Alfio La Spina April 2021
Test
This first Passover protected Israel from the plague and freed them from bondage that was just the beginning.
Exodus 12:13 (ISV) The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. I’ll see the blood and pass over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
John the Baptist came and called people to repentance preparing the way for Jesus. Jesus came and began the process of building His church. The Father sent him disciples and He taught them about the Kingdom of God and also to all that had ears to hear.
Mark 7:16 (ISV) If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!”
Jesus went about teaching about the Kingdom of God, healing all manner of sickness and casting out demons. This was done to prove that He was the messiah. It is now Passover and Jesus has new instructions for the disciples. This Passover was different than all the others. The time had come for Jesus to take His place as the Passover lamb. That night when they had finished eating Jesus washes the disciples feet.
John 13:13 (ISV) You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right because that is what I am.
John 13:14 (ISV) So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you must also wash one another’s feet.
He set an example for us that even though He being Lord, came to serve us. Brethren we are to be serving one another. Each member has been given gifts which are to be used to serve each other.
Brethren we need to ask our Father for these gifts to serve the body of Christ and that we are able to use our gifts effectively. When each member is actively using their gift the Body of Christ will function well and much good fruit will come of it.
1Corinthians 12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit,
1Corinthians 12:5 and there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord.
1Corinthians 12:6 There are varieties of results, but it is the same God who produces all the results in everyone.
1Corinthians 12:7 To each person has been given the ability to manifest the Spirit for the common good.
Paul passes on to the brethren the instructions he received from Jesus concerning that night.
In 1Corinthians 11:17-22 Paul is not happy with the way they are coming together for fellowship and partaking of the bread and wine. He says they are not in unity in their beliefs and they have no concern for the well-being of one another.
1Corinthians 11:22 (ISV) You have homes in which to eat and drink, don’t you? Or do you despise God’s church and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!
He goes on in verse 23 to explain what Jesus taught him concerning the Lord’s Supper. He was not there with the disciples that night. Jesus taught him personally.
1Corinthians 11:23 (ISV) For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you—how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread,
1Corinthians 11:24 (ISV) gave thanks for it, and broke it in pieces, saying, “This is my body that is broken for you. Keep doing this in memory of me.”
1Corinthians 11:25 (ISV) He did the same with the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink from it, keep doing this in memory of me.”
1Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1Corinthians 11:27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks from the cup in an irreverent manner will be held responsible for the Lord’s body and blood.
1Corinthians 11:28 A person must examine himself and then eat the bread and drink from the cup,
1Corinthians 11:29 because whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1Corinthians 11:30 That’s why so many of you are weak and sick and a considerable number are dying.
1Corinthians 11:31 But if we judged ourselves correctly, we would not be judged.
1Corinthians 11:32 Now, while we are being judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so we won’t be condemned along with the world.
We see that it is a very serious thing to partake of the Lord’s Supper when we are not being obedient to Jesus teachings and are not doers of the Word. We need to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith, I strongly recommend that everyone searches the scriptures to see what is being taught is correct. Because if we are following man’s teachings we are not in the faith and the Word of God will have no effect on us and we quench God’s spirit. Brethren if we quench God’s spirit, we will not receive the benefits of it.
Jude 1:3 (KJV) Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
It was very hard for Jesus to fulfil what He came to do for us. He had all the very same emotions that we do because He was as human as we are. In these verses we see how Jesus felt about what He was about to go through. Jesus and the disciples are now at the garden of Gethsemane.
Matthew 26:38 (ISV) Then he told them, “I’m so deeply grieved that I feel I’m about to die. Wait here and stay awake with me.”
Matthew 26:39 (ISV) Going on a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, “O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not what I want but what you want.”
Luke 22:44 (ISV) In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like large drops of blood falling on the ground.
Matthew 26:40 (ISV) When he went back to the disciples, he found them asleep. He told Peter, “So, you men couldn’t stay awake with me for one hour, could you?
Matthew 26:41 (ISV) D of you must stay awake and pray that you won’t be tempted. The spirit is indeed willing, but the body is weak.”
Mat 26:42 (ISV) He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot go away unless I drink it, let your will be done.”
Isaiah 53:5 (ISV) But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.
Jesus left His high position to be born of a woman to become human just like we are.
Romans 8:3 For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity, he condemned sin by being incarnate,
John 17:5 (ISV) “So now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.
He came and suffered a terrible scourging to the point He was not recognizable.
Isaiah 52:14 (ISV) Just as many were astonished at you—so was he marred in his appearance, more than any human, and his form beyond that of human semblance—
After they scourged Him, they crucified Him
He did that for us so that we could have a relationship with the Father. Brethren this is so amazing that it is hard to find the words to explain what an awesome invitation we have set before us. So, brethren work out your salvation with fear and trembling the time is very short now
2Peter 1:5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to supplement your faith with moral character, your moral character with knowledge,
2Peter 1:6 your knowledge with self-control, your self-control with endurance, your endurance with godliness,
2Peter 1:7 your godliness with brotherly kindness, and your brotherly kindness with love.
2Peter1:8 For if you possess these qualities, and if they continue to increase among you, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.