Today's message is about the
blood. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ. I heard a message about two weeks
ago and it stirred my heart so much by Milton Howard. It stirred my heart so much to
want to preach on this topic. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, without the blood we
don't have any pardon. of our sins. Without the blood we'd still be lost sinners, beloved,
without the shed blood of Christ because He redeemed us, didn't
He? And that verse, let's look at that verse one more time,
Exodus chapter 12, verse 13. We'll read verses 12 to 13. It's so
clear here. This is wonderful. I ask you,
are you under the blood? Are you under the blood of Christ?
Has the doorpost of your heart had the blood placed upon the
lentils in the doorpost by the Lord Jesus Christ? Listen to these wonderful words
here. Well, verse 12 is, It's a somber verse. For I will pass
through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against
all the gods of Egypt. Little g's, right? Because they're
just wooden stone, aren't they? All the gods of Egypt, I will
execute judgment. I am the Lord. He's Jehovah. That's Jehovah in the underlying
Hebrew text. I'm the self-existent one. I'm
Jehovah. My, what a statement. And look
what this says for us. And the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. I'll pass over you. Right? And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. Who is the
only one who made them to differ from the Egyptians. What's the
only thing that made them to differ? The Israelites. What's
the only thing that made them to differ? The blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The blood of the lamb. See, that's
what that picture is, right? For us. It's the blood of an...
Think of this, too. It's an innocent one who died,
didn't it? That lamb didn't do anything wrong, did it? Lamb
didn't do nothing wrong, did it? But it died as a substitute. See, there had to be shed blood
to picture Christ Had to be a lamb without blemish and without spot
to picture Christ. And here's this lamb. His blood
is shed and sprinkled upon the doorposts, put upon the doorposts
and the lanterns. My oh my. And the only thing
that made them to differ from the Egyptians was that blood.
The only thing that makes us to differ, we as God's people,
from the people of the world, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the only thing. Oh my. And you know, we live
in a world where people get frightened, don't they? Get stirred up about
the things that go on in this world, but you know that God's
people are always safe. We are always safe. No matter
what goes on around us, we're always safe. We're always safe
under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're always safe. What can happen in this world?
We can die, right? And then we go to be with the
Lord. We won't face judgment. Won't face no judgment at all.
Not one believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will ever face judgment
again. Because all our sins were judged at Calvary's cross. Now
that's good news, isn't it? There's not going to be a big
TV screen showing me all my sins from the past. Nothing. Praise
God, because the scripture says, there is therefore now no condemnation,
no judgment, in the underlying Greek word for condemnation there,
no judgment for those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit. Now that's good news. Why? Why is there no judgment? We're
under the blood, beloved. We're under the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So God's people, we're always
safe under the precious, precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know why we're safe? Because the blood's upon us.
It's upon us, beloved. We're covered with the precious
blood of Christ. Covered. When God sees us, he
sees the blood, doesn't he? He sees the blood, beloved. We're
clothed in that perfect righteousness of Christ too, right? So when
he sees us, he sees Christ, doesn't he? Isn't that wonderful? How can God say, when I've committed
millions of sins in my life, billions in my life, how can
God say, Wayne, I don't remember your sins anymore? The blood,
the blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that. Remember that. When Satan reminds
us of our sinfulness, you just cry out, it's the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ that cleanses me from all sin. It's the blood. Oh, it's wonderful. So we see
that night in Egypt, God spared the Israelites only because he
saw that blood, right? The blood of an innocent one
dying. The blood of a substitute. And that pointed right to Christ,
didn't it? That pointed right to Christ, beloved. Oh my. He only spared those Israelites
because he saw the blood on the lentil and the two side posts.
And so it's true with those who are in Christ Jesus. You know
why? Because Christ died in our place,
beloved. He died in our room and place.
When He hung up there on that cross, our sins were placed upon
Him and He bore them all. Everything that God demanded
for our sins, He paid it all. And think of the wrath of God.
You know, we think of the wrath, you know, a person gets angry
and their wrath shows, right? But think of the wrath of God
Almighty, a holy and righteous God. Think of that wrath, think
of that holy anger, because it's without sin. Think of that wrath
though, and that was poured out on Christ in our place. Everything
that was meant for us fell upon Him. What a Savior! What a Redeemer! Have you ever
known anyone who's loved you so much that he'd do that for
you? I don't know anyone. Oh my. People say, well, I'd
take a bullet for that fella, yeah? Well, let's see when that
time comes if you really do. Christ died for us, beloved.
