10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
10250 North Freeway @ West
Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
Peculiar
Misunderstandings
Written by Dr.
Lester Hutson
Copyright
- Lester Hutson - 1989
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced
without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
Message #19
MISUNDERSTANDING
WHY WINE IS USED IN THE LORD'S SUPPER
Text * I Corinthians 11:25
In our zeal to be true to the word of God, we sometimes become very divisive. Many issues are important, but they should not splinter and fragment true brethren, who are so near to each other in practice and in other doctrinal areas. Yes, there are areas where differences demand a breach of fellowship. Certainly God's people, who are committed to his word, will find themselves unable to fellowship with those who deny the inspiration of the scriptures, those who compromise the deity of Christ, those who compromise blood redemption, those who circumvent the Lord's church, and even those whose moral standards become a reproach to the cause of Christ. But, in spite of lesser differences, there should remain some respect, tolerance, and an understanding spirit among true brethren who believe God's word, who believe and teach salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone, who are committed to the work of God through his local church, and who are committed to godliness and holiness in life. It is true that their compatibility of interpretation of certain passages will determine just how warm and close the fellowship can be, yet differences of a lesser nature should not generate cold hostility and open warfare among true brethren.
Yet, it does. A sad commentary among many brethren is the fact that they view and treat their own close brethren as their greatest spiritual enemies while almost totally ignoring many spiritual enemies of clandestine proportions. Some brethren almost never deal with a menagerie of devastating spiritual enemies. In fact, they insist these issues are social or political and should not be discussed in the pulpit. I'm speaking of spiritual enemies like humanism, pornography, abortion, communism, baptismal or other works type regeneration, evolution, drug abuse, deviate sexual activity, and the indescribably powerful tool for the advancement of evil which television has become. The silence of many brethren on these and other issues of tremendous magnitude is thundering, while at the same time they rip and tear at each other with the vigor of a "holy war". At many a pastors' conference and fellowship, the main themes are vicious attacks on brethren who are 98% or more in total agreement, including basic or fundamental issues. They tear into their brethren over minor differences on mission's approach and commitment; over exactly when Jesus is coming again; over which ministries a church should or shouldn't have; over whether or not churches should have special promotions, missions questionnaires, or fellowship halls attached to the main auditorium; and even over whether the offering plate is to be passed or set at the back for people to drop in as they come and go. And, what is the main concern of many a church when it comes to spiritual evils? It is not those clandestine enemies of denial of God and his word and rejection of every fiber of morality which threaten to destroy the very roots of Christianity. No their hackles and defenses are up at churches almost like themselves; churches who are as orthodox as can be on the basic fundamentals; but who don't see eye to eye with them on the interpretation of some scripture, or who are not approaching church life exactly as they are on some extraneous detail here or there. Their main attacks are levied at these very close spiritual kinsmen, and they will have almost no dealings with them. Even if they do, those dealings are very formal and cool.
Surely there should be enough latitude among true brethren to allow for some differences of opinion on some of the liner details of the christian faith. If total agreement in all areas is essential to fellowship, then none of us will get along for long, even with ourselves. Growth is change; and as we grow, we change or positions slightly. So none of us see things today exactly as we did a few days ago. And, praise God that we don't. We all need improvement. Thank God that it is still occurring in us, and that we're not locked in to some area in need with no growth occurring. May God help each of us to learn who our friends are and who our real enemies are. And, may we work with our friends, endeavoring in the spirit of love to understand one another. May we be able in a mature way to frankly and openly share our position on various issues where we differ without anger, bitterness, attacks, sarcastic cuts, innuendos, and ugly statements or implications. Yes, we are going to differ, and our particular position on a less weighty issue is going to be precious and important to us, and rightfully so; but let us allow a dear brother room to differ without becoming his enemy. I'm not speaking here of fundamentals; I'm speaking of the finer details where a good man can take one position or the other and still be very orthodox and committed to the cause of Christ. When it comes to soul damning and church destroying errors which undermine the very fundamentals of the faith, let us rise up in holy war and fight them with all our might. But, let's learn to distinguish between our brethren and our enemies; and never attack our friends as though they were the enemy.
