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Articles 2014-2017
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
Jesus would soon shed His blood at the cross. The word “shed” basically means to be poured out, or gushed. The point is that His death did not involve a trickle, but a great outpouring of His blood. He was whipped, beaten, nailed to the cross, and then as He hung there, a spear was thrust in His side.
This pouring out of His life reveals the kind of covenant He was establishing with us. The New Testament is a flood, a deluge of His life, of forgiveness and of mercy; He has lavished His grace upon us.
And when we think of this New Covenant, we recognize God’s promise to put His laws into our minds, and then to write them upon our hearts. We have all experienced this process. When He speaks words of life to us through the reading of scripture, through teaching, prophecy, and counsel, He is putting His words into our minds. Then He proceeds to take us through many circumstances where He writes into our hearts what He has spoken. His goal is that we become a living expression of His word.
But notice the above verse. The New Testament is also a cup of wine. If we are a New Covenant people, we not only love to hear His voice and respond to His words and seek to discover Him in the daily stresses of this life. We also love to gather together with others who are walking the same path (though each will be experiencing their own unique tests of faith). And together with them we celebrate at the Lord’s Table the power of Christ’s blood.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (Greek, KOINONIA) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
The Greek word KOINONIA can also be translated as fellowship, sharing, or participation. The cup that we bless is a sharing, a participation in Christ’s blood. We all recognize that when we stumble and ask the Lord to forgive our sins, we are at that time participating in the blood of Christ. But do we also recognize that it is just as much a participation in His blood when we take the cup together in faith?
And what Paul actually says is that the cup of blessing is not the communion; it is a communion. In other words, to simply partake at the Lord’s Table will not save us. The act of regularly gathering together with a local church and drinking of the cup must first be rooted in a personal intimate/faith relationship with Him where we receive His forgiveness of our sins through His shed blood. That is the communion of the blood of Christ in which the communion of His blood where we partake of the cup makes sense. But clearly, both aspects are integral to New Covenant life.
Notice also, that the bread we break is a participation of the body of Christ. I love to participate in His body. When believers gather together and prophesy, worship, teach, exhort, and fellowship with each other, we are participating in the body of Christ. Many sections of the Church do not recognize the importance of this emphasis. They think that the gathering of the local church is primarily about an anointed few who minister while the rest listen. But body ministry is a crucial element of New Testament Christianity. And here is Paul’s point. It is also just as much a participation in Christ’s Body when we take the bread and eat of it together.
Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.
(1Corinthians 10:17 NAS)
The root of our oneness is that we all have and continue to partake of that one Bread who came from Heaven.
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
My friends John and Betty Whritenor tell of how when they were on a Caribbean cruise and docked at a particular island, the ship was playing popular American music for the passengers to enjoy. At the same time, there was also a group of native Christians on the dock singing hymns for the benefit of those same passengers. John and Betty’s immediate thought was that they were more united with the folks on the dock than with those on the boat, even though they were Americans, several of whom they had spent some time with. Because they had all partaken of the same Bread from Heaven, they had an immediate sense of being in the same family with the native Caribbean Christians.
Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
Paul’s perspective of the church at Corinth was that they were in such poor spiritual condition that it would be better if they just stayed home rather than gather together. God’s purposes were actually hindered rather than furthered by their meetings!
For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions (Greek, SCHISMA) among you, and in part I believe it.
When someone discloses a particular incident, you know there is probably another side to the story. A wise man will always keep his mind open concerning what that other side might entail. In Paul’s case he believed what he had heard from some of the Corinthians because he knew that factions would be a predictable reaction to God revealing His kingdom among imperfect people. But he only believed what he had heard in part; he was a wise man.
For there must also be factions (Greek, HAIRESIS) among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
HAIRESIS is the Greek term from which we get the word heresy. There must be heresies. Most Christians think of heresy as destructive theological error. But Paul uses the word to describe factions in the Corinthian church. Young’s Literal Translation renders the word as “sects”. Weymouth identifies it as differences of opinion.
The problem seems to be that we can use our opinions, our interpretations of scripture in a divisive way toward other brethren. And we can do so with correct doctrine. In other words, we can be sound in our perspective of certain Bible passages but divisive in our heart attitudes toward others (especially those who have come to different conclusions). And sadly, we tend not to realize that at such times we are the heretics.
It is possible for Charismatic Christians to be heretics in our attitudes toward brethren who are not and vice-versa. It is possible to believe in plural eldership and be heretical toward brethren who differ. The list could be quite extensive.
There must be factions. We have seen the churches in my region experience fragmentation. In the late 1970s and early 1980s when God was moving by His Spirit in wonderful ways, many churches were growing, and new believers were being added consistently to the Kingdom of God. In the particular stream of which I was a part, we saw up to 800 people coming to conferences we hosted. For this area those numbers were pretty amazing.
In the years following, during much God-ordained shaking and testing, He surfaced many improper heart attitudes in all of us across our whole region. During such times, some believers will distance themselves from others and then either relocate to other local churches or start new ones.
One major problem at such times is that some believers might “sleep” through the transition. By that I mean they do not seek to understand what the Lord is revealing in the midst of the shaking. They might change to a different local church simply because it has a better Sunday-school program, or the music team is more talented, or perhaps they like the preaching style of the leader(s).
But the whole point of God shaking His house and causing factions to emerge is so that He can make known those whom He has approved. This is not to imply that one of the churches in the region is the heavenly favored one and all the rest are somehow second-class. No, in fact God will strategically locate godly humble believers all over the landscape. The reason is that He wants to reveal among His people those who have no agenda but Him and His kingdom. Granted, proper discernment is not an easy exercise when emotions run high and many claim to speak with God’s perspective. But such difficulty does not change the fact that the Lord will make His priorities known in the midst of His people and reveal both who and what He is commending.
If we walk humbly with Him at such times, we will get the point, make the right choices, and be useful to Him in His ongoing purposes in the region.
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.
It seems the Corinthian believers would come together to worship, to pray, and to celebrate the Lord’s Table in the context of a meal. It was not a complicated liturgy.
But some seemed more focused on food and filling their bellies than they were on the brethren with whom God was integrating them. Some who arrived early to the gathering would not wait for those who arrived later. So some actually went hungry at an event designed to facilitate the feeding of both body and soul. Because of their heart attitudes, Paul’s conclusion was that when they partook of the loaf and the cup, it was not the Lord’s Table they were partaking of, even if they called it so.
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.”
Paul did not receive this truth from Peter, John, or any of the other disciples attending the last supper. Because Christ himself told the apostle word for word what He had said on that fateful night, we see how important this subject is to Him. He has given to us a powerful weapon in our war against sin and in our desire to more fully come into our inheritance. The Lord’s Table is not simply symbolism but a heavenly event to facilitate our entrance into a greater remembrance/awareness of what happened for us at the cross. Indeed, God’s power is present when we partake of Him in the bread and the wine.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
The Lord’s Table is a proclamation. As we partake together, we are declaring to one another that we are in fact dead, buried, and raised up a new creation. Our proclamation is not to the world; they are not in attendance. We are first declaring it to ourselves, then to each other, and finally to the spiritual powers opposing us with the lie that we will never change. Let us make this proclamation frequently.
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.
While none of us are worthy in ourselves to come before the Lord of the universe, His blood has made us worthy. But, it is possible to be His child and yet come before Him in an unworthy manner. If like many Corinthians did, I think it is acceptable to selfishly exalt my own impatience and physical hunger above my brethren and then casually partake with them of the Lord’s Table, I will be guilty before God. If I feel free to move in gossip, a critical spirit, or a spirit of self-promotion, comparing myself with others and competing with them, and yet partake of the bread and the cup, I am doing so in an unworthy way.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
Paul does not say we are to examine each other; we are to consider our own hearts as we come before Him. And then let us partake. He also does not say to examine ourselves, determine that we are unworthy, and then decide to abstain. No. If something is wrong within, let us repent. And if we must work through a relational conflict with another, then let us do so. And then let us partake. The Lord wants us at His table.
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.
The margin in my Bible refers to those who slept as having died physically. Behold the severity as well as the kindness of God. His power unto destruction was present when they partook improperly at His Table.
Today there are Christians getting sick and dying early because they feel free to participate in gossip, divisive speech, and other sins of the heart toward their brethren – those who Jesus has received into covenant. They denigrate instead of properly valuing others who are precious in God’s sight. And then they feel free to partake of the Lord’s Table, all the while failing to properly discern Christ’s body. These are serious considerations brethren, even issues of life and death.
If God’s power unto destruction is present at the communion table, so must also be His power unto salvation. May the healing power of God break forth in our times together at the Table of the Lord. For example, my older brother struggled for a number of years as a child with many painful bouts of strep throat. Until one day the Lord spoke to my mom to give him the bread and of the cup. And when he partook, he was instantly healed and to my knowledge has never had a problem with it since.
God’s power is present in our obedience. There is coming a day when we will see people being healed even while the Gospel is being preached, even while worship is arising before the throne of God, and even while the bread and wine are being received in faith. Clearly, the Lord’s Table is not mere form and ritual. Cancers will disappear, arthritic conditions will evaporate, bones will strengthen, and eyes will open. We are not coming into a time of Christ’s decreased manifest presence in His house, but into a time of Him coming into greater clarity before both our eyes and the eyes of the world.
But we must fight the giants. There is an inheritance that belongs to us, not because we deserve it but because Jesus paid for it. And He has earned the right to take us into what He purchased for us.
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
As severe as it was for believers to be dying at the Corinthian church, yet it revealed God’s mercy. They experienced His discipline, His chastening, so that they would not be condemned along with the world. Sometimes God reveals His mercy with such uncompromising intensity that it can be mistaken for straightforward destructive judgment. But He has what is best for us in His heart, and He will do what He must to get our attention. May the Church in our day awaken to the seriousness of this present season.
Donald Rumble – January 2016
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