Desire that which is spiritual.
The word gifts is not even in the text, it just says desire
that which is spiritual. Rather that you prophesy. Ask
the Lord. There's a, I think this is the
week that we have the article. Yeah, the little article in your
bulletin that was written by Charles Spurgeon. Talks about
the sower and the, the soil and that the preparation
is more for the soil than it is for the sower. It's a good
article, but I pray the Lord will plow some soil this morning
and that the seeds of his word will take root and produce the
fruit of grace in our lives. If he does, it'll be by his word,
won't it? That's why he says, desire that
which is spiritual but rather that you prophesy. He's not talking
about being a prophet, he's talking about understanding the scriptures. understanding the scriptures.
The Lord's got to give us that understanding. All these scriptures
point to Christ. In the volume of the book, it
is written of me. We understand the scriptures
when we see them revealing to, revealing and pointing to the
Lord Jesus Christ. So that's our, that's our hope
this morning. Tom's going to come lead us in the hymn on the
back of your bulletin. Let's stand together. Who has believed thy word, O
Lord? To whom is it revealed? For darkness is within our hearts,
and truth from us concealed. Thine arm, Almighty God of grace,
is strong to seek and save. Come, Spirit, and reveal that
one ? Whom God the Father gave ? Like to a tender plant he grew
? A root out of dry ground ? Behold the servant of the Lord ? In
him all grace is found ? No comeliness nor form had he No beauty could
we see, And yet there dwelt upon this earth One of the Godhead
Three. With all the sin of His own sheep
upon the servant lay, He suffered at the hands of God, and satisfaction
made. T'was so ordained by God Himself
before the world began, to save the people of His choice, by
Christ the Son of Man. It pleased the Lord to bruise
His Son, for us the Savior dine. His soul the offering for our
sin, and we are justified. Now lifted up upon his throne,
the Lord of everything. Let sinners saved by sovereign
grace sing praises to the King. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me again to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, and we'll read this for our
call to worship. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. We didn't get to finish this
chapter in the first hour, so we'll begin reading at verse
7. Love beareth all things. The Lord Jesus Christ bore in
His body upon that tree all, all the sins of all His people. He believeth all things. The
Lord Jesus Christ had perfect faith. Hopeth all things. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that
the Father was going to reward Him for His work with the bride. It endureth all things. The Lord
Jesus Christ endured the full wrath of God in order to satisfy
divine justice and save his people. Charity never faileth. He did
not fail. He's not discouraged. He's not
fretting. He succeeded. in the salvation
of his people. Whether there be prophecies,
they shall fail. In other words, these prophetic
words are going to be fulfilled. Whether there be tongues, they
shall cease, and they have ceased. The gift of tongues has ceased. Whether there be knowledge, it
shall vanish away. We know in part We see in part,
for we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which
is perfect is come. That's the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, what a glorious day that's
gonna be. When the trump of God sounds and the dead in Christ
are raised and those of us which are alive are caught up together
with them to ever be with the Lord. When that which is perfect is
come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was
a child, now what Paul's saying is that I'm just a child right
now. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put
away childish things. For now, we see through a glass
darkly. Dimly the the image of Christ
is not complete We don't see him in the fullness of his glory
but then face-to-face It does not yet appear what we shall
be but we know that when he shall appear we shall see him as he
is and be made like him Now I know in part But then I
shall know even more As also I am known. A perfect, perfect
knowledge of all things. Perfect sight. But now, abideth
faith. We have need of faith right now.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, it's the evidence
of things not seen. Faith is the means by which we
are enabled by the Spirit of God to look to Christ. Hope? Oh, we have a sure hope. We don't have a hope like other
men hope. Our hope is founded on the promises of God. Our hope
is sure. And charity, love. And of these
three, but the greatest of these is
love. Why? Because when that day comes,
we'll not need faith. Faith will be our sight. We will
not need hope. Hope will be our experience. We'll be perfectly bathed in
the fullness of his love. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for your word, for your promises. Oh, how we pray that your Holy
Spirit would make them true and effectual to our hearts. We pray
that you would enable us now in this hour to look to Christ,
to come in faith to him, to have a sure hope of salvation. We pray that You would do it
for our good and for the glory of Thy dear Son. We ask it in
His name. Amen. Let's all stand once more. We'll sing hymn number 158 from
the Hardback Temple. Number 158. Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
with all thy quickening powers, kindle a flame of sacred love
in these cold hearts of ours. Look how we grovel here below,
fond of these earthly toys. Our souls, how heavily they go
to reaching In vain we tune our formal songs. In vain we strive to rise. Hosannas languish on our tongues,
and our devotion dies. shall we ever live. At this poor dying rate, our
love so faint, so cold to Thee, and Thine to us so great. Come Holy Spirit, Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43 at verse 13. Yea, before the day was, I am He, and there is none that
can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
it? Who shall hinder it? Who shall stop it? That's what
that word let means. I will work. And the title of
my message this morning is, Whose Work Are You Looking At? Unless the title of my message
become a distraction to our school teachers, your pastor does know
that a sentence is not supposed to end with a preposition. But
sometimes bad grammar can be used to make a point. So my question
again is, whose work are you looking at? Whose work are you looking at? Man by nature looks at his own
work. He goes about trying to establish his own righteousness. Being ignorant of the righteousness
of God, not knowing that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth, he goes about his religious activity
trying to redeem himself, trying to atone for his own sins, and
he prides himself in what God calls iniquity. Iniquity. He compares himself
to himself, believing that he's getting better. He compares himself
to other men, believing that he's at least above average.
He compares himself to the law, believing that in some sense
he's been able to satisfy its demands, not knowing that he
has violated every bit of it. Man-made religion is an appeal
for men to do more. Be more committed. Give more. Do more works. And you'll get some assurance
of your salvation based on what you do. And so I ask again, whose work
Are you looking at? Are you looking at yours? Or
are you looking at his? He says, I will work and none
shall let it. You see, if we're looking at
our own works, we're going to have to deceive ourselves. If we have
any comfort, any hope in our works, then we're gonna have
to lie to ourselves about it. Or if we look at our works, we're
going to be distraught. If we're honest people, we're
going to be overwhelmed with shame and guilt knowing that
our works don't measure up. You know there is a God with
whom you must do. You know you've got a sin problem,
don't you? Everybody knows that. People
who claim to be atheists are just lying to themselves and
lying to everybody else. They know there's a God. And so, religion is made up with
men evaluating their salvation by comparing their works to the
works that they think God requires. Some self-righteous Pharisees
asked the Lord one time, they said, what work can we work? in order that we might do the
works of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
to them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him
whom he hath sent. Now he wasn't saying to us, if
you wanna do the work of God, believe, and your faith will
be the work of God. No, he was saying that this is
God's work that you believe. Your ability to believe is the
work of God, for by grace are you saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. It's a work
of grace in the heart. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
is a miracle of grace. So what about our works? Where
did good works come in at? Well, the scripture says, He
works in us, causing us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
So, we're not looking at our works. When the Lord separated
the sheep from the goats on the Day of Judgment, he said to the
goats on his left, he said, I was hungry and you didn't feed me,
and I was naked and you didn't clothe me, and I was a stranger
and you didn't take me in. Lord, when did we see you like
that? We've prophesied in your name. We've done many wonderful works
in your name. And the Lord says to them, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. So he says, those works that
you're looking at as the hope of your salvation are iniquitous. They don't measure up. Depart from me. And then to the
sheep, he says, I was naked and you took me in. I was hungry
and you fed me. Those are gospel. That's not
we're going down to the rescue mission and doing good works.
If you have an opportunity to do something for somebody, do
good unto all men whenever possible, especially those who are the
household of faith. But don't look at those things. What did the sheep say? Lord,
when did we do those things? We didn't take notice of doing
them, in that you did it to the least of these, my brethren,
you did it unto me. As a part of the body of Christ,
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, every time the gospel of His
grace was preached, naked sinners were being clothed with the righteousness
of Christ. Hungry sinners were being fed
with the gospel, the bread of life. Those who were estranged
from God were being brought into the family of God. You see, when
you're a part of Christ, you're a part of the gospel. And the
Lord credits all His people with doing good works. He works in
us, causing us to will and to do of His good pleasure. And then the scripture says,
He which began a good work in you. What's the good work that
He began in us? The work of faith. This matter
of faith is a work in the heart. He that began a good work in
you will complete it. He'll perfect it. He'll continue
that work. It's not going to be possible
if you're a believer for you to ever stop believing. Why? Because he's working in you.
