The scripture says our God is
eternally, infinitely, immaculately, perfectly holy. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord and
His glory filled the temple. And the heavenly creatures cried,
holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Man is dead. in trespasses and sin, man is
depraved and totally without holiness. Brother Bill read a
moment ago that all flesh is as the grass and the glory of
man as the flower of the field. The grass withereth and the flower
fadeth. God is an eternal spirit and
man is flesh. God is light. A light under which
no man can approach. And man loves darkness. He loves
it. He delights in it. God is truth. I am the truth, Christ said.
All men are liars. God is good. There's none good
but God, Christ said. And yet the scripture says of
me, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. God is righteous. Righteousness is his name. The
Lord, our righteousness. And my righteousnesses are filthy
rags. God will not clear the guilty.
He said he will by no means clear the guilty. And the scriptures
have pronounced me guilty. What the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world become guilty. guilty before God. Now God is
not going to change. He's infinitely holy. He is truth. He is light. He is righteousness. He is good. He's not going to
change. I'm not going to change. The
leper cannot change his spots by willing or wishing. And the
Ethiopian cannot change his skin, said the prophet Jeremiah. And
neither can I, who am accustomed by birth and by nature to doing
evil, neither can I do good. Now in order for this man in
his darkness and deadness and depravity, in order for this
man in his corruption and evil, in order for this man to be just
with God, to approach unto God, to have fellowship with God,
That man's going to have to have that spiritual life which he
lost in Adam restored. He's going to have to have it
restored. He's going to have to become by some miracle what
he is not. He's going to have to become
by some miracle what he is not and cannot be by his own will
and by his own desires. He's going to have to be translated
from a kingdom of darkness utter darkness to the kingdom of absolute
light, the kingdom of God's dear Son. In order for that man to
be just before God, to be accepted of God, to have any fellowship
with God, he's going to have to know and love the truth which
he does not know and which he hates. That's a miracle. He's going to have to have in
God's sight a perfect holiness without which no man can see
the Lord. He's going to have to have a
goodness. God is going to have to look upon him and pronounce
him good. Not pretty good, not nearly good,
but good. Good as God. He's going to have
to have that guilt taken away and before the holy law of God,
the strict perfect law of God, he's going to have to be pronounced
justified. Now you think about that. And
Nicodemus exclaimed, how can these things be? How can these things be? Do I
go back into my mother's womb and start over? No, the Lord
said if you did, you'd still be flesh. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh. Turn to Job chapter 9. And Job
asked that. How can these things be? In Job,
first of all, in verse 8, one of Job's friends says, verse
20, Job 8, 20, the Lord will not cast away a perfect man.
You see that? Job 8, 20, the Lord will not
cast away a perfect man. Neither will he help the evildoers.
till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.
They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, and the dwelling
place of the wicked shall come to naught." And Job answered
and said, verse 2, Job 9, I know that's so, but how can a man
be just with God? God will not cast away a perfect
man. God will not bring his judgment upon a righteous man. And Job
asked this question, but how can a man be just with God? How can a man be righteous before
God? Turn to Job 25. Here it is again. His friend Bildad asked the question
again. In verse 4 of Job 25, how then
can man be justified before God or with God? How can he be clean
that's born of a woman? While behold, even to the moon
it shineth not, the stars are not pure in God's sight, how
much less man that is a worm, a worm, and the son of man which
is a worm. Now men have come forth with
many answers. This is the riddle of all ages.
This is the burning question. This is what this is all about.
This is what this is all about. How can man be just with God?
How can God be just and justify the ungodly? That's what this
is all about. How can I approach God? How can
I call Him Father? How can I be accepted in His
sight? How can I be redeemed? How can I become righteous? How
can I become whole? And men have come up with many
answers to this riddle. Some have turned to the sacrifices
and the ceremonies. And yet our Lord says plainly
in Hebrews 10, 4, it's not possible. for the blood of bulls and of
goats and of heifers should take away our sin. It's not possible. The old Jews turned to their
sacrifices. Modern day religionists turn
to their sacraments and to their ceremonies all the time. God's saying it's not possible.
