The Blessings of The Blood

Brethren, over the last three Sabbaths that I have been with you, we have been going through material to prepare ourselves for the coming Passover, which is just a couple of weeks away.

Today, I want to complete a series. This will be the fourth in a series of four, getting us ready for the Passover. To remind you of what we've covered to this point, just very briefly, part one, I asked the question, how does a Christian cultivate a deep relationship with God in Satan's world? Part two dealt with the foot washing. That sermon was entitled, Humility Provides Us with the Blessings of a Deeper Relationship with God and Man.

Part three dealt with the bread portion of our Passover service. The title for that sermon was Christians are recipients of tremendous blessings through the bread, Jesus Christ. That brings us to today's sermon, part four. As I mentioned in the past, while the body and the blood of Christ refer to the same sacrifice, Jesus Christ shows there's a clear distinction between the bread and the blood, the body and the blood, or the bread and the wine. We need to understand that. We talked last time we were together how Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that they not take the Passover unknowingly or unworthily, that they didn't fully understand the meaning of the bread and the wine. Paul had to explain more clearly to them the meaning. So it's not automatic that we understand these things. Today's message, if you want to write down a title, would be very similar to last week's last times. The title for this sermon is Christians are recipients of tremendous blessings through the blood, Jesus Christ. Christians are recipients of tremendous blessings through the blood. This year I have been striving to show, you know, as I've said in the past, too many times as we prepare ourselves for the Passover, people really beat themselves up with self-examination. We are to examine ourselves. There is a wonderful process there, and it's a very important process, but we don't need to be beating ourselves up to the place where we decide maybe I shouldn't even come to the Passover. That's not what God wants. That's not what Christ wants. That's not what you need. So this year I wanted to take the approach that Passover is a tremendous blessing, and every aspect of the Passover service is just filled with blessings. As we went through the sermon that dealt with humility and the foot washing, I showed 10 distinct blessings we received from the foot washing exercise. When we talked about the bread, last time I was here, we showed another 10 distinct blessings, and this was not an exhaustive list in either case. Blessings we received through the bread. Today we're going to see the same thing with the blood or the wine portion of the service. Let's begin our journey today by turning over to Matthew chapter 26.

Matthew chapter 26 verses 27 and 28.

Matthew chapter 26 verse 27.

Then he, Christ, took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Two important points here. We're going to look at the second one first, and that is the blood of Jesus Christ is shed for the remission of sins. And so that's my first point in this sermon today. Through the blood, we have the blessing of the forgiveness of sin, the blessings of the forgiveness of sins. Now, of course, I want to emphasize that blessing is upon our repentance. We always have to understand that fact. But let's drill down and see the deep significance of these blessings of being forgiven of our sins. Let's turn to 1 John chapter 1.

1 John chapter 1.

And here we're going to see something very beautiful, a tremendous blessing that comes our way as a result of having accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. And I want to spotlight those last two words. All sin, the blessing of any and all types of sin, regardless as to how severe, regardless as to how bad you think they are. Sin, sin, in God's eyes, a sin that is unrepentant of is just as bad. One little one is as bad as what we might think is a big one. They all will lead to death if they're not repented of. Whether somebody says it's a little white lie or somebody murders in God's eyes, a sin is a sin and it brings the death penalty. But here we see in this verse we are cleansed from all sin, any sin, all types of sin, even regardless of frequency, along as we are repentant people. That provision is there for us.

A tremendous provision. Let's turn our attention to Isaiah chapter 1.

We went through this some time ago. Let's revisit this Isaiah chapter 1.

