| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"UR Welcome! UR" |
| Date: |
19 Jul 2007 08:35:51 AM |
| Object: |
07-19-07 How Now Shall We Live |
07-19-07 How Now Shall We Live Devotional
Are You Floating down the Cultural Mainstream? The single biggest
challenge in the church today is helping the faithful understand that the
Christian life is about far more than simply attending church and
fulfilling the great commission.
While Christians are indeed agents of God's saving grace in bringing
others to Christ, we are also agents of his common grace in sustaining and
renewing his creation and defending the created institutions of family and
society.
But we cannot accomplish this great task unless we discipline ourselves to
think about cultural matters from God's perspective-every single day.
That's where Charles Colson comes in. Millions of listeners rely on his
daily BreakPoint commentaries to help them love God with all their
minds-to think about politics, art, literature, film, bioethics,
sexuality, and war from a Christian worldview.
By making Colson's commentaries part of your daily devotional time, you
can learn to apply biblical thinking to the dilemmas and difficulties of
your own life and embrace your own role in renewing a culture in chaos.
The How Now Shall We Live? Devotional.
A daily dose of worldview thinking for the countercultural Christian. The
Gospel according to CNN? In a tumultuous world, we soak up news media
broadcasts in an effort to understand what is going on around us. But as
Christians, we don't get all the information we need to know about how God
would have us think or act.
In fact, sometimes the information we get is misleading or just plain
wrong! That's where Charles Colson comes in. More than one million
listeners rely on Colson's daily BreakPoint radio commentaries to help
them sift through the flood of information and take a stand for what is
true.
Now you can make Colson's thoughtful, intelligent commentaries part of
your daily devotional time. These 365 clear, insightful commentaries give
a firm biblical perspective on current issues such as war, politics, law,
and cultural trends.
What better way to understand how to pray for our world and to equip
ourselves to influence those around us for Christ? The How Now Shall We
Live? Devotional. It's daily bread for the countercultural Christian.
.
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| User: "Gospel Bretts" |
|
| Title: Re: 07-19-07 How Now Shall We Live |
20 Jul 2007 05:41:31 PM |
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On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:35:51 -0400, "UR Welcome!" <UR
Welcome!_fan_club@yahoo.com> wrote:
07-19-07 How Now Shall We Live Devotional
Are You Floating down the Cultural Mainstream? The single biggest
challenge in the church today is helping the faithful understand that the
Christian life is about far more than simply attending church and
fulfilling the great commission.
While Christians are indeed agents of God's saving grace in bringing
others to Christ, we are also agents of his common grace in sustaining and
renewing his creation and defending the created institutions of family and
society.
But we cannot accomplish this great task unless we discipline ourselves to
think about cultural matters from God's perspective-every single day.
That's where Charles Colson comes in. Millions of listeners rely on his
daily BreakPoint commentaries to help them love God with all their
minds-to think about politics, art, literature, film, bioethics,
sexuality, and war from a Christian worldview.
By making Colson's commentaries part of your daily devotional time, you
can learn to apply biblical thinking to the dilemmas and difficulties of
your own life and embrace your own role in renewing a culture in chaos.
The How Now Shall We Live? Devotional.
A daily dose of worldview thinking for the countercultural Christian. The
Gospel according to CNN? In a tumultuous world, we soak up news media
broadcasts in an effort to understand what is going on around us. But as
Christians, we don't get all the information we need to know about how God
would have us think or act.
In fact, sometimes the information we get is misleading or just plain
wrong! That's where Charles Colson comes in. More than one million
listeners rely on Colson's daily BreakPoint radio commentaries to help
them sift through the flood of information and take a stand for what is
true.
Now you can make Colson's thoughtful, intelligent commentaries part of
your daily devotional time. These 365 clear, insightful commentaries give
a firm biblical perspective on current issues such as war, politics, law,
and cultural trends.
What better way to understand how to pray for our world and to equip
ourselves to influence those around us for Christ? The How Now Shall We
Live? Devotional. It's daily bread for the countercultural Christian.
UR fucktard.
__________________
Gospel Bretts
a.a. Atheist #2262
Fundy Xian Atheist
"These guys are so high on wishful thinking,
they think that's what reality is." -- Uncle Vic, 07-17-2007
.
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| User: "St. Jackanapes" |
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| Title: Re: 07-19-07 How Now Shall We Live |
22 Jul 2007 06:39:41 AM |
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Gospel Bretts held us spellbound with...
On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:35:51 -0400, "UR Welcome!" <UR
Welcome!_fan_club@yahoo.com> wrote:
07-19-07 How Now Shall We Live Devotional
SLASHED WORTHLESS SPAM]
UR fucktard.
Hey Gospel. Help annoy this fucktard by cutting out his copy in your
reply - so no one else can read it.
Thanks!
--
St. Jackanapes
http://www.jackanapes.ws
==================================
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| User: "UR Welcome! UR" |
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| Title: Re: 07-19-07 How Now Shall We Live |
22 Jul 2007 08:46:27 AM |
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"St. Jackanapes" <larry_jackowski@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:MPG.210d0c0859dde6dd989695@news.alt.net...
Sanctification
sanc.ti.fi.ca.tion \?sa?(k)-t?-f?-'ka-sh?n\ n
14c
1 : an act of sanctifying
2 a : the state of being sanctified
b : the state of growing in divine grace as a result of
Christian commitment after baptism or conversion.[1]
Biblical Meaning
Sanctification is a biblical doctrine that is emphasized a great deal in
Christian teaching. Yet despite its importance, it is often perceived as a
religious notion too complex to comprehend. Though sanctification may at
first seem to be a foreign concept, it is one of the greatest things that
has and is happening to every believer in Jesus Christ. Here we will
explore the basic biblical doctrine of sanctification and discuss the key
role it plays in a Christian's spiritual growth.
(Romans 6:19 NASB)
19 ?a?I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of
your flesh. For just ?b?as you presented your members as slaves to
impurity and to lawlessness, ?1?resulting in further lawlessness, so
now present your members as slaves to righteousness, ?2?resulting in
sanctification.
[2]
Sanctification comes from the verb sanctify. Sanctify originates from the
Greek word hagiazo, which means to be "separate" or to be "set apart." In
the Bible, sanctification generally relates to a sovereign act of God
whereby He "sets apart" a person, place, or thing in order that His
purposes may be accomplished. In the book of Exodus, God sanctifies a
place of worship. "And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and
the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory," says Exodus 29:43. Even a
day can be sanctified as seen in Genesis 2:3 where the seventh day is "set
apart" as a holy day of rest. "Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had
created and made."
Similarly, when a person is sanctified he or she is being set apart by God
for a specific divine purpose. The very moment we are saved in Christ we
are also immediately sanctified and begin the process of being conformed
to the image of Christ. As God's children we are "set apart" from that
moment to carry out His divine purposes unto eternity.
