Table of the Lord V
Death Cancellation, Part 2
Greetings and Salutations!
I'd intended to get this Coffee Break out earlier, but here it is the 25th and the date of the expected massive Islamic prayer vigil.
Your prayers have paid dividends. The news media reported that somewhere between a thousand and 3,000 people gathered on the lawn in front of the Capital. That's a tiny fraction of the organizers' expected assemblage of 50,000-plus. The Washington Post editorialized that most of the anticipated "pray-ers" stayed away because they feared a Christian backlash, or that they were simply afraid of a confrontation with Christians. Interesting, huh? "Afraid of a confrontation with Christians?" What does that tell you about their confidence in their god, Allah? Hmmmm.... Come to think of it the prophets of Baal had to acknowledge that "The Lord, He is God!" when Elijah confronted them and fire fell from Heaven. Since Allah is a modern incarnation of Baal, that spirit has good reason to be afraid of confrontation.
We've been participating here at River Worship Center in a conference in Spokane (by streaming video) hosted by Cal Pierce and the Healing Rooms. Bill Johnson was sharing last night and made the statement that we all needed to be praying for a real visitation of the Lord in the midst of this Muslim gathering. We did just that! More than that, we prayed that the wind of the Spirit would blow through their midst with a revelation of the Lord Jesus. I'm sure that we'll receive many reports like this, but Beni Johnson (Bill's wife) shared a live report this morning from some people she knew who were just leading some of the Muslims who did attend this event to the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God! Our united prayers are paying dividends!
(September 29) I've mostly been offline for the past few weeks because of an incredibly busy schedule. Della has been canning fruits and vegetables, doing dried apple chips and all that, and we've been picking several hundreds of pounds of apples. There's more ahead during the next week or so, but things should begin to slow down. We'll harvest some Concord grapes later this week and I'll help Della do her annual juicing. From just one vine, we get enough real grape juice to last through most of the year. I can promise you that this kind of grape juice is not the watered-down variety you buy in the stores. This stuff is powerful. We frequently use this for Communion.
Anyway, on with the day. Coffee's on. Both the French Press and the Expresso machine are full. If you're in the area, stop by and have a cup! Kathryn King Marquis was talking a couple days ago about a coffee she's been buying called "Freakin' Good Coffee." Comes from a Canadian company (http://www.equator.ca/). Haven't had a chance to try this coffee out yet, but I will. I'll give you my "educated taste-bud" (grin) opinion when I do.
(By the way, while I'm talking about Kathryn, visit her website. You can find her at: http://users.bandzoogle.com/kathrynmarquis/fr_index.cfm. This lady knows how to worship!)
Once again, here's the apostle Paul's statement (and a most-misunderstood and applied statement) in Hebrews 9:27.
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
In our previous Coffee Break, I shared with you something that Jesus said (See John 6:50-51, 53) that really shook up the religious world.
"This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world ......... 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."
The life Jesus speaks of, of course, is eternal life. But there's more. There is a revelation here that people need to see. We live at a unique time in all of history -- a time when most of those now alive will see the end of this age and the beginning of the thousand-year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth -- that period often referred to as "the Millennium." Throughout the years, I've shared a very personal word from the Lord Jesus with a very few individuals, but for the first time in sixty years, I have the liberty to share it openly.
I've shared in past Coffee Breaks my early experiences of growing up with angels and seeing them on a continual -- almost daily -- basis for some three years. When I was seven years old, I awoke one morning very early to see Jesus standing at the foot of my bed. He unfolded many things before me that day -- one of which was a picture of the restoration of the nation of Israel and the ingathering of Jews from all over the world, along with the recognition among the Jews of Jesus as their Messiah.
Perhaps the most singular thing He spoke to me that day -- and one that has rung in my ears continually since (especially during times when the Enemy has tried to take me out) -- was this: "You'll never die or know death as men know death. You will be here to see my return in Glory."
When I shared it over the breakfast table with my parents later that same morning, their first reaction was, "Hmmmmm......" From that point, though, the discussion centered around the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a recognition that His return could well be within their lifetimes as well. (The Lord did come to receive them, but not after the beginning of the millennial period as they had hoped.)
Because of my parents' initial reaction to my sharing what Jesus said in spite of the fact that they overcame their natural instinct, it was obvious to me that this was not something I could freely share. Throughout the past sixty years, I've perhaps shared this with a few dozen folks at most.
Because of the somewhat confrontational nature of the realm of ministry God called me to, it seems that I've often been the focus of controversy and -- at times -- real persecution where people have tried to take me out. Then there have been the deliberate attempts of evil spirits to kill me in "accidents": car accidents, airplane crashes, fires, so-called "close calls," etc.
Della and I were just talking this morning about some angelic deliverances we've both known.
I remember a time when I was flying from Fairbanks (Alaska) to Kotzebue on a Wien Airlines Fairchild F-27. We were seriously overloaded with freight (all but a little over a dozen seats had been removed to accommodate all the freight) and the seats were full. Just past the halfway mark, we lost an engine. The pilot was unable to restart the engine and began to slowly lose altitude. Although I didn't actually see the angel(s) holding up the aircraft, I was very much aware of the fact that we were experiencing supernatural deliverance, and an angel of the Lord was holding the plane aloft. By the time we made Kotzebue, the aircraft was barely 500 feet above the ground. We all arrived safe and sound.
Then there was that time when I was driving in the Santa Cruz mountains on my way to a Teen Challenge meeting with David Wilkerson. We hit a loose patch of gravel in a turn and I lost control of the car. Screaming "JESUS! at the top of my voice as the car headed over a cliff, I heard the audible voice of the angel of the Lord as he spoke peace into my being with the words, "Nothing is going to happen to you." Sure enough, although the car was totally demolished, I walked away without so much as a scratch -- maybe a little loose glass in my hair from the broken windows.
At age 41, I dropped dead in the shower from a massive heart attack. Della was well aware of God's promise to me, and she wasn't about to put up with this. She knew it was nothing more than an attack of Satan to take me out. She dragged my body from the shower into our bedroom, heaved me up onto the bed and began to speak life back into me in the name of Jesus. About 15 minutes went by before I returned, but when I came back, the Lord had healed previous defects in my physical being and a medical doctor who gave me a thorough going-over a few days later told me I had the health of a 20-year-old.
These are but a few incidents (there are literally dozens -- a quick count tells me of some 36 separate occasions) of events like this in my life) where Satan has tried to kill me and prevent the plan of the Lord from coming to fruition. But you see, I have the specific promise of the Lord! It was and is to this day a rhema in my being that no one can take away, or talk me out of.
The Table of the Lord has become a reality to me in the sense that Jesus kept my appointment with death. I have no more appointments with death. If the Enemy tries to take me out, Jesus simply cancels out anything that he does.
One of the statements that Jesus made that same day when He was talking to His disciples about eating and drinking of Him was this: "And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40)
Now I know this verse has more applications than this one, but are you seeing how it was applied in my life when the Enemy sought to take me out? Jesus has the last Word! He has the final say. Satan thought he snuffed out my life and successfully thwarted God's promise to me. But it didn't work. Yes, Della spoke the Word that brought me back from the dead, but it was the Word -- the Lord Jesus Christ -- who had the final say. He raised me up "at the last day." I know that's not how we normally view Jesus' statement, but the essence of what He is saying is that He has the final Word; He has the final say in the matter. The curse of death has been broken. We just have to believe it!
There's another application I'd like for you to consider.
Every sickness, every disease, every infirmity and every pain is rooted and founded in the death process. Although our bodies were designed to replenish every cell every seven years, the curse of death means that not all cells are replenished or replaced. There is a dying process taking place. Every sickness derives its existence from the imbalance that occurs when certain cells in our body fail to rejuvenate or replace. Every infirmity gains its existence when muscle cells, tendon cells, joint-lubrication cells (or some other set of cells) become damaged or fail to rejuvenate.
All of them are based in death and in the curse of death. Yet there is a revelation that takes place at the Table of the Lord that God's people need to receive. Jesus made clear the fact that when we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, we eat and drink of eternal life. Jesus IS the Bread of Life. But He is more than that!
Think about what Jesus said (See Luke 24:38-39) when He appeared to the disciples following His resurrection. "And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."
WHAT? What did He just say? "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Why didn't He say, "a spirit hath not flesh and blood?" Because the life that was in Him following the resurrection was not blood any longer: it was spirit! That is how the apostle Paul could say the following:
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)
Get it? The life that now exhibited in Jesus was the life of the Spirit. And now we have an understanding of why the Table of the Lord and Water Baptism were the only two commandments that Jesus gave. The two ordinances exhibit the same thing!
With the Table of the Lord, we eat of the Word of Life in Christ Jesus and drink of the Spirit. With Water Baptism, we show to demonic principalities and demonic powers that the flesh they once had access to is now dead. That which comes forth out of the water is a resurrected person, raised to new life in Christ Jesus, resurrected from the dead by the Spirit. The life that we now live is by the Spirit -- NOT the flesh and blood.
If Christians could just get this revelation, it would radically transform the way they think and the way they live. Folks, as believers in Christ, we are free from the Law of Sin and Death. Jesus kept our appointment with death.
The problem in today's world is that we are programmed continually with the necessity to protect ourselves from death, from premature death, from "accidents" and a whole host of sicknesses and diseases. It's a funny thing, but I've lived most of my life without life insurance or health insurance. When I worked for the television networks (FOX, NBC, Telemundo, etc.) they provided me with some pretty spendy life insurance and health insurance. Honestly, the only time I've ever really gotten sick to the place where I was out of commission for several days (and once for a couple of weeks) was when I had health insurance.
Maybe you've never thought of it like this, but you gamble every time you purchase life or health insurance. The insurance company makes you pay them to gamble. They gamble that you are not going to get sick, and you gamble that you will. They gamble that you won't die prematurely, and you gamble that you will. Insurance companies make billions of dollars every year from people who gamble that they will lose their home, their automobile, their health, their life, or whatever. The medical industry makes billions of dollars from people who -- because they believe they are subject to disease, sickness and infirmity -- gladly pay out their life's earnings in order to gain or preserve what Jesus freely provides at His Table.
Is there something wrong with this picture? YES!!! God's people are supposed to be the picture of life and health and strength and vitality. It has been provided by and through the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf. Why are Christians today suffering from heart attacks? Why are Christians suffering from tumors, from cancer, from stress, from nervous conditions, from every disease known to man?
The simple answer is that most do not have a revelation of the Table of the Lord. Most "believers" don't realize that the thief (and, brother, is he ever a thief!) is stealing what Jesus freely provides. This is why Della and I have come to the place where there is not a day that goes by without our partaking of the Table of the Lord. We do so with the understanding that each time we eat of the Bread of Life, we eat of the health, the vitality, the wholeness and the provision that Jesus has in His very Being! Each time we drink of the Cup, we drink of the Cup of Life that Jesus offers.
When Paul was writing to the Christians in Corinth, he reminded them of what Jesus said (I Corinthians 11:24-25), "Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me." Jesus also said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."
Are we doing this in remembrance of Jesus hanging on the Cross? Are we doing this in remembrance of Jesus shedding His blood? Nope! And yet, we do to a certain extent. The remembrance is not the Cross, nor the blood that was shed as much as what Jesus accomplished by His sacrifice. The real picture is that a new covenant was made for us -- a covenant between the Lord and us -- a covenant of total provision, a covenant of death cancellation, a covenant of health and life, a covenant that provides complete healing when Satan seeks to steal from us our health, a covenant that replaces whatever provision Satan has stolen from us in an effort to keep us in poverty and continual need.
But this covenant requires something of us. It requires believing that Jesus is a covenant-keeping God, that He will give us and do for us exactly what He said He would! Satan has sold much of the body of Christ the lie that sickness is the will of God for us. How insane is that? He has also sold many Christians the lie that a life of poverty and need is true humility, and that it is more "spiritual" to have barely enough, or not quite enough, than to have an abundance of resources. Brother! What a lie! What a canard!
But this revelation of the Table of the Lord grows even more once we begin to understand the significance of Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 53) as it relates to eating and drinking of the Lord.
That's where we'll go next. There's more to this revelation, lots more!!!
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
Be blessed!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com/.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: THE TABLE OF THE LORD IV
DEATH CANCELLATION
Greetings, Salutations and Solutions!
Continuing with the pattern of beginning the past three Coffee Breaks, there is an urgent matter of prayer for believers worldwide on September 25th.
Not too long ago I became aware of what is known as the Ministers Prayer Network -- a now-international prayer movement that originally began in Nigeria in 1995 and began to spread around the globe. This is a non-denominational, trans-denominational group of ministers and church leaders spanning virtually every type of Christian ministry who come together without walls and divisions for the purpose of growing the Kingdom of God.
As founding pastor, Mosy U. Madugba, notes: "The aims and objectives of MPN are to create a forum for prayers and biblical leadership development, devoid of any ostensive, ceremonial and religious atmosphere. The later only breeds religious growth without deep convictions and commitment to God. MPN was therefore born to provide an avenue where ministers of the gospel can come together and speak the bare truth to themselves, and in sincerity and simplicity, rebuke, exhort and pray for one another, basically as a family of brothers and sisters, without any religious stratifications or classifications."
This past week, Pastor Madugba sent out the following notice: "On September 25th there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They say that they want America to see how they pray! A permit for this gathering was issued by Capitol Hill Police on July 28th. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM.
“The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama's inauguration speech in January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for this prayer gathering on Capitol Hill. Please fix a fast to start 12 midnight a day before and go on till 7pm when they stop. It is warfare time. Do not joke with this. If Christians fail to frustrate this game plan in the spirit, you will regret the outcome."
Please don't just wave this off thinking this is no big deal! When you begin to realize that the "Allah" the Muslims pray to is nothing more than a modern incarnation of the ancient Baal/Marduk, you begin to understand that the purpose of this prayer is to release demonic spirits over the nation's capital and to seize spiritual control of America.
