I'm taking the title for the
message today from the words found in verse 28. Acts 20, 28. The title of the message is,
The Church Bought With His Own Blood. The church, talking about
God's sheep, his elect, his covenant children. The church there is
those who have been called out of darkness into God's marvelous
light. The church of God, which he bought, that is the Lord Jesus
Christ, bought us. He bought us. We're his. And
he paid a great, great price. His own blood. He gave His life
to redeem us. To redeem us. We read in Ephesians
chapter 5, when Paul writes his letter to the church at Ephesus,
he said Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might present it to the Father, holy and unblameable in his sight."
We would know nothing of the great price of our redemption
had the Lord not told us about his redeeming work in the Word
of God. How he obtained for us eternal
redemption and he did it with his own blood, not with the blood
of bulls and goats. But with his own blood, he entered
at once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ, not with silver and gold, not with tradition
and ceremony. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. You remember from our study in
1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 20, where he says, you are bought
with a price. oh what a price you are bought
with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit which are his you see he bought us he chose us he bought
us he called us but when Peter talks about God's people he said
you're a chosen generation you are royal priesthood you're a
purchased people Therefore we should show forth the praises
unto him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous,
marvelous light. Now in Acts chapter 20 verse
22 down through verse 28 Paul is preaching his last message
to those elders at Ephesus and he says to them that they will
never see his face again. This is his last message. Now I thought about that to me
personally. If I knew this was my last message,
that I would never see your face again, what would my message
be? It would be exactly the same
as the Apostle Paul telling how the Lord Jesus Christ bought
us with his own blood. How he chose us, loved us, and
bought us. with his own blood. Paul was
determined to finish the race he'd begun, to finish the course
with joy, as it says right there in verse 24. He said, I go bound
in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing what's going to happen
to me. The Holy Ghost has let it be
known that bonds and afflictions wait for me. Verse 24, but none
of these things move me. Paul wasn't afraid of trouble
and affliction. Neither do I count my life dear,
he spent his life preaching the gospel, so that I might finish
my race, finish my course, and do it with joy, do it with joy,
rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of the
grace of God. The Apostle Paul was fully committed,
totally sold out, to preaching the gospel of the grace of God.
Now, where did he get this ministry? He said, the ministry which I
have received of the Lord. Where did he get this ministry?
We know who Paul the Apostle was before he was converted.
He was Saul of Tarsus. But God saved him by his marvelous
grace and put him in the ministry, gave him this message concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. If you'll turn with
me, if you can read with me if you want to, 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Where did he receive this ministry? He said, the ministry
which I have received. Where did he receive it? From
who did he receive it? Not from the Pharisees, but from
the Lord Himself. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 3, For
I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture,
that he was buried, that he rose again the third day according
to the Scripture. So this is what he received of
the Lord now turn just a few pages over 2nd Corinthians and
then find the book of Galatians Galatians chapter 1 He says in verse 11 I certify
you brethren that the gospel which was preached of me was
not after man For I didn't receive it of man, neither was I taught
it by a man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you heard
about my conduct, my conversation in time past, in the Jews' religion,
how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, I wasted it,
you remember Saul of Tarsus, he hated the gospel till he met
the Lord, and he profited in the Jews' religion above many
his equals in my own nation, being exceeding zealous of the
tradition of my fathers, But when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood." So where did Paul receive
this ministry? Not from man, it was a ministry
God gave him that he received of the Lord and the message he
received of the Lord Jesus Christ was to testify. You see verse
24, the last part? To testify or to preach the gospel
of the grace of God. The gospel of the grace of God. Paul said, we preach not ourselves,
but the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what do we mean when we
say that we preach the gospel of the grace of God? The gospel
of the grace of God. What do we mean when we say that
salvation is all of grace and grace alone? We declare that
all of our salvation, that is the salvation of a sinner, is
owing to the free and sovereign grace of God alone given to us
in Christ before the foundation of the world. That's what we
mean when we say that God saved sinners by His grace, not by
any deed to the law, not by any work to the flesh. By the grace
of God I am what I am. We mean when we say that salvation
is all of grace, we mean the same as what Peter said in Acts
15 verse 11. We believe through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. We mean that the whole
of the work of our salvation from first to last From God's
electing love in eternity, election in eternity past, to our future
glorification in eternity future is all of the grace of God alone. All of God, all of grace, the
free and sovereign grace of God alone. Therefore we rightly conclude
that man has no part in the accomplishment of salvation in any aspect. All of God, all of grace. Let's see if we can read that
in the Word of God. Romans chapter 9. We could read
many places, but let's read Romans chapter 9, verse 11. It says,
For the children, being not yet born, Jacob and Esau, neither
having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according
to election, might stand. Not of works, but of him that