(Hebrews 10:14 NASB) says,
14 For by one offering He has ?a?perfected ?b?for all time those
who are ?1?sanctified.
[3]
Are you set apart for God?
(1 Peter 1:2 NASB)
2 according to the ?a?foreknowledge of God the Father, ?b?by the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, ?1?to ?c?obey Jesus Christ and be
?d?sprinkled with His blood: ?e?May grace and peace ?2?be yours in
the fullest measure.
[4]
The apostle Peter immediately plunges us into deep doctrinal waters. For
instance, he presents the doctrine of the Trinity: the foreknowledge of
God the Father, sanctification of the Spirit, and sprinkling of the blood
of Jesus Christ. My friend, don't let anyone tell you that the Bible does
not teach the Trinity-the Bible is full of it! We certainly cannot
consider Peter to be an ignorant fisherman, by the way, because he is
talking about things that most of us do not know much about.
Theologians try to help us understand the tremendous doctrines of election
and foreknowledge. For example, here is a statement from Lewis Sperry
Chafer's Systematic Theology:
Having recognized the sovereign right of God over His creation and having
assigned to Him a rational purpose in all His plan, the truth contained in
the doctrine of election follows in natural sequence as the necessary
function of one who is divine (Vol. VII).
We must recognize that our God is a sovereign God and that this little
universe is His. He created it. I don't know why He created it as He did,
but since He is absolutely omniscient (knowing everything), and since He
is omnipotent (having all power), and since He is sovereign, I conclude
that He can do anything He wants to do that is consistent with His
character.
He has a right to plan for the future. Apparently He did some planning. We
call those plans the decrees that God had in His mind in the very
beginning. That is to say, He had a plan that He was going to follow. He
decreed to create the universe, and He did it. He never asked you or me
about it. In fact, He has never asked me whether I wanted to be in
existence. He could have left me out altogether. And He could have left
you out, but He didn't! Thank God, He thought of you and me.
Also there was the decree to permit the fall of man. This, I think, took a
great deal of planning on God's part, knowing that when He created the
free moral agent called man, he would fall when given a free choice.
Mankind chose to disobey God, but God had made arrangements for it. He had
the decree to elect some to salvation, and He had the decree that He would
send a Savior into the world. He certainly did that. He made a decree that
He would save those who came to Him, the elect. You can call them anything
you wish, but the people who turned to Christ for salvation are the elect.
You may say, "Well, He didn't choose everybody." I don't find that in
Scripture. The Lord Jesus said, "All that the Father giveth me shall come
to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).
His invitation to "whosoever will" is, "Come unto me" (see Matt. 11:28).
It is a legitimate invitation to everyone, but there must be a response,
and the response is your responsibility and my responsibility.
Peter really gets us into deep water when he says, "Elect according to the
foreknowledge of God." You see, God is moving according to His plan. There
must have been an infinite number of plans before Him, but He chose this
one. Why? Because He knew it was the best possible plan, and little man is
in no position to challenge His choice. He is the Creator and we are only
creatures. You and I didn't even determine the time we would be born, or
the family into which we would come, or our height, or the color of our
eyes, or our IQ. Whatever we are today is by the grace of God. He is the
one who determined all of those things for us. They are all a part of His
great plan.
I don't know why we find fault with God for having a plan. Perhaps some
folk imagine that He is up to some dirty tricks-but He is not. Oh, my
friend, God is good and gracious and long-suffering. He wants to save us,
and He wants us to have happy lives. God is the one we can trust. How
strange it is that some folk object to God's having a plan when they are
perfectly happy to have men follow a plan.
For example, when my wife and I were to leave London, we boarded a plane
that would bring us home to Los Angeles. When we were airborne, the
captain talked to us on the intercom. I was happy to note that his voice
sounded mature and that he spoke with assurance. I was sure he had flown
that plane before. He outlined our flight plan, "We are going to fly over
Scotland and over northern Ireland, and then we will cross the Atlantic.
We will be going over Iceland, but we won't be able to see it because
there are clouds over it. When we get to Greenland, I hope you will be
able to see it. We may hit a little choppy weather there, but it's not
bad. The cloud cover that is there now is breaking up. We will cross
Hudson Bay and Labrador and will fly across those ice fields there. It
looks like a very pleasant flight and a very smooth trip." You talk about
foreknowledge and election! That whole trip was decided for us. And no one
ran up to the cabin to protest, "You have no right to plan our trip!" We
were delighted that he was following a plan.
My friend, I am sure glad that the God of this universe has a plan and
that He knows what He is doing and where He is going and that He is doing
the very best for us. I say hallelujah for election which is according to
the foreknowledge of God. God is able to carry out His plan exactly
because He knows everything. The pilot of the plane had gotten word about
weather conditions, and his flight was plotted for him to follow-but it
could have been upset. Not so with God's plan. Our God knows everything.
He knows every condition; He knows everything that is foreseeable and
unforeseeable. So you and I can trust Him implicitly. When Peter says,
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God," he is telling us what God
the Father did.
Now he tells us about the work of the Holy Spirit: "through sanctification
of the Spirit."
Let me remind you that when the word sanctification is identified with
Christ, it means that He is our sanctification; we will never be any
better, as far as our position is concerned, than we are at this moment
because we are complete in Him, and we are accepted in the beloved. We
cannot add to that; it is our position in Christ.
However, when the word sanctification is identified with the Holy Spirit,
it means something else. When Peter says, "Through sanctification of the
Spirit," he is talking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the world
who not only converts us-is responsible for our New Birth-but He also
begins to work in our lives to bring us up to the place of maturation
where we become full, mature Christians. Unfortunately, there are many
Christians who have been saved for fifty years or more and yet will be
going into heaven as babes in Christ. They haven't matured at all. It will
be embarrassing to go into the presence of God as still a burping baby!
The work of the Holy Spirit is to sanctify us down here on this earth. How
I wish there were more emphasis on that!
There are abroad in our land, at the time of this writing, at least
twenty-five organizations or ministries which have become expert in
telling you how to become an adequate Christian, a fulfilled Christian,
and how you can be comfortable as a Christian. My friend, I hope you never
get to the place where you do not feel your inadequacy and your dependence
upon Jesus Christ as your Savior. I am tired of these "adequate"
Christians. And some of them I meet convince me that I don't want to be
"adequate," if that is adequateness! Now, please don't feel that I am
being critical of one particular person or organization. I am simply
insisting that the Word of God tells us that sanctification is by the Holy
Spirit of God-not by some method of man's design.
[5]
(Romans 6:22 NASB)
22 But now having been ?a?freed from sin and ?b?enslaved to God,
you ?1?derive your ?2??c?benefit, ?3?resulting in sanctification, and
?d?the outcome, eternal life.
[6]
6:22 Conversion changes a man's position completely. Now he is free from
sin as his master, and he becomes a willing slave to God. The result is a
holy life now and everlasting life at the end of the journey. Of course
the believer has eternal life now too, but this verse refers to that life
in its fullness, including the glorified resurrection body
[7]
Sanctification - Different Than Salvation
It is important to differentiate between justification and sanctification.
