As They Were Eating | Greg Branch

Well, it is certainly my privilege.

Rachel and I are privileged to be with you today.

It's wonderful to be here with our whole family.

It's wonderful to be here with so many from Oakdale and other

congregations that have been travelling through.

I hope you're not disappointed. You've got to hear me again,

some of you. But it is our honor to be here

today. And to those of you that make up

this is home here in Bakersfield, thank you.

Thank you for everything you've done for Kendra, for everything

you've sacrificed as she sought to make her way through nursing

school here. You've been a great blessing to

her, by extension to us. And I cannot thank you enough

this morning. I'd like to draw your attention

to Matthew 26 and verse 26 where it says and as they were eating,

Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to the

disciples and said take, eat. This is my body.

Our goal this morning for this study is to better understand

the disciples perspective when this scripture happened, when

this happened, what was going on?

What would have been the disciples perspective in the

midst of this? I want a better understanding

what they were doing when Jesus instituted his memorial.

They were in the midst of something and I cats out of the

bag. They were in the midst of

another memorial and I was to. I want us to better understand

what they were doing when Jesus instituted his memorial, and by

doing so, better understand how what they were doing impacts the

Lord's Supper. What they were doing, what they

had committed themselves to for a week already impacted what

they were doing when Jesus instituted his memorial.

And when we do that, I want to better understand what we can

learn and apply today from all of this.

This really started out in my brain as what would it have been

like to be a disciple when all this started?

Before Jesus has died, before everything, What was their

perspective? What, what would I have thought?

What if I had been one of them and he did what he did on this

occasion my wheels would have been turning.

I would have been going over to John and Saint John.

You got to go find out what this is all about.

What was the disciples perspective in the midst of this

study and in the midst of presenting this sermon in a few

places this year I have learned there's another.

I don't know if it's a tract, a book, or if it was somebody's

sermon, but just you'll get it as soon as I tell you the title,

Mary's First Communion. Can we imagine the perspective

of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the first time she partook of

this communion? That's next level.

You're now coming to remember your son, his memorial with all

of that fresh in your mind, with all the affection and the

passion a mother can have for a child.

This is where this started in my brain is trying to understand

this the communion. So I want to back up to Matthew

26 and verse 17. It says no, on the first day of

the Feast of unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus

saying to him, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the

Passover? So now you know what this is the

meal they're eating. They're eating the Passover.

Where do you want us to pair it? He said, go into the city to a

certain man and say to him, the teacher says my time is at hand.

I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.

So the disciples did that. Jesus had directed them and they

prepared the Passover and when evening had come, he sat down

with the 12 What was the Passover and what did they

prepare? We just got through a

Thanksgiving and most families have a traditional Thanksgiving

dinner. It's not always Turkey.

I've come to find out, some people don't like it, but you

know what to expect when you go to grandma's or when you go to

whoever's house, There's been something for it.

What had they been? What did they prepare?

To understand that we have to go back to Exodus chapter 12.

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

We're not going to spend a lot of time here, but we are going

to try to understand what the disciples had prepared.

So he's told them in Exodus chapter 12, God said, speak to

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

the congregation of Israel, saying on the 10th of this

month, every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the

House of his father, a lamb for a household.

And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and

his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number

of the persons, according to each man's needs.

You shall make your account for the lamb.

Your lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first

year. This phrase here, according to

the House of his father, they shall take a lamb for a

household. How many people does it take to

consume a lamb? I don't know the answer to that,

so I had to Google it. Those of you that may have

experience with lambs may be able to tell whether this is

right or not, but I understand one whole lamb will feed between

40 and 50 people. That all depends on how many

sides you have to go with it. We know on this occasion they

had some unleavened bread. Oh, cats out.

I didn't. I told that advance.

You didn't know that, but you'll see.

I'll prove it in a second. So let's just say it's on the

low end. They're going to feed 40 people.

Fast forward a little bit to story and say the mass of the

exodus from Egypt of Israel. Then the slaves could have been

upwards of 2 million people. If 2,000,000 is the number,

there will be 50,000 lambs killed this night.

If each household had 40 people that was going to be fed by that

lamb. 10s of thousands of lambs, perhaps far more.

You're like, yeah. But look, there's more to more

than 40 in our family. My mom came from a family of 15

kids. I had like over 41st cousins.

We needed two lambs. Nope, can't do that.

Says for each man's house, you shall take out for lamb, but it

can only be in one house, one assembly, if you will.

This lamb should be taken in one house.

