(1Th 2:2) But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.
(1 Peter 4:17 KJV) For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Communion
Webster -- Dictionary Act of sharing; participation. 2) mutual and intimate commerce, exchange, and communication. 3) a body of christians having one common faith & discipline.
Strong -- partnership; participation; social intercourse; to communicate; to distribute, fellowship.
The meaning of the term “communion” has been misconstrued from it’s only true meaning by all of Christendom and the world.
No one would put the same meaning to the words “communicate” or “community” as they do to “communion”, and yet they actually have the same meaning. The following words are all translations of the same Greek root word: communion fellowship
communicate partners/partakers
common distribution
If the word “share” were in the Bible, it would no doubt have the same root word as these others.
Notice for example this verse: 1Ti 6:18 “Charge them that are rich in this world .. that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute willing to communicate ...”
The true meaning of the word “communicate” is revealed in this verse. To be ready and willing to “share” or “distribute” one’s goods with others, whether it be money or food or raiment; or, in other words to have all things “common”.
Ac 2:44 “And all that believed were together, and had all things common.”
My point here, of course, is that as long as the saints were together and were of a willing mind to be truly one; they were having communion.
Paul nearly goes out of his way to define the Bible usage of the word “communicate” in - Phil 4:14 “Ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction. Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.”
We see again here, that what Paul meant by “communicating” with him was sharing one’s goods or “distributing” to his needs. The term as it is used in the Bible has to do with a “commonness” or, giving & receiving among themselves.
This is, likewise, the true meaning of the term “fellowship” as it is used in the Bible. Remember that fellowship and communication and communion all have the same source, in the Greek word “koinonia” or “koinos”.
Notice, for example, Acts 2:42 where the translators used the word “fellowship” instead of communion. Notice, particularly, how that the terms “fellowship” and breaking of bread” are distinctly separated:
Ac 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
This is what I meant when I said that the meaning of the word “communion” has been misconstrued. We were originally taught to believe that it meant having something to eat and drink. I hope you can see that it means much more than just having a meal together; it means having everything together.
The fellowship of His Son 1Co 1:9
Fellowship of the ministering to the saints 2Co 8:4
The fellowship of the mystery Eph 3:9
Your fellowship in the gospel Phil 1:5
Fellowship of the Spirit Phil 2:1
The fellowship of His sufferings Phil 3:10
Our fellowship is with the Father 1Jn 1:3
I will endeavor to show - Scripturally - how it is, that we may have true communion with the Father and the Son.
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The doctrine of transubstantiation as it is taught by the Catholic Church, as well as by many other major and minor religious organizations, declares that this fellowship or communion is accomplished by eating a certain piece of bread and drinking a certain portion of wine. I will endeavor to show how that it is absurd to think that any natural man or woman can have intimate fellowship or intercourse with the divinity of God and Jesus through the carnal act of eating & drinking.
I would, first of all, like to point out that the first mention of the word “communion” is found in 1Co 10:16. It is here, that Paul first discusses the subject in the light of some necessary instruction to the Grecian Churches. It seems, from the entire context of the tenth chapter, that erroneous practices there necessitated Paul’s corrective teaching on the subject of “having church” or “fellowship” or “communion.”
In the 16th & 17th verses Paul makes a distinction between the cup and bread of the true saints of God in Christ and the cup of devils; or, the way in which fellowship with the Godhead was taught to be had elsewhere. In this, he gives a definition (if you will) of “the cup of the Lord.” ... is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?”
Now, in the light of what I have already shown the word communion to mean, what is Paul saying here? How can anyone have fellowship with Jesus’ blood by drinking wine?
If you don’t know what the “cup of blessing” is that we enjoy when we have church, then this will be to you, a mystery.
Jesus himself said, concerning the cup; “This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Lk 22:20. “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth. (from now on) of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” Mt 26:29
(This is such a powerful verse!)
Notice that, here again, we have a definition of the cup -- it is (or represents or symbolized) “The New Testament in my blood!”
So, “the last supper” as it is called by so many, turns out to be just that the last time that Jesus and His people are to have it on this wise! That is why Jesus said; “I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
(Lk 22;16)
The antitype of what the cup of wine in Jesus’ hand represented would be found in the Kingdom of God.
Q. What is the Kingdom of God and when did it come?
Q. What did the cup of wine represent?
Answer: Ps 105:13 in one scripture that shows what a kingdom is by using a parallel: “When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people.”