If Christians stand by and do nothing, God will hold them accountable. I heartily agree with Pastor Madugba's recommendation for believers to fast for that whole day and take the spiritual authority Jesus has released to us.
America was founded specifically as a covenant nation with the Lord Jesus Christ -- as an anchor for the Gospel, a place from which the Good News of Jesus Christ could be spread worldwide. We are not -- and must never be -- a nation under Islam! Should you desire to check out Islam's goals for this nation, simply visit http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com. It will chill your blood.
Will you join Della and me in united prayer and fasting on September 25th? Together we will turn back this flood of wickedness and evil. Together we will -- through and by the Spirit of the Lord -- raise up the standard Isaiah prophesies of in Isaiah 59:19:
"So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him."
OK. On with today's discussion.
In Hebrews 9:27 Paul makes the following statement, and it is one I grew up hearing -- and misunderstanding.
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
I always read this as referring to the Great Judgment Day we would have to experience after death. We all have to die, do we not? There are two things certain in life (according to the quipsters): death and taxes.
Bahh, Humbug! What we miss is the rest of the sentence (verse 28).
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Get it? Paul is saying, "Although it is appointed unto man once to die -- and after this the judgment -- Jesus kept that appointment with death and was offered up as the sacrifice for our sins -- the same sins that carry that penalty of death."
Remember what Jesus said to the crowds that followed Him after He fed the 5,000?
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world ......... 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." (John 6:47-51, 53)
Let's backtrack a little. What was it that God spoke to Adam when He set him in the Garden of Eden?
"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)
There's a lot of commentary I could make on this event, but I'll hold off on it -- at least for now. The point here is that Adam and Eve did eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The partaking of that fruit introduced death into the human race. Adam and Eve were never designed to die. They were designed to live forever -- just like God! They had no appointment with death at all! The command to NOT eat of that tree was a warning that their lives would have a termination point if they did eat.
Every human being born from that day (the day they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) forward had an appointment with death. It became part of the human genome. It was a curse that came upon the human race; and it was part of the curse of the Law -- the law of sin and death.
Writing to the Romans Paul said, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)
This is a real revelation from the Holy Spirit. If you aren't seeing it yet, ask the Holy Spirit to unfold this to you. It will change your entire perspective of what happened at the Cross.
Jesus kept our appointment with death, folks! This is a part of the revelation of the Table of the Lord. When we eat of the Table we eat of the Lord; and Jesus made it clear that when we eat of Him, we eat eternal life. Let's see if I can explain it like this.
Every disease, every infirmity, every sickness, every virus, every weakness that comes into or upon our flesh is a product of some part of our body -- some cell or set of cells -- dying. As we've already said, Adam wasn't designed to die. Eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil brought upon mankind the HIV of the human spirit. That HIV of the spirit resulted in an immediate reaction within human flesh.
Why? How?
When Paul was writing to the Ekklesia in Thessalonica, he said, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thessalonians 5:23)
Notice the way he phrased this: "your whole spirit and soul and body." We are first and foremost spirit beings. Our spirits never die. We are secondarily soul. Our soul is our identity, our thought processes, our mind, our character and personality. We are lastly physical bodies. If our spirit becomes contaminated it affects our soul. If our soul is affected, it alters the way we think, and the way we speak. Whatever we speak -- because we are primarily spirit beings dwelling in shells of flesh and blood -- it has a direct bearing our physical well being.
Proverbs 23:7 tells us that "As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he."
When we allow the Spirit of God to superintend our spirit, there is a natural -- and spiritually logical (if I can express it like that) chain of circumstances that follows. When we trust our knowledge and wisdom and understanding over and above what God has said and is saying, there are spiritual consequences that follow.
Follow me down a spiritual path for a minute.
It takes faith to accept and receive our salvation through Jesus Christ. When we trust in, rely on and believe that Jesus paid the price for our sin with His suffering, His death, and His resurrection, our spirits respond to that faith. Faith works by love -- agape love. It was the agape love of Jesus that brought Him to earth and impelled Him to redeem us from the curse.
But redemption from the curse was inclusive of a whole lot more than salvation from sin. "Salvation" has been sold down the river and cheapened into only "saved from sin" when in fact "saved" is only a tiny part of what Jesus accomplished.
We get our word "saved" from the Greek sozo (pronounced sodzo), which means: to save, to heal, to deliver, to make whole, to protect, to preserve, to restore to completeness. One Greek commentator put it like this: "to return to the state or condition that existed (in the Garden of Eden) before the fall of man."
Jesus' very name in the Hebrew, "Yeshua," means: salvation, deliverance, aid, victory, prosperity, health, welfare, wholeness.
So what was Adam's condition in the Garden before the fall? He was in perfect health. There was no death in him of any kind. He wasn't designed to die. After all, he was made in the image of God -- and as we know, God never dies. He always was, He is, and He will always be. He is the personification of eternity.
That's how Adam was created. [In our next Coffee Break, I'll try to demonstrate for you from Scripture that Adam lived in the Garden, walking and talking with God for some 2,000 years prior to the fall.] Whether you accept that argument -- or simply believe that Adam ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on the third 24-hour day of his existence and then lived for 930 years, dying slowly until death took him -- doesn't really matter.
Adam -- and all the generations that lived prior to the Flood -- lived for the better part of a thousand years after the fall! Sin corrupted the whole environment of the earth and shortened man's lifespan in such a way that, with a few exceptions, most people never even made it to a hundred years of age.
Redemption from sin also included redemption from death, sickness, dying, weakness and infirmity; and -- for those that die, resurrection to eternal life. This is a phenomenal revelation if you can grasp it. Redemption from the curse also incorporates -- for women -- redemption from pain in childbearing; and Della and I know a number of women who have been able to receive this revelation by faith and take advantage of it. Redemption, as well, provides redemption from poverty and the restoration of prosperity. Once again, this is a revelation that folks must grasp and receive by faith in order to walk in.
Are you beginning to get the picture? "Salvation" is a huge package! For folks who limit it to redemption from the penalty for sin, they miss out on living a dimension of life here and now that Jesus intended so that the Father would receive glory. Cancellation of death -- in the here and now -- is part of the package. This is a revelation that many folks are just beginning to get a handle on.
Let me ask you something. It takes faith to accept and receive the salvation that Jesus provided -- and provides -- by His grace. Fact is, the faith that gets activated when one receives salvation from the penalty for sin is Jesus' faith.
When you read Mark 11:22 in the Greek text (rather than the KJV or other English translations) it renders more accurately to "Have [or possess] the faith of God." Or, we can read it, "Have God's faith."
The apostle Paul affirms this in Ephesians 2:8 when he writes, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
Because of the way this comes out in the majority of our English translations, one tends to read it that Paul is saying that grace is the gift of God, but when you read it in Greek it is obvious that both grace and faith -- together -- are God's gift to us. We cannot receive God's grace without faith -- His faith -- and correspondingly, we cannot receive God's faith without having His grace. The two are inseparably linked together because of agape love.
Writing to the Ekklesia in Galatia, Paul notes that faith is energized (worketh, KJV), empowered and made effective by agape. (See Galatians 5:6)
That is the kind of faith which must be operational for us to receive the revelation of death cancellation. It's the same kind of faith that operates when we receive our healing. It's the same kind of faith that functions when we receive deliverance from evil spirits. It's the same kind of faith that works when we leave the poverty mindset and begin to think abundance.
Jesus came to bring us abundant LIFE! He came to keep our appointment with death so that we don't have to die! Are you seeing it yet?
That's where we'll quit for today. There's more to this revelation, and I'll share it with you in our next Coffee Break.
See you soon.
The Lord has set a table before us that is fit for kings and priests -- and we are both in Him! We have a feast set before us designed to help us function as kings who rule and reign, and priests who worship and come before God's presence in boldness and joy.
Be blessed!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
Greetings, Salutations and Solutions!
Continuing with the pattern of beginning the past three Coffee Breaks, there is an urgent matter of prayer for believers worldwide on September 25th.
Not too long ago I became aware of what is known as the Ministers Prayer Network -- a now-international prayer movement that originally began in Nigeria in 1995 and began to spread around the globe. This is a non-denominational, trans-denominational group of ministers and church leaders spanning virtually every type of Christian ministry who come together without walls and divisions for the purpose of growing the Kingdom of God.
As founding pastor, Mosy U. Madugba, notes: "The aims and objectives of MPN are to create a forum for prayers and biblical leadership development, devoid of any ostensive, ceremonial and religious atmosphere. The later only breeds religious growth without deep convictions and commitment to God. MPN was therefore born to provide an avenue where ministers of the gospel can come together and speak the bare truth to themselves, and in sincerity and simplicity, rebuke, exhort and pray for one another, basically as a family of brothers and sisters, without any religious stratifications or classifications."
This past week, Pastor Madugba sent out the following notice: "On September 25th there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They say that they want America to see how they pray! A permit for this gathering was issued by Capitol Hill Police on July 28th. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM.
“The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama's inauguration speech in January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for this prayer gathering on Capitol Hill. Please fix a fast to start 12 midnight a day before and go on till 7pm when they stop. It is warfare time. Do not joke with this. If Christians fail to frustrate this game plan in the spirit, you will regret the outcome."
Please don't just wave this off thinking this is no big deal! When you begin to realize that the "Allah" the Muslims pray to is nothing more than a modern incarnation of the ancient Baal/Marduk, you begin to understand that the purpose of this prayer is to release demonic spirits over the nation's capital and to seize spiritual control of America.
If Christians stand by and do nothing, God will hold them accountable. I heartily agree with Pastor Madugba's recommendation for believers to fast for that whole day and take the spiritual authority Jesus has released to us.
America was founded specifically as a covenant nation with the Lord Jesus Christ -- as an anchor for the Gospel, a place from which the Good News of Jesus Christ could be spread worldwide. We are not -- and must never be -- a nation under Islam! Should you desire to check out Islam's goals for this nation, simply visit http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com. It will chill your blood.
Will you join Della and me in united prayer and fasting on September 25th? Together we will turn back this flood of wickedness and evil. Together we will -- through and by the Spirit of the Lord -- raise up the standard Isaiah prophesies of in Isaiah 59:19:
"So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him."
OK. On with today's discussion.
In Hebrews 9:27 Paul makes the following statement, and it is one I grew up hearing -- and misunderstanding.
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
I always read this as referring to the Great Judgment Day we would have to experience after death. We all have to die, do we not? There are two things certain in life (according to the quipsters): death and taxes.
Bahh, Humbug! What we miss is the rest of the sentence (verse 28).
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Get it? Paul is saying, "Although it is appointed unto man once to die -- and after this the judgment -- Jesus kept that appointment with death and was offered up as the sacrifice for our sins -- the same sins that carry that penalty of death."
Remember what Jesus said to the crowds that followed Him after He fed the 5,000?
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world ......... 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." (John 6:47-51, 53)
Let's backtrack a little. What was it that God spoke to Adam when He set him in the Garden of Eden?
"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)
There's a lot of commentary I could make on this event, but I'll hold off on it -- at least for now. The point here is that Adam and Eve did eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The partaking of that fruit introduced death into the human race. Adam and Eve were never designed to die. They were designed to live forever -- just like God! They had no appointment with death at all! The command to NOT eat of that tree was a warning that their lives would have a termination point if they did eat.
Every human being born from that day (the day they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) forward had an appointment with death. It became part of the human genome. It was a curse that came upon the human race; and it was part of the curse of the Law -- the law of sin and death.
Writing to the Romans Paul said, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)
This is a real revelation from the Holy Spirit. If you aren't seeing it yet, ask the Holy Spirit to unfold this to you. It will change your entire perspective of what happened at the Cross.
Jesus kept our appointment with death, folks! This is a part of the revelation of the Table of the Lord. When we eat of the Table we eat of the Lord; and Jesus made it clear that when we eat of Him, we eat eternal life. Let's see if I can explain it like this.
Every disease, every infirmity, every sickness, every virus, every weakness that comes into or upon our flesh is a product of some part of our body -- some cell or set of cells -- dying. As we've already said, Adam wasn't designed to die. Eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil brought upon mankind the HIV of the human spirit. That HIV of the spirit resulted in an immediate reaction within human flesh.
Why? How?
When Paul was writing to the Ekklesia in Thessalonica, he said, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thessalonians 5:23)
Notice the way he phrased this: "your whole spirit and soul and body." We are first and foremost spirit beings. Our spirits never die. We are secondarily soul. Our soul is our identity, our thought processes, our mind, our character and personality. We are lastly physical bodies. If our spirit becomes contaminated it affects our soul. If our soul is affected, it alters the way we think, and the way we speak. Whatever we speak -- because we are primarily spirit beings dwelling in shells of flesh and blood -- it has a direct bearing our physical well being.
Proverbs 23:7 tells us that "As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he."
When we allow the Spirit of God to superintend our spirit, there is a natural -- and spiritually logical (if I can express it like that) chain of circumstances that follows. When we trust our knowledge and wisdom and understanding over and above what God has said and is saying, there are spiritual consequences that follow.
Follow me down a spiritual path for a minute.
It takes faith to accept and receive our salvation through Jesus Christ. When we trust in, rely on and believe that Jesus paid the price for our sin with His suffering, His death, and His resurrection, our spirits respond to that faith. Faith works by love -- agape love. It was the agape love of Jesus that brought Him to earth and impelled Him to redeem us from the curse.
But redemption from the curse was inclusive of a whole lot more than salvation from sin. "Salvation" has been sold down the river and cheapened into only "saved from sin" when in fact "saved" is only a tiny part of what Jesus accomplished.
We get our word "saved" from the Greek sozo (pronounced sodzo), which means: to save, to heal, to deliver, to make whole, to protect, to preserve, to restore to completeness. One Greek commentator put it like this: "to return to the state or condition that existed (in the Garden of Eden) before the fall of man."
