With His Own Blood

[0:00] Acts 20, 28.

[0:14] The context is of Paul bidding farewell and of words to the elders of Ephesus.! We see three truths here about His own blood.

[0:48] Three truths about His own blood. Firstly, a purchase. Secondly, a price. Thirdly, a people. Firstly, a purchase.

[0:58] It tells of one purchase made. Of a purchase made. Purchased with His own blood. A transaction was made. God affected a purchase back at Calvary's hill.

[1:13] Back at the cross, a transaction was made. God affected a purchase. A change of ownership was made in that place called Calvary. This great giver affects a great exchange.

[1:27] The church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. Now when someone purchases something, there's an exchange made. There's an exchange of financial value or of trading.

[1:43] There's an exchanging. An exchange happens when someone purchases something. In Matthew 16 we read, For what is man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

[2:00] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Now some people do just that. They exchange their soul. They exchange their eternal destiny for the world and its toys.

[2:14] They make a trade, an exchange. And they appear to make great gain, some of them. Yet it is great loss. Some of the richest people in the world are really the poorest.

[2:27] They seem to have so much in property, in acquisition, in bank account, in esteem. Yet they lack what really truly matters. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

[2:40] It puts it in the balance here that the soul is worth more than the whole wide world and all that it offers.

[2:50] And we see this exchange here. We see this purchase here. That because of His own blood shed for man's sin, you can exchange your sin for his righteousness.

[3:03] What a deal. What a trade is that. Your righteousness, which is His filthy rags, your rags for His robe of righteousness. What an exchange.

[3:13] What a transaction. And God's immense purchasing power is seen at the cross. This eternal transaction that affects an eternal destination change.

[3:24] His great exchange made possible because of His own blood. Firstly, a purchase. Secondly, notice a price. A price. Consider the price this morning.

[3:35] As we come around the Lord's table, we consider the price that was paid. We consider that precious, awesome price. A shocking cost. A shocking price.

[3:47] A awesome price. A huge price in this purchase. In 1 Peter 1 verse 18 it says, for as much as you know that. You are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without spot, without blemish and without spot.

[4:18] Redeemed not with corruptible things, silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. As of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Consider the price paid this morning.

[4:31] The price paid. It's awesome. The blood, the precious blood. The blood of Jesus has great value. We can't put a human figure on that.

[4:44] It's got an eternal dimension to it. It changes the eternal destiny of mankind. It affects a great change. There is redemption. In other words, they're buying back from the slavery of sin.

[4:59] The picture is of, with this word redeeming, it's got a picture of, we can't fathom it in the Western world, but it still happens in some parts of the globe today, where people are put on a soapbox and people bid for this slave.

[5:16] It's not that long ago that it happened in America and in other places of the world. Shocking, yet real, that a man can, a woman can be sold and bought like a piece of property.

[5:31] And this picture is of this same thing, that we can be purchased with a price. And he bid the highest price. There's no high bid that could be made.

[5:42] And this great exchange, this great change happened, this great redemption, this great purchasing from the slave market of sin. And then he sets us free when he claims ownership of us.

[5:55] And makes us not his servant so much as his son and daughter. What a change, what a price. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

[6:07] Colossians 1, 14. By his own blood, there was a change of ownership.

[6:21] 1 Corinthians 6, it says, You are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Consider that price this morning. We see that wonderful purchase. We see the wonderful price.

[6:33] And thirdly, we notice a people. A people, for something to have value, it depends on what someone's prepared to pay for it, isn't it?

[6:45] Sometimes we might think that rusty old heap in the garage, Rodney's hot rod down there in the garage, it means the world to him. He probably thinks that's worth maybe a cool $100,000 or whatever it might be.

[7:01] But when someone actually puts it in the newspaper, he might get an offer to say, Oh, I'll offer you $2,000 for that, Rodney. Or whatever it might be. And he knows the time and effort, and the sweat and blood and tears, and the grease and oil on his hands and under his fingernails that put into that project to make that car roadworthy, and flashy, and smart, and shiny.

[7:25] And he knows the value of that vehicle. And yet, it depends on the one who's offering something for it, doesn't it?

[7:36] That really sets the price for something. It's like you might think your house is worth a certain money, but then you put it on the real estate market and you realise how little it's really worth it.

[7:47] Because the value of something depends on what someone is prepared to pay for it. Isn't it? And friends, these people that are spoken of here, these people have been considered very valuable.

[8:01] Brothers and sisters here this morning, fellow believers here today, you are so very precious. You are so very valuable. The Church of God is an amazing purchase, an awesome price for God's own people.

[8:19] Every one of you as precious souls are worth so dearly much to your Father in Heaven. And the item purchased is the Church of God.

