One of the difficult things about
preaching sometimes is to settle on a text or settle on a passage
of scripture. And tonight, I've got four texts,
four texts for us. And they all have a common thread,
and that common thread is the word all, A-L-L. Each of these four scriptures
is a promise to God's children. You know, in the word of God,
we have invitations, scriptural invitations are for sinners to
come to Christ, to look to Christ, to trust in him, to eat his flesh
and drink his blood. That is by faith. to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That's a wonderful
invitation to those who are laboring under a load of sin. But the
promises of God are not invitations, but the promises in the word
of God are for believers, for those who have come to Christ,
those who are in Christ. And the scripture says, Paul
wrote in 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 20, for all the promises
of God in him, that is in Christ. All the promises of God in Christ
are yea and amen unto the glory of God by us. And I thought these
four verses we're going to look at tonight, I said they all have
one common word, and that word is all. I thought about maybe
thinking of our soul like a castle. And on each corner of the castle
of Mansoul, there's a tower, a tower that protects us and
keeps us and helps us, encourages us. And so my first text tonight
is found in 1 John 1, and verse 7, if you would like to turn
with me. promises believers cleansing
from all sin. Isn't that a wonderful promise?
All sin. First John chapter one and verse
seven, the apostle wrote, 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 Now, John said if
we walk in the light. If you're walking in somewhat
darkness, you don't see everything, do you? The more light that you
have, you're walking in the light. And the light here, of course,
is God. He is light. And the more light
that you walk in, then naturally the more sin imperfections that
you see in yourself. The closer you get to the light,
the more you walk in the light, the more you see of your failures. But this promise here tells us
that 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. How often is a believer
convicted of the sin of unbelief. How many times are we convicted
because we just don't believe God? There's no excuse for it. We have every reason. God cannot
lie. God cannot fail. God doesn't
change. And yet still, we'll take a promise
from the word of God and not believe it. So we're convicted
many times as we walk in the light of the sin of unbelief. And how many times are we reading
the scriptures and maybe calling upon the Lord in prayer and all
of a sudden we realize our thoughts are way off somewhere else. They're
way off somewhere else. The other day I was sitting outside
in the backyard and A butterfly came flying by, and I watched
the butterfly as it went out to where the flowers were, or
are, rather. And I noticed how it just moved
from flower to flower. I mean, it just jumped so fast,
flying so fast. I thought to myself, that's the
way my thoughts are. Many times when I'm trying to
read the word of God, trying to pray, that my thoughts, they
wander. Well, what is that? Well, it's sin, that's what it
is. It's evil in us. The more we walk in the light,
the more we see our need. You know, under the law, the
law that was given by God at Mount Sinai, the sacrificial
law, there were sacrifices for the sins of ignorance. Man could
be guilty of a sin and not even realize it, not even know it. But what a promise we have here,
that the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all
sin. And think about this now. As
you look at that promise, there's four things that appear to me.
First of all, it is the blood of Christ that cleanseth us. Without the shedding of blood,
later in the letter of Hebrews, the apostle pointed that out,
didn't he? Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission
of sin. But it wasn't the blood of animals. We know the blood of animals
never took away one sin. It was offered, it pictured that
one great sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ would offer, His
blood, But first of all, we're cleansed by the blood of Christ. And then second, the cleansing
is perfect. The blood of Jesus Christ is
uncleanseth us from all sin, not most sin, not the vast majority
of sin, but all sin. And third, it's present. I mean by that right now. The
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. And number four,
it's continuous. Continues to cleanse us. The
verb tense here tells us that. As we're living in this world,
we'll always have need of cleansing present tense. Now, we read of
the believers in the book of Revelation who are already in
heaven. And the words that speak of their
cleansing is past tense. They have washed their robes
in the blood of the Lamb. It's past tense. They have been
made perfect through the Lord Jesus Christ. But as we go through
this world, the cleansing is present, continuously present
tense with us. Well, that's my first text tonight.
