QUESTION:
What is the purpose of Communion?
ANSWER:
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, 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 26:26-29]
“ For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 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. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. [I Corinthians 11:23-33]
“There wasn't a priest come up the road with his collar turned around and said, "Now, we're going to take the first communion. You lick out your tongue and I'll give you the wafer, and I'll drink the wine." Wouldn't that be...? Neither was there a preacher come up the road and said, "Give us the right hand of fellowship. We'll put your name on the book and try you six months on probation." Nope. That's man's conferences. That's the way they do at the councils and conference.” [Conferences, Bloomington, IL 61-0410]
“Lick out your tongue, take a little wafer that some man-made, and the priest drinks the wine, say, "I took the holy communion," the holy eucharist, which means the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost didn't come with a wafer; It come like a sound from heaven, like a rushing mighty wind, that filled all the house where they were sitting. That's right. See? That's uncertain. I can't read that in the Bible. But when I hear It come from heaven like a rushing mighty wind, that's it.” [The Uncertain Sound, Bloomington, IL 61-0415E]
“What church would represent justification? In the first reformation was Martin Luther, who came forth preaching justification by faith. All of us know that. That young German priest, that throwed the communion on the altar and said that, "It was not the blood of Jesus Christ, or the kosher bread, that he knowed it was just the bread and--and wine." So he--he throwed it on the altar and said, "It represented the body of Christ." And that's the difference that separates Catholic from Protestant. One said, Catholic says, "It is the body of Christ." And the other says, "It represents the body of Christ." [Abraham And His Seed After Him, Chicago, IL 61-0423]
“This means of communion, I'd like to explain for a little while. Now, we take, what we call communion, is the bread and the wine. Now, that has been so misrepresented, till it's not even good to speak of it. Oh, how that has been misrepresented down through the years. That is really not communion; that is just keeping a commandment. See? Now, the reason we call it communion, is because it come from the Catholic association of being the "Holy Eucharist, which is literally the body of the Lord Jesus." But it isn't the Lord Jesus' body. It's only in commemoration of His body.
And I don't care how many priests or preachers, or whoever blesses that, it's still bread and wine. There is no priest as we'll--they tell us, that God is obliged to listen to the priest when he turns the communion (what they call communion, the Eucharist) into the literal body of the Lord Jesus, then the believer takes that, and that is communion. That is wrong. "Commune" is "to talk to, commune with, something that you can speak to and it'll speak back to you." That's communing. A wafer cannot speak back. So, really, the real communion is the Holy Spirit speaking back. When you ask Him, then He speaks back; that is correct communion. This is a memorial to take the... of His crucifixion and His resurrection, and not a communion. We call it that, but it isn't. It come from the Catholic church of taking this wafer as we went through the other day in the order, and talking about it on "Paganism Versing Christianity," how that this little round wafer is the literal body of Christ. Now, the Catholic church believes that. Did you ever notice, in passing a church, they cross themselves, tip their hats, and so forth. It isn't the church; it's that wafer in there, that body that the priest has turned from a wafer to the literal body of Christ, where the rats and mice could pack it away. Why, you don't--can't think of civil thinking and think that a piece of bread would be a body of the Lord Jesus. It cannot be. "Communion" is "to talk, and it talks back, something that you talk to." The very word "commune" means "to talk to, or be associated with something that's talking back to you." And God talks back to you: communion. And it's still bread and wine that we call communion.” [Communion, Jeffersonville, IN 62-0204]
“Is your sins under the Blood by faith tonight in Christ Jesus? We shall now take the communion. Not the communion; you commune as you eat with one another. Just commune with God. The communion is not the bread, not the wine; the communion is talking back and forth with God. This is a symbol that we take, that we believe in His death, broken body, His burial and resurrection; we believe in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. And we believe that He has give us Eternal Life; and we cannot die; we have passed from death unto Life. And someday when we separate from one another here, we'll rise again in the resurrection with each other, joined together with Christ Jesus as a Body. Amen. Upon these basis, and the confession of my sin, and my faith in the Son of God, I take myself and the church before these articles that God left for us to do, to show forth His death until He comes.” [Possessing All Things, Jeffersonville, IN 62-0506]
“The Bible said, "Also He took the cup, and when He'd supped, saying, 'This is the cup of the New Testament, as oft as you drink this you show forth the Lord's death till He come.'" Heavenly Father, we hold to you the fruit of the vine tonight, this wine. And we pray, heavenly Father, that you'll sanctify this wine; it represents the Blood that was shed for us at Calvary. Through this Blood we have remission of our sins, by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Forgive us of our--all of our unbelief, Lord, and give us faith and understanding, and make us your servants, Lord, that we can serve you all our days. Be with us, Father, as we join together around this table, and bless us in this fine fellowship and communion with you. And may you speak to our hearts and point to us our work that we should do. Grant it, Lord. Sanctify this wine for its intended purpose. In Jesus Christ's Name we ask it. Amen.” [Possessing All Things, Jeffersonville, IN 62-0506]
“He met Abraham after the battle was over, showing it to Abraham's Seed; after we go after our fallen brother, and the battle is over... What did Melchisedec serve? Wine and bread, the communion. Amen. When the battle is over, brother... Come back, bringing his lost brother back home again, restoring him back. And when the battle was over, Melchisedec met him and give him the communion. Jesus said, "I'll not eat or drink the fruit of the vine no more until I eat it anew with you in My Father's Kingdom." [Jehovah-Jireh, Grass Valley, CA 62-0705]
Bible References: Matthew 26:26-29; I Corinthians 11:23-33; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:15-20
[Answer provided by Bro. Ken Andes, Minister, Lynden, WA, USA]