Many things are highly important in life, but few things more important, surely, than blood. If you didn't have any, you wouldn't be here today. Indeed, you wouldn't even be alive. And if you were ever in the situation of losing a tremendous amount of blood, then it may perhaps be necessary for fresh supplies to be given to you. And just as blood is tremendously important in life, so it is in Scripture. If you look up just that one simple enough word, blood, in a comprehensive Bible concordance, then you'll find that both the Old Testament and the New Testament references to it are very considerable. And there's a very profitable line of Bible study and Bible investigation to be discovered there. The use of the word blood in Scripture. And as well as blood being important in life and important in scripture as a whole, blood is crucially important in our Communion Sabbath text this morning. Indeed, our whole text revolves around blood. And that makes it suitably a very, surely a very suitable text for a Communion occasion. You might be able to discern the text that I have in mind when I tell you the title for the message. Let's do it that way round. We'll have the title first and then the text for a change, instead of the text first and then the title. What text comes into your mind when the title for the message is Better Things? better things. The letter to the Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 24, is the text. Hebrews 12 and 24. We break in at verse 24, partway through a sentence. and indeed partway through a very weighty and thrilling argument that the writer to the Hebrews is setting forth at this point. But breaking in at 24 we read, And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. You see there where our title comes from. Better things. And we're particularly concerned with that second part of the verse. And to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Now if you know your letter to the Hebrews, You'll be aware that this verse comes at the end of a most exquisite section, one which sets out something of the wonderful position that the Christian is in, and the amazing privileges and benefits that belong to every child of God. The glories of the Gospel that are given freely to us by God, in and through His beloved and glorious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And all of this is presented here, you remember, in the 12th of Hebrews, in terms of a contrast between us having come not to Mount Sinai, but to Mount Zion. And there is so much here that could be gone into most profitably. And it would be grand to do it, but not now. Not now. We must maintain at this time, throughout the message, one single focus. The writer to the Hebrews declares that the blood of Jesus, which he describes as the blood of sprinkling, or we may speak of it also as the sprinkled blood, he says of this blood of Jesus that it speaks of better things than does the blood of Abel. And this manner of teaching by way of contrasting two things with one another is not new to chapter 12 of this epistle. It's a hallmark of this writer's manner throughout the epistle as he develops what is the glorious, the overarching theme of the entire letter, the supremacy, the superiority, the surpassing excellence, the sheer absolute incomparableness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He stands alone. His is the name above every name. He is the one high over all. And here, this theme of the epistle, this substantial theme, this exalted theme, is set forth in the matter of blood. And looking upon our text here, you see that two bloods, two bloods are brought before us. There is the blood of Jesus. which of course was shed upon the cross at Calvary. But then there is a second blood mentioned and that is the blood of Abel of which we read earlier from Genesis 4 shed long before in a field when Abel was murdered by his brother Cain. So there are these two bloods and what does Jesus say of them? Well, one thing that he says of them is that they speak. They both speak. He doesn't say that they spoke. And they're over and done with, and finished with, and have got no relevance to us, application to us, meaning for us. It's not that they once spoke, but we've got beyond that. No, they speak, they go on speaking. They speak to us here and now. Literally, it's a participle form of the verb. Speaking. Speaking. Well, you can't be more up to date than speaking, can you? These are speaking bloods. speaking bloods for us, speaking bloods to us this morning. So that's the first thing that the Hebrews writer says of these two bloods. They are speaking bloods. But he goes on to say something else which is of great importance. And that is that of these two bloods, the blood of Jesus and the blood of Abel, the blood of Jesus speaks of better things than the blood of Abel. And so what we want to understand at this communion time is this. How is it so? In what ways is it so that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us, is speaking now, today, to us, to us all, to every one of us, whatever our state and condition of soul. How is it that the blood of Jesus is speaking to us better, better things by far than the blood of Abel? We want to know the answer to this question that thereby we might glorify our Saviour and that if it please the Lord our souls would be blessed, particularly as we prepare to come to the Lord's table. Well, the first thing that we can say about the better things is this, Abel's blood cries for revenge, but Jesus' blood cries for pardon. Someone wrote some couplets which go like this, Abel's blood for vengeance pleaded to the skies, but the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries. All what wretched circumstances you remember lay behind the shedding of the blood of Abel. Remember that that was the first murder that they'd ever been. These days, tragically, it's hard to listen to a news bulletin which doesn't at least mention one murder and that's when it's not full of a whole string of murders. And the danger is that we become so used to