The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. What a blessing that is. Sometimes, I don't know if you're
this way, but sometimes my conscience bothers me. Sometimes I have
thoughts of things, especially earlier in my life, and I'm bothered,
I'm bothered. But I comfort myself by reminding
myself, if I'm the greatest sinner who's ever walked on the face
of God's earth, I know that the blood of Jesus Christ is even
greater. I just know that because of who
he is. Because he is God manifest in
the flesh. Acts chapter 20, Paul actually
uses that term about the church being purchased with the blood
of God. There's such a union between
deity and humanity in the incarnate Christ, God-man, that what is
true of one may be said of the other nature. God cannot bleed,
but man cannot satisfy. But man bled and died, but yet
because he is God, man satisfies the justice of God. And that's
true of you tonight. If you're here tonight and maybe
your conscience, maybe your thoughts come to bother you sometime,
well, just remember the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from
all sin. And no matter what the sin is,
The blood of Jesus Christ is more powerful yet, greater yet. All right, here's my second text. Let's look back a few pages to
Philippians. The second tire on my castle promises believers to meet all
their needs here in Philippians chapter four and verse 19. But my God, here Philippians
4 and verse 19, you're familiar with the verse, but my God shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ. The Lord our God has all the
riches in this world. When he says that cattle on a
thousand hills are mine, He's not just saying that only on
a thousand hills, what he is saying is that all the cattle
are his, all the silver is his, all the gold is his. It is impossible
that our needs, if they're material needs or spiritual needs, it's
impossible that our needs can be greater than his supply, his
ability to supply. It is not all that we wish, I
understand that. It's not all that we desire,
but it's all that we need. You know, in this letter of Philippians,
the apostle above this said, godliness with contentment is
great gain. It's amazing how many people
have so much of this world and yet they're not content. They're
not content. They're always wanting more,
more, never satisfied. Isn't it a blessing if God enables
you to come to the place that you're content? God has supplied
all your needs and is supplying all your needs and will supply
all your needs. That's his promise. And we have
everything that we need. Sometimes when I'm praying, I
think of that, well, you have everything, David. God's given
you everything. Why wouldn't you be satisfied? Why wouldn't you be happy? And
I know that's true. God has given me everything. I couldn't want any more than
what I have. I understand that. The only thing more that I want
is Christ. That's it. I want, by God's grace,
one day to be able to say with the Apostle Paul, when he said
in this letter, for me to live is Christ. That's the only reason
for me to live is Christ, for him, for his glory. That's the only want that I could
possibly have. But God supplies our needs, doesn't
he? I want us to look at a few verses
in the Old Testament. Let's turn back to the book of
Psalms, and we see this quite often in the book of Psalms,
but here in Psalms 34. You know, it's easy to say, it's easy to
repeat that verse, for me to live is Christ, but to mean it,
to mean it, That's something else, isn't
it? That's something else. The only reason for me to live
is Christ. Paul could say that. But here, let's look in some
verses here in Psalm 34, verses 9 and 10. Oh, fear the Lord.
Here it is, Psalm 34, verse 9. Oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints,
for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions
do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing. Shall not want any good thing. God knows what's good for us,
doesn't he? That's the reason I said the promise isn't that
he will supply all our desires, but all our need. And he knows
what our needs are. All right, let's look at another
Psalm 84. Psalm 84. And verse 11. Psalm 84, verse 11, for the Lord
God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. No good thing will he withhold. You know, when the Lord gives
grace, you notice that the Lord will give grace and glory. They're connected, aren't they?
Saving grace, for by grace are you saved, and when God saves
a person, He's gonna give him glory too. They're connected,
you can't separate them. Grace and glory. And then the
psalmist said, no good thing will he withhold from them that
walk uprightly. And then this one here is in
the New Testament, Romans 8 and verse 32. You're probably familiar
with this one for sure. Romans 8. Let's see if I can find it here.
Romans 8 and verse 32. He that spared not his own son. He that spared not his own son.
Who's that? That's God, isn't it? He did
not spare his son, the son of his love. He that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How? Shall he not with him also freely
give us all things? All things. But my God shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ. And we shouldn't limit God's
free and rich supply of grace in Christ by the thought of our
own demerits. You say, well, I'm not worthy.
He doesn't give you. He doesn't supply your need because
of your worthiness or your unworthiness. He doesn't withhold it. He supplies our need, as the
scripture says, for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake. But
my God shall supply all your need according to his riches
in glory by Christ. I read this past week, this man,
I think he was a pastor, I'm not sure, but one day he was
kind of half awake and half asleep and he woke up and startled from
a curious, he said, a very curious kind of sleep or dream. And he
just seemed to wake up with this question out of his mouth, Lord,
why? Why is it that you're never weary
of heaping favors on ungrateful and stubborn men? The question just seemed to fly
out of his mouth. Why? Lord, why is it that you're
never weary of heaping favors on ungrateful and stubborn men? And in a moment, the reply came
just as powerful to him because I am never weary of gratifying
my dear son, showing the greatness of my love to him. Now listen,
until I am weary of him, this is God speaking in this man's
mind at least, until I am weary of him, until God is weary of
Christ and cease to love him, I shall never be weary of heaping
favors on his friends. however unworthy they are in
themselves. Amen. Well, here's my third text,
if you will. Let's go to 1 Peter now. 1 Peter
chapter five. 1 Peter chapter five and verse
seven. Casting. 1 Peter 5 and verse
7, casting all, there's that word, that's a common thread
to these verses, the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth
us from all sin. But my God shall supply all your
need, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Have you ever thought on that
verse very much. Doesn't it tell us, first of
all, that Peter, who was the human author of this letter,
of these words, that he recognized that believers have cares in
this world. You can't go through this world
without having cares. There are cares of all kinds. cares that believers have, your
concern for your loved ones, concern for those family members
that have shown no interest in the things of God. That's a great
care, isn't it? Some people have great concerns
about their health, their concern. That's a care because maybe they've
gone to the doctor and been diagnosed with some terrible problem. Cares concerning our families.
