In our recent studies we have seen that we are left on this planet after salvation to "suffer for his sake" for the purpose of deploying the power of God that is the Word of God into our experience.

The degree to which we share in this suffering that causes us to be conformed to Jesus will be the degree to which we share in His glory 1Pet 4:13; because all things are for our benefit 2Cor 4:15;

We express our reciprocal love for Him when we concentrate on him through the celebration of the ritual of the of the Lord's Table. Luke 22:19,

By suffering the death of the cross he was obedient to the Father's plan Phil 2:8; that resulted in his humanity being exalted above every created being, such that, every created being will ultimately bow down to him. Phil 2:9-10;

He completely and perfectly fulfilled the directive will of the Father by unilaterally providing a way of salvation for all men. Rom 5:8; as the "lamb slain from the foundation of the world" Rev 13:8; KJV John 1:29;

While we were enemies of God, God demonstrated his love for us by giving his uniquely born Son "monogenes" who entered the world through the virgin birth. John 3:16

As a result, God is free to reconcile mankind from their fallen state of depravity without compromising his perfect righteousness and justice because TLJC willingly laid down his life for us as our substitute. John 15:13; 1John 3:16

This is why believing in TLJC is the only way to a relationship with God John 14:6, salvation Acts 4:12 and eternal life John 3:16;

Anyone can appropriate this Grace gift of salvation which is secured by the Power of God John 10:26-29; simply by believing in TLJC 1Cor 15:3-4 in the same way that Paul and Silas instructed the Philippian Jailer who asked "what Must I do to be saved?"

Their response recorded In Acts 16:31

Anyone, any time, anywhere can become saved in a moment in time simply by believing in TLJC privately in their thoughts only.

TLJC left his friends, the members of The Royal Family of God, this one and only ritual in the church age The Lord's table which we are mandated to observe in remembrance of Him.

The mandate is found in 1Cor 11:24; in the second person plural present active imperative of the Greek word " poieo" that where Paul references TLJC's own instruction found in Luke 22:19-20;

An expanded translation of 1Cor 11:24 taking into consideration the tense mood and voice of "poieo" would be " Keep on doing this in remembrance of me"

As a result of this mandate, the Lord's Table is one and only ritual of the Church Age and it is a test of our capacity to concentrate on our Lord Jesus Christ through the Bible Doctrine that is resident in our soul as we partake of the elements that represent his work on our behalf.

We have these instructions for partaking of the Lord's table from the Apostle Paul starting in verse 26 of 1Cor 11.

1Cor 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.

We understand from this that we are to evaluate ourselves in the light of the word, privately in our thinking, in the privacy of our priesthood, and when we find we are outside of the word, we apply the first problem solving device, and simply acknowledge the sin as described in 1 John 1:9;

If we acknowledge our sins he is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Having examined ourselves, and taken appropriate action, we are then instructed to partake of the elements, the bread and the cup.

The bread which represents his body in which he bore the sins and the judgment for our sins and the sins of the whole world, past present and future.

1Cor 11:23 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;
1Cor 11:24 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.

eat the bread

The cup which represents his substitutionary spiritual death on the cross which purchased the freedom from spiritual death and eternal condemnation of everyone who believes in him.

1Cor 11:25 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.

drink cup


Start 7/3/11

In our study of spiritual self esteem last time we concluded with the principle that Spiritual self-esteem is confidence and focus on God's solutions for all problems.

We saw that God's solution for our sin was the person and work of TLJC that provided the rebound technique rather than being focused on our sins and operating in the arrogance of self justification or guilt.

Our personal sins are never as important as what our Lord Jesus Christ did about our sins on the cross.

There are times when we will fail miserably and we may even shock ourselves or others but God is never shocked. Spiritual self-esteem does not resort to some emotional response or some human viewpoint remedy such as penance.

Spiritual self-esteem has confidence that after rebound the believer has completely recovered fellowship with God and is filled with the Holy Spirit no matter how he feels because how you feel is never the issue; the issue is what the Bible says.

Spiritual self-esteem emphasizes the permanent reality of the Word of God as it is recalled through the faith-rest drill over the temporary reality of one's problems, adversities, disasters and stressful situations.

Spiritual self-esteem has grace orientation rather than environmental orientation. Too often, we think that our happiness depends on our environment or our circumstances. Our environment is not the issue in life our choices are and ultimately in the final analysis our decisions create our environment.

Spiritual self-esteem is doctrinal orientation rather than empirical orientation. Bible doctrine must be more real to us than what we see, touch, hear, taste, and smell.