Years ago, during a Bible study with a denominational friend of mine, he made an interesting statement. He said to me, “As much as I believe in Christ and all that He has taught and what I do for Him, I can’t see a God in heaven say to me, because I was not dunked in water I have to spend eternity in hell. There is nothing you can show me or tell me to change my mind.”

There it is folks, this is where someone puts their feelings ahead of the word of God. You might be thinking, “Chuck, what verses would you show him?” The fact is, I did show him. And, if I show you the same verses, yet you think like that man did, it won’t help. Why? He said that it would not matter what I showed him – the point is, his mind was made up. He wants to do what he wants to do relying on how he feels.

I have mentioned II Timothy 4:2-5, many times. The reason we bring up here is because Paul was telling Timothy, you preach the word even when they don’t want it. You cannot help someone see the truth if they are wanting something different. Jesus told us the majority of the world do what they want rather than what the Lord wants (Matt. 7:13-14).

This whole discussion brings many past Bible studies to mind. Like when I study with my Jehovah Witness friends. You will be in a Bible study with them and they are running constantly to one subject to another. They would say, answer me this. I would answer. They would say, answer me that. I would answer. The reason they did it, it wasn’t because they wanted a systematic, study of a certain subject. They wanted to keep throwing things out to see if they could stump me on a text. If I couldn’t answer, they would use that as proof in their minds that all the other answer I gave are now worthless.  

My advice to those who want to learn. Deal with one subject at a time. When the person changes, stop and say – oh, now are we in agreement on that? It is dangerous to discuss using how we feel on something as a basis for the subject at hand. Thank about it.

Chuck

There is no question that Christians need to remember the Lord’s death every first day of the week by taking the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 11:23-26). When gathered, should Christians use just one cup though? After all, Jesus did take “the” cup and give it to His followers (Matt. 26:27).

The need for consistency is clear. If Christians are to uniformly do exactly like Jesus did, then we had better be consistent across the board. Should one person pass the cup to seated recipients as Christ did? Should they follow Jesus’ pattern of picking up the cup first, praying, passing it, and then saying what it is for? (Matt. 26:27-29).

Let us not forget about the bread when dealing with this question of consistency. We read in the previous text that Jesus took the bread in His hand, gave thanks, broke it and then passed it around (I Cor. 11:23-24). There is no mention of a plate or even a table to set it on.

My point is that questions of consistency can be taken so far that people fail to see “the forest for the trees.” Essentially, we can lose focus on what Jesus was emphasizing. For example, Jesus breaking the bread logically left pieces in His right and left hands. He then said “take, eat.” Should we eat the piece in His left or the piece in His right? It does not matter – both represent His body.

Concerning “the” cup, should we just use one cup when serving the Lord’s Supper? If more than one cup is allowed, should the Lord have picked up two or three cups? If the number of cups was a specific instruction, Jesus would have said “These are the bloods of the new covenant…” or at least “These are the blood…” Obviously, He did not say either of these things.

Do we see that Jesus was focusing on the contents of the cup? Look at I Corinthians 11:27. “Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord…”  Notice “this” bread, even though Jesus broke the break in Matthew 26 into multiple pieces. Notice “this cup” even though they did not consume the cup itself, nor did they break off pieces of the cup as it was passed around. Again, the focus is clearly on the contents.

In Luke’s account, the fruit of the vine is “divided” up before it is consumed just as the Lord did with the bread. In Luke 22:17, Jesus said to take the cup and divide it among yourselves. He then takes the bread and gives thanks (verse 19). He finally takes a cup while all of them had their own in hand and gives thanks for it (verse 20).

Moreover, do we think that when Jesus said “this” cup that he meant a particular cup? If we used a single cup this Sunday, someone could correctly say, “Hey, that’s not the cup the Lord used!” Keep in mind that the brethren at Corinth were just one of many churches that gathered to take the Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 11:23-26; Rom. 16:16; Acts 20:7). Logically, Jesus must have authorized the use of many different cups to be used in the future.

These questions are not foolish – all Christians should seek to be as consistent and respectful as possible concerning the Lord’s Supper. Ultimately though, we have scripturally demonstrated that there is nothing wrong with having more than one vessel containing the fruit of the vine. We must discern the Lord’s body while partaking or else we will be sinning (I Cor. 11:27-30). There is no doubt that Jesus was focusing on the contents and not the container.

                                                                                               Chuck

How can we know?

Last week, we received a Bible question through our website. “How do you know if you have the truth??” What a great question! To answer this, we need to turn to the Lord. Jesus stated two important facts. First, the truth has been given (John 16:13; John 14:6). Second, we can all understand the truth (John 8:32; Eph. 3:3-4). If we do not accept these facts, then we cannot know whether we have the truth.

Could someone believe that they have the truth and still be wrong? Yes. Many people think they understand the scriptures and have eternal life, but they do not (John 5:39-40). This shows that the word of God can be mishandled (II Pet. 3:16). Christians are instructed to rightly divide the word of truth (II Tim. 2:15). But the question remains – how can we know if we have the truth?

Identifying truth requires careful examination. Only those who seek will find (Matt. 7:7). We need to study the scriptures diligently (Acts 17:11) and consistently (II Cor. 15:5). Self-deception is prevalent, so we must be extremely careful (James 1:22). We must exercise humility and be willing to admit when we are wrong (Acts 18:24-26). We must also be consistent and handle all of the word of God properly, not “most” of it (I Pet. 4:11).

When determining whether someone has the truth, pay attention to how they handle scrutiny. Those with the truth must be willing to accept questions (I Pet. 3:15). Refusing to discuss what we believe should raise a red flag. Instead, those who think they have the truth should welcome questions as opportunities to confirm the truth. Over the years I have found many people who claimed to have the truth but called open discussions “wastes of time.”

Friends, we need to accept the fact that most people in the world will reject the truth. Accordingly, we should not let the small number of God’s faithful followers discourage us (Matt. 7:13-14). There is truth, and we must never stop seeking it.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Chuck