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they turn in your scriptures to Isaiah 53 for our call to worship and Isaiah the prophet chapter 53 I'll begin reading in verse one who has believed our report and to whom as the arm of the Lord been revealed where he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground he has no former co molinas and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hit as it were our faces from him he was despised and we did not esteem him surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by His stripes we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers a silent so he opened not his mouth he was taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation where he was cut off from the land of the living were the transgressions of my people he was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked but with the rich at his death because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he has put him to grief when you 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 he shall see the labor of his soul in satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many where he shall bear their iniquities therefore i will divide him a portion with the Great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors amen well please take your Trinity hymnal and turn to number 403 number 403 will stand as we sing together you well let us pray our great god and our Holy Father we come this evening to praise your awesome name we come to acknowledge your handiwork in creation and in Providence and most of all on this Sabbath day in Redemption we praise You Father for sovereign grace and for the election that you undertook before the foundation of the world we know that you predestinated us unto adoption as sons and we praise you that your son came into this world to live and to die and to rise again so that we might have everlasting life we praise you for the work in the Ministry of the Holy Spirit the effectual calling that brought us out of darkness in the marvelous light god may it be the case that as those redeemed by sovereign grace as we sing as we pray as we look to scripture all of these things would be to the praise and to the glory in the honor of our gracious and glorious God we would pray tonight that you would run the heavens and come down she would be found among your people in this place she would encourage our hearts that you would strengthen us with might that you would build us up in our most holy faith there God as we come in a special way to remember that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ may this be a time of reflection may this be a time of remembrance and may this be a time that Christ is exalted and glorified we pray and ask that you would forgive us now for all of our sins as we consider what scripture says concerning you you are a holy God you are from everlasting to everlasting the Bible says your eye is too pure to behold any evil so God as we reflect upon that we see our own waywardness and our own sinfulness we confess that transgression now we have that promise in the Psalms that if we can earn the the god of the First Epistle of John that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and in this we greatly rejoice so God wash us now and purify us now and help us to come before you with reverence with joy and with great thanksgiving in your presence we ask that you look with favor upon this congregation for all the physical needs we just commit our brothers and sisters unto you for all the spiritual needs we commit our brothers and sisters unto you we know that you do all things well and that you are working all things for the good of those who love you to those who are the called according to your purpose thought increase our faith we confess that when times are going well it's easy to believe romans 8 28 but when troubles come and when trials plagued us it is more difficult so we pray with that man lord I believe help thou mine unbelief strengthen our faith and may use tonight may you use the preaching of the word and this this visible word in terms of the Lord's Supper to increase our faith and to confirm us and to strengthen us and to help us along the way we asked you blessed pastor Porter tonight and give him the Holy Spirit so that he might preach to us the word of truth give us ears to hear and hearts to receive what you would have for us this evening we ask that you would bless other churches in this city we thank you that we're not alone we pray for these other places of worship that God would be glorified and that the gospel would be proclaimed that sinners would be saved and Saints would be made more holy we ask that you would look with favor upon churches throughout Canada she would send the spirit and revive your people and caused us to be a people that intercede and the people that make much of the truth of God and the people that shine as lights and a crooked and perverse generation and give us boldness and courage to hold forth your word of truth we ask tonight as well god from brethren near and dear to us who we love we ask that you look with favor upon pastor Ron Baines he enters into a new round of treatment we just commit him to you we know that he is trusting God but certainly it is a difficult time in his life so we pray that you'd up hold him and his wife and his children and the church he ministers to we also pray for our dear brother Rick Horus God watch over him and strengthen this man and help him father not to be downtown but to realize that you are working even these things out for your glory and for his good we asked you would continue with us now receive our praise as it comes through the Lord Jesus Christ in whose name we pray amen well please turn with me again in your Trinity hymnals to number 704 704 will stand as we sing together you you good evening welcome to free grace baptist church back to free grace baptist church for those who are here this morning it's good to be back in the house of the lord we observe the lord's supper tonight and so as it is customary we observe a text pertaining to the death of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ so you can turn in your Bibles with me to first Peter chapter 1 1st Peter one I'll read the entire chapter and then we will go to our Lord in prayer Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and bethania elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ grace to you and peace be multiplied blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while if need be you have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes though it be tested by fire may be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ whom having not seen you love though now you do not see him yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified before hand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow to them it was revealed that not to themselves but they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven things which angels desire to look into therefore gird up the loins of your mind be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance but as he who called you is holy you also be holy in all 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 father's but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot he indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you who threw him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God seeing you have purified your soul excuse me since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the Brethren love one another fervently with a pure heart having been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever because all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass the grass withers and it's flower falls away but the word of the Lord endures forever now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this time now in the preaching of the word this time of worship where we engage in this blessed act of worship we do pray that you would bless both preacher and hearer give the former that grace whereby he can proclaim the things of your word with great clarity and joy and Lord to the ladder to the Saints gathered here might you cause the preacher of the word to be unto their edification we pray that your people would leave well instructed that your people would leave equip to go into this week to live unto your glory we do pray that again you would be here by your spirit that you would come upon the wings of victorious grace making dead sinners alive to the praise of our glorious God and it's in the name of Jesus we pray amen well what Peter is doing here is he seems to be moving I don't want to say moving quickly but very often authors of the New Testament epistles take a number of chapters to get to practical exhortation sometimes they don't take that many chapters and Peter here opens up by introducing himself Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ he identifies the recipients of his letter the Jews of the dispersion the pilgrims of the dispersion in those various places stated he goes into a doxology rate at the outset in verse 3 much like Paul in the letter to the church at Ephesus blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ rehearsing the saving perfection of the triune God and rehearsing the salvation of those to whom he is writing he then gets into a reminder of the surpassing joy that they have even in the present distress of persecution and opposition he reminds them that the salvation that they enjoy in Christ Jesus the Lord was the subject matter of the Old Testament that the salvation they enjoy in Christ Jesus was proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets and then we have this therefore in verse 13 where Peter launches into the practical exhortation portion of the letter and he begins by an exhortation unto holiness he continues with an exhortation unto godly fear and then an exhortation unto brotherly love one to each other in the Church of Christ well it's that middle exhortation the exhortation to godly fear that will take up and primarily the stuff that serves as the foundation for Christians to have godly fear that is the grounds of our redemption blood of the Lord Jesus Christ notice just by a way of rereading those particular verses of our focus this evening beginning in verse 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot our departed brother Robert Raymond wrote these words regarding the sova the so great salvation that Christ has secured he wrote for Paul to characterize the cross of Christ the way he did in first Corinthians 124 the power of God and the wisdom of god implies that God accomplished a truly great salvation through the cross work of the Lord of glory one can sketch the momentous outlines of that so great salvation simply by surveying what the New Testament epistles a firm about the body blood cross and death of Christ words which taken in their context represent that great work in terms of a sacrifice we have those four words oft repeated in our new testament body blood cross and death and one of those is found here in our text blood the we're going to focus on that word tonight and it's a good thing to do prior to the Lord's Supper isn't it since we observe his body broken and his blood shed the Bible makes much of the blood of Christ and for for good and obvious reasons we cannot exhaust the testimony to the the meaning and the the importance and the efficacy of the blood of Christ tonight there's many things that we could go to that the blood of Christ touches upon theologically and gloriously justification propitiation expiation purification sanctification these sorts of things but we will with the time we have a focus upon the blood of Christ as we find it here in Peters first letter hoping to mine some nuggets of that blessed and rich gem the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ where we're going to look simply at one thing the ground of Christian Redemption and we're going to do so by looking at two things so the ground of Christian redemption in two things first the necessary denial what is the ground of Christian Redemption well Peter first off denies what redemption is or he rejects what one approach to what redemption could be or how Redemption can be gained and notice verse 18 of