Celebrating the Lord’s Supper is meant to be a feast of fellowship with Jesus, not a ritual of duty. In this message, Dr. William P. Hohman shows that communion did not begin at the Last Supper: it began thousands of years earlier, when Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, brought out bread and wine to refresh Abram after a hard battle.
From that scene in Genesis 14 he moves through Hebrews 7 and 8 to Paul’s correction of the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11. Below you will find the full video, a summary of each point, the Scripture behind it (NKJV on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline and practical ways to come to the table this week.
Sermon at a Glance
This message was preached at NTC Ministries before one of the church’s love feasts and posted on September 29, 2022. It runs about 69 minutes and closes with a prayer of preparation for communion. Pastor Hohman says the church holds a love feast, or feast of remembrance, about five times a year, and he wanted the congregation to understand what really takes place at the table.
He focuses on one aspect of communion: fellowship, first pictured by Melchizedek and fulfilled in Jesus, our High Priest.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Speaker | Dr. William P. Hohman |
| Series | Single message on communion |
| Main text | Genesis 14:14–24, Hebrews 7 and 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 |
| Key theme | Communion as a love feast of fellowship after the order of Melchizedek |
| Length | About 69 minutes, ending in prayer before communion |
Celebrating the Lord’s Supper as a Love Feast
Pastor Hohman begins with the last days of Jesus’ life on earth. Everything He did then was intentional, fulfilling prophecy and bringing in a new order. The night before the cross, He shared a supper with His apostles and said, Do this in remembrance of Me (Luke 22:19–20). In that moment, the pastor says, Jesus instituted the most highly treasured sacrament of the Christian faith.
He then walks through the names the church has given it:
| Name | What the pastor says about it |
|---|---|
| Communion | The common name today for the Lord’s table |
| Eucharist | Used by some denominations; it simply means giving thanks |
| The Lord’s Supper | The name used at NTC Ministries and by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 |
| Feast of remembrance | From Jesus’ words, Do this in remembrance of Me |
| Love feast | The name used in the first- and second-century church |
The early name matters most to his point. Jude 1:12 warns about divisive people who are “spots in your love feasts.” Jude was writing about the same meal we now call communion. Over time, the pastor says, tradition shrank it down to something small and symbolic, and in the process watered down what actually takes place. A love feast is meant to be exactly that: a feast.
So he asks a question: when did the first communion take place? Most Christians would say at the Last Supper. But the Scriptures show an exchange of bread and wine, for a very significant purpose and by a very significant person, thousands of years earlier. That is where he says we have to start.
The First Communion: Melchizedek Meets Abram
Much of the Old Testament, Pastor Hohman explains, is a type and a shadow. His own shadow under the stage lights shows his outline but not who he really is. The Old Testament likewise gives an image of what was to come, which is why he so often starts in Genesis.
He sets the scene. Four kings defeated five kings in the Valley of Sodom and Gomorrah and carried off people and wealth, including Abram’s nephew Lot. Abram asked the Lord what to do and was told he would overtake them.
Genesis 14:14–16 records the rescue. Abram armed 318 trained servants born in his own house, pursued the armies as far as Dan, divided his forces by night and brought back all the goods, Lot, the women and the people. The pastor stresses that this was no easy win. It was 319 men, mostly household servants, against four trained armies. They worked hard and came back exhausted.
Then comes the scene at the heart of the sermon. In Genesis 14:17–20, Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram and blessed God for delivering his enemies into his hand. Abram gave him a tithe of everything, the pastor notes, long before the law ever required one.
In Genesis 14:21–24, the king of Sodom also came out. He offered Abram the goods if he could have the people back. Abram refused to take anything, “from a thread to a sandal strap,” so that no one could say the king of Sodom had made him rich. Only the young men who fought would take their portion.
Pastor Hohman draws the contrast clearly. Melchizedek came out with compassion to revive a tired man: eat, drink, restore your strength. He came to fellowship with Abram, while the king of Sodom came to do business with him. That difference is the key to celebrating the Lord’s Supper rightly.
King of Righteousness, King of Peace
Who was Melchizedek? Pastor Hohman explains that the name means king of righteousness, from the Hebrew word for king. He was also king of Salem, which became Jerusalem, and Salem comes from shalom, peace. So by name he is the king of righteousness, and by location he is the king of peace. He was not an ordinary man: he was both king and priest.
Under the law, the pastor points out, no one could be both. Kings came from Judah and priests from Levi, keeping the two roles separate so the people could trust them. Yet here is Melchizedek holding both offices. Pastor Hohman teaches that he was the pre-incarnate Christ, Jesus appearing in history before He was born of Mary into the tribe of Judah.
Hebrews 7:1–3 supports this reading. Melchizedek is described as king of righteousness and king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, and he remains a priest continually. Only One has no beginning or end, the pastor says, and that is Jesus.
