On Your Mark, Get Set...Grow! Part 3-Part A

Okay, we understand the Apostles' Doctrine. I mean, you've got to be devoted to that. That's the Bible.

You've got to understand what the Bible says in your life. And fellowship, you've got to have that. But breaking bread? Why would that be listed third in the four important things that mark church life? I mean, for example, why wouldn't you say they continued steadfast in the Apostles' Doctrine, fellowship, and discipleship?

Or evangelism? And as we continue our series on the Church, we learn that there are certain priorities we should have as Christians that don't always make sense. For example, a child might not understand the significance of communion.

It may look like the adults get to have juice and crackers, but they can't have any. Unfortunately, some adults don't understand the importance of communion either, especially its role in our growth as Christians. Out of today's broadcast, Skip sheds some light on this ritual and why it's so important. But before we begin, we have a great resource for you this month at connectwiskip.com. Here's what Norm Geisler said about the book Tactics. There is no better book to equip Christians to think clearly. Here's Skip Heitzig on the need to engage in active spiritual warfare. You'll never fight God's battles from a sofa.

You'll never contend for what really matters by just cruising in your La-Z-Boy all day. You're going to have to decide to get up as part of the house and join the fight. Become a contender for biblical truth with Fight for the House, a six-message series through the book of Jude with Skip Heitzig. This teaching series on CD equips you to get in the ring to defend the gospel and guard against false teachings. And it's our thanks when you give to connect more people to the truth of God's word. And when you give $35 or more today, we'll also send you the book Tactics by Gregory Kochel to help you speak the truth about Christianity with confidence and grace. Call 800-922-1888 to give or visit connectwiskip.com. From our series Church Who Needs It? we'll be in Acts chapter 2 once again and let's join Skip Heitzig as he takes us on a trip through time. Show of hands, how many of you remember the cartoon Rocky and Bullwinkle?

Raise your hands. Well, we're dating ourselves, right? Notice that's an old cartoon. Wasn't it great though? Okay, so do you remember in Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons there was the story of Mr. Peabody? He's that bow-tie wearing dog, real smart dog, real erudite dog. And he has an assistant named Sherman and they have a fictional contraption called the Wayback Machine. Because you get in this machine and you go way back to whatever event in history you want to be a witness at.

So this morning, go into your mental wayback machine with me, 3400 years. And there we are standing on the plains of Moab. And there's a Moabite standing next to us and he's gazing down into the valley below him where the children of Israel are spread out in their tents all surrounding this unusual structure known as the Tabernacle. The Moabite winds his way through the encampments of Israel and comes to the gate of that cloth courtyard and says to the gatekeeper as he looks at all the activity going on in the outer court, he says, hey, can I go inside? The gatekeeper said, well, what tribe are you from? If you're in any of the tribes of Israel, you're welcome. The Moabite said, well, no, actually, I'm not an Israelite at all.

I'm a Moabite. The gatekeeper would say, no, you cannot come in. And the Moabite then would say, well, what would I have to do to get inside? The gatekeeper smiled and said, well, you'd have to be born an Israelite, period. And so the Moabite hangs his head and he goes, I wish I would have been born an Israelite. He keeps looking and he sees a man dressed in a special robe bearing an animal that he kills and sacrifice and washes at a special place called the Laver and then goes inside a tent that is right in the central part of the courtyard into a hidden room. And the Moabite says, what's in there? The gatekeeper says, that's the holy place. Inside that room is a golden lampstand. There is a table with bread on it and there's a little golden altar.

The man that you just saw is a priest. And he walked in there and he's going to change the bread, trim the lamps and light the incense. The Moabite said, oh, I wish I would have been born an Israelite because I'd love to see inside that room. The gatekeeper says, well, even I can't go in that room. Again, you have to be a priest and only those who are from the tribe of Levi of the house of Aaron can go into that room. The Moabite says, oh, well, I wish I'd have been born an Israelite from the tribe of Levi in the house of Aaron.

Love to get that close to God. What else is in there? Asks the Moabite. The gatekeeper continues, well, beyond that room is a veil. And beyond that veil is a very special room called the Holy of Holies. And in that room is a golden chest.

And that is where God dwells among his people. The Moabite says, oh, if only I would have been born an Israelite and if only I would have been born of the tribe of Levi, the house of Aaron as a priest, I'd love to go into that room. The gatekeeper says, well, you couldn't go into that room. You see, only a special class of priests known as the high priest can enter that room.

And the Moabite says, well, I wish I would have been born an Israelite of the tribe of Levi of the house of Aaron and as a priest. And as a high priest, I would go into that room. I'd go every single day. I'd go three times a day just so I could get close to God.

The gatekeeper said, well, you couldn't do that either. Because even the high priest can't go in every day. Even the high priest can only go into that room once a year after elaborate personal sacrifice and only for a very short period of time.

Well, by this point, the Moabite just simply hangs his head, turns away with no hope of ever entering into the presence of God. Our little story illustrates and hopefully will help you understand why the breaking of bread was such a priority to the early church. Because it speaks of access.