first Peter one knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's what is Peter doing here when he says negatively that you were not redeemed by corruptible things like silver and gold well we could observe simply first off that generally speaking Peter is rejecting that redemption comes by corruptible or perishable things to the ears into the hearts of Christians this is obvious and nevertheless it is necessary to rehearse and it is joyful to rehearse that our redemption as Christians does not come by corruptible or perishable things knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold the vanity of seeking redemption in anything save for the blood of Jesus Christ is clear from the text of the scriptures we cannot be redeemed by anything save for the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and so rightfully Peter rejects when he says here we were not redeemed you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold he rejects any notion the Christians have been redeemed by perishable corruptible things which are just the things of vanity we have not been redeemed from sin we have not been redeemed in this case primarily Jewish Christians have not been ready by their aimless conduct received by tradition from their fathers they have not been redeemed by that state of sin by corruptible or perishable things as Christians we reflect on this hopefully often as we see our own hearts and as we see the way that we can conduct ourselves in this lower world we rejoice in the fact that our redemption does not come from common and corruptible and perishable things because truly we would have no redemption at all our redemption comes from things incorruptible imperishable the glorious things of the Lord Jesus Christ specifically his blood but were not there yet the vanity of putting trust in perishable things is clear in this text but it isn't just generally Peter here stating that we have not been redeemed by corruptible things though we ought to again in a cursory manner reflect upon that reality nevertheless Peter is specifically bringing some things out here to deny that redemption comes from perishable things and what is that what is Peter doing specifically for example when he says we were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold is he just saying that is he just setting forth these items of high esteem in the financial world in the the reality or in the world of human possession silver or gold carry with themselves a very high inherent value they are valuable to the one who possesses them silver and gold see just generally saying that Christ's precious blood is greater than infinitely better than silver and gold well certainly he's saying that but he is most likely bringing to the fore some Old Testament reality and some Old Testament truth some can approach it perhaps this way that Peter has in view with regards to the language that later comes the aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's that the silver and gold in view pertains to apostate Israel and their idolatrous hi dala Tris conduct in the Old Testament for example Hosea 84 we read the Prophet there in Hosea 84 in daiting adulterous idolatrous apostate Israel hian Deitz them with these words they set up kings but not by me they made princes but I did not did not acknowledge them from their silver and gold they made idols for themselves that they might be cut off the Peter setting perhaps against the incorruptible and imperishable and precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ Redemption by anything that is marked by the idolatry of their fathers in the wilderness the idolatry of their fathers throughout the life of Israel in the Old Covenant perhaps that's in view reflection upon the gods the so-called gods the small G gods of the the Gentiles around the nations of Israel they were not to be carried off they were not to be stolen away on to the perverse religion of the idolaters around them the Gentiles would cry out where is their God where is the god of the Jews they don't erect like we do out of silver and gold and bronze and wood and iron gods that we can handle and touch and cast our eyes upon and bow down before they have nothing like that where is their God they would erect their idols their gods out of silver and gold and other elements brought out of the earth where is the the god of the Jews they would say the faithful Saints David being one of them would respond our God is in heaven he does whatever he pleases we're not redeemed by these corruptible and perishable things these deities manufactured by human hands those hands that have brought these elements from out of the earth and mind them and fabricated them themselves we don't bow down and were not redeemed by such deities as that but rather we're redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps idolatry is in view it's it's interesting and this is I only say this because this is interesting i'm not saying not forcing an interpretation upon you it's interesting if we look at first Peter 513 she who is in Babylon elect together with you greets you and so does Mark my son now some see here this Babylon a reference to Rome others see and I believe these would be correct that Babylon is Jerusalem Peter's writing from Jerusalem he's staying there being the apostle to the Jews and he says she who is in Babylon or apostate Jerusalem elect together with you greets you and so does Mark my son well we have an account in the Book of Daniel with regards to Babylon and again I only offer this in the way of interest as we move through this and remark the difference between the blood of christ and the vanity of perishable silver and gold notice in Daniel chapter 5 at verse 23 and you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of Evan they have brought the vessels of his house before you and you and your Lords your wives and your concubines have drunk wine from them and you have praised the gods of silver and gold bronze and iron wood and stone which do not see or hear or know and the God who holds your breath in his hands and owns all your ways you have not glorified Peter writing to his audience