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Dr. Irwin "Rocky" Freeman
We'll be glad to share them with you. All right, let's read from 1st Peter and Let's begin reading chapter 1 and verse 14 verse 14 as obedient children. Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance.
But as he who hath called you is holy so be ye holy and all manner of life. Because it is written be ye holy for I am holy and again. Let me make the point that the Bible deals basically with attitudes.
Our problems will be resolved if our attitude is correct. And so the Bible deals basically with attitudes if we can get our attitude functioning correctly. Then our lives will begin to fall into proper perspective.
So because it is written be holy for I am holy and if you call on the Father who without respect of persons Judges according to every man's work past the time of your sojourning here in fear or awe. For as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold.
From your vain manner of life conversation manner of life. But received by tradition from your father's those things. No. But with a precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you? Who by him do believe in God who raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope?
Might be in God. Seeing that you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto Unfeigned love of the brethren. You notice that word unfeigned love. We're watching words Doesn't mean you act like you love your brother and sister in the Lord.
You really do. It's a real love. Don't just act like it do it see that you love one another with a pure heart. Fervently being born again. Not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever.
For all flesh is like grass and all the glory of man like the flower of grass. The grass wither and its flower faileth away or falleth away. But the Word of the Lord Endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you and the main verses.
Of course. The key is verse 18 for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold. From your vain manner of life received by tradition from your father's living like they did.
But with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. So our topic is the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. We hear a lot about this power in the blood. There's power in the blood.
It is of tremendous importance. That a Christian not rest a Christian not stop a Christian not cease with just the mere acceptance of the truth that he is redeemed by the blood but that he should learn what is meant by it and to learn what The blood is is intended to do in a surrendered soul.
We need to delve into the Word of God as the pastor said and find out what it all means. Not just accept it that it is so and it is so but to find out why it's so and how it is working in Our life and it makes our joyful and it makes our life Enriched by the Spirit of God and we are empowered because of the blood of Christ.
How does the blood of Christ have power? Why does the blood? Possess power that is in nothing else in this universe. Why does it the answer is in Leviticus the 17th chapter verses 11 and 14? The life of the flesh is in the blood and then it says I have given it to you Upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls for it is the blood that makes an atonement For the soul.
So the reason that the blood possesses power that is in nothing else in the universe or the created life of God. It is because the life is in the blood and the blood is offered to God on the altar that it does have its power.
So the life is in the blood now the value of the blood Corresponds to the value of the life that is in it. For example, the life of a sheep or a goat is of less is of less value than that of an ox. Than that of an ox it was thus so in the Old Testament.
So when the blood of a sheep or goat offering was made it was of less value than the blood of an ox. Leviticus chapter 4 verses 3 14 and 27 and other passages of Scripture now the life of a man is Of far more value.
It is much more valuable than that of many sheep and oxen. Now you can examine and then you can begin to see The value or the power of the blood of Jesus Christ in that that blood that was shed from him.
In that blood dwelt the life of the Son of God. The blood that was shed on Calvary in that blood dwelt the life of the matchless miraculous Life-giving only begotten son of the Living God. That is why it has power.
That is why it has power now again. The power of the blood Lies above everything else in the fact that it is offered to God on the altar for redemption. When we think of blood as shed We think of death for death follows if you let the blood out and person dies.
If the blood goes then life goes. That's just the way it always is now death when we think about death. So we think about blood we think about death. When we think about death we think about sin for sin.
What death is the wages of sin? So we begin thinking about the punishment of sin. Death is the punishment of sin now God gave Israel the blood on the altar as the atonement are covering for sins. Now here's what happened.
The sins of the transgressor. The sins of the person the one who committed the sins came and made that offering God took. It was as if he did and of course God covered them. But it was as if God took the sins from that person and Put them upon that animal so that when that animal died, it was just like that person was dying.
That animal was dying in the place of that particular person and sin was so entirely covered or atoned for. That it was no longer looked upon or reckoned as the sin of the person who brought the offering.
That's why God considered him righteous. That's why God considered him righteous now. These were types that were pointing to the blood of Jesus Christ. His blood was of infinite value because it carried his life and the atoning virtue of his blood was infinite.
