This morning will be the first
time I've sought to speak to you since I had the stroke. And I was listening to some of
the words that Newton's hymn had in it about a stammering
tongue. And I pray that I won't be too
much of that stammering tongue this morning. I want you to turn back to Hebrews
chapter 9, and I want to continue on what I was talking to you
about when I was afflicted. And that is That the whole of
salvation. As was. Brought to our mind so
fresh again. When it tells about the priest
entering in. To the Holy of Holies. That it
was not without blood. So Hebrews 9 and verse 7 begins,
but into the second the high priest went alone once every
year, not without blood. which he offered for himself
and for the heirs of the people. The Holy Ghost signifying this
signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet
made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. which was a figure of, for the
time present then, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices
that could not make him that did the service as pertaining
to the conscience perfect. which stood only in drinks and
offerings and diverse washings and carnal ordinances imposed
on them until the time of reformation. But Christ, being a high priest
of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us." I want to speak to you very carefully
this morning. If God will be my helper, and remind you that the Bible
is a book of redemption. But it is not a book of self-redemption. That's what most people want
to talk about in our day, self-redemption. It is a book about blood redemption. And you remember we read last
time how that God had said to man that we are not to eat or
drink blood under the Old Testament economy because the life was
in the blood. And so the blood depends, or
the blood shows us something about the way of redemption. And when the Bible does say redeem,
what does the word redeem mean? It means simply and plainly to
buy back by the paying of a price. And it is to buy back something
that was once already yours. And maybe one of the greatest
illustrations that we read about in the Bible is the redemption
of Gomer, who was Hosea's wife. She was already his wife, but
she had to be redeemed because she sold herself into slavery. And I'm afraid that a lot of
people have a misunderstanding about redemption, because they
speak of redeeming things concerning us, when in truth, redemption
involves persons. We are redeemed persons. And what we find is that the
scripture tells us that we are those who have the gospel preached
to us that we might know the things that are freely given
to us. The things that we receive from
God are freely given to us. But it does us no good if we
are not redeemed persons. And so redemption is about redeeming
persons. And it is a release of someone
through the payment of a ransom, and it applies two things in
the scripture. It replies, it involves two things
in the scripture. It involves first a deliverance
from all sin and its consequences. All sin and its consequences. And it also involves a restoration
of true liberty, which Paul calls the forgiveness of sins. And it is, as he says, according
to the pleasure of God's will. God is not obligated to redeem
anyone. But he does so because of his
own good pleasure. And because of his own good pleasures,
he will redeem a multitude of people. Now there are three things
that I want us to consider this morning in light of redemption
and the fact that it is redemption by blood. And the first one that
I want us to think about is who is the Redeemer? In other words,
the Savior. The one who is called of God
to perform the work, he is the Redeemer. And so we read all
throughout this book that no son of Adam, no angel, especially
no sinner can redeem a sinner. And we read, according to Adam's
race, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So if we want to find out who
the Redeemer is, we have to turn to places like Colossians 1 and
verse 2. Turn over to Colossians 1, rather,
and verse 14. Because in Colossians 1 verse
14 is the exact answer to our question, who is the Redeemer? And Paul, writing of Christ,
he says in verse 14, in whom we have redemption. In other words, he's talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's talking about the work
he has performed, and he says, in whom we have redemption. But what are those next three
words that follow there? In whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. In other words, the
redemption that we have in Christ is not because of who he is. It is not because he is a great
example and enables us to redeem ourselves. It is because that
he died. In other words, he says here,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, that is, through his
death. In Christ, in him, we have redemption. And that makes us to know that
we cannot have it any other way. But if we have it in Christ himself,
it is him that is the Redeemer, and only Christ is qualified
to pay the price of redemption. In other words, in order to redeem
a sinner from sin, the Redeemer himself must be without sin. And so we read of Christ, it
says, who did no sin, neither guile was found in his mouth. He who knew no sin, but was harmless
and undefiled and separate from sinners, Christ only has the
payment that will be the ransom, perfect blood. In other words,
the wages of sin is death, and it requires a ransom from sin,
which is nothing less than the payment of a sinless life. The things that the world esteems
so highly are totally an abomination to God and can in no way bring
about redemption. Now if I were to ask you this
morning, what would you suppose would be the most valuable thing
in this world? Or the thing that is most esteemed
in this world? Would it be enough for you or
for me or for any other sinner to be redeemed by? Listen to what the psalmist says.
