Helenmm

Q1. (Ephesians 1:7) In what sense have you been "redeemed" from slavery? What do you think your life up to now would have been like, if you hadn't been redeemed? What would your future be like without redemption, do you think? I did not know God, or the Truth. This meant that my life was a lie from start to finish. I was bought out of the liar's power by the blood of Jesus. To know Him, to know Love, to learn His law and have the Spirit of Truth and the mind of Christ in me is miraculous! To live any other way is unimaginable! To have all the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies is much more exciting that bungie jumping or sky-diving. You never know the end of it! To live on the edge with Jesus and His plan is the best! There is so much to look forward to. Earth has nmothing compared to heaven. If I had not know redemption I would be in deepest depression, friendless, without hope. I think I might be still alive physically, but I can't imagine where my happiness might come from. My future would have few goals apart from survival, and for what? Praise God that now every day is wonderfully exciting, loaded with potential and expectation, more and more as I know Jesus better and better!

(Ephesians 1:5-6) Why is adoption a particularly apt illustration of God's relationship with us? Why is the concept of adoption encouraging to us? We are all born in the sin of Adam to the father of lies. Praise Yeshua that He has authority over that father of lies, and has retrieved us from his family into the family of God. This He calls adoption - formal removal from one family to another with all rights and hopes of a true child. How blessed we are to be the recipients of such adoption! Amazingly we have all the privileges of sonship as Yeshua Himself, through the power of His Name. How honoured we are, and how we honour Him. To know we have all the privileges and powers of the sons of God because of our adoption encourages us to live powerfully, in the purity of that family relationship, strengthening ourselves in Yeshua and walking in the works God has prepared for us to walk in, for so we reflect His image and His glory, walking on the earth as heavenly creatures as was originally intended. Praise our Father for so great a salvation!.

Holy means set aside for holy purpose. The holy vessels were set aside in the temple and used only for their predetermined purpose. For men and women, holymeans set aside for God's holy purpose, not to be used for ordinary,day to day things, and not to be contaminated by everyday things. This is actually difficult for Christians, as we have to monitor ourselves the contamination levels, and develop super sensitivity to them. The contaminations of the present age are right through the churches, and you have often to stand alone on some issues, one of which might be modesty in dress. Modern fashions are outrageously sensuous. Christian women need to be very aware of appropriate dressing. Christian little girls should be taught modesty and not dressed in the current sensuous styles. One could go on at length about the difficulties men have with sensuous dressing, even within the church. Feminism is another theme that has infiltrated Christian men and women. True, there were things it did well to bring into the light, but then there are the extremes of independence that have warped the fabric of society. Holiness today needs to identify many such issues and approach them positively and clearly. They need to be taught both at home and at schools (Fathers you are given the responsibility of educating your families and can't get away with leaving it to the wife and schools. We girls will honour you if you do this!). Increasingly Christian people must stand out from the crowd and have their purpose recognised.

Q2. (Ephesians 1:4-5) What is scary about predestination? What is comforting? Why does Paul bring up predestination? Why do you think he praising God for it in the "hearing" of the Ephesians? I don't find predestination scary, but rather comforting. I believe God is not willing that any should die but that men need to opt into his plan for them to live. The only scary factor is that many do not know about this option, and we have the responsibility to proclaim the gospel or their blood is on us! That is scary! Paul is very excited about what it is that God has prepared for us. He sees God's goodness abounding toward us (v 8), and the astounding joy that we can know the mystery of His will which is absolutely wild. Every human being is able to receive this abundance and enter into God's great plan, and be saved from the miserable consequences of sin into the unimaginable things that he has prepared for us - the whole width, length, depth and height of them. This is the whole plan and reason that Jesus came in human form. This is the great experience of living on earth - to know God! Once upon a time God lit up Paul's life on a Damascus road. As a lit up man, Paul cannot keep quiet about the wonderful plan and provision of God the Father in Yeshua His Son. His excitement is always on the boil and no-one can take that from him.

