The second of the great doctrinal passages on the Lord's Supper. Robert Bosley preaches 1 Corinthians 10:14–22, where Paul warns the Corinthians to flee idolatry and uses the supper as his illustration. Bosley focuses on Paul's repeated language of koinonia — communion, participation, partaking — and argues that the emphasis falls on the vertical before the horizontal: in the supper we do not merely fellowship with one another around the bread and cup, we receive Christ himself. He rejects transubstantiation — the bread remains bread and the cup remains the cup — while insisting that the taking of the God-ordained elements is God's appointed means of communicating Christ and his benefits to those who receive them in faith, by the work of the Spirit, in a manner he freely calls mysterious. He then presses the imagery of the one loaf and one body on the congregation's own practice, and closes on the supper as the line that separates the Lord's table from the table of demons: there is no neutrality in worship.

As we continue our look at the Lord's Supper and what this ordinance means for us, take out your Bible and open up to the Epistle of 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, we're gonna look at verses 14 through 22. And this is the the second main passage where we deal with the doctrine of the supper. Last time we looked out one of the passages of institution in the gospels and really the three, what I call the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they fit together, they tell the same story, that's what synoptic means, they see together. And we looked at that as the institution passage of the supper, Jesus instituting it when he celebrates the Passover with his disciples before his betrayal, trial, and death.

The Apostle Paul comes along and here in 1 Corinthians 10 and then the next chapter, 1 Corinthians 11, really gives us a further look at what the supper means. And so this is the second of those passages. Next time we'll look at 1 Corinthians 11. But let's begin reading 1 Corinthians 10, 14 through 22. The Apostle Paul writes, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

I speak as to wise men. Judge for yourselves what I say. 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 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. Observe, Israel, after the flesh, are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar. What am I saying then?

That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things with which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and the table of demons.

Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy are we stronger than he let's pray father we thank you for this passage that you have set before us this afternoon I pray Lord that you would help me to speak as I ought to speak and give us ears to hear your word and to understand this ordinance that you have instituted. Help us to understand it rightly that it may build us up in our faith and help us to be conformed to the image of your Son. In his name we pray. Amen. Now this passage is not, Paul isn't beginning this passage now about the Lord's Supper like he does in the next chapter.

This is almost an aside where he uses the Supper as an illustration of something else, but it's very informative for us. Here in this passage He is fundamentally warning the Corinthian Christians against idolatry Do not be partakers of idolatry flee from idolatry he begins Now perhaps the new converts here in Corinth still believed that their Christian freedom, as we heard about this morning, and as Paul has talked about at great length here in 1 Corinthians, perhaps they believed their Christian freedom enabled them to continue participating in the religious practices of their pagan friends and family. But he strongly rebukes this thinking, reminding them of God's hatred for idolatry that is expressed throughout the scriptures. Over and over again we look at the Old Testament and we see God's rejection of the people when they reject him and turn to idols. Idolatry is not a minor problem in God's sight.

And as Christians we are to flee idolatry just as those in the Old Covenant were to flee idolatry. God has not changed. The God who destroyed the idolaters in the wilderness holds the same opinion on idolatry today. The new covenant has not changed who God is. And it's in this discussion on idolatry that Paul gives us this very brief but powerful passage about the nature of the Lord's Supper.

What are we actually doing when we take the bread and the wine of the Eucharist? He explains that partially here in his argument against participating in the idolatrous practices of the pagans. Now this passage almost raises as many questions as it answers. I understand that. This is, there are things that are hard to understand as Peter said here.

There are some things that are difficult, but I think that is very helpful, at least in the broad scope. We can get our hands around some of the broad ideas of what Paul is teaching here, and I believe it will be helpful to us to a right understanding of the sacrament. So let's walk through this. Particularly, I started reading in verse 14, but we're gonna really begin in verse 16, and walk through 22. And I want us to take away three different things from this passage.

Three different conclusions that we can reach from this passage. First, the Eucharist is communion with Christ. When we partake of the Supper, it is a communion with Christ. That would be primarily verses 16 through 18. The Lord's table is also communion with each other.

It's communion with Christ, but second it's also communion with each other. And then lastly, The Eucharist sets us apart from the world. So it unites us, it's communion with Christ. It unites us in communion with one another, but it sets us apart as distinct from the world. So first, the Eucharist is communion with Christ, verses 16 through 18.

I'm going to reread these here. 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. Observe Israel after the flesh are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar." Now, this idea that when we partake of the bread and the wine we are in communion with Christ, that is the main takeaway of this passage.

It unites us with Christ. We have fellowship with Christ. We have communion. Different translations use different words to define this Greek word koinonia here. Communion in the New King James or participation in the ESV or sharing in the New American Standard.

