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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.

Doctrinal Arguments

Posted on by korgrocker

“Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head? Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair? And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.”
1 Corinthians 11:13-16 NLT

Paul writes his final words about the head covering debate, pre-empting an argument and further discussion about the right and wrongs of such an instruction. Why did Paul not just provide written instructions, commandments perhaps, instead of the previous eleven verses in 1 Corinthians 11? Some people seem to need dogmatic and clear guidance in their Christian lives because anything else just confuses them. But instead Paul has been round the houses providing the reasons for why men should not wear a hat when they pray, and women should cover their heads to show that they are under a man’s authority. 

In what we refer to as a non-conformist church, few restrictions are considered “doctrinal” but the Anglican and Catholic Churches have many, and over the years people have tended to get very upset if they are violated. Taking the Anglican Church as an example, doctrinal arguments involve differing views on topics like the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, the nature of sacraments, and the authority of Scripture versus tradition. These debates are often centred around a tension between the emphasis on tradition and reason, versus the Scriptures and the need for contextual interpretation. Contemporary disputes include the role of same-sex relationships, the authority of bishops, female roles, and the relationship between different parts of the Anglican Communion. Other arguments emerge over customs such as baptism. The Scriptures are clear that a believer’s baptism is by full immersion in water, supported by verses such as Matthew 28:19, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”. How baptism is carried out can be found in Mark 1:9-10, “One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptised him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove”. However, the Anglicans will sprinkle a few drops of “holy” water over a baby’s head, something not supported in the Bible. I can remember my sister being puzzled when I informed her that I was getting baptised by full immersion in the Pentecostal church where I came to know Jesus, because she said that I had already been baptised when I was an infant, showing her ignorance of what the Scriptures say. In the past, when I have challenged the reason for such customs, the main response has been “We have always done it that way”, with no reference to why and supporting Scriptures.

Paul was perhaps correct in his teaching about head coverings, because in the process he laid down theology that made sense. A wise pastor will from time to time teach the church members about theology and the beliefs of the church denomination or movement of which they belong, reviewing such customs as the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) by referring to the verses that support them. In the end, doctrines have to be supported by what is written in the Bible, but that still leaves a few customs that are not, and we must review why we do them. There is no place for following a ritual in our worship of God. But we must remember that what matters to God is not adherence to religious laws, customs and doctrines. Pharisees do that. It is what is in a person’s heart that really matters.

Dear Lord Jesus. You went to Calvary to set people free from their sins. That freedom provides us with the opportunity to worship You in a way that is heart-felt and real, giving You all the glory and all the praise. We bow before You in worship today, respecting Your place as God over all. Amen.

Interdependence

Posted on by korgrocker

“But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God.”
1 Corinthians 11:11-12 NLT

Good, factual words from Paul in our verses today. He referred back to the Creation story that we can read in Genesis 2:18, 21-22, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” … So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man”. So the first woman appeared on this planet without a belly button, it would seem. We also find the account of the first operation performed with an anaesthetic. God did amazing and wonderful things during the creation of this world, and all that is within it, but, sadly, people today choose to overlook or even deny that it happened. When we look at the perfection within the human body and consider the views of the evolutionists, we wonder how they could have ever concluded that it all happened by chance. In the end, I have to admit that I, and many people I know, don’t have the faith necessary to be an atheistic evolutionist. 

But today we are considering the interdependence of men and women. Two distinct roles that are accompanied by all the spiritual and mental resources needed for each. A man has the mental capacity to be a breadwinner and protector of his family. A woman has the emotions to care for her children and husband. And both have the intelligence to be able to make choices, to love and support each other, in a match truly made in Heaven. But as we know, the devil has deeply impacted this relationship by corrupting God’s order and creation, by introducing lies that have confused men and women, bringing them to situations that God never intended. And, worse, society has picked up these lies and used them, through legislation, to exacerbate the devil-introduced corruption, blighting the human race with falsehoods. Firstly, the devil introduced what Paul referred to as “foolish ideas”, as we read in Romans 1:21, 25, “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. … They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshipped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen”. Secondly, the devil introduced thoughts and physical changes that went directly against what God intended for men and women. We read in Romans 1:26-27, “That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved”. Back in Genesis 2:24, we read what God really intended in the relationship between men and women: “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one”. 

In the interdependence between men and women, there is ultimately a “joining” that prevails. However, as Paul previously taught in 1 Corinthians 7, there is a role for singleness as well, should God ordain it. But there is no room in God’s creation for all the societal “wokeness” that has burst into God’s created order. We must pray for the poor people who have been corrupted by the devil’s attacks and who have found no Godly support for their confusion.

Paul wrote that “everything comes from God”. It has to, really, when we think about Genesis 1 and 2. But this is a belief that diverges from the sad secularism that has blighted our societies, with those who deny the existence of God forced to come up with some other explanation for the origins of our world. Men and women, however, have an interdependence that will outlast the attempts of mankind to corrupt God’s order. Such men and women are still getting married today. They are still spending their lives together, raising their children, living in harmony, and bringing glory to God. One day, God will have the last word, and it will be preceded by the devil being consigned to an eternity away from the ability to influence mankind ever again, an existence that will provide him with an opportunity for eternal regrets. The sad thing is that many men and women will ultimately join him there. There will be no defence before God, such as “the devil made me do it”, because men and women were created in God’s image, with the ability to make choices.

Dear Heavenly Father. You created men and women in accordance with Your divine design. We thank You for who we are, and the opportunities that You have provided for us. We repent of our sins today, and cast off the corruption that pushes against us and what we believe every day. We worship You with all that is within us because You are the only true God this world has ever had. Amen.

Under Authority

Posted on by korgrocker

“A man should not wear anything on his head when worshipping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory. For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man. And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man. For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority.”
1 Corinthians 11:7-10 NLT

Another few verses from 1 Corinthians that, at least at first sight, are incompatible with the views in today’s society, particularly for women. If we did a survey today on any high street in Britain, and asked a woman if she was wearing a hat to show that she is under the authority of someone, what do we think she would say? But this interpretation of authority is not totally accurate. Paul was referring to spiritual authority, which is something very different from secular points of view. Paul was still writing about God’s spiritual order, summarised in 1 Corinthians 11:3, “But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God”. But spiritual authority is always displayed as a natural equivalent. Take men, for example. They are unable to say that Christ is their head if they behave in a way that is incompatible with their belief. Such a conflicted man may worship Christ in a Sunday service, but if he denies Christ in the workplace, how is Christ his head? The same principle applies to a wife, who may look to her husband for spiritual guidance, but then runs him down outside the school gates. All believers have an obligation to be under authority, something which ultimately, either directly or indirectly, ends up at God’s throne. Whether we believers like it or not, the authority implied in God’s order applies throughout every facet of our lives. 

Colossians 1:15-16, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him”. These verses establish the fact that Christ is the authority over all, including men and women, and, although authority may be delegated, Christ is the ultimate Creator and the One to whom everyone is accountable. 

In Romans 13:1, Paul wrote, “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God”. This is a hard one for people, even Christians, to accept, particularly when the government of a country is not a good one. Everyone we meet in the street will have an opinion about how they could do a better job of government. But such thoughts are contrary to what God has established. God is not pleased with those who rebel against a country’s government. But what should Christians do if a government passes a law that is contrary to God’s laws? We have such a situation in the UK, with the law concerning abortion. Some Christians are prepared to stand up and declare that such a law is wrong, even to the extent of practising some form of civil disobedience. However, we believers have a responsibility to obey the government of the day. Still, in the case of a conflict between laws passed by the government and God’s higher laws, God’s laws will prevail, even though that might cause a Christian particular difficulties. We must pray that we never have to face the situation described in Revelation 13:16-17, regarding a law passed by the “beast” – “He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name”. 

No matter who we are, male or female, we must have the right attitude towards authority, because one day we will have to stand before God to give an account of our lives. 2 Corinthians 5:10 reads, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body”. I should add that this judgment of Christians does not affect our salvation. This judgment is specifically for believers and is not a judgment of condemnation but one of evaluation for rewards. 

Our example is Jesus, and we look to Him as the Author and Perfector of our faith. Back to Philippians 2:5-6, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to”. Jesus knew all about God’s order. Although He challenged the rulers of His day, He never sinned, and he was ultimately crucified as a result of their decree. Today, we pray in an attitude of humility and submission to God for help in living this life we have in God’s way. 

Dear Father God. Thank You for revealing once again the importance of authority, Your authority, and helping us to evaluate the attitudes of our hearts. We pray for forgiveness for all the times we have got this wrong. Amen.