Verses 18 and 19. Isaiah 1.18. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they're bad. They're really bad. They're like scarlet. They shall be as white as snow. Though they're red like crimson, again, really bad. They're red like crimson. They shall be as wool. They will be forgiven. If you are willing, verse 19, and obedient. So again, we always want to make sure that we add that because some people think that you can accept Christ as your personal savior and live any old way you want to live. You can do whatever you want to do, and that because Christ died for you, all succeeding sins are automatically forgiven. Well, that's not true. They're only forgiven upon repentance. Once you repent, then they will be forgiven. In your notes, I'm not going to turn to these other scriptures, but in your notes you might want to write down 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verses 9 and 10 because that section of scripture talks about there being a godly type of sorrow that leads us to true repentance. But that section also talks about how there is a false kind of repentance, kind of a fool's gold that the world has. The world would call it penance. We don't do penance. We do repentance, and there's a great difference. And then, of course, in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 11, the next verse, it gives us the fruits of true repentance. So upon true repentance, all sin, every sin, will be forgiven. And that's a tremendous blessing. And people, brethren, live very tortured lives, as we talked about last time, thinking that they can't be forgiven because of things they've done. And yet we have the blessing of knowing we have been forgiven. But let's drill down even further, this idea of being forgiven of our sins. In 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7, let me read that for you. You're probably still in Isaiah. There's another aspect of that verse I want to zero in on. 1 John 1, 7 says, God forgives us our sins, but we walk in the light as He is in the light, and we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son, cleanses us from all sin. Now, we were just talking about all sin a moment ago, but now I want to highlight this word, cleanse.

We are cleansed from sin. In other words, our sin, the word cleanse could also be translated purify, or purified. It could be translated purged, or erased is the meaning there. Our sins are erased upon repentance, upon accepting Christ as our Savior, upon asking for forgiveness. We are cleansed, and that's a tremendous thing for us to appreciate. Again, let's turn back to Isaiah. Maybe you're still there. Isaiah chapter 38. I've always thought this was a very poetic section of Scripture. Isaiah chapter 38. And in verse 17, indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness. Now, we go through trials in life, and they're bitter trials, they're difficult trials, but the bottom line is we draw closer to God. The bottom line is, as we are closer to God, we have peace, because we understand what God is trying to accomplish. We understand we're on the road to His kingdom. Indeed, it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness. But you have lovingly delivered my soul from a pit of corruption, and you have cast all my sins behind your back. Now, to me, that's beautiful, poetic. You have cast all, all, underline that, italicize that, circle it, you know, bold it. You have cast all my sins behind your back. In other words, can we see what's behind our back? No, God can see everything. We understand that. But poetically, and Bible has written in some poetic language, what the concept here is, it's behind God's back. He doesn't want to see it.

He's forgiven it. He's going to obliterate it. It's behind His back. Now, you and I sometimes want to resurrect it. We want to think about things we've done in the past. We want to kick ourselves one way up one way and down another. That's not God's way. If we are truly genuinely repentant and we're deeply sorry, then we're forgiven. And no sins are obliterated. Let's look at Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 11. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. As the heavens are high above the earth, how high is that? Tremendously high. We can't see where God lives and the heaven God lives in. And so that's how great His mercy is in verse 12. As far as the east is from the west, so far as He removed our transgressions from us. As far as the east is from the west. I mean, how far is that on a scale? So not only is all of our sins forgiven, they're completely purged in their race, but let's drill down even more. Again, going back to 1 John 1. Verse 7. There's a lot of meat in that verse. Let me reread that verse again, or you can turn to it. 1 John 1 and verse 7. This is the third time we're referring to it. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ the Son cleanses us from all sin. So we've talked about the idea of being cleansed. We've talked about the idea of all sin being forgiven. But now there's this other aspect of 1 John 1.7. That because we walk in the light, because we live a repentant lifestyle, because we are living according to God's will, according to His plan for us, as we walk in the light, as He is in the light, it says we have fellowship with one another. That's another very valuable point for us, and a tremendous blessing. We have the blessing of a community of believers that we are a part of, God's church. You know, I can't speak to what it's like to be an adult and away from the Church of God. I've never experienced that.

God called me when I was 15 years old. Didn't call anybody I knew. I was up in the attic in my home, listening to a Detroit Tiger baseball game. Thankfully, the Detroit Tigers were getting killed by the Boston Red Sox. I said, I forget what the score was. It was probably something like 10 to nothing. I said, why am I listening to that? I have my little transistor radio. Remember those? Little tiny transistor radio, little black transistor. I said, I want to stop listening to this baseball game.

So I started going through the dial, and didn't know it at the time, but I came across a Canadian station. Now, living in the Detroit area, Canada, from where my house was, as the crow would fly, was probably only about six miles away. And so I get this CHYR out of Canada, Leamington, Ontario, Canada. And a really interesting sounding voice. Learned later, his name was Garner Ted Armstrong.