Access. Suddenly God who was so far off is made close by something Jesus Christ did. Now the setting of Acts chapter 2 took place just a few weeks after the crucifixion of our Lord. So the early church would have well remembered that on the day that Jesus died, something happened in the temple.

Do you remember what ripped? The veil of the temple ripped in two from top to bottom. That was God's way of saying, you have access. There's no separation any longer. Anyone can come and have intimate fellowship with God through my son Jesus Christ. And the breaking of bread is that symbolic demonstration of access to God. Now Acts chapter 2 verse 42, just one single verse. This is the third week we've been in that verse.

It is a snapshot. Verse 42 is a snapshot, a one verse cameo of life in the early church and gives us the four marks that distinguished it. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Now we're going to consider this third mark this morning, the breaking of bread. And I'd like to give you four important characteristics of this one activity, breaking bread. Number one, breaking bread is a priority.

Please again notice they continued steadfastly. They continued steadfastly in breaking bread. Now there's a little bit of a debate as to what breaking bread actually means. Some say it refers to just the communion service. Others believe it refers to having a meal with someone.

I think it's best to see the answer as it's both. A beautiful tradition began to develop and was very popular in the early days of Christianity called the love feast. The love feast was a meal like a potluck where people would bring their food together and they would share it with each other. And in the middle or at the end of that meal, they would take the elements of communion. And that whole service was called breaking bread, breaking bread. Now some people have looked at the list in verse 42.

And when they come to this third mark, breaking bread, they're a little bit puzzled that this would make the top four. OK, we understand the apostles doctrine. I mean, you've got to be devoted to that. That's the Bible. You've got to understand what the Bible says in your life and fellowship.

Got to have that. But breaking bread. Why would that be listed third in the four important things that mark church life? I mean, for example, why wouldn't you say they continued steadfast in the apostles doctrine, fellowship and discipleship?

Or evangelism. Why breaking bread? I think there's a lot of answers to that, but I think it could be best stated this way. If you want to move forward successfully, you have to look backwards correctly.

You have to stay in touch. We have to stay in touch with our spiritual root system. If we forget the sacrifice of the cross, if we leave that behind, we're not going to be able to do anyone any good.

And may I say that churches that over time become very liberal in their approach are those who forget and fail to remember the death, the resurrection and the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our spiritual foundation is wrapped up in that. It's also a priority to the early church for the simple reason that Jesus commanded that we do it.

Right. He said, do this often in remembrance of me. Really, that's all that we need to do it. You don't have to, well, I'm going to pray about having communion. Why pray about it? Jesus said, do it. You know, there are some things in the Christian walk, some issues that aren't so black and white that we struggle to determine the will of God in. Well, here's one area where we never have to worry about what the will of God is. It's spelled out clearly.

Do this, do it often and do it in remembrance of me. So breaking bread is a priority. The second thing I'd like you to notice is that breaking bread has a pattern.

It's based on something else. It wasn't as if Jesus one day said, hey, John, go get me some bread, would you? Peter, bring in some wine. I have an idea.

Now, this was a pattern that was based on something they were familiar with. So turn to Luke chapter 22. Luke 22. And you'll notice in verse 14. I hear a few Bible pages turning.

That's a good thing. Verse 14 of Luke 22. When the hour had come, he sat down and the twelve apostles with him. And he said to them, with fervent desire, I've desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And then he took the cup and gave thanks. And he said, take this and divide it among yourselves.

For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, gave thanks. By the way, gave thanks is the Greek word eucharisteo. That's where we get the term the Eucharist. It means the giving of thanks. He gave thanks. Broken and he said to them, this is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, he also took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. So the breaking of bread has a pattern and the pattern is the Passover. A familiar meal that all Jewish people celebrated and still do. But the disciples certainly were familiar when they sat down in that upper room with Jesus.

They knew what was coming. It was a celebratory meal that looked back to Egypt and the deliverance of the Jewish people from the bondage of Pharaoh. But do you remember that Jesus one time said, do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets.

I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill, to fulfill. This is where that statement really comes into view for we are seeing how Jesus was the complete fulfillment of what the Passover initially was to speak of. Jesus in effect transformed the traditional Passover meal to speak of an infinitely greater rescue, what he would do on the cross.

Now a little explanation is helpful. The Passover meal was structured around four glasses of wine. It would begin where the host would take and the wine was red because it was symbolic of the blood of the lamb that was smeared on the entrances of the homes in Egypt. He'd lift up the wine glass and give the traditional Hebrew blessing.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech haolam boreh prehagafen. Blessed art thou, Lord God, King of the universe, who's given us the fruit of the vine. And the evening would commence. Then there would be the second glass of wine.

And the second glass of wine would then be lifted, blessed. And with that came the taking of the unleavened bread, what we would call matzah, cracker. And the unleavened bread was dipped in bitter herbs that spoke of bondage of their forefathers in Egypt.

