Power in the Blood

[0:00] Power in the blood of Jesus. Power in his blood. What is it that sets Christianity apart from every other belief system, every other philosophy?

[0:10] ! It's the blood of Jesus. It's his holy blood, the precious blood of the lamb. It boils down to this. What saves us? What saves us?

[0:21] Many will think that they have some merit or some religious work or actions that saves them. Some religious motions or rituals or behaviours that saves them.

[0:35] And that really, when you boil it down to it, in other words, you save yourself. This can lead to self-righteous pride, can't it? It's vain, it's empty and it's false.

[0:48] You cannot save yourself. We need the blood of Jesus to save us. We need the one and only, one and only way. The one and only one, the one and only saviour for you to be saved.

[1:00] And I'm talking today about the offence of the cross, the scandal of the cross. It was scandalous. And it still is, isn't it? The power of the blood of Jesus.

[1:11] It's a scandal that our trust is in the blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus, shed for us. My simple plea is this.

[1:22] Put your heart's trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the lover of your soul, the crucified, the risen one. He is the one, the one you can trust.

[1:35] He makes covenant with us. He makes and keeps his promises. You can trust him in this sin-cursed fallen planet where you don't know who to believe in.

[1:46] You know, people say they're going to do something and they don't. You know, it's all too common. They talk out of one side of their mouth and they're telling you, Fibs, many deceivers are out there.

[1:58] People are trapped. I was talking with someone recently how he's trying to witness to some family and he was telling me how these people are held captive in a prison.

[2:12] It's in Salisbury area. This man was telling me lately his neighbours are caught in a trap. They're under the dominion of the drug crowd. Taking, dealing, pushing, and it's a downward spiral.

[2:28] How can they extricate themselves from this? Because if they try to jump out of this vicious cycle, the bikies will have them. They'll go after their family.

[2:39] They're trapped and snared. It seems like these people, they cannot escape this trap of the drug culture. You know, I can't even get my head around it. Why anyone would want to take the things in the first place?

[2:51] But the minute it gets the hooks into them, they're trapped. They're drawn. They're addicted. They're captivated. Captive. Held in bondage.

[3:02] Bound. And they face danger, even death, if they try to break that stronghold, that cycle that they're in. You know, we can't get our head around this, but it's happening in our streets.

[3:13] It's happening in our suburbs. It's happening in our city. Yet we know that God is able to save from the guttermost to the uttermost, isn't he?

[3:24] He's able to save to the uttermost. Even such as might be in that trap. God can break that bondage. Another bondage is condemnation.

[3:34] Some people are held in condemnation in religion. As they strive and strive for good works. In this system of good works. Of good workings.

[3:46] Never feeling worthy. Never feeling adequate. Never feeling like they've received. Never having the assurance of God's saving. They are religious yet lost.

[3:58] And they're just as hopelessly lost as these in the drug world. They're in the religion world. Their trust is in themselves. They're trying to save themselves. By religion.

[4:09] By good working. But we know all our works are as filthy rags. All our righteousness. Righteousnesses. Many in our world are a people who have no hope.

[4:20] Without God in the world. We need to realise. Realise the power of the blood. The power of the blood of Jesus. It makes all the difference.

[4:31] This power. The power of the blood of Jesus our Lord. Has the power to break people free. From the chains that confine them. From the bondages of their unbelief.

[4:42] To know God's saving. And I never tire of speaking of this. Because Paul said. Christ and him crucified. Are determined to know nothing else among you.

[4:54] Christ and him crucified. Jesus and his blood shed. The early church understood this message. They understood the blood. It's been said that the 22 sermons.

[5:07] Recorded by the four preachers in the book of Acts. 22 sermons. Four preachers. In the book of Acts. All give this same message. The death. Burial.

[5:18] And resurrection. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the same guts of the message. Is in all of these messages. By all of these preachers. In the book of Acts.

[5:30] They understood that his death. And the provision of the covering of the blood. Was the essential ingredient. Of the gospel. The whole Bible. Is this unfolding picture.

[5:41] This unfolding story. The salvation message. A mystery. Unlocked. Look back. Through Genesis. We'll travel there. To Genesis.

