Christians and Communion

Christians and Communion

“Christians and Communion”
(1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

I invite you to take your Bibles and open this morning to 1 Corinthians, chapter 10 (page 772; YouVersion).

While you’re finding that, let me say I so appreciate pastoring a church that is more fired up about the Gospel and missions than about our political leanings. At the same time, Tuesday is a pretty big day in our country, and I want to remind you to be in prayer and to exercise your right to vote.
Remember we do not elect morally superior persons to office. We elect sinners to office from the city level to the national level. We are all sinners. Some saved, some unsaved, but all sinners.

For that reason, rarely ever will we find ourselves supercharged about any one particular candidate. And there are platforms upon which candidates run. Look to the person or platform you believe best supports biblical values and vote accordingly. God isn’t up in heaven wringing His hands over this election. He’s in control. Trust Him—and vote Tuesday.

Today in all three of our morning worship services we are observing the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance, something the Lord “ordained” that we do in remembrance of Him. When Jesus was with His disciples at that last meal they had together, He said to His followers, “Do this in remembrance of Me (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24).”

So when Christians observe the Lord’s Supper together they are primarily remembering Christ, remembering who He is and what He has done for them. It’s a time for Christians to look back to the cross.

That means, of course, that the Lord’s Supper is for Christians, for those who have been saved from sin and are following Jesus, living for His glory. The Lord’s Supper is not to be taken by just anyone. It is to be taken, to be observed, by followers of Jesus.

This is an important fact sometimes overlooked in churches. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic ceremony much like the other ordinance of our Lord Jesus, the ordinance of baptism. The Bible teaches that churches are not to baptize just anyone, but rather the church is to baptize those who have believed the gospel message and have turned from their sin in repentance and have turned to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Once a person has been saved, he or she is a follower of Jesus and a proper candidate for baptism.

Similarly, not just anyone is to partake of the Supper. Only those who have turned from their sin in repentance and have turned to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, having been saved, and then having been baptized to demonstrate their newfound faith, only these persons are to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Parents of children who have not yet placed their faith in Christ are wise to teach this to their children so that their children understand that the Supper is not something to partake of now, but something to which they can look forward once they have been saved and baptized.

Similarly, if you yourself have not yet placed your faith in Christ, and are therefore not a candidate to partake of the Supper, then we would invite you to spend the time of the Supper thinking about the claims of Jesus. Think about how Jesus lived and died for sinners. And turn to Christ to be saved. Following Jesus Christ is more important than the Supper itself. Salvation is our first order of business.

So the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance for those who have turned from their sin and are trusting Christ as Lord and Savior. The majority of us in the room fall into that category. And some of you may be Christians who are visiting with us this morning. If you are a Christian, and an active member of a church of similar faith and practice, we invite you to join us in observance of the Supper.

I’ve encouraged you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. While chapter 11 of 1 Corinthians is the classic text that provides detailed instruction about the Supper, there is a bit of teaching in chapter 10 that is helpful to us today.

Now, the greater context of chapter 10 is about idolatry. Idolatry is the worshiping of idols, or substitutes for the one true and living God. An idol is anything that we worship in place of God. And that’s especially important to remember when we read our Bibles and we read about idolatry.

Many of us read about idolatry in our Bibles and we think of it in terms of what the pagans did, bowing down to wooden images and idols of stone and so forth, little statues and symbols of false gods. Or we think of idolatry as that sin among God’s people when they did what the pagans did, bowing down to literal idols of stone or precious stone, such as the golden calf the Israelites made in the wilderness.’

So we read about this idolatry in the Bible and we sort of think to ourselves, “Well, of course I don’t have any idols in my house. I’ve never created anything that I have bowed down to. In fact, that whole thing seems rather silly to me.”

Yet again, idolatry is not so much about wooden, stone, and golden images as it is about giving our hearts to something or someone other than God. That’s not a bad definition of idolatry. If you like definitions, you might jot that down: “Idolatry is giving our hearts to something or someone other than the one true and living God.”

So this is helpful background for our text this morning. In this section of 1 Corinthians, Paul is answering a question that had been put to him by the Corinthian church. They had written to Paul and asked him specifically about idolatry, and more specifically about whether it was okay for them to go to someone’s home or some place to have a meal where the main entree of beef or lamb or what have you was a meat that had come from animals that had been sacrificed to a false god. Animals used in pagan worship. That’s the greater question Paul is addressing. You can see that for yourself if you turn later to the beginning of chapter 8, chapter 8 and verse 1 Paul writes, “Now concerning things offered to idols…” and then he answers their question.

