Our scripture reading this morning is 1 John chapter three. 1 John chapter three. The text for the sermon is verse five. We will read the entire chapter. 1 John chapter three. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments. and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given us. So far we read God's holy word. Again, the text for the sermon is verse five. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye know. Those words breathe comfort. And ye know that he, and literally, and we know that that one was manifested to take away our sin. That one refers back to The first three verses would speak of Christ, the one who is coming and the one who is pure, according to verse three, the one that shall appear. We will, when we see him, we will be like him and we will see him as he is. All of that is based on the incomparable love of God. In verse one, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. We are the sons of God and we have the hope that one day we will be completely pure and we will be in the image of Jesus Christ. We will be changed into his image. And the apostle says, well, anyone who has that hope within him that he will be changed into the image of Jesus Christ, be pure. Anyone who has that hope purifies himself, doesn't continue to walk in sin, but does everything in his power to walk in holiness, in sanctification. After having said that, he then turns to what corrupts, to sin, verse 4. Whosoever commit a sin transgresseth also the law, because that's what sin is. Sin is the transgression of the law. Every sin is. Every sin makes one guilty before the judge, God himself, who has given us his law. And we have examined ourselves. We have seen that that's what we are. We're full of it, full of sin. Every thought is corrupted by it. Every word that we speak is tainted with sin. Every one of our activities is polluted. Sin is a violation, a transgression, a stepping over the line of the law of God, which He has given us for our good, for our blessing, to know His will. And what do we do? We deliberately step over the line. We deliberately transgress the commandments of God. Sin is a most horrible thing. And that's why the words of the text, for those who have this week looked at themselves carefully and seen the corruption of the nature, seen how it pollutes every part of their life, and then to have these words and ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins is a beautiful, comforting word this morning. This knowledge is not mere observation. This knowledge is the knowledge of faith that looks at the cross of Jesus Christ and finds there the removal of all the guilt of our sins. We consider this text this morning in connection with the Lord's Supper. And in the Lord's Supper we will have the symbols that point to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The broken bread, the poured wine, both of which point to his suffering and his death on the cross and the atonement that he accomplished there in the cross. And so the text speaks of that comfort and ye know. So this morning, let's consider this verse under the theme manifested to take away our sins. manifested to take away our sins. Notice in the first place his manifestation, secondly his work taking away sins, and then thirdly his purpose. The manifestation, the idea of being manifest, the word is rather striking that that the Apostle puts it this way as he's been inspired by the Holy Spirit and you know that he was manifested. It's an interesting word. It does not say he was born to take away our sins, that would be true, or that he came into the world to take away our sins, that would be true, but that he was manifested as a little different idea attached to it. It indicates that something was hidden, but then is manifested, is revealed. That's the emphasis of the word. It's used in Jesus' own lifetime. This word is manifested. When Jesus, for a time, needed to be away from people, and He would hide Himself for a time, and then He would come out of His hiding, He would appear to them. He would be manifest. That's the word that really is behind that idea of Jesus come out of hiding and talking to the people again. When Jesus died and was buried and rose again from the dead. There were times when he would come to his disciples and we read, he appeared to them. It's the same word that is here translated manifest. He was hidden from them and all of a sudden he appeared to them. He was manifest to them. And it's used in connection with his second coming as in verse two, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and enough not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, same word, manifest, when He will become visible again. There it is again, that something that was hidden is now open. Something pierces through, so to speak, as when you hear the sound of a jet airplane and there's clouds and you can't see a thing, but you know there's an airplane there and all of a sudden it pierces through the clouds and there it is. That's the idea of being manifest. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was manifest. He was hidden. It was known already in the Old Testament that He was coming. The prophets talked about His coming. He was foreshadowed. There were times when He took on a form, the Angel of Jehovah, and He appeared to people in the Old Testament. But for the most part, He was hidden from view of the people in the Old Testament. He was not seen except in Old Testament form until He came to the earth and He became manifest. He became visible to all of us. How is that? Through the wonder of the Incarnation. God coming in the flesh. That's the emphasis here. God Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, who is one with the Father, very God, became visible. He appeared to us. He became manifest to us in this world. He was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. He took upon himself human flesh and blood. Otherwise, he would never have appeared. You could not see Him. The second person of the Trinity, the Son, is just as invisible as the Father and as the Holy Spirit. They are absolutely invisible. We saw that last week in connection with the second commandment. You cannot make images of Him because He has no form. But the Son of God became manifest. He took upon Himself human flesh. And that's the emphasis here. God came to do this. The Son of God in our flesh came in the form of a servant, having a very real human nature, a body, a mind, a heart, a soul, as any of us have except, says the text, without sin. With him there is no sin. But other than that, there was nothing different about his human nature as compared to our human nature. People of God, we've heard this so many times. We've heard about the incarnation. We've heard about the conception in Mary and the birth in Bethlehem. We've heard of it so many times. Let's not ever become so accustomed to it that we lose sight of the wonder that God was manifest to men. God was born of a woman. God could be seen in the manger in Bethlehem. God lived in Capernaum, ate and slept in the house of Joseph and Mary. God walked among sinners. God spoke to sinners. God healed sinners. God instructed them and sometimes rebuked them. God endured the contradiction of sinners. Sinners mocked God. They reproached the very God. It's true, of course, that the glory of this God was covered up by the flesh and blood of Jesus. It would be impossible for the glory of God to have lived in the house of Joseph and Mary in all its brilliance. Remember when Moses came down from the Mount, how the mere reflection of the glory of God in Moses' face meant that people said, cover it up, we can't abide to look at it. No one could look at Jesus if he came in all the glory that he now has. And that was shining. No, his glory was covered up by his human nature. Nonetheless, there's no question about who he was. He was God. the Savior God, the invisible, the eternal, all-glorious God, the Son who is Lord of lords and King of kings, has all power. He was manifest in the flesh. So that word there, and he was manifest, literally that one, that one, God himself, was manifest means He took upon himself human flesh. He lived among sinful men. He taught them. He performed miracles on them. And he suffered. He died and rose again. Why was God manifest? That brings us to his work. Says the text, he was manifest to take away our sin. There are, of course, many who deny this, that that is why Jesus came into this world. They do not say they deny this text, of course not, but they try to make all kinds of other reasons as to why he came into the world rather than to take away sin. Some would say he came to be king and he came to lead Israel and make her a glorious nation, but he was rejected by them and so he failed in what he came to do. Others would say that he came as an example, a good teacher, a model for all of us that we need to follow his kind and generous and loving ways. And he came to show that to people, but they didn't want to hear it, and so they got rid of him. And he failed, therefore, in why he came into this world. And many college students will hear if they go to Kelvin or Dord or Trinity and all of those colleges. Jesus came into this world to take it back. That Satan had taken over the world and now Jesus Christ comes to establish a beachhead, so to speak, and now it's up to us to go out and conquer the world and take it over for Jesus Christ. He came to start the advance, the army, get it moving and taking over the world again. The text says no. That's not why he came. He came to take away sin. That was his work. That's why he came. All these other views not only contradict the text, but they fail to understand the seriousness of sin. And that, of course, is our nature. We don't want to see how serious sin is. We want to minimize it, whether it's a sin of a husband against a wife, or children against their parents, or students against their teachers. We want to minimize sin, make it small, and especially a sin against God. It's not that bad. The text will not allow that thinking. Sin is a transgression. of the law. Sin is not a mere mistake. Sin is not a personal problem. Sin is not even that we hurt someone, though sin hurts other people and needs to be confessed to them. Sin is not, as the world would have it today, that the only sin left in the world is you're intolerant. You won't You won't tolerate that someone wants to live in complete and horrible iniquity. So that's your sin. You're intolerant. That's not what sin is. Sin is a transgression of the law of God. The God who created us, by whom and for whom everything