[8:31] It's clear that God has placed a great value on everyone that knows Him. Everyone that is chosen, everyone of His children is greatly valued today.

[8:42] And sometimes we might dismiss that, but think of how precious you are to God today. Every one of you, the apple of His eye. You are a called out people, a people for His name.

[8:54] Acts 15, 14. 1 Peter 2 says, You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.

[9:06] In other words, very special. That you should show forth the praises of Him and has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light, which in times past were not a people, but are now the people of God.

[9:21] You are the people of God today. You've obtained mercy today. You are now the people of God, precious in His sight.

[9:31] And this table is the table of the Lord. It's the table of the Lord's people. And you are precious in His sight. God values you immensely. And He invites you.

[9:43] He welcomes you to His table. He invites you to His fellowship to suck with Him, to dine with Him, and hear with you. You are loved with an everlasting love. And consider how much He loves you.

[9:55] Sometimes we think, I'm not worth very much. And you know, you see the devil's lies when people commit suicide and such things as that. And they get in fits of depression and think, woe is me.

[10:08] You are loved with an everlasting love. You are loved with an everlasting love this morning. And get a grip of that today. Consider how much He loves you.

[10:19] The cross says it all. And so too ought we to love one another. To love one another. The love of the brethren. We should love one another. As He is loved us. That's a big ask, isn't it?

[10:30] To love in such a manner. And by His shed blood, He's affected, as Ephesians 1.14 says, the purchase, the redemption of the purchased possession. The redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory.

[10:45] That's awesome, isn't it? The redemption, in other words, the buying back from the slave market of sin of the purchased possession. He owns you. And that's a privilege.

[10:55] That's a joy. His ownership, His lordship, is not an irksome thing. It's a glorious thing. It's a glorious liberty. It's a wonderful emancipation.

[11:06] In other words, a wonderful freedom from slavery. When you're His servant, you're set free from the slave master of sin. From that great taskmaster that is the devil.

[11:17] The church of God which He has purchased with His own blood. The Bible says that let a man examine himself. And I know if I was to examine myself, I would say I'm most unworthy this morning.

[11:31] Most unworthy. And yet, the Bible says we can be cleansed. And this can be a cleansing time as we consider His blood.

[11:43] He says, confess your sins. And He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you're feeling unworthy, you can't feel worthy today.

[11:55] If you're feeling like it's hopeless, you're unloved, that's a lie today. You are loved with an everlasting love. And He says, come unto me and receive me and I'll receive you.

[12:09] Of course, this is just a symbol of that transaction. It's a symbol of that wonderful purchase that was made. The picture of the blood is a wonderful picture of the purchase made, of the purchase that was effected.

[12:26] And we see that there is a wonderful change, a wonderful exchange. There is a wonderful price, the precious blood. And we see there's a people here today, the church of God which He has purchased with His own blood, His own blood.

[12:41] Now that's an awesome, awesome testimony to the deity of Christ, isn't it? The church of God which He has purchased with His own blood, His own blood. And if you're a member of the church of God, then you're invited.

[13:00] The extended invitation is extended still that we can be partakers of that wonderful privilege. that transaction that was made at the cross is still real today and we think of it today.

[13:18] This is the covenant, the new covenant, the new transaction, if you like, the new agreement that is in my blood. This is what we think of this morning and reflect on the purchase.

[13:32] You're no longer your own. You're bought with the price. Think of the price, the precious blood. And think of the people that you are. They're very precious people.

[13:45] It's not some human institution, not some man-made organisation, but it is the body of Christ, the people of God, a people for His name, a peculiar people, the church of God, the church of the living God.

[14:05] And you're very precious and very special today, a peculiar people. In other words, you stand out from everybody else. Peculiar means you just, there's no comparison.

[14:19] You're so very precious in His sight today. And He still sees us and He still desires that closeness with us today.

[14:33] He still wants that intimacy, that relationship. And the Bible says that He died for our sins. And I urge you today to trust Him.

[14:48] Exchange your rags for His righteousness, for His riches that are beyond compare. Eternal life.

[14:58] There's no comparison. In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. There's a wonderful burden lifted. There's a wonderful release when sins are forgiven.

[15:12] What a relief to know that sins can be forgiven and that God will even forget them. That's amazing, isn't it? That God with His awesome, you know, the awesome power of God, that He deliberately wipes it from His memory banks so that, you know, there's nothing left in the memory banks of God that He holds against us.

[15:35] It's gone, it's forgotten. It's buried in the sea of His forgetfulness. Praise God for that today. As we reflect on the blood that was shed, He says, take, eat.

[15:48] And so we'll ask our brothers here to help us to pray. Perhaps Peter could pray as we think about the bruised body of our Saviour reflected in the bread that we are to eat together.

[16:02] Thanks, Peter.