The Power Of Holy Communion - Pastor John Koe

hello Shalom Shalom all my brothers and sisters from around the world how have you been I know many of you have been in some kind of a lockdown of some measure of quarantine social distancing and all that and I'm just so glad though then despite all the lockdown in quarantine you know what God's Word is not quarantine gospel the gospel is not being locked down I'm here and we can have this platform to be able to to share the Word of God to encourage one another and this is wonderful and I still thank God for it I think over the technical technological platform that we can do this by yeah I know we're living in very extraordinary times and and and we we need to really look to God and to feed on his word in order to be strengthened to be to be encouraged in the meat of all these seemingly very bad things that has been happening yeah and today I want to share about a topic that I know is relevant for us ever since the cove 819 epidemic began we have been encouraging brothers and sisters to to pick the Holy Communion as often as you can and especially to do it with your family and that is apart from and over and above all the Holy Communion that we are always taking every time we have a service whether physically or online in our services we we take the holy communion together right and because of that because of that actually lately I've been receiving questions requests actually about the Holy Communion apparently there have been many more new people who have been joining in in our broadcast and our live stream sharing and they've also experienced our taking the Holy Communion online and and they want to know more about the Holy Communion in fact just the day before I receive a request Pastor John can you do you have any old teachings on this I want to know more about the holy communion so today I thought I would I would touch on the Holy Communion from another angle to teach about the Holy Communion not just as a refresher for us a little bit more mature believers but also especially as a lesson and instruction for the new people and new believers have been joining us online all right so I'm gonna go on now to share about the power of the Holy Communion but before I do that I I want you to pray with me just take a moment and pray with me have any father we just want to commit this time your hands and we ask Lord that that you are not the preaching of your word and power Lord the communication of your truth in such a way that everyone who who listens in will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit will be strengthened and courage and instructed of you and that they will be blessed by the revelation that come through your word thank you lord bless bless bless this time that we have together even over the internet and over this medium we thank you praise you right now in Jesus wonderful name we agree and pray amen I mean I mean I mean so beginning on this topic I will I will start by sharing about what is the origin of the Holy Communion or I just feel like to start on this with this angle right now what is the origin of the Holy Communion and the origin of the Holy Communion is really the blood covenant all right I'm not sure how many of you know about a blood covenant I've thought about this I have taught a whole series on these in churches all over the world actually have I've shared this subject in many many countries in many pastoral conferences and all it is a very powerful series that I've done that is actually online right now I encourage you to go there for the detail of it here in its entirety online all right but today I do need to do a panoramic view to give you a panoramic of what is a blood covenant because we cannot grasp the true significance of the Holy Communion apart from its place of importance in the blood covenant all right so to begin with I want to touch on the blood covenant what is the blood covenant what is a blood covenant now God saves men by way of blood covenant do you know do you know what is a black cup did you know that the Bible is service is separated into the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and the word that covenant is the blood covenant belief in the India Hebrew all right God says with six men by way of the blood covenant and a blood covenant first of all is the most sacred and permanent agreement that two persons can enter into and it is it has been practiced since ancient times by all major human civilizations to some degree or other including the Hebrew race or a God's people the Hebrew race and so what happens is this when is is when two persons enter into a blood covenant relationship they belong completely to each other ever since the act of cutting the Covenant permanently because this is a an agreement that cannot be broken cannot be rescinded cannot be be be stopped or it cannot be broken from that point of cutting the blood covenant from that point on the two persons have entered into their agreement now or they own everything they own becomes common possession common possession now God chose to use this method to save mankind and he began with choosing a man by the name of Abraham to cut this blood covenant with so the Abraham can represent men and he being God enter into a blood covenant with him by which God gave of himself to men in this case represented by Abraham you understand because when two persons enter into a blood covenant they have given themselves completely to each other and everything they own now becomes common possession and God uses method to give of himself two men first taking on upon himself the obligation as well as a responsibility to save the sons of men because when two persons enter into a blood covenant they become one and their families become each other's family when God enter into a blood covenant with men now your family becomes his family his possession becomes your possession to many wonderful details of this which I really encourage you to go download the series on on the black covenant to truly see in his detail beauty all right so back to the covenant having cut the blood covenant with Abraham God promised Abraham many many blessings including that of a savior of the world