[0:00] Once again, thank you for your warm welcome. It's lovely to be with you again tonight, and we pray God's blessing as we join together around his word. And so we're going to begin by worshiping God, singing to his praise from Psalm 9. Psalm 9 and sing Psalms, that's on page 8 of the Blue Psalm books, 9a.
[0:19] We'll read from verse 9. We'll sing down to the end of the verse marked 14, to the tune done firmly, and standing to sing, The Lord Will Be a Hiding Place.
[0:57] The Lord will be a hiding place, for the host of our rest, and he will be a strong defence, for those who are distressed.
[1:28] All those who know your name, O Lord, in you their just will place, for you do not abandon those who seek your gracious face.
[1:58] Sing praises to the Lord who saith, in Zion on his throne, among the nations of the world, proclaim what he has done.
[2:27] For he, the adventurer of man's blood, remembers evermore, the cry of the afflicted one, he never will ignore.
[2:57] O Lord, see how my enemies are persecuting me, and mercy from the gates of death, let me have set me free.
[3:27] So that in Zion's city gates, pure grace I may declare, and that I may exult with joy in your salvation air.
[3:58] Let's unite our hearts in prayer. Let us pray. Gracious God, we are humbled this evening hour of worship, that a God who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, one who is holy, holy, holy, holy, one who inhabits eternity, has indeed chosen to condescend to reveal himself to us, that you are not a God who is distant or detached, a God who cannot be known, but rather a God who tells us even today to come.
[4:52] Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, rest for your souls.
[5:02] And how we long this evening hour to know that, rest afresh as we come and as we find ourselves as those who are sojourners through this wilderness that is time.
[5:15] negotiating our way through many trials and temptations, difficulties and discouragements. But yet in the midst of it all, you are God.
[5:31] And so we praise you, O Lord, that we are not found this Saturday evening as we once were, perhaps, worshiping idols dumb, giving ourselves over to the things of this world that cry out peace, peace, where there is no peace.
[5:50] Those many temptations that captivate our hearts and our minds, those things that even give to us pleasure, but yet only for a moment.
[6:03] We praise you, O Lord, that by the grace of God, we are able to see, at least in a measure, the deceitfulness of sin, a world that promises us so much, yet time and time again fails to deliver.
[6:20] And so we bless you and we praise you then for the fact that you never fail to deliver, that you are a covenant-keeping God, that you are a God who, in spite of our unfaithfulness, remains faithful, a God whose promises are from everlasting to everlasting.
[6:43] And in light of this, we pray that we might be found as your people pleading these promises, for we have nothing else. Not only would we plead these promises that are set before us, the innumerable truths in your scripture, but that we would do so with confidence.
[7:05] Forgive us, O Lord, for our lack of faith. Forgive us for neglecting to remember that you are the creator of the heavens and the earth and all that in them is.
[7:18] You are the one who has wrought perhaps even the greatest miracle of all by bringing sinners such as we are from darkness into your own marvellous light.
[7:30] And as we reflect upon who you are and the power of your hand, help us all the more to believe, to trust, to come and to cast ourselves upon you.
[7:44] And Lord, we pray this evening, especially for this town. We are so mindful of the fact that, relatively speaking, we are few in number gathered here, that there are so many seeking to find that fulfilment elsewhere.
[8:04] Those who have no word of their soul, those who are captured by the world and the flesh and the devil. Remind us, O Lord, that it is but by the grace of God that we are what we are.
[8:20] And were it not for that grace, we would be there also. But what we long for, O Lord, is to see this town revived and renewed, that we as your people might see afresh the wonder of that salvation that has been wrought for us on Calvary's tree, that we would afresh be amazed by that sacrificial act of love that has given unto us a hope not only for time, but for all eternity.
[8:52] And that us being renewed and revived in our own spirit, that this would indeed flow out to those around us, our friends, our neighbours, our family.
[9:03] And that we would indeed see days where your name is high and lifted up, even days, as in days not so long ago, where this very building would be filled with men and women, boys and girls, with that longing and that desire in their heart to come and worship you.
[9:25] O Lord, you are able. And so we pray it to be so, for the glory of your name. But in the meantime, O Lord, we give thanks. We give thanks that you are still saving souls.
[9:39] We praise your name for our dear sister who has professed faith for the first time in this congregation. Although perhaps we know, we do not all know her, you know her.
[9:52] You are the God who has called her to yourself. And we pray that you would be with her as she takes this step of faith that she would know in a very real way the strengthening that follows obedience.
[10:06] That you would, as it were, put that wall of fire around her, protecting her from the fiery darts of the evil one who no doubt even this evening hour seeks to distract her and to bring her to that place of despondency.
[10:22] We know that he is a liar. He is the one who seeks to rob us of our peace. And what we pray for her, we pray for us all as we prepare, as we prepare to come and to do this in remembrance of you.
[10:39] That we would do so in remembrance of the one who is so worth remembering. In remembrance of the one who never forgets us although we forget him.
[10:54] Lord, that you would be pleased in your mercy and your grace and your love to grant unto us even a glimpse of yourself. That we would behold the beauty of the king through the lattice of his word.
[11:11] That you would show unto us something of who you are and what you have done for wretched sinners such as we are. We are not worthy.
[11:22] We are not worthy of the smallest of your mercies. But yet we praise you all the more that we come not leaning upon our own worthiness, our own good works, but rather upon the one who has cried out, it is finished.
[11:40] And if there are any here tonight who are yet to come and to profess your name, who perhaps have many fears and questions at the front of their mind that are perhaps prohibiting them from doing so, that you would take these things from them and enable them to see even tonight that we are called to a life of faith.
[12:03] We are not to look through the eyes of our own reason, but through the eyes of Scripture. That we would come and that we would believe that you are a God who has never once let down any who have come out on your side.
[12:21] Yes, we know for all of us here we have times of difficulties, times of joy, times of expectation, times of sorrow. Yet every step of the way you are there by our side leading us and guiding us.
[12:37] And so we pray then that you would bless us as we come around your word this evening. We thank you for it. As it speaks to us, as it challenges us and encourages us that you would grant unto us hearing ears and hearts that are ready and willing to receive not the word of the preacher but the word of God himself.
[13:02] That your Holy Spirit might truly be in our midst accompanying your truth so that we might be able to see it was good for us to meet. We pray for our dear brothers here, for James and for Colin Mordo.
[13:17] We give thanks for their ministry, for their witness, for their faithfulness. We pray, O Lord, that they would see fruit for their labor, that they would be encouraged in their work as they continue to reach out with the good news of the gospel and that together with their curccession, deacon's court, their members and their adherents, they would have that zeal and vision to indeed go out with that glorious message for time is short and eternity is long.
[13:51] Go with us then, we pray, and forgive us for Jesus' sake. Amen. We're going to sing then, friends, once more from Psalm 19 in the Scottish Psalter.
[14:04] Psalm 19. I'm going to pick up our reading at verse 8.
[14:16] That's on page 223. Psalm 19. The statutes of the Lord are right and do rejoice the heart. The Lord's command is pure and doth light to the eyes impart.
[14:32] Unspotted is the fear of God and doth endure forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. We'll sing down to the end of the first part of verse 13 to the praise of God and to the tune Bethesda.
