 Hello, this is David Diga Hernandez and you're watching Spirit Church here on the Encounter TV Network. I want to talk to you about the power of communion. First, Stephen Mock is here with me. He's going to lead you in some very anointed worship. And then, we're getting right into this message. Let's worship now. Luke chapter 22 verses 19 and 20 say this. He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. After supper, he took another cup of wine and said, This cup is the new covenant between God and his people. An agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. And again, that's Luke chapter 22 verses 19 and 20. Communion is a simple act with profound implications. Though it might just seem like a ritual, it is actually a very spiritual act that you take by faith. Communion means to commune or fellowship or spend time with the Lord. The bread used during communion represents the body of the Lord, which was broken for you and I. First Peter chapter 2 verse 24 says, He personally carried our sins and his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds, you are healed. The wine represents the blood, which was shed for our sins. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7 says, He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his son and forgave our sins. Now, the timing of the Last Supper, which is where this narrative in Luke takes place, runs parallel to the timing of the Passover. And this is a powerful parallel from which we can glean many truths. You see, the Passover was a very miraculous occurrence. The children of Israel were enslaved to the nation of Egypt. And God rescued the Israelites in part by sending plagues on that nation. One of the plagues that was sent was an angel of death who killed all of the first born of those who were Egyptians. Now, the children of Israel were given clear instructions on how to be spared from the angel of death that brought such calamity. This is found in Exodus chapter 12 verses 12 and 13. On that night I will pass to the land of Egypt and strike down every first born son and first born male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt for I am the Lord. But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. So the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus coincided with the events of Passover because Passover became a tradition, something that the Israelites were to celebrate from generation to generation. But this is more than a parallel of timelines. This is a parallel of spiritual realities. The Passover was a prophetic picture of Christ's sacrificial death upon a cross. Consider the unleavened bread. Exodus chapter 12 verses 14 and 15 say, This is a day to remember each year from generation to generation. You must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel. Again, that's Exodus chapter 12 verses 14 and 15. The unleavened bread was symbolic for the undefiled Christ. John chapter 6 verse 35 says, Jesus replied, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Consider the spotless lamb used for the sacrifice. Exodus chapter 12 verses 5 and 6 say, Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. It's Exodus chapter 12 verses 5 and 6. John chapter 1 verse 29 says, The next day John seeeth Jesus coming unto him and sayeth, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, just as the blood of the Lamb caused the angel of death to pass over the homes of the Israelites. So the blood of the Lamb, the blood of Jesus, causes death which comes through sin to pass over you and I. We are spared because of the blood of the Lamb. The Lamb's bones were to be left unbroken. Exodus chapter 12 verse 46 says, Each Passover lamb must be eaten in one house. Do not carry any of its meat outside and do not break any of its bones. John chapter 19 verses 33 through 34 gives us the prophetic fulfillment of that Old Testament shadow. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. So they didn't break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with the spear and immediately blood and water flowed out. So the events of the crucifixion overlap with the events of the Passover. Now that would be a whole different lesson to go over all of the points where we see the parallels. But for just this point, I'm bringing this to your attention. You see, Jesus introduced the New Testament idea of the Last Supper or Communion in this narrative that we read in Luke. However, this is not a new concept for if you study all the Old Testament, you will find many examples where this meal or this covenant meal was participated in by various parties activating certain covenants and treaties. This meal was why Jesus carried out the actions that we see in Luke. This meal, this covenant meal, was what was being acted out when Jesus said, this is my body, this is my blood. It is the covenant meal. Now it's that sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross that we commemorate when we take Holy Communion. Yes, we're remembering what he did. Yes, we're remembering his sacrifice. Yes, we're honoring that sacrifice, but it's so much more. It is, in fact, a meal with God during which we acknowledge what he's done for us and during which we have the faith to believe for the promises to be fulfilled based on the covenant that he has made with us through Christ. So Passover was commemorated with a meal. The Last Supper was commemorated with a meal. And so this meal that we see throughout the Old Testament, I'm going to show you that in a moment, this meal that we see throughout the Old Testament and reflected here in this New Testament revealing, we shall say, which we found in Luke chapter 22, this meal is powerful. This meal activates. This meal reconciles. This is the covenant meal with God. In ancient Middle Eastern culture, a meal was sometimes a means by which a covenant was finalized and sometimes a means by which reconciliation was marked. The covenant meal was used to seal the covenant and bring reconciliation. The covenant meal actuates the covenant like a signature. Abraham shared a meal with God, so God makes a promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. Check this out, Genesis 12, 1 through 3. The Lord said to Abram, leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you. What a promise and a very famous portion of Scripture. But it wasn't until 14 years later that that promise that God made to Abram was fulfilled and it was 14 years later after Abram shared a covenant meal with God and we see this in Genesis chapter 18, verses 1 through 8. The Lord appeared to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day, Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcome them, bowing low to the ground. My Lord, he said, if it pleases you, stop here for a while. Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet. And since you've honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey. All right, they said, do as you have said. So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, hurry, get three large measures of your best flower kneaded into dough and bake some bread. Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant who quickly prepared it. When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat and he served it to the men as they ate Abraham waited on them in the shade of the trees. Jacob prepared a meal for his father Isaac in order to activate the birthright blessing. Genesis 27-25 says, then Isaac said, now my son, bring me the wild game. Let me eat it and then I will give you my blessing. So Jacob took the food to his father and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him. Jacob made a treaty with Laban by means of the covenant meal. Genesis 31-43-45 says, then Laban replied to Jacob, these women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks. In fact, everything you see is mine. What can I do now about my daughters and their children? So come let's make a covenant you and I and it will be a witness to our commitment. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument. Then he told his family members, gather some stones so they gathered stones and piled them in a heap. Then Jacob and Laban sat down beside the pile of stones to eat a covenant meal. Moses and the elders of Israel shared a meal with God to activate a covenant. As they formed this covenant, they came into fellowship. Exodus 24-13, this is a powerful portion of Scripture. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again, they all responded, we will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey. So they are initiating a covenant. They are agreeing to their part of the covenant. Verse 8, then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions. Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the 70 elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel. I'm going to read that again because that's powerful. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal eating and drinking in his presence. Then the Lord said, the Moses come up to me on the mountain. Stay there and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people. So Moses and his assistant Joshua set out and Moses climbed up the mountain of God. This is powerful. Moses, the people of Israel making covenant with God and signing that covenant, so to speak, by sharing in the covenant meal. When you share a meal, a cup and bread with someone in this manner, you are making a covenant, a solemn binding. Communion is the acknowledgement of the new covenant. It's a solemn, deliberate, reverent, deeply spiritual act. It's not just a ritual. It's not just something that we practice. This is a spiritual dynamic in our lives that allows us to enter into depths of the spirit that we would not otherwise be able to fully appreciate. We know that the covenant was confirmed by the blood of Jesus. So why then do we need communion? Well, the communion in the way that Jesus implemented it and then later Paul, there are really three reasons for acting this out. That is to remember, to reverence and to reconcile. I like to use alliteration to tie the points together to help you remember. So there you go. To remember, to reverence, to reconcile, to remember. Luke chapter 22, verses 19 through 20, we read this at the beginning of the lesson. I want to read it again. He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. After supper, he took another cup of wine and said, this cup is the new covenant between God and His people, an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. Jesus says very clearly, to do this in remembrance of Him. When we take communion, we're remembering what Jesus accomplished on the cross. We're remembering how He sacrificed Himself, His body and His blood, that we might be forgiven and freed from sin. We remember how He suffered. We remember how He died. We remember how He loved us enough to sacrifice His life. Number two, another reason we take communion is for reverence, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 23 through 26 say this, for I pass on to you what I receive from the Lord Himself. On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant between God and His people. An agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it. For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until He comes again. It's not just to remember, it's to announce and in announcing His death, in announcing what He did, we are reverencing what He did. We are honoring what He did. On an aside note here, notice that Paul the Apostle writes, for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, which means there is no stipulation on how little you should be doing this. In other words, you can do this as often as you would like, but when you do, make sure you remember to reverence the Lord during this very sacred act. Next we see it's to reconcile. I gave several examples, Old Testament examples of people taking the covenant meal. And for example, as with Jacob and Laban, there was reconciliation that took place when they shared a meal. There was another reconciliation that took place during a covenant meal and it's found in John chapter 21. This is verses 3 through 17. This is an amazing text here. Verse 3, Simon Peter said, I'm going fishing. We'll come to, they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. Now just for a second, I want to point out here that Simon, after he betrayed the Lord, went back to what he had known before Jesus had called him. And again, he finds himself in a situation where he goes out fishing all night and catches nothing. Just like the time when Jesus called him. Just like that moment when Jesus first showed him that miracle by telling him to cast his net again. He obeyed, and of course we know the rest, the miracle was performed. But here, Peter goes back to that place. He goes back to what he had known. And again, he finds himself in a situation where he catches nothing all night. Verse 4, at dawn, Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn't see who he was. He called out, fellows, have you caught any fish? No, they replied. Then he said, throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you'll