Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church
5101 Beechtree
Hudsonville, Michigan 49426
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Vol. 8, No. 16
Contents:
Christ’s Presence in the
Lord’s Supper
The
Prophetic Foundation
God-breathed
Scripture (Part 1)
Christ’s Presence in the
Lord’s Supper
It is to be regretted that the Lord’s Supper, which symbolizes the unity of the family of God is the subject of so much division and debate among the people of God. Nevertheless, the issues are not unimportant.
The major issue, of course, has to do with whether and how Christ is present in and at the Lord’s Supper. One’s views on this matter have a great deal to do with how one uses the supper – superstitiously or believingly, carelessly or carefully.
The different views are:
First, the view of Roman Catholicism, called “transubstantiation,” which teaches that the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper are changed into the body and blood of Christ when blessed by the priest. This view sets faith aside, for all one needs to do to receive Christ is to eat the bread and drink the wine. It also lays the groundwork for the doctrine of the mass, for when the bread, which supposedly is no longer bread, but body, is broken, then Christ’s sacrifice is repeated all over again (“mass” means “sacrifice”).
Secondly, the view of Lutheranism, which teaches that the physical body and blood of Christ are present with the bread and wine, also called “consubstantiation.” This view, though it does not include the doctrine of the mass, is open to the same criticism as the view of Rome, since both views teach a physical presence of Christ in the Supper.
Thirdly, the view of most evangelicals today, which was reputedly also the view of the Reformer, Zwingli, i.e., that Christ is not present in any fashion in the Lord’s Supper, but that the Supper is just a memorial or remembrance of the death of Christ. This view, which clearly avoids the errors of Romanism and Lutheranism, nevertheless is not Biblical, as we shall see; and does not explain which the Lord’s Supper must be used with such care, i.e., there is little need for self-examination and little need to fear of “damnation” (I Cor. 11:29) if the Lord’s Supper is just a remembrance.
Finally, the Reformed view of the Lord’s Supper is that Christ is really present, but spiritually, not physically. He is, in other words, present to the faith of God’s people and has fellowship with them and feeds them through Himself through faith and in connection with the bread and wine which point their faith toward Him.
That view is clearly taught in I Cor. 11:27, 29, which speak of being guilty of the body and blood of the Lord and of “discerning the Lord’s body” in the Lord’s Supper. It is also implied in Jesus’ own words at the institution of the Lord’s Supper, when He said, “This is my body.” It is, in fact, only because Christ is present that a person can eat or drink judgment to himself when eating or drinking without proper self-examination.
This view, which we believe to be Biblical, not only explains the passages of
Scripture which we have mentioned, but gives much more meaning and profit to the
Lord’s Supper. In the Lord’s Supper
we meet with and enjoy Christ in all His fullness, as our Savior and Redeemer. Let us so use it.
Rev. Ronald Hanko
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2:20
The question which we propose to answer in this issue of our bulletin reads: “Who are the prophets of Eph. 2:20? Are they the Old Testament prophets, or the prophets mentioned a few verses later in 3:5, who are evidently New Testament prophets? Cf. Ephesians 4:11.”
The entire passage, of which verse 20 is a part, reads: “Ye…are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together growth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
It is true that in the apostolic church Christ gave the special office of prophets to the church. Many different passages in the New Testament show this. Nevertheless, the reference in this passage is not to those prophets who occupied this special office, but to the prophets in the old dispensation. That this is indeed the case will become evident when we understand the point which Paul is making here.
Paul is speaking in this passage (as he does in the entire epistle) of the church of Christ.
When the Scriptures speak of that church, they use many different figures to help us understand what the church really is. Many figures are needed because the church is so glorious and so blessed that one figure is unable to convey all the truth.
Sometimes the church is called the bride of Christ or of God (Rev. 19:7, 8; 22:17). Sometimes the church is compared to the branches of a vine (John 15:1-6). Then again the figure of an olive tree is used (Rom. 11:16-21). In the context of this passage the church is compared to citizenship in a heavenly kingdom and to a household (vs. 19). And in the passage we consider, the church is compared to a beautiful temple which during this present history is in the process of being built.
The verses we are treating describe that building in some detail.
First of all, the apostles and prophets are the foundation.
