Communion | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

remain standing with me in turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 22 verse number 14 Luke chapter 22 verse number 14 we're going to be taking communion here in just a few moments and pastor would like remind us and teach us a little bit about the meaning the reason for communion why we do what we do and I especially want to direct especially want to direct my comments to strong tower tonight because I want strong tower to understand that communion is not some kind of a tradition that your grandparents thought of goes all the way back to that night before the crucifixion Luke 20 to 14 and when the hour was come he sat down in the 12 apostles with him and he said unto them with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer for I say unto you I will not anymore eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God and he took the cup and gave thanks and said take this divided among yourselves for I say unto you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come and he took bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave it to them saying this is my body which is given for you and please all of us direct your attention to the screen or to your Bible and let us all repeat the last few words this do in remembrance of me likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed which is shed for you this do in remembrance of me father as we come tonight to remember as we come tonight to remember that night to remember I ask Lord that you would anoint my lips of clay with your spirit and that God what we do tonight will remind us of the price that was paid and will remind us that you are coming again anoint us if you'll anoint me Lord I will give you the honor in Jesus name we all pray and everybody said amen you may be seated the event the event was the feast of Passover when Israel was to remember their last night in Egypt for hundreds of years Israel had held this memorial service of which they called Passover this memorial dinner was a reminder to Israel that they once were slaves in Egypt but because of the covenant God had made with Abraham Isaac and Jacob they had been miraculously freed from their oppressors the feast days were days of reminders to this young nation that they owed their existence to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob God gave them reminders for the simple purpose that they should never forget that they should never forget when God instituted Passover it was all because God did not want Israel to forget to forget we are prone to forget what God has done for us we're prone all of us all of us are prone to forget all that God has done this event that took place called Passover was because God again reminder remind you don't forget don't forget well as a matter of fact in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse number 6 God would once again have the Moses pick up the writing instrument and once again Deuteronomy 6 and 6 and these words which I command thee this day shall be in Dunn heart you shall teach them diligently unto thy children and talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way it went out liest down and when thou risest up thou shalt bind them for a sign upon by the hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes thou shalt write them up on the post of the house and upon thy gates god begin to tell israel you're not always going to be traveling you're going to come to a town you want to have your own well one day you're gonna have your own vineyard one day you're gonna have your own house one day and he said I want you always be talking about my word one should always be talking about my word and he said I want you to always be talking about my word to the generation coming on I want you to be talking to your children the generation coming on I want you to talk I mean he said I want you to find the word around your wrist you're gonna have you're gonna have things you're going to bind it around your wrist you're gonna have you're gonna have little things that you bind around your hand that's going to remind you're gonna have the word it you want to have front lips you're gonna have a little pouch you're gonna wear a little pouch on your forehead and there's going to be scriptures in there and you're gonna you're going to reach up and have a scripture not only that you're you're to write you're to write the scriptures on the doorpost it doorpost of your houses will you dwell in why was God telling Israel to do all this because he never wanted israel to forget he never wanted them to forget let me continue in verse number 10 and it shall be when the lord thy god shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob to give thee great in goodness cities which they'll build us not houses full of good things which thou Phillips not Wells digged which that biggest not vineyards and olive trees which thou plant is not when thou shalt have eaten and be full can I tell you the most dangerous time is when we are full the most dangerous time for the church is when we are living in a time of prosperity I don't know about you but it looks pretty prosperous around here and if it's pretty prosperous around here it must be pretty dangerous around here because it's in times of prosperity that we can tend to forget verse twelve said then beware lest thou forget the Lord which brought me forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage God said I'm going to have reminders there's going to be a passover feast there's going to be reminders on your hands reminders on your eyes reminders on your doorpost he said I gotta continually keep you reminded that you will want slaves in Egypt but by the mighty hand of the Spirit of God I broke the back of your oppressor and I brought you out to this land but you've got to be where you got to be where you've got to be where because when you fool you may forget later on once again God would instruct Moses in numbers chapter 15 verse 37 God would instruct Knut instruct Moses numbers 15 verse 37 and the Lord spake unto Moses saying speaking to the children of Israel and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribbon of blue and it shall be unto you for a fringe that he may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them and that ye seek not after your own heart and and and your own eyes after which he used to go a whoring that you may remember and do all my Commandments and be holy unto the Lord your God I am the Lord your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord your God don't you listen to this God continually look down at Israel and said they need reminders reminders reminders they not only need a Passover think about the Passover that night that first Passover while they were in Egypt that first Passover before God had got him out of Egypt he went ahead and told them I want you to do this every year as a matter of fact before even brought him out of Egypt he said I don't know he said your your