He gave himself for us. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live. Yet not I, but Christ live within
me. In the life that I live, in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians
2.20. Gave himself for me. Paul wrote
that. Every believer can say that.
He gave himself for me. Wonder of wonders, God himself. And what is trusting in Christ?
Just believing on Him, right? Just believing. You died for
my sins, Lord. And how does that happen? By
God-given faith. You must be born again. You can't muster
this faith up on your own. Just remember how we were before
the Lord saved us. Did we believe on Christ? Not
at all. Not at all. And now what's happened after
we're born again? He's everything, isn't he? I
ask you, is he everything to you? You take Christ away, do
you have salvation? No. Do you have redemption? No. Do you have justification
before God? No. Do you have sanctification
before God? No. But in Christ we have all
those things, beloved. It's absolutely wondrous. Turn,
if you would, to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. My, when God sees the blood of
Christ upon we who believe, He passes over us. He says to us,
He promises us, I'll remember your sins and iniquities no more.
No more. Why? Because of the blood of
Christ. because of the blood of Christ
and not alone. How can Paul write that we're forgiven of all our
trespasses and sins because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ?
That's all. Remember the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us? Back in the day, they used to
write all the crimes that a criminal did before they either crucified
them or did something else to them, and they would nail it
to their cross or nail it beside them. All those ordinances, Christ
blotted them all out for us. All those ordinances that was
against us, all of them. And I imagine it'd be sheets
and sheets of paper for us. What, just for one of us, right?
Just for me. Gone. Gone because of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blotted out like they never even
happened. Oh my, what love, what love. You know Christ didn't come into
this world unappointed. He was a divinely appointed victim,
right? A lamb. Remember the innocent
lamb died? Well, the innocent substitute
must die, right? Look at this in Acts 2, verses
22 to 24. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God. Look at that,
approved of God. Can we ever be approved of God
in ourselves? No, never, not one of us. Not
one of us in our flesh could ever be approved by God. But
we are in Christ, we're approved by God. Among you, by miracles
and wonders and signs, what God did by him in the midst of you,
as you yourselves also know. Him being delivered up, look
at this. So the Romans, the Jews delivered him up to the Romans,
the Romans crucified him, right? Right? But look at what this verse says.
Him being Christ, God in the flesh, being delivered up by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Nothing catches our God
by surprise. Absolutely nothing. Lots catches
us by surprise. We wake up in the morning, we
look at the news, we go, well, I didn't know that was coming.
God knew it was. He's already made provisions
for us. Long time ago, beloved, for everything that's coming
up in our lives. Isn't that wonderful? It's wonderful
to think that. Him being delivered up by the
determined counsel and foreknowledge of who? Of God. God delivered
up his son. Why? To save us from our sins. How? By the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. See how precious it is? See how
precious Christ's blood is? See how wonderful it is? It purchases
our forgiveness, beloved. And it's all according to the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. And what did they do?
See, men, we're wicked. We're wicked. All God does to
do is just let us be, right? Look what man did, just by God
letting him be. Ye have taken him by wicked hands,
and crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, loosened
the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it. Do you know why death couldn't
hold him? Because he's sinless. He's sinless. The grave couldn't
hold the sinless one, beloved. It had no grip on him. It couldn't
hold him. He's the sinless sacrifice. He's
the Lamb of God. And do you know the blood of
Christ? Do you know it's well pleasing
to God? Do you know it's so pleasing to
God? He's so much satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ. that
he don't remember our sins anymore. You know what? You know what
Christ is to the world? He's an abomination. I heard
Brother Norm preach on that this week. He said, to the world,
Christ is an abomination. They don't want nothing to do
with him. But to the believer, he's everything.
He's everything. Because it's his precious blood
that was shed to save us from our sins. He gave his life for
us. He's everything. You take away
Christ, I don't have nothing. But hopelessness. And what a
hope. Remember the hope that we have
in Christ. Remember we're saved not because
of anything we've done, but all because of what He's done. All because of what He's done.
And it all happened according to the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God. And God sent Christ to be the
Redeemer. God himself laid upon him the
iniquity of us all. God did that. He laid our sins
upon his son. And it was God's will that the
blood of Christ should be shed. You know why? Because he planned
and purposed that. Christ is a lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, the scripture declares. God had this
planned and purposed for eternity. And marvel at this, beloved,
marvel at this. You and I are in that number
that the Father chose. And as we're seeing in Wednesday
night, we were the Father's possession before He gave us to Christ.
