Lessons #395 and 396
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Exposition of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:26-34)
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. 33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
This passage that is concerned with the exposition of the Lord Supper reminds me of the wisdom and goodness of God that He demonstrates to us His children in the unfolding of His plan that includes our failures and successes. I say this because this passage reminds me of three things that we should be thankful to the Lord in the outworking of His plan for the church. A first thing is that God through the epistles to the church revealed to us things in the early church that we would not otherwise have known were it not for the information provided in the passage we are about to study. We know that the early church in Jerusalem celebrated the Lord’s Supper. Certainly, the apostles passed to them what the Lord Jesus gave regarding its celebration. However, we do not know of any specific instructions that they would have conveyed to early believers regarding its celebration. We are only informed that the early church was taught spiritual truths by the apostles as we read in Acts 2:42:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The Lord’s Supper is part of the breaking of the bread that took place along the teachings of the Apostles so we would expect that the apostles would have taught some spiritual truths about its celebration so that the church would comply with the Lord’s purpose in establishing the celebration. The truths the apostle taught were not given here or any other place in Acts. However, it is inconceivable that the apostles who were the first recipients of the Holy Spirit and those who were promised to receive further teaching from the Holy Spirit would not have been guided by the Holy Spirit to expound on the significance of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in a way to honor the Lord of the church. As we have stated, whatever they expounded were not given to us. The passage that we are about to consider that we indicated is the exposition of the Lord’s Supper gives us an idea of what the Holy Spirit would have led the apostles to communicate to the early church about it.
A second thing that we should be thankful to the Lord in the outworking of His plan for the church is that God has provided us every necessary instruction that we need to honor Him through living the Christian life. In effect, the passage we are about to expound is a confirmation of what the Holy Spirit communicated through Apostle Peter as recorded in 2 Peter 1:3:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
The clause everything we need for life and godliness includes the teaching of how to avoid God’s judgment or discipline on this planet. The passage we are about to study does that, as it pertains to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Without this passage we are about to study, we will not know how to act or celebrate the Lord’s Supper in a manner that would not expose us to God’s displeasure. Hence, we are correct to indicate that the passage we are about to study confirms that God has given us in the Scripture everything we need to honor Him through our spiritual life.
A third thing that we should be thankful to the Lord in the outworking of His plan for the church is that He included in His plan our failures and successes to advance His plan. Some Christians have problem with this kind of statement because they have difficulty accepting that God’s plan would include anything that could be considered sinful or evil or even painful. These believers are those who, for example, misinterpret the story of Joseph. By this I mean that these believers assert that God turned the evil plan of Joseph’s brothers of selling him into slavery to something good. No! First, such an explanation implies that God follows’ humans’ lead. That is, He waits until man acts then He responds. Second, such an explanation denies that God has planned the sale of Joseph into slavery not merely turning his sale into something good. We say this because it is God’s plan for Israel to move to Egypt to be preserved from moral decay and extermination by the Canaanites during its infancy. We know that this was God’s plan because He informed Abraham about it at least two hundred years before the incident of Israel’s entrance into Egypt and at least six hundred years for its slavery in Egypt as we read in Genesis 15:13–16:
13 Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
Furthermore, Joseph correctly interpreted that his being sold into slavery was not the work of his brothers but God who sent Him ahead to carry out His plan for preservation of Israel as we read in Genesis 45:5–7:
5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
To say that God merely turned the evil act of Joseph’s brothers of selling him into slavery into something good is to deny that God’s plan for Israel unfolded through Joseph. Those who reject this teaching probably ignore the fact that God indicated that He is behind the rebellion of the Israel against the house of David as we read in 1 Kings 12:22–24:
22 But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24 ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered.
I have digressed a little to support the point that God has included in His plan human failures and successes to advance His plan. This truth is one that is conveyed in the passage of 1 Corinthians 11:26-34 that we are about to consider. How? You may ask. It is that the passage we are about to study would have been unnecessary if the Corinthians had not failed regarding the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. In other words, if we do not have the failures of the Corinthians regarding the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul would not have given us the exposition we need regarding the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Hence, we contend that we should be thankful to the Lord that He included as part of working out His plan for the church the failure of the Corinthians regarding the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, so we have its exposition in the passage we are about to study.
