Living Word January 2014

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mat 28:19)

Happy New Year

IN THIS ISSUE

www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk

In this month’s issue: 3.

Water Seeks the Lowest Level

5.

Starting Afresh

6.

Grace: The Power to Reign

Ken Legg (Australia)

7.

Help the Weak

Isaac Mwagi (Kenya)

8.

Time for Judgment

10.

Faith-builders Bible Study Mark 4

Derek Williams (UK)

14.

Devotional Poems

Brother David (UK)

15.

In Depth Study – 1 Corinthians 11

Edwin & Lillian Harvey (USA) Daniel Kolenda (CfaN)

Mathew Bartlett (UK)

Mathew Bartlett (UK)

©Photos above © Captainzz Cover: © Photowitch Left © from top: Mark Winder, Jozef Sedmak, Godfer, Sebastian Grecu, and Benjamin Haas Facing Amandee Back Cover: Benjamin Haas

Living Word Magazine is published in the United Kingdom by Sharon Full Gospel Church, 7 Park View, Freeholdland Road, Pontnewynydd, Pontypool, NP4 8LP Editor: Mathew Bartlett

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Faithbuilders Bible Study Guide – Mark

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Water Seeks the Lowest Level An extract from “Royal Insignia” by Edwin & Lillian Harvey Image © Roland Warmbier

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But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder (Job 28:12,26).

LILIAS Trotter, an English woman of promising artistic talent, gave up all worldly prospects and went out to North Africa as a missionary with two other companions.

All were in ill health; they knew no one on the field; none of them were acquainted with the language.

They had a God too big to fail them. Lilias Trotter was a great student of nature, and learning the laws that govern that realm, she applied these same laws to the spiritual realm. She received great comforting from God’s word

to Job and comments thus on the above verses: “. . . God finds the way for the wind and the waters and the lightning.” It came with a blessed power what those ways are:

“The way for the wind is in the region of the greatest emptiness. “The way for the water is to the place of the greatest depth.

“The way for the lightning is along the line of the greatest weakness. ‘If any man lack.’

There is God’s condition for His inflow of the spiritual understanding. . . .

“In our northern lands a watercourse shows out as the richest green of the meadow land, broken by a ripple and a glimmer and a glitter through reeds and ferns and moss.

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Not such are the African watercourses, and not such are God’s counterparts in the spiritual kingdom.

“Out here you can detect the channel by the clue that it will be the barest of the bare places—sun-bleached, rounded stones, stretching across a plain or a deep cut gulley winding among the tablelands that bind the Sahara to the North.

“But summer and winter you will see in those barren waterways a supply going down to the oasis that cluster among the cliffs and bastions where the plateau breaks down to the desert. Trace the gulley upwards till it is but a trench, and you will probably find that it starts with a

scooped-out hollow in the gravel no more than a couple of feet across, holding a pool that shows a bubble now and then. In that pool lies the source of life for the oasis down below.

“The water begins by grooving that trench at the lowest level it can find, and it seeks all the time to make that level lower still, carving for itself at last a veritable ravine till it has reached the mission that was the meaning of the lonely path, of the

stripping bare of the everdeepening emptiness.

For the last sweep of its ravine has sent it forth into the glory of its mission.

Away beyond stretched thousands upon thousands of palm trees, waiting for the treasure that the water course has brought down.

The power of the water and the laying low of the channel—between them they have opened this great gateway.

‘Thou didst cleave the earth with Thy rivers.’ “So with ourselves, instead of a life of conscious power, ours will probably, if He is going to do

any deep work in us, be a path of humiliation, of stripping, of emptiness, where no flesh may glory in His presence.

“The way goes downward and downward into the valley of humiliation as the self-life stands gradually revealed by God’s presence!

On and on, instead of the sense of power, there comes only more and more the overwhelming sense of insufficiency—for in the spiritual, as in the natural world, if you want to seek water, look in the very lowest place that you can find.

Whatever the ministry may be, it is the same story, the stream-bed going lower and lower, with nothing to glory in but the wonderful glory of bearing the life-giving water.

‘Death worketh in us, but life in you,’ the water courses say.

“Yes, the way ‘goes downward and downward,’ while natural man’s whole tendency is to raise himself in arrogant pride.”

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Hollow out your heart by selfdistrust, and God will fill it with the flashing waters of His strength bestowed.

— Unknown.

Starting Afresh A Bible Study by Daniel Kolenda (CfaN) Photo: © Sebastian Grecu

I love Lamentations Repentance is such an3:22-23: oftenmisunderstood Contrary “The Lord’s concept. lovingkindnesses to indeed what never many cease, people forthink, His repentance is not a dirty word.

It’s compassions never fail. They notare just for every the sinner who wants new morning; great to get saved, nor is it just for those is Your faithfulness” (nas). who are committing gross sins and God’s mercy is truly an living in blatant immorality. For the unfathomable wonder. Often child of God repentance should be haveTo arepent difficult time a we lifestyle. means to wrapping our minds around “turn,” to change one’s mind and the scope of God’s grace, but direction. it is true—His mercy is new

But here is where many people every morning! Every day is a misunderstand. We tend to think new day. God is willing to of repentance as primarily turning forgive and offer us another away from something, as in turning chance single day.a oneaway fromevery sin and making hundred-eighty-degree change to One of the most exciting the opposite direction. But this is developments of our day is missing the real point. For GPS (global positioning example, a sinner could turn away satellite) These from a sin andtechnology. still be lost. In fact, amazing GPS devices have the there are many religions that teach capacity to navigate morals and abstinence from someone, various sins, butwith that in audible and of itself does not save anyone. instructions, from wherever Therefore, the world Christian they are from in the to perspective, what you turn away within a few feet of anywhere from notthe really thethey issue.

It is elseison globe desire what you turn to that makes the to be. One of the wonderful difference.

things about GPS devices is that they are full of grace and mercy. If the driver misses a

turn, the GPS doesn’t begin to scream, “You stupid idiot. I told you to turn. You missed it! That’s it. Find your own way home. I quit!” It simply says in a calm voice, “Recalculating,” and then begins to plot another course that will correct the mistake. I did hear of one person who, after having missed a turn, heard his GPS say, “Go straight ahead three hundred twenty-four miles and then turn right.” Those kinds of instructions from a GPS are rare, but even if the driver had followed that unusual command, eventually the GPS would have gotten that person back to the place where he wanted to go.

