BREAD & WINE
APRIL 2006
BREAD & WINE is a
monthly publication by Bethel Community Church of Sarasota, Florida,
USA.
Address: 5632 Gantt Road
Sarasota, FL 34232
Tel: 941 922 6007
Email: bw@bethelcomchurch.org
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Copyright © 2006 by Bethel Community Church.
Editor: Russ Atmore
Associate Editor - Web: Jim White
Editorial Assistant: Kaitlin Atmore
The Editor welcomes any submitted articles for publication subject to
editorial approval.
Additional Resources:
http://bethelcomchurch.org
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Cover Picture:
Siesta Key, Sarasota, Florida, USA in December at sunset.
April 2006 ● Vol. 1,
No. 2
EDITORIAL – Russ Atmore
Heritage & Roots ...……..….…………………….… 4
THEOLOGY
The Coming of Jesus ..…………………………….. 7
CHURCH PRACTICE
Bread & Wine – The Lord’s Supper …………….. 10
PRACTICAL MATTERS
Personal devotions ..……… ……………………… 13
CURRENT ISSUES
Who Comes Next? ...……….……………………... 16
BIBLE COMMENTARY
Preparing the Way .………………………………… 19
FAMILY CORNER
Bible Quiz ..………………………………………... 21
EDITORIAL
By Russ Atmore
Heritage & Roots
Many Christians are simply unaware of the rich and diverse heritage that
is theirs simply because they are Christians. We can say that we have an
affinity with the Old Testament and of course with the New Testament. I
doubt very much whether any Christian would question the connection we
have to Holy Scripture. We recognize the Bible as our authority because
God is our authority, and that’s simply the end of the matter.
However, as Christians we also can reflect upon the past two thousand
years of Church history and we ought to. We should recognize some
pivotal times in that Church history, namely, the influence and work of
Augustine in the 4th and 5th centuries and Martin Luther, John Calvin
and others during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. We
should know about the Puritans of the 17th century, about George
Whitefield, John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards of the 18th century. We
should know about Charles Spurgeon in the 19th century and about Martyn
Lloyd-Jones in the 20th century. All of these men are recognized as been
God’s men at the right time.
The successors of the Reformation of which we all are a part, owed much
and still owe much to the Reformation. The Reformation is about our
heritage and our roots. It does not matter when a person becomes a
Christian; what matters is that there is a connection to this important
time in the history of the Church. The Church of the 21st century is
guilty of drifting away from certain crucial and fundamental principles,
which are very important to Christians. You will often be told – what we
need is transformation, not reformation, or we have had the
Reformation, now we need transformation. No-one should decry the value,
importance and necessity of transformation, but transformation is still
dependent upon the principles that made the Reformation what it was. So
what are these principles? There are 5 of them.
Scripture Only (sola scriptura)
The call to return to the Bible actually occurred prior to Martin Luther
under men like John Huss and John Wycliffe. It was Huss who argued
against his opponents saying, “show me from Scripture and I will repent
and recant.” Such was Huss’ commitment that he lost his life.
Martin Luther would give similar testimony at the Diet of Worms
courageously stating that, “unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain
reason…I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they
have contradicted one another…my conscience is captive to the Word of
god. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against
conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen”.
The Bible alone is authoritative, complete, clear, sufficient and
completely inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Grace Only (sola gratia)
This simply means that our salvation is all from God. We do not assist
God in granting us divine forgiveness. Salvation originates with God, He
initiates it, He completes it so that all glory belongs to Him and none
to us. In other words, the saving remedy so desperately needed by man is
freely offered by the divine grace of God.
The Church is busy trying to manipulate people into the kingdom of God.
It is foolish and a complete waste of time because it cannot be done. No
modern secular method produces one sinner saved by grace. Only God saves
by grace through the proclamation of the old fashioned Gospel. Grace
alone transforms the human heart through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Faith Only (sola fide)
Salvation is by grace through faith. Faith is the saving instrument that
God uses whereby we appropriate the salvation offered to us. Faith
unites us to Jesus Christ. Faith enables us to lay hold of the
righteousness of Christ. Faith means casting aside human endeavor, human
reason and human effort and casting ourselves naked in the sight of a
holy God.
Luther said that faith means, “to go lost to the feet of Jesus”. Faith
without works or merit saves.
Christ Only (solus Christus)
It is Christ alone who saves us. It is not really faith that saves, but
Christ that saves. We are justified by faith, but it really is God
justifying because we believe. Life is to be found in Jesus alone.
