Communion
Notes
Transcript
COMMUNION
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Crossroads Full Gospel
International Ministries
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Bracketed comments following some scriptures assist the reader in understanding the intended
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CONTENTS
COMMUNION..........................................................................1
COMMUNION IS A TIME OF CELEBRATION................2
A MAIN FOCUS POINT OF CHURCH ON SUNDAYS....5
JESUS’ DEATH....................................................................6
THE VOLUNTARY NATURE OF JESUS’ SACRIFICE....9
THE BROKEN BODY.......................................................10
THE SHED BLOOD...........................................................14
WE WERE BOUGHT WITH A GREAT PRICE................15
THE RESURRECTION......................................................18
BASIC ELEMENTS OF COMMUNION..........................19
THE CONDITIONS FOR PARTAKING............................21
COMMUNION
Background Reading: Mark 14:22-24
The celebration of communion is an extremely important aspect
of Christian worship. This study will focus on the purpose of
communion, what it represents, the requirements for partaking of
communion and the benefits it provides. Before He ascended into
heaven, the Lord gave the Church two New Covenant ordinances communion and water baptism. And it must be understood that these
are not to be voluntary additions or accessories to the Christian life.
They are both commanded by the Lord and important for our
ongoing spiritual growth.
A covenant is a solemn and binding agreement between two
or more parties in which each makes certain promises to perform
certain duties in regard to the other. This agreement is a commitment
which is meant to last, regardless of whether problems arise or
circumstances change.
A blood covenant was set in place by the shedding of blood,
whether this was human blood or the blood of an animal. This was a
sign of commitment to the pact, and demonstrated the solemnness of
the agreement. In some cultures, the parties concerned would cut
their fingers or wrists and let their blood flow and mingle, signifying
that they had become, in one sense, of one blood. This demonstrated
their commitment and was a solemn pledge to honour the terms of
the agreement even if it meant endangering or losing their own lives.
After the Fall of Adam, and in Old Testament times, whenever
God set in place a Covenant with anyone, it was always done
through the shedding of the blood of animals. One of the reasons this
was done is because blood signifies life - indeed scripture tells us
that the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11a).
The sacrificial offering of animals throughout the Old Covenant
was a type-pattern of what was to come - for Jesus became God’s
sacrificial Lamb, slain to take away the sins of the world and to
establish our Covenant of Redemption. This was what Jesus was
referring to in Matthew 26:28 when He said, “This is My Blood of
the New Testament (Covenant), which is shed for many for the
remission of sins.” Jesus used the wine as a representation of His
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shed Blood and the biscuit as a representation of His broken Body.
By the shedding of His Blood, Jesus established the Covenant of
Redemption - for all who would enter into that Covenant.
“. . .It is also important to realize that
Jesus’ Blood was shed intentionally and
purposefully, and that this was no
accident or mistake. . .”
Everything in both Old and New Testaments points to the perfect
Lamb of God, His finished work on the Cross of Calvary, and the
Resurrection which makes it possible for His finished work to
become a reality in our lives.
Through Jesus’ sacrifice and the shedding of His Blood,
God’s plan of redemption was completed and set in force forever.
This Covenant demonstrated God’s great love for us and His pledge
to honour and fulfill His promises to us. Our part in this Covenant is
the circumcision of our hearts which occurs when we make Jesus our
Lord and we repent. This brings us into complete union with the
Father, spiritually, and so we become covenantal partners with Christ
whereby we cry “Abba Father” (Romans 8:14-17).
COMMUNION IS A TIME OF CELEBRATION
The night Jesus was to be betrayed, being the true Passover
Lamb of God, He celebrated the Passover with His Disciples in what
is now known as the Last Supper. During this meal He gave direction
concerning what the meal was to represent, both for them and for all
the generations of Christians to follow.
LUKE 22:15 And He (Jesus) said unto them, “With
desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you (it
would be symbolic of the New Covenant) before I suffer
(instituted through His suffering on the cross):”
MATTHEW 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took
bread, and blessed it, and broke it (the bread is a symbol
of His Body broken at Calvary), and gave it to the
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Disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is (represents) My
Body.”
MATTHEW 26:27 And He took the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink it all of you
(the cup is a symbol of His shed Blood at Calvary);
MATTHEW 26:28 For this is (represents) My (the)
Blood of the New Testament (Covenant), which is shed
for many for the remission of sins.”
Jesus took the bread and the wine that night and established
the format for communion, the love feast which He commanded the
Disciples to continue to observe.
“. . .So when we come to the communion
table, we are celebrating our communion
with the Lord and our bonded
relationship with our fellow Believers
through the Blood of Jesus. . .”
Communion is a time of celebration - a time where we can
celebrate the victory Christ won for us. Through Jesus’ death and
Resurrection, He conquered all that hell had to offer, and established
the way to freedom for all who choose to follow Him. Jesus paid the
redemptive price needed to release mankind from death. Indeed He
came that we might have life, and that we might have it more
abundantly, for He said:
JOHN 10:10 . . . “I (Jesus) am come that they (all who
believe) might have life, and that they might have it
more abundantly (life to the full).”
REVELATION 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the
Beginning and the Ending,” says the Lord, “Who is,
and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty.”
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REVELATION 1:18 “I am He Who lives, and was
dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and
have the keys of hell and of death (the keys to release
men from spiritual death).”
Not only did Christ release us from sin’s hold in a legal sense,
but that which gives us the power to sin, i.e. the sin nature, has been
legally dethroned. To replace this power source, a new nature, the
Divine Nature, has been imparted to us so that we may partake of its
graces - its power. Through the Divine Nature we now have power,
when we yield to the Holy Spirit, to live the saved life at an
experiential level. This means we can live victoriously, and in doing
so, please the Father.
