Communion Message
(O the blood of Jesus)
March 31 - April 1, 2001
Pastor Donald Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered unto 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 the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

I'm sure that as new people join with us, and maybe those who come from nonreligious backgrounds, might question why we sing about the blood of Jesus Christ and why to us it's so precious. Let me tell you, the history goes back to the beginning of God's dealings with man. He said to Adam and Eve, if you sin and you'll die. And you and I know that they sinned. They were disobedient to God's command and as the result, we've often said if God wished to at that moment He could have struck them dead, but He didn't. He did something very, very wonderful. He went out into the garden, found an animal, the animal was slain, and He took the skins of that animal to clothe the nakedness of man. The animal shed its blood, gave its life so that Adam and Eve could live.

And what we find throughout the Old Testament is the consistent pattern of worship by the offering of an animal. The shedding of that blood, the giving of that life covered the sins of the person who made the sacrifice. God laid down a divine decree to in the early moments. He said, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness; there is no remission for sins. So that is what carried through throughout all of the Old Testament you find year after year, day after day, hour after hour, sacrifice after sacrifice the shedding of blood to cover for the sins of mankind. The Bible tells us that in the fullness of time God send His Son. He sent Him to redeem us. And Christ took your sins and my sins as our supreme sacrifice, and He died on the cross and shed His blood and that ended all sacrifices. And thus, with the giving of His life in death and the shedding of His blood at Calvary, you and I have forgiveness, and you and I have cleansing, and you and I have forgiveness that takes all of our transgressions and our sins away from us never to be remembered against us again. That's why to us we sing; What can wash away my sin? Nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ. What can make the whole again? Nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus. O the blood of Jesus. Amen? Let's kneel together, shall we?

Lord Jesus, with deep gratitude and almost a mystery of understanding trying to grapple with the deep eternal truths, for You dear God to choose what You chose in the providing of a substitute in that animal slain so that Adam and Eve could live, and then setting up the service of sacrifice throughout the ages before Calvary. Then to send Jesus to conclude all the sacrifices, and by His death we have forgiveness, we have a Savior, we have cleansing. Thank you Jesus. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup.

We love You dear Jesus. We worship You. We bow before You in adoration and thanksgiving for being our Savior. And everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?