Jesus' very name in the Hebrew, "Yeshua," means: salvation, deliverance, aid, victory, prosperity, health, welfare, wholeness.
So what was Adam's condition in the Garden before the fall? He was in perfect health. There was no death in him of any kind. He wasn't designed to die. After all, he was made in the image of God -- and as we know, God never dies. He always was, He is, and He will always be. He is the personification of eternity.
That's how Adam was created. [In our next Coffee Break, I'll try to demonstrate for you from Scripture that Adam lived in the Garden, walking and talking with God for some 2,000 years prior to the fall.] Whether you accept that argument -- or simply believe that Adam ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on the third 24-hour day of his existence and then lived for 930 years, dying slowly until death took him -- doesn't really matter.
Adam -- and all the generations that lived prior to the Flood -- lived for the better part of a thousand years after the fall! Sin corrupted the whole environment of the earth and shortened man's lifespan in such a way that, with a few exceptions, most people never even made it to a hundred years of age.
Redemption from sin also included redemption from death, sickness, dying, weakness and infirmity; and -- for those that die, resurrection to eternal life. This is a phenomenal revelation if you can grasp it. Redemption from the curse also incorporates -- for women -- redemption from pain in childbearing; and Della and I know a number of women who have been able to receive this revelation by faith and take advantage of it. Redemption, as well, provides redemption from poverty and the restoration of prosperity. Once again, this is a revelation that folks must grasp and receive by faith in order to walk in.
Are you beginning to get the picture? "Salvation" is a huge package! For folks who limit it to redemption from the penalty for sin, they miss out on living a dimension of life here and now that Jesus intended so that the Father would receive glory. Cancellation of death -- in the here and now -- is part of the package. This is a revelation that many folks are just beginning to get a handle on.
Let me ask you something. It takes faith to accept and receive the salvation that Jesus provided -- and provides -- by His grace. Fact is, the faith that gets activated when one receives salvation from the penalty for sin is Jesus' faith.
When you read Mark 11:22 in the Greek text (rather than the KJV or other English translations) it renders more accurately to "Have [or possess] the faith of God." Or, we can read it, "Have God's faith."
The apostle Paul affirms this in Ephesians 2:8 when he writes, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
Because of the way this comes out in the majority of our English translations, one tends to read it that Paul is saying that grace is the gift of God, but when you read it in Greek it is obvious that both grace and faith -- together -- are God's gift to us. We cannot receive God's grace without faith -- His faith -- and correspondingly, we cannot receive God's faith without having His grace. The two are inseparably linked together because of agape love.
Writing to the Ekklesia in Galatia, Paul notes that faith is energized (worketh, KJV), empowered and made effective by agape. (See Galatians 5:6)
That is the kind of faith which must be operational for us to receive the revelation of death cancellation. It's the same kind of faith that operates when we receive our healing. It's the same kind of faith that functions when we receive deliverance from evil spirits. It's the same kind of faith that works when we leave the poverty mindset and begin to think abundance.
Jesus came to bring us abundant LIFE! He came to keep our appointment with death so that we don't have to die! Are you seeing it yet?
That's where we'll quit for today. There's more to this revelation, and I'll share it with you in our next Coffee Break.
See you soon.
The Lord has set a table before us that is fit for kings and priests -- and we are both in Him! We have a feast set before us designed to help us function as kings who rule and reign, and priests who worship and come before God's presence in boldness and joy.
Be blessed!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: THE TABLE OF THE LORD III
THE TABLE OF THE LORD III
The Original Covenant of the Table, Part 3
And a Great Gettin' Up Mornin' to you this fine day! I may sound like a broken record sometimes, but this IS the Best Day of Your Life!
Yup! It really is!
As we've already commented in the previous posts, Della and I have been actively praying and interceding over the nation with other brothers and sisters in the Lord each morning, and of course, over this region in which we live. During the past week, the emphasis in prayer has been in the nation's educational system. We have been lifting educators (school principals, superintendents, teachers, college and university professors, school boards, etc.) before the Lord in prayer, asking God to move with the wind of His Spirit to bring change -- real change, Godly change! Twice during the past week, we have received visions of remarkable events happening in our schools.
As many of you well know, the ACLU has been actively warring in our courts against educators and schools where the name of the Lord Jesus Christ -- or even simply Scriptures -- are mentioned or named. This is a spiritual battle that has been being waged. We don't waste our time praying against individuals or naming them in our prayers. Rather, we target the demonic forces and principalities, the rulers of the darkness that pervades our education system. When attorneys who work for the ACLU or other similar organizations become involved in lawsuits against teachers -- and even more recently some students -- these attorneys are nothing more than puppets whose strings are being pulled by wicked spirits out to remove every vestige of the Word of God or the name of Jesus from public education and the public conversation.
It is silliness run amuck to pray against these attorneys because they are not the driving force behind this effort. If you want to deal with a problem you go to the causal force and remove it. The rest of the problem will go away when you deal with the cause. Our problems are not with people: they are with demonic forces that deceive people, making those people nothing more than pawns.
That said, I had a waking vision one morning last week in which I saw a group of young children -- perhaps second or third-graders -- in a courtroom sitting behind their teacher who was on trial for quoting Scripture and mentioning the name of the Lord Jesus in class. The ACLU attorney who was pushing this case was standing behind his desk ranting and raving about the "unconstitutionality" and the "danger to the minds" of the young students. This attorney was really worked up, in a sweat, and waving his hands. A young girl of perhaps seven or eight years of age quietly got up out of her seat some two or three rows back and walked through the swinging doors of the barrier between the attorneys and the folks in the courtroom. This young girl was so filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that she carried the peace of God with each step.
The attorney was oblivious to her and didn't realize what was happening until she quietly touched him on the back. The power of God hit that man and he stopped mid-sentence and began to weep. The young girl just looked up at him and said, "It's OK, Sir. You just didn't know Jesus!" The court proceedings stopped instantly, and within short order the case was dismissed.
This morning a second vision took place. This time I was given a peek into different public schools -- primary, middle, secondary and even post-secondary institutions -- where students filled the halls. They were praying for each other, miracles of healing and deliverance were taking place, teachers were being saved and the Holy Spirit was literally blowing through the classrooms and hallways with the winds of change and deliverance.
These were visions, of course, but they gave real impetus and direction to our intercession. The Holy Spirit gives us these visions in order to direct our prayers and intercession. If God's people will wake up and begin to pray in agreement with the heart of the Lord as the Holy Spirit is showing us, the day will shortly come when we won't have to fight battles in courtrooms. We won't have to face off against specious arguments that are spiritual at their core. The catch is that believers are going to have to understand that -- as Jesus made clear -- "All authority in heaven and in earth" has been given to us by the commissioning from the Lord. We simply have to use that authority in agreement with what the Holy Spirit is directing at the moment. When Jesus commanded us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," this is exactly what He meant.
Understand? Good! Then let's refocus our prayers and begin to target the real enemy -- NOT people!
Coffee's on. Pour yourself a cup and pull up a chair. Della made some cinnamon buns (vitamins, you know!) on Saturday, and they go great with this dark-roasted Columbian.
In Part 1 of this series we mentioned Melchizedek's visit to Abraham following his spectacular military victory over the armies of Chedorlaomer, Amraphel, Arioch and Tidal. It is recorded like this in Genesis 14:
"And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all."
Ever wonder why Melchizedek came out with bread and wine? Why do we not see this picture earlier in Scripture? The quick and simple answer is that this is the first time we see God making a covenant with a man. We do have an earlier covenant mentioned, but it was a covenant with the human race (See Genesis 9:8-17) not to ever destroy the earth again by a flood. That was different entirely in nature. Whenever a covenant was struck or "cut" (as the term goes in Hebrew: beriyth) that term -- to "cut covenant" -- always denoted a cutting of the flesh (almost always the right hand) so that blood would run. It therefore became a "blood covenant." The blood of both parties to the covenant would be mingled together making them "blood brothers."
Not until the Nephilim appeared on the earth (the seed of the fallen angels mingled with the human race) (This is a topic for future discussion, but one we won't get into in this series.) contaminating the Law of God, which was written in the hearts of men, do we see any evidence of covenants where men would drink each other's blood mingled with wine. God's people were forever forbidden to drink blood. Consider first the command given to Israel under the Mosaic Law, and then we will look a a prophetic word that Jacob gave concerning the coming Messiah.
"And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off." (Leviticus 17:10-14)
Notice two things in this passage: First, the command NOT to eat (or drink) blood is based on the fact that "the life of the flesh is in the blood." Secondly, the command is predicated on the Law of God that "it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." We'll come back to this picture in a minute, but let's take a look at Jacob's prophecy.
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk." (Genesis 49:10-12)
Because of the way the Hebrew often translates into English, it isn't immediately apparent -- at least in the KJV -- but this is a prophecy concerning Jesus shedding His blood. The very fact that the cup at Jesus' table (when He ate the Last Supper with His disciples) was wine became a fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus fulfilled every single element of Jacob's prophecy. The part, however, that I'm focusing on in this instance is the wine, and the covenant nature of the cup.
There are two things we should remember concerning Melchizedek's visit to Abraham. The first is that a divine covenant was being established. The seed of Abraham would be the people of covenant. God would establish His covenant with Abraham, then make that same covenant with Isaac, and then repeat it for the third time with Jacob. This was the "threefold cord" Solomon describes in Ecclesiastes 4:12. The picture Solomon draws in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 is that of covenant, and that was the covenant God was establishing with Abraham.
The second is that which Paul describes in writing to the Hebrews. "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." (Hebrews 6:13-20)
If Jesus was a High Priest forever after the order and succession (taxis in the Greek text) of Melchizedek, then He was following the same pattern that Melchizedek established when he brought bread and wine to Abraham to signify the covenant God was making with him. Let's not forget that the apostle Paul also reminds us that,
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise." (Galatians 3:13-18)
One more Scripture will fill in the missing link to these passages.
"And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes." (I Corinthians 11:24-26 NASB)
Now are you seeing it? The Covenant was established with Abraham, confirmed in Isaac, and tripled in Jacob. The Covenant began with bread and wine through Melchizedek. Although natural Israel broke the Covenant, Jesus reinstated it, but made it available to the whole human race for "whosoever will." Paul makes abundantly clear that Jesus took the curse that came with the breaking of the Covenant so that the blessing of Abraham could be restored. Jesus became our High Priest after the arrangement and succession of Melchizedek, and at the same time offered the Covenant bread and wine as the proof that the Blessing and Covenant were again available to those who would enter into that Covenant with Jesus.
This picture gets even larger and more amplified when you see just what happened in the context of the Abrahamic Covenant through Jesus' death and resurrection, and how specifically it relates to the Table of the Lord. That'll wait for our next Coffee Break.
Before we wrap up today, however, there is one more thing you need to see. This is the primary connection between the Covenant and the Cup.
Luke 24:39 tells us what Jesus said when He appeared before His disciples following His resurrection. Pay close attention to the precise wording of what Jesus says. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Think about this!
What was Jesus when He went to the Cross? He was flesh and blood. We know from Leviticus 17:11, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls:"
When Jesus rose from the dead, the life that was in Him was not blood: it was Spirit -- that same Spirit that God initially breathed into Adam when he became a living, speaking spirit. What was it that Paul said to the Galatians about Jesus' taking the curse?
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: ......... that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
See it? The Cup was the promise of the Spirit. The wine was representative of the life of the Spirit. Paul says that as often as we "eat this bread and drink this cup" we demonstrate, declare, show and preach Jesus' death -- and thereby new life in the Spirit -- until He comes.
That's where I have to stop today. Meditate on this picture. Cogitate. And wait until you see what else Jesus accomplished and why the Table is so important to us as believers.
See you soon.
The Lord has set a table before us that is fit for kings and priests -- and we are both in Him! We have a feast set before us designed to help us function as kings who rule and reign, and priests who worship and come before God's presence in boldness and joy.
Be blessed!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
The Original Covenant of the Table, Part 3
And a Great Gettin' Up Mornin' to you this fine day! I may sound like a broken record sometimes, but this IS the Best Day of Your Life!
Yup! It really is!
As we've already commented in the previous posts, Della and I have been actively praying and interceding over the nation with other brothers and sisters in the Lord each morning, and of course, over this region in which we live. During the past week, the emphasis in prayer has been in the nation's educational system. We have been lifting educators (school principals, superintendents, teachers, college and university professors, school boards, etc.) before the Lord in prayer, asking God to move with the wind of His Spirit to bring change -- real change, Godly change! Twice during the past week, we have received visions of remarkable events happening in our schools.
As many of you well know, the ACLU has been actively warring in our courts against educators and schools where the name of the Lord Jesus Christ -- or even simply Scriptures -- are mentioned or named. This is a spiritual battle that has been being waged. We don't waste our time praying against individuals or naming them in our prayers. Rather, we target the demonic forces and principalities, the rulers of the darkness that pervades our education system. When attorneys who work for the ACLU or other similar organizations become involved in lawsuits against teachers -- and even more recently some students -- these attorneys are nothing more than puppets whose strings are being pulled by wicked spirits out to remove every vestige of the Word of God or the name of Jesus from public education and the public conversation.
It is silliness run amuck to pray against these attorneys because they are not the driving force behind this effort. If you want to deal with a problem you go to the causal force and remove it. The rest of the problem will go away when you deal with the cause. Our problems are not with people: they are with demonic forces that deceive people, making those people nothing more than pawns.
That said, I had a waking vision one morning last week in which I saw a group of young children -- perhaps second or third-graders -- in a courtroom sitting behind their teacher who was on trial for quoting Scripture and mentioning the name of the Lord Jesus in class. The ACLU attorney who was pushing this case was standing behind his desk ranting and raving about the "unconstitutionality" and the "danger to the minds" of the young students. This attorney was really worked up, in a sweat, and waving his hands. A young girl of perhaps seven or eight years of age quietly got up out of her seat some two or three rows back and walked through the swinging doors of the barrier between the attorneys and the folks in the courtroom. This young girl was so filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that she carried the peace of God with each step.
