Glory to the Lord, glory to the Lord, glory to the Lord. We thank God that until today He gives life, keeps us, and protects us. We thank Him that He gathered His people, kept and protected them until today, and that we are before Him. We have come to worship Him, we have come to praise Him. And as the brother said at the beginning, our thoughts, all our worries, needs, whatever there is, we set them aside for a moment and have come to receive from God those spiritual values and blessings, so that afterward we may live and prosper by the Spirit of God.
May the Lord be glorified, dear sisters and brothers. We thank God that He is merciful toward us. Although we are not worthy of that mercy, He is merciful.
The Meaning of Foot Washing and Communion
With God’s help, I want to continue the theme of foot washing, but today we will not speak about foot washing itself. Rather, we will speak about why, after foot washing, we participate in communion.
We spoke about foot washing as the mystery of Christ’s cross-shaped humility, that we humble ourselves like Christ and wash one another’s feet. Together with that, the water was a mystery of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, the blood of Jesus Christ, and cleansing — that by that water God cleanses the dust of the world that is on our feet. Even if we have not yet committed sin, the dust of the world gathers on our feet. And He cleanses and sanctifies, and by cleansing prepares us and sends us into the world so that we may preach and confess the good news of Christ.
But if we are sent for preaching, then why, right after that sending, do we partake of the blood and body of Christ, and only then go?
Today I would like to speak about this for a moment. And there are some people here who do not yet participate in the body and blood of Christ, who have not yet, so to speak, made a covenant with Christ to serve Him, to be with Him, to be one with Him, to become members of the body of Christ. But I hope that by speaking about this, zeal will arise in us so that we too may participate, because the communion service is not optional. It is not simply, “I can do it or not do it; it does not matter that much.”
Rather, the communion service is the service that Christ Himself established and commanded. And among all the evangelists, it was so important that He showed the apostle Paul, by special revelation, what happened that night.
The Commandment: First Corinthians 11
May God help us, dear sisters and brothers, that each one of us may desire it. I want to read from First Corinthians chapter 11, beginning with verse 23. It is written this way:
“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take and eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He also took the cup after supper and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
In verse 26 it begins with “For.” In other words, whatever the apostle Paul said before this, all of it is for this reason. Why do we lift up the bread, bless it, break it, distribute it, and then bless the cup and distribute it among God’s saints? It is written: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” In other words, we do all of this in order to proclaim the Lord’s death.
Declaring the Lord’s Death and Spiritual Authority
And this is interesting, because in Greek it is written in such a way that it is not completely clear when that proclaiming happens. When do we proclaim the Lord? It is a special word that does not say exactly when we proclaim; it simply says that we proclaim. In other words, by eating and drinking, we proclaim the Lord’s death. Also, during the eating and drinking, we proclaim the Lord’s death.
Those who participate will remember that when we distribute the bread and the cup, we say: as often as you eat, proclaim the Lord’s death; as often as you drink, proclaim the Lord’s death. We remind ourselves that by eating and drinking we proclaim the Lord’s death, and we also proclaim it to one another. And third, by eating and drinking, we are prepared to go into the world and proclaim the Lord’s death.
But today I want to focus for a moment on the idea that when we eat and drink, we proclaim the Lord’s death. To whom are we proclaiming the Lord’s death?
Here the apostle Paul uses a special word that means to proclaim openly — that people may see that we are proclaiming. But why does he use this word when, during communion, only the members of the body of God’s church are present? To whom are we proclaiming the Lord’s death?
For this reason, I want to go to Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10. Let us see what the ministry of the church is.
“So that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.”
We have confidence; we approach that holiness with boldness. And by approaching, eating, and drinking, we proclaim Christ crucified. To those powers, those authorities, those rulers who thought that by crucifying Christ they had won, by proclaiming that death we declare the Lord’s victory and the Lord’s authority.
Because to human eyes, the cross is a shameful condition, a defeat. But Christ turned that defeat into victory. And we declare to all creation that through the death of Christ, Christ conquered and crushed the head of Satan.
And it is written in the same letter to the Ephesians:
“For our warfare is not against blood and flesh, but against rulers and authorities, against the rulers of this dark world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God.”
Imagine, so many authorities, powers, and forces of darkness attack the church, but the church lifts up the bread and lifts up the cup and says: with the same victory by which Christ conquered, we also confess. By the death of Christ, the work of darkness was destroyed. And we also confess that we participate in that death.
And may the Lord Jesus Christ place that heart and that mind in us. As the apostle Paul says, the death of Christ increases upon us for your salvation, so that we as a church would not hurry to run after glory and honor, would not hurry to run after comfort and fitting in, but would hurry to participate in the death of Christ.