This is the great and ultimate miracle, to be incorporated into Christ Jesus, to be invested with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, to be chosen before the foundation of the world, to be considered holy and without blame before Him in love, to be adopted into the Godhead, the family of my Creator Himself. I mean, what more could I possibly want? I can't even begin to imagine what I already have! I walk as a princess on the face of this earth, knowing that my future is not here but in Heaven with Yeshua, my redeemer prince. My heart is totally satisfied and refreshed because I am in love with the totally faithful One who will never abandon me. I am secure I have work to do - the works that He has prepared for us to walk in - but I am secure. The authority of the Name of Jesus enables me to command dominion over all things practical and spiritual. Everything that I can see in the heavenlies is mine for the asking. All I have to do is open my eyes and ears. Jesus offers me a purpose for living - as God said to Joshua, "everywhere you set your feet is yours". I cannot imagine what more I could possibly ask. But above all, being in love with Jesus is the great and wonderful thing. The implications of this for my life are innumerable. One of them is that my life is not my own because it is so tied up in Yeshua. My beloved is everything to me and my joy and peace are in delighting Him, for He delights me irrationally! All logic is abandoned in my love for Him, and yet there is nothing so logical as this. My faith in the things of earth decreases every day as my understanding of Him increases. Daily He excites me as I walk with Him. The things of earth simply invite me to prayer as I bring the distresses to Yeshua. I was never designed to cope with them, and Yeshua already has. All I have to do is to speak the truth in love. After that, it's "not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord." What a wonderful life! How totally stressless it is to do acts of kindness in love and to speak the truth in love, making sure that Idon't worry about anything for that is His province! What energy He has for doing loving and gentle things and what joy to be energised this way! That is my greatest challenge - "speaking the truth in love". Jesus was not always popular for doing this. At times things have to be said that cause ructions and it is a challenge to speak them in love, but to do so is powerful. I praise Yeshua!

Hi Everybody. I'm Helen from Australia, and I've been studying with Pastor Ralph for at least a couple of years now. The studies have been a wonderful benefit to me and I'm very excited to be studying the book with some of my very favourite passages again. I'm a grandma too, play keyboard at small church functions and help in Children's Church. This excites me as we are growing the future here! Our children are amazing! I enjoy reading all your answers after I've put mine in. There are always things I never thought of that inspire me.

Self-examination needs to be followed by confession and repentance, or else it is unfinished and therefore useless. Confession, I believe, includes making amends to any person who has been injured by the sin in any way that will benefit them. Matthew the tax collector, knew this in his heart as he promised to return fourfold any money he had wrongfully taken. How joyful was the company who saw him put this to rights! What magnificent and powerful peace was associated with this act. In this act he reflected the whole spirit of bountiful abundance that is the Kingdom of Heaven, and glorifies Jesus. What joy we can also bring to our communities if we do likewise! Self-examination without confession and repentance is no better than navel-gazing, depressing and miserable because it brings no value with it, no change in the situation. It only deepens the entrenchment of the sin and its effects on firstly the sinner and secondly the victim/s if there are any. Everything that the Lord commands is good, holy, and brings health joy with it. We are to do nothing by halves, but be complete in every good work. "That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim 3:17. Completing the task of confession and repentance replace an unhealthy situation with a healthy, life-giving, joyful, optimistic one with great possibilities for the future. The future then becomes a great land of opportunity to those who will participate fully in God's principles.

