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Every Christian denomination celebrates some type of Communion. The terms Communion, Eucharist, The Last Supper, and the Lord's Supper all refer to the same thing. Jesus Christ commanded us to take bread and "fruit of the vine" in remembrance of Him until He comes again. If you are a follower of Christ, we must obey this command.

The first communion service was held the night before Jesus' death right before He was arrested. Jesus and His disciples had eaten a meal and after the meal was finished, the scriptures say that He took some bread, gave thanks, and then broke it.

The bread symbolized His body that was about to be broken and crucified for you and I! And as He handed the bread to the disciples, He commanded that they eat of it in remembrance of what He was about to do.

This Last Supper came during the Passover festival when all yeast ("leaven" in scripture) was removed from the houses. So we know that the bread that Jesus used that night, was unleavened bread. Leaven or yeast represents sin in scripture because sin "puffs us up" and makes us think that we are stronger than we really are. The unleavened bread represented the fact that the body of Jesus Christ was pure and holy and had never sinned. The sinless one commanded sinful human beings to partake of it in remembrance of what He did for us!

After the bread, Jesus then took the cup and said that is represented the "new testament" or "new agreement" between God and man. This agreement was being formed by the blood that He shed. They again were to drink this in remembrance of Him.

It is impossible from scripture to determine whether or not the "fruit of the vine" used was simply grape juice or alcoholic wine. The alcoholic process of fermentation is started when yeast and sugar are introduced in the juice, so I personally doubt that Jesus intended for alcoholic beverages to be used at this sacred time because they contain yeast which symbolized sin. We will use normal grape juice to represent the blood of Jesus.

"To shew" means "to publicly proclaim." One of the reasons for communion is to take time out and remember the work that Jesus Christ did for us on Calvary.

Paul said "as often as ye eat this bread." Nowhere in scripture do we find a specific command telling us how often that we should take communion. Some denominations have communion every Sunday and some every month. But as we will see in the next verse, taking communion in the proper way and reverence is very important. Our attitude and reverence in taking the communion determines whether or not it is a blessing or a curse to us. Churches who serve communion once a week or even once a month turn it into a meaningless ritual and people take communion that are unprepared to do so. The Lord Jesus taught us that Communion corresponded with the Passover which was celebrated once a year. The Passover marked the beginning of the year on the Jewish calendar. That is why I choose to perform communion once a year at the first part of the year. I have no problem with another church who takes communion more often, as long as it is done in the proper reverence and preparedness.

What is the proper reverence and way to take communion? The next verses make it very clear:

The key word here is "unworthily." It is not "unworthy." None of us are "worthy" to partake of the Lord's supper because all of us have sinned. The scriptures teach that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." So none of us are "worthy" to take communion. The word, though, is "unworthily." It means "not having the proper reverence." In other words, we must take what we are about to do very seriously or God will hold us as guilty as those who crucified Him! So what is the proper attitude and reverence with which to take communion? Paul goes on:

The correct way to take communion is to first examine ourselves! If a person takes communion before examining themselves they are doing so unworthily. Before we take communion, we will find a place of prayer and in that prayer we will examine ourselves to see if there is any sin or bitterness.

Communion is a type of judgment. We must remember the Lord's Body! Here is the point? The Lord's body willingly took on the judgment of God, it was laid down upon the cross to endure the judgment of God for your sins and mine. It took the full judgment of every sin that was ever committed. The death that day was from taking on the judgment of God for the sins of the world.

Here is how we remember the Lord's body and "discern" the Lord's body. Now the church is the body of Christ. We are now the Lord's body. To properly "discern the Lord's body" and "worthily take communion" we must first search ourselves; examine ourselves. When we take the bread and "fruit of the vine" in communion, it is a type of judgment. We are willingly laying our lives upon the cross of God's judgment. We are saying: "God we submit our lives to everything in your word, both the promises and the judgments." We are completely committing our lives to Him!