Also because of the manner in which it was shared in holy obedience to the Father's will Jesus Christ subjected himself to the penalty of the broken law by his death. Not only was the penalty born but the law was satisfied and the father glorified in it all and that's why Isaiah the prophet said and God laid on him the Iniquity of us all when Jesus died on the cross all of your sins past present and future.
Every sin that would ever be in your life was put upon him so that when he died. It was just like you dying and God makes it just like that when you get saved. When you receive Christ, then the death of Christ becomes a reality in your life and God considers your whole life.
Dead just like that little animal was thrown upon the altar and that person walked away clean because that substitute died. Christ died and took your sins upon him. That is why now God looks upon you as if you had never ever seen that is your spiritual position.
That is your position in God's eyes. Now. What has that power accomplished? We talk about power in the blood. One of the things that has accomplished is that the blood has opened the grave. It's opened the grave.
All right. It was through the virtue of the blood that God raised up Jesus Christ from the dead. God's power was not exerted to raise Jesus and it from the dead apart from the shed blood. It was necessary.
It was God's plan. We just read it in the scripture. It was for ordained in verse 20 who verily was for ordained before the foundation of the world. It was planned before the world was ever created that he was going to die and when did it happen?
But was manifest in these last times for you. It was planned before the world came into being but God picked out a particular time in history when he was going to show it To the world what he had already planned to do and he did it for who for you.
Who's you. Anybody reads it anybody will accept it anybody that'll believe it and commit themselves to it. It becomes immediately applicable in their life. All right, so we ask ourselves again. What's it done?
It's opened the grave. It was through the shedding of his blood alone that Jesus Christ had the right as a man to rise again and to obtain eternal life through resurrection. His blood satisfied the law and it pleased the righteousness of God and where the blood of Christ is There the resurrection power of God gives entrance into eternal life.
Why does his blood have power? How could it open the grave simply because it satisfied the law and it pleased the righteousness of God and there is no other blood That can do that. There's no other person that can do that.
The blood has made an end of all the power of death its effect. It surpasses all of human thoughts. So what happens to you you die. Well There are those and we're gonna look at this week who think you don't they think it's in your mind.
Dear people you will go through what the world calls death. But I promise you this when they lay your body in that grave, you will be observing it all. You'll be looking at it. You'll be seeing it and you'll be wondering why all the disturbance.
Why are all those people crying? Why are all those people weeping? Why are they spending all that money on that box? Why are they going to all that different? What are they doing with all those? Why are they all troubled when they know I'm up here looking down upon?
That is better, you know why people weep at funeral, you know why we go to so much trouble at the funeral. Pride those people they're completely oblivious to anything you do or don't do. They don't know whether you buried him in a pine box or a gunny sack.
They do not know it. Not physically wouldn't make them any difference. And I'm convinced if we up there, it'll make it even less of difference. I'd care less as Job said the worms destroy my flesh in my body.
I will see my Redeemer when he stands upon the earth in the last day. It doesn't make any difference at all. Not at all. How could that be the blood of Christ? The blood of Christ here people. It doesn't make any difference.
You'll go through what the world calls death, but the moment you're absent from the body you're present with the Lord. It's just like that the moment your heart stops beating stay stop one beat if you're a Christian.
You go immediately into the presence of Jesus Christ and the grave cannot hold your body when Jesus Christ comes back for the Lord himself. Will send me that will descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we were alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet him in the air. I don't care what kind of a mausoleum they put around you what kind of stones they put over you what kind of locks they put On that it won't make any difference that bodies coming out of that grave.
Which one same one you got. That's the only one you know anything about you say well, I don't want this one. We want it. We just don't want it like it is. That's what it is. But if it's not the same body comes out of the grave, then it's not resurrection.
It's something else and the Holy Spirit made a mistake and calling it resurrection. Resurrection means restore unto that which is better that which was. He's gonna take the same body. The Bible indicates it from beginning in the same body went in the grave is the same one comes out of the grave.
But it will be changed. So you don't know what a body look like it didn't have any sin. We don't know what Adam and Eve look like if they were here tonight. What a glorious difference we would see. Through all these ages sin has contaminated and degradated, but the blood of Christ has remitted all that.
It has completely changed the character of it changed the position of it the status of it and everything else. So you have no fear. That's why the grave has no victory and death has no sting. Christ took it all upon himself and he's blown the gates of Death wide open.