It's not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away
sins. Not possible. And some have turned
to Sinai and the law. Even Israel turned away from
Sinai when God gave the law. When God gave the holy law, those
people ran. They said, Moses, get between
us and God. Don't let God speak to us lest
we die. But today we're turning to the
law. Thou shalt and thou shalt not. Do this and you'll go to
heaven. Don't do it and you'll go to
hell. All the time God is saying, all the time, by the deeds of
the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. He says it over
and over again, over and over again through the mouths of every
one of his apostles, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified in God's sight. We put men under it, we even
put the church under it, we even put redeemed people under that
law. You who would be under the law, don't you hear the law? And then some have turned to
their works of charity and their works of love. All the time God
is saying, not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according
to his mercy hath he saved us, not by works of righteousness.
By the works of the flesh no soul shall be justified in God's
sight. He keeps saying that. When I've done everything God
requires, I'm still to say I'm an unprofitable servant. And then some have turned to
their religious heritage. But I'm a Baptist, and my father
was a Baptist, and his father was a Baptist, and we go all
the way back as far as Baptists go. Paul did that. He said, I was born a Jew. I
had a Hebrew mom and a Hebrew daddy. All the time the Lord
is saying he's not a Jew, which is one outwardly. He's not a
Jew, which is one outwardly. Circumcision is not outward in
the flesh, it's in the heart. A man's outward heritage and
deeds do not make him a Christian. Some have turned to their ministry
and to their service and they hold on to it even to the judgment,
and at the judgment they challenge the Lord himself. We preached
in your name. Think of that, a man's claim
to glory is the fact he preached in the name of Christ. And Lord,
we did many wonderful works in your name. And Lord, we cast
out demons in your name. This is our claim to glory. This
is our claim to acceptance. This is our claim to life. We
did these things. And then some have turned to
the church. All the time, he's showing us example after example.
Judas held, as far as I know, the only office in the apostolic
church. He was the treasurer. the early
church, the 12 apostles. I think he was the only officer.
And then Demas, companion of the apostle Paul, Diotrephes,
Alexander, all of these other religionists. God keeps reminding
us with these examples. It's not by sacrifice or ceremony
or ritual of religion. It's not by Sinai in its law.
It's not by works of charity of love. It's not by religious
heritage. It's not by ministerial service. No, is it by affiliation with
the church? How can man be just with God? That's the question.
How can he be clean that's born of a woman? Is there a way? Is there a way? Is there a ransom?
Is there a redeemer? Will God indeed receive a sinner? Can God Almighty be true to His
holy attributes and at the same time pardon guilty sinners? That's
the question. And if you can come to understand
it and embrace it and receive God's way, you can be redeemed. And if you can come to the understanding
of that question, then you can be Theologian you can be a preacher
the gospel. You don't have any gospel to
preach till you learn that though turn to 1st Peter chapter 1 1st
Peter chapter 1 verse 18 For as much as you know That you
were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
from your vain Conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but here's the way men are redeemed Here's the way men are holy in
God's sight. Here's the way men are saved
and justified. But with the precious blood of
Christ. With the precious blood of Christ.
As of a lamb without blemish and without step. How can a man
be just with God? By the blood of Christ. How can
a man be redeemed? By the blood of Christ. How can
a man be made holy? By the blood of Christ. By the
precious blood of Christ. I want to conduct you step-by-step
tonight through the application of the blood of Christ. I have
nine things to say about the blood of Christ and its effect
upon the heart of men and its justification before the living
God. Now here I'll try to be brief
with each one of them, but there are nine facts about the blood
of Christ which I want to present to you this evening. First of
all, the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord is the blood of Atonement. It's the blood of atonement.
Listen to the scripture. It is the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. It says again, now in Jesus Christ,
we who were at one time far off are made now unto God by the
blood of Christ. Our Lord said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Turn to Romans chapter three.
Romans the third chapter. Now begin reading with me at
verse 19. Now we know that God is holy.