When we miss a turn in our negligence, ignorance, presumption, or rebellion, if we will stop, acknowledge our sin, ask for forgiveness, repent, and receive God’s grace for a fresh start, we will hear the gentle and gracious 5

voice of the Good Shepherd saying to our hearts, “Recalculating.” He will then assign a new course that will get us back on track. It may take extra time and effort. It may be long and painful. It may even require that we “continue straight ahead three hundred twenty-four miles” before the next turn.

But that turnaround will come if we keep following Him. God is a master at turning mourning into dancing and creating beauty from ashes.

Reproduced with kind permission Christ for all Nations.

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Grace: The Power to Reign by Ken Legg

In these verses Paul says that the same grace which appeared to us at salvation also teaches us how to live.

The word translated as ‘teach’ is paideuo, from which we get the word pedagogue, meaning a teacher.

This is most interesting, because elsewhere Paul likens the law to a pedagogue (see Gal.3:24-25). And he says that when a person comes to faith in Christ they are taken out from being under the law; they no longer need this pedagogue. We are free from the law and from people telling us what to do.

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You are not the Pedagogue, the Holy Spirit is!

‘For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age’ (Titus 2:11-12).

Here we see why. We have another pedagogue, the Holy Spirit.

But there is a major difference. Under the old covenant the pedagogue was external to us, but under the new covenant our pedagogue is internal. The Holy Spirit lives inside us and teaches us how to live. He leads us step by step, just like a pedagogue.

When God saved us He did not give us a law, He gave us a life; the life of Christ. And this life comes to us by the Holy Spirit to effect transformation.

He teaches us to say ‘no’ to:

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Ungodliness Ungodliness is when we don’t take God seriously; when he is disregarded. The strict meaning of an atheist is not one who doesn’t believe in God but one who lives without Him. Before we were saved we were like this; we were ungodly. But now the Holy Spirit teaches us to live God-conscious, God-centred and God-dependent lives.

Worldliness Worldliness means to be absorbed in this temporary, material world with no regard for the things of God. As natural, unredeemed people that’s how we once lived. But now the Holy Spirit teaches us to set our minds on the things of the Spirit, i.e. our new creation life in Christ (see Rom.8:5-9).

The consequence of this is that we will live ‘soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age’ (Titus 2:12). This is all the work of grace.

In my observation, some pastors, preachers and church leaders are reluctant to embrace the teaching of grace because it means they have to trust the Holy Spirit to do His work in God’s people.

Some, apparently, think they can do the job better than He

can. They want to be the pedagogue!

It is true that Paul instructs Titus to teach others how to live, but there is a huge difference between explaining God’s Word and trying to enforce it. It’s one thing to teach God’s people, another thing to police them!

We must trust the Holy Spirit to teach believers how to work out their salvation in the day to day details of their lives. He is far more capable than we are. Jesus promised,

‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you’ (Jn.14:26).

I read these verses and they brought me such a big meaning to me.

Romans 15 vs1We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. 3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Did you know that the Bible says that we who are strong we are supposed to bear the infirmities of the weak and not please or boast ourselves? Did you know it is your responsibility to uplift the weak?

Jesus has many qualities here on earth and among them is He was caring, loving, prayerful and many others. We ought to imitate Christ and possess the same qualities as we do this we shall touch many souls. God bless you.

ISAAC MWAGI (KENYA ) Image © Mark Winder

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The First Six Trumpets With the breaking of the seventh seal further details of the day of the Lord and His judgement on the wicked are unveiled. As the seventh seal is opened, there is an awed silence in heaven, “in anticipation of the judgement about to be released on the earth” for God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

Time for Judgement Revelation 8 & 9 He loved us enough to give His son to die so that we may be made sinless. But because He desires for us to love Him, He left it up to us whether to “plug” into Him or to live in the darkness. Just like the lamp, we too need a source of power in order to shine. God is our power source. He is to us what the electrical outlet is to a lamp.

The sounding of each of the six trumpets heralds an act of judgement greater and more severe than the one before it, leading to the seventh trumpet and the coming of Christ. These trumpet judgements are not intended to bring to repentance, for they are not corrective - but are the expression of God’s anger against man’s sin.

In this study we shall look at the six trumpet judgements in order.

We would do well to remember that these events are literally about to be fulfilled on earth this really is truth for today.

The symbol of the angel offering the prayers of the saints before hurling fire to the earth demonstrates that mankind’s rejection of Christ occasions this final outpouring of God’s wrath.

Mankind is without excuse, for Christ has given his life for all as a sweet smelling sacrifice to God, the saints have prayed for the ungodly but all to no avail because their hearts remain unrepentant. Judgement can be withheld no longer.

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1. As the first trumpet sounds, a gigantic hail & fire storm begins.

The hail and fire balls fall in a shower of blood - a sign of judgement, not mercy in this instance, as one the occasion when all the water in Egypt with the River Nile was turned into blood. As a result of this judgement, 1/3 of all trees are destroyed and all green grass on earth is destroyed (burned).

2. When the second trumpet sounds, what looks to John like a huge mountain burning with fire lands in the sea, turning 1/3 of all sea water into blood. If this event is a meteorite colliding with the earth, then it would not literally become blood, but be polluted and dead as if it were blood. However, we must not ignore the possibility that this could be an entirely supernatural occurrence, a mountain of fire coming out from God, and not outer space, turning the sea literally to blood.

As a result of this judgement 1/3 of all sea life dies and 1/3 of all sea vessels are destroyed.

3. When the third angel sounds his trumpet, a “mega star” lands as if it were all over the world at once. The word “star” refers to “that which is strewn across the sky”. It is burning with fire and poisons 1/3 of all rivers and fresh water sources. Its name “Wormwood” denotes its effect, and we could view this as a wholly supernatural occurrence.

Indeed, though a more natural explanation may be evident at the time this event occurs, the

source of its happening remains clear - it is a deliberate act of judgement by God. 4. The fourth trumpet sounds, bringing partial darkness to the sun moon and stars. Only 2/3 of their light is given. Like the earlier plagues in Egypt, these are preludes, building up to the final and absolute judgement which is about to fall. This fact is made clear by the angel flying in the height of the sky to declare a threefold woe on the earth because of the three angels who are still to sound.

5. With the sounding of the fifth trumpet comes the first of these three woes. Satan is handed the key of the bottomless pit - the prison where all his captive demons are imprisoned, and he is permitted to unleash them on the earth. In what way they will bring torment to human souls I would not care to imagine. The darkness on earth described here is not literal, but a spiritual darkness such as never been seen on earth before. Such darkness will be tangible and dreadful. The demons do not have power to hurt the inanimate creation, but to torment men with an agony compared to that of a man who has been stung by a scorpion.

