Koinonia Fellowship

Thank you for listening to this message from the Ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's Word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

1 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 16 and 17, the Bible reads, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?

The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread.

Our Father, I pray that your word would go forth with power, give us ears to hear, guard my tongue from error, and soften our hearts so that the

Holy Spirit would teach us, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. The title of this morning's message is

The Communion of the Body of Christ. The Communion of the Body of Christ.

I'm going to start by throwing out a few questions to you. Don't answer them, just kind of let them sit for a moment.

What is the body of Christ? What does it mean to discern the body of Christ?

What is communion really? We are going to be celebrating the

Lord's Supper this morning, so here's another question. This one's a little easier.

Is the Lord's Supper important? Is the Lord's Supper important?

As Christians, we know that it is. We're going to see that in a few moments when we look at the next chapter, chapter 11.

But the Apostle Paul, and we'll see that, he treats it as a very sober event.

He treats it as a very important thing. So is communion, or the Lord's Supper, important?

Okay, now you can answer. Is it important? Yes. But honestly, sometimes when

I look and survey the whole of evangelical Christianity, sometimes

I wonder, do people really view it as important?

It's not always treated that way, but it should be, because it is important.

Let's start out with the word itself, communion. What does that mean? Look at 1st Corinthians 10, 16 again.

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

The Greek word translated communion is koinonia, and what it means is simply fellowship, association with, community, right?

You hear that word community in communion. Joint participation.

So the Lord's Supper is a time to commune with God. It is a time to commune with God's people.

Fellowship with God, fellowship with his people. And of course, who is Paul writing to?

Well, he's writing to a local church, and this is where we experience communion with God and with his people.

Maybe it's not the only place we do it, but that primarily is where we experience fellowship, communion with the

Lord and with his people as a group, as a congregation, as an assembly.

If somebody were to partake of the Lord's Supper at home by themselves, they're kind of missing the point.

So I was thinking about this because one of the common questions regarding communion, and that's not going to be what the sermon is about, all the differences people have, but one of the common things that comes up, how often should communion be observed, right?

This is kind of one of those basic questions people talk about. Well, those churches that have it every

Sunday, because a lot of people say, well, then it becomes rote and just mechanical if you have it every week.

Well, here's the thing that I've come to as a conclusion. Those churches that do have it every

Sunday, I don't think they're wrong. I don't think they're wrong. People say, well, if you have the

Lord's Supper every week, I mean, that's a little much, isn't it? Well, but you know, there's some people who say that about church attendance in general.

You go to church every week? I mean, that's a little much, isn't it? And listen,

I'm not trying to make the case that we should have the Lord's Supper every week.

The Lord's Supper is something that brings us together. This is something where we experience, and should experience, unity.

I don't want to get into things that divide us. Okay, that's not my intention here, but I do want to faithfully communicate what

Paul is trying to faithfully communicate. So as Christians, we should want, here's the point, we should want to commune with God.

As Christians, we should want to have fellowship with God's people.

If you love someone, you want to spend time with them.

If you love God, you want to have that communion, spending time fellowship with God.

If you love God's people, you want to experience communion with the church.

And if someone is really a valuable part of your life, when you don't see them for a few days or a week, what happens?

You can't wait to see them again. So when the church gathers in obedience to Christ, this is a special thing.

You might think, well, it's normal. It happens all the time. No, this is a special thing. It is communion with God.

Whether we eat the bread and drink the cup, it is communion with God and with his people.

So what is communion all about? I'd like to read what one commentator wrote. This is Matthew Henry.

He said this about this passage from 1 Corinthians 10. He writes, joining together in the

Lord's Supper shows a profession of faith in Christ crucified, as well as an adoring gratitude to him for his salvation.

Christians, by this ordinance and the faith therein professed, are united in Christ as grains of wheat are united in one loaf of bread.

So this is a time of fellowship with God, fellowship with God's people.

And one of the ways we do that is eating the bread and drinking of the cup.

And that is a time where we remember what Jesus did in dying on the cross for the forgiveness of sin.

It's also a testimony of our faith. When we eat and drink, we're doing it publicly.

