Communion
Greetings everyone in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes.
This program is called 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today we are going to talk about
Communion. The word communion is the word, in the Greek: koinonia. It means
fellowship. When we take communion, we are fellowshipping with the Lord Jesus
Christ in His sacrifice; His death for our sins. Let’s turn to 1 John 1:1-10, That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the
life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you
that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that
which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus
Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This
is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is
light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But
if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Let’s turn to 1 Cor
10. Today we are going to take communion; the Lord has instructed me, as I was
seeking Him this morning, to speak about communion, and to take communion
together with you; those of you who are walking with a clear conscience with
the Lord Jesus; you have been born again, baptized in water; you love Him; you
are following Him, if you have a willing heart, we will take communion together
at the end of this program. Darlene and I have already prepared some grape
juice and a cracker, and I just encourage you to go ahead and take a moment now
and prepare the elements; if you don’t have any grape juice or wine, just ask
God for grace and use what you have available and believe Him, and get ready to
take communion at the end of the program. 1 Cor 10:16&17, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it
not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not
the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake
of that one bread. When we take communion; the word communion, the Greek word is koinonia,
it means fellowship; we fellowship in the blessing of Jesus’ sacrifice. The Bible
says, in Rom 15:29, But
I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of
the gospel of Christ. It is a blessing that Jesus loved us and washed us
from our sins in His own blood. When we take communion, we remember His
sacrifice.
Mar 14:22-26, This
is at the Last Supper; And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed
and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this
is My body." Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He
gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This
is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say
to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I
drink it new in the kingdom of God." And when they had sung a hymn, they
went out to the Mount of Olives. Mat 26:26-30, And as they
were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it
to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Then He
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink
from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is
shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not
drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new
with you in My Father's kingdom." And when they had sung a hymn, they
went out to the Mount of Olives. In both of these accounts,
Jesus said, I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine, from now
on, until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom. The cup
that we take is not the literal blood of Jesus, but it is the fellowship of His
sufferings; it is through the Spirit we are partaking, we are fellowshipping
with Him, and fellowshipping in His sacrifice; His death for our sins. The
bread which we break is not the literal body of Jesus Christ, but it is the
fellowship of His suffering. 1 Cor 11:23-32, For I received from the
Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same
night in which He was betrayed took bread; 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." In the same manner He
also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new
covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread
or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of
the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let
him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in
an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the
Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and
many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But
when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned
with the world. So before we do communion, just examine
yourself before the Lord, and let Him show you anything that He is not pleased
with, and confess it to Him, and prepare yourself to partake of the bread and the
wine or the grape juice; what you have available to you now. I want to point
out here that Jesus said we should do this in remembrance of Him; remembrance
of His sacrifice, until He comes. This is something we need to continue doing.
Let’s look at His sacrifice: 1 Cor 15:1-4, Moreover, brethren, I declare
to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which
you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I
preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Remember in John
3:16, Jesus said, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever lives and believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. We take communion, not as a religious exercise, but rather in
recognition of His great love for us; that He would offer His body a sacrifice
for our sins. The Father saw the travail of His soul and was satisfied. We do
this in remembrance of Him and the horrible suffering He endured because of His
love for us. Love endures all things. In 1 John 4:10 we read: In this is love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins. Jesus never did
anything wrong. Though He was tempted in every way as we are; He never yielded,
He never sinned. He is the Lamb of God; the spotless Lamb, Hallelujah!, who
takes away the sins of the world. Why did God do this? Why did He give His Son,
who loved Him and never did anything against Him, to die this brutal death for
us; a people dead in trespasses and sins, who, for the most part, care only for
ourselves and not for Him? It is because He loves us! He made us, and He wants
us to be with Him forever in His glorious Kingdom; to inherit eternal life, and
become His sons and daughters who love Him from our hearts, and fellowship with
Him in holiness and righteousness forever! And because of His great love for
us, He gave us His Son. Praise God! Thank you Jesus!
Eph 2:1-10,
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and
sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in
the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is
rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when
we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you
have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in
the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Verse 8, For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk
in them. God gave His Son. We thank Him for His love for us, as we remember His
suffering. We acknowledge our sins, and give ourselves wholly to Him to do His
will and keep His Words. Verse 10, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God has prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. We give
ourselves anew to be led by His Spirit to do the good things God has prepared
for us to do; purifying ourselves by obeying His Word through the spirit. Do
not take communion in any other way but in love and thanksgiving, in
remembrance for His sacrifice for us.
Now we are going to take communion together, those
of you who are ready. And those of you who are not; there is no condemnation.
Just continue to seek the Lord and let Him prepare your heart, and Lord
willing, we will be doing this again later. Let’s pray together: Father, in
Jesus name we come together and we thank you for giving us your Son; that you
so loved us that you gave your only begotten Son a living sacrifice for our
sins. Right now we remember that on the same night that the Lord Jesus was
betrayed, He took bread, 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. So now, let us break the bread: Lord, we are going to take this bread, this
cracker, in remembrance of your broken body. Lord we thank you! I just
encourage you to thank him for His broken body. His body was broken for you.
Thank you Lord. Let us take it:
Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. In the same
manner, He also took the cup, after supper, saying, this cup is the new
covenant in my Blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
Lord! I just want you to join with me in thanking the Lord Jesus! For His shed
Blood! He loved us! He washed us from our sins in His own Blood! Lord we thank
you for your shed Blood! You loved us, and you cleansed us. The Bible says in
Isaiah, Though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. So we
partake of your shed Blood; your sacrifice for us Lord. Thank you Father. Let’s
take the cup together:
Let’s just take a moment together to praise Him
and give Him thanks: Praise you Jesus! Praise you Jesus! We thank you Lord for
your love for us! You so loved us that you went to the cross, and you suffered
so much for our sins, to bring us into fellowship with you and with the Father.
Through your sacrifice and through your shed Blood we can come into fellowship
with the Father and with you forever! We can enter into eternal life and become
sons and daughters of the living God. We praise you! We thank you! We bless
your Holy Name! Thank you Lord!
2 Cor 13:14, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.