exists, the God who is unspeakably holy, whose glory is above the heavens. That God who has the right to tell us, this is what I demand of you. This is what I demand as your creator, as your God. Obey me. Here's my law. Keep the commandments. God is terribly displeased Every sin, absolutely. He hates sin more than you and I ever hate it when someone sins against us. And oh, we can be so angry when someone sins against us. But God's hatred and anger against sin is nothing compared to your most fearful hatred. God hates sin. absolutely cannot abide with it. His wrath burns hot. So terrible is his wrath, as we will read this morning again, that rather than to let one sin go unpunished, even one sin, he hath punished the same in his own son. So he hates iniquity. And then to think We struggle even to grasp this, but to think what the Lord Jesus endured under the wrath of God, the terrible anguish, the agony that he endured because of sin. God did not send his son to be the king of Israel and a nation on this earth, and he failed. God did not send his son to start a little skirmish so that he could send us out to save the world. God sent his son to take away sin. God, in his perfect plan, determined that there would be sin. but not forever. Sin will be taken away. Taken away. That's why God sent His Son to take away sin and He did. He did not fail. Not in any part of His mission. To take away our Sin. Is that little word important? Our? It certainly is. In the first place, it points to election. To election. God choosing certain people unto salvation and determining to save them for himself. As such, that word doesn't prove election. There are other verses in the Bible that do that. that Jesus said, I lay down my life for my sheep, and I know my sheep. And the fact that he speaks of the fact that all that the Father hath given me, I will save. I will not lose any of them. The ones given to him by the Father And yet that's implied here, that's what lies behind that word our, because the text doesn't just say Jesus came to take away some sins, sins of some people, it doesn't matter if it's Bill or Jane or if it's Harry or anybody out, it's just some sins. No, he came to take away our sin, specific sins. That's always true, whenever the Bible speaks of the death of Jesus Christ and why Jesus came to die, it's always the elect, even if the Bible will say something like that he came to, that he died for his people, for the sins of the world, as John puts it earlier in this epistle. Then the emphasis is not that for every single person in the world but for the elect that are found all over the world in all the peoples of the world are those chosen by God and given to Jesus Christ. But here with the word our not only emphasizes election but it emphasizes something personal, makes it very personal. He came to take away our sins. Again, not just sin and whoever it might be, but my sin, your sin. He came to take away your sin. When Jesus went to the cross, He did not die for this ugly, black, blob of sin. He died for the sin that you committed last night. He died for the sin that you committed at the breakfast table this morning. He died for the sin that we will commit right here in this worship service. He died to take away our sins. Take away has two aspects to it. And both of them are used in the scripture. Both of those aspects. In the first place, to take away is first of all to take up. To take up Jesus took sin upon himself. It's used when Jesus said to that man lying on the mat, take up thy bed and walk. Pick it up, walk away with it. That's the same word used here in the text. Jesus took up our sins to himself. It was a deliberate act of Jesus, willingly picking them up. And how does he take our sins to himself? By taking the guilt of those sins upon himself. So that, first of all, take away means to take upon himself. But then, secondly, take away means to remove from. to get them out of here as the crowd using this word now at Jesus' crucifixion said, away with him, away with him. That's the word that is used here to remove them entirely from us. So that those sins of ours are not with us. They're not imputed to us. When God looks at us, he does not see those sins upon us. The guilt has been removed. That's the sense of taking away. So that they are never again to be connected with us. How did Jesus accomplish this? He was manifested to take away, take to himself, and then remove from us our sins. And we know how he did that. Of course, he did it in the cross. Willingly he gave himself as a substitute. He went in our place. where we deserve to go. He came as a representative of all His people. Everyone given to Him by the Father, all His sheep, He came as their representative. And He asked that God would lay the iniquity of His people upon Him. Now, I can't do that. I cannot do that for anyone, no matter how I might want to say, Lord, please put their iniquity on me. I cannot do that because I have my own sins. But Jesus didn't have any. And the text makes a point of that. And in him, there is no sin. And that's very important because if he had sin of his own, he would not be able to take our guilt, but because he had no guilt of his own, He could take hours. He willingly gave himself to the death of the cross. When he went to the cross, there was a special