Print this 7 page article
The Pathfinder

(Part 2)
 

"...She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked..." Genesis 3:6-7.

"And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him..." Luke 24:30-31.

We noted in our pervious study that the Communion in which we find ourselves partaking is not from the natural loaf and cup; but rather, it is spiritual. This communion cannot be feigned, nor can it be reduced to a religious practice. It is a living experience to the highest degree, moreover, there can be pain involved when this bread is broken; but life and joy comes from eating it as well, which is a part of the true Communion. It is painful and sometimes unbearably shameful; for we are at times a public spectacle, as it was with our Lord. Our natural feelings may want to join those who are waiting to be raptured away, or just die and find ourselves in a tranquil garden of eternal bliss. Thoughts as these are much more welcomed than being lifted in shame upon a cross for all to see, and from where we hear men’s ridicule: "If you are the sons of God, come down from there. Only those who are cursed by God hangs upon a tree." Matthew 27:40, Galatians 3:13. "Come on down and walk the Calf’s Crooked Path with us. It is ancient and sacred. It has been worn well by firm traditions. It will take you to God’s glory, we are sure of it; for we have been told it by men of greater stature than yours."

Even we wonder at times, how could we submit to such, especially when the refrain of Psalm 13 echoes through our souls as we cry out the same?

"How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved...." However, we do not end our supplications without hope. We remember the rest of the verse: "... But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me." Praise His wonderful name!

If we saw only from man’s eyes, and had never known our Lord, we would surely take that Communion of the crooked path of the ancient little calf which now has bumper to bumper traffic eight lanes wide (ref. our previous article, #238.12). True Communion is much more straight, narrow, and often difficult; but for the Sons of God to come forth in the manifested glory of their Lord, it is imperative for them to eat from the loaf that He blessed and broke for us, which is His body! This Communion is not that which is called the Eucharist; for it is altogether Holy! It is not what man calls the Holy Sacrament, a bread crumb or stamped out wafer that is handed out or placed upon tongues by the hands of men. Our Father is not interested in carnal ordinances and religious exercises, not even our routine, religious prayers. Make no mistake about it, prayers are good, they are an essential part of our lives in Christ; but if they do not come from the pit of despair, from the mountain tops of victory and praise, or out of our love for the One we know so well, they may be nothing more than hollow utterances that are void of any true substance or desire for His living fellowship.

Notwithstanding, man by nature has always been a creature of quest. He is intrigued by that which is beyond his reach, venturing always to perilous heights and fathomless depths. His thirst for knowledge is unquenchable. Desiring revelation has been a benchmark of who he is. And that insatiable hunger has been supplied by volumes upon volumes of inspired revelation, both natural and spiritual. Most often when we think of revelation, we assume its origin is always from heaven's throne, but not so! Not all revelation comes from the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Most of us have probably not given much thought to there being any other inspiring spirit by which revelation comes. But please know, it can come from other sources as well, and one other source is from Satan, the serpent, rather than Jesus, the Dove. As surely as inspiration comes from above by the Holy Spirit, it can also come subtly from beneath by the crooked serpent. Therefore, the world not only has an ancient calf that wove a crooked path of tradition, it has a source from which to receive its inspiration. This scenario can be seen in the third chapter of Genesis:

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked..." Genesis 3:6-7.

After the serpent’s inspiration, the woman's temptation, and the man’s submission—revelation came. The man and woman’s eyes were opened, they knew themselves for what was always there but had never surfaced, and in knowing themselves—they died. In the beginning of that deadly revelation, they were ashamed of what they saw. They hid their identity with hand-sewn, religious, fig leaves. To this day, their shame continues to be hidden by religions worldwide; thus, handcrafted fig leaves of activities, rituals, and religious cloaks of all colors, shapes, and designs (robes, collars, crosses, steeples, statues, emblems, icons, stained glass, gold ornaments, cups, wafers, wine, ad infinitum). All these give the appearance of godliness, but they are not. There is no power in them.

There is a saying that all paths lead to Rome. This may be true on one level, and that level is upon the crooked and twisted calf-paths. They do, indeed, lead to Rome. But only one straight and narrow path leads to New Jerusalem, and they who follow the Lamb are the ones traveling that pristine path.

To walk the path of the Lamb is to walk the path of His broken body. People can, and do, walk other ways. This is also some sort of communion; but the bread of that ill-fated tare can only lead to a broad, crooked path that leaves its sojourners wandering aimlessly in the deserts of futility and fruitless religions.

That which is last is pure and holy. It brings life to its partakers; but there is a counter part which was first and it brings death. Such are the first and last Communions.