predominantly Jewish believers versed in the Old Testament they were once those who went to the temple day after day or year after year on the Day of Atonement offering up their sacrifices they would have been these familiar with the traditions of their fathers of course no doubt familiar with the way that the Jews throughout the ages throughout the decades throughout the centuries conducted themselves and Peter in encouraging them and admonishing them in commanding them in exhorting them unto godly fear reminds them that they have not been redeemed by corruptible and perishable things employed in the make of idolatrous gods but rather they've been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ perhaps though it's not that could be but perhaps the reference is to physical Redemption by the payment of silver and gold by silver and gold the items themselves or cornet coinage made out of silver and gold there's that accountant in second Kings 18 where in the 14th year of the reign of Hezekiah Seneca Reed comes he's the king of Assyria and he's invading Judah and Hezekiah wants to you know avert the invasion by the king of Assyria he wants him to go away from Judah and he asks he cries out and I'm paraphrasing what will it take the king mandates that the giving of some silver and gold for their Redemption be offered and Hezekiah I believe has some silver without having any gold he takes off the door some gold off the door of the temple perhaps something like that is in view that the conduct of King Hezekiah and things related or perhaps as Gil notes what is in view is Exodus 30 and the giving of shekels as a ransom to the Lord but whatever's in view we do know this beyond contestation redemption is not by corruptible and perishable things it is alone and gloriously alone by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ notice this language as well that we have here still under the necessary denial now this is what the unbelieving Jews were saved out of this is what unbelievers are saved out of from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's we need to notice under this necessary denial that salvation does not come by observation of the ceremonial law you know they're tempted at this time that Christians in Jerusalem to go back to Temple worship that's what the book of Hebrews is all about that the theme of the book of Hebrews is the super abounding cylance of Christ over all the types and shadows and and those things that came before him but the context of the book of Hebrews is that Christians were being stolen away or tried to people their their countrymen their family members their friends who perhaps once we're trafficking in the Church of God some were but were never safe to begin with they apostatize and they're trying to steal them back to temple religion they're trying to steal them back to the ceremonial law to the washings the sacrifices the ceremonies all those things that were to be put away and nothing left to remain save a bleeding Savior and so he comes to them and he says that is aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's the ceremonial law never saved the ceremonial law never redeemed it only pointed forward to the great and only Redemption the Lord Jesus Christ the blood of bulls and goats never took away sin they only tip ified that perfect one who would come to shed his blood for guilty sinners the ceremonial law never saved it's an interesting thing we think about this remember what's going on in the New Covenant and with temple worship you see a year prior to the death the resurrection and the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ a faithful believing Jew could go into the temple and offer up sacrifices hand them to the high priest and bring his sacrifices into the temple and go about the exercises of that Old Covenant religion without the judgment of God with a with a heart that's true with a heart dedicated unto the triune God they could go into the temple and offer up sacrifices but a year later when Christ had come as the one to whom all those sacrifices pointed such an exercise of religion was blasphemy to the living and true God so they are being reminded that they are to conduct themselves throughout the time of their sojourn on this lower world with fear knowing that they have not been redeemed by corruptible things but by the precious blood of Christ now / cops that isn't a reference to the ceremonial law when we read your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's perhaps it simply traditions wrongly appended by the unbelieving Jewish elders remember what was going on at the time of Christ the Jews were perverting true and proper religion they had taken the religion of God and they had perverted it he has to correct them time and again he has to seek to correct their perversions and so perhaps that's what's in view when we read aimless conduct received by tradition from their fathers Calvin writes innumerable superstitions were followed this is at the time of the writing of the Apostle Peter innumerable innumerable superstitions were followed hypocrisy prevailed the hope of salvation was built on the merest trifles they were not only imbued with false opinions but also fascinated with the grossest DOTA jizz and they who had been scattered to various parts of the world the pilgrims of the dispersion were implicated in still greater corruptions in short the greater part of that nation had either wholly fallen away from True Religion or had much degenerated when therefore Peter condemned the doctrine of the fathers he viewed it as unconnected with Christ who is the soul in the truth of the law beautiful language you see here in order to the greatest foundation to exhort Christians is to point them to the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ you have not been redeemed by corruptible things like silver or gold and now we get then having touched a little bit upon the necessary denial we now get to the proper assertion notice that the glorious language here smacked in the center of this chapter 1 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb with blemish and without spot glorious language