And that participation begins with our confession, when we eat and drink the body and blood of Christ in a spiritual way. It is the Spirit of God who does this work. This is not putting aside fleshly disease; it is not a human work. It is something beyond human understanding. The Spirit of God makes us participants in that holy mystery. It is the work of the Spirit of God, but we must approach with faith.
Warning About Unworthy Participation
And the apostle Paul continues his words in Corinthians and gives a warning. It is written from verse 27:
“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Therefore let a person examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For the one who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, because he does not discern the Lord’s body. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and many sleep. For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are corrected, so that we may not be condemned with the world.”
We see that in the Word of God, this mystery of communion is so real and so powerful that when a person eats from that bread and drinks from that wine and does not discern the body of Christ, does not understand, or understands and yet dishonors the fact that he is participating in that holy service which Jesus Christ performed on Golgotha — that we too would go up to the cross with Christ and agree by faith and from the heart — when a person dishonors that table, he dishonors Christ crucified; he dishonors Christ.
Therefore, dear sisters and brothers, what happens once a month, that is, twice a month during the communion service, is real. It is spiritual truth and power. And whether one wants it or not, it affects the one who participates. Either the participant receives strength, is strengthened, is blessed, and is filled with the life of Christ, or else he is condemned.
And there was an English theologian, who fell asleep many years ago, who said, “You cannot be indifferent toward Christ. Either you must be His friend — He is your Lord, your God — or you are His enemy. There is no middle ground.” Because the value of the blood of Christ is so great that when a person understands and dishonors it, it is as though he is an enemy of Christ.
A Call to Confession and Closing Prayer
Therefore, dear sisters and brothers, from Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, we see that when the Word of God presents drawing near to Christ and living life with Christ, it encourages us to go forward and be bold. It also warns us. When you know the knowledge of the truth and dishonor that blood, that Spirit says you are in a difficult condition.
But I am confident that there is no such person here, because if there were such a person, I do not think he would be here. God is still merciful. If the Lord has brought you here, it means He has work with you. It means He has something to say to you. And the Spirit of God says through Isaiah, “Come, let us talk.” If your sins are red, I will make them white. Come, let us talk. Confess, tell, speak, and I will cleanse you, sanctify you, forgive you, and you will be made worthy together with the rest of the saints to participate in that holy mystery which the Spirit of God works within us.
May God help us, dear sisters and brothers. It is both joy and rejoicing, and together with that, let us be careful. I do not say this so that we would be afraid and think, “Oh, what condition must I be in?” because there is no person who will be one hundred percent ready before coming to communion. If that were the case, no one would come to communion.
The point is not that everything must be one hundred percent. The point is that we draw near to the Lord with humility, repentance, a broken heart, sincerity, and pure, holy faith. And the Lord is merciful and good; He will receive us.
But if someone thinks he already has it, that he has already arrived, and approaches with boldness while there is unforgiveness, judgment, and gossip in his heart, while there are other thoughts and idols in his heart, even though outwardly everything may look good — therefore, dear sisters and brothers, let us approach with boldness and participate in that holy mystery.
And if we are not yet participating in the death of the Lord, let us begin to participate. And this mystery of communion is the beginning. And by eating and drinking, we are strengthened so that we may go into the world and proclaim the Lord’s death, both with words and with the life we live. May the Lord be glorified, dear sisters and brothers. Let us pray.
Good and merciful Father God, for everything and in everything we give thanks and are grateful, we glorify and magnify Your great and precious name. We give glory, we give glory, we give glory that You made us worthy to participate in Your death. Glory to You, Lord God, glory to You. We give thanks and are grateful. We glorify and magnify You.
Thank You, Father. Glory to You, glory to You, glory to You. Blessed be Your name, that You made us worthy to participate in Your death, in Your wounds, in Your sufferings. Father, forgive us that from time to time we have dishonored those wounds, dishonored the way of the cross. Forgive us that many times we have looked for other ways that would be more convenient for us, more comfortable for us, better for the desires of our flesh.
Forgive us, Lord God, forgive and have mercy. Prepare Your people, Lord God. Prepare us, Lord Jesus Christ, to participate in Your holy body and blood, to participate in that proclaiming, so that we may confess and declare to all creation that through Your death we have victory. And we are not ashamed of Your cross, we are not ashamed of chains, we are not ashamed of afflictions, we are not ashamed of weaknesses, because when we are weak, then You are powerful in us.
Blessed be Your name, Father. We give glory, we give glory, we give glory. Thanksgiving and greatness, blessing to You. And we prayed all this in the name of Jesus Christ. Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah.
