Our believers are for a little
while in this world. We're not of this world. Our
Lord said if you were of the world, the world would love you.
But because you're not of the world, you're sojourners. He
calls us over here in verse 1, strangers. Strangers. Strangers to the world. The world
doesn't know you because it didn't know Him. And if you were of
this world, the world would love you, he said, but I have chosen
you out of the world. I've chosen you, called you,
redeemed you, regenerated you, made you different. I've put
a difference between you and the world, and therefore the
world hates you. So we're pilgrims, and we're
journeying through this world, but our home is not here. We're
citizens of another country. Oh yes, we're native whirlings. Somebody says I'm a native American,
or I'm a native of Mexico, meaning that I was born there, I was
born of parents. We have native preachers in Mexico,
they were born there, their parents are there. And I'm a native whirling
by my first birth. a native world. And I'll give
you a description of us over here in Ephesians chapter 2.
We're natives of this world by our first birth. And here's a
description of us in verse 2, chapter 2 of Ephesians. Wherein
in time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, Satan, the
spirit that now worketh, and the children of disobedience,
and did work in us. Among whom also we all had our
citizenship, conversation in time past in the lust of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh. We were children
of flesh, and of the mind, and we were by nature, by birth,
children of wrath, even as others. But God, but God made a difference. You didn't change, He changed
you. But God, who's rich in mercy for His great love, even when,
wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sin, trespasses,
quickened us. We were born again. By our natural
birth, we're native worldies, we're natives of this world.
But by our second birth, our Heavenly Father hath begotten
us unto a spiritual life, and our citizenship is not here anymore,
it's there. And it says of Abraham, turn
to Hebrews chapter 11, and this pertains to us too. In Hebrews chapter 11, God called
Abraham as he called you. He chose Abraham as he chose
you. And in verse 8 of Hebrews 11, by faith, Abraham, when he
was called to go out into a place which he should afterward receive
an inheritance, that's what's taken place in our life. God's
called us to an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, reserved
in heaven, but fadeth not away. Abraham's a picture of every
belief. He obeyed. He went out. He didn't know where
he was going. And by faith, he sojourned through
this world. He sojourned in a land of promise,
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles. And you do too.
You dwell in a tabernacle. I do. This old tent. Dwelling in tabernacles with
Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. But
he looked for a city which hath foundations. This
earth has temporary foundations that'll all be destroyed, but
that city hath foundations, eternal foundations, whose builder and
maker is God. So by nature, by birth, I'm a
native whirling, but by the new birth, born from above, born
of the Spirit of God, born of the Word of God. I'm a citizen
where my Father lives. That's right. I'm a citizen of
glory. So, look at verse 17 again, 1
Peter. If you call Him your Father,
I know a lot of people interpret it this way, if you call on God
for mercy, and I do, We're worded that way too. If you do call
on God, and the only reason you call on God is because He's your
Father. When our Lord taught the disciples to pray, He didn't
just say, Oh God. He said, when you pray, say,
Our Father, Our Father, give us this day our daily bread.
Our Father, lead us not into temptation. Our Father, forgive
us of our iniquities. So, alright, if you call on the
Father, to chart your course and keep your way and all your
steps, you do so with fear and trembling,
reverence and worship. You call on Him, but to me this
is saying if you call Him Father, if He's your Father, if you have
been born of the Father, of the Spirit, if you have a new nature
and a new life, if you're a citizen of that country. If you, like
Abraham, are just passing through, I'm passing through. I'm not
going to drive my stakes too deep. I'm just passing through. And if that's true of you, that
you're not a part of this world of God's enemies, this
world is not a friend of God. This world is God's enemies.
If any man loves the world, the love of God is not in him. It's not in him. So if you're
a citizen of glory and your Father, the Father is your Father, then
you pass this time here in true reverence, in fear of the Lord,
in true worship, believe in Him, trust in Him, look into Him.
For it says here, He's without respect of persons. What does
that mean? Well, this world's not without
respect of persons. The world's impressed with who
a person is. And what the world does for you
depends on who you are. Isn't that right? A whole lot. Now, the world is
a respect of persons. They care who a person is. They
care what a person has. We see that in courts of so-called
justice. If you got money, you can get
out. If you hadn't, you get in. And they shut the door. So the
world respects a person that is and a person that has. Beauty. People worship at the altar of
beauty. Strength. Sports. Education. degrees, influence, office, all
of these things the world puts a lot of stock in. But not the
Father. Thank God, not the Father. God does not consider these things
at all. They do not attract His attention.
They do not win His favor. Rather, they turn it away. But God looks on the heart. He
said over here in Jeremiah 9, listen to it again. You've read
it many times, but read it again. Wouldn't hurt to read it every
day. There is something you can glory in, boast in, rejoice in,
but it's not in anything of you or in you or about you or from
you. He says in Jeremiah 9, 23, Thus
saith the Lord God, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich
man glory in his riches. All these things will fade away.
They're of the world. But let him that glory, glory
in this one thing. He understandeth and knoweth
me. The Son of God hath come and
given us an understanding. We've been born again. He knows
me, that I'm the Lord. I exercise lovingkindness. Judgment
righteousness in this earth and in these things Loving kindness
Judgment and righteousness holiness. I Delight said the Lord. I'm
no respecter What you have are what you do? Respecter of grace in the heart
love in the heart faith in the heart faithfulness Christ in
the heart Look at verse 18, for as much as you know, you know this because you've
been given understanding and knowledge of God. You know that
you were not redeemed with these corruptible things, these worldly
things. You weren't redeemed with these
corruptible things of silver and gold from your vain conversation,
your vain, your useless way of life. That's what they say, a
useless way of life. And any life that's not lived
in Christ is a useless way of life, has a useless end. And
your useless way of religion, he's talking here, he's talking
here, Peter is talking here mainly of Judaism. Of Judaism and all
of the ceremonies and circumcision and Sabbath days and feast days,
and high days, and sacrifices, and all these things. For he
says, now you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers. And you know, I think of the
temple. I think of silver and gold. I think of the temple.
What a magnificent edifice. The temple. Solomon's temple. Read the description of it sometime
in the Word of God, with its furnishings, with its silver
and gold, with its vessels, with all the things it took years
to build. The wealth of the whole world
was brought together there, impressive, magnificent, the temple. Also think of the priesthood.
When I read in Leviticus 16 and other chapters about the high
priest, how he was dressed with the silver and the gold and the
linen and all of these beautiful articles of clothing, everything
meaning something. Dressed so beautifully, gold
and silver. I think of the sacrifices. I think of the tabernacle even
and that veil. with all of its colorful designs. The mercy seat, pure beaten gold. The cherubims overlooking the
mercy seat between which the chicanery of God appeared was
pure gold. Silver and gold dominated the
temple and the tabernacle and the mercy seat and the cherubims
and the art. The high days, the Sabbath days,
the feast days, the sacrifice. Think of the tithes of silver
and gold. Think about millions of Jews through all those days
that brought their tithes, silver and gold, billions, billions
of dollars worth of gold and silver. Think of those tablets of stone. Think of the brazen serpent.
Think of all these things, ceremonies and Sabbath days and feast days
and high days and temples and priests and Sacrifices and ceremonies,
all of these things. Think of it. And then right over
it. What's the word, Tom? Nahushkin.
Last time I heard you preach, you said it's a worthless piece
of brass. As far as redemption's concerned,
you take all of that in Judaism. And you take all that we went
through in our early days of religion, special days, and holy
days, and revivals, and professions, and ties, and offerings, and
sacrifices, and sowing, and all these things, and right over
it, Nebraska, worthless. And Paul the Apostle summed it
up in his life for about 40 years. He gave his life to these things,
and he said, I came down to this conclusion, it's all dung, a
pile of manure. I was preaching on this subject
in Mexico one time and Walter Gerber was translating and I
came to that point there and I said it's all of this religion
and doings and days and dedication and all this is just dung, a
pile of manure. And I stopped while he translated,
and they all laughed. I said, what did you say? He
said, I didn't say manure. And that's what it is. That's what it is. He said, I
said what it is. All your religion, silver and
gold, right over it, done. You weren't redeemed with those
things. But, verse 19, but, watch it, with. But with the precious
blood of Christ. That's how I'm redeemed. That's
how I'm redeemed. That's how you're redeemed. Those people weren't redeemed
by those things in religion today. So wrapped up in deep duties
and doings. They're not redeemed by those
things. I guess the Catholic Church is
the richest organization in the whole world, with its silver
and gold and statues and ceremonies and magnificent temples and cathedrals. Impressive! But let me tell you,
damning if you're trusting it. Damning. We're not redeemed with
those things. Restored. Restored. In Adam, my soul was lost. My soul was lost. In Adam, all
died. Lost! Separated from God. Your
sins have separated you from your God. Lost! Without hope, without help, without
God in this world. But Christ came and restored
my soul. He restored my soul. Second art,
he reconciled me to God. When we were enemies, Christ
died for us. When we were enemies, God had
a charge against us. We were enemies. And Jesus Christ
came and reconciled us to God, made peace through the blood
of his cross. And God said about Abraham, my
friend Abraham, My friend, God, the holy God of heaven and earth
said, Abraham is my friend. And listen, I have the same thing
Abraham had. I'm redeemed. And so God says
of you and me, my friend, we're not enemies anymore. In fact,
the Father ran out to meet us when we came home and kissed
us and said, kill the fatted calf. My son was lost and I was
found. Well, let me be a servant, Father. No, you're not a servant, you're
a son. You've been a lost son, but you're
still a son. What's another word? Righteous. Righteous, as righteous as God. That's what we are. Unblameable,
unreprovable, righteous. He hath made Him, Christ, to
be seen for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. With his spotless garments
on, I'm as righteous as he said. Righteous! That's what it means
to be redeemed. What's another word? Regenerated. Or renewed. What does it say
over here in Titus? Chapter 3. Verse 5, Titus 3, 5, is not by
works of righteousness which we've done. Not by those works,
those religious works. But according to His mercy, He
saved us by the washing of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
We are new creatures. God gives us a new heart, a new
nature, a new family, new direction. I'm not what I'm going to be.
I'm not yet what I ought to be. But thank God I'm not what I
used to be. I'm a new creature in Christ.
Regenerated. Renewed. And here's another word. I'm resting. I'm resting. How can you be a sojourner and
a traveler and rest? Well, turn to Isaiah, chapter
32. Chapter 32, this is an inward
peace. The old man, the outward man,
dying daily, resting and rotting. But the new man is renewed every
day inside. I hear them say, what you see
is what you get. Thank God that's not true of
us. You can't see the real us. The inward man is renewed every
day. And here in Isaiah 32 verse 17, and the work of righteousness
shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness
is quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in
a peaceful habitation and in sure dwellings. and in quiet
resting places. We don't have to make a lot of
noise and carry on, try to prove to anybody we're saved. God's
given us a rest in Christ. We cease from our labor, fretting
and anguish, fret not. Cease from anger. Rest in the
Lord. That's what David said in Psalm
37. Here, one more thing, notice
in verse 18, as much as you know, you're not, this didn't come
to us by works. But with the, verse 19, but with
the precious blood of Christ. The precious blood of Christ.
Not many things in the Bible are called precious, did you
know that? Not many. He's precious. The scripture
says to you that believe, he's precious. Gets more precious
every day, too, doesn't it? The scripture says that His promises
are precious, that yes and amen in Christ. All of them are in
Christ, and they're precious. Our faith is precious. God gave
it to us. It's of the Lord. It's mighty
precious. If you have faith, you don't need anything else.
That's right. Precious faith. And then, the
death of the believer is precious. But here's the precious thing,
too. Precious blood. Precious blood. John Kent wrote in 1841, Precious
is the name of Jesus. Who can have its worth unfolds. are beyond angelic praises, sweetly
sung to harps of gold. Precious when to Calvary groaning
he suffered on that cruel tree. Precious when his death atoning
made an end of sin for me. Precious when the awful scourges
made those sacred drops to roll. Precious when God's wrath was
surging and overwhelming his holy soul. Oh, precious blood. Precious blood beyond expressing
all the beauty, all divine. Lord, glory, honor, power, and
praises be forever Thine. Precious blood. I tried to think
of some reasons why the The blood of Christ is so precious. I'll
give you some of them. Well, it's precious because it's
the blood of God. It's the blood of God. He said,
with his own blood he entered into the holy place. Not made
with hands, but into heaven with his own blood. Secondly, his blood is precious
because it's the blood of God's Lamb. There have been thousands
of lambs on Jewish sacrifices or altar sacrifices. This is
God's Lamb. This is the only Lamb. This is
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. This is the Lamb
that made the heart of Abraham jump with joy. When his son says,
Father, here's the wood, here's the fire, where's the lamb? My
son. Oh, and these words have echoed
down through the centuries. My son and God will provide himself,
himself a lamb. That's why his blood's precious,
God's lamb. And then it says here in verse
19, with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish,
without spot. His blood is precious because
it has no sin. It's the only thing in the entire
universe. I thought about this when I wrote
this down, but I'm going to stand right with it. This is the only
thing in this whole universe, heaven and earth, that is without
spot, His blood. Because God's going to destroy
the heavens and destroy the earth, make a new heaven, new earth.
But His blood is pure and holy without blemish and without spot.
That's precious. And then it's precious because
of its antiquity before the foundations of the world. Before the mountains
were created, where in that calendar, he said in Proverbs 8, I was
with him? How many years ago, I don't even
know. How many light years ago. But
the Savior, the only Savior, the Lamb of God, and his precious
blood, is forever and ever. Dear dying
Lamb, thy precious blood. will never lose its power till
every and all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. But listen, why is it precious? Let's read verse 19 and 20, listen.
You are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without
spot or blemish, without spot, without blemish, who barely was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but manifested
in these last times For you, that's why it's suppression.
