Well, last week we almost concluded chapter 28 dealing with baptism, and the only phrase and Scripture verse that we left was this last short paragraph, paragraph 7, which reads, the sacrament of baptism is but once to be administered to any person. And this is depending and concluding a lot that we looked at last week and in the previous weeks, but of course last week we saw again that it isn't the sacrament of baptism as an act or a symbol that can command or automatically convey the grace of God, but it is as we look to Jesus Christ by faith looking to Him for that cleansing that is pictured in our baptism. That is how we can claim the promise of God, that He is encouraging us, as He has appointed this sacrament, to picture the cleansing of what is unclaimed. That's our hope that we have a God who is Does not just discard that which has become unclean by sin but has promised and provided a redemption and a cleansing and So we look to Jesus Christ by faith to accomplish that in our lives. He alone can wash us clean He alone can pour his spirit out upon us With the Father and this is our hope so it shouldn't surprise us then to consider that since the sacrament is not that which automatically conveys this grace to us, but it is our faith looking to Christ in that, there is no purpose, in fact, it would be stepping away from the truth of the gospel to view that sacrament as something that needed to be repeated again and again. And why is that? Because there is one cleansing. Now, of course, it's continued. It's continued in our lives. But if we have been cleansed, if we have been washed in regeneration, Jesus Christ granting us that new heart of flesh, taking that heart of stone away from us, giving us the gift of faith, making us alive, all the spiritual reality of what this sacrament of baptism pictures is something that happens once in your life. As the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1 says, he's confident that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. There's no such reality spiritually of one being washed in regeneration and then requiring that washing again. Regeneration is something that new birth that God grants and then follows through on. And we look here at the scripture reference of Titus chapter 3, and our attention's directed to verse 5, but let's back up again to verse 1 for the context. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us. not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people." And so as we read this passage, we recognize, of course, there's this continuing work of God in our lives, but the inception of that work, the beginning of it, which is marked as the new birth or regeneration in the Scriptures, is something that comes upon us but one time. Again, the Lord doesn't cast us aside so that we would require that again. But when He puts His hand of grace upon us, giving us that new heart to love Jesus Christ and to love Him, that is something that He continues, He sustains. And so, if you look at verse 5 again, He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. We've seen several times in this chapter that this is a verse describing that spiritual reality. of which baptism points us to and is a picture. This washing of regeneration, again, it happens, but once we experience that new birth and then as that living child of God with a new heart to love Him, We continue, we continue in His grace. Now, of course, we're not speaking about can a child of God fall back into temptation or fall into sin as a practice for a time. Sadly, those things are true. But if you truly are a child of God with this new heart, if you've experienced the new birth that Jesus described to Nicodemus in John 3, then God will continue His hand upon you. He will draw you back to Himself in repentance. But that is the repentance of a child, different in kind from this moment when we had a heart of stone toward God, and then He grants us this new life, this new heart of flesh. That is something that happens but once. And so because of that, our confession of faith says that the sacrament is to be administered but once to any person, corresponding to that spiritual reality. All right, well, if you have your handout on the Lord's Supper, chapter 29, we'll start in on paragraph one. Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in his church unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in, and to all duties which they owe unto him, and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other, members of his mystical body. So if you if you weren't with us when we looked two chapters ago at the sacraments in general we saw several foundational important things that I would encourage you to go back and look at perhaps even listen to those lessons. But this is the second sacrament that that chapter 27 identified, being instituted by God for the continued blessing and use of His church. We saw that a sacrament must be instituted by God. We could all think of various acts or experiences that might picture to us some aspect of God's grace in our life, but that's not sufficient to make something a sacrament. This isn't the invention of men, but it's at the command of God that we find in His Word these, baptism and the Lord's Supper, to be the sacraments of the church. And so this second sacrament, here in the days of the New Testament, the Lord's Supper, it was instituted by the Lord Jesus in the night wherein he was betrayed. And we'll look at these scripture references as we go. They're given to us at the end of a very long sentence, so we'll kind of track our way through those as we work through these phrases. If you look with me at 1 Corinthians chapter 11, we'll see the language of the confession is deliberately seeking to borrow from or use the very language of scripture as closely as possible. In 1 Corinthians 11 verse 23, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And so forth. We'll read the rest of these verses as we come to their corresponding phrases in the Confession. We see in the very beginning of our paragraph that this was in the night where He was betrayed that the Lord Jesus instituted this sacrament. Now, what night was that? Well, you recall the Lord Jesus had gone to Jerusalem in obedience to God's Word. That's something that we sometimes neglect to appreciate in terms of Jesus' purpose in going to Jerusalem. Certainly