And I had been listening to different radio programs over my young life, but this one was different. He sounded different, and certainly his message was different. And as I listened, he talked about how you can prove the Bible being true. I thought, say what? I've never heard anybody say that. Then he began to talk about how you can prove the existence of God. I thought, wow!

And so I thought, and he sounded so intelligent, and he was quoting scripture, and everything was falling in place. And then the show ended. I turned off, I started listening to music, whatever. But I forgot to note where that station was. And at the time, I didn't know it was CHYR.

I didn't know the call letters. I just knew I was, so I thought, well, the next night, same time, I would listen to the broad. Well, I couldn't find him for several days. And that got me upset. And then finally, I did find him. I noticed where he was on the dial. I noticed the time and all that.

And then, you know, as a 15-year-old, God began working with me. And I've been so, so blessed in my life through the years, living in Michigan, living in North Carolina, living in Tennessee, living in West Virginia, back to Michigan, now Illinois and in Wisconsin, to have a tremendous family, as it talks about there in 1 John 1-7, fellowship with one another.

I've been blessed to know you as my brothers and sisters. You know, Jim Gillespie and Cecily. You know, Cecily is from Texas, so she's had her move, or maybe more than one, I don't know. For Jim, this is going to be a big thing for him. But I said, Jim, look, if I would not have moved from Michigan to here, I never would have gotten to know you.

We never would have become friends. And so you're going to move down to Tennessee, and you're going to meet people, and eventually they're going to be very, very good friends of yours. And what is it that we have in common? We've got the blessing of the shed blood of Jesus Christ in common. We're his family. We're brothers and sisters.

We're in the faith. And that's made possible through the shed blood of Jesus Christ as we walk in the light, as he is in the light. Expositor's Bible commentary made an interesting comment in this section of Scripture. I want to read this to you. Expositor's is one of the better commentaries you can access. A consequence of walking in a light is that the blood of Jesus Christ keeps on cleansing us from every defilement due to sin. The present tense of the verb stresses Christ's work as an ongoing provision. Now, again, I will add as long as we repented. We put that in parentheses. That's what I say. Going back to expositors, without it, enduring fellowship would be impossible, for sin destroys fellowship.

Sin destroys fellowship. Expositor's then quotes John Stott, a noted commentator in his own right. John Stott says, What is clear is that if we walk in the light, God has made provision to cleanse us from whatever sin would otherwise mar our friendship with him or each other. Through the blessing of the shed blood of Jesus Christ as we walk in the light, we have the ability to have fellowship not only with one another, but with God the Father and Jesus Christ. What does that mean to us in terms of being blessed? What does that mean to us in terms of just realizing how tremendous a blessing? And if that sin wasn't taken care of, we wouldn't have that fellowship.

I made mention in, I think it was last time I was, I don't know if I made mention here, but I made mention last time I was in Chicago that here a few weeks ago, there was something that I definitely felt I needed in life at that moment in time. And I was there praying and I would say, God, I really need X. Really need it.

Now, I didn't know if I would get X within five minutes or five years or way to the kingdom, but that very day something happened where X was met. And then the rest of that week, other times X was met. And it's been happening on a fairly regular basis over the last couple weeks.

And I'm enjoying it. I am enjoying it because I know that prayer was heard. I know that the father said, you know, Delisandro, you do need X. And as an encouragement, I'm going to supply you with X. And some of these things were just little things to you. If I were to tell you what it was and what things have happened, you might say, well, that's kind of, I'll chuckle at that. Well, but it meant something to me. See, Dad answered my prayer. And that was, that's been very meaningful to me. But that wouldn't be there without the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That wouldn't be there without the relationship that I have with my father or that you have with your father. What need do you have right now? Are we making those needs known? Well, you're as kid. You know, I don't get a chance to visit my grandkids as often as I'd like, maybe once, twice a year. And so I have to take a look at them through Facebook and things like that. Or Mary, Mary does, I don't do Facebook. Mary does Facebook. And so show me pictures. And there, those little kids are really growing up. You know, the two twins that when, at birth, they were both, one was one pound 13 ounces, but one was one pound 14 ounces. They were just little itty-bitty things. Three months premature, they lived, after they were born, lived their first several months in the hospital, but now they're just little girls. You know, bright red hair, you know, blue eyes, pretty, of course, I think they're pretty little girls. And then now they've got a little brother. And, you know, when I go to visit them and they sit on my lap and I look in those little faces, I think, boy, if there's something I can do for them, I want to do that for them. It's my job to help spoil them, you know? Of course, I say that tongue in cheek. But you want to do things for those you love, right? And God, our Father, wants to do things for us because of His love for us. Let's continue on, drilling down this idea of the blessings from forgiveness. Let's turn over to Romans 6, very well-known scripture, Romans 6, in verse 23. I'm sure you can quote that from heart if you didn't want to turn to it. Romans 6, 23.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, and Christ Jesus our Lord. The wages of sin is death. Now, typically, when we think of this, we think about, that's the end result, you know, if we don't repent of our sins and we'll find ourself in a third resurrection. And that's true. But again, quoting from Expositor's Bible commentary, they make an interesting point. The word wages means provision for one's living expenses.

