Good evening, everyone. Turn to the book of Revelation chapter 1. We're going to look at verse 5 this evening. Revelation chapter 1 and verse number 5. Revelation 1, 5. Do pray for me this morning, not this morning. You'll find out why my mind's gone here in a second. Pray for me this evening. This is a time when we, as ministers say, that I am out of season. I got home from work today and we discovered that the shower had been leaking under the tile, under the subfloor. and then the hardwood for the next room. So we've already been, I've already been tearing up some tile, trying to figure out what's going on. So you, You pray for me tonight. So, and don't, I say that, don't feel sorry for me, because that happens to everybody. You know, it happens to me, to you. If you own a house, that's the way it is, isn't it? But what I want you to pray for me about is that normally I work on it Monday night, Tuesday-ish throughout the day, and then come home from work Wednesday for tonight's service and put the whole thing together. We're not going home from work, because I have a few hours. But that didn't happen this afternoon. So that's what I want you to pray for me about, that the Lord would put it together right here. And I have full confidence that He will, because I know He's done it a million times, a million times. Last Sunday morning, I was working on that sermon. Some of them come together, I mean, on like a car ride. And some of them, it's just you're agonizing over them. They just won't piece together. And Saturday, it was about three and a half hours. I come back up from downstairs, and Brittany asked me how it was going. And I said, it's struggling. And I felt that way the whole day. And I woke up Sunday morning, and I felt that way again. Even Sunday school, I was in Sunday school class, and I was trying. And then after Sunday school, and the whole time I'm thinking, well, maybe it'll click here in a minute. Maybe I'll see the grand theme here in just a second. And I never did. Even right there before, they sing the last special, and I've just learned, though, the Lord blesses obedience. You just got to go. You just got to go. You know, we've told all night, and we've caught nothing. But nevertheless, at thy word, we'll go out and cast out the nets again. So that's what you do. And the Lord worked it out. And it was real time. So I say that, and I think it's a miracle that from my perspective, I know who I am. And I do consider myself, I'm the least of all the preachers in Knox County. I fully believe that. But I am amazed that the Lord always, always gives me something to preach. And that's such an encouragement to me and to you. So I trust it'll be the same tonight. So the point of all that is, is trust in Jesus, for without Him, you can do nothing. All right, Revelation 1, verse 5. The Bible says, and from Jesus... Well, let's read verse 4, give it a little bit of context. Verse 5 is a tough place to start. Verse 4, John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you, and peace from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come. and from the seven spirits which are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead." That's an interesting statement, isn't it? I was thinking about that yesterday as I was reading this passage. First begotten means there's more to come. He's the first begotten of the dead. So 1 Corinthians 15 teaches that He is the first fruit of those that sleep, you remember, and we will follow after Him. We will be resurrected by Him. And so He's the first begotten of the dead, Jesus Christ, verse 5, who is a faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, And so you think He's the King of kings. You might not like your leader, but the Lord's in charge of Him. And so, the Prince of the kings of the earth, and this is the statement that I'd like for us to consider tonight for our message this evening, unto Him that loved us, and that's an encouraging thought, isn't it? And a truth that is real. Unto Him that loved us, and this phrase, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Washed us from our sins in his own blood. I hadn't read that passage in a while, and I come across it. Thankfully, I took the notion, I'm going to read through Revelation, I'm going to study Revelation. And I come to verse 5, and I'd never taken note of such a statement. It's been so long since I traveled down this path that maybe I didn't appreciate the view once I got to it. I don't know. Kind of like you go to the beach, you haven't been there in a while, and you go, oh yeah, that's beautiful. And I thought that about verse 5. Way better than going to the beach. The Bible's way more peaceful than a vacation. And so, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. That phrase, it did brought me joy. I was even thinking about it, Nathan started another sports season, so I was there at the ball field last night watching him practice. And it is, in a way, a break, because I was there and I got to read the Bible some while he was practicing. And even there, sitting on some old wooden bleachers, that statement washed us from our sins, filled my heart with joy. And when I thought about it yesterday, it was another... Yes, moment. It brought me a whole lot of assurance. It really did. It gave me peace. It reminded me that I did not save myself. He loved us, the Bible says, unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And so He washed us from our sins in His own blood. I first want you to think about what it took to save you. It took the blood of Jesus to save you. That must mean, it must mean that you and I, before our conversion, were some pretty filthy, wretched sinners. That's what it means. It does not say, notice, there's nothing else that can cleanse you from your sins because it does not say in verse number five that He has washed us from our sins in His own blood and your good works. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say that He washed you from your sins and your church attendance. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say He washed you from your sins and your good intentions. He washed you from your sins in that time that you did some amazing deed, the time you donated a bunch of money. It doesn't say that. I'm glad it doesn't say he washed us from our sins and also those who pay a certain amount of money, they can be saved. It doesn't say that at all. I'm glad that Jesus is for poor people, aren't you? I'm glad that those who are poor in this world are rich in faith. So, we must have been pretty filthy. And there's nothing else that could cleanse you from your sins except His own blood. We were so filthy because there is nothing else in verse 5 that teaches that nothing else washed you from your sins. Even the thought of the absence of anything else proves how totally helpless you and I are in our salvation. There's nothing that you can contribute to it. You are not only filthy without Christ, but you are completely unable, you have a disability that cannot be overcome. You could say paralyzed. The Bible says in another place that you are dead in trespasses and sins, Ephesians 2. And so there's nothing else that can cleanse you from your sins except the blood of Jesus Christ. So it means then that you were so bad before you were saved, and if you've not been born again tonight, you are in your sins, and you are filthy in the sight of God. You are so utterly filthy, and not only filthy, you are utterly helpless to save yourself. I thought, what could that be like? It's about like, have you ever seen a horse or a cow stuck in some muddy hole? I mean, they cannot get out. But it's even worse than that. It's like a dead cow being stuck in a muddy hole. Not only can they not get out, but they are already dead. I mean, there was nothing you could do to save yourself. Nothing at all. It should mean to you and I that therefore, it's no wonder we gather on Sunday morning to worship His name, because, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself, right? You think, well, I'm not that sinful. Well, imagine in the courtroom of God that there is a big old bag. And imagine God has a bag. And every time you sin, God throws a little bitty black stone in that bag. Every time you sin. I mean, every sin you've ever committed, God throws a stone in that bag. I mean, it's your whole lifetime. And I don't care how little they are. Could you imagine how heavy that bag would be by the time your life is over? You might think, well, I really am not that bad. I mean, like the time that you said you'd give that guy his money back and you didn't. Or the time that you stole that piece of property from your work. Or that time that you lied on a test. Or of all the million times that you've forgotten, every time God threw in a little black stone. I mean, that bag would... If your life is like mine, and I know that it is, because all of sin comes short of the glory of God, and there is none that doeth good, no, not one. There is none that doeth good. There is none of us. If your life is like mine, and I know it is, because you, thank God, are not the exception. And that means then that there's no way that you could pick up that bag. And let's say that you had to swim with that bag, and you had to get from, let's imagine, from here to the other side of a river. And if you don't, then you are damned. And that proves how sinful you are, and also how unable you are to save yourself. But there's a greater gulf fixed between the distance between the banks of the Tennessee River. Or from one side of the Loisted Sea to the next side in Lake Norris. Or from the Atlantic side of America to the South Atlantic side of Africa. I mean, the gulf that separates the sinner from God, it is a great gulf. And only Jesus can span the gulf. So not only if God threw a stone in that bag and then God said, the only way you can make it is you've got to swim from point A to point B, not only does it prove how much sin we accumulate in our life and how sinful we are by nature and total depravity, but it also proves that there's no way that we could function in righteousness in the sight of God under the weight of such sins. That's why when I read verse 5 the other day, unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, there is no other way except by Jesus. Amen? I am the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus said, John 14, verse 6, and there's no way you can come unto the Father except by Him. It means the only way to God is that you've got to go to a crucified Savior, and the first stop you make is this blood-stained spot underneath the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And can we pause for a minute on a Wednesday night, prayer meeting night, and just consider the great cost that it took you and I to be saved, Can we just stop for a moment and reflect and look? I thought about that little bit of water that's causing my floor to be damaged right now. I'm even wondering right now, will the hardwood continue to buckle up? I don't know. It just might. I told Brittany, if it does, we're carpeting this room. You know what I mean? But I've thought about that spot. But that spot, I mean, just a little bit of water can do a lot of damage. But the blood of Jesus Christ, just that little bit of blood, you might think, boy, it sure can recover sinners from the damage that sin has caused. So the first place that a person stops to be cleansed from their sin, and the only place a person stops, to be cleansed from their sin is in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. How does the phrase of that song go? There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and any sinner that plunges beneath that flood loses all of their guilty stains. So imagine what that means is that Without the blood of Jesus, God sees you absolutely in your sin. Now never forget that sin, it has to be punished. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, Ecclesiastes says, it shall die. From the very beginning when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, we find the first atonement, a covering for sin, was the coat of animals, and God covered Adam and Eve in their sins. The Bible says in the book of Hebrews that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. It goes on to say that it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should ever take away sin. So the blood has always been the answer to saving us from our sins. And so if God sees you outside of the blood of Jesus Christ, God still sees you filthy in sin. So without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, there is no cleansing, there is no wiping away, there is no covering of your iniquity. You are, remember, filthy without Jesus' blood. You are lost without Jesus' blood. That means that His crucifixion is absolutely the only way. Christ's death is indispensable. in order that a man's sin may be forgiven, it has to be through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Have I been repetitive enough? There's no other way. I was listening to... I'm addicted to it. I was thinking even while it was going on last night, I was cleaning up from after the ball game or the practice, how much I love the Word of God. I love it. I do. And I got this Bluetooth speaker. And I had it in the bathroom, and I was listening to a sermon on YouTube, and it was being fed through on the Bluetooth speaker there in our home. And while the preacher was preaching, he went on again about the gospel of Jesus Christ, about just the simple truth of Jesus' crucifixion and death and suffering, how it set me free and how it saved sinners. And I was even thinking while he was preaching, I've heard that a million times, I've heard it my whole life. And sometimes to my shame, it gets a little bit old to me. Or not old, but I get used to hearing it. But I thank God by His Holy Spirit last night, I was listening to that pure gospel preaching, and I closed my eyes and leaned my head back a little bit, and I thought, I just love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I mean, I just love it. I love it because whoever is begotten of Him loves the Word that they are begotten of. I love it because it's music to my ears. I love it because it's my nature to appreciate it. I love it because it's the sound and the voice of God. I love it because it is from the mind of God. I love it because He is the author and the finisher, the perfecter of our faith. I love it for what it does. I love it for what it can do. I love it for the potential that it can do. I love it that you right now can be sanctified by it, and if you're lost, you can be saved by it. And it's never got old. I've been preaching now almost, believe it or not, it'll be 20 years in a couple of years, and I'm still just as interested in it. You think, wow, that's impressive. I can tell you it's not anything that I've done. It's not because even my own self-interest. It is the work of God in the sinner's heart that changes and converts the sinner. where He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. And so we see that Jesus, He is the only way. And thank God, when God sees the sinner that's been washed in the blood of Christ, what He sees is the blood of Jesus instead of their iniquities and their sins. He sees Jesus' death laid upon your behalf. Now remember, the soul that sinneth shall die, and without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, there's no cleansing, no payment for sin. And when blood is shed like that, it makes you think somebody died. And what that means is that Jesus died for you. that if it wasn't for Jesus, then you would have stood in your place alone. But since Jesus bled to death on Mount Calvary, and shed His blood for you at the whipping post, the scourging post, now His blood, the Bible teaches, has been laid and shed upon your behalf. And so the Bible says in Romans 3 that God is just and the justifier of them that believeth in Jesus. You see, how can God be just and overlook sin? How can God overlook sin and overlook sin? He can't. Think about it. How can God overlook sin and overlook sin? How can God be just and the justifier? You see, God wants to be just in not overlooking sin, but if God overlooks sin, how can God continue to be just? How can God forget sin and forget sin? Think about it. How can He overlook it and overlook it? Do you see what I'm saying? How can God punish your sin but save you? How can God cause you to die, but yet you live? How can God kill you? You die. Galatians 2.20, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but the life of Christ liveth in me. How can you die and live? There's only one way. It's Jesus. There is no other way. God provided the only way. There is absolutely no other way. How can God overlook sin and overlook your sin? Because if God told you, Sherry, well, I just love you, and even this text reminds us that love is not enough, because it's unto Him that loved us, then what? And washed us from our sins in His own blood. It can't just be that He has great affection for you. God can't just affection you or be affectionate enough for you to wash away your sins, because then God would cease to be just. Romans 3, the Bible says that He is just and the justifier of them which believe within Jesus. How can God overlook sin and overlook sin? He can't. There's only one way. Somebody has to die. Somebody has to pay the price. Somebody has to die for the sinner. Somebody has to accept the punishment. You say, well, I know the Gospel, but aren't you like I was last night? You say, I know the answer. Praise God, you know the answer. But even now, isn't your soul a little bit lit up? Just a little bit interested, even though you know the answer? That the only way is through Jesus Christ. So how can God overlook sin and overlook sin? Because God can't overlook sin. Do you know that? You cannot get away with anything. Nothing. The soul that sinneth shall die. The Bible says in the book, if we went on in the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Bible says the books are open. And they'll be at the great white throne of judgment. And they're going to have to give an account. But who are the only people who are saved? That's only the people who have died. And how have they died? They've died in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to say something that I think is profound. Are you still with me? It's interesting, ain't it? It's how I've heard it before. How could you lose interest in it? I'd be like you telling me I wouldn't believe it if you said, I don't really like ice cream anymore. You're a liar. You're lying. You do, too. We like it. Or saying, I don't really like taking a nap anymore. I've been doing it my whole life. I don't really like it. You're a liar. It's needful sometimes, some more than others. Some may be too much. But nobody would say, I just ain't that interested in taking a nap. You would say, it's essential to living. So what if some of you said, and I joke because I don't drink coffee, what if some of you said, I