THREE FOLD COMMUNION

Just to remind you an ordinance is a special type of command that includes three parts: 1) Definite physical action with objects used to picture and help us remember; 2) An underlying truth to be pictured; 3) Instruction to continue the pictures or symbols. Communion is the other ordinance that meets these criteria. Because of the commands of Jesus recorded in the Scripture, we believe there ought to be three parts to a communion service: 1. Washing of the saints feet 2. The Lords Supper 3. The Communion of the Bread and the Cup

1. Washing of the saints feet

Read John 13:1-17 What was Jesus symbolizing when He washed the disciples feet? Humility was part of the Lords act, but the main point is the forgiveness of sins. See John 13:6-10 in particular: 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." 9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" 10 Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." Jesus is using imagery to teach an important point: A bath is the forgiveness of sins for salvation. The washing of the feet is forgiveness for the repeated, daily sins of the believer. Once someone is saved, there is no need for another bath, or salvation. He is reconciled to God. That believer though will sin, and those daily sins wont eliminate the believers relationship with God, but will damage it. Jesus repairs the relationship through the forgiveness of daily sins.

Why is foot washing a part of the communion ordinance? Because 1) Jesus used a symbol to teach the disciples -footwashing action 2) There was an underlying truth --the continual forgiveness of sins 3) He told us to -vs 14-15 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

2. The Lords Supper

Read John 13:1-4 1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 1 Cor. 11:20-22 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not! 33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.

1 Cor. 11:33-34

Jude 12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm-- shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted-- twice dead. What do these passages tell us about the Lords Supper?

1) It remembers the final meal Jesus had with His disciples. 2) The early church called it either the Lords Supper (I Cor. 11:20) or Agape/Love feast. (Jude 12) 3) There were many abuses of the Lords Supper by the early church 4) It was connected with the footwashing

3. The Communion of the Bread and the Cup

Read Matt. 26:26-28 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

1 Cor. 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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

Preachers note: Dont get long winded prior to the Bread and Cup!
Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. 9 And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him." 11 When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. These three aspects--foot washing, love feast and bread/cup-are all wrapped up into one expression--the communion service. Why? Because Jesus linked them together in that first First Century

Communion. The threefold communion also reflects significant historical truth about Jesus relationship to us: 1. Washing of the saints feet expresses the present work of Christ in the forgiveness of daily sins (I John 1:9). 2. The Lords Supper expresses the future celebration for believers at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9). 3. The Communion of the Bread and the Cup expresses the past work of Jesus on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins (1 Cor 15:3).