Our scripture reading this morning is Ephesians chapter 2, the first 10 verses. Ephesians chapter 2, the text for the sermon is verses 4 through 7, and I will not reread those verses, 4 through 7. Ephesians 2, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. And now the text for the sermon begins here in verse four through seven. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace, ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So far we read God's holy word. The text again, verses four through seven. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, the words of the text begin, but God. And the word but then indicates that this text is in contrast to what was written previously, the first three verses. There, the Spirit sets forth our helpless condition, our natural condition, in which we were born, that we are dead in trespasses and sins. Dead we were. Born with the guilt of Adam upon us, and because we are born guilty, the punishment is also there, and the punishment is death. We're born in death. dead in our own sins, unable to do anything but sin, constantly increasing our guilt, and with every new sin, bringing another death sentence upon us from the judgment seat of God, dead in sin. But it gets worse than that. As the verses describe our condition, it says, you are not only a slave of sin, unable to do anything else, but you are a willing slave of sin. The shackles of Satan, the prince of the power of the air were upon your wrists, separating you from God, drawing you farther and farther into iniquity, and finally his desire to bring you into hell itself. But you didn't resist that. We were perfectly agreeable to that. The sinful nature that we have actually delights in sin. Did you see that? As you were examining yourself this week, did you see that that nature is something that actually is prone to that, that delights in iniquity rather than fighting against it, hating it, and fleeing from it? Willingly, our nature serves Satan. Imagining that we are free, we gladly follow the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience into all iniquity. This is our natural condition. We're part of that corrupt mass of humanity that delights only in iniquity. That's the depravity of our nature. It is a total depravity. It means that we do not merely commit sins, but that those sins come out from us. They're part of our nature. They flow out naturally in our day-to-day life. The lusts of the flesh, the desires of the heart and of the mind, Therefore, apart from the grace of God, we are incapable of doing any good. But God, there is our hope. There is our only salvation. But God, tremendous power, The power of God that raised Jesus up from the dead and exalted Him to His right hand, that's the power that now works in you. A mighty power to quicken you, to make you alive in Jesus Christ. We who were dead in trespasses and sin have been quickened, made alive. by the mighty power of God. So let's examine these verses under the theme, Quickened Together with Christ. Notice in the first place, mighty power. Secondly, astounding goodness. And thirdly, glorious purpose. The mighty power is set forth in verse five, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved. Quickened us together with Christ. To quicken is to make alive. That's literally what the verse, the verb means there in the original, to make alive. This is a power that does not merely make life, create life, but it is a power that gives a life that overcomes death. That's a tremendous power. Death is a punishment of God. Death is the effect of sin. It's the judgment of God upon man because of the sin which he committed. God's Word put man and the whole of this creation under a curse, and the curse is death, destruction. That's God's word, his powerful word. Man, therefore, is born dead and dying, and he knows it. He knows he is on his way to death, to the grave, and that beyond the grave is hell. And so he works mightily to try to overcome death. This effort of man to overcome death is not natural. It's not simply a matter of trying to preserve oneself, but it's rather it's sinful man's continuous rebellion against God and against his judgment. God said, we will die. I will not die. I will live. He strives to undo all the effects of death. And so throughout the history, man has looked for the fountain of youth, something to keep him alive. Maybe if we go to visit these hot springs, maybe if we have these vitamins, maybe if we have this routine of diet and exercise, we can overcome death. But he cannot. absolutely cannot overcome death. By his constant efforts, he's trying to overcome the effects of sin. He will not stop sinning. The wages of sin is death. He will not stop the lusts of the flesh and curtail that, but he only wants to get rid of the effects of sin and death, but he cannot. But God can, and God has, and He still is overcoming death. That's His mighty power. You who were dead in trespasses and sins, God hath quickened God hath quickened. It's a power that belongs to Him alone. Listen to Romans chapter 4 verse 17. God who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things that be not as though they were. By His mighty power He quickens the dead and calls life into a place where there was no life. This is a tremendous power. Greater than the power to create We marveled at the creating work of God how God could simply say let there be and there was let there be light and there was let there be Affirmament and there was let there be dry land. Let there be plants