True or False – According to the Bible.... - In the early church, specific words or phrases were taught and were to be repeated during the Lord’s Supper. - There is no Biblical evidence that the symbol of the Cross was used by the early church on places of worship and worn by believers to identify themselves as Christians. - The symbol of the fish – “ICTHUS,” was used by the early church on places of worship, placed by believers on homes or objects and worn by believers to identify themselves as Christians. - The symbol of the dove was used by early Christians to identify themselves as Christians.
Dear Prayer Warriors, Each day of this week leading up to Easter, I will post a series of true and false questions (four each day,) with answers appearing below. Like Christmas, Easter is a celebration in which Biblical truths, apocryphal teachings and man-made legends are all taught, side by side, without distinguishing between what is scriptural and what are unsubstantiated stories. The object of these questions is for you to test yourself--not a test of obscure Bible trivia, but a test of whether you are holding to Biblical revelation or to myths and legends. You should ask yourself, “If I have believed this myth, what other myths do I believe concerning God the Holy Spirit’s revelation about Christ’s arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and the actions of the early church?” The goal is that you will be challenged to faithfully read and study the Holy Scriptures and base your convictions on the holy, eternal, inerrant written Word of God. True or False - According to the Bible....
21. In the early church a specific liturgy was taught and was to be repeated verbatim during the Lord’s supper. False – In Bible teaching, we differentiate between historical revelation (what God or man is revealed as doing in Holy Scripture) and doctrinal revelation (what God commands man to do or not do in Holy Scripture.) God the Holy Spirit clearly reveals to us the events of the Last Supper. A full description of what took place at the actual taking of the Last Supper by Christ and the Disciples is given in three of the Gospels: Matthew 26:26-30 26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." 30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:22-26 22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is My body." 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 "Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." 26 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Luke 22:17 -2- 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes." 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. The taking of what has become known as “The Lord’s Supper” by the Church is reinforced by God the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
The reiteration by God the Holy Spirit of the one-time sacrifice of Christ makes taking the Lord’s Supper an act of remembrance, not a re-sacrifice of Christ. This is also clearly taught in Holy Scripture. Hebrews 9:24-26 24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
The historical revelation of the Last Supper and subsequent teachings on the Last Supper, by God the Holy Spirit, contain many doctrinal revelations. Examples of this are: a. It becomes an ordinance of the Church until Christ’s return. b. It is done in remembrance of Christ – e.g. that it is a symbol, not a re-sacrifice of Christ. c. It is a visual reminder of the substitutionary sacrifice and death of Christ for the Church for the forgiveness of sins. d. The breaking of the bread symbolizes Christ’s body. e. The cup of wine symbolizes Christ’s blood. And more - time and space do not permit a full teaching of this ordinance. However, certain spiritual phrases, a specific liturgy and other elements beyond the bread and the wine are not commanded. The Lord’s Supper is not violated or annulled if one varies from a specific, exact phrase-such as the use of the King James Bible phraseology or the use of a specific church liturgy. Nor is there any mention in Scripture (or any primary source first century Christian documents) of the ringing of a bell, incense, an altar or other symbols used by some churches with the Lord’s Supper. This is significant, because if we decide that all that is said and done at the Last Supper is a command, then we will be washing each other’s feet, we will be reclining at a table - not sitting in a chair or pew in an auditorium, and we will be taking the Lord’s supper in a room of a house, etc..
22. There is no Biblical evidence that the symbol of the Cross was used by the early church on places of worship and worn by believers to identify themselves as Christians. True – There are no Scriptural references to the use of the cross as a symbol to identify oneself as a Christian. There are no primary-source first century documents teaching or referencing the use of the cross as a Christian symbol.
23. The symbol of the Fish – ICTHUS was used by the early church on places of worship, placed by believers on homes or objects and worn by believers to identify themselves as Christians False – There are no Scriptural references to the use of the “FISH” as a symbol to identify oneself as a Christian. There are no primary-source first century documents teaching or referencing the use of the “FISH” as a Christian symbol. This symbol has been found carved into stone in Biblical locales but there exists no primary-source documents from the first century to identify it as a Christian symbol. There exists no proof that it was carved by Christians.
24. The symbol of the dove was used by early Christians to identify themselves as Christians. False – There are no Scriptural references to the use of the dove as a symbol to identify oneself as a Christian. There are no primary-source first century documents teaching or referencing the use of the dove as a Christian symbol.
By His Mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon - Director Grace Community International
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