“A SELF-EXAMINATION”
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-32

I. Introduction
It’s no secret that self-examination can be difficult. Honest self-examination can lead us into some pretty dark places. But, for the born-again believer in Jesus, it is in those dark places where the light of Christ shines the brightest. He is the light of the world, isn’t He?

In John’s gospel the Lord Jesus is presented to the lost world as God in human flesh. Jesus refers to Himself as the “I Am” of the OT. In John 8:58 He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.” That was an unmistakable claim of deity and the Jewish reli-gious leaders knew it. When Moses met God at the burning bush, he wanted to know God’s name. Exodus 3:14 says, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, “I AM has sent you.”’” So when Jesus said that He was “I am” the Jews accused Him of blasphemy. It was one of the reasons they wanted Him dead.

But that wasn’t the only time Jesus applied the “I Am” of the OT to himself. In John’s gos-pel He did so no less than seven times; each time using a different metaphor to illustrate a different aspect of His deity and remind us of our relationship to Him. We’ll look at all seven in reverse order. Let’s begin by turning to John 15:5.
7. John 15:5 – “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
6. John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
5. John 11:25 – “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.”
4. John 10:11 – “I am the good shepherd; and the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
3. John 10:9 – “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved…”
2. John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

There is nothing even remotely vague about any of those statements, is there? Each one is a specific proclamation about who Jesus Christ is and what He means to us. A minute ago I said that honest self-examination can lead us into some pretty dark places. But for you and me, as believers in the Lord Jesus – the light of the world – we do not walk in the darkness, and so, we have no need to fear it or to be overwhelmed by it.

Today, before we come to the communion table, we’re going to take some time for a self-examination. Then we’re going to do what He commanded us to do – eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
In doing so we are going to remember Him and partake in what may be the purest form of God-honoring worship there is this side of glory. We’re going to remember Him. But just before we move on I want us to look at the seventh time Jesus said He was the “I am” in John’s gospel. And He doesn’t just say it once; he says it four times. (back up to John 6)
1. John 6:35 – “I am the bread of life.” 6:41 – “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” 6:48 – “I am the bread of life.” 6:51 – “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven.”

This morning we’re going to focus on two things. The first will be our purpose for coming to the Lord’s Supper. The second will be our preparation for the Lord’s Supper. But I want to set the stage by reminding us of something else – the promise of the Lord’s Supper.
*John 6:51-58
51 “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
52 The Jews therefore began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.
54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
55 “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.
58 “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died, he who eats this bread shall live forever.”

Obviously, Jesus is speaking metaphorically here. Just as physical food is useless if it isn’t eaten, spiritual food is useless if it is not taken in. And just as physical food nourishes the body and sustains physical life, spiritual food nourishes the soul and sustains spiritual life. Jesus’ point in v. 58 is that the manna Israel ate in the desert was physical food that kept the people alive from day to day. But Jesus – the true bread from heaven – will keep His people alive from the day they first receive it and on into eternity future.
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II. Text
Living forever – that’s Jesus’ promise to everyone who “eats His flesh and drinks His blood.” It’s the believer’s hope. And so, when we come to the communion table we are coming to remember Jesus. But we’re not only coming in hope and remembrance, we’re coming in obedience. In Luke 22:19 the Lord said to us, “…do this (come to the table – partake of these elements) in remembrance of Me.”
Today we’ll consider why we come to the table – its purpose. And we’ll consider how we get ready to come to the table – its preparation. The Apostle Paul will be our guide. So turn with me to 1 Corinthians where Paul will tell us everything we need to know before we par-take of the elements before us this morning.
*1 Corinthians 11:23-34 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unwor-thy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world.

In the previous section of 1 Corinthians 11 (vv. 17-22) Paul had dealt with the problem of believers making a mockery of the Lord’s Supper. Too many of the Christians in the Corin-thian church had turned it into little more than a party. In fact, some of them were coming to the service drunk. As bad as that was, there was something even worse. Many of the Corin-thians had formed exclusive little groups (think cliques). They were based on social, econo-mic, or cultural backgrounds. That may work out in the world, but it isn’t supposed to exist in the church. And it absolutely isn’t supposed to exist at the Lord’s Supper.

