SOME THINGS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER - 4
Questions About The Lord's Supper. Homosexuality Is Condemned. Christians Should Be Followers (Imitators) Of God.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LORD'S SUPPER
“16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17, KJV).
Loved ones, believers in many places take time to remember the death of Jesus during their worship services. WHY? How would you answer the below questions?
Who instituted it? Jesus (Matthew 26:26-30).
When? The night of His betrayal by Judas (1 Corinthians 11:23).
Why? To establish a lasting memorial of His death until He returns (1 Corinthians 11:23).
What was used? Unleavened bread and fruit of the vine (Luke 22:1, 18-19).
Who were there? Jesus and the 12 apostles (Matthew 26:20).
What did Jesus tell each person to do? To eat the bread in memory of His body, and to drink the cup in memory of His blood (1 Corinthians 11:24-25).
Where was this new memorial feast to be placed? In His Kingdom, the church of Christ (Matthew 26:29; 16:18-19).
What did the apostles do with it after Jesus sent them the Holy Spirit? They made the Lord's Supper an act of worship in the church (Acts 2:41-42).
How often did the church observe the memorial feast? It was a weekly observance on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).
Where was it eaten? In the church assembly (1 Corinthians 11:18).
Who ate? The disciples of Christ/Christians (Acts 11:26).
What was each person exhorted to do? Examine himself (1 Corinthians 11:28).
Was it possible to partake of it unworthily? Yes. One could eat and drink without discerning the Lord's body (1 Corinthians 11:29).
What else is this feast called? A communion (1 Corinthians 10:16).
Is there a church where one can observe this simple memorial feast in honor of Christ? Yes. We in the churches of Christ (Romans 16:16) observe it every first day of the week as nearly as possible like Jesus said to do.
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HOMOSEXUALITY IS CONDEMNED
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination” (Leviticus 18:22, KJV).
Loved ones, the world’s culture, and especially the USA, has aggressively promoted the sinful lifestyle of homosexuality. In the midst of such pressure, many people who call themselves Christians are caving in and accepting this perverted lifestyle in spite of God's clear teachings against it.
Many in the public media entertain world have stated that their Christian faith has led them to support gay marriage. In truth, the life and teachings of Jesus Christ could never be accurately understood to lead a person to conclude that homosexual marriage is moral.
One of the most common arguments made in support of homosexuality is that Jesus Christ did not explicitly condemn the practice. Supposedly, since Jesus never stated specifically: "Homosexuality is a sin," then His failure to denounce the lifestyle can be interpreted to mean that He approved of it. This reasoning is riddled with error.
First, Jesus explained to His followers that He did not have time to teach them everything they needed to know. He told them that the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance all that He had taught, and would include additional teaching that He had not had time to cover.
He told His disciples: “12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John 16:12-13).
When we look to the inspired writings of the New Testament, we see the authors boldly and specifically condemning the homosexual practice based on the revelation they received from the Holy Spirit. Thus, it is wrong to suggest that only the "words in red" are Jesus' teachings. On the contrary, He foretold that more teaching would be done after His return to Heaven due to the fact that the apostles "could not bear" all of it at the time.
Second, even if Jesus did not explicitly condemn the practice (though He actually did, as will be noted later), that certainly could not be used as evidence that He condoned the practice. For instance, where does Jesus explicitly state that bestiality is wrong? Where in the New Testament does Jesus state that polygamy is wrong? Where are the "words in red" that specifically condemn pedophilia?
Are we to suppose that the Son of God condoned using crystal meth because there is not an explicit statement from Jesus' mouth that says "do not smoke crystal meth?" The idea that silence from Jesus on a subject means He approved of or condoned the practice cannot be substantiated.
Finally, it must be considered that Jesus did, in fact, speak against homosexuality. On numerous occasions, Jesus condemned the sins of adultery (Matthew 19:18), sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9) and fornication (Matthew 15:19-20). These terms describe any type of sexual intercourse that is not within the confines of a marriage ordained by God.
Jesus then proceeded to define exactly what God views as a morally permissible marriage. He stated: “4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6).
By defining marriage as between one male and one female, Jesus effectively condemned all other arrangements, including but not limited to one man and two women, one woman and two men, three men and one woman, three men and three women, one man and one man, one woman and one woman, one couple and one animal, etc. You can see the overwhelming logic of such.
For Jesus to have to explicitly condemn every assortment of genders and numbers would be absurd. When He defined marriage between one man and one woman, He clearly showed that such an arrangement is the only one authorized by God.