Justification is another word for salvation. Jesus gave his life on the
cross as a sacrifice for our sins. His blood washes away our sins and
frees us from an eternity of suffering and condemnation. Believers are
saved because of what Christ has already done. We can do nothing to earn
salvation, it is the gift given to every child of God regardless of race,
age, maturity, or merit. Sanctification occurs as a result of salvation.
At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit enters our life. We are no
longer held hostage by death, but are free to live the life God desires
for us. We are thus sanctified simply because of our standing as lost
souls saved by grace.
Sanctification - A Continuing Process
Sanctification does not stop with salvation, but rather it is a
progressive process that continues in a Christian's life. Unlike the
things and places that are sanctified by God in the Bible, people have the
capacity to sin. Even though we have been "set apart" as God's children,
we continue to behave in ways that are contrary. As Christians, we realize
shortly after we have been saved that there is a new inner battle being
waged within us - a battle between our old sin-lead nature and new
Spirit-lead nature. Paul in Galatians best describes this inner struggle
in
(Galatians 5:17 NASB)
17 For ?a?the flesh ?1?sets its desire against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one
another, ?b?so that you may not do the things that you ?2?please.
[8]
Like Paul, our heart's desire is to please and obey God, but our flesh is
weak making sin difficult to resist. Yet, it is in our continual struggle
with sin and obedience to God that sanctification does its work.
But what is the work of sanctification? What does it practically mean to
be "set apart"? Sanctification can be described as an inward spiritual
process whereby God brings about holiness and change in the life of a
Christian by means of the Holy Spirit. The effects of living in a fallen
world have harmed everybody differently. We all face different issues,
struggle with sin, and past hurts of varying degrees, hindering our
ability to live the life God desires for us. Once we accept Jesus Christ
into our lives, the Holy Spirit enters our life to start a transformation
process (progressive sanctification). He convicts us on areas that need to
be changed, helping us to grow in holiness. We begin to view the world,
people, and personal difficulties from a more biblical perspective. Our
choices begin to be motivated by love and truth and not selfishness. For
instance, we may have misplaced our confidence and security on beauty,
wealth, and materialism, but God may ordain difficult circumstances to
liberate us from these growth-hindering snares. The transformation process
may be painful, but it is always motivated by God's love for us. Further,
God promises in His Word to not give us more than we are able to handle.
(1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB)
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man;
and ?a?God is faithful, who will not allow you to be ?b?tempted
beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the
way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
[9]
God has promised to enable us to do His will in any and every situation,
and He will stand true to His promise (cf. Matt. 28:20; et al.). He
provides a way of escape with every temptation He allows to touch us. The
use of the definite article "the" with both "temptation" and "way of
escape" points to a particular way of escape that is available in each
temptation. Paul did not mean there is one way of escape that is available
regardless of the temptation. If we deliberately put ourselves in the way
of temptation and so put God to the test (v. 9), we are not taking
advantage of the way of escape. We may fall.
[10]
This is the working process of sanctification is the life of every
believer. Though the process is personal for each individual, the end goal
is to prevent sin and produce spiritual growth. Note that sanctification
has nothing to do with living in sinless perfection. We will never be
sinless in this life. In fact, the Bible warns against such false
teachings in 1 John 1:8-9 often referred to as the "Christian Bar of
Soap".
(1 John 1:8-9 NASB)
8 ?a?If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves
and the ?b?truth is not in us.
9 ?a?If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins and ?b?to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[11]
Sanctification is not about trying to be sinless in order to earn the
favor of God. Rather, sanctification is for our own benefit. God commands
us to pursue sanctification so that through it we may be blessed.
Sanctification - A Christian Responsibility
Sanctification is one of the most challenging aspects of the Christian
walk. Our natural tendency is to embrace sin, yet God in His divine wisdom
has chosen to give us the responsibility of working out our own
sanctification.
(2 Timothy 2:21 NASB)
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from ?a?these things, he
will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master,
?b?prepared for every good work.
[12]
In these verses a believer is pictured as a vessel. If a vessel is to be
usable, it must be clean. For example, imagine you are walking across a
desert, and you come to an oasis. You are parched and almost dying of
thirst. You find two cups there. One is made of gold and highly
ornamented, but it's dirty. The other is an old crock cup. It will just
barely hold water because it is cracked, but it is clean. Which one would
you use? Now give God credit for having as much intelligence as you have.
He too uses clean vessels; He does not use dirty vessels. Remember in the
second chapter of John's gospel we read of the Lord Jesus making wine at a
wedding. He had the servants drag out the old beat-up crocks (which the
Jews used for purification) and had them filled with water. He took those
old unattractive crocks and used them for His glory. And today God is
looking for clean vessels to use-not beautiful, but clean.
[13]
But how do we pursue sanctification? How are we personally responsible?
Lovingly, God has sent His Holy Spirit and His written Word, the Bible, to
guide us. Though every person's sanctification is unique and personal,
there are common disciplines in the pursuit of sanctification that are
unchanging.
Sanctification - Practical Steps
Prayer is of utmost importance. When we are suffering or facing
temptation, our mind and body are weak. Satan knows this and tries to take
advantage of us. When we pray, we are in spiritual union with God. Not
only will prayer comfort us in our hardship, but it will also give us the
strength to overcome sin. Through prayer, we are also more sensitive to
the leading of the Holy Spirit.
God has also given us the written Word - the Bible. The Bible is not
merely a history book, but its words have the power to sanctify us. When
Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4, Jesus used the Word of God to overcome
temptation.
(Matthew 4:4 NASB)
4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'aMan shall not live
on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God.' "
[14]
4:4 It is written. All 3 of Jesus' replies to the Devil were taken from
Deuteronomy. This one, from Deut. 8:3, states that God allowed Israel to
hunger, so that He might feed them with manna and teach them to trust Him
to provide for them. So the verse is directly applicable to Jesus'
circumstances and a fitting reply to Satan's temptation. every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God. A more important source of sustenance than
food, it nurtures our spiritual needs in a way that benefits us eternally,
rather than merely providing temporal relief from physical hunger.
[15]
God's Word also has the power to transform our mind, convict, and bring to
light the darkness that is within our hearts. It is the instrument which
God uses to develop in us knowledge, faith, and personal holiness; all of
which are essential elements of sanctification.
(Hebrews 4:12-13 NASB)
12 For ?a?the word of God is ?b?living and ?c?active and sharper
than any two-edged ?d?sword, and piercing as far as the division of
?e?soul and ?e?spirit, of both joints and marrow, and ?f?able to
judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And ?a?there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all
things are ?b?open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have
to do.
[16]
4:12 The next two verses contain a solemn warning that unbelief never goes
undetected. It is detected first by the word of God. (The term used here
for word is rhema not logos, the familiar word used by John in the
prologue to his Gospel. This verse refers, not to the Living Word, Jesus,
but to the written word, the Bible.) This word of God is:
o living-constantly and actively alive.
o powerful-energizing.
o cutting-sharper than any two-edged sword.
o dividing-piercing the soul and spirit, the two invisible, nonmaterial
parts of man.
Piercing the joints and marrow, the joints permitting the outward
movements and the marrow being the hidden but vital life of the bones.
discerning-discriminating and judging with regard to the thoughts and
intents of the heart. It is the word that judges us, not we who judge the
word.
4:13 Second, unbelief is detected by the living Lord. Here the pronoun
shifts from the impersonal to the personal: And there is no creature
hidden from His sight. Nothing escapes His notice. He is absolutely
omniscient. He is constantly aware of all that is going on in the
universe. Of course, the important point in the context is that He knows
where there is real faith and where there is only an intellectual assent
to facts.
[17]
Whether by studying or listening to teaching, the sanctifying work of
God's Word is enormous to a believer who recognizes its truth and power.
Believers are also sanctified in worship. True fervent worship is what God
desires from His people. When our worship is genuine, it transforms our
hearts and brings us into close union with God.
(John 4:23-24 NASB)
23 "But ?a?an hour is coming, and now is, when the true
worshipers will worship the Father ?b?in spirit and truth; for such
people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
24 "God is ?1?spirit, and those who worship Him must worship
?a?in spirit and truth."
[18]
It is irrelevant, therefore, where you worship God. It is not where but
how you worship Him that is important. Our Lord answered her very
adequately. God is a Spirit. You don't have to run to this place or that
place. True worshipers worship Him in spirit and in truth.
[19]
Additionally, before Jesus ascended into heaven he tells the disciples to
wait in Jerusalem for a gift God will send (Acts 1). This is the gift of
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our ultimate helper and sanctifier.
When we yield to His leading, He has the power to help us resist sin and
make positive change.
(Galatians 5:16 NASB)
16 But I say, ?a?walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out
?b?the desire of the flesh.
[20]
SPIRIT LED
If you want the qualities listed in Galatians 5:22-23, then you know that
the Holy Spirit is leading you. At the same time, be careful not to
confuse all of your subjective feelings with the Spirit's leading. Being
led by the Holy Spirit involves the desire to hear and the readiness to
obey God's Word so that you can discern between your feelings and God's
promptings. Live each day controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Then
the words of Christ will be in your mind, the love of Christ will be
behind your actions, and the power of Christ will help you control your
selfish desires.
[21]
When we sin and ignore the Holy Spirit's leading, we break fellowship with
the Him, thereby cutting off the life-changing power.
(1 Thessalonians 5:19 NASB)
19 ?a?Do not quench the Spirit;
5:19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. NLT Other versions translate this
verse, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire" (niv) or "Do not quench the
Spirit" (nrsv; see also Ephesians 4:30). "Stifle" means to douse a fire,
so to stifle the Holy Spirit would be to forbid or restrain his work. By
warning the believers not to stifle the Holy Spirit, Paul may have meant
that the believers in Thessalonica should not grieve the Spirit through
any of the sins that had been mentioned in this letter-immorality and
laziness, for example. More likely, Paul may have been referring to a
situation in the church in which some of the believers had been limiting
or forbidding the exercise of certain spiritual gifts, such as prophecy or
speaking in tongues. Paul warned that no one should ignore or toss aside
the gifts the Holy Spirit gives. The following verses specifically mention
prophecy and tongues: 5:20, 1 Corinthians 14:1-19, 39. Sometimes the
immature use of spiritual gifts causes divisions in a church. Rather than
trying to solve the problems, these believers may have been attempting to
stifle those gifts. This would only impoverish them, however. No one
should stifle the Holy Spirit's work in anyone's life; all Christians
should encourage the full expression of these gifts to benefit the whole
body of Christ. (See the commentary on 2 Timothy 1:6 in the Life
Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus, pages 160-161.)
For three things I thank God every day of my life: thanks that he has
vouchsafed me knowledge of his works; deep thanks that he has set in my
darkness the lamp of faith; deep, deepest thanks that I have another life
to look forward to a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song.
.. -- Helen Keller
[22]
Sanctification - Key to Spiritual Growth
Sanctification is both a matter of position and progression. We are
sanctified because Jesus Christ has saved us and yet sanctification
continues to work within to transform us unto the likeness of Christ.
Sanctification is the responsibility of every believer in Christ. When we
choose to pursue sanctification in our life, positive growth occurs. The
pursuit of it involves the surrender of the body and the will to the
leading of the Holy Spirit. It takes time and is a working progress that
cannot be hurried. Like a newborn baby that gradually matures unto
adulthood, so is the work of sanctification in the life of a new believer.
The work of sanctification will ultimately be completed in every
believer's life when Jesus Christ returns. This is the hope of every
Christian.
Paul puts it best in his epistle to the Thessalonians:
(1 Thessalonians 5:23 NASB)
23 Now ?a?may the God of peace ?b?Himself sanctify you entirely;
and may your ?c?spirit and soul and body be preserved complete,
?d?without blame at ?e?the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[23]
The conduct Paul has been prescribing is impossible from a human
standpoint. People will not naturally rejoice always, pray continually,
and give thanks in every situation (5:16-18), nor can they keep away from
all evil (5:22). But Paul did not expect the Thessalonian believers to do
this in their own strength, so he prayed for them that they would continue
to know the presence of God himself, the God of peace, who would sanctify
[them] through and through.
Paul described God as "the God of peace" as he often did at the end of his
letters (see Romans 15:33; 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 4:9; 2
Thessalonians 3:16). Before his death, Jesus had told his disciples,
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the
world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.. I
have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this
world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world"
(John 14:27; 16:33 niv). The end result of the Holy Spirit's work in a
believer's life is deep and lasting peace. Unlike worldly peace, which is
usually defined as the absence of conflict, this peace is confident
assurance in any circumstance; with Christ's peace, no believer needs to
fear the present or the future. When the God of peace moves into a
believer's heart and life, he restrains the hostile forces and offers
comfort in place of conflict. One day the God of peace will come to reign
in ultimate and final peace; he gives his people a taste of that.
As God takes up residence within a believer, he begins the process of
"sanctification"-the change that he makes in all believers' lives as they
grow in faith. Jesus said, "You are to be perfect, even as your Father in
heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48 nlt). Believers are sanctified (set
apart) by the work of Christ. It is initiated by God's Spirit when they
believe. It is a process whereby believers dedicate themselves to proper
living. While perfection will not occur until believers are in heaven,
sanctification is the process of moving toward that goal, moving toward
Christlikeness. Believers have been set free from sin's control, but sin
is still an issue during this life. Victories can be claimed every day in
every area of life, however, as God sanctifies. Romans 6-8 describes the
process (see also Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2
Timothy 2:21; 1 Peter 1:2).
In order to be sanctified "through and through," God will need to work in
all areas of a person's life-the whole spirit, soul and body. The spirit,
soul, and body refer not so much to the distinct parts of a person as to
the entire being of a person. This expression is Paul's way of saying that
God must be involved in every aspect of a believer's life. A person's
spiritual life cannot be separated from everything else; being a Christian
was never meant to be a "Sundays only" proposition. Instead, faith should
so permeate each believer's life that his or her whole being is coming
more and more under God's loving control. As believers walk with God,
though they will still sin, they confess and forgive, seeking daily to
draw closer to God who will keep them blameless for Christ's return.
Perhaps the Thessalonian believers were wondering if believers who died
before the Second Coming would be able to receive this perfection from
Christ. Paul explained that the supernatural process would occur for all
believers. God will preserve his people.
GOD IS FAITHFUL
When thinking of faithfulness, a friend or spouse may come to mind. People
who are faithful to us accept and !ove us, even when we are unlovable.
Faithful people keep their promises, whether promises of support or
promises made in marriage vows. God's faithfulness is like human
faithfulness, only perfect. His love is absolute, and his promises are
irrevocable. He loves us in spite of our constant bent toward sin, and he
keeps all the promises he has made to us, even when we break our promises
to him. Listed below are a few of the verses that describe God's
faithfulness (italics added):
Reference
Verse
Exodus 34:6
"I am the lord, I am the lord, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow
to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness" (nlt).
Deuteronomy 7:9
"Know therefore that the lord YOur God is God; he is the faithful God,
keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love
him and keep his commands" (niv).
Deuteronomy 32:4
"He is the Rock; his work is perfect. Everything he does is jusl and
fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he
is!" (nlt).
Psalm 33:4
"For the word of the lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he
does" (niv).
Psalm 36:5
"Your love, O lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the
skies" (niv).
Psalm 89:1-2, 5, 8
"I will sing of the tender mercies of the lord forever! Young and old
will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever.
Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens. . All heaven will praise
your miracles, lord; myriads of angels will praise you for your
faithfulness. . O lord GOd Almighty! Where is there anyone as mighty as
you, lord? Faithfulness is your very character" (nlt).
Psalm 91:4
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find
refuge: his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart" (niv).
Psalm 100:5
"For the lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his
faithfulness continues to each generation" (nlt).
Psalm 117:2
"For he loves us with unfailing love; the faithfulness of the lord
Endures forever. Praise the lord!" (nlt).
Psalm 145:13
"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures
through all generations. The lord is faithful to all his promises and
Lamentations 3:22-23
"Because of the lord'S great love we are not consumed, for his
compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your
faithfulness" (niv).
1 Corinthians 10:13
"But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no
different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep
the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against
it" (nlt).
1 Thessalonians 5:24
"He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it" (nkjv).
2 Thessalonians 3:3
"But the Lord is faithfui, and he will strengthen and protect you from
the evil one" (niv).
Hebrews 10:23
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful" (niv).
1 Peter 4:19
"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit
themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good" (niv).
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (nkjv).
Revelation 19:11
"Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the
one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True" (nlt).
Paul had been discussing the Second Coming (4:13-5:10), so he
appropriately ended this prayer with a reference to it. The conclusion of
this sanctification process is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
will bring his people to complete perfection and take them with him to his
kingdom. "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior
from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to
bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so
that they will be like his glorious body" (Philippians 3:20-21 niv).
[24]
.. ==//==
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary.
(Eleventh ed.). Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc.
a Rom 3:5
b Rom 6:13
1 Lit to lawlessness
2 Lit to sanctification
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Ro 6:19). LaHabra, CA:
The Lockman Foundation.
a Heb 10:1
b Heb 10:12
1 Or being sanctified
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Heb 10:14). LaHabra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation.
a Rom 8:29; 1 Pet 1:20
b 2 Thess 2:13
1 Lit unto obedience and sprinkling
c 1 Pet 1:14, 22
d Heb 10:22; 12:24
e 2 Pet 1:2
2 Lit be multiplied for you
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Pe 1:2). LaHabra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the
Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:675-677). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson.
a John 8:32; Rom 6:18; 8:2
b 1 Cor 7:22; 1 Pet 2:16
1 Lit have
2 Lit fruit
c Rom 7:4
3 Lit to sanctification
d 1 Pet 1:9
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Ro 6:22). LaHabra, CA:
The Lockman Foundation.
[7]MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary
: Old and New Testaments (Ro 6:22). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
a Rom 7:18, 23; 8:5ff
1 Lit lusts against
b Rom 7:15ff
2 Lit wish
[8]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Ga 5:17). LaHabra, CA:
The Lockman Foundation.
a 1 Cor 1:9
b 2 Pet 2:9
[9]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Co 10:13). LaHabra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]Tom Constable. (2003; 2003). Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the
Bible (1 Co 10:13). Galaxie Software.
a Job 15:14; Prov 20:9; Rom 3:10ff; James 3:2
b John 8:44; 1 John 2:4
a Ps 32:5; Prov 28:13
b Titus 2:14
[11]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Jn 1:8-9). LaHabra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation.
a 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 2:16-18
b 2 Cor 9:8; Eph 2:10; 2 Tim 3:17
[12]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (2 Ti 2:21). LaHabra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the
Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:468). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
a Deut 8:3
[14] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation.
[15]MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic
ed.) (Mt 4:4). Nashville: Word Pub.
a Jer 23:29; Eph 5:26; Heb 6:5; 1 Pet 1:23
b Acts 7:38
c 1 Thess 2:13
d Eph 6:17
e 1 Thess 5:23
f John 12:48; 1 Cor 14:24f
a 2 Chr 16:9; Ps 33:13-15
b Job 26:6
[16]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Heb 4:12-13).
LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[17]MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible
Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Heb 4:12). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
a John 4:21; 5:25, 28; 16:2, 32
b Phil 3:3
1 Or Spirit
a Phil 3:3
[18]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 4:23-24). LaHabra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[19]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the
Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (4:390). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
a Rom 8:4; 13:14; Gal 5:24f
b Rom 13:14; Eph 2:3
[20]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Ga 5:16). LaHabra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[21]Barton, B. B. (1994). Galatians. Life application Bible commentary
(177). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
a Eph 4:30
niv Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing
House. All rights reserved.
nrsv Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised
Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of
Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in
the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights
reserved.
[22]Barton, B. B., & Osborne, G. R. (1999). 1 & 2 Thessalonians : Life
application commentary. Life application Bible commentary (89). Wheaton,
Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
a Rom 15:33
b 1 Thess 3:11
c Luke 1:46f; Heb 4:12
d James 1:4; 2 Pet 3:14
e 1 Thess 2:19
[23]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Th 5:23). LaHabra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation.
niv Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing
House. All rights reserved.
nlt Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New
Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
nkjv Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James
Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
[24]Barton, B. B., & Osborne, G. R. (1999). 1 & 2 Thessalonians : Life
application commentary. Life application Bible commentary (93). Wheaton,
Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
.
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| Title: Re: 07-19-07 How Now Shall We Live |
22 Jul 2007 07:47:34 AM |
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"St. Jackanapes" <larry_jackowski@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:MPG.210d0c0859dde6dd989695@news.alt.net...
The Breaking of Bread
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day
there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued
steadfastly in the apostles? doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of
bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:41-42
As we have been considering the book of Acts, we have constantly
emphasized that there is only one thing that has ever affected profoundly
the life of this world, and that is the message of the Christian church.
That is not merely my opinion?it is the verdict of history. History will
testify that the most civilizing force that the world has ever known has
been the Christian church. Most of the things of which we boast today came
originally through the medium of the Christian church. She began to look
after and to help those who were in need and suffering. Hospitals, for
instance, came directly through the ministrations of the church, and in
the nineteenth century most government legislation that brought liberty to
men and women was initiated by people who had become Christians.
So in order to discover what the Christian church really is, we are now
looking at the second chapter of Acts, and we have seen that those early
Christians continued steadfastly in the apostles? teaching and in the
fellowship of the believers. Now we must consider the next phrase: They
continued steadfastly ?in breaking of bread.? Here again is a
characteristic of the Christian church, and we shall, of course, not only
be looking at this in a detached, theoretical manner, but shall be
examining ourselves. These people wanted to be together, constantly
listening to this teaching, in the fellowship of similar people, and ?in
breaking of bread.? Are we like that? This is how Christianity began. Here
is authentic Christianity.
You see, you can hold Christian ideas, but that does not prove you are a
Christian. As we have seen, Christianity is more than a notion; it is in
the heart, changing a person radically and completely so that there is a
thirst for teaching and for fellowship. And there is also a desire to come
together for the breaking of the bread.
I have already shown you that what we are told here in Acts about doctrine
and fellowship is the direct opposite of what is being taught at the
pres-ent time, and this is equally true of the breaking of bread. Popular
teaching today says that because of our modern knowledge, we do not need
the historical teaching and practices of the church. So I do want you to
see the relevance of these verses in Acts to all this modern talk that is
enticing so many people.
The first comment I have to make is that there is nothing new about the
fact that men and women do not believe in God. We are being told that this
is the hallmark of modernity, but have you ever read the fourteenth psalm?
This is the first verse: ?The fool hath said in his heart, There is no
God.? That was probably written by David about 1000 b.c., nearly 3,000
years ago. So this idea that modern people are somehow different is quite
wrong. There have been atheists throughout the centuries.
Second, modern men and women do not say they believe there is no God
because they are modern or because of their learning?they say it because
they are fools. This is the sort of thing that people never seem to
understand. ?The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.? They are
ignorant; they are blinded by what they see from ?seeing him who is
invisible? (Heb. 11:27). They think they are clever, but they do not even
explain their world. They leave more unexplained than explained. They are
fools. So atheism has nothing at all to do with modernity; it has nothing
at all to do with learning. You can find any man standing on a street
corner who will tell you there is no God. Does he say it because he is a
great philosopher? No. ?The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
The answer to all this talk is that the greatest need of modern men and
women is, as at all times in the past, to know the gracious God and to be
blessed by Him. All their troubles arise from the fact that they are
ignorant of God. That is the whole cause of all the trouble in
life?between individuals, between groups, between classes, and between
nations. So we must not look for something new, for some further
scientific discovery, or wait for a book that may come out next week with
some new insight. No, no! As we have seen, we must look back to Acts
chapter 2. And here we read of the ?breaking of bread,? eating bread and
drinking wine?the Communion service! This is something the church began to
do at once and has continued to do throughout the running centuries.
If you read the New Testament right through, you will find that the first
Christians did something like this: They would meet together in one
another?s houses?they did not have church buildings at the beginning. They
would have a meal together, and then at the end they would do this
peculiar thing. One of them would take a loaf, and he would break it into
pieces and hand it around to the others. Then he would pour wine into a
cup, and he would take of it and pass it around to the others. Now our
Lord Himself had done this very thing with His disciples just before His
death. This is what we read:
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover
with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any more eat
thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup,
and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: for
I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the
kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake
it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you:
this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying,
This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Luke 22:15-20
Why did the first Christians break bread together, and why should we? The
first and chief reason was that our Lord commanded it: ?This do ye,? he
said, ?as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me? (1 Cor. 11:25). He
gave this solemn charge just before His death, on the very night in which
He was betrayed.
This is most important. These early believers in Christ did not decide to
do this?the Lord told them to do it. The apostle Paul, who came later into
the church, wrote, ?I have received of the Lord that which also I
delivered unto you? (1 Cor. 11:23). He had been taught by the risen Lord
Himself. Paul, you remember, had been a persecutor of Christians after
those early days in the book of Acts. As Saul of Tarsus, he militantly
persecuted and tried to destroy the Christian church; but he was converted
on the road to Damascus, and the Lord appeared to him and gave him a
commission. Paul constantly says, ?This is not my idea? ?I have received
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.? ? The Lord revealed
this ordinance to Paul, as He had revealed it to the other apostles
immediately before His death.
So the Lord?s Supper was not just the idea of the apostles, not something
conjured up by the church, but was a solemn command of the Lord. Why did
He command them to keep it? Here is a most significant thing?I believe He
gave this command in order to preserve the doctrine. This, you see, is an
enactment of the doctrine, it is a kind of display of the truth, and our
Lord wanted to preserve the truth throughout the centuries until the end
of the Christian era.
What a wonderful thing this has been! This table with its bread and wine
has often been a terrible condemnation of the pulpit. Men have entered
pulpits and said that Jesus was only a man, that He was nothing more than
a moral exemplar and a good teacher. They have said that His death was the
death of a pacifist, that it was a great tragedy, and that we must imitate
His spirit and live in the same way. They have preached like that in
pulpits, and then they have gone down to the Communion table, and there
has been no connection between their preaching and the message of that
Communion service. The Communion table?the broken bread and the poured-out
wine?has been preaching another message.
And so, because of men and their fallibility?and we are all fallible?the
Lord took a step to preserve the truth, the doctrine. If you want to know
how to test modern teaching and modern preaching, here is your test: What
relationship does it bear to the bread and the wine? Does it lead to that?
Is the Communion service a demonstration of the message that has been
preached? If it is not, the message has been false. Here is the Lord?s own
command, and He has commanded it in order to preserve the teaching.
But I believe He also commanded it in order to preserve the unity of the
church. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Corinth, where
there were so many divisions, says, ?The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break,
is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one
bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread? (1 Cor.
10:16?17). There is no better way of preserving this fellowship, this
?unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? (Eph. 4:3), than to come to the
Communion table.
The members of the church in Corinth were split. Some boasted, ?We?re
followers of Paul.? ?No, no,? said others, ?Apollos is the man. He is much
more philosophical.? Yet others said they were supporters of Cephas. So
they were divided into parties. But Paul said, ?Is Christ divided? was
Paul crucified for you?? (1 Cor. 1:13). When you come to the Lord?s Table,
you must forget all about Paul, Apollos, Cephas, myself, or anybody else
who has ever preached?you must see only Christ. At this table you preserve
the unity?one loaf, one bread, one communion, one Christ. He was
crucified. Nobody else.
Unity is preserved at this table in another way too. There is nothing that
so humbles us as coming to this table. When you think something of
yourself, you tend to divide from others; but when you come to this table,
you are humbled. You think of Him and of what He did and endured, and you
say with Isaac Watts:
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God.
When men and women truly come to the Communion table they are humbled, and
they are one as they all look together to Him.
Second, the disciples kept the Lord?s Supper in order that they might
remember Him and all that He represented. ?This do ye,? he said, ?as oft
as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.? So these people came together. And
so we, too, come to that table to remember the gracious God who has done
this for us. There we find Him.
What is it we remember? Oh, it is the action of God! Here we are in this
old sinful world, and there is only one message of hope, there is only one
word of cheer. It is this: ?God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son ?? (John 3:16). Here is the message of the New Testament;
this is Christian salvation. It is not that I go out and find a needy
neighbor, not that I try to philosophize or use my scientific knowledge in
an attempt to arrive at some understanding. No, no! Look back! It has
happened! The great thing has already been done! ?God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law? (Gal. 4:4-5).
"This do in remembrance of me," Jesus said. Christianity is not just some
sentimental feeling. No; it is a great declaration that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Son of God, and that God has sent Him, His only Son, into the world
to do something about this predicament of ours in which we are so defeated
and helpless. So the Communion service reminds us of His person?and we
must always start with that: ?In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.? And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us? (John 1:1, 14). If that is not at the very center of the
message, whatever it may call itself, it is not Christian. The whole
essence of Christianity is that God is loving and kind and compassionate;
though humanity in its folly had turned its back upon Him and said there
was no God, He sent His only Son into the world. The Communion service
reminds us that salvation is possible in Him and through Him alone.
This, then, is what the church has been looking back to ever since, and
this is the Christian message to the modern world. If you look for help to
anything the world can do in the present or the future, you will suffer
sad disillusionment. The world has always been promising us something
better, but it never gives it to us. Men and women have always been
optimistic: ?Hope springs eternal in the human breast.? But hope in the
world is made to look very silly by history, is it not? Every generation
has thought that it alone had understanding and knowledge and truth, and
it has derided the past; it alone is right. But then the next generation
comes and dismisses the previous one.
So listen to the message of the bread and wine. It tells you: ?Look back!
It has happened! The great transaction?s done.? The one thing that can
help us has taken place. The Son of God is the only Savior! ?There is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved? (Acts
4:12). This is the exact contradiction of all that is so popular
today.
So the first believers joined in the breaking of bread because our Lord
had commanded them to and because they wanted to remember Him. But, third,
and in particular, the apostle Paul says, ?For as often as ye eat this
bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord?s death till he come? (1
Cor. 11:26). Paul says that these first believers were declaring the
Lord's death.
This means a num
ber of things. First, they were not hiding the Lord?s death. They were not
ashamed of it, and they did not regard it as the greatest disaster that
had ever taken place. Now the Gospels tell us very honestly that when our
Lord was crucified, all His followers were utterly cast down. They said,
?The end has come. We had thought He was going to lead us through, but
He?s been killed.
The disciples were entirely without hope. Then our Lord suddenly appeared
among them and explained what He had done. He reprimanded them for their
blindness and gave them the full knowledge that they were lacking. So they
were no longer ashamed or disappointed. They no longer thought that His
death should be kept out of sight. Indeed, they now took up the opposite
position. They broke the bread together in order to declare His death, in
order to proclaim it. Indeed, the apostle Paul goes as far as to say that
when he first went to preach in Corinth, ?I determined not to know any
thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified? (1 Cor. 2:2). He
also told the Galatians, ?Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth,
crucified among you? (Gal. 3:1). This means that Paul had placarded Him.
He had, so to speak, put up a poster proclaiming ?Christ crucified.
Paul tells the Galatians: ?God forbid that I should glory, save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me,
and I unto the world? (Gal. 6:14). Paul?s preaching was not about our
Lord?s teaching, nor about His example. It was about His death. It is the
death of Christ that matters. This is what we announce as the only hope
for the world.
Why? Because it is by
His death, and by that alone, that we are saved. This is the rub. This is
what the modern man or woman objects to. But this is the Christian
teaching. The breaking of the bread announces that the only way of
salvation is not by His teaching, not by His example, not by His
encouragement, but through the broken body and the shed blood of the Son
of God.
Why is this? Now here we come to the very heart of our Gospel, and this is
what the breaking of bread proclaims. The whole trouble with men and
women, as we have seen, is their alienation from God. This is God?s world,
whether people like it or not; and as long as they do not recognize that,
they will be hitting their heads against a wall, they will be like the
foolish sea vainly dashing itself against the rocks. If they fight against
God, they will always be thrown back in defeat, disaster, and despair.
Their greatest need is to know God and to be reconciled to Him and to
receive His blessing.
Why do they not receive it? The answer is because God is holy, just, and
righteous. God has told us this plainly in the Old Testament. This is the
great message of the prophets; the whole Bible proclaims it. But in their
folly men and women have rebelled against Him. They have broken the
communion. They have incurred the displeasure of God, and God?s wrath is
upon them. If you want to understand the modern world, here is the answer:
?The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness? (Rom.
1:18). This is the whole trouble. We are sinners, under the condemnation
and wrath of God.
What can we do about it? We can do nothing. ?How should man be just with
God?? (Job 9:2). Will it avail if I say to God, ?I?m sorry for what I?ve
done?? No, it is not enough.
Will it suffice if I say to God, ?I?m not going to sin anymore?I?m going
to live to serve you?? But you cannot do that. You have tried, have you
not? We have all tried, but we cannot succeed.
Not the labours of my hands
Can fulfil Thy law?s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone.
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Augustus Toplady
No matter how hard we try, we cannot save ourselves. But the wonderful
message is that our Lord was made the Sin-Bearer. He Himself said, ?The
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give
his life a ransom for many? (Matt. 20:28). We are told, ?When the time was
come ? he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem? (Luke 9:51). Then
we see Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, shrinking against this terrible
thing that was going to happen. He was going to be smitten, stricken of
God, and would lose His Father?s smiling face. That was the one thing He
did not desire; so He said three times, ?Abba, Father, all things are
possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless, not what I
will, but what thou wilt? (Mark 14:36). And then he went like a lamb to
the slaughter.
The Bible is full of this: ?God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.? For he hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him? (2 Cor. 5:19?21). Again Paul says, ?For what the law could not
do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit? (Rom. 8:3?4). These are the
proclamations! ?Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins?