That shall be eaten. You shall not carry any of the

flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its

bones. Perhaps this is like Rachel and

I. We're empty nesters now.

And if we're at the Passover, look, we can't even this.

That'll feed 40. What are we going to do with all

that? So we go to our neighbors, the

Cosby's. Anthony Cosby lives just down

the street. We say, look, we need to combine

some households. Let's share a lamb, OK, we're

going to share this lamb, but you know, race and I'd really

rather take it back to our house because this is going to be kind

of a dramatic night and we're comfortable at home.

Can't do that. It's all got to be in one house

eaten wherever this has been to gather together.

You read through this, You're going to take the blood of this

lamb. You're going to put it over the

lentil of the doors. You're going to put it on the

doorposts and when the Lord passes by that night that when

the first born of every house that doesn't have the blood of

the lamb is going to lose the first born, it's going to be a

horrible night. When the disciples came together

with Jesus, they had prepared a lamb, 1 lamb for that assembly.

I know it because of this verse. They were going to consume that

and whatever they couldn't consume would wind up being

burned, would they? They couldn't just like keep it

for leftovers. No such thing as that.

They would take care of this one lamb, and they would stay within

one house for seven days. During this time no leaven

should be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is

leaven, that same person should be cut off from the congregation

of Israel, whether he's a stranger or a native in the

land. I don't care if they knew better

or not. They're cut off if for seven

days they don't get all the leaven out of their house.

So here's what I know. When these disciples prepared in

this upper room whatever they were going to eat with with the

Lord, they had prepared 1 lamb, and they if they had any bread,

it was not leavened. In fact, there couldn't even be

any leaven within the house as they prepared this.

No matter what they were. You shall eat nothing leaven,

and all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

If they could not have leaven, could they have seasoning like

say salt in their dwellings? Now I found out through giving

this sermon this year. This is actually a greater

question than I ever really thought it would be.

I didn't realize there was disagreement about that even

amongst those of us who love one another and and are brothers and

sisters. So what does the Scripture say

about it? God's law concerning salt and

leaven. We're we're about to to detour

for just a second. This is not about the Passover.

This is in number or Leviticus chapters 2, but it is about

Leviticus 2 · chapter mention

unleavened offerings. So we can understand what God

considered leavening and unlevened.

Leviticus 2 and verse 11. No grain offering.

What you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven.

None of these offerings can have leaven in them, for you shall

burn no leaven or any honey in any offering to the Lord made by

fire. And every offering of your grain

offering you shall season with salt.

You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be

lacking from your grain offering.

With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

Now real quick point here, I conclude, yes, they would have

had salt in the dwelling. If they had salt in their

dwelling before this I am not about to tell you.

And if you made the loaf this morning, don't get all nervous

and say, Oh no, what's he going to say?

They do it wrong. That's not my point to say

there's a certain recipe. But here's what I am trying to

say. We cannot take a position

against salt. That would not be consistent

with Leviticus chapter 2. If anything, if you had to take

Leviticus 2 · chapter mention

a position, you'd have to have salt.

They definitely would have had salt in the house and these

offerings they could not offer without salt when it was the

grain offerings to the Lord continuing back then.

Now, salt is not a leavening agent in God's eyes.

No matter what you read when you Google it, salt will have a

prop, an impact on the leavening process as I understand it, but

in and of itself it is not yet. They could have had some

seasoning, they could have had salt.

In Leviticus chapter 12, verses 21 through 24, more specifics

are given about the blood of the Lamb and how it's to continue

through the generations. Picking up In verse 26 it says,

and it shall be. When your children say to you,

what do you mean by this service?

Oh, all these little kids run around the branch family houses

right now, probably a lot like yours.

They start having a lot of questions around two or three

why, why, why? And it's all about the same

subject and it's all about the answer you just gave.

They got lots of questions. God said, Israel.

When your kids ask you about this, when they say, what do you

mean by this? You tell them it is the Passover

sacrifice of the Lord who passed over the houses of the children

of Israel in Egypt. When he struck the Egyptians and

delivered our households. So the people bowed their heads

and worshipped, why did was it important for him to tell?

When your kids ask, explain it to him.

Why was that important? Because every one of us who have

raised our kids and they're now moved out, no, there comes a

time in their life they stop asking you questions.

While they are asking us questions, let us give them

answers that God has given us. Let us take the time.

It may not be convenient in the midst of whatever we're doing,

but do it. Then He gives us answers.