“When a scorpion has stung, the place becomes inflamed and hardened; it reddens by tension, and is painful by intervals, being now chilly, now burning. The pain soon rises high, and rages, sometimes more, sometimes

less. A sweating succeeds, attended by a shivering and trembling; the extremities of the body become cold, the groin swells, the hair stands on end, the members become pale, and the skin feels throughout the sensation of a perpetual pricking, as if by needles.”

Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Whoever has not been set apart for God will be given into the hands of these evil spirits, who will have their complete way with them, possessing and tormenting them.

Patricia St. John in her book the Victor describes the experience of the demon possessed man of Gadara: “I lived in hell… there was no love anywhere… The demons had turned from love long ago… and no rest forever; only the eternal thirst and torment of knowing what might have been... it was as though we had been bound in a terrible dungeon by wicked captors until we had forgotten what fresh air and light were.” Yet even this description is insufficient to convey the state of the possessed at the time when the entire world will be given over for a brief period to the control of the evil one. No wonder men shall desire to die, but by decree of heaven death shall elude them. An awful description is given of these powers, giving us an idea of their nature, origin and power. The only one to whom they owe allegiance is Satan.

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6. It is no coincidence that the unleashing of a demonic host is followed immediately, at the sounding of the sixth trumpet, with the raising of a vast army rushing headlong to war. Four mighty demons (Living Bible) were not in the bottomless pit, but bound in the Euphrates. The time came for them to unleash their bitter venom in the butchery of 1/3 of all mankind. If 8 billion people will be on earth by 2050, this represents the slaughter of 2.6 billion people.

Yet even after this event, which can only be described as World War 3, the survivors did not repent of their sins, which are listed here: the worship of idols and devils; murder; drug taking and sorcery; adultery, incest and fornication (including pornography), nor of their stealing.

Conclusion God does not speak in vain - the judgements of which he speaks are soon to come upon the earth. The worst fictional disaster which Hollywood could imagine will be nothing compared to the reality about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world. But the world should not be unsuspecting. We have had this book of prophecy in our possession for nearly 2,000 years. Let us pay careful attention to it and heed its warnings. Only those who flee to Christ for refuge will be saved from the wrath to come.

The Faith-builders Bible study series The ‘Faith-builders Bible study series’ has been developed a useful resource for today’s students of God’s Word and their busy lifestyles.

Pastors, home or study group leaders and indeed for anyone wishing to study the Bible for themselves will benefit from using Faith-builders studies.

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Each chapter had thought provoking questions to aid study and sample answers are provided.

Below are the study notes for Mark chapter 3.

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Mark Chapter 4 (abstract) ‘Faith-builders Bible study series’ has been ByThe Derek Williams & Mathew Bartlett (UK) Image © Rorem developed a useful resource for today’s students of God’s Word and their busy lifestyles.

4:1 Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake.

In the end of the previous chapter we saw how the family of Jesus came to take him home. But Jesus refused to go, continuing instead with his Father's business (Luke 3:49) and withdrew for a time from his family. The Lord never asks any of his disciples to do what he was not prepared to do. In Matthew 10:37, he said, “He who loves or takes more pleasure in father, mother, son or daughter than in me is not worthy of me”. We do not hear about Jesus’ family again until

Pastors, home or study group leaders and indeed for anyone wishing to study the The Bible for themselves Parable of the Sower will and benefit from using Faith-builders studies. we read of his mother being its Meaning.

Mark Chapter 2 (abstract)

present at his crucifixion (John Each volume is the result of many years of group ImageBible © Rorem In this passage it might be easier to 19:26). We find Jesus again at the study, and has been revised again and again to be Jesus’ parable given in vv. 3-9 seaside, this timechallenging sat in the boat, relevant, and faithplace building whilst remaining side by side with the explanation he teaching the people, not preaching, clear and easy to understand. later gave to his disciples in vv.14but by using parables.

Each chapter had thought provoking questions to aid 20.

By Derek Williams & Mathew Bartlett (UK)

What Parables are andanswers their study and sample are provided.

4:3 ‘Listen! A sower went out to Purpose.

Below are the study notes for sow. chapter 2.

4:2 He taught them many things in Buy paperback now for £7.99 4:14 The sower sows the word. parables, and in his teaching said to them: Kindle Edition only £2.01 The seed is the Word of God. In the first instance the sower is the Lord The simple definition of a parable is Jesus Christ; but he has since that it is an earthly story with a passed the responsibility for sowing heavenly meaning. It might be more God’s word to all his followers correct to say that when Jesus took (Mark 16:15). By his Spirit he an everyday activity or common enables them to carry out this item and used it to explain a responsibility (Acts 1:8). Although spiritual truth, then that is what we we may wonder at times why God’s call a parable.

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word is not as effective as it should be, it is not the seed that is at fault, as this parable clearly shows. The word of God is pure (Psalm 12:6) and sure (Luke 21:33). Every good gardener knows that if you want your seeds to germinate then the ground has to be prepared properly first, and the soil needs to be good for it to produce abundantly. It is the ground that it is sown in is at fault if the seed fails to produce fruit.

4:4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

4:15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them.

In Jesus’ parable, the sower did not sow his seed sparingly from a packet but from a large basket; scattering it plentifully over the ground. As he does some falls on uncultivated ground. This speaks of those who have a hardened heart.

They hear the word but it goes no further than their ears. Like the birds come to eat the seed on the path, so Satan snatches away the word from unbelieving hearts (2 Cor. 4:4).

4:5-6 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. When the sun came up it was scorched, and because it did not have sufficient root, it withered.

4:16-17 These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy.

But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes

because of the word, immediately they fall away.

Some fall on rocky ground - these are the emotional hearers. They receive the word straight away with great joy and they seem to flourish for a while. But because they have not taken the word into their hearts when trouble comes and they are persecuted for the word's sake they fall away and are seen no more.

4:7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked it, and it did not produce grain.

4:18-19 Others are the ones sown among thorns: They are those who hear the word, but worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces nothing.

Then some fall among the thorns this is the worldly hearers. They receive the word of God but are so tied up with the world that they never become separated from it.

They continue to walk in the ways of the world and to desire and fill themselves with it until the word is crowded out and there is no room for spiritual fruit to grow in them (see 1 John 2:15; Rom. 12:2 ).