calleth. Romans 9, 12, it was said to her, the elder shall
serve the younger, as is written, Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, it's not of him that runneth, but of God that shows
mercy. So we see from the reading of
Scripture that salvation is all of God's grace. One preacher
of the past said this. We are saved by grace, free grace,
rich grace, sovereign grace, distinguishing grace, without
one atom of works, without one grain of creature merit, without
anything of the flesh. We make no contribution. Sweet
grace, blessed grace, oh, what help, what strength, what a rest
for poor sinful, guilty creatures to find that the grace of God
has done all the work, to know that grace has triumphed at the
cross, to find that there's nothing required, nothing needed, nothing
is to be done for the Lord Jesus Christ said, it is finished. That's the grace of God. That's
what Paul is saying there. We testify, we've received this
ministry of the Lord. This is his message. to testify
of the gospel of the grace of God. Sovereign grace is the only
grace that's revealed in the Word of God. Now, we can look
at several things in this one aspect of grace. Election is
all of grace. There's a remnant according to
the election of grace, Romans 11, five and six. Justification,
our justification before God is a justification that's all
of the grace of God. Now I quote this scripture every
time I bring a message, Romans 3, 24, being justified freely
by his grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So our election is all of grace, our justification's all of grace,
the effectual calling of God is all of grace. Remember what
we read in Galatians chapter one, would it please God to reveal
his son unto me by his grace, he called me by his grace, And
then when Paul writes from prison to young Timothy, he reminds
him that it's God who saved us and called us, not according
to our work, but according to his own purpose and grace given
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. So our elections
of grace is all of grace. Our justifications all of grace.
Our effectual call is all of grace. Believing the gospel is,
how do we believe the gospel? By the grace of God. For faith,
it is a faith that it might be by grace that the promise might
be sure to all to see. We had that on the radio this
morning. Regeneration is by the grace of God. Regeneration is
by the grace of God alone. It's not of works, not of works,
but according to his mercy, he saved us by the regenerating
work and the grace of God given to us in Christ Jesus. And our
hope of salvation, What is our hope of salvation? Our hope of
salvation is Christ, Christ alone. Our hope of salvation, in Him
we have an everlasting consolation, a good hope through the grace
of God. You got that point? Salvation. Paul said, I receive this of
the Lord. This is not something, some invention
of men or of a religious body. We receive this of the Lord Jesus
to testify of the grace of God. That's our message, the grace
of God. All aspects of saving grace and
sovereign mercy come from the God of all grace. He's called
the God of all grace. Salvation is always determined. dependent, accomplished, appointed,
and applied by the sovereign grace of God alone. Preacher,
are you harping on that? Yeah? It needs to be harped on. For by grace are you saved through
faith and not that not of yourself. It is a gift of God. Now look
at Acts chapter 20 verse 25. And now behold, I know that you
all among whom I've gone preaching The kingdom of God, you see that? The kingdom of God shall see
my face no more. So Paul not only testified of
the gospel of the grace of God, but he also went preaching the
kingdom of God. You see that? The kingdom of
God. Paul was a preacher of the kingdom
of God, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you remember how
we started? Turn back to Acts chapter one.
Acts chapter one. Look at verse three, Acts chapter
one, verse three. To whom also he showed himself
alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen
of them 40 days and speaking of things pertaining to the,
what is that? The kingdom of God. So our Lord
Jesus Christ came preaching the kingdom of God. Peter set forth
the kingdom and lordship of Christ there at Pentecost. Turn to Acts
chapter 8. You remember Philip, the chosen
deacon who went preaching in Samaria? In Acts chapter 8 verse
5, then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached
Christ unto them. Look down to verse 12, Acts 8
verse 12, but when they believed Philip, preaching the things
concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,
they were baptized both men and women. So we go preaching the
grace of God and we go preaching the kingdom of God. The apostle
Paul did this. Let's find Acts chapter 19 verse
8. Acts 19 verse 8. You remember, he went into the
synagogue and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing
and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. Now, turn
over to Acts chapter 28, when the apostle Paul speaks his last
words from prison, before his head is removed from his body
for preaching the gospel. He said this in Acts 28 verse
23, And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to
him into his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the
kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus both out of
the law of Moses and out of the prophets, From morning till evening,
some believe the things which are spoken, and some believe
not. So Paul was always about preaching
the grace of God, setting forth the kingdom of God. Now, I tried to tell you what
it means when we say that salvation is by the grace of God. What
does it mean when we say that we preach concerning the kingdom
of God? We set forth in our preaching
the King in his spiritual kingdom that is the Lord Jesus Christ
who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is none other than
God our Savior. Now if you have a kingdom and
we're told to preach the kingdom of God, what do you talk about? You talk about the King. You
talk about who the King is. In this spiritual kingdom, the
Lord Jesus Christ is King. He's none other than God, our
Savior. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's God. God manifests in the flesh. Without
controversy, greatness and mystery of godliness, God was manifest
in the flesh. What a mystery. What a great
truth. We set forth Him, as the King,
we set forth His absolute, sovereign Lordship over all things. What did Peter preach at Pentecost?
