Now, whether consciously or unconsciously, whether knowingly or unknowingly,
whether informed or because we're uninformed, but most people speak
of salvation in the past tense. Are you aware of that? Someone
walks up to you and says, are you saved? Have you been born
again? Have you been born again? Are you saved? That's past tense. Have you been fixed up? And someone
replies, yes, I'm saved. I was saved in 1951, or I was saved in 1965, or I got saved
in a revival meeting. Now, that's modern terminology. And I say whether knowingly or
unknowingly, whether consciously or unconsciously, whether because
we are not informed or because we are badly informed, we do
speak of salvation in the past tense. And you would shock the
average church member. I may even shock some of you
tonight. But I hope that you're shocked into a state of thinking,
into a state of examination, into a state of concern. This
thing of your interest in Christ is not something to be taken
lightly. It's not something to be put on the shelf and consulted
when you feel like you need it. The average person, the average
church member would be shocked if you ask him, are you saved? And you replied, yes, by God's
grace, I'm being saved. Don't you imagine he would? If
you replied to that question, Have you been saved if you answered
in this way? And you would be answering scripturally
if you did. Yes, by God's grace, I hope to
be saved. We sing songs like that. And
I hope by God, thy good measure, pleasure, and I hope by thy good
pleasure safely to arrive at home. Yet the word of God, which makes
much of a good beginning in faith also stresses, doesn't it, a
continuing in faith? The same Bible which talks about
a good beginning also talks about a steadfast continuing walk in
faith. It talks about a continuing in
faith. He that endures to the end, the
same shall be saved. I want you to turn to Hebrews
chapter 3. I'm saying that the same Bible
which talks about Hebrews 3, which talks about having a good
beginning, laying hold upon the right foundation, also stresses
that you stay on that foundation. This same Bible which exhorts
you to lay hold on Christ, exhorts you to continue in Christ. and also warns if you do not
continue in Christ, then you have no hope of being saved. That's right. Hebrews 3, look
at verse 6. But Christ, as a son over his
own house, whose house are you, if you hold fast, we hold fast
the confidence and rejoicing of this hope firm unto the end. The same Bible which talks about
living by faith talks about dying in faith. Verse 14 of Hebrews
3, for we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Now if you are pleased to do
so, you might study another translation or two and you'll find that what
I'm going to quote to you now is true. The Word of God, which
declares that we have been saved, also says we are being saved,
and also declares that we are nearer salvation than when this
process began. In Ephesians, and you can check
this later, but in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, just jot the scriptures
down if you want to, I've got to move along, but in Ephesians
2, 8 and 9, the best translations render that this way, for by
grace Have you been saved through faith? And that not of yourselves,
that faith is the gift of God. For we are God's workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good work. For by grace have
you been saved. This thing of salvation is an
eternal choosing. It is a time revelation and regeneration. It's the act of God, by the power
of God, through the merits of God, a gift of God. 1 Corinthians 1.18 says this,
to them who are perishing, the preaching of the cross is foolishness.
To us who are being saved, it's the power of God. We're being
saved. And then Romans 13.11 declares,
now is our salvation nearer than when we believe. I'm not saying
that salvation is by works. Salvation is by works. I'm not
saying we begin in the spirit and we're perfected in the flesh
at all. I'm saying we begin in the spirit, we continue in the
spirit, and we close this thing in the spirit. I'm saying we
begin by faith, we continue in faith, and we wind it up by faith.
But if any man depart, God says let him depart. If any turn back, let them turn
back. But we're not of them that turn
back, but of those who continue and who persevere in this saving
faith. The Word of God, which presents
Christ as Savior, also presents Christ as Lord. He's not only the Savior of those
whom He saves, He's the Lord of those whom He saves. The Bible
not only stresses the work of Christ for us, but the work of
Christ in us. Philippians 1.6, I want you to
turn to that scripture. Philippians 1.6, this talks about
the one who began the work, our Lord, the one who finishes the
work, our Lord. He's the author and finisher
of our faith, Paul said in Hebrews. But Philippians 1.6 says this,
being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun
a good work in you, not only for you, but in you. will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now Hebrews 10, I want you to
turn to this one too if you don't mind, Hebrews chapter 10 verse
38 and 39. Now you know John had something
to say about this. He said, they went out from us,
talking about some people that had professed faith in Christ,
and claimed to believe on Christ, and claimed to love Christ, and
claimed to be saved, and they departed from the faith. They
left the fellowship. They stopped being identified
with God's people. They laid down whatever cross
they did take up. And John said, they went out
from us because they were not of us. He said if they had actually
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. That
would have been one of the evidences that they were of us, the fact
they continued with us. One of the best evidences that
a man is saved is perseverance, Jack. He continues in that faith.
