Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 152
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
11:15-34
to have long hair? And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has
been given to her as a covering. But if anyone wants to argue about this,
I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s
other churches.
But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if
more harm than good is done when you meet together. First, I hear that
there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some
extent I believe it. But, of course, there must be divisions among you so
that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!
When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s
Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with
others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. What? Don’t
you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want
to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to
say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you
for this!
For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night
when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to
God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is
given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the
cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between
God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in
remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he
comes again.
So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is
why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking
the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the
body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in
this way. Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so
that we will not be condemned along with the world.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper,
wait for each other. If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring
judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.
