Examine Yourself and Receive

On the first Sunday of every month at Calvary Chapel Sydney we receive communion, and the verses which impacted this week are found in 1 Corinthians 11:26-28:  "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. ²⁷ 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. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup."  Paul wrote this to a church in Corinth marred by factions, drunkenness and carelessness.  What was supposed to be a time of unity with Christ and one another by proclaiming His death lacked evidence of His love and holy life.

The bread symbolises the body of Jesus broken for us and the cup represents the blood of Jesus shed on Calvary to provide atonement for sinners.  Jesus instituted a new covenant in His own blood by grace through faith, and receiving communion is an acknowledgement we have spiritually received Christ by faith even as we eat the bread and drink the cup.  As there ought to be a correlation between the physical reality of eating and spiritually of receiving, our lives should be a testimony of a new life by faith in Christ that resembles His own in love, grace and obedience to God.  Paul reiterated the purpose of the love feasts at Corinth, that they ought to demonstrate the unity and love they received by Jesus with one another.

Paul critiqued the sinful manner that crept into their gatherings and bid them examine themselves to the end they would "eat of the bread and drink of the cup."  The idea was not to exclude any follower of Jesus Christ from receiving the LORD's supper.  If the idea of the love feasts in Corinth was to have fellowship with God and one another, in Paul's estimation they had been falling woefully short due to sin.  We eat a meal to satisfy our needs and strengthen our bodies:  why would a person go to a restaurant to fast?  In a similar way, if people did not desire fellowship with God, to glorify Jesus Christ and edify one another, what was the point of receiving communion?  All who chose to receive communion in obedience to Jesus were to examine their hearts, confess and repent of sin, and thus eat the bread and drink of the cup because of all Christ accomplished for them.  No one is worthy on the basis of their own works to receive communion, yet all that believe the Gospel are responsible to receive it in a worthy manner.

In my youth there may have been an occasion where I chose not to receive communion because I was acutely aware of a particular sin and felt guilty about it.  My feelings of guilt were a poor substitute for confession and repentance.  How much better it would have been for me to respond in repentance for sin and rejoiced in the provision of forgiveness by Jesus who died to freely offer it to all sinners!  To refuse to receive communion because of your own failings betrays a lack of understanding of what Jesus has accomplished for us unworthy sinners:  He has given us forgiveness by grace through faith in Him.  He did not come to starve people out or destroy them but to save them, so we might joyfully proclaim His goodness and salvation to all now and forever.

Our Moments Kept for God

I recently picked up an out of print book from Christian Books Australia titled Kept for the Master's Use by Frances Ridley Havergal, and this small book is filled with great nuggets of wisdom.  While I have yet to finish reading it, her insights on giving God our moments is simply too good not to share.  It is one thing to ask God to take our lives and retain the moments for ourselves.  There is great value in giving and asking Jesus to keep our moments for His sake.  Here are some excerpts on this subject:

"In things spiritual, the greater does not always include the less, but, paradoxically, the less more often includes the greater.  So in this case, time is entrusted to us to be traded with for our Lord.  But we cannot grasp it as a whole.  We instinctively break it up ere we can deal with it for any purpose.  So when a New Year comes round, we commit it with special earnestness to the Lord.  But as we do so, are we not conscious of a feeling that even a year is too much for us to deal with?  And does not this feeling, that we are dealing with a larger thing than we can grasp, take away from the sense of reality?  Thus we are brought to a more manageable measure; and as the Sunday mornings or the Monday mornings come round, we thankfully commit the opening week to Him, and the sense of help and rest is renewed and strengthened.  But not even the six or seven days are close enough to our hand; even tomorrow exceeds our tiny grasp, and even tomorrow's grace is therefore not given to us.  So we find the need of considering our lives as a matter of day by day, and that any more general committal and consecration of our time does not meet the case so truly...

