Communion Message
(Purification of sins)
February 16, 2003
Pastor Leighton Sheley

The writer to the Hebrews begins his epistle with these words. The audience that he was primarily writing to were the Jewish believers, and in church history we realize that Jesus and the 12 disciples, the early believers of the church, were all Jewish. Romans describes how for a period of time there has been a season when the church has been open to and brought in many non-Jewish believers.

This particular book was written primarily to the Hebrews. The Hebrews had a sort of hierarchy of that which they included as being important, and so what the writer does is he goes through and he talks about, he compares, Jesus with all of their things that they had held in such high esteem. He talks about how Jesus is superior to the angels; He's superior to the prophets; He's superior to the patriarchs, and so forth.

He begins with these words: In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

After he had provided purification for sins. What's a sin, and why does it require purification? Well, mankind's history is described for us in the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings. The third chapter talks about mankind's decision to sin against God. You see, before the Ten Commandments, was the one commandment; Thou shalt not partake of a specific tree. And God said you can partake of any of the trees that I have provided for you, just this one. And what the man and his wife chose to do was to disregard God's proper place of authority and in effect say: God we don't want Your restrictions; we don't want to be part of Your kingdom; we don't want to acknowledge You as King; we want to establish our own kingdom.

And God allowed mankind to have his own kingdom. And as God forewarned man, as it would be, the kingdom has been one of destruction, and death, and disease, and so forth. But God did not leave mankind in our predicament. God promised a Savior, and in the fullness of time He sent Jesus Christ born of the virgin Mary to come and reveal to us that which we cannot see through carnal eyes. The realities of a spiritual existence that is far more real than the reality we touch and see and hear. To let us know about spiritual principles, to reveal to us God, and God's desire to do good for us and to us.

And then Jesus went to Calvary's cross to pay the wages of our sin and left an empty tomb as testimony that He was who He claimed to be, and He accomplished what He came to accomplish. Jesus Christ accomplished the purification of sins, and that gift is made available to us if we will receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior.

On the night before He went to that cross He was with His disciples. We call that scene the Last Supper. And Paul writes these instructions for us concerning the elements that we now hold in 1 Corinthians Chapter 11: For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

If we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread or drinks of the cup. I'm going to invite you now to join with me, if you're physically able, as we kneel in the presence of our Lord and Savior. The Scriptures say we should examine ourselves at times like these, and this is an opportunity for us to be changed people.

You say, Pastor, what do you mean by that?. Well, when we came in we were carrying with us the guilt and the stains of sin. God's word says if we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive as our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and so we can leave this place forgiven, and cleansed: changed.

Thank you Lord. You are good. You are great. And Lord You're so faithful to us. Lord as we partake of these elements we ask You to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we take them in remembrance of You. Let's partake of the bread, and also the cup. Thank you Lord. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Glory to You Lord. Glory to You. In Jesus' name we pray and all God's people said, amen.