[5:53] To chapter 3. I'll just get that happening for you. Genesis chapter 3.

[6:05] Verse 21. Adam and Eve sinned. They took of the forbidden fruit. And they realised their nakedness.

[6:16] And they made these vain attempts. To cover themselves. With fig leaves. Then we see God covered them. With skins. It says. God made coats of skins.

[6:28] And clothed them. They were covered. By the blood. An animal had to be slain. This was the first blood covering. The first blood covering. Man in his nakedness of sin.

[6:40] In his realising. Of his sin. Of his guilt. Of his shame. Of the reproach. He tried to cover himself.

[6:52] She tried to cover herself. With fig leaves. The Lord God made coats of skins. And clothed them. God covered them.

[7:03] With the skins of a slain animal. Blood had to be shed. The blood is a covering. Right from Genesis 3. The blood is a covering. An atonement. Now people will say.

[7:15] They go to a shop. And the shop owner says. Oh that will be such and such. And they go. There. That will cover it.

[7:26] They put the money on the table. On the counter. There. That will cover it. The covering has the idea of payment. Payment for something.

[7:38] Something you'll be covering it with the payment. The idea of a payment. As well as a covering. As hiding something from sight. And blood. Is spoken of some 400 times.

[7:49] In the Bible. From cover to cover. We see blood. Through the pages of the word. It's always been God's plan. The blood. The power of the blood of Jesus.

[8:01] It's the only way. At first we see. As Abel and Cain brought offerings. We know that Cain's offering of plants. Was not received.

[8:12] Abel's offering. Of the blood sacrifice. Was received. And then we see. Cain slew Abel. Cain killed Abel.

[8:23] And the Lord challenges Cain. And he says. What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood. Crieth unto me. From the ground. Cain slew Abel.

[8:39] He hit him. He fell. He shed his blood. He died. And it says. The Lord heard the brother's blood. Crying out. From the ground.

[8:50] What does it cry out? We can imagine. Sin. Guilt. Condemnation. Lengeance. Judgment. Justice. Abel's blood.

[9:02] Cried out. Hebrews 12.24. Tells of Jesus. The mediator of the new covenant. The blood of sprinkling. That speaketh better things. Than that of Abel.

[9:14] The blood of Jesus. Christ cries out. It cries out today. Can you imagine. What does the blood of Jesus cry out? Peace. Forgiveness. Reconciliation.

[9:26] Redemption. Sanctification. Adoption. Acceptance. Cain's religion was bloodless.

[9:40] There was no blood in Cain's religion. And bloodless religion is evil. It falls short. Bloodless religion cannot save.

[9:51] Where there is no blood. It cannot save. So this message must be something that should grip us. To know the blood.

[10:02] And the blood of which we speak. This is perfect blood. Perfect blood. Blood. Not just human blood. Of any kind of blood. But the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus.

[10:13] It cries out. And it speaks better things. Than that of Abel. Hebrews 12.24. The blood of Jesus speaks peace. Pardon. Reconciliation.

[10:24] Because the blood of Jesus is different. From every other blood. He was virgin born. Born of a virgin. It established his righteousness. And Judas cried out about his blood.

[10:38] I have betrayed innocent blood. Judas knew this blood was perfect. Of this bleeding one it says in 1 John 3.5.

[10:51] Of this bleeding one it says in him. Is no sin. No sin. This was sinless blood. For this perfect blood to be applied.

[11:02] To be effective. The blood had to be applied. We see right through the pages of scripture. Right through the Old Testament sacrifices. And pictures.

[11:13] And symbols. And signs. We see of the importance of the blood. As the blood was shed. Through the tabernacle. Through the temple. We see the blood.

[11:24] Had to be applied. Had to be applied to the altar. Had to be applied to the utensils. Had to be applied to the priests. In Leviticus 8. We see. That it talks about the blood.

[11:38] And we see that. Just to read. Just to cover this one. Cain. His religion was bloodless. He slew his brother.

[11:51] His own works were evil. His brother's works were righteous. Are we going to be in Cain's camp? Or Abel's? Are we going to be in Cain's camp?

