JOHN 2:1\u201311<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
(John 2:10)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Jesus instituted the Lord\u2019s Supper with bread and wine. One of the issues at the time of the Reformation was over the fact that the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages served only the bread in the form of wafers; they did not serve the wine to the people.<\/p>\n
The question is often raised in our day whether or not we can use things other than bread and wine as the elements in communion. I believe that if we are in a concentration camp and are given only crackers and water, these could be used in a consecrated way as a communion meal. The elements are not most important, but given the opportunity to use what Jesus instituted, we should do so. God had good reasons for selecting bread and wine, whether we know His reasons or not.<\/p>\n
Calvin speaks at length about the appropriateness of wine in communion. First of all, throughout the Old Testament, the vine and its fruit are symbols of the prosperity of God\u2019s people. Israel in the Old Testament was a great wine-producing nation, and wine was one of her greatest export commodities. Thus, the use of wine speaks of the greatness of God\u2019s gift of the kingdom.<\/p>\n
Second, wine is associated with joy, and for that reason people drank wine at wedding feasts and other celebrations. Drunkenness was forbidden, but it should be noted that wine was regarded as one of God\u2019s great blessings. In fact, Jesus contributed to the wedding feast of Cana by creating a large quantity of high quality wine.<\/p>\n
Third, says Calvin, wine has a slight taste of bitterness. Thus, it reminds us of the death and agony of Christ, and the slight pain of it unites us to Jesus\u2019 pain. From these reasons and others, we can see God\u2019s wisdom in appointing wine in communion.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Ezekiel 43\u201344<\/p>\n
2 Peter 2<\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n
Ezekiel 45\u201348<\/p>\n
2 Peter 3,<\/p>\n
1 John 1<\/p>\n
Because of the problem of alcoholism in our culture, some churches serve only grape juice in communion. Others serve both, while in the Anglican church, people who have a problem with alcohol take the bread and pass up the wine. What does your church do, and why?<\/p>\n
For further study: Psalm 104:10\u201324;<\/i> What Are the Sacraments? series<\/i><\/p>\n
TABLETALK<\/p>\n
from ligonier ministries and teaching and encouraging believers \u2022 december 1990<\/p>\n
IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME<\/p>\n
Daily Studies From The Teaching Fellowship Of R. C. Sproul<\/p>\n
publisher<\/b> Ligonier Ministries<\/i> editor<\/b> Robert F. Ingram<\/i> assistant editor<\/b> Michael S. Beates<\/i> art director<\/b> David K. Freeland<\/i><\/p>\n
marketing<\/b> Gretchen L. Suskovic<\/i> production<\/b> Felicia T. Calhoun, W. David Fox, Melissa A. Prichard, R. C. Sproul, Jr.<\/i><\/p>\n
writer<\/b> Sharon J. Anderson<\/i> circulation<\/b> Gwen Weber<\/i> board of directors<\/b> Bruce Fogerty, Robert Fraley, G. Richard Hostetter, Robert C. Legler, Stephen H. Lev\u00e9e, Jr., C. G. Mills, Archie B. Parrish, James M. Seneff, Jr., R. C. Sproul, John Thompson, Ralph D. Veerman, Luder Whitlock, Charles Colson (Director Emeritus)<\/i><\/p>\n
Published by Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, Inc. under license granted by Ligonier Ministries, Inc. Copyright 1990, Ligonier Ministries, Inc. This Bible study is based upon teaching material by Dr. R. C. Sproul. Unless noted, all Scripture quotations in this publication are from the<\/i> Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society, Used by permission of Zondervan Publishers<\/i>.<\/p>\n
member evangelical press association<\/p>\n
Cover: Holy Night<\/i>, Correggio. Kavaler\/Art Resource, N.Y.<\/p>\n
robert f. ingram \u2022 editor<\/p>\n
Coram Deo<\/p>\n
The entire Old Testament period was used by God as an advent, preparing His people for the coming of the Messiah. It was His desire to see people yearn for the Messiah\u2019s coming \u201cin the fullness of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the Incarnation the church has incorporated this period of preparation into its celebration of Christmas. Referring to the \u201ccoming\u201d or \u201carrival\u201d of Jesus Christ, the church has derived a threefold meaning for the term advent:<\/i><\/p>\n
(1) The Advent of our Lord in the flesh at Christmas; (2) the Advent of the Lord in Word and Spirit; and (3) the Advent of our Lord when He returns bodily in glory. The theme that runs throughout is the joyful anticipation of what God has accomplished, is doing, and will yet fulfill.<\/p>\n
The best-known hymn of Advent is \u201cO Come, O Come, Emmanuel.\u201d Eighth-century monks sang a series of seven antiphonal chants at evening vesper services, each beginning with a long drawn out \u201cO,\u201d expressive of a deep yearning for the coming of Christ. In so doing, the monks were identifying with the yearning of the Old Testament church. During the twelfth century, an unknown poet selected five of these antiphonal chants and created a Latin hymn. It was not until 1851 that it was translated into English.<\/p>\n
Do I yearn for the return of Christ? Not as I should, I\u2019m afraid. Certainly I look forward to it, yet the intense desire for the original coming of Christ shown by many Old Testament saints is foreign to my anticipation of His Second Coming. I wish it were otherwise with me, and celebrating Advent has helped during the last few years to intensify my desire.<\/p>\n
Yearning for Christ\u2019s return has enormous implications for living life Coram Deo<\/i>. If by that Latin phrase we intend to live all our life before the face of God, under His authority, and for His glory, then the ultimate Coram Deo<\/i> is to live in His presence in paradise. But until He comes to consummate history, may our celebration of Advent and Christmas this year be characterized by a deep yearning for Jesus, the Messiah, to return. ■<\/p>\n
table of contents<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOHN 2:1\u201311 \u201cEveryone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now\u201d (John 2:10). Jesus instituted the Lord\u2019s Supper with bread and wine. One of the issues at the time of the Reformation was over the … Continue reading “ELEMENTS OF COMMUNION”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}