murder But before Cain killed Abel, there had never been a murder. It was a first, a terrible first, an awful first, a solemn first, but for all that, a first. Such a thing was completely unknown, and Abel thereby, a godly man, became the first martyr. But what makes this murder all the worse, of course, is that Abel was murdered by his brother, not by a stranger, not just by somebody that he knew, but his own flesh and blood brother. And so Abel's blood In the scripture picture, it cries for revenge, it cries for vengeance, it cries for the infliction of due punishment upon the one who shed it. But not so Jesus' blood. Oh dear ones, Jesus' blood speaks of better things. Because the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, it speaks to sinners of pardon. It speaks of divine mercy. It speaks of forgiveness. It speaks of gospel provisions. It speaks of peace with God, of new life in Christ. It speaks of fellowship with God, knowing the Lord. It speaks of so great salvation. Old Spurgeon on one occasion warming to our theme put it this way, Abel's blood said revenge and made the sword of God start from the scabbard. But Christ's blood cried mercy and sent the sword back again and bade it sleep forever. So that's the first thing. And it leads to the second, which is this, Abel's blood speaks against the guilty, but Jesus' blood speaks for the guilty. Cain was deaf to the voice of his brother's blood, but God heard it. There is that solemn statement that we read in the fourth of Genesis narrative when the murder having been committed God is addressing Cain the murderer and God said to him what hast thou done the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground and the message it spoke against Cain was guilty guilty guilty The dreadful deed had been done that could not be hidden. The murderer was revealed. He had no alibi. He could plead no extenuating circumstances. Cain had no way out. The charge against him held, it stood in its fullest force. Ah, but not so Jesus' blood. Which speaks of better things. Do you remember the Lord Jesus Christ's words? Even from the cross to his own murderers. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. The blood pleading for the guilty rather than against them. And those verses that we mentioned, those couplets that we mentioned earlier on about Abel's blood pleading and Jesus' blood pleading, they continue with this couplet which refers to, oft as it is sprinkled on our guilty hearts. Friends, we are guilty sinners, every one of us. We have sinned. And as we were owning up and confessing in our singing from the 51st a moment ago, It is against God, even God only, that we have sinned. You might say, well, I've sinned in a thousand directions. Maybe so. But sin, you remember first and fundamentally, is against God. We know that the 51st Psalm arises out of the wretched context of David's adultery with Bathsheba and then his arranged murder in battle of Bathsheba's husband Uriah. So yes, David had sinned against Bathsheba sorely. Yes, David had sinned against Uriah sorely. But when he comes in conviction of sin, overwhelmingness of guilt, and conscious of his transgression, What's the first thing that he says to God? Lord, I have sinned against Bathsheba. Lord, I have done wrong against Uriah. No, both those things are true. But he comes and he puts first things first. And he says, against Thee, even against Thee only have I sinned. And this, dear ones, this is the supreme horror of sin. Sin which is treated so lightly in these days. They revise dictionaries from time to time, don't they? and new words are in each dictionary and then various old words have gone. Perhaps the day will come when you're looking up sin in the dictionary and you can't find it because the latest dictionary has omitted it as surplus to requirements or what a grievous day that would be. Well, whether it's in the dictionary or not, Society carries on so much of the time as if it's a non-category. Sin? No, you please yourself. You do what's right in your own eyes. You do what comes naturally. That's the problem. That's the problem because what comes naturally? Sin comes naturally. Sin comes naturally to the natural man, to the unbeliever. Every one of us has fallen short of the glory and the holiness and the perfection of God. That's why we're in such a state of sinners. We're separated from God. Our sins have separated us from God. And we are guilty before God. Guilty against His holiness, against His purity, against His glory. Guilty against Him in so many ways. Guilty on all counts. Guilty to the highest degree. Guilty before the Holy and Eternal God. And again, we have no cause of our own to plead. We have no extenuating circumstances. We have no witnesses to bring and say, oh, but He must be excused for this reason and treated lightly for that reason. No. Our only plea as sinners can ever be and need only be the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood that makes the foulest clean. The blood that takes our guilt away. The guilt of rebels, the guilt of lawbreakers, the guilt of despisers of God's love, the guilt of robbers of God's glory. Or the blood, says every Christian, which avails for me. And that leads in its turn to a third thing. Better things we're thinking of. Remember, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. How so? Well, here's a third illustration. And it's to say that Abel's blood drove Cain away from God. while Jesus' blood draws sinners near to God. Isn't that a better thing? Concerning Cain, hear again what God says to him with no holds barred. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. And again, a fugitive And a vagabond shalt thou be on the earth. And Cain, he immediately cries out to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear. He is driven away. He is cut off. He is banished by God and from God. But where sinners are concerned, who come to God seeking mercy for Jesus' sake and putting aside every other plea and hope and help, other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee. Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find." What do you find? You find that though you are far off from God, yet you are brought near by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the reconciling blood. God has made peace for sinners by the blood of the cross. And we are called upon in all seriousness, and dear ones, if you haven't taken it seriously thus far, then hear it with all urgency again now. The call is to repent, to turn from sin, and to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And your plea is the blood? Your plea is the blood. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Do you see, Abel's blood, it repels, it drives Cain away, but Jesus' blood, it invites, it welcomes the sinner. The gospel message is come and welcome to Jesus Christ. Not stay away, but come near. Abel's blood says go away. Jesus' blood says come to me. And then there's a fourth thing. Follow this one carefully. Abel's blood was the blood of one of his flock shed in sacrifice, while Jesus' blood is the blood of the one who shed his own blood in sacrifice. Have you got that? Shall we have it again? Abel's blood was the blood of one of his flock, one of his sheep, his lambs shed in sacrifice, whereas Jesus' blood It's not someone else's blood. It's not something else's blood. It's his own blood. His own blood. Shed in sacrifice. Again, let's just be reminded of what each of the two brothers brought. Abel, it seems, he was a shepherd and he was a herdsman and he was a keeper of the flock. at table whereas Cain he was a he was a tiller of the ground he was more a crops man he was a fruit and veg man and so in a sense we're not surprised that each brought what they were familiar with and so we're told that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord perhaps that's what we'd expect from Cain that's what he did he tilled the ground he worked the land Whereas Abel, the sheep man, he brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. But then we find that there is a very different reaction from God in how he regards these offerings. We're told, but unto Cain and to his offering, which came from the land, you remember, God had not respect. He didn't accept it, wouldn't have it. But with regard to Abel, who brought of his flock, the Lord had respect. He accepted it. He received it. He was pleased with it. The writer of the Hebrews takes this up in the chapter just prior to our present one. In the 11th, by faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Now why this hearty reception on God's part of Abel's offering, such that it's called in scripture a more excellent sacrifice, a more excellent offering, yet God's resolute rejecting of Cain's offering? with the resulting, of course, jealousy arising in Cain's heart and anger arising in Cain's heart and being peeved with God arising in Cain's heart and so he takes it all out on his brother Abel whom he murders. Why this distinction? The one accepted, the one rejected? Because with regard to Cain, Let's try and, just for half a moment, it's not easy, but let's try for half a moment, put the best light we can on Cain's offering, even though we know it was rejected. We've no reason to presume that he brought a shoddy offering in that sense, that he chose the most rotten fruit and past-its-date vegetables that he could find, just a basket of stuff that was unfit for human consumption and thought, well, this will do for God, nobody else will have it. No doubt he chose the best, you know, if you go to the supermarket or the fruiter or the grocer, you look at your fruit and your veg, don't you? And you look for the stuff that's marked Class A or Grade A or First Class and you reject the others, you don't buy the stuff that looks as if it should have been eaten a month ago. You get that which looks fresh and good and right. And so, let's at least put this word in for Cain, that he brought good stuff, not rotten stuff. but God wouldn't have it he wouldn't have it but Cain's he immediately received the offering from the flock why so? well as many a preacher must have put it many a time and this present preacher will say it again the problem was this There was no blood in Cain's potatoes. Got it? The way to approach God is by blood sacrifice. You plead the blood. You come via the blood. And however exquisite in and of itself all Cain's goods might have been fresh, rosy, luscious, delightful to eat there was no blood in it but Abel's offering bringing the firstlings of the flock involved the shedding of blood and sacrifice how would he have known what to do his parents Adam and Eve would have brought them up both of the boys on the language of sacrifice and the language of blood and what was needful and appropriate and acceptable to God and what wasn't and Abel came the Lord's way and was accepted Cain came his own way and was rejected Abel in that sense is a picture of the spiritual man. Cain of the natural man. The natural man who thinks he can come to God when he likes, how he likes, if he likes. Abel the one who comes via the blood. And at the heart of course of the whole work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the blood. Abel's blood is the shadow of good things. Jesus' blood is the substance of good things. Abel's blood points forward. Jesus' blood is the true provision. Abel's offering showed the necessity of bloodshedding. Jesus' offering was his own blood-shedding. Abel's offering was of a common lamb from his flock. Jesus' offering of himself was of the lamb without blemish and without spot. And so it speaks of better things than the blood of Jesus. Horatius Bonner, remember him? He puts it beautifully when he expresses it like this. No blood No altar now. The sacrifice is all. No flame, no smoke ascends on high. The lamb is slain no more, but richer blood has flowed from nobler veins to purge the soul from guilt and cleanse the reddest stains. But we're not done yet. There's a fifth thing. Just gathering up pace a little bit. We note the fifth thing. Abel's blood brought a censuring word from God. Jesus' blood brings a delighting word from God. The censuring word from God became, What have you done? Oh, with what solemnity, with what seriousness must the voice of God be heard on that occasion? What have you done? But concerning the Lord Jesus, remember the voice heard from heaven on significant occasions in Jesus' life and ministry such as at His baptism and at His transfiguration. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The Father's supreme delight and pleasure is in His Son. And He loves us in His Son. And His delight in His Son becomes His delight in those for whom His Son died on the cross. Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. And that's why we're described as Christians by Paul in one place as accepted in the Beloved. Not just accepted. not a full enough way of putting it, not just accepted, that begs the question, well, how can I, a wretched sinner, ever be accepted by God? Here's the answer, in the Beloved. This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is well pleased in those who have availed themselves of His Son. His salvation. And do you remember that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was the Father's great seal of His approval and His acceptance of all that His Son had done in dying for sinners? He raised Him from the dead. Accepting the finished work of the Saviour on the cross for us poor sinners. There's a sixth thing. Abel's blood was that of a man, albeit a man of faith. Jesus' blood is that of the God-man, the eternal Son of God. Oh, great is the mystery of godliness. Who is this One who dies upon the tree, bearing the full outpouring of the wrath of God upon sin, bearing shame and scoffing rude, being made a curse for sinners? Who is He? Who is He? He is the Son of God from Heaven who became the Son of Man. He is God manifest in the flesh. No wonder then that His blood speaks of better things. How could it not seeing whose blood it is? Heaven's Beloved One. And one more thing, number seven, Abel's blood speaks of a mark God put upon Cain. Jesus' blood speaks of a very different mark God puts upon sinners. The mark put upon Cain, the fugitive, the vagabond. My punishment is greater than I can bear, wails Cain. A marked man, And everybody would know he was a marked man. Nothing of what happens so often these days to grievous criminals when they're set free. They're given a new identity at great cost so supposedly nobody knows who they are, where they are and can't find them. None of that for Cain. He bore the mark. He remained Cain. But the sinner, again Jesus' blood speaks better things, all who look to the Lord Jesus Christ and to Him alone, who trust in Him and in Him alone, who are sheep of the Good Shepherd, are covered in the blood, given a new mark, the mark of God, if you will, child of God, an heir of heaven and a citizen of heaven, even now before we actually and literally get there. And the Lord Jesus says of His own now and will say of His own on the judgment, this one's mine, and this one's mine, and this one's mine, known unto the Lord are all those who are His. While one blood speaks nothing but horrors to Cain, another blood speaks nothing but blessing to repenting, believing sinners. One Cain received the mark of eternal banishment on that solemn day. Many sinners receive the mark of eternal salvation who flee for refuge. to Christ alone. The free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. How many? How many? A great multitude that no man can number, from every nation, tribe, language, people, etc., on the whole face of the globe. Dear ones, it's the blood of Jesus which speaks of better things, even the best things of all. This is the blood for you, dear sinner, to bring you to God. This is the blood For you, dear Christian, the blood which not only has silenced forever the accusing voice of our past wickedness, and not only which continues now to speak peace to our hearts in all their present need, but also the blood which goes on cleansing, and goes on cleansing, and goes on cleansing. from all our sin. And this is the blood that we have in view now as we come on this blessed Lord's Day to the table of the Lord. Dear ones, we can never get too close and we can never keep too close to the blood. And so we come to the fencing of the table and we just observe before saying anything further this great truth that it is of course the Lord's table. He it is to whom the table belongs. It's not my table, nor your table, nor our table. It is the Lord's table. And we desire the presence of the King, even the King of Kings, at His own table. And so, this frames the whole matter really for us of the fencing of the table because surely it's absolutely appropriate that the one whose table it is decrees and declares who comes to it. It is his prerogative to do that. It doesn't belong to men It belongs to God. It is the Lord's table. And it is always a combination of a most solemn and a most joyful business to fence the table. It's always a solemn thing to warn those who should not partake of the bread and wine to be careful not to do so lest as a result of doing so you would eat and drink judgment on yourself. At the same time it is the most joyful thing to say and to say vigorously and enthusiastically to those who by God's grace are invited to partake and are qualified to partake to say to you come for everything is now ready. I call your attention in these moments to something in the book Exodus chapter 11 and verse 7, particularly the second part of that verse, Exodus 11 at 7, that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference or a distinction we might say also between the Egyptians and Israel, that ye may know how that the Lord, you see again it's the Lord who's doing it, it's not Moses who's doing it, it's not Aaron who's doing it, it's not anybody else from round about who's doing it, and that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. The Lord then was about at this time in the history of his people to put a remarkable difference and distinction between the people of Egypt