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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
July 29
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Today's Pathway:
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The second problem area in the worship services at the Corinthian church was the Lord's Supper. Paul opens by telling them that he is not going to praise them at this point, because their behavior at the Lord's Supper was so bad that they were in worse spiritual shape after participating in that ordinance than they were before they partook. Before delving into why this is the case, there is something that we should note. In verses 17, 18, 20, and 33 use the expression "come together" is used. The significance of that phrase is that the Lord's Supper was only administered when the people had come together to the local church. There are numerous churches in which the pastors take communion to people in their homes. While this may seem to be a gracious gesture on the part of the pastor, it is not the Lord's Supper. Biblical Communion is an ordinance that the entire church body participates in at the same time and in the same place.
Paul opens his indictment against the Corinthians by stating that he has heard that there are divisions in the church. This is obviously very important to Paul, because he writes "first of all", but never uses the word "second". There were certainly other issues at the Lord's Table, but they were dwarfed by the inability of the church members to be united with each other. Paul believed it because he knew that, because of the carnality of the members, the church was filled with "camps" ("I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ") . In verse 19 he mentions that the church had heresies in it as well. The word "heresies" does not necessarily mean false teaching, but it does mean that there were factions in the church, and perhaps those factions were based upon varying doctrinal positions. It is very interesting that at the end of verse 19 Paul writes that these heresies ultimately reveal who has been approved of God and who has not. This is not to say that God desires for there to be factions and divisions within a church, for His goal is that the believers "be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind" (Philippians 2:2). However, when problems like this occur in a church, it soon becomes obvious to those who are spiritually-minded which people love and follow the Lord and are thus approved of Him, and which people do not.
In verses 20-21 Paul reveals the problem that existed in Corinth. He tells them that when the church came together, claiming to have communion, they were not eating the Lord's Supper. The expression "Lord's Supper" is a reminder that this ordinance belongs to the Lord Himself, and that it is to honor Him, and that He has established the proper way of participating in it. If they weren't having the Lord's Supper, what were they having? At best, they were having an Agape (Love) Feast, but they were even doing that in an unBiblical manner. Jack Arnold explains:
"It was the custom in those days to have a fellowship supper before observing the Lord’s Table. At the love feast people would bring food and all would share it. Originally it was a meal of unity where the poor got to eat the food of the rich and this assured the poor of a good meal. But, these love feasts soon became a corrupting factor to the observance of the Lord’s Table."
Keith Krell adds,
"Instead of sharing their food and drinks, each family was bringing its own and eating what it had brought. The result was that the rich had plenty but the poor had little and suffered embarrassment as well. This was hardly the picture of Christian love and unity. They were eating their own private meals rather than sharing a meal consecrated to the Lord."
Tomorrow we will discuss this further.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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