Jesus is Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshipping speechless idols. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 12:1-3 NLT

With the turning of the page away from issues around the Lord’s Supper, Paul now starts to answer another question from the Corinthians. It’s a shame we no longer have access to the letter the Corinthians must have sent to Paul, a letter that obviously contained a series of questions. The question Paul is now addressing concerns spiritual gifts, and as we read down this chapter, we are so glad that the believers in Corinth provided us with the means to understand more about the Holy Spirit. The NIV translation for verse 1 reads, “Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed”. It is probable that the Corinthian question sought more information about the Gifts of the Spirit, a topic that has sparked discussion and debate ever since. Perhaps there were some manifestations of the Gifts in the Corinthian church that were causing confusion, so Paul acted to set things right. 

Paul continued in the next verse to remind the believers about their previous pagan tendencies, as they were “swept along in worshipping speechless idols”. But it was all different now, and they had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, bringing with it a lifestyle change that was cataclysmic in its impact, both at the time and for all eternity. But in verse 3, we find something puzzling. Who in the Corinthian church would ever want to curse Jesus? Was there someone there who, under the apparent influence of the Holy Spirit, was doing such a thing? We can only explore potential scenarios because Paul didn’t supply any more information. Perhaps there were some religious Jews who denied the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, and who gatecrashed one of the meetings and said such a thing.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us”

Galatians 3:13.

Then there is Galatians 3:13, which reads, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole’”. Perhaps there was some confusion about this verse, which the Corinthians would know about from Deuteronomy 21:23. But in the sense that Paul was writing about, it looks as though he had to correct something that was going on.

Paul wrote, “No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit”. We know, of course, that once someone has declared their faith and belief in Jesus, accepting His atoning death, they receive the Holy Spirit. Peter said in his Pentecost sermon, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The gift of the Holy Spirit does not necessarily follow baptism, as we read in Acts 10:44, 47, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. … ‘Surely no-one can stand in the way of their being baptised with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have’”. But we know that all believers have received the Holy Spirit, and through Him they have one or more gifts. Note that each believer has at least one gift. 

“Jesus is Lord” can only be said by believers who have the Holy Spirit within them. By saying this, a person declares that Jesus was who He said He was: the Messiah, the Son of God, and the second member of the Trinitarian Godhead. Anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit within them, that is, an unbeliever, cannot say this, understanding what it really means. The idea is that someone who says “Jesus is Lord” sincerely expresses their belief. Nobody can say that—in truth and sincerity—unless they do so in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

We pilgrims are Spirit-filled believers, and we can testify to changed lives. Through the Holy Spirit, we have a changed worldview because we have transitioned from the kingdom of the world into the Kingdom of God. As God’s children, we now see what is around us from a spiritual perspective, and we can even become strangely detached from the mayhem that has been caused by sin and evil. We do not escape the problems of living in this world, of course, but we know that it is only for a short time, because one day we will be in Heaven with Jesus. There, we will never stop saying “Jesus is Lord” because that is who He is.

Dear Lord. Thank You for saving us from the consequences of our sins. We declare Your Lordship over all that we do this day and every day. Amen.

Eating and Drinking

Posted on by korgrocker

“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.”
1 Corinthians 11:33-34 NLT

Eating and drinking are two activities necessary to sustain human life. Without consuming water, a human being will die after a few days. A lack of food will cause a person’s body to extract the nutrients it needs from its own tissues, but there comes a point when those reserves run out. Both of these thoughts are rather gruesome but well-known by anyone living in certain deprived countries. Here in the privileged West, we open the fridge door or turn on a tap, and we find our basic needs are met. In the Corinthian church, what started as an introduction to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper turned into a one-sided fellowship meal, where each family brought its own food and proceeded to eat it in front of those who had nothing—no sense of unity, no sense of sharing and preferring one another in the true Christian way. So, Paul brought in a chapter of correction, teaching the right way to share the Lord’s Supper and pointing out their errors. Paul finished this chapter with “I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive”, indicating that there must have been other issues connected to the Lord’s Supper, but not important enough to include in his letter. How could the Corinthians have got things so wrong? Thankfully, Paul was on hand to bring in the correction needed. 

But there is also a need for spiritual food and drink, and the same principles apply. Our souls need to be fed, and if deprived of spiritual food, they will wither and die. What is this food? We find it in the Bible, which is a treasure trove of unlimited spiritual resources. We find more through prayer and worship. Through fellowship with other believers. In fact, we feed our souls by spending time in God’s Kingdom. The early Israelites were fed for forty years with a constant supply of manna. This was a superfood containing all the nutrients necessary for human life. But there is a manna that came through Jesus and which is still with us today. It is available in unlimited quantities and is free for all to eat. If we read John 6:35, we find out the Source of this soul-superfood, “Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”. Jesus continued, “Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh”. This was teaching that most of the people of His day failed to understand, because Jesus wasn’t talking about cannibalism, but about Him being spiritual food for those who believe in Him. Earlier in John 6, we read about the feeding of the five thousand, about how a young boy’s packed lunch of five barley loaves and two fish was multiplied to not only feed everyone but to ensure that they were full (John 6:12). Such was the magnitude of this miracle that the people wanted to make Jesus King. They understood the physical benefit of a miraculous food supply, but they failed to realise that Jesus was showing them the spiritual meaning, that His supply of bread was unlimited, and by eating it, their souls would become full.

There are many people today who are going about their daily lives depressed and without hope. Their souls are running on empty, and they have no resources that will feed them. They wake up in the morning, perhaps hoping that their circumstances will change in the day ahead, but return to their beds in the evening still unfulfilled. These are the people we pilgrims must introduce to Jesus. We are like the four lepers we can read about in 2 Kings 7. These lepers were starving, as were the Israelites, because of the Aramean siege of Samaria. They decided to visit the enemy camp to see if they could find mercy there and perhaps a crust or two of bread. But when they arrived, they found an empty camp and a plentiful supply of food and wine. After gorging themselves, we read in 2 Kings 7:9, “Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace””. As we pilgrims enter our day, we must remember that we have found “good news”and our souls have been filled by God’s spiritual manna. We must find an opportunity to tell the people around us where they, too, can find the food they need to nourish their souls. 

Dear Father God. We must never keep the Good News about Jesus to ourselves. Please fill us today with a fresh supply of Your Spirit, so that we can be equipped to share the hope that we have with the hopeless. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Judgment

Posted on by korgrocker

“For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and ill, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.”
1 Corinthians 11:29-32 NIVUK

In a previous blog, we considered what it means to discern “the body of Christ”. We continue to read today about what will happen to those who fail to “discern” what is really happening in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Reading between the lines of what went on in the Corinthians’ service of Communion, it must have been a bit of a riot compared with our sombre services today. They were apparently turning it into a drunken party, with those with the means to supply their own food and drink having a good time, and those without forced to sit on the sidelines and watch. And in some way, they considered that they were sharing in the Lord’s Supper by doing this. But before we condemn them and take the moral high ground, we must confess that some of us might be doing something equally dishonouring in our own thoughts. 

There were consequences to the Corinthians’ behaviour, and Paul made the association between those who shared the Communion in a way that dishonoured Christ and those who were suffering from illness or weakness, and even those who had died. How could that have happened? There is only one explanation, and that is God has brought weakness, illness, and even death to them as discipline for their failure to observe Communion with proper respect for Christ’s sacrifice and for each other. This could be a stumbling block for Christians who think God is a God of love, grace, and forgiveness and would never do such a thing. But God does discipline His children, “because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son“ (Hebrews 12:6). Comparing with the discipline meted out by human fathers, we read, “They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:10-11).

So, we pilgrims must approach the Lord’s Table in a way that honours Him. Paul wrote, “But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment”. We must judge ourselves first with sincerity. In other words, we must be brutally honest with ourselves before joining in the Lord’s Supper, and we must change our attitudes toward Christ’s death and all those He died for. Then we will not have to worry about God’s judgment afterwards.

But a word for all those anxious in these circumstances, and who fear for their salvation, Paul wrote, “Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32). When God disciplines us, it does not mean that He has rejected us and slammed the gates of Heaven in our faces. He still loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him. 

Dear Father God. We are so sorry for the times when we have taken the emblems of Holy Communion in an unworthy manner. We pray for forgiveness and for the Holy Spirit to help us remember You the next time we have the opportunity to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Discerning Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and ill, and a number of you have fallen asleep.”
1 Corinthians 11:27-30 NIVUK

We continue this morning to consider what the Communion service, the Lord’s Supper, really means. We know that a few moments are allowed before we take the emblems, and in these times of reflection, we confess our sins and do what we can to get right with God, even making promises to ourselves to go and put things right after the service. But what does it mean to discern the Body of Christ? Paul wrote, “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord”. We cannot ever make the mistake of being “unworthy” at a time like this, because of the solemnity of what it means. I’m sure, however, that we pilgrims would never want to be guilty of this, but we know our feeble capabilities. The pressures of life, and perhaps what we saw on television the night before, will crowd into our thought processes, causing us much distress. Paul eloquently described the problem in Romans 7:21, “So I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me”. Above all, we would never want to dishonour Jesus, who went through hell so that we wouldn’t have to. 

With the emblems before us, we should perhaps pause for a moment to consider that the bread on the plate isn’t the product of a baker at all, but the body of Jesus. In this respect, perhaps the Anglicans have got it right by never leaving even a crumb behind after the service. In the same way, the communion “wine”, whatever it is, must be totally consumed, and even the goblet used must be rinsed out and wiped clean. Anglicans do this in reverence to Christ because, through the solemnity of sharing the bread and wine, the emblems are made sacred. Sadly, so many churches will throw the unused elements away, disposing of them in the trash can or by pouring them down the sink. But how many congregants really make the connection between the elements and the body and blood of Jesus? God has blessed us pilgrims with an imagination, something that has become anointed by the Holy Spirit and is being sanctified by His presence. We must remember that although the body and blood, in the form of bread and wine, might be partaken of during a meal, they are entirely separate from it. 

In 1 Corinthians 11:26, we read, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”. In the process of sharing in the Communion, we are “proclaiming” the Lord’s death. In other words, through sharing in this ceremonial meal, we are acknowledging that Jesus gave His body and shed His blood for our benefit, for the salvation of all who believe in Him. And we will keep on proclaiming this momentous event until one of two things happens – either we die or Jesus returns, ushering in His new Kingdom. Jesus said, “I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). Then there will be that marvellous occasion we refer to as the marriage feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19). 

But there is something else about “proclaiming” the Lord’s death. What else should we be proclaiming? We can’t just be obedient in this one thing without being obedient to many others as well. Are we loving our spouses? Are we sharing the Gospel? There is a long list of “Are we’s”, providing a sobering reality to what it means to be a Christian. Thankfully, God is patient and kind, and doesn’t expect an instant transition from an unbeliever to a fully fledged believer overnight. We enter into a process called sanctification, as we are being made holy to be more like Jesus.

Another reason for the Communion service is to declare the unity among believers. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf”. In other words, we must see Christ in our fellow Christians and treat them as we would treat Jesus when we come together.

If we bring God’s spotlight into our souls, looking at who we are through His eyes, what will we see? This is an easy question to answer, because through Jesus, we will see a righteous and holy child of God. Through our repentance, the blackness of sin has been left at the Cross. But we must never become complacent, and we must value the Communion service to provide an opportunity to touch base with Jesus once again. We feel His love and forgiveness once again flood over us, refreshing and restoring our souls.

Dear Lord Jesus. Once again, we kneel before You, confessing our sins, and thanking You for all You have done for us. We worship You today. Amen.

 

Honouring Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“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 honouring 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.”
1 Corinthians 11:27-30 NLT

I don’t think people realise how important and significant the Lord’s Supper really is. The Corinthian Christians seemed to think that it was just another opportunity for a fellowship meal, as we read earlier in this chapter. “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” (1 Corinthians 11:20-21). Paul, therefore, went to great pains to point out to them the error of their ways, and his teaching has been there for all to read ever since. But when was the last time we heard a sermon on the verses we are considering today? In churches today, it is expected that the congregation will know what the Communion service is all about and how it affects them personally. I’m sure many a pastor, knowing what is going on in people’s lives and understanding the issues these same people have shared with them in times of confidence, will despair as they watch the congregation eating the Communion emblems. Paul certainly did, and his warning has to be seriously reflected upon. 

Paul made a connection between judgment, sickness, weakness, and even death for those who fail to honour the body of Christ. Considering the emblems, the cup represents Christ’s blood, and the bread represents His body. The purpose of taking communion is to commemorate and reflect on the sacrificial death of Jesus. To do so without “honouring the body of Christ” brings judgment on the participant. So, to turn it around, by failing to examine ourselves before we share the Lord’s Supper, we effectively insult Christ’s body. To examine ourselves commonly means confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness through God’s grace. In the Corinthian context, perhaps we should include how we treat our fellow believers. There may be sins that we confess that require some remediation, for example, putting things right with someone we know. And this is why it is so important that we pause for a few moments before we take Communion. In some instances, we might find it better not to take Communion at all because of the seriousness of a particular situation in which we find ourselves. But whatever, we need to examine ourselves. 

The Psalmist, David, began Psalm 139 with, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me”. So it is no good pretending that God won’t know about something we would rather hide. David continued in the following two verses, “You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do”. As we continue to read this Psalm, we find that there is no escape from God’s gaze, even if we wanted to. This insight is probably one of the reasons why so many people deny the existence of God, because they know the consequences of believing in God, and the impact it will have on their lives of sin. A human being deserves punishment for their sins, but thanks to God’s grace and forgiveness through Jesus, we have a way into His presence.

But perhaps the essence of Psalm 139 is distilled within the last two verses, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”. This is the self-examination required before we take the Communion emblems, and if God points out anything that needs to be addressed before we proceed, we must be obedient to Him. 

Dear Father God. We understand today the importance of having a right relationship with You, and at our times of Communion we remember what Jesus did for us at Calvary. Please forgive us for the times when our minds have wandered off into irrelevancy instead of focusing on You. Amen.

Examine Yourself

Posted on by korgrocker

“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. … 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.”
1 Corinthians 11:20-21, 27-28 NLT

Jesus said to His disciples the following: “He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Jesus commanded them to remember Him during subsequent Passover meals, and at other times as well, by inference. Paul continued the Lord’s command in 1 Corinthians 11:25-26, “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”. But what is the purpose of celebrating this act of remembrance? We surely can think of Jesus at other times without sharing in the Lord’s Supper. 

Christians everywhere share the Lord’s Supper because Jesus commanded it —and for good reason. Over the centuries since that first Supper, the sharing of bread and wine has become ubiquitous in churches all over the world, and at every occasion, Jesus has been remembered. It has become a special way to remember His life, His death, and His resurrection, but not just in a detached and objective way. This celebration gives us the opportunity to personally remember all that Jesus did for us and, most importantly, how we must respond. Concerning that, Scriptures that include what Jesus taught, and those that the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance, pop into our minds and sometimes bring conviction of sin. For example, Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount, “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23-24). In a sense, the Lord’s Supper parallels these verses about the altar in the Temple, because we are making an offering, a sacrifice, to God through the Communion emblems. I remember, as a young Christian, becoming very upset about the behaviour of another church member at a church business meeting, to the point that I could not share in the communion service the following Sunday. I lacked the maturity to deal with the issue at that time, but it was right not to take communion until I had. Believers have a special command from Jesus that cannot be ignored, and Paul brought to the Corinthians’ attention that their approach to the Lord’s Supper was all wrong. It wasn’t about sharing a meal together or eating and drinking. Paul wrote to the Romans, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). So, regardless of the origin of the emblems, the important fact is based on why we share them.

Through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we must examine ourselves, as the Scriptures say, because the last thing that we want to do is to be “guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord”. The Lord’s Supper is a solemn occasion, but too often it is taken far too lightly by people in the congregation without consideration of its importance. I can remember in one church I attended that two young men in the seats behind me were discussing the previous day’s football match during the Communion service, that is, until my wife turned around and asked them to be quiet. 

So, in the moments of quiet before taking the emblems, we sit and ask God to point out anything we need to deal with. Sometimes He will answer our prayer, so that we can repent. He may also point out something we must deal with and stop procrastinating. But in these precious moments, we touch base with Jesus through the emblems of His Body and Blood. And in the end, we look to Jesus, because it is all about Him. With grateful hearts, we truly do remember Him and give Him all our worship, all our praise, and all the glory.

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for the memories of Your life, death, and resurrection, because once again it brings us to a place where we understand why You came to this world and the consequences it has for every person who has ever lived. We worship You today as we look forward to the next opportunity to share the Lord’s Supper. Amen.

The New Covenant

Posted on by korgrocker

“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.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NLT
“And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.”
Matthew 26:27-28 NLT

The New Covenant is particularly important for us pilgrims, signifying as it does the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ, established by his sacrificial death on the cross. This covenant involves God’s promise to forgive sins, write his laws on the hearts of believers, and provide a direct, personal relationship with Him, superseding the Old Covenant that was based on the Law of Moses and animal sacrifices. These words are easy to write, but they will never replace the feeling in our hearts the reality of who Jesus was, and still is today. As we read the Gospels and follow His life from a manger in a stable, all the way to a hill above Jerusalem, from which the resurrected Jesus ascended into Heaven, with the details there of all He did for us, we can do nothing else but fall to our knees in deep gratitude and bow to the ground in worship. And if it is possible for things to get any better, we know that Jesus is still alive today, and is in Heaven preparing a place for us to live with Him forever (John 14:2-3). 

But the possibility of a new covenant to replace the old one first appeared in Jeremiah 31:31, 33, ““The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. … “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people”. Ezekiel also wrote about the New Covenant when he wrote, Ezekiel 36:26-27,  “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations”. But in the Old Testament, these prophetic writings were intended for the Jews. Even Jesus’ celebration of the Last Supper was with His Jewish disciples. But, thankfully, we know that through God’s grace, the New Covenant was extended to include the Gentiles, believers such as me and my fellow pilgrims. How do we know that? If we read Acts 10 we see the pivotal event where God showed Peter that he was to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. 

Ezekiel wrote about a new heart and spirit, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and obedience to God, all achieved through belief in Him. The New Covenant is the promise that God will forgive sin and restore fellowship with those whose hearts are turned toward Him. Jesus Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant, and His death on the cross is the basis of the promise. Through God’s grace, we have before us the way to fellowship with God forever. The New Covenant is based on God’s love and grace, and it is within the grasp of all people, who only need to respond by believing in Jesus and coming to Him at the Cross in true repentance. What else can God do to restore His relationship with mankind? He cannot turn us into automatons, people without the ability to freely choose our destiny. Instead, He made a way through Jesus —a New Covenant that He will never break. But a covenant is between two parties, so what is our responsibility? A Christian’s responsibility to the New Covenant is to exercise faith in Jesus Christ, who is the mediator of this superior covenant. This involves not trying to earn salvation through personal effort, but instead living a life empowered by the Holy Spirit to reflect God’s will through love, worship, and obedience to Christ’s teachings. Through this, a path of salvation and sanctification leads to Heaven’s door.

What do we pilgrims think about the New Covenant? To answer that, we look to Jesus and none other. Only He has the words of eternal life, and we now dedicate our lives to Him. Today and forever.

Dear Lord Jesus. You prepared the way for everyone in the whole world to find the path that leads to eternal life with You. For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Amen.

Holy Communion

Posted on by korgrocker

“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.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NLT

Today’s verses are well known in Christian denominations, the Holy Communion, or Lord’s Supper, being the highlight of a service. The Roman Catholic denomination has a service called “Mass” in which they share in the sacrament of the Eucharist. But regardless of where they worship, all Christians celebrate a time when they remember the Lord’s Last Supper, in accordance with His instructions. Paul’s account in our verses today omits the events that preceded those momentous words of Jesus, while the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) capture the poignant drama of that fateful evening meal. 

There are two facets of the Lord’s Supper that I want to dwell on today. The first is that Jesus said, through Paul’s words, “Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it”. Jesus never intended for His people to delay celebrating this occasion, setting it apart as a special service perhaps four times a year. Some churches make the Lord’s Supper an integral part of their weekly meetings. Others only have such a service at irregular intervals, when someone remembers. But this is a very solemn and important part of a Christian’s life, because when we share the Communion with each other, it brings together the very essence of why we are Christians in the first place. There is the significance of the bread, being shared from, ideally, a single source such as a roll or a loaf, depending on the size of the congregation, and, nevertheless, primarily remembering that Jesus willingly sacrificed His body for us. This then captures the importance of being together in unity and spirit, and in the presence of the Lord. Then we have the cup of wine, which we share, as we remember Jesus’ death, where He shed His blood for the salvation of all who believe in Him. Today, it is sad in a way that we have abandoned the single source of the bread and the shared cup in favour of sanitised alternatives, which even take the form of a small plastic cup with two seals, with a small wafer of something sandwiched between the two and above the container of some form of juice. Where is the oneness in that? But the Lord’s Supper is an act of remembrance, and how we share it must never detract from the importance of Jesus and all that He has done for us. 

Jesus said, “This is my body, which is given for you”. We should note the word “given,” as many services substitute “broken” for it. Jesus was once described by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God (John 1:29), a statement with special significance because of the Passover lamb. We read in Exodus 12:46, “Each Passover lamb must be eaten in one house. Do not carry any of its meat outside, and do not break any of its bones”. John took great care in his Gospel to relate this account of the first Passover lamb with Jesus, in John 19:36: “These things happened in fulfilment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken.”” Why so many leaders choose to say, “This is my body, which was broken for you” escapes me. 

The second saying of Jesus was cataclysmic in its impact. The Jews, up to this point, had known only one covenant —the law of Moses. But Jesus came to bring a New Covenant, as we read in Matthew 26:26-27, “And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many”—the meaning of this we will consider on another day.

For pilgrims everywhere, the Last Supper is a time of remembrance, preparing our hearts through the confession of our sins and reminding us of the relationship between Christians both inside and outside our churches and fellowships. But above all, we remember all that Jesus did for us at Calvary. He died in our place, taking on Himself the punishment we deserved to redeem us from our lives of sin. And now we can stand before Father God wearing a cloak of righteousness given to us by Jesus. This is such an amazingly loving act that we can never forget it. Ever.

Dear Lord Jesus. How can we ever forget Your ultimate sacrifice at Calvary, where You died for us. We are so grateful and look forward to the time when we can join you in Heaven. Amen.

Sharing a Meal

Posted on by korgrocker

“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!”
1 Corinthians 11:20-22 NLT

It is evident from the verses we are considering today that the Corinthian church celebrated the Lord’s Supper by sharing a meal. It seems that everyone brought their own food and drink, which they then consumed themselves rather than sharing it with those who had little food to bring. So the wealthier members of the church had a party and got drunk, and the poorer members just looked on. Paul was distraught by these reports because not only was the church being brought into disrepute, but the church members, in the process, had missed the whole point of the Lord’s Supper. Paul was quite forthright in what he said – “Do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor?”

In the Matthew 26 account of the first Lord’s Supper, we find that it happened “On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread”. The Jewish festival of Unleavened Bread, also known as Passover, commemorates the Israelites’ hasty departure from Egypt. For seven days, starting the day after Passover, observant Jews eat unleavened bread and avoid all leavened products to remember their ancestors’ leaving slavery without time for their dough to rise. In the account, we read that the disciples followed Jesus’ instructions to find somewhere to share the Passover meal, where “ … the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there” (Matthew 26:19). Regarding the sharing of the emblems, we read, “As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it” (Matthew 26:26-27). And in that simple act of dividing up the bread and passing around a cup of wine, the Lord’s Supper was celebrated.

It is unclear how the Corinthians celebrated the Last Supper with a shared meal, but this was a very different way from the one we have adopted in most churches today, where the Communion service is mainly symbolic. But having said that, I can remember an especially significant Communion service which we held in the church I was attending. It was a mid-week get-together, and we each brought an item of food to share as a snack lunch. But after we had finished, we noticed a bottle of unopened grape drink and some bread rolls. It was then that we spontaneously shared some pieces of the rolls and a cup of grape juice to celebrate the Lord’s Body and Blood. We then continued in a time of prayer that was quite special. Sharing and remembering, the very point of the Lord’s Supper.

Dear Lord Jesus. We thank You for giving us an occasion when we can remember You and all that You did for us at Calvary. Once again, we remember the importance of why and how You celebrated that Last Supper. We worship You today. Amen. 

More About Divisions

Posted on by korgrocker

“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 recognised!”
1 Corinthians 11:17-19 NLT

Paul is building up to another big issue with the Corinthians church. He has heard that there are divisions amongst the believers that are affecting the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It must have been a rather rowdy assembly, because in the lack of unity and associated mix of good and bad behaviour, Paul wrote that there will be some who will receive God’s approval, and presumably those who wouldn’t. The good guys were those who were doing what they should in matters of church life. In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, and after a section where he gave thanks to God for the believers in Corinth, he launched into an appeal for them to “live in harmony with each other”. However, in the early verses of his letter, Paul addressed the factional behaviour that he had heard about. Behaviour where some followed one leader, others followed another, with quarrelling resulting. It is quite extraordinary to compare these verses with a church today, where sometimes a bit of passionate behaviour would be very welcome, though not in the Corinthian way. 

The church in Corinth must have been one that we would not recognise through our 21st-century lenses. The origins of this fellowship began in a synagogue where Paul attempted to persuade the Jews there that Jesus was the Messiah. However, in return, we read that he received insults and opposition. Paul dramatically shook the dust off his clothes, indicating that there was nothing more he could do, and he then started the church in a house next door. There, we are told, Paul preached for eighteen months, “teaching the Word of God”. The Corinthian society must have been a bit unstable, because we read in Acts 18:12-13, “But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. They accused Paul of “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law””. I wonder how they did that? Did a few of the Jews grab Paul one day and, against his will, drag him before the Governor, expecting a favourable judgement? In today’s comparatively benign Western societies, such a thing would be unheard of. But to complete the story, the governor, a man called Gallio, was having none of their nonsense, “And he threw them out of the courtroom. The crowd then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom. But Gallio paid no attention” (Acts 18:16-17). 

So, it is no surprise that behaviour such as that demonstrated by the Jews spilt over into the early Corinthian church. It must have been endemic in the Greek society. Instead of working out divisions amongst themselves, presumably with the help of the church leaders, the Corinthian believers contributed to a situation that was far from acceptable, and behaved in ways that brought themselves and the church into disrepute. The lack of unity in the Corinthian church could have had a lasting impact, potentially leading to the church’s division and even its demise. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of satan, we read, “Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart” (Matthew 12:25). So we can see how Paul was so concerned about divisions appearing in Corinth. 

What about our churches today? One reason that we have so many denominations is that people have disagreed on what are often quite simple situations, such as the form of a service. And as a result, rather than come up with a Bible-based solution, a congregation divides. The evidence of such disagreements can be seen in the middle of Dunfermline, where I live. At one time, there were fourteen different churches in the centre of the City. But we must remember that church unity starts with ourselves. We must never look to others and use them as a reason for our own bad attitudes and behaviour. 

Dear Lord Jesus. Please help us assess our own attitudes and behaviour and bring us to repentance for the ways we have run down Your church. Please also help us to build up the people in our congregations and bring honour to You and Your name. Amen.