This same Jesus, whom you crucify, He's both Lord and Christ. He's not Lord and He's not King
by a democratic process. We didn't vote, no one voted.
If not the devil voted and God voted, then we cast a deciding
vote. That's not what He's talking about. when he's talking about
the Lordship of Christ. He's king by God's decree. God appointed him as the king
of kings and Lord of lords. And as such, he is king and Lord
in creation, created all things by the word of his power. He
is Lord and king by providence. What do we mean by providence?
The things that come to pass in time do so because God from
beginning had decreed and ordained all things, known unto God are
all His works from the beginning. For of Him, and through Him,
and to Him are all things, to whom be glory both now and forever."
So He is Lord. We preach His Lordship. Lord
in creation, Lord in providence. What's that third one we always
say? He's Lord in salvation, isn't He? We read it just a moment
ago, he'll have mercy on whom he will, he will harden whom
he will. So he's Lord in salvation. The Lord prayed in John 17, Father,
you've given me power over all flesh, that I should give eternal
life to as many as thou has given to me. Back to Acts chapter 20, look
at verse 26, wherefore, That being so, I testified of the
gospel of the grace of God. I went preaching the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Lordship. Wherefore, I take you
to record this day, I am pure from the blood of all men." He
said, you can't charge me with not telling you the truth. He
said, I kept back nothing profitable unto you. I've not shunned to
declare unto you all the counsel of God. What is all the counsel
of God? All the counsel of God in saving
sinners is Jesus Christ crucified. That's all the counsel of God.
That's why Paul said, I'm determined not to know anything among you
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there's no other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. I've not shunned to declare unto
you all the counsel of God. All the counsel of God is Christ.
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. Do you remember? You have taken by wicked hands,
have crucified and slain the Lord of glory. Acts chapter 2
verse 23. So I've not shunned to declare
unto you. It doesn't say the whole counsel
of God. No man knows the whole counsel
of God, but in the matter of how God saves sinners, all the
counsel of God is Christ, crucified. That's God's purpose and grace
in Christ. Therefore, verse 28, take heed,
take heed, therefore unto yourselves, pay attention, unto all the flock,
the flock, believers, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you
to be the overseer, the pastor of the church, to feed them,
to feed the church, to feed the church of God. It's the church
of God which he purchased. He purchased with his own blood. Now, Paul gives his last words
of instruction unto these dear, dear believers, these elders
from Ephesus, but it's also relative and important to us right now. We need to take heed to the ministry
that God has given to us. You remember what we studied
in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 1, saying that we have this ministry? Every believer is in the ministry. We all serve God's purpose by
serving the Lord's people. Seeing that God the Holy Spirit
has given to us this ministry, take heed. Let us take special
care and concern what God has entrusted to us. Take heed to
yourself and to the doctrine in which you preach, Paul wrote
to Timothy, for in doing so you'll save yourself and those to whom
you preach. So take heed, brethren. Pay attention. We have such a blessed, blessed
gospel the Lord has given to us to preach. Let us make sure
that we do so. Let us do so that we feed this
church. What do we feed them with? The
Word of Truth, the Word of God. We watch over the Lord's sheep
and care for them by feeding them a constant diet of the Word
of the Lord. You remember what Peter said
to the risen Lord when he met Peter and those other men after
the Lord had risen from the dead and been with them 40 days? And
Peter said to those men, we're going fishing. Some think that
they quit the ministry and went back to fishing their nets and
their boats. Peter and John and the rest of
them were fishermen. And the risen Lord came to Peter
and those men fishing. And he said to Peter, Peter,
do you love me? He said, yes, Lord. Well, what are you doing out
here fishing? Feed my sheep. And then the Lord
asked him again, Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord. Feed my lambs. And then he said
the third time, Peter, do you, Peter, do you really love me?
