Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians 14:40?
1 Corinthians 14:40:
But let all things be done decently and in order.
“Let all things be done decently”—or, in some versions, properly, fittingly, harmoniously—“and in order.”
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, we bow ourselves before Thee, opening our hearts, our whole being, toward Thyself and toward Thy Word. May Thy Word register in the very depths of our being, doing that work of transforming us and conforming us to Thine own image.
Lord, we trust Thy Holy Spirit to do this work that He alone can do. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
We have been considering together this first letter to the Corinthians. Basically, this letter is focused on one thing: we are called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
That is where we are today. We all have been called by the grace of God, through the finished work of Christ. We have been called into that fellowship which our Lord Jesus had with His Father, and that fellowship has been extended to us, that today we may be in the good of that fellowship—sharing with God, sharing with Christ, and sharing with one another. What a privilege that is.
When you read 1 Corinthians, you find that church was full of problems. Basically, all these problems were due to the fact that they did not really know what the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is. Or, putting it another way, all these were problems concerning the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
In the past, we have mentioned a number of them: division, moral corruption, and social conduct not according to God. Even though these Corinthian believers had been saved—as the Bible says, sanctified and justified—we find that somehow they did not live up to that fellowship.
Oftentimes, we find that they fell back into their old ways, living by their own natural life. Because of this, all these problems came in. They had missed the fellowship.
Now, this morning, we would like to begin with 1 Corinthians 11 through 16, because in these chapters we find one common subject: church life, assembly life, body life.
We are called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. What is it? You remember, when our Lord Jesus was on earth, in view of Calvary, He told His disciples:
Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Now, we know that the very word church in the Greek originally is ecclesia, and ecclesia means called-out ones, gathered together. So you find that church life is a gathered-together life.
In Hebrews 10:25, we are exhorted that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, especially in view of the day drawing near.
So we find that, in our calling, this church life, assembly life, and body life occupy a very important part.
We mentioned before that life is multidimensional. In other words, we live our lives in many different areas. There is the personal life that we live. There is the family life that we live. There is a social life that we live. And we as believers have a church life, an assembly life, a Body-of-Christ life to live.
As a matter of fact, this area is the most important area. Why? Because when you look at the eternal purpose of God, what is He after? He is after a Body. He is after a collective, corporate Body. He is after a Bride. That is a collective entity.
So you find that the Corinthian believers, after they believed in the Lord Jesus, did gather together. But their problem was that, in gathering together, they found many problems.
If you read these last six chapters, you know that they asked the apostle Paul, in their letter, concerning certain questions. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 12:1, they asked Paul concerning spiritual things—how to be really spiritual and how to exercise their spiritual gifts. Then again, in 1 Corinthians 16, they asked Paul about the matter of the collection: how should believers give?
These are questions related to church life, assembly life, and body life. Paul realized the importance of church life. Therefore, instead of just answering their two questions, he enlarged his reply and included questions they had not asked. To Paul, these were very important matters—things that needed to be adjusted.
So, on the whole, you find that the last six chapters of 1 Corinthians are devoted to this area of church life, assembly life, and body life.
Before we go into it, can we find some ruling principle, some governing principle, concerning this matter of church life?
I think what we read at the beginning of this time is probably that governing principle: that all things be done decently and in order.
In other words, church life is the expression of the life of Christ. Now, we can express the life of Christ personally. We should express the life of Christ in our family life. We should let the life of Christ regulate our social life. And, most of all, in church life, it is nothing but the corporate expression of the life of Christ.
Or, put it another way, it is the life of Christ expressed and manifested among those who are His. Church life is the life of Christ in corporate expression.
When you look at the life of Christ, what is the ruling principle behind His life? You remember John 1:14:
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us … full of grace and truth.
In other words, His life is full of grace and truth. His life is so gracious, so beautiful, so harmonious, so wonderful. His life was so truthful, so orderly. There is no confusion. There is no mixture. It is pure. It is clean. It is heavenly. It is spiritual.
That is the life of Christ that we see lived in His person. And now, the same life that is in you and me, in us together, must be lived in the same way.
So, the ruling principle of church life is decently and orderly, full of grace and truth. It is the expression of Christ Himself. God is not a God of disorder; He is a God of order. Our God is a God of beauty. Everything is so harmonious—nothing mixed, nothing confused. That is the way church life is to be.
Paul, realizing the importance of church life, used six chapters to give instruction to the Corinthian believers.
