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I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Thank you for joining us at Steadfast Baptist Church. Please turn your hymnals to song 29. Song number 29. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. At the cross. All right. Let's pass through at the cross when we pray. With our next song, song three. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength indeed is small, Child of weakness watch in faith, Blind in me, thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. For now indeed I find, Thy power and Thine alone, Can change the leopard's spots, And melt the heart of stone. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I, Whereby Thy grace to play, I'll wash my garments white, In the blood of Calvary's Lamb. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. And when, before the throne, I stand in incomplete, Jesus died my soul to say, Thy hymn shall still repeat. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. Very good. If you need a bulletin, you can lift your hand nice and high. One of the ushers will get a bulletin to you. On the inside we have our service and so many times, as well as the church stats on the right hand side of the page. I'm going to go ahead and get the count for the last few days. Was there anything to report for Monday? Was there anything for Monday? Okay, what about Tuesday? Was there anything on? I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Don't put baby in the corner, all right. Tuesday, is that Tuesday? All right. Okay, and then what about, was anything outside of the main group today? All right, keep up the great work on soul winning, and then also please be in prayer for all of our expecting ladies. And then we have the Bible Memory Challenge prize, Leviticus chapter 20. I have those for you. We're not going to do it right now, but just see me right after the service, and I will get you your prize for those that have completed this. Also, we have our prayer request that we're going to go over. Now, I don't have a sheet printed out for just this Wednesday night, but I will be putting that in the bulletin for Sunday so that you can be aware of it. I'm going to go ahead and just double check. I think I can remember all of them, but I'm just going to go over a couple of them. One is to be in prayer for Sarah Mejia, just Pastor Mejia's wife, if you'd just be in prayer for her and for her health. And then another one is brother Suhail had gotten a new job, so if you'd please be in prayer for him as well. And then also for baby Gideon, if you'd be in prayer for him and for his health. And then also Mrs. Anna Dunn, she's having some problem with her sciatic nerve, so if you'd just be in prayer for them. Obviously, they have to travel a long time to come all the way here when they come for services, but if you'd be in prayer for all of them, that'd be great. And also, if you have any prayer requests throughout the week, please email those to us, and we're going to start putting together a list that we can hand out with the bulletin, and then everybody can be aware of. Just add to your prayer list. Obviously, we pray for all the expected ladies and everything else, but we want to be in a constant state of prayer. That's pretty much it for the announcements in the bulletin. The only other thing is we are performing the Lord's Supper this evening after the service, so everything's going to be the same as far as just a normal regular service schedule, but then immediately following our fourth song, I'm going to come back up here, and I'm going to go through the Lord's Supper just to give you just some practical steps as far as what that's going to look like. I'm going to go ahead and say a prayer for the Lord's Supper, and then I'm going to go ahead and break the bread that we have here before us, and then I'm going to have people come and gather the elements for them and their family. Basically, if you as the head of the household can take all the elements by yourself, then you can. If not, you can come with other members of your family, and we'll basically have those at the very back of the auditorium come first. The last shall be first, and basically they're just going to come down the middle, come and take your elements, and then go around the sides and just go back to your seat. We'll basically go from the back to the front. Wait after you receive your elements, and we'll all take them together as a group, but that's basically how we're going to gather the elements after the service. I'll remind everybody one more time once we get to that point, but just so you are aware, in order to participate in the Lord's Supper, the Bible makes it clear you need to be saved. If you don't believe that salvation is by faith alone apart from works and that you can never lose your salvation, we would ask for you to not take of the Lord's Supper with us. You have to believe the same doctrine we do when it comes to salvation, and so that's just a few practical steps, but I'm really excited for this evening and this evening sermon. We're not going to do Hebrews chapter 9 this week. We'll do it next week, but this week I'm just going to do a special sermon on what communion symbolizes, so we have a good idea of what this picture is here. With that, let's go to our next song, song number 15. Song number 15. Leave me to Calvary. King of my life, I crown thee now. Fine shall the glory be. Lest I forget thy thorn, crown, brow. Lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget thy nagony. Lest I forget thy love for me. Lead me to Calvary. Show me the tomb where thou wast laid, Tenderly morn done well. Angels and folks of light array, Guarded thee whilst thou slept. Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget thy nagony. Lest I forget thy love for me. Lead me to Calvary. Let me, like Mary, through the gloom, Come with a gift to thee. Show to me now the empty tomb. Lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget thy nagony. Lest I forget thy love for me. Lead me to Calvary. May I be willing, Lord, to bear Daily my cross for thee. Even thy cup of grief to share Thou hast borne all for me. Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget thy nagony. Lest I forget thy love for me. Lead me to Calvary. At this time we'll turn our Bibles to First Corinthians chapter number 10. All along Brother Ben is going to read for us and we pass the offering plates. First Corinthians chapter number 10. First Corinthians chapter number 10. First Corinthians 10, the Bible reads, Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be he idolaters, as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for in samples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you, but such is his common demand. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. But will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh, are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat, asking no question for conscience sake. For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, this is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that showed it, and for conscience sake. For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other. For why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God, even as I please all men, and all things, not seeking mine own prophet, but the prophet of many, that they may be saved. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for the service this evening. I pray that you would bless the ordinance that we're about to partake in, and also the sermon. Lord, I pray that you would fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit, and also give us ears to listen, minimize distractions, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. So we see here in I'm sorry, in First Corinthians chapter 10, look at verse number 16, the Bible reads, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? And so the Bible brings up this word communion, and this evening sermon is what communion symbolizes. What communion symbolizes. Now the word communion can simply mean to share or have things in common, and so the communion that they're partaking in would be also known as the Lord's Supper. These would be interchangeable terms, the Lord's Supper or communion. It's what Jesus basically participated in with his disciples at the Last Supper, and I wanted to look at this because he's saying that they have the blood of Christ, they have the bread. Look what it says in verse 17, For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. So he brings up a distinction between the fact that we as the body of Christ, we are one body, and in sense we are like that one bread because we are his body, and his body is also representative of that one bread. And so it's a great symbolism that we have here, but if you would go to Luke chapter 22, Luke chapter 22, I want to first focus on the bread aspect here, and the bread has a lot of different symbols in the Bible. It has one in the fact that we are all one body, and that body is of Jesus Christ. We are the body of Christ. His physical body is no longer here on the earth, but his body is still represented through you and me. We get to be the body of Jesus Christ. We get to be the eyes, the hands, the feet, and the mouth. We get to be the ones to go out and to preach the gospel, and Jesus Christ works through us, so we in fact become his body. We are the body of Christ in that sense, but look what it says in Luke chapter 22 verse 19. This is Jesus with his disciples at the last supper, and he took bread and gave thanks and break it, and gave unto them saying, this is my body which is given for you, this due in remembrance of me. So they had unleavened bread at the last supper, which is a part of the feast of unleavened bread or the Passover as it's referred to, but during this Passover feast, Jesus Christ takes some of this unleavened bread, and he breaks it and says this is picturing something. What is it picturing? It's picturing his body being broken. Now, why is it being broken? It's being broken for us is what the Bible is clearly articulating. Go back to 1st Corinthians. Keep your finger here because we're going to come back, but go to 1st Corinthians chapter number 11. I should add you keep your finger there, but we are partakers of that one bread. Now, how do you become a partaker of that one bread? You have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that's what it means to partake of that bread. Obviously, the Jews and the Pharisees did not understand this aspect of partaking of the bread. They thought they had to physically partake of some kind of bread, but that bread is symbolizing him spiritually, and it's symbolizing us receiving him just like you would eat a piece of bread, and how simple that is. That's what the gospel is like. We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and receive him, and that's what gives us salvation. It says in 1st Corinthians 11 verse 24, and when he given thanks, he break it and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. So again, it's saying the exact same thing. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, they're all saying the same thing. It's broken, so when we break the bread, it's symbolizing something very important. It's the fact that Jesus Christ had to suffer great agony for us. His body was broken. Okay, go to John chapter number six. Go to John chapter number six. So, what is this bread that we would partake in when it comes to the communion or the Lord's Supper? It's a symbol or a picture of Jesus Christ, and the fact that his body had to be broken for us. If his body was not broken, we would not make it into heaven. We could not get into heaven. So in effect, if you have the Lord's Supper, how can you have it unless you break it? Because therefore, you're not even picturing one of the most important aspects of the crucifixion is the fact that his body had to go through great pain and great suffering. You say, well, the bread's prettier when it's not broken, you know, and it's just one whole piece. Well, of course, Jesus Christ was a lot more attractive when he hadn't been beaten, when he hadn't been, you know, punched on and all kinds of stripes and all things like that. Isaiah 53 says that his face was so marred, you know, you wouldn't take any pleasure in it. You couldn't even tell his visions anymore. So obviously, it's a picture of his body being literally broken in the sense you can't even tell his face structure anymore. And obviously, when you break a piece of bread, you can't tell its original form anymore, can you? But this was necessary for our salvation. Look at John chapter 6 in verse number 48. This is Jesus speaking, I am that bread of life. So notice, Jesus in more than one place is mentioning the fact that he is bread. In what sense? In a spiritual significance, okay? We're not talking about physical bread here. We are talking about a picture of Jesus Christ, and he uses bread to symbolize himself. He says in verse 49, your fathers did eat man in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. So notice, this is perfect connection with the Last Supper, Lord's Supper coordinates or communion. Why? Because he's saying he's going to give his flesh for the world. So notice that his flesh is in connection here. If Jesus didn't die on the cross, we could not go to heaven. He had to suffer. Someone had to pay the penalty. Someone had to take the physical death that we deserve. Whether that be us or whether that be him, someone had to go through it, and so he's offering himself as that sacrifice, as that bread sacrifice. That's why it's important to break the bread to symbolize the fact that there had to be some kind of affliction, some kind of shattering. Now, when we think about bread itself, you say, why would he use bread? Well, God always uses carnal truths to expound spiritual truths, okay? We as humans cannot live without food, and bread is often one of the best pictures of food. When we live in America, we're pretty privileged and we're pretty spoiled, so when we think of food, we think of all kinds of luxuries like fruits and vegetables and all kinds of meats, but that's not available in every part of the world and throughout history. The one food that's pretty much the most common food throughout history is bread, because you can gather the wheat, you can break it down, you can store it for the entire year, and you can make bread throughout the year. Vegetables and fruits are seasonal, and unless you live in America where you have food imported from every other country, because we're such spoiled kings, you can't have fruits and vegetables every part of the year. You also can't have meat necessarily every part of the year, unless you're rich, unless you go out and hunt, but bread is kind of a picture of just that universal main element of food that sustains people and keeps them alive, and unless you eat bread, you will die. You can only last up to about 40 days as Jesus Christ proved himself without food and water, and then you will die, and so it's a necessary component of life, but he's using that to picture the spiritual significance of what? His bread, which is the living bread that comes down from heaven, is necessary for our everlasting life. Without taking of that bread, you will not live forever. You will do what? You'll die, and that death is not just a physical death, it's in hell for all of eternity, so he has to give that bread, his body, his flesh on the cross, so that we can survive. Without it, we would all perish. Just like if bread ceased to exist on this planet, mankind would die out. Without the bread of life, we would all be damned to hell, and so that's one of the spiritual significances of that bread that he gives us. Jesus said, man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word of God, but notice he's saying, hey, you need physical bread. Do you know what's more important than that? The bread of life. Jesus Christ, his flesh, what he gave for us. Look at verse 51. I'm sorry, look at verse 52. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? So, they're thinking of it in a carnal sense. They're thinking of it as cannibals. How are they going to physically eat Jesus Christ? They're trying to get the knife out and the fork out, but Jesus Christ is obviously preaching to us a spiritual bread, not a physical bread. The physical bread, you will die. You won't go to heaven. You need that spiritual bread. He says in verse 53, then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily I send you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth of this bread, shall live forever. So notice, he's kind of digging in, and he's just like, you got to literally eat. You got to eat this bread, and they're just thinking like, what is he talking about? Why? Because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. So while he's digging in here, he is being literal, okay, but he's not being literal in a carnal sense. He's being literal in a spiritual sense. You must eat his flesh, and drink his blood in order to have everlasting life. It's just not talking about his physical body, and his physical blood. It's talking about what that pictures, and what that symbolizes, his death on the cross. Now let me give you a little bit more proof of what this is meaning, and what he's talking about. He says in verse 59, these things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum, many therefore his disciples, when they had heard this, said, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? So notice, when he preached this, a lot of people were confused. A lot of people are thinking like, I don't really get what he's trying to say here. Verse 61, when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, does this offend you? What and if he shall see the Son of Man ascend up, where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. So he's telling them, look, I'm not talking about flesh. The flesh profiteth nothing. What I'm talking about is the words in which I'm preaching unto you. They are spirit, and they are life. And let's look at the next verse. He says in verse 64, but there are some of you that believe not. So notice, what was the emphasis on? Believing the words in which he had preached. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The way that we eat his flesh and drink his blood is by receiving his words, just like we would receive food, and believing him down into our heart. That's what it meant to eat that bread and to drink of that cup. Now go over to Psalms 31. Psalms 31. So what does communion symbolize? What symbolizes Jesus Christ's body. And not only does it symbolize his body, but it symbolizes the fact that it's going to be broken for us. It symbolizes the fact that we have to receive his words, which is another picture of him, in order to be saved. It's not my words that save you. It's not another person's words that save you. It's the word of God that saves you. Now to give you an evidence of the fact that it had to be broken, let's find an Old Testament prophecy mentioning this. Look at Psalms 31 verse 12. Now the thing about the Psalms is a lot of times when it's saying I or me, it's Jesus speaking about himself prophetically, okay? And look what it says in verse 12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mine. I am like a broken vessel. So notice a picture that was going to be prophesied. They just dropped him like a bad habit. All of his disciples fled away from him. They flee away from him. They have nothing to do with them. And the Bible even says it's going to be like a broken vessel. A vessel is often used in reference to what? A body. You know, this is my physical vessel. So we already had an Old Testament picture of the fact that he was going to be broken. Go to Isaiah 33 now. We're going to look at a few verses there. You say, why does it have to be broken though, Pastor Shelley? Well, first of all, it has to picture the brutal sufferings that he went through. I think that one's a pretty easy one to think about. But think about another aspect of this. If it was not broken, how could all of us get a peace? The Bible says that Jesus Christ tasted death for every man. Now, if I just have this one little piece of bread and I break it, it's possible that it would run out. I'd run out of pieces to hand out. But the special thing about Jesus Christ's sacrifice is you just keep handing him out. And just keep him. He was broken. And how many pieces? As many as you need. One for every man. It's just like the feeding of five thousand. Is there five thousand out there? Well, it doesn't matter. We'll just break the bread and Jesus will just keep multiplying it. That's how great his sacrifice is. Well, what if I send more in the future? It doesn't matter. What about this guy? Yep, there's a piece of bread for him, too. There's a piece of bread for everybody. That's another picture of why it is broken. Look at Isaiah 53, verse number four. Shirley hath borne our greaves and carried our sorrows, yet we did aseem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. So the Bible said he'd be a broken vessel. The Bible is saying here he's going to bear our grease. He's going to be stricken, smitten of God. He's going to be afflicted. Talking about the suffering that Jesus Christ has to go through. It says in verse number five, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. So the Bible emphasizes over and over what Jesus was going to do for us. He was going to have to suffer and he truly suffered the greatest physical torment that it could ever be experienced. The Bible says that God laid upon him the sins of us all. I mean just the weight and the burden and the suffering and the shame and none of us is perfect. None of us is innocent. So we have no idea what it's like to bear the burdens of the whole world when we're innocent, when we're perfect, when we're God in the flesh. I mean there's no way to experience the agony and the pain and the suffering that he did where his own creation, his own people, everything that he's ever done for them has only been good. Just spit in his face, punch him, rip his beard out, smote him on the head, shove the crown of thorns down on his skull, drag him up to Calvary, nail him to the cross. And