Children grow up, children that have been carried to church when
they were small and made to go to church when they didn't want
to, and then they grow up and say, goodbye, God. What a care
for a parent. Some people have cares about
their jobs. I know you men, you've take care
of your families and, and you have cares about, maybe things
will change, maybe the economy will go down, maybe, maybe there'll
be a depression, you lose your job, and how are you going to
supply and take care, people have cares, all of us do. That's the first thing that,
that I thought about when Peter wrote these words, he recognized
that we all have cares. You can't live in this world
and not have cares. But the only way to overcome
these cares and these anxieties that we have is, as he said,
to cast them all upon him, cast them all upon God. In Christ,
we have a friend who knows our every need, our every care, and
he cares for us. He really does. He cares for
us. One old writer said this, could
I gather together all the rays of kindness, pity, tender love
that ever glowed in the heart of a mother toward her child,
of a bridegroom toward the bride, of a brother to his brother,
or to a friend. All these combined would be but
one tiny sunbeam. compared to that wondrous love
which is in the heart of Christ for his redeemed people. Another thought about casting
all our care upon Christ is that he's a friend that can, in effect,
take care of every care. You know, we all have friends
who would do anything for us, I'm sure. Some of you, I know
you would do anything for me. Anything you can. But we're all
limited, aren't we? We're all limited, but not him,
not our Lord and Savior, casting all your care upon him. He can do more for me than all
the world put together. Well, my fourth text is one that
I know all of us are familiar with, Romans chapter 8 and verse
28. Romans 8 in verse 28, and we
know that all, there it is, that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. A child of God will not live
in this world and be exempt from adversity, There are many things
in our limited wisdom and our limited knowledge that we might
think that if I could just change that, if I could just change
that one thing, I'd be so much better off. But what a promise
to read here that God tells us that all things, all things that
God works together and they're working together. Doesn't mean
that everything by itself, but all things together. Years ago,
I read a book on this verse by Thomas Watson, the Divine Cardinal,
I believe was the name of the book. And he showed how everything,
I mean, he didn't leave anything out, how everything works together
for good. But he pictured it like a chemist. what we would call a druggist
today, a pharmacist. Years ago, of course, you didn't
go and get a pill. They didn't fill a prescription. They'd fill a prescription, but
they would make the prescription. They had their little bowl there
that they'd take some of this and some of this and some of
this and put it all there together. rub it together and come out. And his point was that one of
those ingredients by itself might kill you, might be a poison to
you. But mixed together with all the
other ingredients, it was to help you, help you, your health. Have you ever put together a
puzzle? I like to put puzzles together.
I don't ever hardly do it anymore, but I've always liked it. But
you know sometimes... You get a piece, you're looking
for a piece and you got one and it looks like it ought to go
there and you just try to force it in there, you know. Then you realize it doesn't go
there. It doesn't fit there. You find
the right piece and it just goes right in there, just exactly. You know, that's the way we should
think of the things in our life. When we reach heaven's shore,
we'll be able to look back and things that puzzled us and things
in our lives that we didn't understand, I'm convinced we'll be able to
see that the puzzle was perfect. You know, when you put those
pieces in the right places, you come out there with a beautiful
picture many times, beautiful picture. And that's the way our
life is. If we can look at it, from Heaven's
side. Remember that illustration? I'm
sure you've all heard this, but the lady who was visiting a carpet
factory one time, and she was behind the looms, and she told
the owner of the factory, said, those things look awful. You're
going to sell those to the public? That looks awful. He said, come
here. He took her around on the other
side, and everything was beautiful. And I believe that's the way
it's gonna be on heaven's shore when we're able to look back
to things that bothered you, troubled you, and you thought,
well, if it'd just been a little different, it would've been better. No, God works all things together
for the good of them that love God, to those who are the called
according to his purpose. Well, I pray the Lord Bless these
thoughts to all of us here tonight. The blood of Jesus.