Isn't that amazing? And we are, now, we are given
to Christ as a gift. Isn't that amazing? God has given
us to Christ as a gift. And now he has charge of us,
right? And part of the charge was that he would give his life
to save us from our sins. And he did it. How did he save
us from our sins? By the shedding of his blood.
The scripture says the life of the flesh is in the blood. So
what does he do? The Word of God becomes a man,
walks and lives the perfect life in our place as our substitute,
and then goes to Calvary's cross and sheds his blood to purchase
our eternal souls. What a Savior. What a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ the Lord. He's amazing. And truly, this
is amazing grace that God would do that, right? that he would
do that. It's amazing grace. Do you know
Jesus Christ is God's chosen Savior for man? He's God's chosen Savior for
man. And here we are. We who are the
redeemed of the Lord. And you know he's able to save
anyone who comes to him? We're proof of that, aren't we? We're proof of that. We know
God has a people. We know they're called the elect
of God. I don't have any idea who they are, so I preach to
everyone. And God does the saving, doesn't he? And I'll tell you what, every
single sinner for whom Christ shed his blood shall be saved. There will not be one missing,
including me, and including you if you're a believer. Isn't that
wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? He says,
all that the Father gives me shall come to me. That's a promise
from the Messiah himself, isn't it? And him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. Think of that. Well, but I'm
such a sinner still. Yeah, but we're sinners saved
by grace now, aren't we? Isn't that wonderful? It's wonderful. And because we know we're sinners
saved by grace, that doesn't mean we're going to run out the
door and go crazy, does it? Not at all. We don't want to
do that. We have no desire to do that. We have enough battle
with our flesh as it is every single day, don't we? Every single
day. And you know that it was God's
will that the blood of Christ should be shed, that he planned
and purposed it for maternity? Isn't that wonderful? It didn't
happen by accident. God didn't go to plan B when
the Jews rejected Christ. No, it was always part of His
plan to have the Gentiles in. That's you and I. We're all Gentiles,
aren't we? Isn't that wonderful? So think
of this, bring it right home to you. If you're a believer,
God planned and purposed your salvation. And he executed it
by sending Christ into this world, his only begotten son, to shed
his blood to redeem your soul. And then he sends us the comforter,
the great comforter. who regenerates us, shows us
the things of Christ. And what do we do? We just rejoice,
don't we? We just rejoice. It's wonderful. My, oh my. So sinner friend, he's able to
save. He's able to save. My, oh my. We're great sinners, but he's
a great savior, isn't he? Think of all the sins we committed
in our life. It's not hard for us to think
of them, is it? It's not hard for us to remember them. But
if you're a saved person, God don't remember them. Isn't that amazing? Why? Because of the blood of Christ.
Because of the precious, precious blood of Christ. Turn, if you
would, to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. You know, there's
only been one human being in whom there's never been any sin.
And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the seed of the woman, isn't
he? He's born of a virgin. See, all of us are born of our
mom and dads. But Christ was conceived by the
Holy Ghost. He's absolutely sinless. He's
perfect. He is a pitcher, or He is actually
the fulfillment of the pitcher in the Old Testament of bring
us a lamb without any blemish and without any spot. He's the
absolute fulfillment of that. Because there's no spot on him
at all. There's no blemish in him. Now we, we sin so much that
sin's like water to us. But imagine to never have a sin
thought at all, ever. To never have any sin in deed. To never have any sin by action.
See, it's hard for us to fathom that, because all we are is sinners. But Christ was absolutely sinless. Perfect. The perfect man. Living as our substitute. Not
a sin in thought, word, or deed. The perfect spotless Lamb of
God. That's why we say, turn your
eyes to Christ. He's the only Savior of sinners.
Look to Christ. He's the only Savior of sinners.
