September 14, 2025 SERMON

 I Corinthians 11:17-34 

I want to talk about Communion, which includes who we are, what it means and why we partake of it. Hopefully next week we will continue studying and celebrate Communion. So, let’s read today's scripture together.

17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye 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. 23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 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 ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. 34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

From the outside looking in, Communion can be a little strange, frightening, confusing and even uncomfortable.

Imagine an outsider attending a Communion Service. He sees a bunch of people with bread and juice stating that they are eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ.

I remember as a child attending a communion service where they had a sheet covering the Communion Table and I thought there was a body being covered up.

But there is a reason why followers of Jesus have gathered around this table for nearly 2,000 years.

Holy Communion is a Sacrament. The early church borrowed the word sacrament from the Roman Army. A recruit for the Roman army became a soldier by undergoing a sacramentum or initiation which included taking an oath of office and being branded behind the ear with the number of his legion.

This resulted in new responsibilities as a soldier and new advantages, as soldiers lived better than the average citizen and veterans received special privileges and benefits.

The church chose the word sacrament because Communion is a rite that is simultaneously a spiritual and physical act, and in that, the sacrament receiver simultaneously receives new responsibilities and a new spiritual status before God.

A Sacrament is basically an outward and visible sign of an inward change in a person’s life. Communion is one of two Sacraments in our Church, the other being baptism.

Communion was given to us by Jesus during the Passover celebration which was His last meal with His disciples.

Jesus changed the meaning of the Passover bread and wine with these words, “’Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” Matthew 26:26-27

Paul’s letter to Corinth is one of the oldest books in the New Testament. Written before all 4 Gospels, it provides our earliest glimpse into the early church.

What we see is that Communion has played a very important role in the life of the Church from the very beginning.

Now the Corinthian church had all sorts of issues, one of which was thinking that since they professed their faith in Jesus and were assured of eternal life, they could keep living the life of sin and sensual pleasure which Corinth was known for.

Some of their dysfunction also had to do with how they treated each other in communion. Back then, communion took place during a communal meal.

Some wealthy Corinthians had turned this gathering into an excuse to eat too much and get drunk, leaving little left over for the people who really needed it, the poor. Paul writes to address this and other issues.

So, what is Communion? First, it’s participation in Christ’s death. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Communion isn’t just something we do in memory of Jesus; somehow by receiving Communion, we are caught up in the work of Jesus on the cross—right now, in the present.

In 1 Corinthians 10:16 Paul asks, “Is not the cup of blessings for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?”

When we take Communion, we are responding to Jesus’ call to die to ourselves and to sin itself and so one of the questions we need to ask when we come to this table is: What needs to die in me so that I may be like Christ?

Second, we experience the presence of Christ. These ordinary everyday elements become vessels for the presence of Jesus and His sacrificial work on the cross to meet us in a physical and tangible way.

The Holy Spirit is always with us, but the mystery of Communion is Jesus Himself meets us through the bread and the cup.

When you think of it that way, is there anywhere else you would rather be? That’s why Paul said to mistreat the Communion meal is to mistreat Jesus Himself, “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.”

Third, we receive God’s grace. When we take this bread and drink this cup, we are receiving the benefits offered to us through Christ’s sacrificial death, God’s grace and forgiveness.

Dr. Norman Wright says, “Jesus wants not just to influence us, but to rescue us; not just to inform us, but to heal us; not just to give us something to think about, but to feed us…

That’s what this meal is all about.” Communion grounds us in the truth that God loves us just as we are, but God also loves us enough to not leave us that way.

Communion is our opportunity to have a fresh encounter with God, to be in His presence, to be reminded we are loved and accepted and made new. We receive grace from that which is greater than us. This is why we serve Communion.

When it comes to the partaking of Communion, I always try to take very seriously what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:28-29 about a man examining himself in the deepest parts of his soul not discerning the Lord’s body.

Not because you had a spat with your kids before church.

There is great comfort that comes to us when we clearly understand and remember the price of our salvation. The Lord desired for us to remember that regularly.

There is a test that comes to all Spirit-filled believers: will we be fully involved in the special test of living Kingdom principles?

We will be placed in situations where we will be given an opportunity to succeed or fail in it.

The Lord gives us tests and if we pass them, we move on to deeper and higher levels of spiritual maturity. But if we fail the test, that same test will cycle back around at a later point in life.

What uniquely happens is that God will place some added material on the test to make it a little more difficult than the previous time.

In the principles of the Kingdom, there must be a breaking of the outward man for the release of the inward spirit. This is the whole concept of the Sermon on the Mount.

What we must know as saints of God, is the vehicle to move us toward that place is usually some very painful outward things that will come to pass to bring us to that place.

