NT Assembly Life, Part 2

NT Assembly Life, Part 2
By Kent Secor

THE ETERNAL PURPOSES OF GOD

Let us now look at Ephesians. This letter was written with an overview of God's purposes in the earth. There doesn't seem to be any gross errors that Paul was dealing with in this letter. Remember Paul was able to stay for 3 years with the Ephesians’ assembly before the idol makers had him run out of town. So he was able to lay the foundations of Christ very well with them. Here he is writing to strengthen the foundation of Christ. This letter contains Paul's discussion regarding the eternal purposes of God.

Let's look at Paul's opening statement, Ephesians 1:3-10 (NIV) emphasis mine;
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace the he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."

One of the important messages in this letter from Paul is that our life is Christ centered. Too much of the teaching in the churches today, in my opinion, is man centered. It's too much about how we get saved, and even the heart of this discussion is man centered, how we are to meet.

The most important thing in our lives in Christ is Christ.

Look at the main subject in Paul's statement:

"...in Christ....he chose ....in him...in his sight...he predestined.....his sons.......his pleasure and will...praise of his glorious grace....he has freely given.....In him,.....his blood.....grace he lavished ......he made known.....his will.....his good pleasure....he purposed in Christ....."

Paul is clearly talking about a Christ/God centered topic here. And that brings me to my main topic here, let me state it this way; It's all about Him, it's not about us, we just get to enjoy His work in the earth. Do you get that? Our salvation is not about us, it's about God using us to display his grace to the universe, it's for “the praise of his glorious grace“, we get to enjoy the results of his salvation work. But we are really the work that shows his grace. The man centered teaching of easy believism, (come to Jesus, he will give you love, peace, and joy) makes it seem that God is doing all this for our benefit alone, this produces converts who continue to seek God for what He will give to them, continued love, peace and joy.

The truth is we are saved for a demonstration of His grace and we continue to show His grace as we grow in grace, as it says “we grow from grace to grace.”

This life in Christ is all about “His good pleasure”, as it says, “He is at work in us both to will and do His good pleasure.”

Another point here, which is an expression of the eternal purposes of God;

“And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”

Do you see here what the purpose of God is? The mystery that the prophets of old only saw in part and didn't understand, because it was to be fulfilled in Jesus long after their time on earth was over. A mystery that was only revealed after the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all flesh and the NT prophets were given the full revelation of Christ to come. Jesus and the future kingdom, when all the kingdoms, that of Heaven and those of earth will be brought under the one head, the one King, Jesus the Anointed One.

Again, I repeat, this whole life, the whole of creation is about God, and Jesus. Jesus is the Rightful Ruler of all of creation.

So within assembly life, while we are loving one another, and working our salvation out with fear and trembling, we need to keep always in mind, Jesus, is our Lord and King, He is our Head.

I will not quote the whole of the letter to the Ephesians, let me just give you the points relevant to this discussion, ones which I hope will bring this letter into better focus for us.

(Side Note:The NT letters were not written with chapters and verses, these are very modern additions. When studying them we need to keep them in context, to take sentences/ verses out of context can easily change the apparent meaning of them. These letters were written to be read as a whole. Please read the whole of Ephesians to see the context of the verses I will quote.)

Eph 1:11, 12 (NIV)
"In him, we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory."

Do you see here, it is all according to His plan for the praise of His glory?

Eph 1:22, 23 (NIV)
"And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church (assembly, Greek: ecclesia), which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

Christ is over all, all things are placed under his feet, He is the head of all things for us his assembly, His body. He fills everything. The emphasis here is Jesus, not the assemblies.Him, not us.

Eph2:4-7 (NIV)
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you were saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."