At salvation, the sin nature is cleansed from our spirit so that it
becomes clean, and thus blameless in Christ. The soul (mind),
however, needs to be renewed so that our thinking lines up with
God’s thinking. As different areas of our minds are renewed in the
truth of God’s Word, we become sanctified at a conditional level.
This describes the work of ongoing sanctification. The message is
this: as we stand in a spiritual sense before the Cross, let us never
forget the finished work of Calvary. This includes not only the
positional state of righteousness into which Christ has brought us,
but the conditional state of righteousness we can attain (or
experience), area by area, to match our position. This is possible if
we keep our focus on the Cross of Calvary and Christ’s finished
work on our behalf whereby all sin has been defeated. This includes
the sin nature which remains with us. It is defeated as we yield to the
Spirit and receive the empowerment we need to subdue it and walk
in victory through the energies and graces of the Divine Nature.
“. . .Not only did Christ release us from
sin’s hold in a legal sense, but that which
gives us the power to sin, i.e. the sin
nature, has been legally dethroned. . .”
We celebrate Christ’s victory at the Cross on our behalf
through remembering, at communion, the Lord’s broken Body and
shed Blood. It is a time of thankfulness, praise and worship - for our
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eternal future in heaven has been bought and paid for by Jesus’ death
and Resurrection. This celebration is variously called, in Christian
circles, “the Lord’s Supper,” “the Communion Table,” “the
Eucharist” or simply “Communion.”
A MAIN FOCUS POINT OF CHURCH ON SUNDAYS
As Bible-believing Christians and members of the Body of
Christ, we come together on Sundays to magnify and praise our God
and our Saviour.
One of the main focus points each Sunday should be the
communion table where we bring into remembrance the great
sacrifice that was made on our behalf. It is a time when we proclaim
the death and Resurrection of our Lord. We do this by bringing into
remembrance the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus. In so doing, we
proclaim that the only way we are able to be saved (spirit, soul and
body) is through the punishment He bore for us and the shedding of
His precious Blood. By celebrating communion on a regular basis,
we are keeping at the forefront of our minds the reality and power of
our Covenant with God.
Through communion, we as a corporate body are able to testify
to God, ourselves, the world and the devil that Jesus died and was
raised again, and is alive forevermore (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23 . . . the Lord Jesus the same
night in which He was betrayed took bread:
1 CORINTHIANS 11:24 And when He had given
thanks, He broke it, and said, “Take, eat: this is My
Body, which is broken for you: do this in remembrance
of Me.”
1 CORINTHIANS 11:25 After the same manner also
He took the cup, when (after) He had supped, saying,
“This cup is (represents) the New Testament in My
Blood: this do you, as oft as you drink it, in
remembrance of Me.”
1 CORINTHIANS 11:26 For every time you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you are representing and
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signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord’s death
until He comes [again]. (Amp.)
JESUS’ DEATH
Background Reading: Isaiah 53:6-11
God’s will was for Jesus’ Blood to be shed so that fallen man
could be redeemed. Jesus submitted to His Father’s will
wholeheartedly, and underwent the suffering of death.
Psalm 22 gives a graphic account of what Jesus experienced as
He was dying on the cross. Indeed the crucifixion scene was even
more vividly portrayed by the Psalmist writing a thousand years
prior to its occurrence than by the Gospel writers who actually
witnessed it:
PSALM 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken
Me? why are You so far from helping Me, and from the
words of My roaring? (Jesus uttered this cry from the
cross: Matthew 27:46)
PSALM 22:7 All they who see Me laugh Me to scorn
(mock Me); they shoot out the lip (hurl insults), they
shake the head saying (on the cross He was laughed at
and mocked by His own people: Matthew 27:39-43),
PSALM 22:8 He trusted on the Lord that He would
deliver Him: let Him (God) deliver Him, seeing He
delighted in Him. (The religious leaders spoke these
actual words in derision at the cross: Matthew 27:43)
PSALM 22:11 Be not far from Me; for trouble is near;
for there is none to help. (The Disciples had forsaken
Him and fled: Matthew 26:56. There was indeed, “none
to help.”)
PSALM 22:12 Many bulls have compassed Me: strong
bulls of Bashan have beset Me round. (“Bulls”
represent the demonically inspired, religious leaders who
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sought to kill Jesus: Matthew 27:1-26; John 11:47-53;
Acts 2:36)
PSALM 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all My
bones are out of joint (the result of the torture of
crucifixion): My heart is like wax; it is melted in the
midst of My bowels. (Jesus died of a ruptured heart:
John 19:34)
PSALM 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd
(Jesus was weakened through physical and emotional
torment); and My tongue cleaves to My jaws (loss of
blood causes great thirst); and You have brought Me
into the dust of death. (Death would come to Jesus at the
cross: John 19:30)
PSALM 22:16 For dogs have compassed (surrounded)
Me (the “dogs” are the Roman soldiers); the assembly of
the wicked have enclosed (encircled) Me (the religious
leaders - the Scribes, Priests and Pharisees), they have
pierced My hands and My feet (nailed Him to the cross).
PSALM 22:17 I may tell (can count) all My bones (no
bone in Jesus’ Body was broken: Psalm 34:20; John
19:36); they look and stare upon Me.
PSALM 22:18 They part (divide) My garments among
them and cast lots upon (for) My vesture. (The Roman
soldiers cast lots for His clothing: Matthew 27:35; John
19:24)
This Psalm is a memorial to the suffering and heartbreak of
Jesus. It begins with the words Jesus was to speak on the cross, and
through this cry we become aware of His anguish as He sensed the
Father’s presence withdrawing from Him for the first time. Verses
14-18 of the Psalm portray the physical suffering of Jesus.
Crucifixion literally resulted in the bones being pulled out of their
sockets. He was weak through physical torment and in terrible thirst.
Even the piercing of Jesus’ hands and feet is recorded in this Psalm
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which was written approximately 250 years before the introduction
of crucifixion as a method of execution.
We can see that Jesus’ body would have undergone extreme
physical stress, not only from the pain He experienced while on the
cross, but from the beatings He had endured prior to it. However
incredible stress would also have arisen from the emotional torment
suffered by this innocent man during the whole period. Luke 22:44
attests to His great agony of spirit and shows what can happen
physically to someone under such severe emotional pressure. It was
in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus sweated great drops of blood
as He agonized in prayer.
Furthermore, Pilate was actually surprised to hear from the
Roman centurion that Jesus had died on the cross so quickly (Mark
15:44). This may have occurred partly because of the intense
emotional pressure that Jesus had been under. At this time, knowing
it was His time to die, Jesus proclaimed the words “It is finished”
(John 19:30), committed His spirit to the Father’s care (Luke 23:46)
and breathed His last. These words were hugely significant, for they
proclaimed that the sacrifice for mankind’s redemption had been
completed - no further sacrifice would ever be needed.
So events leading up to Jesus’ death show an innocent man
betrayed, beaten and crucified, becoming, through this process, the
Sin-Bearer for the whole world.
Note: Only after Jesus laid down His life could He then die, for
this was His prerogative and His alone (John 10:17-18).
“. . .So events leading up to Jesus’ death
show an innocent man betrayed, beaten
and crucified, becoming, through this
process, the Sin-Bearer for the whole
world. . .”
The extreme mental as well as physical stress obviously played a
part in His death. However, taking account of known medical facts
and on examination of the scriptures, one can come to the conclusion
that Jesus died, only after voluntarily laying down His life, as a result
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of a broken or ruptured heart. In other words, after Jesus cried out
with a loud voice “It is finished,” He bowed His head (John 19:30;
Matthew 27:50), and He yielded up His spirit. At this point His heart
would have ruptured, and He died, not by the hands of the Romans,
but by His own volition - “I lay down My life . . . No man takes it
from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” (John 10:17-18) - according to
the Father’s purpose.
The detailed account in Psalms of the crucifixion approximately
a thousand years before it came to pass demonstrates the divine plan
of redemption being set in place by our Heavenly Father according to
His foreknowledge of man’s fall, before the foundation of the world:
Revelation 3:8.
THE VOLUNTARY NATURE OF
JESUS’ SACRIFICE
Jesus displayed the love of God to the world as He submitted to
the Father’s will in the terrible punishment and death He endured.
The Word tells us that God demonstrated His love for us in that while
we were yet sinners and enemies of God, Christ laid down His life
and died for us (Romans 5:6-8).
“. . .We could conclude that Jesus died,
after laying down His life, of a broken
(ruptured) heart through internal
haemorrhaging . . . in this His precious
Blood was shed, the Blood which paid
the price for our forgiveness. . .”
Because Jesus had power over His own life, to lay it down or
not, His death was not of human design or manufacture. Rather, it
was all part of God’s Divine plan. Jesus stated during this trying time
that He could have called on more than twelve legions of angels to
deliver Him (Matthew 26:53-54). Instead He chose to endure the
ordeal in obedience to the Father. And His attitude towards the
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people who nailed Him to the cross was “Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Jesus often spoke to His Disciples of the sufferings He would endure
and how the Son of Man (referring to Himself) would be betrayed
and condemned to death.
MATTHEW 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and
the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests
and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to
death,
MATTHEW 20:19 And shall deliver Him to the
Gentiles (the Romans) to mock, and to scourge (whip),
and to crucify Him: and the third day He shall rise
again.
Jesus also often stated it was for this very reason that He came
into the world. He knew the suffering that He would experience,
revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit. Yet He trusted the Father, and
submitted Himself to the Father’s will - His Divine plan.
THE BROKEN BODY
Scripture tells us that Jesus was physically beaten to such an
extent that when He was hanging on the cross, we would not, if we
had lived at that time and place, have been able to recognize who He
was. This was foretold by the prophet Isaiah:
ISAIAH 52:13 Behold, My servant (Jesus) shall deal
prudently (act wisely), He shall be exalted and extolled,
and be very high.
ISAIAH 52:14 As many were astonied at You; His
visage was so marred more than any man, and His form
more than the sons of men: (In these passages, Isaiah
seems to sit at the foot of the Cross of Calvary; he views
the Redeemer as He hung upon the accursed tree, after
He had been buffeted, crowned with thorns, smitten,
scourged, and crucified, when His Face was covered with
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bruises and gore, His Frame and Features distorted with
agony : E.S.B.)
Another version reads:
ISAIAH 52:14 Just as there were many who were
appalled at Him (You) - His appearance was so
disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred
beyond human likeness (N.I.V.)
ISAIAH 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid
as it were our faces from Him; He was despised (not
being the type of Messiah they wanted), and we esteemed
Him not.
ISAIAH 53:4 Surely He (Jesus) has borne our griefs
(sickness and disease), and carried our sorrows: yet we
did (ignorantly) esteem Him stricken, smitten of God,
and afflicted (Israel assumed He was “smitten of God,”
and, in a sense, He was. He suffered in our stead,
actually as our Substitute, which means that the blow that
should have come to us instead went to Him. But yet, it
was not for His sins, because He had none, but instead
was for our sins. He was “afflicted” for us. As stated,
He was our Substitute : E.S.B.).