Here, the writer unmistakably equates the terms, “kingdom” and “people.” In other words, the kingdom is the people, just like a city is the people; or, the world is the people; or, a house is the people. eg 1K 17:15 “and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.” (handle that o literalist); “This day is salvation come to this house” Lk 19:9. Was Jesus saving the house, or the people in the house?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son ... “ Jn 3:16 Did God so love the world, or the people in the world?
Q. When God comes to His temple, is He coming to a building somewhere or is He coming to the people that make up the temple?
Answer: 1Co 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God.”
He 3:6 “But Christ as a son over His own house; whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence ...”
1Co 3:9 “Ye are God’s building.”
So; when did God and Jesus come “in their kingdom?” -- When they came in their people! When did they come in their people?
Originally, on the 1st day of Pentecost after Jesus’ ascension to the throne of God as recorded in the 2nd chapter of Acts in about AD 33; and since then, anytime anyone receives the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
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Now, as to the question; what did the cup of wine represent?” Let me say plainly that it represented the
Spirit of God. Before I set out to prove this, let me say that this has always been the mystery that was finally revealed in the New Covenant.
As we read in Col 1:26-27, the mystery was; “Christ in you.”
Before the New Testament, it had been “Christ revealed to the people of God,”
but Jesus Himself promised in Jn 14:15-23 “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you forever: even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: (hang on - Jesus is about to reveal who the spirit of Truth is) but Ye know him; for He dwelleth (with) you, and shall be in) you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
You see why I say, when Jesus came in His kingdom, he came, not to them, but in them -- not by some mysterious “3rd” person, but by His own Spirit. The Spirit of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, came into them -- no longer in a clay house of flesh -- but in His original glorified state of being - (free from the flesh) -- that He had one time enjoyed with His Father before the world was, and even before Mary was.
(See notes on pre-existence of Jesus)
Can you and I drink “The cup of the New Testament in His Blood today?” - I repeat; can we drink His blood today?
Jn 6:53 “Then Jesus said unto them ... “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.”
It seems from this verse here, that we had better figure out how we are to drink it, if we expect to live. It seems from the following verse that we had better figure out how to drink it if we are to live forever!
verse 54 “Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Now notice the next verse ...
verse 55 “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”
Well, it’s obvious that it is really His blood that we are to be drinking, and that we must drink it in order to have any life at all -- so, it behooves us to find out how to drink it!
If we understand that the bread which He took symbolized His flesh and that the wine which He took symbolized His blood (which we plainly see in Mt 26:28) then we know that it isn’t really bread and wine that we are after -- but His flesh and blood.
Now notice the next verse ... verse 56 “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
We saw earlier that the way in which Jesus was to get in us is by His Spirit. Now, we see by this verse, that the way to get Him in us is by drinking His blood.
This is good!
This is a revelation!
Now we begin to see that it is The Spirit that we must drink in.
This we can do. We can’t drink Mogen David wine and get Him in us -- that’s ludicrous! We can’t drink His blood and get Him in us -- it all soaked into the ground 2000 years ago. It went back to the natural elements of the earth.
But, the new wine, we can drink! The Holy Ghost, we can drink!
Isaiah showed in Is 59:21 that the New Covenant would be made of spirit and word, and I’m showing that, that is exactly what Jesus’ flesh & blood was. The true meat; the true flesh is -- the Word of God! And, the true blood was - “The spirit of Life which was in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:2).
So, how can you get life? - drink His Blood! How can you drink the Life Blood? - drink The Spirit Of Life. Even the Old Testament taught that the life of any creature was in the blood.
Ge 9:4 “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof ...”
De 12:23 “... for the Blood is the life ...”
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Now the life of Jesus’ physical body was the blood, but the life of His Spiritual self (The real Jesus - apart from the fleshly body) was the Spirit of Life which He received from His Father -- This blood (the Holy Spirit Life Blood) was what gave Jesus His eternal life Paul states that it was this spiritual blood that raised Him from the dead!
He 13:20 “Now the God of Peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus ... *Through the blood of the everlasting covenant ...”
Is that plain or what?
Paul is showing here, that Jesus was raised from the dead by blood. But, if we understand what this blood really is, then it makes sense. Paul gives it away when he makes the same statement to the Romans exchanging the word “blood” for the more true word.
Ro 8:11 “But if *the Spirit of Him (God) which raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies *by His spirit that dwelleth in You.”