That's another reason. For us, who by Him do believe
in God. Oh, the Lord's the great shepherd. That's wonderful. But I tell
you what makes it more wonderful, He's my shepherd. My shepherd. He's the chief shepherd,
I know. And he's the good shepherd, I
know. But here is that in which I delight above all things, even
my shepherd. And this blood, this blood was
foreordained, preacher. This blood was everlasting. This blood is effectual. This blood is manifested. This
blood was shed. That's wonderful. Wonderful. But I'll tell you what makes
my heart leap. It was shed for me. For me. for you, who by Him, it's all
by Him and because of Him and through Him. By Him I believe
in God. I wouldn't, Lord God, before
your congregation of people and before you, I would not take
one iota, one atom of the credit or glory or praise for what we
have and what we are and what we hope to be. It's by Him. You've got to believe, preacher.
I know that. Bless your heart, I preach that. But it's by Him
I believe. You've got to trust Him. I know
that. And I do. By His grace, I trust Him. By
Him. You've got to come to Him. Bless
your heart, I'm still coming. But it's by Him. It's by Him. And when we stand in His presence
before the glorious throne of God, we're going to say, unto
Him who loved me. Unto Him be all the glory. He washed me from my sins in
His own precious blood. It's by Him peace was made. It's
by Him I come to the Father. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. It's by Him I have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. It's by Him I'm accepted. It's
by Him that I'll be glorified. And the glory which You gave
me, I gave them. That's the gospel. Back in 1948, I was 22 years
old. I was pastor of a church in Chattanooga
and going to school. And we were having school promotion nights in different
churches around the area. And I was leading the singing. The president of the school was
doing the preaching. I was leading the singing. And
I'd take the quartets and the students to the different meetings
to promote the school. And one night, one stormy winter
night, I was driving a big, long Packard I bought here at Ashland.
First time I was here in 1947, I bought that Packard for $650. It was about 40 feet long, I
think. Longest car I've ever seen. Straight
eight Packard, 1935 Packard. It was like a tank. It had fenders
on it an eighth of an inch thick. Well, I was coming back with
a carload of young people from that service in Chattanooga.
It was raining. And I didn't see a stop sign.
And I went right through it. And there was another car coming
this way, an old-timey Ford, I guess Model A or something
like that. And that Sherman tank packer hit that Ford and rolled
it. And it was full of young people.
And the police came and the ambulance came, and some of them were hurt.
And they wrote me up. And I was told to be in court
on a certain day, and I knew my goose was cooked. And I called my dad, remember
I was 22 then, you know, I called my dad and I said, I've got a
date with a judge, a certain date, I wish you'd come up. I
may be going to jail or I may be heavily fined or something
because it's all my fault, I'm guilty. Guilty, I've demolished
a car and hurt some people. So the day of the trial came
and my father came up and we went to court. A big courtroom
in Chattanooga, downtown courthouse. And my dad and I was sitting
over here on the right, a lot of people there, a lot of other
criminals. And I was a criminal, no question
about it. A lot of other criminals, me and the rest of the criminals.
And they started calling him up one at a time. Boy, he started
throwing the book at them too. And that went on for, I don't
know how long, seemed like a long time, until all of them were
gone but my dad and I sitting over here. Nobody called the
policeman, the court recorder, and the judge. He looked over
there and said, what can I do for you? And I told him, I said, I have a
summons to appear in court today. I had a traffic accident, some
people were hurt, it's my fault. I'm guilty. I was told to be
here. He turned to whoever was in charge
there. He said, is that on the book?
They started thumbing through it. I can't find any record of
it. There's a policeman standing
there. He said, you fellas writing tickets that day? He said, yes,
sir. And there's no record of this wreck, no record of this
accident, no record of this man's offense? No record. Well, he
said, you can go home. Boy, I didn't touch the ground.
I got out quick, too. I didn't hang around and argue
with him. We got out of there. That's a
true story. And I can't explain to you, I
do not know what happened to the records of my guilt and why
I wasn't held accountable. But I do know what happened to
the records of my guilt against God. My Lord took him to Calvary. And in my name, he paid the debt. Satisfied justice, honored the
law, fulfilled everything God required. And I'm coming to the
judgment someday, supported unto men to die. And after that judgment,
and we're coming. You're not going to bypass it.
Every man is going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
But when the records open, They're not going to find one thing under
my name. And that's what happened there.
I saw it happen in Chattanooga. And I'm going to see it happen
up there. And I don't know who took care of that, but I do know
who took care of this. I do know. That's what we're
talking about tonight. It's by His stripes that I'm
healed. It's by His blood that I'm cleansed. It's by His life
that I'm righteous. It's by His mercy that I'm not
going to hell. That's the gospel. Turn to 1
Corinthians chapter 11, and I'll use the words of Paul
here. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, I say to you, I have received
of the Lord that which I deliver unto you tonight, that my Lord
Jesus Christ, the same night in which he was betrayed, he
took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it, and he said,
take eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you, this do in remembrance of me. And after the same manner
also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup
is a new covenant in my blood, this do ye, as often as you drink
it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he comes.