[12:02] The bloodless religion? Or in Abel's? Where the blood was a covering. And we see through the Old Testament. These pictures of the blood. As we could.

[12:12] We could. Cite many. As I say. 400. I won't. I won't give you all of them today. Leviticus 8.23. It tells of the animal slain. Of Moses taking the blood of it.

[12:24] The blood of the animal. Moses took the blood of the animal slain. He put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear. Upon the thumb of his right hand. And upon the great toe of his right foot.

[12:36] And so we see. You can imagine what it would look like. Blood. Everywhere. Blood on his ear. Blood on his hand. Blood on his feet. The blood had to be applied.

[12:47] To the ear. It can. Perhaps reflect. For us. The thought of. The mind. Of the understanding. Of when we get something in our ear.

[12:58] It goes into our mind. Into our thinking. Into our understanding. The voice of God. We cannot hear God. Without the blood. We see the blood applied to the hand.

[13:09] To the thumb. It pictures ministry. We cannot do God's work. Without the blood of Jesus. You can't serve God. Without knowing him. You must know the blood of Jesus.

[13:19] Over your life. And then the blood on the foot. Pictures the walk. It pictures the fellowship. We cannot walk. Or witness for our Lord. If we're not saved. If we're without the blood.

[13:30] We must have the blood. In our hearing. In our acting. In our walking. We must come unto God. By the blood. There's no other way. To be saved. Other than by the blood of Jesus.

[13:41] We cannot come Cain's way. Without the blood. With human works. And religion. We must come by the virtue. Of the blood of Jesus. Slain for us. We must come unto God.

[13:52] By the blood of Jesus. It says. Having therefore. Breath and boldness. To enter into the holiest. By the blood of Jesus. It tells us there. Of a picture of access. A picture of open doors.

[14:03] Doors swung open. And a boldness that we can enter in. To God's presence. Into relationship with him. We can enter in because of the blood. Why? Because he promises that.

[14:15] He promises that. Believer. You can enter in. Don't hold back. Some people think. Oh. I don't know how to pray. I don't know how. Enter in.

[14:26] Enter in boldly. Into his presence. Into the holiest. Of holies. He promises. Reception for you. He promises. A hearing for you.

[14:38] As you enter in. Brethren. Have boldness. To enter in. And he promises that. He's the God. Who cannot lie. He is the covenant. Keeping God. He does not lie.

[14:49] His promises are. Yay. And. Amen. And we can know. Holy boldness. Believer. You can know. A boldness today. A boldness to pray. A boldness to worship. The blood has to be applied.

[15:02] See the blood. They had basins of blood. They had blood poured out. They had blood applied. Blood sprinkled. Blood everywhere. Over sacrifices. We must come by the blood.

[15:14] Only the blood. There was a missionary in Kenya. Who tells a story. Of a young boy. Who was at a mission hospital. In Kenya.

[15:25] With this gaping wound. On his foot. A bleeding wound. On his foot. He'd accidentally injured himself. Cutting grass. And his heel was cut. He didn't wait. To tell anyone.

[15:36] But he just set out. Across country. To find the mission station. Where he heard. Medical help was available. And every time. That little foot. Touched the sandy earth. It left a faint trace of blood.

[15:48] A trace of blood. The journey was long. And difficult. But at last. He arrived. To the mission station. And then a little while later. The boy's mother showed. And the doctors were surprised.

[15:59] How did you get here? How did you find the way? She'd never made the trip before. How did you get here? How did you do it? And she said. Oh it was easy. I just followed the blood.

[16:10] I followed the blood. We must follow the blood. We must come by the blood. We must enter in by the blood today. If we'll follow the blood. Of Jesus. We'll find the grace of God.

[16:21] And faith to believe. When the children of Israel. Fled Egypt's bondage. They were saved by the blood. We know there was judgments. And finally the judgment. Of the firstborn of Egypt.

[16:33] Was slain. But the people of God. Were kept safe. And our Lord promised. Because of the blood. They would be safe. Because of the blood applied. They would find a mighty deliverance.