in fact it's saying he's not even just by man, by God. Smitten by God. What heavy chastisement he bear for us. You stepping in. Hey kids, how many times you step in for the spankings for your brother and sister? Probably never. I didn't. Jesus Christ is stepping in for your chastisement, for your punishment, for your affliction. That's how much he loved us. That's why we have to break the bread to picture this. Verse number 10, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Now why is it say in verse 10 that it pleased the Lord to bruise him? Well it was certainly not because he enjoyed afflicting his son. What he was thinking about was our reconciliation. What he was thinking about, hey I'm pleased that I get to bruise him because of the fact that I'm going to get to reconcile the whole world unto myself. All those that believe in my son, I get to bring back up to me with heaven. That's where the pleasure is coming from. He's pleased in the obedience of his son. He's pleased in the sacrifice of his son. He's pleased the fact that his son loves us so much to lay down his life, and it pleases him to know that we can be reconciled to God. Because the Bible says in John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but everlasting life. Where is the motive for God to sacrifice his son? Because he loved us. He loved us, and it pleased him to bruise his son for us. Can you imagine that? You're only beloved. Can you imagine being pleased and hurting your own child for someone else's? It's breathtaking. It's mind-blowing the fact that how much love God has for us. Go if you would back to Luke 22. Go back to Luke 22. And we see the example of Jesus Christ is what? An example of suffering for others, of sacrificing for others. Many people look at religion. They look at church as what they can get out of it for themselves. People decide, well, I just want to go to the church that benefits me. I want to go to the church where I like it, where good things happen to me, and I'm getting so fed, and I'm getting so blessed, and everybody's serving me. What did Jesus get out of this deal? Humiliation, pain, suffering. You say, well, he got glory. He already had the glory. He had the glory of where the world began. What does he get? He gets to sacrifice for others. And that should be the example that we think about. Obviously, I don't have to serve God to go to heaven, but that's a poor way to live a Christian life. If you want to be Christian, what does that mean? You're like Christ. What was Christ like? He was laying down his life for others. He was sacrificing for others. He was going through the greatest humiliation, pain, suffering, affliction for others. When you look at serving God and going to church, are you thinking, how can I lay down my life and sacrifice for others? Or are you looking at it like, well, what am I going to get out of it? What's going to happen for me? I'd rather go to a church where I feel like I have constant opportunity to sacrifice rather than to be served. It's more blessed to give than to receive. Praise God for a church where you can show up and you can get involved. You can be sent out the door to preach the gospel. You can be sent in here to minister to the saints. You can love on people. You can love on all the women that are having children. You can bless them with a meal. You can help get involved in the ministries and activities. You can get involved in the music program. You don't have to be like the next American idol to get involved in the singing. You don't have to, you know, be Mr. GQ and Pinterest Perfect to get up and stand on the stage and for everybody to just worship you. Nope, you can come and worship God and you can serve his saints and his ministers and love them. Why are we going to break the bread to picture a picture of sacrifice? You say, well, I feel like when I go to this church I make a lot of sacrifices. You're welcome. I don't want to go to the church where I feel like I'm just constantly being served. I want to go to a church where I have an opportunity to serve, where I have an opportunity to sacrifice and to be like Christ. Look at Luke chapter 22 and let's look at verse number 20. Let's get in our second point here. Look at verse number 20. Likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you. Notice not only was his body broken, not only was it bruised, he had to bleed. He had to shed his blood on the cross, meaning he had to die because if you don't have any blood you don't have any life. The life is in the blood. Let's prove that. Go to Deuteronomy chapter number 12. Deuteronomy chapter number 12 and some people even downplay the blood. They act like the blood is not that significant. People like John MacArthur. But first Peter chapter 1 in verse number 19 says this, but with the precious blood of Jesus or the precious blood of Christ as of a limb without blemish and without spot. So we were redeemed not by corruptible things but by the precious blood of Christ. Precious meaning it's a great price or great value. You say what's the price tag? There is none. It's that precious. There's not another kind like it. It's completely unique. You say how much did everlasting life cost Jesus' blood? It's the only option. You say how about my sins? How could they be covered by Jesus' blood? Not by the blood of bulls or of goats which we'll get into in Hebrews 9 and 10. But it was only by his precious blood and without his blood there is no salvation. There is no forgiveness of sins. There is no redemption. His blood had to be shed and then it had to be applied unto us just like in the Passover. In the Passover you had to shed the blood of the lamb and put it on the doorpost. Jesus Christ's blood had to be shed and put on the mercy seat for us to be saved. That's why in the Garden of Gethsemane he's saying hey if there's any other way let's do that. There isn't another way. The only way is the blood atonement. The only way is for his blood to be shed which means he had to die. There was no other way. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And so we have to understand what a great sacrifice knowing hey there's only one way for this to happen. It's kind of you know in a human sense sometimes people have a blood disease or they have some kind of an illness and they need a blood donor. Sometimes there can only be one option and imagine that person deciding I'm going to sacrifice my life to save theirs. Jesus Christ had the only blood type that can save our sins. I don't know. I don't know what that the JC blood type all right. Jesus Christ blood type and without that one we're doomed. You know I don't care if you're O negative or whatever you're not special in that category all right. I think my wife is. That's why I said that. Deuteronomy 12 look at verse 23 it says only be sure that thou eat not the blood for the blood is the life and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. Let's get back to Leviticus chapter 17 Leviticus chapter number 17. There's something special about the blood. It's precious and that's where life is. Without blood you cannot survive. You don't have life. I don't care how many robots they create. Without blood they're not alive. I don't care what it says or does. It's not alive. It has no life in it. Leviticus chapter 17 look at verse 14. For it is the life of all flesh the blood of it is the for the life thereof therefore I said in the children of Israel ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof. So according to the Bible our life is found in our blood. If you lose your blood you lose your life. This is why blood letting made no sense all right. That was a silly doctrine that they used to believe in. But you got to trust the scientists right. You got to trust the professionals. Side note right. Go to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. What's what's precious about the blood Pastor Shelley? Well I have six points I'm going to make about why the blood's so special here real quickly. Acts chapter 20. He shed his blood for who? For you. So how does that benefit me? Well Acts chapter 20 look at verse 28. Take heed therefore in yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost have made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. You know it's one of the number one reasons why we have the blood for the church. Without his blood we have no church. There is no body of Christ. None of us are saved. It's through his blood that we have the church. Through his grace of his shed blood we've been sanctified. We've been washed in that blood. So now we have the church and we ought not desecrate the church. We ought to count it as of a great price. Say what price tag do you put on the church? Price us again. Say how do you know that? Because it was bought with Jesus blood. People don't want to downplay church today. Well maybe just put your hand on the screen right. That's not church. Church is when we meet together as a group, as an assembly, when we come together. Where two or three or more gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. If Jesus Christ purchased it with his own blood we ought to take it as a very serious sober thing. We ought not downplay church. We ought to elevate church. We ought to consider church a precious thing, a special thing. It's not something that can be replaced. Go to Romans chapter number three. I actually go to Romans five. I'll just read Romans chapter number three. So number one, we have the church which was bought with his blood. Number two, the bible says in Romans 3 verse 25, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith and his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. Says in Romans 5 9, much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. So number one, we have the church. Number two, we've been justified. Justified means what? To be declared righteous. You say why? For our righteousness? No, because of his righteousness. His righteousness has been imputed unto us through his blood. Go to Ephesians chapter number one. Ephesians chapter number one. Number one, the blood gives us the church. Number two, it justifies us in the sight of God through the spilt and shed blood of Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter number one, look at verse number seven. It says in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of grace. Not only have we been justified, we've been redeemed, which means to have been bought or purchased or to regain something unto yourself. God the Father has purchased us back unto himself through the price tag of Jesus blood. We've been completely and utterly redeemed. We were dead in trespasses and sins, but you know what? We've been quickened. We've been made alive. We've been redeemed and bought and paid for, and we were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Go to Hebrews chapter number 10. Hebrews chapter number 10. We have the church. We've been justified. We've been redeemed. I can see why we're supposed to have a special service to think about the blood. All these great things that we've been given, and we're better than in the church where he bought and paid for it with his own