The attorney was oblivious to her and didn't realize what was happening until she quietly touched him on the back. The power of God hit that man and he stopped mid-sentence and began to weep. The young girl just looked up at him and said, "It's OK, Sir. You just didn't know Jesus!" The court proceedings stopped instantly, and within short order the case was dismissed.
This morning a second vision took place. This time I was given a peek into different public schools -- primary, middle, secondary and even post-secondary institutions -- where students filled the halls. They were praying for each other, miracles of healing and deliverance were taking place, teachers were being saved and the Holy Spirit was literally blowing through the classrooms and hallways with the winds of change and deliverance.
These were visions, of course, but they gave real impetus and direction to our intercession. The Holy Spirit gives us these visions in order to direct our prayers and intercession. If God's people will wake up and begin to pray in agreement with the heart of the Lord as the Holy Spirit is showing us, the day will shortly come when we won't have to fight battles in courtrooms. We won't have to face off against specious arguments that are spiritual at their core. The catch is that believers are going to have to understand that -- as Jesus made clear -- "All authority in heaven and in earth" has been given to us by the commissioning from the Lord. We simply have to use that authority in agreement with what the Holy Spirit is directing at the moment. When Jesus commanded us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," this is exactly what He meant.
Understand? Good! Then let's refocus our prayers and begin to target the real enemy -- NOT people!
Coffee's on. Pour yourself a cup and pull up a chair. Della made some cinnamon buns (vitamins, you know!) on Saturday, and they go great with this dark-roasted Columbian.
In Part 1 of this series we mentioned Melchizedek's visit to Abraham following his spectacular military victory over the armies of Chedorlaomer, Amraphel, Arioch and Tidal. It is recorded like this in Genesis 14:
"And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all."
Ever wonder why Melchizedek came out with bread and wine? Why do we not see this picture earlier in Scripture? The quick and simple answer is that this is the first time we see God making a covenant with a man. We do have an earlier covenant mentioned, but it was a covenant with the human race (See Genesis 9:8-17) not to ever destroy the earth again by a flood. That was different entirely in nature. Whenever a covenant was struck or "cut" (as the term goes in Hebrew: beriyth) that term -- to "cut covenant" -- always denoted a cutting of the flesh (almost always the right hand) so that blood would run. It therefore became a "blood covenant." The blood of both parties to the covenant would be mingled together making them "blood brothers."
Not until the Nephilim appeared on the earth (the seed of the fallen angels mingled with the human race) (This is a topic for future discussion, but one we won't get into in this series.) contaminating the Law of God, which was written in the hearts of men, do we see any evidence of covenants where men would drink each other's blood mingled with wine. God's people were forever forbidden to drink blood. Consider first the command given to Israel under the Mosaic Law, and then we will look a a prophetic word that Jacob gave concerning the coming Messiah.
"And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off." (Leviticus 17:10-14)
Notice two things in this passage: First, the command NOT to eat (or drink) blood is based on the fact that "the life of the flesh is in the blood." Secondly, the command is predicated on the Law of God that "it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." We'll come back to this picture in a minute, but let's take a look at Jacob's prophecy.
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk." (Genesis 49:10-12)
Because of the way the Hebrew often translates into English, it isn't immediately apparent -- at least in the KJV -- but this is a prophecy concerning Jesus shedding His blood. The very fact that the cup at Jesus' table (when He ate the Last Supper with His disciples) was wine became a fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus fulfilled every single element of Jacob's prophecy. The part, however, that I'm focusing on in this instance is the wine, and the covenant nature of the cup.
There are two things we should remember concerning Melchizedek's visit to Abraham. The first is that a divine covenant was being established. The seed of Abraham would be the people of covenant. God would establish His covenant with Abraham, then make that same covenant with Isaac, and then repeat it for the third time with Jacob. This was the "threefold cord" Solomon describes in Ecclesiastes 4:12. The picture Solomon draws in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 is that of covenant, and that was the covenant God was establishing with Abraham.
The second is that which Paul describes in writing to the Hebrews. "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." (Hebrews 6:13-20)
If Jesus was a High Priest forever after the order and succession (taxis in the Greek text) of Melchizedek, then He was following the same pattern that Melchizedek established when he brought bread and wine to Abraham to signify the covenant God was making with him. Let's not forget that the apostle Paul also reminds us that,
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise." (Galatians 3:13-18)
One more Scripture will fill in the missing link to these passages.
"And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes." (I Corinthians 11:24-26 NASB)
Now are you seeing it? The Covenant was established with Abraham, confirmed in Isaac, and tripled in Jacob. The Covenant began with bread and wine through Melchizedek. Although natural Israel broke the Covenant, Jesus reinstated it, but made it available to the whole human race for "whosoever will." Paul makes abundantly clear that Jesus took the curse that came with the breaking of the Covenant so that the blessing of Abraham could be restored. Jesus became our High Priest after the arrangement and succession of Melchizedek, and at the same time offered the Covenant bread and wine as the proof that the Blessing and Covenant were again available to those who would enter into that Covenant with Jesus.
This picture gets even larger and more amplified when you see just what happened in the context of the Abrahamic Covenant through Jesus' death and resurrection, and how specifically it relates to the Table of the Lord. That'll wait for our next Coffee Break.
Before we wrap up today, however, there is one more thing you need to see. This is the primary connection between the Covenant and the Cup.
Luke 24:39 tells us what Jesus said when He appeared before His disciples following His resurrection. Pay close attention to the precise wording of what Jesus says. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Think about this!
What was Jesus when He went to the Cross? He was flesh and blood. We know from Leviticus 17:11, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls:"
When Jesus rose from the dead, the life that was in Him was not blood: it was Spirit -- that same Spirit that God initially breathed into Adam when he became a living, speaking spirit. What was it that Paul said to the Galatians about Jesus' taking the curse?
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: ......... that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
See it? The Cup was the promise of the Spirit. The wine was representative of the life of the Spirit. Paul says that as often as we "eat this bread and drink this cup" we demonstrate, declare, show and preach Jesus' death -- and thereby new life in the Spirit -- until He comes.
That's where I have to stop today. Meditate on this picture. Cogitate. And wait until you see what else Jesus accomplished and why the Table is so important to us as believers.
See you soon.
The Lord has set a table before us that is fit for kings and priests -- and we are both in Him! We have a feast set before us designed to help us function as kings who rule and reign, and priests who worship and come before God's presence in boldness and joy.
Be blessed!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: THE TABLE OF THE LORD II
Table of the Lord II
The Original Covenant of the Table, Part 2
We've talked about our granddaughter, Jessica, (now seven years old) many times throughout the past few years and the rather spectacular things she's come out with, her experiences with the Lord, her boldness to lay hands on others and command healing, and the revelations she's had. We have another young one in our midst who is apparently coming up the same way. Rich and DeAngela Warren have been an integral part of River Worship Center for more than two years, and are worship leaders in our fellowship.
They have a grandson, Christopher, who has been living in their home for more than a year. Christopher is three years old. Periodically he talks about the angels he sees here, and sometimes asks either Rich or DeAngela to bring him over during the week because of it. (They live only two doors away from us, by the way.) Sunday a week ago, while we were in the midst of worship, he suddenly broke down and began to weep. A spirit of intercession came over him on behalf of his aunt Jessica (DeAngela's daughter). He comes over to DeAngela and asks, "Is Jessica dead?"
DeAngela's reaction was -- of course -- complete shock. "No, Christopher, she's not dead." Then it suddenly dawned that Christopher was seeing some event with impending death for his aunt and the Spirit of the Lord was moving through his being with intercession on her behalf. We stopped what we were doing and gathered around Christopher and prayed with him for Jessica. There was an immediate release in the Spirit and things settled down.
Because of our focus during the past months on the Table of the Lord and the constant revelation the Holy Spirit has been bringing, we have made it a practice each Sunday to gather around a large table as a fellowship -- both to break the Word together, and to break bread and drink of the cup. Because our fellowship is relatively small (in actual numbers) we grab a cup of coffee or tea or chocolate (or whatever), and sometimes other refreshments and bring them to the table with us as we begin to share out of the Word. We have a real family atmosphere and a bond of love and fellowship that is hard to put into words, and the smaller numbers of people make it easy to fellowship like this.
Christopher was with Della in the kitchen to get his usual cup of chocolate before heading into another room with Sandra (who teaches the children). All of a sudden he began to cry and laugh at the same time. Tears were streaming down his face as he was laughing; and this was a laughter that literally was shaking his whole being with the joy of the Lord. Again, bear in mind that Christopher is only three years old.
Della began to laugh with him and said to him, "Christopher, what's happening?" She took his hand and patted her own cheek saying, "I want some of that. Will you give me some of that?" Christopher continued laughing and crying and drew back his hand. "No, it's mine. It's mine, and I'm keeping it." Everyone laughed, but honestly it was one of those Wow! experiences. It isn't often that you see a three-year-old so under the power of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Lord so gripped him that he decided he didn't want any cookies, and he didn't want his cup of chocolate. He decided he was just going to eat and drink of the presence of the Lord. (That's my interpretation of what was happening with him. He simply lost his normal desire to eat or drink anything of this natural realm.)
And, speaking of angels, we are seeing them more and more frequently in our midst during our times of praise and worship. It is apparent that they revel in the worship and just want to join in with us. Hallelujah!
OK, we got started again without the usual greetings. So, GOOD MORNING already!
This is the best day of your life! And yes, the coffee is poured. Got both Espresso and the French Press working so there's plenty to go around.
Let's begin today with Jesus' statement that caused such consternation among the people who heard him.
"This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. ..... 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. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." (John 6:50-51, 53-58)
Then we have John's observation of Jesus:
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
Ever wonder how "the Word was made flesh" as John declares? Consider the picture that unfolds in Luke 1:26-38. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her that she is blessed and highly favored of God, and that she will conceive and bear a son who in fact will be the long-promised and prophesied Messiah. Mary does not doubt the word that she is hearing but asks, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" The angel Gabriel responds, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Bear in mind that the angel is simply a messenger of God sent with God's Word to her. Here is how -- and when -- the Word is made flesh. "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38) Get it?
Mary agrees with the Word of the Lord and speaks that agreement by saying "Be it unto me according to thy Word:" the Word of the Lord. She is effectively speaking the same creative Word that God spoke when He decreed in Genesis 1:3, "Light be" (or as the KJV reads, "Let there be light!") Thus the Word came into being instantly within her womb. Sure, she had to carry Jesus for the normal nine-month term before He was actually born but He was instantly conceived when she spoke the Word herself.
Are you beginning to get the picture? The Word, spoken by Mary in agreement with the Word of the Lord which had been delivered to her, became flesh in her womb. It was living. It was eternity, invading time and space with the reality of God Himself! Thus, the Word -- Jesus -- became flesh. And John witnesses, "and dwelt among us (and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Jesus walked and talked with His disciples. He preached to the multitudes. He broke bread with them, and He did it in a manner that would testify to them (and they would also be witness to) that He was the Word!
Consider the event that had unfolded (see John 6) just prior to Jesus' statement "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you."
"After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh." (This is an important point in view of what Jesus is about to do.)
"When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread (Note: this is roughly equivalent to seven months' wages in those days) is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
"One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand." (Note: By Hebrew tradition this number represents the married men only, not counting the unmarried men, all the wives, the women and children. The actual number of those gathered on the hillsides would have been more on the order of 20,000 - 30,000.)
"And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world."
Before we continue with the rest of this picture, let's consider some of the issues that have already been presented.
First, John makes note of the fact that the Passover was "eggus": "ready to begin, at hand." Folks were ready for the seven day period in which they would eat of the unleavened bread. They would break this bread and eat of it only -- no leavened bread at all. (Both Orthodox and Messianic Jews keep this ordinance yet today. They often refer to it as a "Seder" meal.) With the Passover meal, they would drink water -- not wine. The practice of wine with the Table of the Lord did not really commence until after Jesus turned the water into wine at the marriage of Cana in Galilee, although we see this covenant practice long before the days of Moses.
The point I'm making is that the Jews were ready to begin Passover with its unleavened flatbread (matstsah) -- symbolic of the fact that there was no leaven of Egypt in what they were eating. In a parable that Jesus later shared, He likened the Kingdom of God to leaven and said, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." (Matthew 13:33) In so doing, Jesus was clarifying the fact that the picture of leaven is that of a spiritual force -- whether for evil or for good.
In the miracle that unfolded in John 6 where Jesus fed the 5,000, as noted in the last Coffee Break, the loaves that Jesus broke and distributed were artos: raised bread, whole bread -- leavened bread. There was an impartation of His life that took place which He was demonstrating. There is a multiplying factor in His life (and we will be discussing this at length throughout this series) -- the leaven of the Kingdom of God which multiplies and causes the Word to grow and expand within us until we reach the place of being fully "raised" in Him.
Thus as the miracle of the loaves unfolded, Jesus was demonstrating what He would say to the people shortly thereafter, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
On many occasions, Jesus made statements such as the following:
"As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." (John 6:57)
"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11:25-26)
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
In his first general epistle, John writes, "For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." (I John 1:2)
The Table of the Lord -- which took the place of Passover -- provides us with a daily (or as often as we eat and drink of it) impartation of the life, the multiplication that comes in that divine life, and we receive for ourselves healing, health, wholeness, deliverance from bondage and oppression, and the abundant provision of all that Heaven has for us. Consider the event that took place when the Syrophenician woman came to Jesus.
"And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." (Matthew 15:21-28)
See the picture? Are you understanding just how powerful the bread of life really is? This woman was not even of the house of Israel. Yet she understood the significance of the Table of the Lord. She understood the picture of the Bread of Life, and she realized that just a dried-out crumb of that bread that had fallen under the Table would bring healing and deliverance to her daughter.
