Desperation no 52

Understanding Communion pt 2

September 14, 2016

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

 

Sunday we began our examination of the communion service with breaking down the thoughts the Apostle Paul laid out for us concerning communion in 1 Corinthians 11. This evening we will review the 12 statements brother Branham made concerning the communion service as well:

 

Number 1 Brother Branham said) pray for God to make us clean now for the Communion that's fixing to take place

 

In examining this thought of brother Branham's here we must add also what he says in statement number 11.

 

(11) I believe that communion is one of the most solemn, sacred, sweetest worships there is in the church service.

 

The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, (or irreverently) shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. So this is a very reverential thing we are doing when we eat and drink of the Lords supper. and we are commanded that we must do it with all respect and all reverence. Therefore the Apostle Paul continues by saying But let a man examine (dokimazo) himself, The word examine here is a Greek word that means to examine and discern in order to find approval.  Thu we are commended that before we come to the altar to partake of the bread and wine that we do a full inventory of our life to ensure we are not coming with sin in our hearts.

 

The Apostle Paul also said in, 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove (dokimazo) your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? In other words, you had better know whether Christ is in you or else you are a reprobate.

 

And then Paul says, "and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup."

 

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself,

 

Therefore, you had better come to the altar in reverence and having fully checked your life, and your motives and your objectives, and if you know there is any sin or unbelief in your heart, you had better go make that thing right before you come to the altar. and that is why I said concerning the order of the service, that even before we get to church we should already be examining ourselves.

 

Number 2) the order of the Communion.

 

These words show us there is an order to the communion service. And as I already mentioned, the very first thing even before we come into the church before the communion service begins, is there must be an atmosphere in the people before they even come to the service where they have searched out their own souls, and examined whether they even be in the faith. To search whether they are worthy to take of the bread and wine. Because many come without a reverence towards the

that that the people must come already to take it. This means they must have examined themselves to make sure they have nothing in their lives that would be a hindrance in taking the elements. 

 

Remembering the Lord 63-0122 P:10 Paul goes on to say in here how to come to the Lord's table. If there is anything wrong make it right before we get there. "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." And now, we are very, very much to be in prayer when we take communion.

 

Ordination 62-1104E P:26 Let us pray now as we bow our heads. Silently you pray for us; we pray for you. [Brother Branham and congregation take a few moments in silent prayer--Ed.] Father, as we take this communion (as we call it communion), it is in remembrance of You. And when this little beaten wafer touches our tongues and goes into our mouth, may we recognize that He was bruised, and mashed, torn for our sins. And that veil that hid Him from us... Now, He's in us, the Holy Spirit. And when we receive the wine, may we realize that it was by His stripes that we're healed, by His Blood we are saved, the Life that was in the Blood. Now, Father, gather us together for this solemn occasion, forgiving our sins. In Jesus' Name, we ask it. Amen.

 

From his sermon, What does thou here 59-0301E P:57 Brother Branham says, "Now, all that wants to stay for Communion, we'd be glad to have you in this time of fellowship. Now, you have I Corinthians, I believe, 11th chapter there. I'll have you read it right then, Brother Neville, if you will. [Brother Neville reads I Corinthians 11:23-32--Ed.]That doesn't need any explaining. It's just this. If we eat and drink unworthily, we eat and drink damnation to our own self not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause, many are weekly and sick among you, and many are dead. See? When we come to take Communion... Every Christian should take Communion. It's your duty. It's a showdown. See? Jesus said, "If you don't take it, you have no part with Me." See? "But he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eats and drinks damnation to himself." That is, if you're still out with the world and doing things of the world, and people see you taking Communion, you're doing wrong. You're only bringing disgrace to you, and it'll only harm you. It isn't that it'll harm God; it'll harm you. And so a person should examine their selves."

 

Therefore this should take us to brother Branham's third statement he made concerning the communion and foot washing service.

