Class: Matters of Worship: Part 2, The Lord’s Supper

Don Ruhl

4 years ago

https://grantspasschurchofchrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/04_17_2019_1co11.2-34_donruhl.mp3

Download the Notes:

04_17_2019_1co11.17-34_donruhl Download

Matters of Worship: Part 2

The Lord’s Supper

First Corinthians 11.17–34

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • April 17, In the year of our Lord Christ, 2019

11.17 | Their Coming Together

17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
1. According to what Paul said, why should we come together?
2. However, something was wrong and they actually accomplished the opposite.
11.18–19 | Division

18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
1. There appeared to be more than one problem.
2. What problem did Paul reveal here?
  1. There were divisions among them.
  2. However, I do not believe that here he referred to the divisions that he revealed at the beginning of the letter.
    1. The rest of this context will show what kind of division he meant here.
3. Why do you think he said that in part he believed it?
4. What good thing did the factions reveal?
  1. The factions revealed who were the ones that had approval.
  2. Evidently, some did not take part in the factions and divisions.
    1. Thus they stood out as having the right kind of spirit.
    2. They strove for unity in Christ.
11.20–22 | What the Lord’s Supper Is Not About

20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? 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 do not praise you.
1. In verse 20, does it sound as though we should eat the Lord’s Supper separately or should we eat it together?
2. Why does the Lord want us to eat it together?
3. How were the Corinthian Christians doing it?
4. It is called the Lord’s Supper, but is it a supper in the same sense that we enjoy everyday?
  1. What did Paul mean by his question about them having houses in which to eat and drink?
  2. The Lord’s Supper is not a potluck meal, nor is it a common meal at all, for we eat it not to fill our bellies, but to remember the Lord and to honor His sacrifice.
5. If each one came with his own meal, that meant that some had more to eat than others and that brought shame on those people.
  1. Is that what the Lord’s Supper is about?
  2. Paul could not praise them for what they were doing.
11.23–26 | What the Lord’s Supper Is About

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
1. Did Paul modify the Lord’s Supper?
  1. No, he delivered to the Corinthians what the Lord had delivered to him.
  2. To test that, all you have to do is read the Gospel Accounts and see what they recorded.
2. Why do you think Paul added that Jesus took bread on the night on same night as His betrayal?
3. Why did Paul explain in simple terms what the Lord’s Supper is?
  1. Sometimes repeating a truth causes people to see it.
  2. They only had to compare what they were doing with what Paul had taught them earlier.
4. What do you think of the simplicity of the Lord’s Supper?
  1. Does it have to have an ornate and long-winded ceremony for it to have meaning?
  2. Does it lack meaning by simply eating the bread and drinking the cup, and remembering what each represents?
  3. Hebrews 10.1–10 shows what it means that He gave His body and His blood.
5. How does eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper proclaim His death?
6. For how long should we keep eating and drinking it?
11.27–29 | Eating and Drinking in an Unworthy Manner

27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
1. By keeping the Supper simple, we keep the focus on the Lord and what He did and not on what gives us pleasure, such as eating a large meal.
2. If we so eat and drink in a way that takes away from the Lord and from His sacrifice, then we have done so in an unworthy manner.
  1. How does that make a person guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?
  2. It was the same type of thinking that led the Jews to crucify Christ.
    1. However, the Corinthians did these things unintentionally.
    2. That is why Paul taught them further.
3. What is it that we are to examine ourselves of?
  1. We examine ourselves when eating the Lord’s Supper to see what our motives are.
  2. We examine ourselves also by considering where our thoughts are. Are we thinking of the Lord or doing something for ourselves, such as the Corinthians eating a common meal and eating to excess.
11.30–32 | Judge Yourself

30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
1. How were some of them suffering judgment?
  1. They were weak, sick, and some had died.
  2. What does this tell you about how God the Father views the memory of His Son?
2. Is it better to judge ourselves before God judges us?
3. Why does God judge or chasten us?
VII.11.33–34 | Eat the Supper Together

33 Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.
1. We do not eat the Lord’s Supper, coming and going as we please, but the Lord wants His people to come together for His memorial.
  1. Think about other days in which we remember people.
  2. We usually get together with people.
2. He set the record straight that they were not to eat to fill their bellies at the Lord’s Supper, otherwise for what would they come together?

Share this: