The Lord’s Supper (Part 3)

By Bob Myhan

There is no inherent spiritual value in the mere partaking of the elements of the Lord’s Supper as such. There is no magical quality in them to spiritually bless the Christian. The idea that all the Christian needs to do is attend the Sunday assembly, take the bread and fruit of the vine into his stomach, and all will be well with his soul, is not only unscriptural but anti-scriptural. Unless one partakes worthily, his partaking is sheer mockery and an insult to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Christian is duly warned:

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (1 Cor. 11:27)

One’s manner of partaking will be determined by the attitudes and activities that characterize his general manner of life. An improper life cannot yield a proper manner of partaking.

The person who hates and mistreats his fellowmen, who is impenitent in reference to his own sins, or who manifests a lack of reverence toward God in his daily conduct, can hardly approach the Lord’s Table in a worthy manner.

How can anyone possibly remember, in the right manner, the Lord’s sacrifice for the sins of the world and at the same time harbor resentment, hate, and impenitence in his heart?

Indeed, the Lord refuses to accept any phase of our worship unless our manner of life is essentially correct.

“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matt. 5:23-24)

The saints at Corinth were eating the elements of the Lord's Supper as an ordinary meal to satisfy the physical appetite.

Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. (1 Cor. 11:20-30)

Just as their disrespectful partaking contributed to their spiritually degraded condition, so their spiritually degraded condition contributed to their disrespectful partaking.

An ugly party spirit was rampant among them; fornication was being practiced; and brethren were going to law against brethren. (1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:1-4; 5:1-5; 6:1-6)

It was impossible for them to have a correct manner of partaking while their manner of living was so wrong.

This does not mean, however, that God demands perfection of life as a necessary qualification for proper participation in the communion meal, for then no one would be qualified. (Rom. 3:23; 1 John 1:8,10)

Those whose general manner of life is as it should be are those who wrestle with their bad spirits and tendencies, and who pant to be worthier men and truer children of God.

It is this constant diligence to serve the Lord and to be holy in life that qualifies the Christian to commune at the Lord’s Table, and prepares him to partake in the proper manner.

But what is the proper manner? How must one partake in order to partake worthily? This will be dealt with in the next two or three issues of the Faith Builder. &

Balance in Preaching

By Doy Moyer

Preaching is not the easiest task in the world. The preacher knows that he must address subjects that are difficult and, sometimes, offensive to some. His job is to preach the word, in season and out, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with great patience and instruction (2 Tim. 4:2). He knows that there will be those who do not want to hear the truth, but would rather heap up teachers who will say those things they want to hear. And there are plenty of ear-ticklers available.

The preacher must be bold, uncompromising of truth, and plain-spoken so as to be understood. He knows that he cannot water the message down so that it loses its power and focus. He realizes that he has a great responsibility toward himself and those who hear what he has to say (cf. 1 Tim. 4:16). When he confronts sin, he must rebuke it. When he faces false teaching, he must be courageous. In all things, the true preacher knows that he answers to God first, and is not in the business of pleasing men (cf. Gal. 1:10).

But there's another side to this. Sometimes, in our fervor to "preach it like it is," we overstep our God-given boundaries. In the name of hard preaching, it is easy to "go past Jerusalem" and start getting downright mean. In order to win arguments and make ourselves look good, it is tempting to ridicule those who are in opposition to us. We can become rude, unkind, and abusive. Sarcasm (or better, irony), may have a proper place, but not when it is at the expense of gentleness, love, and respect. We can become careless in how we speak to others, and about others with whom we disagree. We may even begin to thrive on being offensive. We boast about our little debating techniques: "Did you see how I got him?" But this is a manifestation of self-righteousness and ironically shows a disregard for God and His Word.

How so? Because, while in stressing certain commands and steadfastly exercising our duty to reprove and rebuke, we may ignore other commands. We are to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). Our speech is to be "with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person" (Col. 4:6). We are to be kind and tenderhearted, forgiving, and devoid of bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamor (Eph. 4:31-32). With those in opposition, we are to correct with gentleness (2 Tim. 2:25). These are just as much commands of God as any other! To ignore these in the name of "sound" preaching is not only Pharisaical, it is just plain sinful. Contending for the faith does not equal being contentious and ugly.

Just remember, there is a difference between kind and mushy, between graceful speech and that which compromises truth. We need to learn these differences if we will really be faithful servants of God. The spirit in which we do something is every bit a part of the doctrine of Christ as those more difficult issues that we so often struggle with. Teach the truth, but let's do it in the way God has told us to do it. Keep the balance. &

Sentence Sermons

Worrying, like rocking in a chair, gives you something to do but does not get you anywhere.