he had a mission to accomplish that the Father had given him, but he also is the perfect law keeper for his people. And what had God's word required of his people in the Old Testament? that they would assemble there in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. And so Jesus sets His face to Jerusalem, He goes there, and He is there to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. You can read about that in the Gospels. And we'll look at some of those verses even together. But it was in celebration of the Passover, that very night that he celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples, that was the night he was betrayed. And it's no coincidence, as we're going to read in 1 Corinthians 10, There is a very deliberate connection between the Passover Lamb of the Old Testament and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world in the New Testament. If you'll look with me at 1 Corinthians chapter 10, we'll come back to chapter 11, but if you'll go with me to 1 Corinthians 10, Here we have reference to what this Passover was celebrated, and then the Lord institutes this new meal to commemorate the sacrifice that God had provided, which would provide for their escape from the judgment of God, which is a very clear mirror of what happened there with the people of Israel and Egypt. but also of a deliverance from slavery. That also was an aspect of the Passover meal. It wasn't just deliverance from the slaying of the firstborn in Egypt, but you'll recall that it was also tied to their exodus, their exit from Egypt, and they were instructed as part of the Passover to eat standing up, ready for the journey. They were setting their face forward and preparing to leave. And that also has a spiritual fulfillment, if you will, in terms of the Lord Jesus leading His people out of the bondage of sin. We see that in the Old Testament, in the Passover. They were not to involve leaven in their bread, not only the timing of that, but as we read here in actually 1 Corinthians 9, we have reference to this, but let's begin with 1 Corinthians 10. verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ, because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel, are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then, that food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? Here we have this explanation of how the Lord's Supper that Paul is describing here, the cup of blessing that we bless, the bread that we break, reference here to the Lord's Supper, that it was a meal of commitment, of communion with one another, but also of commitment, of following the instruction of God, just as the Passover meal in the Old Testament How did you commit yourself as a child of God, as a part of God's people, to follow His guidance and leading? Well, you were there partaking of the Passover meal. You were following the instructions of the Lord. Setting yourself apart and preparing for your journey to follow Him in deliverance. And that is also the same significance that we find here. It is a participation in the blood of Christ, a participation in the body of Christ. We're committing ourselves by faith. to be the people of God, to look to the shed blood and broken body as our Passover lamb, our sacrifice, that the judgment of God for our sin might be atoned, and also that we might follow Him in His leading and God's deliverance. Verse 20, we see this, you weren't partaking of the Passover meal with a plan to stay in Egypt in the Old Testament. You were partaking of that, committing yourself to follow the leading of God, and that's what Paul is making reference to in terms of the Lord's Supper now. in verse 20 and verse 19. He looks at verse 18, consider the people of Israel are not those who eat the sacrifices, participants in the altar. There were very specific rules in the Old Testament law as to who was permitted to eat of that dedicated food that had been offered at the altar, the priest's portion. You had to be of the priest, of his family, or if you were of those making the sacrifice, there was a portion that you could partake of. And what is the point of this? It's not that the food is what transforms you, but it does picture that you have become dedicated and separate. In verse 20, he says, I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. And so again, it's this dedication. this commitment to God and His people to follow Him out of the bondage of sin into the pursuit of His promised land of blessing. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? So again, the Lord, He wanted the people of Israel there in Egypt to be devoted to Him. We saw the unfolding of how that was lacking in those 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, but the Lord no less wants the devotion of His people here in the New Testament. If you go to 1 Corinthians Let's look back at 1 Corinthians 11 now, back to the passage specifically giving these instructions for the Lord's Supper again. If you look at our confession of faith, our Lord Jesus in the night when He was betrayed instituted the sacrament of His body and blood called the Lord's Supper to be observed in His church unto the end of the world. For the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him, and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him and with each other as members of His mystical body. And so if you look at 1 Corinthians 11, The Lord Jesus noticed that when He had given thanks in verse 24, He took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ìThis is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.