among one of his descendants will be a savior of the world salvation of mankind would come through a particular descendant of Abraham and his name is Jesus his name is Jesus amen this account of how God cut a blood covenant with Abraham is actually recorded in Genesis chapter 15 alright so you can go read genesis of the fifteen after this the actual act of cutting the Covenant alright now this is where I want to bring you to a specific element in the process of cutting the blood covenant is called the meal the covenant meal all right because it is that meal they see used the Covenant so let me describe to you how Hebrew people cut the blood covenant in a typical in a typical ceremony of cutting a blood covenant as practiced by by two Hebrew men let's say alright in that in the ceremony of cutting the blood covenant they did many things they were slaughter animals split them into a half put them on the ground like the way Abraham did when God told him in Genesis chapter 15 all right the two Hebrew men will kill the animal put them on the ground and they would do many things they will pronounce blessings and curses over each other blessing for keeping the Covenant curses for breaking the Covenant they would walk the figure of eight or horizontally becomes the figure of infinity signifying that this is an eternal covenant eternal agreement and then they were they were they were cut there there is too much a blood together and so forth or are many things but towards the end of this process to finalize the whole covenant cutting ceremony the last thing they would do to permanently seal this process seal this covenant is a covenant meal that's called a covenant meal and after they eat a covenant meal together henceforth they are joined together as one person in the Bible you can also read about how Jonathan and David enter into this blood covenant alright so go and refer to the Bible so back to the covenant cutting process today when we eat the whole Iike me that covenant meal is actually the precursor to today what we take as the holy communion together you understand or today when we take the holy communion it carries the rich meaning that we are declaring and affirming our oneness our union with our Lord Jesus Christ as we partake of him through eating the elements of the Holy Communion or I'm jumping a little ahead of myself right now I want you to see that right from the beginning at the blood covenant and in the process of cutting a blood covenant between two persons already there was this element of a covenant meal and the significance of that was that when two percent finally eat this meal is see use the process of the arc cutting the Covenant and they from that point on was become one and they belong to each other likewise today when we take the Holy Communion we become one with our Lord Jesus or hold that thought now I want to fast forward you about 450 years from from the time from the time of Abraham to the time of Moses because just now we talked about how Abraham God enter into a blood covenant with him right now above for 150 years later we come to the time of we come to the time of Moses now [Music] that's when we see the Passover meal all right so this covenant meal has evolved at the time of the Passover that's when the covenant meal was established for God's people the Israelites to observe forever forever the Covenant meal now becomes the Passover meal that God instructed the Israelites to partake when when was the first time do you remember on the night before they departed from Egypt the night of the first Passover in the history of man that Passover meal that the Israelites ate that night was a covenant meal a blood covenant meal to be exact like the way I described it just now so after this session I want to encourage you to go into the Bible and read Exodus chapter 12 verse 1 to 15 that was the night of the Passover remember all the plates the templates that God used to to force Pharaoh to let go of God's people that they may live their life of slavery under the Egyptians and to be set free to worship God to set free to be set free to be able to serve God 10 plates to force the hand of Pharaoh to let go right and that most serious plague was a tenth plane the slaying of the firstborn in every household all this event took place in the took place in the Bible and was recorded in the Bible now at the tenth plane at the tenth plague which was a night before the departure before their Exodus was when the Passover took place all right so I'm gonna bring you to this event right now the tenth and final plague that God used to force Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their slavery and be allowed to go serve and worship God that night God poured the God told the Israelites all right to to slay a lamb or a goal that is perfect without blemish it signifies the Messiah the Savior who will be without sin a perfectly holy and righteous person all right God gave them instruction take the lamb or a go without blemish slaughter it all right and take the blood take the blood of this lamb and smear it on the doorpost on the lintels of the doorway symbolizing the Christ's blood is what would cause the plane to pass over the tenth place as I said was the most serious place where there will be the death of all the firstborn men and animals that was a most serious plane and if they would believe in God's instruction and would take the blood of the unblemished lamb and applied on the adora pose and upon the lintel of the doorway when the Angel of Death passed through that night that angel will pass over the households with the blood that is on the doorway symbolizing the blood of the coming Messiah that will be shed for the redemption of all mankind the in this blood and having been washed by this blood all plagues will pass over us all the judgments of God will also pass over us that was the significance of it so right here I want to describe some of the some of the key points about the Lamb that they actually sacrificed and ate all right let me describe to us the lamb or gold as I mentioned must be without the fact representing the cinders Jesus who will be punished with death for the sins of mankind the blood to be smeared