I don't know whether Brother
Lindsey has such a remarkable memory or he keeps detailed notes. I think it has something to do
with both. But 35 years of blessedness, these have been for me and for
my wife. What a great, great honor God's
given us to serve him with you. Redemption through his blood.
That's my subject tonight. Redemption through his blood. I don't remember many details
about many things, and I keep few records. Matter of fact,
I don't keep any records. Shelby keeps some, but I don't
keep any. But I remember some things, some
things done purposely. The very first message I preached
to you when you asked me to come here and preach to you considering
the possibility of coming here as pastor was from 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 verse 21. The subject was redemption by
Christ our substitute. And this is the subject of this
book, redemption through his blood. This is the theme of Holy
Scripture. This is the message of the gospel. redemption through His blood. My text is Ephesians chapter
1 and verse 7. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
7. In verses 3 through 6, the Holy
Spirit, by the pen of His servant, the Apostle Paul, has shown us
the gracious works of God performed for us before the world was made. works by which God saved us from
everlasting. Here in verse 7, he begins to
describe for us the work of God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
on our behalf in time. And he begins with this subject
of redemption. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace. Redemption presupposes a very
grave situation. It presupposes captivity, bondage,
and slavery. Were we not fallen, were we not
in captivity, were we not enslaved as bondmen, there would be no
need for redemption. But God's elect, like all others,
are children of wrath by nature. Born with a sense of God's curse
upon us. Born under the condemnation of
God's holy law consciously. Children of wrath even as others.
We were in captivity to sin. In bondage to Satan under the
curse of the law. Redemption presupposes such a
condition. And redemption also implies a
prior ownership. That which has been redeemed
was previously owned. We belong to God, our God from
everlasting, chosen by him. But we were lost and ruined by
the sin and fall of our father Adam. And we went astray from
our mother's womb, speaking lies. And the Lord Jesus has come into
this world to redeem us, to deliver us. Redemption is again one of
those big, big, big words that we tend to limit so much. We
think about salvation, we think about it as the time when we
come to believe. We think about redemption, we
think about it as the time when Christ died for us. And both
words imply much, much, much, much more than just those things,
though those are included. Redemption is not just the death
of Christ at Calvary. And I say that very guardedly. When I say just the death of
Christ at Calvary, there's nothing just about that as far as it
being simple or insignificant. But the death of Christ at Calvary
is only one part of redemption. Redemption is the complete deliverance
of our souls from sin and all its consequences into the glorious
liberty of the sons of God by the purpose of God by the purchase
of Christ and by the power of God's grace. Redemption is the
complete deliverance of our souls from sin and all its consequences
by the purpose of God, by the purchase of Christ's precious
blood, and by the power of God the Holy Spirit in omnipotent
grace. Redemption, I repeat, is the
theme of Holy Scripture. And redemption is the constant
theme of every God-sent preacher in the world in all ages. That
is to say, redemption is what God sent His preachers to proclaim. For since, by faith, I saw the
stream thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die. Apostle Paul said I'm determined
I Determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified I'm here tonight to tell you from this one text
of Scripture that which is universally declared throughout the Word
of God Jesus Christ by his blood shed at Calvary Redeems God's
elect from all their sins and by the power of that blood redeems
us in his grace in time, delivering us from death and from the bondage
of sin, and redeems us in resurrection glory by the power, the omnipotent
power that he alone possesses through the efficacy of that
blood, he will set us in the kingdom of God, in the glorious
liberty of the sons of God in resurrection glory. All right,
let's look at this text word by word. Just hold your Bibles
right here to Ephesians 1-7. Let me show you five, maybe six
things from the text. Here is a rich, rich, rich declaration
of God's grace. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. Look at the first two words,
in whom. Here's the first point. The purchaser
of redemption is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In whom
all the blessings of God's free grace for time and eternity are
found. Christ is the author of our redemption. He was called and appointed of
God to be our redeemer and accepted of him. In the fullness of time,
he was sent to accomplish the work of redemption. Jesus Christ
is that one portrayed in the Old Testament law of the kinsman-redeemer,
and that one portrayed in the blessed, blessed instructive
book of Ruth as the kinsman-redeemer, Boaz Ruth's kinsman, who left
handfuls of purpose for her. who set his eye upon her and
told his servants to take care of her, who accomplished all
that was necessary for her redemption. Christ took on himself our nature. He became one of us, our near
kinsman, that he might be able to redeem us. Hold your hands
here in Ephesians and turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Let me show
you. Hebrews chapter 2. The writer
quotes David. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? And he said we we see not yet all things put under
him But look what it says in verse 9. We know God created
man to be the ruler of his world and then sin happened sin in
the world man fail Adam fail and we became subject to everything
in the world and God created us for the purpose of making
us to be rulers in the world God's going to put everything
