My Theological Journey: From Hyper-Calvinist to Reformed Charismatic.

In the autumn of 1969 I became a Christian, I was raised in a Christian home and attended the Gospel Standard Strict Baptist Chapel. At the time I became a Christian I had been involved in left wing politics for some time, and I was considering stopping going to chapel but one day I was forced to listen to the sermon (I used to take a book to chapel to read but was unable to read it, on this occasion) and as I listened I realised that the preacher had something that I did not have. I began to attend every service I could and before long I was seeking an assurance that I was amongst god's elect. This was because in the circles I was raised in evangelism was taught to be a denial of the sovereignty of God, we were taught that we needed god to reveal himself to us. Sermons were largely of an experiential nature, and they tended to be very introspective and sobering. The view of God as exalted and sovereign was distorted because of an almost fatalistic view of predestination. Salvation is wholly of God's grace, and the whole initiative of salvation comes from God facts which I still agree with but this was distorted in such a way that evangelism was not allowed and consequently the invitation to believe was never extended. The preaching of the apostles was not to serve as an example for today's ministry. The result was an emphasis on experience and the plight of man that lead many into spiritual depression because the marks of election were all thought to be found in spiritual experience. The doctrine of election became a sombre reality and something you wished to know whether you were included in. The way election was preached fostered doubt whereas the biblical teaching about predestination fosters belief, assurance and joy.
Soon after my baptism a few of the other young people at the chapel questioned me about how I could accept the articles of faith,surrounding evangelism and the free offer of the gospel. I began to think more deeply and the more I thought the more uncomfortable I became with what I had been taught. At the same time I began to read non-strict baptist authors like C.H.Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, J I Packer, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John stott and Francis Schaeffer. As I became acquainted with a more Biblical Reformed position I began to see the problems with what I had believed. I began to realise that a lot of what I had accepted was based on spiritual experience and not the word of God.

In 1974 I left the Gospel Standard Strict Baptists and went to be a helper at the English branch of L'abri in Greatham, Hants., here I was able to get my theology and worldview clarified. But it was also here that my very negative view of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement was to be challenged. I had developed a fear of experience in spirituality in case I was mislead again. This made me very harsh in my criticisms of Pentecostals and charismatics, this was challenged by one of the staff workers, who challenged me to be gain more knowledge of what these movements were really saying. This person himself was opposed to charismatic teaching but felt I went too far. I remember that on my next day off, I caught the train into Guildford and went to the Christian bookshop to purchase some books by Pentecostal/Charismatic authors. When I started to read these books the first thing that struck me was how orthodox in their theology they were. I still did not know how to handle their teaching about the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the use of the gifts of the Spirit for today.
In 1975 I moved to France to help lead the work of French L'Abri, here I was to encounter an Australian lady who was a very good thinker she told me that if the intellectual concepts that I believed were coupled with the empowering of the Holy Spirit and the use of spiritual gifts the church would be enriched. I could not comprehend at the time what she was saying. but I continued to think about these things. Then on one of my vacations I went to spend a couple of days with a Christian Philosopher friend and his Christian artist wife, while I was there they had a homegroup from their church meet in their home. it was at this homegroup meeting that I first encountered the gift of tongues. This gave me a lot to think about because in every other setting I had been able to question how intellectually able people were but here I was in a situation where I found that those leading this group had taught me so much over a period of years. soon after this one of my colleagues at Swiss L'Abri mentioned to me that he had been reading a book by Michael Green called "I believe in the Holy Spirit" he asked me to read it because it challenged our understanding of spiritual gifts for today. as I read this book I began to realise that my cessationist theology had been wrong. Now I began to move gently towards a more charismatic position. What I need to emphasise at his point is that I was checking out everything against the word of God. The more I looked at scripture i realised that my cessationism was very similar to my hyper- Calvinism both rejected the current working of God in the same way today as he had worked in New testament days, and both theologies had imported categories that were foreign to the scriptures. This made me begin to think through very carefully my theological position.
In 1980 I started studying at London Bible College (London School of Theology) and became the student pastor of Stanmore Baptist Church, both college and the church forced me to think more deeply about the issues of the gifts of the Spirit. Both at church and college we had people ranging from strongly non-charismatic to those who were quite extreme in their charismatic ideas. This forced me more and more into seeing what the Bible has to say. It was not long before I realised that my former cessationist views had been based on a false interpretation of Scrip[ture. I now moved to an acceptance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit because of the authority of the Word of God in Scripture. Since then I have tried to articulate a theology of Word and Spirit. Both as a Pastor and an elder I have firmly stood on the word of God in regard to the work of the Holy Spirit.
I have wrestled with a number of theological issues but have never been satisfied with anything less than a biblically based Reformed Theology and worldview, which does justice to the teaching of the whole of scripture. I have ben tempted by some Arminian theologies, but I always come back to the fact that God is Sovereign over all things. When I studied for my masters degree at Nazarene Theological College I wrote my dissertation on the development of the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the title of which is "from Purity to Power"   that is also online on my blog.
Currently I am working on several issues concerning the development of a theology of word and Spirit. Although Francis Schaeffer would not have agreed with all that I have said in this short essay, one of his book titles sums it all up for me, He(God) is there, and He is not silent.