Outside of Christ death is to be found.
God’s awesome justice is fully satisfied by Jesus Christ in both His
active and passive obedience. He fully kept the Law of God for us, and
He willingly suffered on the Cross for us.
The Glory of God Only (Soli Deo Gloria)
John Calvin’s motto was: “My heart I offer to Thee, O Lord, promptly and
sincerely”. Paul put it this way, “For from Him, and through Him and to
Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36).
Doxology must govern out lives. We must live for God’s glory. Only then
will be truly satisfied.
These principles are timeless because they are biblical. The Christian
Church desperately needs to return to them and you can help by seeking
to live according to them, by believing them and been willing to die for
them.
_____________________
THEOLOGY
The Coming of Jesus
There exists a plethora
of opinions on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ centering primarily on
the timing of the event. Confusion abounds among evangelical Christians
over terminology and definition. There are Amillennialists,
Postmillennialists and Premillennialists, and within the
premillennialists’ camp, you would either be a pre-tribulationist,
mid-tribulationalist or post-tribulationalist. Within
post-tribulationalism you would find classic, semi-classic, futurist and
dispensational interpretation, and within pre-tribulationalism you would
either be historical, covenantal or dispensational. It is easy to see
why Christians either ignore the subject of eschatology (last things),
or are not prepared to engage the issues.
If you find these terms confusing, it is encouraging to know that they
become easier with usage. To remain neutral, however, over the coming of
Jesus is not possible. It cannot be ignored because the Bible spends so
much time developing the doctrine and provides theological reasons for
our faith. One point is common to all the above positions – Jesus is
coming again (emphasis mine). It is not a matter of when, but rather a
matter of how am I living, should Christ come now?
There have been numerous attempts to set a date to the return of our
Lord. Such attempts are foolhardy and unbiblical, for the simple reason
that “no man knows about that day or hour” when the Lord may return
(Matt. 24:36). It is also clear that for many, the coming of Jesus will
not be expected or conducive to their way of life (Matt. 24:44). In view
of the uncertainty over time or date, and over possible unchristian
lifestyle, is it not important for us to pay attention to what God has
to say on this
issue? Since we do not know when Jesus will come again, we should
conduct our lives in the light of this knowledge.
Expectancy should influence our behavior. Expectancy should wake us up
from our slumber. Jesus said that we are to “keep watch, because we do
not know the day or hour” (Matt. 25:13). Keeping watch is tantamount to
setting a guard on duty, who must not fall asleep (in case the Lord
comes). Keeping watch is to be real. It should affect our spiritual
lives. Keeping watch means preparation (Matt. 25:1-13). The Bible is
clear that there will be those who say they are Christians, but when the
Lord comes, they will not be prepared for His coming. They will not be
prepared spiritually. They will have spent their lives watching the
wrong things (magazines, stocks, business, television, sport, themselves
– whatever!!).
We should study the Scriptures to find out about Jesus coming again. We
must, at least comprehend the basic issues that surround the return of
Jesus. There are too many dangerously ignorant Christians today, which
points to the very real danger that they may not be Christians at all,
since spiritual growth and fruit is evidence of regeneration. Many
Christians are worried about their own problems, and probably less
worried about others, but are we concerned about Christ? Are we
concerned for Him and His glory?
There are too many today who flaunt the attitude that we must love God
because of His great love for us, as if we either deserve or are worthy
of God’s love, when the biblical way is that we love God most of all for
who He is. He is God and most worthy of praise. Even if God did not love
you, He is still worthy of praise, and must be adored and loved for
that. Too many Christians expect God to be at their beck and call. The
slightest problem in life, and suddenly God must get involved and sort
our problems out. We need to realize that God is always involved in our
lives. He never slumbers or sleeps.
It is crucial that we spend time considering the coming of our Lord. He
will overthrow His enemies and crush them under His feet (1 Cor.
15:24-28). He will be glorious in victory because He has overcome death.
“He was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He
will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to
those who are waiting for Him” (Hebrews 9:28). Let us rise up then out
of spiritual indifference, and repent of our sins. Let us do again our
first works ignited by our first love (Rev. 2:4, 5) and let us say with
the beloved John, “Amen, Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
______________________
“Our hearts are like gardens if left alone.
Weeds Grow!”