 

Number 3) He said we must be conscious that  Israel eat it in desperation,

 

Never forget that the very first communion service was in each home and it was a very desperate time, because the angel of death was sweeping through the land, and the people could hear the cries from their neighbors homes of those who had not applied the token to their homes. So they ate it in desperation. And in this hour we know that the death angel is sweeping through the nations and churches throughout the land, and we know that if we do not keep that Token applied, then our homes will also be affected, because God is not a respecter of persons.    

 

Now, we could take many hours to go through the judgments that have already set in but we do not have time tonight, but I have sent to each a study I put together of the end time judgments some time ago, I think I called it the end time scenes where we showed prophecies from the Scripture and William Branham and have shown pictures of those judgments and how they are already in the earth today. 

 

In Questions and answers COD 64-0823M P:163 The Bible said He'll judge the world by Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the Word. So to me, it's the Word of God that He'll judge the world by. That's right. And I believe His judgments are in the earth now, and I believe... Let us seek with all of our heart to escape the damnation of the wrath of God that's going to be poured out upon this unbelieving world; and there's no way at all to escape it.

 

2 Peter 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:  6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

 

So we can see by Scripture that the world has been resreved for this day of judgment, and we by God's grace shall never enter into the judgment because we have entered into Christ, and he took our judgment for us.

 

Ark the 55-0522 P:35 Notice. Oh, my. Another thing that the word meant, when it said, "Pitch, pitch it," tar it, or soak it with resin, it means "to atone." Now, the word "pitch" means "to atone." Over in Leviticus, the same word that was used for pitch in Genesis, in Leviticus is used as an atone, to make an atonement. Well, now, atone is to stand between. And the pitch that was in the gopher wood in the ark, was to keep out, or to atone the believer from the wrath. You see it? Noah could not get into the wrath, the waters of judgment. Oh, I see it now. You get it? Look. He could not come into the judgment, because there was an atonement between him and the judgment. And the judgment was the water of the world. And the believer in Christ is safely secured. Amen. Not upon the merits of himself, but on his obedience, obedience to walk into the ark. The only thing Noah had to do was get in the ark. He didn't even have to shut the door; God did that Himself. Walk in; that's all the believer does is walk by faith in Christ. God takes care of the rest of it. "He that heareth My words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Everlasting Life, and shall not come into the judgment, passed from death unto life," in the ark, safe forevermore. Amen. Let the judgment rock her if it wants to. Why, I imagine sometime the ark was standing on the end, and up-side-down, and everything else. But Noah was safe. The pitch stood between him and the judgment. And today the Blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, stands between us and all the judgment. Amen. "... shall not be condemned, or come into judgment, but passed from death unto Life." Amen. Why? Because he is in the ark. What a perfect picture.

 

But we are already witnessing many of the judgments upon mankind for rejecting the Gospel Message. In fact brother Branham claimed the world rejected the Message in 1956. But we are seeing more and more of the characteristics of insanity throughout the world each year. Such as the insanity that is rampant throughout the entire world. We are also witnessing nations rise up against nation, and many of the characteristics of the end time as Spoken by the Apostle Paul in...

 

2 Timothy 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times (fierce times, dangerous times) shall come. (And it all begins as we read in verse) 2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, (that is what started the whole thing moving towards judgment. And notice what attributes of self centeredness Paul lists). "covetous," if that isn't an attribute of self centered people I don't know what is.  And "boasters", The person who boasts is so full of self they want everyone else to know it, and so they boast. And he lists next that they are "proud", And what person who is self centered is not proud? Then he mentions  "blasphemers", Theirs your politicians who make fun of Christian people "clinging to their Bibles" and pass laws that fly in the face of the people of God like mixed showers and bathrooms. It's all insane.  Then Paul adds, "disobedient to parents", and "unthankful", these are attributes of the young self centered people and when they grow up they show their self centeredness by being  "unholy", And that's your general condition of the population of the entire world outside of the elect of God.