get some. So they did, and they couldn't haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. Then the disciple, Jesus' love, said to Peter, it's the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic for he had stripped for work, jumped into the water and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. Now remember, this is after Peter had denied Jesus. He went back to what he was doing. Verse 9, when they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them, fish cooking over a charcoal fire and some bread. Bring some of the fish you've just caught, Jesus said. So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn't torn. Now come and have some breakfast, Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Now verse 13 says, then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead. Now, here Jesus is sharing in a covenant meal with Peter. He's restoring him. He's bringing reconciliation after Peter had denied him. Verse 15, after breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord Peter replied, you know I love you. Then feed my lambs, Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Lord Peter said, you know I love you. Then take care of my sheep, Jesus said. A third time he asked him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said, then feed my sheep for every time that Peter denied Jesus. Jesus asked him if he loved him. This is why I believe Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 8, most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other for love covers a multitude of sins. Jesus circled back to that time he had called Peter and he told him to cast his net again, again. It was reconciliation. He was reinstating him and just as Jesus had restored Peter, so Jesus was having Peter promise or make a covenant to go and see others restored in the same way. Now listen to this verse, Psalm 235, you may have heard it. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup, runneth over. Now often when you've heard that read, you've likely heard it used as a taunt. God's going to prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. They're going to watch me be blessed. They're going to suffer watching me. They're going to look at God elevating me and it's going to be a torment to them. The verse is not a taunt. It's reconciliation. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies. In other words, God brings peace and reconciliation when you walk in his ways. So again, we take communion to remember. We take communion to reference. We take communion to reconcile. So then if communion is used in part to help us be reconciled, bring us back from our wayward ways when we fall a little off spiritually, then what does the Scripture mean when it tells us to not take the communion unwordedly? Because some people imagine, I can't take communion because I'm not perfect. It's not at all what the Scripture means. In fact, when you come and take communion, by remembering what Christ did for you, it can actually inspire repentance and new in your life. Well, let's take a look at what the Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 11 verses 26 to 30. To himself not discerning the Lord's body for this cause, many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. In other words, some have even died because they take communion without discerning the Lord's body. Here's another Scripture to help bring this into context. 1 Corinthians 10, 17. For we being many are one bread and one body. For we are all partakers of that one bread. So what does it mean to take the communion unworthily? It means that you're not discerning the body of the Lord. And what does it mean to not discerne the body of the Lord? It means to not recognize not only that in taking communion you're honoring what Christ did on the cross, but it means to not recognize your brothers and sisters. To not discerne the body of the Lord is to dishonor your brothers and sisters in Christ. It's to hold unforgiveness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ. We're not just in covenant with God but also with each other. So when I take that covenant meal it's unity between me and God and me and my brothers and sisters in Christ. The communion unites us with each other as it unites us with God. 1 Corinthians 11, verses 17-22 says this, But in the following instructions I cannot praise you for it sounds as if more harm than good Verse 18, First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church and to some extent I believe it. But of course there must be divisions among you so that you who have God's approval will be recognized. When you meet together you are not really interested in the Lord's supper for some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result some go hungry while others get drunk. What? Don't you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God's church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this. Some in the church were going hungry while others were feasting. Some were divided. They were not honoring the covenant with each other. This is why Judas' sin was so egregious when he betrayed the Lord. Psalm 41 verse 9 says Ye mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me. That was a prophetic mentioning of Jesus' betrayal. The sin of Judas was so great because he broke that covenant. Communion is about honor. The activation of the promises of God through faith. Communion is about reconciliation. It's about remembrance. It's about reverence. It's about unity. It's about our covenant with God. When we have communion, we are having a meal with God and coming into agreement with the covenant. That agreement produces faith. That faith activates God's promises. But when we do so, we must discern the body of the Lord. We must keep the covenant between both God and man. We are one in the covenant. When you take communion, you are communing with God by the Holy Spirit, remembering what he did, reverencing what he did on that cross, honoring the Lord for his sacrifice and being reconciled to our brothers and sisters and to God. I want to pray with you now. I want to pray that God would allow this word to take deep root in your heart. Only the Holy Spirit can give you understanding. Only the Holy Spirit can bring forth revelation. So let's pray that God, the Holy Spirit, would take this word and cause it to produce in your life that when you take communion, you might experience the power of the covenant. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for that one now. And I ask you, Lord, to remind us as we commune with you, as we share a meal with you, that we are partakers of the covenant, that we are recipients of the promises of your word. Remind us to live in unity and love. Help us to discern the body of the Lord, to honor one another and to honor you. May your presence be made known in our lives in the precious name of Jesus we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say amen. Well, that is it for the lesson. I want to welcome now the new members of Spirit Church. There you are up on the screen. We love you. We are praying for you. I always say that because I always mean it. You want to join Spirit Church? Go to DavidHernandezMinisteries.com slash Spirit Church. There's a membership form there. Just fill it out and you are a member of our online church. Now I want to read the comments. Comments come from a teaching called How to Increase Your Faith, Seven Keys. If you want practical, applicable truths that you can apply to your life immediately that will accelerate, intensify, and cultivate faith in your life then this is a lesson you will want to watch. Again, that's How to Increase Your Faith, Seven Keys. You can see that on our YouTube channel are various social media platforms. And while you're going to look for that teaching, remember you need to subscribe if you want to continue to see our content coming out and click that notification bell so you receive notices. Subscribe on YouTube, click the bell, and also connect with us on all our social media platforms. And if you'd like me to potentially read your comment on one of the editions of Spirit Church then go ahead and leave a comment in the comment section right now. So again, these are the comments from How to Increase Your Faith, Seven Keys. Jesse Obed, wow, so timely. I feel like this message is absolutely for me. Malawit writes, a timely, spirit-filled, and powerful message like always. I love the Holy Spirit's channel. I am thankful for this ministry. It is such a blessing. God bless you, Brother David, Steve, and the team. Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit's channel and by that we simply mean that he can do whatever he wants to do through this media ministry. Ben Porras writes, I thank the Lord for this message. It revived my spirit, and it will help my co-believers to increase their faith. God bless you, Brother David, to God be the glory. This ministry has grown my faith. The next commenter writes, this ministry has grown my faith all glory to God. And we receive testimonies like that from all over the world people who have become established in the Word, who have become established in their relationship with the Holy Spirit, and it's all God's doing through his ministry. The final comment I'm going to read comes from Emily Laramore, who writes, Thank you so much for this message, Brother David. I appreciate how in depth you go on these topics. It's very helpful and brings a lot of clarity. It also stirs my faith to step out without fear. The Holy Spirit always brings these teachings at exactly the right time. Thank you again for these weekly teachings. They are incredible blessings. Now I want to read a scripture to you, so don't turn this video off. Don't tune out. Matthew chapter 6 verse 21. These are the words of Jesus. Now Jesus is our Lord. Jesus is our master. Jesus is our King. Here's what he said. Matthew chapter 6, let's read verse 20 and 21. I know your heart is in soul winning. I know your heart is helping to disciple believers. I know your heart is for the broken and the lost. I know you have a heart to see people delivered, to see people saved, to see people healed. I know God gave you those desires. And so I want to welcome you to invest your resources into this cause. There is no greater cause than the cause of souls. There is no message more important than the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. If you believe that, if you believe the gospel, if you believe it's the power of God to save, if you believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to heal and to deliver, then I want you to take a step of faith and partner with our ministry. I know some are in better positions than others and some of you are facing challenging times. But even in challenging times, we ought to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. So I want to challenge you right now to either become a monthly supporter of this ministry or to give a one-time gift. Ask the Holy Spirit what he wants you to do. Ask him whether it's one time or monthly and ask him how much and he will lead you and he will not abandon you. He will bless you. He will provide for you. Our source is God. Our source is not the system. Our source is not the economy. Our source is not a job. Our source is God. And so I'm challenging you to step out in faith for the sake of the gospel, not for David Hernandez, but for the gospel so we can continue to fund the media, the events, the Holy Spirit School, the live streams, all of which we offer to everyone for free. You can be a part of that by going to DavidHernandezMinistries.com donate for one-time gifts or DavidHernandezMinistries.com partner to become a monthly supporter of this ministry. Now, if you want to partner with our ministry, we know that you give because you love God and you love souls, but we like to give back to our monthly supporters because we love you. So go ahead and check out DavidHernandezMinistries.com partner to see the latest partnership offer. We're going to be doing a partner with our ministry other than the spiritual ones, and we do that, we have that in place just to be a blessing to you as you are blessing the Kingdom of God through this ministry. But whatever you decide to do, I'm asking you to go and do it right now. Don't delay, don't wait, don't say until this starts to look better, until that prospect comes into play, until this job situation changes. Instead, say, Lord, I will not wait to see before I have faith. So again, one time gifts, DavidHernandezMinistries.com to become a partner, DavidHernandezMinistries.com where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And I know you have a heart for the Lord, you have a heart for the Gospel, you have a heart for souls. Well, that is it for this edition of Spirit Church here on the EncounterTV Network. Until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more videos like this one. Also, help us spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Make a one-time donation, or become a monthly supporter by clicking on the donate link now.