QUESTION:
How should Communion bread be prepared?
ANSWER:
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” [Matthew 26:26-29]
“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 come. 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. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. [I Corinthians 11:23-33]
“When Melchisedec, the King of Salem, the Priest of the Most High, the King of peace, which was none other than the forepart of the Lord Jesus Christ, and when He met Abraham, He fed Abraham the Communion and blessed him. And here He... Abraham meets Him on His journey to Sodom and feeds Him meat and bread. Oh, don't you see the connection between the man... He promised... Our bread and water is sure and God will do it just as certain as we're setting here. And every Divine promise He has made, He's obligated to do it.” [Melchisedec The Great Prince And King, Jeffersonville, IN 55-0109M]
“After the battle was over, after the victory was won, after the clearance had been made, Melchisedec met Abraham on the plains, and brought bread and wine and served it to him. And Who... No other was that than the One that met Abraham about a year later, set under the tree and talked to him. And this same Melchisedec said, "I will take no more of the fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in My Father's Kingdom." After the battle is over, when the victory is won, then we'll take it anew in His Kingdom. When the last battle is fought, when the last sword has killed the last evil of the world, and the great Church of the living God triumphs, Christ will meet them in the air with the bread and the wine again, the Communion, and for eternity in the Presence of the Father.” [The Communion, Jeffersonville, IN 57-0418]
“Look at the Lord's Supper. Why, they even has a place they take old loaf bread. And the bread is supposed to be made with unleavened bread. And they pass it out to sinners, cigarette smokers, prostitutes, harlots, as long as they got their name on the book. And you Baptists even call it "closed" Communion. Now, you Baptists crow a little, God will take your horn off. That's exactly right, you won't be able to toot it. "Closed" Communion, you separate yourself, seem to be holier than thou art. Remember, this is a Baptist tabernacle. That's what you get, you organize yours. "Oh," you say, "we're not an organization." Yes, you are. Certainly, you are. You say, "We're a fellowship." Yeah, to anybody that comes in the door and teach just the way you believe it, it's all right. But, one, you--you won't throw him out, but you'll excommunicate him from your brotherhood. That's exactly right. Oh, you got a way of doing it. So has God got a way of doing it. But God's Church will move on. The Pillar of Fire won't stand for that.” [Hebrews Chapter Four, Jeffersonville, IN 57-0901E]
“That's the difference between Catholic and Protestant doctrine. See? The Catholic church says, "The body is... The bread is the literal body. The church has the power to transform this." Did you ever see a Catholic passing a church, bow his head, make crosses? Is because that little light's burning in the church there under that little tabernacle; it's got a light in there; and that kosher bread lays in there. "And that's the body of Christ. And when you take that, you're absolutely taking the literal body of Christ on your first Communion and your confessions and so forth: you're taking, literally, the body of Christ." [Questions And Answers On Hebrews, Jeffersonville, IN 57-1006]
“Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father which is in heaven has revealed this to you." A spiritual revelation of the Lord Jesus, "Upon this rock I'll build My church." Not because some man told you. "Flesh and blood has not revealed it to you." Not because you learned it in a Communion, not because you learnt it eating kosher bread, not because you learned it in a bunch of creeds, but because the Holy Ghost has revealed it to you. "Upon this rock I'll build My church, and all the gates of hell can't prevail against it." Showed they would be against it, but they'll never prevail.” [United Under One Head, Middletown, OH 58-0326]
“I do not believe that kosher bread should be substituted for a cracker. I believe that it should be a holy unleavened bread, the type of the unleavened bread that was made in Egypt. And I believe that the Blood should not be grape juice, but it should be wine. Grape juice sours and spoils as it gets old. But wine gets better and stronger as it gets old; it never loses its strength. And the Blood of Christ doesn't sour and spoil; as it gets older, it gets stronger and better as the days goes by to the believer. And it is a literal wine and bread. communion bread should be made by people who's dedicated themselves and consecrated themselves to God. I went to a church once where they taken this old loaf bread, where sinners cursing and carrying on, and filth, and cut up that old bread and stuck it out there with some kind of a juice to drink. To me that was--that was ridiculous. I believe it should be just exactly the way the Scripture said it should be and not vary one speck from the Scriptures, stay right with It.” [Questions And Answers, Jeffersonville, IN 59-0628E]
“Why, they go to the Lord's Supper, and the first thing in the material line, take an old piece of light bread, or a soda cracker, and break it up and make the Communion, when that's supposed to be made with holy ghost hands and unleavened bread. Christ is not dirty and filthy, and that represents Him. Another thing, they give it to people that drink, lie, steal, smoke, chew, just anything, as long as they belong to the church. Far be it. If a man ever takes it when we're eating this here, he's breathing and drinking damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's Body. If he don't live the life, keep away from it. And if you don't take it, it shows that your own conscience is guilty. "He that eateth not, has no part with Me," Jesus said.” [What Is The Holy Ghost? Jeffersonville, IN 59-1216]
“After Abraham (the true, righteous one of God), when he'd had the revival, after the battle was over, Melchisedec met him; and Abraham gave Him a tenth of the spoils. And what did Melchisedec serve him? Wine and bread, the Communion, after the battle was over. Jesus said, "I'll not eat it any more with you, until I eat this anew with you in My Father's Kingdom." When the battle's over, servant of God, someday Melchisedec, the great King of peace, the great King of heaven, without father, without mother, without beginning of Life or ending of Life--without beginning of days or ending of Life, He will meet us after the battle's over, and serve us Communion.” [Jehovah-Jireh, Long Beach, CA 61-0209]
Bible References: Matthew 26:26-29; I Corinthians 11:23-33; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:15-20
[Answer provided by Bro. Ken Andes, Minister, Lynden, WA, USA]