under the feet of man Everything under the feet of man. Well,
we don't see that But we see Jesus what it said here. We see
Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death crowned with glory and honor he who was made lower than
the angels and seated on the throne of God crowned with glory
and honor and everything put under his feet as the representative
man in whom all chosen men shall rule forever. Read on. That he
by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Now quite
literally the text would be better translated that he by the grace
of God should taste death for every But the translators did
no harm in translating it as they did for every man. Because
in the context, it's not talking about every man in the universe. That's absurd, as we'll see in
just a little bit. Our Lord Jesus did not taste
death for folks who were already in hell or for anybody who was
going to hell, but for every man named in this text of whom
the Scriptures speak. Read on. For it became him. For whom are all things, and
by whom are all things, to bring many sons unto glory, to make
the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Christ
tasted death for the sons of God, chosen and adopted from
eternity, who he would bring to glory. Verse 11, for both
he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all of
one. We are one body, him one with
us, us one with him. For which cause? He is not ashamed
to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto
my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. But again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me. For as much then, verse 14,
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had power of death that is the devil, and delivered them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, he didn't lay hold of the angels, but he
took on him the seed of Adam. That's not what it says is it?
He took on him the seed of Abraham. He took on him the seed of his
covenant people. Every man involved in the covenant,
for these he tasted death. Every son, every child given
to him to redeem. All God's covenant people, these
he came to redeem. With his own blood, he entered
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. Christ came here as our kinsman
that he might die for us and redeem us. that he might die
for and redeem God's elect. He came to save his people from
their sins. And he now has entered once into
the holy place. Having finished his work, he
entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Redemption's his. He did it. He obtained it. He owns it. It
resides in him. And he is made of God unto us. Redemption. made of God unto
us deliverance, made of God unto us complete deliverance from
sin and all its consequences. We will never appreciate the
greatness of redemption until we appreciate somehow the greatness
of our Redeemer. Brother Cody just read for us
back in the office, Psalm 22, for the lay Isaiah 42. both describing our Redeemer,
our great Redeemer. The Savior said, I am a worm
and no man. He who is God, holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners is made to be a filthy,
unclean worm before God. A worm and no man. And yet he is that one you read
about. God said, this is my servant, my righteous servant. I'll give
him for a covenant to the people. I'll give him to be the salvation
of my people. What a vast, vast, immense work
that must be, which required the God of glory to become a
man, to become the servant of men, to become a worm and no
man. How immense that work must be
that could be accomplished by nothing less than the sacrifice
of God's darling son. Oh, nothing on this earth is
more comfortable to our souls while we make our pilgrimage
through this world struggling ceaselessly with our sin and
our corruption than the sweet, sweet gospel revelation of Redemption
by Christ. Special, particular, effectual
Redemption. There is no such thing as Redemption
that is not special, particular, effectual Redemption. Universal
Redemption is universal blasphemy. Universal redemption is universal
nonsense. Universal redemption makes the
death of Christ as meaningless as the dirt under your feet.
Redemption is special, particular, effectual redemption. Let me
prove it to you. The Lord God says, Fear not,
for I have redeemed thee. I have redeemed thee. If he redeemed Judas, Judas has
got nothing to fear. If he redeemed the Sodomites,
they've got nothing to fear. If he redeemed the sons of Korah,
hell doesn't exist. Oh no, he says to Jacob, fear
not, thou worm Jacob. I became a worm and I have redeemed
thee. Special. Particular effectual
redemption is the redemption of our Savior. That brings me
to a second point. Look at the word in our text,
in whom we, we, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins. The objects of redemption are
God's elect. The objects of redemption are
those who are actually redeemed. The Apostle Paul says, in whom
We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. And we're not going to look at
the many, many texts of scripture in which the subject of redemption
is dealt with. But I want you to hear this,
hear it well, write it down. You can take it to the bank,
it's so, and I will stand by it to my dying breath. People,
they talk about, Universal Redemption and particular redemptions say
well There's just so many places where it sort of indicates That
Christ died for everybody and God loves everybody in the Spirit
of God's trying to save everybody you can't you can't declare this
dogmatically some years ago I had a letter from a group of preachers
wanted me to join up with starting a new Baptist conviction and
they'd drawn up a confession of faith and As I read their
confession of faith I wasn't inclined at all to join up anyhow,
but as I read their confession of faith, I observed that they
did everything possible not to state limited atonement. And
so I wrote to them. There were a couple of dozen
of them. I wrote to them. And I said, why have you stated this
with regard to the atonement of our Redeemer? And they said,
so and so will get back to you. And in time, I heard from them.