I believe our eyes, our focus, our passionate love should always be upon Jesus. When we examine ourselves it is so that we might begin to reflect His glory. There is no self-hate in that, for He recreated us in His own image. So great is his devotion to us that He gave us his blood. He wants us to lift our eyes to Him, not to lower them to depression and degradation. There is healing when we lift our eyes to Him as they lifted their eyes to the suspended snake inthe desert and were healed of their illness. If we continually look to Him, we will see His beauty and become adjusted to it by His Holy Spirit. It's a love process more than anything. There is no place for self-loathing, as each person is created and re-created in the beautiful image of God, gifted, talented, with a purpose and a destiny to take hold of. Indeed the neurotic person has a need to learn to love himself, to see himself with God's eyes, to value himself as Jesus does - very highly, to be kind to himself, and to deal with those old lies about having no value. There is a discipline involved. He needs to turn his thought from himself outward to others, upward to Jesus, and when he thinks of himself to teach himself to see what Father sees, a beloved and precious, beautiful child with a hope, a future and a purposeful destiny. Under the annointing Jesus will, step by step, here a little, there a little, change the whole perspective of the person suffering , but such a person needs to hold fast to the Truth that Jesus gives us. S/He has been deeply hurt, but Jesus can turn mourning into dancing, sorrow into joy. Self-judgement is about where we can improve a little, grow some. It's not about condemnation. It's about what I can do to build a life, not tear it to shreds. We are building on a foundation that is sound, secure, firm and solid. We are building a strong house, a habitation for the Lord of lords. This is a very good habitation that we are building. It is about growth, not condemnation, for the TRUTH is that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The Lord's Supper is never to be lightly taken. Everyone is to be treated equally and to partake equally of the feast, and all are to honour the Lord's body. It is not to descend into a burlesque or eating frenzy, but as a holy meal taken with due respect to the One who is thus honoured. To do less than this is to shame the memory of Jesus, and the gift of His body and blood. God is in authority, and does judge those who consistently offend Him. Jesus' death was also rather harsh. We are not dealing in trifles here, but in the precious gift of the body and blood of the most high God's Son. Everything we do has its place in the eternal, and its consequence in the physical, and abuse of that which is important to God is dealt with severely. God has made it clear what we are supposed to do - for our own good only. The consequences of sin in this respect, viz sickness and death, are there to draw our attention to the matter so that we'll turn around and get things right. It also reminds us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. We are to rejoice when God chastens us and corrects us, because it means we aresons anddaughters to Him. If we were not He would not bother with us. Correction is part and parcel of being a child of God. It grows us and we should welcome it. He is actually training us for very important positions as priests of the most High. We have to know how to operate in the kingdom of heaven under His authority. In these matters the authority is not a worldly one. God's discipline is teaching us how to operate in a different realm than our own.As in the story of the return of the arc to Jerusalem, and the smiting of Uzziah with leprosy, and Annanias and Saphira's deaths we are dealing with the holy things, and the holy One, and respect and fear is paramount.

Q1. (11:29) Why does "not discerning the body" at the Lord's Supper constitute such a grave sin? Aren't there worse things a church could have done? The Lord's Supper was set up as a holy commemoration. The original disciples ate it with a certain aplomb, a particular demeanor, in great respect not only of the past event it commemorated, but of an event about to happen, namely the crucifixion. This meal was never eaten in a disorderly rabble. It was always eaten together, (celebrating the oneness of Israel about to be liberated), It wasn'tjust a barbecue, but a meal in which honour was declared to Jesus, our redeemer. There were certain necessary speeches and toasts, solemnity, and carefulness about the manner of its taking. The Corinthians had not understood this, but had probably participated intheir normal ebbulient style of eating, without regarding the ceremony attached to thisparticular meal. Not that it was the ceremony that was the most important thing, but the remembrance of the cross which the ceremony delineated. Going at this meal like a bull at a gate without due care to its meaning was not only to miss the point altogether, but to actually abuse fellow Christians by not attending to their needs in participating in the feast, and therefore to abuse Christ Himself in llieu of remembering Him. It made a hoax of the whole thing. Maybe there are worse things that the church could have done, but who's competing? As it happened it turned out well, because it caused Paul to draw attention to how the communion should be celebrated, and got it on record for the rest of time. Our Father usually manages to turn around terrible things to good. If Paul had let it go it would have established a terrible scenario in churches, but it turned the whole thing around.

