And this, my friend, is the word
that our hearts want to hear. This is encouragement that our
souls need this hour. Verse 13, Exodus 12, And the
blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague
shall not be upon you to destroy you. when I smite the land of
Egypt, this is what I want to hear, that I'm safe in the shepherd's
fold. This is what I want to hear,
that I am in God's hands. This is what I want to hear,
that when the wrath of God, when the overflowing scourge of God's
judgment and wrath falls upon this earth, it won't fall upon
me. He said, My sheep hear My voice,
and they follow Me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. I must have that comfort. He
said, My Father which gave them Me is greater than all, and no
man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. Now His
hand is the place of honor. We so often think of the hand
of God as a place of honor and a place of affection and a place
of power. But my friend, His hand, Christ
is saying in that scripture is a hand of safety. We dwell in
safety. And that's what I must know.
Brother Gary Shepherd was talking to me the other day, pastor over
in Jacksonville, North Carolina. And he said they had a man scheduled
to preach at the church of which he was recently pastor, 64 years
old, a man in full health and vigor and strength. And they
had Sunday school like we did a moment ago, and they came out
and the organist was playing. This pastor was sitting down
on the front row waiting to have his Bible and his notes like
I have this morning. Message all prepared, waiting
to step up, waiting till the song leader finished, and David,
he just dropped over dead. And two nurses in the congregation
came down and tried to minister to him, but his heart exploded. He was in the presence of God.
One moment he's sitting there looking at the Word of God, the
next moment he's standing looking at the face of God. I want to know that there's therefore
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. I want to
know that in him. The time is at hand. All believers
are in his hand. He said here, I'm persuaded,
this is what brings comfort and assurance and confidence, I am
persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities
nor powers nor things present nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me
from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord." And
here in our text, he said to Israel, he said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you. Now, no enemy shall have the
victory over God's children who are in his hand. Now, the darts
of Satan may trouble them, The cold wind of trial may upset
them, misunderstanding and disease, and even the sting of death might
touch them, and their bodies will be laid in the tomb. But
death shall not have the victory. O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God who gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. God's people are
in his hands. And that's the place of honor,
that's the place of acceptance, that's the place of love. But
thank God, I'm human enough to appreciate it's a place of safety. And he said, not even dogs gonna
bark at him. That's what I was reading. That's
the reason I had to go back here to chapter 11, verse 7. He talked about coming through
the land of Egypt and smiting the firstborn of all of the unbelievers. But he said, against the children
of Israel, not even dogs gonna bark. Not even a dog's going
to bite. That's safety now. That's dwelling
in His hands. Now, when this scripture was
written, I tell you, it sends cold chills up and down my back,
and I was sitting there praying, Lord, let me at least partly,
to a degree, let me picture what was going on when this was written.
An angry God was in the streets. We're accustomed to thinking
about God being way off somewhere, sitting on his throne, and most
folks are willing for him to sit there, as long as he doesn't
tamper in their business, as long as he's just passing out
alms and good deeds and kind words, you know, and plenty to
eat and wear and drink. But the angry God, an angry God
was walking in the streets of Egypt that night. A God of judgment,
a God of wrath, a God of condemnation. He said, I, even I, I am, shall
pass through the land of Egypt this night. I'm coming down into
Egypt. Not in mercy, but in judgment.
not in kindness, but in wrath. And I'm going to smite. I'm going
to start with Pharaoh's house, the ruler of Egypt, and then
I'm going to smite all of the firstborn in every home of every
lord and god and lieutenant and captain, and even the maid behind
the mill. And out there on the hillside,
I'm going to smite the firstborn of every house of every barn. Almighty God walks through the
streets with a sword in His hands. He said, at midnight, a cry is
going up from this country such as never has been heard before
and never will be heard again. I'm going to slay, I'm going
to smite, I'm going to pierce you all. I will deal with sin. I will deal with rebels. I will deal with reprobates.
I will deal with those who are not submissive to my will. I
will deal with them. Will God smite everybody? Will
all the firstborn die? The voice comes back and says,
No! When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. I'll pass over you. I'll pass over you. I'm coming
down into Egypt personally. My wrath is filled up. The cup's running over. I've
had all I'm going to take. I'm at the end of my patience
and long-suffering. I'm coming down among you with
my sword bearing my hand, and I'm going to destroy, and I'm
going to kill, and there's going to be a cry go up from this country
like never been heard before. But mercy says, but when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. And my friends, that brings me
to one conclusion. One conclusion. He says over
there that there's a difference in verse 7, that the Lord had
put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. What was
the difference? It's spelled B-L-O-O-D. That's it, Richard. There's a difference, all right.