Again the subject here is God, “his great love....who is rich in mercy....God raised....seated us...he might show...in Christ Jesus”

We are the recipients of this work, “His great love for us....God...made us alive with Christ....God raised us up with Christ.....He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

Did you get that? We are HIS workmanship, as Paul says in a following verse.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Do you see what Paul is saying here, it's not about us; we are the workmanship that God is using to display the riches of His grace and love. In the words of the Prophet Isaiah, “we are the clay, you are the potter.” Is 64:8

Another thing I'd like to point out here, in the teaching of the easy believism, this verse is often not given with the preceding ones, we hear Eph. 2:8,9 quoted all the time, I'm sure you can quote them verbatim. But when you read it in context you see that salvation by grace through faith in Christ is not the end in itself but rather just the start, we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works” these good works are what God had purposed for us to do from the foundation of the world. We are born again, saved to the praise of God's grace, we live, “do good works” for the same reason, to be to the praise of God's glorious grace. Brethren, if you do good works for some heavenly reward, you are not yet in a mature view of things. Remember, even the crowns we are given, as rewards, we will cast down at our Lord's feet, to the praise of His glorious grace.

Ephesians 2:15, 16 (NIV)
"...His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and in this new body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility."

Here is a view of God's workmanship in us; he took of two peoples, two men, Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised, and made one man, the Body of Christ, one people, one group of believers, in Christ Jesus.

We are part of God's eternal purposes.

Ephesians 3:10, 11 (NIV)
"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God's eternal purposes are accomplished in Jesus, his work on the cross, his death and resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father; His headship over the assembly, his body.

On this foundation of the accomplished work of Christ, the bringing peace to the peoples of the earth by bringing together two men into one, the body of Christ, all for His glory alone, for His eternal purposes, Paul now shares important ideas regarding assembly life.

Ephesians 4:1-16 (NIV)
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.....But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.....

...It was he who gave some to be apostles (emissaries), some to be prophets (spokesmen of God's word), some to be evangelists (proclaimers of the Good News), some to be pastors (overseers) and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

First let me point out the emphasis I see here. Paul is discussing how the body grows and functions, and the goal of the body is to “grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

There is no other goal in the assembly then to grow up into Christ and demonstrate his life in our communities, our assemblies. Every other work of our assemblies comes from this.

Second, the so-called five fold ministry, the elder's functions in the assembly are not an end to themselves, they are merely servants, their purpose is “to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”, they are not “THE MINISTERS” as is often the case in modern Christianity, no, the whole of the assembly, every person are ministers.

One illustration I use to describe this idea is a King's house. Within the King's large house (Imagine the Queen of England's Castle, Buckingham Palace, in London), there are many areas of concern, the kitchens, the bedrooms and chambers, the main hall, the outer walls and guards needed. Each area has it's steward over it, he manages the affairs of the servants in that given area, over the whole household is the chief steward, Yet the stewards are still servants of the Queen (King), their charge is to make sure the other servants in their oversight have what they need to perform their duties. This includes training in how to fulfill their duties as well as the supplies to do them.

I see these five areas of functioning elders in the body of Christ in this way, they are mature believers, trained, tried, and trusted servants who function as emissaries, prophets, proclaimers of the Good News, overseers, and teachers. They do these functions and disciple others in doing them. Their charge is to “prepare God's people for works of service.”

See also how the body is built up, by doing the works of service. The body is not built up by teaching only, but by being instructed and then doing the works of service. Too many today think that our charge is to teach only, but there is so much empty teaching. Teaching about the minutia of doctrine and little real teaching about how to live practical Godly lives in Christ Jesus.

It is vitally important that our teaching has the goal of preparing God's people to do the works of service. It must be practical, how to live stuff, how to love, how to serve.

It is the whole body functioning doing “works of service” that produces the “unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” It is not by teaching alone, education is part of the process, but it is as the body applies the teaching, practices the teaching that the maturing process happens.

If we teach only we will have fellowships of infant believers, it takes doing to really learn.

For example, in taking an automobile driving course, was it enough to just read a book or hear a lecture about how to drive? Or did the real education come by sitting behind the wheel of a car with another mature driver beside you to instruct you in the real world, on the road, how to drive?

In my trade, as an electrician, part of my duties is to train new people in the trade. Part of this is the National Electric Code, which governs and details the practices of our trade, telling us what to do to prevent fires and injury to people. But if all I did was lecture my young apprentice in the Code, he would never really become an electrician. An electrician does know the NEC, but he also knows how to install electrical components to make lights come on and motors work. The goal is not to know the NEC, but to understand the NEC so as to do better, safer electrical work.