When I see the Lord's face my sins will be removed so far from me that even the memories will be gone! I shall be made pure and able to look upon Him whom I adore. Every dream I ever had will be totally fulfilled in that moment, and love will loom large between us. I shall know Him as He now knows me, and that will be magnificent, yet there will always be something new to learn about Him because He is always new! The Lord's supper points us toward our future at the wedding feast with Him in Heaven, so we are always excited by the prospect of living with Him - seeing His face. Not only at communion are we so excited, but at everymoment that we are awake, because the promise is to those who acknowledge Him before men, and we love doing that.

Q3. In what sense does the Lord's Supper point to the past? How does it point to the present? How does it point to the future? The Lord's Supper points to the past accomplishment of Jesus, who gave Himself for us to crucifixion, that He might rise from the dead, and with Him, we might enter into resurrection also, His body for our healing and His blood for our eternal Life. The Lord's Supper is part of our constant celebration. Thus we regularly bring to remembrance His mighty act Agree with each other in present fellowship, bonding together as part of the eternal family and giving voice to HIs power and authority in us for healing and salvation, educate ourselves in all the scripture relating to the great sacrifice of Jesus and our part of the new covenant in His blood give praise and honour to Jesus, and show Him until His coming again Warn of the curse of drinking "the blood" without proper preparation, repentance, forgiveness and right relationships with others, for it is an entrance into a holy alliance which cannot be abused by ignorance or lighty used., for in so drinking and eating, we are identifying ourselves withthe Holy One and His complete purpose for mankind., and our particular purpose and role as he directs us. The celebration of the Lord's Supper points ahead to the great celebration in Heaven, when all things are accomplished on earth, when the sons of God are revealed (Romans 8:19 NKJ) and are gathered, present with the Lord at the banquet of the marriage feast of the Lamb of God whom we love. to abide there with Him, in eternal portals, without tears or any evil thing, to rejoice for ever in His unveiled presence, knowing Him in the same way that He intimately knows us, and thriving in that unimaginable joy.

The Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion, is the meal that commemorates the Lord's Death untill His coming again, because He, Himself, is our sacrifice. When all is completed, and the chosen are gathered in Heaven for the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, this will be the final culmination of all that Jesus came to earth to establish and do. The wedding feast will be the great celebration of the gathering in of the elect from all corners of the earth. This is the "revealing of the sons of God" for which all creation waits, and in which creation finds its purpose and fulfillment. (Rom 8:19) At the communion table we remember the whole purpose of God and Jesus Christ is to establish His family, pure, holy and victorious. As Jesus was, so I need to be victorious, to operate completely within the purpose which God has for me personally, so that I may be at that feast, lamp full of oil. I was not put here without purpose, but in pure and holy estate to reflect His glory, with life, talents and passionate love. This is what He died for, and in eating His flesh and blood, I too must be totally devoted to that purpose, what ever the cost.

Q1. Why are so many of Jesus' teachings oriented toward the future? What kinds of associations come to mind as you think of the Great Banquet? The future can be built, but nothing can be done about the past except to cover it in the blood of Jesus and leave it behind. Jesus still had to go through the cross. He was looking steadfastly beyond that to the glories and achievements of Heaven, when he would have everything accomplished and his bride present with Him. There are many associations. How long can I write? First the story of the bridegroom and the tenvirgins, only five of whom were ready (fit) to attend. Second the story of the repudiated invitations, and the Lord's counter to that, namely that his servants went and invited al and sundry in, and even compelled the working people to come. OurGod is determined to have a great feast and a banquet full of wedding guests. I once saw a "vision" in which the Lord, on the cross, overlooked all Jerusalem and watched the people at work in the streets all around Him. He was making plans even then to have them all invited to the wedding feast. Then there is the man thrown out of the wedding feast for coming without the proper dress. Old Testament references - Psalm 23 - to the banquet table before me in the presence of my enemies The banquet offered to Peter in a vision where he was to eat everything without worrying about right foods. The teaching about those who put themselves high up and are asked to move back down, while those who have taken a lower seat are asked tomove up the table to prominence. The riotous feast at Matthew's house where he gave back fourfold to those from whom he had stolen. The feast given by Abraham to angels after he had prayed for Lot. The disciples sharing food at each others' houses - the first communions. Esther eating with the king and Haaman (he ate damnation to himself by his wrong behaviour before the meal.) The very important part played by hospitality in the middle east generally. Eating with someone represented a very deep and intimate relationship. The meals were often very specially prepared. The fact that someone who ate at your table could not turn around and hurt you. The great sacrificial feasts and offerings in Jerusalem, where the meat was offered that there might be "meat in My house". for everybody, and none went hungry who attended those feasts The sometime splitting of an animal for sacrifice and the walking between the two sides as a covenant is enacted, as did David and Jonathonj swearing covering for each other.