[14:49] Standing to sing The statutes of the Lord are right. The statutes of the Lord are right and do rejoice the heart the Lord's heard The Lord's peace no matter is pure and dumb high to be Fot swerve little And doth endure forever
[15:54] The judgment's all the Lord are true And righteous all together They bore and bore In much time old To be desired and And money, money From the cold That drop the sweeter fire Moreover day
[16:57] Thy servant mourn Are thee this life should pain A great reward provided is For them that keep us safe Who can this ever understand Oh, thanks I'll be within From sin Thy cause Thy servant keep
[18:00] From all Resanctious sin Well friends, let's join together To read the word of God We're going to read from 1 Peter 1 Peter chapter 1 We can read the whole chapter together Let us hear the word of God Peter Peter An apostle of Jesus Christ To those who are elect exiles Of the dispersion in Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia
[19:01] And Bithynia According to the foreknowledge Of God the Father In the sanctification of the Spirit For obedience to Jesus Christ And for sprinkling with his blood May grace and peace be multiplied to you Blessed be the God and Father Of our Lord Jesus Christ According to his great mercy He has caused us to be born again To a living hope Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ From the dead To an inheritance that is imperishable Undefiled and unfading Kept in heaven for you Who by God's power Are being guarded Through faith For a salvation Ready to be revealed In the last time In this you rejoice Though now for a little while If necessary You have been grieved By various trials So that the tested Genuineness of your faith More precious than gold
[20:01] That perishes That it is tested by fire May be found to result In praise And glory And honor At the revelation Of Jesus Christ Though you have not seen him You love him Though you do not now see him You believe in him And rejoice with joy That is inexpressible And filled with glory Obtaining the outcome Of your faith The salvation Of your souls Concerning this salvation The prophets Who prophesied About the grace That was to be yours Searched And inquired carefully Inquiring what person Or time The spirit of Christ In them was indicating When he predicted The sufferings of Christ And the subsequent glories It was revealed to them That they were serving Not themselves But you In the things That have now been
[21:03] Announced to you Through those Who preach the good news To you By the Holy Spirit Sent from heaven Things Into which the angels Long to look Therefore Preparing your minds For action And being sober-minded Set your hope Fully on the grace That will be brought To you At the revelation Of Jesus Christ As obedient children Do not be conformed To the passions Of your former ignorance But as he Who has called you Is holy You also be holy In all your conduct Since it is written You shall be holy For I am holy And if you call on him As father Who judges impartially According to each one's deeds Conduct yourselves With Conduct yourselves With fear Throughout the time Of your exile Knowing that you Were ransomed From the futile ways
[22:04] Inherited from your forefathers Not with perishable things Such as silver or gold But with the precious blood Of Christ Like that of a lamb Without blemish Or spot Or spot He was foreknown Before the foundation Of the world But was made manifest In the last times For your sake Who through him Are believers in God Who raised him from the dead And gave him glory So that your faith And hope Are in God Having purified your souls By your obedience To the truth For a sincere Brotherly love Love one another Earnestly With a pure heart Since you have been Born again Not of perishable seed But of imperishable Through the living And abiding Word of God For all flesh Is like grass And all its glory Like the flower Of grass The grass withers
[23:05] And the flower falls But the word Of the Lord Remains Forever And this word Is the good news That was preached To you Amen And we pray God's blessing On that portion Of his own Holy word Friends We're going to Sing once more To the praise of God This time from Psalm 51 And sing Psalms That's on page 67 Psalm 51 Reading at the beginning Of the psalm Oh my God Have mercy on me In your steadfast love I pray In your infinite compassion My transgressions Wipe away Cleanse me From iniquity Wash my sin Away from me For I know My own transgressions
[24:06] I can see My sinful plight We'll sing down To the end of the verse Marked 12 To the tune Ottawa Standing to sing Oh my God Have mercy on me Oh my God Have mercy on me In your steadfast love I pray In your infinite compassion My transgressions Wipe away Cleanse me from iniquity Wash my sin Wash my sin away From me For I know
[25:10] My own transgressions I can see my sinful fight You, you, only I've offended And done evil In your sight And done evil In your sight So your words Are verified And your verdict Justified And your verdict Justified From my birth I have been sinful Such a nature I receive Sinful From my first beginning
[26:12] In my mother's womb In my mother's womb Conceived Truth you look for In my heart Wisdom to me You impart In my heart Cleanse with this Of purifying me I'll be whiter Than the snow Let the hope You crush Be joyful May I joy And gladness Know From my failure I hear Peace Brought out all my