î In the same way also, He took the cup after supper, saying, ìThis cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it. in remembrance of me. And so what is the focus of our celebration of the Lord's Supper, our participation in that meal, to be? Well, we're to be looking to Christ, no different than baptism. We're to be looking to Jesus Christ. It's in remembrance of Him with the eye of faith looking to Him as our sacrifice, as our provision. And what aspect specifically of remembering the Lord Jesus is to be before us? Well, he is picturing himself in these elements, but specifically he's picturing his death in these elements. Notice that he says, the cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. He had broken the bread and poured out the wine into the cup. And this is clearly picturing his death upon the cross, the sacrifice of himself for the sins of God's people. And so it's in remembrance of Him as He gave Himself as the sacrifice for God's people. That's particularly, we're remembering Him as the risen Savior, yes, as the one who's alive to deliver us even today, yes. But we are to remember His death. We're to remember His death until He comes. And notice that in verse 26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." That sacrifice, that's at the heart of where our redemption flows from. The problem in our relationship with God, of course, was our sin. It brought separation from God and earned His judgment upon us. And God, as a holy God, would not turn a blind eye to sin and forget His character or His word and law which He had spoken. And so our sin must be paid for if we are to have fellowship with God. This was pictured in the Old Testament with the terminology of atonement or covering being applied to these sacrifices all through the Old Testament. Sin must be covered. Sin must be atoned for. This is how God's people could have covenant blessing and relationship with God. And so Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this. He is the one whose death finally and fully pays the debt of sin. His blood actually does have that power of covering and cleansing and atonement which we so desperately need. And so as God's people were gathered We're gathered in hope, in fellowship, in communion with Him, seeking relationship, seeking His blessing, seeking a life lived with Him. And all of this is possible only because of the death of the Lord Jesus as our sacrifice. And so that's the significance then of the Lord's Supper. It's something that we are to remember Him. Our confession says, until the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death. And if you look back at 1 Corinthians 11, we see that in the very words of the Lord Jesus. He says, do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me. And then again, verse 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. So it's to be a perpetual remembrance. It's not just something that the church would practice once and then move forward, but we're to remember the death of the Lord Jesus as the source of all our hope and our salvation until He comes again. We're to continue proclaiming the significance of that death for ourselves and the whole church. in the Lord's Supper, that's the purpose of it. We're to do this in remembrance of Him, we're to do this until He comes. And we are to proclaim His death in this until He comes. And so what is the death of the Lord Jesus accomplished for us? If we have been given faith, again, we are under the conviction of our sins, we have a conscience that God has given, but we have His word as well, we have the holy standard that God has proclaimed and we have to look at ourselves in light of that and come away condemned under the Word of God. So in the Lord's death we find the payment for our sin, the beginning of a new life with God where we can find blessing again and not judgment that comes upon sin. We can find blessing and forgiveness and a new beginning, a new covenant life with God. the source of all of our blessings. Every spiritual gift, every spiritual blessing of God's grace flows from this sacrifice. And so, this is why the Lord Jesus calls upon us to do this until He comes and to remember His death until He comes. And if you go back to our confession, it is the sacrifice of himself and his death that we're to perpetually remember. The sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers. that every time we come to this sacrament of the Lord's Supper, we are confessing again our need of His sacrifice to atone for our sin. Our rejoicing, again, just as with baptism, the very fact that there is a cleansing of sin, the very fact that there is a payment for sin, in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's an amazing provision of God's grace, and it confirms to us His gracious purpose to us. when we're tempted to doubt and despair in the guilt of our sin. The Lord's Supper is there to remind us that, no, we don't have to perish in our sin, but God has provided a sacrifice that is sufficient to cleanse us, to wash us, to deliver us. And just as with the Passover in the Old Testament, it wasn't God's purpose that he would keep his people in the bondage of Egypt, but just shelter and protect them from the judgment that was coming upon that land indefinitely. What was God's purpose? To call them out of Egypt, to call them out of that land that was marked by slavery and bondage. And so it is in our case with the Lord's Supper. We're not to be content remaining in our bondage to sin and just receiving the blessing of a forgiveness of the guilt of it. But we're to be looking, just as God's people in the Old Testament, with our garments skirted up about our waist, we're to be prepared and looking and following the deliverance and the leading of God as He leads us out of that bondage to sin. And so in the case of the believer coming to this table, we're looking to the Lord Jesus not only thanking God for a sacrifice to take our place and to pay the penalty that our sins deserve, to take the judgment of God upon another, that we might be spared that judgment, but we're also looking to that same Savior to deliver us, to lead us. to bring us out of the power of sin. And so, as our confession says, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him. When we think of the Lord Jesus, we should never be able to think of Him without including in that at the very base and heart of it all, His death for us, Him as our substitute, Him as our sacrifice. We tend away from that. That's something of an uncomfortable truth, but if we ever think of Jesus just in terms these lesser matters of deliverance that we are confronted with, perhaps something in our health or something in the affairs of this life, and we can look to God in prayer and we come to the Lord Jesus as the one that is our Savior, we must never lose sight of our standing with Him. How is it that we have the ability to call upon God for blessing and deliverance than any of these other things? Well, it's only because of what Jesus Christ did there upon the cross in giving up Himself. And so it's as a result of that that all other blessings come to us. All the benefits