and there was a mighty power of God to create But this Making what was dead to be alive in the midst of the material of death creating life and making that person to be alive. The material is unholy. It is vile. It is enslaved to sin, and in rebellion against God, God puts life into that sphere of corruption. A life that is not smothered by the total depravity of that individual. A life that is not corrupted by the totally vile material into which the life is placed, a life that never succumbs to the sin and is overwhelmed by it and goes along with it. Not this life. It never does. It's a life that can never sin and never die. It operates through that wretched, wicked nature in which there is no good. It operates through that nature and yet is not overcome, is not defiled. This is the power of God to give life, to make alive, to quicken, as the text says. God does that. It's totally His work. It's not a cooperative effort that God does something and we contribute a little bit and together we get to be alive. Nor is it that somehow we manage to climb out of the slime of depravity and lift up our hand and ask God to do something. Absolutely not dead in trespasses and sins. We were. God had to do everything to make us to be alive. There isn't any difference between us and the rest of the world. We are like the rest, like all the others. But God. Gave life. 1 Peter 1 verse 3 says, we were begotten again, begotten again. The first begetting was from our parents. They gave us a life, but that life is only a continual death. The second begetting is from God, from heaven. Now the text tells us a little more about that mighty work of God, His quickening us, when it says that we are quickened together with Christ. Quickened together with Christ. Christ had to be quickened. He had to be made alive. He was dead. He went to the cross. He gave up his life. He died on the cross. He lay in the grave from Friday afternoon till Sunday morning, dead. He had to be made alive. God gave him life. God gave him a resurrection life. God gave him a life, therefore, that wasn't like Lazarus on the same side of the grave. That would mean Lazarus would have to go through death again. No, the life that God gave to Jesus was on the other side of the grave. It was a life that could never die again because it was that kind of a new heavenly life. eternal life. Jesus was quickened by the Spirit. A number of places in the Bible point that out. The Holy Spirit made Him to be alive, gave Him that life. Now, we are quickened with Him, and clearly that's connected to the cross. and it's connected even directly to the cross by Colossians 2, verse 13. Listen to this, Colossians 2, verse 13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, so very much like Ephesians here, you being dead, he hath quickened together with him, with Christ, And then notice this, having forgiven you all your trespasses. He quickened you together with Christ, having forgiven you all your trespasses. You want to see, you can see the connection there, right? You had to be forgiven first. If you were not forgiven, that meant the guilt was upon you. And if the guilt is upon you, you still have that death sentence from God. You still have the curse there that says you must die. So if God would then give us life. It could not be a life that would go on and on and on because he's already decreed you must die. So we must take away the guilt. And once the guilt is gone, then He can give us life that will never die. Having forgiven you all your trespasses, He quickened you with Jesus Christ. But now that's not an easy thing to understand. How are we quickened, made alive, together with Christ. Well, first of all, if you just consider for a moment that whenever you talk about the head and a body, your head, your body, you're talking about a living organic connection between head and body. You cannot have a living head and a dead body. That's impossible. They are both alive or they are both dead. So from an organic point of view, when God gave life to the head, Jesus, there had to be life that would go to the body. There has to be, because the head and the body are organically one. They're one. So you could say, in principle, When God gave life to Jesus, the head, He gives it to the body, to all the members of the body. And that becomes reality then in our lifetime when we are regenerated. When God, by His Spirit, the same Spirit that quickened Jesus, that Spirit takes the life of Jesus, that resurrection life of Jesus, and He puts it into the heart of His elect child of God, making that person to be alive. As soon as the Spirit implants that new resurrection life of Jesus, We are immediately transformed from death into life, from darkness into light, from being dead in sin to being dead to sin. Astounding transformation by the work of the Spirit giving us life. That's the beautiful concept. And again, it's the same life. The same life that is in Jesus, the head, is in the body, each member of the church. The same life, worked by the same spirit, eternal life, that is from heaven, which cannot be corrupted, which cannot die. That's the life given to Jesus in the grave. That's the life given to us in regeneration. We are quickened together with Jesus. The same life. That's why the text can say, you who were dead in trespasses and sins, God hath quickened. together with Christ. That's a tremendous power, but there's more. And again, it corresponds very much with Jesus because just as God raised Jesus from the dead and then exalted him to