[27:16] Wickedness Lord Create a pure heart In me And a steadfast mind Clean you Do not take your spirit From me Cast me not away From you Give me The joy I have Keep my Willing Spirit Act For a short time
[28:17] Friends Let's turn back To the chapter We read together 1 Peter Chapter 1 We can read Verses 18 And 19 We'll read From verse 17 And if you call On him as father Who judges Impartially According to Each one's Deeds Conduct yourselves With fear Throughout the time Of your exile Knowing that you Were ransomed From the futile Ways Inherited from Your forefathers Not with Perishable things Such as Silver Or gold But with the Precious blood Of Christ Like that of A lamb Without blemish Or without Spot Especially those Four Five words The precious Blood Of Christ
[29:19] The precious Blood Of Christ I wonder Friends This evening Do you have Any phobias Might seem like A strange Question to ask At the beginning Of a sermon Are there any Things in life That you're Particularly Scared of To the point That you cannot Be near them In any Way Shape Or form There are of course Many different Phobias Claustrophobia Of course Is that Fear Of confined Spaces So that when You find yourself In a confined Space You have to Get out Aerophobia Is a fear Of flying Arachnophobia Is a fear Of spiders The list Goes on And on And on There's a Phobia For nearly Everything In this World But perhaps
[30:21] One of the Most common Phobias Is Hemophobia Hemophobia What is Hemophobia Well hemophobia Is a Phobia Of blood There are Countless People No doubt Some of you Here tonight Who simply Cannot stand The sight Of blood And in Seeing blood They might Faint They might Pass out Yet what's Interesting about Hemophobia More than Any other Phobia Is the Irony That's Attached To it Because In being Scared of Blood You're being Scared of The one Thing That we Need To be Alive Blood Is of Course The most Important Thing If you Like In Your Body Or Mine It's Blood Circulating Around Our Bodies As we Sit Here In this Church Tonight That is Keeping Us
[31:21] Alive When the Blood Fails To do So When it Doesn't Reach Various Cells And members Of the Body What Happens Will Those Cells Die For example We know That at Times People Might need To have One of Their Limbs Amputated When the Blood Stops Flowing To That Particular Limb Or More Commonly When the Blood To Our Hearts Is Somehow Obstructed Or Blocked We We Can Have A Heart Attack And We Can Even Sadly Die Why Is That Death Well Quite Simply Friends Because Without Blood There Is Death And So That Very Thing That We Can Perhaps Be Scared Of Or Cause Us To Be Squeamish Is The Very Thing That We All Need To Live Last Night We Considered Why We're Here We're Here Of Course As We Saw In Peter's
[32:22] Encounter With Satan We Are Here Because We Are In Christ Our Security Is Not In Ourselves In Our Own Confidence If You Like But Our Security Is In His Commitment To Us And Tonight Friends We're Going To Think About The How How Has It Been Made Possible For Tonight Your Confidence And My Confidence To Be In Christ For Us To Have Such A An Unshakeable Security In Him The Answer Blood And Specifically The Precious Blood Of Christ That Which We Need To Live Not Only Physically But More Importantly Spiritually Now It's
[33:22] True It's True I Would Say that There are Many parts of the Bible that for many of us not all but for many of us here tonight we've been brought up knowing we hear certain phrases and we just take them for granted we don't really think too much about them we don't look into them and and perhaps delve into exactly what they mean What they mean i wonder tonight does the precious blood of christ come into that we hear about the blood being spilled we hear of the importance of the blood for our to cover our sins but what exactly does that mean well that's what we're going to think about for a time tonight but before we consider the blood just a little bit by way of context here we are in first Peter Now bear in mind the words that are penned here in this epistle that we have before us are the words of the very same man that we considered last evening the one who had denied the lord three times yes peter he had many faults he had many failings he was brash he was bold he was impulsive at times but but nonetheless what did the lord choose
[34:42] To do with him did he write him to do with him did he write him to do with him did he write him off did he cast him to one side no he didn't he chose to use him how by strengthening his brethren by strengthening his brethren and that's what he went on to do he went on to strengthen his brethren Peter was in many ways the spokesman for the twelve disciples the one who would voice certain opinions on behalf of the group at certain times and we see this in the book of acts in particular where we see peter being described as a rock the one in that position of leadership and authority In acts 1 15 we see that peter sets that ball rolling if you like when it comes to getting a replacement for judas he's the one who's proactive in ensuring that happens on the day of peter's делать it's starts BOB on the exodus on the day of peter and acts 2 peter wpft peter he stands up in order to to affirm overwhelmingly to assumption of the spirituality of the purity of the people
[35:48] There was a reason for this the spirit of the lord at that time working mighty amongst the people so much so that you will remember they were accused of being drunk an accusation which Peter stands up and refutes as he he did in in many areas and in front of the masses of people time and time again Peter went on to do what the Lord said he would do by strengthening his brethren not least by writing the epistle that we have before us here tonight now it's thought that this epistle was written around about AD 64 65 sometimes with epistles and letters the exact dates are debated but round about that time and this was a an extremely significant time in the history of the Roman Empire in July of AD 64 the city of Rome it was completely annihilated by fire it was destroyed and and it's thought the city was set alight on purpose who was it set on a light by well the emperor himself Nero and so we might ask well why would the emperor want to to set a light to to his own city why would he want to burn it down well the reason he wanted to burn it down was that he wanted to to build it bigger and better than before now naturally the people of Rome they were devastated by this they lost absolutely everything their homes and in some cases their lives and what happened following this well resentment set in amongst the people that they're outraged that Nero could have done such a thing and as often happens when when the spotlight comes upon leaders in any kind of negative way what do they do they deflect they take the spotlight from themselves they move it to someone or to something else to take the heat off them and that's what Nero does he removes the spotlight from himself and who does he place it on the young
[38:18] Christian church of Rome and because of this persecution sets in the people gather momentum if you like in their persecution of the Lord's people you know what it's like when when people get carried away when people begin to whisper and and people get ideas in their head that aren't necessarily based on fact but still uh they they go with it that's what we see happening here in Rome and so that's why Peter's writing this letter he's writing this letter to the persecuted church he's writing this letter to Christians just like you and just like me well we're not in the persecuted church but nonetheless Christians who need to be encouraged to strengthen the brethren to help them to try at least to to keep positive in such dark days to to to not become bitter in their faith or to lose hope to always remember to trust in the person and in the work of the
[39:32] Lord Jesus Christ now that wouldn't have been easy for them it's not easy for any of us when we have difficult providences just to to to to let go of those if you like and and to somehow always feel strong in the Lord it's hard and so that's why we continually need those reminders just to help us just to to encourage us as we negotiate our way through this world and we're better friends to start in this first chapter and to make direct reference to the precious blood of Christ the precious blood of Christ now the Bible it's it's full of blood there are around 450 references to blood throughout the pages of scripture blood is central to the whole narrative of redemption but you know the the very God who's it's amazing how God works things just so wonderfully together there's always a temptation that we divorce God from certain things and we forget that it's it's God who's created all things it's God who created blood to work in such a miraculous way in our bodies it's it's him that's the author of it all he's a creator he's a designer and so in using blood in the at the center of the narrative of redemption he knew exactly what he was doing this this crimson thread if you like that that runs right the way from Genesis to Revelation but why blood well I hardly need to remind you that we have Genesis 1 and what do we see in Genesis 1 2 3 we we see things not quite as they ought to have been we see do we not that disobedience of Adam that disobedience of Adam that plummeted mankind you and me with you into sin and into misery and because of this what happened consequently communion between the creator God and his created beings was broken but not only was this this communion between God and man broken but also death came into the world that's why death isn't natural death is ugly it's no way to be celebrated or glamorized it's not the way things were supposed to be we were not created to die it's the last enemy and so we all died in
[42:30] Adam and we're reminded are we not in Romans 5 that just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned we all died in Adam and as Adam took off that fruit what happened was that his very blood itself was contaminated by sin so that the process of of decay in the body it began to take place not only in him but in all of his offspring including you including me and why was this it was because the wages of sin is death physical death yes but spiritual death also spiritual death in a lost eternity but that's not the end of the story is it because the wonder and the marvel of the gospel is that the Lord has not left us to ourselves that's why we're here tonight to not as we once were drinking from the broken cisterns of this world he's not left us to ourselves the world leaves us to ourselves the world doesn't care about us the devil doesn't care about us but the Lord does and because he cares for mankind what has he done he has opened up to us that way of escape that way of forgiveness forgiveness and in order for there to be forgiveness there needs to be blood what do we read in