that come to God's people flow from that one great act of God's Son giving Himself upon the cross. And so when we come to Jesus, we're reminding ourselves in the Lord's Supper of His death, of the necessity of His death, of our need for His death, of our interest in His death by faith. He is our sacrifice, not just a sacrifice for others, but our sacrifice And as we confront the Lord Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, we're humbled, we're broken, we're reminded of the depth of our sin and the reality of the consequence of sin, the price that Christ paid for our forgiveness. And all of this then leads us to the proper relation, the proper view of our relationship with Jesus Christ that we should have, that we should be marked with gratitude and thanksgiving, just being overcome by the kindness of God to provide a sacrifice for ourselves. When we come to the Lord's Supper and we see the bread and the wine, We're not only reminded of the Lord Jesus and His death, but we should also end that face in our own lives. What did my sin deserve? What did I deserve before God's justice? Well, we deserve the very wrath and curse of God upon sin. And so the fact that we have not tasted that, the fact that we instead experience the blessing and the joy and the freedom of being the children of God, should lead us to give ourselves to Him. to follow His leading, even if it requires foregoing certain comforts or certainties. This was something that the children of Israel wrestled with. As you recall, they followed the direction of the Lord, they left Egypt under the direction of Moses, under his leadership, but there were many of that multitude that would later complain. and murmur, and even look back and say, well, this is so uncertain. This life is so uncertain. We at least knew where the next meal was coming from when we were in Egypt. They would complain and long for the leeks and the onions that they would eat in Egypt, and now they were just in great uncertainty. This is what should carry us through all of that. as the people of God. We are to look at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us and then, in that context, willingly give ourselves to Him. Well, Lord, You've given Your own Son in sacrifice for me. You poured Your wrath upon Him and He died there upon that cross. And so, whatever it is, whatever sacrifice I am called to make in Your service, the uncertainties of the future, just as Abraham faced as he left his father's house and wandered in an unknown land, seeking after the land that You promised him, or the children of Israel having to wander through a wilderness dependent entirely upon the supernatural provision of God, and then to find in the promised land that it's not something that they would just passively inherit, but they had to go and conquer and work and suffer danger for. recognizing and remembering the deliverance of God, the incredible sacrifice of His Son, is what makes all of that a commitment renewed in the life of God's child. And so as we're coming to the Lord's Supper, we are renewing our love for Christ, our appreciation and gratitude to Him for His willing sacrifice of Himself. We're rejoicing that because of that sacrifice, we have an interest in all the blessings of God because we are bought by Christ with His very blood. We belong to Him, and we belong to Him not as chateau property, but He has so graciously bought us to be His brothers and sisters, the children of God and His family. And so we are strengthening our relation with Christ. We're also strengthening our commitment to Him. to give ourselves in response, to follow His direction. And so as we read the confession of faith here, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in, to all duties which they owe unto Him, and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him and with each other as members of His mystical body. Here we find the reference in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 13. What does it mean to be joined to Jesus Christ, to be purchased with His blood for that sacrifice to be in your interest by faith in the one who is offering Himself? Well, it means to be joined to Him which means to be made a part of His body, a member of His body. And in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12, we read, For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit." So not only does this table, the Lord's Supper, first and foremost direct us to the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice, which is the foundation of our relationship restored with God, and a giving, a willing giving of ourselves to His service. But it also celebrates our relation to one another in the body of Christ. It's something that we're called to do together in a renewal of our love for God's people. Again, it's another parallel to the Passover of the Old Testament. It wasn't just one individual that was called to do this and then leave Egypt. but it was the entire people of God that were instructed by faith to put the blood of that lamb sacrificed upon the lentil in the doorpost of their home and then to celebrate that meal in preparation for departure all together. So it is in the New Testament with the Lord's Supper. We're doing this as members of the body of Christ, rejoicing that His mercy and grace is not limited to ourselves, but has been extended to many others. And so as we are pledging ourselves to the service of God, to follow His leading, to leave behind the bondage of sin in our lives, these are common commitments that are being expressed. And we are to be helping one another, pledging this in one another's presence and following up on this together. We are to be encouraging one another in these common and shared commitments. And so 1 Corinthians 12 verse 13 reminds us that we are all members of one another, that it is in one spirit that we were all baptized into one body, that is, into the body of Christ. As the passage reads, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one And so, back to the confession, this matter of being a bond and pledge of their communion with Him and with each other as members of His mystical body, this goes back to the language that Paul had used earlier in 1 Corinthians 10. If you go back there just briefly, this matter of it celebrating our solidarity with the people of God. our common life in Christ and our common commitment to follow Him at His direction and leading in His Word. This is also brought forward in 1 Corinthians 10. In verse 16, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." So we see that emphasis there, that it goes beyond just the individual experience, which certainly is where it begins, of life in Christ, of an interest in that sacrifice, of looking to God and being able to say, Lord, there is a sacrifice that I can offer to you. for the payment of my sins in the sacrifice that You have provided for the sins of the world, in the death of Your Son there upon the cross. But it also then goes on to consider, here we are as members of the family of God, there's not just one adopted child in God's family, but a multitude, as the Scripture says, that no man can even number. And so, as we are gathered each time we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we should be reflecting upon the cost of sin, the gracious provision of Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, then giving ourselves in gratitude to leave behind all those things that our heart would naturally cling to. in the old sinful ways of our lives, and give ourselves in love one to another as fellow members of this family of God, that we shall undertake this together as God's people, as members of His body. And so this defines then and helps us understand the purpose, the spiritual purpose of the Lord's Supper in the lives of God's people. So with that, we'll stop this morning and next week, God willing, we'll look at the second paragraph where we begin to look more closely at what is involved in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, what is not. going on, similar to what we saw with baptism. It's not something that automatically conveys the grace of God as though it's in the hands of men to dispense, but it is by faith that we look to Christ. That is where the benefit of partaking is realized. It is when we look to Jesus Christ by faith. And so we'll begin looking at that second paragraph, Lord willing, next week. Well, let's close our time this morning with a word of prayer. Our Father, we give thanks to you for providing this sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Lord, you know us. You know that we need such a regular reminder. of the very basis of our relationship with You. We know that apart from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross, which was anticipated all through the Old Testament and has looked back upon since His death, Lord, apart from that great sacrifice for sin, there would be no covenant relationship with You renewed in grace after man's fallen sin. And so we give thanks to You, Lord. Salvation does indeed belong to You, and all the praise and the glory for redemption belongs to You. We thank You that there is a Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You that He came and willingly gave Himself up for us all. O Lord, we thank You that there is a payment sufficient to pay the great debt of sin each of us bear toward You. And we thank You that once we have received that sacrifice unto ourselves by faith and offered in our place through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You that there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, as we read in Romans 8, verse 1. Lord, we thank you that we are considered redeemed, that our sins are covered, that we are justified in your sight and counted righteous even as your son is righteous because of the gift of his righteousness to each of us. And we thank you that not only is the guilt of our sin resolved completely by this sacrifice, the atonement of it is perfect. But we thank you that it is also It marks the beginning of our journey out of the land of sin, of our leaving behind the bondage that we once knew to our passions and pleasures. Lord, we thank you that you deliver us from that. and you call us to follow you unto the land of your provision. Lord, we do look forward to the great day when we will be truly in the land of promise. where all will be made right again. And we pray that you would give us faith and grace not to be as some there in the children of Israel were in the Old Testament days, who looked back upon the old life with longing. Lord, we pray that you would give us grace to cheerfully and willingly embrace whatever uncertainties, whatever difficulties might lie in the path of following you, that we would be encouraged by the promise of what you showed and proved there in your care of your people Israel, of your provision, that it would be timely and sufficient that you have every means at your disposal to provide for our needs, to care for us, to protect us, to deliver us from enemies, to nourish us, and ultimately to provide an entrance, Lord, in every blessing you have promised. We thank you that we are privileged to have a share in seeing your kingdom come. in seeing this promised land won again, and you call us to put on the whole armor of God and to fight against that which is evil and wrong in your sight in this world, using those spiritual weapons which are powerful to cast down strongholds in every thought that's raised up against our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that we would not fall prey to worldly thinking and that we would not consider the situation by the eye of flesh, but by the eye of faith, Lord, we would press on looking to You for the provision. And we also ask that we would not look to worldly means and methods to accomplish this supernatural work that You, O Lord, have promised to do. that we would remember that it does not depend ultimately upon us, but upon you and your mighty arm to accomplish all that you have promised. And you call us, Lord, to labor in faith. according to your instruction. And so help us, Lord, to have all of this upon our hearts and minds as we come in the near future to celebrate the Lord's Supper together. We ask that our faith in Jesus Christ might be stirred and that we might truly give ourselves to him as we have read in your word. And now please bless as we gather with the rest of your people In this place, and as your children gather throughout this world, Lord, to worship you, we ask that you would please protect and watch over your people and come and meet with us, that we might be blessed by your presence. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.