Let's give it to them because they're going to get at a point

in their life they're not going to ask us anymore.

They're asking somebody, but they may not be asking us.

We have our chance now. While they're asking, give them

the scriptural answer. The people bowed their heads and

they worship in light of this and the lamb that they were told

about in the Passover. I just have to pause for a

second consider John 129. John saw Jesus coming toward him

and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the

world. What went through their mind

when he said that's the Lamb of God.

Did any of this flashback? Who knows interesting facts in

Exodus 12 before we get back to as they were eating in Exodus

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, we find it's a night of solemn observance to the Lord

for bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observant for all the

children of Israel throughout their generations.

So I know that these disciples as they prepared in this upper

room, they have now we've had one lamb, we have if there's

bread there, unleavened bread and I'm convinced it wasn't

sweetened. They weren't supposed to have

honey in those unleavened offerings, and now we find out

that they're solemn. This first Lord's Supper as it

was instituted was not like a party for delivery from slavery.

Why not? That seems like something would

be good to party over to celebrate.

But this was a solemn observance.

We can come up with all the reasons we might think it could

be, but I am convinced this first one, when it was

instituted, was, as he says, a very solemn 1.

And it would be that way throughout their generation.

So it surely was on this occasion.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, This is the observance of

the fat Passover. No foreigner shall eat it, but

every manservant who's bought with money, when you circumcised

him, then he may eat it. If you have a servant, somebody

that's come over your household, can they eat it?

Only if they're circumcised. In fact, when a stranger dwells

with you and wants to keep the Passover, the Lord somebody is

is coming through and you're housing them.

They want to partake of it. Let all his males be

circumcised, then let him come near and keep it, and he should

be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person,

she'll eat it. This wasn't just for anybody.

This was for Israel or somebody who was willing to take on

circumcision amongst their males.

It was a big deal for an adult to be willing to do that, but it

had to be done if they would partake of this.

Now let's go back to Matthew 26. A little short, brief look at

what was going on there and we're going to back up as they

were eating. Just something that happened

before our original reading. As they reading, he said, Surely

I say unto you, one of you will betray me.

You know what the next verse says.

And they were exceedingly sorrowful.

And each one of them began to say to him, Lord, said I, my

brain immediately goes to the one who's like the center of

attention here, every one of them all 12.

This is the cream of the crop, the apostles.

I said, Lord did I? Am I?

Is it me? And they were sorrowful about

it. They were serious.

It wasn't that, you know, You ever been there?

It's like what? You don't think I did it, did

you? Me.

It wasn't like that. It was like they were sorrowful.

Lord, did I do it? You know, as I contemplate that,

actually, it makes me relaxed a little bit.

We can put people on a pedestal till they're not even human

anymore and think, oh, they were like, perfect.

I wish I could be that way. And nobody's that way.

Jesus was the only one that way. All 12 of them realize there was

something in their life that they could have been convicted,

that they were the ones who betrayed Jesus.

I know you guys have heard Wade's sermon on the guilt

gauge. Many of us have some.

Some of us, you know, have a personality that no matter what

happens when somebody's in trouble, we think, what did I

do? Even when we did nothing but all

11 of the others? This tells me they were

introspective people and they weren't perfect, but they were

trying and it sorrowed them to think they might have done

something that would cause them to be betraying Jesus.

But Jesus didn't leave him with that.

He answered and said he who dipped his hand with me in the

dish would betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes as

just as written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of

Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that

man if he had not been born. Not the subject of this lesson,

but there is an afterlife even for people who are condemned.

Do not allow anybody in any relationship, religious

institution or in our brotherhood that wants to say I,

you know, I don't believe God can punish people all that the

one that this has talked about be better if he had not been

born then Judas who was betraying him answered and said,

Rabbi, is it I? And he said to him, you have

said it. And as they were eating, this is

all going on, why they eat. You ever had those conversations

while you're eating when you just lose your appetite?

I feel like I would have lost my appetite, but we'd still be at

the table picking around at things as they were eating.

Jesus took bread. So now we know they have bread.

What kind of bread is it? Unleavened bread.

You're right. Time out real quick.

Do you know how difficult it is to get to unleavened bread

needing to be on this table? You better know your Old

Testament. And yet there is only one

institute, religious institution in the world that I'm aware of

today that does not use unleavened bread in their

observance of what they call the Lord's Supper.

As I understand it, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day

Saints will use, They don't care if it's leavened or not.

