First Peter chapter 1, let's
begin reading at verse 18. 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. Tradition. Religious tradition
is a powerful, powerful thing. Matthew 7 we're told that men
and women will cling to their religious tradition right up
to the throne of God and will not let go until the Lord says,
depart from me, I never knew you. Verse 19, 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, who by him do believe in God,
that raised him from the dead and gave him glory, that your
faith and hope might be in God. seeing then ye have purified
your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned
love of the brethren. See that ye love one another
with a pure heart, verbally, being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, And
all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord
endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you." That night in Egypt that we read
about in Exodus 12, imagine being there. that night. Israel are in the houses where
the blood has been applied, the children of Israel. Pharaoh is
in his palace, surrounded with all that a man could desire.
A mighty king. It's late. It's late. It's quiet. It's midnight. and then the silence is broken
with a horrible scream. And no sooner does it cease than
another scream, and another scream, and another scream. From every
street, from one house after another, a scream because the
firstborn, the firstborn, and all those houses lays dead, smitten
not by faith, not by chance, but smitten by the wrath of a
holy God. God, as we read, has executed
judgment exactly like he said he would. Exactly like he said
he would. He told Moses, tell the children
of Israel to choose a land without blemish and without spot because
this night I shall pass through the land of Egypt and I shall
smite all the firstborn, the firstborn of Pharaoh that sits
upon the throne, his son, to the maidservant and they shall
die. And they found out, didn't they?
They found out. that it wasn't an idle threat, it wasn't a fable, what we read
there wasn't a fairy tale. It was true. It was true. Turn, if you will, for a moment
to Acts chapter 17 and then we'll come back to verse Peter 1. Paul is in Athens. He's waiting for his companions
in the gospel to come, and while he waits, he observes what's
going on in Athens. And he's invited to speak on
Mars Hill to all the philosophers, the doctors, the folks who like
to sit around and say, well, let me tell you what I think.
Let me give you my opinion. This is how I see things. So
Paul meets with them on Mars Hill, but look at verse 21 in
Acts 17. Paul speaks to them and we're
told in verse 21, for the Athenians and strangers which were there
spend their time and nothing else either to tell or to hear
some new thing. Then Paul, verse 22, stood in
the midst of Mars Hill and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive
that in all things ye are too superstitious. What Paul told
them, you're very religious. Verse 23, for as I passed by
and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription,
to the unknown God. Just in case they missed one.
Just in case they may have overlooked one. They wanted to be sure to
cover all their bases, so they had one to the unknown God. And
Paul says, "...whom therefore ye ignorantly worship. By your
own omission you don't know him. Him I declare unto you." The
unknown God. Just this past week, on the weather
channel of all places, I was going to check the forecast And
they had a little segment on there, who's the fella, Roker,
is that his name? But they had a little news item
about the Pope. And I don't know what the Pope
did, it doesn't really matter, but Roker made the statement,
man, he's like a rock star, isn't he? This man's like Jesus, he
said. He practices what he preached,
and he said, ooh-ah, ooh-ah. And then that evening, on national
news, they had another segment about the same fellow. And the
commentator said, the news anchor said, that this pope was such
a humble man, because they showed him in all his flowery robes,
oh yeah, he looked so humble, kneeling down before a priest
in public. And they said, no pope ever does
that, makes a public confession, he's such a humble, humble man.
He's worshipping God. And I thought, an unknown God?
An unknown God. Just like what Paul said here. And look what he says on down
in Acts 17 at verse 30. And this is true this morning.
These words of the Apostle Paul are true right now. What he said
to these philosophers is true today to you and I. God, make
you, make me, make you take these words to heart. Verse 30. At the times of this ignorance,
God winked at, but now commanded all men everywhere to repent. Why? Why? Because he had appointed
a day. Remember what he told Moses?
Tonight, I'm going to pass through Egypt. I'm going to execute judgment
on all their gods. And Paul says, God's appointed
a day that he'll do it again. Because he has appointed a day
in which he will judge the world in righteousness. Not man's standard
of righteousness. God's standard of righteousness.
by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead, the
Lord Jesus Christ." Oh, but look, back in Egypt that night, would
you look at this. My soul, what a wonder this is. With the screams of despair,
and brokenheartedness echoing from every house in Egypt except
some others. There are other houses there.
