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[0:00] 1 Corinthians 10 verse 16. It says, The cup of blessing which we bless,!

[0:30] Much as there's other words to describe this time, the table of the Lord and the love feast, the communion of the blood of Christ, the communion of the body of Christ.

[0:42] And this word communion is the word koinonia. It's like the word koin with a K-O-N-I-A. Koinonia is the Greek word that we use for this word.

[0:52] We translate communion. Communion of the blood of Christ, communion of the body of Christ. And I had a look through the word of God at all the different references to the word koinonia, from which we translate communion or fellowship.

[1:05] And it's variously translated. It's got different meanings, such as fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, sharing, intimacy, a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, an embodiment and proof of fellowship.

[1:25] And today at the Lord's table, at this time of communion, we're participating, we're sharing together in the blessing, in the blood, in the body. And some references where this word is likewise used, that we translate variously in the King James, the word koinonia or communion is also translated in other ways.

[1:47] For example, in Romans 15, verse 26, it's translated as contribution. Contribution. Contribution. The context there is of the church of giving.

[1:58] Romans 15, verse 26, For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. So there's a collection.

[2:09] There was a contribution. Communion is a time of giving. A time of giving, a time of receiving. In Acts 2.42, koinonia happens again and it's translated with the word fellowship.

[2:23] It says, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship. There's that word communion again. The apostles' doctrine or teaching and fellowship or communion and in breaking of bread and in prayers.

[2:38] It's a time of fellowship. Communion is fellowship. It's church. It's participation in the life of Christ. It's participation in one another's lives in a positive way.

[2:51] It's used that same word. It's used to fellowship again. In 1 Corinthians 1.9, it says, God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

[3:04] It's about who we belong to, isn't it? Communion is about Christ. It's about our sharing with Him and together and our relationship with God.

[3:15] It's a time of celebration and commemoration of that communion, of that fellowship. It's used again in 2 Corinthians 6.14, where we're told, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion have light with darkness?

[3:33] So we know that our communion is with light. It's with Christ. It's with God. It's with everything that's beautiful and wholesome and holy. It's not a communion, a partnership, or a connection with that which is not of Him.

[3:50] It's about teamwork. It's about joining up, joining together, and linking, about partnership with God. It's that transaction between God and man, isn't it?

[4:00] We think of that at this time. And we think in 2 Corinthians 13, as Paul closed the letter of 2 Corinthians, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.

[4:16] Amen. It's that communion of the Holy Spirit, that fellowship, that sweet fellowship, with God the Holy Spirit. And that's that communion time that we have as we identify with Christ, that bond of brotherly love, and that common unity, that community of purpose and of joining together.

[4:35] And Paul used it in Philippians 3, that we might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship. There's that word again. The fellowship of His sufferings.

[4:46] Communion with His sufferings. We think of His sufferings too. And being made conformable unto His death. It's translated in Philemon 1 verse 6, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you, in Christ Jesus.

[5:05] Communion is a communication. It's a communication with our faith. This is a declaration. Paul said we do this, we declare, we show, we broadcast, we proclaim His death until He comes.

[5:19] It's a declaration. It's about what we stand for. Communion is about what we're doing together. It's about what we hold in common. In the New Testament, in Luke 5 verse 10, where the fishermen were there, James, John and Simon, it's a like word, where it's in our Bibles translated as partners.

[5:38] There's a partnership. There's a participating together. Just like those fishermen joined together in the fishing business, we're here to do business with God. We're here to participate together.

[5:50] To mean business with God. To have relationship with Him. Again, in Hebrews 13, 16, but to do good and communicate, or kononia, communicate, forget not.

[6:02] For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. It's something we're not to forget. It's something we are to do. It's a giving versus a getting. It's thinking of everything that God has given to us, isn't it?

[6:15] Communion is His gift to us. It's His giving to us that we're remembering of Christ's sacrifice for us. And it's interesting, the word fellowship or kononia was never passive in its meaning.

[6:27] It was always a word of action. It's a word that's always linked to doing, to being, to active, actively doing together. Communion isn't just us passively receiving.

[6:39] It's us participating with God. It's that communion, that fellowship, that relationship. And just to close, 1 John 1, verse 3, it says, That which ye have seen and heard, declare we unto you that ye may also have fellowship with us.

[6:55] And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. He says, that ye may have fellowship, koinonia, communion with us, and fellowship with the Father, with His Son.

[7:09] Koinonia, it's a spiritual dimension. It's us connecting with Christ, with the Father. It's us and God. It's God with us, God in us.

[7:20] It's with each other and it's with the Father and with the Son. 1 John 1, 6, it says, If we say that we have fellowship, or koinonia, with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.

[7:33] But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship, koinonia, fellowship, one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[7:46] So, we can dwell on that. We can think of that word. There's a richness to it, isn't there? There's so much content to it as we think of those different ways that our translators have described it.

[7:59] Of a communicating, of a communion, of a fellowship, of a giving. And we can have fellowship one with another. It's about community this morning and we thank the Lord we can have that wonderful intimacy, that wonderful relationship.

[8:16] And it's made possible because of Christ's blood sacrificed for us and for our sin and recognising His body. And we are that body today as His people that love Him, that are His saints today.

[8:33] We think of Calvary today. We think of that precious blood, that awesome act of love, that absolute grace, that finished work of Calvary today.

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