4:8 But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, sprouting and growing; some yielded thirty times as much, some sixty, and some a hundred times.

4:20 But these are the ones sown on good soil: They hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirty times as much, one sixty, and one a hundred.’

Some seed fell on good ground – which stands for those with prepared and receptive hearts.

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These are the people who receive the word into the depths of their soul where it abides and matures.

Such people grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and the fruit of the Spirit abounds in them.

This parable is generally applied to the sowing of the gospel message among the unconverted, but it is equally applicable to believers and how they respond to the word of God. Jesus demands the attention of his hearers, in verse three he says “listen” and in verse nine he is saying if the Holy Spirit has opened your ears then you are now responsible for how you will receive the word.

4:10 When he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

After speaking the parable to the masses of people when his disciples and the twelve were alone with Jesus they asked him what was the purpose of his speaking in parables.

4:11 He said to them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables, To those who are Christ’s followers and believe in him, the truth about the kingdom of God is clearly revealed. But to those who are outside, these spiritual truths remain hidden within the parables.

4:12 so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.’

This verse is a quote from Isaiah 6:9-10 which concerns Israel. Whilst Jesus’ hearers may have understood the natural processes mentioned in the parable, they did not consider

its spiritual application. Although they heard what was said they did not truly understand; for they did not want to. For if they should see and understand then they would no longer have an excuse for their wilful rejection of the truth that they should be changed and have their sins forgiven. Such is the hardness of men's hearts. To put it another way “there is none as blind as those who do not want to see and none as deaf as those who do not want to hear”.

Responsibility Here Jesus explains the responsibility of those who have wholeheartedly received the word.

4:21 He also said to them, ‘A lamp isn't brought to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Isn't it to be placed on a lampstand?

In the first instance this refers to the Lord Jesus Christ who came as the “light of the world”. He did not come to hide himself but to reveal the Father, to be lifted up, like a lamp on a lampstand, that he might draw all men to himself (John 12:32). But as the light dwells in us we are to openly make our belief in Jesus known by our words and Christian behaviour.

4:22 For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, and nothing concealed except to be brought to light.

As light shows up everything so the Lord reveals the Father and all things concerning him.

4:23-24 If anyone has ears to hear, he had better listen!’ And he said to them, ‘Take care about what you hear. The measure you use will be the measure you receive, and more will be added to you.

Again he says “as the Holy Spirit has opened up your ears and understanding then pay careful attention to what you have heard.”

For each time we obey the truth which has been made known to us, God will reveal greater truth to us.

4:25 For whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.’

The more we receive from God the more he will give to us; but if we are not faithful in the little that is given to us then even that will be taken away from us.

Spiritual Growth Individual Believer

in

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4:26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground.

The fact that Jesus refers to this parable as one concerning the kingdom of God makes it clear that it is about those who have received the word into their hearts (1 John 2:14). The word “kingdom” refers to a territory or people over whom a king reigns therefore the kingdom of God refers to those who have willingly accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as king of their lives and who reigns within their hearts (Matt.

13:38; Luke 17:21; Eph. 3:17). The kingdom of God is within the church of Christ for he is the head of the church (Eph. 1:22). The kingdom is with us at the present time because it dwells within the heart of the believer. The kingdom is also to come when we are present with the Lord, when he comes to take his church to be where he is.

4:27 He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts

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and grows, though he does not know how.

The word of God, having been sown, is left to grow within the heart. The farmer who goes about his daily business keeps an eye on the seed bed to see how the seeds are getting on but leaving nature to do its work. Thus the Lord keeps on eye on his own to make certain that everything is going according to his work of grace and to make certain that there is growth.

4:28 By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.

The Lord speaks here of the mystery of how a seed sown in the earth grows of its own accord. Man may sow the seed but it is God that causes it to grow and increase. So it is with spiritual growth; it is not brought about by our efforts but by the grace of God (1 Thess. 3:12). But we are to be willing and have a desire to grow in Christ (2 Pet. 3:18). Notice that it is not a sudden growth; it does not happen overnight like the seed sown on stony ground, but is gradual. First the blade – this is the first sign of something happening; the change that begins to take place in the believer's life which is visible to others. Then the ear - when more steps of faith are taken and a greater understanding of God's word and his ways are realized, until finally the full corn, the fullness of Christ is achieved (Eph. 4:13).

4:29 And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle because the harvest has come.’

When we reach, or should I say, if we allow the Lord to bring us to full spiritual maturity, then he will

gather us to himself, just as a farmer harvests his field when the corn is fully ripe. In this way Enoch who walked with God, when he reached the goal of spiritual maturity, did not see death but was transformed and transported to heaven (Gen. 5:24).

Spiritual Growth in the Church 4:30 He also asked, ‘To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to present it?

Jesus may have looked around to find another illustration to explain this next truth concerning the kingdom. Perhaps he caught sight of a mustard bush, and realised that the mustard seed would be ideal for his purpose.

4:31-32 It is like a mustard seed that when sown in the ground, even though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the ground — when it is sown, it grows up, becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds can nest in its shade.’

To start with the kingdom of God in comparison with other religions or philosophies was very small, like the mustard seed. Jesus had a very small band of followers compared with those who followed Judaism or the pagan gods. But when the small seed of the kingdom of God was sown it grew to become the largest of them all (Acts 5:14). Not only the largest but also it has spread its branches from Jerusalem and Judea to the uttermost parts of the world (Acts 1:8; Matt. 24:14; Rev. 14:6).

The church of the Lord Jesus Christ has become a sanctuary and refuge to millions of people throughout the centuries and will continue to be until Jesus comes. Just like the

mustard bush became a dwelling for birds.

in the boat, and other boats were with him.

4:33-34 So with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear. He did not speak to them without a parable. But privately he explained everything to his own disciples.

It is only in Mark's account of this event that we are told that there were other boats that accompanied the disciples on the Sea of Galilee.

Often the experiences which we pass through in our Christian lives may affect others in a profound way.

Mark records only three of the many parables that Jesus told and that it was only by using parables that he taught the people; but later he explained everything to his disciples. Today the Lord does not need to speak to us by parables or to explain them for he has sent the Holy Spirit to teach us all things plainly in accordance with the truth (John 16:13).

Faith Tested 4:35 On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let's go across to the other side of the lake.’