calendar is to change it is one month in Egypt but this is the first month of the new year for you and I want you to repeat this with the lamb and with the the unleavened bread that he looks down he says I want to add something to that he said I want I want the Israelites to alter their clothing now you really know when you're getting into some disciples when you start altering their clothing that's why God said repeatedly there I am the Lord I am the Lord your God that's not just there he didn't just get out he knew the reasoning of human nature would beat a bucket and so he came back at them and said wait a minute I am the Lord I am the Lord your God I am the Lord that brought you out of Egypt you see we're crying down in Egypt but we can be pretty smoothie when we're living in our houses we didn't build drinking from whales we didn't dig and eaten from trees that we'd ever planted and God said I just want to keep you reminded I want you to have a ribbon I want you to put a fringe on the borders of your garments and said that friends you're going to put on your garment I want you to take a ribbon of blue and I want you to weave it through it so that you can look at it and that you can remember who you are and where you come from I want you to remember when you look down every step you take walking through this world I want you to be remembered that I want you to remember that you were once lost but now you're found I want you to remember that you were once a slave but you're now a free nation I want you to remember this every time you look down you see sometimes we think that the different in clothing is so a world can look at us and know that we're different that is not the reason for the clothing the clothing is so that we can look at ourselves and be reminded we're not what we used to be he said put it on the fringe of your garments you know there's a lot of folks today looking for some fringe benefits there's no greater fringe benefits than always remembering where God has brought you from you'll always keep in mind where God's brought you from you'll always be trying to get as far away from where God has brought you as you can no more of this stuff want to go back get warm by what you come out of we don't need to have a church here at this dedication that we're going back to what God brought us out but we need to have a church that's reminded of what God brought us out of so it was at that night it wasn't that night some hundred hundreds of years later that Jesus observing the Passover said I have desired this Passover with you as a matter of fact this was probably the third or fourth Passover that he had had with them he said this is the one that I have desired because this is the last one that I'll have with you and the next one that I have will be when the kingdom of God comes I said I this is the last one that I'll have with you and then he altered he altered Passover he took the unleavened bread and he said just bread here which is unleavened it's unleavened that means it has no yeast in it that means it's flat bread no yeast yeast is a small piece of sourdough that when placed in the unleavened it just begins to work it's like sin sin is likened 11 all through the Bible because it just takes a little bit of sin to start spreading throughout your life just just a little speck of you knowing it's something that God doesn't want in your life if left alone it just slowly begins to grow throughout the whole loaf until the whole loaf is affected he said I want this bread to be unleavened and he blessed it and he break it and he handed it to them he said this represents my body this represents my body now Church tonight I want you to understand that in just a few moments when you take a small piece of of unleavened bread that there is nothing miraculous about that unleavened bread you're going to drink just a little bit of the fruit of the vine there's nothing miraculous about it it does not come it does not become as the Catholic Church teaches it does not become the literal flesh of Jesus Christ nor does it can't become the literal blood of Jesus Christ nor tonight should you have any faith in the sin cleansing power of that small unleavened bread and that small fruit of the vine it is what it represents that gives it the power it is nothing of the substance some brag that they import their water in from the Holy Land to baptize foolishness foolishness there's nothing special about the water it's what the water symbolizes that makes it special but yet tonight we cannot throw away something that is so sacred the value is what it symbolizes take eat this is my body that is broken for you in Matthew chapter 27 verse number 26 the Bible says then released he speaking of Pilate then released he Barabbas unto them and we he had scourged Jesus he delivered him to be crucified scourging was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution every Roman execution the first step was a scourging only women and Roman senators or soldiers were exempt according to dr. William Edwards in the article on the physical death of Jesus Christ from the Journal of American Medical Association the goal of the scourging was to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse and death as the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victims back with full force the iron balls would cause deep contusions and the leather with sheep bones tied to it that's interesting the leather with sheep bones tied to it would cut into the skin of the inward inner tissue then as the flogging continued the lacerations would tear and thus even unto the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh pain and blood loss generally set the stage for shock the extent of blood loss may well have determined how long the victim witness would survive the cross now I'm going through this tonight because I want a generation to understand something what a great cost and price Jesus paid so that we could have what we have what a great price what a great price and I mean this is not my notes gonna stop right here what a great price and any of us dare quibble over something he'd asked us to do has he asked any of us to die has he asked any of us to literally hurt our flesh the severe scourging with its intense pain and tremendous blood loss most probably left Jesus in a pre shock condition the physical and mental abuse meted out by the Jews and the Romans as well as the lack of food water and sleep also contributed to his generally weakened state therefore even before the actual crucifixion Jesus physical condition was at least seriously and possibly critical I didn't know this until I studied this out but the Romans took great pride in confession they loved to record the fact that the judges were correct so as a convicted criminal was being led to the cross he would be scourge the blows of scourging would lessen as the criminal confessed his crimes if he hit him three or four times and the recording Roman officer was there if he hit him a couple times and he confessed I did