The Blessings of the Blood

Brethren, as you're well aware in preparing the congregation for the Passover, I've been giving a number of sermons along those lines. My intent and desire was to give a four-part series. To this point, we've gone through three of those four parts. Part number one, I was thinking about in terms of self-examination, and along those lines, the question I asked was, how does God define our living sacrifice? In that sermon, we went through the five Old Testament sacrifices, which teach us a great deal as to what God himself, from his perspective, is looking for. The second of the four-part series dealt with the foot-washing aspect of the Passover. The theme for that was, humility provides us with the blessings of a deeper relationship with God and man. And we took a look at a number of blessings that you and I receive as a result of coming to Passover. Again, my overall thought as I was preparing all of these was, so many times we approached the Passover, some approached the Passover, and just beat themselves up mercilessly in getting ready, as opposed to viewing the Passover as a tremendous set of blessings that it is. And so, in the second part, talking about the foot-washing, we documented at least 10 different blessings we have through humility, through the foot-washing. Part three dealt with the bread portion of the Passover service. The theme there, Christians are recipients of tremendous blessings through the bread, Jesus Christ. And again, we went through and highlighted at least 10 different blessings that you and I have that come through the bread, Jesus Christ. That brings us to today. Last of the series. You know, brethren, as I said before, the body and blood of Christ prefer to the same sacrifice. Jesus Christ shows that there is a distinction between the bread and the wine, the body and the blood. And today we want to focus in on the blood or the wine aspect of the Passover service. Again, with an eye toward being more fully appreciative of all the blessings that we receive as you and I come to the Passover service. My theme is very similar to the last time. And the theme is this. Christians are recipients of tremendous blessings through the blood. Christians are recipients of tremendous blessings through the blood, Jesus Christ. Now, why did Christ command his disciples to drink wine as a symbol of his blood? What meanings are in this extraordinary analogy that we have in Scripture that's vital to our understanding about the New Covenant and New Testament Passover?

You know, brethren, we can take for granted certain things, but we don't want to be like the church in Corinth. As you recall from the last time we were together, I went through, to some degree, 1 Corinthians 11, showing that our brothers and sisters who were living in Corinth back in the day, back in the mid-50s when that book was written, they didn't fully understand everything that they needed to understand about the Passover. Paul had to talk about taking the Passover in an unworthy manner, that they were not discerning the Lord's body. And we certainly don't want to be spoken of along those lines. So we must understand, you know, all the things that are pertaining to the Passover. With that in mind, let's turn over to Matthew chapter 26. We'll begin our journey over here. We'll be reading this on Passover evening. Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26, verse 27. Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. For this is the blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. There in chapter 26, verse 28, we see two major concepts that I want to look at as we begin the sermon today. Two major concepts, the new covenant and remission of sins. We're going to take the second concept first. Through the blood, we have the blessing of the forgiveness of our sins.

Through the blood, we've got the blessing and the forgiveness of our sins. Now, of course, we always want to add to that upon true and genuine repentance. Let's take a look at 1 John chapter 1, verse 7. You might want to put a marker here because we're going to come back to this scripture on several occasions. 1 John chapter 1, verse 7.

There is a lot of meaning in this one verse, and we want to take a look at all of it today. 1 John 1, 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. Let's note, as I mentioned, the blessing we have of forgiveness of our sins upon repentance, genuine repentance. Notice at the very beginning here, verse 7. If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, in other words, we are amending our life to conform to the life of Jesus Christ and what he taught in the New Testament. That's a matter of repentance, genuine heartfelt repentance, walking in the light. But as we go through verse 7, we notice at the very end of the verse, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. And that's what I want to highlight at this point in the sermon, that we are cleansed from all sin, every kind of sin. No limit to the categories of sin. No limit to the severity of the sin. No limit to the frequency of the sin. Again, based upon walking in the light. Based upon true genuine repentance. As you keep a marker here, and I'm going to put a marker in my Bible here. Let's turn over to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1, verses 18 and 19. Isaiah 1, 18 and 19. Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, though your sins are severe, though they're really bad, they shall be white as snow, though they're red, again, severity, red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Now notice verse 19. If you are willing and obedient, again, forgiveness is available. God forgives that through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But again, we see if you are willing, in other words, there's a certain attitude there, an attitude of repentance and obedience. Not only the attitude, but the action of amending our lives. You know, as a matter of balance here, I'm not going to turn to these scriptures, but in 2 Corinthians, as Paul again was talking to those brothers and sisters of ours who lived, you know, 2,000 or so years ago, 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verses 9 and 10, we're told that godly sorrow leads to true repentance and salvation. Godly sorrow, godly repentance, leads to true, godly sorrow leads to true repentance. And of course, in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 11, same section of scripture, there are the seven fruits of genuine repentance. So again, our sins, no matter how severe, no matter what kind, no matter how many, if we are truly repentant upon each and every one of those sins, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, if we are willing and obedient, then all of our sin, as it says in 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7, all of our sin is cleansed. Let's go back to 1 John 1.7.