If you begin with 1 Corinthians 11, you will find that the first matter is head covering. There is a divine order: God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of every man, and man is the head of the woman. There is a divine order.
Then you read on and find the matter of the breaking of bread. After that, you come to the matter of spiritual gifts, and then to how spiritual gifts should be exercised in a meeting. Then you have the matter of the collection: how should believers give? After that, you have the matter of obedience and submission.
All these matters are related to church life. This morning, we would like to share together on this matter of the breaking of bread.
Now, you know, the breaking of bread is a most important expression of corporate life. When you read the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit describes the church life that these people began to live.
At first, you have 120 believers. Then, on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 joined them. Later on, you find that there was increase and increase and increase. How did they live together? What kind of church life did they have? How did they assemble? How did the Body of Christ exercise itself?
If you want to find it in a simple sentence, it is in Acts 2:42:
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
That includes all their fellowship life. They continued; they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles.
Now, we all know that the apostles did not have their own teachings. The teaching of the apostles is one: it is the teaching of Christ. They never taught anything that they had not received from the Lord. What they saw, heard, and learned from the Lord, they passed on to us.
Paul did not have his own teaching. Peter did not have his own teaching. James did not have his own teaching. It is true that, when they taught, they seemed to have different emphases, touching different areas. But whatever they taught was what they had received from the Lord. It is the teaching of the Lord Jesus.
Then there is the fellowship of the apostles. The apostles did not have their own fellowships. When the Corinthian believers tried to create a Pauline fellowship, Paul said, “Who am I? Did I die for you? Were you baptized in my name?”
There is no such thing as a Pauline fellowship, no such thing as a Petrine fellowship, no such thing as an Apollos fellowship. Even though there were many apostles, there was one fellowship.
As we find in 1 John 1, the apostle John said:
Our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
And he passed that fellowship on to others, that they might have fellowship with them. In other words, there is only one fellowship: fellowship in the Lord Jesus Christ.
How did they express that they continued in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles? Especially in two things: the breaking of bread and prayer.
So, brothers and sisters, you see how important the breaking of bread is. You see how important prayer is. This is not private prayer or personal prayer; it is corporate prayer. The church comes together to break bread. The church comes together to pray.
You cannot break bread alone. You need at least a variety of two, because it is a corporate thing.
In the early church, how they emphasized this matter of breaking bread! As a matter of fact, you find that in Acts 2 they broke bread every day, from house to house.
Why? Because this is the noblest, fullest expression of church life. Throughout church history, this has continued on. Even though later on it became a tradition and lost its real meaning, nevertheless it is something that has continued even unto this day.
Because on the night of His betrayal, before His crucifixion, our Lord Jesus gathered His own disciples in that upper room.
They ate the Passover feast. During that supper, our Lord Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying:
This is My body. Do this in remembrance of Me.
Then, after the supper, He took the cup, blessed it, and gave it to His disciples, saying:
This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this in remembrance of Me.
Since that night, the church, instead of celebrating Passover, has been celebrating the breaking of bread.
It is not a ritual. It is not a tradition. It is something real, living, spiritual, heavenly.
Now, the Corinthian believers did gather together to break bread. But what did Paul say? He said, “In this matter, I do not praise you.” Why? Because when they gathered together, it was not for the better, but for the worse.
Can you gather together for worse instead of for better? Why? Because Paul said, “I hear that there are divisions among you. I hear that there are sects among you.” Sects simply mean different schools of opinion.
In other words, the breaking of bread is a symbol of oneness. But they came together with divisions, with different opinions, with different hearts. They were not truly one. So when they gathered together, it was not for better; it was for worse.
The breaking of bread happened at the Last Supper. In the early days, the church combined these two things: the meal and the breaking of bread. In Acts 2, they broke bread at every meal, and later on, you find that it was observed on the Lord’s Day. Still, they put these two things together.
The Corinthian believers, because of their divisions and different opinions, were not one in spirit. Even this was expressed in their eating. Those who were rich had a rich meal before the brothers and sisters, while those who were poor had nothing to eat and were starving. Some were drunken, while others were hungry.
Paul said, “You gather together for worse, not for better.” Later on, these two things were separated. The love feast and the breaking of bread became two different things instead of being observed together.
The Corinthian believers still kept the tradition, but they kept it in the wrong way. It is serious. Why? Because Paul said there were many who were weak, and even some who had died. In other words, somehow the judgment of God was upon them.
