For me, personally: The uniqueness of the Bible is that God proves Himself repeatedly through His Word that He is the only true God. He does this in a way that a child can understand and relate to. On a number of occasions in the Bible God says: “I am telling you now, so that when it comes to pass you will know that I am God.” (Num. 11:23, Is. 42:9, Joh. 13:19, Joh. 14:29 and Joh. 16:4) God spoke through His chosen prophets and foretold His future plans and purposes and instructed them to record His Words: We call these prophecies. There are between 5-6 thousand prophecies in the Bible and ± 95% of these prophecies have come to pass in detail, as God foretold. There is an established physical law called the law of multiple possibilities. This law states that if you predict something will happen, and you give details of this event, for every detail you give, the chances of it happening as predicted, become less and less. The unique characteristic of the Bible is its prophecies. There are many prophecies in the Bible about many different things. But the most important prophecies centre around the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are approximately 300 definable prophecies about the coming Messiah. Jesus fulfilled thirty-three on the day He died. God told us 3000 years ago that there would be a Saviour of this world (Isaiah 53:5), that He would be called the Son of God (Psalm 2:7), that He would be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9), that He would be sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zach. 11:12), and that He would die and be raised from the dead (Psalm 16:10, Psalm 49:16). He says that His Messiah will be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). That He would be crucified with criminals (Isaiah 53:12) (the Roman cross had not yet been invented). A thousand years before the death of this Saviour in Psalm 22:1, God tells us the very words that this Saviour will utter on the cross, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me? (Mark 13:44) He tells us in detail in the same Psalm, the injuries that will cause His death. (verses 14-18). These are historical facts that have been recorded and cannot be denied, and God had told His prophets decades before they happened. He thus proves Himself beyond any doubt that He is who He says He is. The probability that any one person would just happen to fulfill these prophecies in the Bible by chance or coincidence is practically impossible. The probability is one in ten to the seventeenth power. That is a one with seventeen zeros after it. This is a number so big that we can’t even begin to understand it. To have a clearer understanding of its improbability, the following illustration is given. Assume that an area the size of the Western Cape is covered two feet deep in two Rand coins. Somewhere out there in the middle of those two Rand coins, is one two Rand coin with a little red dot on it. You put a blindfold over someone’s eyes and send them out to find that two Rand coin with a little red dot on it. The individual gets only one chance. The chance that that person would pick up that one two Rand coin with the red dot boggles the mind, because such a likelihood is highly improbable. Likewise, anyone would be foolish to believe that just these prophecies concerning Jesus could be given by human wisdom and fulfilled by one man, through mere coincidence. There is only one reasonable explanation. The apostle Peter gives us the answer with these words, “For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God” (2 Pet. 1:21). The prophet Isaiah said, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8). The probability of 5000 prophecies being fulfilled is so immense that there are not enough drops of water in all the oceans to fulfil this equation. Not one prophecy is found in the religious books of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or any other religion, which proves that they were all man written and not God inspired. God has given the Jew and the Christian the proof that the Bible alone is His Word, and that He is who He says He is. His Word, ie. the Bible, changes people’s lives. God is a life-changing God, therefore, any book He wrote would be full of His life, breathed into the very words themselves. And when people seek to know God, the Word of God comes alive in their hearts. And as the Word of God forms and grows in them, the Holy Spirit transforms them by renewing their minds and changing the desires of their hearts. Why did Father God plan the death and suffering of His Son, Jesus, with such precision and give so many prophecies concerning the Saviour, which were fulfilled on that day,? (Over 30 prophecies were fulfilled with His crucifixion alone). I believe that the answer is clear in John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That means you, my friend. The Holy Spirit gave us this wonderful revelation about the daily partaking of communion because therein lies the power of the Church, and by His grace, He confirmed it to us by two witnesses. The first confirmation came as we read the autobiography