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I think that we (protestants) are not practicing the eucharist of the new testament.

Rather than making blanket statements let me describe what I have found in scripture this past year these are some of the comments i have written on the subject -- I apologise for the length.

1 Corinthians 10:16-18 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

Even as I am writing this, I am seeing a newer and greater depth to this passage than I saw just two or three days previously. This morning I see for the first time that there are two separate acts of communion within what we call Holy Communion. There is the communion of the Blood of Christ, and there is also the communion of the Body of Christ. And I see that Holy Communion is the co-mingling of these two communions of Christ. This is like the co-mingling of the word and the Spirit that in turn brings forth the co-mingled light and life of Christ into our darkened hearts and darkened spirits.

So Paul says that we are all to be partakers of the blood of Christ, and partakers of the body of Christ. Well, you might say this is pretty thin brother. You only have a single verse for this newest concept of yours. Do I?

1 Corinthians 11:27 Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Without studying out that matter, I already have a second solid verse. The phrase “Guilty of the body and guilty of the blood.” This appears bolster the assertion that Christ has made two separate communion experiences for us as believers and the two have been made them as one. Like marriage -- the two shall become one flesh, like us and Christ in us -- the two shall become one flesh. So rather than arguing the validity of this thought right now, we are going to look instead at Paul’s main assertion in what I call the mystery verse of 1 Corinthians 10:16-18.

The first thing that we need to clearly grasp is that the context of these three verses are clearly on Holy Communion. As is Chapter 10 and 11 of 1 Corinthians

Once we have that clearly established in our minds we can move onto what Paul in these verses is clearly saying is the scripture derivation of at least the breaking of the bread – Christ’s flesh that he gave as the Communion for the Body of Christ to partake. – Paul says it came from Old Testament passages of scripture regarding Israel eating of the sacrifices of the altar.

1 Corinthians 10:18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they, which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

Surely Paul a Pharisee of Pharisees would have understood the significance of the blood covenant that God made with Abraham. And yet Paul does not link the blood covenant of Abraham with the communion of the Body of Christ. And we can also safely say based on the context of the passage above that Paul does not link the Communion of the Blood of Christ with the Blood covenant either. Some disciples of the blood covenant will vehemently disagree saying Communion is called the New Covenant therefore this is clearly all blood Covenant. We will examine that assertion and others as we seek out the sacrifices that Paul says Israel ate and was made partakers of the Altar.

There were reasons that Paul did not make this link. For your consideration, in the making of a covenant you did not eat the sacrifice, and in making a covenant you did not put the blood on you, or drink blood.

Recently in a local Church meeting here in Alaska, an Evangelist gave the most masterful communion message I had ever heard. It was in regards to the seven steps of Old Testament covenants. The Evangelist went into great detail on how the people who wanted to make a covenant. How they sacrificed an animal or group of animals, how they had to lay out the animal parts and animal blood in a certain way on the ground. How they would take off their robes and exchanged swords as part of the ceremony, and how they did various other things to seal that covenant. But you see God is not a man, and God didn’t strip down or hand his sword to anyone. The truth of the covenant with Abraham is that God covenanted with himself on the behalf of Abraham.

And as to pertaining to covenants Paul said that God when he made his Covenant with Abraham, that God could swear by none greater than himself.

Hebrews 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

Even though Abraham was called the friend of God, God did not find in Abraham one that was worthy to stand with him and make the covenant. So God did it by himself.

And likewise when Christ was on earth, He found none worthy to covenant with. Not Peter, not James, not even John the beloved of the Lord. So Christ could swear by none greater than himself, So Christ did his act on the cross and in the resurrection alone. The truth of the New Covenant is that Christ covenanted with himself on the behalf of us.

So that the truths in the Old Testament regarding the making of covenants as wonderful as they may be, fall woefully short of what God wants to communicate with us in regards to what Jesus did in His death on the cross, in His burial and in His resurrection. And therefore the teachings regarding blood covenants that some teach today also fall short of what His purpose is for having us partake of the Communion of the Body of Christ and the Communion of the Blood of Christ.

Let us now examine now the main passage Fundamentalists and Pentecostals use when partaking of Holy Communion.

I Corinthians 11:23-26 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.