The exposition the Holy Spirit gave through Apostle Paul regarding the celebration of the Lord’s Supper involves three main issues. The first is a explanation of what remembrance in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper entails. The second involves the correct approach to it and the third is the consequences of celebrating it wrongly. These issues would determine the verse or clause that we consider as we expound this section. In effect, I am saying that we will not march sequentially through the verses as we usually do in our study of a given passage but the verse or clause, we consider will be determined by the issue that is being considered. However, you should rest assured that by the time we finish our exposition of this section, we will have covered every phrase, clause, and sentence of our passage. Based on these three issues, we state the message we believe the Holy Spirit wants me to convey to you. It is this: You must approach the Lord’s Supper with awe since there are consequences for failing to do so correctly.
It is our assertion that beginning in verse 26, the apostle provides exposition on the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. There are two indicators that enable us to make this assertion other than what the apostle wrote beginning in verse 26. The first indicator that he was concerned about exposition of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is his repeat in verse 26 the same Greek phrase (hosakis ean) he used in verse 25 that is translated whenever in the NIV that we indicated may also be translated “as often as.” Thus, when the apostle used the Greek phrase translated “whenever” in the NIV in verse 26, he signaled that he was still dealing with the same subject of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. However, it is the second indicator the apostle used that shows he was about to expound on the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The second indicator that verse 26 begins the exposition of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is the first word for of verse 26. The word “for” is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of cause or reason for something in which case it may be translated “for, because.” In our context, it is used as a marker of explanation and so that of exposition of what it is that a believer is doing when the individual participates in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. In effect, the exposition, or the explanation of the apostle in verse 26 is on what it means to remember the Lord Jesus during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. We are saying that verse 26 explains what it means to remember Christ during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper as well as provide exposition concerning the entire celebration.
The apostle leaves no doubt that his exposition is on the celebration of the Lord’s Supper because he referenced it in the clause of 1 Corinthians 11:26 you eat this bread and drink this cup. The word “bread” is translated from a Greek word (artos) that we have examined previously. We indicated it may mean “food” as any kind of food or nourishment as that is the sense that the word is used by Apostle Paul to indicate he paid for his food while he was with the Thessalonians as stated in 2 Thessalonians 3:8:
nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
The phase anyone’s food is literally bread from anyone. Bread as a word is used figuratively in the Scripture in connection with the word of God. Thus, wisdom invites the wise to come and eat bread that she has prepared as we read in Proverbs 9:5:
“Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
The phrase my food is literally my bread since the word “food” is a general meaning for the Hebrew word (leḥem) used that means “bread.” The invitation of wisdom is to come and learn the truth of God’s word that provides wisdom. This is similar to the invitation to eat bread considered as listening to the teaching of the word of God in Isaiah 55:1–2:
1“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Because bread is considered essential for living, that is, sustaining life, the Lord Jesus described Himself as “bread of life” in John 6:35:
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
In Jesus Christ’s claim of being the bread of life, He meant that He is the way to eternal life or through whom one receives eternal life. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:26, our Greek word has the sense of “loaf of bread” that is usually torn apart or cut before eating. However, the apostle wanted to be sure that it is not the general food or bread that is eaten as part of the common meal that he was concerned in verse 26. Therefore, he qualified the bread as in the phrase this bread. The pronoun “this” is translated from a Greek demonstrative pronoun (houtos) that in general means “this” that may refer to something here and now, directing attention to it. The meaning “this” may designate the nearer of two things. It could be used to refer to something that has immediately preceded and so may be translated “this one.” It can also refer to what follows so it may simply mean “this.” In our context, it is used to describe the bread of the Lord’s Supper that the apostle introduced in 1 Corinthians 11:23.
