CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

If we desire to know the meaning of the Lord's Table there are some things that need to be recognized -

1.   That a spiritual condition of carnality, immaturity and humanism will pervert the truth of this sacred service;

2.   That disregard for the spiritual welfare of fellow believers is a perversion of Christian liberty and the communion.

3.   That delinquency at this point can mean that a professing believer does not understand the service; he may not even be saved.

4.   That an unworthy attitude of self-sufficiency in partici­pating of the communion can mean that he is repudiating the person and work of Christ.

THE SEARCHING DIAGNOSIS OF CORINTHIAN PERSONAL ATTITUDE

THE SEARCHING DIAGNOSIS OF CORINTHIAN PERSONAL ATTITUDE

1 Cor. 11:17-34

 

lb. The apostle is now ready to strike at the very heart of the problem in Corinth. The first half of chapter eleven deals with insubordination of women in the public service. You can be sure that this deals specifically with attitude. But the last half of the chapter is concerned with desecra­tion of the Lord's Table. It is here that the apostle dia­gnosis the problem in Corinth. He prefaces the diagnosis with a severe denunciation of their conduct at the Lord's Table (17-22), and then makes a clear declaration of what the Lord had delivered to him (23-26). He is now ready to zero in on the very heart of the problem.

2b. Any believer partaking of the Bread and cup unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Don't make the mistake of reading the word "unworthily" as though it were the adjective "Unworthy". The word unworthy describes the ac­tual condition of the believer. The word unworthily describ­es the manner or attitude of the believer. The problem in Corinth was that these believers were regarding themselves as worthy, and they were performing the service in an unworthy manner. Their attitude was that they were good, and therefore they did not hesitate to deport themselves at the service in that sort of manner, to be gluttonous, drunken, and despising of their brethren. This was a disgusting, nauseating display. "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep". This was God's way of chastening them for their mis­conduct, so that they might not be condemned with the world.

3b. Take a clear look at what this means. It means that they were engaging in the communion service and treating it as so many meaningless, religious gyrations. The performance of these symbols pointed to nothing. They were just so many physical movements of the body and the in gestation of bread and juice. That is pure paganism. That carries the sense that physical manipulation commends you God. That means that sal­vation is by works, not by the grace of the Lord. Worse yet, it carries the sense that there is inherent goodness in the person. Even worse than that, it carries the sense that Christ did not need to die for the sins of men. This means that there is a repudiation of all that the communion service is intended to mean.

4b. The reason believers participate, in the communion service is because they are not good. They are unworthy. And recognizing this fact they can partake of the bread and cup in worthy manner. As they partake of the bread and cup they can realize that those symbols point to what Christ suffered in order to save them. As often as they participate in this service till the Lord comes it will be a memorial of the death of Christ, an authoritative demonstration that they are sinners who were saved by grace. God took upon Himself human flesh that He might experience the breaking of His body and shed infinite blood to rescue men from infinite loss.

5b. This will explain why the Lord's supper and the bread and cup are preceded by the feetwashing service. In that foot washing service the believer has opportunity to examine himself in his daily walk. He has been walking through a sinful world. He has been bound to contract defilement and therefore the need for cleansing. Cleansing from the penalty of sin comes from the work of Christ at the cross. The be­liever needs that continuous flow of efficacy from the cross to cover his sin. Self-examination will not only lead him to put that sin under the blood, but also to separate him from a continuation in that sin. Moreover, the right attitude at the Lord's Table will display itself in respect for one another and concern for the welfare of all who assemble at the Lord's Table, which is the meaning of the Lord's Supper.

THE SPECIFIC DELINQUENCY OF CORINTHIANS BELIEVERS

THE SPECIFIC DELINQUENCY OF CORINTHIANS BELIEVERS

1 Cor. 10:16-17

lb. Now the apostle moves one step closer to the real problem in the Corinthian church. The proper use of Christian liberty demonstrates a person's spirituality. It also has a definite relationship to service. But beyond that, it bears on the salvation of a believer.

2b. The Israelites all enjoyed the privileges of redem­ption out of Egypt and the amazing provision of the Lord in the wilderness (10:1-4). But with many the Lord was not pleased, and they were overthrown in the wilderness (10:5). Paul writes these things to the Corinthians to avoid the pitfalls of the Israelites (10:6-10). They lusted after evil things, they fell into idolatry along with the pagans in the wilderness, they engaged pagan practices of heathen, even to the point of sexual sin dedicated to idols, they tempted Christ, they grumbled against the Lord; so the Lord allowed 23000 to die in one day, some were destroyed by serpents, and some were destroyed by Satan. All these were types for instruction to Christians. They presumed on their freedom and blessing from the Lord and suffered defeat.

3b. Therefore the Christian should not presume on his new liberty that there is no possibility for him to fall. Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (vs. 12) Testing is inevitable in a world full of sin. But God will make a way for the believer to escape in victory. But this means that the believer should flee from idolatry, not flirt with it. If they are wise they should understand that eat­ing meat offered to idols is getting too close to the pagan practices from which they were saved. And engaging in such practices are bound to bring one into the very atmosphere that will condition their own thinking and eventual destiny. He is not saying that an idol is anything, or that which is offered to idols is anything. But he is saying that Gentiles who perform these things are worshipping that which the idol represents, namely, demons. And demons are very real. They belong to that host of rebellious spirits who took their stand with Satan and are engaged in warfare against God.

4b. It is clear then, that Christians should not share in common with demons. A believer cannot come to the table of the Lord and engage in common with the Lord, and at the same time be joining in common with demons. That is a monstrosity, and an abomination to the Lord. This will provoke the jealousy of the Lord and arouse His wrath. While all things may be lawful to the believer, it does not follow that all thinks are proper, nor that they build one up spiritually (vs. 23). All things may be lawful to the believer, but he should not pur­sue the principle of satisfying himself. He should seek the welfare of his fellow believers. The conscience of that weak believer should be the guiding principle in his life. There­fore the ruling principle for conduct should be the glory of God. This means that he will not do anything that will hurt Jew, Gentiles, or members of the Church of God.

5b. The communion service should teach every believer this simple truth. Taking the cup and the bread of communion is not only sharing the body and blood of Christ, but it is also sharing in common with every believer in the Church, for all are united in Christ. If a believer repudiates this truth he is not only abusing the use of Christian liberty, he is repudiating his relationship to Christ. This could mean that he is demonstrating that he has no vital relationship to Christ and is therefore not in any sense a truly saved per­son. "For we being many are one-bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread" (vs. 17). The communion ser­vice should remind us that we are partaking of symbols that point to our sharing with Christ, but also to our sharing with every other believer in Christ. Otherwise our own sal­vation may be at stake as we discharge our responsibility in Christian liberty.

THE SIGNIFICANT DISREGARD FOR FELLOW CHURCH MEMBERS

THE SIGNIFICANT DISREGARD FOR FELLOW CHURCH MEMBERS

 

Chs. 8-10

 

 

 

lb. These chapters deal with the misuse and abuse of Christian liberty. It is wonderful how the Christian faith liberated the believer from all the do's and don'ts of relig­ion, whether pagan or Jewish. United to Christ we are made free from all these things because we are saved by grace. But this freedom can be misused so that it affects our spirituality, our service, and our salvation. In that order Paul deals with this matter.

2b. In ch. 8 he seeks to make it clear that spirit­uality is set forth by our concern for the weak brother. There are two kinds of Christians in the church - the strong and the weak. The strong are those who have knowledge and understanding of the word of God. The weak are those who do not have clear understanding of these things. They are weak morally.

In this respect they are meticulous, but they lack a clear understanding of how to conduct themselves. Eating meat that was offered to idols was the occasion for the misuse of Christian liberty.

The strong ate the meat as meat, for an idol was nothing and did not change the meat. But the weak brother could not divest himself of the idea that an idol was something, and eating the meat took on religious meaning. For the strong to eat the meat, and thus embolden the weak brother to eat as to an idol, and thus to push him back into paganism was sin. It could lead to repudiation of Christ and loss of salvation. Therefore a strong Christian ought to determine even though he had the right to eat the meat, he would not do so for the sake of the weak Christian (1 Cor. 8:13).

3b. Chapter 9 deals with Christian liberty and the service of the believer. Though one may have authority to represent Christ and preach His word, he can lose that place of privilege and authority by misusing Christian liberty. He can eat meat offered to idols without hurt to himself, for an idol is nothing? But in the eyes of a weak brother he has retreated from Christianity to paganism, and from this point on he will have no place of authority in the proclamation of Christ with this brother. He will be laid on the shelf and ushered out of service. To Paul this filled him with horror.

His place of service was more important to him than anything else. Therefore he kept under his body lest he should be a castaway, laid on the shelf. (1 Cor. 9:27).

4b. Chapter 10 zeros in on the very salvation of the strong believer. Playing with that which is associated with idols and demons can be the entering wedge for spiritual deterioration. And spiritual deterioration can lead to re­pudiation of Christ. The Israelites were a redeemed people. But in the wilderness they consorted with the pagans in their false and licentious worship and they fell. One motive should characterize the life of the true believer, and that is to do everything to the glory of God. Idolatry was demon worship, and therefore believers ought to flee idolatry, not flirt with it. This meant that eating meat offered to idols ought to be shunned, even for the sake of self. But in so doing one would not give offense to Jew, Gentile, nor the Church of God (1 Cor. 10:20-22, 31-32, ch. 14).

Within this context there was an amazing delinquency on the part of the Corinthian church. It centered in the meaning and practice of the Communion service.

THE SPIRITUAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CONDITION OF THE CORINTH CHURCH

THE SPIRITUAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CONDITION OF THIS CHURCH

1 Cor. 3:1-3

 

 

This church was characterized by carnality, immaturity, and humanism.

lb. This church was not spiritual. It was carnal. That is, it was living after the flesh that is, giving free reign to the sinful appetites. This very fact made it impossible for the apostle to write to them of the higher and nobler things of the Spirit. Though they were claiming to be spirit­ual, they were far from that. Spirituality is not to be mea­sured by how much of the Bible one knows, but how much of the Bible to which one is subject.

2b. This church was immature. They conducted themselves like babes. This word does not mean an infant. The word means immature, that is, between the ages of 3 and seventeen. At this age they were unable to handle firm substance in food. So a soft food such as milk was fed to them which required no use of mandibles to masticate for the purpose of in­gestion. At this level of development the Apostle could not write to them about those truths of the spirit that require careful and diligent study if they are to be put into prac­tice in conduct. He had to write to them such things that required no effort on their part to understand.

3b. This church was marked by humanism. They were walking as men. They were living on the level of men in general who were solely interested in matters of the purely intellectual and physical. Just like children, who are characterized by envy, strife, and divisions, they were conducting themselves within the church. They did not lift their eyes above the human and natural level to the divine and spiritual level. They had no interest in God and the application of spiritual principles in their lives. Within a context like this the desecrations of the Lord's Table took place.

COMMUNION IN THE MIDST OF CONFUSION AND SPIRITUAL CORRUPTION

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.

THE NATURE OF THE COMMUNION SERVICE

THE NATURE OF THE COMMUNION SERVICE

lb. It is for the purpose of setting forth Christ as the great servant in salvation. Matt. 20:28

He is here set forth as the great "Deacon" ‑

1.   Purpose - ministering to the necessities of life.

2.   Practice - vigorous in the performance of duties.

3.   Passion - advancing the cause of another at the sacrifice of self.

In order to do all this he took the form of a servant (Phil 2:7) and declared I am among you as one that serveth (Luke 22:27). In the three-fold communion service this abstract truth is made very real.

2b. The communion service sets forth Christ's threefold ministry by three appropriate symbols.

-The past ministry of Christ (Matt. 20:28); cf. 1 Cor. 11:26

The bread and the cup. 1 Cor. 11:23-25

-The present ministry of Christ. Eph. 5:26 The feetwashing service. John 13

-The future ministry of Christ. (Luke 12:37)
The Love feast - 1 Cor. 11:17 ff.

3b. The believer is fully reminded that salvation is wholly of the Lord.

PAST - It is the Lord who lays the foundation for salvation.
The Eucharist reminds us of this.

PRESENT - It is the Lord who cleanses the believer from defilement. The feetwashing reminds us of this.

FUTURE - It is the Lord who comes for and serves the saint in the future. The Love feast reminds us of this.