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Hi friends, let us continue with our discussion on the significance of the Holy Communion.
Only Christians can partake the Holy Communion. The form in which we take the Holy Communion is not the key, but understanding the significance of the Holy Communion is. We can understand the significance of the Holy Communion in several ways.
1) Looking Back – Remembering the Past
When partaking the Holy Communion, we must reflect the past. In 1 Corinthians 11:24-26, it mentions, “and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” What is it to remember the past? What is the significance and value to you?
“Looking back” means to see that Jesus Christ was crucified for us at Calvary and died for our sins. Therefore, we remember His great love for us. Every time I return to my home town and at my father’s tomb on the Chinese “All Souls Day” (Ching Ming or Tomb-Sweeping Day), when I bow down and silently cherish him, I remember his loving kindness; gratitude springs forth and I say, “I belonged to the family.” Similarly, every time we partake the Holy Communion, we look back to the past and remember what Jesus has done for us; we are grateful and praise God. And at the same time, we are assured of our noble and sacred identity as a child of God.
2) Looking Forward – Hope for the Future
1 Corinthians 11:26: “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” What are we looking forward to? And what is the significance and value of this?
Looking forward is hope. The Lord’s promise of His return brings us exceedingly vital hope and we will drink it anew in God’s Kingdom. Hope motivates Christians to face challenges, and this constantly reminds us to be vigilant, faithfully clinging on to what the Lord has entrusted to us, and to endure to the end, because we deeply believe that the day of the Lord’s coming is near. Therefore, when we partake the Holy Communion; we anticipate Jesus’ return. We must uphold our faith.
3) Looking Inward – Examining Ourselves
1 Corinthians 11:28-29: “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgement on themselves.” What should we examine? What is the significance or influence of this?
Looking inward is to examine ourselves by asking, “Am I a sinner? Do I have hidden sins? I must come before God and confesses my sins.” Do not hide your sins when partaking the Holy Communion because this is the time to come before God and to meet with Him. He is holy, and we must also be holy.
On the other hand, it says: discerning the body of Christ. The bread we partake is the body of Jesus Christ, and the cup, the blood of Jesus Christ. This is a consecrated bread and cup, thus, I must examine myself. After examining myself, I’m vigilant and grateful – I come before God today to be forgiven by Him; I come before God today to partake the body and blood of Christ; I am truly repentant, I’m full of delight because I’ve received His forgiveness through the Holy Communion.
4) Looking Upward – Fellowshipping with the Lord
In 1 Corinthians 10:20-21, it says, “No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.” So how do we fellowship with God in the Holy Communion?
If we are to fellowship with a person, we will dine with him, that is, there is a connection and interaction. When we partake the Holy Communion, we dine with the Lord and fellowship with Him. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Communion, we have established a mutual life relationship with the Lord, which is constantly renewed. Our spiritual life is nourished by the body and life of Jesus Christ. And this reminds Christians – we cannot be apart from the Lord; apart from Him is like being a detached branch from a vine, which withers and dies. Therefore, we must follow Him closely, to fellowship and always be connected with the Lord.
The Scripture says: You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. What is the table of demons? For example – Ghost Festival in Chinese societies. When they invite you to feast together in their banquets, we should refuse because that means celebrating the Ghost Festival with them, which is not what Christians should do. Of course, we should politely decline and say, “We appreciate your invitation, however, my church pastor says that we cannot participate. But thank you.” That would be fine. It is unnecessary to say, “You’re feasting at a ghost feast; I cannot dine with you.” This is needless. Nonetheless, we know very well that we cannot fellowship with ghosts.
5) Looking to the Left and Right – Fellowshipping with Believers
Finally, looking to the left and right means fellowshipping and interacting with believers. 1 Corinthians 11:33 says, “So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.” In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, it says, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.” How do you express the relationship between believers in the Holy Communion? What is the significance and influence of “sharing one loaf and one cup” have on us?
Beloved brothers and sisters, you and I partaking the same bread and the same cup. Hence, we should love one another. During the Holy Communion, remember that those sitting beside you are your brothers and sisters, thus do not hold grudges, but reconcile because we are under the same roof and receiving one life, one Lord, one faith. Therefore, we must learn to live in harmony; this is the significance of the Holy Communion!
Beloved brothers and sisters, there is a rich significance to partaking the Holy Communion! Remember:
Who is allowed to partake the Holy Communion?
Finally, who can partake the Holy Communion? Is it for everyone, anyone, as long as they’re willing to partake? This is not the case in the Bible. In Acts 2:41-42, it says, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” It is clearly stated that they were all baptised before they partake the Holy Communion. Therefore, if a person has not been baptised, basically we will not allow them to partake the Holy Communion.
Secondly, what about children? Because they are the Lord’s delight, can they partake the Holy Communion? The answer is no. The Presbyterians do not distribute the Holy Communion to babies, because they do not know the significance of the Holy Communion. The Bible says, “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgement on themselves.” (1 Corinthians 11:28-29) If a person cannot discern that this is the body of Christ, this is the blood of Christ, he should not eat this bread or drink this cup. And children are one of them.
Thirdly, if a person accepted Jesus and is very pious, but not baptised, is he permissible to partake the Holy Communion? Once, a brother who came back from England attended my church. When we distributed the Holy Communion, we did not give it to him. Later, he asked why he wasn’t given the Holy Communion. I asked him if he had been baptised, and he said that he hadn’t. So I said, “Well, that’s the reason why you weren’t given the Holy Communion because you haven’t been baptised!” But he said that the church in England gave him the Holy Communion! I replied, “That’s the church in England. The church here does not distribute the Holy Communion to those who are not baptised” He asked for a reason. I said, “Very simply, the Presbyterian Church pays much importance on what it terms as an order. We do not know who comes into the church, who they are, whether they believe in the Lord or not. However, if a baptised person, who shows that he testifies that he is a Christian before others and that Christ is his Lord. Hence, we hand out the Holy Communion to him. This is an order.” Therefore, if you want to partake the Holy Communion, you should be baptised first! If you do not accept baptism, it shows that you do not have enough faith in the Lord, or you do not truly trust in Him. It is a simple order.
Fourthly, if a person believes in the Lord, and he is willing to partake, isn’t it possible since God knows his heart? Allow me to repeat, although there is sincerity in the manner you say, we try not to overturn this order. Come and be baptised, please do not wait any longer!
Finally, a person was barred to partake the Holy Communion because of his past sin, but today he repented and his sins are forgiven. Can he partake the Holy Communion? Of course, if he declared to the pastor that he has confessed and repented from his past sins, and confessed to the church, he could partake the Holy Communion again, after the confirmation of the Council.
The Holy Communion is established by the Lord and it deepens the spiritual life of the church and the fellowship with the Lord, as well as brothers and sisters. Therefore, we should observe it vigilantly and never regard the Holy Communion as a mere external religious ritual. It is a mystery with spiritual significance. Let us partake the Holy Communion with a solemn heart.