In the same fashion, the apostle ensures that it is not any drink associated with common meal that is his concern but that associated with the Lord’s Supper as in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 11:26 drink this cup. As we have noted previously, the word “cup” is translated from a Greek word (potērion) that literally refers to a vessel for holding liquid and so to drink from, hence means “cup” as in the giving to someone drink of cold water that our Lord referenced in Matthew 10:42:
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
The literal cup can by metonymy stand for what it contains, as for example, where “cup” represents “wine” in Luke 22:20:
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Cup is used figuratively in the Scripture. Cup may represent God’s blessings so that the psalmist spoke of the abundant blessings from God in terms of overflowing cup in Psalm 23:5:
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Cup is also used figuratively for God’s judgment as we read in Jeremiah 25:15–16:
15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.”
Figuratively, the word “cup” is used for the suffering and eventual violent death of the Lord Jesus in John 18:11:
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:26, although the Greek word used literally means “cup,” but it is used in the sense of that which is contained in a cup, that is, wine. Thus, when Apostle Paul wrote the phrase of 1 Corinthians 11:26 this cup, he meant the wine that is for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Hence, the exposition of the apostle concerned the celebration of the Lord’s Supper as, again, in the sentence whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup.
Apostle Paul, having stated that he was concerned with the Lord’s Supper, proceeds to explain or expound on what the church, and by implication the believer, is doing anytime the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. It is this that he gives in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 11:26 you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. The reason we used the word “church” in the statement we made regarding the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is because the Greek conveys that “you” is plural not singular. Thus, it refers to the church of Christ gathered in a location to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Since the church consists of individual members of the body of Christ then what is said of the church is applicable to each believer involved in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
Anyway, the apostle indicated that when the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper they are involved in specific proclamation as in the sentence you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. The word “proclaim” is translated from a Greek word (katangellō) that means to make known in public, with implication of broad dissemination, hence “to proclaim, announce.” Thus, it is used in offering forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ as part of presentation of the gospel in Acts 13:38:
“Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
It is the word that is used in Apostle Paul’s proclaiming Christ to the Jews in the synagogue in Thessalonica as recorded in Acts 17:3:
explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:26, it means “to announce broadly,” that is, to make known openly and with wide distribution.
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul tells the local church that whenever it celebrates the Lord’s Supper it is announcing broadly in words or through actions of eating the bread and drinking the wine the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross as in the sentence you proclaim the Lord’s death. The word “death” is translated from a Greek word (thanatos) that may mean death as a termination of physical life as in Romans 7:10:
I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.
The Greek word may refer to spiritual death as that which results from sin as the word is used to describe the state of every unbeliever before salvation in 1 John 3:14:
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
The word may mean “plague, pestilence, pandemic disease” associated with God’s punishment as it is used in Revelation 6:8:
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
The phrase famine and plague is literally with hunger and with death. The word may refer to eternal death that means eternal separation from God and described as second death in Revelation 20:6:
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
It is in the sense of physical death, that is, cessation of life on this planet, that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 11:26.
