Combat
1 Corinthians 11:16 But zif any man aseem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither bthe churches of God. [1]
I. Contentious
A. Antagonistic
B. Argumentative
II. Custom
A. Agreement
B. Acceptance
III. Church
A. Assembly
B. Authority
Introduction: Today we will observe again the sacrament of communion. The word sacrament indicates that there is something sacred about this that we do in commemoration of Jesus’ last supper with His disciples before His death on the cross.
We call it communion because it is a time when we put aside our differences of opinion to fully concentrate on the supreme sacrifice that Jesus made for us so that we might have eternal life with Him. The name of this message today is combat because to have communion with each other is the opposite of having combat with others.
The passage of scripture that we typically use is found in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. With all scripture, it is easy to memorize a verse here and a passage there and completely miss the reason why the text is in the Bible where it is.
Consider the message based on the first paragraph of chapter eleven. Paul starts out saying a hard thing for the faint at heart Christian in chapter eleven verse one. “aBe ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” [2] Can you make that statement to those closest to you? Can you say for others to use your devotion to Jesus as their pattern for discipleship?
Next Paul gave them praise for remembering him as they followed the ordinances and agreements that they made while he was with him. In essence they had adhered to what might be today a code of conduct or by-laws of the church or the church covenant. But Paul was warning that there arose some controversy in the church over some of the policies. Instead of having a conference to discuss and come to agreement, there were some who were using the differences as a source for division. This is not a good example for a church to show.
Paul used the example of a custom they had about women’s head coverings. To take this out of context one might suppose that Paul was a male chauvinist. Some today discount Paul because of this misunderstanding. We must look at the Bible in the context in which it was written.
He was warning that to concentrate on things where opinions were different is not what assembling in church is for. Today we are in the midst of this virus mess and people are arguing over masks and shots and staying apart and we are missing the point of church again. Like Paul was telling them back then; today let us not act like we are in combat. Let us be in communion! Let us come together in praise and humility before God for giving us His Only Begotten Son. Let us at least for this day put off our differences to concentrate on Jesus’ love for us as we learn from Him to love each other. Why are we here today?
Scripture: The scripture today is 1 Corinthians 11:16. Please stand if you can for the reading of God’s Word.
Prayer: Please be seated.
Message: Later we will go back and break down our focal verse but for now let us consider what was going on in that church that day as they were supposed to be observing the Lord’s Supper. Please leave your Bibles open and listen to 1 Corinthians 11:17-19, “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, cI hear that there be ||divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19 For dthere must be also ||eheresies among you, fthat they which are gapproved may be made manifest among you.” [3]
Paul started out this particular passage praising them for remembering what they had earlier agreed to. Now in these verses Paul is not so much praising them; just the opposite in fact because they were coming to church to argue and divide and not to commune.
They were concentrating on the things that divided them instead of agreeing on the one thing that brought them together. What is heresy? Webster gives many synonyms which include: dissent, deviation, unorthodoxy, profanation, sacrilege, and others. The church at large is arguing over these things today. We are missing the opportunity to stand together for God as this world is spinning toward destruction and it is getting worse every day.
In the next few verses it almost sounds like they had forgotten what observing the Last Supper was for. People were eating whatever and however they wanted and some were even getting drunk. What a mess! At the end of verse twenty – two Paul reiterated that he praised them not.
So now we will break down our focal verse 1 Corinthians 11:16. If any man seem to be contentious… One synonym for that word is antagonistic. Suppose that you have a preconceived notion or opinion about a thing that may or may not be based on personal experience. You probably feel pretty strong about that. I have some pretty strong opinions that I have offered up that many of you probably don’t agree with. You have heard me voice my aversion to the so-called social media platforms. Rachael is of a different opinion. I have been guilty of strongly voicing my opinion in an attempt to antagonize her and others. It is almost like I want to start an argument. Facebook and the others have their place. My choice should never be to command others to follow what I think.
Argumentative is another synonym for contentious. Argument is a very good thing as long as it allows us to have a chance to voice our opinions. This is one way we learn from each other. To argue simply for the purpose of keeping the argument going though is not good. If you are an argumentative person like me, you insist on getting your point across even after the argument has been settled and agreement has been reached. Paul said this is bad!
Next Paul said that if we have a constant argument going on about a policy in church then we have lost the custom we started with. When that happens the agreement that was settled is gone and now it’s time to reach a new agreement that will have acceptance in the church. The church must be together! Especially on this day when we observe this thing we call communion.
In the last third of this verse Paul broadened his audience to include us. If we, the bride of Jesus, have contention which is dividing us so that we no longer love each other then we are no longer the church. Division within the local church is a cancer which spreads itself to other churches. If we here in Merry Oaks Baptist Church fail to get along and love each other, that message will spread sooner than the door takes to close. Where one church goes another church follows until revival is required to bring us back to His purpose of loving each other.
We are about to observe the Lord’s Last Supper with His disciples. We are His disciples! Let us be together in this. Amen?
Prayer: Let us pray.
Invitation: Paul used this scripture to get the attention of those who were about to observe The Lord’s Supper. We are about to follow Paul’s lead as he quoted Jesus to His disciples. After Paul finished his instructions he went on to insist the need for Christians to examine themselves. We are not worthy to take from this bread and drink from this cup because of anything that we have done. It is only because of the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ that we are able to partake. His worthiness and our obedience to follow Him is why we can call ourselves disciples. Let us examine ourselves. Are we disciples of Jesus. Let us examine ourselves as Christians. He died, arose, and ascended to give us the opportunity to love each other. Let us love… Let us partake…
z So 1 Tim. 6:4.
a ch. 14:37 (Gk.). See Mark 10:42 marg.
b So ch. 4:17. & 7:17. & 14:33 & 16:1. Gal. 1:22. 1 Thess. 2:14. Comp. ver. 22. ch. 11:32.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Co 11:16). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
a See ch. 4:16.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Co 11:1). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
c See ch. 3:3.
|| Or, schisms. See ch. 1:10.
d Matt. 18:7. Luke 17:1. So Acts 20:30. 1 Tim. 4:1, 2. 2 Pet. 2:1, 2.
|| Or, sects. Acts 5:17. & 15:5. & 24:5, 14 (Gk.). & 26:5. & 28:22.
e Gal. 5:20. 2 Pet. 2:1.
f So Luke 2:35. 1 John 2:19. Comp. Deut. 13:3. Prov. 28:12.
g 2 Cor. 13:7.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Co 11:17–19). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