They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude
of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother
nor give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of their
soul is precious and it ceases forever. Not all the money in
the world, not all the valuable things of the world, could ever
redeem one sinner, not one single sinner, from one single sin. And not all the blood of animals
which typified the dying of Jesus Christ, not all of those animals,
their blood together, could redeem one sin. But Peter writes in
1 Peter 3. Turn over in your Bibles to 1
Peter 1 and verse 18. 1 Peter 1 and verse 18. Because this is the most important
thing. And believers, According to what the apostle
says here, they know some things. They don't know everything. They
don't know a lot, but they know some things. And so Peter writes
and he says, for as much as you know, you know these things. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers."
In other words, Peter is writing even to Jewish people. And he's
reminding them that they were not redeemed by all those blood
and all that silver and gold and things that were the price
of redemption. You were not redeemed with all
these things. But he says, with the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. In other words, all those sacrifices
that were offered, all those that were ordered of God had
to be fought without spot, without blemish, and without any flaw
in them whatsoever, because they were to be a picture and a type
of the sinless Lamb of God. the Lord Jesus Christ, and it
says, for you know that you are not redeemed by silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ. Now that brings me to the second
question. What are the characteristics
of redemption? In other words, not only who
is the Redeemer, but what kind of redemption does Christ have?
What kind of redemption did he accomplish? Well, I think that
the first thing that we need to consider is the fact that
it is a particular redemption. Immediately, you begin with that
to divide it from every other redemption that is talked about
in this world, which is universal redemption. But the redemption
we read about in the Bible is a particular redemption, and
that means that God never intended to redeem the whole human race. Now, it's hard to accept the
fact, humanly speaking. But if we believe the Bible,
we have to believe that God never did intend to do that. Men say that God does that, but
men do not decide who does that. In other words, if there is a
price paid, there is a people that it is paid for. And so our
Lord writes to us in Acts chapter 20 through the apostle when he
gives instruction to those people. He says, take heed there unto
yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he purchased
with his own blood. Now that doesn't say that he
purchased the church and the world. It doesn't say he purchased
the church and every other person in the world. It says that he
purchased the church with his own blood. And that means that
Christ as the great shepherd, Christ as a good shepherd said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. I give my life for the sheep. I came to seek and save that
which was lost. I gave my life a ransom for many. And everywhere you look in scripture,
and we could not imagine that it would be otherwise, you will
find the Bible speaking of God giving his life for a particular
people. One of those descriptions is
found in the least likely place. It's found in Ephesians chapter
5 and verse 25, where husbands are given instructions with regard
to their wives. He says, husbands, love your
wives even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. He loved the church, and he gave
himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself,
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. He gave himself for the church. But what does that mean? Well,
the word church means a call-out assembly. In other words, those
who will make up the church are identified with this fact. They are called out assembly. It must be a work of love. I say a work of love because
in 1 John 3 and verse 16, He says, hereby perceive we the
love of God. I've always said a lot of people
know John 3.16, but a lot of people don't know 1 John 3.16.
1 John 3, verse 6, Hereby perceive
we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. In a special act of love, in
redeeming love, Oh, Cowper, in his song, always writes this
word and always blesses my heart. It says, E'er since by faith
I saw the stream, thy flowing wound supply, redeeming love
has been my theme and shall be till I die. In other words, it
was an act of special love for all the people of God. Then it was also a successful
and accomplished work. God did not merely attempt to
redeem, nor did He make any of us redeemable, nor did He offer
any of us redemption or make it possible. He redeemed. In other words, in the Bible,
we read about what Christ did. Not what he wants to do. Preachers
are always talking about what he wants to do, what he's trying
to do, what he plans to do, all these things. We read about what
he has done. And here it says, in verse 12,
that he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Now that doesn't leave any future
tense to it. That doesn't leave a matter of
the heart or a matter of the will or the matter of this. It
says that he actually successfully accomplished redemption. And
then it is also redemption by a sacrifice. It is accomplished
redemption by a divine sacrifice. It says, with his own blood. Now that wouldn't mean anything
to us. If we had not many times gone back to those Old Testament
examples, which Hebrews alludes to oftentimes, go back to them
oftentimes and see how God does with them differently. It says
that he, Bud, the blood of God, manifests he in the flesh, his
own body. It's one expression, having attained
eternal redemption by his own blood, all who he redeemed surely
shall be saved and shall not perish because he redeemed by
his blood. Preachers in our day make a mock
and they blaspheme Christ's work of redemption by saying that
he shall not always see the success of it. Or they'll say the scriptures,
they'll say he tried to do something for them and all such things
as that, but the scripture says he shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. They say he paid the price of
redemption for everybody, yet this does not guarantee that
they will be finally saved. They say it's only an act of
a fallen sinner that can make this work effectual. They say that for many for whom
Christ died, will perish eternally in the lake of fire. They say
it's this way, but this is not what God says. God says what
a mockery it is to make God's purpose a failure and God's will
so fickle that much more than that would make God's sacrifice
of none effect. Paul's writing to the church
at Galatia said, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us. Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree. And then it is an eternal redemption. We read that here in our text
in chapter 12. It says that he entered in by
his own blood and obtained eternal redemption. In other words, we're
redeemed eternally by the eternal God to the eternal God we're
bought with a price. It means that it is a voluntary
redemption because he laid down his life for us. He gave himself
for us. It is a substitutionary redemption
because he did it for us. For us means in behalf of the
other or in the room instead of others, in the place of it.