That’s not likely a problem any of us will encounter this week. Any of you receive an invitation last week to eat at somebody’s home and as you sat down to eat, your friend said, “Oh, by the way, this steak came from a cow that was sacrificed to a false god?”

In Paul’s day, however, political and social life included these sort of get-togethers. Idol feasts. It was an ordinary way of life for the average Corinthian citizen. Scholars estimate as many as 26 temples were scattered in and around ancient Corinth so having a meal with someone where the meat being eaten had come as a result of an animal being killed in pagan worship was not uncommon.

So Paul is answering the Corinthian Christian’s thoughtful question, “What are we to do? Is it okay for us to eat this meat, or not?” And the quick answer is, “No. No, it’s not all right if everyone present knows that this main entree came as a result of pagan worship.” Paul teaches in the greater context here of chapter 10 that, while an idol is really nothing at all—you know wood, stone, etc., and there is no other God than the one true God—nevertheless it is wrong for Christians to participate in such a supper where it is common knowledge, where everyone knows that the meat has come from the worship of some false god—because then the Christian would be actively participating, or lending a sense of agreeing with such a belief.

Paul goes on later in the chapter to say that it’s different if the meal does not center on this fact. Like, folks are just getting together for a meal, and nobody cares about where the meat came from, it’s just a meal, somebody went out back and got the food and brought it out and put it on the table and everyone’s just having a meal, nobody says anything about worship. So the Christian himself was free to eat whatever he wished—until it affected someone else in such a way as to harm them spiritually. “All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful…not all things edify (23).” Our Christian freedom ends at the point it affects another person adversely.

The point Paul is making in the two verses of our text this morning is that—where it is public knowledge that this particular meal a Christian is sitting down to, is a meal that was put together as a result of pagan worship and everyone knows it, then the Christian must not partake of this meal, because to do so is to actually lend his support to the false worship, it would be tantamount to participating with, or communing with, a false god. And Christians are not aligned with such false gods, do not worship such false gods, they do not participate in or share with or commune with such false gods.

And then, to illustrate this truth, Paul mentions the Christian’s communion with Christ in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. So with that in mind let me invite you to stand and hear these two verses.

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
16 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?
17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

Pray: “Lord, please teach us the meaning of this passage so that when we observe the Supper we will worship You and then later when we leave the Supper, that we will live for you.”

In preparation for our observance of the Supper I want to share with you these two main truths from our small text. I want to talk first about our union with Christ. Number one. The Lord’s Supper is a time for Christians primarily to reflect on their union with Christ.

Reflect on your Union with Christ (16)

The Christian’s union with Christ is the essence of his or her salvation. To be “in Christ’ is to be in a position of favor with the One True and Living God.

That’s a great phrase, “in Christ,” or, “in Him.” That phrase occurs over 160 times in the New Testament. 160 times!! It defines our identity. If you are a Christian, God always accepts you and you are always welcome in His presence because you do not stand alone, you are “in Christ.” You are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. So you are always in a position of favor with God.

I like to say often that, “God accepts us not on the basis of our performance—our pitiful performance—but God accepts us on the basis of Christ’s infinitely perfect righteousness.” God accepts us because we are “in Him.”

Picture the classic scenario of dying and standing before God. Two people die. Jim and John. God says to Jim, “Why should I accept you in my heaven?” And Jim says, “Because, I’ve tried my best. I’ve been a good boy, I’ve been a good dad, a good neighbor, a good employee. I’m not perfect, but there are people far worse! I don’t cuss. I don’t drink. I don’t chew—I don’t run with those who do. I go to church. I read the Bible.” Now all of those things are the things of our performance. Our personal works of righteousness. God does not accept us on the basis of our performance.

God says through he Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Before a holy God our righteousness is like filthy rags. The standard for entrance into a holy heaven is perfection. The best of our best efforts are tainted with sin. We can’t get into a position of favor with God based upon our own righteousness. We need the righteousness of another, the righteousness of someone who isn’t tainted with sin.

That was Jim. John dies and appears before God and God says to John, “Why should I accept you into my heaven?” And John says, “Well, it’s not because of my pitiful performance. It’s not because of my personal works of righteousness. I have not my own righteousness, but the righteousness of another. I have the righteousness of Christ! Jesus Christ your perfect Son! I am clothed in His righteousness. I am united with Him. I am ‘in Christ.’”

And God is pleased with John and accepts John into His presence—not on the basis of John’s pitiful performance, but on the basis of Christ’s infinitely perfect righteousness imputed to John, credited to John, clothing John. And that will always be the case with John—at death and in life. John will never do anything to cause God to love him less, and John will never do anything to cause God to love him more. God always and forever accepts John because He accepts John “in Christ.” He loves John perfectly—no matter how many times John fails or obeys—God will always love John perfectly in Christ.

So what about you? Someone ask you, “On what basis are you saved? How do you know God will accept you?” You begin by saying, “Well, I go to church,” and so on, that’s a work of your righteousness. Be sure Jesus Christ is your King and Lord and Savior!

So the Lord’s Suppers is a time when we reflect upon our union with Christ. We reflect on our sharing in the benefits of Christ’s work upon the cross, sharing in the benefits of His death. Communing with Him by reflecting on our spiritual fellowship with Him.

16 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?

Paul is here reminding the Corinthians of their union with Christ. He refers in verse 16 to the “cup” and the “bread.” These are the two elements we use in observing the Supper. The “cup of blessing” is a reference to the cup of juice we will drink, a symbol of the blood of Christ. Paul asks, “The cup of blessings which we bless (for which we give thanks to God), is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” In other words, isn’t our drinking of this cup a picture, a reminder, of our sharing in the benefits of Christ’s death? And the answer is, yes! Yes it is. We drink the cup and we are reminded that Jesus shed His blood for us.

Similarly, Paul in the second sentence there in verse 16, asks, “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” The point is the same as before: When we eat of the bread—which we will also do in a few moments—we are eating that bread as a picture, or a reminder, of our sharing in the benefits of Christ’s death—His body broken for us, crucified for us, that we may be forgiven.

So when we eat the bread and drink the cup we are aligning ourselves again with the one who saved us. We are participating with, communing with, sharing in the benefits of the One who shared His very life for us. We are aligning ourselves again with Him.

Remembering the greater context of idolatry, here is Paul’s point: If you are a Christian, you have aligned yourself with the One and only Jesus Christ. You are communing with Him, participating in the benefits of His death, sharing in Him, enjoying union with Him. There is no other god with whom you share your life. You are forever united with Christ. So if ever you try to give your heart to someone or something else, you are attempting to disentangle yourself from Jesus and trying to entangle yourself with another. That is idolatry.

Paul actually goes on to say that trying to entangle ourselves with some other god is to worship demons. And I’ll leave that to your homework if you care to flesh that out by reading the rest of the chapter this afternoon. For our purposes this morning, know that God is worthy of our exclusive worship of Him alone.

During the Lord’s Supper, we recall our union with Christ and we feast our souls upon the benefits of Christ’s death. We think about the surpassing joy of knowing Christ and the great treasure that He is to us. We eat the bread and drink the cup, enjoying spiritually nourishing truths such as the forgiveness of sin, the removal of guilt and shame, and the gift of eternal life.

In this sense the Lord’s Supper nourishes us. It strengthens us spiritually. It bolsters our faith. It deepens our loyalty and love for Jesus.

So we reflect on our union with Christ, that’s verse 16. Verse 17 is a call for us to reflect on our unity with one another.

Reflect on your Unity with One Another (17)

Just a brief word here, verse 17:

17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

Paul is mixing metaphors here. He was talking about Christ’s body and bread. Now he is talking about the church body, and how our church body is to be united together like one big loaf of bread.

So the Lord’s Supper is not only a time to reflect on our union with Christ, but it is also a time to reflect on our unity with one another. We often say in worship that because we have been reconciled to God, we enjoy peace with God, and therefore peace with one another. God grants the church the grace of unity.

We are united in our love for Christ, and therefore we are united in our love for one another. We are united.

17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body…

We are like a bunch of individual grains that make up one loaf of bread. We are united as one in our common work together for Christ, in our love for Christ, in our worship of Christ.