C H Spurgeon
CHURCH PRACTICE
Bread & Wine – The Lord’s Supper
There are five passages
that deal with the Lord’s Supper. These are all found in the New
Testament. These are Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19,20; 1
Corinthians 10:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-29. All of these passages
teach the following:
1. The Lord’s Supper is divinely instituted by Jesus and is a perpetual
obligation binding upon all believers.
2. The elements that are to be used are bread and wine.
3. The Lord’s Supper involves important parts-:
a). Consecration of the emblems b). Breaking the bread and drinking the
cup. c). Distributing the emblems. d). Receiving the emblems.
4. The design of the Lord’ Supper involves-:
a). our commemoration of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. b). our
participation in the body and blood of the Lord. c). our union with
other believers in Christ. d). sealing and signifying our acceptance of
the New Covenant as ratified by the blood of Christ.
5. The conditions for profitable communion are -:
a). knowledge to discern the Lord’s body b). faith to feed upon Christ.
c). love for Jesus and for His people.
Over the centuries the following points of controversy remain. What is
the sense in which the bread and wine are the body and blood of Jesus?
What is the sense in which the believer receives the body and blood of
Christ in the ordinance? What are the benefits conferred by the
ordinance upon the believer, and how are they conferred? These questions
belong to a more length examination. The real issue concerns our
willingness to remember Jesus.
The ordinances are not optional for the Christian. They are commanded by
Jesus Himself! All true believers in Christ will desire to be obedient
to the ordinances. Baptism occurs once and is an outward sign of inward
reality. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper is an ongoing experience
for the church. Jesus eagerly desired to gather with His disciples for
their last Passover meal and the institution of the Lord’s Supper (Luke
22:15).
This desire that He expressed is to be reciprocated by us. It is folly
to not remember Jesus in this way, yet there are many who say they are
Christians and never remember Jesus. Is it possible to be a believer and
not meet at the Table of the Lord at every opportunity? The early church
would have questioned a person’s faith regarding this issue. Why should
we not do the same today?
Those who absent themselves from the Lord’s Supper have no right to call
themselves Christians at all, for it is this very Supper that expresses
the death of Jesus and the request of Jesus to his followers. Our
faithfulness in observing the Lord’s
Table is because we love Him who first loved us. Jesus said, “as often
as you do this, do it in remembrance of me”,
(1 Cor. 11:23-27). There is a binding obligation upon every Christian to
meet regularly and remember Christ.
We only remember the death of our Lord until he comes (1 Cor. 11:26).
There will be no need to do this in heaven for then we will be with the
Lord. We become partakers of Christ’s redemption only in virtue of our
participation of His life. His life brings His merit and power. He is
our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption only because we
have received His wisdom, righteousness and thus we become free from the
consequences of our iniquities. It is Christ within, that causes us to
be confident before Him. He is our glory.
Let us love our Lord by demonstrating our love and affection for Him by
meeting with Him to remember Him as often as we can.
______________________
“Pay attention to the Root and there will be Fruit”
A W Tozer
PRACTICAL MATTERS
Personal Devotions
The secret to a godly life rests squarely in this area. The pursuit of
God is in direct proportion to effort expended in your personal
devotions before God. I do not know of any other area that has a direct
bearing on personal life than this. It will affect your witnessing, your
ability to handle temptations and to face testing of all kinds.
Exposure to God through the means of private secret prayer and
application before God in the Bible are the only means to accomplishing
a fruitful spiritual life. This is attested to by all the ancient
fathers of the Church. It is also true in experience. I am not concerned
here with only time in the Bible or only time in prayer. I am referring
to a specific time (whatever is best for you) when you engage with the
Lord personally in prayer and the Word.
True meditation in the Scriptures needs to be saturated with prayer.
True prayer needs to be saturated with Scripture. I am not talking about
family devotions either. These are vital to good family life. No, I am
concerned with the discipline of struggle in prayer and the Bible every
day for the rest of your life. True worship springs out of a time spent
in this way. There is also no short cut to attaining effective and
powerful spiritual life before the Lord. It does require sacrifice and
discipline. The rewards are immeasurable except to say that eternity
will reveal whether you are successful or not.
It might be helpful if we had some guidelines as to how we may begin
this practice and how we may improve it. First of all, it is
necessary to determine which time is the best for you. This is,
generally speaking the early morning for the simple reason that you can
meet with God before any other distractions might come your way. The
other time that would be effective would be later on at night when
either children are in bed or when all is quiet, or during the day
during a break in routine. There is no hard and fast rule, but each one
of us must determine what works best for us.
