Please turn to the hymn number nine. The hymn number nine with harps and the viols there stands a great throng. in the presence of Jesus and sing this new song. Unto him who hath loved us and washed us from sin, unto him be the glory forever. Amen. We'll stand and we'll sing the verses one to four, just one to four. The hymn number nine, those who desire to leave can do so after we sing a number of lines of this hymn. Hymn number nine, verses one to four. ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ I. of grace and of peace. Helpless and hopeless, we sailors had been. ♪ Amazing grace, how sweet the sound ♪ We'll just unite in prayer together before we come open the word. Our loving Father, into thy presence we now draw. now draw nigh to God, believing that he will draw nigh to us. We come through the only mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, the one who laid down his life for us. We come to remember that death, the death of deaths, a death like none other, the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We come, Lord, to worship Thee. We come, Lord, to remember Thee until Thy return. Bless this means of grace to us, we pray, and may our hearts be thrilled as we consider what Christ has done for us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Take the Word of God and turn to the Revelation, the chapter number one, the Revelation. of Jesus Christ, chapter number one. Let's read from the verse one. We'll read down to the verse six. The word of God says, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave on to him to show on to his servants things which must shortly come to pass. He sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bare record of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you, and peace from him which is, which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us. and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. And we'll add our own amen. Exiled for the faith once delivered. on to the saints, John found that his banishment from public service and ministry did not signal his usefulness for God had now come to an end. Because while stranded on the Isle of Patoness, God gave to God's servant a revelation of Jesus Christ that has been now preserved for us in Holy Scripture. Before John goes into the detail of that revelation of Jesus Christ, he first begins, as we always should begin, ascribing glory and praise to God. He writes in the verse 5 and 6 of chapter 1, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Three verbs all relating to God's dealings with his people appear to us in these two verses that really form the structure the outline of this short devotional message before we partake of the emblems of the bread and of the wine. The first verb that we find here is the verb loved. Unto him that loved us. As we gather around the table of remembrance, we do remember God's wisdom. We remember his power. We remember his justice. We remember many of His attributes, His grace and His mercy. But first and foremost, we remember His love, His dying love. We come to remember the Savior's great love for us, a love that began in eternity past and was displayed in the most public of settings. when he died for our sins upon the cross of Calvary, the text says, not unto him who is loving us, but unto him who loved us. Where did this love begin? Well, it never began, because it is described by Jeremiah as an everlasting love. He has loved his people with an everlasting love. Now I have no problem, brethren and sisters, understanding that I love him. I've said this before, but I do have an issue, that he loves me. That's the wonder of it all. The wonder isn't that I love him. Now that is a wonder because I was born as a sinner estranged from God. I hated God in my natural state. And of course it is a wonder. It is a wonder that I love him. But a greater wonder is that he loves me. Is that not what the hymn writer said? Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me. Because we look at our lives, we see our failures. I know my failures in a week that has passed. I know my failures of today. And I wonder, why does he love me? But I suppose I come to, as it were, understand or at least find some kind of remedy for this tension that exists between this thought that he loves me, and that's the wonder. I come to understand that whenever I find myself in Christ, then I understand in some way why he loves me, because he loves me in Christ. I find my acceptance in Christ. He sees me in his son. And that's why he loves me. That's why he loves me. He loved me. And then it goes on to say that he washed me. He washed me. The word is cleansed. Christ's love for us led him to shed his blood for us. John writes that he washed us from our sins in his own blood. The pollution of sin has been cleansed from our soul by Jesus' blood. His blood is precious blood. His blood is pure blood. His blood is powerful blood. Before we were washed, we were loved. Note the order. He loved us before he washed us. Now there's a wonderful thing. He loved us when we were still in our sins. And then he washed us. Dr. Gill, he put it like this, love was the cause of the washing and not washing the cause of the love. Our sins are washed in Jesus' precious blood. And then it goes on to say, mate, these are the verbs in these verses, loved, washed, made, loved and washed and then made. That's the order. And have made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. God makes all of his subjects kings and gives them crowns of glory. He also makes us priests, a position that permits us free access, unhindered access into his presence as we offer to him the sacrifices of praise. What an honor conferred upon us that we are kings and priests unto God, and all of it can be traced back to the fact that He loved us. That is the cause, the causal effect. The first cause, He loved us, and then He washed us, and then He made us. It all goes back to the love of God. And so let us dwell in his love as we come to partake of the communion emblems, the bread and the wine. And as we remember his great love, his love upon Calvary, may our hearts be thrilled as we consider what God has done for us in Christ, even as we partake of the bread and of the wine. The word of God reminds us In 1 Corinthians, in the chapter number 11. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered on to you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he break it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. Some brother, lead us in prayer as we remember the broken body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. O Lord, we just do thank you that you set your love upon such unworthy as we are. Thank you, Lord, that thou died for us on the cross to purchase that forgiveness of sins for us at highest cost. Lord, it costs everything today upon the cross. When we can depend upon that finished work, the finished work at Calvary, a blessed work, Lord, a work that we need not add to, Lord, by human endeavour, but Lord, we can accept it. And we are accepted in the beloved. We are accepted in Christ. We, our sins are dealt with beneath the blood. We thank you, Lord, indeed, that thou art such a merciful God. Even a God that is willing, if we ask to give wisdom to walk with thee, to give us, Lord, that wisdom that is not sensual, but Lord, not derived out of some As it were, a theory book. But Lord, that wisdom which will be practical and it's out workings in our lives. Lord, such wisdom we all need, such wisdom we all desire. Lord, give us help even to walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time, knowing the days are evil. Lord, help and undertake, Lord, that each and every one of our family members, Lord, would be able to see Christ as it were in us, would be able to see the truth, and the truth shall make them free. Lord, may the freedom of Christ be in our families, Lord, at this time. Lord, may they see, Lord, that they're the ones who are bound, Lord. We are not the ones who are constrained by sin, but they are constrained, they are bound in trespasses and sins, and we pray that each and every one would thank Christ today. Lord, that we would even, Lord, get phone calls today regarding our loved ones, that they have accepted Jesus Christ, that they have made their peace with him, that they've been reconciled. to God. Lord, undertaking these matters, Lord, these are not matters that we can strive or bring concern to people about. It is thy work and we pray, Lord, that thou would work in hearts and bless for thy great and worthy name's sake. Amen. Amen. As we continue to dwell on our Savior's love, some brother lead us please in prayer as we think of the poured out wine, the symbol, the emblem of our Savior's love poured out there in His precious blood, that most visible sign that Christ died on the cross. He died. Physically, literally, he died for us. He died for our sins. And so, some brother, lead us in prayer, please. Gracious God and loving Heavenly Father, we bow humbly in thy presence. We thank you, Lord, for this great privilege that we have of joining together and for the freedoms that we have of being able to come even to this preaching house, Lord, to sit under. We thank you again, Heavenly Father, for the faithfulness of thy servant who brought thy word even to our hearts today, Lord. And Lord, we acknowledge in the challenge from thy word today to each of our hearts, even as to how we are to walk, even over recent weeks, as we've been told, from thy word, how we are to walk in love, walk in the light, and to walk circumspectly, and then today to have that walk in wisdom, Lord. And we acknowledge that that wisdom can only be found in thee and in thy word and in thy truth, Lord. And we thank that we have thy word in our own language, that we have thy word in our hands, that we can Read it and meditate upon it and study it. And Lord, thy word can be preached even unto us. We thank you for these great privileges that we as a people enjoy. And Heavenly Father, we thank thee even now as we have before us the emblem of the wine, Lord reminding us of the blood. of thine own dear son, who came into this world, was born of a virgin, but ultimately came to go to the cross with Calvary, and there to make that once and for all sacrifice for sin. We thank you, Lord, for power that is in the blood of Christ, that power that has cleansed each of us in this building today. We thank you, Lord, for that day in the hour, Lord, when you saved us by thy precious blood. Even as we think of the words of that hymn, he died that we might be forgiven. He died to make us good, that we might go at last to heaven saved by his precious blood. Lord, we thank you for that precious blood that flowed on Calvary's hillside all those years ago. We thank you, Lord, that that blood is still saving sinners even today, Lord. And we pray, Lord, for the gospel as it goes forth. across our land again today, Lord, we pray that thy word will bring light, Lord, even into darkened hearts and darkened lives, Lord, and that men and women who are still in their sin will realize the great need to have that blood applied and to have their sins washed in the precious blood of Christ our Lord. Come, We pray, Lord, and move in our midst today, move down the town even this afternoon as our brother will preach in search of the riches of Christ, Lord. Give him health, fill him, Lord, with thy spirit, and may we see signs following the preaching of thy word today, and may we see sinners calling upon thee for salvation and the blood being applied to hearts even today, Lord. So, Lord, we look to thee. We pray, Lord, that we will now drink worthily, Lord, of all that thou hast done for us, and may we ever be thankful. for saving us, Lord, and for thy keeping hand upon us, for we ask all these things in our Saviour's wonderful and precious name. Amen. After the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, This cup is a new testament in my blood. This do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. We'll pray together. Can I just thank you for waiting? And honoring the Lord, can I thank the children, the young people who have come. I know that it is a long set communion service. But ever may we be mindful that it was three hours that Christ hung in the darkness. And it was early in the day, six, seven hours, the Savior hung upon the tree. And so our time is but brief. And our sacrifice is so, so little as we consider his sacrifice. But let's pray together. Loving Father, we rejoice today that we're loved and we're washed and we've been made kings and priests unto God. And Lord, we pray that we might, God, in light of thy love, may we exercise these tremendous privileges that we have now been brought into as kings and priests of God. May we fulfill, O God, that which is our duty. May we live as God would have us to live. May we walk wisely. May we walk wisely this afternoon, Lord, in the open air. May we walk wisely. May we walk wisely when we go to work tomorrow in the will of God and into school and college And into our community, may we walk wisely. O God, help us, Lord. Fill us with your wisdom. Guide us by your word. And may, O God, we exhibit all virtues and graces that were found in the most wisest man who ever walked this world, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, of whom it could be said that his walk was a most wise walk. He walked in wisdom among men. And oh God, we pray that we will resemble him in our Christian living. Part us with thy blessing, return us to thy house this evening as we listen to the gospel of redeeming grace again. We pray our prayers in Jesus' name. Amen.