Causing you to will and to do of his good pleasure. to rest
all the hopes of your salvation on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
His work. This is the work of God that
you believe on Him whom He has sent. Oh Lord, do that work for
me. Make me a part of the body of
Christ. Give me hope in Christ. Enable me to look to His work,
not mine. I will work, who shall let it? Now, our text tells us what that
work is. Look at verse 14. Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer. Your Redeemer. Now the work that
the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished was not to make an offer to man
to redeem. He didn't come into this world
and put on the table an offer of redemption for you to accept
or reject. No, what he came into this world
to do was to make himself an offering, not to us, but to his
father to accomplish the redemption of his people. And the father
saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied. There's his work. His work is the work of redemption.
He actually redeemed His people when He bowed His mighty head
on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished. Our redemption
was accomplished. There's His work. When those
disciples came back in John chapter 4 from Sychar after the Lord
was talking to the woman at the well, and they had brought food
back, and He said, My meat is to do the will of the Father
which has sent Me. I'm not hungry. My meat is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish his work. That's what he said,
to finish his work. You remember in John chapter
nine, when the disciples asked the Lord about the blind man,
is he blind because of his sin or because of the sins of his
parents? And the Lord said, neither. But that the work of God might
be made manifest in him, I must work the works of him that sent
me while it is day. For the night cometh when no
man can work. He's talking about his death.
I've got to finish the work before I die. The night cometh when no man
can work. The Lord's likening life to a day. It'd be good for
us to do that too, wouldn't it? Lord, enable us to redeem the
time. Enable us to measure the days of our lives and to realize
how frail we are and how brief this life is. The Lord's likening
all of life to one day. So you are living in the light
right now. But sun's gonna set, you're gonna die. The work's
got to be done while it's a day. No work can be done after you
die. And then in John chapter 17,
our Lord in that high priestly prayer said to the Father, I
have finished the work which thou has sent me to do. It's finished. I will work. And no man can let it. No one
can stop it. No one can thwart it. I'm not
dependent upon you to give your agreement to it. I don't need
for you to make a contribution of your faith in order for my
work of redemption to be successful. I'm going to redeem my people. And for anyone to suggest that
God's needing us to do something in order for what he did to work
is to deny the work of Christ. And to put your attention on
your work. So I ask you again, whose work
are you looking at? His work? If you are, it's finished. By His own blood, Hebrews chapter
9, He has entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. By His own blood, He entered
in. Remember that high priest would
have to go into the holies of holies and put the blood on the
mercy seat? And God said, here I will meet
with you. And the Lord Jesus Christ is our high priest. And
what happened to that veil that separated the holies of holies
from the rest of the temple? At the very moment that he cried
from Calvary's cross, it is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. What happened to that veil? The
scripture says it was miraculously rent from top to bottom. And
the Lord was saying, the way to God has been opened. The blood's
been put on the mercy seat. Here, I will meet with you. And
by His own blood, He has obtained forever the redemption of His people.
Ephesians chapter 1 says, In whom we have redemption through
His blood, We have redemption. Not you will be redeemed, you
are redeemed through the shedding of His blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of His grace. It is not by works
of righteousness which we have done. It's by His work. His work is finished. I will work and who shall let
it? I am thy Redeemer. Scripture says that God has made
Christ to be for us our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification,
and our redemption. Redemption is an accomplished
work. It's not an offer. I will work. Who's going to let
it? Who's going to hinder it? Who's
going to thwart it? Who's going to change it? No!
I've done it all. I did it all by myself. And it's
accomplished. And any message of salvation
that gives you anything to do is denying Christ His glory in
salvation and causing you to look at your work, not His. not his. The Lord Jesus Christ was born
of a woman, born under the law to redeem them who were under
the law. You see, you're either under
the law or you're under grace. If you're under the law, I know
you're looking at your works. If you're under grace, you're
looking at His work. But if you're under the law,
there's only one end for those who are under the law. The law can only say to me and
you, guilty. That's all it can say to a sinner
outside of Christ. Condemned, guilty. That's why
Paul said, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Thanks be to God. There is no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus. The voice of the law has been
silenced. It cannot condemn me. I'm in
Christ. I'm under grace. I'm not under
the law. I'm not looking at my works.
