Communion Service

[An Advanced Study]

 

 

I am sure that most of you in the auditorium tonight have read our research and publication entitled The Cross in the Broken Body or Healing in the Holy Communion.  [These publications are covered almost completely in this teaching]. 

 

It was a tremendous Revelation to my soul many, many years ago when we were in the Ministry in Van Wert Ohio when I finally learned in my life that the holy communion had two elements in it, the bread and the cup.  That the bread represented the broken body of the Lord  Jesus Christ and what was accomplished for me in that broken body.  That the cup represented his shed blood.  And what he did for me when he shed his blood for me.  Up until the time I learned this, I used to come to the communion table with great skepticism and great doubt really in my mind.  I wondered why God had to use two things to accomplish one purpose.  Namely, all I was ever taught that it represented the forgiveness of sins.  And therefore I wondered why the bread was to forgive sins and then go take the cup for forgiveness also.

 

And I believe most of the people in most of the organized denominational churches today still across our country except in those areas where we have been hearing, with the hearing of our own ears of how they have studied our research work and they too have turned to believe God’s Word.  And when they give holy communion, they give it in the essence in which it’s given here at the Way Biblical Research Center.  That God has instituted this via the Lord Jesus Christ to represent his broken body and his shed blood.  And we are to do this in remembrance of him.  This is the only thing in concretion in the senses world outside of speaking in tongues which Jesus Christ has left to the church of the body of the born-again believers.  And we’re gathered tonight here at the Way Biblical Research Center to again carry out in our ministry and in our life what we believe is the great integrity and accuracy of God’s Word.  And you and I can never know the Will of God until we first are cognizant and recognize the Word of God.

 

Therefore I turn, very briefly tonight, but yet I turn to the great record in the book of Corinthians which is addressed to the church.  Where in these great truths are summarized and set forth so beautifully.  Just to remind all of us again, of what the Word of God really says it means, and that it means what it says.  So that all of us here as individuals as family may come to this table of the Lord tonight and receive absolute deliverance according to His Word. 

 

In the 11th Chapter of I Corinthians, in verse 23 of this great chapter.  We read:

 

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, the Lord Jesus the same [omit same]  night in which he was betrayed took bread: -- I Corinthians 11: 23

 

And when he had given thanks, he brake it  [the bread], and said, Take, eat:  this is my body,  -- I Corinthians 11: 24a

 

In plain literal language, it would read, this is representative of my body because from the original Greek texts, Aramaic texts, all of these verbs and pronouns.  All of these has to agree with the number, the cases, the genders and it is totally indicative that he did not mean that they were literally eating his body, but that they would eat this bread, they would eat this as representative of his broken body.  Which is broken for you and this we are to do in remembrance of me. 

 

And when he had given thanks, he brake it  [the bread], and said, Take, eat:  this is my body,  which is broken for you:  this do in remembrance of me. -- I Corinthians 11: 24

 

This we were to do in remembrance of what Christ did.  Well, if we’re going to do in remembrance of, then we have to remember what he did.  You can’t say you’re remembering something and then forget it.  Like I did, a little while ago, when I opened the gates of the city.  And Walter saying, it was simply opening the gates of the temple.  I forgot it was the temple and I had to make room I guess to get them to the temple, so I opened the city.  I didn’t rightly remember.  The title of that tremendous classical number.  This is how we can get off on God’s Word.  This is we’re to do in remembrance of him and if we do it rightly, then we are right in our remembrance.  And it says in verse 25.

 

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 [often] as ye drink it,  in remembrance of me. -- I Corinthians 11: 25

 

So you have two things, the cup and the bread in remembrance of him.

 

For [verse 26], as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup,  ye do shew the Lords what?  Death.  The word shew is the word proclaim.  You do proclaim the Lords death.  How do we proclaim it?  As often as ye eat or drink, you proclaim.  You show forth by doing it that you remember what he did for you.  And this is to proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  If this is written to the church and the body of believers, then this is with us until his return.  For we are to show forth the Lord’s death, proclaim it, what he accomplished for us by our remembrance until he comes.

 

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. -- I Corinthians 11: 26

 

Wherefore, verse 27.  Had you only taken it down to verse 26, someone could come to you and say. Well, Paul has only been giving by Revelation what Jesus Christ did on the night of his betrayal and it is not applicable to the church of the body of believers.  But when you get to the words wherefore, you ask yourself, well then why for?  Because wherefore tells you why you have to do it for.  Wherefore whosoever, whosoever, and he couldn’t be speaking back to the time of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ because it’s writing to the church many years after the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And he is saying, whosoever shall eat this bread.  Well if it had dropped out with the beginning or the coming of the church, then these phrases could not be here.  Whosoever shall eat this bread, whosoever and the whosoever includes every person in this auditorium tonight.  It includes every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who was born again of God’s spirit filled by the power of His Holy Spirit.  Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.  To eat and to drink unworthily would be to eat and drink without knowledge.  And ladies and gentlemen, if that is true, then there were many years in my life when I ate and drank this body of the Lord, figuratively speaking, very unworthily.  Because I had no proper knowledge or understanding of the greatness of His revealed Word.

 

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this  cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. – I Corinthians 11: 27

 

Verse 28 says:  But, so that we may not eat this body and drink this cup unworthily.  In contrast, it uses the word ‘but’, setting this in contrast.  Let a man examine himself.  It doesn’t say that I’m to examine you.  It doesn’t say that any of my fellow clergymen or fellow believers in the ministry are to examine you.  Let a man examine himself.  You examine yourself in the light of the Revelation of God’s Word.  Let a man examine  himself and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that what? cup.