murder I did do this then they would record criminal Barabbas confessed - murder stop the scourging but Jesus received the full extent of a flogging because as a sheep he was led um speechless can you see them as they begin to lay the the cat of nine tails across his back come on speak it out King of the Jews come on speak it out just say it and we'll stop I could possibly see a Roman that finds a little pity and stinking come on man they're about to catch you in two but he never opened his mouth and received the full amount of the flogging there his flesh was given so tonight Pentecost is wonderful with his shouting and it's tongues of fire but I want you to know tonight we would not have the prosperity of Pentecost had we not had the broken flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ to him be all glory honor praise dominion power forever hallelujah to the lamb of God I wish somebody would help me tonight I wish somebody would value the blood of Jesus with me tonight Oh precious Oh precious come on now Oh precious here's the blood thank you for delivering me lord thank you lord I was lost the carpenter family was lost Oh God we were lost in seean thank you for the blood Jesus thank you for your blood Jesus thank you Lord thank you Lord that you brought us out thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord oh the Rutherford family was lost oh the Perry family was lost oh the Thorpe family was lost you hear me tonight the difference is the blood blood but with anything that which we so frequently come in contact with you know what you really don't know what gets a person spiritually do you know what really takes us down eat your mind off of you get your mind off the internet we preach so many things all this internet we you know what kills more people familiar arity this becomes common become common to us we reminder we're often remind we're often likened to the people in a swimming pool and the people that are standing says is the water warm sure jump in the water's fine they jump in and they say it's freezing in here you told me it was warm he's warm according to me I'm used to this does it not touch our hearts when new people come in can't stop crying and can't stop praising God new people come in with zeal and new people come in and loving God sometimes we don't watch it we'll be so familiar to this man it's not gonna take a six-pack of beer to get some of you just gonna take this you get familiar with this is now gonna get now going to take some dirty thing on the internet just get familiar with this folks every time we walk into this building we need to be remembered that we were lost oh thank god thank I think y'all thank God thank God come on where would I be without him in my life where would I be without the Lord in my life where would I be without the Lord in my life when I think of where I've come from when I think about where I've come from it's no strange thing first Apostolic that in the first book of Corinthians chapter number 11 verse number 16 that the Holy Ghost would have to talk to the Apostle Paul how could something so serious take eat this is my body that will be broken for you take drink this is my blood and then the next day within 24 hours less than 24 hours that which was symbolized became shocking reality his body his blood but then he said this do in remembrance of me just as in the Old Testament they had Passover in the New Testament we have communion just as in the Old Testament they sewed a band of friends around the garment in the New Testament we have a small piece of wafer unleavened and a small portion of the fruit of the vine why are we doing this tonight in remembrance of him in remembrance him but he didn't take a hundred years until the Apostolic Church became familiar and they begin to change it and Paul about it in first Corinthians 11 verse number 17 now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not that you come together not for the better but for the worse first of all when you come together in the church I hear that there be divisions among you and I partly believe it for there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you in other words there were those in the church a heresy is a small clique of people that begin to feel like they are superior please listen to this now begin to feel like they are superior that's what a heresy is it's a small clique that feels like they are superior to everybody else their way they free their life they are a small clique we think it can be a clique listen it's not only we think sometimes of clicking clicks being in youth departments cliques can be in any department of this church you can be a senior Saint here tonight and have a clique going on we don't need any clique in the youth we don't need any clique in the senior Saints Department either we need to be one Church lift it up one name one cause nobody better than anybody else here tonight nobody got a better philosophy tonight I'm glad you're educated but if you think your education makes you better than an uneducated person you need to get an altar in your life sir ma'am you need to get some altars in your life you think just because you don't have scars on you that other people have make you better he said there's heresy I believe it when you come together therefore into the into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper he says now I won't tell you you think you've been eating the Lord's Supper you think you've been eating the Lord's Supper but I just want you to know you have not been eating the Lord's Supper when you come together therefore into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper for in eating everyone taketh before another his own supper one is hungry another is drunken what have you not houses to eat in and to drink in or despise he the Church of God and shame them that have not what should I say to you shall I praise you in this I praise you not what had happened just a few short years they said you know I know it's I know it's unleavened bread and fruit of the vine but won't you bring some extra food oh that sound like good idea let's bring some extra food and they got away sister Pugh they got away from this is my body that is broken for you this do in remembrance of me this is my blood that shed for you they got away from that and then some buddies begin to say did you notice that one family didn't bring anything did you notice that other family didn't bring anything well well let's do this let's get there early and put our name on the table let's get there early and put our food down on the table and it's for the it's for the it's it's it's it's for this family only and we'll make sure nobody but that family it's on that table and then Paul said what would happen he said they were doing this and the first thing he said I just want to make one little note about this and I'm going to go on because we're here to celebrate communion he first shaved them I said don't you have houses to eat and drink in to tell you that this building