I thought I've known for a long, long, long time. He said, well,
we didn't want to offend any of our brethren who might not
agree with us on this. And I said, you what? We didn't
want to offend any of our brethren who might not agree with us on
this. We don't have any brethren who deny the accomplishment of
the Son of God. That's to deny his Godhead and
his glory. This is the crucial point. Now,
this is the point I want you to understand. There is not a
place in this book, I defy anyone to find me a single place in
the book of God where there is even a hint that Christ died
for everybody in the world. Find me a place where there's
even a hint that Christ died for folks who go to hell. Where
there's even a hint that Christ died for folks who are not saved
by his grace. Such doctrine tramples underfoot
the blood of the Son of God and despises the Spirit of His grace
and denies the whole of the gospel of God's free grace in Christ
Jesus. Everywhere in the Word of God
where redemption is dealt with, where it is explained, where
it's illustrated, where it's typified, where it's portrayed,
every single place in this book dealing with redemption speaks
of redemption for a particular people. effectually accomplished
by God's darling son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There are no exceptions. There are no exceptions. Who
are the we in this text? Who are those people redeemed
by the blood of Christ? We don't have to guess about
it. Look at Ephesians chapter 1. The apostle tells us in this
chapter exactly who we are who have redemption through his blood.
All who were blessed of God in verse 3. All who were chosen
in Christ before the world began in verse 4. All who were predestined
under the adoption of children in verse 5. All who were accepted
in the beloved in verse 6. All who were forgiven of all
sin in verse 7. All who have obtained the inheritance
of grace in verse 11. All who have faith in Christ
in verse 13. All who are sealed by the grace
of God the Holy Spirit in verse 14. All the saved are all the
redeemed. Folks who are not in time saved
by the power of God, ultimately saved by the grace of God, were
not redeemed by Christ. All who were redeemed by Christ
are saved by Christ. Universal redemption, I repeat,
is universal nonsense and universal blasphemy. We preach an effectual
Savior who has obtained and in whom we have effectual redemption. Here's the third thing. Paul
shows us the fact of redemption. In whom we have redemption through
his blood. This vast work of redemption
is here spoken of as a thing possessed. We have redemption. Yes, the Lord Jesus declared
redemption accomplished when he died as our substitute. Yes,
God declares redemption finished from the foundation of the world
by Christ the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
It is the work done for us before the world began and yet it was
accomplished in time and God's elect come to experience it and
possess it in His grace. Redemption is a work of God with
vast, infinitely vast dimensions. It reaches through all time and
through all eternity. And it is as vital in the experience
of it as if the accomplishment of it was done right now. Redemption is the present everlasting
possession of every believer. It is not something we have to
wait for. It is not something that one
day we're going to have. We have right now. If Don Ranieri and Don Fortner
believe Christ, if we trust the Son of God, we right now have
complete deliverance from sin and all its consequences into
the glorious liberty of the sons of God in Christ, in whom we
presently have redemption through his blood. Redemption is ours. That is freedom from sin. We have been made free from sin,
Paul says in Romans 6, 18. In 1 John 3, 5, in him is no
sin. And we're freed from Satan's
dominion. So that we're no longer in bondage
to the fiend of hell taken captive by the wicked one. We are free
from the law. Well, how far do you carry that?