That word koinonia is used twice in verse 16 and there's a adjective derived from that partakers in verse 18 or have fellowship in verse 20 or participants in the ESV that's a an adjective derived from the noun koinonia. There's also a related term here in verses 17 and 21 that's also translated as partake. So there's three terms here, each used twice, a total of six references to a participation in, a partaking of, a fellowship with, and that is the the main thrust of this. When we take the supper it is a participation with something, a partaking of something. And only once in verse 17 is the participation or the partaking merely the bread and the wine.

When we take the bread and wine, we are taking something greater. Yes, we receive the elements, truly, but there is also something more occurring. This idea of koinonia, communion, it carries the idea of communal participation. We are all together sharing in something. This word is used throughout the New Testament to describe fellowship.

Now, some translations use the term fellowship here. I don't think that's probably the best because when we think of fellowship, we think of horizontal relationships, our fellowship together. That's not the emphasis here. It's not merely a fellowship or a communion around something, but is a fellowship of something or in something. The primary focus here is not on the horizontal relationships, but the vertical.

Is a communion of the blood and communion of the body not merely around the blood and body or based on the blood and body of Christ. In the Supper we have communal participation with the body and blood of Christ. The grammar indicates that what is being received and what we are partakers of is not merely our fellowship together, but we receive Christ. We receive Christ. Now how, how are we partakers of the body and blood?

The elements don't change even in this passage. The bread remains bread. The cup, the contents of the cup, they're not transfigured. There's no transubstantiation, as the Roman Catholics assert. We do not physically consume the actual body and blood of Christ as the Roman Catholics claim in the mass.

Rather, we see here that the taking of the God-ordained elements is God's method of communicating to us the person and work of Christ and his benefits. When we take the bread and wine and we taste the bread, we taste the wine, we are receiving not just physical food, but also spiritual nourishment. We receive Christ and are united to Him through the work of the Spirit in those who have faith. We receive spiritual nourishment through this means of grace. We become partakers of the benefits that he secured on our behalf by his life, death, resurrection, and his intercession.

Now, how? What is the mechanism? I couldn't define it for you. It is mysterious. How is eating bread and drinking wine receiving Christ?

I don't know exactly. What I can tell you from here is that it's true. We receive, we are in communion with Christ. It's a partaking of him. The elements don't change, so we deny the Roman Catholic mass and doctrine of transubstantiation.

But what is the exact mechanism? How exactly does this work? I don't fully know. All I know is that somehow in those who have faith, God by His Spirit causes the elements to be a means of grace to us. And This can be hard to understand, but this is true for all of God's means of grace.

How does prayer sanctify you? What is the mechanism? I don't really know. But in prayer, we have communion with God. And God uses that to change our hearts.

When we hear the word of God preached, that is a means of grace. And the Spirit uses that and uses it to affect us and to conform us to the image of his son. How was the mechanism? Is it merely mental? No, because unbelievers can hear the word of God and not be changed.

It's not merely intellectual when we hear the word preached. The spirit takes it and applies it and makes it effective in the hearts of God's people. But we don't fully understand it. And it's the same here in the Eucharist. We don't fully understand how it works, but when we take the elements, the God-ordained means of grace, the Spirit takes it and uses it to be, as the Baptist Catechism says, an effectual means of salvation.

Not that we're justified, but that we are sanctified, we are conformed to his image when we do what God has said and receive his ordinance is a way that God changes us. And again, when we look at this, we must distinguish ourselves from the superstitious claims of the Roman mass as a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Christ. That's not what happens. That's not how it is a means of grace to us that Christ is re-sacrificed there or re-presented in his sacrifice. That's not what is happening.

The supper, as we talked about this a little bit last time, the supper is the sacrificial meal, not the sacrifice itself. Just as the Passover meal was an eating, a partaking of the sacrifice, not the sacrifice itself. Again, verse 18, Israel after the flesh are not those who eat the sacrifice partakers of the altar. Those eating After the sacrifice is made are made partakers of the altar, of what was offered there. They receive the benefits that were presented on that altar.

Those who eat the Passover meal receive the benefits secured by the sacrifice, though the eating itself is not the sacrifice. And in the same way, we must reject any idea that the Eucharist itself is a sacrifice that takes away our sins. That's not what is happening. That's not what Paul is teaching here. Rather, it's the meal around which we become partakers of the grace secured by the once and for all accomplished sacrifice of Christ.