In the Word of God Holy Communion is to be performed with a loaf of bread. I might note here that our modern purists have read in the Gospels that the last supper happened during the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread – so to honor this notion that we are to only eat unleavened bread in communion, they offer us cracker crumbs.

Contrary to that notion Paul said we are one-bread – not one unleavened loaf and most assuredly Paul did not say we are all one unleavened cracker.

And so after blessing the bread Jesus broke it and said it is my body. I think it is very significant that the loaf was divided, and that only when all the disciples participated together did they comprise the whole loaf.

In the Gospels and Epistles the term bread and breaking bread is used some 16 times and not once are we told that that bread was to be unleavened bread –If this would have been of issue among the gentile believers – Paul would have said use unleavened bread to honor Christ the Passover lamb. So we are to use common bread because God wants us to consider the loaf. So when we look the doctrine of man’s pan of cracker crumbs what do we see only – the broken fragmentation of the body of Christ that none can put together. Points to ponder.

We will now move on to the cup. We know that Jesus took the cup – Jesus blessed it – Jesus then called the Cup the New Testament – Jesus said it was his blood – and finally Jesus said drink all of it.

Matthew 26:26-28 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. We see in Matthew that Christ says this is the blood of the New Covenant – for the remission of sins. How can the cup be for the remission of sins when we are told that all our sins upon salvation have passed into the sea of God’s forgetfulness? Likewise if we prayed for forgiveness before communion as Paul seems to indicate as a wise course of action and God forgave us then what then is the purpose of this cup?

Mark 14:22-24 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and break it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. This may come as a shock but Holy Communion is not the Christian celebration of the Jewish Passover. There were several reasons Christ had the disciples partake of communion on that night. There was an aspect of Jesus being the sacrifice lamb – but His being the lamb that taketh away the sin of the world, must be understood to be different than the Passover lamb. God in Holy Communion is trying to convey to us a far greater truth than Passover, which we will get shortly.

Luke 22:19-20 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Of the cup I would like you to see several things. First off Jesus said that the cup is the New Testament or the New Covenant, not the four Gospels the Book of Acts, the Epistles and the book of Revelation. The idea that the cup is the New Testament or the New Covenant may sound very foreign to you, but those are the words of Jesus. And I would think that He would be an authority on what the New Testament or New Covenant was or wasn’t.

So how did half the Bible end up being called the New Testament and the other half the Old Testament? Well, about three hundred years after the death of Christ, after the Church had utterly backslid. After the Church had lost of all the gifts of the Spirit, and had no idea how to return to the Gospel that was once delivered unto the Saints, a group of carnal Church leaders got together and assembled what we call the Cannon of Scripture or the Bible. While they worked out which books they would accept or reject they arbitrarily decided that they would call the Law and the Prophets the Old Testament, and that they would call the Gospels, Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation the New Testament. Neither name is true. And both names have been the source of untold error over the last 1700 years.

In Jesus day the Old Testament was called the Law and the Prophets. The Law contained the five books of Mosses. The five Books of contained Genesis and the Book of Genesis contained the Covenant of Abraham. The Jews never called Genesis, or the five books of Mosses or for that fact the Prophets the book or books of the Covenant. Nowhere in the Prophets or Mosses were any of these books called that.

Jesus never called Mosses and the Prophets them the Old Testament, nor did the Apostles. Why am I making such a big deal about this? Because there is a lot of false doctrine and traditions of men based on the concept of the New and Old Testament.

In the New Testament (I use only this term so you can follow what I am saying) They have a term that is used “Scripture” the term scripture always refers to a quotation from the Old Testament. Everything in the New Testament comes from the Old Testament. There is a mistaken and false belief that Christ just made up anything he felt like saying when he spoke in the Gospels – There is a mistaken and false belief that when Paul the Apostle was caught up to the third heaven, that he was given license from God to create an entire New Testament Order on his own – People believe that essentially Paul is the author of the New Covenant, and that these writings of Paul replaced the Old Testament. This is utterly false. Everything out of Paul’s mouth was based on scripture from the Old Testament. Paul refers to his writings repeatedly as milk for babes, Paul constantly refers to his readers as unskillful, babes, unlearned, and needing the first principals once again. Paul speaks of he has meat he wants to teach but he can’t. Where are the chapters that Paul says now here is the meat? Where are the Chapters that Paul says and now I speak to the mature? There is none. Shock of Shocks! You mean that the New Testament is food for babes? Paul seems to indicate this? Well where then is the food for the mature? Where’s the real meat?