And He hung there, and He died, not for sins of His own, because
He's absolutely sinless. But if you're a believer, think
of this. He hung there on that cross for you. He was pierced in the side for
you. For me, too. They plated that crown of thorns
upon His head for us. God's wrath was poured out upon
him for us. My. And he died for the sins
of all his people, all the elect, of all the ages. And you know, the blood of Christ
is the only thing that's able to cleanse us from our sins. It's the only thing. Look at this in Acts chapter
20, verse 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock, over the wits the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers. Talking about pastors there,
we're overseers. To feed the church of God, which
he has purchased with what? His own blood. This declares
the deity of Christ. This declares the deity of the
God-man. God himself. purchased the church
with his own blood. We're the church, beloved. The
church is the people, right? The people of God, the called
out ones, the ecclesia. It's not no building, although
we're very thankful for our building, but it's you and I. It's individual
believers making up the body of Christ. But some may say, well, how does
the blood of Christ have such power to save? How? Well, not only because God appointed
that blood, but because it was the blood of the spotless, sinless
God-man. See, it's whose blood was shed
that's most important. The Word of God incarnate. God
in the flesh. Willingly gave his life up for
us now imagine that just It's it's hard for us to fathom
the fact that god Here's the word of god in heaven and glory
and angels are bowing down before him. They can't even they can't
even look upon them They got to cover their eyes. He's so
holy He's so holy But they've got to cover their
eyes before him And yet he humbled himself and became a man He left
all that to come to this sin-cursed world to be spit upon and despised
and rejected? And he came here to die? Yes. See, it's the person whose blood
is shed. He's the God-man. That's what's
most important. And here he is, the one who's
pictured in Exodus, right? Remember, they took a lamb without
spot, without blemish, slit its throat, the blood went down,
and they caught it in the basin, and then they put it on the doorpost
in the lentils. And God said, when I see that
blood, oh, I'll pass over you. See, it's the blood. And that
blood pictured the blood of the sinless sacrifice, the one true
lamb of God, God's Passover lamb. And who provided the lamb? God
provided the lamb, didn't he? He provided the lamb. He provided
the perfect sacrifice. We saw by his determinate will
and foreknowledge, he delivered his own son up. He delivered
the lamb of God up to be sacrificed for our sins. Now, if Christ were only a man,
There'd be no value in His blood to save, because we men and women,
we can't save ourselves, can we? But He's not just a man. He's God. He's God in the flesh. And that Passover lamb, it had
to be slain year after year, didn't it? Year after year, that
Passover lamb had to be slain. But Christ gave Himself up once. And not just for my sins and
your sins, but for all the sins of all the elect of all the ages. There's something special about
that blood, isn't there? That's a cleansing blood, isn't it?
That's a cleansing blood, beloved. That's a fountain we're dipped
in that blood, aren't we? Oh my. The blood. of God in the flesh, shed to
save us from our sins. The blood of Christ shed once
for the remission of sins. Just once. And you know what? Christ had
put away our sin. How? By the shedding of His blood. He put away. Now again, we remember
our sins, right? We still confess our sins to
God, don't we? But they're gone, beloved, in
God's eyes. He's put them away. What a Savior,
Oscar! What a Savior! Is there anyone
more wonderful than He? No one, is there? My And only the blood of Christ
has the power to redeem. Only the blood of Christ. Some
folks trust in the things that they do. Some folks trust in
the law. Some folks trust in things that
they do. I do this and I do that. And they also trust in the things
they don't do. Well, I don't do that. But these
folks, these sinners over here, they do all that. You remember
the publican and the sinner? Remember that? Remember that publican? Well,
I do all these things. I do all this work. I do this
and I do that. And here we are. The sinner going, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. Now, he couldn't even lift his
eyes up. What made the difference? The blood. blood of Christ beloved
when I see the blood I'll pass over you that man was one of
the Lord's sheep who Christ was going to redeem his redeem his
shed his precious blood for he can redeem his soul my oh my
you know nothing but the blood of Christ can save sinners nothing
else It's the blood of Christ that redeems us, not anything
we do. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to His mercy, He saved us. It's only the shed blood of Christ. Baptism doesn't save us. Confirmation
doesn't save us. Catholics say going to their
church saves people. That don't save no one. Church of Christ people say you
gotta be baptized to be saved. That doesn't save no one. It's
the blood. It's the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ that cleanses us from all sin. Oh, there's power in the blood,
beloved. There's power in that blood.
Saving power. Only the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ has the power to save sinners. And the blood stands out, doesn't
it? His blood stands out. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. That's what Jehovah said. What makes us to differ from
other folks? God, right? The blood of Christ. The shed
blood of Christ on our hearts, beloved. And God is so jealous about this.