heaven, now the text says, that's what he does with you. There's two more things that the text says God's mighty power does. It quickens us together with Christ. But then it adds this. We are raised together with him. We are raised together with him. Verse six. That, of course, is a reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And again, that's a difficult thing to understand. How can you say we are raised together with Christ? First of all, that's a legal truth. Legally, because Christ is our representative head, the legal head of his body. When God raised Jesus from the dead, from a legal point of view, the body is raised with him. He represents his people in his resurrection. He was raised because he accomplished our salvation. Romans chapter four, last verse of Romans four, verse 25 says, he was delivered for our offenses, he was raised again for our justification. That is to say, he was delivered to death on account of, literally, on account of our transgressions, he was raised again on account of our justification, because he accomplished the payment for our sins, justified us, God raised him from the dead. He had done it. He had finished the work. He had paid for the sins of his people. So God raised him up as head. And that's why Romans 6 can say, we are raised unto newness of life. As Christ was raised from the dead, so are you, says the apostle there in Romans 6, so are you raised unto newness of life, a new life. Not merely made alive. Jesus, again, wasn't merely made alive and there he sat in the grave in this corrupt world, no. He was raised from among the dead ones. That's literally what the Bible says. Taken from the sphere of death, from those who were dead, taken out of that and raised up into heaven. So are we. We are raised. We have a new life, not the life that we have from our parents, not an earthly life, but a heavenly life, a spiritual life we are given that belongs to heaven. This is a life that looks up. This is a life that seeks the things that are heavenly, that seeks God, that delights in spiritual things. That's the life that God has given to you. You've been raised unto newness of life. The implication, of course, is that also our bodies will be raised as Jesus' body was raised from the dead. 1 Corinthians 6, 14 says that. And God hath both raised up the Lord and will raise up us by his own power. He will raise our bodies. As the head was taken from the grave and brought to heaven, so every member of the body, not one will be left behind. Everyone, the bodies will be raised and brought to glory. We are raised together with Christ. Legally, having his resurrection life and someday our bodies. So that, first of all, we've been quickened, we've been raised with Him, and then, says verse six, made us to sit together with Christ again. Sit together with Christ in heavenly places. Christ is sat down at the right hand of God in glory. This is his reward. For enduring the shame and the bitter, the horrible agony of the cross, God rewarded him with that place in glory. As the body, we are in Christ. We are there. Again, in principle, The fullness of it is not there yet. Jesus said the same to his disciples. You will sit upon 12 thrones. And Revelation 20 speaks of the fact that the saints who have died are in heaven, sitting upon thrones, ruling with Christ. But that isn't merely future because the text says, and made us, talking to the people of Ephesus, the saints in Ephesus, made you to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You are ruling. You are kings. You have the power and the authority to fight the battle of faith. You have the power and authority to fight against sin and Satan and this wicked world and your old nature. We fight in victory. The victory is absolutely accomplished in the cross, so it isn't as if we have to inch our way along and hope that we will win. No, the victory is absolutely accomplished, but we fight as kings ruling with Jesus Christ. The day is coming when that will be reality, perfectly fulfilled. We will sit in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. This then is the mighty power of God that translates those who were dead in sin into being alive in Jesus Christ, raised with Him, even sitting with Him in glory. Why did God do that? And the answer is because of His amazing goodness. His goodness. The word goodness is not found here in the English, but it is captured in verse 7 in the word kindness. That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness that word kindness is so rich it includes anything that's good anything that's kind anything that's loving anything that's generous is in is embodied in that word kindness god is a god of kindness and god displays that kindness or goodness to us particularly through two of His outstanding attributes, His mercy and His love. That's what the text begins with, verse four. But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us, if you don't see the emphasis there, the love wherewith He loved us, it's double way of saying His great love. But let's start with mercy. According to His mercy, mercy is an attribute of God. In that attribute of mercy, God always delights in blessing His people. That's what mercy does. It delights in blessing. It's really love in action. the desire to make someone to be happy to be blessed as God is blessed that is mercy that mercy is especially something that comes into action when God sees his people in their misery when he sees them in the misery of their sins especially his mercy goes out to them and delights desires to lift them up out of their sin, out of their misery and to make them to be blessed. That mercy sustains them through the suffering because the suffering has a purpose. God never sends it without a purpose. And God is sustaining us by his mercy so that we are not consumed by the troubles or the trials or even the horrible sins. We're not consumed. He will sustain us by His mercy. And then, in His good time, lift us up totally out of the misery into eternal blessedness. God's mercy. God, according to that mercy, quickened us. According to that mercy. That mercy would lift us up out of death, out of hell, and bless us with every spiritual blessing. That mercy that is new unto us every morning. And the Bible emphasizes how great that mercy is when it speaks of the fact that it is from everlasting to everlasting, and there's nothing in between there where there isn't any mercy. And the mercy is above the heavens, The volume of that mercy is beyond our comprehension. According to that mercy, that is, upon those whom God has mercy, by that same standard, He quickened them. If there's no mercy, there's no quickening, but if there's mercy, there is quickening. According to His mercy, He quickens. But that mercy is exercised according to his great love. God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us. Love is another attribute of God, and the love of God is something that reaches out and draws someone to himself. As a mother embraces her child, as a husband embraces his wife, draws her to him. That's what love does. It establishes a relationship of friendship and fellowship. Love does. God's love is great. That's what the text says. His great love. Wherewith He loved us. And there's a lot of things we could say about that, I'm sure, but let's point out three reasons, surely, why the love of God is great. It's great, first of all, because it's eternal. It's eternal. God did not start loving you at a certain moment in time. God's love for His people is eternal. It started in eternity. There never was a time. Can you understand this? No. We really can't. But there never was a time when He didn't love you. Never. Even before you were created, when you were only in His mind, He loved you. His love is eternal. He loves us with a sovereign, particular love in Jesus Christ. We are chosen in Him. We belong to Him. He loves us in Him. And that love, therefore, will never die because He loves Himself. He loves Jesus. And that love will never change. He loves us eternally. That's the greatness of God's love, first of all. Secondly, the greatness of God's love is seen from the fact that we are so unworthy of the love. It's easy to love a child that's smiling, kind, obedient, beautiful little child, but that's not what we were. We were ugly, we were rebellious, totally disobedient, and yet God loved us. Unworthy, though we are of it, he loved us in Jesus. So the greatness of God's love is the eternity of it. The greatness is evident from the fact that we are so unworthy of it. But thirdly, the greatness of that love is seen in the power of it. It's a sovereign love, so different from ours. You may love someone with all your heart, but that doesn't mean that you can make that person love you. Our love is ineffectual. God's is never. His love is sovereign. It's powerful. It draws us to Him. It forms a bond. We are connected. We are united to Him by the power of love. His love fills our hearts so that we are able and, in fact, do love Him. That's the power of God's love. It draws us to himself. It draws us this morning to his table. The love of God draws us to his fellowship at the table. That's God's love. It's powerful. And it's a love that will not rest until he has drawn everyone unto himself. in glory, to live with Him, to fellowship with Him. That's what love does. It delights in fellowship. God's love will not rest until God has drawn His people, all of them, to Himself. That obviously is all connected to the cross as well. The cross is the demonstration of the love of God The cross is not what made God love us. The cross is the evidence of his love for us. So great is his love for us that he would give his own son to the bitter and shameful death of the cross. And the cross is our salvation. That's the astounding goodness of God, the kindness of God, We who deserve nothing good from God at all, dead in sin, rebellious to the core, God, according to His mercy, according to the love wherewith He loved us, has saved us. And what's the purpose of all of this? The purpose is in verse seven, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace. He's not going to merely show you His grace, but the riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. The purpose is the glory of God. Everything God does is for his own glory. Whether it's creation, that creation week, whether it's providence that rules and governs, whether it's Jesus Christ and his life and suffering and death and resurrection, whether it's our salvation, no matter what God does, it's to bring out his perfections. His glory. God does great things for us, marvelous things for us, but the ultimate purpose is still always His glory. Always. And now the text says in this particular work of God, the purpose is in all eternity to demonstrate the riches of His grace, the riches of His grace, grace that is not paltry, grace that is not stingy, grace that is not merely a little veneer, but grace, the riches of the grace God wants to show to all eternity. The grace that saved such unworthy people as