come by faith, humbly, with a repentant heart. discerning the body, verse 29. What does that mean, to discern the body? Well, at its most basic level, it means that we understand that this is a sacred meal and not a common meal. that we understand that there is something different and unique and special about this meal more so than family dinner on Thursday night, as important as family dinners are. That there is something more important about this meal. We're able to understand that there is something different. There's a sacredness to this meal as opposed to our meals throughout the rest of the week. So Paul gives them truth, and he gives them a warning. What do we take from this? Let me leave you with just a couple of very brief, very brief thoughts. I'd love to expand more of these thoughts. First, let me take one minute. and explain why we do not, as a church, practice what's called paedo-communion. I think it's a fitting application from this passage. There are some churches in the reform world that practice something called paedo-communion. You might say, what is that? Well, that is the practice of very young even newborn infants receiving the elements. Very young newborn infants receiving the elements. And the argument goes something like this, and this is oversimplification, goes something like this. Well, if a baby or an infant can receive one sacrament, why can't they receive the other? If they're part of the covenant community, why can't they receive the sacrament of the Lord's Table? Well, that betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between. the one sacrament of baptism, and the sacrament of the Lord's Table. Sacrament of baptism is that sacrament of initiation into the covenant community, given once and for all, when one initially comes in to the covenant community, either as an adult by faith or a child, a baby of believing parents. So it's the sacrament one time, the initiatory sacrament into the church. In contrast to the Lord's Table, the Lord's Supper, which is a sacrament of continual growth and nourishment for those of age who are able to discern its significance. For those of age able to discern its significance. And so the sacraments, although both given by God, both pointing to Christ, they simply mean different things. Remember that in the old covenant, the child needed to be able to ask his father, why do we do this? And I think we can safely infer that he was able to understand what his parents would tell him. We do this because of what our Lord graciously did for us many, many years ago. So there's a cognitive level there, and you see this all throughout verse 27. You need to be able to understand what it means to come unworthily, understand how that we come by faith, that we're able to examine our own hearts, that we're able to understand there's a sacredness to this meal that is different than the other meals. So that is why we do not practice what is called paedo-communion. What do we do here at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church? Well, when parents, relying on their wisdom, think that their children, their covenant children, are at an age when they're able to understand the gospel, able to understand what is going on at this table, to examine their own hearts, to come by faith, to understand the sin in their own life, and they're able to repent of that sin, and to have a certain mental ability of knowing what is going on. Well, then that young person will come and will make that profession of faith before the elders. And then will come before the congregation to make those vows on their own. And then there will be what we call a communing member of the church. So first, just an explanation of why we don't do something that a minority of Reformed churches do. Well, lastly, Dear friends, the Lord's Supper, it's a sacrament of unity. One body, many members. And it was a means of disunity in the Corinthian church. That's why Paul was so upset. It's a sacrament of unity. Now, we hear a lot about unity in the news these days. We're all going to come together. We're going to have a unified this or that. Well, dear friends, true unity. can only be found in one place, in the gospel and in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is where true foundational unity can be found, through the gospel and in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul's gonna hammer that home next week in the one body passage. And let me leave you with this. When we come and partake of the Lord's table, dear friends, Remember Jesus feasting with sinners. Remember how absolutely revolutionary that was. He is a friend of sinners. And we say amen, amen, that our Savior is a friend of sinners. And that's what we do when we gather. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." That's what our Savior did for us. Praise God for His Word. Let's pray together. Father, we thank You for Your grace and Your mercy to us, extended so wonderfully and ultimately and climatically in Christ. Father, we need more grace each day. Give us wisdom, give us humility to walk with you before a watching world of salt and light. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.