The Blood Of Jesus

NR1-05 REV-05

980419AM

Revelation 1:5 ” And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” NKJV

Sin is a Deadly Defilement

Listen to the testimony of one[1] who experienced the amazing cleansing power of Christ’s blood:

Who am I? My godly mother died when I was a young child. Reared by a sea-captain father, taken to sea at age eleven, I soon forgot the Scriptures she had taught me.

Several years later, I was pressed into the British navy and became a midshipman. By then I had earned the reputation of being able to curse for two hours straight without repeating a word. Restless and wild, I tried to desert, was caught, stripped, whipped severely, and degraded to the ranks. I eventually ran away to Africa, but only so “I might sin my fill.”

And I did.

Debauched and distant from God, I fell into the hands of a Portuguese slave trader. For months the chief woman of the trader”s harem treated me like an animal, beating me and forcing me to grovel in the dirt for my food.

Reduced to a mangy cur of a man, I finally escaped and made my way to the shores of Africa. Picked up by a passing ship I earned the position of first mate because I was a skilled navigator. But while the captain was ashore one day, I broke out the ship’s rum and got the entire crew drunk. When the captain came back, he was so furious he hit me, knocking me overboard.

I would have drowned were it not for a sailor who pulled me back on board by spearing my thigh with a boat hood. The wound was so large that it left a scar big enough to put my fist in. Some weeks later, when the ship neared the coast of Scotland, it sailed into a storm and almost sank. For days I manned the pumps below deck in what seemed a hopeless nightmare.

It was then that I desperately called out to God. He answered my helpless cry, and I emerged from the hold of that ship to later become the chaplain of England’s Parliament and even to preach before the king. I am the vile blasphemer whom many would subsequently refer to as the second founder of the Church of England. And it was I who wrote:

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

These were the lyrics born out of my wayward, free-versed life. And to my ears, there is no sweeter sound than grace in all the world. Who am I? John Newton.

Let’s hum the tune to Amazing Grace
Now with our eyes closed sing the sweet words to There Is A Fountain
What are we most thankful for this morning? Jesus washed away the dreadful, eternal penalty of our sins

Jesus is a Wonderful Savior

Please open your Bibles to Revelation 1:5.

Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, KJV

Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ who faithfully reveals all truth to us. He was the first to rise from death, to die no more. He is far greater than any king in all the earth. All praise to Him who always loves us and who set us free from our sins by pouring out his lifeblood for us. TLB

Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, NASB

Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, NIV

There is power in the blood of Christ isn’t there? YES! There is power to change, cleanse and keep us. There is power to redeem, restore and renew us.

ITS ALL THE POWER OF GOD’S AMAZING GRACE… POURED OUT IN THE SACRIFICE OF OUR LORD JESUS… AS HE POURED OUT HIS BLOOD ON THE CROSS-!

#1 Why do we need that power? We are all infected with sin.

#2 What happened when Christ shed His blood? The NT describes the power of the Blood of Christ. Hang on. We are about to cover a lot of ground. These are some of the big truths of Salvation! In brief, HIS BLOOD.

Powerfully Paid the Penalty of our Sin [past FORGIVENESS]
Absolutely Defeated the Power of our Sin [present VICTORY]
Totally Secures us from the Presence of our Sin [future SECURITY]

Jesus has Taken Care of Our Past Life

Power to purchase us.Acts 20:28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased [#4046 peripoieo ‘obtained for self’] with His own blood. (NKJV)
Power to remove God’s Wrath from us .Romans 3:25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, (NKJV) Propitiation is all that the OT expiation [covering and putting away of sin] was and, very importantly, “THE PACIFYING OF THE WRATH OF GOD THEREBY.”[2] It is the quenching of God’s wrath against us by obliterating our sins from His Holy sight.[3]
Power to justify us.Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. (NKJV) In Justification a sinner stands before God as the accused and is declared freeRomans 8:33 [4]

It is when God imputes Christ’s righteousness to the sinners accountRomans 4:11b
This is through an outside or external event that changes their standingRomans 5:1-2
Justification does not make us personally righteous, sanctification does that Romans 3:28

Power to scrub our minds cleanHebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? NKJV

Jesus is Taking Care of Our Present Life

Power to liberate us Ephesians 1:7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace NKJV
Power to experience fellowship with Christ 1 Corinthians 10:16“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (NKJV) The word communion is koinonia or fellowship. It is the blood that unites us into perfect fellowship. In the book of Acts[5] this is seen by the use of the term ‘brethren’ over 40x. “It describes those who share a common heritage, like citizens of the same country, though it carries the additional force of brethren born of the same Spirit, when applied to Christians”. [Acts 1.16; 6.3; 9.17; etc.] In brief, “disciples must have devoted Christian friends to follow, and this can only be facilitated by being together over a period of time.”
Power to know Christ’s intimacyEphesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (KJV)
Power to have Christ’s peaceColossians 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (KJV) This is both with God [no guilt of past] and of God [no anxiety of the future].
Power to enter God’s presenceHebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (KJV)
Power to live Christ’s lifeHebrews 13:20-21 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (KJV)
Power to live obediently 1 Peter 1:2elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. NKJV
Power to cleanse our sins 1 John 1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (KJV)
Loosing powerRevelation 1:5 And from Jesus, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (KJV)

Letters in the Sand[6]

You will remember what He said to the nameless woman who was brought before Him by the very same Pharisees.

