COMMUNION, REMEMBERING THE CROSS
1 Corinthians
11:23-12:1
LOOKING BACK
V:23-24. " For I received from the Lord what I also
passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
"This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
A. Paul not being a disciple at the time of Jesus death, received
this information after
he became a
disciple.
1. According to
his statement in Galatians 1:2, he did
not receive it from the apostles
but directly
from the mouth of Jesus after his conversion..
B. Jesus told His disciples to remember His death.
1. Remember that
He was unjustly accused.
2. Remember that He
was lied on.
3. Remember that He
was betrayed.
4. Remember that He
was abandoned.
5. Remember that His
death was voluntary.
6. Remember that His
death was a substitute for our sins.
7. Remember that He
was found innocence by the Romans but the
leaders of Jerusalem
and chief priests demanded his
crucifixion
because of envy.
8. Remember that His
death was planned by the Father at the hands of
His accusers.
9. Remember that His
death fulfilled all the requirements of the law.
10. Remember that His
death put end to the judgment of the Law.
11. Remember that
His death was because of the love of
His Father
for the world.
LOOKING FORWARD
25. " In the same way, after supper he took the cup,
saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you
drink it, in remembrance of me."
A. The wine represents His resurrection.
1. The wine
represents redemption from sin
2. The wine
represents a new life in Christ.
3. The wine
represent a new covenant in His blood.
4. The wine
represents the Grace of God.
5. The wine
represents Christ shed blood on the cross
6. The wine
represents His blood, the atonement for the
sins of the
world, believers and none believers.
CONSIDERING THE PRESENT, THE DUTY OF BELIEVERS
26 "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. "
A, It is the responsibility of the believer to participate
in the celebration of the
the death of
Jesus.
1. The
participation should be one of anticipating the immediate return of the Lord.
2. Our
anticipation should be heighten to the point of being ready to enter into
heaven with
Him.
B. The Church is the role model of faith to the world
of the anticipated return
of Christ.
1. Our
participation should be with a willing heart filled with gladness.
2. It is the
responsibility of believers to continually proclaim the
return of Christ for the sake of non believers.
3. We need to
continually remind ourselves that our days on earth
have been
numbered by the Lord.
4. We need to
continue to remind ourselves not to become attached to
what we have
on earth.
LOOK WITHIN
PREPARATION OF THE MIND FOR THE CELEBRATION
V:27-28. " Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks
the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the
body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the
bread and drinks of the cup. "
A. We need to prepare our hearts before we participate in
the Lord's Supper.
1. Examine
ourselves to see if we have knowingly or unknowingly sinned against
another
brother or sister.
2. Have we with
pride considered ourselves more important than others?
3. Have we in our
thoughts and actions demeaned another person?
4. If so we have
sinned against another person and therefore sinned against the
body of
Christ.
5. If we find any
unconfessed sins we are not worthy to take the Lord's Supper.
a. Therefore
confess your sins before taking the Lord's Supper.
b. Enter into
the communion with a clean heart.
B. Do not become an expert at examining the sins of others.
1. Become an
expert of examining your own sins.
2. Since all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, we all have
something to
confess.
3. When we
consider how we have been hurt, we may be able to determine
how we have
hurt others in the same manner.
4. Confessing our
own sins will be the measure we can use to forgive others.
5. When we figure
out that we are imperfect, we will know to confess our sins
before we take
the Lord's Supper.
DIVINE JUDGMENT
V:29. " For anyone who eats and drinks without
recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. "
A. The Communion as the Lord's Supper has been named, is not
a social
gathering, but
an occasion to reverence the Lord.
1. The Communion is
an occasion to remember how good God is to us.
2. The Communion is
an occasion to remember the Lord's love
for us.
B. When we participate in the Communion service as a ritual
with a
heart
unconvicted of our sins we bring judgment
upon ourselves.
1. In order to put
ourselves in the right frame of mind we need to
view the
horror of Jesus dying on the cross followed by His
glorious
resurrection.
2. Second we need
to view Jesus seated at the right hand of the
Father in the
presence making intercessions for us.
CONSEQUENSES
OF IMPROPER CELEBRATION
V:30-31. That is why
many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under
judgment.
A. The beginning of our new life with Christ is accepting
His death and
resurrection as a divine gift from Him.
1. The Spirit of
the living God indwells us.
2. The Spirit must continually
be stirred up with in us to be
mindful of the
Lord's gift.
B. The weakness of
the spiritual mind began when we take the
work of the Lord
on the cross for granted.
1. A mind not focused on the Lord becomes sick
with worldly concerns.
2. Like the prodigal
son , we are not in our right mind when we
walk away from
the Fathers blessings.
C. Since we are talking about believers, the phrase fallen
asleep would
appear to mean
the sense of the Lord's presence had become dull.
1. All of our
spiritual blessing are activated by constant participation
in serving the
Lord.
2. Being constantly
reminded of the Lord's death and resurrection
sharpens our
sense of fellowship and communion with the Lord.
DIVINE WORK WITHIN
V:32. "When we are judged by the Lord, we are being
disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world."
A. God shows His love for us by His judgment and His loving
discipline.
1. His judgment of
us is not unto death but unto a closer relationship with Him.
2. While He judges
our sins He does not execute justice.
3. Justice would
mean eternal death.
B. God judges us and disciplines us according to His will.
1. His discipline
is designed to get our attention and to correct us.
2. His discipline
is designed to effect change in our attitude and
actions to be
more like Jesus.
CORRECT CHANGE IN FELLOWSHIP
V:33-34. " So then, my brothers, when you come together
to eat, wait for each other.
34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when
you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give
further directions. "
A. It is our attitude of love toward one another that God is
concerned about.
1. Each of us can
either positively or negatively affect the spiritual growth
of others in
Christ.
2. The Communion
should be viewed as an outward sign of our devotion to Christ
and our
gratefulness to His work on the cross for our eternal salvation.
B. We have to have a love for Christ before we can have
correct love for
brothers and
sisters in Christ.
1. We show our love
for Christ by following His commands and ordinances.
2. We show our love
for our brothers and sisters in Christ by respecting our
fellowship
together.
3. We should make
it our intentions to treat every brother and sister as equal
partners with
Christ.
4. We should make
it our intention to fellowship as equals in Christ.
THANK GOD FOR REMINDING US
OF THE WORK ON THE CROSS
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
For more lessons follow me on facebook and visit my
blogs, "revmmitchell.com and
goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com
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