And when you roll into the depot of death. The Lord Jesus and the ministering angels will be there to escort you in to the beautiful blessing and the blessed rest and repose. That is in the presence of the Lamb of God, but there's another thing that has happened.
That's what we're talking about. The blood has opened the grave and the blood of Christ has opened heaven in Hebrews 9 12. It says the following by his own blood entered in once for all into the holy place.
Having obtained eternal redemption for us. How long? What's the word eternal? How long is eternal? Yes. Doesn't say until you sin. By his own blood entered in he entered in once and for all into the holy place having obtained redemption for us.
If we endure until the end. No, no just says eternal redemption dear people, it's eternal it's everlasting. You couldn't lose it if you wanted to. Some of you trying real hard. Some of you just think you lost it.
I won't care where you thought you lost. Not if you ever had it you never lose it. Because of the blood the blood is too precious in God's eyes. Too precious. All right in the Old Testament tabernacle.
One that they built and the one that they worshiped in God's manifested presence was where it was inside the veil. Wasn't it? It was behind the veil. You know when Jesus died what happened to the veil in the temple?
It was rent in to was it not sure it was and so in there the veil. No power of man could remove that veil. It was split by the power of Almighty God the high priest alone. Could enter but he could only enter on one of two ways.
He could enter with the blood or he could enter and lose his life. One of the two ways if he went in without the blood. He lost his life and that was a picture of a power of sin in the flesh that separates us from God.
That's what that veil meant. That veil showed that man was sinful and was separated from God could never enter the presence of God. But when Jesus died on the cross and the veil was split open that meant we need no more priests.
We don't need any more intermediates. We need no more mediators. Jesus Christ becomes a high priest and we have an immediate access to the presence of God. Immediate access all the time. No more veil.
See him no longer separates the child of God who comes on the basis of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The eternal righteousness of God guarded that entrance that no flesh could approach him. But now our Lord Jesus appears as the great high priest and he asked for simple chill simple children of Adam.
An entrance into the presence of God and he says that where I am there. They may be also was his request. He asked that heaven for every child of God every boy and the Lord Jesus and his request is granted.
How could it be granted? How could God allow sinful people to come into his presence? How could he allow? Carnality, how could he allow flesh to come in through the blood? Through the blood ever and always through the blood the throne of grace remains settled in heaven and the throne of grace Owes its existence ever and always to the power of the blood of Christ.
The blood of Christ washes away all the carnality all the Corruptibility it wipes away all the flesh does away with all the sin so that we appear into the presence of God. We're coming in what with the blood just like the high priest came in.
We enter in on the merit of the shed blood and that's the way the high priest of Israel went in. But there's a third thing that has happened because of the blood. The blood is powerful in the heart. It's opened the grave.
It's open heaven and it's powerful in the heart by the heart I mean the inner man the inner personality the inner person the real me and the real you since it availed so powerfully with God. And over Satan does it not avail more powerfully with man for whose sake it actually was shed in the first place.
Well, you are redeemed from your vain manner of life with a precious blood of Christ and look at first Peter 1 2. You still got it open there the elect. Eclectus is the Greek word eclectus. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God.
God knew about it. You know, it's amazing to me some people they get saved. They think it shocks God. Some people think God's just amazing. Somebody got to say Every time somebody gets saved. I think that God didn't know anything about it or something God surprised.
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God. God knew you're gonna get to say before the world was ever created. All right, the Father through the sanctification of the Spirit watch it unto obedience watch it and Sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ grace be unto you and peace be multiplied.
So there you are. You are the elect of God. Therefore you are sprinkled with the blood. Therefore when you walk to the presence of God when you approach the throne of grace in prayer. When you approach the throne of grace by faith when you live before the throne of grace, how can you do it?
How can we ever dare lift our eyes? How can we ever dare lift our hearts? How can we ever dare even approach the blessed presence of God? It's because you are constantly by faith being sprinkled with our precious blood.
So you have open access. That's why I priest went in you go in. That's why the Bible calls you priest. Believer priest we say all right. How does it work? Has it power work? Has it activated the blood of Jesus Christ is the one power that affects daily deliverance for every sinner in what conditions?