But it's not that the Egyptians had three legs and the Israelites
had two. It's not that the Egyptians were
a little smarter than the Israelites or the Israelites were smarter
than the Egyptians. It wasn't that the Israelites were a little
moral than some of the Egyptians. It's spelled B-L-O-O-D. The reason God spares any son
of Adam is because the blood maketh atonement for the soul.
That's it. Under the blood of Jesus, I'm
safe in the shepherd's fold. Under the blood of Jesus, I'm
safe while the ages roll. I'm safe though the world may
crumble. I'm safe though the stars grow
dim. I'm safe though an angry God
walks in the streets. I'm safe though God unbears His
mighty arm. I'm safe though God unbears His
sword and plunges it into the heart of every man. I'm safe
for under the blood of Jesus, I'm secure in Him. God spared
Israel that fearful night only because of the blood on that
door. You can take pride in your preaching or teaching or knowledge.
You can take pride in your theology or your exactness in doctrine
or orthodoxy. You can take pride in your Calvinism
or in your Pelagianism or whatever ism you have. You can take pride
in your prophecy or your church authority. You can take pride
in your baptism or your experience or your morality. But I'm telling
you this, what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. The only difference between the
Egyptian and the Israelite is the blood of Jesus Christ. And
the only difference between you and the worst reprobate in hell
is the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the only difference. And
that day when God Almighty shall once again walk through the streets
of our cities, and He will, and that day when God will once again
come down personally to deal in judgment and wrath with those
who tried to throw Him off His throne and crucified His beloved
Son. The only people who are going
to be secure from His sword and secure from His wrath and secure
from His judgment are those who are robed in the righteousness
of Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His precious blood. When
I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood,
Not when I see your seriousness, not when I see your sincerity,
not when I see your morality, not when I see your righteousness,
not when I see your orthodoxy, when I see the blood. No blood,
judgment. Blood, mercy. Someone says, well, after 31
years, pastor of this church, Mahan has no fresh thoughts,
No new revelation. He plays the same string. He
preaches on the same old thing, the blood. Well, I ran across
an illustration this week once again. I'm going to repeat it. I think it bears application
to this particular thought. A man named Judson went to Burma,
and I'm not talking about in the year of air-conditioned trucks
or even covered wagons. I'm talking about before that.
When Burma didn't have a paved street, it was filled with heathens. When Burma was infested with
disease and mosquitoes and jungles and Pirates was a terrible country,
and this man Judson, one of the pioneer missionaries of the faith,
a godly, gracious, powerful man, went down there and endured unheard-of
hardships, lack of support, unheard-of trials in this land of Burma,
and he stayed there preaching the gospel of God's grace for
30 years. And he came back after 30 years
to America. This is a true story. And he
was scheduled to preach to a tremendous, large crowd of people in a certain
city. But he was sitting on the platform.
Here was this weather-beaten old man who had been through
indescribable, unheard-of hardships and trials out yonder in the
jungles. He had some experiences that were almost unbelievable. So after the usual preliminaries,
they introduced him, and he arose, stepped to the pulpit, and spoke
to that large crowd. And with tears, the person telling
the story said, who was there? With tears, he began to tell
how that Christ loved him before the foundation of the world,
and how that Christ set his affection upon him. And how the Lord Jesus
came into this world and was made in the likeness of sinful
flesh and met God's law and obeyed it perfectly as his representative,
as his substitute. And how he went to Pilate's hall
and was persecuted and spit upon. And how that he went to the cross
of Calvary, and there he was stripped naked and hung on that
tree, his vision marred as no other man, suffering, soul suffering,
agony of body. And there he bled and died between
two thieves. Now he was buried and rose again,
and he went on and on talking about the mercy of God in Christ
Jesus, the blood of the Son of God that maketh atonement, that
justifies, that cleanseth us from all sin. And he wept as
he closed that message after about 20 or 25 minutes, and went
over and sat down and wept some more. And on the way to the hotel
that night, he was walking with a young friend who was put in
charge of him, old man Judson, And the young friend was strangely
silent and finally turned to the old man and said to him,
the people were a bit disappointed this evening. Mr. Judson said, and why? Well, he
said, they wondered that you did not talk of something else.