element of his death because it meant he became accursed, accursed of God. So the guilt of his people was taken away from them and put on him. The curse of his people was lifted from the people and put on him. And he became worthy of death. Because all the guilt of sin, any sin, as God said to Adam, in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die, that's the punishment, death. And long before this Jesus came into the world, Isaiah prophesied, the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. And He shall bear their iniquity. And he bore it away. That's the first part. He took it to himself and then he bore it away, removed it. The cross was a sacrifice. He offered himself as a lamb of God before his father. He bore the wrath, all the wrath, the eternal wrath, the infinite wrath. against every single sin of his people. He took it all upon himself. The sins that we know about, the sins that we do not even know about, and will not even know until we stand in the judgment day. But all of them, whether we recognize them, whether we see them or not, all of them, transgressions of the law, horrible things. He gave himself to death. He took the punishment entirely for our sin. He finished it. The curse is gone. The guilt is gone. It's removed. He suffered the horrible wrath of God until he could say, it is finished. It's finished. I've done it. I have taken the whole of God's wrath. There is nothing left. That was His work. He came, He was manifest to take away our sin. The purpose is our salvation. He accomplished it, but Because He is a complete Savior, He goes beyond merely taking to Himself our sins and then removing them entirely. He's the mediator of the covenant. And the purpose of salvation is not merely to remove sin, but it's to restore us to covenant life with God again. We became enemies of God because of sin. Sin is the breach in the friendship that God made with Adam already when he created him. Sin is the breach and sin had to be removed. And that's what Jesus did. He removed the offense that separated us from God. There is no cause for alienation any longer between God and us. There is no need for anything to separate us any longer from the love of God. And so Jesus' work is continuing to bring us back to God, to reconcile us to Him. This is the blessing of the covenant. Adoption unto children. being recreated in the image of God, of Jesus Christ, and the right to the inheritance. This is what Jesus came to accomplish. We have it. We have fellowship with God. Oh, it's only started. It's very imperfect because we still are sinners. But we have it because of the work of Jesus, because of the spirit working in our hearts, because of the word that is our message from God to us. We have fellowship with God and we long for the fullness of it. And this we know. We know this. This is not a mere intellectual knowledge. You can have, of course, a mere intellectual knowledge of Jesus that you know that there was a man who lived, just as you know that there was an Abraham Lincoln or there was a Julius Caesar, and so you know that there was a man, Jesus, who lived a long time ago in the region of Israel. Nor is it a mere head knowledge of what we talked about today, that Jesus came into this world to suffer on the cross and that his atonement is, his death rather, is an atoning death. And that's merely head knowledge. And I know that's what the Bible says. Many people have that too. But that is of no value to them. simply to know the facts of the Bible. That means nothing. Our knowledge is the knowledge that is spiritual, not merely had knowledge. It's the knowledge of experience, which is the knowledge of faith. We know that Jesus was manifested to take away our sins. So that everyone this morning who believes in Jesus Christ doesn't merely say, oh, that's a wonderful thing there, but he says, I know that Jesus was manifest to take away my sins. That's the personal side of it. The experiential knowledge. We know that because we've experienced forgiveness. That every time we go to God and bring our sins before Him and plead with Him that He would forgive us our sins, He does. He does on the basis of that cross, always and only. We know forgiveness. We've tasted the blessings of the cross. the overflowing grace and love and fellowship with God. But it's not always as strong as we would like it to be. We don't every day recite this verse and say, and I know that Jesus was manifested to take away my sins. And we don't have that close fellowship with God that we would delight to. Sometimes it's wonderful, sometimes it's beautiful, and other times it's very distant. We want it to be strengthened. Now how is that? By faith. Faith is what knows this. Faith is what gives us the experience of that. Faith in Jesus Christ. And so desiring to have our faith strengthened, we come to the table of the Lord. We want our faith to be stronger. We want our life to be more sanctified. We have tasted of the heavenly blessings, and we want more of them. So let's come this morning, beloved. Come, because we know that Jesus Christ was manifested to take away our sin. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we pray, bless thy word to our hearts. Our faith is so weak. But we thank thee for the spirit who strengthens it even through the preaching of the word and through the sacraments. And that's our prayer, Lord, that thou wilt ever strengthen our faith in our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. We turn now to the form for the administration of the Lord's Supper, as that is found in the back of the Psalter on page 90. Begin to read on, I'm sorry, page 91. We begin to read on page 91, then. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, attend to the words of the institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, as they are delivered by the Holy Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, verses 23 through 29. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he'd break it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. And after the same manner, also, he took the cup. When he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. That we may now celebrate the supper of the Lord to our comfort, it is above all things necessary, first, rightly, to examine ourselves, and secondly, to direct it to that end for which Christ hath ordained and instituted the same, namely, to his remembrance. Now the form goes to the true examination of ourselves, which was read last week, and we turn then to page 92, the second column. Let us now also consider to what end the Lord hath instituted his supper, namely, that we do it in remembrance of him. Now after this manner are we to remember him by it first. that we are confidently persuaded in our hearts that our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the promises made to our forefathers in the Old Testament, was sent of the Father into the world, that he assumed our flesh and blood, that he bore for us the wrath of God, under which we should have perished everlastingly, from the beginning of his incarnation to the end of his life upon earth. and that he hath fulfilled for us all obedience to the divine law and righteousness, especially when the weight of our sins and the wrath of God pressed out of him the bloody sweat in the garden, where he was bound that we might be freed from our sins, that he afterwards suffered innumerable reproaches that we might never be confounded, and that he was innocently condemned to death, that we might be acquitted at the judgment seat of God. Yea, that he suffered his blessed body to be nailed on the cross, that he might fix thereon the handwriting of our sins, and hath also taken upon himself the curse due to us, that he might fill us with his blessings, and hath humbled himself unto the deepest reproach and pains of hell, both in body and soul, on the tree of the cross, when he cried out with a loud voice, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That we might be accepted of God, and never be forsaken of him. and finally confirmed with his death and shedding of his blood the new and eternal testament, that covenant of grace and reconciliation, when he said, it is finished. Secondly, that we might firmly believe that we belong to this covenant of grace, The Lord Jesus Christ in his last supper took bread, and when he had given thanks, he break it and gave to his disciples and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. In like manner, also after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks and said, drink ye all of it. This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. This do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me, that is, As often as ye eat of this bread and drink of this cup, ye shall thereby, as by a sure remembrance and pledge, be admonished and assured of this, my hearty love and faithfulness towards you. That whereas you should otherwise have suffered eternal death, I have given my body to the death of the cross and shed my blood for you. and as certainly feed and nourish your hungry and thirsty souls with my crucified body and shed blood to everlasting life as this bread is broken before your eyes and this cup is given to you and you eat and drink the same with your mouth in remembrance of me. From this institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ we see that he directs our faith and trust to his perfect sacrifice, once offered on the cross, as to the only ground and foundation of our salvation, wherein he is become to our hungry and thirsty souls the true meat and drink of life eternal. For by his death he hath taken away the cause of our eternal death and misery, namely sin, and obtain for us the quickening spirit that we, by the same who dwelleth in Christ as in the head and in us as his members, might have true communion with him and be made partakers of all his blessings of life eternal, righteousness and glory. Besides, that we by the same spirit may also be united as members of one body in true brotherly love, as the holy apostle saith, for we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. For as out of many grains one meal is ground and one bread baked, And out of many berries being pressed together, one wine floweth and mixeth itself together. So shall we all, who by a true faith are engrafted into Christ, be altogether one body through brotherly love for Christ's sake, our beloved Savior, who has so exceedingly loved us. And not only show this in word, but also in very deed towards one another. Here to assist us, the almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit, amen. That