Worship and Worldview

One of the questions that I have been thinking about lately is the relationship between worship and worldview, my thinking has been stimulated in this area by reading the books "Thinking in Tongues" and "Desiring the Kingdom" both by James K A Smith.

Sometimes those of us who feel strongly about the need for a Christian worldview have given the impression that getting our thinking right is the most important step. Sometimes we have given the impression that the whole thing is just a matter of the mind, if we are able to demonstrate the superiority of our worldview we will win the day. Time after time we see the Christian argument strongly put forward, and the person does not respond to this. What is wrong? are the arguments not strong enough? or does something else need to happen?  Surely the problem is that the person does not see their need for salvation at just a thinking level, but needs to grasp in their heart their need of salvation.
When I became a Christian in 1969 I realised immediately that I needed to change my lifestyle and my thinking. I had been involved in the radical politics of the sixties and realised that I needed to rethink everything in the light of scripture. I realised that if my life was to be God centred then some of my past ways of acting and thinking would need to be changed, I therefore resigned from all the groups  and committees that I belonged to. The reason I did this was because I wanted to know what God's perspective on these issues was. I never thought that politics and Christianity were incompatible, but rather I needed to seek first the kingdom of God. This was to take me on a long journey, but I realise looking back that my wrestling with worldview issues was grounded in my new relationship with the living God, my heart had been changed and I was a new creation but my mind needed to be renewed (Romans 12). I remember my excitement when I found about L'abri and started reading Dr.Schaeffer's books, what I noticed from the outset was the link between a deep spirituality and our intellectual development. I remember also in the early seventies being introduced to the work of Dooyeweerd, his work was intellectually demanding but I remember so clearly his talk of the heart gripped by God. some people warned me that Dooyeweerd had a mystical slant to his writings, I agreed that this was true but found this was one of the major attractions at that time.
During my time working at L'Abri I saw many people become Christians but this was not just an intellectual change, but rather a change of relationship with the living God brought about change in the person. I have seen many people become Christians and then seen how their thinking and character have changed but in every case worship has preceded any  real and lasting change.
When people were lovingly presented with the claims of the gospel,the Holy Spirit convinced them of the truth of the gospel and their own sinfulness, only then did they respond and by receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord their whole lives were transformed.
My experience confirms the fact that worship leads to a change of worldview, and that change is not just an intellectual one, but at its heart it is relational.

The Greatness of our God

When we think about the doctrine of God and his relationship to the created order we tend to think in terms of transcendence and immanence, we often say that if we do not get the emphasis right at this point our whole doctrine of God will suffer. But does a biblical view of God really deal in these  two categories?  It seems to me that the biblical portrayal of God is much more holistic, and one wonders whether we need to escape the normal terminology to deal with the biblical revelation more adequately. It seems to me that that the very first line of the bible stress such an integrated view of God that he is seen over against his creation, supremely above it and yet because he is such a God he is present in creation and sustains it, this concept deals a blow to any form of Panentheism, but at the same time it deals a mortal blow to deism. The biblical view shows a God who is active within his creation but who is not tied to his creation. This God who is greater than his creation, has created the world in such a way that it is constantly dependent upon him for its very existence. This goes against any concept of God that implies that he only intervenes in the world on exceptional occasions, perhaps this view of God’s providence also strikes a blow against open theism with its teaching that God does not know the future infallibly. What is more it, makes more sense of the relational aspect of God’s character being as it stresses the fact that God is sustaining and guiding this world towards the eschaton.  Surely we need a more comprehensive view that does not  demand a juggling of transcendence and immanence. The question has to be posed as to whether the influence of Greek Philosophy and rationalistic worldviews, rather than a dependence upon biblical categories There is such a rich vein of thought running throughout scripture that needs attention. As does the articulation of these themes throughout the history of the church, I will need to dialogue with voices from the past and the present to try and understand something more of the greatness of God. Also, these passages of scripture will need to be looked at among others Gen1-2, Exodus3, Psalm 139, Colossians I, Acts 17:16-34 other books will also shed light on this attention should be given to God’s self-revelation of himself throughout the bible including the book of Revelation. The thoughts below are only the beginning of this process.