Again, I said there's a great deal of meat here. 1 John 1.7.

What if we walk in the light as he is in light? We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ's Son cleanses us. There's a second aspect we want to take a look at here. We are being cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. It cleanses us. The word cleanse here can mean purify. It can mean erase, as we would think of it in modern terms, or purge. So another way of looking at the blood of Jesus Christ is our sins are erased. They are purged. They are dealt with. And we can be so appreciative of that fact and the blessing of having those sins handled in that manner. Let's take a look at Isaiah chapter 38. As returning there, I want to remind you what we were saying as we were looking at the background of this book. In many ways, Isaiah is a counterpart to the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. Isaiah was very much a man of letters. He was a very educated man. He was a man who grew up there in the halls of administration in terms of running the government. But as an educated man, as a man of letters, people who may not even look upon the Bible as the Word of God, but look upon the Bible as so much literature. Many people view the book of Isaiah as one of the greatest works of literature that there is. And here in chapter 38 of Isaiah, there's an interesting statement about how God views our sins. And I've quoted this to you before, but I think to me it's just so poetic and it means so much to me personally. I enjoy reading this every Passover season. I enjoy reading it all the time personally on many occasions. Isaiah 38 verse 17. Indeed, it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness.

We have tremendous trials in life, and those trials can bring a great deal of bitterness and hardship. But when you stand back, when you and I stand back as we view our trials in life, and we view what they do for us in life, then we have peace with God. We are closer to Him.

Middle of verse 17. But you have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption. Now notice the very end of verse 17. For you have cast all my sins behind your back. You have cast all my sins behind your back. Now again, a very poetic way of looking at this. Now we understand from a literal perspective, nothing is hidden from God. We understand that. But this is written from a kind of a literary perspective. The audience says we human beings. And when things are behind our back, we can't see them unless we've got a mirror. The idea is God doesn't want to look at our sins once they are forgiven. They are behind His back. They are not in His view. And for that, you and I can have a tremendous amount of satisfaction, and we view that as a tremendous blessing. Psalm 103.

Psalm 103. Again, looking at this, as David is writing it from a human perspective, this is the very word of God. But let's take a look at this from God's perspective as He knows how we think. Psalm 103, verse 12. As far as the east is from the west, so far He has removed our transgressions from us. As far as the east is from the west. Now, the skeptic might say, well, Randy Delisandro, here is east and here is west, and they're right next to each other. But that's not the concept this is talking about. The concept we see in verse 12 is a concept of a continuum. And as far east as you can go, and as far west as you can go, for all eternity, that's how far our sins are separated from us.

A tremendous vision there. A tremendous word picture there, showing us the great erasing and purging and cleansing of our sins.

We go back to 1 John chapter 1 again. There's yet something else in this verse we want to take a look at.

1 John chapter 1 verse 7. This verse is a spiritual gold mine in terms of how much is here.

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. We have fellowship with one another. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have a very special fellowship with one another. But most importantly, we have fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. We have at one meant with God the Father and Jesus Christ. And when you and I think about that, when I think about that, as I contemplated this as I was putting my thoughts together for the sermon, and you think about who God is, the being who is running this entire universe, all the stars out there going for throughout, you know, forever, you know, everything that makes those stars what they are, the chemical reactions, the physics involved, the planets that revolve around each of those stars. All of us are us with every breath of life, every beat of the heart, all the little microbes on this planet. God is dealing with all of that, and yet He loves His fellowship with us. As He's keeping all this going, as I said a couple of sermons ago, at any time we want to, we can drop to our knees or as we're walking or going through life, driving around or whatever we want, we want to talk with God, and we can ask something very simple, well, do I paint the front room green or blue? All He's doing, He enjoys that communication with us, and that's all a part of our being forgiven because of the blood of Jesus Christ. We have fellowship with one another, and most importantly, God and Jesus Christ.

