COMMUNION IN THE MIDST OF
CONFUSION AND SPIRITUAL CORRUPTION
1 Cor. 10-11
1.
The Corinthian church was full of doctrinal confusion and
spiritual corruption.
For more than sixty years I have been hearing the saints pray God that He would
take us back to the apostolic church. My prayer this morning is that He may
never take us back to the Corinthian church. It was full of problems. In fact 1
Corinthians was written to correct the problems in that church.
2.
The first four chapters were devoted to the problem of divisions in the
church. Chapter five deals with a case of incest, so low it was not so much as
mentioned among people of the world. The first half of chapter six deals with
litigation, Christian people dragging their brethren before the heathen
courts. The last half is directed against sexual sin. Chapter seven deals with
problems of divorce and remarriage. Chapters 8,9 and 10 are concerned with the
misuse and abuse of Christian liberty. The first half of chapter 11 is an attempt
to correct the insubordination of women in public assembly. The last half of
the chapter is a denunciation of desecration of the Lord's Table. Chapters
12-14 are reproof of the misuse of spiritual gifts and instruction concerning
their purpose and practice.
3.
The basic problem was doctrinal defection. This church denied the
resurrection of the dead. So the entire 15th chapter is devoted to the
declaration of this fundamental truth and its implication in Christian life.
4.
Within this context, the Apostle deals with the communion service. If
there had not been flagrant misunderstanding and abuse of this service, we
probably would not have had such insight into the blessed meaning of this
service, as set forth in chapters 10 and 11. To provide for you a clear perspective
of this teaching, I want to call four leading lines of thought to your
attention.
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