Be that as it may, the sentence of 1 Corinthians 11:26 you proclaim the Lord’s death says more than meets the eye in the sense that the church celebrating the Lord’s Supper is announcing the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. In effect, there is more to this sentence that the church should be announcing as they celebrate the Lord’s Supper. The church should announce or proclaim that the death of Jesus Christ is a sacrifice, pleasing to God as the Holy Spirit communicates through Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:2:
and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
The verbal phrase gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God indicates that the voluntary sacrifice of Christ on our behalf is pleasing and acceptable to God not necessarily because of the nature of the sacrifice as it is because of the person of Christ who offered Himself on our behalf. Christ’s sacrifice that is pleasing to God is one that took care of our sins as the Holy Spirit stated through the human author of Hebrews as we read in Hebrews 7:27:
Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
Proclaiming or announcing the death of Christ requires that the church should convey that Jesus Christ defeated Satan and all supernatural beings that are hostile to God although they have not been confined to their eternal punishment. The Holy Spirit described the defeat of Satan through the human author of Hebrews in Hebrews 2:14–15:
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
The same truth is conveyed by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul as we read in 2 Timothy 1:10:
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
The defeat of the supernatural beings that are certainly part of the gods Apostle Paul had already mentioned in the eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians is referenced in Colossians 2:14–15:
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
The church should announce, of course, the victory of Jesus Christ over death in that He resurrected as that is at the heart of the gospel message as Peter conveyed in his first message delivered on the day of Pentecost as we read in Acts 2:24:
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a sign that His sacrifice on our behalf was accepted and so that we could have good standing with God as stated in Romans 4:25:
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
The death of Christ on the cross not only assured that we would have good standing with God but that we are reconciled to Him as the apostle wrote in Romans 5:10:
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Our good standing before God is certainly because of the death of Jesus who secured our forgiveness through His death as stated in Revelation 1:5:
and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
It is not only that our sins were forgiven at the point of salvation, but the church should also announce that there is continuous cleansing from sins that is the result of the death of Christ on the cross. The Holy Spirit through Apostle John reminds us of the cleansing from sins that is because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as we read in 1 John 1:7:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
The cleansing from sins mentioned in this passage comes when a believer acknowledges sin against God but there is more to the cleansing from sin. To me, one of the most comforting truths about cleansing from sin is that Jesus Christ as our high priest continues to plead for daily cleansing of our sins so that nothing will keep us from being with Him in heaven. It is this priestly function of Jesus Christ that is implied in Hebrews 7:24–25:
24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
If Jesus always intercedes for us, there is no way for us not to be in heaven. I am saying that even if I do not confess my sin that Jesus pleads with the Father on my behalf so that I will never be condemned with the world. This does not mean that He ignores my sin. I will be disciplined for sin if I do not confess it. However, our concern is simply to convey the far-reaching effect of the death of Christ on the cross in having fully paid for sins. Anyway, what we have mentioned are some of the things that the church should proclaim or announce or teach believers when they celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This teaching is certainly different from the commission of the church regarding presenting of the gospel to unbelievers. The church must certainly do that, but we are concerned with the pronouncement or proclamation that the Holy Spirit says the church should do whenever it celebrates the Lord Supper.
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul defined the duration of the proclaiming or announcing the death of Christ in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 11:26 until he comes. This clause conveys that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is an activity that the church should continue to do so long as it is on this planet. In other words, the Lord’s Supper, and consequent proclamation of the death of Christ are related activities of the church that should continue until the Lord of the church returns to this planet. Another thing that the clause we are considering conveys is that when a believer participates in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the individual is expressing hope of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Hence, it is not only that the church proclaims or announces the death of Jesus Christ with many of its implication, but the church hopes that the Lord Jesus would come back to this planet. When the apostle wrote the clause until he comes, he in effect teaches that there would be a second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This being the case we should consider the subject of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Second Coming of Christ
The second coming of Jesus Christ is the unshakable hope of all believers in Him. Thus, it is surprising to hear that there are those who call themselves Christians but do not believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. I said this because of the narrative I read the night before this study from a book written by a professor at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. According to him, a pastor of a local church died unexpectedly before the Sunday of the week of his death. So, he was invited to speak to the church soon after the death of the man. He chose to bring comfort to the church by preaching a message of the second coming. In it he assured the congregation that they would see their pastor again. To his dismay, some of the members got up and left and some of those who remained seemed uninterested in what he was preaching. At the end of his sermon, he received a cold shoulder from the church that he was not even given the honorarium that is often given to visiting preachers and he was never invited back to that church to preach. He was confounded so he began to investigate the reason for what he experienced. He eventually learned that people left because he was preaching what the pastor did not believe. He was told the pastor did not believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. When I read his narrative, I was also surprised that a pastor of a congregation with the name “Christian” attached to it, did not believe in the second coming of Christ. That aside, we should at this point briefly consider the event of the second coming of Christ. I will do so with four assertions.