Man’s first communion was between the serpent and the woman, and it sent mankind on a long journey, one filled with delusion, heartbreak, futility, and death. The woman was the honored guest at the serpent's supper. She communed with the most cunning beast in the field, and she died while it lived and is still alive as it feeds upon her dust (mind and body) of the earth. As the carnal mind is today, she was inspired by it, or we could say, she was inspirited; for that is what an inspiration is. It is to be energized by the spirit from whatever it is that is the inspiration. She was inSPIRITed, and her eyes were opened and she saw. Truly, humanity's first inspiration brought the first communion, and that communion brought the first revelation, and that revelation brought the first death.

We might add that due to the type of revelation she had, I believe it would be appropriate to call it a devilation; for that is exactly what she and the man had. They had a devilation. The serpent is a type of the devil, as we know, and it was that twisted spirit by which the woman was inspired that opened her eyes to see the fruit was pleasant to look upon. We also know the Greek word from which devil was translated is diabolos, and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance defines the word as being "a traducer." I have mentioned this word in times past, and I surely do not want to belabor the point, but once again, it is necessary to touch upon it for clarity.

Traduce is not a word we often use these days; but it does tell us something about this inspiring, serpentine spirit. It simply means: to transfer from one order to another as you would transfer from one order of reasoning to another order of reasoning. Therefore, in reference to spiritual matters, the traducer (the devil) twists and transfers the word of God in such a manner that the natural mind can grasp it. The traducer lowers spiritual revelation to the natural playing field of understanding, and it opens men's eyes to see themselves rather than He who is from above, Jesus Christ.

The spirit which inspires the carnal mind is the traducer that has no truth, and the Spirit which inspires the spiritual mind is the Holy Spirit which is Truth. Either can open one's eyes to see. Either can bring a person to revelations beyond the scope of common vision. The old one is causing people to rise up in pride of knowing themselves. The New one is also causing people to know themselves; but it is first to know Him and then with humble thanksgiving to know who we are in Him. Which inspiration is opening our eyes? Is it the first communion that is taking stolen fruit and causes us to know ourselves, or is it receiving the Last Communion which opens our eyes to know Him? Hopefully it is the Last Communion—The Lord's Supper.

The Last Communion is with the Last Adam. We commune with the living God in the Spirit. The Sons of God have supper with their Lord. In eating, the serpent dies, and the sons live. They are truly inspired by this supper, or inspirited by it. They receive the Spirit from the one who is doing the inspiring. They are inspired, and their eyes are opened to see Him.

Humanity's last inspiration brings the last, ever-abiding communion, and that communion brings the revelation of the Last Man unto life. Praise God! The obedience of the Last Adam reverses everything which was disrupted by the disobedience of the first Adam!

Let us notice a couple of other historical figures who had communion which brought forth a revelation. It was unlike the first two, Adam and Eve. They were the two men walking to Emmaus after the crucifixion of Jesus.

"And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him....And they told what things were done in the way, and how He was known of them in breaking of bread." Luke 24:30-31, 35.

The first man and woman's eyes were opened when the woman took the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the woman gave it unto the man, they both knew themselves as their eyes were opened. The two from Emmaus received the blessed, broken bread from the hand of Jesus and they knew Him! What a difference of knowing between taking what was forbidden and receiving that which was blessed and given!

Although the act of receiving seems to be better than taking, we must understand that every form of receiving does not produce good fruit. There is a receiving which brings death as surely as being a thief and illegally taking from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It is in receiving from the wrong source, such as, receiving stolen property from the hand of the presumptuous woman, as Adam did, rather than from the Man of Life. When a person receives stolen property, he is just as guilty in a court of law as the one who stole it, and so it is with receiving stolen fruit. Adam received that which the woman had stolen, had a revelation of self, and died with her.

The two men of Luke 24 received that which was legally given, from the blessed, broken, resurrected Man. They had a revelation of Him and lived. Prior to receiving the broken bread, they could not know their Lord, for until then their eyes were closed. "And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him" Luke 24:16.

They were having communion. They communed together. But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him. They had come together and were reasoning with one another, even as we do at times. We come together and reason with one another, sometimes about certain doctrines, about who is ministering truth and who is ministering error, about a man who once walked the shores of Galilee, and even about that same man who had once moved mightily in our midst. Reasoning, of course, is not necessarily bad. It is good to have the ability to reason and then exercise or respond to our findings in a good manner. However, reasoning will not open our eyes to know our Lord.

The two men walking to Emmaus communed and reasoned together concerning the one they once knew, and Jesus Himself drew near. He walked with them, talked with them, and even expounded unto them in all the scriptures beginning at Moses and all the prophets, the things concerning Himself. Luke 24:27. But their eyes were not opened until they received the blessed, broken, resurrected bread of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was then that they knew Him, and it is the same with us, as His blessed body is broken. We do not know Him by eating the natural elements which are not the Lord’s supper. Paul said, "Therefore when you meet together, IT IS NOT to eat the Lord's supper." 1 Corinthians 11:20 NASB).

This is, no doubt, a shock to some. There is no way a carnal ordinance that is being fulfilled spiritually can be His supper. Moreover, meeting together in Bible studies can be just as void. Only when the true bread from heaven descends, and His living blood, His Spirit, flows through our midst can we be eating the Lord’s supper. We cannot expect it to be the same when lifeless scriptures are dissected and hashed over, or when divisions and factions are the order of the day, as it was with the Corinthians. Such can no more be His supper than natural bread and wine (or grape juice). They are not His body and blood, and perhaps we can see why:

Speaking of Jesus, the writer of Hebrews wrote: "Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life." Hebrews 7:16. But not only that, he also said, "Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." Hebrews 9:10. You see, there is a time for natural, carnal ordinances, and there is also a time for them to end. They are good and should abide UNTIL He comes who is eternal. It is then that He becomes the manifestation of the carnal types of which they speak.

Paul spoke concerning one of those ordinances that pertained to the flesh. "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death TILL HE COMES." 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

Can it be any more clear than this? The natural ordinance was to be done in remembrance of Him as long as He was not with them. It was to be done UNTIL He came!

We should also note what it is to proclaim something, or to make proclamation. A good example of proclaiming a word is seen in the scenario of an approaching king. When he is coming into a town or province, there will be the sounding trumpets and others proclaiming, "The king is coming! The king is coming!" The proclamation will continue UNTIL the king has come. Upon his arrival, the trumpets become silent, the proclaimers are quieted, and all ears and eyes are turned and tuned to the king himself. Neither the trumpets nor the proclamations are of notice or importance whatsoever. They have been forgotten.

By and large, Christendom has remembered His words, and have been proclaiming the coming of Jesus Christ for many hundreds of years, and to them, He is yet to come. And likewise, with those of more insight. So many are still in Passover, literally and spiritually, eating in a figure the Lord's Supper until He comes. To them He is in another place somewhere in the distant future.

We see why this has happened; but what about us? Is it the same? Let me pose this question: Is Jesus Christ a man you remember who was once a part of your life and are hoping He will come someday and stir you to life once again? Or is He, as it is with Christendom, only a mental image of an historical man of the past? If He is nothing more than either, then it is probably good for you to eat the bread and drink the cup and proclaim His death until He comes and makes Himself known to you. However, if He has come, if He is come, if He is a present reality in you, then cease from proclaiming that He is coming. Let the carnal ordinance be hushed, cease from sounding the trumpets so the King who has arrived can be seen and heard!

It is easy for most people who embrace the Kingdom of God teachings to do away with eating and drinking the carnal bread and wine; but many promote the ordinance in a different manner. They do this as the two who walked with Jesus to Emmaus. They commune with each other, and reasoned about many things concerning Jesus. Today, He is often walking with them in the members of His body, He is speaking to them; but their eyes are holden, and they do not know He is in their midst. They remember all the wonderful things He did in days gone by. They remember the revivals and awesome moves of God, saying, "Such mighty deeds and powerful words poured from the throne in torrents of liquid life. We thought one of those visitations would surely establish the Kingdom in the earth." And they may continue to commune in this manner until their bread is broken. It is then that their eyes will be opened, and they will see that it is He who has been walking with them.

Until this breaking, He will remain the Lord of yesterday, and the Lord of tomorrow, but will not be their Lord today. Therefore, they irreverently eat the bread of doctrinal reasoning in remembrance of Him. And please know, Brethren, regardless of how reverently the ritual is preformed, our Lord is more than a ritual. He is a present reality, and He is to be our daily bread!

Paul said, "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" 1 Corintians 11:27. There is no question about it, the natural bread can be eaten irreverently to those awaiting His coming and who do not know Him. They can be as the ones to whom Paul wrote. Their eating can be for the selfish pleasure of filling their bellies, and drinking unto drunkenness (naturally and spiritually). This is certainly not what commonly transpires today; but if it did, the people would not be proclaiming His death until He comes, but irreverently showing their insolence by self-indulgence. They would be treating the symbol of His body as nothing more than a tasty meal to satisfy their natural appetites. In this, they would certainly not be discerning the Lord's body. It can be the same with going to church, powerful conferences, and various meetings for the sheer purpose of gaining "revelation" knowledge. It can be akin to eating bread and drinking wine for the pleasure of making us feel good. Neither should we be drunken by natural wine wherein is excess, nor by spiritual wine wherein is excess, and thereby, not discerning the Lord’s Body. Such is surely not receiving the Word, Jesus Christ personified as we note in John 1:1-4.