One of the best evidences that a man has saving faith is he
continues in that faith and grows in faith. One of the best evidences
that a man has repented is he still is repenting. And he dies
repenting and he dies believing and he dies clinging to Christ. This thing of hot today and cold
tomorrow and in today and out tomorrow and believing on Christ
today and doubting Christ tomorrow, I just don't believe that's salvation. In Hebrews 10 verse 38, Now the
just shall live by faith. He begins life by faith and he
lives by faith. He lives by faith. But if any
man draw back, lay down the weapon, lay down the warfare, lay down
the race, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are
not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe
to the saving of the soul. The Word of God is full of examples
of those who did fall away. who departed from whatever they
call the faith. Judas did. Judas held the highest
office in the church. He was an apostle, but he departed
from Christ. He sold out. Ananias and Sapphira,
it's evident that they departed from whatever profession of faith
they had. God killed them in the church
building. Simon Magus professed faith and
was baptized and followed the disciples, but Peter said his
heart wasn't right with God. Paul said Demas, and Demas was
one of his companions, one of his helpers, hath forsaken us,
having loved the present world. Hymenaeus, Alexander, made a
shipwreck of the faith. And then a whole book in the
New Testament is written to a church that was influenced by the Judaizers
and the legalists to depart from the gospel of Christ and fall
into ceremonialism and ritualism and legalism. That's the book
of Galatians. Paul said, you've departed from
the gospel. You've fallen from the grace
of God. And then John 6, verse 66. I want you to turn over here.
Here's a verse of scripture that has a tremendous impact. It's
a frightful thing. It's a frightful thing, and it
has a tremendous impact. Listen to it, John 6, verse 66. And what we need to do as preacher
and people is let these verses have an impact upon us. It's
God speaking. These examples are given for
us. It says, from that time, from
that time, it was a time of offense. It was a time of testing. It
was a time of choosing between the world and God, the world
and Christ. From that time, many of his disciples,
now the word disciple just means learner or follower. Adolf Hitler
had his disciples. Disciple doesn't mean Christian.
It doesn't mean redeemed person. You can be a disciple of someone
and not be saved. a learner, a follower, one who
follows after that person. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Isn't that sad? They
went back and walked no more with him. Will that ever be said
of me or you? It's been said of many. And then
said Jesus even to the twelve, would you also go away? Would
you be offended? Paul certainly wasn't. Paul continued
in the faith. He came to the end of his life
and he said, the time of my departure is at hand. I've fought a good
fight. I've finished my course. I've
kept the faith. Now to me, that is an evidence
of being redeemed. I've finished my course. I've
fought a good fight. I've kept the faith. But I want you to turn to my
text tonight now in 1 Peter 2. This scripture uses words and
thoughts that make clear that salvation, as Brother John Thornberry
said last week in Birmingham, is not a photograph, it's a motion
picture. Now what most people think salvation
is, it's a photograph. You've been saved, been fixed
up, you've been photographed, you've been set aside, but it's
a lie. It's a state of being. It's a continuation. If any man
be in Christ, he's a new creation, a new person, a new being. He
has a new life. It's not just a statue that God
fixed up and put over here and frozen and lifeless. It's growing. It's a new... When you have a child come into
your home, that's a new person in the family, a new son, a new
daughter. a new being. The doctor doesn't
hand you a picture of a child and say this is your child and
it stays little and stays tiny and stays like it is. No, that
new being comes into the home and that new being is fed and
that new being has a name and that new being is identified
with a family. That new being is part of the
family. The life of the family then revolves around that new
being and nobody kicks him out, nobody disowns him and nobody
takes his birth certificate and tears it up and says you're no
longer one of us and that sort of thing. And when a person is
saved, redeemed, regenerated, he's a new being, he's a member
of God's family, he's fed and nourished and grows and he's
part of the family and he's part of the body of Christ. It never
ceases to be. There may be stragglers and proselytes
and tares and chaps and all these other things get mixed in among
the children, but they're not children. They're not children. God knows His children. His children
are begotten of him. There may be an Ishmael brought
in, the son of Hagar, but that's not one of Abraham's sons. And this 1 Peter 2, look at this. Now this indicates by these words
that salvation is a living, continuing, growing new life. It's not just
an isolated act. He says, wherefore laying aside
all malice. It's something I do today and
something I do tomorrow. and something I do next month.
