You may want to know the answer to this question

Jesus had a love meal with His disciples, then the meal was followed by a supper called the Lord’s supper.

Jesus commands His followers when He says, “do this in remembrance of Me”.

I have attended many churches over the years and have noticed a lack of reverence in having communion. Communion is sharing or exchanging intimate thoughts and feelings at a spiritual level with God.

Many churches hand out the elements of the bread and wine/grape juice in a sealed plastic cup to everyone who comes through the door. The sealed package is not a major problem but handing it out to everyone is a failure to protect the unaware and uneducated. In many cases this is compromising the directives found in the Word of God.

In Luke 22:14 -21 Jesus after the meal implemented the new covenant by commanding His followers, by saying, “ This is My body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of Me.” Then He followed by saying, “ This cup is the new covenant in My blood,”.

In 1 Corinthians 11:17- 31 Paul brings corrections and advice in two parts of the sharing of a love feast which was the meal like Jesus had with His disciples followed by the second part the announcing of the remembrance of the Lord’s supper via the broken bread and cup of wine.

The first part of the love feast was a meal followed by an intimate communion

Communion the second part

Firstly, we are looking at the second part of his message from 1 Corinthians 11:27- 31 the communion where we take bread and wine/juice.

1 Corinthians 11:27 So that whoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, he will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 

1 Corinthians 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. 

1 Corinthians 11:29  For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 

1 Corinthians 11:30  For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and many sleep. (From G2749; to put to sleep, be dead.)

1 Corinthians 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

Let us look a bit deeper

Are all who attending a church service repentant believers remembering that Judas partook in the first communion with Jesus? The answer is a resounding No

Then who can partake in communion? It is reserved for repentant believers. It is important that the church teaches this point for the safety of the non-repentant person.

Can children take the elements? The answer is No

Then we can take this a little further where parents need to take responsibility in teaching their children that they cannot take communion until they respond to the call to become a Christian. If the parents teach their child to accept the ‘no’ then it is a good place to start teaching about salvation. God has no grandchildren.

The Lord’s supper is a time where the person who is sharing around communion could ask the question, “Would anyone like to become a repentant believer? Then after the prayer of repentance there is nothing standing in the way of the child taking communion.

Can an unbeliever take the elements? The answer is No

How do you overcome the situation where a non-believer wants to take communion? Just the same as the child who was taught by the parents, the church needs to teach that salvation comes before partaking of the elements. While in China this was a great time to see people come to the Lord.

Paul gives us warnings about taking the element in an unworthy manner as this has health issues as well as doing things in good order.

God does not want anyone to miss out on the wondrous physical and spiritual healing that can come from partaking the Lord’s supper.

Every time we have communion we need to examine ourselves to see if we have the right motives and actions or unforgiveness towards another. Or if we struggle with a sin and need His help because He is faithful to help and forgive us if we ask. We can say a quiet prayer to God saying if we fix or ask for forgiveness with another person or with Him or as soon as possible.

If an unbeliever is listening and wants to partake of Communion then they can repent and become a repentant believer and then there is no barrier that could stop them from partaking communion.

The problem Paul saw in 1 Corinthians 11: 17-22

We have already covered the second part of the meal being the taking of communion the Lord’s supper. It is now that we will look at the first part of the love feast which is a meal.  

In 1 Corinthians 11:17 Paul is hitting them right between the eyes with a strong rebuke pointing out that they are coming to this love meal for their own benefit based on selfish motives. He was pointing out that the gluttony and drunkenness made a mockery of the love meal by some was not acceptable while other went without. The eating habits of the church in Corinth did nothing to glorify the remembrance of Jesus and His last supper. Paul was not impressed.

The church in Corinth was not a single congregation but possibly around 60 homes thus division had developed. In 1 Corinthians 11:18 Paul points out that there are divisions in the church thus causing disunity which he felt was happening mostly based on their own desire for popularity, self-pride and favouritism.