As the day drew to a close Jesus instructed the disciples to take the boat over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus (who knows all things) was fully aware that a storm would arise, and yet still asked the disciples to launch out. The disciples themselves were completely ignorant of what lay ahead. There could not have been any sign of a storm approaching otherwise the fishermen would have argued against setting out. In a similar way, the Lord may direct us in paths that will test our faith and which we would not willingly take if we could foresee what lies ahead.

Nevertheless like the disciples we must learn to do what Jesus says without questioning his reasons.

4:36 So after leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, 13

4:37 Now a great windstorm developed and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped.

As often happens on the Sea of Galilee a storm arose suddenly; a wind storm with no rain attached to it. But it must have been of extraordinary force for it terrified even those disciples who were used to sudden storms. It was so fierce that it beat the waves into the boat so that it was on the verge of sinking. The testing of our faith may bring us where, like these disciples, we are almost overwhelmed and ready to give up hope.

4:38 But he was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, don't you care that we are about to die?’

Where was Jesus? Apparently unaffected by the storm, he was asleep and undisturbed by the waves that rapidly filled the boat!

The terrified disciples could not understand how he could be so unconcerned about their safety and so they woke him, charging him with not caring. How often in the trials of our faith have we falsely accused our Lord of not caring? The disciples should have known better; having witnessed many miracles of healing, deliverance and provision.

I Long to Be I long to walk with you Lord, So all mankind may say, Whilst looking at my footprints, Surely Jesus passed this way.

I long to pray like you Lord, And bring the glory down, To fall like rain from Heaven, Upon this dry parched ground.

Devotional Poems

by Brother David

I long to care like you Lord, To feel my brothers pain, To minister your tender love, And make him whole again.

Image Š Benjamin Haas

Lead Me On You led me Lord, to Calvary, And through your love divine, You took my guilt, my shame, my sin, And there you made it Thine.

You led me by your Spirit Lord, To seek the things of You, Till life's dark shadow fled away, And your pure light shone through.

Your led me to your Holy word, Revealing truth's unknown,

I long to see like you Lord, No color, race or creed, To look inside the outer shell, And just to see the need.

Without fear or condemnation, I can stand before your throne.

Lead me through the waters, That you yourself once trod, Baptise me, fill me with your power, My Saviour and my God. Lead me ever onward Lord, And keep me by your grace, Till earth shall hear my last farewell, And we meet face to face.

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I long to be with you Lord, And praise your Holy name, To thank you for your love to me, That always stays the same.

I long to be with you Lord, When my last race is run, To feel your hand upon my head, And hear you say "Well done!"

Our In Depth Study.

1 Corinthians 11:1-34

By Mathew Bartlett Photo © Godfer Scripture taken from the NET Bible®.

Chapter 11 Propriety in Our In Depth Study.

Worship 1 Corinthians 9:1-27 In this chapter Paul deals with two difficulties relating to services By Mathew Bartlett © Godfer within the church.

Firstly, Photo he gives directions for from public and Scripture taken theworship NET Bible®. then for the communion service in particular.

Although it was common in Paul's day for women to be veiled when participating in public worship, some liberated women at Corinth, knowing they were free in Christ, had done away with the veil. This, in Paul's opinion, was not a good thing. Morris affirms that a woman who was unveiled was considered a ‘woman of loose morals’; she was making herself available. For a woman to participate in a public service bareheaded was thought shameful. This is why Paul rejects it.

Further, it appears that some of the women at Corinth, realising their equality with the men, had taken emancipation to the extreme, flouting the almost universally accepted cultural norm that the man was to be head of his own household. That is why Paul, using the creation account, reinforces the fact that this cultural norm had been handed down from ancient times to reflect the distinct manner in which God created both men and women.

However, it is not that Paul envisages an inequality between the sexes but rather that the appropriate and culturally relevant differences might still be observed, especially in public worship.

The Corinthians were to ensure that their genuine equality in Christ was understood not to be the blurring or abandonment of their diverse roles and responsibilities. Before Christ, a man and his wife are fellow heirs of the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7), yet within the context of their relationship to each other, the patriarchal tradition is preserved by Christian tradition: that the man must be the head of the wife.

Certainly Christians must not needlessly flout the customs of their own culture, for this will only give them a bad reputation among their heathen neighbours. But it is not so much man-made culture as God’s order of creation that Paul argues for here. Whilst we are living in the dawn of the new creation, we have not yet entered its fullness, and until we do, the divinely ordained principles which govern the present creation are to be observed.

The Modesty of Women in the Church 11:2 I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you.

Paul encourages the Corinthians by taking the opportunity to praise them for all that they were doing well. By you remember me in everything it is likely that Paul is referring to the directions he had formerly given them for public worship, as well as his basic teachings.

The word ordinances (in the Authorised Version) is rightly translated traditions; Paul had given the Corinthians basic teaching about the well-known Christian traditions, yet these were not Paul's own ideas, but the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, and would have included instructions about baptism and communion.

11:3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

Although they remembered the basic instructions he had passed on to them, he now proceeds to

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instruct them further on matters of public worship. The head is commonly a reference to someone who has superior authority in a relationship.

Bedale says ‘woman derives her being from man and to that extent is subordinate to him’. Johnson, on the other hand, does not regard authority or hierarchy as being the point at stake here. Rather, he sees the head as a reference to the source or archetype of another. He quotes Cyril of Alexandria, who inserts the original Greek ‘kaphalё’ for head: Thus we say that the kephalё of every man is Christ, because he was excellently made through him. And the kephalё of woman is man, because she was taken from his flesh. Likewise, the kephalё of Christ is God, because He is from Him according to nature (Ad Arcadiam 1.1.5.5(2).63).

Yet other scriptures would make us conclude that it was the normal pattern of Christian conduct for the wife to honor and obey her husband (e.g. 1 Pet. 3:1; Eph. 5:22; Col. 3:18), albeit in a lovingly deferential rather than a mindless way (we are assuming, as Blomberg does, that the man and woman of this verse refer to husband and wife).

We would be wrong to think that being under another’s authority means being in bondage or under repression. Christ submits Himself to God with pure joy, and so should God’s people joyfully submit to Christ. In the same way the wife should be joyfully submissive to her husband, and by doing so, she is submitting to God. 11:4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head.

To reflect the order of creation in public worship, a man ought to pray without a head covering. This was a comparatively new idea to Paul, for Jewish men to this day pray with their head covered, as a sign that they are under the authority of another who is above them, in this case God.