He didn't say, wherefore you have laid aside all malice, and
all guile, and all hypocrisies, and all envy, and all evil speakings.
I wish we could say that, but we can't say that. They are being
laid aside. Do you see that? Wherefore laying
them aside. It's the crucifixion of the old
man, the old nature in the flesh is something that occurs daily. I die daily. I have something
to do all the time. to suppress it, and to mortify
it, and to lay it aside. Wherefore, laying aside. And
verse 2 says, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the
word. You know, it'd be a lot cheaper
on the grocery bill if you could feed your family just one time,
and that's all. Just get them all stuffed full
one time, and then not make, not buy any more grocery. But
you gotta feed them three times a day. and even snacks in between. And tomorrow you've got to feed
them again. And this is the way. I need the milk of the word and
the meat of the word continually and constantly that I might grow. Anything that lives grows and
it needs nourishment. And this life of the believer,
you don't get fixed up and fed and sat down and then forgotten.
It's a growth. It's a participation. That is,
verse 3, if you've tasted that the Lord is gracious, if you
once tasted of his grace and his mercy, then verse 4, to whom
coming? Just keep coming to Christ. If
you've been saved, yes, I came to Christ when I was 14. You're
not still coming to Christ? To whom coming? It's a continual
coming to Christ. as unto a living stone, continually,
just keep drinking. I tasted, I have tasted, I am
tasting by God's grace, I hope to taste even sweeter things
from Christ. I have come, I am coming, I shall
continue to come to Christ. I have drunk, I am drinking,
I shall drink of Christ. I have eaten of his flesh, I
am eating of his flesh, I live by his flesh in his broken body
and shed blood, and I shall continue to eat of his flesh. Don't miss
this. That's exhibited. The whole Bible
talks this way. And the reason we've got into
that past tense, I have been saved, have you been born again,
have you been saved, is these evangelists that sweep through
town and get the converts and the money and sweep to another
town and get the converts and the possessions and sweep to
another town and get folks all fixed up for salvation and eternal
life. It's not so. It's just not so. That's not the way God moves.
Verse 5, you are living stone. living stones and you're being
built up, you're daily being built up, God's building his
temple, God's building his house, you're a holy priesthood to offer
up continually spiritual sacrifices. You don't just come to Christ,
you keep coming to Christ. You don't just one time praise
Christ, you keep praising Christ. You keep feeding on Christ. What
are these spiritual sacrifices? Faith, love, thanksgiving, Those
are spiritual sacrifices that we offer daily, thank God. And
he that believeth shall not be confounded. And in verse 7, unto
you therefore which believe, Christ is precious. Now the Apostle
Peter uses this word precious several times in his writings,
the word precious. There's several times he uses
it. I'm going to pick out four times especially that I think
are significant to the redeemed person. This thing of redemption,
salvation, this is life. This is God's unspeakable
gift. This is not Like the television
preacher Bob and I listen to this afternoon, it's just not
getting fixed up to go to heaven. It's a new person, a new creation. And in this life of this person
to whom God has been gracious, there are four precious things.
And I've tried, I labored this week to put them in order. This
is not easy, and you may change my order around, I don't know.
But I put them in the order. that I think indicates real growth,
spiritual growth, and which indicates some measure of assurance and
confidence that a person's in Christ. Now, will you go with
me? See, I just tested myself on
this. I, in studying this, Peter says
these things are precious to him. He's writing, says these
are precious things. And I tried to put them in the
order that they became precious to me. And I tried also to determine
if they are precious to me. And I tried to put them in the
order that I believe they increase in preciousness. All right, 2
Peter 1.1. Let's look at that first. 2 Peter
1.1. This is, I think, number one. 2 Peter 1.1, Simon Peter, a servant
and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us, that have obtained like precious faith
with us through, and the word there is in, precious faith in
and through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Now it's doubtful to me. I say faith is the first precious
thing. It becomes precious first. Because
I doubt that anything in the spiritual world will be precious
to a man who doesn't believe. Paul said, how can they call
on him in whom they've not believed? How can Christ be precious if
I don't believe? How can the blood of Christ be
precious if I don't believe? How can the promises of God be
precious if I don't believe they can't be? So precious faith. We have obtained precious faith. Do you realize what you have
who believe on Christ? This is no small matter. Turn
to Luke 10. All men do not believe. Now brethren,
I want you to think about this a little bit, but let me just
throw it out there. Faith is the gift of God. Faith
is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. It is given unto
you, not only to suffer for Him, but to believe on Him. Faith
is not the product of the human heart, it's the gift of God. I believe because God enabled
me to believe. And he has given this marvelous
gift to me. What a gift, what a precious
gift, what an invaluable. The word precious in the scripture
means valuable, means honored, means to be highly esteemed.