This idea of self-judgment may seem strange to you, but it is the will of God for us to judge ourselves. We must be honest with ourselves in light of God's Word. Peter said:

It is not God's will for you to stand at the white throne judgment one day. God wants you to be ready to meet Him at the Rapture and already have your glorified body. Those people who stand at the white throne judgment will be having their lives compared with the Word of God for the first time. Most of them will not even come close to measuring up. That is why Peter asked the rhetorical question "what is going to happen to those who did not obey the Gospel of God?" They will be doomed to hell by their own actions. They will have stood in judgment and found lacking according to God's Word.

But Peter said that the time has come that judgment must begin at God's house with the saints of God. In other words, to avoid having to stand at the white throne judgment, we need God to judge us right now. It is a judgment of choice. The people who stand at the white throne judgment will not be there because of their choice, but if you and I submit ourselves to be judged, it is because of our own freewill.

Jesus was on the eve of His death when He would willfully allow His body to be judged according to the Word of God. He willingly took on the judgment of God for our sins. And He commanded us, who is now the body of Christ, to take this communion worthily by discerning the Lord's body. By examining ourselves and making sure every area of our life is submitted to God. When we ask for forgiveness and make things right with God, we are applying His blood to our sins, we are allowing the judgment that He endured on Calvary to cover our sins. But if we choose not to make things right with God, and take communion, we are saying that we are willing to take on the judgment of God for our sins.

What we are doing when we take communion is saying that we agree to have our lives judged according to the Word of God. If sin has been repented of and made right before God, then God allows the judgment that Jesus Christ took on to cover that sin. If there is sin or strife that has NOT been made right when you take communion you are in effect telling God "go ahead and bring on your judgment upon me." I should not have to tell you that I never want to be in that position with the "wrath of God" being poured out upon me.

Paul said that the reason that many people were weak and sickly was because they took communion without first examining themselves and they agreed to take on the judgment of God. Paul even said that some "sleep" or had died because of taking it unworthily. This can apply to us spiritually as well. If I take communion knowing that I have unforgiveness in my heart to a brother or sister or knowing that there is unrepented sin in my life or an area of my life that I have not totally surrendered to God, then I will bring upon myself spiritual weakness and even possible spiritual death.

Paul goes on to say that if "we judge ourselves, we should not be judged." That is, if we examine ourselves and get everything right between us and God we will not endure the judgments of God and will instead experience life and blessings in those areas.

So we need to search ourselves. Ask God to reveal anything that we have forgotten. We need to examine ourselves before we take this communion. We need to make sure that we have repented in every area of our life that we have gone contrary to the Word of God. If you are willingly breaking God's Word, then you need to stop as of tonight and repent of it before the sacrament. If you have a grudge against a brother or a sister, then don't you dare take communion before you get it right with them! Communion is saying I accept the verdict of the Word of God on my life. Unrepented sins and seeds of rebellion will bring judgment and a curse upon your life, forgiveness and a contrite heart will bring blessings! I wonder how many people in the world take communion just to take it and in doing so wonder why they are spiritually dead!? Communion must be taken with the proper mindset and reverently. We must first examine ourselves and repent.

I close this portion of the message with this:

When Jesus handed the disciples the cup, He said that this is "the new testament in my blood." His blood would institute a new agreement between God and man. The old covenant, or "old testament" was the agreement that Moses had instituted under the Law. The Passover Lamb's blood was applied to the door post with the branches of a tree called the "hyssop." When Moses gave the people the law, he also used blood applied with hyssop.

The hyssop plant was used because it's branches grew long and was perfect for reaching out and applying the blood in a hard to get area. It's leaves also were small and efficiently transferred the blood.

It is no coincidence that when Jesus was on the cross, shedding His blood, they offered Him vinegar for His thirst in mocking. But Jesus was hanging high upon a cross, and they needed some way to get the sponge full of vinegar to His mouth. Somebody looked around and spotted the long limbs of a hyssop plant that just happened to be growing nearby.