I do not understand this verse to mean that a Christian husband should take his rebellious wife who refused to cover herself in public worship and shave all her hair off!

Paul is simply using the force of his argument to make clear just how shameful the conduct of such women was.

But since man is not subject to any other creature, for him to cover his head when praying is a contradiction of that glory and honour which God has bestowed upon him. By doing so he dishonours himself and his God given glory, and so dishonours the God who made him.

The words will not cover her head imply that such a woman is in fact exhibiting a rebellious spirit. So at the back of all that Paul is writing is an abiding principle which is far more important than the particular practice. A true spirit of loving submission to God and to her husband is the most beautiful thing a woman can possess (1 Pet. 3:3-6).

11:5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head.

11:7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man.

A woman should cover her head when praying or prophesying as a sign that she recognises her place in God’s created order. Not to do so is to deny that she is a woman, and this would dishonour her, for woman's greatest honour and privilege is that she was created uniquely by God as the wife or helper of man.

Man should not cover his head for he is the image and the glory of God (Gen. 1:26-27). Morris says,

Paul asserts that for a woman to pray or prophesy with her head uncovered would be as shameful as if she had all her hair shaved off.

This was a great shame for any woman at that time and is what happened to newly captured slaves (Deut. 21:10-13).

Being made in the image of God, man has a dignity which is not to be devalued by his subservience to any other creature. If that dignity is undervalued, then the God who gave man this dignity is defamed.

11:6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head.

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While there is no distinction of the sexes in this verse in Genesis, Paul understands it to apply particularly to the male. If man is the summit of creation then he shows forth God's glory as nothing else [does].

We are to recognize a difference between the sexes. Since woman stands in relation to man as nothing else does, she has a dignity all of her own, and yet this dignity is inseparable from her relationship to the man. She is called the glory of man for she was made from the

man and is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone (Gen. 2:18-24).

11:8-9 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.

Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man.

With reference to God's creation of man in the beginning, the first man was not born of a woman and did not derive his nature from her.

Indeed, Adam was made by God in a way that was distinctly different to all the rest of creation. Although his body was formed from the dust of the ground, his spirit was God breathed (Gen. 2:7). This fact is not recorded of any other creature, not even of woman, as we shall see presently.

‘Woman from man’ refers to Genesis 2:21 where Eve was made

by God from a piece of flesh and bone taken from Adam's side. The method of Eve's creation different from Adam's in that being formed from the man she derived her life and nature as a living being from him. She was a living soul and shared God's image, yet God had no further need to breathe into Eve, for her life came from Adam.

However, that life had come first of all into Adam from God. The purpose of Eve's creation was also different to man's. We read that God said It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a suitable help fellow (Gen. 2:18). As Johnson states, That the woman is the “glory” of man is grounded both in her creation from man (v.8) and her creation for man (not vice versa), that is, to be man’s “helper as his partner” (Gen 2:18 NRSV).

11:10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

11:11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.

For this reason, during public worship, a woman should indicate by an outward token or symbol that her dignity is found in her complete submission to and union with her husband. Only when she is in submission to her husband can the woman find her true role and dignity (and indeed her happiness).

The token of her husband's authority is a sign of her position of honour as the one closest to her husband. There is no dignity on earth greater than that a wife or of a mother.

We ought to remember that Paul is dealing with a particular problem in Corinth, and does not mean that he wants women to be deemed the slaves of men. Paul believed that all were equal in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28), but he wished to correct the attitude of some women who had been abusing this equality by lording it over their husbands.

The words because of the angels present a difficulty. Some have suggested that this verse means that bad angels might lust after unveiled women in the spirit of Genesis 6:2. This seems highly unlikely, especially since the word angel is used without qualification and as such always refers to good angels, never bad. Also, there would be no reason to suppose that such angels would be tempted only during public worship.

It is far more likely that Paul has in mind the displeasure of the holy angels of God. After all, the angels are submissive to God's will and purpose. Though they greater in power and might, yet they are the servants of men (Heb. 1:14). The world to come has not been put under their authority, but man's, and in particular, Jesus Christ's (Heb. 2:9). Yet they gladly take their place in the divine order and never rebel. How unseemly would it be in their presence for a woman to rebel against the order of God!

There is to be cooperation between the sexes, and if a woman is not to abuse her freedom, then neither should a man abuse his authority. In the Lord, neither exists without the other. Since there is neither male nor female in Christ, Christian men and women have equal access to God and standing before God. That is the very reason why although asking them to wear a covering as they do so, Paul has not forbidden women to pray or prophesy in public. He has merely instructed them to pray modestly and with tact.

The order of creation has not yet been abolished; it will remain until the old order passes away.

Christians still get married and still have children; and Christian men and women must continue to obey God’s commands and observe their places in the order of God's creation. One day in heaven there will be no distinction whatever between the sexes for their will be no gender (Matt. 22:30).

11:12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God. Although in the beginning woman took her origin from man, every

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man who has ever been born had a woman for his mother. The two could not exist without each other, although ultimately all things come from God, and there would be neither men nor women apart from Him who is the origin and source of all things. So men and women cannot think of themselves as independent of each other. Such mutual dependence should lead to mutual respect.

11:13. Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

Paul appeals to the Corinthians own sense of decency. He knew that they would not consider it fitting for a woman to pray uncovered.

11:14-15 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?

For her hair is given to her for a covering.

In Paul's time, it was generally considered disgraceful for a man to have long hair. The precise length is not specified and is not important.

The point is that there are meant to be differences between men and women which should not to be confused (Deut. 22:5). Long hair was given to woman by God as a sign of her glory and importance, and for a covering. Women's hair is distinctively longer than men's. It is appropriate then, since God has made such a distinction, that it should be maintained by His people.

11:16 If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God. Paul has no intention of contending about the matter indefinitely with

those who are given to arguments.

In the face of contention, Paul merely points out that it was the accepted custom in all the other churches of Christ for women to pray with their heads covered. This custom ought not to be flouted at Corinth.

Behind all that Paul has said lie two abiding principles. Firstly, Christians should always behave in a fitting way in public worship. In first century Corinth the application of that principle meant that women should cover their heads.

Whether or not a woman today should cover her head in worship, I will leave to the reader's conscience; yet the principle of right behaviour during worship is abiding.

Nevertheless, Charles Kraft’s comment on this issue is pertinent.

During his missionary work in Nigeria, he noted how the new believers could not understand why Western Christians 'obeyed the Biblical commands against stealing and not those about headcoverings'.

