Is taking the bread and the cup an addendum to the Breaking of Bread?

Is taking the bread and the cup an addendum to the Breaking of Bread?

The reason for this question is likely because sometimes taking the bread and cup may appear to be rushed, a necessary ritual before a hurried conclusion to the meeting. As with the assembly in Troas on the first day of the week (Acts 20:6, 7)," TARGET="_blank">Acts 20:6, 7), our stated objective in our primary meeting on Lord’s Day is to break bread. Our singing, thanksgiving, and Scripture readings are subservient to this purpose. "This do in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19;" TARGET="_blank">Luke 22:19; 1Co 11:24, 25)" TARGET="_blank">1Co 11:24, 25) specifically refers to taking the bread and drinking the cup. An unlearned believer (14:16, 23, 24) may enter into the hymns and prayers of worship, but can remember the Lord only when he is in assembly fellowship and partakes of the two emblems, the bread and cup. Remembering the Lord in the breaking of bread is the high point of the gathering. All that precedes it leads up to it; all that follows flows from it.

D. Oliver
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Would assembly-sponsored summer camps be helpful?

Would assembly-sponsored summer camps be helpful?

The New Testament provides us with all the teaching God intended for the functioning and service of the local assembly. One cannot find any teaching or references to assembly-sponsored summer camps in Scripture. The primary activity in summer camps has been recreational, rather than spiritual. A number of such camps do have campfire gospel messages for the young people every evening. The campfire environment tends to have an emotional impact on young people. Unfortunately many children and teenagers, who have vacationed at church-sponsored summer camps, have made campfire professions which have turned out to be false. Such professions have often hindered them from coming to Christ until they have given up their false professions and admitted they were lost. It would be much safer and more profitable to hold daily children's meetings or Gospel meetings for teenagers in a manner that would reach their hearts and consciences rather than their emotions. Summer camps are very common in the evangelical, denominational religious world. God warns His people both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament of the danger of copying the practices of the religious world around us. This has always resulted in a gradual drift from God's plan for His people and eventual discipline from the hand of God.

A. Joyce

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Is King Saul in Heaven?

Is it scriptural to suggest that King Saul is now enjoying the rest of heaven?

Though we should shrink from usurping God’s prerogative in such matters, I fear I know no Scripture which would certainly justify such a statement. It is true he was chosen of God to be King over His people, at their demand, as indeed to-day “the powers that be are ordained of God,” but without any guarantee as to spiritual condition. He was chosen, but it was to suit the people’s choice; he was not a man after God’s own heart. He certainly manifested pleasing traits, now and again, especially at the commencement of his reign, when he comes before us as “a choice young man” :—in fact one of Adam’s best! and he was religious, too, as long as it was convenient, but as soon as any other interest intervened, he broke down lamentably, e.g., in the case of Amalek. He did prophesy on two occasions, but Matthew 7:21-23" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 7:21-23 declares plainly that even this is compatible with a dead faith.

Like the apostates of Hebrews 6," TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 6, he tasted of spiritual powers, but he was deprived of these for his sins. He could easily pass over disobedience to God’s commands (e.g., 1 Samuel 14:32)," TARGET="_blank">1 Samuel 14:32), but when, in the same chapter, the victor Jonathan innocently disobeyed his trivial prohibition, he would have slain him on the spot, had he had his way. The characteristic fruits he bore were envy, jealousy and a murderous spirit to all who opposed him. He had the whole house of Aaron mercilessly and unrighteously butchered in one day, though one of them did escape. He attempted David’s innocent life again and again. He deliberately broke God’s law in consulting the witch of Endor, and he died by his own hand, without any sign of repentance. It is a sad record. The fact that Samuel’s spirit said, “To-morrow thou and thy Sons shall be with me,” is not out of harmony with the belief that till our Lord’s resurrection the Paradise of the departed saints formed one compartment of Hades, the intermediate abode of all the dead.

W.H.

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Did the earth become "without form and void" or was it made that way?

Can't Genesis 1:2" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 1:2 be translated, "And the earth became without form and void?"

The Hebrew word is properly rendered "was," not "became." The grammar of the passage proves this most persuasively. The phrase, "And the earth was without form and void," in verse 2 is a kind of subordinate clause called a circumstantial clause. It modifies verse 1, the main clause. Thus verse 1 states what God did, and verse 2 adds some further information about it - some circumstances occurring at the same time as the principal statement. We understand from this that God made the heavens and the earth in the beginning, and when He did, it happened that (1) the earth was formless and empty; (2) darkness was on the face of the deep; and (3) the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Grammatically, there can be no discontinuity between these verses. Verse 2 must be describing the earth as it was originally created, not how it became at a time following creation.