And he was grieved by this time, Peter was, because the Lord had
asked him three times. He said, Lord, you know all things.
You know that I love you. And what he said, feed my sheep. So we feed the sheep the word
of truth, the word of God, the word of truth. Sheep like sheep
food. Goats, they tell me, I've never
raised any goats, but I've been around some sheep, and sheep
like grass. Sheep like sheep food. They tell
me goats will eat anything. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal
life. We feed God's sheep the word of truth. The Lord Jesus
Christ, he's the bread of life. The Lord Jesus Christ, his word
is the sincere milk of the word. We have milk and bread, Christ
and him crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's our
drink. Bread and water and milk. Christ is the living water. Our
Lord said, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.
Oh, everyone that is thirsty, he said, come unto me. So we
feed the church of God. It's this church that's of God. It's not of man. It's the church
that called out the elect of God. It's saying that salvation
is of the Lord. The church is of God. He chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. And it's the church
that he purchased with his own blood. With his own blood. The Lord's church, his elect,
were bought with a very high, special, precious, the Lord calls
His blood precious. He redeemed us with His precious
blood. We learn from this verse, and
I'll give you this in closing. We learn three important facts
about the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Found in the last
part of verse 28. Three important facts that we
know about the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. He earned
his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and gave
himself for us. First of all, we see who the
Lord Jesus Christ died for. Feed the church of God which
he purchased. It doesn't say that he died for
all the sins of all men everywhere. That's not so. The Lord Jesus
Christ bought his church, his bride, the elect. He said, I
lay down my life for the sheep. Call his name Jesus. He shall
save his people from their sin. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. So we see the Lord Jesus Christ
died for his elect, the church of God. those that He chose in
eternity and called by His grace. His people, call His name Jesus,
He shall save His people from their sin. The Lord laid down
His life for the sheep, for the transgression of My people was
He stricken. We preach a definite particular
redemption that's effectual, the Lord calling out His elect
because He died for them that He chose in eternity. Secondly,
we see who died for us. Who died for us? Well, Jesus
of Nazareth. Right? But who is this man? It says here that the church
of God which he purchased. You see, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ is not just the blood of a man. It is the blood
of a man who is a God-man mediator. He's both God and man in one
person. God bought the church with His
own blood. The Lord Jesus Christ is truly
man, or He could not die, but He's also fully God, or He could
not satisfy. He's a God-man mediator. He's God our Savior. If Christ
had not been fully man, He could not have any blood to shed, had
he not been God, the blood he shed could not have been sufficient
price for our redemption. You see what I'm saying there?
It's just not that someone died. What gives the power and weight
to his blood is that he is God. He's the Lamb of God that takes
away our sin. And He did so effectually, so
much so, that He obtained for us. He did it all. He obtained for us eternal redemption.
And the third thing we see, what He accomplished. He bought us. He bought us. We're His property. We're no more our own, we're
bought with the price of His blood. He redeemed us, not with
the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own blood. He bought
us. Lock, stock, and barrel. And
the Lord's gonna have what He bought. You ladies don't go to
Walmart, buy your groceries, and just leave them there, do
you? You buy them, pay for them, and what do you do? Take them
home, and you eat them. You enjoy them. That's exactly
what the Lord did with his church. He chose us, he bought us, and
he's going to take us home to glory and enjoy us forever. Deliver them from going down
to the pit, the Lord said, I found a ransom. Since the Lord paid
our debt in full, double for all our sin, we're set free,
we're set at liberty to serve our blessed Savior. You remember
from our study in the book of Luke, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon thee, Because he has anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor, he sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captive, the recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. Luke 4, verse 18. He's gonna set us free because
He paid our sin debt. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the blood of Himself, the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all our sin. God help
us to honor, worship Him who paid such a great price to redeem
us. You think what He paid? To redeem
such, someone said, the Lord Jesus Christ died for the un-people. Huh? He died for the ungodly. He died for those who were unjust. He died for those who were unworthy.
He died for those who were unlovely. You see what I'm saying? When
we were yet without strength and due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. That's all of us by nature, unworthy,
ungodly, unjust. He suffered once the just for
the unjust that he might bring us unto God. Are you part of
that ungodly bunch? I am. This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. I'm the chief one. Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain. They sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof, for
Thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood. Amen. Help of God, help us to worship
the true and living God.