2nd Corinthians 6:14-16 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”
communion 1. fellowship; intercourse between two or more persons; interchange of thoughts or interests; a state of giving and receiving; agreement; concord. (Webster’s New Universal Unabridged)
A look at what communion is NOT: [It’s not “the Lord’s supper”, nor is it the “literal eating of Christ.”]
(1) 1st Corinthians 11:17-22 “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.”
QUESTION: What is the “Lord’s supper”?
[Let’s consider “the Lord’s supper”, used as proof-text in support of eating Christ at “the mass.”]
(There was a “supper” 2,000 years ago, but there is yet ANOTHER “supper” to come!)
Luke 14:16-24 “For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”
[All of the men bidden to the first supper did taste of it, even Judas Iscariot who dipped the sop with the Lord.]
Λ Matthew 26:29 “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.” The Lord is presently abstaining, until he drinks with us.
Λ Luke 22:30 “That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Λ Revelation 19:9 “And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
Catholic proof-texts:
Matthew 26:1-2, 17-20, 26 “Take, eat; this is my body.”
(also: Mark 14:12-17, 22 “Take, eat; this is my body.”)
“This Cup”
Matthew 26:26-29 “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.”
[They did physically drink that cup, just as the Lord physically shed his blood, but the “this is my blood” was not a reference to “the cup” in their hands, but to the one “this cup” that the Lord had yet to drink, to be symbolized by the present one.]
Matthew 26:36-39,42 “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”
John 18:1-11 “Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”
Λ Luke 22:19 “. . . this do in remembrance of me.”
THEY SAY: “That’s why we like Christmas, so we can remember the birth of our savior, the baby Jesus.”
FACT: The word never states to remember the Lord’s birth, but to remember his DEATH!
1st Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
vs. 23-24 “. . . he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this [#1] is my body, which is broken for you: this [#2] do in remembrance of me.”
There are two different things referred to here:
#1 The real thing sitting there about to be sacrificed, and
#2 The token done in remembrance of the real thing about to be done.
vs. 25-26 “After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This [#1] cup is the new testament in my blood: this [#2] do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”
There are two different things referred to here:
#1 The real thing about to be accomplished upon the Lord, and
#2 The token done in remembrance of the real thing about to be done.
There are three significant issues here: (You better pay attention to what you’re doing here.)
(1) To what does “this” refer? (in Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; and 1st Corinthians 11:24)
Example: John 2:19-22 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. . . . But he spake of the temple of his body.” [He referred to his own body, not “the temple” of stone he was standing next to.]
(2) Is each part of the statement meant to be understood (A) literally and physically, or (B) figuratively and/or spiritually?
[You have to choose one or the other in any case. If you think you do not have to choose, you have already chosen!]
Examples:
John 6:53 “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”
QUESTION: Is the term, here, “no life in you” referring to spiritual life or physical life?
(A) The “life” referred to is clearly SPIRITUAL life because the men to whom this is spoken have not yet drunk and are already physically alive when this is said (and they never made it to “mass”!)
Λ [There is physical death and there is spiritual death: they are not the same and cannot be confused.]
Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (They died spiritually that day: they did NOT die physically.
(B) The bible repeatedly forbids the consumption of blood, which makes the literal drinking of the Lord’s blood a doctrinal contradiction, even if a priest could produce it (and he cannot):
Acts 15:20 “. . . [W]e write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols. . . and from blood.”
Λ (C) The part which is in question here is also spiritual and figurative as proven by the language which follows in John 6:58 “. . . not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. . . .” (That is, NOT by mouth.)
(D) (In the bible, “something to eat” is not necessarily a thing that goes into your mouth:)
John 4:31-34 “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”
See: v. 8 “(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)”
Matthew 15:17 “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?”
Λ (E) John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (Even if a priest did produce Christ’s “literal flesh” it would profit “nothing”.)
John 6:35 “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.”
(A) This is not a description of two things (“coming” to the Lord OR “believing on” him), but of ONE thing.
(B) Coming to the Lord “and” believing on him is a package which is not to be separated!
(C) To come to the Lord and NOT believe on him is just as sick as to believe on him and NOT come to him!
(D) [If this is to be taken physically (not spiritually), then we physically come to him (1), physically believe on him (2), and then physically eat him (3).
(1) We can’t physically get to him. He is in heaven and we don’t have space ships that can get us there.
(2) By physical intellect we cannot believe on him. Only by the Holy Spirit, and that, by faith.
(By physical intellect we can believe in Skippy peanut butter.)
(3) The glaring truth is that all Catholics and true Christians will physically hunger and physically thirst if physical food and physical water is taken from them: so what the Lord said here is simply not true in any of it’s parts, if he meant it “physically.”