We “are one bread” and, Paul goes on to say at the end of verse 17, “we all partake of that one bread.” In Paul’s day, the early church observed the Supper by passing around one bread, one loaf of bread. In Jesus’ day, the last Supper would have been flat, unleavened bread, but the early church may well have begun using bread that rises. It’s not really so much the kind of bread used as it is to remember the symbolism of the bread.

And the point Paul is making here is that the church should always enjoy unity. United as one bread, enjoying the Supper together, loving one another, encouraging one another, praying for one another, fellowshipping with one another—reflecting on our unity with one another—united as one in our worship of Christ and our work for Christ.

This is why we included the church covenant in the worship bulletin last week, so that you would have some time to spiritually prepare for observing the Supper with your family, with the other individual grains among you that make up this one loaf that enjoys a meal together.

So, for example, we renew our covenant to one another by “watching over one another in brotherly love; remembering one another in prayer; aiding one another in sickness and distress…to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.”

Reading through the covenant reminds us of our unity as a church. I have so many occasions to brag on our church family, to celebrate our unity in Christ. I thank God that we work together for unity in the fellowship.

So let us unite together now in prayer—and let me invite you to bow your heads and close your eyes as we prepare for the Supper.
In the very next chapter the Bible says the Christian is to take time to “examine himself” before partaking of the bread and cup (1 Corinthians 11:28). So we want to take time right now to do this. Let me invite you to silently confess any known sin to the Lord, asking for His forgiveness. Silently ask the Lord to reveal your sins and confess them to Him. After a minute or so, I will close.”

“Our Father, we come knowing that we have failed you. We have strayed from the right path. We have not done all that you would have us do. Thank You for our union with Christ! Forgive us for our failures and thank you that you do! Thank you that you accept us not on the basis of our performance, but on the basis of Christ’s infinitely perfect righteousness. And we come before you in prayer, Lord, mindful of our Christian brothers and sisters seated around us. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

[Observance of Lord’s Supper]

Amen, let’s bow for prayer.

We’re moving into our final element of worship—invitation to respond; God’s invitation to us. His invitation to respond to His Word.

The invitation is not just for a few people each week. It’s more important than “walking an aisle,” it’s about living a life. The invitation is for every single one of us. Decisions are made every single week. Every one of us decides how to respond to God’s Word. How will you respond this morning?

We talked about our union with Christ. Do you enjoy that union? Are you saved?

You may wish to pray a prayer in your spirit, something like this:

“Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but, through you, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt, bearing my punishment and offering forgiveness. I turn from my sin and receive you as Savior.

We talked about idolatry this morning. Think about it:

What are ways Christians can affirm idols? What are some examples where we may unwittingly “commune” or share or fellowship with idols?

See, the passage this morning is not so much about what we do during the Lord’s Supper, but what we do after the Lord’s Supper, about how we live when we leave this sanctuary, about who we align ourselves with…

You can’t serve two masters. Aligning ourselves with the one is to dismiss the other. To turn to one is to turn away from the other. It’s to change allegiances. In sports, it’s to join the opposing team. Every time you and I compromise our allegiance to Christ, we cross over to the other side of the stadium and sit in the bleachers. We’re on the wrong side and we wonder why our team’s losing the spiritual battle.

Who has your heart? Do you love Jesus more than anyone or anything? Or have you compromised your faith, tempted to dabble in the idolatry of other gods, love of money, stuff, lust, alcohol, drugs, inappropriate looks, lust, flirtations, moral compromise, lying, pornography, popularity…

In a moment, I’m going to invite you to respond to the Word by singing to the Master. Tell Him you wish to obey Him, tell Him, “Ready and willing, Lord, here am I!”

1. Master, Thou callest, I gladly obey;
Only direct me, and I’ll find Thy way.
Teach me the mission appointed for me,
What is my labor, and where it shall be.
Master, Thou callest, and this I reply,
“Ready and willing,
Lord, here am I.”

2. Willing, my Savior, to take up the cross;
Willing to suffer reproaches and loss.
Willing to follow, if Thou will but lead;
Only support me with grace in my need.
Master, Thou callest, and this I reply,
“Ready and willing,
Lord, here am I.”

3. Living, or dying I still would be Thine;
Yet I am mortal while Thou art divine.
Pardon, whenever I turn from the right;
Pity, and bring me again to the light.
Master, Thou callest, and this I reply,
“Ready and willing,
Lord, here am I.”

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