DO 2394 11/79

1. Amen, TYJ! "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you."—1Cor.11:23. That's a good Scripture, in fact we do it every day, don't we? PTL! I didn't realise there's so much in that! I think I've heard that probably a thousand times in Communion services, they always start the Communion with that, & I wonder how many of them really could honestly say that. We have tried to deliver everything to you that we have received from the Lord, sometimes it's almost too much! PTL!

2. We don't have a problem finding enough material for the Magazine, we have a problem getting a Magazine big enough to hold all we've got! The Lord promised that in the "Birthday Warning," didn't He?—To pour it out so there wouldn't even be room enough to hold it! (See ML #215.) And He promised if we'd be faithful with it that He'd bless us so that there wouldn't be enough room to hold our blessings, too!

3. "The Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: And when He had given thanks, He brake it."—That's a big loaf, but it's a good sample of what this little ceremony symbolises, that we are one body. Wow! We've sure got some beautiful parts here! "And when He had given thanks, He brake it‚ & said, Take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me." PTL! TYL!

4. Amen, thank You Lord for this simple little remembrance of You, which You promise that as often as we did it, we would do it in remembrance of Thee. It's a testimony & it's a witness & it shows that we understand, Lord, what You've done for us, that Your body was broken for our bodies & for our healing. We have the faith to believe it & appropriate it, we can claim it now as we partake of these symbols & emblems of Thyself & Thy blood. As we partake‚ Lord, we can claim Thy healing for anything that we need, & so we do, Lord, in Jesus' name. TYL!

5. Now I'm not going to break it all up for you, but I'm just going to pass it around & let you tear off what piece you want! You don't have to have a big hunk unless you're awful sick. This is not the time to manifest your hunger, this is the time when we just are going to commemorate the Lord's body. When we were in church we used to sing some beautiful songs, I still think they're beautiful‚ such as: "Break Thou the Bread of Life, dear Lord to me. As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea. Beyond the sacred page‚ I see Thee‚ Lord! My spirit pants for Thee, the Living Word!" It's a pretty little song, & since they're so slow passing the bread, we might as well sing it again!

6. So the bread is symbolic both of His body & of His Word, right? TTL! Amen. So He said, "Take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me." We're not doing this because we're hungry, we're not doing this because we just want to eat‚ but we're doing this to symbolise that we've all partaken of Jesus & His life & strength & health‚ amen? PTL! And you don't have to hold it under your tongue for 24 hours like St. Theresa or whoever it was. Jesus said, "Take, eat!", He didn't say suck it!

7. "For as often as ye eat this bread & drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread & drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body & blood of the Lord." You shouldn't be doing it if you don't really believe in the Lord & aren't sure of your Salvation. In other words‚ it's a testimony that you have partaken of Jesus, a testimony that you're saved. So if you partake of Communion & it's not so, then you're lying‚ & you're partaking unworthily.

8. It doesn't mean that you're perfect. I used to worry myself sick going to Communion thinking of all the horrible things I'd done, I thought surely God was going to strike me dead on the spot for taking Communion because I wasn't perfect! But that's the whole point of Communion, you're not perfect, & that's why you need it, PTL? And a very important thing here, "For this cause many are weak & sickly among you, & many sleep."—Because some have partaken unworthily. They were testifying to a lie like Ananias & Sapphira, something that wasn't true.—Acts 5:1-11.

9. It's very important that you know what you're doing, PTL? As we have pointed out so often before, the Scripture is very clear that Jesus' blood alone was all that was necessary to save us, so why did His body have to be broken too, & why do we partake of the bread? There can be no other reason than for our health, our strength, our life, our physical well–being. So that's very important to remember‚ PTL?

10. "After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped." I don't think I've ever seen it done this way. In the Protestant churches they serve the people first & the elders & the preacher last, just the opposite of what it says here. Jesus took the cup first. In the Catholic churches at least the priest partakes of the cup, but until recently he didn't give it to the people.