And as Expositor's points out, sin is a wretched paymaster holding out false hope. False hope. Promising life. You know, Satan would love to promise us life. Well, you do those things, and you know, you'll be like God. So you know what the serpent told Eve. Promising life, but meeting out death. But also, when you think about that word wages, are you paid your wages at just at the end of your life? No. You're paid your wages on a regular basis. You're not given one lump sum, but you're given wages on a periodic basis. And the same thing is true with our life.

The wages of sin is death. And brethren, we get that piecemeal. If we follow, if we don't follow God's ways, if we don't allow our sins to be forgiven, then we're going to be following the ways of death, even as we physically live. You might in your nose put Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12.

Proverbs 14, 12 and Proverbs 16, 25. Those two verses say the same thing. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. So today, people are doing all sorts of things that look well in their eyes, but they're the ways of death. Disease and warfare and all sorts of horrible things because people are earning their wages. So through the blood, we have the blessings of the forgiveness of sin. And we've looked at four different areas here. We can look at many more, where all sin is cleansed, where it is completely eradicated, number two. Number three, where it makes atonement possible with God and our fellow man. And number three, as our sins are forgiven, we're delivered from these wages of death. Tremendous blessings. I want to turn back now to where we started. Let's go back to Matthew 26. I may mention there were two things there I was going to highlight. The second one first, but let's go back and take a look at the other very important issue here. Matthew 26.

Verses 27 and 28. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. So here we want to look at another blessing. A second major blessing I want to cover with you today is the blessing of a covenant relationship with God. The blessing of a covenant relationship with God. A new covenant. Now we know that the new covenant has been offered to God's people, when God is opening up their minds. Very few in the Old Testament were offered this new covenant. In the New Testament era, you've got the New Testament church, and again, a relatively small number of people. So as a collection, you can say, well, it's the church, whether it be the church in the wilderness, or God was working with some few, or the New Testament church, a few more. But I want to focus on something else. I want to focus on the fact, brethren, that you individually and you personally have a covenant relationship with God. You individually, you personally, and that was shown at the time of your baptism.

Remember that day? I remember that day. November the 15th, 1972. Ambassador Hall. There's a pool in Ambassador Hall. Dave Albert, who used to do our broadcast, baptized me that day. I remember he had just come from work. He was dressed in a suit, and he didn't jump in the water with a suit. But Mr. Albert was very much an outdoorsy type of a guy. Loved doing fly fishing and all sorts of hunting and everything. So he took off a suit coat. He had a shirt and tie on, and he put his waiters on. And he jumped into the pool at the shallow end, and I jumped in. And of course, I've told you the story what it took for me to be baptized, all the different times I had to fast and all that. I said, finally, I'm going to be baptized.

And Dave Albert looks at me, and he says, oh no. I thought, please, I've come this far. Don't tell me you're not going to baptize me. Well, he had a hole in those waiters, and they were filling up with water, and his suit was getting drenched. His trousers were getting drenched.

But you remember what it was said at your baptism?

Your name was mentioned, and you were asked the question, have you repented of your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?

Note, personal Savior. Now, maybe some of you are baptized with a mate. Maybe some of you are baptized in a group. In the Detroit area where I grew up, in the early years when I first knew that there was a church, and began talking with some of the people there, it wasn't uncommon for there to be 20 or 30 people baptized all the same day, same time. That's the way things were done back in the day. Typically, though, you were baptized by yourself, and you were asked, have you repented of your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? And you said yes. You said yes to a personal, individual covenant with God. You were then told, I'm not going to baptize you into any denomination of men, but I'm going to baptize you into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And by the power and authority of Jesus Christ, I'm now going to baptize you for the remission of all of your sins. And then you were placed in that watery grave. Sin was forgiven. You came out of that watery grave, a new creation. Then a second ceremony took place where a minister who baptized you laid hands on your head, asked for you to receive God's Holy Spirit. Again, not everybody who was there, you might have been baptized, there might have been 10 or 15 onlookers, it might have been just you and a minister, but you were the only one at that point who was receiving God's Holy Spirit. It was a personal individual covenant that you were having at that point.

And as God gave you His Holy Spirit, He was also writing your name, not your husband's name, not your family's name, not the grandkids name. He was writing your name in the Lamb's Book of Life, a personal individual covenant with God. What does that mean to us? What a tremendous blessing! You know, Abraham had a covenant with God, David had a covenant with God, but so do you. So do you. So does each and every one of us. And on April the 18th, Thursday night, I believe it's in this room. You have them pass over here? You have them pass over here? In this room, you're going to renew your commitment, you're going to renew that covenant with your God, your Father. Let's take a look at just one of the tremendous blessings. There are so many, but let's take a look at one of the tremendous blessings we have as a result of that covenant. Let's take a look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10.

Verses 16 and 17.

Hebrews 10-16.

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them.

Then he adds, their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. They have been cleansed, they have been purged, they've been erased. But notice the beauty. You know, people say God's law has been done away. No one hasn't. The only thing that's changed with God's law between Old and New Testament is where the law is written. Is the law written on tablets of stone or tablets of our heart? Now it's on tablets of our heart. Under the new covenant we learn that God will write his laws in our hearts and in our minds, his holy way of thinking. God adding to our very being who he is. The essence that defines his right character.

I don't I can't think of a better blessing for a father to give to a child than the blessing of understanding a way of life. A true way of life that brings blessings. So brethren, I won't be with you this past summer. I'll be in Chicago this year.

When you're past that tray that has the bread, you take your time with that. When you're past the tray that has those little cups of wine, you take your time with that. We're not on any race.

You know, Mr. Morrison will ask a prayer over the bread and over the wine. But when you take your piece of bread or you take that little cup of wine, you take the time and you think what those symbols represent. And you think this is a renewal of my personal covenant with God Himself. So the Passover wine is a yearly renewal of our agreement to be in this covenant relationship. It's a yearly renewal of our agreement to be in this covenant relationship. And we prize that so very much. Let's move on. See another major blessing that I want to discuss with you today about blessings through the blood, through the wine.

Through the blood, this would be a third one, we see the blessing that reminds us of the destructive power of sin. It's a blessing to know that sin brings destruction. There are people in this world who don't see that. They don't understand that.

They want to play with it. I think I've told you the story. My first job after I got out of Ambassador College, I was a warehouse manager for a furniture company. And back in those days, the mid-70s, there was a movie on called The Exorcist. And one of the guys was on my crew. I had a crew depending upon what season of the year. My crew was anywhere from four to about eight people. But this one particular guy said, I've got to go see that movie, The Exorcist. I said, why do you want to go see that movie? He said, because I want to experience what that is like. I said, you don't know what you're talking about. Oh no, it's going to be wonderful. Wonderful? To be possessed by an alien being you can't control? That's wonderful. An alien being who wants to kill you, first of all, make you suffer a great torture you, then kill you? That's going to be wonderful. See, the world just doesn't understand the horrible power of sin. And yet, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the very fact that Jesus Christ had to be tortured beyond recognition and shed his blood for me, for you. Again, a personal, individual relationship with God. God's really big on reminders. As I was thinking, putting my notes, my thoughts together, in Genesis 9, verse 16, we've got the rainbow. God putting his bow in the sky. I'm not going to turn there, telling people he will never destroy the earth like that again. It's a reminder. And many times you and I, after a rainstorm, will go out and we'll notice a beautiful rainbow. Sometimes we see a beautiful rainbow. Sometimes we see a double rainbow. We think about Exodus 20, verse 8. Again, it won't turn there, where we're told to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Paul, in writing to young Timothy, in 1 Timothy 4, verse 6, again, it won't turn there. Paul said, put the brethren in remembrance of these things. And the context was, put the brethren in remembrance of sound doctrine. Sound doctrine. So reminders are a big thing to God. And we need to be reminded about the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

And that that's what it took for us to be forgiven. Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews chapter 10, verses 1 through 4.