blood, right? Hebrews chapter number 10. Look at verse number 16. The Bible says, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. We get to enter into the holiest through the blood of Jesus Christ. Not only do we have the church here gathered together on earth, not only have we been justified and redeemed, we can enter into the holiest, which is a picture of entering into the holiest of holies from that old temple. But we go through his flesh, which is his blood, and we get to have relationship with God the Father directly. We don't have to go through man anymore. We go through the man Christ Jesus. That's who we go through now, and we can have fellowship with God the Father with a special gift. He keeps saying here, verse 21, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully, after that we receive the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy, under two or three witnesses, of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall ye be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith ye is sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite under the spirit of grace. So my fifth point is not only do we have to enter in the holiest, we've been sanctified, but notice there's a problem for those that decide to just sin willfully, even though they've been completely sanctified by the blood. He says there's no more sacrifice for sin. Christ is a once for all sacrifice. His blood has been spilt. You say, what happens if I just continue in sin? Well, grace will abound when it comes to you going to heaven, but you know what? You're going to receive a fiery indignation here on this earth, and a sore punishment. Therefore, when we partake in the Lord's Supper, we should be reminded of the price of Jesus Christ's blood, and that should motivate us to say, you know what? I don't want to just keep willfully sinning. I don't want to just keep going on and living how I've been living. I need to be sanctified today, okay? I've already been sanctified in the sense that I've been set apart from the unbelievers. I've been washed. I'm now justified in this side. I've been redeemed, but here's the thing. Sanctification, according to the Bible, is a process. Setting yourselves apart. Coming out from among them, and be separate, sayeth the Lord. Purging ourselves from iniquity. Departing from iniquity, as the Bible describes it, and we as God's people, when we take the Lord's Supper, ought to be thinking about, hey, am I drawing closer to God, or am I getting further away? Am I sanctifying myself every day, or am I becoming dirtier every day? Because there's a fiery indignation. There's a sore punishment to those who have been clearly sanctified, and just continue to just say, I don't care. It's gonna live however I want. Oh, I don't have to go to church to go to heaven. Well, you don't if you want a sore punishment. If you want a fiery indignation. If you want God to look at you, and say, hey, I spilt my son's blood for you. Is this how you repay me? Is this, are you going to love me back, or not? I mean, just think about what a mom has to go through with her child, and raising it, giving it birth, you know, giving it suck, changing all its diapers, for the kid to just look at his mom, and just say, eh, I don't care about you, mom. You're gonna be my mom no matter what. She's like, you're right. She's gonna bring out the paddle. She's gonna bring out the wooden spoon. That's how God is. God doesn't take nicely those that just decide, well, I can just do whatever I want. You can't do whatever you want. Yes, they're going to go to heaven. You're still a son. You can't change that, but there is going to be a sore punishment. Go to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. So, what does the blood do? It gives us the church. Praise the Lord for that. It justifies us. It redeems us. We get to enter into the holiest, and draw close to God. We've been sanctified, but it does another thing here. It says in 1 John, it coordinates with being sanctified, but it says in 1 John chapter number 1 verse 7, but if we walk in the light. So, this is in contrast to those that would sin willfully. Okay, but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us daily, too. Meaning what? Obviously, your sins are separated you as far as the east is from the west. When you stand before God, you're justified in his sight of the blood of Jesus Christ, but while we're trapped in this moment of time between our full redemption, when we sin, we still need to confess our sins. We still need to forsake our sins, and we need to let the blood of Jesus Christ continually wash us when we screw up. When we do sin, when we do fall short, when we do things that are not right, we need to allow the blood of Jesus Christ to continually cleanse us so that we can have a good relationship with God the Father. And isn't it nice that even though we will screw up, God the Father still wants us to keep drawing close to him and having fellowship and walking with him, and the only way we can do that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. That's why he says in verse 10, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. We're all going to sin even after you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we need to constantly apply that blood to our daily lives and receive his grace and his mercy, because Jesus Christ is a constant propitiation for our sins and an advocate with the Father for us. Go to Revelation chapter one. Revelation chapter one and look at verse five. It's similar to all the other points. We'll give a bonus