When does the "breaking of the bread" take place?

When does the "breaking of the bread" take place?

Blessing (giving thanks for) the cup and breaking the bread (1 Corinthians 10:16)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:16) are united assembly acts that require each believer’s individual participation. "The bread which we break" is "the communion of the body of Christ" because "we are all partakers of that one body" (verse 17). "Breaking the bread" takes place when each believer partakes of the loaf. "Breaking bread" is used in Scripture where we would say, "eating a meal" (Acts 2:46)" TARGET="_blank">Acts 2:46) and connotes nothing official. It is not "the bread which He break," referring to the Lord’s breaking the bread and passing it to the disciples (Matthew 26:26)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 26:26). Whether or not a brother breaks the loaf open before he distributes it to others is immaterial. His act is neither official nor significant. Nothing in Scripture suggests that the person who gives thanks for the emblem must distribute it to others or that the person who distributes the bread must also distribute the cup. Pretentiousness is foreign to the Lord’s Supper.

D. Oliver
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I don't feel motivated to keep loving my spouse. What can I do?

When I lack motivation or encouragement, is there any help?

Keep in mind that honoring the Lord as a spouse is not a means of changing your spouse; it is your loving service to the One Who saved you and wants to honor you. The ultimate purpose is His approval now and at the Bema (2 Corinthians 5:9, 10)." TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 5:9, 10). Yield daily to the gentle Spirit's work. He is able to give the needed grace. The struggle you sense indicates His desire to claim more of you for Christ (James 4:5, 6)." TARGET="_blank">James 4:5, 6).

Look behind you. Your children and other young folks who observe you will be greatly influenced by your example. They have a sixth sense that sees through pretense.

Be thankful that your experiences open windows into the Lord's heart and provide a deepening understanding of the greatest thing God will ever accomplish - presenting a Bride to His Son.

The path to the greatest glory a loving, almighty Father could plan for His Son led through the agonies of Golgotha. Should we complain that our path to eternal glory is not always comfortable?

D. Oliver
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Can telling the truth be wrong if it hurts someone?

How can I protect others when, by telling the truth, I will create problems for them?

Never be a talebearer who betrays a confidence or volunteers to tell what has not been asked: "A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter" (Proverbs 11:13)." TARGET="_blank">Proverbs 11:13). More likely, the issue is. "how may I avoid speaking truth when it will be unkind to another?" Lying or denying truth are clearly not options. Even selectively telling part of the truth is dishonest if it leaves a different impression upon the one who asked. You may suggest the questioner speak directly with the individual involved if he must know about the matter. You may also suggest that he consider the matter from that person's perspective. In that light, the truth may not be as detrimental to the other person. "Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry" (Proverbs 6:30)." TARGET="_blank">Proverbs 6:30). They do not excuse theft but they understand the thief!

J. Slabaugh

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Are overseers failing to do their work because of the burden of deacon work they assume?

Are overseers failing to do their work because of the burden of deacon work they assume?

Overseers bear a heavy responsibility, given to them by the Lord (Acts 20:28;" TARGET="_blank">Acts 20:28; Heb 13:17)." TARGET="_blank">Heb 13:17). To handle God’s Word in a way that discourages them would displease the Lord (1Co 12:7)." TARGET="_blank">1Co 12:7). Overseers, sharing the same weaknesses that we all have, may unconsciously fall into counterproductive habits. Being able to step back and view their habits objectively could be helpful.

While qualifications for overseers are listed separately from those of deacons (1Ti 3:1-13)," TARGET="_blank">1Ti 3:1-13), this does not eliminate the possibility that an elder could also be a deacon. Since spiritual service is the primary responsibility of deacons (1Ti 3:9, 10)," TARGET="_blank">1Ti 3:9, 10), overseers who are "apt to teach" likely serve as deacons. The question, however, likely deals with deacon service noted by the apostles as serving tables (Acts 6:2)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 6:2).

