Morning Thoughts |
Morning Thoughts |
| I Corinthians 11:2, "Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them unto you." Earlier this morning, we discussed in some detail the difference between the old covenant and new covenant of worship. In doing so, we hit generally the points about why the change occurred and what exactly the marks of the change were and why. However, in that discussion we opened the thought on a point about church perpetuity that perhaps deserves more space than we devoted to it. We have written upon this topic before, and the Bible is abundant in proofs that the church will perpetually be in existence for as long as the world stands. (Matthew 16:18) Furthermore, the Bible is abundantly clear that this church will not need any alterations - whether additions or retractions - until that great and notable day of the Lord and the final reformation come to manifest completion. Let us examine this fundamental teaching through the lens of church ordinances for a brief moment. While the church has identifying marks that distinguish her from the world and other groups of people, we will seek to restrict our comments to the ordinances for this writing. Indeed, the doctrine and practice have identifying marks that set her apart from all other things, but her ordinances do as well. Paul here encourages the Corinthians - with the word praise - to keep the ordinances just as he delivered them unto them. What is interesting is that Paul did not allow for them to do "what they felt" or "keep them how they wanted." What Paul commanded, and what was praiseworthy, is that the ordinances were kept just as he delivered them unto the church. Paul will later in this chapter give a discourse about one of those ordinances in the communion supper. Obviously, that is not the only ordinance for them to keep, but that was the one that he used as an example. Therefore, looking at the ordinances of the church, we should see them in their original form in our churches today. Should they be anything different, we would have an unBiblical reformation of them that is not warranted by Scripture. One of the truly amazing things about a great many professing Christians today is their free admission to lack of church succession (perpetual passing down through the generations of time). Some are as far out as to say, "Ours is brand new and different. Unlike anything that has ever been before." Such novel thinking is foreign to the teachings of Scripture (such as our verse above), and they exhibit less of a manifestation of spiritual hunger and more of a desire to novel things and being different for the sake of being different. Others will claim that Martin Luther in his reformation was the beginning of their church's existence as they freely admit to being Protestants. By this admission, they admit as well that the Catholics have the claim to being the first order of people known as Christians. Should anything from the new and novel to the Protestant reformation be true, that group has lost the ability to claim that they hold to the apostolic, unbroken chain that Christ said would exist and thereby admit to being outside the bounds of church succession. While someone should not need history to prove their church's position of succession, accurate history should verify and confirm the claim of the true church to succession by corroborating their true tenets. Furthermore, that church should hold ordinances exactly as they were held in the first century as Paul encouraged Corinth to do. Furthermore, he instructed Timothy to continue this same teaching through the line of teaching other ministers. (II Timothy 2:2) One of the truly amazing things about the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures is the wisdom of God in who was used to talk about which things. Were I to inspire a man to write in a New Testament epistle about the ordinances, I would probably use a man that was physically there. Who was at Christ's baptism that also wrote New Testament epistles? Peter and John were with Him throughout most of His ministry. Who was at the communion supper that also wrote New Testament epistles? The same men mentioned were partakers of that first supper. Paul is writing about the keeping of ordinances and eventually describes in detail the events of the first communion, and he is the one New Testament epistle writer (apart from the gospel accounts) to write about it. Furthermore, he was not there! There is a growing trend of thought among some Christian circles today that declares we can only truly follow after things we have personal first hand experience with. Therefore, they adhere to their own experiences above the teachings and principles of Holy Writ. Their reasoning is simply this: why believe what men wrote thousands of years ago and not rather go with something I know to be true from something I have experienced? That mindset fails to acknowledge that Scripture is superior - always has been and always will be - to whatever experience I might have. Peter claimed the superiority of the Scripture's account to his own experience on the mount of transfiguration. (II Peter 1:18-20) What Peter's mind and body had experienced was of lesser importance to the Scripture's declaration. So it is with us today. My experiences, good and bad, are incomparable to the authority and declaration of Scriptures. So what if Paul was not physically there? The Scriptural account that he records in this chapter is sufficient proof (in that it corroborates with the gospel accounts) to show that physical and personal experience is not a prerequisite necessity to fuller understanding. People who cling to personal experience above all else demonstrate less spiritual maturity and more ego. Paul's adherence to the ordinances of the church were exactly similar to the other apostles that were apostles before him. His foremost desire for for those after him was that they be observed precisely the same way. Therefore, when we are plunged under the water and brought back up again in a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, we do show forth the exact mode as the Lord Jesus and His apostles. (I Peter 3:21) When we commune one with another in the partaking of unleavened bread and wine as a token of His body and blood, we exemplify the same scene that occurred on that first communion night as Paul describes in this chapter. Finally, when we kneel down to wash each others' feet with water, we do show forth the same token of love that Christ showed His disciples as loving service to one another. As this is passed down from us, may we pass it down likewise unchanged to the ones following after us in unbroken succession. Some men seem to think it an honour to "leave their mark upon the church." Others seem to think it worth striving for to have something that they are known and remembered for in the generations to come. One of the things I have heard my forebears say, and I have picked it up as well in later years is that I hope that I leave the structure of the church just like I found it. That hope of mine is because the structure of her is perfect, and I desire to leave the structure unchanged in the minds of those that I try to serve and tend. In so doing, my only desire of my own memory is that the hearers remember less of me and more of what I tried to proclaim and hold to the same things themselves. In so doing, the only memory of me personally that would suffice me is that I was counted worthy to be one of that blessed number that inhabited her walls and took my place among her ranks to serve my Lord in the greatest capacity that men have ever known in the earth. In Hope,  Bro Philip |