ISAIAH 53:5
But He was wounded for our
transgressions (rebellion), He was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace (the
punishment needed to bring us peace) was upon Him
(and Him alone); and with His stripes (wounds) we are
healed (and made whole).
ISAIAH 53:7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted
(refers to all that He experienced in His suffering), yet He
opened not His mouth (did not try to defend Himself) . . .
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Everything written ahead of time concerning the Messiah was
supremely fulfilled in Jesus. He was rejected and despised, whipped,
beaten and humiliated. Jesus suffered this punishment on our behalf
so we could have victory in every area of our lives, as we allow Him
to be Lord of every area of our lives. The punishment He bore was
necessary for the purpose of the Atonement. We can now have our
minds renewed in the truth of Christ’s finished work at the Cross,
which includes healing for our bodies and freedom from every
torment of the mind. Such was the love of our Father for us.
“ . . .Everything written ahead of time
concerning the Messiah was supremely
fulfilled in Jesus. . .”
Also, let us not forget that Jesus broke sin’s deathly grip on our
lives. Our ledger of sin has been nailed to the Cross, with the words
“paid in full” stamped on it. The sin nature has been washed out of
our spirit where it resided, leaving our spirit clean and free from
every pollution of darkness. The “old man” (the old unregenerate
self) is therefore dead and gone, and we have been released from the
domination of the sin nature. The result is that we are now free to
serve God, not sin (Romans 6:6).
This is made possible as we yield to the Holy Spirit and receive
empowerment through the Divine Nature, enthroned in our hearts
through Divine connection. In this way we are given the means to
overcome sin in our daily lives, for as we know, the sin nature
remains with us, commissioned or decommissioned, until we leave
this life. Therefore the sin nature still needs to be defeated in the life
of the Christian. This takes place as we, partaking of God’s Divine
Nature, are given graces to have not only a holy desire, but also the
empowerment to do God’s will. Through the graces of the Divine
Nature, we gain the power to say “Yes” to God and “No” to sin. As
we do this, the sin nature will not have ascendancy, but will continue
to be dethroned. Amen.
When a person was to be flogged in this way they were bent
over and tied to a post. A Roman soldier then applied blow after blow
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to the prisoner’s bare back. The whip used was a lash intertwined
with pieces of bone and metal so that as it struck the victim’s back, it
would tear the flesh, causing deep lacerations. This in itself was
sometimes sufficient to cause death.
Although completely unjust, Jesus’ suffering and death
constituted the Sacrifice of Atonement which took place so that
mankind could be made whole, spirit, soul and body (Hebrews
13:12). Therefore both His suffering and death together make up the
Sacrifice of Atonement - that has set free all those who believe and
trust in Christ and His redemptive work. The Atonement itself was
then brought to completion by the Resurrection.
In the context of the Atonement, Christ’s finished work on our
behalf, we can now understand that the stripes which Jesus received
paid the price for our healing (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). These
stripes, as well as being part of the punishment meant for us, were
also part of the suffering side of the Atonement. He suffered so that
we might be healed.
“. . .Although completely unjust, Jesus’
suffering and death constituted the
Sacrifice of Atonement which took place
so that mankind could be made whole,
spirit, soul and body. . .”
As Jesus maintained His faith during this whole trial, He
remained sinless, so being proven worthy to be the Lamb of God - to
take away sin and its consequences (John 1:29).
The high cost of bringing redemption to mankind was revealed
through Jesus’ death on the cross. God the Father gave of His very
best when He gave of His Son to die. There could have been no
greater gift, no greater price paid. Such was the love of God,
displayed for us through Jesus.
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THE SHED BLOOD
Background Reading: Hebrews 9:16-22
Jesus stated in Matthew 26:28:
MATTHEW 26:28 “. . . this is My Blood of the New
Testament (Covenant), which is shed for many for the
remission (forgiveness) of sins.”
When Jesus made this statement in Matthew 26:28, the
Disciples would not have understood what He was talking about.
They did not know that His death was imminent, and they did not
know that the shedding of His Blood would usher in the New
Covenant.
As we look back in hindsight, however, we can see that Jesus
was using the wine in the cup as a symbol for His shed Blood,
through which the New Covenant, the Covenant of Redemption,
would be established.
It is also important to realize that Jesus’ Blood was shed
intentionally and purposefully, and that this was no accident or
mistake. Indeed scripture tells us that without the shedding of blood
there can be no forgiveness.
HEBREWS 9:22 And almost all things are by the Law
purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no
remission (no forgiveness of sins).
What a glorious inheritance, and a wonderful covenant we
have in Christ our Lord - the sinless Lamb of God Who gave His life
and shed His blood on our behalf! By the grace of God we are
redeemed and freed from the ravages of sin and eternal death. And it
is the blood which speaks forth redemption’s power - the blood
which speaks forth redemption’s grace. Through the blood we are
cleansed and delivered, for there is wonderful power in the blood.
REV 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they
loved not their lives unto the death.
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WE WERE BOUGHT WITH A GREAT PRICE
Background Reading: Hebrews 2:9-18
Through Jesus’ act of dying on the cross, He legally paid the
price for all mankind to be redeemed. This then becomes a reality in
the lives of those who make Him Lord and Saviour. First Corinthians
6:19-20 and Acts 20:28 tell us:
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 What? Do you not know that
your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you,
Whom you have (received) of (from) God, and you are
not your own?
1 CORINTHIANS 6:20 For you are bought with a
price (Jesus’ shed Blood): therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (belong to
Him).