there's a there's a blessed cadence to as we read that and it falls off the lips or it falls off the mind as you follow along but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot we want to note a number of things with regards to this proper assertion because remember peter has just rejected any redemption by corruptible and perishable things and has now landed upon the proper focus of true and only Redemption the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we want to note first that the value of the blood is asserted by the adjective precious note that the value of the blood is asserted by this adjective precious you see Peter could have wrote we have not been redeemed by corruptible things like silver and gold received by the aimless conduct by by your father's or from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's but by the blood of Christ and he would have been right and he would have been gloriously right to say but by the blood of Christ because with that comes the Apostolic theology of the cross of Jesus of the blood of Christ this adjective supplements at this adjective augment said this adjective exalts it the precious blood of Christ we all have things that are precious to you don't you lawfully and wholesomely so that might not be the blood of Christ just for a moment you have your you know your knickknacks that are kind of precious to you you know you on your mantle there the you know those ceramic things of various kids doing stuff I can't remember what they're called precious something or I think pressure I can't if somebody tell me later but you know a little doing various things playing ball and you know getting bitten on the ankle by a dog and people collect them and their precious they display them in their Mantle's and those are stamp collection you know the precious to you perhaps you know various various items that you know are you know that mind you of your childhood maybe you have a collection of things all things related to dr pepper the soda whatever it is there are things that are lawful and wholesome for you to collect that might be precious to you but you see they're really not precious to a lot of other people have you ever had a conversation you know I'm if you ever try to regale me with the glory of your stamp collection you know I probably won't be regale dile be happy for you but you see there is one thing that is precious Christians were all gathered here right now and you all have various things that you like that some other people in this room might not like we have different different you know lawful likes and dislikes and all those sorts of things but there's one thing that will always be reg ailed by there's one thing that will always want to sit down and talk with another Christian about if you come up to me and you say I want to talk about the blood of jesus christ its precious to me i will say Amen let's talk brother let's talk sister about the blood of jesus christ but you see preciousness we we see preciousness and and we understand it as things that are highly esteemed the things that carry a certain value things that are dear to us this is the language that's wrapped up here the high esteem the blood of Christ brings to the heart of the Christian we hold it in a high in a reverential honor above all things above things of light kind there are other bloods out their blood is a reality all the sons of men have blood but you see it is only the blood of Christ that is precious it's only the blood of Christ that has a high-end reverential honor that we hold in high esteem and it's not just a high esteem and and reverential honor though that is great but there is that other meaning a high value or high price because what's in view is redemption so Peter uses this word precious in order to impress upon the recipient of the letter in order to impress upon us the high price that was paid in the shedding of the blood of Christ it is precious to us in fact that word employed is employed the most by Peter in all of the New Testament and the word precious now I have a suspicion that may or may not be true as to why Peter uses this so often as he does with regards to Christ he uses it notice in 1st Peter to in beginning in verse 4 he uses it three times in this context coming to him as to a living stone rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ therefore it is also contained in the scripture behold I lay in Zion a chief Cornerstone elect precious and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame therefore to you who believe he is precious but to those who are disobedient the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief Cornerstone Peter uses this word three times in the span of five verses why to highlight that the Lord Jesus Christ is to be dear to his people he is to be precious highly esteemed he is to be honored held in a high regard I have a suspicion the reason this is the case is Peter member on the night in which the Lord was betrayed denied his master three times tonight is master three times after that last time he sees that gospel narratives record the gaze of the Savior catching the gaze of Peter Peter weeps knows what he had just did he just called it divine curse upon himself that if he is lying when he says I do not know this Nazarene the judgment of God come upon him does that three times Christ catches his gaze and goes off to be murdered by the hands of wicked men the son of glory put to shame what do we see post-resurrection but the Lord Jesus Christ coming to Peter eating broiled fish and honeycomb with them doesn't come with a harsh and a firm rebuke but he says feed my sheep three times feed my sheep Peter this side of that post-resurrection experience this side of being ski being instructed by the Lord Jesus Christ and in a way restored unto the apostolate he can say my Christ is precious hopefully you can two brothers and so if you're a Christian I know you can and I know you do it's precious to you he is to be held in it in a high regard the value of the blood is asserted by the adjective precious second the value of the blood is asserted by the identity identity of the one who sheds