Those Who Could Not Deny Themselves
17But in giving you this command, I don’t praise you, that you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it. 19For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you. 20When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken. 22What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly, and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you. 23For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 24When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body. 30For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. 31For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 33Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.
Over the past two sermons I told you that women can receive church office in Christ. I also told you that Jerome, who translated the New Testament, put his own ideas into his translation, and that because of this women have suffered many disadvantages to this day.
Paul answered the questions of the men who complained about women by saying that the women could make every decision. He also said that this particular matter arising in the church in Corinth did not happen in the other churches, and so it was no great problem.
Then, to make them realize how foolish their conduct in the church was, he goes on to write an explanation of the Lord’s Supper.
The conduct of people who believe in Jesus Christ and yet cannot deny themselves is not much different from the wrong things people of the world do because they do not know Christ. That is why Paul wanted to awaken them to what it means to believe in Christ, and to the heart with which God’s born-again children should live.
For their conduct could change only when they knew, as Paul did, the heart that Christ wanted his disciples to have when he instituted the Lord’s Supper.
The Corinthian believers were members of the one body of Christ, and yet they gave no thought to the suffering of their brothers in faith. They acted only for themselves, no differently from the world, without even a sense of guilt.
Corinth was home to many wealthy people, but also to many poor people who, as servants, served the wealthy.
To meet their needs for food, clothing and shelter, the poor had no choice but to do whatever their masters commanded. The wealthy thought paying money was enough, and so they treated the poor carelessly.
The world lives within this kind of relationship between master and servant.
Out in the world, because of the difference in status, the poor had no choice but to submit even to those who were their brothers in faith. But in the church it was different.
For the church is a place where people are judged by faith, where everyone must take off the outer garments of the world and serve one another as members, with Christ at the center.
But entering the church did not mean that their way of seeing things had changed as well.
For unless they threw away all the power they had in the world as refuse, as Paul did, their conduct would show itself in the church just the same.
They behaved in the church just as they had in the world, where they had taken it for granted that people would treat them with deference, and they showed the same selfish conduct that took no thought for others. Perhaps the reason a church is shaken and in uproar is the self-boasting, greed and lust of people like these, who have not been born again.
Because people are treated with honor in the world as tycoons, as the powerful, or as graduates of good schools, they want the believers in the church to recognize them and exalt them too.
As I always tell you, in the church we must take off the outer garments of the world.
Not only in the church but also as we live in the world, we can become a new creation only if we, as those who have put on the garments of Christ, always humbly lower ourselves and deny ourselves.
However successful believers may be in the world, and however high their titles, in Christ they are only sinners who have been forgiven and saved through the sacrifice of Jesus.
For God does not make high position in the world a condition of salvation.
Even someone with an excellent education, or someone with a doctorate who has studied one field until mastering it, has only the knowledge of the world. It is not the spiritual Word, and so it does not help toward salvation.
Fools who come into the church and show their pride by demanding recognition, or who ask to be exalted, only make the church noisy, and they will be severely rebuked by God and by Paul.
Some churches, when the nation holds an election, stand candidates in front of the pulpit to give speeches, or the pastor gets involved in politics and recommends a particular person.
But the church is not a place for proclaiming the affairs of the world, so it must proclaim only the Word. And because we believers hold citizenship in heaven, we must not bring the problems of the world into the church.
As you will know if you read the Old Testament, it is God who makes both good people and evil people kings, and it is also God who uses the kings of the world in order to lead his people onto the path of faith through them.
That is to say, unless God permits it, the people cannot change the kings and rulers of the world by their own efforts.
When believers serve God in faith, good rulers will arise; when believers go the way of sin, evil rulers will arise.
If we only know this, we will be able to see that it is foolish for the church to work for the politics of the world.
If you have received Christ and come to understand this truth, you must live by the words of Christ for your salvation.
But among the Corinthian believers, a few could not throw off the habits of the world and behaved thoughtlessly.
Rather than seeking harmony with the believers who are the members of Christ and becoming one with them, they thought and acted only for their own benefit. So in the end they threw the church into disorder and committed the sin of failing to show the grace and sacrifice of Christ.
Human beings have sinned against God the Creator; however wise they may be, how wise can they really be?
Everything people possess belongs to God, so there is nothing to be proud of.
Unless we have the faith that all of it consists of tools God has entrusted to us, we will end up settling comfortably into the world.
1 Corinthians 11:22
22What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly, and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.
When Paul saw what the wealthy had done, he rebuked them, saying that such conduct despised God’s assembly and put to shame those who did not have enough.
In those days, the church did not prepare food and serve the believers as it does now. The believers each brought food from their own homes and shared it.
Those who were well off would have brought plenty, and the poor would often have been unable to bring anything.
