Unworthy Communion

Mat 27:1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

Mark tells us in his gospel (chapter 15) that the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, and the whole council bound Jesus, had a little meeting and decided they had enough to convince Pilate He was worthy of death. Judas, the betrayer, had been there, watching and listening to all of these things with growing horror. The devil who had entered him and manipulated him by now had left him, I believe. The enemy had retreated so that Judas could realize what he had done. You know, I believe this is what happens when someone murders a loved one and then kills themselves. The devil that drove them to such lengths by inflaming their passions and rage retreats enough for them to see rationally what they have done and in horror, they condemn themselves, just as he knew they would, and take their own life.

Judas stands there, hearing them find Him guilty and sentencing Him to death. He hears how they have tried to get false witnesses to lie and accuse Him of blasphemy, but Judas knew the truth for he had been with Jesus long enough to know better. This situation was quickly getting out of hand from what Judas expected. When Judas understood that Jesus was going to die, he regretted and cared after the fact that this should happen and the part he had played in this awful thing. He felt remorse and regret. There was a repentance and regret that this was how it had happened, and wished he'd handled it differently. This is a change of purpose, not of heart. He returns with the 30 pieces of silver to the elders and chief priests and confessed that he had missed the mark, he had made a serious error, because he had betrayed someone who was guilty of nothing wrong. The Scripture doesn't say, but I wonder if he stepped out of this crowd in front of Jesus and everybody and tried to give the money back? Or did he get their attention and ease off to the side for a minute and try to change this by giving it back? Scripture isn't clear on this. But, either way, it was too little, too late. They would not listen. He went out and hung himself, ending his life.

One thing that troubles me here about this and will require prayer. Jesus did not warn Judas. He warned His own, what was to come. He told them all about the need for the Comforter, how the devil had asked to sift Peter like wheat. He revealed He had prayed for him that his faith not fail. He warned His own they would be scattered when He was smitten, and that He would not fail them or forsake them. He wanted them to have peace. These things were not said until after Judas left to betray Him. Jesus handed Judas the bread at the passover dinner, dipped it in sauce and handed, offered it to him. This represented the Bread of Life-the Body of the Lord, and Paul warns in 1Co_11:27 that anyone who eat this Bread and drink this cup of the Lord irreverently, unworthily, (and these both imply the condition of the heart at the time) shall be guilty of the Body and blood of the Lord.

One translation adds "dishonoring the body and blood of the Lord". Another says "he will be responsible for the (breaking) of the body and (shedding) the blood of the Lord." He's guilty of sinning against the Body and Blood of the Lord. Interestingly enough, the Complete Jewish Bible puts it this way: "he will be guilty of desecrating the body and blood of the Lord!" He's making criminal use of the body and blood of the Lord. Profaning it. Held responsible for it. If this is taken carelessly, this eating of the bread and drinking of the cup of the Lord, that person will have to answer for sin against the body and blood of the Lord. This also has a very personal application, as well. We sit down with this Holy Bible, which is the Bread of Life, the Word that was once flesh and dwelt among us, remember the flesh of Jesus Christ was always secondary to the Word. He made no provision for the flesh, other than what was necessary to keep the body functioning until the ministry God gave Him was complete. What an indictment against myself. Oh, Lord help us. Deliver us from SELF! Please! We sit down with this Bread of Life, and It is anointed (dipped-the word in the Greek is baptiso-immersed, baptized) in water, representing the Spirit of God who has been sent to teach us, and we dare to handle this Word irreverently, carelessly, we will be held responsible, we will be guilty of profaning the Body and blood of the Lord.


Paul warns again in 1Co_11:29 "He that eats and drinks unworthily (irreverently or carelessly, casually) will eat and drink damnation (judgment, condemnation) to himself, not making the distinction or understanding the danger he places himself in. Simply put, he's eating and drinking God's judgment upon himself or herself. The Word will either justify or condemn us. Depends on what we do with It.

Into the Holy of Holies

I recently heard the Times Square Church choir in New York City singing the song "Take Me Into the Holy of Holies" and I was so gripped by this song..they only sang one verse and the chorus, but it gripped my heart and stirred this ever increasing hunger for God in my heart even more..One day at work I was singing this song and the Lord gave me another verse and I wanted to share...


Take Me In to the Holy of Holies
Take me past the outer court
into Your Holy Place
past the brazen altar
Lord, I want to see Your face
pass me by the crowds of people
and the priests who sing their praise
I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness
but it's only found in one place

so take me in to the Holy of Holies
take me in by the blood of the Lamb
take me in to the Holy of Holies
take the coal, cleanse my lips,
here I am

Take me past empty religion
its traditions and its ways
past the human reasoning
that tries to take Your Spirit's place
take me past the crowds of people
that will only go so far
I hunger and thirst to go all the way
right into where You are

So take me in to the Holy of Holies
take me in by the blood of the Lamb
take me in to the Holy of Holies
Lord, it's not enough anymore
to be where I am.