Brother! I sometimes marvel that the body of Christ -- who is supposed to have a grip on what it means to be seated at the Table of the Lord -- has yet to understand what it means to eat of the Bread of Life. David certainly had the picture.
Remember the 23rd Psalm?
"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." Who is preparing this table? Hello!?! The Lord Jesus Christ, of course. And what are the enemies in whose presence this Table is spread? Hmmmm ........ Let's see, now ....... Sickness, disease, infirmity, death, poverty, bondage of every kind, demonic oppression, fear, doubt, unbelief ..... shall we go on?
Yet, for the most part, the body of Christ today still treats the Table of the Lord as anaxios: to treat irreverently, to treat as commonplace and ordinary. There is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING about the Table of the Lord that is commonplace or ordinary. This is not a ritual. This is not some duty to keep. The Table of the Lord is a way of life, a manner of living. Eating of the Table of the Lord takes a person out of this time-space, sin-and-sickness-based, death-imposed realm and transports them into the eternity of eternities -- the Kingdom of God!
When we eat of the Bread of Life, we are eating of the Word Himself. But we have to do it with revelation and understanding. Otherwise it becomes just another "thing to do" as a Christian. Personally, I dislike -- no, I'll make it even stronger than that -- I detest the form and ritual that has turned our sacred Communion at the Table of the Lord into crackers or wafers and dinky little "communion cups" (so that folks don't transmit or catch some disease by drinking from a common cup).
When I was still at Long Beach Christian Center back in the 1970's, we stopped the "crackers-and-grape juice-in-communion cups" ritual and went to breaking a whole loaf of bread and drinking from a common cup or chalice. It began the transformation of my understanding of what it means to partake of the Lord's Table.
That was more than 35 years ago, and you couldn't pay me to go back to the old ritual! I've yet to see someone "catch something" by drinking of a common cup at the Table of the Lord. It just doesn't happen! That would make the Table of the Lord a lie -- and there is nothing but truth that emanates and is imparted when we eat and drink with revelation!
Wheww!!! We've just begun to scratch the surface. There's a whole lot more to go just dealing with the covenant picture of the Table. See you again in a few days.
The Lord has set a table before us that is fit for kings and priests -- and we are both in Him! We have a feast set before us designed to help us function as kings who rule and reign, and priests who worship and come before God's presence in boldness and joy.
Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
The Original Covenant of the Table, Part 2
We've talked about our granddaughter, Jessica, (now seven years old) many times throughout the past few years and the rather spectacular things she's come out with, her experiences with the Lord, her boldness to lay hands on others and command healing, and the revelations she's had. We have another young one in our midst who is apparently coming up the same way. Rich and DeAngela Warren have been an integral part of River Worship Center for more than two years, and are worship leaders in our fellowship.
They have a grandson, Christopher, who has been living in their home for more than a year. Christopher is three years old. Periodically he talks about the angels he sees here, and sometimes asks either Rich or DeAngela to bring him over during the week because of it. (They live only two doors away from us, by the way.) Sunday a week ago, while we were in the midst of worship, he suddenly broke down and began to weep. A spirit of intercession came over him on behalf of his aunt Jessica (DeAngela's daughter). He comes over to DeAngela and asks, "Is Jessica dead?"
DeAngela's reaction was -- of course -- complete shock. "No, Christopher, she's not dead." Then it suddenly dawned that Christopher was seeing some event with impending death for his aunt and the Spirit of the Lord was moving through his being with intercession on her behalf. We stopped what we were doing and gathered around Christopher and prayed with him for Jessica. There was an immediate release in the Spirit and things settled down.
Because of our focus during the past months on the Table of the Lord and the constant revelation the Holy Spirit has been bringing, we have made it a practice each Sunday to gather around a large table as a fellowship -- both to break the Word together, and to break bread and drink of the cup. Because our fellowship is relatively small (in actual numbers) we grab a cup of coffee or tea or chocolate (or whatever), and sometimes other refreshments and bring them to the table with us as we begin to share out of the Word. We have a real family atmosphere and a bond of love and fellowship that is hard to put into words, and the smaller numbers of people make it easy to fellowship like this.
Christopher was with Della in the kitchen to get his usual cup of chocolate before heading into another room with Sandra (who teaches the children). All of a sudden he began to cry and laugh at the same time. Tears were streaming down his face as he was laughing; and this was a laughter that literally was shaking his whole being with the joy of the Lord. Again, bear in mind that Christopher is only three years old.
Della began to laugh with him and said to him, "Christopher, what's happening?" She took his hand and patted her own cheek saying, "I want some of that. Will you give me some of that?" Christopher continued laughing and crying and drew back his hand. "No, it's mine. It's mine, and I'm keeping it." Everyone laughed, but honestly it was one of those Wow! experiences. It isn't often that you see a three-year-old so under the power of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Lord so gripped him that he decided he didn't want any cookies, and he didn't want his cup of chocolate. He decided he was just going to eat and drink of the presence of the Lord. (That's my interpretation of what was happening with him. He simply lost his normal desire to eat or drink anything of this natural realm.)
And, speaking of angels, we are seeing them more and more frequently in our midst during our times of praise and worship. It is apparent that they revel in the worship and just want to join in with us. Hallelujah!
OK, we got started again without the usual greetings. So, GOOD MORNING already!
This is the best day of your life! And yes, the coffee is poured. Got both Espresso and the French Press working so there's plenty to go around.
Let's begin today with Jesus' statement that caused such consternation among the people who heard him.
"This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. ..... 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. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." (John 6:50-51, 53-58)
Then we have John's observation of Jesus:
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
Ever wonder how "the Word was made flesh" as John declares? Consider the picture that unfolds in Luke 1:26-38. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her that she is blessed and highly favored of God, and that she will conceive and bear a son who in fact will be the long-promised and prophesied Messiah. Mary does not doubt the word that she is hearing but asks, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" The angel Gabriel responds, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Bear in mind that the angel is simply a messenger of God sent with God's Word to her. Here is how -- and when -- the Word is made flesh. "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38) Get it?
Mary agrees with the Word of the Lord and speaks that agreement by saying "Be it unto me according to thy Word:" the Word of the Lord. She is effectively speaking the same creative Word that God spoke when He decreed in Genesis 1:3, "Light be" (or as the KJV reads, "Let there be light!") Thus the Word came into being instantly within her womb. Sure, she had to carry Jesus for the normal nine-month term before He was actually born but He was instantly conceived when she spoke the Word herself.
Are you beginning to get the picture? The Word, spoken by Mary in agreement with the Word of the Lord which had been delivered to her, became flesh in her womb. It was living. It was eternity, invading time and space with the reality of God Himself! Thus, the Word -- Jesus -- became flesh. And John witnesses, "and dwelt among us (and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Jesus walked and talked with His disciples. He preached to the multitudes. He broke bread with them, and He did it in a manner that would testify to them (and they would also be witness to) that He was the Word!
Consider the event that had unfolded (see John 6) just prior to Jesus' statement "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you."
"After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh." (This is an important point in view of what Jesus is about to do.)
"When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread (Note: this is roughly equivalent to seven months' wages in those days) is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
"One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand." (Note: By Hebrew tradition this number represents the married men only, not counting the unmarried men, all the wives, the women and children. The actual number of those gathered on the hillsides would have been more on the order of 20,000 - 30,000.)
"And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world."
Before we continue with the rest of this picture, let's consider some of the issues that have already been presented.
First, John makes note of the fact that the Passover was "eggus": "ready to begin, at hand." Folks were ready for the seven day period in which they would eat of the unleavened bread. They would break this bread and eat of it only -- no leavened bread at all. (Both Orthodox and Messianic Jews keep this ordinance yet today. They often refer to it as a "Seder" meal.) With the Passover meal, they would drink water -- not wine. The practice of wine with the Table of the Lord did not really commence until after Jesus turned the water into wine at the marriage of Cana in Galilee, although we see this covenant practice long before the days of Moses.
The point I'm making is that the Jews were ready to begin Passover with its unleavened flatbread (matstsah) -- symbolic of the fact that there was no leaven of Egypt in what they were eating. In a parable that Jesus later shared, He likened the Kingdom of God to leaven and said, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." (Matthew 13:33) In so doing, Jesus was clarifying the fact that the picture of leaven is that of a spiritual force -- whether for evil or for good.
In the miracle that unfolded in John 6 where Jesus fed the 5,000, as noted in the last Coffee Break, the loaves that Jesus broke and distributed were artos: raised bread, whole bread -- leavened bread. There was an impartation of His life that took place which He was demonstrating. There is a multiplying factor in His life (and we will be discussing this at length throughout this series) -- the leaven of the Kingdom of God which multiplies and causes the Word to grow and expand within us until we reach the place of being fully "raised" in Him.
Thus as the miracle of the loaves unfolded, Jesus was demonstrating what He would say to the people shortly thereafter, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
On many occasions, Jesus made statements such as the following:
"As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." (John 6:57)
"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11:25-26)
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
In his first general epistle, John writes, "For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." (I John 1:2)
The Table of the Lord -- which took the place of Passover -- provides us with a daily (or as often as we eat and drink of it) impartation of the life, the multiplication that comes in that divine life, and we receive for ourselves healing, health, wholeness, deliverance from bondage and oppression, and the abundant provision of all that Heaven has for us. Consider the event that took place when the Syrophenician woman came to Jesus.
"And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." (Matthew 15:21-28)
See the picture? Are you understanding just how powerful the bread of life really is? This woman was not even of the house of Israel. Yet she understood the significance of the Table of the Lord. She understood the picture of the Bread of Life, and she realized that just a dried-out crumb of that bread that had fallen under the Table would bring healing and deliverance to her daughter.
Brother! I sometimes marvel that the body of Christ -- who is supposed to have a grip on what it means to be seated at the Table of the Lord -- has yet to understand what it means to eat of the Bread of Life. David certainly had the picture.
Remember the 23rd Psalm?
"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." Who is preparing this table? Hello!?! The Lord Jesus Christ, of course. And what are the enemies in whose presence this Table is spread? Hmmmm ........ Let's see, now ....... Sickness, disease, infirmity, death, poverty, bondage of every kind, demonic oppression, fear, doubt, unbelief ..... shall we go on?
Yet, for the most part, the body of Christ today still treats the Table of the Lord as anaxios: to treat irreverently, to treat as commonplace and ordinary. There is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING about the Table of the Lord that is commonplace or ordinary. This is not a ritual. This is not some duty to keep. The Table of the Lord is a way of life, a manner of living. Eating of the Table of the Lord takes a person out of this time-space, sin-and-sickness-based, death-imposed realm and transports them into the eternity of eternities -- the Kingdom of God!
When we eat of the Bread of Life, we are eating of the Word Himself. But we have to do it with revelation and understanding. Otherwise it becomes just another "thing to do" as a Christian. Personally, I dislike -- no, I'll make it even stronger than that -- I detest the form and ritual that has turned our sacred Communion at the Table of the Lord into crackers or wafers and dinky little "communion cups" (so that folks don't transmit or catch some disease by drinking from a common cup).
When I was still at Long Beach Christian Center back in the 1970's, we stopped the "crackers-and-grape juice-in-communion cups" ritual and went to breaking a whole loaf of bread and drinking from a common cup or chalice. It began the transformation of my understanding of what it means to partake of the Lord's Table.
That was more than 35 years ago, and you couldn't pay me to go back to the old ritual! I've yet to see someone "catch something" by drinking of a common cup at the Table of the Lord. It just doesn't happen! That would make the Table of the Lord a lie -- and there is nothing but truth that emanates and is imparted when we eat and drink with revelation!
Wheww!!! We've just begun to scratch the surface. There's a whole lot more to go just dealing with the covenant picture of the Table. See you again in a few days.
The Lord has set a table before us that is fit for kings and priests -- and we are both in Him! We have a feast set before us designed to help us function as kings who rule and reign, and priests who worship and come before God's presence in boldness and joy.
Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
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Monday, August 17, 2009
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: THE TABLE OF THE LORD I
THE TABLE OF THE LORD I
Neville Johnson is a former pastor of one of the largest churches in Australia and currently travels the world sharing foundational teaching with the body of Christ. He has a strong prophetic anointing and has a real sense of what God is doing and saying to His people now.
A couple weeks ago or so, Neville's wife had a vision of the American flag dripping in blood and puzzled over its meaning. The Lord spoke to Neville and warned of an assassination planned on Barack Obama, saying that this would result in such race riots and chaos across the country as to result in unprecedented bloodshed. He counseled believers to pray for Obama and to pray that the wind of the Spirit would sweep through the White House bringing change and agreement with God's purposes for this nation.
I agree. And that's exactly how Della and I have been praying every morning. No Spirit-filled believers whom I know feel any sense of agreement with the direction and agenda Barack Obama has been pursuing since he became President. All of us grieve over his abortion and homosexual agendas. The active pursuit of efforts to silence Christians in literally every branch of government and in the public arena flies in the face of more than 230 years of American history.
The creation of more new debt upon this nation in the first six months of the Obama administration than George W. Bush saw in all eight of his years in office has created deep concern in our financial markets. Let's face it folks. Obama was elected and put in office because of great division among Christians in this nation. Had believers been unified and listening to the Holy Spirit it could never have happened. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
You may not be familiar with a man who is becoming more and more prominent in the prophetic community by the name of Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj but he had an experience recently that is very telling. Because of the strong anti-Christian bias that has existed in India for decades, Christians all over the nation began to fast and pray over this year's elections. The body of Christ in India -- regardless of church affiliation, denomination or doctrinal bent -- began to come together to pray with one mind and one focus: that God would place in office a new Prime Minister and a government that would be pro-Christian.