of Smith Wigglesworth soon after we received the revelation. He was a great man of God, a man who was really in touch with the power of God daily, he knew God and His power. It is reported that God used him to raise more than twenty people from the dead! We learnt from this book that Smith Wigglesworth took communion daily. What a wonderful confirmation! After this, we were listening to a tape by Derek Prince, yet another man mightily used by God in our time. He said these words: “It may come as a surprise to some of you, but the Lord has shown my wife Ruth and me to take communion daily.” This second confirmation was of tremendous encouragement to us, because we could see how the power of God was manifested in the lives and ministries of these two men and it was exactly in line with the word that God had given us. We have been taking communion at 5AM every morning, since the Lord spoke to us so clearly and it has blessed our lives tremendously. Each morning we come before the Lord and examine ourselves, making right with our Heavenly Father. The Word of God commands that the two of us be in agreement when we pray, because God cannot answer our prayers if we are not, so we cannot afford to harbour any grievances or bad attitudes towards one another, or anyone else for that matter. This keeps our relationship solid and steadfast. There is also a greater blessing on the ministry, for the gifts operate better where there is unity and love, and this flows down through our family. [1Cor.13] We also found that our ability to discern spiritual things increased. The gift of discerning of spirits and the revelation gifts are so important in these last days. We need to be as “wise as serpents and as harmless as doves,” (Matt. 10:16) as we all know how hard the devil is trying at present to bring deception and confusion into the body of Christ. He knows that his time is short! We know that what we are experiencing now, is due to our obedience to the revelation of breaking of bread that God has given us. We do not believe that we have the full understanding yet, but we are prepared to be obedient to Him as He reveals each successive step to us, and we know He will show us more. Hallelujah! I can now say without doubt that what I’ve shared with you is not a theory, but a truth which I have applied in my own life by God’s grace and will continue to do so, until Jesus comes. I encourage you to pray sincerely about what you have read, because We are experiencing so many blessings because of it, and we know of many precious brothers and sisters in Christ, all over South Africa and beyond, who join with us in prayer and the breaking of bread every morning at 5 am, and they too testify of the Lord’s blessings. I believe with my whole heart that should this revelation become a part of the lives of believers, we would have people returning to the Lord and serving Him with their whole heart. Let me describe how I partake of, and serve communion: Firstly I unconditionally forgive all who have sinned against me or hurt me and I ask forgiveness for any sin of which the Holy Spirit convicts me. Then I thank the Lord for the elements that He has given us, which represent His Body and His Blood, because communion is the highest form of thanksgiving and praise which man can demonstrate to Father God for His great gift of His Son, and His Son’s great gift of His Life for humanity. All our spiritual and physical needs, present and future have been provided for in these two elements. I begin by praying: “Lord, I take this bread in remembrance of what you did personally for me, at Calvary,” it is a very personal matter between the Lord and me. Jesus took my sicknesses, my infirmities, diseases and pains in His body, and by His wounds I am healed. Next I partake of the wine, and I thank the Lord for forgiving my sins, iniquities, and unrighteousness. [I confess each sin as it is brought to mind] I then thank Him for salvation and eternal life made possible by the shedding of His precious Blood for me personally. I also thank Him for the power over the forces of darkness, which has been vested in me as a believer. [Those who believe shall cast out devils in My Name] Mark 16:17. Then I thank the Lord for the priceless gift of His life given for me and ask him to make real to me the full benefits of the Lord’s table. Jesus said: This cup is the new testament in My Blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me [1Cor.11:25]. We read in Heb. 9:12 & 28 “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.