This means that through Jesus Christ and therefore Divine
connection, God remains forever our Father. We become His
possession in a relational way, and function both as His sons and
daughters, and His servants. Therefore, as His treasured possession,
we should live not for ourselves but for He Who died for us and
bought us with the price of His shed Blood (2 Corinthians 5:15).
ACTS 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and
to all the flock, over the (of) which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers (here Paul is speaking to a group of
Pastors), to feed the church of God, which He has
purchased with His own Blood.
“purchased with His own Blood”
“to purchase” = “to buy”
Jesus legally purchased us with His shed Blood from the slave
market of death. The word “purchase” signifies ownership.
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Through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, we have
allowed God to surround our spirit with His saving presence and we
have become His treasured possession. Having been washed in the
Blood of the Lamb, we have legally and therefore positionally
received Christ’s righteousness - and we are precious to the Father.
We could say that each one of us is God’s own unique possession.
Indeed we are all God’s beloved children.
“. . .Jesus legally purchased us with His
shed Blood from the slave market of
death. The word “purchase” signifies
ownership. . .”
We should therefore be thankful for God’s wonderful work of
grace in our lives, grace which we read about in the Book of
Colossians:
COLOSSIANS 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father,
Who has made us meet (qualified and fit) to be partakers
of the inheritance of the Saints in light:
COLOSSIANS 1:13 Who has delivered (rescued) us (all
who have received Jesus as Lord) from the power
(authority) of darkness (spiritual death), and has (past
tense) translated (placed) us into the Kingdom of His
dear Son:
COLOSSIANS 1:14 In Whom we have redemption
through His Blood (this was the price paid), even the
forgiveness of sins (at the Cross, the Lord broke the
power of sin, and took away its guilt [Romans 6:6] :
E.S.B.)
Through His grace we become partakers of a new nature, the
Divine Nature, which provides us with the power to live
experientially in victory - as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit.
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2 PETER 1:3 According as His Divine power has given
unto us all things (everything we need) that pertain to
life and godliness (to live a Godly life), through the
knowledge of Him Who has called us to glory and
virtue:
2 PETER 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises (relates to God’s Word):
that by these (promises) you might be partakers of the
Divine Nature (given to all at salvation), having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust (speaks
of ongoing sanctification by this means).
As we realize and understand the Lord’s great love for us, the
only fitting response we can make is to commit ourselves totally to
His service. Indeed to lay our lives down daily so that we may do
that which pleases the Father, not ourselves, is our “reasonable
service.”
ROMANS 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy (by the power of God), acceptable unto
God (because of the Cross), which is your reasonable
(spiritual) service.
ROMANS 12:2 And be not conformed to this world
(and its ways): but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind (so that you begin to think spiritually, not
naturally), that you may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God (presents that which
the Holy Spirit is attempting to bring about within our
lives : E.S.B.).
As we renew our minds and begin to think as God thinks, we
will understand the will of God and, by His power, walk in it.
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THE RESURRECTION
Background Reading: John 20:1-18
The Resurrection of Christ is the most phenomenal event to
have taken place in human history, and to the Believer, is a source of
hope beyond compare.
Many times throughout the Gospels, Jesus spoke to His Disciples
about what was to happen to Him - how He must suffer and die, and
after three days be raised from the dead, e.g. Matthew 20:19.
However, even His Disciples who walked with Him for
approximately three and a half years did not comprehend what Jesus
was telling them. They seemed to have no understanding that He
would die, and certainly no expectation that following His death, He
would be resurrected (Luke 24:11). One reason for this was that the
Disciples were unregenerated. They had no faith to understand or
comprehend in any way what Jesus told them, which was so far from
their own thinking. They needed spiritual regeneration to understand
spiritual truth, as does every man and woman today (1 Corinthians
2:12-14).
We could well imagine how Satan and his forces of
wickedness would have been rejoicing that they had crucified
the promised Messiah and thwarted God’s plans. What a shock
would have run through the caverns of hell and the Kingdom of
Darkness on that Sunday morning when the power of God
raised Jesus from the dead and defeated all that hell and death
had been able to hurl at Him.
The sign which confirmed that Jesus was from God and
everything He said and did was of God, came when the power of
God raised Him from the dead. This mighty physical sign proved that
the way to eternal life had indeed been made, and that everything
Jesus had said was true (John 14:6).
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“. . .The Resurrection of Christ is the
most phenomenal event to have taken
place in human history, and to the
Believer, is a source of hope
beyond compare. . .”
BASIC ELEMENTS OF COMMUNION
Jesus gave us a commandment concerning communion that we
as Christians should obey until He comes again for us. In Luke
Ch.22 we find:
LUKE 22:19 And He (Jesus) took bread, and gave
thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, “This
is (represents) My Body which is given for you: this do
in remembrance of Me.”
LUKE 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying,
“This cup is (represents) the New Testament (Covenant)
in My Blood, which is (will be) shed for you.”
1 CORINTHIANS 11:26 For as often as you eat this
bread, and drink this cup, you do show (proclaim) the
Lord’s death until He comes (again).
Significantly, one important aspect of communion is that it is a
memorial feast - a love feast in memory of our Saviour’s finished
work at Calvary. Here sin was conquered, death was defeated, and
man gained the opportunity to be born again. The Believer then
walks in “newness of life” through becoming a partaker of the
Divine Nature - through which, as he yields to the Holy Spirit, he is
given the power to walk in righteousness. When we walk in
righteousness, doing God’s will, the energies and graces of the
Divine Nature are absorbed at an experiential level by our human
nature. The human nature is then energized, and through this we
gain the mind of Christ and the passion of Christ, being at one with
Him in that area in which we are yielding (1 Corinthians 2:16;
Philippians 2:5). Amen.