[16:45] From God's wrath. From his judgment. Exodus 12.13. He promises. And the blood shall be to you. For a token upon the houses. Where you are. And when I see the blood.

[16:56] I will pass over you. And the plague. Shall not be upon you. To destroy you. When I smite the land of Egypt. He fulfilled his promise. When I see the blood. It wasn't that they had to be.

[17:08] Doing some particular. Ceremony. Of their own making. Or some kind of religious works. Or actions. Things. What mattered. Was whether the blood was there.

[17:22] What did they have to do? If you imagine. Don't worry about the camera here. But. You can see the door here. You see the picture. The door post.

[17:33] And the lead tool. The door post. And the lead tool. They had to get the hyssop. With the blood. And thrash those. Entry points.

[17:44] To their homes. They had to thrash that blood. Upon. The entrance. And when I see the blood. I will pass over you.

[17:56] And what's more. It wasn't just selfish. That they looked after themselves. They said. Look out for your neighbours too. If your neighbour doesn't have a lamb. So. It's a picture there.

[18:07] Telling others. About the saving power. Of the blood. We want to be saved. But we want to tell others too. Don't we? We must. We have a message too vital. Our duty is to share it.

[18:19] To tell others about the saving power. Of the blood. Now the blood had to be applied. As I say. It had to apply it. Now some people might have thought. Oh why should I use blood? Maybe I'll try some other way.

[18:31] I'll try some other method. Or I'll just pray. Or whatever it be. No the blood. The blood. The blood had to be applied. The blood. Brought their liberty.

[18:42] The blood. Gave them deliverance. The lamb. Of God. Is a picture there for us. And as they walked out of Egypt. Lich to liberty.

[18:54] When you think about it. They slew the lamb. They ate the lamb. The lamb was in them. It's an interesting thought isn't it? That we received the lamb. We believe on the lamb of God.

[19:05] The Lord Jesus. His blood. And as the Israelites actually partook of that lamb. As a meal. Christ is in you. He's in you.

[19:16] Not only does he shelter us and save us. As we believe his work. And obey his command to believe. But he is in us. He is in us.

[19:27] As they walked to liberty. The lamb was in them. And Christ is in you. Christ is in you. As you see the picture. The lintel. And the doorposts. And some would actually consider.

[19:40] When you thrash it up. And it drips down. It virtually makes the shape. Of what you regard. As the common sign of the cross. It's that picture of the blood.

[19:52] The blood encompassing. The blood surrounding. The blood over the entry. Of our homes. Of our families. And as we apply the blood. We know his protection.

[20:02] His safe keeping. That Christ is our sure refuge. And Christianity and the Bible. Are set apart by this. This is a faith of blood. This is a book of blood.

[20:14] There's blood. Right through this book. Blood. In this faith that we believe. That Christianity. Is filled with blood. Here's how someone.

[20:24] Kind of captured it. I'm quoting. Christianity is filled with blood. More than anything else. The blood of Christ. Is spoken of us. As accomplishing. For us.

[20:34] The grand benefits. That belong to salvation. We've been purchased by his blood. We have propitiation. By his blood. We have been justified. By his blood.

[20:45] We have redemption. Through his blood. We who are far off. Are brought nigh by the blood. We have peace through his blood. Our consciences are purified. By the blood.

[20:56] We are sanctified. Made holy. Through his blood. We are ransomed. By his blood. He set us free. From sin. Washed us. By his blood.

[21:07] So by the power of the Lord Jesus. We can be saved. From. God's wrath. Against our sin. You know. Just as that. Judgment. Was about to fall.

[21:19] They knew they were safe. Why? Not because of religious. Acts of their own. But because of trusting in. God's promise of safety. By the blood.

[21:30] The only. The only way. The people of Israel. Were saved. Was because the blood. Was applied. And it's likewise for us. God's wrath is against you.

[21:41] It's against me. As it was. In Eden. As it was. In Egypt. God's wrath is against us. For our sin. But. He takes our place.

[21:53] He takes our penalty. And he pays. That. Price. It tells. There's so many scriptures. And I can only scratch the surface here.

