HOLY COMMUNION

Instituted by Jesus when He walked the earth

John 6:53-58 KJV
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

  • Jesus tells all people listening to Him that they must eat His flesh and drink His Blood to have life.
  • The flesh of Jesus is considered the Word of God found in the Holy Bible, not just the New Testament but the whole Bible (Old and New Testaments together)
  • The Lord Promises resurrection life for all that do eat His Flesh and drink His Blood
  • Eating God’s Word and Drinking of the Holy Spirit is why we have eternal life abiding with us.
  • Jesus said they will dwell (live) in Me and He will dwell (live) in them.
  • Only the Word of God and the Spirit of God can cause the transformation of a person from earth to heaven while at the same time allow a part of Heaven to live within an earthly vessel.

Ordained and practiced by Jesus with the apostles

Luke 22:7-20 KJV
7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.
8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.
9 And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?
10 And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.
11 And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?
12 And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.
13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

  • Jesus referred to this meal as the Passover in verse 11
  • Notice in verse 15 that Jesus desires our fellowship which is symbolic of the Lord loving the times when we eat of Him, consume His Word so to speak, have fellowship
  • Next Jesus mentioned that we must drink of His Blood meaning we must take in (breath in) the Holy Spirit in a general sense this means we must operate in His Love which is God’s Holy Spirit
  • The key is whenever we do have communion it must be done in rememberance of Jesus Christ because He Is our Passover meaning death (and the wages of death which is ultimately eternal separation in Hell) passed over us all because the Blood of Jesus Christ covered us from the wages of sin in all three realms physical and mental and spiritual. If you think death your body will start reaction to death and those thoughts of death coupled with physical death will leave you separated from God in a very real place called Hell, unless you call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ so that you can be saved (passed over).
  • Remember the Bread is taken first then the Blood is drunken because you must believe God’s Word first to be Born-Again and drink of the Holy Spirit of God.

Unleavened Bread is bread made without a rising agent (no yeast).

As we noticed in the verse earlier that during the Passover meal only unleavened Bread can be prepared to be eaten. This is because the Passover for the Children of Israel commemorates the Exodus from Egyptian bondage. The children of Israel left out in such haste that they didn’t have time to wait for the bread to rise, so since it was made that way during the very first Passover as a presentence all following Passovers in remembrance (in honor) of the first Passover must be done the same way. Typically the Holy Bible refers to “leaven” as sin and symbolically “sin” like leaven will eventually work its way through the whole dough of bread to influence all the connected parts. Likewise sin will eventually work its way into every faucet of the person’s life to affect their whole world if allowed to run (work) free without being judged.

Another larger analogy is when sin is permitted to run unchecked (un-judged, overlooked, tolerated) in a church, eventually over a period of time the whole church will be infected with that same sin for starters. This permeated (permitted) sin will lead to other sins and will eventually draw a person or a whole church completely outside of the will and favor of our Father God, and our Lord Savoir Jesus Christ.