D. Valiance
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Who was Asaph?

What Asaph is it who wrote the Psalms bearing such a name?
There seems no reasonable room for doubt that the Psalmist is Asaph —son of Berachiah, a Levite of the family of Gershon, one of the leaders of David’s choir (see 1 Chronicles 6:39)." TARGET="_blank">1 Chronicles 6:39). The only other Asaph is generally known as “the Recorder,” but this seems to be based on a mistake, owing to a certain ambiguity in the English version—it seems more correct to understand Joah as the recorder, of whom Asaph (quite possibly the one mentioned above) was the father or progenitor. In any case, if they are distinct persons, the role of psalmist fits in better with the first named. He was then the author of Psalm 50" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 50: , and of the first eleven Psalms of Book Three. There are passages which must be understood prophetically whether the author lived in the days of David or of Hezekiah (e.g., Psalm 74:6;" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 74:6; Psalm 80:16)." TARGET="_blank">Psalm 80:16). There is a didactic, historic character about Asaph’s Psalms. He was, like Apollos, “mighty in the Scriptures,” and he applied them to the present need.

W.H.

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What is the meaning of blameless as related to deacons?

What is the meaning of blameless as related to deacons?

While our AV reads "blameless" in the requirements for both the overseers (1 Timothy 3:2)" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 3:2) and the deacons (verse 10), the words are slightly different. For overseers, being blameless means that no one can sustain an accusation against their character. Deacons are blameless in a different sense. They have experience in their spiritual work before being entrusted with deacon responsibility. Having proven themselves by doing that work in a way that no one could even raise an accusation against their conduct, they then serve as deacons. Deacons need moral characteristics for their work, but "being found blameless" seems to emphasize the way they handle lesser responsibilities, as their conduct and capability gain the confidence of their fellow-believers. "And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless."

D. Oliver

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Can people come back from the dead to talk to us?

Recently a friend asked about a message he heard from a church where the preacher claimed he asked God to take his life and let him visit the other side of death for the purpose of returning to tell his congregation what awaits on the other side.

The result was that the pastor saw certain members of his congregation suffering in hell because of certain errors in their life. Does God allow his servants to come back to life to warn others of dangers ahead?

Rather than debate whether or not God is capable of resurrecting a person (which of course he has done in the past and will do again in the future), it is wise to look into the scripture to see whether God will resurrect someone for the purpose of preaching to others.

Luke 16" TARGET="_blank">Luke 16 is quite clear about this situation. Lazarus and his rich friend both have died. Lazarus is in heaven and the rich man in hell. The rich man asks for Lazarus to go back to his house and warn his brothers not to come to this awful place. Abraham refuses to send Lazarus because the brothers already have the Bible at their disposal – “Moses and the prophets.” God uses his word to warn people, not appearances of dead people.

Luke 16:25-31" TARGET="_blank">Luke 16:25-31 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. (26) And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' (27) And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house-- (28) for I have five brothers--so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' (29) But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' (30) And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' (31) He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"

Also consider that God has already warned us about hell in his word. If a messenger from beyond the grave would return to tell us about his experience, it should be exactly as Jesus described in Luke 16" TARGET="_blank">Luke 16 which makes the messenger unnecessary. If the witness tells of details that do not agree with the Bible, he is a false messenger and should be rejected.

We are not left to imagine what might be the final end of a person in Hell. Revelation 20:11-15" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:11-15 tells us that every one dead in sins will be raised, judged and then hurled into the Lake of Fire.

Additionally to this example, prayer directed toward the dead is strictly forbidden. Deuteronomy 18:11" TARGET="_blank">Deuteronomy 18:11 says that anyone who “consults with the dead” is “detestable to the Lord.” King Saul went to a witch to talk to the departed spirit of the prophet Samuel which lead to his death “because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance” (1 Samuel 28:1-25;" TARGET="_blank">1 Samuel 28:1-25; 1 Chronicles 10:13-14)." TARGET="_blank">1 Chronicles 10:13-14).

Shad Sluiter
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Does an elder "assume" the position of leader or is he appointed?

Should the oversight meeting be open to all elder brethren of consistent walk in life, or only to a few, who “assume” the care and rule of the meeting?