And the God of justice, the God of righteousness is passed by
those houses. And if you could look inside,
you would see no death of the firstborn. No, you would see
them enjoying a meal. and look over in the corner and
they've got all their suitcases packed. They're getting ready
to leave Egypt. They're getting ready, Mike,
to make their exodus. It's time to get out of Dahaj.
God's taken them out of that chaos out of that bondage into the
glorious liberty of the sons of God. They're going to make
their departure. That's what the word means. Exodus
means going out. Going out. Oh, thank God, brothers
and sisters. Aren't you thankful that this
world, this world that gets more and more ungodly by the day,
this world that on a regular, daily basis. We're confronted
with the ungodliness. It's shoved in our face every
day. And we're considered odd because
we don't accept it. We're the oddballs because we
don't accept the perversion. My soul. Aren't you thankful
that we're just passing through? We're going to make our exodus.
We're going to depart just as God brought them out. But why
were they spared? Did God relax His justice when
He came to those houses? Did He change His holy character? Of course not. I am God, I change
not. The same just righteousness that
executed judgment upon the people in Egypt, the Egyptians, That
same justice, that same God, with the same manner of righteousness,
spares those why death has already been there. It's already been
there. And God says, for this reason,
for this reason, like we just sang a moment ago, oh, man, this
is like a... warm, cozy quilt that on a cold
winter's night, you can just wrap yourself up in, and you're
warm, and you're cozy, and you're safe, and you're secure. And
this is it. When I see the blood, God says,
God makes this declaration. He says, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Oh, my soul, it's with good reason,
isn't it? With good reason that we sing,
Oh, precious is the flow. And we also read in Exodus 12
that God commanded them after they'd come into the land of
promise And they would keep this ordinance of observing the Passover
and their sons and daughters would ask them, what meaneth
this? Why are you doing this? And they would tell them. They
would tell them the story. How God that night spared them. And that lamb is a picture of
it. Now we as believers shortly shall
observe the Lord's Supper. And we too are told to do this
not in remembrance of a literal lamb, oh no, but in remembrance
of that one, one that all those lambs pictured, that all those
lambs represented, that lamb whose throat was cut. He was
slaughtered. and his blood was caught in a
basin and they would take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in that
basin and they went out and struck over the door post and on the
sides. And God says, when I see that,
when I see that, I won't allow death to enter your house. I've
already been satisfied. I've already been satisfied.
And this is what we remember. We remember Him. Him whom John
pointed out when He arrived on the scene and John said, there
He is. There He is. There walks the fulfillment of
every sacrifice ever made, every lamb that was slain. There He
is. Behold Him. Can you see Him? Do you have eyes to see Him?
Have you ever beheld Him? Behold, there goes the Lamb of
God. Glory to His name. That's who
we'll remember when we take the bread. Christ said, this is my
body, broken for you. The wine is my blood, which is
shed for many for the remission of sins. Now, look at verse 18,
if you will, back in 1 Peter chapter 1. We read, for as much
as you know, you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold. We know. the child of God, by the grace
of God and the teaching of God, they know some things. We know
some things, Louie. It's not a matter of opinion.
It's not speculation. They're certain and sure, as
certain and sure as the throne of God is. We know. God, when He teaches His people,
they get the lesson, don't they Lord? When God Almighty says,
this is so, and speaks a word of truth to the heart of His
children, they get the lesson. And they arise and say, I know
that it's so. It doesn't matter if anyone else
believes. They have an unction from the
Holy One, John says, and they know all things, all things pertaining
to their salvation, why it is, who wrought it, and who gets
the glory. Religion, my soul, like those
smart elks on Mars Hill, Religion has all sorts of opinions, all
sorts of theories, and maybes, and couldbes, and mightbes, and
just plain, we don't know, they say. But Peter says, God's people
know that this is so. And he says, we were not redeemed
with silver and gold. We're not redeemed with silver
and gold. The redemption of a man requires
a price that satisfies. Listen. Redemption demands a
price that satisfies not another man. Oh, no, no, no. Not another
sinner like myself. Not another worm like myself.