it the value of the blood is asserted by the identity of the one who sheds it it is no mystery but with the precious blood of Christ and hopefully you know that comes to you and you say I know preacher but a wholesome reflection upon the one who shed his blood is necessary in order for us to be brought to that place where we do hold him in the highest of regards this is no ordinary man he is a man but he is the god man and in his manhood he of course does not have a sinful manhood but he is perfect from beginning to end he is without blemish and without spot I love that development in Hebrews 1 with regards to Christ introduced as the one who has purged his people from their sins notice as that text builds the identity of the one who gives his precious blood for the sins of his people Hebrews 11 God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time passed to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world's who being the brightness of his glory and the Express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins sat down at the right hand of them Majesty on high the value of the blood is asserted by the identity of the one who sheds it the one who created all things the one who upholds all things by the word of his power the one who gives breath to men who gave blood two men sheds his own blood and dies his last dying breath upon Calvary's tree for the sins of his people oh the the horror and the crime the horrible crime of the one who does not find Christ as precious that is a cosmic crime to look upon to read to with eyes of contemplation and dwelling upon look if you were if you will upon Christ and his sacrifice gaze with eyes of consideration upon the crucified Messiah upon Calvary's tree and say no no it's not precious that's folly that's madness it's a stumbling block who can endure a crucified Messiah I'll go back to my precious things of silver and gold and I'll go back to my aimless conduct I'm not going to own this bloody massacre upon Calvary's tree that's why brothers and sisters salvation faith belief comes by the amazing and victorious grace of God cracking the hardened heart of man replacing it with a heart of flesh the beats for the Saviour and that calls him precious the one who gave himself for guilty sinners the one who shed precious blood is Christ and Christ alone another place that ought to cause the Christian heart to be warmed by a reflecting joy as Hebrews 9 noticed the language that we find in verse 11 regarding the identity of this blessed one who sheds his blood but Christ came this is Hebrews 911 as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands that is not of this creation not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood he entered the most holy place once for all having obtained eternal Redemption our blessed Savior no ordinary one we think of precious we can have one thing that is the same as others in a sense it is of light kind Christ was a man the Son of God the second of the Blessed triune being very an eternal God in the fullness of the times did take to himself man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin he was a man in one sense like others in that he had all our essential properties in common infirmities yet he is no common man he is precious because he is Christ Jesus the Lord the promised God man who would take away the sins of his people the value of the blood is asserted by the identity of the one who sheds it thirdly the value of the blood is asserted by the inherent understanding that it was shed by the virtue of the cross death it is Christ's blood but it is the cross death we're in his blood is shed and that is where in we find the efficacy of the blood brought to a clear for he is the one who upon the cross shed his blood for guilty sinners it's why Raymond rehearsed body blood death cross because all of these words come to our minds and they are to be as he notes shorthand for the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ the value of the blood is asserted by the fact that it was shed in the cross death Christ made peace by the death of his cross you know we are not to have as we draw near to an end before we observe the Lord's Supper we are not to have some strange view of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ when we read here in first Peter and when we read elsewhere similar things but when we read the precious blood of Christ we are not to follow after some superstitious views of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ you know there is no magical hematological property to the the Lord Jesus Christ there is no magical given ization that comes by way of the hypostatic Union an adjunct or you know a doctrine related to the hypostatic union is not that Christ's blood is somehow brought to some magical level by the unity of deity and humanity in the one person Christ but nevertheless brothers and sisters we are to have a high view of the blood let us not be brought to error on the other side we are to have a high view of the blood the Spurgeon preaching on the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ remember the value of this blood is seen in its preciousness in the identity of Christ and in the fact that it comes by way of the cross death spurge and mark his brow they have put it about they have put they have put about it a crown of thorns and the crimson drops of gore are rushing down his cheeks ye angels the drops of blood are running down his cheeks but turn aside that purple robe for a moment his back is bleeding they lift up the thongs still dripping clots of gore they scourge and tear his flesh and make a river of blood to run down his shoulders that is the shedding of blood without which there is no remission not yet have I done they hurry him through the streets they fling him on the ground they nail his hands and feet to the transverse would they hoisted in the air they dash it into its socket it is fixed and there he hangs the Christ of God blood from his head blood from his hands blood from his feet in agony unknown he bleeds away his life in terrible throws he exhausts his soul my God my God why hast thou forsaken me and then