Despite the fact that polls showed overwhelmingly that the party in power would be reelected, a pro-Christian government and leadership was elected for India. Sadhu began to ask the Lord if India could see such a turnaround in its elections why America couldn't have done the same and elected the McCain-Palin ticket (who, despite obvious faults and shortcomings, were decidedly in support of traditional Christian values).
God spoke to Sadhu and said, "The Christians in America were divided. Too many of them were looking at the man and the party instead of asking me what My Will was for the nation. Because of their division, I gave them Barack Obama."
Got the picture, folks? God gave us Obama -- like it or lump it! The situation is not irreversible, and America is not beyond redemption despite the chaos that reigns. There are a number of folks to whom God has given a picture of Obama having a real awakening to the Lord Jesus Christ and reversing course.
Unless Christians begin to lay down their political and partisan differences and agendas and begin to pray in agreement for the moving of God's Spirit across this nation -- and particularly throughout every branch of government -- we are dooming this nation to such chaos as cannot be imagined.
We have both the authority AND the power to effect change -- righteous change -- but unless we stop praying against Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, et al, and begin praying for a true awakening to the Lord Jesus Christ throughout every branch of government, along with the cities and towns that dot this nation, we're just participating in the same witchcraft that plagues America now. Whenever we engage in negative prayers against individuals, we are seeking to manipulate their minds and wills -- and that's witchcraft, pure and simple.
As the apostle Paul wrote, "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (I Timothy 2:1-4 -- emphasis mine)
Understand? Our prayers must be for Barack Obama, NOT against him -- and our prayers must be for his having a genuine visitation from the Lord Jesus Christ. The same applies to the Vice-President, the Cabinet, and both houses of Congress. Nothing else will bring the change this nation must have in order to avert a monumental catastrophe. There MUST be agreement in the body of Christ!
Sorry to be so windy on this instruction for prayer before we start this series, but it is something I can't get away from.
Isaiah prophesied, "So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19 KJV)
We are that standard God is raising up! God is raising up an army of prayer warriors who know Him and His heart's desire; and they are praying in His will for this nation and other nations of the earth.
Had to start that way today. Didn't mean to spend so much time on it but it's been burning in me; and I just needed to encourage you to join this army.
Anyway, GOOD, GOOD MORNING and the Blessings of the Lord to you! Coffee's on! I made coffee today using the Espresso machine. Got a triple shot of very dark-roasted French Roast in my 16-ounce cup. Mmmmm.....Hmmmm!!
Today's Coffee Break may run a bit long because of the introduction, so bear with me. For the better part of this past year, we have been sharing Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday on the Table of the Lord. Just when I think we've about gotten the full revelation of what is taking place, the Holy Spirit downloads a whole new picture. Hence, for some 40 weeks or so in succession, the Lord has peeled layer after layer after layer away so that we are seeing and hearing an entirely new (for us) and expanded dimension of this covenant act.
If you've grown up in and around the church, you've likely had pretty much the same routine I've had where we would take Communion the first Sunday of every month. Frequently you will hear the pastor or church leader say something like the following -- particularly after reading the passage of Scripture from I Corinthians 11 that reads like this:
"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." (I Corinthians 11:27-30)
You've likely heard something like this: "Now be careful! Examine yourself! If you have sin in your life, don't partake of Communion -- not until you repent and make things right with God. If you do, you could be eating sickness and death to yourself."
What gets missed in the translation is the last phrase of Paul's admonition, "not discerning the Lord's body."
Now if you were part of the Charismatic Renewal, you likely did something like I did. I would try to discipline my thoughts and imagination and try to imagine Jesus' body hanging on the Cross; and I would say, "Oh, Lord, I see you. I see you hanging on the Cross. I see your body. I see what you did for me."
Nice.......but stupid! That was NOT the body Paul was speaking of! He didn't expect us to screw up our willpower and try to imagine Jesus hanging on the Cross. That word "discerning" in the Greek text is diakrino, which means: to make a distinction, to discriminate, to separate thoroughly.
But Paul uses an interesting Greek word in the statement, "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." That word "unworthily" is translated from the Greek anaxios, which literally means: to treat irreverently, to treat as commonplace.
The use of those two words greatly affects how we understand this command. Let me explain.
When we treat the Table of the Lord as a ritual, a once-a-month event we are required to keep (and we do it as a religious duty), we've totally lost sight of what Jesus commanded, and we are treating this as "commonplace," as "ordinary." Once the Table of the Lord, or partaking of Communion becomes a religious duty and not a covenant act with revelation and understanding of what is taking place, it simply becomes "another thing to do" for us as Christians. We waste our time, we waste God's time, and....worse....our treating this Table so cavalierly results in our opening a door of opportunity to Satan to afflict us with disease, steal from us and even take our lives prematurely (more on this in a later Coffee Break).
The "discernment" Paul is speaking of refers to discerning -- understanding with true revelation -- all that Jesus' body represents at the Table. This is not eating of a wafer and drinking an ounce of grape juice. This is not crackers and juice, or a piece of bread and wine. This is the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, it is!
That said; let me take you to a few foundation scriptures that will unfold the covenant nature of the Table of the Lord.
Before I do, however, let me say something that might surprise you. Literally everything that Jesus said, every miracle He performed (that we have recorded in the Gospels), everything He demonstrated to the disciples was rooted and founded in His Table. In the coming weeks, my objective is to help you see this unfold and radically change your understanding of what takes place each time you break bread and drink of the cup.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3)
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:12-14)
"This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. .....
“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. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." (John 6:50-51, 53-58)
You may not see the foundational aspect of these Scriptures, yet, but stand by. It will become clear as we progress.
Jesus' statement caused a great stir -- both in the Jews generally, and amongst those that considered themselves His disciples (not the twelve) and followed Him. It was a statement that was designed to separate those who could only see and hear in the natural realm from those who understood the spiritual significance of what He was revealing. For those whose reference point was the Law of Moses, it created consternation and even nausea. John tells us (see John 6:66), "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." It was simply more than they could handle.
They were only seeing things through legalistic eyes. God had made some very specific and direct commands concerning the drinking of blood as we see in the following references.
"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." (Genesis 9:3-4)
"Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people." (Leviticus 7:26-27)
"And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood." (Leviticus 17:10-12)
And that's just a drop in the bucket. There are a host of Scriptures which emphasize the fact that one does not eat (or drink) blood because all life is in the blood. But Jesus wasn't talking about eating His literal flesh or drinking His literal blood. He was referring back to the prophecy all Jews should have been well aware of -- the prophecy of Passover.
I won't recount the entire portion of Scripture here that relates to the Passover (you can read it in Exodus 12), but to summarize, God was preparing to bring Israel out of centuries of bondage in Egypt and take them to the Land of Promise He had covenanted to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Egyptian Pharaoh wouldn't release the Israelites, despite the fact that God had given him sign after sign after sign, so God was going to send the Angel of Death across the land.
For Israel (living in Goshen) to be free from the death angel's power enabling him to "pass over" them, they needed to eat from a Table that God was going to prepare especially for this event. They were commanded to take a yearling lamb from their flocks, kill it, collect its blood and apply it to the lintels and doorposts of their dwelling places, roast the lamb and eat it along with cakes of unleavened bread. Once again, they were not to drink of the blood; they were to apply it to the lintels and doorposts of their homes.
God's promise to Israel was, "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." (Exodus 12:13) But it didn't stop there.
"And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
“And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever." (Exodus 12:14-17)
I can see the wheels turning for some of you. OK, so where is there a prophecy in this? you ask. Glad you asked. I can't take the time in this series to deal with all of the feasts Israel was commanded to keep, but each of these feasts -- beginning with Passover -- was a prophecy, a picture of a future event in time -- to be fulfilled by and for the coming Messiah.
Notice that this very first feast (as was every feast Israel kept) began with the eating of a specific meal. They didn't have a drink specified at this meal/table (that came later as God spelled out the various offerings to Moses) because of the specific application of the blood. However, wine was later specified in the place of blood as an offering to the Lord (Exodus 29:40) and whenever the covenant Table was kept in Israel, wine became the substitute for, and symbol of, blood.
Israel would have the picture of the Table of the Lord continually before them once the Tabernacle of Moses was established. What we know as the "Table of Shewbread" was established as a permanent part of the furnishings of Moses' Tabernacle, and God's promised provision was constantly on display as twelve prophetic loaves.
Passover was the promise of what was to come. Jesus fulfilled that promise. And just as Jesus ate of the Passover meal with the disciples on the night He was betrayed -- becoming the once-and-for-all sacrificial "Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world" (and forever completing the prophecy and picture of Passover) -- He also became the bread of provision displayed on the Table of Shewbread.
Take a quick look at Matthew 26 where we have a picture of the Last Supper. In verses 17-20 we see them eating of the unleavened bread. The Greek word which describes unleavened bread is azumos. But following the final celebration of Passover, Jesus again takes bread, and as He did when feeding the 5000 (and the 4000), he breaks it and begins to serve the disciples. (See verse 26.)
The Greek word in this instance is not azumos, but artos: raised bread. These two Greek words exactly parallel the two Hebrew words which describe both the unleavened bread (matstsah) of Passover, and the raised bread that was on display on the Table of Shewbread (lechem). Jesus became the bread of Passover, fulfilling its purpose, and the bread of provision -- the Table of Shewbread -- that He promised in Matthew 6:33 and Philippians 4:19.
Yet the Table of the Lord was actually manifested centuries before with Abraham. Remember when Melchizedek came out to greet Abraham after the slaughter of the kings' armies when he went to retrieve Lot following his capture? He came out with bread (lechem) and wine, and declared the Blessing upon Abraham.
This may seem a bit heavy, but I wanted to get these foundations laid in your understanding before we really begin to see and understand just how significant was the Table of the Lord. We should be able to resume this discussion again within a very few days.
The only way true change will come to us, then to the body of Christ and finally to the world, is when we stop setting our own agendas and begin to agree with everything God says. We must respond to what He desires to do in us -- no matter whether it crosses our doctrinal understanding or not.
Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
Neville Johnson is a former pastor of one of the largest churches in Australia and currently travels the world sharing foundational teaching with the body of Christ. He has a strong prophetic anointing and has a real sense of what God is doing and saying to His people now.
A couple weeks ago or so, Neville's wife had a vision of the American flag dripping in blood and puzzled over its meaning. The Lord spoke to Neville and warned of an assassination planned on Barack Obama, saying that this would result in such race riots and chaos across the country as to result in unprecedented bloodshed. He counseled believers to pray for Obama and to pray that the wind of the Spirit would sweep through the White House bringing change and agreement with God's purposes for this nation.
I agree. And that's exactly how Della and I have been praying every morning. No Spirit-filled believers whom I know feel any sense of agreement with the direction and agenda Barack Obama has been pursuing since he became President. All of us grieve over his abortion and homosexual agendas. The active pursuit of efforts to silence Christians in literally every branch of government and in the public arena flies in the face of more than 230 years of American history.
The creation of more new debt upon this nation in the first six months of the Obama administration than George W. Bush saw in all eight of his years in office has created deep concern in our financial markets. Let's face it folks. Obama was elected and put in office because of great division among Christians in this nation. Had believers been unified and listening to the Holy Spirit it could never have happened. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
You may not be familiar with a man who is becoming more and more prominent in the prophetic community by the name of Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj but he had an experience recently that is very telling. Because of the strong anti-Christian bias that has existed in India for decades, Christians all over the nation began to fast and pray over this year's elections. The body of Christ in India -- regardless of church affiliation, denomination or doctrinal bent -- began to come together to pray with one mind and one focus: that God would place in office a new Prime Minister and a government that would be pro-Christian.
Despite the fact that polls showed overwhelmingly that the party in power would be reelected, a pro-Christian government and leadership was elected for India. Sadhu began to ask the Lord if India could see such a turnaround in its elections why America couldn't have done the same and elected the McCain-Palin ticket (who, despite obvious faults and shortcomings, were decidedly in support of traditional Christian values).
God spoke to Sadhu and said, "The Christians in America were divided. Too many of them were looking at the man and the party instead of asking me what My Will was for the nation. Because of their division, I gave them Barack Obama."
Got the picture, folks? God gave us Obama -- like it or lump it! The situation is not irreversible, and America is not beyond redemption despite the chaos that reigns. There are a number of folks to whom God has given a picture of Obama having a real awakening to the Lord Jesus Christ and reversing course.
Unless Christians begin to lay down their political and partisan differences and agendas and begin to pray in agreement for the moving of God's Spirit across this nation -- and particularly throughout every branch of government -- we are dooming this nation to such chaos as cannot be imagined.
We have both the authority AND the power to effect change -- righteous change -- but unless we stop praying against Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, et al, and begin praying for a true awakening to the Lord Jesus Christ throughout every branch of government, along with the cities and towns that dot this nation, we're just participating in the same witchcraft that plagues America now. Whenever we engage in negative prayers against individuals, we are seeking to manipulate their minds and wills -- and that's witchcraft, pure and simple.
As the apostle Paul wrote, "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (I Timothy 2:1-4 -- emphasis mine)
Understand? Our prayers must be for Barack Obama, NOT against him -- and our prayers must be for his having a genuine visitation from the Lord Jesus Christ. The same applies to the Vice-President, the Cabinet, and both houses of Congress. Nothing else will bring the change this nation must have in order to avert a monumental catastrophe. There MUST be agreement in the body of Christ!
Sorry to be so windy on this instruction for prayer before we start this series, but it is something I can't get away from.
Isaiah prophesied, "So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19 KJV)
We are that standard God is raising up! God is raising up an army of prayer warriors who know Him and His heart's desire; and they are praying in His will for this nation and other nations of the earth.
Had to start that way today. Didn't mean to spend so much time on it but it's been burning in me; and I just needed to encourage you to join this army.