We know that his perfect law will not be compromised. Christ
said, I didn't come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it. His righteous holy law must and
will be honored. It will not be destroyed. It
will not be compromised. Almighty God is holy. God is
righteous. He will not reveal or manifest
one attribute at the expense of another. God is love, but
God is just. God is righteous or merciful,
but God is righteous. God is gracious, but our God
is holy. Now look at Romans 3 verse 19.
Now we know That what things saith the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty, guilty before God. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
God's sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But now, but now, the righteousness
of God without the law, that is without your obedience to
it, without my obedience, without the law, without our obedience,
is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets,
or witnessed by the scriptures and all the writers, even the
righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. In
other words, it's by the obedience of Christ. It's by the faithfulness
of Christ. It's by the holiness of Christ.
And it's unto all and upon all them that believe, for there
is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of God's
glory, being freely justified by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth. He has set
forth His Son to be a propitiation, a mercy seat, a sacrifice, a
sin offering through faith in His blood. through faith in his
blood, to declare God's righteousness for the remission of sins that
have passed, that's sins that were before Christ came and died
on the cross, Old Testament believers, through the forbearance, long-suffering
of God, to declare, I say at this time, God's righteousness,
that he, God, might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. Justice is satisfied. Christ has died. The law is honored. Christ obeyed it. God can be
just and justify a guilty sinner, for Christ has died. He was wounded
in the stead and for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities
in our stead, in our place. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by his stripes we are All we like sheep have
gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way and God has laid
on Christ the iniquity of us all. Almighty God can be just
and justify me because there's an atonement. Almighty God can
be holy and yet he can forgive my sins because the price is
paid, the debt is satisfied and peace through Christ is secure. The hymn writer put it this way,
oh how sweet. view the flowing of his sin-atoning
blood with divine assurance knowing that he made my peace with God."
Now that's the first, that's the first step. The blood maketh
atonement for the soul. It is the blood that maketh atonement. Somebody says that word atonement
is at-one-ment. It enables God, the obedience
of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ enables a holy God to
be just and to justify us. God cannot. He cannot justify
us at the expense of His justice. He cannot show mercy at the expense
of truth. He cannot be gracious at the
expense of holiness and righteousness. He can't do it. God cannot lie. God cannot act contrary to His
character. And so that's why Christ must
die. Christ didn't die as an example. He didn't die as an
offer. He didn't die as a martyr. He
didn't die as a frustrated reformer. He died as a substitute, as a
substitute. He enabled God to be just and
justified. He enabled God to be gracious
and yet to be holy. The law must be honored. It cannot
be compromised. And that's the reason the scripture
says if you would be saved by the law, you are obligated to
keep the whole law. If you would be saved by doing,
you're obligated to do all that Christ did, and that is please
God. All right, secondly, the blood
of Christ is atoning blood. Secondly, it is cleansing blood.
Now listen to this sweet scripture, 1 John 1, 7. If we walk in the
light, as he's in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth, cleanseth,
cleanseth, cleanseth us from all sin. That's such sweet music,
that's such sweet comfort, that The redeemed of all ages take
up that song in glory and that's what they sing unto him who loved
us and washed us That's what they're saying in glory You read
that revelation 1 and again in revelation 5 unto him who loved
us and washed us Washed us from our sin in his own blood Let
me say this to you Every one of us here are sinners. We confess
it, we admit it, we own it, we acknowledge it. Our past is a
past filled with all kinds of sins. Sins not only in deeds,
but in words, in thoughts, in actions, in all sins we wouldn't
dare tell anybody about. Sins, thoughts, imagination,
sin. Our present, this day that we
live right here today, We've been guilty before God. God looks
on the heart. He looks not on the outward countenance.