[22:05] But think of the power of the blood of Jesus. And what the power of the blood means for us today. We can be saved from God's wrath against our sin. There's no fear of God's wrath for us who believe.

[22:19] Because we are justified. Some have likened it as just as if I'd never sin. It's when we declare just. He says you are righteous. I declare you just.

[22:29] I declare you adopted. I declare you my son. My daughter. By faith. And I declare you saved. From wrath. Through him. The blood of the Lord Jesus.

[22:43] Justifies. The blood of the Lord Jesus has redeeming power. To redeem. It means to buy back. It means a payment made in exchange. It means set at liberty. A freedom.

[22:54] Purchased. A setting free. It tells us in whom. Christ. We have redemption through his blood. Even the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness.

[23:05] What a word. What a word. Forgiven. Forgiven. Grasp that. Forgiven. By God. Wow. There's nothing better, is there? To know forgiven.

[23:16] Forgiveness. Nothing compares. To know I'm forgiven. Because of his grace. Because of the blood. And it tells us stand fast therefore.

[23:27] In the liberty wherewith Christ has set you free. It's been not entangled again. With the yoke of bondage. We see a picture of a yoke here. Of a, you know, oxen would put their heads through these, these loops.

[23:41] And it says that, it compares bondage, I guess, of religion, of works, to a yoke. As something that confines and constrains.

[23:52] It's heavy. It's hard. And it tells us in that scripture that don't be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Don't put it on your neck again. He sets us free.

[24:04] There's true liberty in Christ. We found our rest, our assurance, our freedom. Not by religious works or acts or actions. As much as we ought to be prompted to works, the works do not save.

[24:20] And that's the great freedom, the great gladness and setting free that we can know. It's not by any working of our own, but of his free grace and gift. The grace and gift of God.

[24:32] Our saving is possible by his free gift. Eternal life through faith. For his glory and by his grace. And we can know his cleansing power.

[24:45] Because of the blood of Jesus today. Clean. It's another word, isn't it? Don't you like that? If you've been out working hard and you come home all grimy and you just want to get clean.

[24:57] And think of that in a spiritual sense too. That we can be clean before God. That he can cleanse our hearts, our consciences, our minds, our memories.

[25:09] There's a sanctifying effect, a cleansing. In the Old Testament we see pictured for us how a priest pronounced the leper clean after the sprinkling of the blood. A leper in the Old Testament of those days pictured for us sin.

[25:27] Think of a leper. Bits and pieces dropping off them. Open, weeping, gangrene, sores and scratchings and contagious aspects.

[25:40] It's sin. It pictures sin. That's what sin is like. It's ugly. It's corrupting. It's defiling. And yet God shows the leper pronounced clean by the sprinkling of the blood.

[25:57] There's that sense of they were received and there was a reception, a cleansing from their defilement. And likewise for us it says, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.

[26:11] And the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. All sin. All sin. All sin is paid.

[26:22] I want to tell you this morning, his blood is sufficient. His blood is sufficient. Some people think, you know, they become a Christian and then they heap condemnation on themselves and they're filled with this unease, this uneasiness, this doubt.

[26:45] Am I saved? Have I done enough? And you get some that they put a burden on their own backs as if they've got to work for it.

[27:00] It says work out your own salvation. Don't work for it. He works in us and we work it out. It's not the work that makes us saved.

[27:13] His blood is sufficient. And so you don't have to, it says there is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.

[27:24] There is no condemnation. All sin is paid. And if you can grasp that truth, my sin is paid. Paid, paid, paid, paid in full.

[27:35] Paid. The stamp is on it. All sin. His blood is sufficient. And then we see that we have peace through the blood of his cross. Peace through the blood of his cross, it tells us.

[27:48] We don't earn it. There's peace with God. There's the peace of God. We don't earn salvation. Imagine if you could earn it. What would you have?

[28:03] Human pride. God. You'd be looking down on others as if I've got it and they don't. How good am I? It's not you.

[28:15] It's not me. All of God. All of God. He affected full payment. There's no room for human pride in our salvation because it's his act of saving us.