[44:25] Hebrews 9 22 and according to the law almost all things are purified with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins and that's why we see so much blood in the Old Testament at times as we read through the pages of the Old Testament we can see that there maybe is too much blood for our liking and we wonder why what's this all about well the clue is found in Leviticus 7 11 sometimes we look at Leviticus and we think well what relevance does that have to us today it's it's hard and it's heavy but Christ is there for in Leviticus 17 11 what do we read for the life of the flesh is in the blood a wonderful statement the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul now the way in which these offerings were to be administrated is outlined in Leviticus 1 and verses 2 to 3 highlight the fact that the worshipper
[45:52] I'm not going to go into detail about this but just as an overview the worshipper was to bring an offering to the Lord an offering of his own flock or herd that was to be a male without blemish it was to be perfect then what would happen is the offerer was to place his hand on the head of the burnt offering and it would be accepted accepted as what well it would be accepted as a means of atoning for his sins it would it would act as a symbolic and it's important to remember it's symbolic a symbolic transfer of his sin and his guilt so the guilt the sin symbolically was transferred to the animal and then the animal would be killed and as the animal would be killed the blood of the animal would then be sprinkled all around the altar that was by the door of the tabernacle of meeting and we're going to think a bit more about the tabernacle tomorrow
[46:59] God willing now this was of course the Old Testament the Old Covenant and because it was the Old Testament it was the blood of animals and not humans that was shed and because it was the blood of animals and not humans what we see in the Old Testament is but a shadow of what was still to come because the blood of goats or bulls could never ever hope to atone for the sin of mankind ultimately because it was man who sinned it was man who would have to pay the price for sin and that's where we come to the pages of the New Testament because there we meet that man that man that has brought us here tonight together the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 15 21 for since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead for as as in Adam all die even so in Christ all shall be made alive and so really friends the blood of Christ it's but a synonym of the gospel for the gospel a synonym for salvation and for redemption that's why
[48:38] Peter needs to remind believers he needs to remind these struggling believers that the blood is precious that's why you and I need to be reminded tonight that the blood is precious we hear these things being said we say them we read them but we need reminded as to exactly what they mean and we might ask well why why is this blood precious we know what it does but what makes it so precious well there's a few things firstly what we know is that the blood of Jesus Christ it justifies now we hear theological words like justification and perhaps we switch off and we think well that's just theology I don't really want to think about that just now these words at times can lead us perhaps not to tune in but these words behind them have very simple meaning the blood of Jesus
[49:43] Christ justifies what does that mean well we are as sinners by nature unjust people we're unjust people we break God's law in our thoughts in our words in our actions and because of this God's justice it needs to be satisfied we're unjust God is just his justice has to be satisfied in the same way that if someone commits a crime we expect to see justice and if we don't see justice we're not happy we expect to see someone being dealt with accordingly now as we've already said our sins have left all of us with that which needs to be dealt with accordingly the wages of sin is death and that's where Jesus Christ comes in because