Judson said, well, my friend, what did they want to hear? Well,
they wanted something different, a story perhaps. He replied,
I gave them the most thrilling story that could ever be told.
Oh, but Mr. Judson, they wanted to hear the
adventures of a man who had been 30 years in the bush. And he
stopped him and put his hand on his arm, and this is what
he said, I'm glad, young man, to report that a man from Burma,
after 30 years in the bush, has nothing more exciting, thrilling,
and wonderful to tell than that wonderful story of the redeeming
love and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing greater. There's nothing more thrilling. And when I looked upon those
people tonight, and I remembered in my heart where I shall next
see them, before God's awful throne, how could I appeal to
their curiosity? How could I tickle their ears
with adventures? That's not what my Lord sent
me to do. One day He will say to me, I
gave you a glorious opportunity to address a large crowd of people,
to tell them about me and my love, but you told them about
you and your work. My friends, we preach as those
who must give an account. And I say, if after 30 years
in Burma, Judson could find nothing more exciting, nothing more appropriate
than a message on the blood of Christ, well, I'll just tell
you, I don't believe that this poor preacher can find anything
more exciting or appropriate than a message this morning on
the blood of the Son of God. Would you be free from your burden
of sin? There's power in the blood. Would your evil or victory win?
There's power in the blood. I'll give you four points to
help your memory so you can remember the message. I'm going to talk
this morning briefly about the blood itself, and then I'm going
to talk about the efficacy of that blood, the efficacy. And
then I'm going to talk for a few moments about the one condition
affixed to that promise. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you one condition. And then let's learn a lesson.
First, the blood itself. He said, when I see the blood,
the blood, the blood itself. Whose blood? Now, we preachers
make a mistake sometimes of spending too long talking about Israel
and their Lamb. Let's talk about us and our Lamb.
It's just a type. I notice this about preachers.
I get so aggravated. I know I shouldn't, but I do
anyhow. But they'll spend 45 minutes talking about Paul. Well,
that's fine. But let's talk about present-day
need, present-day people, me and you. Now, Israel's lamb,
the first thing about it, it was a divinely appointed victim.
That's enough said. God told them to select a lamb.
select the lamb, and that they went out and selected the lamb
that God Almighty told them to select. Israel slew a lamb appointed
by God. They didn't pick out a bird or
a horse or an oxen. God sent a lamb. It was divinely
appointed. And what we're saying is this,
our lamb is the Lamb of God, divinely appointed. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. Christ is our
lamb. That's what we're saying. You see, Christ is not unappointed,
He's not self-appointed, He's God-appointed. Israel, God said,
when I see the blood, whose blood? What blood? Any blood? No, sir.
The blood of the divinely appointed Lamb. It can't be just anybody's
blood, it's got to be His blood, the blood of God's appointed
Lamb. You see, even the high priest of Israel, Hebrews 5,
said, no man takes this office upon himself, but he that's chosen
of God. Even so, our Lord Jesus Christ
was not a self-appointed sacrifice, He was a God-appointed sacrifice.
That's the reason I preach the death of the Son of God, the
blood of the Son of God, is because God Almighty appointed Him, ordained
Him, sent Him. You can trust Christ to save
because God personally appointed Him to be the Savior. That's
the man to talk to. That's the one God put His hand
on. That's the one God put His finger on. That's the one God
put His stamp of approval on. That's the one God sent, Jesus
Christ of Nazareth. That's who He is. All right?
Secondly, That lamb's blood must be spotless. He just said, get
one without spot or blemish. Don't get a sick lamb, don't
get one nobody else wants, don't want to get one that's already
dead, nearly dead. Get one in the first year, in
the full vigor of health, without spot or blemish. Meaning by that,
that had there been any sin in Jesus Christ, he couldn't have
saved himself, let alone me. He was without sin. He had no
sin. He knew no sin. Our Lord Jesus
Christ never sinned. He never thought sin. He knew
no sin. He was without sin. He's the
perfect, holy, immaculate, spotless Lamb of God. Alright, thirdly,
our Lamb is none other than God Himself. He's divinely appointed. He's the God-appointed Lamb.
He's the Lamb without blemish or spot, without sin. You know,
back in the Old Testament, when the high priest came into the
Holy of Holies to make an atonement, he was making an atonement for
his sins, too. Not only for the sins of the
people, but his sins. But when Jesus Christ came to this earth,
he knew no sin. He had no sin. He was wounded
for my transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquities,
a chastisement of my peace was laid upon him by his stripes.
