TOPIC:‌"The Sanctity of the Supper"

                  by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌I Corinthians 11:17-33

 

"Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper" (I Corinthians 11:20, NKJV)

 

‌Various designations have been given to this holy event that we are going to celebrate today. It has been called The Passover Feast, The Eucharist, The Sacrament, The Breaking of Bread and Holy Communion. But the best two titles, I believe, to describe this sacred event are The Lord's Table and The Lord's Supper, as they both set forth the sovereign majesty of our Savior. Let us never forget: It is His Table and He alone does the inviting. Christ invites those among humanity who have accepted Him to be their Savior and Master to dine at His table.

 

‌The Lord's Supper is the most sacred and supreme act of Christian worship. For nearly two thousand years the Christian Church has faithfully observed it. As a matter of fact, the early Apostolic church made it a fixed part of every worship service. We read in Acts chapter 2 verses 46 and 47 these words of what the believers of the first century did: "So continuing daily with one accord in the Temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people."

 

‌We Christians of today are often accused of having a low view of the Lord's Supper. There are times when that accusation is justified. We often treat it like an insignificant addition to the worship service. We relegate it to a place of secondary importance, prepare poorly for it, rush hurriedly through it, profit little from it, and often are hardly present at it. That kind of unpreparedness and neglect does a grave injustice to the meaning and message of this holy event. In this message I want us to consider three important things about the Lord's Supper.

 

I.

 

‌Consider, to begin with, the FAULTY VIEWS about the Lord's Supper that must be REJECTED. Listen again to the words of our text: "Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper" (v. 20). When the Lord's Supper was celebrated by these first-century Christians, it was preceded by a fellowship meal. Here in Corinth the fellowship meal had become a time of gluttony and excessive drinking rather than a time of preparation and examination for the communion service.

 

‌Such unholy and unbecoming action on the part of these Corinthian believers caused a righteous indignation to arise within Paul's soul. Listen as he declares in verses 21 and 22: "In eating each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat in? Or do you despise . . .