and the people of Israel. In the Exodus narrative, of course, by the time we get to the 11th chapter, we are coming towards the end of the very solemn 10 plagues, and the final plague, the death of the firstborn, is the remaining one. And it's just been said a couple of verses earlier that all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of beasts. So there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. And it's when, verse 4 tells us, when about midnight says the Lord, will I go out into the midst of Egypt. So God is going to come out into the midst of Egypt. He is going to visit Egypt. with this most solemn plague, the death of the firstborn, the firstborn of humankind, the firstborn of cattle and every living thing and so on. Whereas the Lord is not going to visit Israel in this way, there is to be the blood upon the lintels and upon the doorposts. You see, we can't get anywhere away from the blood. We're back to the blood again. and when God sees the blood he passes over and the people are safe. How about this for a little detail that scripture gives in Israel when there's all the panic and confusion and wailing and crying and what have you going among Egypt in Israel not even a dog will be heard barking even the dogs will be quiet even the dogs will be at rest when they'll be In contrast, barking like crazy amongst the Egyptians. And of course, this classic division that God is making at this particular point in history between Egypt and Israel is a picture, if you will, of the distinction that He makes between those who are in Christ, sheltered, covered with the blood, that blood of Jesus which speaks better things, you remember? Don't forget it. And those who are without the blood, without the refuge, outside of grace. Now at the end of the day, of course, only the Lord who knows the secrets of all our hearts, only the Lord knows absolutely for sure who are His and who are not. We cannot literally look into one another's hearts. We might look for evidences, but we cannot literally scrutinise the heart And so each of us gathered here on this Sabbath, this Communion Sabbath, must examine himself. Let a man therefore examine himself, so that he may eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Because the Lord has made a difference, he has made a distinction. in this matter of who should and should not, who can and who probably cannot come to the table. And so the question in Exodus 11, for instance, is are you of Egypt without the blood? Or are you of Israel marked by the blood? Think it through in some of the Bible's contrasts. Are you far off? Or have you been brought near by the blood of Christ? Are you still dead in your trespasses and sins? Or have you been made alive in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you still an enemy with God, at hostility with Him? Or are you now reconciled by God through grace? A friend of God. Are you outside God's Kingdom? However near to it you might be, yet outside it, or are you within it as a citizen of it and living the life of a citizen of it? Will the word to you from the Sovereign Christ on the Judgment Day be, Depart from me, you cursed, or will it be, Come to me, you who are the blessed of the Lord? Are your minds and your hearts set still upon earthly things? Or has there been a great transference and a great transformation such that they are now set upon heavenly things and spiritual things and that these are the things now which chiefly satisfy and delight your soul? Have you been brought from darkness to light, from death to life from the power of Satan to God. It will all become clear, sure enough, on the day of death, on the day of judgment, on the day of the general resurrection. But make no mistake, the difference, the distinction, it exists right now. So are you of Egypt without the blood? Are you of Israel covered with the blood? only those may come to the Lord's table, His table, with whom God has had dealings through the blood, and who are rejoicing, back to our original text, because it all hangs together, and who are rejoicing in the blood of Jesus, the blood of sprinkling, the sprinkled blood, which speaks even today to your heart of better things, even the best things. Sins forgiven. Mercies, even a multitude of God's mercies received. Joy and peace in believing. How is it with your soul when it comes to this matter of the Lord's Table? Where do you stand? How is it with you and the blood? Are you cast upon the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone? Is He all in all to you? We read, as is frequently done at such times as this, not least with regard to a helpful summary of some of the evidences that we look for in ourselves, We are not urging a council of perfection because we shall not be perfect until glory but we are looking for the advancings of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And so we just hear the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount and I just remind you as we hear these words that We have here a picture, a very mouth-watering picture of Christ-likeness. And that is a great mark of the one fitted to come to the table. We mourn our lack of Christ-likeness in so many respects, but we genuinely long and long and long to be more like Him. What a great mark that is, of us having the root of the matter in us. Let us see Jesus here, and let us examine ourselves, as we read a few verses from the opening of Matthew 5, and seeing the multitudes, he, that is the Lord Jesus Christ of course, went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they, the prophets. which were before you. Now the Lord's people who are to partake of this communion time of the bread and wine are invited, dear ones, to take your place and welcome at the table of the Lord. Now let us read the familiar but ever precious words from 1 Corinthians 11 at verse 23. 1 Corinthians 11 at 23. 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 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. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order, when I come.