I think a summary of that song
is, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you, through
his poverty, might be rich. If you look at the words to that
hymn in the hymn book, it's blasphemous. 394 if you want to read it, it's
blasphemous. But that was such a blessing.
I was very happy that Aaron read Psalm 77. Why was I happy he read that?
Because I'm going to be preaching on Maid Nigh. made nigh. In Christ Jesus, you who were
sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. And when
you read that song, you're reading from a man who is a believer
who certainly did not feel near. He felt far away. And I think
of the different thoughts people have. There are some people who
feel near that, in fact, are far away. And there are some
people who are very near who feel far away. Now, what I want to deal with
is Just forget about your feelings for a moment. I know that's impossible.
I realize that, but let's see what the Bible says about being
made nigh. Not how do you feel close or
far off? Sometimes you may feel close.
Sometimes you may feel far off. But let's see what the Bible
has to say about this thing of being made nigh. Let's read verse
13 again. But now in Christ Jesus, you
who were sometimes, and that's merely a for time before you
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Question, who is made nigh? All in Christ. All that he shed his blood for. Now that's not everybody. Not everybody's in Christ. Jesus
Christ, the Lord did not die for everybody. Now, why am I
saying this? Well, number one, because it's
true. And number two, that I don't really have any understanding
of the death of Christ and what he actually accomplished by his
death. If I believe that he died for some people and they wind
up in hell. There's no understanding of the
death of Christ. There's no understanding of the
gospel. You take away the particular
successful redemption of Christ for the elect and all you're
left with is salvation by works. And no one is saved under that
message. Someone that believes that message,
that Jesus Christ died for everybody to make salvation available for
all, as long as you accept what he did. That's not the gospel. That's another gospel. That's
salvation by works. Made nigh by the blood of Christ. Made nigh. How near? Near, so near to God, nearer. I cannot be. For in the person
of his dear son, I'm as near to God as he. Now what this is, is the nearness
of union. Both Hebrews 2.11, both he that
sanctifieth and they who are sanctified, are all of one. Not close, not two joined together
so that they're touching, but one. I think the way that this can
be understood, it can't completely be understood. I realize that,
but it can be believed. Adam, everybody in this room
has Adam's genes in them. We have him as our common father. Me and you have the same father.
We came out of him. And what Adam did, You and I
did. When he ate of the fruit, Todd
Nivert ate of the fruit and everybody in this room ate of the fruit.
Now understand this. This is very important. What
Adam did was charged to you. That's true. But the reason it
was charged to you was because you did it. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered the world and death by sin, so death passed upon all
men in that all have sinned. He doesn't say that Adam's sin
was imputed to us. It says when Adam sinned, we
sinned. What he did, we did. Now, the same is true of all
who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. What he did, we did. When he obeyed God's holy law,
Todd Nybert obeyed God's holy law. What he did, all in him
did. All of the elect are eternally
in Christ. 1 John 4, 17 says, as he is. Well, how is he? Well, I could say a whole lot
about that. He's perfectly obedient. He kept God's law perfectly.
He's without sin. Oh, how beautiful he is to the
father. How the father is pleased with
gazing upon his son. As he is. So are we in this world
right now, present tense. That is how close he made everybody
he died for, made nigh by the blood of Christ. Now Christ is
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world who came in time
and shed his precious blood on the cross. And the moment he
died, you remember what happened? The veil of separation in the
temple was ripped in half from the top to the bottom. This is
God's work. He took away the separation and
brought every one of us in this place of nearness for whom Christ
died. Made nigh by the blood of Christ. Now in Christ Jesus, you who
were sometimes afar off are made nigh. How far were we? Well,
look what verse 11 says. Wherefore, remember. Remember what you were before
God saved you. Now I realize that somebody says,
well, I don't know when it was that I was saved. I realize that.
I realize that. I say most people don't know
exactly when they were saved. I've heard a preacher once say,
uh, if you don't know the exact moment you were saved, you're
not saved. I mean, you can, can you break a leg and not know
it? And I remember when I heard him, I thought, well, I don't
remember when I was born. I really don't. I have no recollection
of it all. That doesn't mean I wasn't born,
does it? This is not important to know exactly when you were
saved, but I want you to remember what you were before God saved
you. Now, whether you enter into this
a whole lot or whether you don't, it's still true concerning you,
concerning me. He says, wherefore, remember
verse 11, that you being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, you weren't Jews. You were pagans. You were idolaters. You were Gentiles in the flesh. You weren't true Jews. And you
were called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
of the flesh made by the hand. This is what the Jews called
you, nothing but uncircumcised people. That was the ultimate
statement of contempt. Remember when David said to Goliath,
who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies
of the living God? You were called by the Jews,
nothing but pagan Gentile idolaters, uncircumcised. Verse 12, that
at that time, you were without Christ. What could be worse than that?