Anyway, GOOD, GOOD MORNING and the Blessings of the Lord to you! Coffee's on! I made coffee today using the Espresso machine. Got a triple shot of very dark-roasted French Roast in my 16-ounce cup. Mmmmm.....Hmmmm!!
Today's Coffee Break may run a bit long because of the introduction, so bear with me. For the better part of this past year, we have been sharing Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday on the Table of the Lord. Just when I think we've about gotten the full revelation of what is taking place, the Holy Spirit downloads a whole new picture. Hence, for some 40 weeks or so in succession, the Lord has peeled layer after layer after layer away so that we are seeing and hearing an entirely new (for us) and expanded dimension of this covenant act.
If you've grown up in and around the church, you've likely had pretty much the same routine I've had where we would take Communion the first Sunday of every month. Frequently you will hear the pastor or church leader say something like the following -- particularly after reading the passage of Scripture from I Corinthians 11 that reads like this:
"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." (I Corinthians 11:27-30)
You've likely heard something like this: "Now be careful! Examine yourself! If you have sin in your life, don't partake of Communion -- not until you repent and make things right with God. If you do, you could be eating sickness and death to yourself."
What gets missed in the translation is the last phrase of Paul's admonition, "not discerning the Lord's body."
Now if you were part of the Charismatic Renewal, you likely did something like I did. I would try to discipline my thoughts and imagination and try to imagine Jesus' body hanging on the Cross; and I would say, "Oh, Lord, I see you. I see you hanging on the Cross. I see your body. I see what you did for me."
Nice.......but stupid! That was NOT the body Paul was speaking of! He didn't expect us to screw up our willpower and try to imagine Jesus hanging on the Cross. That word "discerning" in the Greek text is diakrino, which means: to make a distinction, to discriminate, to separate thoroughly.
But Paul uses an interesting Greek word in the statement, "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." That word "unworthily" is translated from the Greek anaxios, which literally means: to treat irreverently, to treat as commonplace.
The use of those two words greatly affects how we understand this command. Let me explain.
When we treat the Table of the Lord as a ritual, a once-a-month event we are required to keep (and we do it as a religious duty), we've totally lost sight of what Jesus commanded, and we are treating this as "commonplace," as "ordinary." Once the Table of the Lord, or partaking of Communion becomes a religious duty and not a covenant act with revelation and understanding of what is taking place, it simply becomes "another thing to do" for us as Christians. We waste our time, we waste God's time, and....worse....our treating this Table so cavalierly results in our opening a door of opportunity to Satan to afflict us with disease, steal from us and even take our lives prematurely (more on this in a later Coffee Break).
The "discernment" Paul is speaking of refers to discerning -- understanding with true revelation -- all that Jesus' body represents at the Table. This is not eating of a wafer and drinking an ounce of grape juice. This is not crackers and juice, or a piece of bread and wine. This is the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, it is!
That said; let me take you to a few foundation scriptures that will unfold the covenant nature of the Table of the Lord.
Before I do, however, let me say something that might surprise you. Literally everything that Jesus said, every miracle He performed (that we have recorded in the Gospels), everything He demonstrated to the disciples was rooted and founded in His Table. In the coming weeks, my objective is to help you see this unfold and radically change your understanding of what takes place each time you break bread and drink of the cup.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3)
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:12-14)
"This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. .....
“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. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." (John 6:50-51, 53-58)
You may not see the foundational aspect of these Scriptures, yet, but stand by. It will become clear as we progress.
Jesus' statement caused a great stir -- both in the Jews generally, and amongst those that considered themselves His disciples (not the twelve) and followed Him. It was a statement that was designed to separate those who could only see and hear in the natural realm from those who understood the spiritual significance of what He was revealing. For those whose reference point was the Law of Moses, it created consternation and even nausea. John tells us (see John 6:66), "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." It was simply more than they could handle.
They were only seeing things through legalistic eyes. God had made some very specific and direct commands concerning the drinking of blood as we see in the following references.
"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." (Genesis 9:3-4)
"Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people." (Leviticus 7:26-27)
"And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood." (Leviticus 17:10-12)
And that's just a drop in the bucket. There are a host of Scriptures which emphasize the fact that one does not eat (or drink) blood because all life is in the blood. But Jesus wasn't talking about eating His literal flesh or drinking His literal blood. He was referring back to the prophecy all Jews should have been well aware of -- the prophecy of Passover.
I won't recount the entire portion of Scripture here that relates to the Passover (you can read it in Exodus 12), but to summarize, God was preparing to bring Israel out of centuries of bondage in Egypt and take them to the Land of Promise He had covenanted to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Egyptian Pharaoh wouldn't release the Israelites, despite the fact that God had given him sign after sign after sign, so God was going to send the Angel of Death across the land.
For Israel (living in Goshen) to be free from the death angel's power enabling him to "pass over" them, they needed to eat from a Table that God was going to prepare especially for this event. They were commanded to take a yearling lamb from their flocks, kill it, collect its blood and apply it to the lintels and doorposts of their dwelling places, roast the lamb and eat it along with cakes of unleavened bread. Once again, they were not to drink of the blood; they were to apply it to the lintels and doorposts of their homes.
God's promise to Israel was, "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." (Exodus 12:13) But it didn't stop there.
"And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
“And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever." (Exodus 12:14-17)
I can see the wheels turning for some of you. OK, so where is there a prophecy in this? you ask. Glad you asked. I can't take the time in this series to deal with all of the feasts Israel was commanded to keep, but each of these feasts -- beginning with Passover -- was a prophecy, a picture of a future event in time -- to be fulfilled by and for the coming Messiah.
Notice that this very first feast (as was every feast Israel kept) began with the eating of a specific meal. They didn't have a drink specified at this meal/table (that came later as God spelled out the various offerings to Moses) because of the specific application of the blood. However, wine was later specified in the place of blood as an offering to the Lord (Exodus 29:40) and whenever the covenant Table was kept in Israel, wine became the substitute for, and symbol of, blood.
Israel would have the picture of the Table of the Lord continually before them once the Tabernacle of Moses was established. What we know as the "Table of Shewbread" was established as a permanent part of the furnishings of Moses' Tabernacle, and God's promised provision was constantly on display as twelve prophetic loaves.
Passover was the promise of what was to come. Jesus fulfilled that promise. And just as Jesus ate of the Passover meal with the disciples on the night He was betrayed -- becoming the once-and-for-all sacrificial "Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world" (and forever completing the prophecy and picture of Passover) -- He also became the bread of provision displayed on the Table of Shewbread.
Take a quick look at Matthew 26 where we have a picture of the Last Supper. In verses 17-20 we see them eating of the unleavened bread. The Greek word which describes unleavened bread is azumos. But following the final celebration of Passover, Jesus again takes bread, and as He did when feeding the 5000 (and the 4000), he breaks it and begins to serve the disciples. (See verse 26.)
The Greek word in this instance is not azumos, but artos: raised bread. These two Greek words exactly parallel the two Hebrew words which describe both the unleavened bread (matstsah) of Passover, and the raised bread that was on display on the Table of Shewbread (lechem). Jesus became the bread of Passover, fulfilling its purpose, and the bread of provision -- the Table of Shewbread -- that He promised in Matthew 6:33 and Philippians 4:19.
Yet the Table of the Lord was actually manifested centuries before with Abraham. Remember when Melchizedek came out to greet Abraham after the slaughter of the kings' armies when he went to retrieve Lot following his capture? He came out with bread (lechem) and wine, and declared the Blessing upon Abraham.
This may seem a bit heavy, but I wanted to get these foundations laid in your understanding before we really begin to see and understand just how significant was the Table of the Lord. We should be able to resume this discussion again within a very few days.
The only way true change will come to us, then to the body of Christ and finally to the world, is when we stop setting our own agendas and begin to agree with everything God says. We must respond to what He desires to do in us -- no matter whether it crosses our doctrinal understanding or not.
Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: KINGDOM ECONOMICS XL
KINGDOM ECONOMICS XL
Every Wednesday at 10AM (PST) or Noon (CST) we join Billye Brim via the Internet (http://www.billyebrim.org/events/live_prayer) at Prayer Mountain in the Ozarks for corporate prayer for this nation. There are tens of thousands of people who join this concert of prayer for a new Great Awakening -- not just in America, but around the world. I want to encourage you -- wherever you are -- to join us in this world-wide prayer event. Periodically Billye shares about past Awakenings that have changed the course of affairs for this nation and other nations.
If ever there was a time when we need to change the course of affairs, this is it! Although Barack Obama campaigned (and won) on a platform of "change" to America, the "change" he envisioned is not one sanctioned by the courts of Heaven; and some of it certainly runs counter to anything our nation's forefathers and founders envisioned when they paid with their blood to establish our Constitution.
We not only have the authority to bring change -- righteous change -- to this nation, we have the responsibility to do it. For that reason we have been gathering here at River Worship Center (in Prosser, Washington) every morning -- Monday through Saturday -- at 6:30 AM with a small group of intercessors for (as I write this) some nine-plus months as we fulfill our responsibilities as Paul outlined them in his first letter to Timothy:
"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (I Timothy 2:1-4 NASB)
It was last fall when the elections were about to take place that the Holy Spirit spoke to Billye Brim and told her (and I'm paraphrasing), "It is not an election that is going to save this nation. It is not a political party that will save this nation. It can only take place by an awakening in the people to the Lord Jesus Christ." That's a fact, folks! We elect leaders -- I'm speaking in generalities -- whom we believe will serve this country's best interests. The problem with that philosophy is that we elect people in small increments; and when they wind up in Washington, DC they become contaminated by those entrenched in their positions of power and influence. The end result is that we get more of the same-old, same-old.
I'm not discouraged, my friends. In fact, I'm encouraged now more than ever. You may think I'm nuts, but I believe that God has permitted (not ordained) Barack Obama to be elected. Not since the days of Jimmy Carter (after he was elected) have we seen so many of God's people on their knees in prayer and intercession for the future of this great nation. Far too many believers have been sloppy in their prayer lives for too many years. There's too much at stake, folks! We cannot stand by and allow Satan's agenda to sweep across America like a flood of evil.
Isaiah prophesied, "So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19 KJV)
We are that standard God is raising up! God is raising up an army of prayer warriors who know Him and His heart's desire; and they are praying in His will for this nation and other nations of the earth.
OK. Had to start that way today. It's been burning in me and I just needed to encourage you to join this army. Anyway, Good Morning, Folks! This is my first new Coffee Break on a new computer the Lord has provided us with.
My other computer had developed mysterious hardware faults that just seemed to move from place to place; and it kept crashing repeatedly making any cohesive work effort almost useless. We now have a new souped-up Dell Studio XPS with an overclocked 3.2 GHz i7 processor, 12 GB of RAM, 1 GB of Video RAM and 1 TB of Raid-configured Hard Drive space running the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate. Yup! It flies, folks! It flies! Now I can get some work done.
Let's see if we can finish up with our discussion on partnership today as it relates to Kingdom Economics.
Without quoting the entire event from Acts 16, let me remind you of how the Ekklesia in Philippi began. As the story unfolds, Paul and his ministry team/entourage have made their way into the city/colony of Philippi in Macedonia as part of his missionary endeavors. Finding out that folks in that city had a particular place by a river where they (and women in particular) gathered for daily prayers to the gods, Paul begins to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to the women who happened to be gathered there. It wasn't very many days that one of the women, who had a spirit of divination, began to follow after them. As they walked through the streets of the city, this woman would call out "These men are the servants of the Most High God which show unto us the way of salvation."
It became a serious annoyance to Paul and a distraction to the Word God had sent him to preach. After a number of days of this happening, Paul turns suddenly and rebukes the spirit of divination, commanding that spirit to come out of the woman. She was immediately set free. It was liberating for her, but a problem for the men in the marketplace who took advantage of her demonic powers for personal gain. Suddenly their source of income had dried up.
They filed false charges against Paul and Silas (Paul's prophet-companion) which resulted in severe beatings and imprisonment. During the night, Paul and Silas began to sing and praise the Lord. Their praise brought about an earthquake of no small proportions which destroyed the prison foundations and resulted in all of the prison doors being freely opened. The jailer, thinking everyone under his charge had escaped, prepared to commit suicide rather than face trial and execution by his Roman masters. Paul stopped him and assured him that no one had escaped or left the prison. It resulted in the jailer becoming the first official convert in Philippi, and his entire household followed shortly thereafter.
That remarkable event became the beginning of a real fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ in that city which grew in the Lord and in their spiritual walk. This fellowship of believers felt so connected to Paul that they determined to support his ongoing missionary endeavors with finances and supplies from that day forth.
As Paul begins his letter to the Philippian Ekklesia, he writes the following:
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." (Philippians 1:3-5 KJV)
That doesn't exactly come out clearly in the KJV, so let me spell it out a little more clearly. The New Living Translation expresses it like this:
"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now."
See it? From the moment they heard the Gospel, there was a quickening by the Spirit in them to partner with Paul in his ongoing ministry. He continues in his letter,
"Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need... For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away." (see Philippians 2:25, 30 NLT)
Epaphroditus, therefore, was the courier from Philippi to bring Paul and his ministry team whatever they had need of in the way of finances, supplies and physical labor.Does partnership pay dividends? Watch next what Paul says to them.
"How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but for a while you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.
"But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness.
"At the moment I have all I need—more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen." (Philippians 4:10-20 NLT)
OK. I quoted a rather lengthy portion there from Philippians 4, but I wanted you to see the context of chapter 4, verse 19. We are more familiar with the KJV translation which is frequently quoted -- and used out of context most of the time.
"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus."Let's see if we can amplify this statement just a bit more from the Greek text.
"But my God shall liberally and abundantly fill up, make complete, totally satisfy and cram until you are running over, all of your lack, your want, your requirement and your demand, according to, out of and in direct proportion to His immeasurable riches, wealth, finances and material goods found in His glory, His praise, His honor and His worship through and by the anointing of the Anointed One Jesus." (Philippians 4:19 RAC Amplified Translation)
That's a mouthful, I know, but it is important to see this word in its proper context. Look at it in a partnership context.
