This message is concerned with what the Holy Communion is to mean to us.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household: and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbor next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls; according to every man’s eating ye shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old: ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: and ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at even. And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor boiled at all with water but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. Exodus 12:1–10.
At the midnight hour the Israelites were to be released—they had partaken of the lamb, and at midnight judgment was to come over the land of Egypt. That was why it was called the Passover, because the angel of judgment passed over the people where the blood was found. (This was prophetic of the holy provision that Jesus, the Lamb of God, was to make. John’s great announcement at the Jordan river was, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! John 1:29b.) It was in that night that they were to partake of the lamb, before the sunlight of the new day came. All that remained was to be burned with fire, meaning that it would culminate in judgment.
The lamb was not only to be the provision of release, it became the occasion of judgment; and from that time on, the provision of that lamb was unavailable.
Let us look to the New Testament to make an application that will stir you to appropriate what God has for you. It was as Jesus and the disciples were keeping the Passover that our Lord’s Table was inaugurated.
You must understand that the Communion is not an outgrowth of the Passover; rather, it is the fulfillment of the Passover. It has historical significance to the Jewish people, but in the mind of God it was a prophecy of the Christ who was to come. His body and His precious blood are the real tokens of the Passover. The blood of the Lamb of God provides forgiveness and immunity from sin and judgment, and the precious Lamb within gives us strength to forsake the bondages of Egypt’s sin and walk forth into God’s new day.
And as they were eating, he took bread (the unleavened bread of the Passover), and when he had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye: this is my body. And he took a cup (because they always had the wine at the Passover), and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Verily I say unto you, I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Mark 14:22–25.
In the partaking of the communion, the blood has to do with the renewal of our soul, and the body has to do with the healing of our body. Our spirit has already been saved, we just have to keep a right spirit, and if we have sin in our soul, our spirit should be broken before the lord in the sense of being contrite (repentant).
This has prophetic significance to those who have understanding: it means that the presence of the Lord will become more and more precious in the Communion. It will be at the Lord’s Table that He will come and drink it new with us I anticipate that at the Communion He will appear before the congregations of saints, here and there. The appearances of the Lord are preparatory, and it is about them that John says, “Every man that hath this hope within him purifieth himself” (I John 3:3). By the body and blood of Jesus Christ, he makes himself ready at the altars of God, that perchance his Lord might stand before him as He did in those first great dispensation appearances two thousand years ago.
The first chapter of Ephesians reveals some of the provisions God made for us through the Lamb. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Verse 3. Verse 4 tells us that He chose us to be holy and without blame; verse 5 states that He predestined us into the adoption as sons; verse 6 relates that He made us accepted in the Beloved, bringing us into divine favor of the Holy Father; verse 7 shows we have redemption through His blood and forgiveness of our trespasses.
Verse 11 says we have obtained an inheritance through Him. Verse 12 tells of the great future God has for us when He has wrought all of this in us: how we will be to the praise of His glory. Verse 13 gives the guarantee of all of this; He sealed us with the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our inheritance, the beginning of all of the glorious things God ordained we should have. In verses 18 and 19 is a prayer that with this great blessing we shall know the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in us, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us.
Verses 20 and 22—the same power that raised Christ out of the tomb and set Him at the right hand of God is beamed toward every one of us. All things are under His feet, and God made Him to be head over all things to us, His church. Christ is head over everything where you are concerned; it is guaranteed you. Verse 23—a simple little statement at the end of the chapter says that we are God’s fullness, the fullness of Him that filleth all things. “Blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places”—Peter says the Lord has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, and that He has granted exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we become partakers of the divine nature (II Peter 1:3, 4).
The provision of our Passover Lamb through the offering of the body of Christ is very great: …we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest indeed standeth day by day ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins: but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Hebrews 10:10–14. O Precious Lamb, we would partake of that perfection; we would leave nothing of this provision until the morning, and we would press into it with all our hearts.
Oh, the richness of what He has provided! And in that day ye shall ask me no question…If ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name. John 16:23. Imagine what it would be to live without a single question, no problem of confusion in your mind, with such a perfect understanding, and to receive everything that you ask. Paul was right—Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit … we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. I Corinthians 2:9, 10, 12.
These verses do more than build faith; they rebuke our unbelief and make us aware of our incomplete appropriation. It is the time now to partake of the fullness of the Lamb. You may have lived all of your life on skim milk, but a land that is flowing with milk and honey is attainable. You who have been struggling and striving can still reach in and have it. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve fallen short; God’s provision is perfect, and He does not torment us by setting before us that which we cannot reach. By the grace of God through faith all of this provision is attainable. You can have it, you can walk in it; it can be a reality.
