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Thursday, July 9, 2009

Wine or Grape Juice

I know I may be starting a fight with this post but that is not my intent. I have been confronted with this issue time and again during the 22 years I have been in the ministry and maybe some of you can give me some explanation that would help.

1Co 11:23-34 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. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

I personally would like to read a Biblical explanation of why you use alcohol for the Lord's Supper. Also, where do you buy your wine at? At the local brewery? Is it the same wine that the local drunks drink? When you go in a grocery store to buy this alcohol do you lower your head in shame, or are you even concerned about being seen with a bottle of booze? I know a preacher that buys alcohol for his Lord's Supper but he goes 2 county's over to get his wine so he won't be seen by the locals with booze.

My questions are in all sincerity and I would appreciate someone answering them. Wine is not a firstfruit of the grape. It is a byproduct. Wine is produced when yeast, a leavening agent, acts on the sugar molecule of fruit juice to produce ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. Wine, then, is juice that has been chemically changed into something different. It is not the original, pure fruit of the vine, but a secondary byproduct. As a symbol for the pure, uncorrupted, sinless blood of Jesus, a modified substance like wine would be inadequate. 1Co 10:16 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?

More importantly, wine has been leavened in the same way bread is leavened by yeast. The Passover was to be eaten only with unleavened bread, Exodus 12:8. Nothing leavened was to be used at the Passover Memorial.Unleavened bread represents Jesus’s body unchanged by the corruption of sin, Mark 14:22. Similarly, the cup represents His pure blood, untainted by outside influences of the sinful world. Would a chemically altered drink like wine best represent His pure, unadulterated blood, or would the virgin juice from the grape?

1 comments:

Bro. Raz said...

Amen, brother. When I was in Israel back in 2004, I drank "wine." It was pure, unfermented grape juice. But the bottle clearly said "wine." The Jews today still refer to grape juice in this way.
Not only that, but the word "wine" is never used in connection with the Lord's supper in the KJB. It is called the fruit of the vine.
I appreciate your stand on this subject. It amazes me how the modernist and liberal preachers of today will say the same thing that the drunkards on skid row say in defense of their sin: "After all, Jesus drank wine, too!"