Several years ago a man named Cory Moore "legally married his 2004 Cherry ES-335" Gibson guitar ("Man Marries Guitar," 2007). He said: "The day I got her, I just knew she was the one . . . , I know it seems weird, but I really love her like, really love her, with all my heart. I just wanted to make it official." Are we to conclude that because Jesus never specifically condemned a man marrying his guitar then the Son of God approved of such? To ask is to answer.
In 2006, 41-year-old Sharon Tendler married a dolphin ("Woman Marries Dolphin," 2006). Jesus never said one word explicitly about refraining from marrying a dolphin. Does that mean His "silence" should be viewed as approval? Not in any way.
Homosexuality is a sin! (Romans 1:26-32). It always has been, and it always will be. The inspired New Testament writers repeatedly teach that to be the case. Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit would bring to the inspired writers information that they could not handle at the time of His departing. In addition, Jesus did explicitly define marriage as being between one man and one woman. The ruse to suggest that Jesus approves of homosexuality because He never expressly condemned it cannot be sustained logically, nor can it be defended on any type of moral grounds.
The person who presumes to claim to be a Christian, and yet supports homosexuality, misunderstands the teachings of Christ and needs to repent and stop approving of a perverted, destructive practice that Jesus condemns (Matthew 19:1-9).
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CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE FOLLOWERS (IMITATORS) OF GOD
“1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour” (Ephesians 5:1-2, KJV).
Loved ones, seeing and loving like Jesus is what the Christian faith is all about. Christian service in its purest form is imitating Him whom we see. To see His Majesty and to follow Him is the sum of the Christian faith. Getting a vision of your Maker can be like starting a whole new life. It can be like a new birth. In fact, Jesus Himself said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Man was not meant to live in ignorance of his Maker. That is why God came near, so that man may see and know Him. Yet, man was reluctant to acknowledge his Maker, and he still is. The reason for this reluctance is spiritual blindness caused by the deceiver, O Satan (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). He has deceived man into thinking he was not created, but that he has evolved, and that he is still evolving into superior beings.
The devil guides man to be self-sufficient apart from God. This is an impossible lie. Man apart from God is in darkness. Paul wrote, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). God knows it. That is why through His Son Jesus the Christ, God came to man as the light of the world to enlighten and take him out of darkness, and make him aware of his need for God (John 8:12).
Jesus came that mankind might have a higher, better, life, and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). The higher and better life to which man is called is possible only when he discovers his weakness and impotency in the flesh. Life and desires “under the sun” apart from God is vanity (read the Book of Ecclesiastes). Instead, one must be born anew in the spirit of his being in order for him to be saved from himself (from his carnal life).
God's plan for man's salvation was put in place before time began (Ephesians 1:4). In the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (the Son of God and the Son of man), man is saved and becomes a new spiritual being, a child of God himself (Galatians 3:26-27). The new Christian discards the “self” (the carnal life}, and clothes himself with Christ (the spiritual life). His nature begins to undergo a metamorphosis. An ugly caterpillar emerges from the apparently dead cocoon that changed it into a beautiful butterfly.
So also carnal man emerges from the watery grave of baptism, a metamorphosed beautiful creature, after the nature of Jesus Himself (Romans 6:2-3; 13:14). This dramatic change is effected by God, through His Spirit, contained in the Word. It occurs in the real person; that is, in the soul. Therefore, it is not physically apparent and doesn't take place instantaneously.
The transformed man now desires his Creator ONLY and how he might please Him (Hebrews 11:6). Little by little, over a period of time, the nature of the carnal man is replaced by the nature of God as revealed in His Son by the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26).
Such a new creature has little patience with, or interest in, the works of the flesh or “highs” of this world. His only goal now is to humbly and patiently wait on his God in absolute surrender (Psalm 27:14), and marvel at the countless spiritual blessings he now enjoys in continuous fellowship with his Creator (Ephesians 1:3).
In our above text (Ephesians 5:1-5), we notice a contrast presented between the godly and ungodly lives. The first refers to love and sacrifice for others. The second refers to the carnal life lived for the gratification of fleshly desires. To the spiritual man, the carnal life is immoral and impure, and he can no longer be attracted to it, having found the higher better life in his Lord Jesus. He lives to please his God (1 John 3:22) and always thanks Him for His love, mercy, grace, and providential care.
The God of Heaven and Earth is so good, and His love reaches all. We love you with the love of the Lord (John 13:34-35). Shared with you by Samuel A. Matthews, preaching with the Liberty NW church of Christ, meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA – 10 August 2026.