So, brothers and sisters, the important thing is that we need to know what the breaking of bread really is, so that we will not take it lightly and eat and drink judgment to ourselves. On the other hand, we need to know what to do when we come together to break bread.
As you read 1 Corinthians 11:17-33, you will find that Paul was trying to tell them that they had made the breaking of bread more elaborate than it really is.
We human beings tend to make simple things complicated. God’s truth is very simple. There is the simplicity that is in Christ, and the enemy tries to entice us away from it.
If you look at the so-called breaking of bread today—whether you call it the Mass, the sacrament, or Holy Communion—you find that it has become a very elaborate thing, with lots of rituals and lots of rules, instead of being the expression of the life of Christ: free, yet orderly and beautiful.
Paul is trying to tell them what the breaking of bread really is. It is very simple. All we are commanded to have is a loaf and a cup. We need to know what the loaf represents and what the cup represents. We need to know what we are doing.
Our Lord Jesus, on the night of His betrayal, took that loaf, blessed it, broke it, delivered it to us, and said, “This is My body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
Throughout church history, there have been many theories about this loaf. Some take this loaf as the literal body of Christ. They say that, after the priest blesses it, this loaf made of meal becomes the literal body of Christ, and they sacrifice the body of Christ once more, crucifying Him again and again and again.
Other people take it merely as a symbol. It is a loaf, nothing but a loaf. It only represents the body of Christ, not the real body of Christ. So, when you take a bit, you do not need to be too serious about it. It is just a loaf; that is all.
Brothers and sisters, what is it? What is it really? The Lord said, “This is My body.” Do you take it literally, or do you take it symbolically? How do you take it?
Remember: this breaking of bread is a spiritual thing. Because it is spiritual, you cannot look at it either literally or symbolically. You have to look at it spiritually.
In other words, the loaf is still a loaf, but in our spirit we remember Him—His body broken for us. We have to take it spiritually.
When you look at this loaf and remember how this holy body of our Lord Jesus lived thirty-three and a half years in such holiness—sanctified, set apart, totally for God—never having sinned, not even knowing what sin is, pleasing His Father in that body; and then that pure body was broken for us—what love is behind it!
Can you take this loaf and not be melted by His love? Take it spiritually. It means a great deal, much more than just a piece of bread.
It is not just a remembrance. You remember what you have seen, heard, and experienced in the past. You cannot remember something that you have no experience of.
That is the reason why only those who are truly redeemed of the Lord can partake of this loaf and this cup, because it is a remembrance. If you have no experience of how Christ died for you, even for your sins, and of being saved and redeemed—if you do not know Him as your Savior and Lord—how can you remember? You have nothing to remember.
So, to remember, you need to really know Him, that His body was broken for you.
And not only that. In 1 Corinthians 11:26, it tells us:
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till He come.
To remember is to look back. You have something to remember. You look back to the time when the Lord opened your eyes and you saw how He, the Just One, died for your sins. You remember.
But not only do we remember. When we come together to break the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the death of Christ. We exhibit the death of the Lord.
When you look at the table, you see the bread on one side and the cup on the other side. What does it mean? It means that when the blood is separated from the body, that is death.
So you exhibit, before the world and even before the unseen world, the death of the Lord. That is our testimony. We are here today because of the death of the Lord. We proclaim what the death of the Lord has done.
This is our testimony to the world, and even to the unseen world—to the angels and even to the demons. Every time we come to remember the Lord, we proclaim. This is our testimony.
We are what we are today, and we gather together today, because of what the death of the Lord has done for us. We are not ashamed to declare it. Let the whole world know that our Lord Jesus died for us.
Furthermore, He said, “Till He come.” That is looking to the future.
We are here, breaking this bread and drinking this cup, to remember what the Lord has done for us and to proclaim His finished work to the whole world. Furthermore, we are here to break bread until the day when He shall come.
Our Lord Jesus told His disciples that night, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until the kingdom.” So, brothers and sisters, there is something for which we are looking forward. We are looking forward to His return.
He has risen. He has ascended. He is at the right hand of His Father, and He is coming back to receive us. We will have this Lord’s Supper until He comes, and then we will have the marriage feast of the Lamb. Think of that. This is what the Lord’s Supper really means.
And more than that, if you turn back to 1 Corinthians 10:16-22, there you find something different.