 

And as a result of lacking a love for God and His word, they become unholy and it always goes to sex when they leave the Word. It did in the garden of Eden and it still does today.  Look at all the ungodly entertainers who began as wholesome Christians girls and boys but became popular and sold out their birth right for a mess of pottage like Esau.

 

Brother Branham mentioned a list of them like Elvis and Ricky Nelson, and Arthur Godfrey and Pat Boone. But look at so many of the so called Christian singers today embracing the sodomite agenda. They're afraid to hold a conviction because their focus in money and not the Gospel of Christ.

 

Paul continues saying, 3  Without natural affection, There's your animal lovers who love animals more than they love little children. I am not saying we should not love all God's creatures, but when you put animal life of human life it shows you are dead spiritually. And they've become the Homosexuals and LGBTer's, and pedophiles. There's your Sodom and Gomorah scene that Jesus predicted would take place before the judgments fell.

 

I remember going to a rodeo and it was being picketed by animal rights activists, so I rolled down my window and asked one of them "do you believe in abortion", and they said "I sure do". I said "I thought so". Because these animals rights lovers don't realize its demon possession they have.

 

And then we see our own politicians reflecting attributes such as "trucebreakers", They make promises and then break their word every time. And they are constantly  false accusers,.. and so are many church people.

 

"incontinent, (that means they cannot contain their sexual drive) fierce, despisers of those that are good, (there's your liberal mind that calls good evil and evil good.) 4  Traitors, (that's your politicians who have sold out this country) heady, (that's the intellectual who is trained to bypass the Word) highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; And the churches think those are communists, they're wrong, those are so called Christians. 5  Having a form of god-like-ness, (they appear outwardly to claim the Christian Church for their own) but denying the power thereof: (What power? The power of an endless life, and the resurrection power in the individual. And he says...) from such turn away.

6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women (churches) laden with sins, (un-belief) led away with diverse lusts, 7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

Now, brother Branham's statement number 4 he said) and through the journey there wasn't a feeble one among them in the end of forty years. This is Divine healing also.

 

I think there is something special God did for those people and it all began by taking the Passover feast, which we are to take the communion as they did in desperation. because when you really take God at His word, you take a more serious stand for your faith in Him. And you take the Word for your healing as well.

 

Attitude and who is God? 50-0815 P:35 And when the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is here to inspire you, remember, God will make your body come into your confession. If you say you're a drunkard, and want a drink. Don't worry, you'll soon be one. If you say you're a sinner, and want to sin, you'll be right into it. If you say you're a Christian and believe it all along, God will bring... Your testimony will bring you right into it. If you believe in healing, and believe that God has healed you, confess it, and God will make your body obey your confession, for He's the High Priest of your confession; setting at the right-hand of the Father now with His own Blood to make intercessions for any confession upon anything that He died for. And He died to rid sin. And sickness is the result of sin. "He was wounded for our transgressions, with His stripes we are healed." Remember that. Have faith. Don't waiver. Stand on it.

 

Ordination 62-1104E P:27 Do you know that communion has Divine healing in it? When the Israelites, in the type took the communion and marched forty years... And when they come out of the wilderness, there wasn't a feeble one among them: two and a-half million people. There's power of healing in the communion.

 

Jubilee year 54-1003E P:68 Now, we're going to have communion service, just in a few minutes. How many believes in communion? Thank you. That's what Jesus Christ asked us to do, said, take the broken parts of His body, and to do it until He returned again. And if you who believe this to be the truth, and you'd like to have this little time of fellowship with us around the Word of God here, we'd be happy for you to stay with us and--and have this time. If not, we're going to dismiss just a few moments. We'd like you to stay with the rest of them, anyhow, so that you'll be able to see the way we take the communion. This is not only...This is for, also, for Divine healing. Do you know that? When Israel eat the type, the lamb, the passover, they journeyed forty years in the wilderness and come out without one feeble person in their midst. Think of that: not one feeble person, forty years. The communion, a sign of believers...