1 Corinthians 2 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

What does all this mean? It means that all the wisdom of God is hidden and has to be spiritually discerned. It means Christ spoke in parables and proverbs that:

Isaiah 6:9-10 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Isaiah 42:19-20 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD's servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.

Isaiah 29:9-11 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

Mark 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

John 16:25 –29 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. God keeps his truth hid to protect it. He doesn’t want it tampered with, so he kept some things even hidden from his 12 disciples by speaking to them in parables and proverbs – So where is this vast repository of God’s hidden wisdom? It is located in what we call wrongly call the Old Testament.

So what then is what we call the New Testament? It is a guidebook on rightly dividing the word of truth and it is a primer that includes the spiritual addresses and phone numbers of many truths located in the Old Testament. So in the New Testament the writings of the Law and Prophets are always called scripture and Paul tells us all scripture is profitable for doctrine.

Another strong consideration is that Peter preaches Peter, John preaches John and Paul preaches Paul. John does not preach Peter and John doesn’t preach Paul. And we preach every book and tape we listen too. Could it be that they knew something that we don’t?

Yes they did. John and the Apostles had a law of the Spirit that they rigidly followed. And that law was “That which our eyes have seen that which our hands have handled concerning the word of life that speak we unto you.” They preached their experience not someone else’s. The Gospel that Christ preached was to be a first hand experience or nothing. For 1800 years people have had little or no first hand experience. These empty vessels, and empty ministries want to hide their nakedness for you and I, so they hide behind other people’s experiences, these hide behind other peoples revelation, these hide behind other people teachings, and then these go out in their own name and most believers are so blind and dull of hearing that they never realize that these have actually gone out in someone else’s name, many someone else’s names. We of a truth have been generation upon generation of spiritual hitchhikers.

I Corinthians 11:27-31 Therefore 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.

In a quick recap. So far we have established that Paul having been caught up to the third heaven and having been taught personally by Christ, knowingly bypassed comparing Communion to the Passover, and likewise Paul knowingly bypassed linking Holy Communion with Blood Covenant’s spoken of in the Law and Prophets. Instead we find Paul linking Communion with the Jews and Christians being called to be a kingdom of Priests in Exodus 19.

We have established that as true Priests unto God that we have to be wholly separated unto God from the teachings and traditions of man. That as true priests we are to bear on our shoulders the entire body of Christ as opposed to some Church, denomination, or schism, and are to have the entire body of Christ on out hearts as in the first and great commandment.

Paul and the Apostles speak of the bread as a loaf of bread on an unleavened cracker –they were given real portions as opposed to crumbs and given a real cup filled with the fruit of the vine as opposed to a tiny sip.

By this point I had a good idea of what I was looking for in the Law of Mosses but I did still did not have an exact sacrifice identified for me by Paul. So through the leading of the Spirit I found myself in the narrative that begins in Exodus 19 and ends in Exodus 34.

Backing up for a second I had at first considered the Passover sacrifice and I carefully read over what was originally described in Exodus 12. The need for a lamb without spot or blemish – the Israelites all ate of it – the blood was put on the doorposts – that the Angel passed over their dwellings. Again like the truths of blood covenants, the Passover sacrifice would seem to be the obvious choice of Paul. But it wasn’t.

1 Corinthians 10:18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they, which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

See when we look at the mystery verse and compare it to Passover there is an altar problem – in Passover no one was eating from the altar. So again as many wonderful truths that there was in Passover this has little to do what God is trying to communicate with us about Holy Communion. And what adds to the confusion is in one of the Gospels it says that while they were celebrating Passover in an upper room after the meal Jesus took bread . . .

So lets look at a few sacrifices to help us see what this is all about. In Exodus 29:10-14 They Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the head of the first Bullock and impart their sin into it – (In the Law one could only impart sin when they laid hands on something.) Eyeball to eyeball they then killed the Bullock that bore their sin before the Lord by the Door of tabernacle of the Congregation. They then applied the blood to the horns of the altar with their finger – God said: “It is the Sin Offering.”

This was not a match either.

The next passage Still in Exodus 29:15 – 18 (The ram of the burnt offering) Thou shalt take a ram . . . Aaron and his sons again lay their hands on the head of the ram and impart their sin and iniquity. (I thought the sin offering took it all away – no it didn’t) Aaron and his sons then slay the ram and sprinkle the blood around about the altar (They are concecrating or cleansing the altar) And then they burn the whole ram as a burnt offering unto the Lord which is a sweet savor an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

So this one is not a match either.

The next passage Still in Exodus 29:19 - 46 Then thou shalt take the other ram (The Ram of consecration) – and Aaron and his son’s shall put their hands upon its head (they are still imparting more iniquity and sin) – and thou shalt kill it and take the blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear, put it upon the tip of the right thumb, and put it upon the right great toe. – And them sprinkle the blood on the altar and round about. And thou shalt take the the blood that is upon the Altar and the Holy anointing oil and sprinkle it upon Aaron and his garments and upon his sons –and he shall be hallowed, his garments his sons and their garments.

We can see the blood in action in this passage. Upon the tip of the right ear that all that we hear may be from the Lord. Upon the great right toe that our walk may be continually before the Lord. Upon the right thumb that all the works of our hand may be of the Lord. The blood of the Old Covenant could only be applied on the outward parts.

Paul says that the Old Covenant was week through the flesh but the New Covenant through Christ we were given the blood to drink so that that it might go into our inward parts circumcise our hearts and renew our minds. This is why this is a better covenant because the blood is applied to the root of the problem in us.

In verse 31 they are instructed that they are to eat of the flesh of the ram of consecration and the bread that is in the basket. Verse 33 And they shall eat those things where with the atonement was made to consecrate and sanctify them – a stranger can not partake because the meat and bread are Holy they are to eat all and any that remains is to be burnt.

So back to the communion of the body of Christ – it is to sanctify and consecrate us. See When we become believers we are told that Christ died for the sins of the world and that is absolute undeniable truth, but when we take the communion of the body of Christ that changes. This becomes most holy unto God as we lay our priestly hands on Christ head eyeball to eyeball and impart our sin into him. Christ has to be transformed from the savior of the world to my personal savior. We then have to look into the innocent eyes that knew no sin. He then nods for us to continue. We then have to slay him ourselves. Christ died for me. We as it were have to drive the nail in him ourselves on the cross. He bleeds and dies in our hands. We are then instructed to partake of the communion of the Ram of Consecration. In so doing two things happen first we become one with the sacrifice I in He. Secondly we receive nourishment or life from the sacrifice to perform out priestly duties He in I. By extension the ram now walks in us as we do our duties

Verse 35 Seven days shalt thou consecrate Aaron and his sons. Every day shalt thou offer a bullock for a sin offering for an atonement and thou shalt cleanse to alter when thou has made an atonement for it (The altar) and thou shalt anoint it (the altar) and sanctify it (the altar.) Communion in the New Testament was not to be a one time experience either. It took a lot to sanctify Aaron his sons and the Altar. How much more will it take to cleanse the polluted and profane people and Church of our day?

And then their was another passage of scripture about the priest preparing themselves for the day of atonement and the High Priest preparing himself to enter the Holy of Holies and they also partook of the offering after they imparted their sin in it, and slew it.

At the moment Christ was offering his disciples to partake of his flesh and his blood the priests were laying their hands on the sacrifice and imparting their sin into the innocent creature. In the Old Covenant a Priest with the laying on of hands could only impart sin and death – In the New Covenant we can impart life and health.

They then personally slew the animal and drained its blood and then put the carcass on the Altar and made a burnt offering of it unto the Lord. The priests were then to partake of the offering this signified two things 1) By eating of it they made the offering part of themselves and thereby letting the sacrifice live on in them 2) They received life and nourishment to be able to perform their priestly duties.

