Let's look back tonight to 1
Peter chapter 1. On the nights when we observe
the Lord's Supper, I try to bring a message that is somewhat shorter
in time because I believe the Lord's Table itself, the ordinance,
is a message. It's a message that we see. Now,
I don't always achieve that goal, but that's what I start out to
do. But the message tonight I want
to bring to us is a message that I preached in Mexico in June. The precious blood of Christ. La sangre preciosa de Cristo. That's the message, if you will.
Look tonight in verses 18 and 19. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish,
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. We celebrate and remember the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ in this supper. We're thinking
about being redeemed. and redeemed not with corruptible
things, but with the precious blood of Christ. And I have four
questions around which we can organize our thoughts tonight
about the precious blood of Christ. First, what are we to understand
by these words, the precious blood of Christ? What are we
to understand by these words? We understand that this signifies
his death. His death. In Leviticus chapter
17 and verse 11, we read, for the life of the flesh is in the
blood. That is, the life of our bodies
is in the flesh, is in the blood. When you go to the doctor, For
a checkup, what is one of the first things they do? They draw
some blood, because they can tell a lot about us by our blood. And when we observe the Lord's
Supper, the Apostle Paul tells us that we're showing forth the
Lord's death. That's what he says in 1 Corinthians
11 and verse 26. For as often, As you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. Well, how
do we show the Lord's death in this supper? How do we show it? Not just speak it, but show it.
How do we show the Lord's death in this supper? When they uncover
the cloth in just a few minutes, we will show forth the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ and we will do so because the wine
which represents His blood and the bread which represents His
body will be separate. They will be separate. The wine
on this side of the table and the bread on this side of the
table, the life of the flesh is in the blood. When the blood
is taken out of the flesh, out of the body, there's death. That causes death. So that's
the thing that we understand by the words, the precious blood
of Christ, we are talking about his death, the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We know from the word of God
that he was circumcised on the eighth day, And in being circumcised,
he would have shed blood. But he did not die. He did not
die. It was the shedding of his blood
which resulted in his death. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. That is, the shedding of his
blood to death. The separating of his blood from
his body. So that's the first thing. What
do we understand by the words, we are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. We understand that we are redeemed
by his death, by his death. Second, why is the blood of Christ
precious? My blood, your blood is precious
to us. My blood's precious to me, and
your blood is precious to you, and our blood is precious to
our families, but my friends, our blood is not precious in
the sense that His blood is precious. Why is the blood of Christ precious? Well, first of all, it is precious
because of who He is. His blood is precious because
of who He is. His blood is the blood of the
only begotten Son of God. What do those words mean? Only
begotten. The only begotten Son. You know
that the angels are sometimes called sons of God. There's one
verse that tells us In the day of creation, when the morning
stars sang together, all the sons of God, that refers to the
angels, all the sons of God, shouted for joy. Believers, we
are, and to as many as received him, to them gave he the power
or the privilege to become or to be called the sons of God.