So, I model the proper way to do the work, make sure my young charge has the correct tools and knows how to use them. I show him how to do a part of the work, and then let him do it. I come back and check it out and correct him as needed, as he learns one part I give him more to do. While teaching him how to do the work, I discuss the why of what we are doing. How electricity works, why the NEC states we should do it one way and not another. I share stories of what happens when someone does not follow proper and safe procedures.

In short I disciple him in the trade. This to me is what the Body of Christ has been called to do and why I see just having lectures (sermons) as being weak and faulty. Only as my fellow electrician can “do” his work is my company (body) made stronger. If my apprentice does not do his work, no matter how much I teach him, would I be wise to keep him in my employ? Will the Lord be wise to keep in His household those servants who refuse to do their work, even though well taught? And if the problem is that the elders are not properly discipling (training) them, who do you think the King will hold responsible?

Back to Ephesians...

The main emphasis I see here, after the whole of the body being built up into the Head, Jesus, is that the body grows by functioning:

“...to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”

“...speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

“As each part does its work,“ as each one of us does our work, whatever that is according to the grace of God given to us, as each one of us functions we build ourselves up in love.

It's not a matter of having proper doctrines; the proper teaching prepares the body to function, to do good works, to serve one another, to love one another. In this way the whole local community of believers (I am speaking here of the fellowship you belong to, not some universal body of believers, but the ones you see all the time and can actually, and practically love in real works), is built up in “unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Maturity comes by the whole body functioning, not teaching only.

What does this have to do with our meetings? The goal of our corporate life is to build one another up in Christ. The whole of creation is about Jesus. In determining what the NT Assembly practice was we first must realize that they met to encourage one another and build one another up in Christ, to trust him more, to love one another in real acts of service to one another.


PAUL'S TRADITION OF ASSEMBLY MEETINGS

1 Corinthians 11-14

In this passage we see Paul dealing with the tradition that he taught the new assemblies.

In many towns and cities he was only there for a short time period, in others he was able to stay for a longer time period. It all depended on the attitudes of the local population.

Paul had founded the assembly in Corinth. During his absence and further travels and work, some in the Corinthian assembly turned from the ways he had taught and started doing some things wrong. Let me quote the note in my study Bible regarding the situation in Corinth.

"Paul received information from several sources concerning the conditions existing in the church at Corinth. Some members of the household of Chloe had informed him of the factions that had developed in the church (1:11). There were three individuals - Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus - who had come to Paul in Ephesus to make some contribution to his ministry (16:17), but whether these were the ones from Chloe's household we do not know.

Some of those who had come had brought disturbing information concerning moral irregularities in the church (chs.5-6). Immorality had plagued the Corinthian assembly almost from the beginning. From 5:9-10 it is apparent that Paul had written previously concerning moral laxness. He had urged believers “not to associate with sexually immoral people” (5:9). Because of misunderstanding he now finds it necessary to clarify his instructions (5:10-11) and to urge immediate and drastic action (5:3-5, 13).

Other Corinthian visitors had brought a letter from the church that requested counsel on several subjects (see 7:1; cf. 8:1; 12:1; 16:1).

It is clear that, although the church was gifted (see 1:4-7), it was immature and unspiritual (3:1-4). Paul's purposes for writing were: (1) to instruct and restore the church in its areas of weakness, correcting erroneous practices such as divisions (1:10-4:21), immorality (5; 6:12-20), litigation in pagan courts (6:1-8) and abuse of the Lord's supper (11:17-34); (2) to correct false teaching concerning the resurrection (15); and (3) to give instruction concerning the offering for poverty stricken believers in Jerusalem (16:1-4)." (NIV Study Bible, Zondervan)

Some questions arise as to the reason for this letter. Why did the assembly of Corinth write Paul to address these issues? Was not Jerusalem, where the twelve were, the center of the church? Wouldn't Peter or the elder James, be better ones to write to with these questions? Why Paul?

This assembly in Corinth had been founded by Paul; it was under his ministry, as an emissary, that they came to know Christ. He had laid the foundation of Christ, taught them about Him and led them to having a relationship with Him. Within his work of emissary, whose work is to “lay the foundation which is Christ”, he is now called upon to shore up the foundations of this assembly.

