'Side Benefits' of Partaking; The Common Meal Practice

1. Today we look in on a sad scene that is described by the apostle Paul some 25 years after the church began
2. Today we study the first and only extensive description in the New Testament of Christians partaking of the Lord's Supper, although not in a legitimate way, as we shall see
3. Today we are at the only place in the New Testament where this observance is specifically called the "Lord's Supper."

1. THE CORINTHIANS WERE TAUGHT THAT THERE WERE CERTAIN 'SIDE BENEFITS' IN PROPERLY PARTAKING OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.
   1. Taken properly, the supper was their safeguard against immorality, I Cor. 5:1-8
   2. Taken properly, the Supper was their safeguard against idolatry, I Cor. 7:1; 8:1-13; 10:14-22

2. THE LORD'S SUPPER WAS OBSERVED IN CONNECTION WITH A COMMON MEAL, I Cor. 11:21-22
   1. Alexander Campbell taught that the Lord's Supper was preceded by a common meal
   2. Others, such as the late F.F. Bruce, thought the Supper appeared to have formed a part of an ordinary meal
   3. One cannot speak dogmatically about the order of eating, but it is logical to assume Jesus' last Passover with His apostles provided the order
   4. This common meal was called the "love feast," Jude 12, and probably II Pet. 2:13
      1. It was often a house church arrangement
      2. It was koinonia, a table fellowship
   5. Archaeology has thrown much light on the Corinthian scene we look at today

1. I Corinthians contains a great reservoir of Bible teaching about the Lord's Supper
2. Just as the observance of the Passover was central to the life of Israel, so the proper observance of the Lord's Supper is central to the life of the church

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