He looks on the heart. And those of us who know that
realize that something's got to be done. We've got to be purged
and washed and cleansed. God can have nothing to do with
filth. Filth of words and filth of actions and filth of imagination
and conduct. And our future doesn't look any
brighter because we're still in the flesh. Now brethren, just
to know, just to know this, is the greatest joy of my soul,
that all my sins, past, present, and future, are washed as white
as snow in God's sight. That's what scripture said. Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though
they be double-dyed, red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
In God's sight, through the blood of Christ, I'm as pure and as
holy and without sin as his son himself. That's so. Our purity before God is in the
blood of Christ. Our stained, sore, sinful souls
have been washed white in the blood of the Lamb. Paul wrote
in Romans 4, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. And I'm telling you this blood
is effectual, sufficient blood. It cleanseth us. Blessed is the
man to whom God will not charge sin. So the blood is cleansing
blood. It's atoning blood. It justifies
God in his merciful act of forgiveness. And then it cleanses. I'm pure.
God can walk with me and I can walk with God because I'm as
holy as God himself in Christ. That's right. Near, so near to
God, nearer I cannot be, for in the person of his Son, I'm
as near as he. With his spotless garments on, I'm as holy as his
Son. That's so, John. That's the truth. Now that's comfort, and that's
joy, and that's assurance. If you're under the blood of
Christ, you are cleansed totally and entirely. You're without
sin in God's sight. Otherwise, God could have nothing
to do with you. All right, thirdly, Turn to Ephesians
1. The blood of Christ is redeeming
blood. Redeeming blood. Ephesians 1,
7 says, in whom we have redemption. Redemption. Through his blood,
the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of his grace. Now,
redemption sometimes is spoken of in the scripture as the same
as pardon. The same as pardon. But it seems
to me to be even more than pardon. Redeemed. Redeemed. Bought back. Scripture says we're bought with
a price. Now man is a slave. Our Lord said he came to set
the captive free. I've been redeemed. In captivity,
the moment that we're purged from the guilt of sin, the moment
that we're purged from the guilt of our transgression, we are
set free. The captive is free. We're free
from the curse of sin. We're free from the penalty of
sin. We're free from the dominion of sin. We've been set free,
redeemed, set free. And that through his blood. The
captive is free. The prisoner is set free. And then fourthly, turn to Hebrews
12. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is not only atoning blood
and cleansing blood and redeeming blood, which sets us free. Free
from the law, oh happy condition. Free from the curse of the law.
Free from the condemnation of the law. Free from the penalty
of sin. Free from the servitude of Satan
and Satan. Free! I'm the Lord's free man
at liberty in Christ. Satan has nothing in me. just
as he has nothing in Christ. I'm his, set free. And then fourthly,
the blood of Christ is interceding blood. Look at Hebrews chapter
12, verse 24. Hebrews 12, verse 24. And to
Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, the mediator of the
new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better
things than that of Abel. Our Lord said to Cain, your brother's
blood cries out unto me from the ground. It cries out for
vengeance. Your brother's blood cries out
for vengeance, retribution. Well, let me tell you this. My
brother's blood, Jesus Christ, speaks better things than that
of Abel. His blood does not cry for vengeance. His blood cries
for pardon. His blood cries for pardon. The
wounds of Christ for us continually do plead. Our Lord is an intercessor. He is a mediator. He stands,
He sits in the presence of the Father on the Father's right
hand and prays for us and pleads for us and He pleads not what
we've done but what He's done. He doesn't plead our faithfulness
but His faithfulness. He pleads His wounds. His wounds
plead for us. Someone said where the high priest
could go only once a year. Every believer can go continually
every day. Think about that. All because
of His blood. And that brings me to the next
point. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. His blood is pleading blood,
interceding blood, and then next, the blood of Christ gives us
access to God. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Verse
19, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus. When I see that scripture, I
think about that Old Testament tabernacle. That's where God
met man. That's where God's presence dwelt.
There in the holy of holies, in that Part of the tabernacle was only
15 feet wide and 15 feet high and 15 feet wide, totally enclosed
and separated from the holy place by that heavy veil. And that's
where the glory of God was over the mercy seat, the Ark of the
Covenant, and the presence of God was there. Once a year, only
once a year, the great high priest, the high priest would come under
that veil and into the presence of God with the blood of a lamb,
making the atoning sacrifice, and he put it on that mercy seat,
and then he would go out once a year into the presence of God.
