COMMUNION: THE MAIN THING

1 COR. 11:24-30 And giving thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.' In the same way He took the cup also, after supping, saying, 'This cup is the New Covenant in My blood; as often as you drink it, do this in remembrance of Me.' For 'as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show' the Lord's death until He shall come. So that whoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, he will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and many sleep.” MAT. 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and broke 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 all of it. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

“blessed” – to speak well of; to give thanks; grant favor and confer happiness
“broken” – klah-o – shared; many pieces; break open; break through (Strongs)
(Brown-Driver-Briggs – Hebrew dictionary)
“eat” esthee – strengthened (Strongs)
“drink” – gaw-maw – active participation; absorb or swallow (Strongs)
“in remembrance” – an-am-nay-sis active calling to mind (Strongs; Wycliff)

COMMUNION NOT AN OUTWARD RITUAL
In “Delivered from evil” written by Rick Joyner he explains communion in a Body of Believers very accurately. I was blessed by some of the revelation God gave him and I would like to share this with you.
The Lord’s supper is not to be an outward ritual but an active participation, by which you actively call to mind and appropriate today all that Jesus has provided and promised through His cross.

BODY OF BELIEVERS – DIVIDED GIFTS
Jesus divided the gifts that were in Him among the body of believers so that we can actively participate in this privilege. When we come together as a body of believers for communion we partake of Jesus in other believers. Why through His body? He blessed it according to His manifold wisdom. Don’t underestimate the power of God in the saints and don’t neglect spending time with God’s people.

JOINED TO A BODY OF BELIEVERS
It is true that you can be joined to the Body in many ways without being properly joined to the Head, but the reverse is not true. You cannot be joined to the head unless you are joined to His Body. We cannot understand what the Lord is doing today without understanding what He is doing in the Church, and we cannot be a part of what He is doing today without being rightly joined to His Church. In times that are coming, if we are not rightly joined to the Lord’s Body we will be joined to another body, which is not the bride of Christ. It does not matter how much truth we know, it is the truth that we are living that will determine where we stand.

FELLOWSHIP IN THE LIGHT
It is clear in the Scripture that if we do not have this relationship, then we will not discern truth or have His life flowing through us. (1 John 1:7)
1 JOHN 1:7 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.

“fellowship” in this text is the Greek koinonia, which is much more than a handshake with each other on a Sunday morning. This represents a joining together to the degree that the blood, or life of Christ flows from one member to the other.

DEALING WITH OFFENCES
If you are no longer in a strong church fellowship because you were hurt or disappointed, it is time to forgive. PROV. 18:1 “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he RAGES against wise judgment. “
When you isolate yourself from other believers you stand the danger of becoming arrogant and end up seeking your own desire. Man wants recognition therefore this danger is even closer than you think. God designed a body to function not an arm or a leg. The body gets the job done not the arm or the leg. In a body of believers offences will come but this is to help you grow. When you are corrected or rebuked receive the correction or rebuke because this helps you to be even more perfected to the image of Christ. Get back into fellowship with strong body of believers. It is within the gathering of a body of believers that we actively participate and share the truth with one another. It is within such a gathering were we receive present revealed truth and partake of the blessing of fellow believers that share how they have been strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

During communion we actively call to mind the power of Jesus within us and we give thanks to Him for laying down His life so that many can live.

(communion message taught by Louise Coetzee, 3 July 2005)