The God who reveals himself throughout Scripture is a powerful god who reigns over all things and sustain all things by his own glorious power. sometimes we try to make a distinction between the supernatural and the natural but is this a valid move? surely the biblical revelation paints  more integrated view.

 The very first verse of the bible introduces us to a God of great power who creates,

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  (Ge 1:1).

This verse and those following show that God is separate from his creation but is intimately involved in it, he precedes creation and is in no way to be confused with it. He is almighty and therefore he is involved in this world. His presence in this world flows from the fact that he is almighty God. The more we look at Genesis 1 the more we can see that it is because of his almighty power that he creates even in an intimate way as he does when he creates humankind. we see the same thing in Colossians chapter 1

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16       For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17       He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
 (Col 1:15–17).

Notice the supremacy of Christ in these verses and yet because of his great power the whole of creation is held together. Paul does not make a separation between the fact of the Transcendent Christ and the immanent Christ, but rather he sees the greatness of God as an integrated whole. The fact that god creates through Christ leads automatically to the sustaining presence of the creator in his creation.
The first verses of the book of Hebrews paint a similar picture,

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2   but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4   So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. (Heb 1:1–4).

Notice how the author moves from creation to providence, the providential work of god in creation is seen as an integral part of the whole teaching of creation. The creator God is one who cares for and sustains the world he has made.
Deism sees God as separate from creation in the way a watchmaker is separate from his watch, the world is created,and then God disappears from view. Pantheism and Panentheism both confuse the creator and  the creation, whereas the biblical teaching shows that our sovereign God is high and lifted up and because of that fact is intimately involved in his creation. The biblical view of God implies both majesty and intimacy, and we do not need to categorise them under two different headings or call these two aspects of the one God a paradox rather we need to see that one flows from the other in God's self revelation of himself.

Very often we talk of the supernatural but is this really the way the Bible looks at things? or does it not rather see that the God who maintains this world is at liberty by that very fact to bring his power to bear on that creation either for healing , restoration or judgement. Our god is not one who is far off but rather he is one who is actively present in his creation at all times. What we often call a miracle is an act of restoring creation to what it should be. Miracle is never a contradiction of the laws of nature rather it shows how god maintains the laws he has implanted in nature. The problem is that we see the laws of nature as something independent of God rather than seeing them biblically as God's law in nature. We believe in a God who is constantly active within his creation and therefore we see the miraculous as part of his redemptive purposes for a broken world, redemption does not contradict nature it heals it. This means that we see God's creation as something that is good.
We could go on to look at various aspects of the relationship between God and the world, but that will have to wait for another occasion, I am aware that there are many more things to explore, but I can't do that here.

 

The Voice by Dan Nori: A book review

This is an important book that the body of Christ needs to take notice of, but I fear that it will not be popular in some circles. This is a very realistic book which reflects The authors long walk with the Lord. Dan Nori shows us on page after page the need for brokeness and repentance, he avoids any triumphalistic assertions. His honesty makes the book very attractive because he shares his own weakness and is thereby an encouragement to other disciples of the Lord. So often when we read books about hearing God we find a nice neat formula but this is avoided because our author is more concerned about our relationship with the L:ord than with techniques. If you read this book with an open heart you will receive much good instruction that will enable you to hear God more clearly.

He raises a genuine issue about the nature of God's anointing upon our lives, so often we expect some miraculous download but Nori rightly reminds us that through the Holy Spirit God indwells us and therefore we need to be sensitive to the Lord who indwells us and flow in the gifting and grace that he has already imparted to us. In many ways this book is talking in a very practical way about practising the presence of God, this enriches the book and has the potential to be a godly influence in our own lives.

some people will say that the book is too subjective, my reply to this is to remind the reader that there is an essential subjective dimension to the Christian faith the problem occurs when some turn their Christianity into a form of subjectivism, but, Nori avoids this by anchoring all of his teaching in the Word of God. In this regard some will say that Nori does not spell out how to relate Word and Spirit but we must see that the whole book shows us how to do that. The author calls for discernment and he demonstrates by the way that he writes that he is discerning. We need this sort of book to complement those that give more formal teaching.
However I do think that he is overly harsh on theologians, I know that many theologians fit into his description but on the other hand you have writers like Rodman Williams,Larry Hart, and Frank Macchia who have served the Church by giving of their wisdom in a way that promotes renewal in the church. But these comments should not distract from the contents of the book, this is a book that needs to be read by all who want a closer walk with their God.

The Importance of Holy Communion.

