Lives in Continuous Communion with God.

What is Continuous Communion with God?

Communing is Praying.

Romans 1:9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my

spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

What is Continuous Communion with God?

Pray without ceasing:

1Thessalonians 1:2-3

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

1) without intermission, incessantly, without ceasing

What is Continuous Communion with God?

Pray without ceasing:

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 Pray without ceasing.In every thing give thanks:

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

That done individually is easy to do corporately

Pray without ceasing:

Acts 12:5Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer

was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

1) stretched out2) more intently, more earnestly, fervently

assiduously (Showing great care and perseverance)

Continuous Communion, is prayer that overcomes

is prayer that never ceases.

Prayer that is continuous,Is Communion with God,

living in His Presence

Last week: “Belt of truth”

Liz Showed us Truth was continuous

James 1:18-25 18: chose to give us birth by the word of Truth.19: My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone

should be quick to listen (to the word of truth), slow to speak and slow to become angry21: humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save

you.22: Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive

yourselves. Do what it (the Word) says.

This was Continuous through the Spirit of Truth.

The Belt of Truth in prayer:

Prayer that overcomes by Listening and Obeying the truth of God’s Word.

Every second of every minute of every day of every week of every year. It’s continuous

Overcoming Prayer is opening one’s ears to the truth and one’s will to obey.

Isaiah 50:5 Isaiah prophesied of Jesus...The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the

learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to [him that is] weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens mine ear to hear as the learned.The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not

rebellious, neither turned away back.

Hebrew 3:15 The Holy Spirit calls us...As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."

Today... Breastplate of Righteousness.

Righteousness is a state of being, it is life style.

It is not just a spiritual position,it’s a living disposition.

A prayerful state of being.

It is communing in right relationship with the Lord continuously.

There’s a False Breastplate of Righteousness:

Mat 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness

surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

“Performance of Duty rather than living in right relationship”

The False Breastplate Righteousness:

Mat 6:5-6"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.

For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. (Self Life)

"But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who [is] in the secret [place]; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Spiritual Life)

Breastplate (Thorax) of Righteousness :

Protects the Liver, Heart, Lungs, and Stomach. (to name just a few)

Symbolic function.

Liver: the cleansing process in our lives

Heart: of our seat of affections.

Lungs: of the place of our spirit.

Stomach: the seat of Appetite

.

Liver: the cleansing process in our lives

The Cleansing in Prayer,

Matt 6:13“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

The Greek Tense show us the continuous nature of Righteous Prayer.

The “Present Active Voice”: means doing it now

Matt 6:13“ Forgive (be forgiving) us our debts as we

forgive (are forgiving) our debtors.”

Continuous action.

The Greek tense show us the continuous nature of this Righteous Prayer.

The “Present Active Voice”: means doing it now

1 John 1:9“ If we confess (are confessing) our sins, He is

faithful and just to forgive (to be forgiving) us [our] sins and to cleanse (to be cleansing) us from all

unrighteousness.”

Continuous action.

The Heart: Devotion.Speaks of a continuous prayerful state of communion.

Loving fellowship with God and with humanity.

Love is enthroned. The tense is “future active” it’s what we shall be doing.

Luke 10:27So he answered and said, "'You shall love (You shall be

loving) the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and '(You shall be loving) your neighbor as yourself.' "

Continuous loving communion with God and man.

Lungs: of the place of the spirit.(Greek word for Spirit is Pneuma)

John 20:22And when He had said this, He breathed on

[them], and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

Lungs: of the place of spirit.

Ephesians 5:18-20 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;

but be filled with the Spirit; 

The tense: Present, it happening now, Passive, its happening to you Imperative, you must now be doing this

“Be being filled now continuously with the Spirit,”

(Like Breathing is continuous.)

Then He tells you How to...Ephesians 5:18-20 

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the

Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

“Talking and communicating, singing and praising and thanking God. Continuously”

Breastplate: stomach; (appetite)

The appetite of continuous prayer: Hungering and thirsting after His Righteousness,

Matthew 5:6Blessed [are] those who hunger and thirst for

righteousness, For they shall be filled.

Tense is Present Active Participle... Hungering, Thirsting... This is continuous

Hungering and thirsting after His Righteousness,

Nourishment in Jesus. (continuously coming to eat)

Refreshment in Jesus. (continuously coming for refreshment)

John 6:35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever

comes (is coming) to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes (is believing) in me will never be thirsty.

Focus now...

Context and Pretext.

A pretext is taking a text out of its context and making it say something that it is not saying.

“The Holy Communion” Pretext...John 6:53-57Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh

of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

  

For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

  

Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

Pretext- Tradition

Taking this verse out of context, they turn it into a tradition.