Under these circumstances, the wealthy would have needed to be generous, either bringing more food for the poor or showing consideration by waiting so that everyone could eat together.
But those who had come into the church without letting go of the habits of the world showed no consideration for the poor. Because they had time to spare, they came to the church early and ate up all the food, and some even made a disgraceful spectacle of themselves by drinking too much wine and getting drunk.
But those who had the status of servants, and the poor, could come to worship only after finishing their work, so they could not help being late.
Of course they came to church to worship God, but the joy of sharing the food their brothers in faith had brought would also have been very great.
In the world it was unthinkable for master and servant to sit in one place and share a meal. That is why living in Christ was a great blessing to these people.
But because of the conduct of those who had not been born again, some people in the church began to stumble, and as love among the believers dried up, more and more believers left Jesus.
When this happened, someone who cared for the church asked Paul for help.
They could not restrain those who were throwing the church into disorder, and asked Paul for help instead. From this it seems that the office-bearer responsible for discipline was a poor person.
The wealthy found it uncomfortable that a poor person who had served them in the world should dare to teach Scripture to them, the masters, just because that person had received an office.
In the church, it is only when people submit to discipline as believers, regardless of their worldly possessions, that they can have the chance to understand God’s will and be born again.
But reality is not like that. When someone poor by worldly standards rebukes someone wealthy, the wealthy person’s pride is hurt regardless of the office, and they even turn against the one who rebuked them. So the church runs into difficulty in governing spiritually.
If someone powerful in the world comes to the church and does not know doctrine well, or acts against the will of God, the office-bearers must be able to discipline that person.
But if pastors worry that the church will struggle financially if a wealthy person leaves, and so fail to rebuke them, then that soul cannot be saved either, and the church too cannot help but rot.
Paul boldly rebuked them, asking whether they had no houses to eat and drink in. He rebuked them, saying that such self-centered conduct was an evil act that despised God’s assembly and put their brothers in faith to shame.
For the wealthy, it was food they could always eat easily at home, but their poor brothers could eat it only when the wealthy shared what they had brought in faith.
God delights in pouring out grace on us who are poor in spirit.
In the same way, if the wealthy have a faith that delights in sharing with brothers in need, the church will always be a harmonious church that serves and shares.
Acts 2:42-47
42They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer. 43Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44All who believed were together, and had all things in common. 45They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need. 46Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, 47praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.
Believers sold their own property and shared it so that the gospel could be spread. That devotion, the devotion Barnabas showed, is a faith the world is not worthy of.
A faith that did not hold back its own possessions but distributed them to brothers in faith as they had need, and that gave thanks to God all the more on seeing a brother’s hardship relieved, was something commonly seen in the early church.
The people of the world who saw this faith in the early church believers were greatly astonished, and fear came on them because things rarely seen in the world had happened because of Christ.
The early church put their brothers, the members of the body, ahead of themselves, and put the church ahead of themselves. That in itself revealed the glory of Christ.
And they showed the holiness of denying the selves that had until then lived in the world, by the world’s law, like the world, and of being born again as children of God.
The faith of these people, who looked only to Christ, whether rich or poor, high or low, saved countless souls.
The believers set an example of faith so as not to hide God’s glory in the church, and as the apostles preached the gospel and showed wonders and signs, the church began to flourish.
When pastors proclaim the right truth and believers set an example of faith in their lives, God blesses that church and its believers all the more and helps many souls to be saved through the Word.
The church in Corinth lacked this good heart. That is why Paul rebukes it.
The believers of the early church believed that Jesus was the Messiah and that heaven was real. Because of that they exalted only Christ, and they saw many miracles that could not have happened in that age.
That faith showed the courage to give up even their own lives to keep God’s word, and as citizens of the eternal kingdom of heaven, they showed a faith the world was not worthy of.
If you give up faith first and cling to the world, God cannot help you, even though he wants to.
But if you believe in God’s power and long for his grace from a humble place, God will drive back the powerful opposition of Satan and the world, change even the laws of the world for you alone, bring the right people into your life, and bless you greatly.
As 2 Corinthians 8:14 says, believers who have plenty in worldly terms must help believers who are spiritually full in their physical needs, and believers who are spiritually full must build up believers who are spiritually thirsty. In this way they must supply one another’s lack and help one another live in equality.
1 Corinthians 11:23
23For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
On the day before he bore the cross, Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples. There he commanded his disciples to commemorate Communion forever.
As he broke the bread and gave it to them, he said it was his flesh, and as he gave them the wine, he said it was his blood, and he told them that all of this was deeply bound up with Christ’s redemption.
Through his torn body Jesus made us receive forgiveness for original sin, and by pouring out all his blood and giving his life, he showed the deep love that rescues us from death.