we may obtain all this, let us humble ourselves before God and with true faith implore his grace. Let us pray. O most merciful God and Father, we beseech Thee that Thou wilt be pleased in this supper, in which we celebrate the glorious remembrance of the bitter death of Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, that we may daily, more and more with true confidence, give ourselves up unto Thy Son, Jesus Christ, that our afflicted and contrite hearts, through the power of the Holy Ghost, may be fed and comforted with his true body and blood, yea, with him, true God and man, that only heavenly bread. And that we may no longer live in our sins, but he in us and we in him, and thus truly be made partakers of the new and everlasting covenant of grace. That we may not doubt, but thou wilt forever be our gracious father, never more imputing our sins unto us and providing us with all things necessary as well for the body as the soul as thy beloved children and heirs. Grant us also thy grace that we may take up our cross cheerfully, deny ourselves, confess our Savior, and in all tribulations with uplifted heads, expect our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, where he will make our mortal bodies like unto his most glorious body, and take us unto him in eternity. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Strengthen us also by this Holy Supper in the Catholic, undoubted Christian faith, whereof we make confession with our mouths and hearts, saying, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, amen. While the table is being prepared, we will turn to Psalter number 417. 417, we will sing the four stanzas. Amen. O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? ♪ In praise of the good Lord ♪ ♪ And in the life-saving water bending ♪ ♪ My heart will not in vain embrace ♪ I see the light of the star-em'bringing, I saw the world pass with me, that we now may be fed with the true heavenly bread, Jesus Christ. Let us not cleave with our hearts unto the external bread and wine, but lift them up on high in heaven, where Christ Jesus is our advocate at the right hand of his heavenly Father, where there are all the articles of our faith lead us, not doubting, but we shall as certainly be fed and refreshed in our souls, through the working of the Holy Ghost with his body and blood as we receive the holy bread and wine in remembrance of him. Read this morning Psalm 22. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not, and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water. And all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O Lord. O my strength, haste thee to help me. The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ. Take, eat, and do so in remembrance of Him. you you The cup of blessing which we bless, that is to say with which we bless God, is the communion of the blood of Christ. Take ye, drink ye all of it, and do so in remembrance of him. Beloved in the Lord, since the Lord has now fed our souls at his table, let us therefore jointly praise his holy name with thanksgiving. And everyone say in his heart thus. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Who hath not spared his own son, but delivered him up for us all and given us all things with him. Therefore, God commended therewith his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified in his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Therefore shall my mouth and heart show forth the praise of the Lord from this time forth forevermore. Amen. Let us bow before our God in the prayer of thanksgiving. Almighty, merciful God and Father, we render Thee most humble and hearty thanks that Thou hast of Thine infinite mercy given us Thine only begotten Son for a mediator and a sacrifice for our sins, and to be our meat and drink unto life eternal. and that Thou givest us lively faith, whereby we are made partakers of such great benefits. Thou hast also been pleased that Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, should institute and ordain His Holy Supper for the confirmation of the saints. Grant, we beseech thee, O faithful God and Father, that through the operation of thy Holy Spirit the commemoration of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ may tend to the daily increase of our faith. and saving fellowship with him, through Jesus Christ thy Son, in whose name we conclude our prayer, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. While the thank offering is being received for benevolence, we will sing Psalter number 243. 243. In stanza one, envisioned to his saints, God spake from out the people, one I take, a mighty leader, true and brave, ordained, exalted, strong to save. We'll sing the stanzas 1, 2, 4, and 15. 1, 2, 4, and 15. Almighty, Almighty, we worship thee. ♪ Behold, behold, is that our God? ♪ ♪ Thy hand in hands shall still remain ♪ ♪ Thy arm, this King, shall well sustain ♪ ♪ Thy arm, this King, shall well sustain ♪ ♪ This mighty land ♪ ♪ Shall hold a million ♪ ♪ Lord of men ♪ ♪ Shall hold a million ♪ ♪ Lord of men ♪ ♪ Mercy of God ♪ ♪ The praise of the Lord ♪ ♪ His word is faithful now as dead ♪ ♪ As he is living, amen, amen ♪ ♪ As we in his name, amen, amen ♪ Have mercy on me, O mighty One, ♪ Blessed be his glorious name ♪ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.