Believers are the sons of God, but neither angels nor man are
sons of God in the sense that Christ is as the only begotten
son of God. God has one only begotten son. He has many sons. How many angels? I don't know. How many believers? I don't know. John said there
were more than we could number, the believers that he saw. But
I know this, I know He has only one, only begotten Son. This is His blood, the blood
of the Son of God. He is God's Son who is one with
the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is the Son of God who is eternal. And He was made flesh, John said,
and dwelt among us. In His incarnation, that is Him
becoming flesh, being made flesh, the person of the Son. God is
one, and yet there are three persons in the Godhead, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, but it was only the Son who took into
union with His person the body which God the Holy Spirit had
prepared him of the Virgin Mary, the Son of God. He took into
union with his person that body. And though we recognize that
he has two natures, he's both God and he is man, yet what is
technically true of only one That is, what is technically
true of him only as man and what is technically true of him only
as God is spoken of his one person. Now let me show you that. A primary
example of that is in Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 and verse
28. The apostle Paul here speaking
to the elders of the church at Ephesus, Acts chapter 20 and
verse 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers to feed the church of God which he, which he, what's the antecedent? God. God, which God hath purchased
with his own blood. But God is spirit. God doesn't
have blood. No, but the God-man does. And it was with the blood of
the God-man, and it's here called the blood of God, that he purchased
his son, his church rather. So why is the blood of Jesus
Christ precious? Because of who he is. who He
is. You say, Preacher, you say that
quite often. I sure do. And if God lets me
continue to preach, I'm going to continue to say it. Because
I want every one of us to know that our Savior is God. And we
come here to worship God when we worship the Lord Jesus Christ. And if He's not God, He is not
our Savior. And if He is not God, then we
are guilty of idolatry when we worship Him. He is God and His
blood is precious because this is the blood of the only begotten
Son of God. Number two, it is precious for
what it accomplished. What did the blood, what did
the death of the Lord Jesus accomplish? Well, let me show us five things
here tonight hurriedly. Five things that the blood of
Jesus Christ accomplished. And this will show us why it
is precious. Number one, the blood of Jesus
Christ redeemed his people. That's what our text tells us
here, redeemed his people. And notice it says from their
vain conversation. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things of silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ. His blood is precious
because it redeems his people from our vain conversation. Now what does that mean? Our
vain conversation. Well, I believe the best way
to understand this is to take that proverb that says, there
is a way which seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death. Every way which is an invention
of man, it only leads to bondage. And it's vain. Every way to make
ourselves right with God, and men have invented, and everyone
has one, every man has one. He may be the most so-called
irreligious person in the world, but his vain conversation is
his irreligion. That is, he trusts in that. And God, His precious blood,
redeems us from that vain conversation, that empty conversation, that
false and empty way that we thought. Remember that scripture in Ecclesiastes,
it says that God has made man upright, but he has sought out
many inventions. Every man has his own invention,
his own way. of making himself right with
God, finding his way back to God. Well, the blood of Jesus
Christ redeems us from that vain conversation. Number two, the
blood of Jesus Christ, his precious blood, redeems his people from
the curse of the law. Look at that in Galatians. And
let's look at these other places. In Galatians, it'll take just
a few minutes, But let's recognize why His blood is precious. We
sang that hymn just a moment ago. He is so precious to me.
Amen? He is so precious to me. Why?
Because His precious blood redeems us from our vain conversation,
and number two, it redeems us from the curse of the law. God's
holy law! Cursed be everyone that continueth
in not all things that are written in the law for to do them. And we've broken that law. And
that law cursed us. Look at what the blood, the precious
blood of Christ is. Galatians 3 and verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. And how did he redeem us with
his precious blood? As it is written, be made a curse
for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
tree. Number three, his precious blood
justifies, justifies his people. Look back in Romans, two places
here in Romans, Romans chapter three first, and then in chapter
five. His precious blood. Why is it
precious? Because it redeems us from that
vain way of living, because it redeems us from the curse of
the law, and because it justifies us. In Romans chapter 3 and verse
24, the apostle said, being justified
freely by His grace. Now notice, through the redemption. There's no justification by God
of a sinner apart from the redemption, the blood, the precious blood
of Jesus Christ. And look in chapter 5 of Romans
and verse 9. Much more than being now justified by his blood,
being declared righteous, justified in the presence of
God. How? By the blood of Christ. Oh, it's precious, isn't it?
And number four, his precious blood reconciles us unto God. Notice that in verse 10 of chapter
five of Romans. His blood reconciled. If, for
if, when we were enemies, you know what an enemy is? We were
enemy. If, for if, when we were enemies. Enemies to who? Enemies to God. Enemies to God. That's what the
scripture teaches. We were reconciled to God. How? by the death, by the precious
blood of Christ. Isn't it wonderful to be reconciled
to God, to be at peace with God, therefore being justified, we
have peace with God. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the
flesh, but according to the spirit. Isn't that a blessed thing? It's
all accomplished by the blood of Christ, isn't it? By his death.