Paul had the relationship with them; he was to most of them a spiritual father in the faith, as he had led them to saving faith in Christ. It only makes sense that they would turn to the one who they respected as their father in the faith for these questions. They didn't know Peter, James, John or the others. Some of these other emissaries may have traveled through Corinth, yet they turn to Paul, their spiritual father in the faith.

We must keep in mind that this is a corrective letter. Paul does not lay out all the traditions he had taught them, those foundational teachings were already taught them, in person. Here we see Paul correcting the practice out of the traditions he taught them previously. They knew what to do, how to act, how to meet. They were just doing some things wrong and needed correction.

After dealing with other issues, in Chapter 11, Paul turns to the traditions he taught them.

1 Corinthians 11:2 (NIV)
"I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you."

This word in the NIV here; teachings; in the Greek is, paradosis, (Strong's number 3862).

Thayer tells us it means; "a giving over, giving up

1. the act of giving up, the surrender: of cities

2. a giving over which is done by word of mouth or in writing, i.e. tradition by instruction, narrative, precept, etc.....objectively, what is delivered, the substance of the teaching: so Paul's teaching....particular injunctions of Paul's instruction,..."

We see here that this teaching established a tradition, which Paul says they were keeping, and keeping well. There was no need here at this time to teach them the traditions all over again. They only needed some points corrected in their practice of them. It is important as we look at this passage that we keep this in mind.

The elements (if you will) of this tradition of meeting is hidden in the corrective wording of this passage. Let us look at the elements of this tradition in outline.

1. Men and Women in the Meeting

2. The Lord's Supper: Agape feast

3. Spiritual Gifts

4. Body Life

5. Love Above All

6. Edify the Body

7. Instruct and Encourage

These are the main subjects of this letter and main elements of the tradition Paul taught them, by looking at these passages we can see what the NT Assembly Practice in meeting was.

1. Men and Women in the Meeting:

1 Corinthian 11:3-16
"Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is just as though her head were shaved....."

Now I don't want to turn this into men vs. women issue, as I don't see that in the context at all. What is being presented here is that there is a special relationship between a husband and wife. When I studied this passage out I didn't come away with the idea that all women in an assembly meeting must wear some kind of head covering, instead I saw that the wife represents the union with her husband and there is a certain propriety involved while in a group. As I have never been married I don't suppose to have any great insight to this union, of the two becoming one, within the marriage union of husband and wife.

What elements of the assembly meeting are mentioned here? They are prayer and prophesying.

I think this term; prophesying needs some defining. The Greek is propheetuo (Strong's number, 4395). KJV translates as, prophesied; or (shall or did) prophesy; (that) prophesieth.

Thayers tells us it means:

"...to prophesy, i.e. to be a prophet, speak forth by divine inspiration; to predict...

b....with the idea of foretelling future events pertaining to esp. to the kingdom of God...

c. to utter forth, declare, a thing which can only be known by divine revelation...

d. to break forth under sudden impulse in lofty discourse or in praise of the divine counsels...
...or under the like prompting, to teach, refute, reprove, admonish, comfort others

e. to act as a prophet, discharge the prophetic office..."

This would be distinguished from just being a teacher, and is not like our modern idea of a preacher. As we see in Thayer's definition of the Greek word, it always involves divine inspiration. So it is not just a matter of teaching or preaching the word of God, it involves more than just the intellect. There is an element of revelation in it.

In the meeting of the assembly we see here two of the things they did together, prayer and prophesying. And both men and women prayed and prophesied. The issue here deals with husband and wife and the wife showing proper honor to her husband.

Some today think that this is teaching that all women must wear a head covering while in a meeting. If a woman does not wear a head covering she is thought to not be in proper submission to the men in the group. Also in these churches they believe that all women are to remain silent in meeting, an idea I will deal with presently as it falls in context. In this context we see women praying and prophesying along with men in the same meetings.

As to this idea of head coverings, I've studied out what this head covering was to the Corinthian culture and the cultures of the NT times in general, what I found was, it was a veil that was worn over the head and fell to the hem of the woman's skirt, much like some Muslim women must wear today in Muslim countries. It was never a little doily worn on the head, or a bonnet like the Amish or Mennonite married women wear, nor any kind of hat. Yet this is what the “head covering” churches practice.