The worship of God is a serious business. As we come into the presence of a holy and almighty God, let us not come as if we were going to the cinema or the cafe. Let our hearts and minds instead be fixed to give attention to our God and His Word.

The church service is not the place to swap the latest news with our neighbour, which can wait till after the service. Just for a while at least, in His presence, we should give God our undivided attention.

Secondly, in the context of public worship as well as outside it, the conventions and order of God's creation should be recognised. Let 18

godly women be in submission to their own husbands, in accordance with the divine order (1 Pet. 3:1-6).

And let men not abuse their position, but remember that God's ideal for marriage is a partnership, with the man as the head; it is not a dictatorship with the man as the boss (1 Pet. 3:7).

Cliques in the Church 11:17 Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.

Though he had praised the Corinthians when he had reason to do so, Paul pulled no punches when he needed to reprimand them.

Christian fellowship should build believers up in their faith. It is an expression of the unity that we have through Jesus Christ and bears witness to the world that we are His disciples.

Unfortunately, the church meetings at Corinth were not achieving these aims. Love was sadly lacking amongst God’s people and what was happening, even in the most sacred of church meetings – the holy communion - was damaging both to the unity of the church and to its witness in the world.

11:18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

Paul had heard of the disunity which was then prevailing at Corinth and was even upsetting their collective Christian worship.

Although Paul was not so simple as to take everything he heard at face value, (reports are very often exaggerated by interested parties) he nevertheless recognized that the

account could not be completely dismissed.

11:19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident.

As we observed in earlier chapters, a number of sects had sprung up in Corinth; groups who preferred to stay in their own clique rather than extend fellowship to the whole body of Christ. The word used for divisions is heresies; a word which reveals the true nature of the factions. Different groups had accepted various doctrines other than those which were taught by Christ. Paul concedes that such a state of affairs is inevitable when human will has the advantage. It is at such times that those who are true to Christ may be clearly recognized, for they resist false teaching and refuse to take part in cliques. They have been approved in this sense: they have stood the test of Satan’s attempt to draw them aside to lies and have remained true to Christ.

The Importance of the Communion Service

11:20-21 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord's Supper.

For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk.

11:22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

It was the Lord Jesus who instituted the simple service of communion, which is why Paul refers to it as the Lord's Supper. It was intended as an act of religious devotion, a constant reminder of Christ’s love wherein we might regularly renew our commitment to Him. Tragically, the Corinthians had turned the communion into something quite different. They were not eating the Lord's supper so much as their own suppers. They had developed the idea of holding regular, inappropriately named, ‘love feasts’. The idea was intrinsically good - that believers should share a meal together before remembering Christ's death by breaking bread.

Every believer was expected to bring something for the meal which would be shared among all. Since the poor had nothing to bring, it may originally have been a way to share with them. But problems had arisen with the practice, and the original motives degenerated until greed and self-serving became foremost at the meals.

For one thing, the early comers began to eat before anyone else arrived, meaning they got more than their fair share. So whilst early comers were full and possibly drunk, others who came later went without. Since the poorer classes and the slaves would have worked longer hours, the rich got everything and the poor nothing. Image © Petar Neychev

Paul begins his criticism by showing the extent to which the love feasts fell short of the pattern of Christian love. I believe that Paul was not happy with the practice of the love feast at all, and would have preferred a simpler expression of communion, having witnessed the problems which such feasts created. The situation at Corinth could have split the church and left many believers feeling isolated.

Home is the place to eat your food, says Paul. If Christians wish to provide for the poor, there are better ways in which they might do so, and then the poor too will be able to eat at home. The church, on the other hand, is a place for worship. The Corinthians had made the poor ashamed, for they had nothing to give, and when they came expecting to receive something out of genuine Christian love, they went away disappointed and hungry. Such un-Christ-like behaviour could not be excused.

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11:23-24. For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me."

Yet Paul's chief concern was not that they had neglected to show love for each other, but that they had turned a sacred ceremony into a common meal. So in these verses Paul examines the true nature of the communion service.

Though it is truly dreadful to shame the poor, desecrating a sacred act of worship which was personally instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ is far worse. It is on this point particularly that Paul is careful to correct the Corinthians.

Although Paul had not been present when Christ established the practice of communion, the Lord had made known to him by revelation all the details concerning its institution.

Paul had already communicated this revelation to the Corinthians, who evidently had not given the matter sufficient attention. So once again Paul finds it necessary to communicate to them the manner in which Christ enjoined the observance of communion on all believers, until He comes.

It was in the upper room, on the night before His death (the night that He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and offered up by God for the sins of the world) that Christ, knowing all that was about to happen, took bread. When He had given thanks to God He broke it and gave it to His disciples saying take this and eat it, for this is my body which is broken for you.

In this context, the word used for betrayed is significant, for it can also mean was yielded up. Not only was the Lord Jesus Christ about to be betrayed, He was about to yield his life to God as an offering and sacrifice for the sin of the whole world.

Clearly, the bread which Christ broke at the Last Supper was not literally His body; since His body was at that time still unbroken. It stands to reason, therefore, that we are not to understand Christ’s words to mean that the bread literally becomes His body during the observance of communion.

Indeed, it seems clear from the verse that Paul intends the institution of the communion to abide as the constant pattern to be observed by His church. The bread is the symbol of Christ's body being broken for the sins of the world.

The act of taking communion, as instituted by Christ, is simply one of remembrance.

In the same way, since Christ instituted communion before his death on the cross, it is clear that it contains no sacrificial element.

Christ is not being offered again during the sacrament any more than He was offered up at the Last Supper before his death at Calvary.

Rather, Christ’s intention in instituting the communion was to provide us with a means of perpetually remembering His once and for all sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:10-14).

Yet the celebration of communion was never meant simply to be historic in nature, for we not only remember that Christ's body was broken, but why it was broken – as an atonement for our sin, that we might be bought back for God. The communion service emphasizes the vicarious and redeeming nature of Christ's sacrifice. We remember the one who has done so much for us, forgiving our sin at such great cost.

Furthermore, the church’s celebration of communion is at the same time both collective and personal; for as we recall that 20

Christ’s body was broken for our sake, we understand that it was not only broken for each one of us individually (Gal. 2:20), but also for the whole church corporately.

11:25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me."

In the same way, Christ took the cup, an emblem of His blood and the New Covenant which is sealed by that blood. Because Christ's blood was poured out in atoning death, He is able to forgive our sins and reconcile us to God. The blood of the first covenant is what made it binding on the people (Heb. 9:1820), and the covenant which God has entered into with believers is similarly ratified by the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:23; 13:12).

