As you can tell from the relative silence here on the blog, I’m in lock-down mode. Must write, must write all day, must write all night. Must just write constantly. But it is always good to let folks know you are not just off goofing around, so, another quick peek at Pulpit Crimes. Possibly to the shock of some, one of the chapters has to do with the abuse of the ordinances of the church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. From that chapter:
The second truth to see in Paul’s words is one that has truly been lost for many today. Paul taught, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Believers are activein the Supper. For so many we just sit like a lump on a log, introspective, eat a cracker, drink a little cup, sing a hymn, go home. We do not see that we are doingsomething, something of eternal value. We are proclaiming something. These words are addressed to allwho in faith participate, not just to the elders, not just to the preacher. Everyone is proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes. We are doing so by faith. By partaking we are saying, “Yes, this is the source of my life, this is how I’ve been redeemed, by the giving of the body and blood of Jesus Christ in my stead.” We are saying this to ourselves. We are saying this to all those around us. We are joining a group of believers who are all likewise solemnly confessing this faith. We are standing in an unending line of believers who have been drawn out of the world and united with Christ and granted the same faith all across the spectrum of time, geography, and culture. We are making sure by our actions that what happened on a windswept hill outside of Jerusalem so long ago will never, as long as the sun rises and sets, be forgotten. This is our privilege, this is our calling, this is our gift of grace in the Lord’s Supper.
Ironically, our VPN firewall died a thousand deaths, total brain scramble, less than sixty seconds before I tried to post this hours ago. But please note, I am not blaming anti-Baptists for it. And so we press on….