I'd like to address another important idea in forming teachings. It is not a good idea to form a hard fast teaching with only one scripture passage to back it up. This is one of those one passage doctrines that have become a point of schism in the Body of Christ. The Brethren (who practice this women's head covering doctrine), call it a point of distinction. I see it as a sin against Christ, as Paul refers to the schisms in Corinth at the beginning of this letter.

It takes the context of the whole revelation of God to form a proper teaching. And at times the historical and cultural context is necessary to understand the context of the written records we have of God's revelation. This is just such a case.

The head covering in societies that practice it means to show the submission of the woman to a man, the father or husband. The point in Muslim society is to protect the beauty of the woman for their husband, although they also teach that woman is a sinful, dirty sex, able to entice a righteous man from the path of Islam (Righteousness). Therefor the woman must be veiled to keep her sinful beauty and enticements from the gaze of men.

Seems to me if the Muslim men were so righteous they could look on a beautiful woman and see the beauty the Creator made in them and glorify Him who made them so beautiful. To be so easily tempted by simple beauty shows the wickedness and unregenerate nature of their hearts.

This practice is a very cultural one; I do not see where in our society that a woman wearing a hat means she is in submission to her husband. We in this society do wear wedding rings to show we are in a committed marriage relationship, other cultures do not, and in fact this custom is based on pagan practices. We could make it a matter of doctrine that every wife must have a wedding ring on to show she is showing due honor to her husband. In some countries the bride wears a nose ring, some wear a dowry head piece or necklace made of gold coins, these all denote a married woman in other cultures.

In the culture of the NT it was the wearing of the veil in public, which included the meetings of the assemblies.

Again the elements of the NT Assembly meeting here is prayer and prophesying by the men and the women.

THE LORD'S SUPPER

2. The Lord's Supper: an Agape Feast.

1 Corinthians 11:17-34; (the Lord's Table: 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1)

Two passages here deal with the practice of keeping the Lord's Supper or the Lord's Table or Agape Feast, as the NT and early Assemblies termed it.

This is all based on the last supper our Lord ate with his students on the night he was betrayed.

This last supper was a Passover supper, the normal yearly remembrance feast that all Israel celebrated, in which the sacrificed lamb was eaten in remembrance of the Lord's salvation of the first born of Israel from the last plague on Egypt and their deliverance from Egypt.

During this ritualized meal, the Lord departed from the normal liturgy, during the cup of redemption, he referred to it as, “my blood of the covenant, shed for you” and the last unleavened bread eaten in the meal, the Afrikomen, the desert, he said, “...this is my body broken for you”. Of this meal, this cup, this bread, he said two things, that as often as they ate these they were to eat it, they were to do so in remembrance of Him, and He would not eat this again until He ate it with them in His kingdom.

Matthew 26: 26-30 (NIV)
...“Take and eat; this is my body.”

Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.”

When they had sung a hymn, they departed out to the Mount of Olives.

Luke 22: 14:-22 (NIV)
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. ...”


These passages form the basis for the tradition of the Lord's Supper that Paul taught as well as the other emissaries, Peter, John, James, Barnabas, Timothy, Titus, Silas, and the others. It was not a Passover remembrance ritual meal. It was based on it, but the celebration, the remembrance, was of the sacrifice of Christ, the deliverance from the slave bonds of sin, the defeating of the great enemies, Satan, sin and death, by Christ Jesus. Also it was a looking forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb yet to come at the establishing of His Kingdom reign upon the earth.

Let's look now at the passages under consideration. The Corinthian letter is the only one to deal directly with this topic in such detail. Paul does not give the whole tradition again, just gives correction in how they were keeping it.

1 Corinthians 10:14 - 11:1 (NIV)
"Therefore, my dear friends flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the body of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's Table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

“Everything is permissible“- but not everything is beneficial. ”Everything is permissible“- but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.”....

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jew, Greeks or the church of God - even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. "

The elements of the Lord's Supper Paul mentioned here are:

1) Cup of Thanksgiving.
2) Breaking of the One Loaf or Breaking Bread.

These are major elements in the Passover (Seder) observance, used to illustrate the grace God showed Israel in their deliverance. In the Lord's Supper, it illustrates, “a participation in the blood of Christ“and”a participation in the body of Christ“.