on the doorposts and the lintel signifying Christ's blood that the that is shed for the redemption of all mankind and that nine when the Angel of Death passed through the land of Egypt and all the household they with all the household ahead they did not have the blood of the lamb on the doorpost they would suffer the death of their firstborn so right here you can see the direct significance of how the blood of the Lamb was what saved them from the sea Vera's plane that has come upon the whole land right that is the significance that's why the Holy Communion takes on a whole new significance and meaning during such a time of the corona virus outbreak the pandemic that's going around taking lives destroying lives the Holy Communion reminds us that the blood of Jesus is what shows us in our household and every plate has to pass over us and cannot come into our life nor a family you see the significance of it now all right so back to the Israelites I want to bring you back to the Israelites at the at the first Passover covenant meal God specifically wanted them to eat together as a family as a family especially involving their children why think about it so with that instruction by the way for now like three thousand five years by now do you know that Jews still carry out the instruction Jews are still celebrating the Passover every year and as part of the Passover celebration baby they would and they're still eating this covenant meal which is by now called the Seder meal all right the Jews call them this call it the Seder meal and they would eat this specifically with a whole household together eating this meal and by the stipulated tradition the Jews they would have during the meal they would have a child in the family as the father of the household Barry daddy what makes this night different from the rest of the night meaning was the significance of this Passover celebration what makes this special and when a child asks that question is kind of is there to do that every every year during the Passover celebration right and then the father of the household he he is - he is to explain the meaning of the Passover to the child how God has delivered the Jewish people at the tenth plain when they were in the land of Egypt thousands of years ago and the father will recall he will recall all the wonderful acts of God how God has preserved them protected them provided for them through all those plagues and eventually how God shielded them from from death and that was that that was what was instructed of God for the Jews to observe and over the years for 3,500 years now they are still doing them what is the significance here that I want to draw out in today's sharing about the Holy Communion is this that the holy cow is most meaningful actually taken as a family taken as a family and when you take this as a family you are actually recalling the salvation work of Jesus Christ just like when the Jews did that and when they do that they are recalling the salvation of God during the plagues they came upon Egypt right now whenever we do this we take the Holy Communion as a family we are reinforcing our our trust in God and we are also actually passing this Christian faith to our children and even to our children's children if you do have grandchildren or great-grandchildren or when we do this as a family recalling the salvation that God has given us in Jesus Christ it's so powerful it not only we help helps us recall the redemptive work of Christ we are also communicating it to our children and our children's children of the reality of God of the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ and so it reaffirms our faith and it passes on our faith to our next generation the side the Holy Communion as I said just now is the most meaningful where we do it as a family all right and so we we come from the blood covenant as practiced in ancient times among the even among the Hebrew people they were it was called a blood covenant meal right this blood covenant meal later on 450 this this this covenant meal all right practice by the Jews was what God asked Abraham to do at the cutting of the blood covenant 450 years later at a time of Moses at the Passover God reminded them and instructed them to take the covenant mu to reinforce their faith that God is the one who will protect them from death and through that act God would also deliver them out of bondage into freedom that's during the Passover right now I want to fast-forward again now for another 1,500 years from Moses time to Jesus time when our Lord Jesus walked on the earth when he was carrying out his messianic ministry and then we're gonna zoom in a space especially to the night before his crucifixion that was when this covenant meal happens again in a very significant way that was the pass over that was the Passover as practiced in Jesus time so what what happened Jesus gathered all his disciples together right Jesus gathered his disciples together to take the the Passover meal and that is what we famously referred to now as the Last Supper it was a Passover meal and it was a covenant meal a blood covenant meal understand right so at the Last Supper it was at the Last Supper that Jesus brought whole new revelation I would call it the ultimate revelation to the true meaning of the Covenant meal which is what we now call the Holy Communion all right so with then I want to bring you to the scripture that is found in first Corinthians chapter 11 verse 23 many of us may be quite familiar with this scripture because we read we read the scripture very often especially during our Holy Communion today what I attempt to do is to give a panoramic view of the origin of the Holy Communion and how it is practiced today among us and and the significance it has for us especially in such a time as this you know of pandemic of the pandemic of fear of danger to our life even you know that comes from the diseases and all day the Holy Communion takes on a whole new significance and we need to tap into the power of it all right so I'm gonna read to you from first Corinthians chapter 11 right now verse 23 for I deliver from the Lord this were the words of Apostle Paul or in his letter to the Corinthian believers