I'm looking at his. Whose works are you looking at? Go back with me now. Yea, before
the day was, I am He. Our God is the self-existent,
eternal, sovereign creator and sustainer of all of life. He's not dependent on anything. There is none that can deliver
out of my hand. You can't get yourself out of
his hand. I'm so thankful for that. You cannot send yourself out
of Christ if you're in Christ. Now, I know that people who are
looking at their own works will say to a statement like that,
preacher, you can't talk like that. You're going to encourage
people to sin. Not if you look into his works,
it won't. If you look into your own, it might. But if you look
into him and his work, that's just going to cause you to be
more grateful, more grateful for the fact that no man can
separate you out of my hand. I will work. Not I'm gonna try to work, I'm
gonna do my best, I'll do my part, and you do your part, and
we'll work together this thing out. No, I will work, and who
shall let it? Thus saith the Lord. Aren't you
glad that the Bible doesn't say, well, you know, it just seems
to me. How many times does God say,
thus saith the Lord? Thus saith the Lord. I'm so thankful. That's what I want to hear. I
just want to hear what God has to say about it. I don't want
there to be any discussion. I don't want there to be any
debate. I don't want Him to be asking me for my input. I want
Him to tell me exactly how it is. And God's people, with the
gift of faith, they just believe everything He says. Thus saith
the Lord, thy Redeemer, thy Redeemer. Now what gave him the right to
redeem us? Why did the Father accept his
redemptive work on our behalf? The next phrase tells us, the
Holy One of Israel. The Holy One of Israel. He bore
in his body the sins of his people, not his own sins. God made him
sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. So, God charged, imputed to,
credited to his account, and he owned them as his own. He felt the full shame. He felt
the travail of his soul. He knew what sin was. Why? Because he was holy. You see,
you and I are so accustomed to sin, aren't we? We're so used
to it. We're not much affected by it.
I mean, we've got to do something really bad for our conscience
to smite us, don't we? Not him. He is a holy. And all your sin, all my sin,
and all the sins of God's people are piled on him. He felt the
full, He bore our iniquity. What did we just read in 1 Corinthians
13? Love beareth much. the Holy One of Israel. His holiness is what made His
redemptive work successful. And your lack of holiness is
what makes your attempt to atone for your own sins or to redeem
yourself unacceptable. Is that clear? We can't atone for our sins.
We can't redeem ourselves. Why? Because we're already sinners.
He was able to redeem us because He went before the Father as
the Holy One of Israel, never having known sin. It's the cup that He prayed might
depart from Him. Father, if there be any way this
cup can pass from me, let it be nevertheless not my will,
but thy be done. And he drank that cup. And God
saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied. God's not gonna
be satisfied with anything you and I do. No work that we perform
will God be satisfied with. He said, I will work and who
shall let it Will redeem you why because I am the Holy One
of Israel So redemption is the work that
he finished he finished it What other work does he do? Well,
he goes on to tell us look for your sake I have sent to Babylon
and brought down their nobles and Now where does Babylon start? It starts with the Tower of Babel,
doesn't it? What was the Tower of Babel?
It was man's attempt to atone for himself. He was building
a tower up into heaven. And he was making bricks out
of clay and putting them together with slime. What a picture of
man-made religion. fashioning our works with our
hands, making our bricks, and putting them together with slime.
And what happens to that slime? It's the same pitch that Noah
used to coat the ark. It made the ark waterproof. It
means a covering. It means an atonement. And now
the people at Babel are using it to put the bricks together.
Well, it works fine as a covering to waterproof the ark, but it
sure doesn't work well to put bricks together. As soon as the
heat of the sun hits those bricks, that slime is going to melt. Those bricks are going to fall.
And that's exactly what happens. Jerusalem in the book of Revelation
is called Babylon. Rome is called Babylon. All false
religion is called Babylon. What happened at Babel? Confusion
of speech. We think of a person babbling.
And now God says, here's the work that I'm gonna do for you.