God created everything else by His word, but He formed man with His hands. That hands-on nature shows again when the Lord tells Abraham He has come down to see whether what He heard about Sodom is true (Genesis 18:20–21). It is why Jesus became a High Priest who is compassionate with every part of our lives.
Jesus is the King of righteousness, the only righteous One, who gives us His righteousness. He was called the Prince of Peace at His birth, and now, risen and seated at the Father’s right hand, He is the King of peace. When Melchizedek brought out bread and wine to Abram, the pastor says, it was a picture of the communion we share today.
A Priesthood of Fellowship, Not Duty
Hebrews 7:11–13 asks why another priest would need to arise according to the order of Melchizedek if perfection could come through the Levitical priesthood. Pastor Hohman explains that under Aaron everything was duty, a contract: do this and this happens, do not do that or that happens. When the priesthood changed, the law changed too.
The new law, he says, is Romans 8:2: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. Hebrews 7:14–19 says our Lord arose from Judah and became a priest not by a fleshly commandment but by the power of an endless life. The former commandment was annulled because the law made nothing perfect, and a better hope came in, through which we draw near to God.
Under Melchizedek, the pastor says, the message is simple: let’s fellowship, let’s talk. He pictures Jesus saying He is not there to give orders but to revive your strength, renew your energy and put a fire in you. That is why we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11), and why telling one another what God has done is part of communion.
He illustrates it with his own testimony. Around 1972 he was a drug addict and alcoholic. After an overdose in a San Diego apartment, he sat in the corner of a bedroom for three days, afraid that if he closed his eyes he would die. Then, he says, Jesus came and sat next to him. He did not scold him. He said, “It’ll be all right, William. I’ll heal you. I’m going to use you big.”
His deliverance was not instant, but Jesus kept talking with him until he committed his life to the Lord and was totally set free. Pastor Hohman says drugs and alcohol have had no hold on him since, and he has ministered in 37 nations. Freedom came not by the law but by fellowship.
The table below follows his contrast between the two priesthoods.
| Order of Aaron (the law) | Order of Melchizedek (Jesus) |
|---|---|
| Duty and contract: do this, this happens | Fellowship: let’s just talk |
| Priests offered sacrifices daily, first for their own sins | Jesus offered Himself once for all |
| Priests never sat, because the work was never finished | Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Majesty |
| The law condemns people for being the way they are | Fellowship strengthens and changes people from within |
| Examine yourself by digging up old sins | Examine whether you are in fellowship with God and others |
Hebrews 7:26–27 says such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, harmless, undefiled, who offered Himself once for all. Pastor Hohman warns against being saved by grace and then trying to live by the law; we are saved by grace and then live with God in fellowship.
That fellowship reaches others too. Instead of handing hurting people a three-point plan, he says, listen and have compassion on what they feel. And when the Lord takes hold of us, the tongue is one of the first things He deals with, because life and death are in its power (Proverbs 18:21).
Jesus Sat Down: Freedom From Endless Pacing
Hebrews 8:1 gives the main point: we have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. Pastor Hohman explains that the Levitical priests never sat down, because their tasks were never completed. He says the Hebrew word for soul, nephesh, carries the picture of pacing back and forth.
He illustrates it with a bear he used to watch in a city park cage in the Upper Peninsula. The bear walked the same cement ledge every day, always looking out through the fence, until it had worn a groove into the concrete. That, he says, is what life looks like for people without Jesus, and even for believers who know Him only as a priest of Aaron’s order: every day the same pacing, never free.
The answer is the freedom of the Holy Spirit. After one sacrifice, Jesus sat down, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). Communion, then, is a covenant of fellowship. At the Last Supper, Jesus was in effect saying what Melchizedek said: I am going to die for you tomorrow, and there is nothing for you to do but be with Me.
The pastor shares how he and his wife learned this around 1980. They set up date nights where they could talk only about each other or the Lord. The first time, they stared at each other, ate and left with nothing to say. They had to start caring for one another during the week and get to know the person, not just what the person does. That, he says, is what Paul writes about in his letter on communion.
Discerning the Lord’s Body
In 1 Corinthians 11:17–22, Paul tells the Corinthians that when they come together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. There were divisions. Each person ate his own supper ahead of others, so one went home hungry and another went home drunk. Pastor Hohman points out that this could not describe a tiny wafer and a sip of juice; it was a real meal, and they were not fellowshipping.
Paul then repeats what he received from the Lord in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26: on the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and said, “This is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Pastor Hohman notes that Jesus gave thanks and led a time of praise on the very night He was handed over.
He applies this to testimony. Many believers hesitate to tell what God has done for them, such as a new car, because some may resent it. But His body was broken for those blessings, so he will keep telling people. Celebrating the Lord’s Supper includes saying, look what God has done for me.