No, I'm sure, I'm sure. I don't have a doubt that if
that were the case, I could meet that demand. I could render satisfaction
to the demand of another man like myself. I mean, that's all
religion requires. A decision, a walk down the aisle,
a few Hail Marys, that's it. But the redemption price must
satisfy God Almighty. Now think about that. It must
satisfy God Almighty. Now, is God Almighty, ask yourself
this, is God Almighty, the God of glory, satisfied with walking
down an aisle? Is that all He requires? Is He
satisfied with some, me going down to a little booth and fada
fada, give me this and give me, and He said, well, give me three
push-ups and everything's all right. Is that all God Almighty
requires? Is that all it takes to redeem
a sinner? What does God say? I'm really
not interested in what religion says. I'm not asking them. I
went through religious hoops. Hoop after hoop I went forward
till I wore the soles of my shoes out. I said the sinner's prayer
till that preacher got sick of seeing my face. But it didn't
give me peace with God. What does God require? And God
says this. Now compare this to all those
things. God says it must be perfect to
be accepted. It must be perfect to be accepted.
God doesn't say, I'll be satisfied with the best that you can do.
No. It's got to be the best that
God Almighty does. Now try your whatever. If you're trusting anything other
than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and His perfect righteousness,
that is, the righteousness that God Himself accepts, try what
you're trusting next to Him and see how it matches up. Oh, and
if God is pleased to do it, your righteousness will fade like
Adam's fig leaves. in the presence of a holy God. Oh, yes. My righteousness, no,
the prophet said, our righteousnesses, not my bad deeds, my very best
deeds, are filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. You see, that's why in this day
they've changed God. They changed God. This God that
requires nothing more than my decision is not the God of Scripture. He's not. He's another God. He's another Jesus. My soul,
can you think of anything more terrible than trusting another
Jesus? to find out in that day that
God had appointed in which he shall judge the world in righteousness
that that Jesus I trusted was an imposter? He was a liar? He was a deceiver? He wasn't
the God of glory after all? Perhaps that's what those people,
those great men, and those mighty men, and those kings of the earth
in Revelation 6, perhaps that's what they discovered when they
saw the Lord of glory, who says time shall be no more, who created
it all, the heavens and the earth, and then lays it aside. And they
see him descending. Oh, no, no, not Jesus, my little
buddy. Not Jesus that I can step on
as a doormat into heaven. Not Jesus, my fire escape out
of hell. No, they see King Jesus, the
mighty God, and they said, oh my soul, hide me from the face
of Him, where is He, that setteth upon the throne, and from the
Lamb. They perhaps had trusted another
Jesus. No, God's justice demands full
satisfaction. or no captives will go free.
None. Silver and gold won't do it. What you're simply saying, Peter
is telling us here, nothing we can do, nothing we can give will
redeem the soul of a sinner. If there is, if there is, then
Jesus Christ died for nothing. And that's what Paul said in
Galatians 2 verse 21. If righteousness came by the
law, then Christ died in vain. If righteousness could be procured
through the law, by the law, then Christ need not have died. But the law, Paul said, by the
law is the knowledge of sin. The law demands perfection, but
it does nothing to give it. Oh, for that we must look elsewhere. Works cannot buy grace. God's
grace is unmerited. It can't be bought. Redemption's
price is much too high. God's law, before a sinner can
be redeemed, God's law must be honored. It must be honored.
Every jot and tittle must be honored, must be fulfilled. And
I can't do it. I can't do it. and justice, God's
justice, must be satisfied. And that's not easy, Mike. That's
not easy. Turn, if you will, back to the
book of Psalms, Psalm 46. I'm sorry, Psalm 49. Psalm 49,
verse 6 through 8. They that trust in their wealth
and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them... This is exactly what Peter said,
isn't it? 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 ceaseth forever." Silver and gold won't do it.
Verse 19, back in 1 Peter 1. Oh, I'm anxious to get to this.
