Proclaiming the Lord's Death Through the Lord's Supper

Sermon Text

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 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. 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.

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

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, [c]“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.

Examine Yourself

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. 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.

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.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

• Bread and the cup do not by themselves make a faithful celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Corinth’s factions, humiliation of the poor, selfish eating, and drunkenness contradicted what the sacrament proclaims.
• The Supper displays the church’s unity in Christ, so social status, family history, cultural differences, cliques, and unresolved hostility must not divide Christ’s body.
• Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper and connected it to his saving work; the church receives and repeats what the Lord commanded rather than inventing its own meaning.
• The Supper remembers Christ’s once-for-all death, nourishes believers through present spiritual communion with the risen Christ, and proclaims his death until he returns.
• Reformed teaching holds together Christ’s real spiritual presence and the Supper’s memorial character: believers feed on Christ by faith through the Holy Spirit, not physically or magically.
• Self-examination is not an attempt to make ourselves sinless or worthy. Worthy reception means coming repentantly, discerning Christ and his body, and relying on the worthy and sufficient Savior.
• The Lord disciplines his people for careless participation, yet welcomes professing believers who know their need of grace to receive assurance and nourishment at Christ’s table.

• When you come to the Lord’s Table, are you merely following a familiar ritual, or consciously looking to Christ and his saving work?
• Do social status, family history, cultural background, preferences, or long-standing cliques affect whom you welcome and value in the church?
• Is there someone with whom you are refusing to pursue truthful and godly reconciliation before coming to the Table?
• How does the Supper proclaim the unity of believers without requiring agreement on every secondary question?
• What does it mean to remember Christ’s death while also feeding spiritually on the living, reigning Christ?
• How do the past, present, and future dimensions of the Supper deepen your hope?
• Does self-examination lead you to trust the sufficiency of Christ, or to search anxiously for a worthiness of your own?
• Can you sincerely confess that you need a Savior and that Jesus is your only hope in life and death?
• What sin should you confess, and what grace do you need to receive, as you prepare for the Supper?
• How could participating in one bread and one cup strengthen your practical care for poorer, newer, or easily overlooked members of the congregation?

Lord’s Supper

The sacrament Jesus instituted with bread and the cup to remember and proclaim his death, nourish believers spiritually, and strengthen their communion with him and one another.

Communion

Shared participation and fellowship with Christ and, in him, with the members of his one body.

Sacrament

A holy sign and seal appointed by God to represent Christ and his benefits and to confirm believers in covenant grace.

Words of institution

Jesus’ commands and explanation at the first Supper, received and delivered by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26.

New covenant

God’s gracious saving relationship established through the blood of Jesus, which the cup visibly signifies.

Real spiritual presence

The Reformed teaching that the risen Christ truly gives himself and his benefits to believers by the Holy Spirit as they receive the Supper in faith, without his body becoming physically present in the elements.

Self-examination

Prayerfully considering one’s repentance, faith in Christ, understanding of the sacrament, love for fellow believers, and desire for obedient living before receiving the Supper.

Unworthy manner

Receiving the Supper without faith, repentance, discernment, love, or regard for Christ and his body; it does not mean that faithful communicants are personally sinless.

Factions

Cliques or divisive groups that elevate some members over others and tear at the unity Christ gives his church.

Profession of faith

A public confession that Jesus Christ is one’s Lord and Savior and that one’s only hope rests in him.