see they pierced his side and forth with runneth out blood and water this is the shedding of blood sinners and saints this is the awful shedding of blood the terrible pouring out of blood without which for you there is no remission the precious blood of Jesus Christ we come tonight and we observe this ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ commanded to us and woe to Christians who neglect or think like this ordinance you know this is something that is not tantamount to a church bazaar I can take it or take it or leave it I really don't want to go to that bizarre and by other people's knickknacks I know we don't have bazaars here the fellowship luncheon your conscience Azhar not bound unto cheerful kalaya compliance to come to the fellowship luncheon but your consciences are bound unto a cheerful compliance to obey the Savior and take of the bread in the blood wonderful words of hansard nullus why should you cry Oh Miley pneus when you neglect so blessed in ordinance Christian that you know I'm just I'm struggling with I'm struggling with my Christianity I'm struggling spiritually while you are you in church come occasionally come when I can game's not on that sort of thing you come to the supper well no I would rather not come twice on the Lord's Day brethren the supper is given by commandment of Christ not as a tyrannical overlord but as a blessed bleeding and resurrected Savior who says take eat this is my body take drink this is my blood the Christian does not have recourse unto variegated excuses to not attend it's good that you're here to observe the Lord's Supper because we observe this one who spilled his precious blood in order that he might bring sinners to God fourthly and nearing lastly the value of the blood is asserted by what is accomplished by it redemption the value of the blood is asserted by what is accomplished by it we have been purchased we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ the value is seen in the fact of what it's accomplished by it we've been redeemed brothers and sisters out of the the slave market of sin a reflecting upon that reality ought to bring us not only to a high view of the supper of course into a high view of corporate worship but to joyful seasons where we just sing the praises of our God because we know that pit that horrible pit from which we were digged that stone whence we were hewn the slave market of sin the power and the condemnation of sin we've been pulled up from that by the mighty victor the mighty champion the captain of our salvation the Lord Jesus Christ value of the blood is seen and that it accomplishes our Redemption time is not our friend presently acts 20 28 Colossians 1 14 first john-117 revelation 6 12 excuse me 5 9 and 10 but notice I love this the this him first John 17 is the him at the top of the page for the verse at the top of the page of this him you've sung it before it's familiar to you we're not singing it tonight but 677 language of this him notice at the top of the page the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin the refrain is Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no other fount I know nothing but the blood of Jesus we can't sing that about any corruptible thing we can't sing that about any perishable thing we can only sing Oh precious is the flow with the knowledge that our Redemption our salvation is wrapped up in the precious blood of the Lord is Christ well brethren in closing hopefully a reflecting upon the blood the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ will stir your souls too happy reflections upon Christ Jesus the Lord it's very often difficult to pull smiles from a congregation on a hot evening chilliwack we gotta you know get home and we have a work week ahead of us but hopefully we can take pause in this gathered assembly that has been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ who have that common content of story and narrative that is not like a collection of stamps or salt and pepper paire Dr Pepper paraphernalia but is the common ground of our redemption the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps not now you can't throw the preacher a smile but hopefully throughout the week brothers and sisters are reflecting upon the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ causes you to be brought to high thoughts of such a bleeding in glorious Christ what a savior what a king what a redeemer and brethren the blood of Jesus Christ is also the foundation for our congregating together coming to church on God's Sabbath coming to church on Christ's Sabbath coming to church on the Lord's Day the reason we do that one of the reasons that we do that is because Christ has shed his blood for guilty sinners we don't congregate out of tradition we don't light as tradition and a wholesome and a good one but that's not the reason the primary reason the reason it is tradition and the reason we congregate is because the god man upon Calvary's tree shed his blood for guilty sinners and so let us congregate and so let it not be a hindrance or a weariness to us but let it be the highest joy we can come into this place to lay aside our Labor's to lay aside all other contemplations and contemplate solian alone the grace of god seen here in this case in the press precious shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and lastly as we move to this observation now the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is the ground and foundation of our observation of the Lord's Supper it was on that night prior to the shedding of his blood the one who had just that the one who would cry in the Garden of Gethsemane let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but vine be done it was this ordinance that he Institute's on the night on which he was betrayed let us always come to this ordinance seeing it not as something to tack on at the end of a service not as something to to perhaps take or leave depending on our schedule on a given Lord's Day it's come to this ordinance in a cheerful compliance recognizing the high and heavy honor it is to congregate as the saints of Christ and to reflect upon his bloodshed and his