Paul says the fact that they used one loaf signified that they all belonged to one body. It showed their unity in Christ.

Paul compares the Lord's Table to the table of demons. Corinth was a major center of commerce. It was at the cross roads of shipping, at the bottom of the peninsula of Greece. Lots of merchandise was off loaded on the west coast and transported by mule trains and carts across the land to be loaded again in ships at the docks of Corinth. This made Corinth a very cosmopolitan city, with temples to all the major gods.

Part of all pagan worship was the sacrificing of animals for sin offerings and fellowship offerings to please and appease the gods, and to beseech them for their favors. Drink offerings of wine, offerings of oil, flour and grains were also given, much as we see in the offerings proscribed for Israel. These provided for the care and up keep of the priests of the temples, and part of the offerings were eaten in feast unto the god, the idol. This too we see in the sacrificial offerings of Israel. They ate in honor of the Lord Yahweh, God.

Paul is addressing the habit of some in Corinth, who though they were saved and in the assembly of Christ, still were going to the temples of the idols to offer sacrifices there and eat a feast to the idols. There were also major feast days when certain gods were honored by the whole town, or at least large segments of them.

Paul is teaching that you can not honor demons and Christ. If you are trusting in Christ for your salvation, why are you going to the demons, or idols? What could be your reason? Are you seeking to hedge your bet? Just make sure? Give the idol a little offering and maybe the seas will be more favorable? Perhaps they were concerned with being cut off from their families and community, a very real concern, as to much of Roman society the Christians were atheists and treasons.

Today we do not have idols we make sacrifices to, at least not so much in America or Europe. But there are some who still do such things. Santeria is a big animist religion from the Caribbean islands, that some in America practice. And around the world there are those who do such things.

Back to the discussion at hand. The tradition Paul gave them included keeping the Lord's Supper or Lord's Table. It involved a meal, with the “cup of thanksgiving” and “breaking of bread”. These represented their participation in the Body of Christ, their unity in Christ alone.

Another basis of this feast was the covenant meal of “blood covenant” which was practiced throughout the region in their day. I will address this later in another article.

The Lord's Supper, Part 2

1Corinthians 11:17-34 (NIV)
"In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.

When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!"

Let me break in here and make a couple of comments.

First, Paul here is discussing a normal meeting “...for your meetings.....when you come together as a church....When you come together ...”

What they did when they met was to eat a dinner, “When you come together....Lord's Supper you eat.” We know it was a full meal because of the descriptions Paul uses of “One remains hungry, another gets drunk.” You do not go hungry from a ritual meal of a piece of bread (or small soup cracker). Nor do you get drunk from a sip of wine (or shot glass of grape juice). This had to be a full meal. We see in the descriptions of the early Church Fathers, that this was always a full meal, with enough for the poor among them to take some home. This was a part of the welfare system. We see this in the ministrations towards the widows of the first assembly in Jerusalem, where table servants (translation of the Greek word deaconi) would distribute the widows’ portions to them.

Second was the emphasis of the correction here. Paul is chiding them for “despising the church of God, and humiliating those who have nothing...” Is this the unity of the one loaf and one cup Paul just discussed?

Let's continue with the passage:

1Corinthians 11:23-26
"For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

In a concise way Paul gives the tradition that he learned from Jesus himself. This is the basic idea of the believer's celebration meal, Jesus' sacrifice for the sins of all men.

Let's continue;

1Corinthians 11:27-34
"Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we are to judges ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.

When I come I will give further directions."

Paul says “therefore” referring to the preceding idea of the bread and cup being a remembrance of the Lord's death. “...in an unworthy manner...” and “...sinning against the body and blood of the Lord,” are ideas that are bandied about much, and given numerous interpretations.

In context it is referring to the body of Christ, the fellowship of believers gathered for the shared meal. “...do you despise the church of God, and humiliate those who have nothing?...when you gather to eat, wait for each other....” Some in Corinth were eating before all could eat and drinking to drunkenness before all could share in the wine.

I've read how many in the Gentile assemblies were slaves and so could not leave their master's house until given leave to. Many would be living on meager portions and would look forward to a share in the Agape Feast; in fact they would need their share to survive the coming week. Those who were freemen could arrive early and probably provided most of the food and wine. Some of them would be eating as soon as they arrived, while the poor slaves arrived late, with little left for them to eat. This in context is what Paul was discussing to correct.