Just as far as you can carry free. Free from sin, free from
Satan, free from the law. There is no sense at all in which
believers are under the law. There is no sense at all in which
believers are under the law. We are dead to the law by the
body of Christ. And we possess everlasting life. in whom we have redemption. Here's
the fourth thing. His blood. This is the price
of redemption. His blood. In whom we have redemption
through his blood. His blood represents his life
sacrificed for us. The life of the flesh is in the
blood. When our Savior gave his life's
blood for us. He gave the totality of his being
a sacrifice to God for the satisfaction of sin and justice on our behalf. He gave his life for us. His blood is the blood of a man. Man sinned and man must suffer.
But his blood is the blood of God. Turn to Acts chapter 20
and verse 28. I want you to see this. I know
most of you can quote it, but I want you to see it. Acts 20
and verse 28. Paul is speaking to the church
at Ephesus. He's about to lead them. And
he speaks to the elders of the church and says, take heed therefore
unto yourselves. and to all the flock over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church
of God, watch this now, which he hath purchased with his own
blood. David Coleman, that one who died
for me, is God. The blood by which we have been
purchased is the blood of a man who is God. It is the blood of
infinite merit, infinite worth, omnipotent in power, always effectual,
and his blood's enough. Payment God cannot twice demand,
first at my bleeding surety's hand, and then again at mine. God sacrificed his son for us, And God said, that's enough. That's enough. I require no more. No more. That's enough. That silences justice. That satisfies
justice. That atones for sin. That purges away iniquity. That erases transgression. That's
enough. That's enough. That satisfies
my anger, my wrath, and my fury. Now, fury is not in me. That's enough. His blood is covenant
blood. The blood of the everlasting
covenant, a raise between the Father and the Son before the
world began. His blood is eternal blood. Brother Ed Hale, down in Louisiana,
used to sing a song, eternal blood upon the altar. That's
what speaks for us in glory. Eternal blood upon the altar. His blood is blood sprinkled. Sprinkled in heaven and sprinkled
upon our own consciences. His blood is assuring blood. Turn to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. Oh, what assurance His blood
has. If His blood's enough, if His blood is the blood of one
who is God, If his blood is sprinkled upon the altar of God in heaven,
if his blood is accepted of God, his blood ought to give peace
and assurance to our hearts as we worship God. Look at verse
19, Hebrews 10. Having therefore, brethren, boldness,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. There
stood between the holy place and the holy of holies. that
thick, thick curtain, 12 to 18 inches thick, that thick,
thick veil. And behind that veil, no one
could approach into the Holy of Holies. No one could go to
the mercy seat. No one could go to the Ark of
the Covenant. No one could go in there where
God shows his glory except God's high priest. and he only once
a year, and then only with the blood of the Paschal Lamb. That
curtain hung there. It hung there all those hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of years, and said, no man can come
to God. Don't you dare come to God. You cannot approach God. God won't come to you. And when
the Lord Jesus cried, it is finished, and said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. that veil in the temple split
wide open from top to bottom. And God said, come on sinners,
welcome. Come in and welcome at the mercy
seat, at the throne of my glory. Now, through his blood, we have
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. By a new
and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say his flesh, And having a high priest over
the house of God let us draw near watch this with a true heart
in full assurance We come to God when we pray we
deliberately choose To approach him with terms of reverence he's
God but let us never act as though we're fearful of coming to Him.
No. He bids us welcome at the throne
of grace. He bids sinners welcome at the
throne of grace through the blood. And trusting the blood of God's
Son, trusting the sacrifice of Christ's very life for us, we
have boldness to enter into God's presence with the full assurance
of faith. How is that? Having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. The price of our redemption was
His blood. You are bought with a price.
Here is the fifth thing, the result of redemption, the forgiveness
of sins. Wherever there is redemption
through the blood there is the forgiveness of sins. You can't
have one without the other. If Christ died for all men, all
men are forgiven. And hell is a myth. Everybody's
going to heaven. But the scriptures nowhere teach
any of those things. Christ died for chosen sinners,
for all who are actually saved by his blood. If you come to
Christ this very moment, If you trust the Son of God this very
moment, your faith in Him is the fruit of His redeeming you
at Calvary and the evidence of it. Believe on Him and come to
God with full assurance of faith, knowing that your sins are forgiven
you. Forgiveness and redemption go
hand in hand. Forgiveness was purchased for
us by the blood of Christ. It is given to us upon the merit
of His blood. forgiveness is ours. Now listen
carefully. I've chosen my words with great
care. Forgiveness is ours in exactly
the same sense that it is Christ. Forgiveness is ours in exactly
the same sense that it is Christ. Now let's see if that's what
the scripture says. If that's not what the Scripture says,
I'm dead wrong. Please don't listen to me again.
