introduction

And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 (NIV)

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:53-54 (NIV)

Holy (pure, sacred, completeness) Communion (in common union)

Holy communion has been mis-understood and mis-applied by the church for a long period of time. This is not surprising given The power of the broken body and shed blood of Christ Jesus that are released upon our confession of sanctification for all who believe and to receive the Righteousness of God in Christ.

While the 10 plagues in Eygpt were not able to set the children of Israel free, the blood of the Passover Lamb did – in just one night! The death of an innocent animal without blemish, proclaimed that the price has been paid with the shedding of innocent blood to take the place of the guilty - setting them, that put their trust in the atonement, free from the curse of the law. Pharoah, and or the devil, had no more claims over the Israelis, to cause them harm in any-way. Given that divine justice has been fully satisfied, Pharoah had to let God’s people go.

Today, Holy Communion holds even greater significance for every born-again Christian because the elements speak of better things. The blood of Abel cried out for vengeance, but the blood of Jesus will always cry out for our eternal forgiveness because His sacrifice on the cross is greater then any sin. While the blood of animals cannot take away sin and had to be continually offerred; christ dies once and for all times to cleanse the believer whiter than snow. We are so clean that the Holy Spirit can now indwell every believer.
When we partake of the elements; we become one with Him and also receive His eternal Life that will drive out every evil and poverty from our soul and body. This is very clear from scripture and also from the practices of the early house church. They would break bread, as often as they meet, to remember the finished work of Christ.

One common mis-understanding comes from 1 Corinthians 11:27 NIV

“Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.”

For centuries, churches around the world have taught that the believer who partake must first be worthy. This goes against the bible that says ”unworthy manner” - meaning not believing that our sins have been taken away by the shed blood of jesus on the cross. Also, this wrong teaching goes against the grace and mercy of God; and bring us all back to the law. Righteousness comes only by faith in the finished work and not by what we do or not do to deserve God’s blessings.

We can see many instances in the Old Testament that speak of the elements of Holy Communion. The walls of Jericho came down after the proclamation of the seven rams horn before the Ark by the seven priests who went round the walls seven times. Seven being the number of God’s rest and the ram’s horn taken from the innocent death of seven rams. We also see the elements in the story of Gideon. The 300 Isreali soldiers were given very unlikely “weapons” - a trumpet of ram’s horn, a pitcher with a torch within. Again we see the innocent death of the ram (Passover Lamb), the pitcher that was smashed speaks of the broken body of Jesus, and the torch a picture of the Holy Spirit that testifies of the Truth, the Way and the Life.

We sincerely believe that the same victory can be manifested in ours lives today as we partake in faith; proclaiming the death of the spotless Lamb of God, His Blood and Broken body – taking our place of God’s holy judgment and punishment so that we could take His place of blessedness and GIFT of no condemnation.
For without faith in the Cross, it is impossible to please God.

Amen,

Proverbs 10:22 NKJ
The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.

There was a popular french saying in vietnam many years ago :-
The vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch it grow; and the Laotians listen to it grow..
This saying shows that vietnamese are still a diligent people living in a fast paced society.

Indeed, a thai sister in christ who visited vietnam recently found the environment harsh and challenging. Compared to thailand, vietnam is a war zone to the uninitiated. Inner city travel in saigon alone is enough to scare off the meek! Many vietnamese work long hours and endure much to make ends meet. In the process, they sacrifice their time with family, their health and even their sleep for success.

We all the know the reason why worldly success comes with a heavy price. In genesis 3:16-19 NKJ, we see clearly the consequences of sin - separation from God, sorrow and finally death. However, it is never the will of God for man to barely survive but to live an abundant, fulfilling life in Him.

From John 3:16, we see God’s salvation plan for mankind. Sin that came in through the first adam’s unbelief (romans 5:12 NKJ) had to be remedied by the obedience of the second adam through His perfect and righteous sacrifice on the Cross (romans 5:16-19 NKJ). Today, the reality of what christ has done for every believer can be realised and activated through faith in the finished work of redemption. We see this in romans 6:4-9 NKJ - We were crucified, buried and resurrected with christ – no longer sinners but righteous through faith in christ jesus.

So today, believers can live life with an expectation of good happenings because we have peace with God through our Lord jesus Christ (romans 5:1 NKJ). We no longer walk under the old system of dead works to please God in order to be blessed. But rather we now enjoy the undeserved, unearned, unmerited favor of God in the new and living Way (hebrews 10:20 NKJ).

As God revives the church in preparation for the Day of the Lord, the urgent need for knowledge of fundamental truths becomes obvious. The book of Hosea said - “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (hosea 4:6 NKJ)

Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for righteousness; for they shall be filled (matthew 5:6 NKJ).
Amen.