Topic: At The Lord’s Table [DCLM Daily Manna 21 February 2019 Daily Devotional]
Text: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 (KJV)
Key Verse: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27).
MESSAGE:
Unregenerate man handles God’s sacred ordinances with levity, and disrespect.
There was much disorder in the Corinthian church because the love-feast which preceded the Lord’s Supper, was the scene of riot and disorder, ostentation and jealousy. In the love-feast of the early Church, each brought his own supply of food, which was put into a common stock and shared by all alike. But at Corinth, each family or group retained their own provisions, and a great distinction was thus made between the rich and the poor. This caused much rivalry that was unworthy of followers of Jesus.
The Lord’s Supper is intended not only to commemorate the supreme sacrifice at Calvary, but also to enable us to spiritually incorporate into ourselves the very life and essence of the death of Jesus. This will enable us live for Him. Through it, believers are reminded of the death of the Saviour and of the hope and imminence of His return. Sadly, the Corinthian church soon lost its true meaning and replaced it with wanton discrimination between the rich and the poor. Paul promptly cautioned them and presented to the church the significance and process of conducting the Lord’s Supper, as given by the Lord.
We are liable to condemnation if we allow division in the Body of Christ. The bread and wine (emblems used at the Supper) are symbolic representations of the body and blood of the Saviour. Partaking in the Lord’s Supper shows that we are remembering Christ’s sacrifice for us and renewing our pledge of service to Him. Taking the ordinance unworthily portrays ignorance of the implications of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary. How then do we partake in the Lord’s Supper? We must do so prayerfully and thoughtfully, with humility, contrition of heart, honour and due reverence to God. That way, we receive fully the blessings of the “holy sacrament”.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: To get it right, we must do it right.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Luke 11-12
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