God is so jealous about salvation in Christ, that if you add anything
that you have to do, it's no longer salvation. He says, He doesn't say, when
I see your good works, I'll pass over you. When I see your baptism,
I'll pass over you. When I see you handing out a
thousand tracts, I'll pass over you. It's just, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. The blood. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And what is it that we would
add? If there was anything, what is it that we would add? Our
works? God says they're like filthy
rags. Right? There's nothing we can
offer. There's only one Lamb who God
will accept. That's His own Passover Lamb,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Shall our filthy rags of righteousness
be added to the spotless Christ? Never. Never. God forbid, as Paul says, we
must rely and trust and rest in Christ and Him alone, in His
finished work. My. And don't trust in anything
that you do. Only look to Christ. Only trust
in Christ. He is the only Savior of sinners. You trust in anything with Him
that you do, and you perish in your sins and go to hell. But
you trust in Christ alone. In Him alone. And we'll be in glory with Him
forever, all because of His mercy, and all because of His grace,
and because of what? The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
which cleanses us from all sin. All sin. Who's the rock of our
salvation? Christ, in Him alone. He's the only rock. He's the
only one. Some say, well, I could trust
Christ if I felt my sins more. Oh, my goodness. We're so full of sin from the
top of our head to the bottom of our feet, the scripture says.
We don't even know how bad a sinner we are in our natural state.
But when Christ reveals himself, we get a little glimpse of it,
don't we? We get a little glimpse of it, and we're so thankful
that God saved us. And some folks say, well, they
make repentance a part savior. They say, well, Repent and believe the gospel,
which we are to do, right? But they make it like a, they
make it where, well then they add in baptism or they add in
this or they add in that. I'll tell you what, see this
piece of paper? On one side you say faith, on the other side
is repentance. When God gives you faith, he
gives you repentance. It's a gift, both of them are
gifts from God. They're both gifts from God. It's him who
gives it to you. How do we know that? Just remember
how we were. Will every one of us repent?
Absolutely. Who are Christ's lamb or Christ's
sheep? Yeah, we will. Absolutely. Because faith and repentance
is like this little piece of paper. My, oh, my. Who's our salvation is? It's
in Christ. It's not in our faith, is it? People say, well, I have
faith in my faith. No, I have faith in Christ. There's a difference. Really,
there is, beloved. There's a difference. Christ is the one who we rest
in. Christ is the one who we look to. My oh my. And we're commanded by the word
of God to repent and turn to Christ
again, which is a gift from God. Scripture says this, now after
that John was put in prison, Jesus came out of Galilee preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the
gospel. Trust in Christ. The gospel's about who? A person,
isn't it? The gospel's good news about a person, right? Who is
that person? The Lord Jesus Christ. The one
who shed his precious blood to save his people from their sins.
Isn't that wonderful? Absolutely wonderful. Could my
zeal no respite know? Could my tears forever flow?
All for sin could not atone, thou must save and thou alone.
Christ must save or we perish, beloved. Christ doesn't save
us, we perish in our sins. When I see that blood, oh, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. And what's God's people
say? Hallelujah. Let us rejoice. This is wonderful
news. This is wonderful. I'll tell
you what, it's the best news you'll ever hear in your life.
God says, when I see the blood, I'm gonna pass over you. When
I see the blood of Christ, I'll pass over you. So it's the blood
of Christ and not alone which can save. Nothing else, nothing
else. One says, well then if I had
more faith, I'd have hope. Don't, don't, oh my. Trust Christ in him alone. Faith
has one object. Faith has one object, that's
Christ. If we start looking to ourselves, we'll find that we
have very weak faith. Very weak faith. Because we doubt
one second or one minute, and then we rejoice. And then what
did even Peter say? Lord, help my unbelief. Help
my unbelief. Help me, Lord, just to rest in
you, just to trust in you. And here's some comforting words.
The Lord said to Peter, Satan has desired to sift you. He said,
but I prayed for you. I prayed for you. The one who
shed his blood is praying for me? Yep. Remember that, beloved. Oh my. Some people say, well,
tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll trust Christ tomorrow. Tomorrow might
never come. I was reading this week, some
young people die and just, they got up that morning, didn't think
they were going to die and got in a car accident and killed
them. Now is the day of salvation.
Don't wait till tomorrow. Tomorrow, you might not have
tomorrow. You might not have tomorrow. Look to Him and Him
alone. And remember this too, that His
blood was shed for the remission of our sins. Bring it home. Each believer
says, my sins. His blood was shed to save me
from my sins. Every believer can say that.
Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? That God
would do that? That He would plan and purpose
to send His only begotten Son to die for us? My oh my. And it's not It's not the amount
that we believe in Him, because again, our faith is like this,
right? It's about what He's done. It's about whose blood was shed.
The Lord Jesus Christ. When I see the blood, He didn't
say, when I see how great your faith is, I'll pass over you. He didn't even say, when I see
how little your faith is, I'll pass over you, did He? He said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Judgment shall not fall upon
you because it already fell on my
son. It already fell upon him in your
room place at Calvary. What do we say to that? Hallelujah.