Cleansing - A Communion Message

[0:00] It's always good to remember our Lord's death until He comes. And we can do that as much as we're remote, we can do that together, even over the internet.

[0:15] My theme today is talking about cleansing, the cleansing blood. In Psalm 51 verse 10, we see that David cried out from the depths of his soul, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

[0:29] He sought for that clean heart. His heart was unclean as he had sinned. There was a real terrible situation with David as he prayed. But he cried out in Psalm 51 verse 2, Wash me throughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

[0:47] Friends, cleansing is available because of the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Now scientists have discovered that every snowflake has a tiny piece of dust at its core. Yes, every snowflake has a dirty heart, you could say.

[1:01] And in the spiritual realm, when the blood of Christ is applied to the heart of an unbeliever, it cleanses him from all sin. Really, sin is the great defiler.

[1:14] You can have a clean heart. Secondly, you can have a clean conscience. Hebrews 9 verse 14, it says, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

[1:32] A clean conscience is available. Conscience warns us as a friend before it punishes us as a judge, so have said. Conscience is defiled.

[1:42] Conscience can be dirtied. As we know in our world today, many lack even the sense of conscience. It's been defiled. But we can have a clean conscience, the Bible says.

[1:55] Thirdly, the Bible says that we can have a clean vessel, a clean person. In 2 Timothy 2 verse 21, Paul tells Timothy, he says, speaking of evil things, he says, If a man therefore purge himself, or cleanse himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, or set apart, and meat made fit for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

[2:22] So friends, we can have a clean heart, a clean conscience, and be a clean vessel. How so? How can we be made clean? There is a cleansing agent that we need, the blood.

[2:34] The blood of Jesus. In 1 John 1 verse 7, John writes, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[2:49] The blood is the great stain remover. A preacher preached on this text, The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[3:02] And after the service, a stranger came up and asked the preacher to walk home with him. He was advised against it by church officials who knew the man. But the preacher went with the man.

[3:13] He had that sense that it was the right thing to do. Ushering the preacher into the rear of a building, the stranger locked the door behind them, and put the key into his pocket.

[3:24] Then he said, Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to ask a few questions. Do you believe what you preach tonight? The preacher said, I most certainly do.

[3:37] The man continued, We're in the back of a saloon. I'm the sole proprietor. Mothers come in here, lay their babies on the counter, and beg me not to sell liquor to their husband.

[3:48] I turn a deaf ear to their cry. We see to it, When a man is leaving here, he's well under the influence. More than one night, a man leaving here has been killed by the train over on those tracks.

[4:02] Preacher, tell me, Can God forgive a man like me? The preacher said, I have but one authority, the Word of God.

[4:14] It says, The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. But that's not all, said the man.

[4:25] In another room, we run a gambling hall. If a man doesn't spend his money at the bar, we bring him back here, and with marked cards, we see to it that he's fleeced out of all he has, his last dollar.

[4:37] And we send him home, penniless, to a hungry family. Preacher, I'm a sole owner here. Tell me honestly, Can God forgive a man with a heart like that?

[4:51] Again, the preacher replied, I have but one authority, the Word of God, which says, The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[5:04] The man spoke again, That's not all, preacher. Across the street is my home, where I live with my wife and little daughter. Neither one has heard a kind word from me for five years.

[5:15] Their bodies bear marks of the brutal attacks I've made on them. Preacher, do you think God could forgive a man with a heart like that? The preacher's head bowed, his eyes filled with tears as he said, My friend, you've painted one of the darkest pictures I've ever gazed upon, but I still have one authority, which says, The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.

[5:43] The man opened the door, ushered the preacher to the night, and never left that room till daybreak, not before ripping up decks of cards, and pouring the contents of bottles down the sink, across the road at home.

[5:57] Then he sat in his living room, and his little girl called, Daddy, Mother has set breakfast ready. When he answered this little girl kindly, she ran back to her mother, Daddy spoke kind to me.

[6:10] Something is the matter. The mother followed her little girl to the living room, and the man beckoned them both, and taking one on each knee, he explained to their amazement that they had a new husband, and a new father.

[6:24] He ended, I'm done with that business across the street. The man later became a member, and an official in leading roles in a Detroit church. When asked to tell how his life had changed, he would reply, The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[6:44] Friends, that same cleansing agent avails today. That same cleansing work can be effected by that same effect. of that soul cleansing, life changing, cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

[7:02] And you can know that today. How? If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Come to him, and trust him today.

[7:14] I trust that you know that assurance, as believers we're gathering here, as it were gathering, to acknowledge the clean heart, that is possible. That clean conscience, that he affects within us, and that we can be clean vessels for his use.

[7:31] Friends, we're coming around the Lord's table, and I invite you to join, as it were, as we partake. This is actually the third time I've done this, because I've had to preach this sermon three times, we've had various technology issues.

[7:44] But friends, the Bible says that it was that same night, in which he was betrayed, that he took the bread. And after he'd given thanks, he said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you.

[7:58] This do, in remembrance of me. Let's do that together. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that your body was given for us on that cross, on that rugged piece of work, Lord, that you laid down your life for us.

[8:19] We pray, Lord, help us to put our trust in you entirely and only, that we can know your saving power, by your grace, that we believe that you did die on the cross for our sins, you rose again from the dead, you're our ever-leading Saviour.

[8:35] And we remember that today, Lord, with grateful hearts. Amen. Then it says, after the same manner, also he took the cup. When he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood.

[8:48] This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. Let's partake. Lord, again, we give you thanks that the blood prevails today, that cleansing effect is still possible for every heart that lays itself in your hands, Lord, that we can know, as we trust you, our hearts purified by faith, we can know the cleansing effect made possible, because at the cross, in your body, you bore our sins.

[9:20] Lord, we praise you, and bless your worthy name. Our precious Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.