That's how serious this is. If that's what the Scripture
says, hear what God says. Turn to the book of 1 Peter chapter
4. 1 Peter chapter 4. Our Lord Jesus was made sin. And when he was made sin, he
was punished for sin and buried in the earth. And then on the
third day, he was released from the load and the charge of sin
because the debt was fully paid. And we are released from the
load, the charge of sin, in exactly the same way because the debt
is fully paid. Brother Cody was talking back
in the office a little bit ago before most folks came in about
the nonsense going on. I had actually forgotten today
was Easter. until Shelby said to me, maybe it was right after
we went to bed last night or early this morning, she said,
Happy Easter. I'd just forgotten. I just don't keep up with those
things. But all the stuff that goes on on Easter. And while
she was getting lunch today, I was watching a little bit of
news and Chris Wallace had one of those dogs on that Paul tells
you to beware of. Beware of dogs, especially ones
that wear collars. And you'll get that after a while.
And this fellow, Chris said, do you have an Easter message
for us today? And called him your eminence. And he smiled like a possum eating
briars. And he said, well, the message
of the resurrection is we can build a better society. We mustn't give up. And he smiled. And Mr. Wallace smiled and whoopie. That ain't got nothing to do
with the message of the resurrection. The message of the resurrection
is sin is gone. Sin is gone. Let's see. First
Peter chapter 4, verse 1. For as much then as Christ hath
suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for
he that hath suffered flesh hath ceased from sin." Now that's talking about the
Savior, yeah. Look at verse 2, that he no longer
should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men
but to the will of God. Well that's talking about you.
That's talking about you. Well, if you read the text like
that, I don't know how else to read it. That means that when
Christ suffered in the flesh, we suffered in the flesh. And
when Christ was released from sin, we were released from sin. Released
from sin in Him to live to the glory of God. God has forgiven us of all sin. All past sin. That's hard to get hold of, isn't
it? All past sin. And all present sin. And all future sin. It was all
still future when he accomplished the work. God's forgiven us. past sin, all present sin, and
all future sin. He has removed our iniquities
from us as far as the east is from the west. He cast our sins
into the depths of the sea. He blotted them out. He will
not impute them to us. He's purged them away. He will
not remember them against us again forever. He will never
deal with us any the less graciously because of our sins. Now listen
to this. Robert Hawker made this statement.
I thought it was outstanding. So infinitely extensive in its
efficacy is redemption from sin in all its consequences that
it reacheth through all time and through all eternity. and
so infinitely great in its power that it cleanseth us from all
sin. Here's one last thing. The cause
of redemption is the riches of His grace in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sin, according to. There's that wonderful, wonderful
statement again. Our forgiveness, our redemption
is according to the riches of His grace. I call on you to trust
Christ, our great Redeemer. Oh, may God the Holy Spirit graciously
cause you to trust Him. And I call on you, my brothers
and sisters, as I call on myself, let us sinners who have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace, now give ourselves in wholehearted, relentless devotion
to him. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. Since God redeemed us, and saved
us by His grace, we belong to Him. We belong to Him, not only
as His creatures, but by the purchase price of His Son's own
blood. We belong to Him by the saving
power of His grace. And we have lifted our hands
in believers' baptism, confessing Christ in faith, and declared
to God and to the world, I'm not my own. I've been bought with a price.
I belong to God, my Savior, who redeemed me. I willingly, therefore, voluntarily
give myself over entirely to my Redeemer. I'm His. That means I have nothing to
fear. That means I don't have to worry about providing for
myself. That means I don't have to find my own way. That means
I don't have to protect myself. I belong to Christ. All of that
he does for me. Because we've willingly given
ourselves to Christ as voluntary bond slaves, we willingly live
under his dominion. And because we belong to him. We have no legitimate concern
in this world but his will, his house, his glory. What concern does the bond slave
have? None except his master's house,
his master's will, his master's glory, nothing else, nothing
else. Right to any private interest. No right to any private choices. No right to any private decisions. I belong to the Son of God. You too. That means we're His. God give us grace. God give us
grace to devote ourselves to Him. Amen.