You didn't know who he was. You didn't know anything about
him. You were a stranger to who he is. You were, without Christ,
being aliens. And that word is actually a verb.
Being alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. You weren't a true
Israelite. You were an alien because of
your sin. And strangers from the covenants
of promise. You had no idea of the covenant
of grace that God made with Christ. You didn't know what it is to
rest in the covenant. You were a stranger to what David
said when he said, although my house be not so with God, yet
hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things,
ensuring this is all my salvation and it's all my desire. You didn't
know anything about that. You had no hope, no hope. And you were without
God in this world. No hope of saving yourself, no
hope of making yourself savable. You were, as Genesis 6, 5 describes,
and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. That was you. That was me. Remember that. Every thought
that passed through your heart when God saw it, it was only
evil continually. But isn't that the grace of God? But, but God, but now present
tense right now, though you were just as I described in your experience,
pagan without Christ, alienated, a stranger with no hope and without
God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus, you are made nigh
by his blood. Doesn't have anything to do with
how close you feel or how far off you feel. You may feel far
off. You may feel close. But if you're
near, it's because you're in Christ Jesus. And he made you
nigh by his own precious blood. And now you're a true Jew. Every believer is a Jew. You're
looking at a true Jew. You know, there's not Jew and
Gentile in Christ Jesus. I'm a Jew. I'm truly one of a
circumcised heart. I've had that circumcision made
without hands. He's a Jew, which is not one
outwardly, but one inwardly whose circumcision is that of the heart
in the spirit. For we are the circumcision,
Paul said in Philippians 3, 3, who worship God in the spirit. and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. But now, verse 12, instead of
being without Christ, you have Christ. You have Christ. In all the fullness of who he
is. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. Now just
think about having Christ. If you have Christ, He's all
you have. You don't have anything else
to plead before the Father. But that's not a bad thing. That's
the best thing. If Christ is all you have, He's
really all you wanted. You don't want anything else.
He's all you need. You have Christ. And you're no
longer strangers alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel. You're
a true Jew. You're no longer a stranger of the covenant of
promise. You understand what David meant. And you enter into
what David said when he said, although my house is not so with
God. And yes, he was talking about his relatives. He was always
talking about this house. Although my house be not so with
God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant. A covenant was made before time
began. And David understood that that was the covenant God made
with Christ before the world began. But he also knew that
God made that covenant with him in the beloved. Yet hath he made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my salvation.
And this is all my desire, though He make it not to grow. Now you have hope. And let me
tell you about the hope I have, just real briefly, but this is
so glorious. The hope I have, remember, hope
is with regard, a confident expectation with regard to the future. I
have a hope that when I stand before God, and God looks at
me, he's not going to see any difference between me and Jesus
Christ. That's a hope, isn't it? He's going to look at me and
say, here is one who is perfectly righteous. No sin. That's a hope. That's a hope. And that hope is because Jesus
Christ bore my sin by his precious blood, put them away so they're
non-existent. And I stand before God right
now and on judgment day without sin. Now, most preachers would say
salvation is by grace, but you're going to be judged according
to how obedient you are here on earth. And you're going to
be rewarded accordingly. If you were a pretty good Christian,
you're going to get a higher reward. And then if you were
a disobedient Christian, you're going to probably dwell in the
slums of heaven. You know, there's different grades
of salvation. That's so not true. That's a
complete denial of the gospel. If I'm in Christ, I stand justified. without sin, without guilt. And here's the hope I have. Not
only that on judgment day, I'll stand perfect in God's sight
through the justifying work of Christ so that there's no sin
in me. Everything that's happened from
the day of my birth to the day of my death is under this umbrella. And we know that all things work
together for good. to them that love God, to them
who were called according to his purpose. Now that's hope,
isn't it? We have a hope. And we have God in this world. That means he's for me. If God
be for us, who can be against us? Now here's the source of
this nearness, verse 13. But now, right now, present tense,
in Christ Jesus, you who were sometimes, or before time, were
far off. I've already described the far
offness, if you can use that as a word. You were far off,
but you've been made nigh by the blood of Christ. Now let's
consider this thing of being in Christ. If you're in Christ, you must be saved. You were saved
before time began, and you will be saved when time is no longer,
if you're in Christ. You see, all of God's blessings
are in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're not given to you because
of anything you do. They're given to you because
you're in Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly blesses in Christ. According as he has
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in Christ. For in Christ
Jesus, you that were before times afar off are made nigh. Now let's
camp there for a moment. You're made nigh. You're made
so very near. The word is created. You're created near. You're become
near. Your nearness is done. It's accomplished. You can't be anything but what
you are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Now, first Corinthians
one 30 says Christ is made unto us. Wisdom. I am painfully confident of what
a fool I am. But God sees me as a very wise
man, someone he can have fellowship with, someone he can embrace
because Christ is made into me wisdom. Christ is made into me
righteousness. God looks at me and says, oh,
he's so perfectly righteous because Christ is made into me righteousness.