He 13 says God raised Jesus by Blood
Ro 8 says God raised Jesus by Spirit.
The life which came into Jesus’ body in the tomb was the blood of God which Paul calls The Spirit.
You see, contrary to popular belief, which states that Jesus’ body was all that died; the truth is that Jesus died -- body, spirit, & soul. We all know and believe that His body died, but Lk 23:46 says that His spirit, or ghost, also went out and, furthermore, Isaiah showed, beforehand, that His soul also died on the cross, meaning that even The Spirit of Life from His Father had gone out.
Is 53:10-12 “... it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin ... therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great ... because He hath poured out His soul unto death.”
So, The Holy Ghost which Jesus had from His Father (which gives the soul life) left Him when He died, and for the 1st and last time since His beginning, He was completely cut off from God, even His father. But, 3 days later God said (in effect), it is enough; and He sent His Spirit (the blood of the everlasting New Covenant) back into His son, and raised Him from the dead.
So, before and after His death, Jesus had His life from the Spirit of Life which comes only from God, the primal source of all things. Paul calls it in He 13, The Blood of the New Testament.
Jn 5:26 “for as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also...”
Jn 6:57 “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me shall live by me.”
These verses prove what I’ve been saying, that the life-blood of Jesus was the Spirit of life which comes from God.
2Co 3:6 “The letter killeth, but The Spirit giveth life.”
The life is in the blood (Spirit).
1Jn 5:11 “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life (the spirit of life -- Ro 8:2) is in His Son.”
Jn 5:21 “As The Father raises up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth (giveth life to) whom He will.”
Once again; the blood of Christ which giveth life -- which we are to drink- is The Holy Spirit!
Jn 7:37 “If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink ... out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive; For The Holy Ghost was not yet given.”
I showed (from Jn 6:56) that the way to get Jesus in you was by drinking His blood (Spirit); But, remember that this is also the way that you get into Him.
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Did you know that if you are in Jesus’ body (His church - Eph 1:22-23) then you are in Christ.” I showed earlier how that to get into His kingdom was to get into His people -- which is His church -- which is His body. But did you know that we are to drink our way into the Kingdom of God?
Well, I trust that I have proven that to you, and that you have received it -- but, to further corroborate this, notice these 2 verses: Jn 3:5 “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot inter into * The Kingdom of God.”
1Co 12:13 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one ** body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
ONE BODY - ONE SPIRIT - ONE BAPTISM!
WE DRINK OUR WAY IN!
In view of all this, I’d like to make a return to the original point in the first few pages, where I discussed what the cup of communion was in 1Co 10 & 11.
Understand now that the cup which Jesus talked of in Mt 26:27 was symbolical. He said Himself that it (the type) would be “fulfilled” in His kingdom which we must understand to be the inauguration and ordination of the Body of Christ -- in the spirit - on the day of Pentecost in Ac chapter 2. Since that day, anyone who wants to be apart of that kingdom has to be baptized into it -- by The Holy Spirit.
That cup - the cup of Spirit Baptism into Christ, must be drank by each member of The Body of Christ, in order to become a part. Now -- Listen closely!
Remember what the mother of Zebedees children asked of Jesus?
Mt 20:20 “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on the right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom (little did she understand what the kingdom was) ... Jesus answered and said, “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They say unto Him, “We are able.” And He saith unto them, “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup,...”
Ro 6:3 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death.”
Understanding this Bible teaching will make 1Co 11:26 less and less of an enigma.
“as often as ye ... drink this cup,
ye do shew The Lords death till He come.”
This is what the cup is all about.
It’s about being baptized in the Spirit of God and being a sharer, partaker, partner in Christ’s suffering; having “fellowship” with His sufferings ( Phil 3:10); having “communion” with His death. In the Spirit Adam dies; he is mortified; we are dead unto sin, and alive unto God; the body of sins is crucified; we become buried with Him in baptism.
2Co 1:7 “As ye are partakers (same Greek as communion) of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.”
2Ti 1:8 “Be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.”