[50:44] Christ died did he not as a substitute a just man dying for unjust people so we are justified in Christ we are safe we are secure in Christ and because we are safe and secure in Christ because we're justified in Christ we can never face the wrath of God isn't that wonderful that no matter what happens if we are in Christ we cannot face his wrath his curse that's a thought a thought that ought to lead us to praise and worship all the more reminds me of a story I read about a man in a church in Germany it was in the city of Worden and there's a church there with a lamb that's carved out of stone and placed on its roof now it's said that when this church was being built a stone carving mason he was working really high up on the scaffolding when he fell he fell a great height a height at which you could never hope to survive and so his colleagues went down his workmates went down expecting to find the man dead on the ground but no there he was alive with minor injuries how on earth you might ask did he survive providentially and this is true providentially a flock of sheep just happened to be passing beneath the tower at that very time and what happened he landed on top of a lamb he landed on top of a lamb the lamb broke his fall and was of course crushed to death but the man was saved that is of course a poor picture of what justification is but yet it's a picture the just dying for the unjust the lamb of
[53:14] God protecting us from eternal death taking to himself that death himself being crushed so we're justified through the blood but that's not all because we're also redeemed Job famously said I know that my redeemer lives and you know Christ is called many things in scripture but isn't it so that the term redeemer it paints such a beautiful picture because what we have here is that idea of being in bondage being enslaved what are we in bondage to we are of course by nature in bondage to and enslaved by sin this was language that those in Peter's day were familiar with half the world were bought and sold into slavery they were held in bondage as a slave or a captive only until someone would come and buy them back with silver and with gold that's what the word redeem means we see in
[54:28] Isaiah 43 but now thus says the Lord he who created you O Jacob he who formed you O Israel fear not for I have redeemed you I've brought you back I've redeemed you I have called you by my name you are mine again wonderful that all of us who were once slaves to sin in bondage to sin again a vivid picture just in shackles sin not allowing us to do that which we were created to do to offer ourselves daily as living sacrifices unto the Lord Christ just paid the price the full price of our redemption and this is all tied up with that word that we used another theological term that we used earlier atonement atonement and it's interesting when you when you look at that word atonement and if you break it down words are interesting you can come to to saying at one meant at one meant and that's what happens when we are redeemed by Christ we are at one with God in Christ the word atonement it literally means to to pay a ransom to pay a ransom and of course the idea of a ransom it's often associated with with the idea that that someone's needing to be released from captivity or in bondage and in order for this to happen a price needs to be paid it must it simply must be paid and it has tonight it's been paid in full why am
[56:30] I stating the obvious that we're justified that we're redeemed we know all this yet friends how often do we remind ourselves of these wonderful realities these wonderful truths the implications of the precious blood of Christ our text says that we cannot be redeemed with gold or silver or precious stones but with the precious blood of Christ he he came into the world friends as a ransom for many we could never ever afford to pay that ransom no matter what we try to do to be free we're all looking for freedom in the world are we not and we try various outlets to be free but yet we don't have what it takes to buy that freedom but he does and he's paid for it from that bank of his eternal love through that currency of his precious blood so the blood justifies it redeems time is going but it also reconciles what do we read in
[57:49] Isaiah 59 verse 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear this is a picture of us by nature because we're all fallen in Adam we have God here we have ourselves here and in between there is this great gulf we are separated from God by nature we are as those who need to be reconciled to God you know what it's like when perhaps you have a disagreement with someone perhaps a bitter disagreement with someone perhaps you're in the middle of that at the moment I don't know and what happens is that someone perhaps who you were close with goes in that direction and you go in that direction and there's this great gulf between you and for you to come together you need once more to be reconciled well that's the way it is with us and God the Father we need to be reconciled because by stranger by nature rather our iniquities have made this separation what do we read in
[59:21] Romans 5 9 we read that since therefore we have now been justified by his blood much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God for if while we were enemies that's what we are by nature we were reconciled to God how by the death of his son by the shedding of his blood that's what the blood does so that that great gulf between us and God it's restored it's bridged so that once more we can be in fellowship in relationship in union and communion with our father through the son who shed his blood for us isn't there something so special when fragmented relations are restored perhaps people you haven't spoken to for years and there's that coming together something wonderful about that that almost the union that you have now is stronger than what you had before because you've come through so much to get to that point and so tonight friends it's worth us celebrating the reality that by the precious blood of Christ we are not strangers to God we are reconciled to God not so that we call him just God which he is but because we can now call him our father and our friend there's that intimacy that closeness that being at one that at one meant with him the blood justifies it redeems it reconciles but finally it also cleanses it cleanses now if you've ever had anything stained by blood you'll you'll know that it leaves a stain that is deep and lasting a stain that is so difficult to get out no matter how many times you wash it there's always this dull brown stain there it just will not go away yet here is the great paradox because the blood of
