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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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April 1, 1990
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Contents:
1) The Lord's Supper (Tom Edwards)
2) What Makes a Home? (Poem, selected)
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-1-
The Lord's Supper
by Tom Edwards
It's really ironic: members in the church of Christ are often accused
of not believing in the blood of Jesus, while those who make this
accusation might observe the Lord's supper only one to four times a
year.
As Christians, we realize the need to remember that precious blood by
which the atonement was made. Without the Lord's life-saving sacrifice,
sinful man would remain in a lost and hopeless condition, heading
inevitably to an eternal separation from God Himself.
But now through Jesus Christ and by our faith and obedience, we can
contact the blood of the Lord and enjoy the benefits of having our sins
washed away and the beginning of a new life in the Christ. Actually,
the church itself is the "saved"; and the "saved" are simply those who
have been "bought by the blood" of the Savior.
This lesson has been designed to show that the Christian should take of
the Lord's supper every first day of the week in order to remember the
death of Jesus and be pleasing to God. Acts 20:7 is the only passage
that specifies the first day of the week as being the day in which
early Christians met to partake of the communion, but this one passage
is enough to suffice.
Let us again consider the comments of a few highly regarded men who
represent different denominational backgrounds, as to their remarks on
Acts 20:7 and the early church's weekly observance of the Lord's
supper. This will clearly establish that the weekly participation in
the Lord's supper is not just an "unusual doctrine only accepted by
those in the church of Christ." (Let us also remember, however, that
the quotes of men are never to be the basis for our beliefs in
religious matters; but only that which is from God Himself.)
Adam Clarke: "...the Lord's
day...in which they commemorated the resurrection of our Lord...'to
break bread'...intimating, by this, that they were accustomed to
receive the holy sacrament on each Lord's day...."
Albert Barnes: "`to break
bread.' Evidently to celebrate the Lord's supper. It is probably that
the apostles and early Christians celebrated the Lord's supper on every
Lord's day."
Pulpit Commentary: "`to break
bread.' This is also an important example of weekly communion as the
practice of the first Christians...it is impossible not to conclude
that the breaking of bread in the celebration of the Lord's Supper is
an essential part of the holy sacrament, which man may not for any
specious reasons omit...."
Matthew Henry: "They `came
together to break bread,' that is, to celebrate the ordinance of the
Lord's supper, that one instituted sign of breaking the bread being put
for all the rest...In the primitive times it was the custom of many
churches to receive the Lord's supper every Lord's day...."
What does the Bible say? In Acts 2:42,
mention
is
made that the early Christians "continued steadfastly"
("were continually devoting themselves," NAS) in the Lord's Supper. If
I told you that I continued steadfastly in doing my dishes; but, in
actuality, I washed them only four times a year; you probably would not
consider this being "steadfast."
1 Corinthians 11:20-22,33,34
also indicates the frequent observance of the Lord's supper. It reads:
"Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper,
for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is
hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in
which to eat and drink? 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 will not praise you...So then, my brethren, when you come
together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let
him eat at home, so that you may not come together for judgment...."
The inference is that when they met it was to take of the Lord's
supper, which shows it was to be observed quite often; but,
unfortunately, they had profaned it by turning it into a common meal --
for this, Paul reprimands them.
In realizing the seriousness of this observance (1 Cor. 11:27-30), how could one
assume that God would allow His children to become lackadaisical with
it? to overlook it? or simply minimize it by partaking of it so seldom?
Notice where the emphasis is placed in Acts
20:7: "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples
came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them...." Commenting
on this, Coffman declares: "This emphatically states the purpose of
Christian assemblies on Sundays throughout history, that purpose being
for the observance of the Lord's supper...Even the address of so
distinguished an apostle as Paul took second billing on that occasion,
the primary purpose having been to observe the Lord's supper...The
Christians, from earliest times, had the habit of meeting for the
Lord's supper on `a fixed day,' and Acts
20:7 identifies that day as `the first day of the week,' Sunday."
Sunday is a special day to the Christian. Though it is true that every
day is a day in which one should serve God, Sunday has its special
forms of worship. Not only the communion, but also the contribution is
to be observed on this day. 1
Corinthians 16:2 reads, "Upon the first day of the week let
every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that
there be no gatherings when I come." Seldom will one hear any preacher
object to the weekly offering of the saints. Actually, many
denominations today practice more collections than the Bible
authorizes; but without the death of Christ there could not even be any
offering from the "saints."
The communion is a memorial of Jesus Christ; which has not only been
instituted by Him, but also made possible by His very death. As the
Lord was quoted concerning this supper in 1 Cor. 11:18, "...do this in
remembrance of Me."
Early Christians shared the Lord's Supper every Lord's day. May it be
our desire to emulate them in that which we believe and practice.
Though some things have ceased, the observance of the Lord's Supper has
not; and it is to continue until Jesus Christ returns (1 Cor. 11:26).
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-2-
What Makes a Home?
It isn't the chairs and the books and things,
Or the pictures that hang on the walls;
And it isn't the bird, although gaily he sings,
It's the laughter that rings in the halls;
It's the smile on the face of the mother at night,
And the joy in the little one's eyes,
And our love for each other with all its delight
That makes up the home that we prize.
-- Selected
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel,
for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the
deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins
(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ
(Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water
for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith;
for,
if
not,
salvation
can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
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First published for the Tri-state church of Christ in Ashland,
Kentucky, at 713 13th Street.
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards
tedwards1109@gmail.com
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