Christ has made it to me sanctification. He is my holiness so that I can't
be any more holy than I am right now. He's made into me redemption,
full deliverance. And these people who were made
near by the blood of Christ were made to see how far off they
were because of their sin. They have experienced What Paul
said in Romans 3 19, and we know that whatsoever the law sayeth,
it sayeth to them who are under the law that every mouth may
be stopped. What's that mean? That means you have no way of
vindicating or justifying yourself guilty as charged. If God sends me to hell and does
not give me mercy, holy, right, and just is his name. He's just. Now, as long as you
can have objections to the gospel, how can it be fair? for Christ
to die for one and not die for another. How can it be fair for
God to elect one and pass by another? How can it be fair for
God to give life to one and not give life to another? How can
it be fair? What you're doing is coming into
God's presence on the ground of, it's not fair. It's not fair for God to treat
me that way. Your mouth hadn't been stopped. Because when your
mouth is stopped, all objections cease. Whatever God does with
me is right. Now, if you've been made nigh
by the blood of Christ, you've learned that you were made nigh
by the blood of Christ, not by something you've done, not by
something you have helped out with. You've seen the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. And I love this scripture, 2
Corinthians 5, 17. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become. That's the word, same word, made.
All things have been made new. All things have become new. And
you know what that means? Somebody says, well, I'm so different
than I was before God saved me. I don't have the same sinful
appetites. I don't have the same sinful desires. I'm getting holier
and less sinful. No, no, no. Nobody believes that. You might
make that claim before men. You might intimidate them, but
God knows better. God knows better. It's just not talking about how
much better you are. This thing of being made new
means you've been given a new history and it's all good. You've been given a new nature
that you didn't have before. You have a new standing before
God's law. Perfect. If any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Creation, old things have passed
away. Behold, all things. Gum knew. 2 Corinthians 5 21, for he had
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Hebrews 3 14, we are made partakers
of Christ himself. Titus 3 7, being justified by
his grace, we are made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life. Philippians 3.21, he shall change our vile body, our sinful
and dying body, that he may fashion it. That's the word, that he
may fashion it, make it like unto his glorious body, even
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all
things unto himself. We see how this word made is
used in the scriptures. And as glorious as these things
are, there's nothing more glorious than this nearness to God. made nigh by the blood of his
son. Now, how near is the son to the
father? How near is the father to the
son? Well, I know this is incomprehensible. But these two distinct persons
are one God. Here, O Israel, the Lord thy
God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is one God. They're the same. That's how
near the Father is to the Son, That's how near the son is to
the father. Now, however near he is to the
father, that's how near I am to the father. The Lord said
in John 17, I in them and thou in me, that they may be made
one in us. Now, as long as we still commit
sin, as long as we still have unbelief,
it is impossible to feel and enter in to the nearness which
we possess. That's so, isn't it? When you
read Psalm 77, we're reading along, you knew what David or
whoever wrote Psalm 77 meant. When they were saying, are your
mercies clean gone? Have you forgot to be gracious?
Have I been left to myself? He certainly felt no nearness
at all, but that doesn't take away from the reality of that
nearness. And the reason for that nearness,
whether we feel it or not, if we have it, is twofold. In Christ, and the blood of Christ, those
two things. Same thing, they can't be separated.
But here is the nearness every believer possesses in Christ
and the blood of Christ. The elect are eternally united
to Jesus Christ. Now note the word eternally.
That means before they had any existence physically, before
there was a creation, the elect are eternally united to Christ. God said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah
one five before. I formed thee in the belly. I knew that when you were created,
I'd know thee. No, before I formed thee in the
belly, I knew thee. I have always been known by the
Father. by the Son, by the Spirit. Before I had any existence, I
was a person to the Lord and he knew me. This is illustrated by the first
Adam and the second Adam. I've already touched on this.
But you were in the loins of Adam. You have Adam's genes. In Adam, all die. When he ate
of the fruit, you ate of the fruit. When he died, you died. That's what the Bible teaches. In Christ shall all be made alive.