for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread 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 I want to stop here for a moment can you imagine how shocked the disciples must have been because you gotta know they have been taking this covenant meal forever because by then it's been practiced for about the pass a pass over me 1,500 years all right so all their life they've been doing this and every Passover but no one ever took up the bread and say this is what it really is what it really represents so Jesus brought ultimate revelation when he took the bread he saying this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me that means this bread actually represents Christ's body and the act of breaking it is symbolized it points to the fact that Christ's body was Okin on our behalf and for our healing because first Peter chapter 2 verse 24 tells us by his wounds we were healed so when Jesus said this it was a whole new meaning for the disciples that this bread represent the body of Jesus broken for the healing for the restoration for their salvation alright so let me read it again this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way he took the cup also after supper saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this as well as often as often as you drink it in remembrance of me and Jesus would explain to them that the cup the the red colored grape wine actually represents his blood that his blood would be shed for the redemption of mankind for the salvation of the world Wow so I can imagine if I I've been one of the disciples I would have been stunned like really and what do you mean by that you got to understand when he when when Jesus did this it was before the crucifixion and so they would not have fully understood it yet what do you mean your body would be broken for us what do you mean your blood we shared for us this is actually your blood and and that we are to do this to remember you and Jesus went on to say for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes hmm this is very interesting remember that Abraham took this meal how many times I told you write Genesis chapter 15 when God cut the Covenant with him he would have taken it one time you know the Israelites were told to eat this meal ever since the Passover they would they were to take this meal annually every year when they celebrated the Passover how God delivered them from Egypt they will have the Passover meal they would take this covenant meal and so that would be yearly right now Jesus indicated that we can take this as often as we can why do we want to take this meal often because this meal helps us remember all of Christ's redemptive work that the bread represent his body that was broken that we might be healed that we are legally entitled to supernatural healing when need be supernatural health though that we want to live in his body that was broken paid the price for our body to be made whole you see and today as we take this Holy Communion we are reminded that his blood was shed to bring us into this blood covenant relationship with God and that's why now we not only belong to God because of the blood covenant god belongs to us remember when two percent cuts the blood covenant they belong to each other they have given of themselves to each other and tested the the meaning of the blood covenant and that's why when God cuts a blood covenant with man and sealed with the blood of Jesus God has given of himself to you that's why you can really say he is my god because he really has given himself to you through the act of the blood covenant and because of the blood coven now all of God's possession becomes your possession all of his power is made available to you as well because of the blood covenant it's so powerful it's so powerful and the Holy Communion reminds us of this powerful truth of this powerful reality we enjoy and we possess who are in Christ Jesus meaning we have believed upon our Lord Jesus to be our Lord and Savior and what he has done to save us and so every time we take the Holy Communion we are proclaiming what Jesus has accomplished for us so this word here proclaimed that we just read in the scripture is meaningful I wanted this I want to explain because in the Greek it means to preach to teach to show to declare to make known all right to make known what the Lord's death until he comes the mist to proclaim His salvation well until he returns again to take us as his bride this is really really powerful that means we want to do the Holy Communion in such a way that we recall the awesome redemptive work of Christ salvation but of Christ we are also affirming our faith in what he has done for us so that we can access all that he's given for to us through the holy truth to the the sacrifice through His redemptive work and specifically through the blood covenant and what has God given you through the blood covenant himself he not only gave you blessing he gave you himself the blesser gave himself to you with unlimited resources because of the blood covenant unlimited healing unlimited anointing unlimited power because in the blood covenant God gave of himself in port ality to you Wow and the Holy Communion is meant to be a powerful multi-sensory reminder of such a tremendous reality that we we we experience in Jesus Christ our Lord and so we have to take the Holy Communion in such a way right now that we can proclaim them is to teach to show to declare to make known the redemptive work of Christ which is the gospel the gospel amen that's why we we we want to take the Holy Communion especially during such a time when people are fearing the pandemic people are in fear hiding at home just as well just like the first Passover the whole family was huddled at home that is a quarantine the ultimate quarantine because what was gonna pass by was death and the family was huddled in the house and taking the Covenant meal and because they did that the plague passed over no death happen in their household and and God affirmed them that he was their protector and they are absolute provider and so now I want to encourage you to have a whole new light and understanding of what is the Holy Communion as you are hardier with your