We do not realise the importance of moments.  Only let us consider these two sayings of God about them, 'In a moment shall they die,' and, 'We shall all be changed in a moment,' and we shall think less lightly of them.  Eternal issues may hang upon any one of them, but it has come and gone before we can even think about it.  Nothing seems less within the possibility of our own keeping, yet nothing is more inclusive of all other keeping.  Therefore let us ask Him to keep them for us.

Are they not the tiny joints in the harness through which the darts of temptation pierce us?  Only give us time, we think, and we should not be overcome.  Only give us time and we could pray and resist, and the devil would flee from us!  But he comes all in a moment; and in a moment--an unguarded, unkept one--we utter the hasty or exaggerated word, or think the un-Christ-like thought, or feel the un-Christ-like impatience or resentment...

But the sanctified and Christ-loving heart cannot be satisfied with only negative keeping.  We do not want only to be kept from displeasing Him, but to be kept always pleasing Him.  Every 'kept from' should have its corresponding and still more blessed 'kept for.'  We do not want our moments to be simply kept from Satan's use, but kept for His use; we want them to be not only kept from sin, but kept for His praise...

The same thing is going on every day.  It is generally a moment--either an opening or a culminating one--that really does the work.  It is not so often a whole sermon as a single short sentence in it that wings God's arrow to a heart.  It is seldom a whole conversation that is the means of bringing about the desired result, but some sudden turn of thought or word, which comes with the electric touch of God's power.  Sometimes it is less than that; only a look (and what is more momentary?) has been used by Him for the pulling down of strongholds.  Again, in our own quiet waiting upon God, as moment after moment glides past in the silence at His feet, the eye resting upon a page of His Word, or only looking up to Him through the darkness, have we not found that He can so irradiate one passing moment with His light that its rays never die away, but shine on and on through days and years?  Are not such moments proved to have been kept for Him?  And if some, why not all?...

While we have been undervaluing these fractions of eternity, what has our gracious God been doing in them?  How strangely touching are the words, 'What is man that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him, and that Thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?'  Terribly solemn and awful would be the thought that He has been trying us every moment, were it not for the yearning gentleness and love of the Father revealed in that wonderful expression of wonder, 'What is man, that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?'  Think of that ceaseless setting of His heart upon us, careless and forgetful children as we have been!  And then think of those other words, note the less literally true because given under a figure, "I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment." (Havergal, Frances Ridley. Kept for the Master's Use. Nisbet & Co. LTD., 1908. Pages 30-36)

God Explains so We Can See

One book Charles Spurgeon wrote that I enjoyed is titled, The Bible and the Newspaper.  The basic premise of the book is God can provide object lessons everywhere--even in the articles found in the newspaper.  Jesus used illustrations in His teaching and parables from ordinary life, and thus it is feasible with His guidance we can employ these wisely as well.  Spurgeon wrote, "The things which we have seen and noted we now give our readers, not merely for their entertainment, but that we may encourage in them the habit of looking for emblems and analogies.  It is a mental exercise as profitable as it is pleasant." (Spurgeon, C. H. The Bible and the Newspaper. Pilgrim Publications, 1973. Page v.)  Being grounded on the unchanging truth of God's word with open eyes and ears, I have found this to be the case.

The things we see and hear can have a profound impact upon us in a positive or negative sense.  An example of this is shown in the oddly named song "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the alternative rock band Crash Test Dummies.  The song tells a story of three kids:  one whose hair turned from black to white after a car accident, a girl who had birthmarks all over her body and a boy who went to a church where people "shook and lurched all over the church floor."  These characters all shared something in common, the fact they could not explain these occurrences that made them stand out among other people.  The boy couldn't explain how cars crashing hard changed his hair colour, nor could the girl explain how she was born with birthmarks that led to self-consciousness.

