Communion Message
(What's precious?)
June 17-18, 2000
Pastor Donald Sheley

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Peter in his letter writes these words: Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming ourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all of your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Peter seeks to describe for us in words that tell us of our relationship with Jesus Christ. He said we're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. Some matters do not lend themselves to evaluation, and Calvary is the most defiant, for none of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed nor how dark was then night our Lord passed through er He found His sheep that was lost. The transcendent values of the cross are more evident to us then the knowledge of the cost, but we cannot linger long in its shadow without finding it to be a place of preciousness. Now the word precious is defined as rare or scarce, but we're not thinking in such terms as rarity and scarcity. They do not fit the subject. What we are interested in is that which absolutely without duplication, approximation or imitation; Calvary is the place of preciousness because Christ is the personification of preciousness. The Scripture says, unto you therefore which believe He is precious. Calvary has no duplication for Christ also hath once suffered for sins. Calvary has no approximation for it is written, Who is like unto Thee 0 Lord among the gods? Who is like unto Thee glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Calvary is without imitation for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

Remember, it was the Master not the malefactors who made Calvary meaningful and immortal. Go to the battlefields of Gettysburg and the guides will say brave men died here for the preservation of national unity. Go to the shores of North Africa and Western Europe and the islands of the Pacific and you'll be informed that gallant men paid the supreme sacrifice to insure lasting peace for our nation. Now, go to Calvary and the Holy Spirit will reveal that the Lord of glory laid down His life that we, the rebel sons of Adam, might have life eternal. And this makes Calvary precious. For it is a precious place indeed when we know that life itself and that for eternity issues there from.

Now there are certain substantiating facts which magnify the preciousness of Calvary, for instance, as sparkling jewels against the black background of man's sinful record there shine forth three transcendent truths; namely, His love, His blood, and His grace. The depth of His love moved Him to shed His blood, and the efficacy of His blood provided the richness, the riches of His grace, and behind the blood, the love, and through the blood of Christ, His grace. But what did it cost? We cannot know. Christ was heaven's most precious gem, and the cross was the spectrum which defused the radiant glory of His love. Precious.

Peter says we're not redeemed with corruptible things, but we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. It's a word that maybe we misuse at times, precious. I suggest that I think not of scarcity or rarity, but when I think of the word precious I think of something that's prized, something that is far beyond the capacity to be valued. Sometimes the precious becomes the mundane. Let me tell you what's precious to me. To be with you here in God's house as a family, as friends, is very precious to me. To know that together we can kneel in God's presence, together we can experience the joy of sins forgiven, the knowledge that in His love He brought us altogether, there never again ever will be a congregation like this with the same people because life marches on and your presence here is very precious to me. There's one who is missing this morning. One of our faithful ushers who for years has served us beautifully, he for years had a wife that was an invalid and he rolled her into the sanctuary in her wheelchair, and I'd look over there and I saw the most precious love being demonstrated by a faithful, loving husband. She went on to glory and Oliver remained faithful to his task until just a few weeks ago. We had a precious time with him and he is now getting ready to go to heaven. He's not with us today. Every time I meet with my family, my boys and their wives, and grandchildren; the older I get the more precious those moments are, and I do not take them lightly. So when we use the word precious it means something that's treasured, something that you don't measure, something that sets a memory.

I treasure friends today. Here somewhere in the sanctuary is brother and sister Black. They are treasured friends. Forty-two or 43 years ago in their home over on 22nd Avenue this church had its birth. And they've been my friends faithful and loyal for 45 years. Oliver is precious to me. The people are precious. Peter said the blood of Jesus Christ is precious. It's beyond that which can be valued. There's no way to measure its importance because it's with the precious blood of Jesus Christ all of our sins are washed away, and thus to come to this table is a precious moment for all of us. Let's kneel, shall we?

Lord Jesus, we at times flounder for words to express ourselves, and sometimes when words come to an end our emotions take over and tears began to flow because there are some things so precious that words cannot convey their value. To kneel here at this table, Lord Jesus, and to know that You sacrificed Your life on Calvary 2000 years ago, You shed Your precious blood so that our sins could be forgiven. You became the sacrifice for us. Ah, wonder of wonders, and here we are dear Jesus kneeling in Your presence, and we like Peter say we're not redeemed by corruptible things as silver and gold, but we are redeemed, Lord Jesus, by Your precious blood. Thank you, thank you very much for dying for us, and as we kneel here today just the preciousness of being together as a family of believers, just to be able to kneel in the quietness of this moment to sense Your wonderful presence, as we've withdrawn ourselves from our busy world just to be here. Precious is this moment of Christian fellowship and we thank You for it dear Jesus. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And heavenly Father before we take the cup we would remember Oliver, our brother, who lays in the hospital room at Seton Hospital in room 622. Today, You visit that room with Your divine presence, and Your peace, and Your comfort, and Your joy. Oliver couldn't be with us for this communion service, but this week we've taken communion to him, so we ask You to bless him today. Thank you for his faithfulness to this family. Thank you dear Jesus. Let's take the cup together, shall we? Precious Jesus, precious Jesus, beyond the ability to be measured, You're the timeless, wonderful, sovereign, eternal, matchless, glorious Lord and we love You, and everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?