Repentance, Regeneration, and the Lordship of Christ We see this in Romans, much more than, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him, listen friend, the only way to have peace with God is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, that's what Colossians tells us, and have he make peace through the blood of his cross, and in Romans it speaks of that cross, and the Savior's red blood was all over it because of the blackness of sin, and because of the blackness of your sin friends, because of the blackness of my sin friend, the Apostle Peter tells it like this, who his own self, there are sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed, like those men in that town, were safe behind that blood marked door, like the children of Israel were safe inside that blood marked door, so you too friend, can be safe from the wrath of God, when by faith you come and stand under the shelter of that precious blood, are you washed in the blood, and born from above, or have you come, become a Christian some other way, there is no other way friend, but to come, and kneel at that bloody cross, and lay down your arms, come to that bloody cross, and throw down your shotgun of rebellion, and turn from your sins, and surrender to a king, the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus is a risen Lord, and that's where you must take him, he sits on the right hand of God the Father, and he got there by way of a bloody cross, when the apostle Peter speaks of Jesus, who his own self, there are sins in his own body on the tree, that speaks of a sacrifice for sin, that Jesus was the lamb without blemish, and without spot, who was sacrificed for us upon the cross of Calvary, his shed blood stayed the sword of divine judgment, for everyone who by faith takes shelter in it, when the soldiers came to that blood marked door, they kept on going, and slaughtered the rest of the town, but those inside that blood marked door were safe, and there was a slaughter going on in Egypt that night, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house, where there was not one dead, but the children of Israel were safe in that shelter of blood, for the Lord said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and when God the Father sees you under the blood of his dear son, his wrath will pass over you friend, the true gospel has blood in it, oh great God, I'm thankful for that bloody cross, oh Lord Jesus, where would I be today without that bloody cross, but today's modern gospel gets out it's mop bucket, and cleans it all up, mops up all the gore and blood by that cross, and remains silent about all the demands that Christ has on a man, that comes savingly to him, that when a man gets saved something happens, a self is dethroned, and another is enthroned there, and that other is the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you don't receive him as Lord, you haven't received him friend, that bloody cross is a scandal, it upsets wicked man, because wicked man does not want to throw down his shotgun of rebellion, and submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, with all his claims and rights on that man, you start preaching the Lordship of Christ, and repentance, and a bloody cross, and they will surely throw bricks at you today in America, you preach up the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and call sin black, and hell hot, and call sinful man a rebel, and an enemy against the holy God, you have the deacons mad at you, they'll be standing on the steps of the platform, when you get your preaching, they'll be waiting for you, and they will grab you by your ear, and of course escort you out the door, because American Christianity doesn't want to hear about a bloody cross, because of sin, American Christianity doesn't want to hear about the demands of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, no sir, they will reject you, and your message, but if you get out your mop bucket, and clean up the gospel a little, and admit some offensive things, then more people can swallow it, and fill our churches, and pay our bills, and our churches are filled with individuals who know nothing of surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, they rest on a foundation of self -righteousness, and sit on the throne of their heart, and rule there, and drink iniquity like water, because they are like that verse found in the book of Proverbs, which declares there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness, they are church members in good standing, but they've never been washed in the blood, in our verse today, the apostle Peter declares that a Christian is one who is dead to sin, and who lives in righteousness, but I fear many today that fill our pews, and named in the name of Christ are not dead to sin, but dead in sin, they are not washed in the blood, because they were fed a bloodless gospel, that never warned them to flee from the wrath to come, that never warned them that they who die in their sins will go to a terrible place called hell, that unless you repent, you will all likewise perish, that you must be born again, but today we've gotten out our mop buckets, and mopped up the duty of repentance, and the necessity of regeneration, why there's no need when there's no blood, let me tell you what happened on that bloody cross friend, the prince of glory died there for sinful man, redemption took place there, Peter tells us, you were not redeemed with silver and gold, and a mopped up gospel of our day, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of lamb without blemish and without spot, you see friends, when the early church preached the gospel, they were honest with men, they warned men about hell, they preached a living lord who reigns on a throne, they preached a scandalous cross, that wasn't a fence, that had blood all over it because of sin, they didn't clean up the gospel to make it more presentable to sinful man, they told men the truth, they warned men to flee from the wrath to come, their God was the God of the Bible, a God who must punish sin, the apostle Paul preached up that blood, in Colossians we read, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, old Paul knew how to be honest with men and warn them, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but today we have with our modern gospel, removed the teeth from it, we've taken the terror out of it, and the scandal of the cross out of it, we've mopped up around Calvary to such a degree that you could sit there and have your lunch, it's so pristine and pleasant, just come to Jesus, walk an aisle with a silly grin on your face, and agree to a few facts about the death of Christ, and you can join the church, stay in your sins, and go to heaven someday because you were told about a sparkling clean cross that has no demands and no cost of discipleship, but there is only one way to heaven friend, and that is by way of a bloody cross on which the Savior died, and unless you come to God by way of that cross and get under that blood and throw down your shotgun of rebellion and submit to the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ on your life and obey his commands, you will die in your sins and fall into the regions of hell for all eternity, that bloody cross is where Jesus gave himself for me, and it's a scandal to man, an offense, because where there is a cross, there is always a crucifixion, and to be a believer means to live a crucified life, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, thank you Jesus for that bloody cross, I'd be lost without it, it is time friends, in this great land of ours that has fallen to such low levels, to preach that message once again, it's time to put the blood back into the gospel friend, even if they will hang you for it, there is power in that blood.