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“. . .Through Jesus’ sacrifice and the
shedding of His Blood, God’s plan of
redemption was completed and set in
force forever. This Covenant
demonstrated God’s great love for us and
His pledge to honour and fulfill His
promises to us. . .”
When we as Christians come together, we remember, through
obeying this commandment, the sacrifice that was made for us - the
sacrifice of Jesus’ Body and His shed Blood.
To represent or symbolize Jesus’ Body, just as He did at the
Last Supper, Christians normally use a piece of broken bread or
biscuit.
When we partake of the piece of biscuit, we are bringing into
remembrance Jesus’ beaten and bruised Body. The punishment Jesus
endured at this time was needed in order for us to have healing,
perfect peace of mind and prosperity in every area of our lives while
we are here on earth - as, of course, we follow the leading of the
Spirit.
ISAIAH 53:4 Surely He (Jesus) has borne our griefs
(sickness, weakness and disease), and carried our
sorrows: yet we did (ignorantly) esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
ISAIAH 53:5
But He was wounded for our
transgressions (rebellion), He was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace (punishment
that brought us peace) was upon Him (and Him alone);
and with His stripes (wounds) we are healed (and made
whole).
To represent Jesus’ shed Blood, Christians normally use a red
liquid in a small cup.
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When we partake of the cup, we are bringing into remembrance
that it is only through Jesus’ shed Blood that we are able to be
washed clean of all sin, and so reunited with our Heavenly Father.
The communion emblems, the bread and red liquid, are not to
be taken as the actual Body and Blood of Christ. They are only
representations or symbols of His beaten and bruised Body and shed
Blood.
We are, however, to continue to remember the Lord and His
finished work on the Cross through these emblems, as He has
commanded us to do, until He returns.
THE CONDITIONS FOR PARTAKING
There are two major requirements for participating in the
Lord’s Supper. Firstly the participant must be regenerated (born
again) by God’s grace and secondly, living a life that is
correspondent to a commitment to Christ’s Lordship.
Paul gave instructions regarding the celebration of communion
in his first letter to the Corinthian Church. He was addressing a
Christian assembly where severe excesses were taking place in this
and other areas, and where the people needed to be strongly
reprimanded. At Corinth, a fellowship meal was eaten by the
Believers and this was followed by the solemn rite of communion.
However the Corinthians appeared to be making no distinction
between communion and the common meal. We can also perceive
through reading 1 Corinthians Ch.11 that drunkenness, gluttony,
selfishness and greediness were commonplace and that the holy
purpose of communion was being trodden underfoot and profaned.
“. . .There are two major requirements
for participating in the Lord’s Supper:
firstly the participant must be
regenerated - secondly, living a life that
is correspondent to a commitment to
Christ’s Lordship. . .”
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Thus Paul reminded the people of the poignant scene where
the Lord handed down the institution of the Lord’s Supper, on the
very night in which He was to be betrayed. Paul reminded the
Corinthian Church and he reminds us today through the authority of
the scriptures that the Lord commanded us to “do this . . . in
remembrance of Me.” And he brings us back to the bread and the
wine, the Body and the Blood of Christ, as the true basis for this
solemn meal.
After admonishing the Corinthian Church and then reminding
them of the seriousness of the matters he was speaking about, Paul
went on to give instruction concerning the responsibilities of the
individual in regard to communion. We can apply these principles to
our lives today.
1 CORINTHIANS 11:27 So then whoever eats the
bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is
unworthy [of Him] will be guilty of (profaning and
sinning against) the Body and Blood of the Lord. (Amp.)
1 CORINTHIANS 11:28 Let a man [thoroughly]
examine himself, and [only] when he has done so
should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (Amp.)
1 CORINTHIANS 11:29 For any one who eats and
drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due
appreciation that [it is Christ’s] body, eats and drinks a
sentence - a verdict of judgement - upon himself. (Amp.)
1 CORINTHIANS 11:30 That [careless and unworthy
participation] is the reason many of you are weak and
sickly, and quite enough of you are fallen into the sleep
of death. (Amp.)
1 CORINTHIANS 11:31
For if we searchingly
examined ourselves - detecting our shortcomings and
recognizing our own condition - we should not be
judged and penalty decreed [by the divine judgement].
(Amp.)
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Paul “pulled no punches” in delivering this message to the
Corinthians. He was telling them that they would bring judgement
upon themselves if they participated in the Lord’s Supper unworthily.
What are these scriptures telling us today? They are telling us
that those who partake of the Lord’s Supper are to ensure that they
are worthy to do so. Indeed we will be treating the whole
communion celebration with disrespect if we come unworthily. As
we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are entering the presence of the
Lord in a special way, and sin (hatred, resentment, unforgiveness
etc.) will block us from fellowshipping with Him in the way He
would desire us to do.
“. . .He was telling them that they would
bring judgement upon themselves if they
participated in the Lord’s Supper
unworthily. . .”
In Old Testament times, the high priests had to be ceremonially
cleansed of sin before they entered the presence of God in the Holy
of Holies, even though His presence was only there in a limited way
(for no-one could look upon the face of God and live: Exodus 33:20).
If they did not specifically follow the ordinances which were
required to make them ceremonially clean, when they entered the
presence of God they would die immediately. Jewish tradition tells
us that this was why the High Priest had bells on his ceremonial
dress (Exodus 28:33-35). If the bells fell silent while the Priest was
officiating in the Holy of Holies, the other priests would assume that
he had entered unworthily and had died. They could then retrieve his
body by a rope which was attached to his waist, for only the High
Priest could enter the Holy of Holies on that Day of Atonement.