In 1 Corinthians 11, the breaking of bread is called the Lord’s Supper, because supper is the time when the whole family gathers together. But when you go to 1 Corinthians 10, you find that it is called the Lord’s table.
What does a table represent? Every time the Bible speaks of a table, it means fellowship—sharing together. That is the table. So it says, “the Lord’s table.”
You will find even the order is different. In 1 Corinthians 11, our Lord Jesus is the One who blessed the bread and blessed the cup. But when you come to 1 Corinthians 10, we bless the cup and we bless the loaf.
In 1 Corinthians 11, the bread comes first and the cup comes next. In 1 Corinthians 10, the cup comes first and the bread comes next. Do you see the distinction there? It speaks of the same thing, but it gives a different angle.
In 1 Corinthians 11, it is the Lord who gives this to us. In 1 Corinthians 10, it is we who respond to Him. So far as our experience goes, the blood is before the bread. So far as God’s purpose is concerned, the bread comes before the blood, because if there is no body, where is the blood?
In our experience, we experience His blood—the redeeming, the atoning work—first, and then we experience His life. That is why, in 1 Corinthians 10, you find it called the Lord’s table.
“The cup of blessing which we bless,” it is the communion of the blood of Christ. Communion is the same word as fellowship. The emphasis here is on communion: sharing together, experiencing.
Brothers and sisters, every time you drink the cup, you share the same with Christ. You experience, as it were, once more, the wonderful cleansing and forgiveness of your sins. It refreshes you, invigorates you, and enables you to go on in your pilgrimage.
Every time you come to the Lord’s table, it strengthens you. It is real. It is living.
And when you take that loaf, you experience once more the supply, the abundant supply, of His life. From now on, you can live by His life. You have the strength to go on in your pilgrimage.
Brothers and sisters, there is a spiritual experience going on. It is not a ritual. It is not something you can take lightly. Something real, spiritual, and living is going on. Do you really receive that benefit from it?
Oh, brothers and sisters, if only we can break bread as God has ordained it, what a difference it will make to us!
Now, because of this, we are exhorted that we should not come in an unworthy manner.
We say that the Lord is worthy. What does it mean? If you say the Lord is worthy, do you come to Him in a worthy manner—worthy of His worthiness?
If the President of the United States invited you to dinner, how would you go? Would you prepare yourself for that occasion? Would you take a bath, put on your best clothes, and act in your best manner?
Why? Because he is the president. He is a worthy man, and you can only come to him in a worthy manner. You cannot go there poorly fitted. You cannot go there naked.
That is quite a parody, is it not? The Corinthians went to the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner—unworthy of the Lord, totally unworthy.
Oh, we had better take this seriously, brothers and sisters. This is very real. It breaks the heart of our Lord when you think of the way that we come to the Lord’s table.
In some places, whenever they have Communion, they have a special time for people to come together and get ready for it. Now, I do not advocate that, because we should be ready every moment, any moment. But, brothers and sisters, do we come prepared?
If the President of the United States invited you to dinner at eight o’clock, would you show up at nine o’clock? Is that a worthy manner?
In one sense, we are never worthy. We are like Mephibosheth, the enemy of David. David, in the love of God and because of his covenant with Jonathan, received Mephibosheth, his enemy, as his own son.
When Mephibosheth was at David’s table, under the table were his crippled legs. That is what we are.
When we come to the Lord’s table, thank God, we are treated as sons and daughters. We are having a love feast with our Lord Jesus Himself. He invites us to drink of Him and eat of Him. But under the table, there are always the crippled legs.
We are sinners saved by grace. Brothers and sisters, we are never worthy, but thank God, He makes us worthy. It is all grace. But not because of this should we abuse that grace. We still need to come in a worthy manner.
Here you find, in 1 Corinthians 11, what a worthy manner is:
Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.
First of all, to come in a worthy manner is to discern the body. In other words, you know what you are doing. You know what this body represents.
You are not just coming to an ordinary meal. You are coming to the Lord’s table. You are coming to the Lord’s Supper. He invites you to come. The first thing you need to do is to discern the body.
What does it mean? We have already said that this loaf represents the body in two ways.
Before it is broken, it represents the personal body of Christ—that body which He took upon Himself in His incarnation. The Word became flesh. In that body, He lived thirty-three and a half years.
Whenever you come to the Lord’s table, discern the body. This is the body of Christ. It is not something common. Spiritually, you have to discern that.
That will give you a kind of seriousness. You cannot come lightly when you think that it represents the body of Christ.
