025 Sanctification and the Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians 11:27-32

October 19, 2025

This morning we want to return to our study on

“The Necessity of Sanctification”

Hopefully you will remember that we are currently looking at

“The Dynamics of Sanctification”

That is to say we want to know some

Practical tools for how to pursue sanctification.

We have continually highlighted one verse in this regard and we want to do it again this morning.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

· We have noted that the tools which are effective for sanctification are those

tools which help us to gaze upon the glory of Christ.

· And when we gaze upon the glory of Christ the Holy Spirit uses that to

transform us into the same image.

We saw that there are Useless Sanctifiers

· Legalism

· Mysticism

· Asceticism

And we are also learning that there are Useful Sanctifiers.

· We’ve looked at Scripture.

· We’ve looked at Prayer.

· We’ve looked at Providence.

This morning I want us to begin looking at the 4th tool and that is: FELLOWSHIP

When you think about tools that sanctify,

This one may not immediately come to your mind,

But is fairly obvious when you consider it.

Some obvious ways God sanctifies us when we gather.

· Teaching and preaching the word which is certainly useful.

· Corporate prayer which are certainly useful.

· Theologically informed music which is certainly useful.

Those are fairly obvious, but that is not all.

· Things like church discipline where our brothers are willing to confront our sin and call us to repentance.

· Hearing testimonies and seeing Christ work in the lives of our fellow brothers and sisters.

· Even disagreements provide opportunity to die to self.

Every time a member disagrees with my way of doing things

I get the opportunity to die to self and prioritize my brother over me

ALL OF THAT IS VERY SANCTIFYING.

BUT THIS MORNING,

As we begin to examine how fellowship serves to sanctify us

We want to consider that church is where we observe the ORDINANCES.

I’m talking about baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Both of those very clearly point us to the glory of Christ

Therefore both of those are tools used by the Holy Spirit

To produce sanctification in us.

When we consider baptism

· We are drawn to Christ who first died and was raised,

· How we are baptized into His death and resurrection.

· His death is reckoned to us as is His resurrected life.

· He carried our body of sin down into the grave and has given us a new

resurrected life where we are free from sin.

· That is seen and celebrated every time we witness the ordinance of baptism.

· Considering it is a sanctifying thing.

And so is the Lord’s Supper.

· As we take the elements and consider Christ’s body in which He fulfilled the

Law and satisfied God’s righteous requirements.

· As we consider Christ’s blood and His atoning death to pay for our sin.

· We see the glory of Christ so easily there and that is also sanctifying for us.

Not to mention the fact that when we partake in the Lord’s Supper

We are literally commanded to examine ourselves as we partake.

YOU CAN SEE HOW HELPFUL THE ORDINANCES ARE

TO OUR SANCTIFICATION.

And because it has been a few weeks since we have observed the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, as we begin look at fellowship as a tool of sanctification, we are going to start there.

And as has been the case for us as we look at each of these tools,

We want to do so in a very practical way.

We want to see how to use this particular tool

In the most effective way in order to be sanctified.

We talked about how to study the Bible

· Proverbs 2 acronym or R.E.A.D.

When we talked about Prayer

· Memorized Psalms 139:23-25

Psalms 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

When we looked at Discipline

· Another prayer in Psalms 119:71

Psalms 119:71 “It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.”

Those are all really practical steps.

· How to read.

· How to pray.

· How to respond to trials.

So, regarding the Lord’s supper, we want to know HOW TO PARTAKE.

AND THE KEY HERE IS: EXAMINATION

Certainly we examine the work of Christ.

But we also examine the manner in which we partake.

For that we are turning to 1 Corinthians 11:27-32

(27-32) “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”

The seriousness of such a passage cannot be overstated.

Paul calls for self-examination as we partake.

And there is a weight to the command.

For we see that in Corinth

There are those who are sick and even dying

Because they are failing to partake in a worthy manner.

We could say that partaking of the Lord’s Supper

Was both a sanctifying and devastating for the church in Corinth.

IT WAS SANCTIFYING TO BE SURE.

The Lord was actually using the Lord’s Supper to expose complacent hearts and was then removing them from the body through death.

That’s certainly one way to sanctify a congregation.

But that is also a devastating effect on the body.

How tragic that an ordinance which should result in worship and praise and holiness was instead resulting in sickness and death.

I mean this reads like stories that we see in the Old Testament.

· We think of Aaron’s sons offering strange fire and God consuming them with

fire from the altar.

· We think of Uzzah touching the ark and God striking him dead.

· We think of Uzziah entering the temple and God striking him with leprosy.

WHAT IS OCCURRING IN CORINTH IS SERIOUS.

We all marvel when we see God strike Ananias and Saphira dead

For lying to the Holy Spirit, but we find out here that

God was doing the same thing to the Corinthians.