No doubt Christ deliberately chose the Passover as the occasion for introducing the communion, for although the Lord’s Supper took place many years after the Exodus, the death of Christ which the emblems of bread and wine symbolised was prefigured also by those ancient events.

It may be observed that the New Covenant, although inaugurated after the old, has surpassed the old since it was at the centre of God’s plan long before the first covenant was given. The New Covenant is thus an eternal covenant. By shedding His own blood, Christ has established this new and everlasting covenant with humankind, and by so doing has rendered the first covenant, with all its observances, obsolete (Heb. 8:13).

11:26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you

proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

By taking the communion we are making a public declaration of our faith in Christ’s death for all men.

This does not mean to say that the communion serves any evangelistic purpose. The communion is not meant for unbelievers, for only believers have a share in the redemption which it symbolizes. For Christians the communion offers regular symbolic reminder of Christ's death in order to keep our love, gratitude and commitment to Him fresh.

Since the communion service is a remembrance of the death of Christ, it is a solemn and sacred observance.

To partake of communion in a way which does not reflect the holiness of the Lamb who gave up His life for us is to invite the displeasure and judgment of God. Paul does not have in mind eternal damnation, but the chastening of believers who approach holy things lightly or treat them with contempt (C/F 1 Sam 6:19; 2 Sam. 6:6-7). To treat the communion service in such a way would be to treat the Lord's broken body and shed blood with contempt and so to sin against the body and blood of the Lord.

The words every time designate no specific schedule for participating in communion. Christ does not lay down any exact day, time or frequency with which believers are to observe this service. He says only, when you do it, do it in remembrance of me.

The communion service is not intended to be an eternal observance; for when Christ comes, we shall be with Him and so will have no more need of this act of remembrance. As Johnson says, The table not only calls us to the past event of the cross but also recalls Jesus’ words of promise and points forward to our destiny in the manifestation of the kingdom of God:…

Feast after feast thus comes and passes by, Yet, passing, points to the glad feast above, Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy, The Lamb’s great bridal feast of bliss and love.

11:27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be

So if anyone eats this bread and drinks from this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, he is guilty of sin against the body and the blood of the Lord. (1 Cor. 11:27 Living) By not understanding the significance of communion, the Corinthians were taking part in it unworthily; that is, not reflecting on its importance.

There is a sense in which we will never be worthy to partake of what Christ has done for us, for we owe our ability to participate in communion entirely to the grace of Christ. But what Paul means here is that, having been made recipients of the grace of God, we should approach the remembrance of Christ’s death on the cross with suitable reverence and seriousness.

11:28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup.

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As a safeguard against profaning the communion, each communicant should first of all sincerely examine (‘test for genuineness’) their own heart before partaking of it. Paul does not want believers to take the communion for granted, for it is a rite of deep and solemn significance.

The disciples in the upper room examined themselves in this way as they looked within their own hearts to ask Christ ‘is it I who will betray you?’ (see Matt. 26:22). When taking communion, believers must be conscious that they are sinners in need of God’s grace and approach God afresh by confessing their sin, appreciating anew that Christ’s death has made forgiveness and renewed fellowship with God possible 11:29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.

Some more recent commentators have suggested that the body is most likely a reference to the church, and that this verse means we should demonstrate true unity as we take the communion.

Whilst it is certainly true that believers should be united as they partake of the Lord's Table (Matt.

5:23-24), it would be rather incongruous for Paul to use the word body of Christ's literal body throughout the entire chapter only for him to suddenly change this right at the end. Paul believed in the importance of church unity, but here he wants to focus his readers’ attention on the importance of what is being remembered in communion.

For if he eats the bread and drinks from the cup unworthily, not thinking about the body of Christ and what it means, he is eating and drinking God's judgment upon himself; for he is trifling with the death of Christ (1 Cor. 11:29).

preferable, to find mercy at the Lord's Table rather than judgment.

11:30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead.

If any believer stubbornly persists in their own rebellious way, the Lord will not leave them unchecked.

Jesus Christ loves His own too much, and has paid too high a price for them, to allow them to harden their hearts and go astray from Him without doing everything possible to prevent it.

The chastening hand of God had already been in evidence at Corinth because of their abuse of the communion, in terms of physical weakness, sickness and the premature death of many church members (C/F Rev. 2:21-23). Paul does not imply that personal sin and irreverence are the only reasons for all sickness, weakness and death - but rather they were in this case.

11:31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged.

This word examined is different to that employed in verse 28. Johnson maintains it means to judge ourselves in the sense of recognising the taking of the communion improperly as being a sin. He goes on to say, ‘Repenting (turning from) wrong attitudes and practices will turn away the Lord’s judgment from us.’

Morris defines ‘judging ourselves’ as ‘distinguishing between what we are and what we ought to be’. Such an assessment may lead to confession of what we are, and how we have fallen short of what God requires of us. When we are prepared to confess these things, we find that there is forgiveness with Him that He might be feared (Ps. 130:4) and with the Lord is plenteous mercy (Ps. 86:5). It is always possible, and infinitely

11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world.

When necessary, Christ will chasten His own people in order to bring them back to Himself and so ensure that they do not share in the terrible final judgment of the wicked.

11:33-34 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.

Paul stops short of ordering the cessation of the love feasts. He leaves that decision to the Corinthians, but he does insist that if the feasts were to continue then they must not to be exploited as occasions for selfish indulgence; everyone was to have an equal share. The believers were to wait until all were present before they began eating so that this equality might be ensured. Eating for hunger's sake was to be done at home, not in the church.

Some churches today are trying to revive the love feast pattern of communion, and they would do 22

well to follow the tone of Paul’s advice. It would appear that Paul envisaged the communion being a separate, more solemn part of proceedings at the love feast, clearly distinct from the common meal. The vital distinction between the meal and the communion itself must be observed.

Notice that although Paul has given clear instructions concerning Christ's institution of the communion, he has not written one line concerning the institution of love feasts. It is important that Christians today recognise the difference between the command of the Lord and the practice of the Corinthian church.

There was more that Paul could say on the subject, and many more problems which needed to be straightened out at Corinth. But for now he has dealt with the most important issue and is content to leave other matters to a later time, when he will visit the church personally; although due to other ministry commitments, he was not sure when that would be (the Greek word for when is indefinite).

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