just don't really need coffee anymore? I would think, yeah, you do. I'm not that interested in it anymore. How could you stop being interested in Jesus? It's impossible. Once you've tasted that the Lord is good, See, I want to say something I think is highly interesting. And think with me, if I can get it out right, if the Lord would be my helper. And I pray that He does, because I think this is important for our sanctification. So Adam was the federal head of the human race, right? He's that way by creation. He's that way by lineage. He is. He's that way biologically. He's that way genetically. We can trace all of our line back to Adam. He is the federal head of the human race. Now the Bible says that in Adam all die. All. That's everybody that comes after Adam. In Adam all die. All of them die. Why? Because Adam sinned. And God said if you eat the fruit, The day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die. And so in Adam, all die. That's the bad news. So then Jesus came preaching good news, the gospel of the kingdom. And what is the gospel of the kingdom? Well, I've heard it defined a thousand different ways, but I know this part fits in it well. That Jesus came to be offered as a sacrifice to be the head, the federal head of another race of people. Race of people. Yes. I'm not talking about skin color. I'm not talking about ethnicity. Maybe that's a poor expression. Maybe that makes us think in modern times we start going down the wrong road. I don't know, but I pray the Holy Spirit will interpret. So when Adam all died and Jesus came, to be the federal head of a new group of people. He came seeking to save that which was lost. And so when Adam all died, but then in the book of Corinthians it says, but in Christ all are alive. So Jesus came, and in the person of Christ, The believer died, and now God can be just and the justifier of them that believeth in Jesus, because then God looks at the sinner through the cleansing of the blood of Christ, and He sees the blood, and God says, there has been a death. And where is that blood at? Who has it been applied to? It has been applied to the repentant, believing sinner. And so when that soul receives Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses them. In our text, it washes them in His own blood. Now what's cool about that is, I'm about through. What's cool about it, it doesn't matter who has been washed by the blood. What matters is the blood. It could be anybody. It could be any of yins. It could be anybody here tonight. It doesn't matter who's been washed. What matters is the blood that washes. Let me illustrate it from the Bible like Passover. Remember the first thought of Passover? Anybody, anybody behind the blood is saved. Correct? Anybody. And that's the only thing that separated Egypt from Israel. That's the only thing. It was the blood over the doorpost and the lintel. It wasn't even the shut door. That would have been human works. If a man said, I'm not going to use the blood, but what I am going to do, I'm going to deadbolt the door, you know the death angel would have slipped right under there? A man said, I'm going to barricade the door. I'm going to seal it. I'm going to caulk it. I'm going to block it up. It wouldn't matter. It wouldn't matter. If he wasn't behind the blood, the firstborn would have died that night. The only thing that saved them from the punishment of God in Egypt was the blood that God commanded them to put on the doorposts and the lintels. It is the only dividing force between that and the punishment of God. And what did God do that night? He rescued those people out of Egypt. He created then a new nation. He created a new group, separated them. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So when Jesus died on the cross, if you're a believer, you're in Christ. He died. You died. The wages of sin is death. And they buried Him. And when He arose, you arose. And He's the first fruit, the Bible said in our text. The first begotten of the dead. And what will happen? You will follow after Him. And He is now the head of the church. The blood bought, the redeemed. He is the head of a new race of people. He saved you out of the old Adam. Now in Christ, all are made alive. Unto Him that loved us and washed us in our sins in His own blood. His own blood. I'm thankful for that, aren't you? I heard one preacher say that If 409 would have done it, God would have made a chemical plant. If Ajax would have done it, God would have done that. If money would have bought us out, God would have sent a banker, right? You know it, you've heard it. If we needed food, God would have sent us a baker. If we needed a social reform, God would have sent us a politician. Ain't no politician can save anybody, amen? Nobody. What we needed was a savior. and there had to be a death, and our blood wasn't good enough to save ourselves, washed us from our sins in His own blood. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen? You got it? Thank you for your patience tonight. Let's pray together before we take some prayer requests. Lord, our Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for the shedding of blood. Lord, for without it, there'll be no remission. Lord, you have purchased us. We are your purchased possession. Lord, we are in you now. You are our new federal head. We're no longer in Adam. Lord, we will not die. The believers who trust in you, Jesus, have been washed by your own blood from all of their sins. Lord, I'm glad now that as a believer that the Father sees Jesus and not me. Lord, just like that night in Egypt, what you was looking for, you wasn't looking for people, Lord, behind the door. You were looking for the blood. You were looking for the blood. And Lord, the Bible says in the New Testament, Jesus, that You are our Passover Lamb. And Lord, what You're looking for, is the blood. Lord, I'm glad that all who would receive You shall be saved. And God, I pray that You would strengthen our faith and sanctify us. It's so good to hear the Gospel. Thank You, Lord, for this message tonight. Thank You, Lord, for Your eternal purpose. Thank You for being just. And thank You, Lord, for making a way that you can be just in overlooking sin by justifying us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood. We love you so much, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen.