Sermon Tone Analysis

"In the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.

For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you.

And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognised.

When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.

For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal.

One goes hungry, another gets drunk.

What!

Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?

Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?

What shall I say to you?  Shall I commend you in this?  No, I will not.

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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."

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.

Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself.

That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world."[1]

Some practises among the churches have become so routine that they are no longer questioned.

As an example of unquestioned ritual, consider the ordinance of the Lord’s Table.

There are questions begging to be asked and answered.

Who belongs at the Lord’s Table?

Who is invited to participate?

In order to answer this question, we will need to ask and answer the question of the purpose for the rite.

All this will require us to look carefully into the Word at the risk of disturbing the status quo (Latin for “the rut we are in”).

We are fortunate to have the response of the Apostle to the Gentiles to an ungodly congregation which was abusing the Table of the Lord.

Had it not been for the Corinthian Church and their flagrant abuse of worship, we would have no detailed instructions for the observance of this rite.

We would have only the account of its institution in the Gospels and what can only be construed as rather vague references throughout the history of the apostolic churches.

Before you draw conclusions, either commending this message or condemning the same, please listen carefully and weigh the words presented.

Before God, I seek only to honour Him and to build His people.

I have approached my words this day with trepidation and concern to speak the truth in love.

Join me in seeking the Lord’s will.

The Table Belongs to the Lord — When we speak of the Communion Observance, we often use the term—the Lord’s Table.

In that reference is tacit acknowledgement that the Table belongs to the Lord.

He is the One who invites whom He wills to the Table.

It is not the role of the Pastor or of the deacons or even of the congregation to determine who may and who may not sit at the Lord’s Table, for the One who instituted this meal has that right alone.

This is a vital point, if for no other reason than to establish such practical questions as who may participate in the ordinance, the purpose for the ordinance, and the prerequisites for observing the ordinance.

Whatever we may say concerning this meal, we are obliged to refer to the revealed mind of Christ the Lord.

We may explore the institution of the meal, or observe the abbreviated accounts provided in the Acts of the Apostles, but we will receive the most practical teaching through exploring the account of the apostolic rebuke to the Corinthian saints.

Two passages of Scripture clamour for our attention.

Of course, we have the extended passage which directly bears on the ordinance in *1 Corinthians 11:17-32*.

However, we are introduced to important considerations in the previous chapter.

Though the instruction the issue of the Lord’s Table is addressed tangentially, Paul does address one important issue which could otherwise be neglected.

In order to understand the Apostle’s teaching we need to focus on both of these particular passages.

/Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

* *I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

* *The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?

The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

* *Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

* *Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?

* *What do I imply then?

That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

* *No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.

I do not want you to be participants with demons.

* *You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.

You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

* *Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy?

Are we stronger than he /[*1 Corinthians 10:14-22*]?

Whatever I may have to say concerning this observance, I am constrained by the knowledge that the Lord has the final word in the matter.

He is the ultimate arbiter in the issue of who may participate in worship and who may not.

Though it is offensive to some people, it must be stated that God is not obligated to receive everything that is offered as worship.

Neither must God receive every person who presents himself as a worshipper.

The Scriptures make this abundantly clear in speaking of God’s election.

It is not as though the word of God has failed.

For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return and Sarah shall have a son.”

And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

What shall we say then?

Is there injustice on God’s part?

By no means!

For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills [*Romans 9:6-18*].

Again, consider the words of the wise man in *Proverbs 21:27*.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;

how much more when he brings it with evil intent.

An attempt to worship by one whom God considers as wicked is characterised as an abomination before the Lord.

Therefore, we must not attempt to coerce God into accepting any man or the worship which is uninvited or unworthy of Him.

The great Baptist divine, Dr. B. H. Carroll, writes concerning this point that the Table belongs to the Lord.

As an aside of considerable importance, Dr. Carroll was the founder of the largest seminary in the world, and a scholar of the Word.

In fact, the following exchange is from his magnum opus, *An Interpretation of the English Bible*.

Notice the fact that it is the Lord’s table, the Lord’s cup.

A man comes and says,

“May I come to your table?

I am perfectly willing for you to come to mine.”

I say, “Yes, come on in.”

He says, “Not that table; I am referring to the Lord’s table.”

“It was not to the Lord’s table that I invited you.”

…

“Well, won’t you take a sup with me?”

“Certainly!

Come over to my well and I will let you have cool, delicious, clear water.”

“I mean drink with me out of the same communion cup.”

“Ah, that is Christ’s cup; I have no jurisdiction over that.”[2]

The Prerequisites for the Lord’s Table — Surely, no one doubts that only those who are saved are invited to participate at the Lord’s Table?