 

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that  bread, and drink of that  cup. -- I Corinthians 11: 28

 

Verse 29:  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, without proper knowledge or understanding of it, eateth and drinketh judgment, not damnation in the sense where you’re going to go to hell because once you’re born again of God’s spirit, that’s an impossible trip.  But you, it brings judgment upon yourself because you’re eating and drinking unworthily and you do not bring to yourself the reality of the presence that God has made available.  Because when you come to this table tonight, if you come with a knowledge of God’s Word, and you believe, God has not only promised, He is faithful to carry out that promise.  And He will again in your life, as well as and mine, His total deliverance to us as fellow believers.  Eateth and drinketh damnation or judgment to himself not discerning the Lord’s what? body. 

 

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. -- I Corinthians 11: 29

 

And there again, the history of our society, of our times stands before God’s judgment bar.  Because it is the Lord’s body which is not rightly divided.  As far as the cup is concerned, the forgiveness and the remission of sins, that is covered.  But what about the body?  The body of the Lord Jesus Christ represented for us our physical healing.  By his stripes, we were healed.  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.  It is in that right dividing of the Lord’s body that we get our deliverance physically.  And then he goes on:…………..

 

For this cause, because of these things, many, not a few, but many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.  And the word sleep in the text is ‘die prematurely’.  Because we’re not rightly dividing the Word to get the knowledge.  Therefore, many of God’s people are first of all weak, living below par.  They are sickly and many die prematurely because had they rightly divided the Word and believed that Word, they would have lived.  But they did not rightly divide that Word.  They did not appropriate unto themselves that great reality of what God made available and so they died prematurely.  They died before their believing should have run out.  The reason they couldn’t believe is because they hadn’t been properly taught.  And therefore, Satan destroyed them physically and this should be a tremendous revelation to the body of believers today.  We need to come as loving, humble, honest believing Christians, not only in our prayer life, in our Bible study reading, but to the table of the Lord.  And to do this in remembrance of him.  Well what are we remembering?  We’re remembering when he died upon the cross.  He shed his blood.  Yes.  But before he even died, all through his ministry, he was physically suffering for us.  But very especially when they led him before Pilate, before Caiaphas, when they led him into the judgment hall, put the crown of thorns upon his head.  Dressed him in a purple robe.  Took the whips or the scourges and hit him and said, please guess who hit you.  When they nailed him to the cross and drove that wooden spike through his hands.  With all that sacrifice of that body, the Word of God says it is for the healing of our bodies. 

 

And when he shed his blood, and the shedding of a blood is a figure of speech.  It does not mean he literally bled his blood out.  You could cover this whole group with blood tonight.  That would not be efficacious.  But the shedding of the blood means he laid down his life.  Nobody took it from him. As she sang tonight and as you know it was accurate from the Word, he had 12 legions of angels at his command.  I want to tell you those little soldiers couldn’t have done a thing if those 12 legions would appear.  They couldn’t even do anything when on the day of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the angels came and rolled the stone away.  And I don’t know if it took more than one angel because I know that it didn’t take any more than two on what we call Easter Sunday to sit down in that sepulchre and to speak to Mary Magdalene and to tell her what was going on.  And a few angels was all that it took to roll the stone away and to declare it.  What would 12 legions have done?  Man, oh man.  He could’ve walked off of that cross any time he wanted to.  You know that.  He was God’s only begotten son - always did the Father’s Will.  I and the Father are one.  I asked the Father, the Father gives it.  Perfect alignment and harmony.  But he kept hanging on that cross because he loved you and he loved me.  As John so beautifully declared, for God so loved the world that he gave, he gave, he gave, not an Indian giver, he gave His only begotten son.  He gave him.

 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. -- John 3: 16

 

Jesus Christ so loved us that he allowed himself to be nailed to that cross in spite of all that excruciating pain and everything else.  He kept hanging on that cross because he knew that down here at the Way Headquarters this Sunday night, we needed what he was making available. 

 

Oh, people, this is a present reality, it’s a now time.  It is God ministering to His people now.  And it’s still that same great love.  That wonderful matchless what?  And because of that greatness of that love, you and I have a right to come.  And just relinquish ourselves, just give ourselves completely, totally to Him and say Father, here I am.  I want to take that bread which represents Christ’s broken body and everything you’ve accomplished for me in your wonderful name of your son Jesus Christ and I thank you for what he did for me.

 

I want to take that wonderful cup which represents the shedding of his blood, the laying down of his life for me making available to me remission and forgiveness of sins and I thank you Father for Jesus Christ who accomplished it for me.  And very deeply in your heart, presently you must be as effervescent as I am tonight.  To realize that the only life we have in the greatest of the reality of our being is the life of the presence of the might of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.  That is eternal life.  That’s why that tremendous hymn  My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine, for thee all the follies of sin I resign.  My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou, if ever I love  thee, my Jesus it’s now.”

 

Tonight’s the night, today is the day of salvation.  This is the hour when God through Jesus Christ meets the needs of believers.

 

Almighty God our heavenly Father, we lift up our hearts in thanksgiving  for the beauty of holiness which we have again seen manifested here this night.  We thank you Father how you’ve blessed our people.  How it’s been such a joy to see parents come with their little children to teach them the greatness of your Word and your power, Father.  How we’ve been blessed as individuals have come, as a couple has come.  And how we have been blessed to see these young clergyman holding forth the greatness of your Word to your people, Father.  And surely, we thank you this night because of your wonderful greatness and power unto all of us through Christ Jesus our living Lord.

 

Our heavenly Father we thank you for such a tremendous night.  For blessing your people so mightily for you are truly a great big wonderful God and we certainly praise you and thank you for what you wrought for us through Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen and amen and good night.  God bless you and I love you.

 

 

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