This “operation” of the spirit (Col 2:12) “puts off” the body of the sins of the flesh. This cup which Jesus and James and John drank is described in 1P 3:18 as “being put to death in the flesh.” He 2:9 called it “the suffering of death.” When we drink this cup each servicetime (and eventually every day), in remembrance of Him, we are putting the ax to the root of the corrupt tree of our Adamic, “old man” nature. We are having communion all right:
“The communion of the Blood of Christ.” “Always bearing about in The body (our body)
the dying of the Lord Jesus (2Co 4:10-12)
“as dying, and behold, we live.” (2Co 6:9)
Phil 2;1 “If there be therefore any consolation in
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Christ, any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit ... “
2Co 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.” This is the cup of blessing!
Obviously, the doctrine of the communion and the doctrine of baptisms are intertwined.
Q. How can a cracker and a thimble - full of wine help anyone to “show the Lord’s death?”
The only cup which a man can drink that would show this, is the same cup that Jesus drank in Matthew 26:38-39; “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death ... O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” -- Jesus drank it!
Paul plainly says in 1Co 11:20 “When ye come together ... this is not to eat the Lord’s supper ...
v. 22 What? Have ye not houses to eat and to drink in?”
There’s nothing wrong with eating and drinking at a church gathering, and no doubt they were doing that in 1Co 11; but; “This is not The Lord’s supper!”
Note: if the New Testament church was having “The Lord’s supper” just like it was had in Mt 26 and Lk 22 and Mk 14, then they were not having it “new” at all!!
Let me clarify further, by saying that drinking the Lord’s cup accomplishes a two-fold purpose in that:
1) not only does it effect the death of the old man, but at the same time,
2) gives life to the soul which was formerly dead, and creates a new man.
There are now 2 men, as it were, in us vying for control; hence, 1P 2:11 “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” And; Gal 5:17 “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” Drinking the cup of the Lord brings death to one and life to the other simultaneously; so that there are 2 processes taking place in our body -- life and death. Note 2Co 1:9 “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead.”
This is a powerful verse!
When Jesus drank the cup in the garden, He pronounced a death sentence on the will of the flesh. He put His trust in God -- that His Father would raise Him from the dead.
When you and I drink “that cup,” we pronounce a death sentence on the old man to the end that, the only life we have is hidden in God. We trust that; “when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory.”
So, the bad news is that, “though the outward man perish (the good news is) ... yet the inward man is renewed day by day. (2Co 4:16)
When we drink the cup of the Lord, it is “to the one (old man) ... the saviour of death unto death; and to the other (the new man) a saviour of life unto life.” (Co 2:16)
“For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” (2co 4:11)
In conclusion, let me expound on 1Co 11:17-32, particularly verse 29: “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”
This can be best explained by understanding the doctrine or baptism of repentance as well as by understanding Mt (9:16-17; “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”
Anyone coming to church is coming to the tabernacle of God: the first thing we are to deal with is the brazen altar. The brazen altar symbolizes repentance. Notice in the gospels that John the Baptist preceded Jesus Christ. WHY? Because repentance must preceed the Holy Spirit baptism. John preached repentance; he tried to make the high places in our lives low, and the low places high, and the crooked places straight; he tried to make
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men “worthy” to go on to Jesus and receive His baptism of Holy Spirit and Fire. (Is 40:3-4)
We cannot by-pass the brazen altar on our way to the tabernacle; if we do, we will come unworthily and thereby eat and drink damnation to ourselves, not having sufficiently discerned or judged ourselves: not having turned our “old man,” “old bottle” into a new bottle fit to receive new wine at the veil.
This is what the Pharisees attempted to do even at John’s baptism (Mt 3:7-8); but John would not allow the old bottles in, saying; “Bring forth fruit meet for repentance.” They sought another way into the kingdom; they were thieves and robbers. (Jn 10:1) Their hearts were not right; they were not yet worthy.
Our hearts must be right in the sight of God in order to eat at His table. God does not want His holy things given to the dogs.
If our hearts are not right; if we do not come with a true heart; if we come in to eat the words of God without first examining ourselves; judging ourselves, then that which we eat of His words will turn to vomit and that which we drink of His spirit will only run out of our unrepentant soul unto our own condemnation.
You see, the part of the Lord’s body that we are to discern, examine, and judge is ourselves. We must be prepared to let the hand of God judge us. And the best way to be prepared is to examine ourselves as we make our approach to the tabernacle of worship. Of course, the Bible teaches that many would receive the things of
God (though they seem so far removed from orthodoxy), and that many would not receive the things of God.