Jesus' words are the bread of life. They are the nourishment for our spiritual growth. We need to feed on them daily, just like we feed our bodies daily. Partaking of the Lord's supper reminds us of the great vow we exhibited in baptism, to die to ourselves and live for Christ, exactly as He has done for us. It reminds us that our constancy is for Jesus. What food and drink are to our bodies, Jesus is to our spirit, because His words are spirit. There is huge power in words, because with words God spoke the world into being, and we create our own world with our words, because we are made in God's image. Jesus is the living, fleshclad Word of God, who compared Himself with bread so that we would understand and partake of the word daily, and together as a body in communion of his "flesh and blood," because He, Himself, the Word of God, is to our spirit what bread and wine are to our bodies. Flesh and blood were designed to serve spirit, not the other way around. Communion was instituted so that we could never forget this but would constantly remind each other of Jesus, the very Word of God to humankind.

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly? What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus? What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32? Believing is a life of intimacy with Jesus, not an academic consensus with some philosophical point. Jesus is basically redefining "belief". The people in Noah's day believed that Noah was building a boat all right, but had no connection with it. Noah preached to them for years. They could have helped build the boat and had passage on it during the flood, but none did. In Jesus' day many believed He could heal, but they couldn't get the bigger message, that He was Spirit-of-God conceived and they needed to align everything with Him. He, in fact, is the centre of all creation, of history, the whole pivot point on the roundabout. Those who hold to Him will go with Him to Heaven. Those who don't will get spun off! That is exactly what happened when Jesus told them they needed to eat His flesh - many got spun off, but the disciples held on to the Word of Life! As in the camel through the eye of a needle simile, Jesus is saying that it is a narrow path, a tough road, not for the weak. I think Peter really got the point when he said "We believe and know..." Faith with him had gone way past the concepts of belief as we generally know it, to certainty, knowledge, faith that infected his whole being at evey step of the way. He just knew, in his bones, who Jesus was, so that he couldn't get away from that. Like we know that we have to eat or die, Peter knew Jesus as the source (Word) of life. The disciples that turned away had not opportunity to know Jesus as the twelve did, neither did they ask themselves the hard questions - although some like Nicodemus did, and remained. In other words, Peter knew 'WHO Jesus was', and what that meant for him. Other people knew 'what Jesus did,' and their value for Him was limited to that knowledge. We have to know not what, but WHO! When faith amounts to personal obedience to the Word, that is the equivalent of eating and drinking Life which is Jesus' body and blood, because Jesus IS the Word of Life! True discipleship = true freedom = the ability to discern Truth from lie and live accordingly. Jesus is the physical embodiment of Absolute Truth, the WORD OF LIFE.

Q2. (John 6:51b) What is Jesus referring to when he says, "This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world"? What similarities do you see with Jesus' teaching at the Last Supper in Luke 22:19b? If anyone eats this bread he will live for ever, and tghe bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. This is my body which is given for you: do this in remembrance of Me. Jesus' flesh was actually conceived of the Holy Spirit! He is actually talking about our new birth of that Spirit of God that was choked out of man when Adam and Eve sinned, and man died. We need the "DNA" that Adam and Eve originally had, which is available to us through the fact that Jesus took human flesh and was conceived by that Spirit, and overcame satan. We can partake of that same spirit that gave conception to Him - we can eat of His flesh! He came tspecifically to give His Spirit concieved flesh, to take back the dominion (birthright) that Adam lost. Satan could only be overcome on earth by another unblemished man. That man was Jesus, and satan could not take life from Him as he had from Adam and the rest of us, introducing death into the world. That Spirit must be united to our flesh as it was to Jesus' flesh. That is why Jesus said "I am the bread of Life. If anyone eats this bread he will live forever....". The similarity is that Jesus would give His flesh, His body, for the life of the world, for us. We are to live in remembrance, awareness and appreciation of this gift at all times, and by regularly taking communion together, because the bride (who becomes one with Jesus) is made up of all of us.