Very often we have a low view of the significance of Holy Communion in evangelical circles, we have tended to reduce it to a memorial meal which does not feature strongly in our worship. Many Christians come to the Communion Table not knowing what the Scriptures teach about it. Sometimes a very casual approach is taken, and the Communion service is marginalised, this is very sad and very different from the early Church. We therefore need to look at the Scriptures again and see what they really say.
It is important to realise that the Communion service has as its background the Passover meal which celebrated the deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt, we must notice first of all that is a people that are saved, but the exodus itself demonstrates the need for the application of the blood of the lamb on individual households, the Lord makes this very clear when he says,

 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

           (Ex 12:13).
This gives us some insight into the significance of the Passover for our understanding of what Holy Communion is.

Jesus instituted Holy Communion: The Synoptic gospels all record this as does Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:20-34.  Let us look briefly at the gospel accounts.
Matthew records the Last Supper in these words,

    On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
   18       He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ” 19       So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
   20       When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21       And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
   22       They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
   23       Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24       The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
   25       Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
   Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
   26       While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
   27       Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28       This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29       I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
   30       When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
(Mt 26:17–30).

Mark says,

    While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
   23       Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
   24       “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25       “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
   26       When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
    (Mark 14:22–27).

And Luke says,

    When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15       And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16       For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
   17       After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18       For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
   19       And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
   20       In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
 (Lk 22:14–20)

These three accounts are very similar, but Luke alone tells us that we are to do this in remembrance of him, it is interesting to note that Luke in the book of Acts mentions the breaking of bread as one of the marks of the early church.
In 1Corinthians 11 the apostle Paul gives the church the most clear instruction about Communion, he says,

      In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18       In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19       No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20       So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21       for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22       Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
   23       For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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.” 25       In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26       For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
   27       So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28       Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29       For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30       That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31       But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32       Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
   33       So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34       Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
   And when I come I will give further directions. (1 Co 11:17–34).

In these verses we see how Paul regarded the communion meal and its importance We are called to come to the table as repentant sinners relying on the grace of God for salvation. Paul stresses that receiving communion unworthily can cause sickness and indeed many of the Corinthian believers were weak because they had not discerned the body of Christ. Many people have discussed what discerning the body means some have contended that it means having faith in Christ as we approach communion and having a right relationship with him. Other people have said that the body mentioned here is the church and the need to have right relationships within it. some of us believe that it is not an either/or situation but rather a both/and situation. If we are ina right relationship with the head of the Church we should also be in a right relationship with the members of the Church.

Some other passages:
 ! Corinthians 10, here the apostle teaches us about the Lord's supper in a slightly different context, here he is discussing the problem of idolatry and the need to be separate from it, this is what he says,

   Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15       I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16       Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17       Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
   18       Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19       Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20       No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21       You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22       Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?  (1 Co 10:14 –22).

Notice how Paul says that  "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf." here, Paul clearly states that our unity with Christ should be reflected by our unity with one another, communion is participating in the fullness of what Christ has done for us.

John 6:25-63

     When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
   26       Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27       Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
   28       Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
   29       Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
   30       So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31       Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
   32       Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33       For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
   34       “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
   35       Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36       But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37       All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38       For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39       And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40       For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
   41       At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42       They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
   43       “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44       “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45       It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46       No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47       Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48       I am the bread of life. 49       Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50       But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51       I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
   52       Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
   53       Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54       Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55       For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56       Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57       Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58       This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59       He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
  
   60       On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
   61       Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62       Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63       The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. (John 6:25–63).

Although John does not record the institution of the Lord's supper, he does include this story with its profound teaching which sheds a lot of light on the Communion service, for once again we see that it is by faith that we feed upon Christ, he tells us that his body is real food and his blood real drink, when we come to communion although we taste bread and wine, at the same time we encounter the Lord Jesus by faith. At communion the elements become channels of God's blessing to us.

Final observations: When we come to the Communion Table we need to remember three vital aspects of the teaching above.
1 We look back to all that Christ achieved on the Cross for us, we celebrate his victory over sin death and hell. We see here Christ willingly laying down his life so that we might receive forgiveness and a new life that we could only receive from him. This time looking back to what Christ has achieved is a strong motivation to live for him in the present. He conquers the powers of evil by dying as our substitute.

2 We receive the benefits of the atonement as we commune with the risen Lord, this includes forgiveness of sins,the knowledge that we are members of God's family and any other blessing flowing from the atoning work of Christ, for instance this can include physical healing. The Lord's Table is a place where we can bring all the needs of the fellowship to God.

3 We look forward to the return of Christ and the new creation when we will experience perfection for the first time, we look ahead to the day when we will glorify God as he should be glorified without any taint of sin..
At the Communion Table we find illustrated to us the amazing grace of God at the same time we experience that grace touching our lives through the power of the risen and exalted Lord Jesus.