I'd like to read a comment. This is from the Expositor's Bible commentary, one of the best you can get. Expositor's says this regarding this particular section of 1 John 1.7, a consequence of walking into light is that the blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing us from every defilement due to sin. The present-intensive verb stresses Christ's work as an ongoing provision. Now, I'll break off from that again in parentheses, I would put, upon genuine repentance, going back to Expositor's. Without it, enduring fellowship would be impossible for sin destroys fellowship. Sin destroys fellowship. Expositor's then quotes John Stott, a famous commentator in Stott says, What is clear is that if we walk in a light, God has made provision that cleanses us from whatever sin would otherwise mar our fellowship with Him or each other. Now, that's a tremendous blessing. Nothing is going to separate us from our relationship with God and Christ because we have accepted Christ as our personal Savior, because we have accepted that blood to wash away our sins, because we are people who live a repentant way of life, because we walk in the light as He is in the light, and we can enjoy the richness and the fullness, the blessings that come from that fellowship.

Let's now turn our attention to Romans chapter 6, what many call the baptismal covenant chapter.

Romans chapter 6, you know the verse, verse 23, the last verse in the chapter.

Romans 6, 23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The wages of sin is death. Again, quoting from expositors, talking about the word wages means provision for one's living expenses. Sin turns out to be a wretched paymaster promising life, but meeting out death. You know, a few minutes ago, I was talking about our young adult weekend that's going to be taking place toward the end of this month.

I finished the sermon I've got for the last day of Unleavened Bread, which I'll be giving during that weekend to you as well. And one of the things that that day, last day of Unleavened Bread pictures is going through the Red Sea, leaving Egypt behind. One of the main ideas in the theme for our young adult weekend is the concept of hope. And in my sermon on that day, I'm going to take a look at how we need to leave false hopes behind. Mankind has a great many false hopes. We need to leave false hopes behind and move forward to God's kingdom with its true and its valuable hope. So we can look forward to that on the last day of Unleavened Bread. But going on with expositors, it says something else that's interesting. It says, since in practice wages are paid not in a lump sum, but regularly and periodically, death is not to be regarded merely as the final payment, but as that which already casts its dark shadow over life, a portent of the deeper darkness to come.

So yes, if we don't repent, we will face the second death. But in addition to that, if we aren't living in a repentant lifestyle, if we're not living and walking in the light as he is in the light, that as we live in sin, we're going to be experiencing death on an installment plan.

You know, in your notes, you might want to jot down Proverbs 14.12, which is also repeated in Proverbs 16.25. 14.12 and 16.25. There's a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. So wages, if we don't walk in a light, these wages, we receive all sorts of issues in this current life. Bad decisions bring horrible consequences. I was watching here maybe a month or so ago a movie by the name of The Natural, a baseball movie.

Many of you have probably seen that movie. The basic plot is you've got a young man by the name of Roy Hobbs, who's a fantastic baseball player, but he makes some really bad decisions in life and drops out of the game for a number of years.

He comes back to the game as a middle-aged man. Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs. And toward the end, his team is the New York Knights. They're playing for the American League pennant. They need him with his big bat in the lineup.

But because of earlier bad decisions Roy had made, he got very sick. And Glenn Close, who was his long-time girlfriend, visited him in the hospital. And he was shaking his head because he wanted to be on the playing field with his teammates. But as he was shaking his head, Roy Hobbs said, Some mistakes you never stop paying for.

Some mistakes you never stop paying for. You know, brother, that's true. The wages of sin brings all sorts of things that in many cases you never stop paying for. Now God in his mercy can help us with some of that. But other times God says, you know, let them live. They made those mistakes, those sinful things, and there's a certain price to be paid for that. So, the very first thing we looked at in terms of the blessings from the blood of Jesus Christ, we've looked at just a sampling of some of the blessings that all of our sins, no matter how severe, how frequent upon repentance, are forgiven.

Secondly, that those sins are erased. Thirdly, we have atonement made possible with God the Father and Jesus Christ through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And fourthly, in this one section, we are delivered from the wages of death because of that sacrifice. But let's go back now to Matthew chapter 26, because I said there were two major issues here, two major concepts.

We just looked at the second one, but we want to take a look at the first one here. Matthew 26. Let's just look at verse 28. Matthew 26, 28. For this is my blood of the new covenant. This is my blood of the new covenant.