And I believe in Christ. I believe in Christ. I believe
the word of God. I believe Christ is my Lord and
Savior. And that's something most men don't have, is faith.
Listen to Luke 10, verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and
hast revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me
of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father,
and who the Father is but the Son. And he to whom the Son will
reveal him. And he turned him unto his disciples,
and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see. For I tell you, many prophets
and kings have desired to see those things which you see, and
have not seen them. and to hear those things which
you hear, and have not hurt them." He asked Peter one day, and the
other apostles, whom do you say that I am? And Peter said, The
Christ, the Son of the living God. And he said, Simon, blessed
are you, blessed are you. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my Father which is in heaven. Bob, do you realize three years
ago you were a stranger to the grace of God? A total stranger. Darwin, four years ago you were
a total stranger to the grace of God. Five years, something
like that? And now you love his word and you love his son. And
your old buddies don't. They don't love God. They don't
know God. They don't rejoice in Christ.
Why you? Brother, if that doesn't actually
make cold chills go up and down our back. If that doesn't just
shake us to our very foundations, thank you, Lord, I can sing with
enthusiasm for saving myself. You didn't have to. And so many
I ran around with and powered with, went to school with and
lived with. God has been pleased in his wisdom,
in his purpose to pass them by. It's not because of anything
in you all that you're saved. God gave you this gift. It's
a gift of God. Oh, how thankful we are. You
talk about precious faith, just a thread of it, just a mite of
it, just a jot or tittle of it. It's not the strength of your
faith that saves. It's just faith in the strong
Lord. The vine doesn't have to be strong
that's wrapped around the pole. The pole has to be strong. The
vine won't fall till the pole does. But if that vine's wrapped
around that pole, it's the strength of the pole. That's me. The vine
may be that big around. It may be as small as your finger.
It may be just a thread, but if it's wrapped around that pole,
it's safe. If it's wrapped around Christ. Faith which clings to
Christ is saving faith. I don't care how big it is, how
great it is, how old it is, it's clinging to Christ. Just a little
bit of new vine clings to the Pope. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. That's the reason Peter says
it's precious. Oh, what would you take for it? Uh-uh, don't. Oh, don't take my faith. Our
Lord said, Peter, I prayed for you that your faith fail not.
Why is it precious? Well, first of all, it's precious
because of its source. Look at that verse again, 2 Peter
1.1. Simon Peter, a servant, apostle
of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained. Where did you get it? You obtained
it. You didn't earn it. You didn't produce it. You didn't
create it. You obtained it. God gave it
to you. You see that? I have obtained
precious faith. Paul said, I obtained mercy.
And then it's precious because of its object. Look at that verse
again. We have obtained precious faith in the righteousness of
God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. It's not faith in His teaching
only, in His righteousness. It's not faith in His miracles,
in His righteousness. It's not faith in His law, it's
faith in His righteousness. That's where my faith is. It's
in the righteousness of Christ. That righteousness, that holiness,
that obedience which He perfected, which He worked out, which He
accomplished, which He purchased, which He pleads. I've obtained. God gave me faith in the righteousness
of Christ. And it's precious because, what's
this now? You see that four-letter word?