They'll use leavened bread, raise bread, puppy bread, before

you line up too close with that. They don't care if it's root of

the vine. They'll use water.

Every other religious institution uses some type of

unleavened wafer or cracker or bread.

You kind of go pretty back into the annals of history to figure

this out, but they took the time to do it and they hold to it.

But the fact that over and over in scriptures when it says Jesus

took the bread and they all protect of it and it's all

singular and 1st Corinthians 10 like blows it all out of the

water and says we being many are partakers of that one bread.

And they were like, oh, you're just being legalistic.

We all agree it's unleavened and you got to go back in the annals

of history to agree with that. But he says they took one and

we're legalistic for saying there's one.

They'll say, well, if there's one, then if you think this has

to be one right here, there's got to be one for the whole

world. I'll time out.

Our little history lesson taught me something about that.

Do you realize in Exodus chapter 12, there were, what did we say

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

could have been 50,000 lambs killed that night?

Yet the Scriptures always refer to it as it The whole nation of

Israel rose and killed it. Now how can God say 50,000 Is it

because he had one per household?

It meant something. And dare I say He had one per

assembly of people? And this morning as we meet

around this table, there will be one loaf, because Jesus took one

loaf when he instituted it. And in case you think, well,

that's not good enough for me, hang with me, we're not done

yet. We can take one.

That's what He did. And when God looks at that, I

don't think there are 50,000 congregations that we know of in

the world today. If God could see 50,000 lambs

and say they killed it, it represents this lamb, the Son of

God, the lamb that takes away the sins of the world.

Then he can look at however many are being offered today and see

it the exact same way. He says take, eat, this is my

body. Then he took the cup.

If he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from

it all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which

is shed for many for the remission of sin.

But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the front

and vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you

and my Father's Kingdom. He is instituting his memorial,

a memorial that would have been one loaf for his body,

unleavened bread. And this drink offering that we

will find is the fruit of the vine.

He took a grape juice. He says, I'm not going to do

this from now on. When you when I say I'm not

doing this anymore, what does that mean?

I just did it. He partook with them.

In Corinthians it says when he had sucked.

It's a verb. The action that he did.

This was a solemn assembly. I believe it was a solemn

assembly because it started as a solemn assembly, because that's

the way it was supposed to be done through all their

generations. And now they're doing something

they've never seen before. And whatever I'm like, trying to

take in something I've never seen before, it's just as solemn

because it doesn't make sense and we're still trying to make

sense out of it. And when they had sung hymn,

they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Can you imagine what they were thinking walking out of that

room? What did we just do?

What's going on? Can you imagine the first Lord's

Day Communion service after Jesus has died, after they have

seen him mercilessly beaten, after they have seen him shed

his blood, and then now to know he's risen from the dead?

What did this mean? After all that, you know, we

know it wasn't very long until some brethren digressed changed

what he had done. You can read about that in First

Corinthians 11/17 through 22. Instead of being something that

was a joint participation, it became something very

individualistic and even just like Mills, common things.

And so Paul had to write to the church at Corinth about this to

get it corrected. He reinstructed the church at

Corinth on the proper memorial observance.

Now, here's a note. If it was OK to change this in

any way, wouldn't now be the time?

You're like, well, sure, the first one, there's like 12 of

them. I mean, they can eat and drink

after each other. It's not going to take that

long. And besides, you know, it's not

that many people. They probably shared stuff

before, but now the church has grown.

On the day of Pentecost, thousands obeyed the gospel.

I mean, how many people are in the church?

How big are these congregations? If there was ever a chance to

say, OK, you know, you guys got off here, we need to reinstate

how it should be done. But because there's so many of

you, we're going to relax on some of this.

What happened? Remember, Paul was not at the

Passover feast when he was instituted.

Remember, Judas was there. Judas died.

Matthias replaced him. They have 12.

Paul is even one born out of due time.

He wasn't there to know what Jesus said, but in verse 23 of

first Corinthians 11 he clarifies all this.

He says, For I received from the Lord Paul, though he wasn't

there on the night he was instituted, Jesus had talk to

him. And he received from the Lord

that which I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same

night which he's betrayed, took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat.

This is my body which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner also he took

the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in

my blood. This do as often as you drink it

in remembrance of me real quick timeout that word after supper.

It kind of comes out as a noun in most translations.

Yet in the Greek it's a verb. There's only one translation

that actually keeps it in verb form says when he had sucked.

That's an important. This was an action that took

place that Jesus is talking about when he instructed Paul.

We can talk about more of that later.