we are. That's God's grace. It's unmerited favor. And it's the power, because grace is beauty, it's the power to make beautiful. That's what grace does. And that's what God did. He took those who were dead in sin, ugly, rotting sinners, He makes them to be beautiful with His own beauty. That grace is demonstrated in our salvation. But now take yourself into heaven because that's where this is talking. That throughout eternity, in the ages to come, in heaven, What will stand out in heaven to all of us is the riches of His grace toward us. And that's what everyone will want to talk about. I'm not here in heaven because I did something. I'm not here because I deserve it. It's all of grace. God saved me. Every person you meet in heaven will say that to you and then say, let me tell you my life. Let me show you how God's grace saved me. And then you will want to tell that person how God's grace saved you. And then not only that, but that he just keeps on adding to the blessings forever. The riches of his grace in Christ Jesus. So that everyone will see all the glory goes to God. That's His purpose. And that's His purpose for having the Lord's Supper. To demonstrate to us, once again, His abundant grace to us. the signs and seals of his grace, the signs and seals of his mercy and his love and his grace to us, the broken bread and the poured out wine, that we are saved from death, that we do not deserve anything good, but are saved in Jesus Christ. He demonstrates his love to us this morning. And he causes us even to partake and blesses our faith so that we hold fast all the more to our Savior Jesus Christ. So as we come to the table this morning, figurative, we all sit, but we come to the table, let us do it with praise on our lips for the riches of the grace of God. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy abundant love and mercy and grace displayed in the wonder of our salvation, not only for us in Jesus Christ, but in us by the Spirit, so that we are truly saved by grace. We give Thee all thanks and all praise. In Jesus' name, Amen. We turn now to the form for the administration of the Lord's Supper. Found on page 91. We were in the first column on page 91. 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, 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 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 is above all things necessary, first, rightly to examine ourselves, secondly, to direct it to that end for which Christ hath ordained and instituted the same, namely, to his remembrance. Now the true examination of ourselves we read last Sunday night, and so we turn 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. 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. 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, 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 it 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 you, 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 obtained 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 this same spirit may also be united as members of one body in true brotherly love. As the Holy Apostle says, for we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Whereas 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, 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 and 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 sing. Sultan number 378. 378, the unfailing mercy of God. We'll sing stanzas one and three, one and three of 378. To him all praise and glory be, his mercy fair and clever. His grace shall find them ever. He ransomed us from all our foes. His mercy fell on heaven. His grace has redeemed us. That we may now be fed with the true heavenly bread, Christ Jesus, 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 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. I read from John 6, after Jesus performed the miracles of feeding of the 5,000. And the people came to him, and Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, But for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he has sent. They said, therefore, unto him, what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe thee? What doest thou, what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord evermore, give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that all they which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ. Take, eat, and do so in remembrance of Him. Amen. Oh. you. The cup of blessing which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ. 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 this 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. As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward 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 commendeth therewith his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, 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 a prayer of thanksgiving. Almighty, merciful God and Father, we render thee most humble and hearty thanks that thou hast to 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 same. 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 Sultan number 132. 132 stands as 1 through 3 and 5. 132 stands as 1 through 3 and 5. sing o'er to the vine, and till our pilgrim days shall end, we'll ever be our faithful child. The blessed be the mighty one, Jehovah God of Israel, for he alone And he is in glory that has come. Then blessed be his glorious name, Long as the ages shall endure, For all the earth except his name. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.