When I go to the theatre I first buy a ticket. I lay down my money and do whatever it takes to gain entrance to the theatre. Once I'm in I"m part of the performance. The actors look for my feedback and perform in relation to those who are present who have invested in the show. It could be the football or anything. But I can't get in without the investment first. If I want eternal Life then I have to make an investment by partaking of Jesus (' body and blood). In other words my investment is to treat my body and blood as He did His, seeing that I am His bride (or part therof) and one with His flesh. My body is not mine but God's, as is everything He gave me. It is for His sole purpose and not mine - certainly not for its own sole purpose of comfort, food and wine. I am to discipline my body and take authority over it for God;'s glory, and the long term purpose of Heaven, exactly as Jesus did, subjecting it to Him who said, "I have food to eat of which you do not know," and then, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work".)(John 4:32, 34, NKJ) To the tempter He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matt 4:4 NKJ As his bride, so it is for me to be one with Him. The "food" might be variously described as bread, wine, meat, or the body and blood of Jesus, but it all means the same thing. As for nibbling, it doesn't impress God. He wants people who are hot, not luke warm or cold. So get in and make a meal. Do it with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, no less. This pleases God. No-one wants a half-baked football team. Neither does God! He can't score any points with them! Just imagine a football team that couldn't get out of bed early enough for training! They only wanted the glory of winning at the game but not the preparatory skills training. Perhaps they all thought they were good enough! How would the coach feel? He wouldn't even field those players. Let's all be loyal to the coach and train hard!

Q3. In what ways do the divisions in Corinth sound familiar in our own congregations? Don't pick on another congregation; how about your own? How serious was the need for unity? Can bickering congregations partake of the Lord's Supper without sin? There is a terrible lot of empire building going on within congregations. This causes divisions, pain. We have to teach loud and clear that leadership comes from recognition by elders and those who choose their leader as a mentor, not by self promotion and gathering supporters. We have to hold each other accountable where we see wrong attitudes. Sadly it sometimes costs us a member and we can feel guilty about that. Nevertheless,the Spirit of God is a pure spirit and we are accountable to each other and to God for holding to unity and purity. We may have differrences, but we have so much in common to build unity upon that there is no excuse. The true leader in Christ is a servant of his fellow man whom he serves by speaking the truth in love. Where there is division there is a clear path in scripture to follow. Not to do so may cost us the power of God in our meetings, the healing of the sick. We are told to worship in spirit and in truth, to walk in the works that God has prepared for us to walk in, (miracles). This requires unity in the Spirit. We listen too much to the wisdom of the current culture, that we should be tolerant. Where is this written in Scripture? No-where. We are to call sin "sin' and to eradicate "self-service" from amongst us. We are to prefer one another and honour our elders and leaders who must give account to God for their leadership. We need to be totally transparent. Whatever we have to hide is sin. Unity is paramount. I think the world (and its spirit has infiltrated the churches) has got us cornered by saying that we are not to judge - quoting scripture against us and telling us that we are to accept all practices in "love". This is not love, as we are to "speak the Truth in love' and the truth deals with sin. We are not to judge in the sense of condemnation - that is for God on judgement day and praise His Name we don't have to do this. However, we are to recognise sin when we see it and discern manipulative spirits in church that would make us guilty over pointing it out/correcting the sinner to bring them back on the right path. The real question to those who bicker is "What are you doing to create peace and harmony?" The need of unity is so serious that Jesus gave this a priority place as He prayed just before His betrayal, knowing that His hour had come and He was leaving them. ( John 17:21 NKJ). The living bricks of the temple of God must be well cemented together. We can't have them falling out! Those who bicker and do not set things right before communion, and practice truth, love, service and unity, drink judgement (= condemnation) to themselves when they take communion. To take communion without doing the preparatory work of ensuring reconciliation wherever there is dissension in their own lives, are actually blaspheming the Holy Spirit. This amounts to mockery, and they need to be aware that God is not mocked! In addition to that they dramatically reduce the strength of the Holy Spirit within the church, which is why we have to deal directly with the bickering.