Holy Communion is a New Testament ordinance

1 Corinthians 11:23-31 KJV
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

  • First we notice that Apostle Paul gives us exactly what he received of the Lord, this is good solid ministry we should only give the people what the Lord gives us for the people
  • The Apostle Paul did add additional steps to the order in which we partake of communion by saying in verse 24 that we should give thanks first. Then when we do have the bread (cracker, wafer, etc…) we break it to symbolize the broken body of Jesus for the benefit of all mankind. Although we know Jesus did this for the enlightenment of all mankind and God’s presence does benefit all mankind it seems like only those who confess Jesus as Lord truly fulfill the Lord’s Purpose for dying on the Cross. Jesus died so all people could live forever, hoping that all men, woman and children would be saved. Just remember that all we can do is offer the salvation of Jesus Christ to people in the world but if they desire to eat Him it is totally their choice, so don’t get frustrated with people who reject the Bread of Life because they are not hungry for Him at that moment (time) perhaps in due season they will see The Light. The order will shift again in a latter verse coming up shortly
  • Again we partake in full remembrance of Christ Jesus our Precious Lord and Savoir
  • After the eating of the bread we drink the wine in full remembrances of Christ Jesus
  • The Body of Jesus is remembered by the Bread which highlights God’s Word
  • The Blood of Jesus is remembered by the Wine (Grape juice) which highlights God’s Holy Spirit
  • The term “For as often as you” does not indicate the perfect frequency of having communion but it seems reasonable to practice this around once a month. The point is to not do it so frequently that it becomes a thoughtless habit that loses it reverence. Likewise if we only do it once in a blue moon it is likely to be ignored as a divine ordinance. Everything must be done decently and in order and concerning Holy Communion if you do this ordinance irreverently if does have negative consequences as explained in the next verse (27)
  • The phase “whoever shall eat and/or drink unworthily shall be guilty of the body (first) and blood (second) of the Lord” basically means that person(s) are lightly esteeming what this is all about. There are some people who are disrespectful by not treating this whole ordinance with careful consideration for their spiritual state. For example some people will partake of Holy Communion with sin in their life. They just don’t want to look guilty before other people so they partake knowing on the inside that they should not. These individuals are gambling in two ways, 1) that God will not notice their hypocrisy or 2) God will cleanse their previous sin during the Holy Communion service because they partake of Communion without full repentance to stop performing (doing, practicing, living, etc…) the sin
  • This is why verse 28 states, “let a man, woman and child examine themselves” Yes, each person must examine their own self not their neighbor. If you start looking at others instead of yourself you are missing the point of God’s Holy Communion and even this sin of judging others will bring damnation to you because you are not discerning the Lord’s Body (other Christians in the Body of Christ)
  • Verse 29 is very clear if you don’t judge yourself in all three areas spirit, soul and body you are bring damnation (judgment) upon yourself. This is foolish just don’t partake if you are doubting your physical, mental and spiritual state with God. Physically if you are practicing a known sin don’t partake of communion. Mentally, if you know in your heart that you are harboring ill feeling toward another don’t partake of communion. Spiritually if you know you are not truly saved by the Blood of Jesus don’t partake of communion. Simply put if something is not right in your life concerning other people and the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father just don’t partake of communion until you get it right, please don’t play around with God’s Holy ordinances. Why because the next verse (Verse 30)
  • Verse 30 for this exact reason of being unworthy many (not a few but many) are one of three things and possibly all three things starting with the normal progression of being weak first, then that weakness making you susceptible to sickness and disease, and after that if the issue isn’t dealt with properly (prayerfully with repentance and understanding) it could cause death (sleep).
  • Just for added emphasis notice the words of the Apostle Paul to the church (yes Christians, Believers, Saints, etc…) many are weak, many are sick and many are sleep (they often use the word sleep because they know that is Christ Jesus no one truly dies because death has no place in Christ, we are just making it clear that this word sleep is speaking specifically about physical premature death in the earth today)
  • The obvious solution is found in verse 31 which is just judge yourself by making sure you are right with God before you partake of communion. You should know if you have a clear conscience with God or not. If you can’t think of any obvious sin then by all means worship God and go forward in that peace and praise. Do not look for secret sins. Do not look for sins of the past that possibly never got confessed that is foolishness because once you asked for the Blood of Jesus Christ to wash you clean it did just that. His Blood washed you all clean so you are clean right now even for past sins as long as you have repented from practicing sin as a lifestyle. Holy Communion is 90% about the work of Jesus on the cross for our sins only 10% is about you being worthy to partake. It is supposed to be easy; you examine yourself (no one else), you give God thanks for what He personally did for you, you partake of The Bread in remembrance of Jesus Broken Body by breaking the bread, you partake of The Wine in remembrance of Jesus Blood by drinking in His Holy Spirit of Love and finally you leave that ordinance with a clear conscience and joy and wholeness Spirit, Soul and Body. Amen.

Notice the divine order of communion:

  1. Examine yourself
  2. If something is not right stop (don’t partake) until you get it right
  3. If all is well begin thanking God and getting your mind on Him, Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father
  4. Partake of the Bread first in complete remembrance of the Body of Christ, break and eat
  5. Partake of the Juice second in complete remembrance of the Blood of Christ and drink in His Holy Spirit
  6. Begin worshipping God for who He Is and forgiving and cleansing you for who you are not (you are not a sinner anymore in Jesus Name. Amen!)
  7. Receive the joy and peace and victory that comes from being right with God and living with a clear conscience before God and your fellowman. Amen!

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