I'm gonna redeem you, and then I'm gonna kill all the princes
of Babel for you. You're not going to be double
speaking anymore. You're not going to be talking
out of both sides of your mouth like you used to. You're not
going to say, well God loves everybody and Christ died for
everybody and God wants everybody to be saved and you've got to
do your part and yet God is sovereign and you're not under the law
but under grace. You're not going to talk that,
you're not going to be babbling anymore. You're not going to
be putting your works together, the bricks that you have fashioned
with slime. No, you're going to be in the
ark. And when the wrath of God falls, you're going to be safe
in Christ. I'm going to destroy Babel for
you. And so we know we've been redeemed. Because Christ is everything
to us. And every message of salvation that this world has to offer
that denies Him His glory and salvation and puts into my hands
some work for me to do, those princes have been killed. We've been delivered from Babylon.
We've got no interest in going back. A person hears the gospel
and says, well, yeah, I believe that. And then they go back to
Babylon, they've not been redeemed. They've not been redeemed. The
redeemed child of God cannot go back to Babylon. Why? Because
He worked in them. Causing them to look at His work,
not theirs. And they can't go back to a place
where someone's telling them to look at their works. It's
just that simple. I will work. and who shall let
it." Whose work are you looking at? And the Chaldeans, whose cries
in the ships. Now the ship is used all throughout
scripture to symbolize missionary work. The book of
Revelation, he talks about the ships of Babylon going out into
the different countries and there was a time in my life and in
some of your lives where we would traverse land and sea to make
one disciple and turn him into twice the devil that we were. And we're shamed of it. Now in Isaiah chapter 51, the
scripture says, look unto the pit from which you were digged,
the rock from which you were hewn, look unto Abraham thy father. Where did Abraham come from? Chaldea. Or the Chaldees. Where'd you come from? You were
a pagan just like your father Abraham. You came from the Ur
of the Chaldees. You were sending out ships all
over the world doing missionary work, thinking that you were
working for God, not knowing that your works were iniquity. And now the Lord has done a work
in your heart and exposed that for what it was. So not only
has he exposed all the false religions of this world for what
they are, not allowing you to go back to them, but he has exposed
in your heart your own false religion. And the princes of
the Chaldeans have been put to death in your heart. You can't
go back. I will work, and who shall let
it? How do I know He's redeemed me?
Because I've got nothing to do with the work of redemption.
I'm looking to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for all the hope
of my salvation. And I know that He was able to
accomplish that because He's the Holy One of Israel. And He
did something for me I couldn't do for myself. He presented a
perfect sacrifice, a lamb that was without spot, without blemish
before God. And God accepted that sacrifice.
It wasn't an offer to me, it was an offering to God. And Babylon has been put to death
in my heart. I want no part to do with the
religions of this world. And I know that I was a Chaldean,
just like my father Abraham. Verse 15, I am the Lord. I am the Lord. No man can call him Lord, but
by the Holy Ghost. You honor me with your lips,
but your hearts are far from me. Everybody says, well, Jesus
is Lord. And then they make their Jesus,
small J, dependent on something other than His omnipotent, sovereign
grace and power to accomplish His purpose. That's not Lord. No man can call Him Lord, not
without understanding, but by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
is Lord. He's absolutely sovereign. How
do I know that? How do you know that? You're
willing to take sides with Him against yourself. You've got nothing to offer Him.
He's already got it all. All you can do is beg for His
mercy and plead His grace. And you know, you know because
He's Lord, That if he wills to cast your soul into an eternal
hell, that he's got the sovereign right to do it. And you've got
no defense or argument. Is he Lord? Is he Lord? I am Lord. Your Holy One. Now, most of the time when the
Holy One of Israel is used to describe the Lord Jesus Christ,
it's the word The, the definite article The, The Holy One of
Israel. But isn't it encouraging to hear
where the Lord says, Your Holy One? Is He your Holy One? Do you have any holiness outside
of Him? He that sanctifieth and they
that are sanctified are all as one. All your holiness before
God is bound up in Christ. You have no holiness outside
of Christ. And God's eyes are too pure to look upon sin. The
only thing that He can have any fellowship with is perfect holiness.
You've got to have an advocate, don't you? You've got to have
a Lord. You've got to have a Savior.
You've got to have one whose work is finished and whose work
is acceptable before God. I will work. Who shall let it? Who's going to let my work? Who's
going to stop it? Oh, that's the kind of work I
need, Lord. My work is so frail. My work is so fraught with my
sin and my flesh. Don't look at my works. Don't
look at my faith. Don't look at the result of anything
in my family. Don't, Lord, look to Christ on
my behalf. I am the Lord, your Holy One. The creator of Israel. That's his work. If you're going
to create something, you're going to make something out of nothing.
