Communion Service
BIBLICAL ORDINANCES #1
In this study, we will be discussing three Biblical Ordinances.
COMMUNION, FOOT WASHING, AND FASTING:
By James and Mary Lee Thornton
“What mean ye by this service?” Every ordinance or doctrine of the Church has a special meaning. I feel to get the full value of each one we (every member) should know why we do them.
1. Faith, or belief in God
2. Repentance:
3. Water baptism:
4. Receiving the Holy Ghost:
5. Laying on of hands, which God works through:
6. Foot washing:
7. Communion:
8. Fasting:
Each of these has a special meaning and each compliments the other. But, neither will take the place of the other. We want to practice each because the Bible teaches us to. But we also want to understand them so we can obtain the full blessing of each.
Since the beginning of time God has ordained certain ways for an event, or law, or covenant, to be remembered.
A. God set a rainbow in the sky for a covenant. (Genesis 9:13)
B. Jacob set a stone at the foot of the ladder. (Bethel) (Genesis 28:22)
C. A heap of stones- (Miz-pah) between Jacob and Laban. (Genesis 31:46-52)
D. Crossing of the Jordan… “What mean ye by these stones? (Joshua 4:6)
E. Ebeneezer stone.. (Stone of help) (1 Samuel 7:12)
*********************************************************
In This First Part Of This Study, We Will Study,
1. COMMUNION SERVICE:
Exodus 12:25. “And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according to as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
26. And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, what mean ye by this service?
27. That ye shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, …”
Exodus 12, The Passover was instituted.
v:5, “Take a lamb without blemish,”
v:6, “Shall kill it in the evening…”
v:7, “Take the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post,…”
v:8, “They shall eat the flesh in the night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread: and with bitter herbs, they shall eat it.”
v:14, “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.”
v:26, “When your children shall say unto you, what mean ye by this service?
V:27, “It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt.
Israel kept this feast as a memorial or memory of that event.
Every Jewish family partook of it. Men, women, and children…
Jesus observed the Passover with his parents in Jerusalem every year.
Luke 2:41, Jesus knew its history because the story was repeated each year. (I feel that it is important for people to hear these stories over and over.)
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, each tell the story of the last Passover supper Jesus ate with his Disciples.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23, “I received of the Lord, ..”
Thus the communion service is based upon 4 things,
1.History:
2.Experience:
3. Revelation:
4. Scripture:
Remember these things,
1. The last supper (as we call it) issued from the Passover feast.
2. The church succeeds Israel as the people of God.
3. The Lord’s Supper is the Church’s fulfillment of the Passover. Kept at a particular season
Luke 22:14, “When the hour was come, Jesus sat down.”
The preacher said in Ecclesiastes 3: “To everything, there is a season, and a time and a purpose.” His list seems endless… he has ended his book with “Fear God and keeps his commandments for this is the whole duty of man.”
The Communion “season” is one of those high and holy occasions, it is not done every week, or it would become commonplace with no real meaning.
COMMUNION IS A SACRED SEASON:
There was no haste, no carelessness; it is a time of soul searching while we are engaging in this most sacred event. Jesus’ presence invades the communion service, there is a feeling of awe, and of reverence within us.
Luke 22:14, “He sat down, and the twelve Apostles with him.”
It is a partnership, they shared the feast together.
Communion means fellowship.
It is communion or fellowship between our church, our Lord Jesus, and one another. (Let us never forget we need this fellowship.)
It is his table, he gives the invitation.
Revelation 3:20, “I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
1 Corinthians 10:21, “Partakers of the Lord’s table…”
COMMUNION IS A TIME OF THANKSGIVING:
Matthew 26:27, “And he took the cup, and gave thanks…”
Partake of this communion with thankful hearts.
1. Thank him for His love to us.
2. Thank him for His mercy He has shown to us.
3. Thank him for His Word.
4. Thank Him for His sacrifice at Calvary.
5. Thank Him for reaching down for us & etc.
COMMUNION IS A MEMORIAL, A REMEMBRANCE:
1 Corinthians 11:24, “and when he had given thanks, he brakes it, and said, take eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Our Lord worked miracles but He did not ask to be remembered by demonstrations of His power, nor by His parables, or sayings, he asked to be remembered by his death.
So the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, is God’s way for the church to remember his death. As we gather together to bring your mind together to remember His death.
1. Think about His death,
2. Talk about His death,
3. Pray for His death.
4. Think about the value of His death,
5. Remember His shed blood bought our souls.
WE KEEP COMMUNION FOR A WITNESS OF HIS DEATH:
1 Corinthians 11: 26, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
Every Christian is a witness to his death. When we take communion every person comes alongside of preacher, minister, or laymen, to witness to the death of Jesus. His death should be uppermost in our thoughts. He gave us the power to go forth and proclaim He died for all.
THIS IS NOT ORDINARY FOOD:
What does the bread represent?……. His body
What does the cup represent? ……. His blood
The bread was broken. (1 Corinthians 11:24)
His body was broken. (1 Corinthians 11:24)
“Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
Israel was in bondage & slavery to Egypt, God brought them deliverance, a lamb was slain, its blood was sprinkled on the door post. God said, “When I see the blood I will Passover you.”
You and I, we all, were in bondage to sin. Jesus became the Lamb of God to provide a way of deliverance for mankind. Under his blood we receive salvation.
We are “Redeemed by the precious blood of Christ..” (1 Peter 1:19)
He will Passover us when the plagues come,
When the fire falls,
When the Great Judgment is set.
1 Corinthians 5:8, “So let us keep the feast…”
1 Corinthians 11: 26, “till he come.”
John 6:35, “I am the bread of life…”
John 13:17, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them,.”
DO NOT PARTAKE IN AN UNWORTHY MANNER. (1 Corinthians 11:29)
Every person who participates is responsible to prepare himself to participate. Jesus did not judge Judas nor condemn him before, they partook of the Passover, but condemnation came later.
Over and over in the Old Testament God told the people to sanctify themselves before many solemn occasions. Sometimes a period of time was set aside for the people to sanctify themselves, to prepare for those solemn occasions. (Genesis 35:1-4; Leviticus 11:44))
Maybe we also should set aside a time for preparation.
************************
If you have enjoyed reading this Just A Thought post, please consider sharing on social media. Your efforts will bless this ministry and prove to be a blessing to others that may not know about Everyone’s Apostolic