11. That all started in the great French wine famine of the 1200's when they ran short of wine. They said they just couldn't afford to give all the people a drink of wine, so the priest would partake of it for them, like he did everything else for them. Well‚ even after the wine famine was over, apparently it saved the church a lot of money, & it seemed like a pretty good idea for the church & for the priest, so they kept up the custom & they didn't give the people the wine after that. I think it's only recently in some of the more liberated Catholic churches that they have also partaken of the wine, but for years it was not done. But anyhow, Jesus supped first.

12. "Saying, this cup is the New Testament in My blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread & drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come." He died for us, He took our punishment for us‚ the punishment of the death of the sinner, & it was His blood shed for us which paid for our sins. He took the punishment & paid the price, & when we drink the wine, symbolic of His blood, then we're testifying that we believe in Jesus & that He died for our sins & we don't have to pay for them. Aren't you glad? Thank God! I'd sure hate to have to pay for my sins. TYL! In Jesus' name, amen. Thank You for Your death & Your blood.

13. I don't know what they sing in Catholic churches, I've been there many times & heard those anthems but not enough to learn them, so I don't know. But we sang some good old songs in the good old Gospel churches I went to which I thought were very appropriate & very sweet. Can you think of some songs about the blood? (Sings: ) "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! O, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow‚ no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus!" And there was another one we used to sing:

14. "There is power‚ power, wonder-working power, in the blood, of the Lamb! There is power‚ power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood! Would you o'er evil the victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood! There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb! There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb!" PTL! Amen? What power?—Saving power, for Salvation, power to save you!

15. Remember, healing is in the bread, in the body, which shows that it's the whole Christ for the whole man: His body for our bodies‚ & His blood for our Salvation! "For the life of the flesh is in the blood."—Lev.17:11. His life for our life‚ His sufferings for ours, there's a difference. PTL!

16. I always think of that story about dear Lyle Rader. He was an old farm boy & never had much education, but he was an on-fire preacher of the Gospel, evangelist for the Lord. And when his denomination decided they wanted to ordain him—because after all, he couldn't be a preacher unless he was ordained—he was ordained along with this big bunch of high-powered preachers, university & "cemetery" (seminary) graduates. So they were signing the ordination papers, & this one guy signed a whole string of degrees, you know, LLD‚ Ph.D., DD! My Grandfather used to say DD (Doctor of Divinity) stood for the preachers who were dumb dogs who could not even bark to warn the people!—Isa.56:10.

17. But Lyle Rader didn't have any degrees at all, so he just wrote "OASSBGHPTL"! And the Presbyterian preacher who was sitting beside him said, "Those are some very amazing degrees! I've never seen those degrees before, would you mind telling me what they stand for?" He said, "Only a sinner‚ saved by grace, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!" So that's the only degree you need! That will get you through the portals, you don't have to stop & argue with Saint Peter or wait while he tries to find the right key, you've got it, TTL, & you go zipping in! PTL!

18. When you go zipping through the gates, you won't have any worries! You might be a little ashamed for some things that you didn't do or you did do‚ but you don't have to have any worries about getting in, because that's what got you in! PTL? Well, that's all! We don't have to preach a long sermon, I just wanted to remind you to have Communion because we hadn't had it together for quite awhile. Any questions? Any problems? The only problem some of you have is you're too beautiful! Too sweet! PTL! God bless all of you & thank God for you! Are you all happy? Healthy? Busy? PTL!

19. (To Techi: ) Well, your first Holy Communion, how about that! This is Techi's first Holy Communion! Is that the bread you're partaking of? Did she have any wine? There's a tiny bit left for her. I know she trusts Jesus. That's where she came from! We'll just trust God for her vicariously & that's all she needs. As long as the parents are saved, that takes care of the kids, TTL!—1Cor. 7:14.

20. The Lord said, "And thy house!"—Acts 16:31. I know some people who claimed that for their parents. The Lord promised "& thy house," so you can pray for your folks, too‚ and I'm sure the Lord will answer your prayers! The Lord is more merciful than we are, & more patient, TTL! (—GBAKYAMYAB!—In Jesus' name, amen.)

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family