… So Christ was offered ONCE to bear the sins of many. And in Heb. 9:18 & 22 …Therefore not even the first Covenant was dedicated without blood…And according to the law almost all things are purged with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” The cup confirms the New Covenant made possible by the Blood of Jesus. This New Covenant is sealed with His Holy Blood. The New and better Covenant with all its wonderful promises! [Heb.8:6] The final and fulfilled Passover. The Lord’s Table is the culmination of the Old and New Testaments. Then I end by praying in this manner: “Thank you Lord, I receive every benefit that you have purchased through your precious blood shed for me on Calvary. Even though I may not understand the revelation in all it’s fullness, that which I do know, I receive, and that which I do not yet know I am open to receive. I want every benefit that you, Lord, purchased at so great a price for me at Calvary. I thank you Lord that you washed away my sins and reconciled me with Almighty God so that I can stand before the throne of grace as though I had never sinned. It is not by works Lord, but by Your grace alone, and that which Jesus accomplished for me on the Cross. Thank you Lord Jesus that by the power of the Blood of the Risen Lamb, I have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.” I have mentioned that communion is part of the family meal, but if you do not have a family or a partner, or maybe no one else is saved in your family, then, by all means take communion alone. It is simple, but yet so powerful and profound, and it will enrich your life. We know when Jesus told His disciples that He was the bread of life in John 6 it is recorded in verses 60 and 66: Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying, who can hear it? From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. We see that many of Jesus’ disciples walked no more with Him, in other words they left Him because He had said the following words: Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My Blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:53-54) This statement must have alarmed them because Jews were told specifically not to drink blood and we read in Acts 15:20 that gentile believers were exhorted to abstain from blood. It was a hard word because they could not understand what He meant, and they did not yet have the revelation of it. It was to them a dead letter word. As long as the contents of this article remain a dead letter to you, you will probably also say: “It is a hard word.” But if the Holy Spirit quickens it to you and you receive the revelation, you will react accordingly and you will experience an even closer relationship than you already have with Jesus and your Heavenly Father. As I said at the start, PLEASE DO NOT TREAT THE DAILY TAKING OF COMMUNION AS A FORMULA OR RITUAL. In many of the traditional churches it has become a ritual, but it is meant to be a time of thanksgiving and of intimate fellowship, with your Lord and Saviour. Do not ever take it for granted. Come daily as an obedient, loving child to a caring, loving Father and draw close to Him in intimate fellowship by remembering the death of His Son Jesus your Saviour, proclaiming it and rejoicing because of it. 1 Cor. 11:26: For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. This truth is the foundation of the Gospel, the Good News that the full price was paid! Jesus said on the Cross “It is finished.” Why was the early Church so powerful and successful? I believe it is because they came to hear the Good News and reacted in obedience to that which the Lord commanded them, and they were saved and healed, has God changed since then? No, not at all, He says: “I am God and I do not change.” (Mal. 3:6.) Has Jesus changed? No, not at all, of Jesus it is said in Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.” The word is forever established and Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: TEACHING THEM (those who believe) TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Thus the early Church carried out Jesus’ commandments, and Jesus, working with them, confirmed the Word with signs and wonders. (Mark 16:19-20.) The early Church was a grateful and thankful and rejoicing Church and went from house to house displaying their gratitude through the partaking of communion and praising Jesus for what He had done. (Acts 2:46-47) The Church realised that gratitude and praise were absolutely necessary in order to come into the presence of Father God. (Psalm 100:4) God inhabits the praises of His people, and yet we often see church people approaching God with accusations and complaints against Him, and communion is “seldom” taken, instead of “often”, as God’s Word prescribes. The Church of Acts knew better!! I would love to see present day disciples of Jesus going out again, visiting the sick in hospitals and at home, and proclaiming the Good News, the death of Jesus in the fullness of it’s meaning. I would love to see the sick receiving Jesus as their Personal Saviour, Redeemer and Lord, and taking communion to bring into remembrance His sacrificial death. I believe that in this way, healing and forgiveness would be received if it was taken “worthily” as has already been described. Let us therefore go forth proclaiming this Good News to a lost world. Discover how the Power of God changes your life and begins flowing through you to impart His life to those around and about you, restoring the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to it’s former Power and Glory. 1Cor. 2:2: For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 18:36:38 +0000
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