I don't want to get bogged down in it.

Do you notice a striking similarity to what Jesus did

what were found in Matthew and Mark and Luke's accounts?

It's like word for word, he still took one.

He didn't say you guys have grown now the churches are

bigger. Here's what you can do.

You can change this so it makes it either more sanitary or more

quick or more whatever you want it more of.

No, he backs up and he says you do it just like this.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you

proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.

He went back reinstituted, exactly like Jesus had

instituted it. And he says, you know what

you're doing as often as you do this, you are proclaiming the

Lord's death till he comes. Do you ever ask yourself in this

congregation what? I don't know what my role is

here in Bakersfield. And if you're not from

Bakersfield, apply it to your congregation.

I don't know what my role is. I don't know what I do.

I mean, I'm not a teacher. I'm not a song leader.

I'm really not not that outgoing to tell you the truth.

Wait, have that many friends. You know one thing you do for

the church when you commune this morning, you proclaim the Lord's

death till he comes again. Can you imagine if that was just

the teachers that did that, Just the song leaders?

Oh, it wouldn't be as powerful as having the whole congregation

come together and proclaim the Lord's death till he comes again

another time out. I'm going to give you a little

insight into Greg's brain and maybe why Wade is some of the

ways he is. I read this verse and if it

weren't for some other passages in the Bible, you know what my

brain would start doing Every time I sinned, every time I was

disappointed with myself, I would need this break and stop

and commune. A matter of fact, once I did

that, I'd be thinking, you know, there's a, we had this 2nd

birthday for Charlie and, and of all the things we're excited

about was we should commune too, because none of this would be

important without Christ. And then if we had a wedding,

we'd do it at our weddings and, and then at funerals because you

know, it's the last thing you're doing before you put somebody

away. And we'd have a communion.

You know what, there's a religious institution on the

face of this earth that does that.

Should we do that? Acts 20 and seven to some people

is a passage that just binds them because it says on the

first day of the week, the disciples came together to break

bread. And some people say, you mean

every week. Really?

Do we have to do it every week? And Greg Branch reads that.

And I'm like, thank you because I do do all the time.

I gave this sermon about a month ago and literally the Tuesday

following I got a text from somebody that we've been working

on trying to work with and get them to Grandma is pretty sick.

She's been sick for a long time and they've tried everything.

They got a book that was written by some famous money making

preacher and he said what people needed to do is if you've had a

disease for a long time, you need first thing you get up in

the morning on Monday morning before you eat, before you do

anything else, you commute and then you can have your breakfast

and at lunchtime before you eat lunch, you commute and then you

go back the rest of your day. And at night before you eat

dinner, you commune. And then before you go to bed

that night, you commune. And you do that telling people

they need to commune more and more.

And so this text was, is this right?

I've been trying to get a study with these people for a while.

I'm like, how about I come over Wednesday and we start studying

this and I'll let you read it in the Bible.

We've had a study going for two months now.

No, communing by yourself is not communing.

It's a joint participation. It's something the congregation

does. This isn't something I do alone

and this isn't something I just add and do more times because he

says as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, well

then I should do it more often. But that's really not the point.

The frequency is that we've come together on the first day of the

week to do this. And as long as we keep this up

and do not forsake this assembling of ourselves together

as the matter of some is but exhort one another, and so much

the more as we see the day approaching, then we're

proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes.

But you know, he didn't stop there.

He says, therefore, in light of what I just told you, whoever

eats this bread or drink this cup of the Lord in an unworthy

manner will be guilty to the body and blood of the Lord.

But let him out, examine himself, whatever This unworthy

manner is something that Greg Branch needs to worry about this

morning. And you insert your name there.

Because when we start communing, we need to examine ourself.

I am done working on you as an audience.

Or mice, anybody else? And I'm examining myself.

Let a man examine himself. And so let him eat of the

bedroom bread and drink of the cup.

For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks

judgement to himself, what's the unworthy manner?

Not discerning the Lord's body. That word discern means to

investigate or determine the excellence or defects of the

person or thing. In this context, we are to

examine the Lord and our self and discern the Lord's body in

that way. For this reason, what reason

that some are not doing this? Many are weak and sick among you

and many sleep. This book, this article I was

telling you these people had read he had flipped to this one

and applied it to anybody with a disease.

It was a long time and they needed to do it more often.

I believe what's being taught here is the reason many are

weak, many are sick and many sleep.

Whether you take this spiritual or physical is because they've

we failed to examine the Lord's body and our self.

