Understanding The Lord’s Supper

The Eucharist, though never intended as a mystery, has been mystified, paganized, and exploited almost since the shift in Christianity from Jewish to gentile leadership. If these violations had been done only in antiquity this subject would be no more than an interesting historic sidebar however in the modern church the communion is still shrouded in superstition and lack of understanding. If we desire to understand what was truly given by Yeshua to his disciples it is required that we first suspend our assumptions of traditional understanding. We must strip back the building of the church to the foundation of Messiah and ensure that what is built on that foundation will be of a substance that is purified by fire and not consumed.

The question begs to be asked who am I to challenge almost two thousand years of church tradition and teachings; what qualifications can I present making me able to argue with the theologians who have divested that which the church believes. The answers to these reasonable questions are I am of no significance or importance and my qualifications are less impressive. I am simply a believer in the covenant and finished work of YHWH through Yeshua and as such the same Spirit that lived and resurrected Messiah lives and resurrects me in Him. It is that same Spirit that places on my heart to speak on these things and that same Spirit abiding in the brethren will lead and teach if I fumble forth.

Before we discuss what communion is let us suspend what we assume it is…

•it is neither physical nor spiritual cannibalism connecting us to the divine

•it is not a talisman to cure or bless our living

•it is not a curse of woe upon those who do not understand its purpose

•it is not a means to be delivered or cured

Yeshua is without question a great teacher and as a great teacher his lessons are delivered with an understanding of his audience and their perception of His meaning. It is this reason that should lead us to see that our communion is and always has been a fulfilment of the feast of Passover just as Yeshua  is our Passover lamb.

That which is given in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, John 13, and 1 Corinthians 11 if not anchored in Exodus 12 cannot be understood.

Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.

 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. Matthew 26: 17-30

To the gentiles of the first century the communion tradition of the church seemed similar to the pagan right by which worshipers of false Gods thought that food, drink, or even animal blood and flesh could be transformed into the flesh and blood of their gods. It was thought that if this mystically transformed body and blood was consumed then the spirit of the individual would be joined to and empowered by the spirit of their god. As the decades passed and the church became more and more gentile than Jewish the familiarity of the pagan had influence over the way the communion was taught and received.

The men Yeshua was speaking to on that day were brought up in the golden age of Judaism. The Maccabean revolt had purged the nemesis of idol worship and desire to be as other nations from the heart of Israel. The corrupt nature of Adam did without question keep the nation from ever realizing a true purity of the teachings given through Moses and yet it was the pinnacle of what man without the Spirit of God abiding within could accomplish. It was this fertile separatist desire for pure truth of YHWH’s ways that prepared Israel for the birth of Yeshua.

All of this I have said is to establish in our mind that the commencement of communion was not in any way taken from paganism but was instead established and designed to teach the fulfillment of the truth of Passover.  In the Hollywood movie Karate Kid the wise teacher has his martial arts student wax his car and paint his fence in a very particular way. The student obeys grudgingly until he just can’t take it anymore and confronts his teacher; at which time it is revealed that what seemed unrelated was a preparation for what was desired all along. This comparison is silly when speaking of YHWH’s revelation but we must have a point of consideration if our true understanding is to overtake our assumed perception.

Yeshua was teaching us and those with Him that destined night that it was his death and applied blood that was our deliverance from death; and moreover that our sustenance must come from a total consuming of who He is making us who we shall be. The ordinance given through Moses means little more than a shiny car or a pretty fence without Yeshua. Yeshua separated from the witness of Moses is little more than a way to solve our own self-indulgent perceived problems.

It was not very long ago that I witnessed several teachings encouraging people to take communion every day; with the promise that such a regimen would bring the blessings of god on your life in various ways. Passover and thereby the ministry of Messiah is not an incantation or ritual that brings favor but instead an understanding of faith filled dependence and trust that changes us at our core being. We are not doing a thing but becoming one with His life and we shall find that His life brings us into all that is within Him.

How to live by faith

Yeshua lived our faith perfectly!