I think we can agree that partaking in a worthy manner is important.

God said (29) “he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.”

Paul says in verse 27 that such a man “shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.”

What a strong statement!

· Remember those at the crucifixion who cried out, “His blood be on our heads and on our children forever”?

· Remember when the writer of Hebrews warned us that it was a terrible thing to “crucify again the Son of God”?

· Remember when he warned us of the danger of “trampling under food the blood of the covenant by which Christ was sanctified”?

THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF.

The Lord’s Supper should lead you to self-examination.

Sickness and death are possible if it doesn’t.

This is a very sanctifying tool in the church.

And so Paul says (28) “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the break and drink of the cup.”

WELL HOW DO I DO THAT?

That is what we want to consider here THIS MORNING.

In order to fully grasp 1 Corinthians 11:27-32

You need to understand that these verses

Are a culmination of several warnings to the Corinthians.

Paul actually references their taking of the Lord’s Supper 3 times.

In all 3 instances they were doing it wrongly.

Certainly all 3 failures were contributing to their sickness and death.

So by learning how they did it wrongly,

We can see how to do it rightly

And thereby make the most of our use of this fabulous ordinance.

So let me show you how they did it wrong in hopes that we might do it right.

#1 IT WAS AN IMMORAL CELEBRATION

TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 5:1-8

The story there should be familiar to you, we have referenced it many times.

The context here is unbelievable.

(1-2) “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.”

There was blatant immorality and the church was unconcerned.

· Paul says they were arrogant about it.

· They weren’t mourning over it.

· They weren’t disciplining the sinning brother.

· They just accepted it.

This was terribly offensive to Paul

· In verses 3-5 indicated that he had already passed judgment on such an individual

· And commanded the church to kick that sinning brother out of the church.

(3-5) “For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

That may seem harsh to read Paul’s judgment,

But in light of chapter 11

It would be far better to remove the sinning brother than to have the rest of the congregation grow sick and die as a result of their complacency.

THIS IS SERIOUS.

And we see PAUL’S DESCRIPTION of the problem in verses 6-8

(6-8) “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

The word pictures that Paul brings to the surface here are unmistakable.

· We see a reference to “leaven” in verses 6 & 7

· In verse 7 he speaks of “Christ our Passover”

· In verse 8 he calls them to “celebrate the feast”

The event Paul is drawing their attention to is obvious.

He is calling them to think about the Passover

Which occurred in the Old Testament during the Exodus.

YOU REMEMBER THE STORY.

God had promised one last plague by which He would break Pharaoh’s back and cause the release of His people from their slavery.

That final plague was the death of the firstborn throughout all Egypt.

However to protect the Hebrew firstborn,

· They were to take the blood of a spotless lamb and paint it on the doorpost.

· They were then to roast the lamb and eat it with their loins girded, staff in hand,

and eat it in haste.

· They were also to eat unleavened bread in this feast.

All of this pictured their release from bondage.

· Eating unleavened bread, with loins girded, and staff in hand all had to do with

speed.

· There wasn’t time for bread to rise, God was delivering and they were

leaving soon.

But the leaven actually had a dual symbolism.

The way women baked leavened bread was by using a starter

(some of you have done this before).

You keep back a small lump of dough

And kneed it into the next batch and the leaven spreads.

God was calling them to leave behind all the leaven of Egypt.

Don’t bring that influence with you.

Leave it, start over, remove the leaven.

All of that was a picture.

· The blood was certainly the atoning sacrifice for sin that caused death to Passover.

· The leaven was a picture of sin and worldliness which must be left behind.

· The lamb was none other than Christ.

Now, it was in the upper room where Jesus took the last Passover

And He told his disciples, from now on do this and think of Me!

This is no longer about Egypt, this is about Calvary.

And in that spirit the church is to carry on in the feast.

When you gather to feast you are to celebrate the atonement of Christ and you are to celebrate it with the putting away of sin.

Eat unleavened bread and focus on the fact that

Christ has called us out of the world and set us free.

You certainly don’t partake while harboring your sin.

And yet that is what the Corinthians were doing.

They were harboring immorality

While celebrating a feast that claimed freedom from it.

They were embracing sin while celebrating its removal.

That is certainly NOT how Christ called us to partake.

(8) “Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

THAT SHOULD MAKE SENSE TO US.

When we come here the aim is to expose our sin and confess it,

Not seek to conceal it and partake anyway.

But the Corinthians messed it up.

They had an immoral celebration

And the Lord was throwing them into sickness and death as a result.

Immoral Celebration

#2 IT WAS AN INSINCERE COMMUNION

TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 10:16-22

Paul actually starts this chapter by once again

Calling the mind of the Corinthians back to the time of the Exodus.

In the first 11 verses Paul reminds us of the rabble who wandered in the wilderness.