 

Ordination 62-1104E P:26 Father, as we take this communion (as we call it communion), it is in remembrance of You. And when this little beaten wafer touches our tongues and goes into our mouth, may we recognize that He was bruised, and mashed, torn for our sins. And that veil that hid Him from us... Now, He's in us, the Holy Spirit. And when we receive the wine, may we realize that it was by His stripes that we're healed, by His Blood we are saved, the Life that was in the Blood. Now, Father, gather us together for this solemn occasion, forgiving our sins. In Jesus' Name, we ask it. Amen.

 

So you see, it is more than just a symbol to us, and it is more than just a remembrance. The bread and wine is more than just a symbol, we can take it for our healing.  When you take that broken piece of bread to your lips, take it for your healing. It is not different than a prayer cloth the prophet of God prayed over. Because it is by His Stripes we are healed and the wine represent his blood and the bread represents his broken whipped body. And when it goes to your lips say in your heart, "By His Stripes I am healed", and then go away believing what you have said, God will make your body obey your confession.

 

Statement number 5) I hold kosher bread, wrinkled and broken, representing the Body of Jesus Christ. Through this riven veil we have access to the holiest of holies. Our heavenly Father, this bread has been prepared to represent that broken and torn Body. May each of us as we receive it, may it be as though we literally had did this act.

 

Now, the word represent means to express or designate,  to stand or  act in  the  place of, as a substitute, proxy, or agent does

 

So when we take the bread and wine it is standing in the place of the real. It isn't the real but it stands in the stead of the real. And Jesus said,

 

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

 

John 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 30  They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34  Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36  But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37  All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38  For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39  And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40  And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41  The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42  And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43  Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45  It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46  Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48  I am that bread of life. 49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 59  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 60  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

 

Uncertain sound 62-0714 P:107 Jesus said, "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he also." Nothing uncertain about that. "These signs shall follow them that believe." That's right. "He that believeth on Me, though he were dead yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." Nothing uncertain about that. Resurrection is sure. Right."He that eats My flesh and drinks My Blood has Everlasting Life, and I'll raise him up at the last day. But he that eats and drinks It unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's Body." No uncertainty about any of it. Right. If you eat it worthily, walking in the Word, in the faith, God promised the resurrection. If you eat it unworthy, you're dead right then when you're living. The Bible said "the woman that lives in pleasure is dead while she's alive". Exactly. The Bible said that. That's the infinite Word of God. It can't change. Certainly. Oh, no uncertain sound.

 

Notice he said he that eats worthily there is a promise of resurrection for that person. O, I like that. I know it is only a representation, but remember representation means to stand or  act in  the  place of, as a substitute, proxy.

 

And that brings us to number 6) And may we have the forgiveness of our sins, and the access to the holiest of holies, to live in Your Presence in our future life, and all the days that we shall live here on earth, and be with You in eternity forever. Grant it, Father. Bless this bread for that intended purpose, in Jesus' Name.

 

Access into God's Holiest of Holies, and forgiveness of our sins. That is what the entire breaking of the bread and eating it and drinking of the wine represents to us, that by that selfless act on the part of the Son of God, we have been given access to God's holiest of Holies, we have been given access to His Presence.

 

Therefore the next time you take the communion and wine, remember as you are eating and drinking of the sacrifice that was made on your behalf by the first born son, that in doing this selfless act you have been given access to God the author of Life Himself.

 

Then when you are praying as you are eating and drinking, acknowledge the sacrifice saying, "Father I acknowledge that this bread and wine is a representation of what your son did on my hehlaf, and while I am in your presence, you said "ask abundantly that your joy might be filled," and so Father I am asking for my healing, I am asking for the forgiveness of my sins, I am asking for the Token to take an effect in my home, I am asking to spend eternity with my offspring, and I am asking all these promises you gave to me because I am now taking the body and blood of your son in a representative form because I am acknowledging these promises were fulfilled in the breaking of the body of your first born son, and the pouring out of his Blood on Calvary.'