and that's the language that we read in Hebrews in Isaiah
53. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried away our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb dumb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers was dumb,
so opened he not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken." And then it is a full and free
redemption. Paul writing to the Romans, he
said, being justified freely, that means without a cause, being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth a propitiation through
faith in his blood. And then it is a just redemption. And here is where so many seem
to fail and fall short. They speak of redemption, of
which God is not just. And if Christ paid the price
for someone's redemption, if he sends that one to hell, then
he is absolutely not just. On the other hand, if God receives
and blesses a sinner and does not punish his sin, he is not
just. But God is a just God and a Savior. He can only be such through the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus. And as a just and holy
righteous God that He is, He can only redeem sinners by imputing
their sins to the Lord Jesus Christ as their Redeemer, whose
dying death, whose dying death, can only satisfy God. The only way that Christ's blood
can be redeeming blood is if it make God to be just and the
justifier of all who believe. Christ died for our sins. And that brings me to the last
question. Who are the redeemed? Just how
are they known? Now we've read in a lot of passages
the many names of them. They're called His people. They're
called His children. They're called His sons. They're
called His sheep. They're called His church. But here is the way that they
are manifested in time. Just one way. And every other way can be counterfeited. Every other way can be counterfeited. But the way that they are identified
is the gospel of a Redeemer who redeems lost sinners all through
His bloody sacrifice on the cross. They believe on Him, and they
confess Him as their Redeemer. They don't confess a Redeemer
who redeemed everybody as a Redeemer, because that would make Him a
failure. They don't confess Him a Redeemer who failed to redeem
all their sins. They don't confess a Redeemer
who waits for them to act in order to make His redemption
effectual. They confess Christ as their
Redeemer. When He died, When he suffered,
when he shed his blood, when he poured out his life, he accomplished
their salvation, their perfect 100% redemption. And they believe on him and love
him and follow the actual redemption. Now turn one more place with
me to Revelation chapter 5. Now I want to show you this because this is the way that
they're known. They didn't say, you turn my
life inside out. They didn't say, you clean me
up spotless so that I don't sin anymore. They don't say any of
these things. But it says in Revelation 5 and
verse 9 that they sang a new song. In other words, this is
their song. They're playing our song. Here
it is. Thou art worthy. It all starts
with God. It all starts with the Lord Jesus
Christ. It all starts with their redeeming. Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof. In other words, the book of God's
covenant promises, all that is theirs is because of His worthiness
to open up the book. And they say, you are worthy
to open the book and to open the seals thereof. For thou was
slain and has redeemed us. By your
being slain, you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred
and people and nation. In other words, those who are
redeemed They know that God didn't have
to redeem. They know that God redeemed them
to himself by his blood out of every kindred and tongue and
nation, and that's their salvation. Eternal redemption is in the eternal redeemer. His blood was the blood of the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. His blood was the
blood that was slain, shed 2,000 years ago. His blood is the blood that we
preach and that we also participate in, in the ordinances. And His
blood. John said, I saw a lamb newly
slain. His work is finished, but it
is eternally fresh. Eternal redemption is in Christ,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins. Now everybody wants the forgiveness
of sins. They go to this one, they go
to that one, they pay this, they do this, all for the forgiveness
of sin. But forgiveness of sin is remission of sin. And without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. be redeemed by us. Our Father, we thank you this
morning for the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, for that life
that he laid down, for that precious, sinless blood that you poured
out in the payment of our sin death. And if he died for us,
then we are redeemed. We cannot add to that. We cannot
subtract from that. We cannot make it to be applicable
for all people, but we claim it fully for ourselves. We look to Christ and his finished
work. We trust that He shed His blood
for us, for the remission of our sins. And that is all our
hope, and that is all our salvation, and that is all our comfort. We pray and we ask all things
in Him. Amen.