        WE BELIEVE, TRUST, RELY UPON, AND EXPECT

* YHWH is our Father (maker, creator, provider, and generator) Matthew 3

* The gain of even needful material things are not a goal but a result of receiving YHWH's life living in and through us. Matthew 4:4

* The natural result of YHWH's shared life in us is every word and promise having a living manifestation in us (seeking the manifestation shows we have no faith in YHWH) Matthew 4:7

* To seek temporal things is to worship the temporal self even if we say it was given by God. We instead worship YHWH and seek the eternity of His life in us. Matthew 4:10

* Yeshua is the only begotten Son of YHWH and as such all that He is has come out of the Father and the Fathers life is the Sons life. John 10:30 and 14:9

* The work of the Father through the Son is to make a marriage covenant with man. All we have and are becomes the possession of Yeshua who suffered and carried away from us the reality of fallen men

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form or comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: (why would this please the Father and Son? For the result that comes forth) when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors Isaiah 58

*the new creation of the new covenant in Messiah is us made one with Yeshua in marriage.  We are now restored into sonship as His spouse and are to be fruitful and multiply the glory and image of YHWH throughout the earth.

Who Yeshua is we are

What Yeshua did we do

He is the living word we are the living word

Our failures come from ignorance of what has been worked in us and unbelief that what YHWH says is true despite our experience, reason, and earthly wisdom.

 

I am saved: what does that mean?

There are times when a word comes to have a meaning in our understanding that is not necessarily its definition. The church is not immune to this effect and at times it is even guilty of changing the meaning of words to suite its own desires. When these skewed definitions last through several generations they become at times so accepted that they are not questioned.

One such word used in the church is saved. The commonly accepted thought of such a word deals with a moment in our life when our destination changes from hell to heaven. This definition of salvation allows for us to live out our lives without any effectual manifestation of YHWH’s living through us.

Where did this thought of salvation being about our final destination come from? There was a time when the church as a whole was seduced by worldly power and control of men. This spiritual adultery against our spouse led to a bride that was both selfish and controlling of all in her household. As a form of control she taught her children that must obey her else her husband would punish them to death and throw them out of the household. She locked her spouse out of his own house and moved in her abusive lover who brought destruction to both her (corporate church) and her children (individuals in the church). The lasting results of this adultery are that the children began raising the children though they lacked the experience of being raised in their Fathers love without the lies of bitterness, fear and unbelief.

If a man is drowning and I through him a floatation device then leave him in the water with a promise that I will come get him later only a skewed thinking would conclude I had saved that man. If we consider a biblical example then let us look at the children of Israel in Egyptian bondage. At what point by our modern definition where they saved?

• At prayer for deliverance
• At Moses call
• At Passover exodus
• At Red Sea
• At Sinai
• At manifestation of manna
• At the healing of the waters
• At the water from the rock
• At the serpent on a pole
• At the crossing of the Jordon

YHWH is salvation at each and every point of His effectual manifestation to save. It is not a position of standing given for a future event but instead it is sleeves rolled up power working in our every moment.

When we see this as true then we are not destroyed for a lack of knowledge but instead we are filled with an expectant hope of faith in the Fathers salvation through Yeshua His Messiah. How different does the witness of the apostles look when our eyes open to the active life of YHWH in us?

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:30-31

 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Some may say well that sounds good but from what I’ve seen YHWH does not always save us. It may be true that you have seen that but as a believer you don’t walk by sight.

The children of Israel didn’t walk in the wilderness for forty years as a matter of YHWH’s hate but instead by His longsuffering love He was teaching them to trust Him to do what He promised. Our salvation also is found in Abba moving us from agreeing He can or will do what He says to believing has and is doing what he says.

I have a peach tree in my back yard. From the moment the seed sprang forth it has been a peach tree but for years it produced no peaches. I pruned back the branches that were not needed and this year it produced the fruit by which it is named. While the older branches are the support of the tree the fruit only grows on new growth.

In a similar way our relationship in the Father is living, growing, and producing as YHWH gives the increase. If you have put your head down and determined to persevere till you reach heaven then I encourage you to look up and see that your salvation is not far away but is running at you full force to wrap you in His arms.