Talking about the Old Testament, verse 1, Hebrews 10.1, For the law, having a shadow of the good things that come and not of the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offered continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. No, those were animal sacrifices. They were done for a certain reason. We're going to see that in a moment. For then they would not have ceased to be offered. For the worshippers once purified would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year.

So this is an important thing. Those sacrifices were a reminder.

And it's a blessing for us to be reminded.

For it is not, verse 4, for it's not possible that the blood of golds and goats should take away sin. It was a reminder of how what sin costs. Sin takes a life.

And they sacrificed animals. And most of the people in ancient Israel were not wealthy people. They are people much like us. You know, when they had to sacrifice an animal, that was really dear to them. They didn't have herds of hundreds and thousands. So every animal they had was very precious to them. And to sacrifice through a killing of the animal, the price had to be paid. And they reminded the penalty for sin is death. And that there would be a future sacrifice.

Ephesians chapter 1.

In him, in Christ, we have redemption through his blood. See, the apostle Paul didn't mind talking about the blood of Jesus Christ. He talked about it quite frequently. We don't need to shy away from that because in some fellowships, the phrase is not used properly. In him we have redemption through his blood. The forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. The riches of his grace. Brethren, when we drink the wine at Passover, let us consider that symbol. Let us consider the gravity of the meaning of that symbol as we hold that little cup of wine in our hands. That represents the very life's blood that flowed out of Jesus Christ. As he was dying because of my sins.

Yes, all of our sins, but again, let's take this very personally. He died. He was tortured because of what I did, have done, and will do in the future because we are only so much clay. And yet, it is such a blessing to know that a provision has been made for us. It is a blessing to know that God has opened up our hearts and minds to receive his law and understand what we must be doing. Leading us, we not only have Passover, but we've got the days of unleavened bread to show us how we are to live our lives.

The shed blood of Jesus Christ for our sinful life should be a motivating factor for us to never want to sin.

You know how it goes. You know how you're tempted. You know your spiritual hot buttons.

And when Satan wants to start working on you, you know that he's doing it. We all know when he's doing it. It'd be helpful for us to think, wait a minute, provision has been made, but I don't want to go that direction. I refuse to go that direction. I'm going to battle against that direction because I want to be in God's kingdom. I want to serve at God's side for all eternity. We've got big things. God has got big things planned. We don't know what they are, but God's got big things planned for us. I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to the time when we have a feast of tabernacles and God gathers the whole family and says, okay, here's our next project.

And he takes us all into his comp. And I'm sure that it's not going to be something that is just so easy, even as spirit beings. God has always challenged us. Why is that going to stop after the resurrection? Do you want a boring life? I don't want a boring life for all eternity. I want an exhilarating, fun-filled, but something where I'm challenged as a spirit being now. How God's going to do that, I don't know. But I'm looking forward to that. But when Satan is there wanting us to accept dung, mud, nothing, let us remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and let us not go that direction.

So through the blood, we've got the blessing that reminds us of the destructive power of sin.

Yet another major area here through the blood, we've got the blessing of direct access to the Father. Direct access. You know, when Christ was crucified, when he was dying, that veil was rent. And we no longer had to go to a human being to intercede for us because we now have Jesus Christ to intercede for us. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 10.

A good book to read at Passover time, Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 10.

Notice the blessing here. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, where it used to be only once a year on a day of atonement that could take place. But now, anytime we want to, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh.

Christ wants us to understand that his blood makes it possible for us to come before the very throne of God. As busy as he is, all that he's doing, he is never too busy to speak to you because he's got an individual covenant with you. With all of us, but with you as an individual.