[28:28] He affected full payment. He made the rescue. The rescue operation is his from beginning to end. And it never ends. Amen. He's fully carried out salvation by his operation, by his action.

[28:45] The grace of God. The mighty grace of God. I was just looking in, as Peter was talking, Colossians talks about, in Colossians 2, talks about through the faith of the operation of God.

[29:07] Through the faith of the operation of God. You know, if you need a heart operation, and we all do when we're born, because the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

[29:19] You want to go to the greatest heart surgeon of all. The greatest blood donor of all. The one who affects a heart operation.

[29:30] And it says that we have faith of the operation of God. It talks about you dead in your sins, quickened, made alive together with him, forgiven.

[29:42] There was a blotting out of the handwriting that was against you. You know, this is what the handwriting says. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

[29:53] It says he blotted out the handwriting and he nailed it to the cross. Paid. Nailed it to the cross. Took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. You know, what a blessing that is to think.

[30:06] What was against us? He took it out of the way and he nailed it to the cross. Our sin. He took it away. He nailed it to the cross. In Christ, his body bore your sin and mine.

[30:19] That's the sufficiency of the cross, of the blood of Jesus. He effected full payment. Further, it says in 1 Peter 1, it tells us, for as much as you will not redeem with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, your empty way of life before you were saved, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot, without blemish and without spot.

[30:50] Think of the lamb. Oh, a lamb. What a picture of innocence and beauty.

[31:13] Harmless and a picture of peace and innocence.

[31:27] Jesus is the lamb of God. That takes away the sin of the world. He is the perfect lamb. He deserved nothing of the cross.

[31:41] And man crowned him with a crown of thorns, mocking him, king, bowing in mock worship.

[31:56] One day they'll bow in real worship. We will all bow. Surely this is precious blood, isn't it? Precious blood. The precious blood of Jesus Christ.

[32:08] Consider the value of this blood that we would take so little time to think of this. The value of it. You are bought with a price.

[32:19] Wow. There's some priceless people here this morning. Amen. Priceless. You are priceless. Saints of God. You are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God.

[32:32] Glorify him in your body. Glorify him in your spirit, which are God's. You are bought with a price. Consider the value of the blood.

[32:44] It should evoke praise in us, shouldn't it? To think of the precious blood shed for me. And what it should evoke in us, what it should prompt in us.

[32:56] You know, like C.T. Studd said, if Christ be God and died for me, no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him. If Christ be God and died for me, no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.

[33:14] Consider the value of the blood. At the dedication of the temple, in 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 5, 22,000 oxen were sacrificed.

[33:24] 22,000. 120,000 sheep. Wow. That's a lot of sheep, isn't it? I think 12 sheep's enough for me.

[33:36] 120,000 sheep were sacrificed at 22,000 oxen. Now, it's been reckoned that the blood of one oxen would overflow a standard bathtub.

[33:47] Wow. 22,000 of them were slain at the dedication of the temple. That was a lot of blood, wasn't it? It was a lot of blood.

[33:58] Imagine the price. A lamb, an oxen would be a very valuable item in your ownership. Yet, they willingly sacrificed that.

[34:13] Great cost. Some have reckoned on Passover night, back in Egypt time, and that time when they applied the blood, some have reckoned there was about 160,000 lambs slain.

[34:26] When you consider the amount of people and how many per household and such, 160,000, a lot of blood. And then, at the annual observance of the Passover, based on the number of Hebrews at the time of Solomon, some have reckoned maybe five or six million, they would have slain about 400,000 lambs annually on that day.

[34:49] The day of the Passover, 400,000 lambs. This was a great cost. A great cost. But friends, I'll tell you, the precious blood is more costly than all of those thousands of animals.

[35:02] The precious blood of Jesus. This was the great cost. And this great cost was for you. It was for me. And we're told of the church of God that he has purchased it with his own blood.

[35:17] The purchase price for the church of God is the very precious blood. He's purchased it with his own blood. And so friends, consider these truths today.

[35:32] And let's consider it personally. The one sacrifice was once for all. Once for all. Some would try to kind of reenact it as they mistakenly think.