Incorrect behaviour has far reaching consequences

I pray that the Lord does not come back too soon as I would like to see more people saved before that DAY.
Take note that you do not become overwhelmed by what is taking place in the world. The Lord told us that this would happen.
If we have a disposition that says it’s all too much, then we are defeated and of no good for the kingdom of God.
Our hope is in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
All of creation, YES all of creation is waiting for the manifest sons of God to rise up.

Here is my understanding of Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven is taken by a strong force (Jesus and us) and it is (we are) attacked by A negative force (Satan) that is crowding us into a passive position to seize or press us into a non-active role if we let it. We need Jesus and our self to become a forcer to be active, aggressive and energetic. To be a person that will go to any lengths to see the Kingdom of God come.  If we fail to apply force spiritually, we may miss the moment or time to seize, to pluck, catch; pull, to take by force that which (people) belongs to the Kingdom of God.

Christ has set a new standard, forcibly taking hold of this new position as decreed by God in Genesis 3:15, leading us on to personal triumph over Satan and his works. The victory we have is portrayed in the statement made by God in Genesis 3:15, that the head of Satan, which is sin, the law, death would be put under the foot of a man “the seed of the woman,” (Jesus) and crushed.  Christ was born to destroy the works of the Devil, giving mankind the potential victory over, every work of Satan. We have been loosened from the bonds of sin, law and death. Instead of a penalty we have been rewarded with a position of becoming a Royal Priest.

HOPE

Now when people have hope in someone or something, they cannot be controlled by force. There are governments and people groups who advocate that you cannot have religious belief and be a member of their organization. They ask the people to believe in their constitution or charter or their leader.

This is a religion in disguise.

Hope is a powerful part of our walk with Jesus. That is simply to say we believe that everything is going to be well. That does not mean that we will not have struggles or difficulties. It does not mean either that we give up trying to improve ourselves.

Matthew 11: 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven is taken by violence, and the violent take it by force. (MKJV)

When the Kingdom of God comes upon man it comes with force; it is transforming and compelling. It is a force that brings about repentance, because it is a force, it causes those that it touches to desire eagerly and pursue vigorously the things of God.

The nature of man is given assurance by the dynamic of the Holy Spirit, and man forces his way into the Kingdom of God. This is the same force that a baby experiences when it is being born by breaking the waters and forcing itself into this world. Hence we come to what Jesus said, “You must be born-again” (John 3:3- 7). He used the analogy of the birth of a baby in the natural sense to demonstrate the spiritual struggle on entering the Kingdom of God.

The struggle and violence involved in entering the Kingdom of God is that which comes from the devil. At a critical time in the life of man he is given a time or opportunity to experience this new birth. It is at this point many things can go wrong. The devil will work upon the mind of man to stop him.

If we look at the parable of the Sower, we can see that the seed can be choked by the worries of this life …’then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in the heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside” (Matthew 13:19,). The devil tries to destroy people’s lives before they find Jesus.

Jesus is the only hope for mankind and we, as Christians are called to tell the world about this hope. As we do so we will see the greatest miracle, the miracle of a birth into the Kingdom of God.

A Christian hope is not a vague sort of wishful thinking, such as child saying, “I hope I get a computer for my birthday”. Christian hope is the absolute certainty that the thing the person hopes for will come to pass.

Hope is confident desire: a feeling that something desirable is likely to happen.

Hope is a source of success or relief: somebody or something that seems likely to bring success or relief.

Hope is trust or a feeling of trust.

We, as Christians have a belief based on knowledge of the Word of God and His Spirit. This could be expressed as a knowing in our spirit; it is a surety of His protection, deliverance, provision, and continuous presence in our life. We could say, “I know, I know He lives, because He lives in me”.

Because a Christian has this knowing, he or she cannot be controlled, because they believe in a supreme God who is in control, and they have given their life over to Jesus, our Hope.

We must have faith to please God. We need to receive His love, which is shown in grace, and to show Jesus’ love to mankind so that they too can have hope in Jesus.

