Principal
ERM Bible School
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:
The Lord Jesus, on the night 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.”
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this,
whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
That is why many among you are weak and sick,and a number of you have fallen asleep.
But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment“（１Corinthians 11:23-31）．
During the Old Testament time,
blessings of Abraham (blessings of prosperity and healing) existed,
but the priests were not allowed to enter the holy of the holies.
We, however, are able to do so. What is meant by this is that we are able to enter into heaven by the grace of the sacrificial cross of Jesus.
In the Lord’s Supper,we are not partaking of the body and blood of Christ in order to have the sins erased that were committed since the previous partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
What we receive is one blessing after another (John 1:16).
To take part in the Lord’s Supper is to receive benefit over benefit.
Which is about: “For I know the plans I have for you,”declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
When we partake of the Lord’s Supper properly,
there will be grace and blessings.
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (vs 25).
The covenant of the blood of Jesus has taken away the curses of poverty,sickness and second death.
During the Lord’s Supper we drink the juice of the grape which symbolized the blood of Jesus.
It is the blood of Jesus, blood of God.
As we are descendants of Adam, we have sin.
And we sin daily. Jesus, however, is the one without sin.
God himself became man and came to us. His blood had not just paid for our sins,
but washed the sins of all human race, in that should we ever sin in heaven,
then that too has been totally paid for.
The blood of Jesus is worthy and precious and holy,whereby all sins are erased.
Therefore, let us properly partake in the Lord’s Supper.
“For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself”(vs 29).
If we receive it properly, we will receive the blessings.
“A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup” (vs 28).
One must examine himself and confess of his sins.
Jesus has already paid for our sins, even for those sins that we may be committing in the future.
If one does not confess his sins, then that state of having sin will persist.
Therefore, we must confess of our sins before we receive the body and blood of Christ,
and receive of it in a pure state.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7-9).
Verse 7 states, “we have fellowship with one another.”
With whom is this fellowship with? In 1 John 1:3, it is stated,
“our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
By confessing of our sins, we are able to walk in the light,
and enter into fellowship with God himself and with Christ.
“If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (vs 9).
In this world, when sin is committed, reparation must be paid according to its seriousness.
In the Bible, however, we are told that when we confess of our sins, our sins will be cleared.
This means that from the beginning, “God has already decided on forgiving you.”
When the prodigal son returned home upon realizing his sin,
God the Father already had the son forgiven (Luke 15).
This son is you. God had forgiven you long before, and yet, it is you who have not forgiven yourself.
Those with guilt conscience, confess of your sins now.
You have been given the grace to go to heaven on the account of Jesus who had died in taking your place whereby you are forgiven.
“For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
That is why many among you are weak and sick,
and a number of you have fallen asleep” (vs 29, 30).
What is meant by “without recognizing the body?” When we believed in Jesus,we entered into the body of Jesus.
In the Lord’s Supper, we partake of what is holy, therefore, we must be conscientious of this,
and so we confess of our sins in order that we may become pure.
In the Church of Corinth there were issues, and because of that, increasing people were becoming weak and sick,
and many were dead. What we must do is to confess of our sins, not to man, but to God,
and be forgiven of our sins by the sacrifice of Jesus,
and enter into the grace in which we are separated from sin and sin longer belongs to us.
We believe that not one person is harmed in partaking of the Lord’s Supper, that all are healed,
receiving good health, and made to enter into a life of blessings.
We confess of our sins, and pray to seek forgiveness for those sins we unknowingly have committed.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Those of us who believe in Jesus are not condemned to sin.
That is because Jesus had paid for them on our behalf.
It is as if someone is in debt of a million dollars,
but his parents paid it off, so the debt is gone.
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,
that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6).
Through Jesus, God divided us into two, the old self and the new. “Because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (vs 7).
The old self has been put to death on the cross with Jesus.
Therefore, we are free of sin.
“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (vs 11).
A new self in Christ.
As Christians then, what way of life shall we live?
What is meant by the word “count” in verse 11 is to calculate.
It is meant that you must “calculate” the fact that if your debt of one million dollars has been paid by your parents,
then it translates to mean that you are no longer indebted.
Therefore, we must calculate, that by the cross of Jesus,
we no longer have sin, and live as such.
We sin daily, but Paul says the following:
“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good,
but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no,
the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19).
He even goes on to say: “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me (vs 17).
Paul is saying, “It is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
Jesus had died for my sins, I have nothing to do with it.”
“Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it,
but it is sin living in me that does it” (vs 20).
If we understood what Jesus had done for us on the cross and the meaning of the Lord’s Supper,
then because we are forgiven and loved to this extent,
we are able to forgive others and love others.
“The Lord Jesus, on the night 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” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24).
The bread is the body of Jesus. Jesus said,
“This is my body, which is for you.”Jesus who is God,
had come with a body in order that he may assume the sin of all mankind.
We on our own is not capable of entering heaven, to forgive and purify our sins,
and therefore, God Himself became man and was put to the cross.
The bread is that body which had been sacrificed.
The bread we eat at the Lord’s Supper is the broken bread.
On our behalf Jesus was whipped and the one body was broken.
The bible says: “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied” (Isiah 53:11).
By this it is meant that Jesus had taken our place freely on our behalf.
The other meaning of breaking of the bread is that when the pieces are put together,
it will be as one. It means that you are all a piece of the body of Christ. Life of faith is not lived individually,
but in knowing that everybody is united.
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (vs 25).
Taking part in the Lord’s Supper is a new covenant.
The juice of the grape is the color of the blood of Jesus.
This is a covenant in which you are forgiven of your sin,
be made to receive financial blessings,health blessings, spiritual and all blessings.
This covenant, however, is not given one-sidedly.
For us to receive this, what must we do? This is a covenant in which we obey Christ.
As we receive this covenant, we carry on in obedience to Christ.
Our God is the true God, and this God will protect us.
No matter what problems there may be,
if God be for us then who can be against us?
It is this protection that is manifested over us.
In the Lord’s Supper we remember this and take the juice of the grape.
“Who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit,
for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1:2).
Sick will receive the privileged of being healed,
financially trodden will be blessed,
and the privilege of entering heaven is granted.
The true God is our God, and we are given the protection that if God be for us,
then nothing can be against us, no matter what problems there may be.
Let us proclaim: “I am blessed in the highest.
I am loved by God in the highest.
I am loved to the extent that Jesus had taken my place.
I have decided to forgive people.
I have decided to love people.”
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me “(Galatians 2:20).
I have been put on the cross with Jesus and died.
I am now in the body of Christ.
It is not I that lives but Christ who is living in me.
I live by faith in the Son of God.”
Let us live by faith in Christ. Though we face obstacles,
we will think Jesus can triumph.
In battling Goliath, David in his youth did not think on himself doing it, but believed that God could do it (1 Samuel 17).
Let us proclaim: “From now on, I will live in thinking, not whether I could do it, but whether God could do it.
Because God is able to do all things, I am surely able to do them.
The old self has died.
Now Christ is living in me.
Christ is not sick, therefore, I have been healed.
I am destined to be successful.
I live by faith in Christ. Amen.”