A first assertion is that the event of the second coming of Christ is certain as the Scripture conveys. The Lord Jesus prior to His death on the cross asserted His second coming in various occasions. On an occasion that He predicted His death on the cross He also indicated His second coming as we read in Mark 8:38:
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
During His trial before the Sanhedrin, He not only asserted that He is the Son of God, but also He declared His second coming as we read in Mark 14:61–62:
61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Prior to Him going to the cross He comforted His disciples by assuring them that He would come back for them after preparing a place for them as we read in John 14:1–3:
1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus conveyed that He would come back to the earth as implied in His last recorded interaction with Apostle Peter as we read in John 21:22–23:
22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
During the Lord Jesus’ ascension into heaven, two angels assured the disciples that Jesus would come back as we read in Acts 1:11:
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
The various writers of the epistles of the NT under the directive of the Holy Spirit conveyed that the Lord Jesus would come back. Apostle Paul wrote several times about this subject. The one, most believers are aware of is given in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–16:
15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
We could continue to cite other passages of Scripture that support our assertion, but these are sufficient to establish our assertion that the event of the second coming of Christ is certain as the Scripture conveys.
A second assertion is that we do not know when Jesus would return. This truth we must maintain despite the many individuals in the past or even at the present time that claim otherwise. The Lord conveyed this truth before His death on the cross as we read in Mark 13:32–33:
32 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.
It is probably the matter of the time of His return after His resurrection that was the concern of the disciples to which He responded by telling them it is not for them to know as recorded in Acts 1:7:
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
The fact that no one knows the time of the second coming leads to the third assertion.
A third assertion is that the second coming of the Lord Jesus would be sudden, personal, visible, and bodily. The suddenness of the second coming is declared by the Lord Jesus as recorded in Matthew 24:44:
So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter declares the same thing regarding the unexpectedness of the second coming of Jesus Christ in 2 Peter 3:10:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
The personal, visible, and bodily nature of the second coming of Christ are all stated in the passage we cited previously, that is, Acts 1:11:
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
For the Lord Jesus to come back in the same way that He was taken into heaven implies that it is personal, visible, and bodily in nature. The disciples were looking at Him in His person as He lifted in His return to heaven. For Jesus to return to the earth in the way He departed implies that His return would be personal and visible despite the teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that Christ began His reign over the earth on October 1, 1914. That aside, it is our third assertion that the second coming of the Lord Jesus would be sudden, personal, visible, and bodily.
A fourth assertion is believers should eagerly long for the second coming of Christ. That we should eagerly wait for the second coming is implied first in what the Holy Spirit communicated through Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:20:
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Then in Titus 2:12–13:
12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
So, it is important that you should be looking forward to the second coming of Christ. You should have the same response of Apostle John when the Lord announced to him that He would be coming soon as we read in Revelation 22:20:
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Believers who are conscious of the Second Coming and who look forward towards it should of necessity be concerned with purity of their lives as the Holy Spirit tells us through the pen of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:13-14:
13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
It is not only through the pen of the Apostle Peter that we are reminded of the importance of purity of life as we look forward to the Second Coming so did the Holy Spirit through the pen of the Apostle John in a slightly different manner in 1 John 3:2-3:
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
In any event, the last clause of 1 Corinthians 11:26 until he comes should cause you to remember that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a declaration of hope in His second coming. Therefore, when you participate in it, know that you are indeed expressing your hope in Christ’s second coming and if that is the case you should live your life in that light. In a sense then, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is both backward and forward looking. Backward looking in the sense of focusing on the death of Christ on the cross with all its implications and forward looking in the anticipation of His second coming. Anyway, let me end our study by reminding you of the message of the section we are studying which is You must approach the Lord’s Supper with awe since there are consequences for failing to do so correctly.
03/04//22