There is a blessing here, brethren, a blessing of a covenant relationship with God the Father, with Jesus Christ because of what Christ has done for us. The blood of Christ signifies that He's entered into an agreement with us, a covenant with us. Yes, it's a new covenant for the New Testament church. Yes, it deals with a great number of people.

But what I want to focus in on right now is that this new covenant is also a covenant that deals with you as an individual. You're not just a cog in some great spiritual machine. You are a son or a daughter of the great God.

You are a brother or sister of Jesus Christ. I'd like you to take a moment and think back to the day you were baptized. The day you were baptized. I'm not talking about if you're a fourth or fifth generation Christian. We're not talking about your grandparents, great-grandparents. I'm not talking about your spouse or your kids.

We're talking about you. The day you were baptized. The day you personally entered into a covenant with the great God. You were standing near a body of water. It could have been a lake, it could have been a river, it could have been a pond, it could have been a pool, it could have been a horse trough. And the minister said, have you repented of your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? And you, you said, yes, I have. Again, wasn't your mate, wasn't several generations before you, you said, yes, I have repented of my sins.

Yes, I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Then the minister said, because you have repented of your sin, sin being a transgression of God's holy and righteous law, since you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your high priest and soon coming King. The minister said, I'm now going to baptize you, but I'm not going to baptize you into any sect or denomination of men. I'm going to baptize you into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The minister said, I'm going to do this through the name and the authority of Jesus Christ for remission of all your sins. Then that minister took you and helped you into the water. Totally being submersed. And then, you know, your sins being covered in that watery grave. And then he helped you back out of that watery grave. You, with your personal relationship, a covenant relationship with God, he brought you out of the water. And then at that point, the minister looked you in the eye and said, congratulations, all of your sins have been forgiven you. A lot of people cry at that point.

Understandably so. And so, you've got one ceremony that's done. Baptism for the remission of sins. But then another ceremony takes place, where the minister then takes and lays hands on your head. Now, on days gone by, maybe you were baptized with your mate. Maybe you were baptized in a group baptismal service.

I know back in the Detroit area where I came from, years ago in the 60s, it wasn't uncommon for 20 or 30 people who baptized all together at one time. Things were done differently back in those days. But generally speaking, you were baptized probably by yourself. And after your baptism, the minister laid his hands on your head, asking the great God to give you his Holy Spirit. And not everybody in that room, again, it was just you being baptized, not everybody in that room received God's Holy Spirit, but you did. It was a personal covenant between you and the great God.

And you received God's Holy Spirit, and at the same time, your name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's an awe-inspiring thing for us to think about. Because of the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we have been brought into an individual, yes, as a group covenant, but it's also an individual covenant with each and every one of you who accepted Christ as your Savior. Thursday evening, and I'm going to make mention of this Thursday evening in this room as we conduct the Passover service, that when that tray of unleavened bread comes your way and you pick out a piece of that, or when that tray of the little cups of wine come your way and you pick out a cup, you take your time.

I'll be asking a prayer over that, asking God's blessing, but when those emblems come your way, you say your prayer. I'll be saying a group prayer for all of us, but as you sit there in that chair with your individual relationship with your Savior, looking at those emblems as you renew your covenant, that's a very, very meaningful time. Now, let's focus a little bit on just one benefit of that relationship, of that covenant. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews chapter 10, and again I'll be reading this to you on Passover. Hebrews chapter 10 verses 16 and 17. This is the covenant they 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. No, they've been cast behind his back. They're as far as the east as from the west, but we see here something very special. Under the new covenant we learn that God will write his laws in our hearts and minds. He's adding to our very being his holy righteous laws. You know, people want to talk about how the law is done away. Law is not done away. Law is always to be kept. Just a matter where that law is written. Is it written on tablets of stone, or is it written on fleshly tablets of our heart? When we partake of the wine, we acknowledge the covenant relationship ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ. Very meaningful when that cup of wine comes your way. We are in effect saying we will allow God's Spirit to work on our hearts and minds, meaning that we will keep God's laws out of a deeply thankful attitude for the forgiveness of each and every one of our sins. The Passover wine is a yearly renewal of our agreement in his covenant relationship. A yearly renewal.

So through the blood, we've got the blessing of an individual covenant relationship. Let's look at another major blessing. Through the blood, we have the blessing that reminds us of the destructive power of sin. We have the blessing that reminds us of the destructive power of sin. And brethren, that is a blessing. And God is pretty big on reminders.

Let's take a look at a few. I'm not going to turn to these scriptures, but for your notes, Genesis 9, we've got the rainbow that is a reminder of God's covenant with mankind that he's not going to destroy man in that way ever again. It's a reminder.