One area where this has been repeatedly done in both directions is the issue of what should be used in the cup of the Lord's Supper. Few issues have become more hostile and divided more near spiritual kinsmen than this issue.
I. THERE ARE TWO BASIC POSITIONS ON WHAT SHOULD BE USED IN THE LORD'S SUPPER CUP:
A. Many godly brethren and churches use grape juice in the Lord's Supper cup:
1. They do not believe the element in the cup should be intoxicating.
2. It is their opinion that some of the wine mentioned in the Bible was not intoxicating. Thus, they do not think wine, in the sense of intoxicating wine, is necessarily the intent or implication of the mentions of wine in the Bible.
3. They just do not believe the Lord took intoxicating wine, and thus they reject its use in the Lord's Supper.
B. On the other hand, there are those of us who use wine in the Lord's Supper cup:
1. It is our opinion that wine is not wine if it lacks the power to intoxicate.
2. We are not drunkards and do not practice social drinking.
3. Though we very much believe in our position of wine in the Lord's Supper, we do not consider fundamental, orthodox brethren who use grape juice to be our enemies. We do not use wine to be rebellious or antagonistic against dear brethren. Instead, we use wine in the Lord's Supper cup because we are sincerely convinced it is the element taught by the sciptures.
4. It is our hope that brethren who do not agree with our position on the Lord's Supper cup will, in view of what is presented here, no longer consider us to be their enemies; and we hope the material here will show where we are coming from, and cause brethren to realize our position of wine in the Lord's Supper cup is not a peculiar position, but will see that there is ample biblical reason to adopt this position as we have done.
II. NOW LET US SHARE SOME OF THE REASONS WHICH HAVE LEAD US TO BELIEVE THAT WINE IS THE CORRECT ELEMENT FOR THE LORD'S SUPPER CUP:
A. One of the main reasons we use wine in the Lord's Supper is our belief that Jesus personally used wine when he originated the Lord's Supper:
1. An examination of the New Testament account of the origin of the Lord's Supper says that Jesus personally came together with his apostles on the night before his crucifixion. Matthew 26-27 is one accounting of the events. Their initial purpose for this gathering was to keep the passover, Matthew 26:17. Upon instruction from Jesus, the apostles went and prepared the passover meal, Matthew 26:19. In view of the fact that Jesus came not to destroy, but to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17), it is our belief that the apostles, in preparing for the passover, used the legal and proper elements required for the supper.
2. We believe from Exodus 12 and 13 that we know what those elements were. God instructed Israel to keep the passover yearly, Exodus 12:14. As no leaven was allowed in the first passover, God commanded that no leaven could ever be used in a memorial keeping of the passover. His words in Exodus 12:15 were, "Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day pe shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel." He continued in Exodus 12:19-20, "seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of lsrael, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread." He further fortified in Exodus 13:7, "Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters." It was against the law to consume anything leavened or with leavening during the time of the passover. Anyone who did consume anything leavened during this time broke the law.
3. We believe this ban against leavening during the passover precluded the use of grape juice or any fruit of the vine short of wine. We say this because any state of the fruit of the vine short of wine has the leaven still in it. Leaven is a live bacteria, like yeast, capable of producing a chemical reaction in organic material. Natural to the skin of grapes is a bacteria or leaven. It is impossible to extract the juice of the grape without the leaven becoming a part of it. And, once the juice of the grape is infected with this natural leaven, it is impossible to remove it apart from the chemical process of fermentation. This microscopic leaven can not be strained out, nor will pasteurizing or cooking remove it. Only fermentation will separate the leaven and the impurities of grape juice. That fruit of the vine,which this chemical process leaves, is called wine.
We know from Matthew 26:29 that it was some state of the fruit of the vine which was used in the passover cup. It is our belief that it was wine since wine is the only state of the fruit of the vine free of leaven. We believe grape juice would have violated God's requirement that the feast of the passover be leaven free.
4. We know that when Jesus sat down with his apostles on that night before he was crucified, he partook of the right passover elements. If our contention that all of the food and drink of the passover was leaven-free is correct, then we believe Jesus took unleavened bread and wine at that passover supper.