The same principle of entering the presence of God unworthily
applies to communion today, for we too need to be clean before the
Lord through repentance and the Blood of Jesus. When we take
communion we are, in a similar way, spiritually entering the presence
of God at this special level. If there is sin in our lives when we take
communion (e.g. unforgiveness or hatred, etc.), then we are trying to
enter into His presence stained with that sin. This will hinder our
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fellowship with the Lord at this special time, and may even result in
us eating and drinking judgement upon ourselves, which will allow
bondage into our lives (as occurred with some of the Believers in the
Corinthian Church).
“. . .As we partake of the Lord’s Supper,
we are entering the presence of the Lord
in a special way, and sin will block us
from fellowshipping with Him in the way
He would desire us to do. . .”
We should therefore examine ourselves to see whether or not
we have sin in our lives before we take part in communion. If we do
discover that we have sin in our lives, we should repent according to
1 John 1:9:
1 JOHN 1:9 If we confess (and repent of) our sins, He
(the Lord) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Confess and repent of your sin, then thank the Lord for the
cleansing from all unrighteousness (the result of that sin). We should
do this before we come to church, but if we forget, then it can be
done at church before we partake of communion.
Remember, if we are to receive the blessings communion offers,
we need to be living in obedience, refraining from deliberate sin and
desiring a more intimate fellowship with Christ as we come to the
Communion Table. We need also to come before the Lord with a
humble spirit, knowing that “God resists the proud, but gives grace
unto the humble” (James 4:6).
We are to be a holy people, even as our Lord is holy, and to
approach communion in a worthy manner. When we come worthily
to the communion table, we avoid giving the enemy legal ground to
attack us. The Lord would also have us participate fully in His
Supper and not be hindered in any way from joining with Him and
enjoying the pleasure of His fellowship at this time on a corporate
level, with fellow Believers.
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We need to prepare ourselves before the service so that our
vertical fellowship with God is ongoing and vital. In other words we
should spend time with God on a daily basis, worshipping Him and
allowing Him to speak to us. Sometimes He may show us that we
need to change areas of our lives. At other times He may simply
share His love with us. Whatever God and His sons and daughters do
in these times, however, will help develop the vertical fellowship that
exists between He and His children.
“. . .We need to prepare ourselves before
the service so that our vertical fellowship
with God is ongoing and vital. . .”
We gain a legal positional relationship with the Father upon
salvation, but then we need also to fellowship daily with our
Heavenly Father in order to develop this relationship and expand our
fellowship. This will help us when we come to the communion table
as a corporate group of Believers. Then we will be in a position to
join together with other Believers in “the faith” as one in love and
truth. This is called the unity of the Spirit. When our vertical
fellowship with God is right, this will help in promoting our
horizontal fellowship with one another in the Spirit. This unity will
then command a blessing:
PSALM 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity! (There are two
types of unity: the man-made variety, and that which can
only be given by God, which will always have the Cross
as its foundation) (E.S.B.)
PSALM 133:3 . . . for there the Lord commanded (and
still commands) the blessing, even life for evermore.
This blessing will mean that there is an Anointing on the
service. The principle of holy unity applies to communion, holy
unity which commands a blessing that brings pleasure to God and
His family. So we can see why it is so important to have this unity in
our corporate meetings. We do need to remember, however, that
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before this horizontal unity can be realized, our vertical fellowship
with our God must be sound and unbroken.
Armed with this understanding of the Atonement, we are
identifying ourselves with Christ, not only in His death but also in
His Resurrection. When Jesus was raised from the dead, He broke
the power of sin and everything associated with it (Colossians 2:15).
This includes anything that would keep man in bondage, including
all sickness and disease. Amen. Indeed when Jesus said, “It is
finished,” sin was defeated. Therefore we are no longer under any
obligation to obey sin or the sin nature, but instead should reckon
ourselves to be “dead indeed unto sin” :
ROMANS 6:11 Likewise reckon you also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
ROMANS 6:12 Let not sin (the sin nature) therefore
reign (rule, gain the upper hand) in your mortal body,
that you should obey it in the lusts thereof (ungodly lusts
of the flesh).
ROMANS 6:13 Neither yield your members (parts of
your mortal body) as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin (the sin nature): but yield yourselves unto God,
as those who are alive from the dead (raised in
“newness of life”), and your members as instruments of
righteousness to God (through the energies and graces of
the Divine Nature).
ROMANS 6:14 For sin (the sin nature) shall not have
dominion over you: for you are not under the Law
(trying to please God in your own strength), but under
grace (God’s grace is abundantly available to us as we
yield and believe for it).
Again, if we are discerning (understanding) the Body and
Blood correctly (1 Corinthians 11:28-29), we will be identifying with
Christ in all that He went through, knowing that as joint heirs with
Him, we too have been legally set free from the power of sin,
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sickness and disease. He has paid the price, and we are raised up in
victory with Him through His Resurrection into “newness of life.”
“. . .Armed with this understanding of
the Atonement, we are identifying
ourselves with Christ, not only in His
death but also in His Resurrection. . .”
Of course to take advantage of our legal position, we need to
allow the Holy Spirit to educate our spirit through the renewing of
the mind so that God can empower us, strengthen us and even heal
us, if needed. Therefore every time we take communion, we should
discern the Body and Blood of Christ in this light, knowing that we
have been legally set free from every sin, every bondage and every
disease through Christ’s broken Body and shed Blood.
If we do not properly discern the Body and Blood, then yes,
some may remain sick, become sick or even die prematurely. If we
do not properly understand the meaning of the Blood of Christ, the
devil will run rampant in our life - for only through the Blood can we
be forgiven, cleansed and protected. And when we come to
communion, if we have committed transgressions, we need to put
them under the Blood if we are to fully identify with Christ.
