One point before getting into this article. There is one text, that needs our attention. Here is the text: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). Something does not have be put in the form of a “command,” for it to be a commandment! Paul said, “the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord!” When writing about the Lord’s Supper, he wrote: “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, …” (1Cor. 11:22). This is not in the form of a commandment, but it is the authority about the Lord’s Supper. May I point out, that these words rule out “cornbread and buttermilk” in the Lord’s Supper! Nothing else is the Lord’s Supper, other than that which the apostle wrote in the following text which followed.
So, we are going in search of what day the Lord’s Supper is to be taken! Is there a commandment given, as to what day the Lord’s Supper is to be taken? The answer is no! Not one of the inspired writers of the New Testament stated what day the Lord’s Supper is to be taken! This being true, how do we determine when we have authority to take the Lord’s Supper; that is if we have any authority. If we should follow Martin Luther’s method of knowing what we have authority to do, we are free to take the Lord’s Supper any day we please! Remember his view was: “If the New Testament does not forbid it, then, that is authority for it.” However, let us sweep the floor, of what we have been doing, clean it, so that nothing is on the page of authority! Here we will then add only what we see, through the writings of the inspired men who wrote the New Testament; thus, giving us examples of the activities of the church which operated under the oversight of the apostles. What the church did, with the approval of the apostles, then, the church today has the same authority!
Yes, it is true that the church did things which the apostles condemned; thus, even though the church did these things, as they were not approved by the apostles of Christ, then, there is no authority for us to do the same things! Someone may point out, that the church during the first century did miraculous things, this does not mean, that we can do the same thing! Why, you ask? Simply because there are no apostles to lay hands on us to impart these gifts. As there are no living apostles of Christ, then, it is impossible for us to have these gifts! You cannot do what you do not have the power to do! If we were to say, we want such gifts, an apostle would reply to us: “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God” (Acts 8:21). Yes, there is much that was done in the first century by the church, that we have no power to do! It is a disgrace, to see churches who would have us believe, that they have such power, but when the real test is made, the evidence comes up empty! Therefore, in learning what the church did, with the approvel of the “ambassadors for Christ,” (2 Cor. 5:20), let us keep our minds on that which the church may do today!
Let us now see what those activities were! Let us go back to the beginning of the church. This takes us back to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter two. This is the birth of the church, the called out of Christ. Having been baptized by the authority of the apostles (Acts 2:41); we see them doing, as Luke wrote: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). So, what was the first thing the church did; she worshipped the God who had saved them! This is the first activity of the church today! All other things the church may do, with the approval of the “ambassadors for Christ,” flow from this! The apostle Paul wrote this: “Let all things be done unto edifying” (1 Cor. 14:26). Edifying the church is the first “work,” if it may be called a work, is to “edify” the church! Here we are speaking, as the apostles spoke, as to what the church may do under the oversight of the apostles.
As we think on these things, let us remember, that the apostle Paul wrote: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). We are not in the guessing game but into the authority of the New Testament! We are searching the scriptures to learn what is true!
Here we have searched to learn what was the first thing the church did under the oversight of the apostles of Christ! May we do anything else and be pleasing to God? Therefore, the church today has New Testament Authority to worship God, while edifying each other!
Frank R. Williams