Many times, after a rain, we go out and we look and we see a rainbow or a double rainbow. And we're reminded of what that's all about. In Exodus chapter 20, we are to remember the Sabbath day. God says to remember that. Reminders are a good thing. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul puts the brethren in remembrance of what he had taught them. In the context there, it is being in remembrance of sound doctrine. So being in remembrance is a wonderful thing.

If you're still there in Hebrews chapter 10, let's look at the beginning of the chapter. Hebrews 10 verses 1 through 4.

Hebrews chapter 10 verse 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 offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. So we're looking at the Old Testament sacrificial system here. For then they would not have ceased to be offered. For the worshipers, once purified, would have no consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. They were to be reminded of something every year and on a regular basis. For it is now possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin. No, only the blood of Jesus Christ does that.

And those sacrifices, there was a reminder every year. You know, brethren, back in the days of the Old Testament, when people offered their animal sacrifices, each animal was very dear to the owner of that animal. Most of the ancient Israelites were not rich people. Most of them were relatively common people. They were people of limited means. And whenever they had to sacrifice an animal, that was a big deal. That was very costly to them. But it helped them to understand that sin is costly when we sin. A price has to be paid. There's a reminder for that. And it's a good thing that they're reminded. It's a good thing you and I remind. It's a good thing that when I'll be standing in front of you, crunching that unleavened bread, that you understand what Jesus Christ went through with the various tortures that He went through that day. When I'm asking a blessing upon that blood, that you remember that it was that blood that was shed by Jesus Christ. Because of my sin. We take it personally. Yeah, everyone's sin. But when I'm eating that piece of bread, thinking about the life of Jesus Christ now being a part of me, when I'm drinking that little cup of wine, I'm thinking about what He had to endure for Randy Delosandro, hopefully you're thinking the same thing about you. And hopefully you and I reminded just how costly sin is. How costly sin is. There was a reminder there. Let's go to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.

One, I'd like to quote an individual here as I was doing my research.

He said it very succinctly, first talking about Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 7. You have heard this man speak here from this pulpit before. His name is William Bradford Sr. I was looking up an article that he had read, that he had written about some of the things we're covering here today. I will give him due credit. I've used an awful lot of his thoughts in my sermon here today. Senior.

And I quote from Mr. Bradford Sr. When we drink the wine at the Passover service, we are to consider the gravity of its meaning. It represents the very life's blood that flowed from Jesus Christ's dying body, so we may have the complete forgiveness of our sins. The shed blood of the righteous Jesus Christ for our sinful life should be a powerful motivation for us never to want to sin again. It is the way our merciful God chooses to reach out in our obstinate state of mind.

A reminder. So through the blood, we've got the blessing that reminds us of the destructive power of sin. Another major blessing through the blood. The blessing of direct access to the Father. The blessing of direct access. We don't have to go through some other person. We don't have to go through some priests or anything like that. We have direct access as a result of the blood. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 10. As I said before, a great, great book to be reading at Passover time. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19 and 20.

Hebrews 10, verse 19. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. You know, we believe that Paul wrote this book. Paul didn't have any problem talking about the blood of Jesus. Do we? 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 Almighty God. Our Father, our Dad, the one that gives us every breath of life we have, every beat of the heart, the one who loves us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to die for you and for me. And again, we think about that on an individual basis.

John chapter 14, verse 6. Let me read that for you. John 14, verse 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

No one comes to the Father except through me, except through the blood. If you're still here in Hebrews, let's go to chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed 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 in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. He understands. He knows what it's like to be under the watchful eye of Satan the Devil, to have a tremendous target on his back at all times. He understands that. He understands what it's like to have these things come at you wave after wave after wave to wear us down. When you and I are going through our trials and our tests, it's like the dripping of water on a rock. It's just unrelenting. Christ understands that. And as we go to the Father, he understands that and discusses that with the Father on our behalf. He understands we're so much clay. We're just weak people that we have a need of his power. And understanding all that, understanding our weakness, and I don't know about you, but so many times when I'm in those situations, I get upset with myself. I say, you know, Delisandro, I should be past this. I should be further down the road than I am.

Maybe you say the same thing about yourself, no matter where you are on that road. And I get mad at myself. I feel like, and I go back and I'm praying, I have my Bible normally right there, and I'll turn over to Romans chapter 7 where Paul is talking about, hey, the things I don't want to do, man, that's what I'm doing. Things I wish I could be doing, wish I could be doing those things, but I've got this battle taking place inside of me.