What should have been the highest, purest, and most reverent worship had devolved into a farce. Any sense of love for the brethren, unity, harmony, and propriety had been lost. In 1 Corinthians 11:17 Paul had said to them, “…you come together not for the better, but for the worse.” This was the situation as it existed when the apostle wrote this morning’s pas-sage. Let’s look at this morning’s text.
*1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

In vv. 23-25 Paul makes it clear that he is not giving his own opinion on this subject. He wants there to be no confusion about this. He is saying (and I paraphrase), “Listen to me, Jesus did this. And when He did it, He said this!” How does Paul know that? You say, “Well, that’s easy. He read it in one of the gospels.” That’s possible, but it isn’t likely. We know that neither Luke nor John had been written when Paul wrote to the church at Cor-inth, and many scholars believe that 1 Corinthians also predates Matthew and Mark.

Yet Paul quotes Jesus almost verbatim. This is why so many theologians believe that Paul received these instructions directly from Lord Jesus Himself because the gospels had not been written. If that is the case, what we read in 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 is the earliest bibli-cal account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper.

Notice how stark the contrast is between Jesus’ betrayal and the institution of this richest and most meaningful expression of God’s love and our worship. Think of it – while Satan is doing his worst, God is doing His best. Jesus’ body is about to be nailed to the cross while you and are about to be redeemed by His blood.
1 Corinthians 11:24b, 25b
24b “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25b “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

“For you!” I know you know that. I know that you know that Jesus became a man for you; that He suffered for you; that He died for you. But I’m going to ask you to stop and take just a moment to let that thought once again permeate through your soul. Think about Jesus this morning and what He did for you. He said, “…do this in remembrance of Me.”

And so we obey Him, and so we partake of the bread and of the cup. The reason for doing this is made clear in v. 26. This is the purpose for our being here today and partaking of these elements. We are “…proclaim(ing) the Lord’s death until He comes.”

How we do that, how we prepare ourselves to partake of the elements on this table is what the rest of the passage is all about. It’s about self-examination.
*1 Corinthians 11:27-32 (Remember – we are proclaiming His death.)
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unwor-
thy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world.

We need to prepare ourselves. And we dare not do so lightly. In these six verses Paul is telling us, in no uncertain terms, that we need to prepare our hearts before we come to the table to celebrate the Lord’s death. This preparation requires us to look into our own hearts to see if there is any sin. The Holy Spirit will enlighten us. Psalm 139:23 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart…” When we invite Him to do that, He will. And we may well be surprised to see what the Holy Spirit reveals to us.

If we do not prepare ourselves, or if we do so lightly or frivolously, we are putting ourselves in a precarious position with the Lord. We are placing ourselves in danger of dishonoring the Lord who forgave us, saved us, and gave us eternal life. This is what the Apostle Paul is referring to when he speaks of partaking of the Lord’s Supper “in an unworthy manner.”

Look again at v. 27. If we take the elements in an unworthy manner we are guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord Jesus. But what exactly is an “unworthy manner?”

Let me answer that question with a question. Would you come to the table with known and unconfessed sin? I am not talking about something that you have truly forgotten and the Holy Spirit has not brought to your memory. I am talking about a sin or sins you are fully aware of, but refuse to acknowledge, admit, and confess. Would you consciously and deli-berately come to the table with that kind of unconfessed sin? That would be unworthy. That would be sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

What are the consequences for such behavior? Look again at vv. 29-30. You would be eat-ing and drinking judgment to yourself. Why? The answer should be obvious. Such beha-vior would be unmistakable proof of an unrepentant heart, or a heart that was harboring anger or bitterness toward a brother or sister in Christ. The results for a Christian with an unrepentant heart can be devastating. At the very least, they are sobering. Think of it. Who would want to bring the consequences found in v. 30 down upon themselves?

But that’s what the Scripture says we’re facing if we refuse to confess known sins to the God who loves us and sent His Son to die for us. This weakness and sickness Paul speaks of may be physical, emotional, or spiritual, but the death he speaks of must be physical death. We can say that with surety. It can’t be spiritual death because a Christian can’t spiritually die.

The point is that if we, His children, treat the Lord’s Supper lightly or with indifference, dis-
respect, or disdain, God will discipline us. He must. His holiness demands it. Listen, for two thousand years the world has treated the memory of Christ and His sacrifice with indif-ference, disrespect, and disdain. The world, with what it foolishly thinks is impunity, sins against the body and blood of Christ all the time. But we, God’s children, simply cannot do so. So when we come to the table we prepare ourselves in a worthy manner.

In v. 28 we see what that looks like. (self-examination) In v. 31 we see the outcome. (no judg-ment) Examining yourself humbly and honestly will allow you to see your sin as God sees it. You need to recognize your sin and agree with God that it is sin. Keep a marker here in
1 Corinthians 11 and go back with me to Psalms. When David confessed his sins he said…
*Psalm 51:3-4
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against You, You only have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight.