They had caught her in the act of adultery, and in the coldness of their hard hearts they would use her case as a trap for Jesus.

I do not know the woman’s name. Tradition does not name her. The incident takes place in the early morning in the temple court. The eastern sun-already up-casts short purple shadows among the great pillars. Jesus is seated, teaching a large group of devoted followers gathered round him.

Suddenly, a group surges forward, pushing their way roughly through the morning worshipers.

Christ’s face clouds for a moment, and pain looks out from His eyes. The Scribes and Pharisees thrust their way toward Christ. In the midst of them is a woman being dragged roughly by strong men whose faces are hard and stem.

They are pulling her along. She struggles feebly now and then. She winces and cries out with the pain of their strong grip on her arms. With all the strength of their contempt they throw her down at Jesus’ feet.

Then they spew out their accusations … In voices honed on hate they shout the vile names reserved for such women. There are voices hot, like scorching blasts from a furnace …and others cold, as if they came from frozen hearts.

The woman lies before Christ in a huddled heap, obbing bitterly trembling in her shame shivering as she listens to the indictment. Her head is bowed; her face covered with her hands. Her disheveled hair falls over her face. Her dress is torn and stained with the dust of the city streets along which she has been dragged.

His disciples look into the face of Christ and see in His eyes an infinite sadness, as if the load of all the sin since the world began has already been laid on Him.

His steady eyes take in the situation at a glance. He sees what they try to hide from Him- the hard faces that have no pity or mercy in them the looks of satisfaction and self-righteousness with which they finger the stones they have picked up. Every hand holds a stone and clutching fingers run along the sharp edges with malicious satisfaction.

Their shouting ceases as the piercing look of Christ travels round the circle questioningly, and they fall to muttering, as one of their group shouts out the accusation again.

The woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. It seems to His disciples that Christ does not look at her at all. He is watching those men who try to hide the stones they carry in their hands.

They are ready-her self-appointed judges-to throw them at the poor defenseless creature on the ground, for it is the law- the sacred law of Moses-that such shall be stoned to death.

The circle of bearded men wait impatiently for his answer. Will His verdict be justice-or mercy?

It is a clever trap. Surely the Nazarene can find no way out of this one! He does not speak. Stooping down, He slowly, deliberately begins to write in the dust at His feet. This is the only time we know of His writing anything . and no one knows what He wrote.

Some ancient scholars believe that He traced there in the dust a catalog of human sin. Perhaps He looks up at a tall man, with graying hair and piercing blue eyes, and traces the word “Extortioner”- and the man turns and flees into the crowd.

Christ looks up into the faces of the men standing in the circle, and steadily-with eyes that never blink-he speaks to them: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7-)

His keen glance rests upon the woman’s accusers one by one. Then He writes in the sand at their feet-letter after letter. They watch His finger-fascinated, as it travels up and down, up and down.

They cannot watch without trembling. The group is thinning now. They think of the recording angel. They think of judgment. They have howled for it. Now it has descended on them.

Looking into their faces, Christ sees into the yesterdays that lie deep in the pools of memory and conscience. He sees into their very hearts, and that moving finger writes on …

Idolater
Liar …
Drunkard
Murderer
Adulterer

There is the thud of stone after stone failing on the pavement. Not many of the Pharisees are left. One by one, they creep away-like animals slinking into the shadows … shuffling off into the crowded streets to lose themselves in the multitudes.

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

But no stones have been thrown. They lie around the woman on the pavement. They have dropped them where they stood, and now she is left alone at the feet of Christ. Only her sobbing breaks the stillness. She still has not lifted her head . . . And now Christ looks at her. He does not speak for a long moment. Then, with eyes full of understanding, He says softly: “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” (John 8:10) And she answers, “No man, Lord.”

That is all the woman says from beginning to end. She has no excuse for her conduct. She makes no attempt to justify what she has done. And Christ looking at her, seeing the tear-stained cheeks and her eyes red with weeping, seeing further into her heart, seeing the contrition there, says to her:

“Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11)

What He here says is – Not that He acquits the woman, but that He forgives her. Not that He absolves her from blame, but that He absolves her from guilt. Not that He condones the act, but that He does not condemn her for it-He forgives her instead.

Perhaps He smiles upon her, as she slowly raises her eyes, a slow, sad smile of one Who knew that He Himself has to pay the price of that absolution.

And it may be that His finger writes again in the dust, tracing this time the outline of a cross or the shape of a hill- a hill shaped like a skull. No, we do not know her name nor where she lived nor who she was.

But of this we can be sure-she was never the same again. She was a changed woman from that moment. Of that we can be sure. God is willing to forgive us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, because the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

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