The song says take me past the outer court (where the casually curious are) and past the brazen altar (where people pray to God,) cos Lord I want to see Your Face, (which He told Moses would kill him to see), past the crowds of people and priests who sing your praise. I know music definitely is a form of expression of worship, and has it's place, but that doesn't do it for me, either. I know that sounds ironic because I just said I heard this song I'd never heard before and it's gripped my heart...but because of what it SAYS not how it sounds.

I'm hungry for YOU Lord, Your righteousness, to be so filled with YOU, that I am consumed, possessed, fully by YOU. To be intimate with YOU, to be so close to you we are joined together (1 Cor 6:17) to see YOU and finally DIE to everything but YOU and your will! I'm not satisfied with just church and little 5 minute prayers and singing, like most people are I want more, I know there is more-YOU said if I delight in the Lord, in YOU, You'd give me the desires of my heart.... and that desire is YOU Lord! I don't want empty religion that has no power of Your Presence, just an appearance of godliness! I don't want flesh or human thinking trying to do the work only the Holy Spirit can do, I want to be where You are because YOU are a consuming fire and will burn up the chaff!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

It was the Priest in the Old Testament who killed the sacrifice and offered it to God. Is not Christ our High Priest? Every sacrifice had to be brought to the door of the Tabernacle to be slain, then put on the altar and offered. Jesus is the Door. We can't crucify ourselves anymore than He could Himself. But if we sincerely hunger and thirst to know Him, that attraction, that lure to the prize of just knowing HIM, will become more vital to us than those things we clutch like little children, not wanting to release. When we come to the Door, and the Holy Spirit takes the sacrifice (us) and shows us a revelation of Jesus Christ-just like He did Isaiah (Isa_6:1-7) it's going to kill us. It's going to show how pathetic and how foolish are all our attempts to "dress holiness, look holiness, talk holiness, be holiness".

All these things are done in the name of religion, for the only way to truly be holiness unto the Lord is to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ-that precious Holy Ghost who cares not for things of this world, but the souls of men, and that Jesus Christ be glorified, and on display for this hurting and lost world to see. Then, the motivation for what we do and how we look will be rooted in truth and reverence for this Holy God we love because He has brought us down to despair and death by showing us how hopelessly inadequate and different we are from Him, and yet He loves us. We owe Him everything! We are fools if we hold back anything from His Lordship! We give up the pathetic things of this temporary life that are corruptible and He gives us that which is glorious and incorruptible-the knowledge of and intimate friendship with Himself! What could be more precious? NOTHING!!!

Aren't you getting hungry to know Him? Aren't you dissatisfied with the same old routine in church? Aren't you tired of empty seats in the House of God, while sin and the devil wreak havoc in the lives of those you know and love? The secret power is knowing HIM, being filled with HIM!! The devil could not run over the disciples, over Paul, because like he said "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?" The seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19 were just being religious but they didn't know HIM. They hadn't surrendered to Him. Those who fully surrender to HIM-when the devil comes, like Jesus said, he finds nothing in them he can exploit. In short, he runs smack into a wall.

The definition of insanity is for the church to continue in her routine and expect different results. You watch the young people flee out the doors as soon as they're old enough to do so, you see the services all turn out pretty much the same. People let any excuse keep them out of the House of God, because they feel they won't miss anything or it's not important for them to be there. Occaisionally somebody will get a momentary relief and begin to cry and get emotional and lift their hands to heaven, but the next day that pressure is back. I'm sick of it all. Knowing Jesus Christ is the secret power and the secret place! The Church can't show a needy world Christ if she doesn't know Him herself! That is what the world needs to see is CHRIST on display in His house not flesh, not the preacher! That intimate knowledge of HIM in the hearts and minds and lives of His Bride will put a glow on her face, a spring in her step, a smile in her eyes, and confidence and authority in her words. But, there is a cost. You must give up everything you are and count it as dung, so you may know HIM and become as He is in this world. Being like Jesus will cost you dearly.

Do you love Him more than these things you hold on to? Is He not more precious than anything else? YES....it takes faith to bring yourself to the Door and trust that when He sees the sincerity of your heart, He will give you that revelation of Himself that will kill the sacrifice. It will kill all hope of ever finding anything good enough in yourself to bring to Him. It will kill all hope of ever making it to heaven in your own strength or by religious works. It will kill all desire to be anything but His. Hallelujah to the Lamb of GOD!!! Take Me In, Lord, please take me In!!!To my heart, this is pure worship....not being satisfied with anything but HIM, hungering for nothing but HIM....Please, don't anyone missunderstand, I am not castigating the church, or throwing off on it. I just see her need for HIM..I know not every church fits what I said above, but too many do. He alone is the answer...we must get out of the way and seek Him until He so fills us He is all that is left.