Verse 19, but. But. What has redeemed? What has satisfied God? What
has made an effectual atonement? Oh, but look. but with the precious
blood of Christ." The precious blood of Christ. Oh, can you
hear that? Can you hear that voice? The voice of God Himself declares
with finality from the throne of His glory, looking upon the
blood of His Son, and He cries, deliver His soul! Deliver the
soul of all those I gave Him. Deliver their soul from going
down to the pit. Why? God says, I've found a ransom. Oh my. Indeed, precious is the
flow. Precious is the flow. That word
we find there in verse 19. Describing the blood of Christ,
precious. That word means rare, doesn't
it? Precious is rare. We speak of something as being
precious, it's of great value to us. And this blood that delivers
the soul of sinners from going down to the pit is precious because
it's the blood of Christ. It's Christ's own blood. The
blood of a man, yes, he was made like unto his brethren, but that
man, that man is God. And that's what Paul said, didn't
he? In Acts chapter 20, when he was exhorting the elders of
the church of Ephesus, he said, take heed over the church of
God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. The blood. of the God-man. It's who he is. Who he is. Oh, I can't... I can't soar that high. My faith
carries me so far. But before his glorious majesty,
before Him who is the mighty God and the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, the One who redeemed me with His own
precious blood. All I can do is just bow down
in adoration and wonder and look up to Him and exclaim, Hallelujah! What a Savior! What a Savior! There's not one like Him. Not another like Him. It's who He is. It's who He is
that gives virtue and merit and worth to all that He did. Who
died? Who died? Would you have sweet
assurance? Would you have the sweet peace
of knowing it is well with your soul. What's that worth to you? Are you interested in that? Would
you know that it's well with your soul instead of doubting?
Instead of wondering if I've done enough? And if that's your
case, you deserve the doubt. You deserve the wonder because
you haven't done enough. It's no wonder that you don't
have peace. It's no wonder that you lie down at night and you're
fearful that you might be called out to stand before God because
in your heart of hearts you know that you're not ready. You know
it because you don't know Him. Oh, would you have the sweet,
sweet peace of knowing that it's well with my soul? Then look
to Him. Who died? Whose blood was shed? The blood of the only sacrifice
that could satisfy justice. The blood of that One who was
perfect God and perfect man. That One whom God Almighty Himself
looked down from heaven and said, this is my Son in whom I am well
pleased. He's perfect. He's perfect. Accepted in Him. In chapter 2, that word here
in 1 Peter, The word precious is used three times, three different
times. And every time, this is not surprising,
is it? Every time it refers to Jesus
Christ, he's precious to God. Rejected by man, oh, but precious
to God, and still the chief cornerstone. Precious to believers, isn't
he? Unto you that believe, isn't
he precious? Isn't he precious? And he's precious in himself
because of who he is. John said, he that had the Son
had life. Had life. He that had the Son
has all that God Almighty requires. He that has the Son has everything. I've had people ask me, religious
people, they give me the most fits. Not the drunk out there in the
gutter, but religious folk. They've asked me, are you entirely
sanctified? I've had people ask me that years
ago. Are you entirely sanctified? Have you had the second work
of grace? And they look down their self-righteous noses because
they touch not and taste not and handle not and go not and
blah, blah, blah. That's what they mean by sanctified.
It's what they do. I've had others ask me, have
you had the gift of tongues? Have you arrived? Are you on
that higher pedestal? And I'll say, no, and don't have
any desire to be. You just stay there. You just
stay there. No, but I will tell you this.
I have Christ. I have Christ. I have the Son. And I read in
God's Word, he that had the Son has life. I have the Son. whom God has made to be unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
what do I lack? What do I lack? What else is
there? I have Christ. And as much as
Christ is complete, I'm complete in Him. It measures the same. If you can tell me how much Christ
is. We're told that Christ is all. And I'm complete. His all is
my all. Now, what can I like? What can
I like? Now, you go on with your touch
not, taste not and all that, but I'll just stay right here.
I'll just stay right here with Christ. I'll just wrap up in his perfect robe of
righteousness and I'm safe. I'm safe. I'm accepted by God Almighty
and I couldn't be more. I couldn't be more accepted.
precious blood of Christ because of what it did. What does it
do? Redeem us. Notice Peter says
redeemed, past tense. Past tense. If you find forgiveness,
you'll find the blood of Christ. If you find atonement, you'll
find it in the blood of Christ. In Ephesians 1, Paul said, in
whom we have redemption through His blood, even... Listen, child
of God. And I pray that God brings this
to our remembrance when we take the wine. In whom we have redemption
through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Even the forgiveness of sins.
