Communion Sermon. What is the meaning of Communion? ! Corinthians 11:17-34

1. This is the Body
This is the Blood
1 Corinthians 11:17–34

2. 1 Corinthians 11:17–34
17 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you,
because you come together not for the better but for
the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come
together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among
you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be
factions among you, so that those who are approved
may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when
you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21
for in your eating each one takes his own supper first;

3. and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do
you not have houses in which to eat and drink? 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 will not praise you. 23 For I received from
the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the
Lord Jesus in the night in which 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.” 25 In the same way He took the
cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new
covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it,

4. in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this
bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or
drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall
be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a
man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat
of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats
and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he
does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many
among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31
But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be
judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined

5. by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along
with the world. 33 So then, my brethren, when you
come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone
is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not
come together for judgment. The remaining matters I
will arrange when I come.

7. This is the Body
A. The perversion (11:17–22)
1. They separate
2. They don’t share
B. The pattern (11:23–25)
1. What the Savior did (11:23, 25a)
a. As he held up the bread (11:23).
b. As he held up the cup (11:25a).

8. This is the Body
C. The purpose (11:26, 28)
1. Looking backward to the cross
2. Looking forward look to the return
3. Looking inward to the conscience
D. The penalty (11:27, 29–30)
1. To eat and drink God’s judgment
2. To be divinely judged

9. This is the Body
E. The profit (11:31–34)
1. Used for judging ourselves
2. Used for being in unity

10. The Perversion
1 Corinthians 11:17–22

11. Separate
…because you come together not
for the better but for the worse.
Divisions-opposing groups (schisms)
Factions-separate groups (to win)

12. No sharing
It’s not the Lord’s Supper
Eats own supper
Some are hungry
Some get drunk

13. Paul’s Solution
What! Do you not have houses in
which to eat and drink? 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
will not praise you.
Bad form
Bad heart
Eat at home

14. Application
What is supposed to bring unity can lead to division
Style and preference
Bringing old practices into the new life
Is this a biblical principle or a personal preference?
Am I going to cause division?

15. Video

16. The Pattern
1 Corinthians 11:23–25

17. What is Communion?
Communion-the act of sharing, or holding in common;
participation.
Koinonia-partnership, participation or social
intercourse, fellowship, communion, communication,
distribution, contribution or to communicate.
Modeled on Passover

18. What is Passover?
The Passover-supreme theological significance for the
Israelites, since it marked one of the most momentous
acts of divine intervention in their history, the
beginning of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt
when, in the final plague, God destroyed the firstborn
of the Egyptians but spared those Israelites whose
homes had blood smeared on the doorposts.

19. What about children?
Exodus 12:25–27…And when you come to the land that
the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall
keep this service. And when your children say to you,
‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is
the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over
the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he
struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the
people bowed their heads and worshiped.

20. The Bread
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered
to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was
betrayed took bread; 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 Christian creed older than the New Testament

21. It’s significance
The body of Jesus
The bread which came down from heaven
The Host-sacrificial victim
Freely given

22. Celebration of prophecy
Isaiah 53:4–6…Surely he has borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by
God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon
him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and
with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own
way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

23. The Cup
In the same way He took the cup also after supper,
saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do
this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

24. Both cup and
wine
The cup
Symbol of God’s wrath
Symbol of death
Symbol of fellowship
Wine
Symbol of blood

25. Thomas W. Davis
…the cup has come to represent the central events of Christianity, the
death and resurrection of Christ. In the Garden of Gethsemane,
Christ returns to the fundamental meaning of the cup as a
representative of fate. In his prayer, the cup symbolizes the pain,
degradation, and death that will be required of him. He prays that the
cup might pass undrunk, but it is Jesus' fate to drain it to its dregs.
Christ becomes all the nations of the world, taking on their fate, and
drains the cup of wrath. By drinking of the cup God placed before
him, Christ transforms the cup of wrath into the cup of life. This
transformation is foreshadowed at the last supper, where the cup of
the new covenant, like the cup of wrath, is for all to partake of.

26. Cleansing of sin
Indeed, under the law
almost everything is
purified with blood,
and without the
shedding of blood
there is no
forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 9:22

27. The Purpose
1 Corinthians 11:26, 28

28. Back to the Cross
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
“…in remembrance of Me”
Forward to the Return

29. Look Inward
But a man must
examine himself,
and in so doing
he is to eat of
the bread and
drink of the cup.

30. The Penalty
1 Corinthians 11:27, 29–30

31. Judgement
Therefore whoever eats
the bread or drinks the
cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner, shall
be guilty of the body
and the blood of the
Lord.
Guilty of Christ’s death
Guilty as the crowd
before Pilate

32. Punishment
For he who eats and drinks, eats
and drinks judgment to himself if
he does not judge the body
rightly. For this reason many
among you are weak and sick,
and a number sleep.

33. Hebrews 10:29…How much worse punishment, do you
think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled
underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood
of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has
outraged the Spirit of grace?

34. The profit
1 Corinthians 11:31–34

35. Judge
Ourselves
But if we judged ourselves
rightly, we would not be
judged. But when we are
judged, we are disciplined
by the Lord so that we will
not be condemned along
with the world.

36. Look at
Yourself
2 Corinthians 13:5…Examine
yourselves, to see whether you
are in the faith. Test yourselves.
Or do you not realize this about
yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in
you?—unless indeed you fail to
meet the test!

37. Begin in Unity
So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat,
wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at
home, so that you will not come together for judgment.