I think one qualified by God for such a work would be very slow to “assume” anything;

1 Timothy 3:1-7;" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1: 6-9;" TARGET="_blank">Titus 1: 6-9; and 1 Peter 5:1-5" TARGET="_blank">1 Peter 5:1-5 give us the qualifications of an overseeing elder: first, he must” desire” it (or “stretch forward” to it, as the original expresses). But that is not enough; he may even be “consistent in walk and life,” and yet fail to manifest the necessary qualification for eldership. Does he rule his home well for instance? or is it a matter of common knowledge, that he is ruled in the home? An overseer of this type is a great hindrance, for sometimes it is the power in the home that seeks to rule the church by his means.

Has he a “good report of them that are without”? Does he “hold fast the faithful Word”? Has he a pastor’s heart, to feed the flock of God?

I think one qualified by God for such a work would be very slow to “assume” anything; he would be apt to do the work, show fitness for it, and have a heart for the Lord’s people, but it would not be for him to push himself into a prominent position; rather his fellowship would be sought. Elders caring for the saints should be on the look out for brethren who are manifesting any spiritual activities, and seek to encourage such, remember that age comes on apace, and that soon perhaps their work will need other hands to take it up.

W.H.

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How does an elder

How does an elder’s role differ from a deacon’s?

Deacons are servants who have a particular work to do. The assignment of the work is often evident in the use of the word (Ephesians 3:7, 6:21;" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 3:7, 6:21; Colossians 1:23, 25, 4:7;" TARGET="_blank">Colossians 1:23, 25, 4:7; 1 Thessalonians 3:2;" TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1 Timothy 4:6)." TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 4:6). The deacons in 1 Timothy 3" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 3: are responsible to hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience (v 9). They are to be faithful with the truth that God has revealed. While the elders care for the flock and hold "fast the faithful word" to both comfort the believers and protect them from those who contradict the truth (Titus 1:9)," TARGET="_blank">Titus 1:9), deacons have a more general responsibility to "the faith." They serve in communicating God’s Word. The assembly looks to them for spiritual service with preaching the gospel, teaching the saints, working with children and young people, and various related responsibilities. Elders, because they are "apt to teach" (1 Timothy 3:2)," TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 3:2), may also serve as deacons, but deacons are not necessarily elders.

Wise elders will encourage as many as possible who have the ability (or even the potential of ability) and qualifications (vv 8-13) to serve in deacon work. This is not an official position or a title to claim. It denotes a responsibility entrusted by the assembly’s guides. Elders make a mistake when they limit deacon work to themselves, even if it seems easier or others seem hesitant to accept deacon work or the elders have greater ability than others.

D. Oliver
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My parents are interferring in my marriage. What should I do?

What should a married couple do if their parents interfere in their marriage?

"Honor thy father and thy mother" applies lifelong. Overbearing parents should be treated with respect and love. Adult children honor their parents, not by obeying them, but by upholding what they value.

If patience and prayer don’t resolve the issue, a first response could be a gentle, perhaps humorous, reminder by the wife or the husband, depending on whose parent is overbearing. If that makes no difference, a kind, but more direct plea could follow. If this is ineffective a different course is indicated. By continuing to cultivate a relationship of mutual respect between themselves and the overbearing parents, the younger couple will be better able to handle the problem effectively.

Marriage forms a new relationship. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife" (Genesis 2:24)." TARGET="_blank">Genesis 2:24). The wife leaves her father’s headship for a new head. The man leaves his parents to establish a new home and headship. The husband is responsible for this new marriage relationship. He is responsible to lead in protecting this relationship and, therefore, in dealing with overbearing parents. Both partners should be open and caring in discussing the problem between themselves and should make every effort to extend understanding to the offending parents. This cannot be allowed to come between the husband and wife and they must remain united in arriving at a way to confront the issue. If his parents are the problem, it’s appropriate for him to speak to them both by himself. In this way, he protects his wife and confines the problem to the ones directly involved. When he expresses the problem and the proposed solution to his parents, he indicates that "we have this concern" (not "she has…"), and "we are asking you to…" (not "she wants you to…"). If the wife’s parents are the problem, the husband should speak with them in the same spirit, but should take his wife with him, so the parents know it is a united stance. While being direct and firm, it’s important to affirm the intention of keeping an enjoyable and loving relationship with these parents.

Postponing dealing with the problem only makes its impact worse and makes dealing with it more difficult.

D. Oliver
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