When we come together, we should know when the word preached is truly an Oracle of God, the very expression and embodiment of our Lord Jesus, and we should receive it from those broken loaves as such. We should know when the word is sound doctrine, good for instruction, good for edification. And we should also know when it is right off the rack of ridiculous imaginations and preposterous proclamations. When the Lord's body and blood are being presented, it is with thanksgiving and reverence we receive Him.

There is a word not worthy to be eaten, and it comes in cunning disguises and produces various things. It is that word which is taken from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It elevates the natural man in pride, causing him at times to declare that he is the voice of God, or even God. On the other hand, it can elevate him to a false humility, having the appearance of one who bows low to his fellow man. It can also make him believe he is nothing but a sinful, wretched worm who is always down-trodden and beaten back. There are other things which are born from the word taken by force or received from the wrong source, and they all are that of death. Therefore, we will not throw caution to the wind and receive such as being from the hand of our Lord. It is not our portion to eat traduced knowledge; for this is not the Lord's Supper.

Brethren, when the broken bread is served, we will discern and receive with thanksgiving that living Word coming from the living body of Christ. Otherwise, it will be taken irreverently, eaten and drank gluttonously, and we will also be heaping death upon ourselves. Let such be far from us, as we discern the Lord's body and receive from it.

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? 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 all partake of that one bread." 1 Corinthian 10:16-17. When we know this, we can examine ourselves and receive that bread and drink of that cup. Our eyes will be opened. It is then that we will know Him. We praise God that many eyes are already open, but many more are not.

The ones whose eyes are holden due to not discerning the Lord's body walk and talk with Him more than they may imagine; but they do not know Him. They are excited by the word which burns in their hearts; yet until they receive the blessed, broken bread, their eyes will remain closed and they will not know Him. They may know a lot about Him as He brings them up to date; but knowing about Him is not the same as being a part of the broken bread and knowing Him.

With the way many view and take the word of the body of Christ, eating and drinking unworthily (or irreverently), and many eating from the branches of man's knowledge, it is no wonder so many are spiritually sick and dead among us. According to the King James Version, it says they eat and drink damnation to themselves (1 Corinthians 11:29). Damnation, however, is a strong word and does not come close to what the apostle of reconciliation was saying.

You see, damnation and discerning comes from the Greek word, krima, which means to make a decision. It has nothing to do with eternal torment but has everything to do with deciding what it best concerning situations whether of evil or of good deeds. If of good, rewards are given and if evil, correction is ministered. In context with this, krima distinguishes between the humble and the proud, between the receivers and the takers, between the spiritual minded and the carnal minded. When the bread of the word is taken unworthily, they are weakened and become spiritually sick. However, there is hope for them; for they have eaten and drank unto themselves damnation; that is, krima, which brings them to the valley of fire, the valley of decision, and finally to correction. That is what krima speaks. And if we fail to discern (diakrino) the Lord’s body—to separate thoroughly, to withdraw from the carnal notions of Christ's body, and withdraw from those who say they bear the marks of Christ but do not—krima will be our portion.

Finally, with whom, or with what, are we having communion? Is it the broken bread of Jesus’ body, the true bread from heaven? Is it the crushed fruit of the Vine, His blood, that is, His Spirit, the Wine of His life? Or is it from that which grows along the crooked calf-path, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the natural ordinance, the leavened bread from the traduced ones? Are we having the Lord's Supper whereby we know Him, or is it the serpent's supper whereby we gayly know ourselves? Hopefully, it is the former rather than the latter. If it is the former, we can and will drink of His cup. If it is from the cup to know ourselves, we cannot drink from the holy vessel of the Lord without it being a mixture. If it is the latter, we will only be remembering His death until He comes, always waiting for Him to come but never arriving. Moreover, if it is the latter, we will find ourselves sitting in the dead of night around manmade campfires, like the Psalmist penned in Isaiah 50:11. We will be warmed by our own flames of doctrines and excited by emotional sparks of religious carnality as they streak against the backdrop of darkness. But we are not of those who build our own fires—or mix and drink our own cup—are we?

Part 1...