Then he describes the results of his confession.
*Psalm 32:5
5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.

Do you see? The outcome of David’s agreeing with God about his sin and confessing it was that his conscience was freed from the guilt of his sin. It was that guilt that weighed him down and kept him from the beauty of pure worship and joyful fellowship with God.
*Psalm 32:6-7
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.

David came to see his sin as God saw it, and when he confessed it, God restored him.
*Psalm 51:12
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

This is what God does for us when we examine ourselves and see our sin as David saw his. Then our preparation for coming to the Communion table will not be “in an unworthy man-ner.” (back to 1 Corinthians 11:28) “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

This is what we are called to do. We are called to search our own hearts, admit our sin, and confess it. Can you see how doing those three things – above all the other things that Chris-tians can do – serves to purify the church? Listen, this side of heaven, the church is never more pure in God’s sight than when we worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Therefore, coming to the Lord’s Supper and partaking of these elements is the highest form of worship. We lay ourselves bare before Him, recognizing who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Who else but real Christians do that? Can you see why these elements are only for Christians? Can you see why every true Christian is called to come to the table? But there are four potential roadblocks

1. What if you examine yourself and find sin in your heart? Should you stay away? No, you should not. Honest self-examination will expose your sins. Isn’t that the whole point? Do not stay away if there is sin in your life. You need to confess that sin. Such confession is a vital and necessary part of your preparation. If Christians stayed away from the table be-cause of sin in their lives when would they ever come to the table? Which one of us has no sin in our life!
1 John 1:8
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

2. What if you examine yourself and find doubt? Should you stay away? No, you should not. Honest self-examination will expose your doubts. That too is part of the preparation. Do not stay away if you have doubts. You need to admit those doubts and ask the Lord to strengthen your faith. If Christians stay away from the table because they’ve had doubts about what they believe or questioned their own faith, which one of us would ever come to the table? There are times when every believer battles doubts. The Apostle Thomas had his doubts, didn’t he? But Jesus still invited him to come to the table, and when he confessed his faith, Jesus blessed him. Thomas said…
John 20:28b
28b “My Lord and My God!”

3. What if you examine yourself and find depression and a heart that weighed down with troubles, worries, and strife? What if you’re fighting a battle that is sapping your strength and maybe even your desire to go on? Should you stay away? Absolutely not! Staying away from this highest form of God-honoring worship is the very last thing you should do. Do you remember what Jesus said?
Matthew 11:28-29
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
29 “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.

4. But there’s one more. What if you examine yourself and find anger about someone or some situation? What if you’re holding a grudge against a brother or sister in Christ? Well, an honest self-examination will expose that too. And what if that is there? Should you stay away from the table because of it? You should humble yourself and fix it as fast as you can!
Immediately after Jesus taught His disciples to pray with what we now call “The Lord’s Prayer,” He gave them further instructions. He said…
Matthew 6:14-15
14 “For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
15 “But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your trans-gressions.”

The forgiveness He speaks of here is not the forgiveness that leads to salvation, but the for-giveness that affects our daily walk with God. It’s about our fellowship with Him.
Mark 11:25
25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against any-one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trans-gressions.”

Don’t stay away from the table, Christian. Come to the table, confess your sins, admit your doubts, strengthen your faith, forgive your brother or sister, and find rest for your souls and the peace of God that passes all human comprehension. There is nowhere else you can do that except here at this table, and with these elements.

But there is a word of warning. If, for any reason, you refuse to examine yourself rightly, and fail to deal with whatever needs to be dealt with, then as your friend and pastor, I im-plore you to do two things. First, let the elements pass, and second, take whatever steps you need to take to resolve the matter. Please do not wait. “For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly (1 Corinthians 11:29).”

How seriously should we take all of this? Look once more at 1 Corinthians 11:30. Among the Corinthian Christians who had been taking communion not rightly, but lightly, were some who had lost their strength, some who had lost their health, and some who had even lost their lives.
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III. Conclusion
We’re ready to go to the table. We’ll take time to pray silently. So examine yourself.
• Are you a Christian?
• Will you confess whatever sins the Holy Spirit brings to your mind?
• Will you admit your doubts and your fears?
• Will you lay your burdens on Jesus?
• Will you forgive your brother for all offenses, real or imagined?

That is how you prepare to take Communion. Are you ready? Then come to the table, eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Remember Jesus and joyfully thank Him for what He has done for you. Will you join me?