The song says these two were glad because one kid had it worse than them--the one with the strict parents who made him come directly after school, the one who went to a church where people shook on the church floor.  The lyrics say, "He couldn't quite explain it, they'd always just gone there."  Truly this is the saddest case, and I don't fault the boy.  Christians are called to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us as Colossians 4:6 says, "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one."  We are called not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together with fellow Christians having been made one Body by faith in Jesus.  It is also wise to have our corporate worship guided by God's word, understanding what we are doing and why.  There is freedom for diversity in the Body of Christ, and with Jesus as our Head we are all united by the same Holy Spirit.

There are many people like the last boy and his family, going to church, doing religious activities because they always have or feel obligated to.  The faith of a Christian ought to be according to knowledge of God as revealed in scripture, the God who does things beyond explanation because He is almighty.  While I cannot explain all that God has done and is doing, it is possible to know and rely upon all God has revealed of Himself.  He is not the author of confusion but of peace.  In relation to the exercising of spiritual gifts in the church assembly (what the song alludes to), all things ought to be done decently and in order (1 Cor. 14:40).  It is by God's unchanging word we can know what is orderly and out of order, what is decent or unbecoming for believers.  Our practices ought to be brought in line with the sound teaching of God's word.  This is how "Mmm" can turn into "Ah, I see!"

Let Go of that Hobby Horse

One benefit of personally reading and teaching through the Bible verse by verse is gaining broad exposure to God's word and wisdom.  It is a good practice to observe points of emphasis and repetition in scripture that we might heed them.  It is true that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness, yet it is possible in teaching and ordinary conversation we major on the minors and thus miss the mark.  Years ago I remember a man who was obsessed to discern the validity of a popular Christian book.  His troubled mental state would have been far more greatly helped to stop debating or fretting over that popular book and rely upon God's word that remains true and relevant forever.

A primary aim I have in teaching is to present an accurate depiction of God's word under His guidance.  The grand, overarching themes of scripture that God created all things, Jesus Christ is God with us, the Gospel, the power of the Holy Spirit and our duty to love God and others ought to be regularly emphasised.  I discipline myself to exercise caution to avoid reading into passages and taking liberty to claim the Bible says things it does not explicitly say.  As we read each chapter hungry for a revelation of God and His wisdom, He is faithful to provide all the timeless truth we need so we might glean and receive it, far more than Boaz left Ruth in his field.  Should we cling to a "hobby horse" instead of God's word this preoccupation can distract us from the truth, cause us to dismiss what is plainly said and lead to unbalanced extremes--and even error.

It is good when our favourite topics align with those in scripture, and when they do I would not view this as a hobby horse.  A hobby horse is a toy (a stick with a horse's head mounted on it) that is not necessary for the health, growth or development of a child, and thus a hobby horse in preaching is unnecessary to the exposition of a text.  It is as strange and foreign to scripture as it is to see literal hobby horses brought by congregants at a church gathering.  A hobby horse does not have legs or power of its own and must be carried around for fun.  It could be used as a walking stick or for beating other people over the head.  It could be a source of comfort for the one who parades it into conversations to demonstrate the benefits to others.  I am not immune from the tendency towards hobby horses of my own, yet I believe they are better suited for a nursery than a pulpit.  The Holy Spirit who knows the hearts and minds of men is able to reveal the hobby horses I have taken up, and He is also able to convince me and others to release our grip by faith in Christ our LORD.

It grieves me to say I have had a reputation for many things but not always Christ.  Would to God people would say of me, "There is someone who loves Jesus" and then talk about how wonderful Jesus is because His love, grace and goodness shone through me.  How easy it is to be caught up in troubles of the day or dramas in the lives of people and take that up as a hobby horse in our thoughts rather than looking to the LORD in prayer for salvation, hope and help.  Instead of crossing hobby horses like lightsabers with fellow Christians, let us raise our hands to the almighty God in praise and adoration.  Let us place our faith in God and read His word with hungry hearts, knowing we will be filled and sustained by His grace.  Proverbs 23:23 says, "Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding."  Jesus is the Truth, the One who has purchased us and is wisdom for us.  Unlike a hobby horse, we do not carry Him:  the One who was lifted up draws us and all to Himself.