Q2. Read Mark 11:25 and Matthew 5:23-24. How do these relate to Paul's teaching on the One Loaf (1 Corinthians 10:17)? What must we personally do to achieve unity to prepare ourselves to partake of the Lord's Supper righteously? Unforgiveness is like mould or a disease in the flour. You wouldn't use mouldy, rotten flour to make the bread because it would taste terrible and no-one would eat it. You would remove it and make sure that the flour you used was clean. So we can only bring clean, forgiving, loving hearts to theLord's table, because we are one, and rotten flour affects all the eaters of the bread. I think this rot was demonstrated by the yeast when they ate unleavened bread at passover. Personally we have no right to take communion if we have any relationship which is not in harmony, or at least we have done everything humanly possible to bring that harmony about, including the forgiveness of any brother or sister by whom we feel hurt. In this case "humanly" means both "hu" and "man = ish = Spirit". Taking communion without this preparation actually brings a curse down on us. It is a blasphemy or a sacrilege, and God is not mocked. We need to stand inthe fear of God as wellas in His love. To come wellprepared is to re-commit oneself totally to the body of Christ. To do so unrighteously is to be a liar and there are noliars in Heaven. To do so righteously is one of the most magnificent acts any human can do, because it is a lifestyle commitment to Jesus and to others of the Family of Christ.

The cup of Blessingis offered to God with praise and thanksgiving to bless Him. Not only does He bless us, but He loves to receive our praise and thanksgiing. This is a blessing to Him and gives Him joy as we align ourselves with Jesus, His teaching, and His giving of Himself, and give of ourselves likewise to Him. Our mighty God is so humble, to receive blessing from us also. Glory to His Name. Our focus turns away from what we receive from God for ourselves, toGod Himself, and what He longs to receive from us, and we bless himwith honour, glory, thankgiving, praise and majesty.

Why is the Lord's Table such a time of intimate fellowship with Jesus? In your experience with having meals with friends, what makes the difference between a casual, forgettable meal, and one which is rich with memories? How can this insight make your experience of the Lord's Table more meaningful? Being invited to share a meal with someone is a wonderful experience. It establishes you as someone of value in their lives. It's an honour. This in itself makes the meal memorable and special. It assumes trust between parties, so that you canbe yourself, and also make a valid contribution tothe fellowship. Sensitivity is involved. The memorable meals are those where honour is given all around, to each person present a time to have their say, where people openly appreciate each other and are excited about being together and hearing each other's news. Perhaps it's a rare occasion for these to be together, and therefore celebration is in the air. Perhaps there is something to celebrate and the people have been called together for this purpose, in which case the meal is never forgotten, eg a wedding, graduation etc. But individually, it's probably the personal connection with another, the renewing or development of intimacy, that makes the meal memorable. The Lord's table is certainly celebration, including the speeches that address the partaking of the bodyand blood of Jesus Himself. It represents a growth in intimacy through commitment, (much like a marriage vow). It is an opportunity to fellowship with other believers and be excited together about the celebration. It is certainly about honour - honouring Jesus, and restoring and building successful relationships with each other. It's about building a vibrant organism, the body of the Lord's bride. It's about identifying with that body and committing to it, to Him. How blessed are, to have this opportunity to be of the family of God!

