THE LORD'S SUPPER

HOLY COMMUNION

 Bible Study

written by

Pastor Janice L. Williams

BIBLE STUDY FOR

JUNE 24th - JULY 1st, 2009

SCRIPTURES PRINTED IN RED ARE WORDS SPOKEN BY JESUS. 

WE BELIEVE that water baptism and The Lord's Supper are two ordinances of the church to be observed until the time of Christ's return. They are not a means of salvation but are channels of God's sanctifying grace and blessing to the faithful in Christ Jesus.

FOR THIS BIBLE STUDY, WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THE CHURCH ORDINANCE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, ALSO REFERRED TO AS

HOLY COMMUNION 

or

EUCHARIST.

 I Corinthians 11:23 thru 32 NKJV

• · 23/ For I have received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you; that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
•  24/ 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."
• 25/ In the same manner also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new testament in My blood.  This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
• 26/ For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.
• 27/ 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.
• 28/ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
• 29/ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
• 30/ For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep [die].
• 31/ For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
• 32/ But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

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 WHY DO CHRISTIANS OBSERVE HOLY COMMUNION? 

LET'S EXAMINE THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES FOR MORE UNDERSTANDING.

John 6:53,54 (NKJV) * Jesus said, 53/ “Most assuredly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54/ “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The statement “EAT THE FLESH OF THE SON OF MAN,” is symbolic of getting the Word of God on the inside of us; Getting it inside of our mind and heart and spirit, by hearing it preached and taught and by diligently studying it. JESUS CHRIST IS THE WORD OF GOD.  When we say a prayer for salvation to ask Jesus to come into our heart and be our Lord and Savior, we are submitting ourselves to the lordship of God’s Word. JESUS CHRIST THE LORD, is THE WORD OF GOD.   John 1:1 NKJV states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” ( I John 5:7 NKJV - For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.) Then in John 1:14 (NKJV) we read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”



Jesus Christ, the Word of God, or God’s Word, is the spiritual Bread of Life that we need to eat everyday for spiritual growth.  Jesus stated in Matthew 4:4 (NKJV) “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Also in John 6:35 He said, “I am the Bread of Life,” and in John 6:51 Jesus said, “I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

When Jesus told us to "DRINK HIS BLOOD" (John 6:53,54), He was in essence, telling us to take His eternal sinless life inside of us, and allow His pure and holy life to live through us by obeying the instructions in the Bible/God’s Word.  Blood is symbolic of life. The sinless blood, or life of Jesus, was exchanged on the cross at Calvary for our sin filled blood, or lives.  Leviticus 17:11(NKJV) states, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the alter to make atonement for your souls;for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Romans 5:11 (KJV) tells us, “we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement ( in Christian belief the atonement is the reconciliation between God and people brought about by the sacrificial shed blood [life], death, and resurrection of JESUS CHRIST).

When we receive Holy communion, we honor Jesus, as we remember the sacrifice He made for us by going to the cross to offer His sinless life, or blood, to God our Heavenly Father, in exchange for forgiveness of our sinful lives.  Our sins were forgiven and crucified, by the hanging of His body and the shedding of His blood on the cross.  II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV states, “For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

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Jesus’ death and resurrection reconciles the human race to God. It enables us to come back into right relationship and fellowship with our God, our Heavenly Father.  This priviledge was lost to the whole human race through the sin of failure to obey God’s instructions, or GOD'S WORD, by the first man Adam in the garden of Eden.

WE CHRISTIANS OBSERVE HOLY COMMUNION BECAUSE JESUS TOLD US TO DO SO IN  REMEMBERANCE OF HIM [please see *I Corinthians 11: 24-25 NKJV* above].

In observing Holy Communion we are remembering Jesus and all that He has done for us in His life, death and resurrection.

• We take time to examine ourselves [I Corinthians 11:28-29 above], and ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us and cleanse us from anything displeasing to Him that might be in us.

• We show our participation in the body of Christ.  His life is our life and we are members of each other:-------- I Corinthians 10:16-17 NKJV * 16/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?  17/ For we, though many, are one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

About Holy Communion (Updated, Good Friday, April 2, 2021) 

There is no set time for taking Holy Communion. Traditionally, many Christian Churches take it the first Sunday of every month. Some churches take it every week, while some Christian Families/Households, take Holy Communion together every night at dinner time. There are no set numbers of times or dates that a person may take Holy Communion. It is a Holy interaction solely between you and God. The requiements for taking Holy Communion are:

1. Salvation: Having received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9 NKJV 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.)
2. Examine Yourself: (1 John 1:8-10 KJV * 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.) If you are WILLFULLY holding unrepentant sin, hatred, bitterness, or unforgiveness in your heart toward anyone, repent, ask our Heavenly Father to forgive you and help you to forgive those who have hurt you. (1 Corinthians 11:28-32)
3. Remember Jesus and the sacrifice He made by going to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. (Luke 22:19-20)

 A Short Prayer for Holy Communion

Dear Heavenly Father, In Jesus name I come humbly to Your throne of grace, to repent and ask for Your forgiveness for any sins I've committed in words, thoughts, or deeds. Anything in me displeasing to You, please cleanse me from it. I praise You and thank You for being in my life. Thank You for all You have done for me, past, present and future. In Jesus' almighty, all powerful, Holy name I pray and give thanks. Amen

For partaking of Holy Communion:

• Unleavened bread & wine, or  matzah,cracker,or wafer & grape juice, used by many Christian Churches today, are the elements used as symbols representing Christ's body and blood in rememberance of His enduring sacrifice. Any saved person desiring to take Holy Communion at home or wherever you may be, may take it with or without the traditional elements used by most churches to take it. If you have no unleavened bread, you can use any tiny, morsel of food to represent His body; such as a bread crumb, corn chip or whatever you have to make due. You can use a plain cup of water if that is all you have, to represent Jesus' blood. The elements used are symbolic of Jesus' body and blood. It is the intent of your heart to be obedient to Jesus telling His followers to do this until He returns to Earth, that pleases God our Heavenly Father, way more so than the symbolic elements we use today for this ritual.    
• After saying a prayer (or whaterever you want to say) to Father God, take whatever elements you have to represent the body and blood of Jesus; repeat one of the following scriptures as you ingest the elements.  

• Matthew 26:26-28 NKJV * 26/ 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."  27/ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  28/ "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

• Mark 14:22-24 NKJV * 22/ 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."  23/ Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  24/ And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.

• Luke 22:19-20 NKJV * 19/ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you; do this in rememberance of Me."  20/ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

 BE SURE TO CHECK BACK WITH US

WEDNESDAY JULY 1st-8th, 2009

FOR OUR NEXT WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY

JESUS LOVES YOU!!!