body broken if you're here tonight perhaps you're it you're a young one out there perhaps you're an old one out there perhaps you're a middle-aged one out there whatever age you are and if you're outside of Christ if you're in unbelief believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved you're not saved by aimless conduct you're not saved by traditions of your father's you're not saved by corruptible things like silver gold you're redeemed solian alone you're saved so lean alone by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ you are a sinner you need the only remedy the Lord Jesus Christ come to the Blessed found and find in him you're all in all let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word as it's revealed to us there in first Peter one we rejoice in Christ Jesus our precious Lord we thank you that he came into this world to shed his blood for guilty sinners and might we now go into this Lord's Supper rejoicing in that truth made it be a solemn occasion yes but definitely a joyful occasion as well we pray that you would cause the hearts of gathered Christians here to arise at the thought of being able to reflect with regenerate hearts upon the perfect and saving work of Christ and Lord God might you by what was preached by your word and by the observation of this the Taking of this ordinance might you save those who now sit outside of you I might you come by victorious grace and cause them by that grace to leave these two doors singing hallelujah what a savior and it's in the name of our Savior that we do now pray amen as its recipients the Church of God which is at Corinth that's in chapter 1 at verse 2 so it's not a converting ordinance it's not given to non-believers or unbelievers so that they might get saved it is given to those who by the grace of God have believed the gospel so if you are not a believer please do not partake in the supper this evening as well it is given for believers who are seeking to be faithful as we read tonight as we read this section in first Corinthians 11 the Apostle highlights the importance of examination in 26 27 to 34 it's not for the elders it's not for you know some party to come and examine you it is self examination to assess whether or not you are seeking to be faithful before God and before men so it is for believers and it is for believers who are striving to maintain a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men as well it is a remembrance of our Lord Jesus it's not a duplication of the sacrifice the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation is on scriptural and it is abominable the bread and the wine remain bread and wine they're visible tangible elements to cause us to reflect upon and remember our blessed Savior so I want to read the section first verses 17 to 22 and then verses 27 to 34 essentially what we have is Paul addresses the improper conduct of the Corinthian church he then gives the specific instruction by Christ concerning the supper and then he highlights the importance of examination so please listen as I read beginning in chapter 11 at verse 17 now in giving these instructions I do not praise you since you come together not for the better but for the worse for first of all when you come together as a church I hear that there are divisions among you and in part I believe it for there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you there for when you come together in one place it is not to eat the Lord's Supper for in eating each one takes his own supper ahead of others and one is hungry and another is drunk what do you not have houses to eat and drink in or do you despise the Church of God and shame those who have nothing what shall I say to you shall I praise you in this I do not praise you dropping down to verse 27 he says 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 let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself not discerning the Lord's body for this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep for if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged but when we are judged we are chasing by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world therefore my brethren when you come together to eat wait for one another but if anyone is hungry let him eat at home lest you come together for judgment and the rest I will set in order when I come amen well please turn in your Trinity hymnal to number 192 you may remain seated number 192 will sing this hymn to a familiar tune while the brothers pass out the bread you verse 23 we read 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 a lot of spray the Blessed God we thank you for the Lord Jesus and certainly our confession is that he is precious he is altogether lovely in chief among 10,000 he is that most glorious one come from heaven to save us from our sins we give all praise and glory and honor unto you are blessed god and we would ask that tonight as we eat this bread as we drink this cup christ would be proclaimed and god would be exalted and glorified and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen we'll take together well you may turn in your hymnal to number 188 again remain seated and with reference to the elements the juice is in the outer ring so the outside ring of the plate is the juice the wine is in the center section so number 188 again remain seated you jazz Peter says his precious we ask that you would just increase our love for the for the God of heaven and earth that you would cause us to walk faithfully before you she would cause us Lord God to maintain a conscience void of offense toward you and toward men and may this practice may this observance may this ordinance in our church bring greater unity to the body may we indeed be a people who are identified as those who together love the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for this time we thank you for corporate worship we thank you for this expression of the unity of the saints of Jesus and we pray in his blessed name amen we'll take together we may turn to 175 and we'll stand together as we sing now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen please be seated you