Martin Luther acknowledged that he needed at least 3 hours of prayer in
order to handle the difficulties of life that came his way every day. I
dare say that we don’t even come close to this discipline. Is it any
wonder that the world was never the same after his life?
Secondly, it is necessary to have peace and quiet and it is necessary to
establish the time to be spent as a general fixed time. Third, what will
you do? Again, there are no fixed rules. You will have to determine what
to do. Some can come straight to their Bibles and read meditatively
immediately. Others need to warm up there minds by reading something
else. Others can pray straight off. It is better to suffuse the entire
period with prayer. God above you and your Bible before you is how you
should approach your devotions. Your devotions should center around the
Word of God.
It is also good to read some additional literature and this can be in
the field of theology, devotion or biography. Additional reading should
never take prominence over the Bible. As you read make sure that you
record your thoughts. Jonathan Edwards never read anything without a pen
in his hand. Reading with a pen forces you to think and write, and
writing is great discipline for keeping you on track. As you begin you
will find writing difficult, but with practice it will improve. As your
read pray over what you read and think how you can use what you learn in
your everyday life.
As you begin your life in spiritual devotion you will find that you will
grow in grace. There will be progress in the things of God, and daily
preoccupation with God is surely of great spiritual worth. You will find
yourself occupied with spiritual things, and Jesus Himself
will become ever more real to you. Begin today with a decision to
implement a new spiritual journey and ask God to help you
______________________
“God is sufficient for God’s work”
Hudson Taylor
CURRENT ISSUES
Who Comes Next?
The idea of succession is important. Who comes after you’re gone? Who
will continue in your place? Succession implies following and leading.
If you’re not leading, no one’s following. Companies plan for
succession. Most times it’s a disaster because the next generation have
their own plans and ideas that don’t quite mesh with the current
position. That’s not to say that change is bad, but change always comes
with a price. It’s good to think about succession especially in the
Christian realm. Those that come after you can achieve even greater
things than you (in your generation) if they have learned from your
achievements, both great and small. If they haven’t learned, then
disaster awaits.
Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, succeeded his father to the throne of
Israel (1 Kings 12). Upon his succession, the people of the land
approached him with a request that he lighten the tax burden placed on
them by Solomon. Under David, the kingdom had fought for stability and
peace and had achieved it. Solomon had kept the peace and extended the
kingdom. In fact, he so enriched Israel with both his own wealth and
wisdom, that after him, Israel never enjoyed again such incredible
luxury.
You would have thought that Rehoboam would have learned at least
something from his father in the line of wise decisions. No doubt the
story of his father’s first wise decision still reverberated around the
nation (1 Kings 3:16 – 28), but Rehoboam wasn’t as smart as his dad.
Solomon had made use of great deal of labor. It took him seven years to
build the temple for the Lord (1 Kings 6:38), and it took him thirteen
years to build his palace (1 Kings 7:1). Israel had worked for Solomon
for twenty years. They deserved some rest from their labors. The people
thus approached Rehoboam and asked that he lighten the load upon them.
Rehoboam turned to the elders for their advice – those men who had
served with his father. They agreed that it was time to ease up on the
people, and by doing so, Rehoboam would win their hearts and they would
serve him gladly their whole life. Rehoboam did not listen to their wise
counsel. He turned to the young men and asked them for their advice.
They advised him to increase the burden on the people and so he told
them, that if they thought Solomon had been tough on them, that was
nothing compared to what he was going to do to them. Bad decision and
bad advice! So disastrous was this advice that the entire nation, apart
from Jerusalem and the towns of Judah rejected Rehoboam as king (1 Kings
12:16-19). Adoniram was sent out by Rehoboam to conscript some labor
(forced labor) and Israel stoned him to death, and Rehoboam himself
managed to escape with his life to Jerusalem.
Not a very successful succession, was it? Bad advice leads to bad
decisions leads to lost kingdom was how the succession went. What about
your plans for succession? As Christians, the idea of succession must
always be in our minds. Most people think in terms of taking over the
family business as their idea of succession. Keep the family name going
by adding a few grandchildren! Biblical succession is more than this.
Inheritance is important (Proverbs 13:22), but look what Rehoboam did
with his. I don’t think the problem was all Rehoboam’s fault though.
I think Solomon failed as a father. The Bible tells us that his heart
was led astray by his many foreign wives and by idolatry (1 Kings
11:1-13), and this resulted in Rehoboam’s downfall. The kingdom was
already lost because of Solomon’s sin. Solomon did not leave Rehoboam a
godly example to follow. Being a godly person is no guarantee that those
who follow will take the same course, but it is the biblical course.