Not all of humanity is in Christ, but all the elect are, were,
and always will be. So that, just as what Adam did,
I did, what Christ did, I did. So that, I'm going to hear these
words. Well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Enter thou in to the joy of thy
Lord. Now, as far as my experience
goes, What I think, nothing I've done has been well done. Nothing. Everything I do is marred by
sin. This sermon is marred by sin. During the preparation of this
sermon, it was marred by sin. The prayers I pray are marred
by sin. The motives I have are marred
by sin. My sin is ever before me. There's nothing of which my hand
has touched of which I could say, well done, well done. Well, that was faithful. But being united to Christ, everything
he did is well done. Everything he did is faithful. Everything I've done in him is
well done. And everything is faithful. And when God says to me, well
done, thou good and faithful servant, it won't be because,
well, I'm just counting what Christ did to him. So real is
this union that everything I've done is well done. and everything
I've done is faithful. It's called justification. You see, the blood of Christ
makes it to where I do not have any sin. There's nothing about
me that could prevent this nearness. Scripture says your sins have
separated you. But if you don't have any sin, there's no separation,
is there? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, hastily not with him, freely
give us all things. There's nothing that can prevent
this nearness because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This demonstrates the power of
his blood made nigh by the blood of Christ. Now here's what I
want to end with. This thing of being made nigh, forget your
feelings for just a moment, if that's possible, which it's not,
I realize that, but this nearness we have, it's because of this. In Christ, made nigh by His blood. That's it. Now, how can I know
if I have been made nigh? I want to know. How can I know
if I'm in Christ? I can't put myself in Christ. There's nothing I can do to make
myself be in Christ. I love that passage of scripture.
Of him are you in Christ Jesus? You can't put yourself in Christ.
You can't make yourself be in Christ. God's got to place you
there. Of him are you in Christ Jesus? How can I know if I've been made
mine by his blood? Question, can you agree with Paul when he said, God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you glory Only in the cross? Not in anything you've done,
but only in the cross. Do you agree with Paul? Do you
enter in with Paul? Remember, he's the man that God
used to expound the gospel. Do you find agreement with Paul
when he said in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 2, I've determined not to know anything among you,
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Do those words resonate with
you? Where really all you want to hear is Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Now, that does not mean that
the only subject you want to hear dealt with is the cross,
although it does mean that too. It does mean if you're hearing
something that's divorced from Christ crucified, it's no good. It's no good. Now. Do I have this nearness? Now, I'm not asking you how near
you feel, but Do you have this nearness? Here's the way you
can answer that question. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the son of the living God? You believe that? Let me remind you, I'm not asking
you if you believe you're saved or if you believe Christ died
for you. I'm not asking if you believe you're one of the elect.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that he is
God's Christ, God's prophet, God's priest, God's king? Do
you have faith in his blood? And that's a scriptural question
being justified freely. through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus through Romans 324, through faith in his blood. Do you believe that the blood
of Jesus Christ is all that's needed to make you clean, holy
before God? If you do, Near, so near to God,
nearer you cannot be. For in the person of his dear
son, you're as near to God as he. Dear, so dear to God, dearer
you cannot be. For in the person of his dear
son, you are as dear to God as he. Made nigh. Now I've purposely not asked
you to turn to all these scriptures because here's one scripture
I want you to turn to. It's found in Hebrews chapter
10 and I want you to read this with me. Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 14. For by one offering,
talking about his death on Calvary 3, he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us. For after that he'd said before,
this is the covenant that I'll make with him after those days,
saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts
and in their minds, will I write them in their sins and iniquities?
Will I remember no more? When God looks at me in glory,
he's not going to think, I remember what he did. I remember what
he was. No, there's no sin to remember.
Now, verse 18, where remission of these is, There is no more
offering for sin. Don't you try to bring an offering
to God. There is no other offering, but
his precious blood. Having therefore, that means
you got it. Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into
the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which
he had consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his
flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us
draw near. You're already near. Let us draw
near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. That means you don't
have anything to feel guilty about. That's what that means. You don't
have anything to feel guilty about. That's why you can draw
near. There's nothing to prevent it.
And our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful to the promise.
and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the
matter of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more
as you see the day approaching. Now in Christ, by his blood,
every believer has immediate and constant access of nearness. Come boldly to the throne of
grace. Let's pray together. Lord, how we give thanks that in Christ And by his precious blood, we're
made nigh. And that there is nothing that
can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus,
our Lord. Lord, we ask that you would enable us to preach your gospel
in this generation. We ask that you would enable
us to boldly proclaim that nearness to yourself is found only in
being in Christ and being made nigh by his precious blood. Lord,
give us the wisdom to preach your gospel to those who don't
know you. Give us the grace to have compassion in doing so. And Lord, how we thank you for
the forgiveness of sins and for the nearness that we actually
possess in our son and in his precious blood. Bless this message
for the Lord's sake. In his name we pray. Amen.