Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday,
November 3, 2019
1CO 13:13 “But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
The Corinthians had everything going for them, yet as a church, they were implacable and impossible to satisfy, no matter what the Lord was willing to do for them.
Corinthian church — involved with sins, evil, sexual immorality, religion, gossip, judging, divisions, stealing, division, Christians suing each other in court, chaos during the worship assembly, and the misuse of spiritual gifts.
- We are to “come” or “gather” together with people not machines or “not a make believe world” with shades drawn — and lights dimmed, — Elijah syndrome; Heb 10:25-26.
Trying to run away from our problems is the coward’s way out.
Trying to deny that we have problems.
Trying to blame others for your own mistakes.
Heb 10:25 we are NOT to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
- Our first point basically deals with the “coming” or “gathering” together with other believers; Heb 10:25-26.
- We come together “as” a church not “in” the church.
Your body is the sacred building or the temple of the Lord.
GEN 2:24 “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
Becoming one flesh = the sexual relationship that takes place between the man and the woman when both parties are connected together by the apparatus or the equipment that our Lord provided.
You cannot have divisions or factions without heresies or false doctrines being taught as they were being taught in the Corinthian church.
One thing that should characterize the Lord’s table is unity among believers.
Paul is actually saying in this verse that it is impossible to eat the Lord’s supper when there are divisions among you.
”given thanks” is the verb eucharisteo which is where we get the phrase the eucharist, or “giving thanks for grace.”
Our Lord broke the bread Himself, not the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Romans, the gentiles, and definitely not the Jews, our Lord is the only one who laid down His life Himself; Joh 10:17-18.
Our Lord is the one who gave His life, He chose Himself to be broken for our sins.
“this is My body,” = the pres-act-ind of the verb eimi which is the verb of absolute status quo, and therefore it should be translated…..this keeps on being my body.
This is very important for you to understand because these were His words to the disciples just before His death.
He takes the bread and says, “this keeps on being My body”……and what should that do for the disciples?
He is going to die physically but He will rise from the dead and the physical body that they saw mutilated and destroyed will keep on being His body even after His death.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is God, was God, and will always be God but through resurrection, He will keep on being humanity forever.
The verb translated “keep on doing this” is a pres-act imp of the verb poieo which means to do, perform, execute.
The present tense is what is known as linear aktionsart (kind of action) =speaks of certain points of time when the Lord’s supper is to be celebrated.
We are to habitually have certain points of time that are set aside to bring to remembrance the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prin – It is a sin not to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
“in remembrance of Me,” because the “Communion Table or the Lord’s Supper” has a purpose.
The purpose of the bread is to bring to your memory the uniqueness of the person of Christ.
“Why do we need a commandment to bring to remembrance the unique person of Christ?”
You sat down and began to think of how unique TLJC is and then you began to focus on such doctrines as the Hypostatic Union.
He is unique.
There is no one like him in the universe.
There never will be.
The celebration of the Lord’s supper is for you to focus your attention on the unique one of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The bread refers to the Person of Christ.
The cup refers to the Work of Christ.
The person of Christ had to remain impeccable first, in order for the work of Christ to propitiate or satisfy God the Father.
Mat 20:22 “are you able to drink from the cup that I am about to drink”?
Mat 26:39 He said, My Father if it is possible, let this cup pass from me;
Eating and drinking are used to illustrate the non-meritorious system of perception = Faith.
Prin – The communion table is designed so that our thinking will orient to grace.
The communion table is a time to remind ourselves that Christ did all the work and we did not earn or deserve a thing.
Another purpose of communion is to announce and proclaim our Lord’s deaths.|
We are to do this “until He comes” which is an aorist tense and it points to the point of time called the Rapture of the Church.
Because the Lord’s table or the eucharist is for the church, the body of Christ, only.
The next purpose of the communion table is restoration to fellowship; 1Co 11:27.
What does it mean to eat and drink in an unworthy manner?
It means to be out of fellowship or not being filled with the Spirit during the communion celebration.
- The first purpose of the Lord’s Table is unity among believers.
- The purpose of the bread which is to bring to your memory the uniqueness of the “person” of Christ.
- The purpose of the cup which refers to the uniqueness of the “Work” of Christ.
- The communion table is designed so that our thinking will orient to grace.
- The fifth purpose for celebrating the Lord’s table is to announce and proclaim His death.
- The sixth purpose for celebrating the Lord’s table that the Lord’s table or the eucharist is for the church, the body of Christ, only!
- The seventh purpose for celebrating the Lord’s table is restoration to fellowship.
- The eighth purpose for celebrating the Lord’s table is to fellowship with one another because we are to know no man or woman after the flesh; 2Co 5:16.