The Lord is all-powerful. The Greek word for “power” is the word from which we get “dynamite”. It describes the type of power that can accomplish any given task. No matter how great the need; no matter how difficult the situation; no matter how great the temptation… our Lord can intervene and graciously give us the victory. What a wonderful Lord we serve!
Are you facing a trial that seems impossible to get through? Be patient and wait on Him. He will do what is for our good. When we are unable… He is always able!
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
The Lord Jesus is truly our King. We are His kingdom. He is our Ruler… Why? He has purchased us with His own blood on the cross…
1Pet 1:18-20 (KJV) “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold…19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Let’s remember the great price He has paid for us and our need to allow Him to reign in our hearts. We are His kingdom and owe Him our everything!…
1Cor 6:20 (KJV) “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
As fallen mankind, our lives are imprisoned by our own evil sinfulness much like an explorer is trapped and held by quicksand. We are facing eternal, spiritual death and cannot remove ourselves from this horrible situation. Our only hope of deliverance is found in the Lord. He is the One that can reach down and pull us out of sin’s punishment, power and even its very presence (in eternity).
Let’s come before the Lord in a spirit of helplessness and submission, realizing, without His intervention in our lives, we are ensnared by our own sinful desires and awaiting eternal ruin.
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
To those who have requested this information, I hope it helps…This is a typical Baptist church service in which we observe the Lord’s Supper…
The Message: 1Cor 11:20-34 (KJV)
20) When ye come together therefore into one place, [this] is not to eat the Lord’s supper.
Although they were claiming to meet with the intent to glorify God by observance of His supper…
21) For in eating every one taketh before [other] his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
22) What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise [you] not.
They could not have been meeting with the right motives in mind for the supper.
Their actions clearly revealed this… each selfishly ate without consideration of the others. They brought their own suppers to church to eat in front of others. Some ate to fulfill their own fleshly desire of hunger, others drank to excess causing drunkeness. In both cases, this was selfish behavior not behavior that desires the Lord’s glory.
Desires and Intentions are very important in the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Our motives should be:
vs 23-24 – To remember His physical suffering for us
23) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24) And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Paul’s instructions were based upon the example that Christ Himself set as He led the first observance of the Lord’s Supper.
The bread is symbolic of the body of Christ (His sufferings on the cross). As we chew the bread it is a picture of Christ’s body being abused, torn and broken on our behalf. As we swallow the bread it is picturing that His work has been applied to us.
vs 25 – To remember His shed blood for us.
25) After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me.
Paul’s instructions continue …
The fruit of the vine is symbolic of His shed blood (His life given on the cross – the life of the flesh is in His blood). His shed blood is the basis of the convenant of salvation by grace that the Lord has given to us. As we pour the fruit of the vine from the cups to our lips it pictures the His blood being poured form His body. As we swallow the fruit of the vine, we are picturing His blood being applied to us.
vs 26 – To remember His death and His second coming.
26) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
Paul now summarizes what he has covered so far….
A combination of His body being abused, torn and broken along with His blood being shed is symbolic of the process of death that He went through on the cross.
4. vs 27-34 – To drink of it worthily
27) Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup.
29) For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30) For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
Paul gives ample warning about the need to take care in the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. To eat of it in an unworthy fashion is sinful and, therefore, makes one guilty of the body and blood of Christ. He suffered to pay the price for our sins. Some of those sins He died for were the sins of partaking of the Supper unworthily.
How do we eat of it unworthily?
Selfishly partaking of the Supper by having the wrong desires and motives for partaking of it. (context above)
2. Selfishly partaking of the Supper by having known, unconfessed sin in our lives, those sins have caused His death and suffering. Lord sent sinful away before eating. (John 13:18-30)
a. Jesus at sop (before Lord’s Supper) says that one will betray Him’
Disciples ask Him who it is…
John 13:26-30 (KJV)
26) Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped [it]. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave [it] to Judas Iscariot, [the son] of Simon.
27) And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
28) Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.
29) For some [of them] thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy [those things] that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.
30) He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.
Therefore, we are to take time to give all opportunity to examine ourselves to be sure we have right motives and desires in the supper and that we have no unconfessed sin in our lives.
By partaking of the supper unworthily, we are harming ourselves and may face sickness or even death. This is a big deal, no small issue.
31) For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32) But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
How do we avoid this type of judgment, by taking the time to judge ourselves and take care of our known sins, our desires and intentions in observing the supper.
33) Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.
34) And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
Therefore, we are to make sure we give all the needed time to examine our lives and to prepare our hearts properly for the supper. No selfishness by hurrying the self examination or fulfilling hunger.
The Observance of the Lord’s Supper
Message
Invitation and Time of Examination combined
Uncover Table
Read :
1 Cor 11: 23 – 24) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Prayer For Bread
Distribute Bread
Hold Up Bread and Read:
1 Cor 11: 23 – 24) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Eat Bread
Read:
1 Cor 11: 25) After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me.
Prayer For Cup
Distribute Cup
Hold Up Cup and Read:
1 Cor 11: 25) After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me.
Drink Cup
Read:
Matt 26: 29) But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.
1 Cor 11:26) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
Matt 26: 30) And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
We know that the Lord brings temptation upon no man (James 1:13-14). In other words, in this section of Scripture, we are saying “Please do not allow temptation to overcome me today.”
Two wonderful principles is brought out by this request:
The Lord is watching over us and protecting us from Satan and His temptations.
Our Lord is in control of the tempter (Satan, demons, and this sinful world) and the temptations that we face. He will never allow a temptation to come our way that we cannot resist through His grace. (1 Cor 10:13)
Let’s thank Him today for His protecting hand upon us!
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
This lovely award was created by Jennifer Avventura and I quote her reason for the award: “I’m giving an award to those who have made this past year of blogging worthwhile. You have kept me on my toes, left comments, advice and tons of encouragement. For this I am grateful. Thank you.”
I was nominated for this award by Angela at http://meetingintheclouds.wordpress.com/. Angela’s blog has been a constant source of encouragement to me. Angela is a wonderful lady whose blog glorifies and honors her Lord. She consistantly honors the Lord by presenting both doctrinal and practical truths for us to live by.
I thank the Lord for her faithfulness and His workings in her life.
Here are the rules for this award:
1. Award your top 6 bloggers who have commented the most.
2. Be thankful.
3. You cannot award someone who has already been awarded. You cannot give the award back to me.
4. Don’t forget to tell the bloggers you’ve awarded.
5. If you don’t want to pass on this award, that’s okay too. Just admire it.
I thank the Lord for the following bloggers who have so faithfully commented on Settled In Heaven Blog…. they are my recipients for this award.
Let me mention Angela at http://meetingintheclouds.wordpress.com/ , who has already recieved this award and was the blogger with the greatest number of comments on my blog..
To each of the above… let me say “thank you”! Your comments and suggestions have been a tremendous asset to Settled In Heaven… May the Lord continue to bless each and every one of you!
(Mat 6:12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Our willingness to forgive the debts of others is an indication of the Lord’s forgiveness of our sin. After all, if the great debt of our sin has been forgiven by God… how easy it is to forgive the small debts owed to us by others.
Have we ever experienced God’s gracious forgiveness? If so, forgive those who are indebted to us. It is one of the greatest ways we can display Christ and His love to those around us.
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