 

And that takes us to number 7) And Father, it's to represent that precious Blood that cleanses us, that  from there came the Token. I thank Thee for It, Father, and for this symbol. And since we have already covered this let's move on to number 8.

 

Number 8) "He that eats and drinks this has Everlasting Life, and I will raise him up again at the end time." We thank Thee for this promise.

 

Notice that brother Branham applies this to the taking of the bread and wine because as it represents the actual, it becomes like the prayer cloth that is just a piece of cloth but it become a proxy for the actual.

 

Remember, the word represent means to express or designate,  to stand or  act in  the  place of, as a substitute, a proxy,

 

 

Now, the bread and wine itself cannot do anything for you. But it's a representation of what he has already done, and then while you are taking it, it is your communion with God, your communing with God concerning his promises to you, and while you commune with Him you are acknowledging in your taking of the elements which are a representation of the broken Body of His son that you are claiming every promise associated with that broken body and poured out blood of His dear son, and your elder brother. That is what makes the representation work for you.   

 

Uncertain sound 62-0714 P:107 "He that believeth on Me, though he were dead yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." Nothing uncertain about that. Resurrection is sure. Right."He that eats My flesh and drinks My Blood has Everlasting Life, and I'll raise him up at the last day. But he that eats and drinks It unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's Body." No uncertainty about any of it.

 

Possessing all things 62-0506 P:77 Is your sins under the Blood by faith tonight in Christ Jesus? We shall now take the communion. Not the communion; you commune as you eat with one another. Just commune with God. The communion is not the bread, not the wine; the communion is talking back and forth with God. This is a symbol that we take, that we believe in His death, broken body, His burial and resurrection; we believe in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. And we believe that He has give us Eternal Life; and we cannot die; we have passed from death unto Life. And someday when we separate from one another here, we'll rise again in the resurrection with each other, joined together with Christ Jesus as a Body. Amen. Upon these basis, and the confession of my sin, and my faith in the Son of God, I take myself and the church before these articles that God left for us to do, to show forth His death until He comes.

 

Communion 62-0204 P:35 And I don't care how many priests or preachers, or whoever blesses that, it's still bread and wine. There is no priest as they tell us, that God is obliged to listen to the priest when he turns the communion (what they call communion, the Eucharist) into the literal body of the Lord Jesus, then the believer takes that, and that is communion. That is wrong."Commune" is "to talk to, commune with, something that you can speak to and it'll speak back to you." That's communing. A wafer cannot speak back. So, really, the real communion is the Holy Spirit speaking back. When you ask Him, then He speaks back; that is correct communion. This is a memorial to take of His crucifixion and His resurrection, and not a communion. We call it that, but it isn't.

 

So the bread and wine is to stimulate our conversation with Him, the Father of Glory.

 

And statement number 9) And Father, we pray that You cleanse our hearts together, that we will be worthy by our faith, knowing that in ourselves we are not worthy, but our faith will not fail, that we're accepting perfectly the Blood of Jesus Christ. Grant it, Father. And sanctify the wine for its intended purpose.

 

Then being worthy is not being worthy of a piece of broken bread and a sip of wine, but worthy of what it represents to us. The fulfillment of every divine promise God made to his elect seed was fulfilled on the Cross when the first born son cried out and said, It is finished."

 

Number 10) May whosoever drinks this wine tonight and takes of this bread, have strength for the journey that lays ahead. Grant it, Lord. May they be healthy, and strong, and filled with Your Spirit till Jesus comes.

 

This takes us back to the divine healing which is found in the atonement and was found in the children of Israel taking the Passover and then journeying for forty years without sickness and not even their clothes wearing out.

 

Number 12) There was three things left us to do, that's order and ordinances. So many try to say if we got a original nail, we got a piece of cloth. But there was three things left us. Lord's supper, baptism, feet washing was the three orders that was left to the church. And we...Tonight seemed to be a very special time for me.

 

John 13:8  Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9  Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10  Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 11  For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. 12  So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13  Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 15  For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17  If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. 18  I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. 19  Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.  20  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

 

let us pray