· He reminds us of the golden calf event.

· He reminds us of how they intermarried with the Moabites.

· He reminds us of how they grumbled against God and Moses.

· And He shows us how God judged them for all of those things.

God’s judgment fell on these people despite the fact that

They had all been under the cloud

And had all passed through the Red Sea

And had all ate manna from heaven

And had all drank water from a rock.

They had been recipients of God’s deliverance and blessing

AND YET God still killed them in the wilderness.

That sounds eerily similar to what was happening to the Corinthians.

They had been called to Christ,

And yet God was afflicting them with sickness and even death.

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

The same as with the children of Israel…IDOLATRY

(14-15) “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say.”

What do you mean: idolatry?

Well look at verses 16-22.

We learn a great deal about the Lord’s Supper here.

(16-18) “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?”

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL HERE.

The word “sharing” is (koy-no-NEE-ah)

It’s actually the word most often translated as “fellowship”

Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

SO WHAT IS PAUL SAYING?

When we take the Lord’s Supper we are fellowshipping with Christ.

We are communing with Him.

How does that work?

How does eating a symbolic cracker or drinking a symbolic glass of juice allow me to commune or fellowship with Christ?

THINK ABOUT IT LIKE THIS.

Have you ever been away from your family for an extended period?

You can get to missing your family pretty badly.

And so you pull out their picture and you start looking at it.

The picture is not them, it’s just a picture,

But it carries your mind to them and floods you with memories.

And while looking at that picture you can laugh and you can even cry.

You fellowship there.

Well the difference is that when you look at a picture of your family they may have no idea that you are doing it and they do not fellowship back.

BUT CHRIST DOES.

When we partake, not only are we communing with Him

He communes and fellowships with us.

It is a two-sided in a way that our minds cannot fully comprehend.

There is a spiritual fellowship with Christ that occurs there.

It is a very intimate and personal ordinance.

NOT ONLY THAT,

But we also fellowship with one another as we partake corporately.

Paul says “Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.”

We pass that plate and we realize that the same price paid for my redemption is the price paid for my neighbor’s redemption.

It is one of my favorite things to do during the Lord’s Supper.

· I like to watch the deacons pass it out.

· I like to watch you take the bread from the plate.

· I like to watch you take the cup of juice.

· And I remind myself of just how much Christ loves you.

· I remind myself how important you are to Him.

· It helps me to love you more.

· It humbles me to remind me that though He loves me greatly, it is not any more

than He loves you.

And there is unity there and love there.

It is a beautiful ordinance.

We partake and we rejoice in our love for Christ,

Christ’s love for us, and our love for each other in Christ.

And at this point we would ask:

SO WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

THE PROBLEM IS THAT

Immediately after partaking of such a beautiful and holy ordinance

The Corinthians were running out

And doing the same thing in pagan temples with other gods.

(19-22) “What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?”

IMAGINE THE HYPOCRISY!

You go to a chapel and you take your bride with you.

· And while you are there you confess your love for her and no other.

· You make vows of commitment.

· You have witnesses that join you in your commitment

· You take her home and you consummate the union.

And then you get up

And you go do the exact same thing with another woman.

It’s apt to make your bride feel as though

Your vows were a bit insincere wouldn’t it?

WELL THAT IS THE PROBLEM IN CORINTH.

They were professing love for Christ through the Lord’s supper

And immediately going and professing their love for the world.

AND YOU CAN’T DO BOTH.

You can’t be devoted to Christ and to the world.

You can’t love Christ and your idols.

It is to partake in an unworthy manner.

IF YOU DID THAT TO YOUR WIFE

· Do you suppose she might give you something in your soup to make you sick?

IF YOU DID IT LONG ENOUGH

· Do you suppose you might get something a little more serious in your soup to make you die?

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING IN CORINTH?

THEY ARE NOT USING THIS ORDINANCE RIGHTLY.

The Old Testament prophets talked about this sort of thing all the time.

Do you remember God through Isaiah telling them how much He hated their feasts and ceremonies?

Do you remember God through Jeremiah telling them how offensive their temple worship was?

Do you remember God through Malachi saying He wished someone would shut the door to the temple?

THE CEREMONY IS USELESS IF THE COMMITMENT IS PHONY.

Immoral Celebration, Insincere Communion

#3 IT WAS AN IRREVERENT COMMEMORATION

TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 11:17-26

Here we get Paul’s third reference to the Lord’s Supper.

· In chapter 5 it was compared to A FEAST that missed the point.

· In chapter 10 it was compared to A WEDDING that was insincere.

· HERE it is compared to a memorial or A FUNERAL.

That is what Paul says in verse 26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

On one hand when we partake we celebrate our deliverance from sin.

On another hand when we partake we enjoy our communion with our groom.

And still on another hand we honor His memory

And the power of His death on our behalf.