Number two: after the bread is broken, you take a piece and I take a piece. Then you find that the loaf on the table is gone. It has disappeared.
But it has not disappeared. It has reappeared among all those who have taken a piece. In other words, that body represents the church.
So, in 1 Corinthians 10, it says:
We, who are many, are one bread, one body.
When God looks down from heaven, He sees that one Body in us, one loaf in us. We are many, but we are one. That is the Body.
That is the reason whenever you break bread, you need to remember this: this bread stands for the body of Christ, personally and corporately.
This loaf not only represents the body of Christ personally, but also corporately. It does not just represent the few of us here. Whenever we break bread, we are not only in fellowship with Christ, because it is His body; we are also in fellowship with all the believers in the world.
They may not be here, but our fellowship includes them. This bread is never exclusive. It is all-inclusive. That broadens our heart.
Number two: prove yourself. What does it mean? It means examining yourself, scrutinizing yourself, putting yourself in the light of God’s Word.
When you come to take the loaf and take the cup, is there anything, any controversy, between you and the Lord that has not been settled? You know it.
Is there any hatred, any enmity, between you and any brother or sister? Before you come to the Lord’s table, all these need to be settled before you take the loaf and the cup.
Prove yourself. That is why we need to come prepared, not just casually.
I remember a story—a true story. One man killed another man’s father, and that man determined that he would take revenge for his father.
After certain years, this man was saved. He traveled to a place where there was a gathering of the saints. So, on the Lord’s Day, he went there to the Lord’s table.
He came in, sat down, looked around, and saw his enemy sitting there—the one he had determined to kill.
He struggled. He met his enemy. He still wanted to kill him. So he got up and walked out. He did not know what to do.
Now, this man was a brother in the Lord. “I still want to kill him. That is my vow. What should I do? I cannot break bread with him.” So he walked out.
He prayed to the Lord, “What should I do?” He could not go back with an unforgiving spirit and break bread with his enemy.
Then he remembered how he had been an enemy of God, and God forgave him. So, in his heart, he forgave that man. He walked back, sat down, and broke bread with that brother.
Brothers and sisters, that is what it is. How can you break bread if you still have an unforgiving spirit toward your brother or your sister? How can you break bread if there is something unsettled between you and the Lord? You cannot come with an evil conscience.
Prove yourself. Then your breaking of bread will really be meaningful, powerful, refreshing, and building up.
And then, thirdly, in Deuteronomy 16:16, the children of Israel were commanded to go to Jerusalem for the feast three times a year: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
God said that whenever they went to a feast, they should not go empty-handed.
If you turn to Deuteronomy 26, it says to bring all the produce of the firstfruits, put them in the basket, and bring them to the Lord. Lay that basket by the altar.
In other words, when we come to the Lord’s table, can we come empty-handed? No. We should come with our basket full.
But if we do not till the ground during that time, we have nothing to offer. This shows our daily life—how we need to cultivate our life with the Lord.
In our daily life, we experience His mercy. We experience His forgiveness. We experience His love. We experience His longsuffering. We experience His faithfulness. We experience His supply, protection, and keeping.
Brothers and sisters, if we live a life with Him through the week, our basket will be full. We cannot come empty-handed. We have to offer the sacrifice of praise to Him.
This is not a law, a rule, or legalism. But, brothers and sisters, you may have been at the Lord’s table for years and never opened your mouth to say, “Thank You.” Can you do that? Is that a worthy manner?
Why do you hold back? Is it because you have nothing to offer? Or is it because you cannot pray as beautifully or as logically as some brothers and sisters?
What pleases the Lord is the heart—just a word. Do not hide yourself under hymns and choruses to substitute for it. Have your personal offering to the Lord.
The breaking of bread should be a time in which the Lord is so honored, so worshiped, and so praised that, when He looks upon us, as Isaiah says, His heart shall be satisfied.
Brothers and sisters, I wonder how satisfied the heart of our Lord is at our Lord’s table. Are we gathering together for worse? Or are we gathering together for better?
May the Lord have mercy on us. I speak to myself, and I want to share it with you, brothers and sisters.
The breaking of bread is the holiest time of church life.
Never miss it. It is so important. It is our very life.
The more you know it, the more you realize how much it means—not only to you, but to your Lord.
God bless us.
Dear Lord, speak to our hearts. Draw us, that we may run after Thee, because Thou art worthy. Amen.