Communion: Your Covenant Connector

By James A. McMenis

This book will help believers understand the purpose and power of communion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 1, 2005
• ISBN: 9781483536330

Book preview

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Chapter 1

A QUEST FOR POWER AND DELIVERANCE

In my view, if there is anything that has been taken for granted and overlooked by the average believer, it is Communion. There are too few Christians who truly understand the origin and power that God has placed in the Bread and Cup of our Lord.

I’ve seen two extreme ends of the spectrum where Communion is involved. Either churches are not offering it at all or it has become some religious sacrament that has been stripped of its intended purpose and power. Jesus said in Matthew 22:29, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. When we walk ignorantly of God’s Word, we walk void of His power. In Hosea 4:6 and Isaiah 5:13, we see that God’s people are destroyed and in bondage because of their lack of knowledge.

In the following chapters I am going to use over 250 scriptural references to show you the origin, purpose and power of Communion. A believer’s quest for spiritual power and physical and mental deliverance can be found in the two elements that represent the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ! Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we as believers can receive the revelation of the Glory of Jesus, the Son of God.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

It is my solemn prayer that you will allow the Holy Spirit to show you the Glory and Power of the Bread and Cup of our Lord. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all Truth and according to John 17:17, God’s Word is Truth. The result of the ministry of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit is that Jesus be glorified. I am confident that as a result of what you will discover in the pages of this book, Jesus is going to be glorified in your life. Jesus said that He is glorified when we bear much fruit (John 15:8). His Word is an incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23) and I know as His Word is planted in your heart, a glorious harvest of salvation, healing an deliverance is going to manifest in your life – for His Name and for His Glory!

Chapter 2

COMMUNION’S ORIGIN IS THE PASSOVER MEAL

Before believers can truly understand the power of Communion we need to be able to see Communion for what it truly is. In the following chapters, I am going to take you through the Scriptures and show you the origin, purpose and power of Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper. It is the New Testament fulfillment of the Old Testament Passover Meal.

It is impossible to rightly understand Communion without looking at its origin. Of course, we know that Jesus gave His disciples this Divine Meal on the night in which He was betrayed (Matthew 26:26-29). But what is important is that you understand why Jesus gave His disciples this Meal on this particular night. It was the Passover. The disciples asked Jesus where they were going to eat Passover and Jesus responded, I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples (Matthew 26:17-18). Communion is the New Testament Passover Meal. Everything in the New Testament (New Covenant) is the fulfillment of something in the Old Testament (Old Covenant). Many believers miss awesome revelation of New Testament doctrine by failing to examine the Old Covenant origin.

Most believers’ knowledge of Communion comes from the instructions given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. There is a statement at the beginning of Paul’s instructions that we need to pay attention to. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you (v. 23). Paul said that he was sharing what he had received of the Lord. I have no doubt that the traditions of men have changed what Paul originally received of the Lord to be passed along to you and I. Notice what Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7:8-9 and Mark 7:13 when they questioned Him about his disciples not following tradition: Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. Jesus said we cause His Word not to have an effect in our lives when we hold our traditions in higher esteem. We grow accustomed to a certain idea about teachings in the Bible; when we hear something new or taught in a way we’ve never heard before, there is the tendency to reject the message or instruction. Jesus faced this same dilemma. His teachings were rejected in the name of religion. We have to be sure that we are not weighing God’s Word against our traditions, but rather are weighing our traditions against His Word.

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

We cannot allow our faith to become some religious sacrament. Many believers end up going through motions and appear to have a form of godliness but they are not receiving the power. Again, Jesus said, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God (Matthew 22:29).

What the Lord delivered to Paul regarding Communion is exactly what He delivered unto the disciples in Matthew 26 on the night of the Passover. Paul said that what the Lord delivered to him, he was delivering to the church. There is no way to receive or comprehend the intended purpose and power of Communion without looking at is origin – the Passover Meal.

What happened at the original Passover? We read of the first Passover in Exodus 12 on the night before Israel was delivered from the oppression of the Egyptians. Before the Red Sea ever parted and before they ever received the wealth and treasure of Egypt, they received