At communion, we can focus our faith on all it represents, we
can come to a position where we may be better able to appropriate
healing, if needed. Participating in communion can enable us to
narrow our focus whereby we can identify not only with Christ’s
death, but also His resurrection with its subsequent power over sin,
death and even all forms of sickness and disease.
We who are in Christ, are legally identified with Him. Thus, in a
legal sense, when He died, we died. When He went to hell, we went
to hell. When He rose up from the dead, we also rose with Him and
are now seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). This is
our legal position, and included in this is our legal identification with
Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Sometimes communion can give opportunity for those who
have been struggling to appropriate the promises of God, to gain
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healing through this identification - for at the resurrection, Jesus won
the victory for us in every area of our lives, spirit, soul and body.
Here He gained power over sin, death, sickness and disease. Legally
this victory is ours too, and we can know it in an experiential sense,
if needed, as we focus our faith on His broken body and shed blood,
and identify ourselves with Him. Sin and sickness had no power over
Jesus as He rose up, triumphant, from the grave. We too can know
healing for our bodies as we partake of the emblems, focusing our
faith on Christ’s total victory over all the power of the enemy.
Communion also represents a time when Believers gather
together in the unity of the Spirit to participate in and identify with
the body and blood of Christ. Because of this corporate unity, there
can be a greater anointing (Psalm 133:1-3). Potentially, under this
anointing, Believers may be better able to exercise their faith, and so
appropriate healing through the promises of God. Thus communion
represents a time when there is opportunity for those who have not
been able to appropriate healing, to do so, through identifying with
Christ’s total victory, under an increased (corporate) anointing. This
means we can rise with Him, knowing healing for our bodies, as we
identify with His glorious resurrection victory and focus our faith on
it.
So do not let communion become a religious ritual! When we
come around the communion table, we should come with reverence,
remembering Whose presence we are in. We should prepare
ourselves, repenting of known and unknown sin, so that we may
participate fully in the service, and not eat and drink judgement upon
ourselves. And we should remember that we are one with Christ, and
thus are identified with the victory He won for us, body, soul and
spirit. Amen and amen..
May you have the victory in Christ. Amen!
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REVIEW OF TEACHING BOOKLET
Fill in the blanks
1. The two New Testament ordinances, .....................................
and ........................... ...................................., are both commanded
by God and necessary for our spiritual ............................ .
2. At the Last Supper, Jesus took ......................... and ........................,
and established the pattern for ........................................ .
3. We celebrate the .............................. Christ won for us
through ....................................... His broken ......................... and
shed ........................... at communion.
4.
When
we
celebrate
communion,
we
proclaim
the ............................. and .................................... of our Lord, and
keep this in the forefront of our minds: 1 Cor.11:26.
5. Psalm 22, written ............................. years before
the ........................................, presents a more graphic account of
Jesus’
suffering
than
that
which
is
found
in
the ...................................... .
6.
This
Psalm
shows
forth
God’s
divine
plan
of
.....................................
for
mankind,
for
it
was
God’s .............................. that Jesus die for the ......................... of the
world: John 3:16.
7. Jesus gave up His life ......................................., and displayed
God’s ......................... to the world when He died on
the .......................... .
8. The wounds (................................) Jesus received paid the price
for our .................................. and .............................. of mind:
Isa.53:4, 5.
9. Jesus suffering on the ............................., and the results of Him
being severely physically ..................................., were all prophesied
hundreds of years beforehand by the prophet .................................... .
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10. The high cost of bringing ......................................... to mankind
was shown through Jesus’ ............................. on the Cross.
11. Jesus used the ............................. in the cup as a symbol of His
own blood, which, when it was shed, would establish the
New ...................................... between God and man: Matt.26:27, 28.
12. Jesus’ ................................... had to be shed, for without the
shedding of blood there can be no .................................... of sin:
Heb.9:22.
13. By His own blood, Jesus has purchased or bought back from the
authority of ......................................, all who receive Him
as ...........................: Col.1:13.
14. It was the ................................................. of Christ which
confirmed He was from ........................, and proved that the way to
heaven had been made: John 14:6.
15. The communion emblems, which are the ...............................
and ................... liquid, represent (or symbolize) the .........................
and ........................... of Christ.
16. In 1 Cor.11:27-30 we find that people who were eating and
drinking at communion in an .................................... manner were
bringing judgement upon themselves - for this reason some
were ......................... and some had even ................................ .
17. This tells us we should .................................. ourselves and
repent of any ......................... in our lives before we take part in
communion: 1 Cor.11:28, 31.
18. As we celebrate communion, our .....................................
fellowship with God needs to be sound and unbroken, and
our .................................. fellowship with fellow Believers also needs
to be right.
19. When we are in .............................. with one another (and the
Lord), then it is here that He will command a ...............................
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which is His corporate ................................. on our services: Psa.
133:1, 3.
20. Jesus, at the ................................................., gained total victory
over sin, death, ................................... and .............................., and
legally this victory is ..................... also.
21. We can therefore appropriate ............................... during the
communion service by focusing our .............................. on Jesus’
victory, and ........................................... with Him in it.
22. So do not let communion become a ................................. ritual,
for it is a time we can come in a special way into the
Lord’s ................................ and be blessed accordingly as we identify
with the ............................ He has won for us in every area, body
soul and spirit.
For further information or teaching material to help you grow in
the Christian faith, please visit:
CROSSROADS INTERNATIONAL
FULL GOSPEL MINISTRIES
crossroadsministries.org.au
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