The middle line, that have obtained, L-I-K-E, like precious faith
with us. My faith is the same faith as
the Apostle Peter. My faith is the same faith that
David had. It's like precious faith. Same
faith. Now, I don't have faith to the
degree that Abraham had it, but I have the same faith in the
same Lord. You see that? Like precious faith. So that's the first thing that
is precious to the believer. It's this like precious faith
in the righteousness of Christ which we have obtained. Babes
in Christ have it, young men in Christ have it, old veterans
have the same, like, precious faith. All right, the second,
2 Peter 1, 4, down three verses, in verse 4, Peter says, "...whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises." Great
and precious promises. that by these promises you might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in this world through lust. Precious promises. You know all that Abraham had,
all that he had, was promises. Promises. That's right. Turn
to Romans chapter 4. That's all he had was promises.
Keep that 1st Peter now. We're coming back 2nd Peter and
turn to Romans 4. Abraham had promises. Romans 4 beginning with verse
20. Now Abraham believed God. He
believed God. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. He was saved by believing God. And what he believed
was the Word of God. He just had the promises. We
have the promises fulfilled. He had the promise of a Christ
being born. We have the fulfillment of Christ
who has been born. He had the promises of an atonement,
and a high priest, and a suffering substitute, and a risen justifier,
and an ascended Lord, and an interceding mediator. We have
it all fulfilled, but he was saved by believing the promises.
Read Romans 4. He staggered not, verse 20, at
the promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, and was being fully persuaded that what God had promised
he was able to perform. And brother, therefore it was
imputed to him for righteousness. And now it was not written for
his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
it shall be imputed. if we believe on Him that raised
up Jesus Christ from the dead. God's promises are precious. They're precious, and let me
say this, and I hope you won't misunderstand this, I hope you
won't be offended. I hope the theologians and seminarians
or whatever you call them won't be offended. But these promises
are precious because they're divine. Every promise in the
book, the songwriter said, every promise in the book is mine.
And every promise in the book is divine. I'd burn this Bible
if I didn't believe it was God's Word. Now, I'll tell you the
truth. I don't know what they're doing,
why they stay in the ministry. These fellows that sit around
in their classes of higher criticism and explain away the flood, and
explain away creation, and explain away Jonah, and explain away
the virgin birth, and explain away the new birth, and explain
away the resurrection. If I didn't believe that this
was the verbally, infallible, inerrant Word of the Living God,
I'd burn it. I wouldn't have it in my home. I certainly wouldn't get in a
pulpit. and talk to people about believing because if you don't
have a foundation, the Word of God for your faith, you don't
have any reason to believe. Now, what are you going to base
your faith on? You say, I believe in God. What God? The God of
the storms or the God of the sunshine? The God of the floods
or the God of the harvest time? I believe the God of the Bible. Well, what's He like? He reveals
Himself in the Word. Will he save sinners? How do
you know he'll save sinners? He says, everything we know about
God is right here. There's nothing else that can
tell us about God. You have no foundation for your
faith without an infallible Bible. If the Word is not God's infallible,
inspired Word, then everybody has a right to hold to the God
that they make with their own imagination.
You just whip you up a God just like Paul's God then. You got
as much right to worship that God as Paul has to worship his
God if the Word of God is not true. I believe this is the Word
of God. And these promises are precious
not only because they're divine, but because they tell of great
things. They tell of pardoned sin, pardoned, forgiven sin. Turn over to Romans 4 again.
This Romans 4 is a tremendous chapter of the faith and promises
of God. In Romans 4, it says in verse
7, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are
covered. Blessed is the man to whom God
will, the Lord will not charge sin. Promises of forgiven sin,
promises of sanctification. I'm complete in Christ. Promises
of divine providence. All things work together for
good to them who love God. What a promise! Promise of eternal
life. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Promises of resurrection. And
I'll raise Him up at the last day. Promises of provision. God. Paul said, My God will supply
all your need according to His riches in glory through Christ
Jesus. Promises. precious promises. So I tell
you where I started, and I think where you started, was this thing
of faith, precious faith. God just opened the windows of
heaven one day and gave me faith to believe. And then through
that faith, I discovered His promises, precious promises. And the more I can relate to
them, the more peace and rest I'm going to have. The more I
can claim these promises and rest in these promises, the more
I'm going to live in peace, tranquility, and joy in my heart. And the
less I believe these promises, the more problems I'm going to
have. But the third, now turn to 1 Peter 1. I've got to move
along. 1 Peter 1, 18. Precious He said, don't you have that
blood in the wrong place? I don't believe I have. You think about
it a little while. Precious blood. 1 Peter 1, 18, for as much as
you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation, your lost condition, received
by tradition from your fathers, but you were redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ. You know, I can talk quite freely
of the preciousness of faith because I'm so overjoyed that
God's been pleased to give me faith and give you faith. I thank
God for it. And I can talk freely of the
precious promises in this book. My God shall supply all your
needs. That's a good promise. And ought to encourage us. And
everything works together for good to them who love God, who
called according to his purpose. That's a great... And I can talk
about these promises, but when I think of the blood of Christ,
its value, its preciousness, its honor, its esteem, its glory,
I tell you, I think I'm just beginning to commence to get
started to know something about the preciousness of that blood.
