“For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till he come.” (vs23-26)
We must observe the Lord’s Supper the way that He has declared because He is alive from the dead, and we CAN’T serve Him as we see fit.
The Corinthian church was wrong, and many were “weak, and sickly among you, and many sleep” because of their SIN in the Lord’s Supper (I Cor 11:30). One would eat, while the other was hungry, and they had NO REGARD for each other (vs22). This illustrates the truth that, “If any man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen”, and to say that I’m saved by GRACE and not to be GRACIOUS is a contradiction the bible cannot stand (I John 4:20-21). I can’t say, “Forgiven” and be an unforgiving person at the same time. Christ’s death did MORE than put away my sins, but He also EARNED acceptance with God, newness of life, the power of the Spirit, and a new nature that OBEYS God. It is not the sinner’s strength but the Savior’s salvation that we praise. He is of power to both forgive and also make men WALK with God; we can’t deny His power without denying salvation.
Observe the Lord’s Supper and worship Christ aright. Do things how He says do them, because we have no right to worship God as we see fit, and we will be ashamed and afflicted, if we try.
1. It is possible to come together for the worse, “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that you come together not for the better, but for the worse” (I Cor 11:17). If we don’t worship God aright, then how we worship brings harm upon us and reproach upon the gospel. Everything that glitters isn’t gold, and everything that CALLS itself worship is not. If our worship is not God ordained in God’s order according to God’s way, then it is self-damaging worship, like playing with sharp tools, instead of using them properly, and being INJURED thereby.
2. We are not praised for our shameful ways, and it is NOT enough to say, “Saved by grace”, if we live SHAMEFUL lives, “What? Have you not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise you the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not” (I Cor 11:22). What we do is what we are, and if we live for Christ, then we are Christians bringing honor to Him. But, if we SHAME our brethren and live HATEFUL lives, then we don’t observe the Lord’s Supper and bring REPROACH upon ourselves – “When you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating every one takes before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken” (vs20-21). We don’t worship God with our mouths only, but we live the TRUTH, which is faith that works by love. It is PRACTICING what you preach, and if there is no practice, then the power of God is ABSENT, no matter what you know.
Christ makes us loving when He comes to us, and if my reception of Christ STOPS at myself and doesn’t extend unto my brother, then I’m to be ashamed for how I act. I’m not to be applauded for how much I know, but I’m to be REBUKED, instead of imitated in this.
3. We are to love, care for, and wait for one another, not just in the act of eating the Table in unison, but in the heart as caring for and loving each other for real,“Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait one for another” (I Cor 11:33). Christianity is not a personal thing alone, where I have “mine” and everyone else is unimportant. The RECEPTION of Christ IMMEDIATELY makes us SAVIORS unto everyone else. He gives those that He forgives grace to love Him and the brethren. We love other men as soon as we receive the grace of God, because we bow to Him as Lord.
You can’t be saved EXCEPT by Lordship salvation, which means OBEDIENCE to His will. We receive the GRACE of God to enable us to live GRACIOUSLY, as commanded. Any salvation that doesn’t make me love, that makes me use my gifts for my glory, is not of God. It is a delusion.
Wait and care for one another. Live that people be served, and you do show the Lord’s death by your conduct, until He comes again.
The Corinthian church was wrong, and many were “weak, and sickly among you, and many sleep” because of their SIN in the Lord’s Supper (I Cor 11:30). One would eat, while the other was hungry, and they had NO REGARD for each other (vs22). This illustrates the truth that, “If any man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen”, and to say that I’m saved by GRACE and not to be GRACIOUS is a contradiction the bible cannot stand (I John 4:20-21). I can’t say, “Forgiven” and be an unforgiving person at the same time. Christ’s death did MORE than put away my sins, but He also EARNED acceptance with God, newness of life, the power of the Spirit, and a new nature that OBEYS God. It is not the sinner’s strength but the Savior’s salvation that we praise. He is of power to both forgive and also make men WALK with God; we can’t deny His power without denying salvation.
Observe the Lord’s Supper and worship Christ aright. Do things how He says do them, because we have no right to worship God as we see fit, and we will be ashamed and afflicted, if we try.
1. It is possible to come together for the worse, “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that you come together not for the better, but for the worse” (I Cor 11:17). If we don’t worship God aright, then how we worship brings harm upon us and reproach upon the gospel. Everything that glitters isn’t gold, and everything that CALLS itself worship is not. If our worship is not God ordained in God’s order according to God’s way, then it is self-damaging worship, like playing with sharp tools, instead of using them properly, and being INJURED thereby.
2. We are not praised for our shameful ways, and it is NOT enough to say, “Saved by grace”, if we live SHAMEFUL lives, “What? Have you not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise you the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not” (I Cor 11:22). What we do is what we are, and if we live for Christ, then we are Christians bringing honor to Him. But, if we SHAME our brethren and live HATEFUL lives, then we don’t observe the Lord’s Supper and bring REPROACH upon ourselves – “When you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating every one takes before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken” (vs20-21). We don’t worship God with our mouths only, but we live the TRUTH, which is faith that works by love. It is PRACTICING what you preach, and if there is no practice, then the power of God is ABSENT, no matter what you know.
Christ makes us loving when He comes to us, and if my reception of Christ STOPS at myself and doesn’t extend unto my brother, then I’m to be ashamed for how I act. I’m not to be applauded for how much I know, but I’m to be REBUKED, instead of imitated in this.
3. We are to love, care for, and wait for one another, not just in the act of eating the Table in unison, but in the heart as caring for and loving each other for real,“Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait one for another” (I Cor 11:33). Christianity is not a personal thing alone, where I have “mine” and everyone else is unimportant. The RECEPTION of Christ IMMEDIATELY makes us SAVIORS unto everyone else. He gives those that He forgives grace to love Him and the brethren. We love other men as soon as we receive the grace of God, because we bow to Him as Lord.
You can’t be saved EXCEPT by Lordship salvation, which means OBEDIENCE to His will. We receive the GRACE of God to enable us to live GRACIOUSLY, as commanded. Any salvation that doesn’t make me love, that makes me use my gifts for my glory, is not of God. It is a delusion.
Wait and care for one another. Live that people be served, and you do show the Lord’s death by your conduct, until He comes again.