John 6:58 (again) “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.” (That is, not with your mouth!)
v. 63 (again) “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
(The Lord is the answer for this “hunger” and “thirst”, but a man’s belly has nothing to do with it.)
John 6:26-33 “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”
[The Lord is on a spiritual plane and men are always dwelling within the limits of their bellies.]
QUESTION: Does it matter whether communion is understood at all? or as what it is? or as what it signifies?
ANSWER: 1st Corinthians 11:27-29
1st Corinthians 11:27-29 “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”
discern (di-zern´), v.t.; discerned, pt., pp.; discerning, ppr. [ME. discern; OFr. discerner; L. discernere, to separate, divide, distinguish between; dis-, apart, and cernere, to separate.] 1. to see distinctly; to separate from surrounding objects; to perceive by the eye; as, he discerned the sail at a distance. 2. to distinguish mentally; to see the difference between (two or more things); to discriminate. ‘So is my lord the king to discern good and bad.’ — 2 Sam. xiv, 17. (Webster’s New Universal Unabridged)
BIBLE VERSE DEFINITION: Hebrews 5:14 “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
The “Lord’s body” (“one bread” and “one body” spiritually speaking.)
(1st Corinthians 10:1-17 “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”)
(This is highly spiritual and figurative language. It is NOT speaking physically, nor of fleshly or worldly ideas.)
One Bread
John 6:31-32 “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.”
vs. 45-58 “I am that bread of life.”
17:20-23 “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. . . .”
One Body
Romans 12:4-5 “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”
1st Corinthians 12:12-13 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:16 “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross. . . .”
Ephesians 4:4 “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. . . .”
Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body. . . .”
1st Corinthians 12:18-27 “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” [In other words: the “church”.]
[This is given as figurative and spiritual.]
Λ 10:18-21 “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” (In other words, you cannot “go to mass” and also have fellowship with the Lord.)
[This is a figurative statement, and it is true spiritually speaking. It is not true physically!]
See: 2nd Corinthians 6:14 again. (at beginning)
SATANIC AND CATHOLIC ARGUMENTS: (quotes from persons trying to justify Catholicism and prove you can “eat God” in the biscuit!)
“Don’t you know God is omnipresent? If he’s everywhere, he’s in the bread too.” — Bob Hale (a Catholic puppet)
“God is omnipresent. If he’s present everywhere, then he’s in the wafer.” — Bob Claiborne (Lutheran minister)
A similar statement was made by Larry Hartsell after joining the ministerial alliance of Las Vegas, N.M. (which is Catholic controlled).
OBSERVATIONS:
(1) The only reason anyone in Christ believes that God is omnipresent is because he heard it from somebody or was taught it by somebody. Neither the word nor the idea of the word is in scripture.
(2) If this Satanic argument were really true then it is still the case that nobody needs a Catholic priest to “transubstantiate” the biscuit, because God can be eaten without all the hocus pocus. (The Catholic argument is not that God is everywhere, they let the daughter harlot deceivers push that line. Catholicism just claims that their priests have the power to force the Lord down out of heaven into the biscuit, whenever they feel like doing so, millions of times a day, all over the world, so that you can eat him “at the mass.”)
(3) If this argument were true then we are always eating God (and flushing him down the toilet afterward).
Matthew 15:16-17 “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?”
(4) If “omnipresence” is NOT true, you might want to ponder why “Christians” are always assuming it is true.
(5) The “omnipresence” argument is false: God is NOT omnipresent? (Hindus, Catholics, and “environmentalists,” right along with “fundamentalist” deceivers, claim this theory trying to justify their false doctrines!)
Ecclesiastes 5:2 “. . . for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.”
2nd Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven. . . .”
[The Lord says he hears from heaven. Would he say that if he were not IN heaven?)
Psalm 33:13 “The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.” (He sees. . .)
2nd Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. . . .”
Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
[The Lord can hear and see everywhere, but HE is not “everywhere”: he dwells in heaven.]
[There was a time when the Lord dwelt with Israel in a material temple made with hands.]
[The Lord now dwells in born again men by his Spirit.]
Exodus 20:21 “And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.”
(Do you think this means, “. . . where the ‘god energy’ was in greater concentration.”? You’re a Hindu!)
1st Kings 19:11-12 “. . . but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. . . .”
(If the Lord is not in these things, then he is not “everywhere,” and is not “omnipresent.”
Hebrews 10:1-14 “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. . . .”
Acts 7:54-56 “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. . . .”
Romans 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
[So you’re telling yourself that God is everywhere, but the Spirit of God is not!?]
Christ is not sacrificed again
Romans 6:1-10 “. . . Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.”
Hebrews 7:19-27 “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.”
9:12 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
vs. 23-28 “Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”