Again, not at home, by ourselves, where nobody sees it, nobody knows. We're doing it publicly. So when you eat, you're doing it around others.

It's a profession of faith, really, just as baptism is a profession of faith.

So communion is a wonderful thing. It is a beautiful thing. Now, with that said, anything that's wonderful, anything that's beautiful and is of God and comes from God, because we're not ignorant of Satan's devices, we know what the devil wants to do, right?

He wants to spoil this. This is a wonderful thing. He wants to ruin it. So where God's people have unity, the devil loves to create disunity.

For those of you who know church history, you know that this subject of the

Lord's Supper and communion, this is one of the most divisive issues the church has argued about and debated about, or churches have argued and debated throughout history.

And I've preached on these subjects before and taught on these subjects before, the real presence of Christ and transubstantiation and consubstantiation and the memorial view.

And we're not going to get into all of that this morning. There's also the things people argue about.

Should churches have open communion or closed communion? Should you use actual wine or Welch's grape juice?

And you say, well, it says it's supposed to be unleavened bread. It's the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Why are we using Wonder Bread? You know, hey, listen, getting into some of those things, that's a good way to start an argument, right?

That's not what I'm concerned about this morning. Although I have heard of some youth ministries and Christian camps, youth pastors who observe the

Lord's Supper with the kids using Doritos and Coca -Cola. Please don't do that, you know.

I think there are some things worthy of rebuke and spirited debate. But just in all seriousness,

I am serious, but just to stay within the confines of Scripture here, let's look at the next chapter.

Flip over to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, because this is what

I would consider the primary text in the New Testament concerning communion or the

Lord's Supper. I think it's interesting. One day this kind of just dawned on me.

Outside of the Gospels, which record the actual event where Jesus instituted the

Lord's Supper, it's hard for me not to notice that the New Testament doesn't really say all that much about the topic.

This is one of the reasons why I don't make too big of an issue concerning some of these things, because quite frankly, the

Bible just doesn't tell us all that much. But it does say enough. It does tell us enough.

Jesus instituting the Lord's Supper is recorded in all three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

It's recorded in John. Many of the details are recorded in John. But outside of the

Gospels, there's a few passing references maybe. The 1 Corinthians 11, this is the main text.

So let's begin reading 1 Corinthians chapter 11, starting in verse 17.

And this is all building up to us observing and celebrating the Lord's Supper.

So we should be preparing our hearts as we go. Paul writes, 1

Corinthians 11, verse 17, Now in giving these instructions, I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better, but for the worse.

For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part,

I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

Let's just stop there. You can see that there are some problems that this church is going through, right?

Communion is supposed to be a time of unity, but this congregation, in this congregation, there were great divisions, and they were celebrating the

Lord's Supper, and the way they were doing it only served to make those divisions worse.

One commentator writes this, the worldly carnal church at Corinth had turned these sacred meals into gluttonous, drunken revelries.

Beyond that, wealthy believers brought ample food and drink for themselves, but refused to share, letting their poorer brethren go away hungry.

That's what is happening, and Paul explains this. Look at verses 20 through 22.

He says, Therefore, when you come together in one place, is it not to eat the Lord's Supper?

For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one is hungry, and another is what?

What? And another is drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in, or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing?

What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

So let's just skip ahead now to verse 27. A very serious passage, isn't it?

1 Corinthians 11, verses 27 through 28. Therefore, Paul says, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the

Lord in an unworthy manner, you will be guilty of the body and blood of the

Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

That word examine means to test, to test, to scrutinize, to prove yourself, to prove yourself.

Are you worthy to partake? Now, I think it's a common response to have this kind of pious response.

Oh, no, I'm not worthy. Nobody is worthy. I think that's false.

I think that's false. If you are saved, you are at least potentially worthy.

Can we at least say that? Yes. If you are in covenant with God through Jesus Christ, you have the right to partake because the

Lord has made you worthy. But with that said, he does mention that there are some, it seems, who would be partaking in an unworthy manner.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornett Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website,

MorrisCornettChurch .com. We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.