Notice, for example, that when Jesus taught this radical “new doctrine of eating blood (which was forbidden by the Mosiac law) in John chapter six, He states that; “There are some of you that believe not, and in the 66th verse; “From that time many of His disciples went back,” saying in verse 60; “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?”
Most of the Pharisees, Saducees, etc of Jesus’ day were going to reject Him and His teachings. They were old bottles. We all are old bottles - in Adam; in the lower, sensual, devilish nature of the old man.
John the Baptist wasn’t going to baptize any old Pharisees that didn’t show some degree of true repentance (coming worthily).
The Spirit and Fire baptism of Jesus Christ is the only baptism that can finally “put away the filth of the flesh (1P 3:21); or, “destroy him that had the power of death; that is, the devil” (He 2:14).
I pray that you and I can remain new bottles till the end. We qualified to have God’s infillling of new wine, but should we ever become inflexible, it can run out - and we perish. But as the new wine skins move with the expansion of the new wine, so must we be soft and pliable enough to move with the unction of the Spirit and with the Word of God - so shall we be preserved!
AMEN
“Eating His Flesh”
Consider these scriptures which show that, just as Jesus’ blood symbolized the spirit of Life (or, the Holy Ghost); so, His flesh symbolized The Word of God.
Understand, first of all that Jesus is called “The Word of God” in at least three places: Rv 19:11-13, He 4:12-14, Jn 1:1.
When one reads from Jn 1:1 all the way through to the 14th verse, you find this revelatory statement: “In the beginning was the Word and The Word was made flesh ...”
Concisely stated; to eat the flesh of Jesus is to eat the word.
Notice that neither Ezekiel nor John were allowed to begin their prophesy until they had “eaten a book”
Ez 3:1-4, Rv 10:8-11
This book of course was the Word of God.
Job 34:3 “The ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.”
Many things in the Bible, bread symbolizes “words.”
In the Holy place in the tabernacle in the wilderness was a seven-fold candlestick and 12 loaves of bread; these symbolized the Spirit of God and the Word of God which was in Christ. The will of God was in fact -
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in Christ. (eg 1Th 5:18)
So, to partake of the flesh and blood of Jesus was to take in His spirit and Word.
Jn 4:24 “they that worship Him (God) must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.”
2Th 2:13 “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth.”
One of the strongest scriptures in the Bible where bread was to symbolize “words” is found in Mt 16:6-12. “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”
Jesus obviously did not want them to contaminate the true bread by fellowshipping with the leaven of false doctrine.
Hence, the warning in Pr 23:6-8, “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: eat and drink, saith he to thee; that his heart is not with thee. the morsel (words) which thou hast eaten (the true bread) shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.”
1Co 10:16 “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” For we being many (are one bread, and one body,) for we are all Partakers of that one bread.”
Jesus is the true bread which we are to eat ... His words! The bread of life = the word of life (1Jn 1:1) “I am the living bread which came down from Heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” -- Jn 6:51
The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life>” Jn 6:63
This is a key thought all through the various passages concerning flesh & blood; that they are the source of life.
With this understood and accepted, then the many scriptures that show the spirit and the word to be the source of life, lead us to the conclusion that Jesus’ flesh & blood is Spirit and Word!
egs. Jms 1:18 “Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth ... wherefore ... receive with meekness the engrafted (as in “skin” grafting, if you will) word, which is able to save your souls.”
1P 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God ... wherefore ... as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk (comes before meat) of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be that ye have tasted (key word) that the Lord is gracious.”
He 5:14 “Strong meat (strong doctrine) belongeth to them that are of full age ... 5 verses later ... and have tasted the good word of God.
Ps 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord (the word) is good.”
1Co 3:2 “I have fed you with milk and not with meat: for hither to ye were not able to bear it.”
Compare to Jn 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
Jn 12:44-50 “I know that his commandant (God’s commandments: or, words) is life everlasting.”
Jn 6:57 “So he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Awfully strange language to anyone that doesn’t understand!
Jn 6:68 “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”
Jn 6:58 “He that eateth of this bread shall live forever.”
Jn 5:27 “Labour not for the meat which perisheth (natural food -- like they serve in churches that mistakenly take all these scriptures literally), but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.”
Jn 5:35 “I am the bread of life” ( ... and the word was made flesh.)
De 8:3 “He suffered thee to hunger ... that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”
Amos 8:11 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”
Thank God that, for the true worshippers, the days of dark age famine are over, and that, once again, wisdom hath “Furnished her table”. Pr 9:2