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Preached:LR
Examine Yourself 
(Christianity 101: Lesson 11)
Introduction
A.In Acts 20, we find a basic statement that contains important truth. Acts 20:7begins with these words: “On the first day of the week, when we weregathered together to break bread.” The rest of the context follows with thesermon of Paul and the death of a young man who was raised from the dead.B.However, the verse we read gives us a couple of important facts about theworship conducted by the early church.1.First, we note the time of it. Paul wrote that they met on the first day of the week. Under the OT, the day of worship had been the Sabbath, orwhat we know as Saturday, based upon the creation week and thecommand given by God. However, after Jesus arose from the dead on thefirst day of the week, that was established as the day of worship. Theearly church met then, and we continue to meet on the first day of theweek, or what we know as Sunday.2.But we also notice something of their focus. They met together “to breakbread.” While that phrase is used of regular, common meals from time-to-time throughout the pages of the New Testament, it is also used, as it ishere, of a very special time for Christians. Jesus had broken bread withHis apostles on the night of His betrayal as He commanded them tocontinue the feast in the kingdom. So, when the early church met, theymet to break bread. They met to partake of the Lord’s Supper. It is nottrue that this was the only reason for which they came together. Thereare five avenues of worship commanded by the Lord. We have studiedfour in our Christianity 101 lessons: singing, praying, giving, andpreaching (or Bible study). Now we come to the fifth. We have studiedthe Lord’s Supper before, but it is a part of our worship we need to thinkabout often. The early Christians knew the importance of these wonderfulmoments, and we need to do better about making sure we remember theimportance of the time we spend in communion with our Lord through theavenue of the Lord’s Supper.C.Christ Himself had instituted the Lord’s Supper on the night of His betrayal atthe hands of Judas Iscariot. He met with the apostles in the upper room andtaught them many things. For you own study, it’s interesting to note that John gives us a longer picture of the actual words spoken by Jesus on thatnight, and they cover about 20% of the entire book that bears his name.D.As they ate the Passover feast, as outlined in Exodus __, Jesus took one of theitems of food from that feast and then took the drink used and gave bothspecial significance to His followers.
 
E.Today, when Christians meet together to break the bread, we often go back toPaul’s writing in First Corinthians 11 to discuss the Lord’s Supper and centerour thoughts on that feast. This morning, I want us to take that passage andbreak it into parts to think about the basics of the wonderful feast Christ hasgiven us, through which we remember Him.
Body
I.
Notice first, the situation in Corinth.
A.We often skip to verse 23 to read about the Lord’s Supper and webegin with the word “for.” That word is a word of conclusion, or of following a line of reasoning. So, what is the line of reasoning that Paulis continuing?B.Verses 17-22 give us a glimpse into one of the problems the church atCorinth was experiencing. You’ll recall, just for the sake of information,that there were many problems in this congregation. As you mightexpect, then, there was a problem with unity. Notice verses 17-22:But in the following instructions I do not commend you, becausewhen you come together it is not for the better but for theworse. For, in the first place, when you come together as achurch, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believeit in part, for there must be factions among you in order thatthose who are genuine among you may be recognized. Whenyou come together, it is not the Lord’s supperthat you eat. Forin eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goeshungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses toeat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God andhumiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you?Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.C.Notice just two things from these verses.1.First, we notice that there was a problem with understanding thepurpose of the Lord’s Supper.a.It seems as though the Corinthians were eating the Lord’sSupper, but were adding more to it, and turning it into a banquetwherein some people were even getting drunk!b.They had forgotten the simple plan for the Lord’s Supper andwere using this as an occasion to have some sort of feast in themiddle of their worship.c.By the way, some use this passage to say that congregationsshould not have fellowship halls or meals of any kind in abuilding owned by the church. That’s not what this passage isdiscussing! It is discussing turning our worship through theeating of the Lord’s Supper into nothing more than anothermeal.
 
2.Second, we notice that this lack of understanding led to a lack of unity.a.There were people going ahead in the eating. Paul went so faras to expressly say that there were factions within thecongregation.b.What does this have to do with the Lord’s Supper?c.By reminding the Corinthians of these problems, Paul is pointingout to them what the solution should be: the simple worship of God, included in the eating of the Lord’s Supper.d.When we come together and partake of the emblems of communion, it should be one of the most unifying moments of our entire week.e.One song captures this picture beautifully with these lyrics:We gather here in Jesus name;His love is burning in our hearts like living flame,For thro’ the loving Son the Father makes us one:Come, take the bread; come, drink the cup; come sharethe Lord.D.Do you want the church to be unified? Do you want to avoid factionsand divisions? Partake in the simple supper of communion and realizethat we are all in this together under the leadership of the Lord.II.
Next, after addressing the situation, Paul gives the solemnity of the supper.
A.First, it is serious because it is divinely-given. It is truly the LORD’Ssupper, not our own. Paul wrote in verse 23, “I received FROM THELORD what I also delivered to you.”1.It is interesting to note that Paul was not there when Christinstituted the Lord’s Supper. He was not yet an apostle when thatoccurred, thus he was not in that upper room.2.However, that Paul is making mention of these commands gives uswonderful hope in at least two things:a.First, it gives us trust in the consistency of the Scriptures. Jesusdidn’t institute something with the original apostles, and thenchange things for Paul later. He didn’t expect something of theearly Christians right after Acts 2, and then expect somethingdifferent after the Gospel spread. His message was perfectlyconsistent.b.Next—and more to our point—we gain some insight into theseriousness of the Lord’s Supper, since it is His and He instituted it.c.The rest of the verse reminds us that it was on the night that Jesuswas betrayed that this supper was instituted.3.With those words, Paul immediately makes sure our minds arefocused on the serious nature of that which we are doing.
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