The power of the blood of Christ (2)

By Pastor (Dr.) Elisha Olusheye

Dear Reader,
In continuation of last week’s discourse on the above topic, we shall now look at the sprinkled blood and its effects. Turn with me now to Exodus 12 – one of the most important chapters in the Old Testament, where God puts the whole nation of Israel behind the blood. At verse 13 we read, “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

God did not say, “When I see your good deeds – how you have prayed, and wept, and groaned, I will pass over you,” but “when I see the blood.” It was not their good resolutions, their tears, their prayers, their works, their faith, that saved those men in Egypt; it was the blood. What were they to do to be saved? They were to put the blood on the door posts and lintel.

Very likely, when some of the great men of Egypt rode through Goshen, and saw the Israelites sprinkling their dwellings, they said they never saw such foolishness. Very likely they thought they were just spoiling their houses. Every house had blood on it. No Egyptian could understand it. But on that memorable night when Death entered every house from the palace of the King to the hut of the poor, when the wail of sorrow went up from that stricken land, it was the blood that kept him from the homes of Goshen. Yes, it is the blood that must cover our sins.

I beg of you, do not let the world move you on this point. Let it go on mocking and laughing and making light of the precious blood of the Son of God. It is our only refuge, our only hope. We cannot cover sin by any good deeds of our own. When the angel of death swept through the land that night, the good and the bad were destroyed together. Into every house where the blood was not sprinkled, the destroying angel came; but wherever the blood was on the door post or lintel, whether they had worked much, or whether they had worked none, God passed over them.

The little child in the humblest tent was just as safe as Moses or Aaron, as Joshua or Caleb, as safe as any in the land. God did not say, “When I see your gilded palace, or your beautiful home; when I see your goodness, your life of service,” but, “when I see the blood, it shall be a token.” Not for their own sakes, but for Christ’s, did He pass them by that night. Someone has said that the little fly in Noah’s ark was just as safe as the great elephant. It was that ark that saved them both. So Christ saves the weak disciple just as well as the strong one.

For example, when you go to a railway station you find all classes of people wishing to travel. They have their tickets and take their places in the train. When the conductor comes to ask for the tickets, he does not look to see what or who you are. You may be rich or poor, learned or unlearned, this or that; he looks for the tickets, and if you have your ticket, you pass. The ticket is the token. So if you are sheltered behind the blood of Christ, you may be very ignorant or poor in this world, but you are as safe as the wisest or wealthiest.

The great lesson we must learn today is that approach to God never has been, never will be, never can be, except through the blood of the Lamb. God demands blood because He said to Adam, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” But Satan said to Adam and Eve that it was a lie, and thus there was a controversy between God and Satan, and, my friends, that controversy has been going on ever since, and it isn’t settled yet. I can go out on the streets today and find men living in sin and abomination, and if I tell them, “The wages of sin is death,” they reply, “It’s not so; it’s a lie.”

Sin came into the world and brought death in. God’s Word must be kept. How could God do this and spare the sinner? How could God be just, and justify the ungodly? Man has sinned and man must die. But what if someone should die instead of him? His own life has been forfeited – the wages of sin is death. But what if someone should buy it back for him, should redeem him? What if one should come forward and lay down his life as a ransom for many – one who had no sins of his own to condemn him to death?

Glory to God in the highest! “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). Glory to God in the highest! He sent His Son, born of a woman to take our nature and die in our stead, tasting death for every man. Glory to God in the highest! “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (I John 1:7).

In Isaiah 53:5-6, the Bible says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Then, some two thousand years ago, this prophecy came to be fulfilled when Jesus Christ came and died for us. He shed His sinless precious blood on the cruel cross at Calvary, and nothing else will substitute for the blood sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son. There is no other way to heaven. This is God’s plain, simple plan of salvation. We are sinners. We owe a sin penalty, and Jesus Christ died for our sins. Therefore, I invite you to please believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, and that He shed His blood for your redemption and salvation. Repent from your sins; then accept Jesus Christ – the Son of God – as your Lord and trust Him as your personal Saviour from today; believe also and that He will surely take you to heaven when you die, and all will be well with you in Jesus’ name – Amen. (Read also Romans. 3:23; 5:8; 6:23; John 1:12; 3:3-5; 18, 36; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 16:31).

For further information, counselling, prayer and other help, please contact me at once, on telephone numbers 02-8100301, 8100248 or 08037878711; write to E-mail: ehlolusheye@yahoo.co.uk or write to G.P.O. Box 530, Ibadan.

Giving with willing and perfect heart (2)

By Pastor S.S.Jemigbon

Note, when David was to make sacrifice to the Lord, he told Araunah he would not offer to the Lord a sacrifice that would cost him nothing (II Sam. 24:24) so, he paid for the altar site and other materials of his offering. It is indeed a willing and perfect heart, the type God is calling on you and I to have as His children and followers of good work.

It should teach us on giving to the service of the Lord with a willing and perfect heart because there is reward in consecrating our services to the Lord. The reward is stated in scripture. ‘Give and it shall be given unto you,’ good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give unto your bosom. For the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again (Luke 6:38). II Corinthians 9:6 says; ‘But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully.’ Christians who give with a willing and a perfect heart, consecrating their services to the Lord, attract bountiful blessings from God.

Some people are not giving out of a perfect heart because they are giving to get endeared to the authority, while some give to get people’s attention. Some also give to curry favour or get position in the church; even as some give from an unwillingly heart. In such a situation, they are not giving out of a perfect heart, that is why most Christians are not receiving blessings, no matter how much or heavy their giving may be. God loves a cheerful giver, says the scriptures.

Consecrating our heart to give to the service of the Lord and offering with an upright and perfect heart is imperative for us as the children of God. Whatever we offer to the Lord with a perfect heart is acceptable to Him. Our heart must be perfect with the Lord to enable us offer willingly to the service of the Lord with a consecrated and upright heart. Consequently, we cannot offer with perfect heart until we are perfect with the Lord.

The command to be perfect is from the Lord. The Bible says; ‘And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I Am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect’(Genesis 17:1).

(To be continued)

Pastor S.S. Jemigbon,
Tel: 01-7741673,
01-4966033,
01-4965264.
E-Mail: taclawna@hyperia.com