And even though it's only the temptation, it's not a matter that we're sinning, it's just that we hate the fact that we're having these things happen to us.

That's where verse 16 comes in. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne, come boldly to that throne of grace. We need that help. Let's not shy away from it. Let's not shrink from it. Let's come boldly. Let's discuss, and we'll talk more about that in just a couple of moments. Let's come before God and talk about our weakness. Talk about how I wish we were stronger than we were. Wish we were further down to time continuum with our walk with God. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy, forgiveness, and find grace to help, to get us through that particular difficulty, that particular challenge we're facing at that particular time. To find grace to help in time of need. We can boldly come to the Father in great confidence knowing He listens. He intervenes on our half because Jesus Christ is our Advocate. Jesus Christ appears in the presence of the Father on our behalf as our Advocate. He pleads our case for us as our Advocate. And so we can come boldly. So we can rejoice when you and I take that wine at Passover that the blood of Jesus Christ is made possible, that intimate relationship with the Father, that direct access. Lastly, lastly, through the blood we have the blessing of the victory of overcoming. Through the blood we've got the blessing of the victory of overcoming. Let's turn our attention to Revelation chapter 12. Chapter 12. Talking about our brothers and sisters in the faith. Talking about you and I. Revelation chapter 12 verse 11.

And 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. Three important things being spoken of here. They overcame Satan. They were victorious. We are victorious as people who have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. We who walk in the light as He is in the light. We who are willing and obedient and repentant as we see in the Days of Unleavened Bread. We are overcoming Him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Let's take a look at that verse a little more succinctly. Let's go over to John chapter 1. I probably won't be going back to Revelation, so no need to put a marker there. John chapter 1. I'm quoting John the Baptist here. John chapter 1 verse 29.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward Him as the Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. They overcame Him by the blood through the Lamb, Jesus Christ. In other words, Christians acknowledge. We acknowledge our sin. We turn from our sin. We understand there's work for us to do. We understand there's a partnership here in our covenant with God. He teaches us what we need to be doing. He teaches us His ways, His laws, and so forth. He gives us His spirit, the power, but He's not going to do it for us. He doesn't want robots. He wants people who choose to take that power and act accordingly, to take that power and overcome with that power. And as you and I do that, as we acknowledge our need for God's help, as we thank God for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Satan the devil is overcome. Satan the devil no longer has claim over us due to Christ's victory over sin and death on our behalf. Revelation 12, 11 talks about how we overcame and overcome Satan, secondly, by the word of their testimony. By the word of their testimony. Let's take a look at some testimony here. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. In verse 57, here we see the word of Paul's testimony, and I'm sure it's the word of your testimony as well. 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. We acknowledge God's power to help us overcome. We praise God for his delivering power combined with our own efforts as we overcome. And lastly, Revelation 12, 11 said they didn't love their lives to the death, which again speaks to us as we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. In that one-on-one relationship and covenant we have, let's take a look at the very last scripture for today in Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16, verse 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Deny himself, deny the passing pleasures of sin, as Moses did. Take up his cross, a cross being an emblem of death. The old man is to die. The way of life we used to live is to be buried in that baptismal water.

Take up his cross to purge out everything that shouldn't be there that's not godly, and walk in the light as he is in the light. Follow him. Verse 25. Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. We lose our life by merging with what God's will is. We lose our life by yielding to what God would have us do.

Verse 26. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in 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. Each according to his works. So, brethren, Christians, we as Christians view serving God more important than life itself. More important than life itself. So today, brethren, to sum up to conclude, we've taken a look at the tremendous blessings we have received through the blood, through Jesus Christ. We've seen five major areas here, and there have been sub-points under those, but five major areas. Through the blood, we have the blessing of the forgiveness of our sins.

Secondly, through the blood, we've got the blessing of a covenant relationship, one-on-one, with the great God. Number three, the blessing that reminds us of the destructive power of sin. And we do need to be reminded of that all the time. Number four, the blessing of direct access to the Father. And number five, the blessing of the victory of overcoming. So, brethren, Thursday evening lets you and I come together in celebration of all that our elder brother Jesus Christ has done for us. All the blessings. It's a solemn day. We understand that. We understand why it's a solemn day. But it's also a day of rejoicing. It's a day of blessing. Let's make it a point when we come here Thursday evening that we keep that very much in mind.