Now we have faith in Jesus, plus love in Jesus, plus hope in Jesus. And all that adds up to a powerful Christian person who is not easily moved by the things of this world.

You may say, “You are mad Ian, or You are just wrong”.

Now you may not read any more of this article, but I would encourage you to read the whole article.

Sin does not get a chance to get into heaven, on the other hand, the sinner who turns from evil to a belief in Jesus through grace with the act of repentance will.

God does not want us to be fearful. He wants us to read and understand His Word to gain assurance in the knowledge of our salvation. Thus in 2 Timothy 1:⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (New King James Version)

Assurance should be the state of every Christian, but sadly many are still in the state of insurance just in case Christianity is right.

What is the fear of the Lord for the Christian

Proverbs 9:¹⁰ “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (New King James Version)

Wisdom comes from the assurance brought about by the infilling of the Holy Spirit and as we read God’s words of instruction found in the Bible.

The fear of the Lord is based on a guarantee of belonging to God.

The fear of the Lord is not a state of believing in doom and destruction for the Christian. It is knowing the power of a loving God whom you do not want to be isolated from, because of your own actions.

The Christian who is led by the Holy Spirit when he or she sins knows the urgency in the heart to repent to maintain the lines of communication with God.

The repentant believers having known the void that is felt in the heart by all unbelievers because of sin before salvation, will do everything to avoid this state of hollowness in their Christian Walk. The remedy being repentance!

We all need to obey God this side of the resurrection to avoid loss.

What is the fear of the Lord for the unbeliever

An unbeliever has very little or even no knowledge of God, or the outcome of an ungodly life, thus having no fear of God, or that there is a heaven or hell. But if you want a sinner to think about eternity, ask a simple question. “Are you afraid of death? Then you can introduce the Bible and show Scriptures like the ones below.

Ecclesiastes 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether evil. (MKJV) 

1Peter 4:17  For the time has come for the judgment to begin from the house of God. And if it first begins from us, what will be the end of those disobeying the gospel of God? (MKJV) 

Matthew 13:48  which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 13:49  So it shall be at the end of the world. The angels shall come out and separate the wicked from among the just, 13:50  and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (MKJV)  

As I have already said, “We all need to obey God this side of the First Resurrection to avoid demise.” But for the person who does not repent while living and then dies he or she will wait in the grave until the Second Resurrection (Revelation 21:8) where they will be judged along with some who think they are Christians.

Christian Misunderstanding of Scriptures

1Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those being lost, but to us being saved, it is the power of God. (MKJV)

Palatable preaching is the removal of Scriptures or teachings which may offend some who may be listening. It is the softening of hard sayings found in the Bible in the hope of getting more people to join the local church. When we the Church lowers the standards just to get commitments, we fail to get converts. It is a sin and failure of the contemporary church when we do this.

It could be said another way, and that being should we preach or teach people that they need to accept Jesus, or be accepted by God?

Both! We need to say to the lost they are lost in sin and in need of accepting Jesus through repentance so that they will be accepted by God.

Christians when preaching or witnessing say to other Christians or unbelievers, “God hates the sin but loves the sinner” to make the Gospel of Jesus the Christ more palatable which is not a true understanding or interpretation of God’s Word.

Let us look at God and hate in the Bible

God is fundamentally a God of love, but He also has the capacity to hate as you will see in the next three Scriptures.

Psalm 5:4  For You are not a God that enjoys wickedness; nor shall evil dwell with You. 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in Your sight. You hate all doers of iniquity. 5:6 You shall destroy those who speak lies; Jehovah will despise the bloody and deceitful man. (MKJV)

Proverbs 6:16-19   These six Jehovah hates; yea, seven are hateful to his soul: 17  a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18  a heart that plots wicked plans, feet hurrying to run to evil, 19  a false witness who speaks lies, and he who causes fighting among brothers. 