seventh point, all right? What does the blood do for us? It gives us the church. We're justified. We're redeemed. We enter in the holiest. We're sanctified. It cleanses us from our sins. And verse number five, it says this, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. So not only we cleanse daily of our sins, we're also fully cleansed from all sins. We've been washed in the blood. Nothing will make you white like snow like the blood of Jesus Christ. That's what truly cleans us up. There's nothing better than the blood of Jesus Christ. Are you letting the blood of Jesus Christ clean you up, though? We ought to think about it. That's why we partake in communion to be reminded of these simple, elegant truths. It's nothing fancy. It's nothing beyond what a child can understand. A child can understand these great truths of the Bible, but we need to be constantly reminded of them and the sacrifice of what Christ has done for us. And we don't understand what these things symbolize. We don't just come down to eat a cracker and drink some juice. No, we're here to think about what Christ has done for us. That's the point. This isn't to satisfy some carnal need, to satisfy some carnal lust. It's here for us to think of Jesus Christ that his body was broken for us, that his blood was literally shed for us, and how we need to take that seriously in our lives. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for giving us your body. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us your blood shed on the cross. Thank you for giving us this great symbol that we could constantly be reminded of what you've done for us and what it symbolizes, and that we receive eternal life, that you've washed us from all of our sins, that we've been completely justified. And not only that, but you want to clean us up on a daily basis so that we can have fellowship with your Father. And I just thank you for this church that you've purchased with your own blood. I pray that all that we would do would be in honor and glory of you, and in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. All right, praise be to the song number 10, Near the Cross. Song number 10, Near the Cross. In the cross, there a precious fountain, Free to all the healing stream, Close from Calvary's mountain. In the cross, in the cross, Beat my glory ever, Till my rapture soul shall bind, Rest beyond the river. Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and mercy thou fear, Let the bright and morning star, Shed its beams around me. In the cross, in the cross, Beat my glory ever, Till my rapture soul shall bind, Rest beyond the river. Near the cross, O Lamb of God, Raise his hands before me, Help me walk from day to day, Within shadows or me. In the cross, in the cross, Beat my glory ever, Till my rapture soul shall bind, Rest beyond the river. Near the cross, I'll watch and wait, Hoping, trusting ever, Till I've reached a golden strand, Just beyond the river. In the cross, in the cross, Beat my glory ever, Till my rapture soul shall bind, Rest beyond the river. So I'm going to say a quick prayer and then we'll go into the communion service, okay? Thank you, Father, for giving us your son and giving us this great picture of your son. I pray that you would just bless this food, that you just bless this bread and bless this juice, that we would just be thinking of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and what he's done for us, and that it would just bless this congregation, that we could give more honor and glory to your son, that we would be encouraged to depart from iniquity, and that you would just add more laborers to your harvest, that we continue to preach the gospel, and this would just be a light to shine, that you just add to the body of Christ, that we could be your body here on this earth, and we could be pleasing in your sight, and in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. So this time I'm going to take the bread and I'm going to break it. I did just wash my hands before. Then I'm going to have those in the back, if you'd like to come, either you can take all the elements for your family, so we'll just start with the back row and we'll just slowly come down the middle aisle and then just go around the sides. And just wait to partake of the elements. So so so so so so so so So we'll partake of the bread first, if you want to lift it up for a moment. Jesus said, this is my body which is given for you, this due in remembrance of me. Let us eat this together in remembrance of Christ. Let's hold up the cup. Jesus said, this cup is the New Testament and my blood which is shed for you. Let us drink this together in remembrance of Christ. This time we'll have the ushers come down the aisle and they'll pick up the cups for you. Turn your hymnals to song 25. I'll finish with one last song. Song number 25, Wounded for Me. Oh, because Jesus was dying for me, dying for me, there on the cross he was dying for me. Now in his death my retention I see. Oh, because Jesus was dying for me. Risen for me, risen for me, up from the grave he is risen for me. Now evermore from this thing I am free. Oh, because Jesus has risen for me, living for me, living for me, up in the skies he is living for me. Daily he's pleading and praying for me. Oh, because Jesus is living for me, coming for me, coming for me. One day true earth is coming for me. Then with what joy is dear face I shall see. Oh, how I praise him he's coming for me. One last announcement. We have a baptism right after the service if you'd like to stick around. You are dismissed. God bless you.