Troubles, afflictions and difficulties have a way of breaking us. Most of us dread when they come our way, but it is through them that the Lord often does His greatest work.

Romans 7:14 KJV For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 KJV And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. [2] I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. [3] For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

A carnal man is a fleshly man. He is under the control of animal impulses and appetites. He is not governed by the Spirit. This man is always at odds with the things of God.

The great need for most Christians is the need for brokenness to take place in our lives. . . the thing that we resist the most is the thing we need the most.

The enemy of our soul is the devil. He leads the soul captive, so it becomes darkened and poisoned with selfish interests, carnality, and worldliness.

But the soul of a spiritual man is much different in its response. He must give himself to a different way of thinking instead of retaliation and rebellion.

Philippians 2:5-8 KJV Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: [7] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: [8] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

The soul of a spiritual man must be mastered and ruled in a way that it comes into complete submission to God.

Romans 6:3-6 KJV Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? [4] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: [6] Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Romans 6:12-13 KJV Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. [13] Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Frequently throughout Scripture, the soul is spoken of in a way that you must gain control of it. Through the Spirit, we are to gain and execute spiritual authority over it.

Luke 21:19 KJV In your patience possess ye your souls.

1 Peter 1:9 KJV Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:22 KJV Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.

These are the ways that we come to that place of responsibility.

John 12:23-27 KJV And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. [24] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. [25] He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. [26] If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. [27] Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

The Lord said that the life is within that grain of wheat, but the problem is that it is surrounded by a very hard shell. Until the seed is split open the wheat cannot sprout and grow. Except the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies.

For the seed to die, for it to have been cracked open so the life can get out of it, the temperature and the humidity of the soil has to be at work with the seed. But when the husk is split open, the wheat starts to grow.

The question is not whether there is life inside the shell but whether the shell will be cracked open to get the life out of it.

He that loves his life (soul) shall lose it, and he that hates his life (soul) in this world shall keep it to life eternally.

The Lord is clear that the outer shell of the wheat is our own life, while the life within is the eternal life which He has given to us.

To allow that inner life to prevail, it is imperative that the outward life be replaced. If the outward man is never broken, the inner man is never able to come forth.

The Lord was speaking to two groups of people on that day and for all of eternity.

Those who let their lives become confined, restricted, imprisoned, and unable to come forth. And those who the Lord has forged a way out and the inner man is released through them.

It is vital that the Lord breaks us. If the outward man never gets broken, the inward man can never really get out and bless the church.

Mark 14:1-7 KJV After two days was the feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. [2] But they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. [3] And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. [4] And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? [5] For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. [6] And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. [7] For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

If the alabaster box is never broken, the pure spikenard will never be able to flow forth. We are ever so guilty of treasuring the alabaster box over the costly ointment that is within it.

• Some treasure knowledge, thinking they are very important.

• Some treasure talents, thinking that they are very valuable to the church.

• Some treasure their emotions, thinking that they are more advanced than others.

• Some simply treasure themselves, thinking they are better than others.

That’s what happens with something that is never broken.

So, what will the Lord do? He will come along and enter our lives with something that will break us. Ask yourself. . . What does the Lord want out of my life here on this earth?

The Lord wants to break that hard outer shell of the hull so the inner man can be released.

The Lord either comes with that action very suddenly or very gradually. The sudden breaking is sometimes drastic events which take place in our lives:

• Loss of a loved one.

• Loss of a job.

• Loss of relationship.

• Total financial loss.

There are times when He comes gradually and works with daily trials until one day it seems as if everything breaks down.

It is almost like a dam has broken loose and everything in our life is overrun. The daily trials can come from a variety of things:

• Life’s irritations

• The fragile nature of health

• The wrestling’s of our own mind

• The difficulty of being misunderstood

• The dilemma of temptations that are unceasing

• The burden of legalism

• The aggravations of being slandered

• The irritation of betrayal

• The disappointment of failed dreams

All these matters are working seemingly against us. . . but God knows that He is about our breaking so the inner treasure can be revealed. The timing of the breaking is in the hands of the Lord. We cannot shorten it, but we can prolong it.

In some lives, the Lord is able to accomplish the level of spiritual growth in a few years. In others, it becomes more evident that the Lord will be working on them for decades before they finally submit.

Don’t fight with your trouble! Don’t battle the afflictions that come our way.

I want us to understand that God wants us to be totally committed to Him. Allowing Him to conform us into His image making us ready to receive a meal with Him.

Next week we’ll have more on this and we’ll also partake in Communion. So, live this week as making ourselves ready to receive what God will have for us. 

In Jesus’ Name, Amen!