Communion Message
(It had to be a table of blood)
January 16-17, 1999
Pastor Don Sheley

Luke reports for us the event that we are about to celebrate. He says, Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat." So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?" And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water: follow him into the house which he enters. "Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' "Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready." So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them. "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; "for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; "for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. "But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. "And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing. Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.

When we read this passage we realize that it was a table, it was a dinnertime filled with a lot of activity. There was sitting at the table the one who would betray Him, and he had within his hand those funds that he had agreed to sell his master. But Luke tells us also that there was a quarrel. That they began to question among themselves which it was that would do this thing, and there was also a dispute that took place at the table as to which of them should be considered the greatest. So it was a table that was filled with a lot of activity and a lot of stress and a lot of tension. We've looked at the table from time to time as the table of forgiveness, the table of love, the table of reconciliation. We've approached it as the table of fellowship and the table of peace. We've thought about it as the table of salvation and the table of hope, the table of promise, and the table of cleansing. It's the table that proclaims the gospel. But to be all this, it had to be the table of blood, a table of blood. Peter writes, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by traditions from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Throughout the entire New Testament the theme is always there. That the reason He died was for our sins, but the cost was His blood. Acts 20:28 Paul gives instructions to those who were overseeing the church. He says, keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He bought with His own blood. Paul writes in Romans 5:9, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him. Colossians 1:19, For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Hebrews 9:13-14 says, For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? John writes, But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin. And in Revelation 1:5, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. All through the New Testament. All through the Old Testament the crimson cord is always there. That's why we sing great hymns like there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood loose all their guilty stains. Loose all their guilty stains, loose all their guilty stains, and sinners plunged beneath that flood loose all their guilty stains. Dear dying Lamb thy precious blood shall never loose its power till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. And I remember singing this when going to church as a little boy 50 years ago. Would you be freed from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood. Would your evil a victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood. And then the question, have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? And another songwriter answers, what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So when we come to the table this evening, we come to a table that reminds us of that precious blood of our wonderful Christ that was spilled on Calvary that provides cleansing for all of our sin. And all of us are sinners. All of us have missed God's perfection. We have been disobedient. We've been rebellious. We've gone our way. There's not a one of us who come to the service tonight who's devoid of the need of forgiveness. And we are promised that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I want you to join with me as we kneel this evening. And let's pray, shall we? Lord Jesus, as we kneel in Your presence this evening. This table has reminded us of a great number of wonderful truths of our Christian faith; peace, reconciliation, salvation, and the gospel. But tonight, we're reminded primarily of Your precious blood dear Jesus. We are cleansed because You shed Your precious blood at Calvary. We are made pure before You. And these elements, week after week, remind us of this glorious truth. We come to You. We need forgiveness from our sins. We ask for that now Jesus. Some of us have wandered far from the paths of righteousness. Some of us, Lord Jesus, have deliberately gone against Your commands. We bow and we ask Your forgiveness. We want to repent of our sin. That is, we want to turn from that which hurts Your heart dear God. So cleanse us, forgive us, and wash us this evening. In Jesus' name.

Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. It seems so simple to us Lord Jesus, in the participation of these elements, but all this simplicity is so profound. We tonight have witnessed and proclaimed once again Your death dear Jesus at Calvary, and we have claimed the forgiveness that You purchased for us. And that is profoundly eternal and for Your forgiveness we say thank you. In Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet the folks that have come to worship with us.