The warning comes in 1 Corinthians 11:27–34: whoever eats or drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment, not discerning the Lord’s body. Those under the law read “let a man examine himself” as a call to dig up last week’s sins. Pastor Hohman says Jesus already sacrificed for those once for all. The real question is whether you are in fellowship with the Lord and with your brothers and sisters, or holding something against them.
To discern, he explains, means to look underneath. In marriage it is easy to see only faults and say “you always.” Instead, look at what His blood has done in that person. We admire a sunset even in a fallen world, yet we often see only the wrong in people. David pointed the people back to God’s love: as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy (Psalm 103:11).
Gratitude fades when fellowship with God fades, so we labor to enter His rest (Hebrews 4:11). And no one who names Jesus as Lord is a good-for-nothing sinner. Revelation 1:5–6 says He loved us, washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and priests to His God and Father, just like Melchizedek.
He also points to Zephaniah 3:15–17, where the Lord rejoices over His people with singing; that is how the kingdom of heaven looks at people. He closes by rereading 1 Corinthians 11 and stressing Paul’s final instruction: when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Coming to the Table This Week
Pastor Hohman ends with a prayer for the congregation to pray before partaking. Here are practical steps drawn from this message:
- Come for fellowship, not duty. Treat communion as time with Jesus, your High Priest, rather than a ritual to complete.
- Examine your relationships. Ask whether you are holding anything against a family member, friend or fellow believer, and forgive.
- Look underneath. When someone frustrates you, look for what the blood of Jesus has done in their life before naming their faults.
- Share a testimony. Tell someone one specific thing God has done for you this week, as Abram and Melchizedek did after the battle.
- Listen with compassion. Before offering advice to someone who is struggling, listen to what they are feeling.
- Give thanks first. Like Jesus on the night He was betrayed, begin with thanksgiving, which is what Eucharist means.
Timestamped Outline
- 0:00 Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper
- 1:19 Eucharist, feast of remembrance and love feast
- 2:28 When did the first communion take place?
- 3:43 Types and shadows in the Old Testament
- 4:52 Four kings, five kings and Lot taken captive
- 6:10 Genesis 14:14–16: Abram’s 318 servants
- 8:31 Melchizedek brings out bread and wine
- 9:43 Abram refuses the king of Sodom
- 11:54 King of righteousness and king of peace
- 13:36 Melchizedek as the pre-incarnate Christ
- 17:24 Fellowship versus business
- 18:41 Hebrews 7: without father or mother
- 23:35 The priesthood and the law changed
- 28:29 A testimony of deliverance
- 32:22 Hebrews 7:26–27: once for all
- 37:31 Hebrews 8:1: a High Priest who sat down
- 38:53 The bear that paced its cage
- 43:39 Date nights and knowing each other
- 46:02 1 Corinthians 11: divisions at the table
- 49:29 This is My body, broken for you
- 52:35 Eating and drinking in an unworthy manner
- 54:35 Discerning means looking underneath
- 1:01:31 Revelation 1:5–6: kings and priests
- 1:07:20 Prayer before communion
Frequently Asked Questions
Does examining myself before communion mean listing my sins?
Pastor Hohman says that approach comes from living under the law. Jesus has already sacrificed once for all, so digging up old sins is not the point. Instead, examine whether you are in fellowship with the Lord and with others. Are you offended or holding something against someone? His closing prayer includes forgiving everyone who has hurt you and repenting of wrong attitudes toward family, friends and other believers.
Why does NTC Ministries call it a love feast?
Because that is what the first- and second-century church called it, as Jude 12 shows. Pastor Hohman explains that in Corinth the Lord’s Supper was a real meal, which is why Paul could rebuke people for going home hungry or drunk. The church holds a love feast, or feast of remembrance, about five times a year so that the fellowship side of communion is not lost.
What does the bread and wine Melchizedek gave Abram have to do with Jesus?
Pastor Hohman teaches that Melchizedek was the pre-incarnate Christ, king and priest, king of righteousness and king of peace. When he brought bread and wine to the tired Abram after battle, it pictured what Jesus does at His table: He comes to refresh, restore strength and fellowship with His people. Hebrews says Jesus is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Scripture References
All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:
- Genesis 14:17–20 — Melchizedek brings out bread and wine
- Genesis 14:21–24 — Abram refuses the king of Sodom
- Jude 1:12 — spots in your love feasts
- Hebrews 7:1–3 — king of righteousness and king of peace
- Hebrews 7:14–19 — a priest by the power of an endless life
- Hebrews 8:1 — a High Priest seated in the heavens
- 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 — do this in remembrance of Me
- 1 Corinthians 11:27–34 — discerning the Lord’s body
- Revelation 1:5–6 — kings and priests to His God
How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.
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