With the hyssop they lifted up the vinegar and when they did so, Jesus said "it is finished" and He died!

When the Psalmist David cried for repentance and said the often quoted lines "Create in me a clean heart and renew in me a right spirit" he also said:\

David knew that God could offer him a fresh start! When Moses sprinkled the people with hyssop and blood, he was entering them into a new covenant with God. They stood purified and right before God, their pasts forgiven them. They had already been circumcised as believing God's promises but they were given another fresh start. When the hyssop was put to Jesus' lips, it was the very moment that He died for our sins. He was offering mankind a fresh start. The Jewish people had been circumcised and trained in the law, but they needed a touch or redemption. God had brought judgment to bring life.

Jesus has provided a way for us to have a fresh start. I know that you have already been circumcised in the Spirit by water baptism, but God wants us to start this year with everything right before Him. In the Spirit there is a branch of hyssop being extended from heaven that is long enough to reach to the deepest parts of your heart and it has the blood of Jesus upon it which can cleanse you from sin. Let's get ourselves right with God. Let's make sure just as if it were minutes before judgment day. In fact it is judgment day. By taking communion we are willfully allowing God to judge our lives and bring life. Let's leave last year's mistakes and grudges covered in the blood of Jesus. Let's leave those disappointments and sins behind. Let's leave those habits and rebellious spirits behind us and move forward in Christ Jesus. Let's cry like David "Purge me with hyssop!"

If there is something in your life that you will not give up and are uncomfortable taking communion because of it, then you should know it is the very thing that would also cause you to miss the rapture of the church if it were to happen tonight. Let's search our hearts and ask God to forgive us. Let's get everything right between God and ourselves.

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After He instituted the communion service, Jesus then did the most extraordinary act! He rose from the table grabbed a towel like a common servant and began to wash the disciples' feet. In those days, almost everyone had servants and they were not even citizens but were more like slaves. The God of the universe, robed in flesh, was washing the feet of His creation!

Peter was the one to speak up and realize how crazy it was that Jesus was washing his feet. But when told that if Jesus did not wash him, he had no part with Jesus, Peter responded wash me all over! This is a beautiful type of water baptism, but there is more here. Look at verse 11:

Judas Iscariot was probably still there! Even though He knew that Judas had already arranged for His betrayal, Jesus Christ got down and washed Judas' feet! He was instilling a principle that whoever would be great in the kingdom of God must have the attitude of a servant!

If Jesus Christ was willing to have the attitude of a servant, then so should we! If He was willing to serve others, then so should we! If He was willing to wash His disciples feet, then we ought to be willing to do likewise: both in the spiritual sense and in the physical!

I want you to realize that Jesus Christ willingly laid down His life and washed His disciples' feet not knowing whether or not if anyone would follow Him and love Him. He had no promise that you and I would receive His commandments and serve Him, and yet He willingly gave His life. He was the great shepherd and He said:

He did not wait until it was clear whether or not the sheep would give their lives but gave His life without any promise that anyone would follow! In verse 15 of our text, Jesus said that He was playing the role of a servant and washing their feet "as an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." We cannot have the attitude that "I will serve and help someone if I see that they are going to help me." We cannot have the attitude that "I will not love that brother because I know they will reject me." What they do has nothing to do with it. God did not wait until He knew who would reject Him or accept His work, before He died. He lovingly went to the cross, and became a servant without thought of reprisal. That is true love, when we are willing to become a servant to each other without thought of what we will gain in return.

When you wash someone else's feet, pray for them, submit yourself to the role of a servant concerned about their welfare. Allow the Holy Ghost to use you to bless the person in the Spirit. And do not lose the attitude of the servant after this night, but resolve this year that you will love people regardless of whether or not you will benefit from it.

If you will not participate and wash someone else's feet, then you are -- to put it bluntly -- saying that you are greater than Jesus Christ. If the Master became a servant even humbling Himself to wash Judas Iscariot's feet, then we should as well!