5. We also know that Jesus took the food and beverage of the passover and with them originated the new order which we call the Lord's Supper. That's clear from Matthew 26:17-29. Now, if the passover cup contained wine, then we believe the Lord's Supper cup Jesus used contained wine, for he used the passover cup and what was in it to originate the Lord's Supper.
6. So when we ask ourselves what we should use in our Lord's Supper cup, we immediately ask what Jesus used. We believe he used the proper and right element, and that we should use whatever he used. We are convinced that he used nothing short of fermented wine that night when "he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying "Drink ye all of it," Matthew 26:27. Since we believe wine is what Jesus used, wine is what we use. We sincerely hope our friends can see that our position on this matter is not so "far out," or peculiar as it may at first appear.
B. Another reason which brings us to the use of wine in the Lord's Supper is the practice of the church at Corinth:
1. Whichever position one takes on what Jesus used in the cup on that night when he originated the Lord's Supper, church practice, when seen later in the New Testament, should bear it out and harmonize with it. If we take the position that Jesus used intoxicating wine, then any case of a church observing the Lord's Supper should show it using intoxicating wine.
2. As we look throughout the following pages of the Bible for an illustration of what a church was using in the Lord's Supper cup, we find only one. It is the case of the church at Corinth in I Corinthians 11. This church was praised by the apostle Paul for observing the Lord's Supper and using the proper food and drink, (I Corinthians 11:2); but they were rebuked for making a common and gluttoneous meal of it, I Corinthians 11:19-22.
3. The key point here is that we get the New Testament's only glimpse at which element a church was using in the cup. Verse 21 says what they were using in the cup had made some of them "drunken." This tells us they were using intoxicating wine. No state of the fruit of the vine short of wine would have intoxicated them.
4. So, we feel our position on wine in the Lord's Supper cup is further strengthened by this example. We find the Bible illustration harmonizing with and bearing out our contention that Jesus used wine in his Lord's Supper cup.
So again, we hope our brethren can see where we're coming from, and realize our position is not without foundation. By taking this position, we are not trying to be antagonistic, peculiar, or different. We are not teaching people to drink, nor compromising separation standards. To the contrary, we earnestly believe wine is the biblical element for the Lord's Supper cup.
C. Another very important reason why we use wine in the Lord's Supper cup is the picture that is painted by what is in the cup:
1. Jesus himself said, "This cup is the New Testament in my blood: This do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me," I Corinthians 11:24. The drink within the cup ever stands as a testimonial of the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on the cross whereby sinners have the remission of sins. There's no question as to the picture of the cup.
2. Once the blood of Christ is brought into clear focus, it becomes obvious that nothing short of his pure, innocent, and sinless blood could produce the remission of sins. Hebrews 10:4 says, "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." All men are sinners; and not one man could, by his blood, atone for another, Romans 3:9. Although, Jesus "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," I Peter 2:22. He was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin," Hebrews 4:15. And, our perfect, sinless Saviour went to that cross and laid down his life for us, shedding his pure blood that we might have the remission of sins, for as Hebrews 9:22 says, "without shedding of blood is no remission." But, by shedding his blood, we are forgiven even as Ephesians 1:7 says, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." And, I Peter 1:18-19 says, "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition for your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
3. Now we are keenly aware that every time we put the cup of the Lord's Supper to our lips, we're picturing the blood of Christ. We're saying to all who see that our sins have been forgiven by him who shed his precious, pure, and sinless blood for us. The cup testifies of the blood of our Saviour.
4. We do not believe we should use an impure element in the cup to testify of the pure blood of our Saviour. As we've shown, we believe any condition or state of the fruit of the vine short of wine is full of impurities. Only fermentation can remove the dress, the leaven, and other impurities. Although, the chemical action of fermentation gets rid of them all, and leaves nothing but wine which we believe to be "the pure blood of the grape," Deuteronomy 32:14.
So, we do not take grape juice with its impurities to testify of the blood of Jesus; we take wine, that state of the fruit of the vine from which the impurities have been removed.
5. So, once again we hope all who consider our use of wine in the Lord's Supper cup will realize this is not a "way out," groundless position. Brethren may not agree with our position, but neither should they view us as evil or peculiar for embracing such a position. We obviously believe it has strong biblical support.
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"