Now Israel was Jacob's name after the Lord saved him, wasn't it?
And Israel means prince. It means a child of God. You
remember when Jacob was at the river Jabbok and he was afraid
of his brother taking revenge on him Esau and he wrestled with
the angel all night and the Lord left him with a limp in his hip
and the Lord changed his name that night to Israel. Jacob the
supplanter, that's his old man, that's your old man. was made a prince, a child of
God. His name was changed to Israel.
God made something out of nothing. Has God made something out of
nothing for you? Lord, I've got no works to put
on the table. I've got no offerings to make. I've got no sacrifices. I've got nothing to bring. I'm
completely dependent upon you doing all the work for me. The Creator. See, if we're going to be made
Israel, God's going to have to create something. He's going
to have to create faith in us. He's going to have to create
a heart of flesh. He's going to have to create
a desire for Christ. Cause me to come unto thee, Lord,
and I shall come. Turn me and I shall be turned.
He's going to have to make something out of nothing. And when he does,
he's going to be your king. Your king. You know, we don't know much
about monarchies as Americans, do we? We live in a nation that
rebelled against monarchies. And we're all kind of got a spirit
of independence when it comes to that sort of governing authority,
don't we? You know, we live in a nation
governed by the people for the people, you know, and we're Oh,
not the kingdom of God. My kingdom's not of this world. God made you a child of God.
You just bow to the king. You don't question the king.
You just look to the king. You follow the king. You know
the king has got to do all the work for you. And he's your redeemer. The reason
he was able to accomplish your redemption is because he's the
holy one of Israel. your Holy One, your Creator,
your King. Whose work are you looking at? Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful
for your word, and we are so thankful for the accomplished
work of thy dear Son. We pray, Father, that your Holy
Spirit would bless your word to our hearts and give us faith
to rest the hope of our salvation in Christ. We thank you for this
table, for what it represents, the sinless body, the sacrificial
death of our Savior. We pray that as we receive it,
that you would give us faith to look to Christ. For it's in
his name we pray. Amen. and ask the men if they'll
come, please, and distribute the bread and wine. Tom's going
to lead us in number 191 in your hardbacked hymnal. Just remain
seated, please, 191. Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face
to face. I touch and handle things unseen,
Here grasp with firmer and eternal grace, And all my weariness upon
Thee lean. Here would I feed upon the bread
of God. Here drink with thee the royal
wine of heaven. Here would I lay beside each
earth Here taste afresh the calm of
sin forgiven. I have no help but thine, nor
do I need another arm, save thine to lean upon. It is enough, my Lord, enough
indeed. My strength is in Thy might,
Thy might alone. Mine is the sin, but Thine the
righteousness. Here is the guilt, but thine
the cleansing blood. Here is my robe, my refuge and
my peace. Thy blood, thy righteousness,
O Lord my God. The Lord's table is for Israel.
It's a time of celebration. It's a time of confession. Confessing
that the unleavened life, the sinless life of the Lord Jesus
Christ, my holy one, is the only one that could redeem me. And
he's all my righteousness. And the Lord said, do this in
remembrance of me. In the day in which you sin,
you shall surely die. Life is in the blood. God would
settle for nothing less than the death penalty to satisfy
the demands of his justice. But as we just read in Revelation
and 1 Corinthians chapter 13, if I gave my body to be burned and I had not Christ, it would
profit me nothing. Shedding your blood will not
do it. Why? Because your blood's got
sin. The Holy One of Israel's blood
was without sin. Sin was placed in His body, but
His blood was pure. Blood was pure. And God accepted
the sacrifice that He made and put away once and for all the
sins of His people. We do this in remembrance of
Him. And all God's people said, amen,
amen. Fred and Billy are leaving now
to head back to Kentucky. They've been with us for a couple
of months now. So we'll miss you guys and look
forward to the next time you come back. Okay, let's stand
together. Rinaldo, would you dismiss us
please, brother, with prayer? Thank you, God, for your message
today. Thank you for letting us know
and see that you are the Redeemer, you are our Savior. I'm there
for your work. Nothing can stop it. Thank you for the assurance that
you give us for our salvation. Amen. I ask you and I pray for
you that you bless us with your word in our heart and make it
grow and bear fruit for you. We ask you in Jesus' name. Amen.