When Jesus Christ our Lord died on the cross, the scripture says
that veil was written to from top to bottom, just like God
took it and tore it. Not a little corner torn off
down here, not a little corner torn off or some torn off in
the middle to allow someone to get down and crawl under, but
it was rent entwined from top to bottom. And now every believer
is a priest under God. And every believer can come into
the very presence of the holy, eternal, infinite God through
the blood of Jesus Christ. Not once a year, but anytime
his heart can cry, Our Father. The blood of Christ gives us
access to God. Never attempt to come before
God without a sacrifice. Never attempt to come into his
presence without the blood of the Lamb. What are our prayers
and our devotion without his blood? Blasphemy before his presence. The blood of the Lamb. And then
in the sixth place, the blood of Christ our Lord is sanctifying
blood. Turn to Hebrews 13. Sanctifying
blood, Hebrews 13, 12. Now generally, sanctification
in the scriptures is threefold, has threefold meaning in the
Old Testament. It means to set apart, to set apart. God takes something common and
ordinary, something common and ordinary, and sets it apart.
He says, this is mine. Several examples of that. There's
the firstborn son was sanctified. God said, he's mine. There were
the vessels in the temple. There was the seventh day of
the week, the Sabbath day. These things were set apart.
Something common and ordinary was set apart. This is the Lord. That's what sanctification means.
There's another meaning, and that is to regard as holy. to regard as holy. God said to
Moses, he said, you didn't sanctify me. I will be sanctified before
them in the eyes of them that come before me. I will be sanctified. In other words, I will be regarded
as holy. I will be looked upon as holy.
You understand that meaning? I will be looked upon as holy.
And then there's a third meaning in the Old Testament of sanctification,
and that is to actually make holy. Our Lord said to Moses,
tell the people to take baths and clean up and put on clean
clothes because in two or three days, I forget which, two days
or three, I'm coming down among them. In other words, actually,
actually to become clean. Actually, not just declared clean,
but the person is clean. Now that's threefold. That's
what sanctification means in the Old Testament. And we're
sanctified by God. That is, the elect are set apart. Are set apart. The elect are
chosen and set apart by God Almighty. We're set apart. God chose us
from the foundation of the world. He said, I've chosen you, you're
mine. You didn't choose me, I chose
you. We're set apart. Now then, We are regarded in
Christ as holy, and that by his blood. We're sanctified by the
blood. That's what it says here, to Jesus, verse 24, the mediator
of the new covenant to the blood of spring. Now, in Hebrews 13,
12, I beg your pardon, read verse 12. Wherefore Jesus also, that
he might sanctify the people with his own blood. Actually
make them holy. actually make them holy, so that
God regards them as holy. He sanctified them with his own
blood. He suffered without the gate
and sanctified them. He made us holy. You see what
I'm saying? This is the threefold meaning
of, I am sanctified. And this particular point here
on sanctification is not a progressive work at all. I am sanctified.
Now that's, in the Old Testament, sanctification. One is to set
apart. is to take something ordinary, common, everyday, and set it
apart for God's glory. Set it apart from the rest. Like
that day, like the tabernacle, that was a tent, like other tents,
more elaborate, but a tent. And there was the priesthood,
Aaron, sons of Levi, There was the seventh day these things
common on it were by God chosen And that's how believers first
to sanctify that chosen by God this set apart He said Jeremiah
before I formed thee in the belly. I knew thee before you came out
of your mother's womb. I sanctified Separated you I
made you mine He said of Saul. He said to Ananias. He's a chosen
vessel unto me Saul said himself of Tarsus. He said God God separated
me from my mother's womb, set me apart. And every one of God's
chosen are sanctified, set apart by the Father. And then they
are declared to be holy by the blood of Christ. They're made
holy. They're sanctified by His blood. That's not something that
progressively takes place day by day. I'm sanctified by His
blood. Now thirdly, That word sanctified
means actually to clean up, to make holy, and that takes place
by the Word of God and by the Spirit of God. Wherewithal shall
a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed to the Word of
God. That's growth, growth in grace, growth in the fruit of
the Spirit, growth in love, growth in discipleship, growth in righteousness. That's right, and that takes
place. Tell the people to clean up, to straighten up, to put
on clean garments. I'm coming down among them. I
expect to come in the presence of a people who show some regard
for my presence. See what I'm saying? But that
second point, we're sanctified by the blood of Christ. That
is, that we are declared in the sight of God to be perfectly
holy. I am sanctified. Turn to 1 Corinthians
1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You are sanctified if you're
a believer in Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
30, but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Is redemption progressive? No,
sir. Not that redemption. Neither is sanctification in
that point right there. That'll help you understand it
if you follow those three ways that sanctification is referred
to in the Old Testament. First, the setting apart. And
Jude said, we're sanctified by God the Father. And secondly,
it is to make holy. And that is, we're sanctified
by the blood of Christ. And thirdly, it is a growth in
grace. And that is by the Spirit of
God through the Word of God. All right, in the seventh place.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, is the blood of the covenant.