We're not representing Christ's death. We are communing with him after this death has already occurred, after the sacrifice has been made. Now this should have massive implications on how we understand what it means to participate and commune with Christ in the Supper. For Rome, the Mass is a re-presentation of the sacrifice. The sacrifice is remade and so the union that they believe they have is with Christ in his death in a very literal sense.

However, for us, because of what Paul says, our union is with the one who has already made the sacrifice, is with one who has already had his sacrifice accepted by the Father. He is the one who is already exalted and glorified. Our communion and participation is not with Christ as he suffers and dies, but our communion and participation with Christ is as he is exalted. He is our risen exalted Christ, our King and our great High Priest and our intercessor. That is the one that we are communing with, not the dying lamb but the ascended king and Lord of glory.

That is our communion, is a present communion with the body and blood. His life, his death, all of it is ours. But Christ is no longer dying and he is not now dead. Rather he is risen and he's exalted and rather than calling him down to us as Rome blasphemously claims, rather we are raised up to Him through the Spirit by faith to receive His grace and be united with Him. And this is why Spurgeon teaching on the Eucharist said that the Lord's Supper is the closest we get to heaven in this life.

Because we are raised up to be with him. So that is how the the Eucharist is our communion with Christ. Spiritually we receive his benefits, we partake of his body and blood, his life, his death, all his graces. All these things are given to us when we take of the supper by faith. Now also the Eucharist is communion with each other.

Look at verse 17. For we though many are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread." Now, I admit the language in the original is a little unclear, and I personally think the ESV does a better job here. The ESV and the New American Standard both, rather than we are one bread and one body, I think it's better to see that because there's one bread we are one body. So the ESV renders it because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of that one bread or one loaf. The apparent mode of receiving the elements in the apostles' time, and we know this historically was the case for a long time, was that there was a single loaf of bread that would be shared by the people.

So you would have a loaf of bread, it would be handed to one, they would pull off a little bit, break the bread and pass it on. So you have a single loaf, and I believe is the imagery we have here, though we, again I'll go back to the ESV, because there is one bread, one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of that one bread or that one loaf of bread. Each person would break off a piece of the bread as they passed around to partake of the sacrament. In the same way, though it's not mentioned here, the people would all drink from a common cup. This is historic, it's been done this way for a long time.

And this was a visible display of the unity of the church to partake of one loaf of bread to share one common cup. The imagery is obvious. The people would do this to demonstrate that they are altogether communing with the same Lord. The symbolism of a single loaf and a single cup pointed to their unity as the people of Christ communing with Christ and receiving his grace as they take the signs of the bread and the wine. It was a visible display that though we are many, we are one body in Christ.

Because under the sign of the bread, we all receive that same body, and we're made into one body. We're made Christ's body We see this imagery again and again throughout the New Testament. We are to be one body and The Lord's Supper is a very obvious display of how we are one body when partaking of this one loaf of bread. Now the question immediately comes to mind, we don't do that. So are we wrong?

Because we don't do that exact thing. We give the elements here with the bread already broken and the wine already divided individual cups. Are we wrong to do so? I don't think so. I don't think we are.

The reality behind the supper is the same. Whether we have a visible picture of everyone partaking of the single loaf and drinking from a common cup. The reality, the spiritual reality behind it is the same. We are taking the bread and wine and obedience to Christ and by his spirit we receive the grace offered therein. The reality and the effectiveness of it, it relies on faith and the Holy Spirit, not on mere external factors in how it's presented.

And with as many people as we have, one loaf of bread would not really, not really cut it, I don't think. It would be either massive or somehow we would not be able to do with just one loaf of bread and one single common cup. And a lot of people would probably be a little bit weirded out by a common cup. Let's be honest, that's not, we're Americans, we're germophobes by nature. So it's not high on our list of things that we wanna do every week.

So no, I don't think we're in error that we don't do it exactly the way the early church did. Because the reality is still the same. But I do want us to consider, Are there ways that we as a church or we as individuals may be subtly undermining the imagery of our unity? Or worse, the reality of our unity with Christ and with one another. When we take of the Supper, whether it's, and I'm not trying to point any fingers or make any definite statements here, I'm just wanting this to be something we think of.

Are there ways in which the elements are dispersed where we could have more visible images of unity? Or what about on our end as recipients, when we abstain without good reason from one or both of the elements? Or when we substitute one or both of the elements? Are we undermining our union with one another and the reality of our union with Christ. So the Eucharist is our communion with one another.

We, who are many, are one body. Because we partake of that one loaf of bread. We receive Christ. We're unified with him and in being unified with him we are united together. What a glorious thing it is.

Lastly, the Eucharist sets us apart from the world, verses 20 through 22. The takeaway from these three verses, there is no neutrality There is no neutrality in worship. There is no neutrality in worship.