 

Christians effected by the flooding in Louisiana: is our hope in the Lord?

My regular post may be delayed a couple weeks. I along with more than 100,000 am dealing with the aftermath of the flooding in Louisiana. My personal situation is removing damaged insulation, damaged flooring, ensuring my electrical and HVAC is dry, clean, and safe to use, all while dealing with the fact that I no longer own a viable vehicle.

As bad as that may sound I am blessed. I have an expectant hope that my Lord will provide all I need. I believe this is the greatest gift we can have when things go bad; our hope in our Father. 

The Parish (Louisiana’s version of a county) in which I live has a population of approximately 130,000 people; and this flood has to varying degrees effected an estimated 100,000. Truth be told even those who did not lose anything in the deluge are greatly effected as their homes have become the safe haven of multiple displaced family and friends.

This flood will show a few things about men and believers. On one hand it will show that even ungodly men can be moved to do good things for those in need and on the other it will show that men will use others misery and desperation as a way to make a filthy gain for themselves. This opposing good and evil is evident in every son of Adam to a degree and more exaggerated to one or the other side in many. This is because Adam chose to know good and evil and this decision has been lived out through his children ever since.

Yeshua’s statements about what a house is built on and the effect of a storm on those structures is well known. In a terrain like that of Yeshua’s audience the dry season would have produced a hard surface seemingly great for building. Anyone who has ever tried to dig a hole in mostly clay soil in the summer will understand. However an experienced builder would know that the foundation must be dug down because no matter how solid the ground is during the dry season when the rainy season comes it will soften and give way.

For the believer this lesson is not about flood waters and the structures in which we live but instead it is about the structure of our living. These flood waters bring this lesson to the forefront by revealing to us how much we are placing our trust and hope in our heavenly Father. 

In the book of Job Satan tells YHWH; Job only trust in you because of your many blessing. We see every blessing taken from Job; family, provision, honor, health, everything but his very breath and still his faith and hope remains in YHWH.

Pray for me and my fellow believers going through this trial that our trust and hope will be better established in the blessing of being made one with the Father and not in the blessings of our Father alone. 

As a personal note if you feel led to help those affected I would encourage you to give your gift to a church which is trying to help those in need. Just as Paul councils us that our disagreements with believers should be handled within the church so also our help should go through the body of which we are all a part; the body of Messiah.

Abraham: true ever increasing faith

 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: Genesis 12:1-2

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15:1

Abraham is a prominent figure in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. As with any prominent historic figure he is also a subject of many fables and manipulations. I have no intension to argue against these falsities concerning Abraham but instead I would set forth to witness, as did Moses, of the central teaching of Abraham’s life.

Within the first twelve chapters of genesis Moses has come against the false gods and histories of the surrounding nations but in chapter twelve he begins to deal with our own false ideas of what covenant with YHWH means.

Abraham and his progenitors are not super human examples of our faith but instead a witness of YHWH’s unfailing ability to make weak feeble men the vessels of His unbreakable will and work.  

Abram was called like every other believer into a way, a truth, and a life which was completely foreign to all he had before known. The promise given by YHWH to Abram is the seed carried in the womb of the Jewish nation which was born into the world as Messiah and matured into eternal salvation to all that place their trust in Him.

The scriptures say faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of YHWH. Abram lives this out before the world. It begins with a call to leave behind what is known and move into an unknown place with nothing more than trust in Him who has called you.

The believer should see themselves in Abram. The same human nature inherent from Adam that we struggle against was also in Abram and also the same Elohim who formed Abraham from the dust of Adam and breathed into him the breath of life made him and us living souls.

Abraham’s story begins at his call from YHWH to leave behind all he has known and considered himself to have come from. The call of Abraham has a great blessing promised but also a price to be paid. From the time of Abraham until now the call to those who will walk in faith is the same “come out from among them”.

Abraham’s obedience to this call is much like our own, incomplete. It is not for a lack of desire to obey but rather an ignorance of what full submission entails. Only faith can be blessed and YHWH blesses to the extent that our trust is in Him. Abram enters into faith by leaving both his country and fathers house to obtain the promise of YHWH. However the leaving of his kindred is only partial for he takes with him his nephew Lot.

