To worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness signifies worshiping Him in the absence of sin and it is only by
partaking of the offering which we are required to bring when appearing before
the Lord that one becomes holy. Similar to the Old Testament regulations which
states, “Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread
that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. They shall eat
those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify
them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy” (Exodus
29:32-33).
What presents us holy in order to
have fellowship with the Father and the Son and with one another is the
sacrificial body and blood of Jesus Christ in the form of the unleavened bread
and the wine, with Jesus Christ our High Priest interceding on our behalf. And
so the admonition is; “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to
wise men; judge for your-selves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not the communion (fellowship) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion (fellowship) of the body of Christ? For we,
though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1Corinthians
10:14-17).
Therefore, anyone who is unworthy
of partaking of the communion should not be a part of the worship service. For
we have been duly instructed saying: “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep
company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the
sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners,
or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
But now I have written to you not to keep
company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or
an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner --- not even to eat
with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are
outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God
judges: Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person" (1
Corinthians 5: 9-13).
Therefore, to portray the church,
the body of Christ, the congregation of the saints as a sanctuary for sinners
is erroneous for we have been further instructed saying; “ Do not be unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And
what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial?
Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
And what agreement has the temple
of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God: As God has said:
"I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they
shall be My people." Therefore " Come out from among them and be
separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.
I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the
LORD Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
The church is therefore
commissioned to; “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
It is those who have gladly
received the word and is baptized that are allowed to have fellowship in the
breaking of bread and prayer, those who have not gone through this process are
not supposed to be a part of the worship service. One should not confuse the
service of the outer court which is to go and make disciples of all nations, with
the service in the inner court which is to have fellowship with the Father.
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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