When we partake of the bread – the body of Christ 1) We are imparting unto him all our sin and iniquity. 2) In taking communion Christ’s death for the sins of the world is forever changed in our hearts. It becomes much more personal. We are not only imparting our personal sin into him but we as the priests must slay him as well. We literally drive the nails in him ourselves. This is done so that Jesus is becomes our personal sin offering. Unless we can move from Jesus general salivation for the sins of the world to becoming our personal savior we can never receive the power of the resurrection that is also in him. As I impart my sin into him I am looking directly into his innocent eyes and I’m looking into those same eyes as I slay him. 3) The next step is partaking of the offering of his flesh. Far from being reviled by what is going on Christ now demands that we partake of his flesh so that by extension we become part of the sacrifice and he also can live on in us. And that by doing this we also receive special nourishment to enable us to perform our priestly duties.

This partaking is most Holy unto the Lord. I see by the Spirit that this experience is equivalent to when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. And if their was anything unholy unto the Lord he would be struck dead and the atonement for Israel was lost for that year. Therefore Paul exhorts us when we partake that we should examine ourselves, we are to be wholly cleansed, and wholly consecrate ourselves to receive the full effects. Communion is to be a life altering experience; in it we are to receive direct impartation of the life of Christ on an unparalleled level. I believe communion is even more powerful than the impartation of the laying on of hands. The power here is unfiltered and direct from the throne.

John 6:32-40 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 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. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, 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. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Hosea 2:19-23 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. and it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. (God Will Sow) And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God. Hosea begins with God telling the Prophet to marry a whore. Scripture indicates that this woman was not some broken down hooker eking out an existence on the low side of town, she apparently was well known and had a cadre of wealthy lovers that lavished her with expensive gifts. Hosea apparently had a great capacity of love and took in this woman with seemingly little care for him. For as not too far into this marriage just as Israel had and the future early church did she went back to her lovers and fulfilled her lust of the flesh, her lust of the eyes and her love for the things of the world. Hosea like God was longsuffering and in time circumstances were created that this woman could no longer cavort with her lovers and she ended up in bondage or some kind of jail that Hosea redeemed her from buying her with silver. So we now come to this passage and God speaks about his marriage to the Church the unfaithful whore that has been for the last 1800 years taken with her wealthy lovers while fulfilling her every lust and desire. God says he will wed her in Righteousness -- that speaks to us no just of Her apologizing or repenting, but righteousness indicates she has been changed by an experience of sanctification. This bride shall also be wed in Judgment -- that would indicate that the Church has regained the capacity to discern between good and evil, sweet and bitter, holy and unholy. This bride shall also be wed in Loving Kindness – this speaks of the restoration of the Agape Love as spoken of in first and great commandment. And finally the Church will be wed in Mercy -- which speaks to us of the outpouring of mercy that we are to have to our neighbors, as cited in the second great commandment. So we have the image of a whore that has been so transformed within that she has become a bride worthy of the Lord.

And it shall come to pass that in that day shall I hear, God will hear the heavens (Rejoice) The heavens shall hear the earth (Rejoice) And the earth shall hear the Corn the Wine and the Oil (rejoice) The Communion of Body of Christ, The Communion of the Blood of Christ, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit , and the Corn, Wine and Oil will hear Jezreel --God shall sow (Rejoice), and I will sow her unto me in the earth (His bride) and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God. This passage would indicate that Holy Communion is of far greater importance to the bride than we would have ever realized.

Hosea 9:1-3 Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor. The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her. They shall not dwell in the LORD's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. God is saying here that the Church should not rejoice or celebrate sin and the flesh as the world does – while you have gone astray. Not too many years ago Spirit-filled Christians used to spend a lot of time seeking God fasting and praying. – A few decades later this gave way to feasting the church had become a social organization and function where Christians gathered instead of their worldly counterparts. And now just a few more decades later we celebrate everything of the world and of the flesh. The thought now is that we can have good clean fun better than the world and thus bring them in. God says that the threshing floor (Bread) the wine press (The Cup) and the new wine (in Lamsa’s translation is says the Oil shall fail) God is going to pull the plug on communion and the anointing. If Holy Communion was the only sacrament of direct impartation of the very life of God to believers, when the early Church fell away – what do you suppose that the effect would have been when God pulled the plug on Holy Communion? Likewise with the oil or the anointing what do you suppose the effect was on the early church when God removed the gifts of the Spirit and the ministry of the Apostle and the Prophet? Even when God did this to get their attention and stop them in their tracks their was no repentance, their was no cry raised, they kept on going where were they headed this scripture says to Egypt – the world and Assyria – Babylonian doctrines and traditions.