It is very likely that Abraham did not do this because he was in any type of disobedience but instead his actions were generated by what he felt was right. It would be many years later before Abraham would separate from Lot and begin to experience the full presence and blessings of YHWH.

This is the journey of Abraham’s faith from exuberant action of obedience into a trust that became the very foundation of Abraham’s being. Abraham’s path of change from simply accepting a spoken offer of covenant from YHWH to becoming an embodiment in his very person (a living word) of those things promised is the same path every believer travels.

In Abrahams call of chapter 12 there is a promise of blessings for obedience without a description of how the blessings or obedience will be manifested. In chapter 15 Abraham has come to an experiential knowledge of YHWH to the degree that he can now understand that the how of what was promised is in the fact that YHWH is not only his shield but his reward. The very being of YHWH has been given to Abraham as his. It is this grace that Messiah has delivered to all those in the household of faith.

 The interim events of these three chapters is not only a story of Abraham’s journey but an account of YHWH casting out self-trust (from Adams inheritance) and a creation of a new man in YHWH’s image. I am not saying that Abraham has arrived at chapter fifteen (life is about relationship not arrival) but instead the effective faith that would be called righteousness, receive the miraculous, and be tested beyond comprehension was formed here.

We see in Abraham’s life during this time three things that dove tail perfectly into the three temptations of Messiah. We should see these things as a witness of our own maturing into the life of the Father. Of course Messiah was tempted in all points without sin; neither we nor Abraham can make such a claim. What Abraham can witness too along with us (in the course of time) is that YHWH does give beauty for ashes and joy for tears.

In the first temptation of Messiah we see a Man after forty days of no sustenance tempted to act of His own accord to provide what He truly needs. In Abraham a famine drives him to leave that place YHWH has called him into and find his own way of providence.

If we then look at the results of this action we see that Abraham finds himself not only looking for physical sustenance but in fear for his life from the hands of those around him. The father of faith found himself trading his own wife to sustain his flesh. The mercy of YHWH, even in Abraham’s failure held this shame from being cast on Abraham. Abraham was not forsaken or abandoned in this failure; instead YHWH taught him of both his mercy and providence. When Abraham was converted from trust in self leading to destruction into a more established trust in YHWH the very one Abraham feared would take his life served to establish him with more than he had entered his failure with.

In the second temptation of Messiah a description of Messiah from scripture was used to tempt a public display of messiahship to remove any reasonable argument against believing Yeshua was who he claimed to be.  Yeshua could have avoided the strife that plagued his ministry from those who ran both the temple and the synagogue with a display of angels catching him from a public leap from the pinnacle of the temple.

So Messiah is tempted to do that which will bring Him acceptance from His kinsman to which He answers that YHWH alone can make Him acceptable. Abraham in order to avoid strife with his kinsman (Lot) gives that which was not his to give. It is from a motive of doing what is acceptable and generous but his decision has at its source only Abraham.

It should be noted that despite YHWH’s providence and blessing Abrahams sin still causes hurt to him, his household and those he comes in contact with. The covenant of faith does not make us free from the results of sin but when our eye becomes single we are made free from sin.

 That being said we must always remember that we press for the mark of the prize in Messiah: that mark was a perfectly complete faith in the Father to be His maker and life. It is safe to say that Yeshua alone has walked in perfect faith all other believers are pressing toward that mark.

The third temptation of Messiah deals with the glory of the kingdoms of the earth becoming His. Messiah is promised those same kingdoms will be subject unto Him but the Father alone is the possessor of the heavens and the earth. In a like manner Abraham refuses to be established by an earthly king; instead trusting YHWH’s promise alone will establish him.

We see a very different Abraham now. YHWH has made in him a faith by which comes obedience in the form of simple trust.

•get the out of thy country…to a land I will show you (no provision from Egypt)

•from thy kindred… I will make you a great nation (separation from Lot)

•from thy father’s house…I will make your name great (no dependence on man)