Secondly, Christ is the cornerstone. In former days, the days which I also remember, the cornerstone of a building was not a decorative or commemorative block in a wall. It was the key stone in the entire structure, for its shape and size determined the shape, size and strength of the foundation, which rested on it. And determining the foundation, it determined the entire building.
Thirdly that building is a holy temple in which God dwells – “an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
Fourthly, the building is constantly being erected throughout history as each elect stone in that building is chosen by God, shaped and fitted through life’s experiences, and finally brought into heaven to be placed in its eternally determined spot.
Finally, when the building is completed, it is a perfect building reflecting the glory of God Himself.
The first question we face is the meaning of “apostles and prophets.” It is clear that the temple cannot be literally built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This would be absurd. And so the meaning is that the church is built upon the foundation of the Word of God which was given to the church through the prophets in the old dispensation and through the apostles in the new dispensation.
Then it makes sense too that Christ is the cornerstone because He is the One revealed in Scripture, and upon His truth is the whole church erected.
Christ says the same thing in Matthew 16:17, 18 when He tells us that the confession of Peter is the rock on which He builds His church. “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
And do not forget that the confession of Peter was a confession of the divinity of Christ: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
That the truth of Scripture, which is fundamentally the truth concerning Christ, is the foundation of the Church ought not to surprise us.
In the first place, it is by means of the truth that the church is built, as that truth is proclaimed in the gospel. It is the gospel through which Christ gathers His church from the nations and prepares it for glory.
But, secondly, the church is saved by Christ so that it may reflect the glory of God Himself as revealed in Christ. God through Isaiah said it all: “This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise” (Is. 43:21). The church shall into all eternity reveal all the riches of the glory of Almighty God.
But that glory is spoken of in the sacred Scriptures which contain all the truth
concerning God. Prof. Herman C. Hanko.
God’s
Hammer (6):
God-breathed
Scripture (Part 1)
In II Timothy 3:16 we read these famous words, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God [literally: God-breathed].” God-breathed Scripture includes the Old Testament, which Timothy was taught from his childhood (15). And if the Old Testament Scripture is God-breathed, surely the New Testament Scripture is God-breathed as well.
Note that our text does not say, “All Scripture breathes God,” that is, all Scripture breathes out God and thus inspires or moves us. True, the Bible does excite us. But the text speaks not of the effect that Scripture has on us, but of the formation and nature of Scripture itself, namely, that it is God-breathed. Thus it is not that the penmen (Habakkuk, Jude etc.) were God-breathed – this would not even make sense. Nor is it the thoughts of the writers which are said to be God-breathed. Instead it is the Scriptures themselves – the writings of the Old and New Testaments – that are God-breathed.
It is not the case that the prophets and apostles wrote the words of the Bible and God breathed into the words. Rather, holy men of God (eternally ordained and providentially prepared for the task) borne by the Holy Ghost (II Peter 1:21) wrote the words of Scripture and the words they wrote were the words which God breathed out. Thus the Scriptures are the product of God’s breath.
This pithy adjective, “God-breathed,” occurring only here in all the
Bible, merely condenses the teaching of the rest of the Word of God on its own nature. The whole Bible proclaims loudly and often that it
comes from God – thus it is God-breathed. But the Bible also proclaims loudly and often that
it was produced by the Holy Spirit (e.g., II Samuel 23:2; Acts 28:25; Heb. 3:7). Since God produced the Scriptures by the Holy
Spirit; and since the Holy Spirit is, literally, the Holy Breath; Scripture is God-breathed.
It is not that some or most or the best parts of Scripture are God-breathed and that the rest are something less than God-breathed. “All Scripture is God-breathed.” Every one of the 66 Biblical books (Esther as well as Romans); and every part of every book; and every chapter and every verse; and every word, syllable and letter is God-breathed. Even the most difficult parts (e.g., the genealogies of I Chron. 1-9) and the seemingly irrelevant parts (e.g., Paul’s leaving his cloak at Troas in II Tim. 4:13) are all God-breathed.
If all Scripture is God-breathed, let us not mock or trifle with even its least comely parts, as they might seem to us. Instead, let us esteem all of it as a precious treasure from heaven, the product of the very Breath of God. Rev. Angus Stewart