The bread of communion symbolizes the body of Jesus which was broken for us through His sufferings. He not only died for us on the cross but also bore 39 stripes on His back by which we are healed. Partaking of communion should remind us of the emotional and physical salvation that Jesus provided for us.

The Lord’s Supper comes from a part of the Passover meal that was celebrated only once a year. However, the early Christian church took Communion weekly and sometimes daily. There is no specific frequency of the Lord’s Supper prescribed in scripture.

As we take Communion, we are solemnly proclaiming the Lord’s death, and our union with Him and with others through that death. This is a profession of our faith and therefore, there are serious consequences for those who profess something they don’t possess.

It is most likely that what makes a person worthy or unworthy is whether or not he is born again. This is also totally consistent with the doctrine of grace that Paul constantly preached. There were unbelievers among the true Christians just as Jesus prophesied, and this still exists today. It is a dangerous offense for an unbeliever to take the Lord’s Supper. When taking Communion, each person should examine himself to see whether or not he is in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5).

The Lord longed to share the passover meal with His disciples. He was less than 24 hours away from fulfilling His mission and, like anyone who can see the finish line, He must have had feelings of relief and excitement.

The passover meal commemorated the Jews’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Ex. 13:3-10). It also had a much deeper spiritual application that, as Jesus explains here, would be fulfilled through His death. The Jewish nation as a whole had missed any future prophetic meaning of the passover.

On the night of the original passover, the Lord passed through the land of Egypt and judged the land by slaying all the firstborn men and beasts. The Jews had to slay a spotless lamb, take its blood and apply it to the door posts of their homes. They were commanded to remain indoors, under the covering of this blood until morning. When the Lord passed through the land at midnight to execute His judgment, He passed over the homes that had the lamb’s blood on their doors and no one inside was hurt. This is a perfect picture of the redemption that Jesus provides for us.

Everyone deserves judgment because of their sins. However, Jesus provided Himself as a spotless, sacrificial lamb for us, so that if we apply His blood to our lives by confessing Him as Lord, God will pass over us on judgment day.

Jesus was sacrificed on the 14th day of the first month of the Jewish year – the exact day and time that the passover lambs were being slain. Truly, “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).

When a true gift of the Spirit is in operation, things will always be as the Lord has said (an exception to this is if there are conditions to meet).

This is the ultimate test of whether or not someone’s words are God-inspired (Dt. 18:22).

We cannot be led by just our own feelings concerning the gifts of the Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the apostle Paul gives us direction governing the use of spiritual gifts that must supersede any urge or leading that we feel.

The first test to apply to any gift of the Spirit is to ask, “Does it glorify Jesus?” That’s the point Paul is making. The Holy Spirit will never lead anyone to defame Jesus in any way. Jesus made it very clear that the Holy Spirit would only glorify Him. Any utterance or act that denies Jesus is not from the Holy Spirit.

In Paul’s day, there was a transition being made from Judaism to Christianity. Some Jews were teaching that keeping the Old Testament law could produce salvation. They violently opposed Paul’s teaching, that faith alone in Jesus could produce salvation. Paul considered any utterance like this as calling Jesus accursed and it definitely would not be from the Holy Spirit.

Also, the pagan religions of Paul’s day believed in many gods. Anyone who tried to make Jesus just another god or “a” way to God instead of “the” way to God would be calling Him accursed. The Holy Spirit would never inspire anyone to do this. Those who are truly moved by the Holy Spirit in their utterances will always glorify Jesus.

Some people have speculated that Judas betrayed Jesus in an effort to force Jesus into a confrontation with the Roman government. Then He would have to use His supernatural power in self-defense and overthrow the Romans, thereby giving independence back to the nation of Israel.

This idea is based mainly on the response of Judas when he saw that Jesus was condemned. Judas “repented himself” (Mt. 27:3), implying that the condemnation of Jesus was never his intent. However, scripture does not endow Judas with noble (even if misdirected) virtues. He was simply a thief.

This verse makes it very clear that Satan entered into Judas and was responsible for putting the betrayal of Jesus into Judas’ heart. We can be assured that Satan’s only purpose in motivating Judas to betray Jesus was to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn. 10:10).

Moreover, the fact that Satan possessed Judas does not acquit Judas of the responsibility for his actions. The devil goes about seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). He cannot devour just anyone. We have to give place to him. By being a thief, Judas gave Satan access to him. He may have never intended to betray Jesus and therefore “repented himself” when he saw that Jesus was condemned. Once he began to willfully submit to the sin of thievery, it was hard to stop.

Sin cannot be controlled. We cannot just sin “a little.” Sin, like a cancer, always grows until it brings forth death. Submitting ourselves to God and resisting the devil is our only guarantee against being devoured by the devil (Jas. 4:7). When we choose to sin, we are not submitting to God or resisting the devil.

In Israel, crucifixion was a common sight. This practice was first mentioned in scripture as one used by the Egyptians (Gen. 40:19). Anyone hung upon a tree was accursed by God according to the Mosaic law (Dt. 21:22-23).

Failure to obey the law brought on the curse. Praise God that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by bearing the curse for us. Now, through Christ, we will never receive any curse from God even though we still disobey the law in some way. Justice was satisfied when Jesus died for the law that we broke, thus paying the prescribed penalty and bearing the curse.

There is no condemnation awaiting us from the law; for we died in Him.

A Christian who still walks in condemnation is being condemned by the devil or himself. It’s not God who condemns us (Rom. 8:34). It is the law that brought God’s adverse sentence against us.

When the government condemns a building it is declared unfit for use and must be destroyed. Likewise, when Satan condemns us, he makes us feel unfit for use and ready to be destroyed. Since the Christian is no longer under the law, he should no longer be condemned or feel unfit for use. We have been accepted by the Father through Jesus.

God convicts of sin but He doesn’t condemn (Rom. 8:34). Conviction is solely for our profit with no malice, while condemnation includes punishment. Satan is the one who condemns the Christian, but the Holy Spirit has given us the power to escape that condemnation.

The parable of the talents continues the theme of being ready for the Lord’s return, but it also makes a strong point that we are accountable to the Lord for the gifts He has given us. The Lord intends us to use these gifts to further His kingdom – not keep them hidden.

This parable also shows the Lord dealing with His servants according to their own individual gifts and abilities. The servants who doubled their Lord’s money were praised equally, even though one had produced two and one-half times as much revenue for His Lord than the other. Every man’s work shall be judged as to what sort it is – not what size it is.

Most people today are preoccupied with quantity of ministry instead of quality of ministry. The Lord is going to reward us based on how well we did, not on how much we did. Those who are not governed by the Holy Spirit in their actions will see all their good works burned up on the day we stand before the Lord and He tries our works. Those who acted only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will find that their works will endure the test and they will receive a reward.

Many people choose to do good things thinking that God will be pleased. It is our positive response to God’s direction (faith) that pleases God (Heb. 11:6). We were created with a purpose and every individual has a God-given plan for his life. Unless our actions are in agreement with God’s plan for our life, they will not abide the test of God’s fire.

Jesus is prophesying that just as in Noah’s day, people will be dominated with the temporary affairs of this life instead of eternal spiritual truths, when Jesus returns. Before our Lord’s second return, there will be plenty of signs to show that the time is drawing near, but few will heed them. Preoccupation with the affairs of this life can dull us to the spiritual realm.

The Lord kindly but seriously, points out the urgent need to be ready for His return. In the same way that a thief comes when people are the least prepared, so our Lord will return in a time when people are not looking for Him.

This is not because our Lord desires to surprise everyone and see how many He can catch unprepared. On the contrary, He is urging us to be watchful so that we will be prepared. Jesus gave us the signs of the end times to help us be prepared. He is simply prophesying that there will be a condition of apathy in the latter days that will tend to lull even the faithful to sleep if they don’t take heed to His words.

Believers will not be assembled on a mountaintop somewhere waiting for the Lord’s return. They will still be going about their daily routines. The Lord told us to “occupy till I come” (Lk. 19:13). We should be ready for the Lord to come back at any moment, yet work as if His return was still far off.

Jesus says the disciples were betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, friends, and some disciples were even put to death. Yet, the amazing statement of Christ is that not a hair of their head will perish. The context of this statement speaks of some of the disciples dying, so this is not a promise that no physical harm will ever come. This could only refer to the resurrection.

The Greek word for “resurrection” means “a standing or rising up.” The resurrection is a major theme of New Testament teaching. Out of the 13 sermons in the book of Acts, 11 stress or imply the resurrection.

The hope of the believer is the resurrection. The natural, earthly, terrestrial, corrupt, weak, mortal, vile body is said to be raised, changed and fashioned into a spiritual, heavenly, celestial, incorrupt, glorious, powerful, and immortal body. This is the completeness that has been purchased for all of us in Christ.

The Lord views everything in the light of eternity. Man tends to view things in the context of his brief life on earth. From man’s perspective, a person who dies for his faith in Jesus has lost a great deal. From Jesus’ viewpoint, a martyr hasn’t lost a thing. Even the very hairs on our head are numbered.

The patience that Jesus is speaking of here is the calm assurance that God knows every hurt that we feel and He will abundantly recompense us in the resurrection. This knowledge enables us to control our emotions in the face of persecution (i.e. possess our souls) instead of letting our emotions of fear dominate us.

Here, Jesus teaches that the believer must persevere to receive complete salvation. Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned or maintained by our own works. It has to be received by faith. However, there is effort on our part to maintain that faith. This is where holiness comes in.

Holiness will not produce relationship with God, nor will a lack of holiness make God turn away from us. He deals with us according to our faith in Jesus, not our performance. Holiness will keep Satan from stealing our faith, while a lack of holiness is an open invitation for the devil to do his worst. A person who wants to endure to the end cannot live a lifestyle that permits Satan free access to him.

Although God is not imputing our sins unto us, we cannot afford the luxury of sin because it allows Satan to have access to us. When a Christian does sin, and allows the devil an opportunity to produce death in his life, the way to stop this is to confess the sin. God is faithful and just to take the forgiveness that is already present in our born-again spirit and release it in our flesh, thereby removing Satan and his strongholds.

Holiness is a fruit and not a root of salvation. That is to say that holiness is a by-product of relationship with God; it does not produce relationship with God. It is the nature of a Christian to walk in the light, not in the dark. When we are rightly informed of who we are and what we have in Christ, then holiness will naturally flow out of us because it is our nature.