Psalm 11:5  Jehovah tries the righteous; but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence, 11:6  On the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone; and a horrible tempest shall be the portion of their cup. 11:7  For the righteous Jehovah loves righteousness; His face looks on the upright. (MKJV)

Malachi 1:2  I have loved you, says Jehovah. But you say, In what have You loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says Jehovah; yet I loved Jacob, 1:3  and I hated Esau and made his mountains a desolation, and his inheritance to be for the jackals of the wilderness. (MKJV)

Literally, “God hates all evildoers and their sins,” However, His plan to send Jesus shows His loving benevolence and grace towards His creation.

Romans 5:8 But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (MKJV)

God knew all the sins we were going to commit before we did them, nevertheless His plan was to show us amazing grace and love through and by His son Jesus the Christ.

God’s love

1 John 4: 8 The one who does not love has not known God. For God is love. (MKJV)

This makes it clear that God is love. However we do have a problem when reading our English Bible as it only has one word for love when in fact there are Eleven different loves in the Old Testament and then in the New Testament there are another eight different loves mentioned, however in the Greek there are another two words used to describe certain types of love, storge and eros love, but these are only alluded to.

For the purpose of this study, we are only looking at two forms of love, agapao and Phileo to see the slight change in our positional standing with God.

1. Agapao Love G25

In John 3:16, God’s action to love (agapao[1])everyone as a prize and desiring them unconditionally. The unconditional aspect of this love is simply directed towards all mankind because God delightfully made us. This does not conflict with Scriptures that say, “God hates the sinner”. The lost sinner is a servant of Satan therefore can be used by Satan to lead others astray.

Agapao love does not equate to happiness. God is not happy with everyone, because not everyone is calling on His Son’s name. This does not stop Him from showing agapaō love to all of His creation.

Some may say agapaō love is the most powerful Divine love as it is unconditional, but that definition is limited as we will see in 1 John2:15 when man operates in this type of love to get or own something. 

1 John 2:15  Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 2:16  because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 2:17 And the world passes away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. (MKJV)

John 3:16 For God so loved (agapao) the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (MKJV)

In a Spiritual sense of God’s agapao love says He loves everyone, but in the corrupted human sense man’s agapao love can be based on an understanding of God’s agapao love which may be good or bad. But it may also be based on a worldly desire for objects, which is not good when it is out of balance. Therefore to say agapao love is only a divine love it not totally correct.

The dynamic of trust is not necessary for the one showing agapao love, but the one receiving this love must grow to trust in order to believe so that they can grow towards a deeper love.

• Phileo Love G5368

Phileo in the Greek is to approve, like, sanction; to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome, befriend and show signs of love. God is pure. If we believe in Jesus, God loves (phileo) Jesus (1 John 5:2) and us completely (John 16:27) and we are treated affectionately, romantically sanctioned. The phileo love is conditional as we receive it and by maintaining the relationship with Jesus.

John 16:27 for the Father Himself phileo loves[2] you, because you have phileo loved Me and have believed that I came out from God. (MKJV)

In John 16:27 the Father’s love is “phileo” in Greek, which is a love with strong emotions, to treat affectionately. God phileo loves us tenderly, because we are committed disciples who love His Son (John 5:20; 11:3; 11:36; 12:25; 15:19; 20:2; 21:15-17). He calls us sons and friends with whom He shares warm and friendly love (Galatians 3:26, 2Corinthians 6:18, John 15:15). God saves us and if we respond to the call then He is happy. God may well be pleased with other actions we do out of this love, but His phileo love is complete.

1Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love (phileo) the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. The Lord comes! 16:23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 16:24 Let my love (agape) be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. (MKJV)

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love “phileo”, I rebuke and chasten; therefore be zealous and repent. (MKJV)

We may conclude that phileo love is for family, group, companionship, relationship and of the same type members. This type of love may grow and develop into a powerful way of life.

In Phileo love, trust is a key component; it must be gained and maintained with integrity as we walk in the process of sanctification. Because God shows this intimate love we will find it is conditional based on the quality of the relationship with Jesus.