In this passage we see again that they met to eat, the central part of their meetings was the feast, the Lord's Supper as Paul called it.

Spiritual Gifts and love

1Corinthians 12:1-14:40

Paul continues his discussion of the Corinthians' meeting with further correction of their errors. Again I point out that this is corrective and we can see the tradition of what Paul taught them to practice by seeing the elements he was discussing. I'm not going to deal with the gifts themselves here as that is meat for another discussion.

What I see here is that the Holy Spirit operated gifts through the members of the assembly when they were gathered.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11
"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given, for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of the one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."

What I see here is that “each one” had a manifestation of the Spirit, as Paul said in verses 4 and 5, there are different kinds of gifts and service but all by the same Spirit and Lord.

Paul next in dealing further with the idea of the gifts being given for the “common good“ builds up the comparison of the assembly of believers to a physical body.

1Corinthians 12:12-31
"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were given the one Spirit to drink.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say.........As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

.....there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; of one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.......eagerly desire the greater gifts."

I only quoted the parts I wish to address here in trying to see the basic practice of a NT assembly meeting. This I see as Paul's main emphasis here, that the assembly takes the same care for each other as your bodies' parts care for the others. If you hit your thumb with a hammer, does only your thumb hurt? Does the rest of your body just stand there and do nothing? I know mine jumps and hollers with the thumbs pain, and I might utter a word or two that I have to apologize for saying and repent of.

The assembly was to see each one as being important, each one's gift was needed by the whole, and each one was to function in the meeting.

As to gifts that operated in the NT assembly meetings, Paul lists these;

"...message of wisdom....message of knowledge...faith...gifts of healing....miraculous powers...prophecy....distinguishing of spirits...speaking in different kinds of tongues...interpretation of tongues..."

Paul lists different parts of the assembly as;

"...apostles...prophets...teachers...workers of miracles...gifts of healing...those able to helper others....gifts of administration...those speaking different kinds of tongues."

Paul now gives the guiding principle above all the others; the highest element in an assembly meeting is loving one another, which again is a statement of the command of Jesus.

This was to be the character of their assembly meetings, dealing with one another in love, expressing love towards one another. Being ...patient...kind...not envying...not boasting....not proud...not rude...not self-seeking...not easily angered...keeping no record of wrongs...not delighting in evil...rejoicing with the truth...protecting...trusting...hoping...preserving...towards each one. (Reference from 1 Corinthians 13)

In Chapter 14 Paul continues his discussion to “eagerly desire the greater gifts”, by comparing tongues with prophecy. His stated goal here was that things be done “...so that the church may be edified.” There for he says to “...eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” Again the goal is to build each other up in love.

Paul gives us a very clear picture of what a NT assembly meeting was like in a short passage;

1Corinthians 14:26
"What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church."

The tradition Paul taught the assemblies to hold to in their gatherings, in their meetings was an open participatory sharing. Everyone came to share something. It was open with little to no format; none is mentioned in the whole of the NT. We can not assume by the silence of any mention of a liturgy that they held to none, many of the early believers were Jewish and familiar with synagogue practice which enjoined a liturgy, so some assemblies may have followed some liturgy. Paul never mentions one, in any of his letters. Because of this I assume that this was left up to the individual assemblies to practice according to their culture, and not of serious consideration.

Conclusion

In conclusion what I see of NT Assembly practice involved a daily, loving of one another in real acts of service, supplying the needs of each other, in fulfillment of the commandment of Christ, to love one another.

They met to share a meal, in which the leftovers where taken home by all who had needs. They had open participatory sharing times in which the Holy Spirit would operate among them with gifts. They all came to share something, a song, a revelation, a teaching, whatever. And they came to build each other up by encouraging each other in the Lord.

In outline I would present it this way;

NT Assembly Practice

1. Assembly made up of believers in Christ only.

2. Loving one another is the main goal and character.

3. Functioned as an extended family.

4. Met weekly to share a common meal, Lord's Supper, (Agape Feast).

5. Had open, participatory times of sharing at their, Lord's Supper/Agape Feasts.


Now the questions for us to consider is, what does this have to do with us today?