[35:46] they can re-materialise the blood and body of the Lord. We know it's symbolic. There's nothing of that in the scriptures. Some would try to, as we know, in some nations at Easter time, people go along and flagellate themselves as if they've got to, and then crucify themselves as if they've got to reenact the crucifixion the crucifixion and the bruising of our Lord.

[36:13] There's no need for that. There's no, there's no scripture for that. It's not right. One sacrifice, once, once and for all.

[36:24] Once and for all. The one sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and his precious blood is sufficient for us, sufficient for you, for me. And friends, it should evoke in us praise.

[36:35] As we see in the scriptures at the close of the book, we see the beasts and the elders. We see people crying out, worthy, worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb.

[36:47] Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. We see how we can rejoice because of the blood.

[37:01] Our praise is because of the blood. Our praise is not because of our own doing, of our own selves, none of that, all of God. And we see in Revelation further, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.

[37:14] The saints of God overcame the devil by the works of God, not their own, by the blood of the Lamb, the finished work. And friends, we can, as much as these scriptures were particular occasions and individuals, I believe they're applicable still, that we can overcome the devil by the blood of Jesus.

[37:34] We can overcome him because Satan has no power over you who know the covering of his blood as they did in Egypt time. The covering was over the door.

[37:45] The angel of death could not enter. There was no damnation. There was no wrath for them. There was no judgment because they were passed over at the time of Passover.

[37:57] And so, God's judgment and anger against your sin will pass over because it was vented upon Christ in your part.

[38:10] We have victory over sin because of the cross today. It tells us, it talks about how he leads us in triumph. He's spoiled principalities and powers.

[38:22] He's triumphed over them in the cross, Colossians 2. We see that we can give praise to him because of what he has done and to know his victory in our lives, day by day victory.

[38:36] It tells us that thanks be to God which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15, 57. And Revelation, the back of the book, it's filled with this praise.

[38:52] It's filled with this glory to the Lamb. It's filled with that worship, with that honouring of him. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Unto him, unto him, unto him, be glory.

[39:08] Friends, consider that our sin has to be paid. And I like how one preacher has put it to, that I've heard him put it.

[39:20] Someone has to pay for your sin. Someone has to pay. And it tells us the wages of sin is death. Someone has to pay that.

[39:32] It's either you or him. Jesus paid it all. Jesus paid your penalty of sin, the wages of your sin. He paid the price, the judgment due to you of death.

[39:46] He paid it for you. Receive his payment on your part. There was a preacher who tells of this truth as a light to an exchange.

[40:01] You know, a barter, an exchange, a transfer. You could put it as this picture puts it, that the finished work of Jesus, the cross, he finished it.

[40:13] He says, it is finished for my sin. God receives that payment and he treats us as if we are as Christ.

[40:25] He treats us as if our sin has been taken. He sees us as the righteousness of God in Christ. And here's another picture that illustrates it further.

[40:40] and it's based on 2 Corinthians 5.21. God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

[40:52] So if you can kind of just capture this picture here of this transfer and this picture puts it like this of this transfer. A sinless Christ took upon him the sin of all people.

[41:04] He bore it to Calvary, suffered and died for it and in exchange he covers all believers with his perfect righteousness. So he illustrates it as I quote here, let's suppose that I'm wearing a coat that reveals the state of my soul, every commandment I ever broke, every good work I neglected, every lustful thought, every profanity I ever uttered and there's these dirty marks on my coat, what a filthy garment it is.

[41:36] I must wear the coat, no cleaner on earth can remove its dirt or stains and smudges, no dry cleaner can get this coat clean because it's filthy with my sin, I'm covered with my sin, everything bad about me.

[41:49] But the Lord Jesus finds me and he says, Andrew I know all about your coat, I love you anyway, give me your coat. And so miserable with shame, I turn the coat over to him, then I watch as he marches off to Calvary, he wears this filthy coat on the cross, bearing the penalty for every smudge and stain.

[42:10] And then at that very moment on the cross he cries out, it is finished. And he breathes his last and suddenly I become aware that I'm wearing a new coat. And instantly I recognise it, it is Jesus' coat, not a smudge or stain, his perfect righteousness covers me.