I'm going to borrow you an illustration that I never thought of until
this moment. An illustration that that big fella that preached
to us about a month ago, Mr. Fortner, was in Fairmont, West Virginia, and he was preaching, and I was
sitting out in the congregation, my mind so jumbled, that I couldn't
even think straight. So distraught that I couldn't
read a whole verse of scripture. I couldn't keep my mind on one
verse of scripture. And I was running around trying
to make things right. And I was a mess. I thought I
was losing my mind. I was. And that big fella was
preaching. He was bigger then than he is
now. And he said, a sinner trying to find acceptance with God by
his works is like me sitting in this chair over here. On his
left was a little rickety chair. Scott Richardson, that was okay
for him, that little skinny fella. It held him. But Don said, if
I went over here and tried to sit in that chair and there was
a collective gap, everybody said, don't do it. And Don said, no,
that won't hold me. That won't hold me. Over here's
another chair, he said. He said, oh, that looks solid.
I believe that'll hold all my weight. And he sat down in it. He said, oh, that feels good.
Oh, that's comfortable. That's not going to give way.
He even put his feet up like that. He said, that little That little
rickety chair over there, that's man's works. It won't hold up. But this, this is the grace of
God that's in Christ Jesus. This is the Lord who loved me
and redeemed me. It'll bear all my weight and
all my sins. And I was sitting out there and
the light came on. And I said, that's it. That's
it. It's Jesus Christ alone. Oh, precious is the flow. It reconciled us to God by the
death of his Son. The blood is precious because
the blood of Christ redeemeth us, redeems us from all of our
sins and cleanseth us from all sin. We'll wrap this up. I want you to look at a passage
in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. My guilty conscience was purged
by the blood of Christ. My soul, what can ease? What can ease a guilty conscience? I mean a conscience that's been stripped has been made aware
of their guilt by God's Holy Spirit. Man, and it won't rest. It won't rest. It won't be quiet.
Nothing you do can make it quiet. I mean, it screams continually,
guilty, guilty, guilty. Well, I'll go to church. It says
guilty. I'm going to read my Bible some
more. By all means do, but it won't bring peace. Guilty. Guilty. I'm going to act religious. Guilty. What can relieve such a conscience
as that? Look what we read here in Hebrews
9, verse 12. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained." Oh, can you see Him? Can you see
Him? Look what the Lamb of God did. He obtained eternal redemption
for us. Is that why He said it's finished?
Yes. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctify it to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? Lord, Lord, you know what? You're looking at a man right
now, at this moment, because of what I just read. The blood
of Jesus Christ has purged my conscience. And before the throne
of God, God himself looks down and says, Not guilty. Not guilty. My soul. Not guilty. You see that? You see that guy? He's going
home justified. Going home justified in the sight
of God Almighty. Back in 1 Peter we read in verse
20, who barely was foreordained, that is Christ the Lamb, before
the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times
for you." For you. Oh, child of God. Mark those words. For you. For
you. He said, this is my blood which
is shed for you. Especially for you. I'm not attempting
to do something for you. I'm doing it. I'm not trying
to redeem you. I'm going to redeem you. I'm
not trying to put your sins away. I'm going to put your sins away."
And all that he endured in doing that, he said, I'm doing it for
you. For you. Oh my. Precious blood. precious blood in God's sight. That's why in verse 21 we're
told, God had raised him from the dead because he was satisfied. Satisfied. God raising his son
from the dead was his clear, concise, final, and perpetual
statement by God himself regarding the offering of his son. When
he raised his son from the dead, he was saying, I'm satisfied.
That's enough. I can demand no more. Paul said, Christ's offering
to the Father is like a sweet-smelling savor. And God said, perfect, perfect. That's enough. And now, when
God sees the blood, he'll pass over me. And he does. The redemption by the precious
blood of Christ will be the theme in glory. In glory. That's going to be the theme
in glory. In Exodus chapter 15, the first song we find in scripture,
the first song was what they sang at the Red Sea when Moses
led the children of Israel. And you know what the theme of
that song was? Redemption. Thou has led forth the people
which Thou has redeemed that you passed over because you saw
the blood. And in glory, the theme will
be the same. The song of Moses and of the
Lamb will be this. Thou art worthy to take the book
because Thou has redeemed us to God by Thy own blood. Amen. Amen. God bless you.