[61:59] Jesus Christ instead of staining what does it do it washes away any stain of sin the blackness of the black of our sinful hearts it washes each and every stain away that is the wonder working power of the blood sin has left a crimson stain which can only be washed by the blood it doesn't matter how dark our hearts are maybe tonight you're not a Christian and you think I'm too far gone my heart's so black if only you could see within and you think there's nothing that can be done for you you're a lost cause rubbish his blood is sufficient to wash the darkest of sins the darkest of hearts will your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow although they be red like crimson what are they like yeah that's wool that's what the blood of Jesus
[63:18] Christ is able to do it justifies it redeems it cleanses it reconciles what does the hymn writer say well he says this there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all not some all their guilty stains and you know the church in Rome she needed to be reminded of this as she and her people navigated their way through the challenges of life and so do you need reminded tonight your heart I'm sure feels so dark so full of sin even as the Lord's people especially as the Lord's people and we hang out heads in shame coming to his table and that's why we need to remember that's why we need to be reminded that's why tomorrow we are going to take of that wine symbolizing that blood to be reminded of what to be reminded of its power to lead us to that place of worship and praise and adoration of the one whose blood it was that was shed the Lord
[64:44] Jesus Christ it's all about Jesus it has to be about Jesus if it's not about Jesus we're wasting our time the one who has bridged that great gulf between us and God with that path that is stained by his precious blood so that all of us if we are in him tonight and this is why you need to profess if you are it's the least you can do so that all of us if we are in him we can confidently and experientially say our amen to the words of the hymn writer when he said and I'm going to close by reading these few verses verses that sum up the essence of what we've been thinking about tonight would you be free from the burden of sin there's power in the blood power in the blood would you or evil a victory win there's wonderful power in the blood sin stains are lost in its life giving flow there's wonderful power in the blood would you do service for Jesus your king there's power in the blood power in the blood would you live daily his praises to sing that's what we're called to do there's wonderful power in the blood there is power power wonder working power in the blood of the lamb there is power power wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb let us pray we thank you lord this evening that our power is found in you a power that has enabled us to come into union and communion with a god who is of pure rise and to behold iniquity a power that has given unto us that spirit of adoption whereby we cry out
[67:43] Abba father and lord we pray this evening hour as we come as your children to remember your death that you would be with us also tomorrow that we would come around word and sacrament with that reality of the power of the blood at the forefront of our hearts and our minds and that in doing so we would worship for truly you are worthy go with us now we pray we ask forgiveness for all our many sins in jesus name amen friends we're going to conclude apologies I've kept you a little longer than I'd hoped we're going to conclude by singing from psalm 16 and sing psalms verse 8 this is a psalm that reminds us of the power of the blood a power that will not leave us even in death to see the tombs decay before me constantly verse 8 this is on page 17
[69:12] I set the lord alone because he is at my right hand I'll not be overthrown we're going to sing to the end of the psalm to the tune golden hill standing to sing before me constantly I set Because he lives at my right hand, and not the overthrown.
[70:05] Therefore my heart is gone, my tongue with joy will sing.
[70:22] My body too will rest secure in open wavering.
[70:40] For you will not align my soul in death to stay.
[70:57] For will you leave your holy one to see the tomb she gave?
[71:15] You have made no to me, the path of life divine.
[71:32] This child I know that your right hand, joy from your face will shine.
[71:51] Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, rest on and abide with you now and forevermore. Amen.