family in the home take the Holy Communion and if you take the Holy Communion explain to your children the salvation what of of Jesus Christ you can even recall all those times God has ever helped you supernaturally provided for you heal you save you from danger you can recall all these as you take the Holy Communion amen that makes it so much more meaningful and powerful in the family and so I want to recap again the main point when we partake of the Holy Communion we are affirming our blood covenant that we have with God through which God has promised complete provision to us spirit soul and body and that includes supernatural protection from all harm and evil including this pandemic that is going around and we enjoy the protection as a family amen when receive the Holy Communion it strengthens our faith in the redemptive work of Christ and reminds us of a mystical union with him in whom we have been made complete and whole when we take the Holy Communion we are affirming that and strengthening our faith for that and lastly when we when we partake of the Holy Communion as a family we are communicating to our children all of the realities and blessings that we have in this covenant or relationship that we actually enjoy with God and we are enjoying this sa household and when we do that with our children we are reinforcing their faith in Him as well oh the power of Holy Communion so with them now we take the Holy Communion with new understanding new revelation amen amen be so blessed let me say a prayer over You Father in the name of Jesus I pray over every household that is listening in to this sharing right now the Lord you will run them a whole new light and revelation of the power of Holy Communion and that you would encourage them to take the Holy Communion as a family as often as they can and in these dark times of the pandemic or whatever financial collapse or whatever they may come upon the world that the Lord your people will be with their family taking the Holy Communion affirming their faith in you and thereby accessing your fullness of protection and provision for every one of your beloved children thank you God thank you God thank you God for hearing our prayer thank you God for preserving your people for preserving your people in such a time as this in Jesus name we agree and pray and all of God's people say amen amen so are you ready to take the holy communion with me this time I'm praying that you will take it with a whole new light and revelation and faith in what it truly represents so right now I want you to just pass the elements around in your family remember is a whole lot more meaningful taken as a family all right yeah okay yeah you pass it the little one okay everybody got the elements remember this bread actually represents represents that the body of Jesus broken for us right yeah and this cup represent his blood that was shed for a Redemption so if you're ready as a family I'm gonna pray together with us and then we would take it together or it will begin with pray come let us take it let us go to our Heavenly Father in prayer right now have any father we just thank you so much so much for your love towards us your salvation it had given us through your son through the sacrifice of your son into dairy as we partake of the Holy Communion we as we hold this bread in our hands we are reminded that Jesus body was broken for us Bible says by his wounds we were healed Jesus you actually paid the price of all our diseases even before you died on the cross who paid the price for all our sins which is death your body was torn apart that our body may be made whole put together and so right now as we hold this bread in our hand we thank you Lord for having paid the price and so we declare we shall live in divine health all the days of our life we and our whole household we declared our family is impermeable by any diseases no infirmities can come into our household because we are a household in covenant with God and a household for whom Jesus Christ has paid the price for all healing and for divine health to be our inheritance thank you Lord Jesus we eat this bread in faith faith in your redemptive work amen take the bread and releasing your faith for divine healing and divine health in your whole family there be someone who has been ill or who is sick I want you to take it especially with that person in affirming and declaring God's healing and God's promise of divine health as our inheritance hallelujah hallelujah now hold the cup in your hand everyone yes yeah alright we're gonna pray together let me lead us Heavenly Father we thank you for the blood of Jesus oh the blood that was shed on Calvary for our cleansing removing from us all our sins past present and future and right now as we hold this cup it reminds us of the blood that was shed it reminds us of the tremendous redemptive work that our Lord Jesus has accomplished for us and we wanna thank you lord thank you lord on the cross you were rejected that we might be accepted by our heavenly father on the cross you bought all the curses that we might now receive all the blessings from our heavenly father thank you Lord Jesus for dying this vicarious death in our place that we might be made the beloved of God and this blood was what sealed that blood covenant that we have enjoy with God ever since we believe you in our Lord it that to be our Lord and Savior this blood series in the relationship a covenantal relationship we've have we have with God in which he has given himself to us and all that he holds possesses and represents now also belong to us because of the blood covenant the blood is precious the blood was shared to make God ours and so Lord Jesus we thank you for this we thank you for your redemptive work right now we drink this cup in faith and in credit you [Music] ah man and you bless your a people in covenant with God hallelujah have a have an awesome week ahead in Jesus name

Channel: Petra Community

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Keywords: Petra Community Church Singapore, Petra, Community, Church, Weekly Message, Singapore

Id: ripBd0-jkw0

Length: 44min 53sec (2693 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 13 2020