Memory Verse: Acts 20:7
Life Application: The early church came together for times of corporate communion.
Bible Text
Acts 20:7
Matthew 7:21-23
Acts 2:42
Acts 20:7
Joel 1:9-13
I Corinthians 11:27
I Corinthians 11:17-22
I Corinthians 11:31-34
Hebrews 9:24-26
Hebrews 10:19-20
Revelation 2:4-5
Communion is a special time of spiritual intimacy with God. God desires to know you (to have intimacy with you.) It is truly the most intimate time that you have with God (even when receiving it in a crowd.)
Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV
“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ “
God desires to know (have spiritual intimacy) us corporately as well as individually. The early church had fellowship (communion) with God. They were spiritually intimate with Him.
Acts 2:42 NKJV
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Acts 20:7 NKJV
“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”
They reaped the benefits of corporate communion. There was an anointing upon the church, fresh moves of the Holy Spirit, and a harvest of souls.
Joel 1:9-13 NKJV
“The grain offering and the drink offering
Have been cut off from the house of the Lord;
The priests mourn, who minister to the Lord.
The field is wasted,
The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil fails.
Be ashamed, you farmers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the harvest of the field has perished.
The vine has dried up,
And the fig tree has withered;
The pomegranate tree,
The palm tree also;
And the apple tree-
all the trees of the field are withered;
Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.
Gird yourself and lament, you priests;
Wail, you who minister before the alter;
Come, lie all night in sackcloth,
You who minister to my God;
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.”
When communion (meat and drink offering) is cut off from the people you will find the people (and church) are barren spiritually. When communion is cut off, the manifest presence of God (glory of the Lord) and the anointing is cut off.
Churches where the meat and drink offering (communion) have been cut off are barren. The field is wasted, the land mourns, the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up (no fresh moves of the Holy Spirit), the oil languishes (no anointing of God), and the harvest of the field is perished (you can not have a harvest where there is not the presence of God.)
I Corinthians 11:27 NKJV
“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.
Paul wrote to the church (to believers) at Corinth about the manner in which they took communion. He warned them (the believers) not to take communion in an unworthy manner.
I Corinthians 11:17-22 NKJV
“Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
For there must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.
For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.
What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.”
The church at Corinth was drinking the communion wine to get drunk and they were eating the bread for food. Paul instructed them to examine (judge) the manner in which they took communion. Where they taking it (as a church / corporately) to remember Jesus or were they taking it to get full and drunk?
I Corinthians 11:31-34 NKJV
“For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are condemned with the world.
Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for another.
But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.”
Communion is a very powerful part of worship to God. It is a time of intimate worship, relationship and fellowship between you and God. It is a time to draw close to God. It is a time to remember Jesus and all that He did for us. It is a time to enter the Holy of Holies.
When you have an intimate relationship with Jesus you can go directly into the Holy of Holies. You do not need the priest (or anyone else) to go in for you.
Hebrews 9:24-26 NKJV
“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but in heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-
He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Jesus entered into the temple in heaven with His own blood as our sacrifice. He was our perfect sacrifice. A sacrifice pleasing to God, placed upon the brazen altar gave the priests the right to enter the most sacred place, the Holy of Holies. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice gives us the right to enter the Holy of Holies as priests to minister, fellowship, and commune with God.
Hebrews 10:19-20 NKJV
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh”
The body of Christ needs to draw closer to God through communion more than they ever have before. As time draws to a close we need the power that is available to us corporately through communion.
Revelation 2:4-5 NKJV
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place- unless you repent.”
Review
1. What is communion?
2. What does intimate mean?
3. The early church had __________________________ with God.
4. What are the benefits of corporate communion?
5. When communion is cut off from the people you will find the people and church are ______________ spiritually.
6. What is the manifest presence of God?
7. Paul wrote to the church (to believers) at Corinth about the manner in which they took communion. What was his warning to them?
8. The church at Corinth was drinking the communion wine to get ______________ and they were eating the bread for food.
9. What does examine mean?
10. Communion is …
a very powerful part of ______________ to God.
a time of intimate worship, relationship and _____________________ between you and God.
a time to draw ___________ to God.
a time to _________________________ Jesus and all that He did for us.
a time to _______________ the Holy of Holies.
11. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice gives us the right to enter the Holy of Holies as _____________ to minister, fellowship, and commune with God.
12. How does Revelation 2:4-5 apply to your life?
Revelation 2:4-5 NKJV
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place- unless you repent.”
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