[42:26] And as I come into the presence of God, God sees the righteousness of Christ. He sees righteousness on me because it's not mine, it's his, his righteousness.

[42:39] And what a trade it is, what an exchange, what a transfer. The blood of Jesus has the power to make us ready for heaven and nothing but the blood can save your soul.

[42:51] I urge you today, if you're not sure of this eternal transaction, of this eternal transfer, this eternal trade, as it were, of my sin, his righteousness, you can affect that transfer.

[43:05] God can affect that transfer in your heart. You say, Lord Jesus, I give you my inadequacy, my sin, my unworthiness, my guilt, my shame, and I receive your righteousness, your saving, your perfection, your holiness, all of you to cover me.

[43:29] And you can be covered just like the children of Israel were covered over their homes. You can be covered over your heart. You can know that you can be sanctified, made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.

[43:44] The question is, have you entered into covenant with him, the blood covenant? You've got to accept his terms. Not of you, all of him. Not your terms, his terms.

[43:56] Lord, have all of me, forgive me, receive me. I receive you, your righteousness, your salvation, your grace. Accept his terms. The blood covenant is the only way we can be saved, is to receive his grace, the virtue of the blood.

[44:13] And there's power in the blood of Jesus today. Amen? There's power in the blood of Jesus. It still has the same power to save the blood of Jesus. And to you, who are sometimes far off, are made nigh.

[44:27] Just think, you're brought nigh, you're brought close to the very heart of God. You're brought right into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. He's brought you right in to his very heart, to his very bosom, to that closeness, that relationship, to know him, whom to know is life eternal.

[44:45] You who are sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. And he was covered in blood for us. Think of what it was like. We can't conceive of it.

[44:56] What the blood of Jesus, how the blood of Jesus was poured out, how it was poured out. People of God today, can we just get a grip of what Jesus has done for us, our Lord and Saviour, that our restless hearts can find their rest in him.

[45:13] He was covered in blood for us. And we think as in Adam's time, they were naked, there was a covering that God gave them. Christ was uncovered at the cross.

[45:24] It was a reproach. It was embarrassment and shame. And he was covered in blood for us. So we can be covered in his righteousness.

[45:37] Do you know him? Have you been made nigh to God through the blood of Jesus? I pray that you know that. And I urge you, one and all, and believers be encouraged, if you're not saved, become a believer.

[45:54] He that comes to God must believe. He is. And he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. It boils down to this, what saves you? Yourself?

[46:06] No. There's no hope to save yourself. I cannot save myself for any vain effort of trying. I cannot save myself. It's never enough. We all fall short of the glory of God.

[46:18] But he can save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him, by the blood. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you. The blood of Jesus has the power to save, the power to keep, Lord, the power to sanctify.

[46:35] Lord, we know you redeem, you give peace, pardon, and every blessing of heaven. And it's not by any virtue or doing of our own. We pray if there's any here present, they've yet to truly trust the blood of Jesus.

[46:48] They're trusting in works, they're trusting in their own empty religion, they're trusting in their own thinking power or trying power. Lord, let it be today they'll say, Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sin.

[47:02] I trust your payment on my part. I receive your gift of salvation by faith. I trust in your grace that saves even me because of what you have done.

[47:14] Lord, I receive your saving grace in my heart and soul that my life can be lived for you now. I pray if there's any here present, you've yet to trust him openly.

[47:26] You might say, I believe, but I've never really made a stand. Today can be that day. There's an altar, as it were. There's an open, extended invitation here to come forward if you'd like to make that public declaration that you believe, if you've never done that before.

[47:48] May today be a turning point for you, that you declare, I believe, I have faith in Jesus as my Lord, as my Saviour, taking my sin and guilt, being my master and Saviour today.

[48:02] If you'd like to take that step of faith or if you'd like further prayer at the close of this meeting, come and see me or another trusted Christian so they can give you further direction and support.

[48:15] If you're a woman, we'll find a female for you to support you, a male I can help or another Christian man. So feel very much invited to take that step tonight, today.

[48:29] In Jesus' name, amen. Transcription by CastingWords Transcription by CastingWords