God’s perspective of love can be adjusted as He views us in the new light after salvation. He changes our position and our names by calling us sons. It is true to say our love must grow from agape love to phileo love so that we will reproduce out of an intimate relationship with God in a spiritual realm.

In Genesis 3:5 for God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil. Then when the scriptures say God hates the sinner it is because He knows what sin can do to us. That being sin can destroy His beautiful creation and then to cause more destruction on and with others.

This is an extract from my book Augustine’s Error – It’s Not Sin it’s Repentance

Part of the problem of mankind is denial and the inability to take responsibility for one’s actions. After being placed outside the Garden, man couldn’t face the fact that he had brought this upon himself. He had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was too much for his small brain to handle and man set about justifying himself (“the not me syndrome”). It is in the mind of man where the battle takes place!

The mind-exploding experience of man gained through the act of disobedience, has brought about an inability to deal with his problems and the lack of taking responsibility. Man could have taken responsibility for his actions. He could have repented and therefore we would still be in the Garden. Man couldn’t bring himself to this point, so God needed to step in and bring about His redemptive plan. God’s grace is the marriage of the redemptive plan and man’s action.

God, in His wisdom, always shows His plan as a precedent in the Old Testament and then in the final outworking in the New Testament. I believe this is to prove to all of mankind that it was no apparition.

In conclusion we are not to hold back on the truth found in the Word of God by making it more palatable as this has not as effective as some would think. We are the sons of God therefore we are to minister the truth to the lost and dying world letting them know God is love but he hates the sinner and their sins too. It is sad to say that many in and out of the Church are unaware that their eternity will be in hell. They need to hear that they can avoid hell by grace through the act of repentance and believing in Jesus.

We need to get back to what the Bible says.

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[1] Strong’s, Hebrews and Greek Dictionaries G25 agapaō, to love (in a social or moral sense):

[2] Strong’s, Hebrews and Greek Dictionaries G5368 phileō, From G5384; to be a friend to (fond of [an individual or an object]), that is, have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling;

watch me teach this short sermon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN4Dg73nWbo

In  Joh 6:35 And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes on Me shall never thirst. 

Bread of life speaks of Prosperity, Popularity and Power

Prosperity to provide sustenance nourishment, for comfortable life (sufficient to be content with what you have)

Popularity is associated with communion, symbolized unity, friendship, and spiritual nourishment

Power in many different realms. To have some control over maters 

Is Satan a god?

Satan is a created being, who has thoughts, feeling, desires and motive therefore he is a person.

Jesus calls Satan in John 12:31 the prince of this world

Prince means ruler

Ruler means archōn ar’-khone– chief (ruler), magistrate, prince, ruler.

In Ephesians 2:2 prince of the power of the air thus also archōn

2 Corinthians 4:4

2Co 4:4  in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving ones, so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (who is the image of God) should not dawn on them. 

2Co 4:5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 

Man shall not live by Satan’s bread alone

However when Jesus says, “that man shall not live by bread alone but every Word from the mouth of God.” Mat 4:4 Luke 4:4  Quoting Deu 8:3

The bread Satan offers speaks of the same things but the outcome is different.

Jesus is drawing us to the fact that Satan ruler of this world offers a lesser bread. 

We saw earlier that Satan is the god of this world and he can bless people with Power, Prosperity, Popularity and even a comfortable life.

Many worship Satan when they think they are worshiping Jesus

Asked to Test us

Job 1:7

Job 1:7 And Jehovah said to Satan, From where do you come? Then Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 

God stood with Adam when he had sinned in the Garden. He also stood and talked with the serpent in the Garden (Genesis chapter 3). He allowed Satan to stand before Him and ask Him if he could test Job (Job chapter 1 & 2). He permits Satan to accuse the brethren (Revelation 12:10). Satan can make requests to God to test and sift us as he had done with Peter (Luke 22:31).  Zechariah 3:1 also states that God can stand where sin is. He waits for us to repent.

Satan is the “adversary” or “accuser.”