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| Jas 5:16b The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. | October 13, 2008 |
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COMMUNION OR PARTAKING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER I CORINTHIANS 11:23-26 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: 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. 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. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come. I’ve had on my heart, this subject, for some time. I trust that I have the Lord’s mind in this endeavor. Paul says that he received this from the Lord. We must consider that Paul only knew a risen or heavenly Christ. What a revelation this must have been to Paul. It has been said that the other apostles knew Christ in His earthly body. So their ministry is from the earth to the clouds. Paul knew Him only in His heavenly body. Thus, his ministry is from the clouds and up. But, on with or subject. What a subject, to show the Lord’s death till He come. Just consider this, when we brake bread, (I like this phrase rather than having communion,) we show His death to unbelievers. What a wonderful thing to consider. Keep in mind also that this is not a commandment from the Lord. It is something we are asked to do in simple obedience. I often think of Joseph, when in prison after revealing the dreams of the king’s butler and baker. He said, But think on me when it shall be well with thee. Those words he spoke are so much like what the Lord has asked of us. So, indeed, no matter what circumstance we may have, Lord, it is well with us. Also, when we partake of the bread and the cup, are we truly remembering the Lord? He said, this do in remembrance of Me. Are we thinking of that death and suffering He went through for our sins? Or are we getting distracted? You know Satan opposes any true worship and will use many things to distract us from our worship of the Lord. We happen to notice that the young fellow up ahead has an unusual hair cut, or the lady behind us sneezes, or the child two rows back whispers very loudly, (I don’t know how they manage to whisper so loudly.) We get so easily distracted. We let Satan get a victory when we let it happen. Try to think on Scripture like the 53rd. Chapter of Isaiah, or any verse that speaks of His suffering and death. Maybe His ninth hour cry in Matthew 27:46 Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? Thinking on these things will help to keep our minds where they should be. However, lets go even a little deeper. The Scriptures mentioned above speak many of His death and what it means to us. This is our needs being met. That’s good, and it’s a part of worship. But we could also think about what Christ’s death meant to GOD. Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us AN OFFERING AND A SACRIFICE TO GOD for a sweetsmelling savour. Think of it, A Son, an only Son giving Himself willingly as an offering to His Father. I have written previously on the fact that we give off orders that God can smell. But think of this sweet-smelling savour. This is really more than we can understand, but this is much deeper worship. Exodus 30:34 -36 And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. Sweet spices speak of what Christ’s sacrifice is to God. But notice also that this text mentions twice that it is holy. Are our times that we set aside for worship truly HOLY? I fear that many times, we may not be showing the reverence that our Lord deserves. So maybe our approach to God is not as holy as we thought, But now on to another verse. Leviticus 16:12,13 And he, (Aaron), shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the alter before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the Vail: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: Now we can begin to see how wondrous this facet of worship can be. We see the censer of burning coals, (the judgement that fell on Christ at the cross), and our hands full of Christ, and the sweet cloud that covers the mercy seat where God said He will meat us. We can see now that it is only Christ that we can offer to God, nothing of ourselves, for God sees us in His son. Then another thought, the hands full of incense, BEATEN SMALL. What a thought, He was willing to be humiliated, spit upon, beaten, and put upon that cruel cross. Words cannot express, but we can say that He is the perfect example of humility. Now with these thoughts to take to our next breaking of bread, one can see the intensity of the worship that we should have. Of course, we need time to pray and set our minds upon these things before we go into the presence of the Lord. I know that God honors this, and one day will honor it before men. P.W.D.
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