To eat and drink with someone is to express great unity of spirit. Nobody eats with people with whom they have a significant disagreement When people eat together on the basis of a specific agreement it expresses great trust and confidence in that agreement and in the other as a partner in it. For example the wedding breakfast is a form of eating in specific witness, celebration and agreement over the new status and covenant relationship of the newly married couple. So when Jesus told the disciples that He had been longing to celebrate the last supper with them, and then instituted the manner of the partaking of the Holy Communion as a covenant feast, He was actually changing an age old institution of Passover and giving it new significance. He was placing His Blood on the covenant table as the over-riding sacrifice that purchased freedom - not from the Egyptian slavery, but from the all-encompassing slavery of sin itself, not just the release of Israelites, but the release of the whosoever in the whole earth wished to participate, not just release for the term of a natural life but for eternity. This was the promised New Covenant about to be consumated on the cross. This was the great event that made the original, miraculous crossing of the Red Sea pale into insignificance. The twelve disciples were witness and participants in this new covenant as had been the elders of Israel eating with God on the mountain. If we drink the Cup of the Covenant, we are then entering covenant with God. This is a binding agreement with promise and also with consequence if one falls out of it. In the marriage service, before the marriage is declared, the witnesses are asked if anyone has reason to disagree with what is happening. If any disparity is not produced at this point, then none is permitted subsequently because the covenant of marriage is legally binding on the whole community which participates. So, when we drink the cup of communion we are binding ourselves into commitment which cannot be broken.We can't actually come along later and say "Oh but....!" It is not a possibility. It's not only for life - it's for eternity. As with someone who tries to interfere with a marriage which has been legally proclaimed, they will be ostracised and told that they are too late, their problem cannot be heard, the community has made its decision and the decision stands, they have no right to oppose. So a person who dishonours the communion feast does so at his/her very great peril of ostracism from the Kingdom of Heaven - a curse indeed. We are in covenant with the King of Kings, written His blood! There is no agreement on earth to compare with it. We are invited, not compelled, to participate. Let us do so with great reverence and honour.

Q2. (Jeremiah 31:31-34) How does the promised New Covenant differ from the Old Covenant? What are the promises God makes in the New Covenant? What are our responsibilities under the New Covenant? The Old Covenant was in effect a written (on stone) agreement concerning what God wanted to do for His people Israel, and what they needed to do for God in order to reeive the blessings of this covenant. It covered the whole Jewish nation. Then new covenant is written in Jesus' blood. It covers "whosoever" (whether Jewish or any other nation) will call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved. To those who will come ('will' being a very operative word seeing that to see this covenant through requires determination and persistence) God gives His very own Holy Spirit to indwell them, and create in them the very mind of God, so that they will know intimacy and union with God, and again have dominion over the earth in the Name of Jesus. They will be seen as a harvest, yet are involved in the harvest themselves. They are those who choose to work with God in order to achieve His purposes in the creation of this earth, and they will be rewarded in Heaven with eternal life, crowns, homes, love, no tears, joy and a place at the wedding feast of the Lamb who makes it all possible. The promises are that God's law will be written on their hearts, that they will know Him (a deeply rooted, intimate love relationship), that they will be forgiven and God will remember their sins no more. Our part is to repent and be baptised, to walk in the light and be controlled by the spirit, not by carnal nature, to fellowship with one another in encouragement, and to keep short accounts with God in confessing sin and receiving forgiveness, to love and to forgive and to contribute to the great commission. There are many aspects to taking up the Cross, so studying the Word is very important, as is fasting and prayer. Father has a purpose for each of us and our need is to find and honour that purpose.

Q1. (Exodus 24:3-11) How was the covenant with Israel ratified? What promise did the people make twice in this passage? What was sacrificed? What was sprinkled? What was eaten? The covenant with Israel was first agreed to by all the people, then ratified in the blood of bulls, which was partly placed on the altar and partly sprinkled on the people to demonstrate the involvement of the two parties.Moses, Aaron, Aaron's sons and 70 elders then went up the mountain, saw God and ate and drank together, seeing God on a "saphire pavement". The people twice promised to obey all the commandments including specifically the one about having no other gods.. Bulls were sacrificed Their blood was sprinkled. Presumedly the bulls were eaten.