Reconciled to God. Go home tonight, lay your head
down on your pillow and go to sleep knowing it's well. It's
well with my soul. Say ye unto the righteous, it
shall be well with thee. And the last thing, the blood
of Jesus Christ is precious because it cleanseth us from all sin. Look there in 1 John, 1 John
chapter 1. You know the verse, but let's
look. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7. 1 John 1 and verse 7, but if we
walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. That word cleanseth is in
the present tense, isn't it? It cleansed us yesterday, it
cleanses us today, and it'll cleanse us tomorrow. God's children. You say, you mean our past? I
mean our past sins, our present sins, our future sins. There's
only one thing that cleanses from all sin. And it doesn't
cleanse from most of our sins, from all sins. All sins. The third question is, now listen
to me, what do we mean? I said, ask first of all, what
do we mean by the precious blood of Christ? We mean his death.
And number two, why is the blood of Jesus Christ precious? And
I've given us five things. And number three, is it possible, is it possible that the precious
blood of Christ was shed in vain? Is it possible? You know, there
are some who answer in the affirmative. They say yes. They say yes. It was shed in vain. It was shared
for some who were already in hell. It was shared for others who
have since gone to hell. Is it possible? that the blood,
the precious blood of Jesus Christ was shed in vain. I must say,
no, no, no way. And I believe I can show us that
from the word of God. It's not just my opinion. My
opinion isn't worth a whole lot, but the word of God is worth
everything. And the word of God is clear,
as far as I'm concerned. In Isaiah 14, verse 24, this
is what we read. The Lord of hosts has sworn,
saying, surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. As
I have purposed, so shall it stand. The death of the Lord
Jesus Christ, now listen, it accomplishes all that God purposed. Whatever God purposed for the
blood, the precious blood of Jesus Christ to accomplish, we
may be sure it accomplished. Because this is his word. Surely
as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed,
so shall it stand. Matthew 26, the Lord Jesus Christ
said, when he instituted the Lord's table, he said, for this
is my blood of the New Testament or the New Covenant, which is
shed for many, for many, for the remission of sins. Take your
concordance sometime and just look up that phrase, as many
as. Those three words together, as
many as. What a blessing, just to say
those verses that tell us as many as. As many as were ordained
to eternal life, believed. As many as received. To them gave he power to become
the sons of God. The promise is unto you and unto
our children and to as many as the Lord our God shall call.
I believe there's some others. What a blessed truth, right?
This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the
remission of sins. In Isaiah chapter 53 and verse
11, the suffering Savior who is also the victorious Savior
there, he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. Is it possible that the precious
blood of Christ was shed in vain? No, no way. We sing William Cowper's
hymn sometimes. There's a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Dear dying lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church
of God Be saved to sin no more. And the last question, what is
celebrated in heaven? What are they doing in heaven
right now? What are they doing? What will we be doing in heaven
by the grace of God? Well, let's look, Revelation
chapter five. I tell you, it's not free will
they're gonna be celebrating. that they're celebrating. Oh
no, oh no. Revelation chapter five and verse
nine. And they sang a new song saying,
thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof.
For thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation. and has made
us under our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth.
And I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about
the throne and the beast and the elders and the number of
them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying
with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive
power. riches, and wisdom, and strength,
and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as
are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I say, blessing,
and honor, and glory, and power be unto him, that setteth upon
the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four
beasts said amen, and the four and 20 elders, that's all the
church of God, all fell down and worshiped him that liveth
forever and ever. Now I must close with this question. Is the blood of Jesus Christ
precious to you? Is it precious to you? Is the blood of Jesus Christ
all your hope, all your salvation? One of the hymns, the writer
said, His blood which did your sins atone for your salvation
pleads. And seated on the throne, he
reigns and intercedes. Is his blood precious to you
tonight? I trust that it is. And if it
hasn't been in the past, that just now, by the grace of God,
you might look to Christ and you might say, dear dying lamb,
You came to save sinners, save me. Let your precious blood now
cleanse me from every sin. May it be so. I told you.