Paul tells us that we must not eat and drink from the table of the new testament unworthily. He uses the word several times, but remember the context of his warning. The Corinthians were guilty of divisions in the church, drunkenness, sexual immorality, and greed. Paul tells them that such sins, unrepented, were inconsistent with …
Fighting With the Supper, Not Over It
As I have noted before, there is another complaint that has been brought against us—in our observance of the Lord’s Supper, we serve alcohol to minors. There are many principles involved in all this, but we need to focus on just one of them right now, and bring this wisdom with us as we come …
Jesus Gives Alcohol to Minors
I wanted to remind you of an incident from some years ago. At that time, we held one of our church services in the Kibbie Dome, just before the Trinity Fest. Predictably enough, some of our local adversaries filed an official complaint about that worship service—the complaint centered on the fact that we intended to …
Judas at the Table
The apostle Paul tells us that our Lord instituted the Supper on the night He was betrayed. The indications from the gospels are that He served the elements of that Supper to his betrayer, Judas, who was already under the influence of Satan himself. And Jesus knew this. At the first celebration of this Supper—and …
An Uncommon Common Meal
We are gathered here to eat the Lord’s Supper, not our own suppers. We all have homes of our own, and kitchens in them, and dining rooms. We have left behind our own food. This is not because we are ungrateful for it, but rather because we know that our food is not the food …
For We Have None
Because the Lord’s Supper is a covenant meal, it may be abused. It is a covenant Supper, not a magic Supper. In the history of the Church, tragically, abuse has happened often. Paul says in one place that it is possible for the Supper to do more harm than good. He says that when the …
Eating Authority
The apostle tells us that when we partake of this holy meal, we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes. Because this is a standing truth, it means that from the first observance of the Supper to the last observance of it just before His Second Coming, the Lord’s death will be continuously proclaimed …
Real Presence
We want to affirm the presence of the Lord here with us now, and this presence is truly a real presence. We do not want to say it is an absence—a mere memorial—and neither do we say it is an ethereal, spiritualized presence, or that it is simply a raw material presence, crassly understood. Rather, …
The Head of the Table
As the apostle Paul begins the eleventh chapter of 1 Corinthians, let us assume that he is not guilty of a radical lurch as he changes subjects, deciding finally to come back to the subject of the Lord’s Supper in v. 17. The culmination point of Christian worship is the Supper, and every disorder in …
A Pious Cocoon
The apostle tells us to do whatever we do to the glory of God. We cannot really understand this unless we have been disciplined by His Table. Whatever you eat, whatever you drink, he says, whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. But this comes at the end of a detailed …