The Release Of The Spirit--A Communion Message

THE RELEASE OF THE SPIRIT—A COMMUNION MESSAGE

TEXT: John 12:23-27

John 12:23-27 KJV And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. [24] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. [25] He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. [26] If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. [27] Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

I. INTRODUCTION—COMMUNION

-By and large when it comes to the partaking of communion, I always try to take very seriously what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:28 about a man examining himself in the deepest parts of his soul. I have always probably erred more toward the side of caution in taking the Lord’s Supper with that clear command that comes from Scripture.

-However, Paul also very clearly speaks that the breaking of the Lord’s body and the shedding of His blood, brought great hope and prepared for salvation to take place in our soul. The command is that we do this thing in remembrance of the Lord.

-There is great comfort that comes to us when we clearly understand the price of our salvation. The Lord desired for us to remember that regularly.

-This communion message is preached more out of comfort and encouragement than of the need of self-examination. But never neglect that aspect of the Lord’s Supper.

-Portions of this message came to me when I was in Bible College in Houston in a class taught by Rev. A. B. Keating.

II. THE CONCEPT OF JOHN 12:23-27

-There is a test that comes to all Spirit-filled believers: Will you be fully involved in the special test of living Kingdom principles?

-You will be placed in situations where you will be given an opportunity to succeed or fail in it.

-Brother Kelsey Griffin would regularly tell us in my days at Texas Bible College that God is not involved in social promotion—He will not pass you just because you have reached a certain age. The Lord gives us tests and if we pass them, we move on to deeper and higher levels of spiritual maturity. But if we fail the test, that same test will cycle back around at a later point in life. What uniquely happens is that God will place some added material on the test to make it a little more difficult than the previous time.

A. The Sorrow of the Lord & Ourselves

-In the principles of the Kingdom, there must be a breaking of the outward man for the release of the inward spirit. This is the whole concept of the Sermon on the Mount.

-When the spirit in the inward man is released, that man becomes of great worth to the Kingdom of God on the earth.

-What we must know as saints of God is the vehicle to move us toward that place is usually some very painful outward things that will come to pass to bring us to that place.

-The ministry of Jesus proves that to us. You cannot look at the life of the Lord and miss that key point. He was a man of intense passions, he was man who was aware of sorrow and acquainted with grief. Throughout Scripture there are three distinct times that the Lord is mentioned to have been given to tears of great pain and sorrow:

• At the grave of Lazarus—The tears of Jesus many have stunned those who were watching on that day. He pain of Mary and Martha, he stood almost face-to-face with the last enemy, death, and groaned deeply. John records simply, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).

• Over the city of Jerusalem—He was in the role as prophet and saw what was to befall them. In His deep sorrow, He said that He would have liked to have been like a mother hen who could gather up her brood under her wings. He was distressed over the coming evil.

• In the Garden of Gethsemane—In Hebrews 5, the writer speaks of the bitter tears that was mingled with the bloody sweat. The Lord now weeps over the great burden of human sin that is about to be pushed on to Him.

-Troubles, afflictions and difficulties have a way of breaking us. Most of us dread when they come our way but it is through them that the Lord often does His greatest work.