Now look at Hebrews 13 again. The blood of the covenant. Now
the God of peace, verse 20 of Hebrews 13, that brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Now the word covenant
is a testament. A testament. All of us know what
the word, we use the word in this way. You make out your last
will and testament. You call in a lawyer, say you
are a person of means, property, possessions, and so forth. And
you bring in a lawyer and you write your last will and testament.
You leave to your wife certain things. You leave to your oldest
son certain things. You leave to your next son certain
things. You leave to your daughter certain things. And you sign
your name. Is it in effect? You let them try to get something.
When will it be in effect? When you die. That's right, you
gotta die. Turn with me, if you will, to
Hebrews 10, verse 19. No, I beg your pardon, in Hebrews
9, verse 16. Now turn to Hebrews 9, 16. Hebrews
9, 16. It says where a testament is,
a covenant, a testament, there must also of necessity be the
death of the testator. For a testament is a force after
men are dead. Otherwise it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. Now Jesus Christ our Lord, you
can call it, I know some preachers have gotten angry with us talking
about a contract and saying we make salvation to be a contract
and so on. Let me tell you something. You
call it what you want to, but scripture calls it a covenant,
calls it an everlasting covenant. It says Christ is the surety
of that everlasting covenant. His blood is the blood of that
everlasting covenant. From the foundation of the world,
God the Father gave the son of people. He said that, all that
my father giveth me will come to me. He gave his son a people. And in that everlasting covenant,
all the stipulations and all the blessings and benefits were
written, were purposed and planned. And that covenant was in force. But before that covenant, before
that covenant, that testament, before it can be in effect, so
to speak, Christ has got to die. The blood has to be shed. The
testator has to die. That's right. That's what Scripture
says. That's what it says right here. It says that the testator
must die. And Christ, if he becomes our
servant, and assumes our debt and our responsibility, and gives
us the blessings and benefit of his blood, then it's got to
be shed. He's got to die. And that's when he gathered his
disciples about him at the Lord's Supper and said, this is my testament. This is my blood, the blood of
the testament, the blood of the testament, the blood of the covenant,
which was shared for the remission of your sin. So that his blood
is our confidence that that testament is sure and that the blessings
are ours because the testator died. Now, here's another thing.
Suppose that I am a person of means. And I make out a last
will and testament, and I leave everything I have to the church. Now I have an example of this.
A lady did this up in Ohio a few years ago. She was a widow. She had no children. She had
some brothers and sisters. And she died and left everything
she had to the preaching of the gospel. And our church was one
of the one of the beneficiaries in this last will and testament.