You know why? Because It's been in the last
few years that I've been made to really have some understanding
of what sin really is. Of what sin. Now, the precious
blood of Christ. I think I'm beginning to enter
into a little knowledge of the wrath of God, the hatred of God
against sin. How God feels about sin. God
hates sin worse than He hates hell. And sin is a state, it's
a condition, it's a principle. It's not just a conduct, it's
a condition. And this whole world is so permeated
with sin that God's got to burn it. He's not going to leave anything
standing, He said, He's going to burn it. Even the old heavens,
which had been contaminated by sin, God is going to destroy. God is going to destroy everything
that worketh or maketh a lie. The canons of heaven, an old
Puritan said, are turned against sin. It was sin that sent Christ
to the cross. It was sin that made the holy
heavenly Father turn His back on His well-beloved. Sin. And I'm beginning to see something,
get some concept of this thing called sin. And it's not the light and frivolous
thing that the average person thinks. It has very little to
do with material things and things that we generally associate with
sin. Sin is an attitude, a spirit. It's a spirit that operates even
in spiritual places, in high places, low places. But His blood, His blood has
several characteristics. Number one, His blood has redeeming
power. It can redeem me from all sin. Now, the blood of Christ Even
this awful condition in which I was born, in which I inherited
from my father, this awful condition that plagued the whole human
race of which I am a member, this awful condition that caused
God to turn His back on His Son, this terrible condition, the
blood of Christ is able to redeem me from that condition. and to render me totally without
sin." Think about that now. The blood of Christ has redeeming
power, it has cleansing power. The blood of Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. Cleanses, redeems, forgives. In Christ, I have no sin. In Adam, I died. In Christ, I'm
made alive. In Adam, I was made a sinner.
In Christ, I was made righteous. And what did it was the cleansing,
purifying, life-giving blood of the Son of God. It redeems
me from the wrath and judgment of God. God said, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. Egypt was under judgment. That
whole land of Egypt was under the wrath and judgment of God.
And God came through that night in judgment and killed the firstborn
in every home. He destroyed the firstborn from
the palace to the cattle on the hillside. But where that blood,
representing the blood of Christ, was on the door, God, He said,
I will pass over. Passover, just like there was
no sin there, and there was no reason for condemnation there,
and there was no reason, just Passover. And the Son lived. And I lived because of the blood
of Christ. Not because I walked an aisle,
or shook a preacher's hand, or said I believed some things in
a Bible, or because I was baptized, or did a few works. God's judgment,
the great cloud of God's wrath passes over my head tonight because
God sees the blood. That's the only reason. The blood
of Christ is on my forehead. The redeeming, cleansing, blood
atoning, blood of Christ. The blood maketh atonement. The blood has preserving. Turn
to Hebrews. I want you to look at Hebrews
9. I think, I don't know whether, I think a man can be saved without
realizing all of this, but as you come to realize it, how precious
is that blood! Think of, you know, think how
you love your firstborn, or any of your children, but in particular
your firstborn, in your home. And you're sitting in there and
you know the, you hear the screams down the street. You know the
judgment of God's coming. And when it comes to your door,
It goes right on by, and you sit and look at that firstborn,
and he's still playing and laughing. Boy, you'd go out there and kiss
that blood, wouldn't you? Kiss the blood. Oh, the blood. The blood. In Hebrews 9, verse
13 and 14, "...for if the blood of bulls and goats," think about
it, "...if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a
heifer sprinkling the unclean," sanctified to the purifying of
the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living? If the blood
of an animal, a lamb, can preserve Israel in Egypt, think what the
blood of Christ can do for you. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I've done what God said. The
blood is on the door by faith. That's all. But that's enough.
Turn right on one page to Hebrews 12. Two pages. Hebrews 12, 24. This blood has pleading power.
