By Pastor Joseph Prince
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1 Corinthians 11:26
26For as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He
comes.
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In the Old Testament,
whenever the children of Israel sacrificed a lamb for a burnt offering as
they faced a strong enemy, victory was theirs. For example, in 1 Samuel
7:7–11, when the Philistines were coming against them, the prophet Samuel
offered a lamb as a burnt offering. As it was being offered, the Lord came
like a loud thunder on the Philistine army, confusing them. This led to
victory for the Israelites.
Every time something
bad happened to the children of Israel, by offering a lamb sacrifice, they
were proclaiming the Lord’s death, and the battle would turn in their favor.
Today, when we are
faced with an enemy, how do we offer our “burnt offering”? How do we proclaim
the Lord’s death and come out victorious? Do we ask Jesus to come down to
where we are at and die on the cross all over again?
Of course not. Jesus
died once for all our sins — past, present and future. (Hebrews
10:12) His work is perfectly perfect and completely complete, so He doesn’t
have to die for us again. Today, we proclaim His death simply by partaking of
the Lord’s Supper.
Every time you partake
of the bread and wine, you declare to the principalities and powers of
darkness that the Lord’s death avails for you. Every time you partake, you
are saying that because Jesus has been judged and punished in your place, you
cannot be judged and punished. Because Jesus died young in your place, you
will live long. And because He conquered death and stripped the devil of his
powers, you will not be defeated. The victory is already yours!
That is why the
psalmist David said, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies…” (Psalm 23:5) The Lord’s table is prepared for you in the presence
of your enemies because when you partake of the bread and wine, you will see
your enemies tremble and scatter! Why? Because when you proclaim the Lord’s
death through the Holy Communion, you are reminding the devil and his cohorts
of their humiliating defeat at Calvary’s cross! (Colossians 2:15)
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