“Transubstantiation”

It becomes the “ the physical body” and “physical blood” of Jesus and unless you eat it you are dead

In Response...

We (the protestant church) addressed the error but didn’t go back to context but embraced the tradition of men.

“Subsubstantiation”

These are not the actual Body of Jesus They just represent it.

They are a picture of it.

Biblical Context of Communion with God.

Communion with God was broken in the Garden of

Eden when humanity sinned.

God covered their shame/sins with the skins of a slaughtered

animal.

Gen 3:21Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin and no communion with God.

There was an alter and a blood sacrifice on it.

Gen 4:3-5And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an

offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.

And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very

angry, and his countenance fell.

Noah understood the condition of Communion with God

Gen 8:20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of

every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

There was an alter and a blood sacrifice on it, someone had to die to cover our sin.

Abraham understood the condition of Communion with God

Gen 22:13Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there

behind [him was] a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up

for a burnt offering instead of his son.

There was an alter and a blood sacrifice on it, someone had to die to cover our sin.

God Institutes a Sacrificial Communal Feast and called it the Lord’s Passover.

Exodus 12:8'Then they shall eat the flesh on that night;

roasted in fire, with unleavened bread [and] with bitter [herbs] they shall eat it.

Exodus 12:11'And thus you shall eat it: [with] a belt on your

waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It [is] the LORD's Passover.

God Institutes an Sacrificial Communal Feast to communicate the point.

Exodus 12:14'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep

it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

Exodus 12:48"And when a stranger dwells with you [and wants] to keep

the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it.

(This is a believers meal not a feeding programme)

Context...

This is what Jesus celebrated.

Jesus Celebrates Passover with His Disciples

Matt 26:17-3017 Now 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?”18 And 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.”  ’  ”19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. (Roast Lamb dinner)20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.

Jesus Celebrates Passover with His Disciples

Matt 26:17-3021 Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”23 He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is 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.”25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?”He said to him, “You have said it.

“There was an unsaved man at the meal”

Jesus makes a Change to the feast and Institutes the Lord’s Supper.

We don’t practice the Passover any longer.

26 And as they were eating (it was a meal), Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” (I am the sacrificial Lamb)27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Jesus makes a Change to the feast and Institutes the Lord’s Supper.

We don’t practice the Passover any longer.

The Sacrificed Lamb was to be replaced with the Broken Body and shed Blood of Jesus.

He is the Sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world.

Context.

The Feast remained but the focus shifted.

It was the feast of the righteous who celebrated the Sacrifice that brought them this Continuous Communion with God and Humanity.

The Fellowship of the Believers

Acts 2:42-47

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship (Communion), to the breaking of bread (Eating a meal) and to prayer.

43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.

The Fellowship of the BelieversActs 2:42-47

45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, (Communal Meals)

47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (This was continuous)

The “Corinthians”...

Problems at the Communal Feast in the Corinthian Church.

Coming to the Table without the Breastplate of Righteousness on.

Correcting an Abuse of the Lord’s Supper1 Corinthian 11:17ff17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. ...

20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,

21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.

22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in?

Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing?

What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!

Correcting an Abuse of the Lord’s Supper23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,

24 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.”

25 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.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

Correcting an Abuse of the Lord’s Supper

28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

This was not to examine if you were saved or not but if you are living righteous or not.

There will always be unsaved ones at the table.

Only Jesus can determine who has the wedding garment of righteousness on at this Communal Lunch.

Unsaved Individuals are not the problem here

Correcting an Abuse of the Lord’s Supper

28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

This was not to examine if you were saved or not but if you living righteousness.

what are you examining, according to this context

(vs 22 Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing?)Are you: Despising others: disdain, think little or nothing of...Unrighteous behaviour

Are you Humiliating those who have nothing: repulsing , putting to shame, disgracing. ...This is unrighteous behaviour

Such distaining and humiliation of others is Unrighteous living.

James 2: 8-9If you really fulfill [the] royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; (Part of the breastplate of righteousness)

but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

Warning...Wolves in the Flock at the Communal Meal.

Jude 1:12These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. (Not thinking about others)They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.

2Peter 2:13-14They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed--an accursed brood! “wolves in the flock”

What’s the Problem? No Breast plate of Righteousness.Individuals that have forgotten about CONTINUOUS COMMUNION with God

forgotten “The Belt of truth”the voice of the Spirit of Truth speaking to them to hear and obey,forgotten the “Breastplate of righteousness” the continuous, Love for God and impartiality to Humanity,forgottenThe continuous cleansing that Jesus sacrifice purchased which avails for allforgottenThe infilling presence of the Spirit to speak and to praise with gratitudeforgottenthat it’s the nourishment of Jesus and the refreshment of Jesus that we celebrate at this Table and not the Food.