That is what we see here.

(23-25) “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; 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.” 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.”

We see the famous phrase “in remembrance of Me”

IT’S A MEMORIAL.

It is a sacred and solemn moment where we remember

The enormous price Christ paid to redeem us.

We look at this bread and we REMEMBER HIS BODY.

· The body He took on at His incarnation.

· The body in which He fulfilled the Law.

· The body in which He resisted every temptation.

· The body in which He suffered and was scorned and humiliated.

· We see the head that wore the crown of thorns.

· We see the hands and feet that were pierced.

· We see the eyes that wept.

· We see the ears that heard the mocking.

· We see the tongue that was parched.

· We see the side that was pierced.

· We see the back that was whipped.

We remember all that He endured to identify with us.

When we look at this cup we REMEMBER HIS DEATH.

The life is in the blood and He gave His for us.

· We hear Him say, “It is finished!”

· We see His lifeless body on the cross, taken down by Joseph and Nicodemus.

· We see Him buried in the tomb.

He died to pay the penalty of our sins.

And in solemn reverence we lift the cup

And we lift the bread to honor Him in His atoning death.

THERE IS REVERENCE AND MEMORIAL HERE.

That is what it is supposed to be.

But what were the Corinthians doing?

(17-22) “But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? 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 will not praise you.”

They had turned it into a drunken party.

It was a time of division

· They excluded those who were too poor to bring good food.

· They got drunk on the wine and gorged themselves on the bread.

· It wasn’t about Christ, it was about their flesh.

Imagine attending your own mother’s funeral.

· A drunk man walks in

· Makes someone get up

· He vomits on the carpet

· And then stands up and starts singing a bar tune

· Then he goes down to the kitchen and starts eating the funeral meal before the

family even gets out of the service.

IT WOULD BE OFFENSIVE.

(you might want such a person to be punished)

But that is what the Corinthians were doing.

It was a mockery to the memory of Christ’s atoning death

Paul says God is afflicting you with sickness and even death.

THERE SHOULD BE SOME SOLEMN REVERENCE HERE!

You are not partaking rightly.

You are missing the point.

THAT’S PRETTY INTENSE ISN’T IT?

But there we learn how the Lord’s Supper is supposed to sanctify us.

WHEN WE COME AND PARTAKE

We are supposed to:

Celebrate the feast correctly by examining ourselves and putting away our sin.

We are supposed to:

Commune with Christ alone and each other by eating and drinking and sharing in His sacrifice. We don’t do that for any other thing.

We are supposed to:

Commemorate Christ by remembering what He accomplished through His death.

And all of those things are very sanctifying.

All of those help us see the glory of Christ.

All of those help us deal with our sin.

This is what Paul means when he says:

(28-29) “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.”

So this morning, when the elements are passed.

LET’S GET REALLY PRACTICAL.

FIRST: Examine yourself and search for your sin that you might confess it and leave it.

And think about this for a moment.

If I told you that Jesus was coming to Spur this afternoon to heal your infirmities, would you come?

And when you came, would you only tell Him about one of your infirmities or would you list them all?

And would you be tempted to ask Him if He was aware of anything in you that perhaps you didn’t know about yet, so that He could go ahead and heal that too while He was here?

Of course you would!

So would I!

Well? Why would you hide your sin from the Savior?

Why would you refrain from seeking out your iniquity?

This is the Savior! This is the Deliverer!

Examine yourself, ask Him to examine you, confess your sins to Him,

Experience His forgiveness.

Celebrate the feast!

Celebrate your deliverance!

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

SECONDLY: Look upon these elements and let your mind be drawn to Him. See His life and goodness. See His atonement and salvation.

Relive your vows to Him and remember His promises to you.

· Adore Him here.

· Love Him here.

· Rejoice in Him here.

· Gaze upon His picture, and rejoice in your Savior.

THIRDLY: Remember His death and atonement.

He did that for you.

Lift high that cracker and that cup

And salute the all-sufficient death of Christ.

Honor Him, memorialize Him, declare His wondrous death and salvation.

Let all those around you know that you believe in His death

And you are grateful to honor Him.

THAT IS WHAT THE CORINTHIANS FAILED TO DO

And as a result the Lord’s Supper had devastating effects on their church.

But this ordinance can be so beneficial to our sanctification

When we partake in a worthy manner.

We are going to have a time of preparation

And then we will partake of the table of the Lord.

THE LORD’S SUPPER

· Deacons come forward

Hebrews 9:11-14”But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

· Give bread to deacons

· Deacon prayer

· Deacons pass out bread

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 “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; 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.”

· Take bread

Hebrews 9:24-28 “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

· Give juice to deacons

· Deacon prayer

· Deacons pass out juice

1 Corinthians 11:25-26 “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.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

· Take juice

· Deacon prayer

· Parting chorus