(Rom. 3:25). These are the great declarations: ?That he [God] might be
just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus? (Rom. 3:26).
All the New Testament writers say it. Listen to John: ?If any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is
the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the
sins of the whole world? (1 John 2:1?2). All this means that God has laid
our sins on His Son and has smitten Him. He has punished Him for our sins.
He has broken His body. He has shed His blood. That is why we break the
bread and drink the wine. The bread stands for the broken body; the
poured-out wine stands for the poured-out blood.
?Oh,? says Peter, ?I must come in on this.? ?Who his own self bare our
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live
unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed? (1 Pet. 2:24). Let me
remind you, says Peter again: ?Ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot? (1 Pet. 1:18?19).
The early church continued steadfastly breaking bread to declare His
death, to declare that this is God?s way of forgiveness, to declare that a
just God cannot pretend that He has not seen our sins. He cannot just wink
at them and say, ?All right, I will forget them.? He cannot! He is holy.
He is righteous. And He must punish sin, as He says He will, and He has
done it in His Son. That is why we, too, break the bread and drink the
wine. We are declaring that because Christ has suffered and died for us,
God has forgiven us and blotted out our sins and washed our guilt away.
The first Christians did not stop at that, of course. They also wanted to
remind themselves of what had been made possible for them as the result of
our Lord?s death. So the apostle Paul, repeating the words of our Lord,
says: ?This cup is the new testament [the new covenant] in my blood? (1
Cor. 11:25). The trouble with the world is that it does not know these
things. The new covenant! God has made a new agreement with men and women
in Christ, and He has ratified it by the shed blood of Christ. In Old
Testament times when agreements were made, they were always ratified by
the blood of a sacrificed animal. Every agreement God has ever made with
His people has always been ratified with blood. It is a sort of seal and
stamp. This blood of Christ, says the apostle, represented by the wine in
the cup, is the blood of the new covenant.
In the Bible we can read many descriptions of this new covenant, but
perhaps the best summary is in the eighth chapter of the epistle to the
Hebrews:
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in
my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel ?
Do you know about this? Listen, defeated modern men and women, defeated by
sin, afraid of life, afraid of the future, afraid of death, afraid of the
judgment?here is the new covenant in Christ:
This is the covenant that I will make ? I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his
neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall
know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more.
Heb. 8:8-12
You may be the foulest sinner in the world, you may have lived a life of
sin until now, but I am able to tell you that there is a new agreement for
you, the new covenant. If you believe that Christ, the Son of God, has
borne your punishment and has died for your sins, then God tells you,
?Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.? They will be
gone, wiped out, washed away, never to be seen again. Not only that, He
will tell you that He is your God, and you will begin to know Him. He will
tell you that He has adopted you into His family, that you have become His
child.
Then He will give you new life. He will give you new power, and He will
work in you by His Holy Spirit. He will give you understanding of His
Word. He will give you an entirely new outlook upon the whole of life. You
will be like a new person in a new universe, all because you have
believed. You will enter into the terms of this blessed new covenant, and
you will be able to face death, judgment, and eternity in an entirely new
manner.
We declare the Lord?s death and what He has done by His death. His blood
is on the covenant. God is offering you this for nothing. Simply believe!
Only believe, and Thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.
J. S. B. Monsell
They met together to break the bread in order to declare His death and all
that it meant.
The final thing the apostle Paul mentions is this: ?For as often as ye eat
this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord?s death till he come.?
Do not forget this! They were remembering the One who died but who rose
again and ascended into heaven. They reminded themselves that He is seated
on the right hand of God, that He has not forgotten the world because He
has gone back to the glory but is looking at it. He is watching it. He is
waiting until His enemies shall be made His footstool. He is governing all
things. He said, ?All power is given unto me? (Matt. 28:18). And He is
looking down upon His people. He is still a High Priest who is sympathetic
toward us??in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin? (Heb.
4:15).
So when we pray to God?I will expound this next?we know that He is there
and that He ?ever liveth to make intercession? for His people (Heb. 7:25).
He is your advocate, and you know that He will continue like this until an
appointed day when He will come back into this world as a mighty Conqueror
in all His blessed glory, riding the clouds of heaven, surrounded by His
holy angels. He will come to judge the world in righteousness. He will
destroy sin and evil, the devil and hell and all that has ever been
opposed to Him, and will set up His glorious kingdom of righteousness,
holiness, and peace??new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness? (2 Pet. 3:13)
This is what is so wonderful. Look at these simple people meeting together
there in the early church in one another?s houses, breaking bread,
declaring the Lord?s death till He come. Many of them were slaves, very
ordinary people having a hard time and being persecuted and maligned, sick
in body perhaps, and some sick in mind even. But there they were, going
through this weary, evil world, with the world and the flesh and the devil
against them. But they broke the bread, and they remembered not only what
Jesus had done but what He was going to do. They lifted up their heads.
They said, ?We are destined for glory. We are the children of God. We are
joint heirs with Christ. We have an ?inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven? (1 Pet. 1:4).
What does it matter though men kill us, though they revile us, though the
whole world be destroyed?we have an inheritance that can never be taken
away. It is ours. It will be there until He comes. Then He will take us to
be with Himself, and we will spend our eternity with Him in His glorious
presence.
So they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread, to remember Him,
to declare His death, to declare His coming again. And, of course, the
final thing is that they did this in order to praise Him and in order to
thank Him. As I remember these things, as I take the broken bread and
drink the wine, I know that my sins are forgiven. I know that God so loved
me that He sent His only Son into this world to bear the punishment of my
sins??the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me? (Gal. 2:20).
I declare that, I know that, and so I end by thanking Him and giving
myself to Him.
Were the whole realm of Nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Isaac Watts
And those who really believe will go on proclaiming this, reminding
themselves of it, thanking God for it. You will not have to persuade them
to come to the Communion table. You will not have to make them come?you
will not be able to keep them away. Above all, they will want to offer
themselves and all they are and have as a thank-offering to Him who gave
Himself for them. They will react, in other words, as that great Christian
man Count Zinzendorf did when, looking at a picture of the crucified
Christ, he heard the message, ?I have done this for you; what have you
done for me?
So do you come to the breaking of bread as the first Christians came? Do
you delight in coming? Does it move you? Does it thrill you? Do you find
it the most wonderful thing? If so, you are a Christian, as they were. If
not, have you a right to call yourself a Christian at all? This is what
Christians have always done. They do not come mechanically. They do not
think it is a miracle worked by a priest?such thoughts have been added on
to its ongoing significance.
Here it is in its stark simplicity, this wonderful good news that God?s
own Son has taken our sins upon Himself and has paid the penalty and has
endured even unto death, that His body was broken and His blood was shed.
And when we believe, the one thing we want to do is to praise and thank
Him and to tell everybody about Him.
Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (2000). Authentic Christianity (1st U.S. ed.) (146).
Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.
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