Communion

Intro

The communion is the taking of the bread and the wine in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke CHAP. XXII.
1 The Iewes conspire against Christ. 3 Satan prepareth Iudas to betray him. 7 The Apostles prepare the Passeouer. 19 Christ instituteth his holy supper, 21 couertly foretelleth of the traitour, 24 dehorteth the rest of his Apostles from ambition, 31 assureth Peter his faith should not faile: 34 and yet he should denie him thrise. 39 He prayeth in the mount, and sweateth blood, 47 is betrayed with a kisse: 50 hee healeth Malchus eare, 54 he is thrise denied of Peter, 63 shamefully abused, 66 and confesseth himselfe to be the sonne of God.

Luke 22
19 And hee tooke bread, and gaue thankes, and brake it, and gaue vnto them, saying, This is my body which is giuen for you, this doe in remembrance of me.
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

So the communion is in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Presence

Is Jesus Christ present in the bread and the wine? Is the communion transubstantiation, consubstantiation, symbolic or is every meal is a communion?

I say sothe thorowe trewe rede
His flesh and blode, through his mastry
Is there/ in the forme of brede
Howe it is there/ it nedeth not stryve
Whether it be subgette or accydent
But as Christ was/ when he was on-lyve
So is he there verament.
[In modern English:]
I say the truth through true understanding:
His flesh and blood, through his subtle works,
Is there in the form of bread.
In what manner it is present need not be debated,
Whether as subject or accident,
But as Christ was when he was alive,
So He is truly there. -The Plowman's Tale

The flesh is present in the bread and the blood is present in the wine. But the bread has not turned into the flesh and the wine has not turned into the blood. The Catholics believe that it has done that with their doctrine of transubstantiation. But they are not correct. So in my interpretation the communion should be interpreted as consubstantiation.

What about the ingredients?

Is every meal between brethren the lords supper? I believe not since it says in 1 cor 11:34 that they should eat at home if they are hungry.

Does it have to be wine and not fruit juice and does the bread have to not be leavened? My experience is that its ok with fruit juice instead of wine. I don't know if its ok with leavened bread instead of unleavened bread.

Alone?

Can you take communion alone or with false brethren? My experience is that its not a lords supper if you are eating with false brethren and there aren't two or three (including you) that are saved in the congregation.

Matthew 18
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.

Unworthily

What does it mean to take the communion unworthily?

1 Corinthian CHAP. XI.
1 He reprooueth them, because in holy assemblies, 4 their men prayed with their heads couered, and 6 women with their heads vncouered, 17 and because generally their meetings were not for the better but for the worse, as 21 namely in profaning with their owne feasts the Lords Supper. 25 Lastly, he calleth them to the first institution thereof.

1 Corinthian 11
25 After the same manner also hee tooke the cup when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drinke it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eate this bread, and drinke this cup, yee doe shew the Lords death till he come.
27 Wherefore, whosoeuer shall eate this bread, and drinke this cup of the Lord vnworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himselfe, and so let him eate of that bread, and drinke of that cup.
29 For hee that eateth and drinketh vnworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himselfe, not discerning the Lords body.
30 For this cause many are weake and sickly among you, and many sleepe.
31 For if we would iudge our selues, we should not be iudged.
32 But when we are iudged, we are chastened of the Lord, that wee should not be condemned with the world.
33 Wherefore my brethren, when ye come together to eate, tary one for another.
34 And if any man hunger, let him eate at home, that ye come not together vnto condemnation. And the rest wil I set in order, when I come.

So how do we eat or drink unworthily? One way seems to be to drink and eat so much communion that it fills the empty stomach [34].

And we eat and drink it indeed, when we believe stedfastly that he died for the remission of our sins." - William Tyndale

I believe also that people eat it in unworthily if they believe that they with their own righteousness can add to the cross work of Christ. Its blasphemy to what Jesus Christ did on the cross to believe that we need to add our own righteousness to it in order to enter heaven. Salvation is completely by what Jesus Christ did on the cross. So believing the gospel is how we do not take the bread and wine unworthily.

Wycliffe quotes

Some quotes from John Wycliffe below.

“The nature of the bread is not destroyed by what is done by the priest, it is only elevated so as to become a substance more honored. The bread while becoming by virtue of Christ’s words the body of Christ does not cease to be bread. When it has become sacramentally the body of Christ, it remains bread substantially.” John Wycliffe

Its all by faith that we receive the communion.

“Nobody on earth is able to see Christ in the consecrated Host with the bodily eye, but by faith.” John Wycliffe.

Footnotes