Communion Wine: Pure Symbolism vs. Fermented Worldly Curse

That is a wonderful and important question, and the distinction between the two types of wine is profoundly significant in spiritual life and practice. The fundamental difference is that the wine used for Communion must be the pure, unfermented juice of the grape, while the worldly usage often involves fermented and intoxicating liquorPaM 171.2+2.

This difference rests on the truth that Christ never provided or sanctioned any beverage that would be a temptation or dull the spiritual sensesHLv 93.2+1.

The Requirements for Communion Wine 🍇

The Communion elements must represent the broken body and shed blood of Christ accurately and purely.

• Pure Symbolism: Only unfermented wine should ever be used on the Communion table because it alone serves as a true symbol of the Saviour's bloodPaM 171.2+1. Fermented wine, which is decomposed grape juice, would entirely destroy the figure representing the sacred blood of Christ13LtMs, Ms 22, 1898, par. 38+1.

• A Blessing, Not a Curse: The pure fruit of the vine is referred to in Scripture as "new wine... found in the cluster," concerning which it is said, "Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it" Isaiah 65:8DA 149.3+1. The wine Christ used in the first Communion with His disciples was this unfermented type, which is a wholesome and refreshing drinkMH 333.1+1.

• Life-Giving Purpose: The sacramental service is designed to be soul-refreshing and life-giving, and there is to be nothing connected with it that could minister to evilPaM 171.2+1. The pure, unfermented juice of the grape is a food that nourishes and builds up the system, in contrast to fermented liquorPTUK April 26, 1894, page 260.5.

• Unleavened Elements: Just as the wine must be unfermented, the bread used on the Communion table must be unleavened, representing the broken body of the Son of God 1 Corinthians 5:7PaM 171.2.

The Danger of Worldly, Fermented Wine ⚠️

Fermented wine is intrinsically linked to moral danger and physical detriment, a product that God never intended or createdARSH December 24, 1901, page 831.12+1.

• Contradiction to Christ's Teaching: Christ did not contradict His own teachings; He provided no beverage that would be a temptationHLv 93.2+1. He was the one who, in the Old Testament, gave the warning: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise" Proverbs 20:1DA 149.3.

• Dethroning Reason: Satan tempts people to indulge in beverages that will becloud reason and benumb spiritual perceptionsHLv 93.2+1. When food or drink that bewilders the brain is placed in the mouth, the destroyer sees his opportunity to enter and dethrone reason10MR 200.3+2.

• Product of the Curse: The natural state of grape juice is unfermented, and unless man interferes with God’s plan for the grape, the wine will always remain unfermentedARSH December 24, 1901, page 831.12. Fermented wine is not a natural production but is always a product of the curse14LtMs, Ms 16, 1899, par. 18+1.

• A Stimulant, Not a Food: Fermented wine is not pure food; its food elements are changed so that it is scarcely nourishing, instead acting as a stimulant and an intoxicant, which merely excites power already possessed rather than building up the systemPTUK April 26, 1894, page 260.5.

• Past Consequences: The use of fermented wine historically caused Nadab and Abihu to confuse the sacred and the common, which resulted in their death Leviticus 10:110MR 200.3+1.

To use fermented wine in the Lord’s Supper is not a following of the Saviour's command and examplePTUK October 24, 1895, page 676.14. Furthermore, using a cup that could revive the old taste in a reformed drunkard is not the communion of Christ's blood, but rather "the cup of devils"PTUK January 5, 1899, page 6.1.