The Church Part 3

J. Intimately connected with church discipline is the keeping of the Lord's Supper or communion. Notice that in the instructions for discipline in the church is also a warning against eating a particular feast until a known offender has been purged out (1CO 5:6-11). This feast is of course the N.T. passover kept in commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ which delivered His people, not out of Egypt but out of hell (v. 7), which later in the same epistle is dealt with in greater detail. 1CO 10:16-17; 11:17-34. 1. The communion service of a local church is to be kept pure of known transgressors. Light and darkness are not to be held in common union. 2CO 6:14; MAL 2:17. 2. To maintain fellowship with known transgressors and dine with them at the Lord's Table would be tantamount to saying that there will be no separation from sinners at the judgment seat of Christ which introduces the marriage supper of the Lamb in glory. MAT 25:31-46. 3. Thus, since church purity (the absence of commonly known offenders) is an absolute prerequisite to the keeping of the Lord's Supper and (as already seen), the discipline of the church a local matter, we conclude that the communion feast is restricted to the members of a local congregation. a. They are accountable to each other and to God to see that no common- report transgressor partakes of the table of the Lord. b. As such, the church testifies that it is a holy society which does not condone the works of the flesh in its midst. Known sinners will not be named among them. EPH 5:3-7. c. The Lord's table is the focal point of church membership; it is the acid test. 4. We never in Scripture find the communion feast being observed by anyone other than the members of a local congregation. a. The one exception to this is found in ACT 20:4-13, where Paul did partake of communion at Troas. b. Observe, however, the shift in pronouns from the first person plural in vs. 5-6 (we, us; i.e. - Luke, Paul and the travelling companions) to the third person (them, they) in vs. 7-12. c. vs. 7-12 describe the activities of Paul and the Troan disciples. Paul's travelling companions are not included in this group. (1) Hence, a minister may serve communion in a church of which he is not a member. Paul was a member of the church at Antioch, not Troas. ACT 13:1-3. (2) This is reasonable inasmuch as ministers are the proper administrators of the ordinance. Evangelism could not proceed otherwise. 5. Potential problems arise if an individual who is not a member of a given local church is considered eligible to partake of the communion of the Lord's table with the members of that church: a. If the individual claims to be a child of God and an heir of the promises of Christ's redemption, but has not been baptized into a church in obedience to his professed Lord, his “faith” does not have the seal of the good work of baptism, rendering his faith dead. JAM 2:17-20. (1) Baptism (not the lack of it) is the answer of a good conscience. 1PE 3:21. (2) Consideration applies to the professed believer whose circumstances militate against his baptism but not against his eternal destiny (LUK 23:39-43) but the rule of “baptized church members only” at the Lord’s Table still stands. “Unsealed” faith in such a believer is not dead but handicapped. b. If the individual is, in fact, a properly baptized member of another legitimate, separate, local N.T. church, there is still a problem. (1) The communing congregation would have to not only consider the individual, but also the state of the other body (church) of which he is a member. To commune with him is to commune with them, since he is part of them. 1CO 12:12, 18-20. (2) It would then have to be determined that the other church is “in order,” not promoting heresy (a work of the flesh, GAL 5:20), nor communing with known sinners, nor rejecting apostolic tradition. 2TH 3:6, 14. (3) Has the other church purged itself of the ungodly or are they communing with those whom ought to be avoided? (4) If doubts about propriety in an area of liberty defile the doer (ROM 14:23), how much more would doubts in participating in something contrary to command and apostolic example defile the doer? c. For an inter-church communion to be observed, an inquisition into the teachings and practices of the other church would be necessary, resulting in a lot of meddling in other's affairs, which ought to be avoided. PRO 20:3; 1PE 4:15; LUK 12:14-15. (1) It is this kind of activity which usually results in some governor or governing body being set up over the local congregation and its elder(s) to monitor and dictate terms of fellowship, thus usurping the God-given authority and autonomy of the local church. (2) The closest thing to a “mother church” hierarchy system in Scripture is the example of the Jerusalem church council in ACT 15 which, under immediate living apostolic direction, actually put a stop to an effort of false hierarchical authority being imposed on other churches. ACT 15:24. (3) Scripture upholds the concept of local authority in other areas like marriage, parenting, master-servant relationships, etc. EPH 5:22-24; 1TI 3:4, 12; ROM 14:4. d. Consider this policy from another perspective. (1) The Lord’s Table is a commanded ordinance for the church. 1CO 11:2, 23-25. (2) A church member who wilfully and publicly refuses to keep the ordinance would be in direct violation of the order of Jesus Christ and the church would have to separate company from him and declare him unfit for fellowship in Christ’s kingdom. (3) Imagine the problems that would be created if a communing church tried to enforce this order upon a visiting member of another church. e. Whereas a local church ought not to partake of the Lord's table with anyone not a member of its body, this should not be taken as an insult by someone not of that body. It is simply that the church has no judgmental authority outside of its own body. A visitor to a congregation may have a valid standing before God in another legitimate church elsewhere and is accountable to them. K. The local church is the body of Christ into which one is baptized by the Spirit. 1CO 12:13, 27. 1. Each local church is the body and there are many churches, thus, many bodies. 2. This is not contradicted by EPH 4:4 which refers to one in kind, not in number. a. Paul is emphasizing that there are not diverse camps for Jew and Gentile. EPH 4:4-6; 2:14-16 c/w 1CO 12:13. b. All baptized believers share in the common faith of a common salvation. TIT 1:4; JUDE 1:3; GAL 3:27-29. The Church 6-9-24 Page 7