Paul was sent by the Lord with an assignment. He was "apostleing" -- if you'll excuse my slang -- having been commissioned to lay foundations for the body of Christ. (That word, "apostle," by the way, is not a title: it is a function. The "charismatic" sector of the body of Christ has misused the Greek term "apostolos" and turned it into some exalted title or position. It is neither. The word "apostolos" designates someone who is "sent forth" on a royal mission with a specific assignment: an ambassador of the Kingdom, if you will; a representative. They are authorized and empowered by the Lord to represent Him in a specific function -- not to hold some Kingdom governmental power over others. [I'll discuss this more at length in a future Coffee Break.])
Paul was partnered with the Lord in his assignment. Because the Lord had sent him to lay foundations for the body of Christ -- and God always pays for what he orders -- the partnership agreement needed a financial extension in order for Paul and his companions in ministry to have the ability to travel and see every need along the way met. A partnership link was formed with the Philippian Ekklesia (and there were other partnerships Paul speaks of in some of his other letters at different times) in which the Philippians responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to liberally give of their resources, encompassing financial, physical, and human, in order that Paul could accomplish what God had spoken to him.
The Ekklesia in Philippi became partnered with Paul and with the Lord in this ministry. Paul couldn't accomplish what he needed to do without the necessary available resources. The Ekklesia in Philippi hadn't been sent by the Lord in person, but they could go with Paul on his journeys with the resources that made his ministry tasks possible. It was divine teamwork. It was an essential component of Kingdom Economics. The Word of the Kingdom -- the Gospel of the Kingdom -- went forth with Paul's preaching and discipling AND made possible by the finances and other resources contributed by Philippi.
Paul certainly was due a reward for his faithfulness in doing what God sent him to do. But Paul made clear in his letter to the Philippians that they likewise shared in that reward. Because their part of the ministry was the financial part, God was effectively opening the windows of Heaven to ensure that every need, every requirement, every demand of theirs was met -- and in abundance: Heaven's abundance!
Folks, that's the picture of how Kingdom Economics works! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the kingdoms of the world -- Babylonian, if you please -- are based on "getting." The Kingdom of God is based on giving. God gave us His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus gave us Himself. He sacrificed His life for us so that the curse of the Law, the curse of death, the curse of poverty could be lifted off the human race and relationship with God restored to its pre-Fall basis: intimacy, relationship, fellowship, communion, love!
The entirety of the Kingdom of God and its Economics are predicated on agape love. That is God's love. It is boundless. It is endless. It has no limits. Agape doesn't "take." Agape is a totally giving-oriented relationship. Whether one deserves to be loved has nothing whatever to do with it. There is nothing we can do to "earn" God's love. It is freely available to all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
Jesus made his purpose clear.
"The thief comes only in order that he may steal and may kill and may destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance -- to the full, till it overflows." (John 10:10 Amplified Version)
Paul expounded on this somewhat in his letter to the Romans when he wrote, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." (Romans 8:2 KJV) It is that "Law of Sin and Death" that the thief, Satan, tries continually to foist off on the world -- and even more so, Christians -- who've been given their freedom from that law. That law is a thief, and it is exercised against us continually by Satan, who wants to keep us in a perpetual state of need, lack, want, poverty, death, sickness, disease, etc.
The Kingdom of God is the polar opposite, and the Economic System of God's Kingdom is "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus."
This is the fortieth chapter or discussion dealing with the Economy of God's Kingdom. Maybe there will be more added in the weeks or months or years ahead as the Lord brings more revelation by His Spirit, but I trust that the foregoing discussions have been an encouragement to you, and have brought more understanding to what we have available as heirs and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.
See you again in a few days as we change topics entirely.
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. (Sir Isaac Newton)
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22)
Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
Every Wednesday at 10AM (PST) or Noon (CST) we join Billye Brim via the Internet (http://www.billyebrim.org/events/live_prayer) at Prayer Mountain in the Ozarks for corporate prayer for this nation. There are tens of thousands of people who join this concert of prayer for a new Great Awakening -- not just in America, but around the world. I want to encourage you -- wherever you are -- to join us in this world-wide prayer event. Periodically Billye shares about past Awakenings that have changed the course of affairs for this nation and other nations.
If ever there was a time when we need to change the course of affairs, this is it! Although Barack Obama campaigned (and won) on a platform of "change" to America, the "change" he envisioned is not one sanctioned by the courts of Heaven; and some of it certainly runs counter to anything our nation's forefathers and founders envisioned when they paid with their blood to establish our Constitution.
We not only have the authority to bring change -- righteous change -- to this nation, we have the responsibility to do it. For that reason we have been gathering here at River Worship Center (in Prosser, Washington) every morning -- Monday through Saturday -- at 6:30 AM with a small group of intercessors for (as I write this) some nine-plus months as we fulfill our responsibilities as Paul outlined them in his first letter to Timothy:
"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (I Timothy 2:1-4 NASB)
It was last fall when the elections were about to take place that the Holy Spirit spoke to Billye Brim and told her (and I'm paraphrasing), "It is not an election that is going to save this nation. It is not a political party that will save this nation. It can only take place by an awakening in the people to the Lord Jesus Christ." That's a fact, folks! We elect leaders -- I'm speaking in generalities -- whom we believe will serve this country's best interests. The problem with that philosophy is that we elect people in small increments; and when they wind up in Washington, DC they become contaminated by those entrenched in their positions of power and influence. The end result is that we get more of the same-old, same-old.
I'm not discouraged, my friends. In fact, I'm encouraged now more than ever. You may think I'm nuts, but I believe that God has permitted (not ordained) Barack Obama to be elected. Not since the days of Jimmy Carter (after he was elected) have we seen so many of God's people on their knees in prayer and intercession for the future of this great nation. Far too many believers have been sloppy in their prayer lives for too many years. There's too much at stake, folks! We cannot stand by and allow Satan's agenda to sweep across America like a flood of evil.
Isaiah prophesied, "So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19 KJV)
We are that standard God is raising up! God is raising up an army of prayer warriors who know Him and His heart's desire; and they are praying in His will for this nation and other nations of the earth.
OK. Had to start that way today. It's been burning in me and I just needed to encourage you to join this army. Anyway, Good Morning, Folks! This is my first new Coffee Break on a new computer the Lord has provided us with.
My other computer had developed mysterious hardware faults that just seemed to move from place to place; and it kept crashing repeatedly making any cohesive work effort almost useless. We now have a new souped-up Dell Studio XPS with an overclocked 3.2 GHz i7 processor, 12 GB of RAM, 1 GB of Video RAM and 1 TB of Raid-configured Hard Drive space running the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate. Yup! It flies, folks! It flies! Now I can get some work done.
Let's see if we can finish up with our discussion on partnership today as it relates to Kingdom Economics.
Without quoting the entire event from Acts 16, let me remind you of how the Ekklesia in Philippi began. As the story unfolds, Paul and his ministry team/entourage have made their way into the city/colony of Philippi in Macedonia as part of his missionary endeavors. Finding out that folks in that city had a particular place by a river where they (and women in particular) gathered for daily prayers to the gods, Paul begins to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to the women who happened to be gathered there. It wasn't very many days that one of the women, who had a spirit of divination, began to follow after them. As they walked through the streets of the city, this woman would call out "These men are the servants of the Most High God which show unto us the way of salvation."
It became a serious annoyance to Paul and a distraction to the Word God had sent him to preach. After a number of days of this happening, Paul turns suddenly and rebukes the spirit of divination, commanding that spirit to come out of the woman. She was immediately set free. It was liberating for her, but a problem for the men in the marketplace who took advantage of her demonic powers for personal gain. Suddenly their source of income had dried up.
They filed false charges against Paul and Silas (Paul's prophet-companion) which resulted in severe beatings and imprisonment. During the night, Paul and Silas began to sing and praise the Lord. Their praise brought about an earthquake of no small proportions which destroyed the prison foundations and resulted in all of the prison doors being freely opened. The jailer, thinking everyone under his charge had escaped, prepared to commit suicide rather than face trial and execution by his Roman masters. Paul stopped him and assured him that no one had escaped or left the prison. It resulted in the jailer becoming the first official convert in Philippi, and his entire household followed shortly thereafter.
That remarkable event became the beginning of a real fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ in that city which grew in the Lord and in their spiritual walk. This fellowship of believers felt so connected to Paul that they determined to support his ongoing missionary endeavors with finances and supplies from that day forth.
As Paul begins his letter to the Philippian Ekklesia, he writes the following:
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." (Philippians 1:3-5 KJV)
That doesn't exactly come out clearly in the KJV, so let me spell it out a little more clearly. The New Living Translation expresses it like this:
"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now."
See it? From the moment they heard the Gospel, there was a quickening by the Spirit in them to partner with Paul in his ongoing ministry. He continues in his letter,
"Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need... For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away." (see Philippians 2:25, 30 NLT)
Epaphroditus, therefore, was the courier from Philippi to bring Paul and his ministry team whatever they had need of in the way of finances, supplies and physical labor.Does partnership pay dividends? Watch next what Paul says to them.
"How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but for a while you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.
"But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness.
"At the moment I have all I need—more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen." (Philippians 4:10-20 NLT)
OK. I quoted a rather lengthy portion there from Philippians 4, but I wanted you to see the context of chapter 4, verse 19. We are more familiar with the KJV translation which is frequently quoted -- and used out of context most of the time.
"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus."Let's see if we can amplify this statement just a bit more from the Greek text.
"But my God shall liberally and abundantly fill up, make complete, totally satisfy and cram until you are running over, all of your lack, your want, your requirement and your demand, according to, out of and in direct proportion to His immeasurable riches, wealth, finances and material goods found in His glory, His praise, His honor and His worship through and by the anointing of the Anointed One Jesus." (Philippians 4:19 RAC Amplified Translation)
That's a mouthful, I know, but it is important to see this word in its proper context. Look at it in a partnership context.
Paul was sent by the Lord with an assignment. He was "apostleing" -- if you'll excuse my slang -- having been commissioned to lay foundations for the body of Christ. (That word, "apostle," by the way, is not a title: it is a function. The "charismatic" sector of the body of Christ has misused the Greek term "apostolos" and turned it into some exalted title or position. It is neither. The word "apostolos" designates someone who is "sent forth" on a royal mission with a specific assignment: an ambassador of the Kingdom, if you will; a representative. They are authorized and empowered by the Lord to represent Him in a specific function -- not to hold some Kingdom governmental power over others. [I'll discuss this more at length in a future Coffee Break.])
Paul was partnered with the Lord in his assignment. Because the Lord had sent him to lay foundations for the body of Christ -- and God always pays for what he orders -- the partnership agreement needed a financial extension in order for Paul and his companions in ministry to have the ability to travel and see every need along the way met. A partnership link was formed with the Philippian Ekklesia (and there were other partnerships Paul speaks of in some of his other letters at different times) in which the Philippians responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to liberally give of their resources, encompassing financial, physical, and human, in order that Paul could accomplish what God had spoken to him.
The Ekklesia in Philippi became partnered with Paul and with the Lord in this ministry. Paul couldn't accomplish what he needed to do without the necessary available resources. The Ekklesia in Philippi hadn't been sent by the Lord in person, but they could go with Paul on his journeys with the resources that made his ministry tasks possible. It was divine teamwork. It was an essential component of Kingdom Economics. The Word of the Kingdom -- the Gospel of the Kingdom -- went forth with Paul's preaching and discipling AND made possible by the finances and other resources contributed by Philippi.
Paul certainly was due a reward for his faithfulness in doing what God sent him to do. But Paul made clear in his letter to the Philippians that they likewise shared in that reward. Because their part of the ministry was the financial part, God was effectively opening the windows of Heaven to ensure that every need, every requirement, every demand of theirs was met -- and in abundance: Heaven's abundance!
Folks, that's the picture of how Kingdom Economics works! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the kingdoms of the world -- Babylonian, if you please -- are based on "getting." The Kingdom of God is based on giving. God gave us His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus gave us Himself. He sacrificed His life for us so that the curse of the Law, the curse of death, the curse of poverty could be lifted off the human race and relationship with God restored to its pre-Fall basis: intimacy, relationship, fellowship, communion, love!
The entirety of the Kingdom of God and its Economics are predicated on agape love. That is God's love. It is boundless. It is endless. It has no limits. Agape doesn't "take." Agape is a totally giving-oriented relationship. Whether one deserves to be loved has nothing whatever to do with it. There is nothing we can do to "earn" God's love. It is freely available to all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
Jesus made his purpose clear.
"The thief comes only in order that he may steal and may kill and may destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance -- to the full, till it overflows." (John 10:10 Amplified Version)
Paul expounded on this somewhat in his letter to the Romans when he wrote, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." (Romans 8:2 KJV) It is that "Law of Sin and Death" that the thief, Satan, tries continually to foist off on the world -- and even more so, Christians -- who've been given their freedom from that law. That law is a thief, and it is exercised against us continually by Satan, who wants to keep us in a perpetual state of need, lack, want, poverty, death, sickness, disease, etc.
The Kingdom of God is the polar opposite, and the Economic System of God's Kingdom is "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus."
This is the fortieth chapter or discussion dealing with the Economy of God's Kingdom. Maybe there will be more added in the weeks or months or years ahead as the Lord brings more revelation by His Spirit, but I trust that the foregoing discussions have been an encouragement to you, and have brought more understanding to what we have available as heirs and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.
See you again in a few days as we change topics entirely.
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. (Sir Isaac Newton)
The Blessing of the Lord: it makes rich and He adds no painful toil and sorrow! (Proverbs 10:22)
Be blessed!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives are now available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being added at http://www.AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. Coffee Break articles are published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.CapenerMinistries.com.
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