The priority for overseers is protecting and shepherding the flock (Acts 20:28)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 20:28). If the Lord has given them this work, He will not also give them work that interferes with this service. He never presses us beyond our limits (1Co 10:13;" TARGET="_blank">1Co 10:13; Psa 103:14), but gives us the needed physical help to fulfill our responsibilities (1Ti 4:10," TARGET="_blank">1Ti 4:10, "Preserver of all . . ." JND).

Perhaps some overseers need to make adjustments in their scheduling. The shepherds need to "know well the face of thy flock" (Pro 27:23," TARGET="_blank">Pro 27:23, YLT), to visit with them, and to have appropriate food that will meet specific needs.

D. Oliver
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What does the Bible say about dinosaurs?

Be the first to give an answer to this question. Write an answer in the comment section below. Please provide your name and if you have a website or blog, be sure to include the URL in your answer. You may optionally include an email address. Answers will be reviewed.

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Is preaching the same as prophesying?

I presume the questioner is referring not so much to prophesying in the sense of foretelling, as to prophesying as forth-telling. Certainly foretelling the future was not exactly preaching. Forthtelling was a distinct gift in the primitive Church, enabling those who possessed it to communicate direct revelations from God. It was one of the sign- gifts, and was necessary to the Church in the absence of the complete Canon of Scripture. It was a miraculous gift, and was a sign to believers (see 1 Corinthians 14:22)." TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 14:22). “He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (verse 3).

Apostles and prophets were foundation gifts and exist no longer to-day, except in their work in the Holy Scriptures, which they were used to give us. Preaching is a very broad term. Probably the man who prophesied preached, but to-day the term is applied to delivering an address to believers or to proclaiming the Gospel. We have the gifts of evangelist, pastor and teacher with us still, but neither of them is to be confounded with this gift of prophecy.

W.H.

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Who paid for the burnt offering?

Hebrews 9:22" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 9:22 states that “almost all things are by the law purged with blood,” and Wm. Lincoln has pointed out that the only sin offering which did not Involve blood-shedding was that of Levitus 5:11. The peace-offering was never made without the burnt-offering and then blood was shed.

Who paid for the burnt offering? Did one offering avail for two persons?

To reply to the last parts of the question first: I judge from Leviticus 10:2," TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 10:2, that each offerer brought his burnt-offering at his own expense, and if so, it was an individual offering. There was, however, the continual burnt offering (see chap. 6. 9-i3), and I should think that was provided by the priests from the offerings to them by the people. I do not think the peace-offering was necessarily accompanied by a burnt-offering. They were quite distinct, but it would be true to say that the burnt- offering, representing the whole offering of Himself by Christ to God, was constantly accompanied by a meal-offering (see Numbers 28: 11-13;" TARGET="_blank">Numbers 28: 11-13; Numbers 29;" TARGET="_blank">Numbers 29; Judges 13:16-19)," TARGET="_blank">Judges 13:16-19), representing the spotless humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, tested in every possible way. The bloodless offering to which Mr. Lincoln refers was the tenth part of an ephah of fine-flour offered for a sin-offering (Leviticus 5:11)." TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 5:11). This represents the lowest form of sin-offering. Really there was only one—representing Christ. The different degrees of offering in Lev. 4" TARGET="_blank">Lev. 4 and 5 represent the different degrees of appreciation of the offering by different classes of offerers. Some, like the high priest, would offer the bullock—that would entail a very high estimate of Christ; this also availed for the whole congregation. It will take the whole of the redeemed fully to appreciate Christ. The ram would stand for a lower, though still high, appreciation of Christ, and so down to the turtle doves, but in these all the offerer would have the see of the need and value of the blood of Christ. The handful of flour would be Christ too, but Christ little understood, little appreciated, “a touching of the hem of His garment,” a coming to Him, a trusting Him, but with no sense of His atoning sacrifice. Some, perhaps many, to-day, begin like that, they come to the right Person, but they do not yet apprehend Him in the right way, and which of us can say that we do this as we ought to? One thing we may say in the case of the fine flour, the offering would be almost unseen, but in the case of the bullock it would be the offerer who might be almost unseen; and the higher our thoughts of Christ, the smaller we will become. We cannot think much of Christ, and of ourselves at the same time. “He must increase, I must decrease!”