Do you find yourself spiritually wondering is this really worth

it? I mean, I'm coming, but I don't

know you know what's happening when I get to that point.

When any of us get to that point, we need to be back up and

remember where this started. The Lord is good.

Lord has given everything he possibly can, including the very

blood out of his veins, to show us that our faith can get us

through whatever it is that we're fighting.

Little quick advertisement this morning at or this afternoon at

2:00 we're going to study a sermon entitled Faith Through

Life Seasons From childhood till the end is coming.

Faith is where it's at. It doesn't matter if you're

talking about God or if you're talking about atheism.

Everybody on the face of this earth has put their faith in

something for this reason. Many are weak and many are sick

and sleep among you. Contextually, it is clear to me

that the unworthy manner receiving judgment is directed

at the Crispin Christians disposition in this.

But there's a question that comes up and some of you may

have wondered why I didn't cover it back when we read it.

What about a non Christian partaking in communion?

Can they do that? I mean, or is that are they

condemning themselves? Well, what you mean double

condemnation? Now I think what he's been

talking about in First Corinthians 11 is to the

Christian and how we partake, how the church should view this.

But what about the non church? What about the visitor?

You're here today. Perhaps I don't know everybody

here. I know there's faces I don't

remember from before. Maybe you're not a member of the

church and and you're like, I don't know, when this comes

around, am I supposed to eat you do my best to answer that

question. You remember Exodus 12.

This was a solemn observant throughout all generations.

No foreigner was to eat it. But every manservant who's

bought with money, when you circumcised him, then he may eat

it. The stranger that came in all

his males that had to be circumcised, then he could eat.

You're like, yeah, but Craig, that's like the old law.

We don't have circumcision in the New Testament.

Really. Are you sure?

Colossians 2. Beware lest anyone cheat you

through philosophy and empty deceit, according to traditions

of men, according to basic principles of the world, and not

according to Christ. For in Him dwells the fullness

of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him who is the

head of all principality and power.

You know I have heard this verse used against us as a church

because we require baptism. You know the biggest problem

with that is they literally stopped 2 verses too soon in

Him. You were also circumcised with

the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of

sins of flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

So there is a circumcision under the new covenant, but it's not

made with hands. The old one had to be done

physically. This one is made without hands.

What is this buried with him in baptism in which you also were

raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised

him from the dead Today. If I were to answer your

question whether someone who's not baptized should they partake

of the communion, I'd say why would they want to?

But if you do want to partake of because you want to part in

this, then you should submit to the circumcision that's made

without hands. It's so much easier than the old

all circumcision that cutting in the way of the flesh on an adult

man. People say, I don't know that's

just too much to ask people to be baptized and say no, it's too

much. That's maybe circumcised, but

not the circumcision without hands.

It's not just for men, it's for women, it's for all people.

Now you see how all are brought together in one blood.

The cutting of the way of the flesh replaced by the cutting

away of sin. I'll take that trade on every

level. Will you accept Jesus Christ?

Circumcision through faith? That's the question for us

today. Hebrews 11 and 6.

Without faith it's impossible to please him.

For he that comes to God, let's believe that He is.

He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Today. If you have that kind of faith,

I ask you, are you willing to change your life?

That's repentance. Luke 13 and three, Jesus said,

unless you repent, you'll all perish.

Of course we want to repent. Would we confess Him before men

with the heart, man believes unto righteous with the mouth.

Confession is made unto salvation.

Galatians 327 as many of you have been baptized into Christ,

have put on Christ today. It's as simple as I can make it.

As we prepare to meet around the Lord's table.

If you're here and you're not a Christian, you desire to be 1

today, then we'd love to assist you.

If you're like Greg, nothing against you, but I really don't

even know you. I've been studying with somebody

else here. Praise God, I'll let them do it.

The key is that you do it because this is the working of

Christ, the circumcision made without hands.

If you're a Christian today, you don't have to be re baptized

just because you've sinned. You can confess your faults one

to another, pray one for another that you may be healed.

The effective fervor prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

If I understand Acts chapter 8 right, you can pray to your for

Acts 8 · chapter mention

your own sins first. John 18 and 9.

He is faithful and just forgive us and cleanse us of all

unrighteousness. But maybe like Psalm in the

sorcerer in Acts chapter 8 you said would you pray with me too?

Acts 8 · chapter mention

This family of believers here today will pray with you.

Want to be their class? Won't you come as we stand the

same?