And also dipped in this sweet, thick, fruity paste known as charoset, which reminded them of the mortar that their forefathers made for the cities in Egypt. And it would be dipped, eaten by the host and passed out to the rest. Then they would eat the meal. When the meal was done, the roasted lamb had been eaten, at the end of the meal the host would lift up the third glass of wine.

This was called the cup of redemption. Unleavened bread would be broken. And again the traditional Hebrew blessing.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech haolam hamotzi lechem min ha'eretz. Blessed are you, Lord God, King of the universe, who's given us bread from the earth. And that is verse 19, where after that Jesus broke it and said, this is my body, which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. I can just picture the jaws of all the disciples dropping at that point. Then that third glass of wine was held up, the blessing given. And then Jesus in verse 20, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.

So that's the pattern of it. And whereas the Passover meal spoke of the temporary physical deliverance out of slavery, the Lord's Supper would speak of the permanent spiritual deliverance from the slavery of sin. So when the early church committed themselves to the breaking of bread, the Lord's Supper and that meal, what they were doing is recreating that night of Passover in a very stripped down and easy to facilitate form. So the breaking of bread has a pattern. Now turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

I know we're covering a lot of ground and the only regret I have is in a swift study like this, we can't probe deep enough, we're just kind of skimming the surface. But here in 1 Corinthians 11, we understand that breaking bread has a purpose. It has a purpose. And we're only going to read a few verses.

It's a pretty hefty chapter that deals with this, but we want to look at just a few things. Breaking of the bread has a purpose. And there's a purpose by looking back to the past, there's a purpose by dealing with our present, and the third purpose is it takes us to the future. Past, present, and future is the purpose for communion.

First of all, the past. Look at verse 23, 1 Corinthians 11. For I received, oh and by the way, it is believed that 1 Corinthians was written before Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So this becomes the first and primary account of the Lord's Supper in scripture. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said take, eat, this is my body which is broken, do this in remembrance of me. So Paul understood that the first purpose for communion was to look back, retrospect, remember the cross, remember the sacrifice, remember the night Jesus gave this meal significance. This is the remembrance. Isn't it interesting that Jesus didn't say to his disciples ever, hey you guys, I want you to remember me so build a beautiful huge mausoleum over my grave to remember me. That wouldn't have done any good since he only occupied his grave for a weekend and left being resurrected. Nor did he ever say build a huge marble column or a statue where I preached the Sermon on the Mount so that every time people go to Galilee, they'll remember me. Now what he said was, I want you to remember me with a meal. Do this often.

When you do this, you look back and you remember. Now I just want to quickly say that as odd as it might seem, communion, which means the unity of believers together, has become so controversial through the centuries that it's actually divided the church. And that is because of the viewpoints that some have had toward communion. There is one belief called transubstantiation.

Now that's a huge word I know. Transubstantiation is the belief that these elements, the bread and the wine, literally become the actual flesh of Jesus and the blood of Jesus. They turn into blood and flesh, called transubstantiation. Cyril of Jerusalem believed that. Gregory of Nyssa believed that. John Chrysostom believed that. And that is and has been the position of the Roman Catholic Church.

They become the body and blood of Christ. Now the Reformers didn't believe that. A second viewpoint was postulated by Martin Luther called, here's another word, ready?

Consubstantiation. They don't turn into his body and blood, but there's a special presence of the body and blood with the elements, with the elements. There's a third viewpoint I happen to hold to that one, and that sees the elements as figurative or emblematic. This was the position of John Calvin.

This was the position of Ulrich Zwingli. And that is, we're not looking at the body and blood of Christ when we hold up the elements. They're like lenses.

We're looking through them to see Christ. It's an emblem. It's a figure of what he did. And people get all hung up and say, yeah, but Jesus said, this is my body. It is his body. Yeah, but Jesus also said, I am the door. Does that mean he's a piece of wood with hinges? No, that is a figure of speech, right?

Plainly so. That's easily observed simply to say, I am the way. I am the portal.

I am the means by which anybody and everybody can get to heaven and no other means. More on communion coming up on our next broadcast as we explore why it needs to be a priority in the fellowship of the church and what it has to do with our own growth as Christians. You're listening to Connect with Skip Weekend Edition, and I'll tell you how to get a copy of today's teaching here in just a moment. But before we go today, Skip wants to tell you about an incredible trip he has planned for you.

Nothing tops studying the scriptures in the real life locations where it all took place. That's why I'm eager to announce our upcoming trip to Israel in 2022. And if you register by November 30th using promo code ConnectIsrael, you'll receive $150 off the tour price.

Find out more about the tour at inspirationcruises.com slash c-a-b-q. Thanks, Skip. Now for a copy of today's study, On Your Mark, Get Set, Grow Part 3, it's available for just $4 plus shipping when you call us at 1-800-922-1888 or when you visit connectwithskip.com. We'll continue to examine the role of communion on our next broadcast. So join us right here on Connect with Skip Weekend Edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, a connection, a connection. Connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.