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When a believer partakes of the Lord’s Supper, he should do so with full understanding of its significance. Communion, to many people has become only a religious observance. It has a much deeper meaning than that. The communion table is an emblem of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Matthew 26:27-28 says: Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Primarily, the Church has centered its attention on the wine as an emblem of Jesus’ blood that was shed for sin. We take the emblem of blood and say, “Thank God, we are delivered from sin.” And that is true! But the blood is only half of Communion. The bread is an emblem of Jesus’ body that was broken for us. The emblem for His body is just as important as the emblem for His blood. According to Isaiah 53:4-5 -Jesus’ sacrifice covered every area of Man’s existence. He bore spiritual torment for our sins, mental distress for our worry, care, and fear as well as physical pain for our sickness and disease. The stripes He bore were for our healing. With His stripes we are healed. God gave everything He had to redeem mankind from the curse. For us to receive only part of His sacrifice is an insult to Him. When we receive Communion we are receiving His body and His blood. Every time we partake, we should examine ourselves closely according to I Corinthians 11:28- |
Corinthians 11:30 - Paul wrote, for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. When the first Passover was instituted, God instructed Moses to kill a lamb, to spread its blood over the door, and then roast the lamb and eat all of it. Any that remained was to be burned away. That sacrificial lamb was completely consumed! Jesus, as the Lamb of God, was the supreme sacrifice under the Abrahamic Covenant. When you partake of His sacrifice, do not take part of it. Take it all! Consume it completely! When you receive the Lord’s Supper, do so like the little children of Israel. Exodus 12:11 says, And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover. The children of Israel were ready to go. They ate in faith. They were ready to receive their deliverance before they ate! No matter what you may be faced with—sin, sickness, drugs, a weight problem, worry, strife, old habits—you can be delivered through properly receiving the Lord’s Supper. The body and the blood of Jesus covered every area of your existence. By discerning His body and judging yourself before Him, you can receive your deliverance. Place yourself before God and receive Communion as the children of Israel did – ready to receive your deliverance! You do not have to wait until you go to church to receive Communion. Receive it at home. Get up an hour earlier in the morning every now and then. Take the time to put yourself before God over the communion table. It will be time well spent. Praise God! |
29, which says: Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. There is much more involved in receiving Communion than most Christians realize. God instituted the Lord’s Supper for a reason. When you receive it, you should be ready to partake of everything Jesus’ sacrifice provided – Salvation, peace of mind, healing, total prosperity. In the past, we have missed the full meaning of Communion by not completely judging ourselves when we partake of it. We have been ready to receive the blood and quick to judge ourselves where sin is concerned. We judge ourselves of sin and repent of it. But what about His body? It was broken for us. It was bruised for us. The stripes laid on Jesus’ back were for our healing. At Communion, we should judge ourselves where sickness is concerned as well. Jesus purchased our healing at Calvary just as He purchased our salvation. With this in mind, we say, “Lord, it is not right that I should suffer from sickness and disease. I judge it now as being from Satan, and I reject it. I refuse to receive it any longer. I partake of the sacrifice of Your body, and I receive the healing that You promise in Jesus’ Name.” When you partake of Communion, make a point of judging yourself to the fullest extent. Don’t just receive it halfway. Accept everything Jesus’ sacrifice provided. If you don’t examine yourself – if you receive Communion just as a religious exercise – you will be eating and drinking unworthily, not discerning the Lord’s body. In I |