First, God’s provision is perfect. He has freely provided everything we need, more than we need, in the richness of His inheritance to us.
The second obvious fact is, we have possessed only a small part of that provision.
Three—God urges us to appropriate His complete and perfect provision; He does not intend to hold it back from us. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full. John 16:23, 24. It is not God’s intent and purpose that any of us walk short of fullness of joy—the joy that comes from complete, absolute fulfillment. Ask! We haven’t asked enough. God is urging us to appropriate this provision.
Four, it is all by the grace of God through faith. God doesn’t urge us as though it were by a discipline of our own flesh. We are required to believe, but it is by the bounty and generosity of God that we receive it. It is not based upon any merit on our part.
The fifth obvious fact is, we are chafing under our limited possession of His provision. We can’t seem to get our eye on the greatness and wonder of what has happened so far; the whole issue is that humility and continual repentance coupled with a continual stirring of our spirit to enter in and lay hold of what we know God has. We have tasted and have seen the goodness of the Lord, and we are aware that this is a true walk which God is bringing forth, but we are chafing because we haven’t been able to get into it more.
Six—we are desperate because we know we can’t go on with less than His perfect will and blessing. Something within us seems to turn into a bitter torment if we cannot walk in it. We will not submit to another year without entering in with all of our hearts.
Seven—we know we can change, we can overcome, we can possess. It isn’t based upon human ability but upon divine provisions and grace; we know we can be His ministers in the earth. We are aware that we must believe: there must be a greater faith in our hearts than ever before. With all of our enthusiasm and apparent unity we have to search our hearts; we must have yet a more absolute faith in this walk.
Eight—we can throw off our despair and our inadequacies. Physical infirmities can be at an end; we can be healed. We can be loosed from infirmities of another nature: harassments that are spiritual or mental. We can throw off fears, restrictions, passivity. We can throw off that Laodicean indifference and lukewarmness. We can repent, and God can cleanse us of our unbelief. We can throw away the things in our spirit that are wrong: bitterness and rebellion; sins can be forgiven; habits can be broken; things in our disposition and nature can be at an end. That is what the Lamb is to mean, and we can partake of it at the Communion altar.
The ninth obvious fact is that we are believers in Christ Jesus the Lord, and we do have faith that we can exercise. We can touch God continually and draw from Him. We are not unbelievers; we’ve been baptized by one Spirit into one Body, and we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can exercise our faith and get rid of doubts, inadequacies, and infirmities. We declare war on accepting them as valid; we will stop accepting semi-defeat and half victories and go on to be more than conquerors. This is our heritage; this is what the Lamb is to mean to us.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh—Hebrews 10:19, 20. That is the way into the presence of the Lord and into fulfillment of the perfect will of God.
We have this new and living way in the Communion. There is no other way except through that precious blood, that precious body, the veil that was rent, His body that was torn. No one can get into it by his own strength. The race isn’t to the swift nor the battle to the strong; God made only one way into all of this fullness: He sent His Son, and it is through His blood, His body, His sacrifice. When you kneel at the Communion, there is no altar higher than another. When you kneel at the foot of the cross, the ground is all level. Everyone comes the same way; there isn’t any difference. All have sinned; none is worthy.
We come with faith and audacity to believe that we will get more than a little relief from the torment of sin. We are going to move fully into the righteousness of God. “By that one sacrifice He has forever perfected them that are sanctified.” What we partake of when we eat the bread and drink the wine, the body and blood of Jesus, provides for everything. I’m going to stop striving to complete in the flesh, through my efforts, something that I know is included in the grace of God.
O Father, let there be no reluctance within us to fully possess what You have for us. We come to partake of this holy divine provision, so complete and perfect. We come with humility of heart, determined to walk not one more day without claiming the fullness of all that You are to mean to us. We repent of our sins; we repent of that horrible sin of unbelief, and we believe to come into that which You have for us now.
We throw off sins and habits; we believe for release from things of our old nature. We believe to enter into a victory in spiritual warfare over principalities and powers, over demons that have oppressed. We are believing to rise in the Spirit above any oppression from circumstances or physical infirmities. We believe to rise above that which has tormented and oppressed our minds and emotions. We believe to repent and be free from unbelief. Miracles are in order: the miracle of Thy presence, the miracle of Thy provision, and, by the grace of God, a miracle of appropriation in every one of us. Amen.