W.H.

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Does 1 Timothy 2 say that a woman who dies in childbirth will go to heaven?

Some assert that if a woman dies in child-birth she goes to heaven, basing this on 1 Timothy 2:15." TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 2:15. What does that passage really teach?

The most certain thing about the passage named is that it does not teach what is suggested. God has but one way of saving sinners from hell and fitting them for heaven, and that way is through faith in His beloved Son. As to what it does teach, various commentators have given various replies, several of which, though differing, do not necessarily exclude one another. For it is quite probable that more thoughts than one were in the apostle’s mind as he penned the words, “She shall be saved through the childbearing, if they continue in faith, and love, and sanctification, with sobriety” (R.V.).

To understand them we must take into consideration the entire paragraph, from verse 8 onwards, in which Paul teaches that men have a place of public testimony to fill, from which women are definitely debarred. For this prohibition he assigns two reasons: (x) that the man was first in creation, v. 13, and (z) that the woman was first in transgression, v. 14.. That verse 15 is closely connected with verse i, the “Notwithstanding” with which it begins makes quite evident, and there can therefore be no doubt that when using the expression, “through the childbearing,” the apostle has in mind the sentence pronounced by the Lord on the woman in Genesis 3:6. In that sentence there were two parts: (i) that she was to have sorrow in childbearing, and (a) that she was to be subjected to the man. The latter of these is in keeping with the principle upon which Paul has been just before insisting; while as to the former he has, in this 15th verse, something to add, in which warning and encouragement are combined. For, just as the curse pronounced on the woman was associated with her childbearing, so also, in the words addressed to the Serpent in the preceding verse, was the provision for her salvation in the promised “Seed.” Therefore the right path for her, the path in which “she shall be saved” (chiefly in the present sense of that word, so common in the epistles), is the very opposite of that public and prominent one forbidden her in verses 11 and 12. It is the path of home life and subjection; by keeping in which the very curse of Gen. 3" TARGET="_blank">Gen. 3 is turned into blessing. Compare those other words of the apostle in chap. 5. 13-15, where the dangers besetting young women who have no home cares are vividly depicted, and the way to be saved therefrom is the same as here. In fact he even uses there the verbal form of this word “childbearing,” of which neither noun nor verb is found anywhere else in the New Testament. Observe also, by way of contrast, how the young man1 Timothy 4:16, is to be “saved” by going on diligently with his public ministry of the Word.

W.R.

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What is the New Testament

What is the New Testament’s pattern for commending a person for the work of the Lord?

Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, from which they had been commended to the grace of God for their work (Acts 14:26)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 14:26). The details of that commendation give us a New Testament precedent to follow. The leaders of the Antioch assembly fasted (13:2) due to a spiritual burden. The outcome indicates they were burdened about the spread of the gospel "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (1:8). The Spirit identified the men He had called for that work (13:2). The leaders continued their waiting on God through prayer and fasting. The assembly then expressed its identification with Barnabas and Saul when the leaders laid their hands on these two. The assembly had not acted on its own but was the vehicle through which the Spirit worked, for the two were "sent forth by the Holy Spirit" (v 4). Their later report (14:26) in Antioch implies they were accountable to the assembly.

In summary, an assembly’s commendation expresses its concern for the work of God. The Spirit of God uses the assembly to send out those whom He has called and now intends to use in the field. Assembly leaders guide the assembly’s concern for the work of God and for specific areas of labor. This should characterize every assembly, whether or not suitable young men are part of that assembly.

D. Oliver

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