There is no other! God usually and normally works in this way. Are we
leaving our children and their children with a biblical example to
follow? Will they say of you that you followed God wholeheartedly as
Caleb did (Num. 14:24; Josh.
14:8,9)? Will they see your faithfulness in following God or will they
see your half-heartedness?
It is interesting to observe people and their standards of succession.
You’ll see it in the church and in the home. There are faithful
Christians in the church and in the home who seek by godly example to
lead their children and grandchildren in the ways of God. The success of
the next generation rests on those Christians' shoulders and heart. Will
they be more godly than us? Will the next unbelieving generation look at
the next believing generation and say that they have something worth
having that we don’t have? Will you be known as a godly example? I pray
that it may be so.
Don’t be like Solomon and Rehoboam. Their example and decisions led the
nation away from God, but rather humbly ask God to make your life
something worth following.
______________________
“Not until the Holy Spirit was poured out did Jesus release the church
to witness”
Carl Henry
Bible Commentary
Scripture
Mark 1:1-8
Key Verse
"After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I
am not worthy to stoop down and untie." --Mark 1:7
Theme
Preparing the Way
Exposition
These verses launch us immediately into the commencement of John the
Baptist's ministry and subsequently that of our Lord. Verses 1-13
provide the Prologue which contains the beginning of Jesus' ministry,
and from verses 14 through to the end of the chapter, we find ourselves
in the public ministry of Jesus in Galilee. Unlike the Gospels of
Matthew and Luke, Mark does not begin the birth of Jesus, but launches
us straight into the ministry of John the Baptist and then immediately
following we see Jesus baptized, undergoing His temptation and then in
the power of the Spirit, our Lord takes up His ministry. Mark's emphasis
is not on John the Baptist, but on Jesus Himself. He does this by
recording John's testimony regarding Jesus in verse 7.
The ministry of John the Baptist was designed to introduce Christ. John
was the forerunner of our Lord. He was the one who prepared the way for
the coming of Messiah. The Old Testament prophets, Isaiah (40:3) and
Malachi (3:1) foretold the coming of John as the one who prepared the
way of the Lord. The account recorded here is recorded also by the other
two Synoptic Gospels; namely, Matthew (3:1-11) and Luke (3:2-16). John
acknowledged his role as forerunner in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy
in John 1:19-23, as he responded to questions regarding his identity
posed to him by Jewish leaders.
He is the messenger of the Lord with a specific purpose - to prepare the
way for the Lamb of God and to make His paths straight. Mark's Gospel is
concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and not concerning John the
Baptist. In fact, the Baptist goes to great lengths to direct attention
away from himself and points to Christ as the one upon human attention
should be focused (Matthew 3:11, 12; Mark 1:7, 8; Luke 3:15-17; John
1:19-27).
John states that the main distinction between his ministry and that of
Jesus is that he baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize with the
Holy Spirit. One related to an outward show of repentance that supposed
an internal work done, but the baptism of the Spirit speaks first to an
internal change, to a permanent change, and not merely an outward
identification that might have no real consequences portrayed in a
person's life.
Application
Every Christian in some way is a forerunner. every time we speak for
Christ, we announce Him to a dying and lost world. True spiritual change
comes through His finished work, and therefore we must point men and
women, boys and girls to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world.
Are you seeking to do that?
FAMILY CORNER
Biblical Names
Across
5. He used to be called Abram
6. God spoke to him face-to-face
9. Was he his brother's keeper?
10. Jesus told him that he must be born again
13. One of the Kings of Judah
16. The first victim of fratricide
20. One of Daniel's Kings
22. He prophesied Edom's defeat
25. This man went up to heaven in a whirlwind when a chariot of fire
appeared. 26. Was the first to be made in the image of God.
Down
1. His name is on one of the Old Testament books
2. One of Noah's sons
3. The shepherd King
4. He gave his tomb so Jesus could be buried
7. Esther's capital city
8. He took the Hebrews into the promised land
11. He tells how the Jews returned from Babylon
12. This woman was raised from the dead in Joppa
14. Samuel's mentor
15. She was a brave Judge of Israel
17. This man 'laid a fleece'
18. Esther's King
19. Elisha's servant
21. Bathsheba's first husband
23. What God told Moses his name was (2 words)
24. He betrayed Jesus for silver
Prepared by Kaitlin Atmore
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