Hebrews 12, 24. It has redeeming power, cleansing
power, atoning power, preserving power, pleading power. Hebrews 12, 24. And to Jesus, the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. The blood of Abel crieth from
the ground, but the blood of Christ crieth from the mercy
seat. And what does it say? It says
there's a law that's been honored. It says there's a God that's
been reconciled. It says there's a perfect justice
that's been satisfied, and it says there's a sinner that's
been justified. That's what his blood says. Don't
talk to me of your works and your good deeds. I'd just rather
not hear about them, because all flesh is grass, and I know
it, and the sooner you find it out, the better off you'll be.
Don't talk to me of your faithfulness because I know better, and I
think in your heart you know better. Just talk to me about
the blood of Christ, the blood of Christ. That's the precious,
precious blood of Christ. And then last of all, I close,
1 Peter 2, 7. 1 Peter 2, 7. And here, unto you that believe,
he is precious. This is the great evidence of
saving faith. I think we start out, and this
is the proof positive of a work of grace, and this is evidence
of spiritual growth. I believe we start out talking
about precious faith, because that's about all we know. That
man that was blind says, I don't know, I just know I was blind,
now I see. That's about all he knew. But
then he discovered the promises of God. And then, by God's grace,
we discover the preciousness of the blood of Christ. And we
just spend time and time again rejoicing in the blood of Christ.
But then we discover the person of Christ. And He dominates. He begins to dominate. That strong,
overpowering personality, the Lordship and Kingship, Christ
dominates. Christ controls and He is precious. And here's three things that
somebody said I picked up this week. He's precious positively. That is, He's precious in all. Elections good, but I'm chosen
in Christ. Adoption is good, but I'm an
heir, a joint heir with Christ. Pardon is good, but I'm pardoned
in Christ. Justification is good, but I'm
justified in Christ. Perseverance and preservation
is good, but I am kept by the power of Christ. And resurrection
is going to be wonderful, but I shall be raised with Christ.
All right? Positively, he's precious. Secondly,
comparatively he's precious, compared to others. Let me give
it to you this way. I'm glad I'm an American. I'm
glad I'm free. I have liberty, aren't you? But
I'd rather be a slave and know Christ. If I had to choose, and
I'm not saying this off the top of my head. I really believe
I believe this. If I don't, I'm in trouble. I'd
rather live in Russia and know Christ than live in America and
not know Christ. Comparatively, he's everything. My family and friends are great. I love them. We have a precious
time. I love you. I appreciate this
church. But I'd rather be alone and have
Christ than to have the friendship of the world and not know Christ.
I really had. Health is great. I'm healthy.
I thank God I am. I have good health. I praise
God. But I'd rather be an invalid and know Christ. I'd rather be in jail and know
Christ than to be out not knowing. I believe I mean this. I'd better.
We're comfortable. All of us have more than we need.
But I'd rather be poor and have Christ than to gain the whole
world and miss him. And it's fine to live. That's
all right. But for me to live is Christ
and to die is gain. If I die of a heart attack tonight,
that'd be all right. Because I'll have Christ. Comparatively,
He's precious. And then last of all, superlatively,
that is, above all. He's precious in all, He's precious
over all, or compared to all, He's precious above all. Moses,
greater than Moses. Angels, greater than the angels.
To which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my Son?
The priests, the rulers, God hath exalted him and given him
a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. And this is what I say to you.
I will believe that you and I have a saving interest in the grace
of God the more precious Christ becomes to us. That's good evidence. Unto you that believe, he is
precious. Unto you that do not believe,
he's a stumbling stone. You stumble. You don't understand
him. You can't relate to him. He's a problem. He interferes. He messes up your life. He just
causes you trouble. But to you that believe, he's
precious. Whatever trouble I have is for
my good. and sent by His loving hand.
I close with this little poem. To Christ the Lord let every
tongue its noblest tribute bring, when He's the subject of the
song, who can refuse to sing? No mortal can with Him compare
among the sons of men. Fairer is He than all the fair
that fill the heavenly tray. To you that believe, He is precious. Let's pray. Our Father, to whom Christ is precious tonight,
make him more precious. To those here tonight to whom
he's not precious, may he become precious. lead us to Christ, to fall at
his feet, to kiss the sun, to lay hold upon him with saving
faith, to be found in him, not having our own righteousness,
to know him and the power of his resurrected life. For it's
in his name we pray, amen.