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.