And when it came up before the judge, her family contested it. And they won. And the church
didn't get a dime. You see what I'm saying? So as
a person who died, I may make out a last will and testament
and leave what I have to someone, and someone else may contest
it and my wishes not be carried out. And I can't do anything
about it because I'm dead. But our Lord can do something
about it. He lives. You see, he lives to make sure that everything
that he willed is carried out. He lives. And the testament,
the covenant, of which his blood is the blood of the covenant,
that covenant is in his hands to carry out. He's going to give
everything. Abraham believed that, that he
would do all that he promised. And the blood of Christ is the
certainty and confidence and surety. All right, a couple of
other things when we're closed. Turn to Ephesians 2. Ephesians
chapter 2, verse 12 through 16. Now listen to this, Ephesians
2. I'm saying that the blood of Christ is atoning blood, the
blood of Christ is redeeming blood, sanctifying blood, it's
the blood of the covenant. Now, the blood of Christ unites
all believers. Ephesians 2, verse 12. That at
that time, this is talking about us Gentiles, at that time we
were without Christ. We were aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. We were strangers from the covenant
of promise. We have no hope without God in
the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you
who were one time, all are made not by the blood of Christ, and
he is our peace who hath made both Jew and Gentile one. and has broken down the middle
wall of partition between us. There's nothing that unites the
people of God like the blood of Christ our Lord. We may differ
on prophecy. We may differ on church government.
We may differ on things of a minor nature, but you find any believer
of any nation, of any generation, and with one heart he'll sing
with all believers unto him who loved us and washed us from our
sin in his own blood. Find any believer on any continent
and he'll unite his heart with every other believer and sing
all hail the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate Paul,
bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. His
blood makes us one, Jew and Gentile, male and female, rich and poor,
old and young, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or whatever. If
that person is redeemed by the blood of Christ, he's won in
the body of Christ. That's so. I'll tell you this
to be honest with you. Totally honest. Somebody says,
well, it's a shame there's so many divisions among Christians.
If that's what they are, it's a shame. If that's what it is. But I don't think it's divisions.
I believe this, if we had one great super church and everybody
under it, it'd be as corrupt as the Roman Catholic Church
in two years. I'm glad that there's a church here, one yonder and
one yonder, independent, preaching the gospel. Because you, and
every time, you take, you go back in church history and you'll
find, you'll find these early, these early Methodists, Whitefield
and Charles and John Wesley, They started out with good ideas,
good truth, good doctrine. Whitfield, one of the greatest
preachers that ever lived. Charles Wesley, one of the greatest
hymn writers I believe that ever lived. He wrote the gospel in
his hymn. But somebody organized that outfit
and ruined it. That's right. Just totally ruined
it. I believe Calvin and Zwingli and some of those fellows, early
Presbyterians, were solid, strong, capable men who preached the
gospel. They preached the gospel here and yonder, wrote the gospel,
contended for the gospel. They had their differences with
some of the dissenters and Baptists and Anabaptists and so forth,
but they stood for the truth. And they organized the Presbyterian
Church, and it's dead as a hammer. That's the truth. The Episcopalian
Church. Back yonder, you know who some
of the men in the Episcopalian Church were? Bishop J.C. Ryan.
I'd sure sit at his feet. John Newton. Isaac Watts. Huh? John Owen. So what a what
what a what a list of illustrious great preachers of the gospel
What is it now? Nothing and the Baptists go back
to Bunyan and Gil and teach and rip on and Spurgeon and those
fellas but they were independent men of independent minds and
programs and preaching preaching program and somebody put it together
and made the great Southern Baptist Convention and And you know where
that is. Liberal, denying the word of
God in the numbers racket. You know that, and I do too.
We've been there. I've been Southern Baptist pastor of two churches.
American Baptist, name it. I preached to all the representatives
of the Northern Baptist of Ireland. Preached the message on for whom
could Christ die. And a man came up to me and said,
I never thought I'd hear that preached in an Irish Baptist
pulpit. I said, don't they believe it? About 8 or 10 of us do, the
rest of them don't. But they're organized. I'm glad. I hope God will raise up here
and there churches that will preach the word and men who will
declare the word and get out from under these ecclesiastical
umbrellas. You elect a president and you're
gone because there's no such officer in this church, president
of the church. Christ is president of the church. You elect a bunch
of moderators and presidents and a rules committee and discipline
committee and start telling people what to do in the kingdom of
God and as corrupt as they get is how corrupt that outfit will
get. I don't believe we're divided. These super churches are usually
rotten all the way through. It's so, it's just truth.