You don’t have to wait until you go to church to receive Communion. You can even receive it at home. When you take the time to put yourself before God over the Communion table it will be time well spent.
When a believer partakes of the Lord’s Supper, he should do so with full understanding of its significance. Communion, to many people, has become only a religious observance. But it has a much deeper meaning than that. The Communion table is an emblem of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. “Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it…and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 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” (Matthew 26:26-28).
Primarily, the Church has centered its attention on the wine as an emblem of Jesus’ blood that was shed for sin. We take the emblem of blood and say, “Thank God, we are delivered from sin,” and that’s true! But the blood is only half of Communion. The bread is an emblem of Jesus’ body that was broken for us. The emblem of His body is just as important as the emblem of His blood. According to Isaiah 53:4-5, Jesus’ sacrifice covered every area of man’s existence. When you receive it, you should be ready to partake of everything Jesus’ sacrifice provided—salvation, peace of mind, healing, total prosperity. He bore spiritual torment for our sins, mental distress for our worry, care and fear as well as physical pain for our sickness and disease. The stripes He bore were for our healing. “With His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Every time we partake, we should examine ourselves closely according to 1 Corinthians 11:28-29. “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, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”
God instituted the Lord’s Supper for a reason. In the past, we missed the full meaning of Communion by not completely judging ourselves when we partook of it.
When you partake of Communion, make a point of judging yourself to the fullest extent. Don’t just receive it halfway. Accept everything Jesus’ sacrifice provided. If you don’t examine yourself—if you receive Communion just as a religious exercise—you will be eating and drinking unworthily, not discerning the Lord’s body. Paul wrote, “For this because many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30).
No matter what you may be faced with—sin, sickness, drugs, a weight problem, worry, strife, old habits—you can be delivered through properly receiving the Lord’s Supper. The body and blood of Jesus cover every area of your existence. By discerning His body and judging yourself before Him, you can receive your deliverance. Place yourself before God and receive Communion—and get ready to receive your deliverance!
Written with permission from Kenneth Copeland Ministries©