The Life of Solomon, 1 Kings

Whether it’s sports, financial planning, or the Christian life – we’ve all heard the admonition, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” Everyone likes the idea of finishing well, think it is the right priority. As Christians, we know we started in our new life as babes – weak and ignorant. The years go by and we grow stronger – we pray – maturing in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit. We will finish well – if we are His. Not without defeat, discouragement, and marked by sin – yet He will preserve us so we will persevere! As we look at the life of Solomon, we see a man who started strong, yet finished with one the saddest commentaries on life ever written. Here’s a brief overview from 1 Kings, contrasting the favor of God and the judgment of God on Solomon. 

What is the Lord's Supper?

What is the Lord’s Supper?

The most detailed description of The Lord's Supper is in 1 Corinthians 11. In verses 17 - 22, Paul rebukes the congregation for selfish behavior as they enjoy the dinner, which is referred to as “the Lord’s Supper.”

Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. There must, indeed, be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore, when you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s Supper. For at the meal, each one eats his own supper ahead of others. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! Don’t you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you look down on the church of God and embarrass those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you for this!

In verses 23 - 27, he describes the meaning of the supper.

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord.

Note: in verses 17 - 22, it's obvious the saints were taking part in a meal, likely the main meal of the day. The "breaking of bread" was more than breaking actual bread, although it included that. As Acts 2:46 reveals, it was a phrase that referred to a meal: "Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart." The meal commemorating the death and return of the Lord would be cause for the children of God to have sincere gladness in their hearts.

Then, in verse 25, Paul notes that "after supper" Christ took the cup. After supper, the Lord’s Supper - the main meal of the day which included breaking of bread.

Peter described (2 Pet. 2:12-13) false brothers, wicked people, who feasted with the saints - they took the supper in an unworthy manner, as Paul said. Jude made the same comment, noting these wicked people partook of the love feasts of the saints (verse 12-13).

The modern practice of a piece of unleavened bread and a shot glass of juice or wine began in the 4th century when Constantine gave permission for Christians to gather and gave them large buildings (pagan temples and bath houses) to meet in. Large crowds made actual meals difficult and several councils (Council of Laodicea (363–364 AD), Council of Hippo (393 AD) & Council of Carthage (397 AD), and Council of Trullo (692 AD)) forbade bringing food inside the "church buildings". How could sincere gladness of heart come from a rigidly ritualistic eating a crumb of bread and a very small amount of cheap wine? Later, in the papist religion, the wine would be withheld from the common folk.

If Christians are to be people of the Book, we should be about ordering our meetings according to the Book, and not according to traditions of men that we have been taught.

The practice was not abolished overnight but was suppressed through a series of regional church councils:

• Council of Laodicea (363–364 AD): This council issued Canon 28, which explicitly forbade eating or setting up couches for dining inside church buildings. This forced the agape meal outside the main place of worship.
• Canon 28. It is not permitted to hold love feasts, as they are called, in the Lord's Houses, or Churches, nor to eat and to spread couches in the house of God.

• Council of Hippo (393 AD) & Council of Carthage (397 AD): Led heavily by North African bishops like Saint Augustine, these councils banned the clergy from participating in these feasts and strictly prohibited the general public from holding them inside churches, unless no other space was available.
• Canon XLII. THAT no bishops or clerics are to hold feasts in churches, unless perchance they are forced thereto by the necessity of hospitality as they pass by. The people, too, as far as possible, are to be prohibited from attending such feasts.

• Council of Trullo (692 AD): This major eastern council issued Canon 74, reinforcing the strict penalties—including excommunication—for anyone who attempted to host a love feast inside a church sanctuary. This effectively delivered the final blow to the tradition in the East.
• Canon 74. It is not permitted to hold what are called Agapæ, that is love-feasts, in the Lord's houses or churches, nor to eat within the house, nor to spread couches. If any dare to do so let him cease therefrom or be cut off.

Each of these councils are held dear by the papist religion. They show themselves to be men of high position (who) exercised power over them. It must not be like that among you who claim Christ (Matt. 20:25-27). Let us gently work to return to the Biblical model of the Lord’s Supper, sharing our lives and what God has blessed us with, so with sincerity and gladness of heart, we will remember the Son of God and all He has done for us. 

Proverbs 10:17-32; The Righteous will not be Removed.

The kingdom Christ has prepared for us cannot be shaken, He is our rock and refuge and ever-present help in every circumstance. We have come, present tense, to Mount Zion and the city of the living God! Because our Lord and His kingdom are secure, we are secure.

As Paul observed: we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body (2 Cor. 4:7-10). We may be hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down; we cannot be removed from the hand of God that holds us securely in the eternal Kingdom that cannot be shaken. You must have Christ! 

Proverbs 8:22-36; Wisdom Leads to Christ!

A proper hermeneutic will lead us to a correct understanding of Scripture.

Kingdom and Law: Theonomy in the Scales of Scripture

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Kingdom and Law

Proverbs 7 - Listen and Live!

The point of this chapter is to exhort all people to listen to the Lord and live. Gill: Listen, “not the commandments of the law only, but the commandments of Christ; and even the doctrines of Christ are so called, as faith in him, and love to the saints, (1 John 3:23; John 14:21,23); which is the way to live comfortably, peaceably, pleasantly, and honourably.” In this context, as in many places in Scripture, listening is more than hearing; it conveys the idea of obedience; that is the goal. Solomon’s warning is that the harlot offers pleasure but delivers death. 

Proverbs 6:1-19; Warnings From Heaven

There is wisdom from God for everyone – redeemed or not. Bridges: “So graciously has our God made his book, not only our guide to heaven, but the directory of our common life.” Those who know not the redeeming love of God will find their lives better if they heed the wisdom presented in Proverbs and the rest of the Bible. That will not save their souls, but it will make this life better and it may make them wise unto salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus. For us who are children of God, our desire should be to walk as children of the light – according to the wisdom revealed to us in Proverbs and the rest of the Bible. This won’t reduce time in Purgatory – that being a fictional place – but it be pleasing to our Father. And what child doesn’t want to please his Father?