this room in here is not a place for us to bring food and don't we have houses I'm not talking about a little cracker I'm going to talk about a little cracker for a small child to nibble on I'm not talking about something for a small child to have I'm talking about something that's sitting here with a hamburger tonight now some of you thinking oh that ain't gonna happen it is happening you hear me this is the house of God this is the house of God this isn't some spiritual drive-through that popcorn can be popping out in the lobby and I can go get me a coffee and a popcorn in the sweet row and come in and hear me a little miss this is the house of God this is the place to receive God's Word he said don't you have houses that you can eat in but he's shamed the Church of God I praise you not for I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread now this is one of them this is one of the scriptures right here if you ever want to think now bill carpenter do you believe I have to take communion and not to be saved I'm going to answer that with a question if you're saved why would you not want to take communion why do we have to put salvation at the end of everything that be like my wife telling me if you'll do this I won't divorce you come on we got to enter into where I don't have to have heaven and hell held over me to do everything because when I get my eyes on Calvary when I get my eyes on Calvary and what he went through for me it for us tonight to be here I'm not going to quibble over oh thank you hey everybody looking strong tower tonight on their feet looking strong tower not on their feet tonight my god when I look Thank You students I love you tonight I love you tonight one of the things that make me important it's not only the Lord said it Paul said I received of the Lord I received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you you know that he was Saul at the time that Jesus said take eat this is my body do you know he wasn't even in the church he came in some years later but it was important enough that one disciple told another disciple and it came down to Paul and Paul one or two things here either Paul credited whoever brought him that word and said the Lord spoke because it was the Lord or the Lord spoke to my special revelation and gave him this I have received of the Lord Jesus that which also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night at when she was betrayed took bread when he had given thanks he brake it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me after the same manner also he took the cup and when he had supped saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood this do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me and now here's the timing that we got some folks take communion every Sunday morning some folks take communion once a year you're a pastor here I feel like it's such a sacred moment I don't want it to get familiar once a week I believe would cause there to be a familiar energy to come about if we set a certain time on the calendar it will become and so as oft as you do this that's the time limit as oft as you do it I personally felt the Spirit of the Lord move upon me to do it on the eve of our dedication because God is taking this church it's not just going to dedicate a church and be done there's another level for us to go to for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lord's death till he come wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body of the blood of the Lord let me tell you what that is not unworthily unworthily that is not I don't feel worthy to take communion tonight a matter of fact none of us should feel worthy to take communion it's talking about the manner of which you take communion it's not a lot hearted thing there shouldn't be people down here giggling and laughing if if and I'm going to let parents be the judge of your children taking communion tonight but it doesn't need to be a lot harder thing it does it does if they don't know to be if they don't know this is the most sacred moment then they're probably not mentally there to be able to do this church it is a most sacred moment but it has nothing to do with I don't feel worthy I don't feel worthy to be here tonight but that's where the blood comes in thank God for his worthy he is worthy wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that Cup for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily in an unworthy manner eateth and drinketh damnation to himself not discerning the Lord's body for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep now I personally believe that sleep there is spiritual death weakness there is spiritual weakness many are weak and sickly because they do not discern how much God has done for you I thank God for my Pentecostal tongue I thank God for my Pentecostal shout but I'm gonna tell you something there's nothing that could humble us any more than at the cross at the cross where he died from my sins at the cross where he went through that beating and it was all to make a way for you and I to find salvation would you lift your hands with me right now at the cross at the cross come on I'm terrible sorry la la la basura Alana Morsi the name of Jesus the name of Jesus the name of Jesus let me finish reading this as we're getting ready as we're getting ready let me finish this many are sick week mini sleep verse 31 for if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged but when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world wherefore my brethren when you come together to eat tarry one for another and if any man hunger let him eat at home and that you come not together unto condemnation and the rest will I set in order when I come man there were more there were more things that needed to be set in order there were more things that needed to be set in order but Paul said before I come and set them in order if you don't get this straight I really believe he was saying if you don't get this in order it doesn't matter what morals I teach you it doesn't matter what church behavior I teach you if you don't get this straight nothing else matters nothing else matters let's take a moment or two if you'd like to remain seated you can if you'd like to put you if you'd like to come around the altar as you can but let's just take a few moments let's examine our hearts tonight there can be sins of our flesh and sins of our spirit Oh God in the name of Jesus Lord tonight Lord I'll worship you right now god I think Oh Lord God I asked you to search my heart tonight lord I ask you Lord to search my heart this evening God Lord Jesus I ask you God to search my heart tonight God I ask you Lord to search my heart Lord you know I love you tonight god I thank you tonight Lord oh god you're so good at the cross Lord will you shed your blood for me god I thank you for that scourging that you allowed yourself to go through God y'all you paid such a great price for us Lord God you paid such a great price God for us God yeah Lord Jesus God