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THE LIBERATED CHRISTIAN
THE SOLUTION --- HIS BLOOD
There is only one way to deal with guilt.... wash it away.
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
Don't ask me how it works I don't know how it works, but it works.
Thirty-four hundred years ago the Jews began having what they call
the Day of Atonement ... blood was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in
the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. It was the blood of an innocent
animal. This blood in some mysterious way was to wash away the guilt
of the people ... and in a sense it did.
These ancient people understood a truth which is more profound than
all the books on philosophy and religion that have been written
since the world began. They understood that there is only one way
to clean up a guilty conscience...you have to wash it in innocent
blood. Nothing else will remove the guilt from the human soul but
innocent blood... the blood of a slain life. So the high priest
took the blood of a bull or a goat and sprinkled it on the Mercy
Seat and a spirit of peace de-scended upon the camp and the people
gave thanks to God for his mercy. This continued for nearly fifteen
hundred years. Once a year the people would gather together and
receive a "clean slate," ... but they had to come back
again and again as long as they lived.
Then came the real thing. Not a goat or a bull, but the Son of God
in human flesh. Again we have the shedding of blood ... innocent
blood. He dies, and out of his side comes blood. Notice how often
Jesus and his followers refer to that blood.
This cup is the New Covenant in my blood
which is shed for you.
Much more then being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him.
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God.
This only had to happen once ... once for all time ... for all men.
Now the fountain is there. All you have to do is go and wash in
it. Get under it and stay under it and your guilt ... all the guilt
you ever had ... will disappear.
There is a spiritual fatigue that sinks down over our churches from
time to time. People seem so weary. Their ministries seem so full
of effort. They just don't know how they're going to be able to
continue. Everything's such a chore! This is always a sign that
the people are being driven not by the free Spirit of God, but by
the demonic spirit of obligation ... the dark spirit of guilt. This
is a symptom that the people have been slipping away from the blood
of Jesus Christ. Instead of serving God with a clear conscience
and a joyful heart, they're plodding away at the treadmill of dead
works. If you want to remain a true Christian, stay off the treadmill
and stay under the blood of Jesus Christ.
1. Put your past failures under the blood. No one is really happy
with his past...no one is without a few things to be ashamed of.
But what can you do about your past? ... it is out of your reach.
You can't change it. If you stole, you can make restitution. Or
if you hurt someone, you can ask his forgiveness. But you cannot
undo what you did... it's done. Even though you tried to punish
yourself for the rest of your life you could never remove the guilt.
Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and thou alone.
There is only one thing to do with your past ... put it under the
blood. Jesus died for it ... Jesus atoned already...leave it at
the cross and be at peace.
2. Put your present failures under the blood. Even now there are
certain situations in your life where you are wrong no matter what
you do. This person needs you and that person needs you. If you
neglect Bill to help Charlie, you are wronging Bill. If you neglect
Charlie to help Bill, you are wronging Charlie. You can make yourself
very un-happy worrying about all the people you have been unable
to help. This is as sinful as to be indifferent. Take your present
failures and put them under the blood of Christ ... "Lord,
you know I don't feel good about how I'm treating Charlie or Bill,
or those shut-ins who have been waiting for me to come. Where I
could be doing better, correct me. Where there's nothing I can do,
cover it with your precious blood."
3. Leave your future failures to the blood. There are people who
believe that they're saved now but they're worried silly about whether
they're going to stay saved. "Will I be able to stay on the
path? Will I be able to conquer temptation? What if I fall away?"
These very fears are the most miserable sin against God. If Jesus'
blood can cleanse your past don't you think it can keep your future?
When you start worry-ing about your future, draw near to Calvary
again and look at the riven side of your Lord and see the blood
and say to yourself, "That's all I need …that's all I
need ... nothing more."
If it should be that you find yourself on the treadmill now, why
not leave this slavery to guilt and enter into the glorious liberty
of the sons of God? Enter into the life which is not drudgery but
joy unspeak-able ... joy in the simple things ... joy in the common
daily disciplines of being a Christian ... joy in meeting God in
prayer every day ... joy in serving your fellow man in the most
humble ways ... joy in speaking of Jesus to people you meet from
time to time.
Joy will come in when guilt goes out ... and guilt will leave when
it is touched by the blood of Jesus Christ. Take your life, your
whole life, past, present and future, and plunge it under the blood.
Believe that Jesus has already died for every sin you have ever
committed. Then, just start praising God ... and live to God's praise.
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