I'm not going to turn there. Time is moving along here. But John chapter 14 verse 6, you might put this in your notes. John 14 verse 6. No one comes to the Father except through me. No one comes to the Father except through me. We have got that access because of the blood of Jesus Christ. I would like you to turn back in Hebrews to Hebrews chapter 4. Starting here in verse 14 and going through verse 16. Hebrews 4 verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest who is past through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was at all points tempted as we are yet without sin. He understands what it's like to be tempted. He understands what it's like to have Satan nipping at your heels. But in Christ's case, much more so. I don't know that there was ever a time. Now I can't say this for a fact. I would think there was never a time in Christ waking a life when Satan wasn't after him. Because if you could shipwreck Christ, you shipwreck all of us.

And yet he understood this. And notice the context. In the context of our weaknesses, in the context of sufferings, and so forth, verse 16. Again, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. We have needs. We are weak. We remember what Paul said. The things I don't want to do, those are the things I'm doing. And we hate ourselves for that. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, forgiveness, and find grace to help in time of need. So we can come boldly to the Father in great confidence, knowing He's listening to our prayers, and He is intervening on our behalf. He's our high priest. He's there to plead our case to the Father.

Through Christ, we are enabled. You know, normally we talk about enabling as being a negative thing. But through Christ, we are enabled to be in the, enter the very presence of God. Freely, openly, anytime. Through Christ's sacrifice, through His shed blood, we're able to come to know God personally, intimately. We're able to have God guide us and direct us, look after us, care for us, provide for us, protect us, strengthen, deliver us. All those things through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Because we have a relationship, because we have a covenant with this tremendous being.

So I pass over, when you've got that little cup of wine in your hand, again, remember that the blood of Christ has made possible all of this, every bit of this.

Lastly, lastly, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have the blessing of the victory of overcoming.

The blessing of the victory of overcoming. Let's go to Revelation 12, chapter of the deals with God's church, people God has made covenant with.

Revelation 12, verse 11, Revelation 12, 11, and they, the saints, you, and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Now that, there's a lot there. There is a lot there. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. John, chapter 1, verse 29. I'll read this for you. John 1, 29.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. John 1, 29. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. When it says they, in verse 11, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, Christians, we have acknowledged our sin. We have repented of our sin. There's work for us to do.

We've got a part in the overcoming process. God doesn't do that for us. We've got to want it, and we've got to battle, and we've got to fight, and we've got to demonstrate the fact that we, in Satan's world, will not go Satan's way. That's why God can resurrect us as victors.

Christ's Christians acknowledge their need for God's help. They acknowledge their need for Christ's sacrifice. And because they have accepted that sacrifice, and because we are in a repentant state of mind, Satan doesn't have any claim on us. Because Jesus Christ's victory over sin and death on our behalf. Satan no longer has claim. So we overcome by the blood of the lamb. Secondly, and by the word of their testimony.

I'll read for you 1 Corinthians 15, verse 57. 1 Corinthians 15, 57. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, gives us the victory through the blood. 2 Corinthians 16, 57. Christians acknowledge God's power to help them overcome.

We acknowledge that. We praise God for his delivering power, combined with the effort and the power he gives us to fight on. But again, we've got to want it. We've got to ask for that help, and he'll give it to us. So they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. They did not love their lives to the death.

The third thing, Matthew 16.

I'll read this for you. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

This is Matthew 16, verses 24 through 27. For whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it for a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will man give for exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. As we did not love our life, we loved God's life, we loved Christ's life, we loved that, we viewed serving God more important and serving self. Like Moses, we disdain the pleasures of sin for a season that we might partake of God's glory for all time and be a part of that. So today, brethren, the theme for today's message, the last of the series of four, Christians are recipients of tremendous blessings through the blood, through Jesus Christ. I gave you five major points today. We talked about a lot of blessings included in all those points. Let me just review those very briefly for you. Then we can have a blessing, a song, a blessing, and eat.

Through the blood, we've got the blessing of the forgiveness of our sins.

Number two, through the blood, we've got the blessing of a covenant relationship with God, with Christ. Through the blood, we've got the blessing that reminds us of the destructive power of sin. Number four, through the blood, we've got the blessing of direct access to the Father.

And lastly, number five, through the blood, we've got the blessing of victory, the blessing of victory of overcoming. So, brother, we've taken a look now at a number of passages. I will not be here again until after the Passover. But please, in all of our self-examinations, let's remember the tremendous blessings that we have as sons and daughters of God, as brothers of Jesus Christ. We have been tremendously blessed. Let's focus on those things too.