In that torn body and blood lay the utter betrayal of human beings, and with it the love of God, who to the end would not let go of sinners, for the saving of souls.
It was, of course, redemption for the sake of salvation, yet human beings betrayed Jesus to the very end, and the Lord, looking on the people who threw away that love, asked forgiveness for them to the last.
1 Corinthians 11:26
26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
The purpose of Communion is to realize, every time we come to the bread and the cup, why Jesus had no choice but to bear the cross, and through that realization to proclaim to the world that Christ will surely come again.
To proclaim Christ’s redemption and his return, you must cast off your own lusts and live only the life of a believer.
If Christians who have received the love and sacrifice of Christ live lives no different from the world, not only will they be unable to take part in the marriage supper of the Lamb, but they will also receive the judgment the world receives.
When believers who were saved by the death of Jesus look down on their brothers over what they eat, it is unbelief that has not rightly grasped the value and meaning of the Lord’s Supper.
God sent his only Son into the world, wanting to forgive the sins of all humanity; yet when believers who have received that love cannot deny themselves, they are eating and drinking their own sin.
Eating the bread and drinking the wine at Communion does not mean one has taken part in the holy rite, nor that one has understood the sacrifice of Jesus. Only when believers who take part in Communion truly practice the Word in their lives have they fully taken part in Communion.
Look at how someone acts in the church, and you can easily tell whether their faith is false or true, however recognized they may be in the world. For in human beings, the faith that shows on the outside and the faith they actually have are different.
False faith has no wisdom and is foolish, so it easily falls into Satan’s grip, and it cannot receive the help of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God.
False faith, which resembles the nature of Satan, is cunning. If you cannot discern spirits, you may be deceived, so you must rely wholly on the Holy Spirit.
That is why Paul says in verse 19 that the church needs factions.
The factions Paul speaks of do not mean forming parties to split the church. He means that those who make the right choice by faith and those who make the wrong choice with worldly thinking are clearly divided.
Because in the church people who have understood the Word live side by side with people who are still worldly because they have not yet been born again, there cannot help but be factions.
When believers who have God’s wisdom rebuke those who have not understood the Word, as Paul did, they are helping them not to be condemned with the world later on. Of course, when we are rebuked, our pride will be hurt and we will not feel good. Even so, to be saved we must receive rebuke with joy and turn back.
When you rebuke people, those who want even a little to believe in God well, and who strive to hold on to their faith, do not get upset or lose their temper.
But when you rebuke someone who has shut their eyes and ears, you can feel the words coming back at you like a blade, even though they were words of counsel given with the same love.
Once you can discern that a pastor’s rebuke is not meant to take away the blessings you have received in spirit and body, you must listen to it without condition.
All this while, Paul has not been admonishing the believers to receive material help from them; he has been rebuking them solely for the sake of their souls. So even when the Corinthian believers mocked and despised the apostle Paul, God did not rebuke Paul. The reason is that God already knows that rebuking believers is done out of love for their souls.
If only you recognize that a pastor’s rebuke is love and turn back, the weak, sickly and sleeping parts of your spirit will awaken, and you will become a tool that God uses greatly.
You must be sure to know that those who receive no rebuke are illegitimate children.
1 Corinthians 11:33
33Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Paul told them that anyone too hungry to wait for their brothers should eat at home before coming.
For even if they had brought the food themselves, they had brought it to share with the other members, so they should share it equally once everyone had gathered.
This is the same problem that arises in churches today.
Depending on how high or low their position in the world is and how much or how little they own, some people act proudly in the church, and others, though they have faith enough to carry out God’s work, shrink back because they are poor and are gripped by a sense of inferiority.
In Christ, what matters most is to understand God’s will and be saved. So the wealthy must become wise people who kneel before the Lord in humility, and the weak, wise people who kneel before him in faith.
You must understand the heart with which Christ told us to commemorate Communion.
Believers who see God’s providence in all its greatness and breadth will meet God, who loved sinners so much that he put his only Son to death; Jesus, who obeyed the Father’s command and willingly bore the cross; and the Holy Spirit, who works even now so that the redemption of Jesus is not in vain.
Only those who know how precious are the souls of the brothers in faith whom they have met within God’s wonderful providence can receive God’s love.
Those who care only for themselves and their own families, without caring whether their brothers in faith have anything to eat, will never be able to understand the meaning of the Communion Jesus instituted, nor to receive its grace.
Even if it means sacrificing a little and having a little less yourself, I hope you will sacrifice yourselves for the church and for your brothers in faith. And if there is a brother beside you who has a little less than you, please share what you have and help them live in equality, in spirit and in body.
Do not hear this as a human word telling you to hand over your property; hear it as God’s word telling you to care for the weakness of the brothers you meet on life’s pilgrim road. May you always humble yourselves and live as children of God who deny themselves in Christ.