Under what circumstances can that power bring the mighty results it is intended to produce. Let me give you some ways. First of all, it is through faith. Now faith is largely dependent upon knowledge the more knowledge you have about something The more faith you can put in it.
Is that not true? Now there are some things as I've said earlier that we accept totally by faith that we have no other answers for except faith. Faith is a substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.
Well, but you see there are many things we can have knowledge about that will stimulate our faith. Motivate our faith and encourage our faith and the blood of Christ is one of these things. And so if knowledge of what the blood can accomplish is imperfect.
Then faith will expect very very little. Many Christians think that the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins just knowing their sins are forgiven through the blood is sufficient. That's all we got to know is that our sins are forgiven.
Our faith can be strengthened by noticing what the blood has already accomplished and our faith will grow by Exercising confidence in the fathomless fullness of the promises of Almighty God. We know that when bathing We take a bath, hopefully.
Regularly we enter a most intimate relationship with water. It's a very close relationship with water. It's right there Giving ourselves to the cleansing effect of the water. The blood of Jesus Christ described as a fountain open for sin and uncleanness.
Zechariah 13 was. So by faith, I place myself in the heavenly stream. I bathe in the fountain and I must in simple faith plunge into that spiritual fountain. With the full assurance in my heart that it will manifest its blessed power in me.
And there is all I must do with just one or two more little things thrown in. One is I must recognize the Holy Spirit's involvement with the blood of Christ. Scripture connects the blood of Christ very close.
Most closely with a ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is only where the Holy Spirit works that the power of the blood will be manifested again. I say to you that is why your pastor Urges and pleads and begs for complete attention in a worship service.
That's why children young people and adults should not whisper and talk why the Holy Spirit is being grieved and quenched. A lost person can never quench the Holy Spirit. A Lost person cannot grieve the Holy Spirit.
He doesn't have it. But a Christian came and we come into worship services and we treat it just like we're walking into our living room to watch television and There is no holiness. There is no worshipful attitude.
And yet we're before a holy sovereign God. Now, I don't believe that we have to be so formal that we formalize it so much the Holy Spirit scared to come in. But I do believe that there must be order in our freedom.
And I believe we need to understand that we are worshiping a holy God now. Wherever the Holy Spirit has freedom to work the blood the power of the blood be manifested. The blood and the spirit ever bear testimony.
Together where the blood is honored and preached. There is where the Holy Spirit works. You look at the top churches in America and you will find that those pastors Preach Sunday school teachers teach and honor the blood of Jesus Christ.
That's right. Always endeavor. That's where God has worked through history. The Holy Spirit could not be given until the blood was shed closely related to it. Jesus said if I don't go he can't come. Indicating if I don't go and die and raise and going back then the Holy Spirit will not come in his power.
To have full power of God. We must firmly believe that he is in us. Carrying on his work in our inner being and we must live as those who know that the Spirit of God Really dwells within and if I ask myself that question before I do anything go anywhere I had if I would ask myself the question.
All right. Now as I go am I going fully aware that the Holy Spirit of God is dwelling within me? That'll stop you from going a lot of places. And that'll stop you from doing a lot of things. That'll stop you from saying a lot of things.
That wherever you as a Christian go you take the Holy Spirit of God with you. You subject the life of God to it that ought to make us serious minded in the least serious minded. Well knowledge is necessary.
We said One must know that they have been redeemed first of all saved and then they must know what that redemption signified. They must above all know that it was not by corruptible things such as silver and gold.
But by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So we need to be led into a deeper knowledge of redemption through the precious blood and two things will help us do that first a deeper sense of need and A desire to understand the blood better.
Most Christians that I meet are satisfied with their life. Oh, they'll tell you they're not but they are. They are and if they weren't they'd be doing something bad. They'd be doing something that and that's what your church is doing this week.
That's why we've got it together. We sense a need in our life. To understand more about what God has provided for us through his precious blood. That's why we've come night after night. That's why you've come night after night.
The blood has been shed to take away the sin. The power of the blood is to bring to naught the power of sin the power of sin. It does not have dominion over you. You only do what you want to do. When you sin don't blame it on your husband.
Ladies when you gossip don't go blame it on somebody else. You did it. Nobody else did it you did it. Except the blame for it. Well now no Sir when you do it your wife didn't make you do it you did it.
