One of my greatest burdens is wanting so desperately to show others the truth of God’s word by the revelation of Jesus Christ, and knowing that not many will receive it. Jesus said it himself, “even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive.” I can agree from my heart with the apostle Paul, “the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12) Something that cannot be known by natural means.
How many pastors, teachers, and church elders do you know who are willing to look beyond the restraints of their personal opinions and religious interpretations? Considering the possibility that perhaps they haven’t yet understood all that the written word offers? How many do you know who will make room for correction? Not by commentaries or an opposing church doctrine, but as it is written in God’s holy scriptures.
Common sense alone shows us that something deplorable is going on in churches that claim to speak for Christ. This we know! “The word was made flesh,“ in Christ. Christ is not divided! His word is not divided! His word tells us that we should all speak the same thing, the same thing that he and his apostles taught. “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” (Ephesians 4:14)
The apostle Paul encountered the strongest opposition to the gospel from those who claimed to have the knowledge of God. By their worldly understanding and their prestigious position among men, they rejected the lowly carpenter from Galilee and his doctrine. Things happened exactly as the scripture said they would, but the religious leaders were blinded by their religion and could not see the truth. And the same blindness is still in place today, which prevents religious leaders from seeing that division in doctrine is not acceptable with God. No matter how hard they try to justify it, God’s word still condemns the many diverse doctrines being preached in the name of Jesus Christ.
If you will bear with me for a few minutes, I want to share a bit of understanding that came to me a long time ago by the Holy Ghost. It’s one of the easier mysteries to see, but you would be surprised how many preachers and teachers miss it completely. As always, in all my teaching, the written word of God is the final authority. The subject is the “bread and cup,” or the “communion service.” The word revelation means, “a shocking disclosure, something previously unknown.” That’s what this is.
In preparation for their deliverance from Egypt, the children of Israel were given a commandment from the Lord that they should do. They were to kill a firstborn, male lamb without spot or blemish, and put the blood on the door posts and the lintel, but not on the threshold because the blood must not be trampled underfoot. The meat was to be roasted and all of it eaten. In some cases, this required two or more families joining together. They prepared unleavened bread so that it could be made and eaten in haste. Bitter herbs and wine completed the Passover meal.
From that day forward, the Passover was kept one day each year in remembrance of God’s mercy to his people. Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal the evening before he was crucified, but this commandment of a natural Passover was fulfilled in Jesus and would become spiritual. It was given by the law, but the law was now completed. As the scripture says, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” (Colossians 2:14) He didn’t remove just parts of the ordinances, but all of them. The law was a foreshadow of things to come; all things are now become spiritual, but no less compelling.
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) The firstborn son of God. He was without spot or blemish, without sin. Soon thereafter Jesus would be sacrificed for our sins, setting us free from the curse of death. With his blood applied to our heart, the angel of death will pass over us. But we must take heed and never trample the blood underfoot.
After the blood is applied, the Lamb must be eaten, all of it. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” (John 6:53) How can we eat the flesh of the son of man?
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) It’s the word that we eat, and it must all be eaten, nothing left over. As Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) The bread that we eat is not for the flesh but for the soul. “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
The cup that we drink, “is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:25). As oft as you drink some juice at a communion service? No! But as often as you drink the cup of the New Testament, do it in remembrance of him; the word is written in his blood. He said, “Drink ye all of it.” (Matthew 26:27)
The cup that Jesus referred to was the “cup of the New Testament” and not the natural cup of wine. We can see an example of the cup of God’s word on the night that Jesus prayed in the garden before he was crucified. He said, Father if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me. The bitter cup that he was loath to drink was the words of the prophets that told of the torture and suffering that he must endure. Thanks be to God, he did drink that cup of sorrow, all of it.
Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal together in remembrance of God’s deliverance of his people, setting them free from bondage. This gathering was a foreshadow of a much greater communion to come, when all people, Jew and Gentile, would be set free from the bondage of sin by the blood of God’s perfect Lamb. Jesus is the Lamb. He is the unleavened bread. His word is the cup that we drink with him. The natural observance of the Passover is replaced with the spiritual observance.
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” Remember what Jesus said, “this is the cup of the New Testament.” Not a natural cup of juice, but a spiritual cup from the vineyard of God’s word. “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16) The word was made flesh. To consume and digest the teaching of Jesus is to eat of “the hidden manna” with him; to be in communion with Jesus, in the same mind with him. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.“
We must not exalt the commandments and traditions of men. “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8) Here is the unleavened bread that we eat with him. Sincerity and truth.
But in accordance with the prophesies of God’s word, religious leaders are not satisfied with the unleavened words of Jesus, and in an attempt to make them more palatable, they have added the “leaven of the Pharisees,” or the commandments of men. Thus, they have rejected the new and cling to the old.
At the time that Jesus and his disciples kept the Passover, he said to all who can hear, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29) “Until that day.” What day? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20) We can sit down at the table of the Lord and eat the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth and drink the cup of the new wine of the New Testament. As often as we come together to eat and drink of his eternal word, Jesus said, “do it in remembrance of me.“
This is not about a wafer and a drink of juice, but about the communion of the word of God. Many eat and drink of his word but don’t obey it in sincerity and truth, “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:27) Let a man examine himself, how? By the word of God, to see if we measure up. “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:31) If we don’t measure up here, we won’t measure up when we face eternity.
There is natural food and drink and there is spiritual food and drink. The early church understood this because the practice of keeping a natural Passover ended with the coming of the Holy Ghost. The apostles and believers in Christ now ate and drank with him in spirit and truth. But many of the Jews insisted on keeping the natural, and still do to this day. This has been handed down from generations past and is still practiced in many churches. But the Passover of old had certain stipulations set forth that had to be carried out once a year on a certain day. The meal was described and there were instructions about how to prepare it. When did it change to a wafer and juice? The answer: the Roman Catholic Church introduced this practice long ago.
Most churches today broke away from the Catholic Church and have split serval times since then. But they carried some of the customs and traditions with them. Eating a wafer and drinking wine is one such custom. They strongly emphasize this natural ritual, and totally dismiss the spiritual. Jesus knocks at the door but they never hear his voice. Consider this. If one lacks understanding, does eating a wafer and drinking juice help them to understand the mystery of God’s word? On the other hand, eating and drinking of the spirit with Christ will teach us and strengthen us. You see, all who do the natural act go right on believing the same things they always believed. They are still divided into a host of opposing doctrines and opinions. Evidently, not everyone examined himself carefully. Christ is not divided.
“In that day” when we hear the gospel and repent from our heart and seek the Lord in sincerity and truth, we have opened the door to Jesus and he will come in and share the bread and cup with us. No longer a natural Passover meal, but as he said, I will “eat it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Where is the kingdom? “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.“
The spiritual revelation of Jesus Christ is the light that “shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.“
When the faithful apostle Paul stood before Felix, he witnessed of Jesus Christ with such conviction and boldness that Felix trembled. I don’t know many that tremble at the word today.
