One would believe that if it were more than a memorial, Christ would have chosen His words better. This would be an omission, and our Lord never misspoke. And it was in remembrance of Him, nothing He said made it an act 100
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concerning ourselves. If it was for our benefit, He would have made a blunt and frank comment concerning this.
Qualifications For the Lord’s Supper At the establishment of the Lord’s Supper, the attendees had been reduced by one as Judas had gone to report to the scribes and Pharisees: Jesus had said “What thou doest, do quickly.”
Of those left, Jesus included, all were baptized believers. The question becomes, was this a coincidence, or was it by design?
As this started off as a Passover service, anyone could have been in attendance. Typically, Passover was done as a family, and any in that household was included.
But this wasn’t done in whatever the typical dining room was, this was in an “upper room”, segregated from the family who lived in that house. It could have easily included them, as was tradition, but this Passover was different, and would redefine Passover.
That night, tradition tells that they didn’t do all four of the cups of Passover; Jesus changed it when they got to the third cup, the cup of Redemption.
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He said “this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Interestingly, they didn’t complete the Passover that night, the fourth cup, the cup of Acceptance, was never poured.
It was this change in the Passover, the shifting of it into the Lord’s Supper, that made it necessary for only the baptized believers there to partake of it.
We had a case years ago in our church where one of the members suggested to our Women’s Auxiliary that he would like to become the director of the church.
Our deacon, his father-in-law, would have been, or should have been, the one to nip this in the bud, for many reasons. When members seek change in a church, and it isn’t a radical or doctrinal change, there are proper ways to go about it. Churches are a democracy: bring it up in business meeting, let the members vote, and live with the results.
If you don’t like the outcome or can’t live with said results, it’s probably time to find another church. If you continue beating a dead horse, hoping to sway others to your viewpoint, expect to be forced to find another church.
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Until that happens, if you continue to cause problems or take away from church unity, you definitely shouldn’t expect to be able to partake in the Lord’s Supper.
2 Thessalonians 3:6
¶ Now we command you, brethren, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
withdraw yourselves from every brother that
walketh disorderly, and not after the
tradition which he received of us.
Church discipline, if enacted properly, would prevent those of bad moral character from partaking of the Lord’s Supper, or of even maintaining church membership.
Catholics and their “cousins” give this as a sacrament; if some attendee beats his wife, but admits it in confession, performs his “hail Mary” or “our Father”
readings and whatnot, he is considered in good standing, and can partake.
Some denominations will put up with someone like that, saying “that is between God and them, who are we to 103
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judge?” If you are claiming to be scripturally saved, scripture says that “we”, who will one day judge the world as well as angels, are the ones to rectify this situation.
That is one of the many fallacies with “confession”.
Besides the fact that you should confess these things to God, and not to someone who wears a collar as a symbol of their ministry, let’s see why this doesn’t work.
The priest and the sinner are veiled to remain anonymous. No real counselling can come of this if eye-to-eye contact can’t occur.
No clergy of any religion can ever absolve anyone of sin. Only God has this ability, and even the Pharisees, who were wrong on a lot of things in the gospels, got this right.
And what does Jesus say about repeating the same prayer over and over again?
Matthew 6:7
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions,
as the heathen do: for they think that they
shall be heard for their much speaking.
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When someone thinks that uttering a few “hail Mary”
or “our Father” poems indefinitely carry any weight with God, they are wrong.
If only Jesus had told us how to deal with the sins in our own lives.
Luke 13
1 There were present at that season some
that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2
And Jesus answering said unto them,
Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were
sinners above all the Galilaeans, because
they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay:
but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the
tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye
that they were sinners above all men that
dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
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Living in sin but confessing to the wrong source without repenting of your actions, neither changes your standing with God or clears the record of your wrongdoings.
Nor does it make you make you eligible to partake of the Lord’s Supper. However, if you confess to the only One who can forgive your sins, and repent of those actions, you can partake of His Supper.
1 Corinthians 5:11
But now I have written unto you not to keep
company, if any man that is called a
brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an
idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an
extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
The reason that a closed communion has been established is to restrict those who participate in it. If some are partaking of it as an ordinance, some as a sacrament, and some as nothing more than food and drink, where is the unity?
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As overseer of the local church, the bishop answers for how he has led his flock; not for the lives they lead, but for the doctrines he has taught them, and any counseling he’s offered.
When Christ established that first Lord’s Supper, it would have been easy for others besides the apostles to be in attendance. They were in a houseful of other people; whether or not they were believers, they weren’t invited.
Jesus purposefully (He never did anything without a reason or teaching or doctrine behind it) left it to members of His church, even making sure Judas wasn’t there by dismissing him before they reached that part of the Passover.
A local church can verify the beliefs of the members, but those outside of this local flock, even from another church of like faith and practice, are not permitted to partake of this Supper with this particular flock. They have their own church to attend, and are expected to partake of the Supper there.
Remember though, that just because you are a member doesn’t mean that you are automatically qualified to partake of the Lord’s Supper. There are other stipulations as well.
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Hebrews 13
9 Be not carried about with divers and
strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that
the heart be established with grace; not with
meats, which have not profited them that
have been occupied therein. 10 We have an
altar, whereof they have no right to eat