I am healed, and this Lamb is none other than God himself."
Listen to some scriptures, and I want you to understand. A preacher
called me yesterday, called me on the phone, and he said, we've
had some people to leave. And he said, of course, I'm sorry
that they've left, but he said they left over the message. About
20 or 25. And he was only preaching to
about 75, anyway. But he said, they've left. He
said, in fact, I was preaching the other day and a lady stood
up in the congregation and started railing on me. He said, I asked
her, somebody beside her said, sit down, you know. But she said,
that's not so. That's not so. And he said, many
have left. But he said, I tell you, at last
they're beginning to understand what I'm saying. And I thought,
yeah, and my dear brother, I believe at last you're beginning to say
it too, so they can understand it. Us preachers are guilty of
that right there. And he said, I met with the men of the church
and I apologized to them. I love this. I think this is
well in order. And he said, I said to the men
of the church, I've held back some things I should have said
to preserve your feelings. And to keep you from growing
angry and to keep people from leaving. But from now on, this
is a free pulpit. Don't you love that? I'd love
to hear him preach now. Whoo! I bet he's wound up. I
bet he's gun loaded. And what I'm saying right here,
I want to say it so you understand what I'm saying. Jesus, Mary's
son, Born from, when she went through travail and that midwife
delivered that baby, cut its navel, tied the cord, washed
it off, swaddled it, put it in that hay, that's God Almighty,
David Atkins, that's what I'm saying. I'm saying that's God
Almighty who created the heavens and the earth, who holds all
the universe in His hand. No, I'm not saying He's a representative
of God or a son of God, though He is, or a messenger. That's God Himself. Is that clear? Is that clear what I'm saying?
I want it perfectly clear. That's God robed in human flesh. That's God, the second person
of the blessed Trinity, God's dear, beloved, only begotten,
well-beloved Son in human flesh. Bill, is that clear? That's what
I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. He for a time limited himself
to a given location. He who is omnipresent was present
in one place. That's exactly what I'm saying.
I'm saying that man in the flesh, flesh and bones, just like you
and me, made in the likeness, not made in sinful flesh, but
the likeness card of sinful flesh. He wasn't sinning. There was
no sin in him. When that boy was standing in the carpenter's
shop with Joseph, his foster father, that's nobody but God
Almighty standing there. He said, I and my father are
one. Thy throne, O God, is forever. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
Son, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
That's what I'm saying. I want that clear here and yonder
and everywhere else. Paul said to the Ephesian elders,
you feed the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood,
God's blood. That's what I'm saying. That's
what I'm saying. God Almighty became a man. Around that bloody tree, angels
stood with strong desire, that amazing sight to see, the Lord
of life expire. That's what I'm saying. All right, the blood was shed
but one time. Now I'm saying this too. I'm
saying that divinely appointed victim is God Almighty Himself.
He is the Lamb, He is the altar, He is the sacrifice, He is the
priest, He's the one to whom the sacrifice is offered. He's
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the
last, He's all things. And that blood was shed but one
time to put away sin. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Now
this thing of the mass is as evil as anything that's ever
been put upon the religious world. The sacrament is evil. There
is no other sacrifice. There's no more sacrifice for
sin. There's no more mass to be said or to be held or to be
done. There's no more sacrifice of Christ. He says in verse 11
of Hebrews 10, Talking about the Old Testament
priests, stood, they never sat down, their work was never finished.
Daily, ministering, offering, oftentimes the same sacrifices
which could never take away sin, blood of animals. But this man,
now you listen, this man, yes he was a man, he's the God-man. After he had offered one sacrifice
for sin forever. How many? One, Danny, one sacrifice. For how long? Forever. Sat down. He's finished. He's not up there
pacing in heaven wondering if it's going to work. He's not
up there walking around pacing in heaven wondering if somebody's
going to give him a chance. He's not up there pacing wondering
if he's going to lose the victory after all. He's sitting seated
on his father's right hand. That's exactly what it said,
having finished the work, he sat down on the right hand of
God, and he's expecting till his enemies be made his footstool,
for by one offering, one offering, he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified. And verse 17 says, "...and their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more." That brings me to the
second main point. Quickly, I'll move faster on
these. But that's the blood itself. But here, secondly, is the efficacy
of that blood. Now turn back to the text. God
says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now, brother,
let me tell you something, and I take this forward to that day
when God moves in judgment upon this earth. That's the day I'm
thinking about. I'm thinking about the day of
reckoning, the day of judgment. It's appointed unto me and wants
to die after that judgment, judgment, judgment, judgment. God said
every secret thing, every idle word, every sin shall be brought
into judgment. The book shall be opened and
every man shall give an account of himself to God. And God's
gonna deal in wrath with sin, judgment. But the Bible says
there's no judgment to them who are in Christ. There's no condemnation. Paul said, who is he that condemneth?
Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? And here's what
God's saying to Israel, I'm coming down into Egypt. I'm coming down. Sword in hand, in anger and wrath,
and I'm going to smite all the land of Egypt. But when I see
the blood, I will, I promise, pass over you. I will pass over
you. Now, I've heard that old song.
Darch and I used to go to church in Birmingham, and there was
a fella that used to sing that song almost every month. I am satisfied with Jesus. Did
you ever hear that? It's so whiny and so pitiful,
but so emotional. I am satisfied with Jesus. That ain't the issue. Do you
want me to tell you what the issue is? The issue is, is God
satisfied with Jesus? Now, that's the issue. Now, wait
a minute. Watch out. Watch it. Hang on. There was
a man who came down here one time, born in a manger. A little
baby. And a bunch of angels said, he's
the Son of God. And he lived and grew up and
picked out some disciples and walked on this earth. And things
he did, Nicodemus himself said, well, he must be the son of God.
No man can do the things he does, except God be with him. He gives
evidence. A lot of people turned thumbs down on him. In fact,
anybody turned thumbs down on him. A bunch of harlots followed
him, a bunch of publicans and a bunch of sinners. That's about
all they had anything to do with. A bunch of fishermen, a bunch
of low-class people, you know, the based and the ignorant and
the unlearned and all that crowd, mobs of them followed him everywhere.
But one day they arrested him out in the garden with his disciples
and brought him in to the high priest. And the high priest examined
him and said he's an imposter. And Herod examined him, said
he's an imposter, and sent him to Pilate. And Pilate got mad
at him, said, well, I got the power to crucify you, let you
go, and he wouldn't defend himself. A bunch of people, reliable people,
said he was an imposter. And they nailed him to a cross.
And there were some strange things took place while he was dying
on that cross. But anyway, they took him down
and put him in the grave, and all is still. His disciples off
up yonder somewhere in an upper room. And brother, three days
passed. And there wasn't a sound from
heaven, and there wasn't a sound from earth, and there wasn't
a sound from hell. Neither heaven nor earth spoke. And neither angels nor men could
tell if the father had accepted what this man said he did. Nobody, nobody knew. The disciples,
nobody. It was quiet. For all practical
purposes, his body's over in that tomb with that rock in front
of the door. And a bunch of Roman guards in front of the door.
Now let me tell you something, it's all hanging right there.
How are we going to know if God accepted our substitute, our
representative, our ransom? How are we going to know if God's
satisfied? Oh, we can go to all the people and get them ready.
Will you accept Jesus? Yeah. Will you satisfy with Jesus?
Yeah. Yeah, but he's in the grave. And one day the Father sent an
angel down here. And that angel came from heaven.
And that angel went over and touched that rock. and rolled
it away. And our Lord had already taken
the napkin and folded it and put it over here. He was just
waiting for the angel. He knew it was all settled, sealed,
signed and delivered. He fixed the napkin, he took
the grave clothes, J.D. folded them, put them somewhere,
and he is waiting for his, waiting to be set free. And when that
angel rolled forth that stone, our Lord Jesus Christ walked
out of that grave. And you know the cry that went
through heaven, earth, and hell. Accepted! The ransom is accepted! The atonement is accepted! I'm saved! That's exactly right. Brother,
that brings me to the one condition. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Now, when you see it, or you
see it, my eye's too dim, I can't see it. But my God saw it. My God saw it. I tell you, the resurrection,
we better preach it. It says everything, the resurrection
does. Paul said that was what they
were persecuted for, preaching the resurrection. He lives. By the power of God,
he lives. What he did is accepted. What
he did, the ransom is paid. And God, the Father, is satisfied. Justice is satisfied. The law is honored. And the Father
brought him up to heaven. And that seat on the right hand
of his majesty on high is reserved for him who is accepted. And the father said, sit my son
till I make you eat him as your footstool. And when he accepted
him, now you just get down there to
the altar and beat it till your hands are black and blue. And
you go on to be baptized, many times you want to, by whoever
you want to, be sure you get the right authority and the right,
all this stuff you know. And you go through all the motions
you want to, get your orthodoxy all fixed up, but when He accepted
him, He accepted me. And that's what it boils down
to. That's what you call where the rubber hits the road. That's
the rock bottom of the whole thing. When I see the blood,
the blood, accepted in the beloved. That's my plea, hope, confidence,
refuge, strength, life, Christ. That's preaching Christ. When I see the blood. Yes, we
preach a conditional salvation. You mean you preach a conditional
salvation? Yes, we preach a conditional
salvation. Well, what's the condition when I see the blood? When I see the blood. That's
the condition. If He ain't never seen it for
you, you're lost. That's it. When I see the blood.
When I see the blood. This thing of salvation, something
took place between the Father and the Son. God saw Him as the
surety in eternity. God saw Him in the types of the
Old Testament and in long-suffering passed by those men, Abraham,
David, rest of them, Noah, Though their Savior's death was in the
future, God saw Him on the tree, God saw Him in the tomb, God
sees His blood today, and I'll tell you this, when we get to
glory, that's going to be our song, too, unto Him who loved
us and washed us from our sins in His own precious blood. Now
here's a lesson learned, and I'm going to read you something
from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon. He said, I
preach to myself today when I preach to you. I often find myself like
this. I've been praying that the Holy
Spirit would abide in my heart and cleanse out every evil thought,
take away every evil passion, and remove every evil desire.
And then I find myself in doubt and fear. And I ask the reason. I've been looking, Lord, to your
Spirit to cleanse me, to sanctify me, to make me whole. And the
answer comes in this way. I've been looking to the Spirit's
work and not to the Savior's work. Listen to this old man. It's
the blood that cleanses, not the Spirit. It's the blood of Christ that
makes atonement, not the law and the Spirit. We must not put even the Spirit's
work where Christ's work must be. We must put nothing as the
basis of our confidence and our hope and our assurance in our
life, except we've been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb,
and we have in Him the forgiveness of sin. The blood of Jesus Christ
God's Son cleanses us from all sin. God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Brethren, I want to promote holiness,
and I want to promote loyalty, and I want to promote godliness,
and I want to promote faithfulness, and I want to promote integrity,
and I want to promote all things. But I'm telling you this, I have
good news for lost people. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses from all sin. And if you by faith, like those
Israelites of old, You can lay hold upon this commandment and
this promise of God. I command you to take the blood
of the Lamb and willingly, lovingly, consciously, intelligently put
it on the doorpost by faith of your heart. Look to Christ alone
and go in there, eat His flesh and drink His blood. Become absorbed
in His being, His person. Come to a living, vital union
with Him. That's what they did when they... See, the lamb was
it. The lamb's blood was on the door and the lamb's strength
was in their bodies. They ate the lamb's body and
they put the blood on the door. And our Lord Jesus Christ, we
eat of Christ, we receive Christ, we're nourished by Christ, we're
brought into a living union with Christ. It flows through every
artery and vein and every cell of my body. Christ, it's Christ
alone. I don't enter into the picture
of redemption at all. In redemption, I'm as passive
as I can be. In redemption, it's all Christ.
And God says, I'm coming through in a slaughter when I see the
blood. But Lord, we preached in your
name when I see the blood. And Lord, we cast out devils
when I see the blood. Lord, we did many wonderful works
when I see the blood. I'll pass over you. I'll pass
over you. That's my only hope, my only
plea. Is it yours? The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Our Father, honor Your Word.
It's Your Word. that begets faith. Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by your word. This is as plain, Father,
as plain as I can make it. This is all we can say and do. It's only by your power that
men believe the word and receive it and trust Christ Jesus and
look to Him. We've talked about death and
judgment and eternity. We've talked about sin and guilt.
And we've talked about inability. And we've talked this morning
about Christ and His precious blood. And it's foolishness to
the world. I know it's foolishness. I know
men of learning and understanding laugh. And the liberal mind says
this is the rantings of a fanatic. This is first century theology.
I know those things. But Lord, it's Your Word. I don't
understand it. I don't claim to understand it,
but I believe it. And it's reasonable to us who've been taught of your
spirit, how your justice must be honored and your law satisfied,
and you must be just and justifier. We see that. It's wisdom to me,
the power of God. But Lord, make it wisdom to somebody
else. Bring some boy or girl, some
man or woman, some person in this building this morning in
a very saving way, in a very true and sincere way to put the
blood on the door. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.
I trust in Christ and Christ alone. Save my soul for His sake. Amen.