Isaiah 1:13-15 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. God is crying out against vain offerings; tithes, sacrifices, worship, and prayer. How can the offerings we give to God ever be bad? These offerings are tainted with the taint of the world and the flesh. What was it about Cain’s offering that was unacceptable, and what was it that made Able’s offering acceptable? Notice in this passage that Cain fell into sin over his offering to God. The answer is Able gave unto the Lord and Cain gave of himself something of his life and reputation was in that offering. These people were given to meetings gatherings and feasts as are the Churches of our day. To which the Lord says I cannot accept these, he can not in dwell these, all these are tainted with iniquity even the solemn meetings. He says your special meetings and feasts I hate – those are a celebration of your flesh, of the things of man and the things of the world -- these I hate. Why do these evoke such strong feelings from God? Because they teach children and the young in spirit that carnality is righteousness, they teach sow seeds of unrighteousness into God’s little ones which grow and defile them. God is fed up he has all he can stand of this. When ye lift up your hands pray and worship I will hide my eyes from you . Yea when you make many prayers I will not hear. Then God charges them saying their hands are full of blood. Is God accusing these people of being murderers? I don’t think so I believe God is referring to the blood of the sacrifices. Back in Genesis when Cain slew Able over his offering being accepted by God, God said to Cain “Able’s blood from out of the ground crieth out to me the same blood that cleanseth, the same blood that cries out in our behalf forgive, forgive them please -- can cry out against us and God hears the cry of the blood. In their willfully defiled state the blood of their sacrifices crieth against them or was a testimony against them.

Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, If in the Old Covenant a people could come to the state listed above in Isaiah 1:13-15 So that the very blood of their sacrifices for sin became a testimony against them. -- These people had become toast -- because there was no more atonement for sin for them. And so in the book of Hebrews this very subject is spoken of in regards to the bearers of this new and better Covenant

Hosea 9:4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD. We keep seeing in Hosea God talking about the bread and the wine. In the Law of Mosses there was something called the drink offering where some wine was poured on the altar but the priest did not partake, there were several important offerings to God in the book of the Law but the bread was not a significant part of any of the sacrifices. So why does the prophet keep talking about bread and wine or bread whine and oil – I think that we can make a strong case that the prophet was seeing into the church age, Holy Communion its removal and its final restoration. What is the bread of mourners? Bread of anguish – or what Pail describes in 1 Corinthians 11 as having killed, making people sick and making people weak, instead of being the bread of life it has become the bread of death. And God says all that eat of this bread shall be polluted. God has turned his back on Holy Communion with this people, the covenant has been nullified.

Can God rescind a covenant? Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff, even beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

Hosea 14:6-7 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. This verse is talking about a people that dwell under the shadow of the Lord. -- In Psalm 91:1 David calls this the secret place of the Most High. And he says: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. This passage goes on the say that those who abide under the shadow of the almighty will revive as the corn and grow as the vine and the scent of these people will be as of the wine of Lebanon. John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, 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. I think that this verse is not just talking about a restoration of the infusion of the very life of Christ through Holy Communion, this verse points to a people that have been revived in newness of life that have become that bread and have become that wine. These are walking in the fullness of Christ or we might say Christ is living and moving in them.

Joel 1:9-10 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Again in Joel we see the bread and the wine – Holy Communion being cut off and then Just like in Hosea God says He’s cutting off the Bread , the Wine and the Oil. It should seem striking that in neither books does God speak of sin offerings, burnt offerings or the state of the flocks or herds. The concern is with the corn the wine and the oil

11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. 13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, 15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

If we follow the thought here that God is shutting down Holy Communion and all the spiritual operations of the Church this is a very powerful passage of scripture. And this passage may indeed be able shed some light on some of the unscriptural things that we see in the Church today and some things in scripture that we do not see in this day and hour.

Joel 2:15-19 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

This passage again clearly speaks pf a restoration of Holy Communion. Note that the steps to the restoration are a cleansing or a coming into sanctification as we discussed earlier.