Young people nobody makes you you do it yourself. You figure it out and plan it out and do it. I do the same. I do the same. I just don't want to accept the blame for it when I get the flu. You don't get fever.
Do you know? Well, you don't make me sin either. You know what you might do. You might create a circumstance where what's in my heart will come out and express itself. Sin comes from the heart sin comes from a rebellious attitude.
That's what sin does. Yeah. Oh, you know that he sure we do. We are too easily satisfied With the first beginnings of deliverance from sin and I just pray that God will create a desire in all of our lives this week.
For holiness to become stronger in us. For a desire to be in our hearts to be holy in our lives our actions our attitudes our conversations our fellowship together and Our worship together and our service for the Lord through our church and then lastly secondly, there must be an expectation.
The desire must become expected. There must be an anticipation. There must be expectation as we search from the Word of God in faith. What the blood of Christ has accomplished for us it must be a settled matter with us that the blood of Jesus Christ can manifest its full power in us and Can accomplish in us what the Bible teaches us that it can accomplish that we can Walk in the light and we can live a holy life in attitude.
We can desire. We can desire that God's will be ours we can desire to be more like Christ. We can desire and expect God to do it if we'll open ourselves up and say Lord here. I am work with me. Show me and God when you reveal it to me.
Give me grace and strength to want to do it and then help me to do it. My trouble is I see it. It's not that I don't know what to do. My problem is I'm just too lazy to do it. Now again, I know you you're not bothered with things like that, but I just have trouble with it sometime.
Well fix your eyes spiritually and fix the antennas of your heart on the blood of Jesus Christ and You will experience that there is nothing to compare with the wonder-working blood of Jesus Christ in your life.
Get a knowledge of it study what the Bible says about it. Study it devour what the Word of God says about it and ask yourself the question now Lord. What does this mean to me today? Today. And. Then just start letting God work it out in your life and be available to it and you are not going to get it all Solved this week and I'm not even that's one of the beautiful things about being a Christian.
There's always room to grow. Wouldn't it be a boring thing to be perfect today because once you are perfect in this life There's only one way to go that is decline. Once you've reached the top you have nothing else to go for.
So then all you gotta do is drop back off. It's far more exciting just to continue to grow and to continue to glow and to continue to grow. And be more like Christ day by day by day. God knows what he's doing here people.
He knows what he's doing with you. And he knows where he wants you to go and he knows how he wants you to live and he's given us a book. Precious as it is. Ridiculed laughed at slandered mocked. There it is.
And sometimes we can't even quote every book in the Bible. Can you quote the books in order? Spend more time watching television going to movies. And doing other things than reading that precious book.
No wonder we don't know. No wonder we're defeated. No wonder there's not that desire. No wonder there's not that expectation in our heart, but I believe if I know your heart. And I believe I do know many of your hearts that that's not what we want.
Amen. We want God's best. We want God's best and it's exciting. It's just exciting to see God working in our life. You know. That's the beautiful thing about being a Christian as we look through a truth and turn it over sometimes for days and days and days.
Sometimes it'll hit you right off other times. It'll take two or three times Oh that same truth before it really becomes practical. We can grab hold of it and say now I see it now I see it. But trust God that he'll show it to you.
He'll show it to you anything in this book he'll show it to you. Well, you know what? We don't you can't understand everything in that book. Then. Why did God put it here? You can't show me anywhere in that Bible that it says you can't understand it all.
We may not in our lifetime we may not live that long, but it's certainly possible. It's certainly possible. I'm not saying I do. Oh, no, I'd like to. You would too. But why did God write if he didn't want people to understand.
Because we're held accountable for it. What kind of a God would we have if he gives us something? We can't understand says now you're accountable for we can understand enough to keep us busy. Don't worry about what we can't get to.
You'll be busy enough. Just doing what you know to do. It's there to understand it's there to understand why because God's life is in you. God's life is in you and he will help you understand his word.
He doesn't want it to be hidden from you. He wants it to be understood because that Is whereby you know the will of God can't know the will of God outside the book. Let's pray together father sometimes Lord things stump us and Lord, we just struggle and fall.
Stumble along but the precious thing about being a Christian is Lord. You never leave us nor forsake us. You always ready to help us up.