A Bunch of Hyssop

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Gospel—A.C. Hayhoe
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I'd like you to turn with me, please, tonight to the book of Exodus.
12.
Verse One Exodus, Chapter 12.
Verse one.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of month. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel.
Before we go any farther.
Isn't this a very, very solemn picture that we have presented to us here? We find that there are those.
Whose names are Moses and Aaron, and they are entrusted with a message from God.
To be delivered to God's people, Israel. They were told to gather the company together and to present to that company that which God had entrusted to them. Now I'm sure as we read these words, we can see a very solemn, twofold responsibility. One was surely the responsibility that rested on the shoulders of Moses and Aaron.
As they heard this message and knew that they were going to have to deliver God's message to that great company, this is my solemn challenge this evening.
And I trust I feel it as a very, very solemn responsibility that rests this night upon my shoulders.
For it's not my message.
It wouldn't be worth your effort to be here if that were the case. But I do have a message tonight from the word of God. And you, on the other hand, have the solemn responsibility for which you will someday give an account to hear a message from God to your soul. So this is a very solemn occasion.
I don't know why you came here this evening. Perhaps some friend, some neighbor has again and again invited you to come to some such service. And just to satisfy them once and for all, you agreed to come here tonight not knowing what to expect.
What I want to tell you right now, friend, that I am not going to express my own opinions, but I am going to read to you from the word of God. And I trust, as that word is read, that you will remember that he who penned these words knows.
All about you and me. We're not strangers to God. He knows all about every one of us here. And I'll tell you this at the very beginning, that the God who gave us this book not only knows you personally, but loves you.
Love you with a love that called him to send his own beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be your Savior. I stand here to say with gladness and by the grace of God that he is my Savior. It was not always so, but thank God for the day when, by matchless grace, these needs of mine were bound.
That I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, and knew the wonder of sins forgiven through the precious blood of Christ, and knew and I know it this night on the authority of the Word of God.
That those sins are gone.
But I am saved. An old fashioned word. Yes, I know it is, but we find it again and again in the word of God. I'm going to repeat what I have mentioned before. The one time in speaking to a Sunday school Class A good many years ago that word saved was used quite frequently. And one of the children in the class came to me at the end of the time and said you're always talking about saved.
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We never hear that in the church that we go to.
What I said is very often found in the Bible. In fact, I would like each one of you in the class during the week to search your Bibles and see if you can find a verse or two in which that word saved is found.
And one of those girls, whose name was Jane, came to me the next week.
And said, I'm sorry I didn't have very much time, but I found some and she had 114 verses in which she had found that significant, precious, wonderful word saved.
Now we will go on.
Verse three speak he unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the 10th day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb according to the House of their fathers, a lamb for an house. If the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls, every man according to his eating.
Shall make your account for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year. He shall take it out from the sheep or from a ghost, and he shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts.
And on the upper doorpost of the houses, wherein they shall eat it, and they shall eat the flesh in that night roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it, eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire.
His head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof, and ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth of it until the morning, ye shall burn with fire.
And thus shall he eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste. It is the Lorde Passover.
For for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt.
Both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where he are and when I see the blood.
I will Passover you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.
How shall we go on, please to verse 21? Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lentil. And the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when he seeth the blood upon the lentil, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
Verse 28.
And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded, Moses and Aaron.
So did they. And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord smoked all the first born in the land of Egypt, from the first born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne under the first born of the captive that was in the dungeon. And all the first born of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt.
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For there was not a house where there was not one dead.
I don't believe this account is new to anyone here.
Nor are you perhaps surprised that we could turn away back to the Old Testament.
To find a gospel story.
For the word of God from the very beginning reveals to us two things, man's departure from God and his guilt before God, and the wondrous, yearning, loving heart of God.
That desires that man should be reconciled to God. Desires that man's guilt might be put away, That God might have that joy of man company. Now, as we turn back to this long ago story, I want to remind you, my friend, that I don't wish to have you look away back over the centuries of history and consider this something that happened long, long ago.
But not have any present immediate application to you.
For I'll tell you this very, very truthfully and solemnly, and I tell it to you on the authority of the word of God, that under the eye of God this night each and every one in this company is either sheltered by the precious blood of God's appointed lamb, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, or else. And there is no other alternative.
Those stains of sin are yet upon you, my friend, and the judgment of God hangs over your guilty head. Now that's a solemn thing to say. I wouldn't dare say that if it were not true. If I point out to this entire company, and with no exceptions whatsoever, we must bow and admit that God's word speaks the truth.
When he declares in faithfulness.
There is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Man doesn't like to accept a statement like that. He likes to argue against it. He likes to look around and compare himself with others.
And they find that there is indeed a great difference, that I'm much more fit for heaven than he or she. But this is the word of God. Beloved friends, God has declared there is no difference, for all have sins and come short of the glory of God. That's God's standard.
Man has gone about to establish his own God has declared thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting, God's balances, God's measure. And he has solemnly declared that you and I have been found wanting in God's balances. You and I have come short of that measure, that standard, that God has set.
And because man doesn't like the sound of this, he goes about to establish his own weights and his own measures, And the Word of God declares that to do so is an abomination to the Lord, a false weight, and a false measure is an abomination to the Lord and friend, I beg of you tonight.
To see to it that the word of God searches out your heart as it has searched out mine, to discover to us the solemn reality of our guilt in His sight.
I read some time ago.
Of a young man, an army man, who was not feeling very well. He went to the doctor to have an examination. The examination was very thorough.
In a few days, this young man went back to hear the diagnosis, and he thought the doctor seemed unusually disturbed, hesitant.
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And finally, the doctor said to him, young man.
I have some very, very serious news to tell you. You have.
Hansen's disease.
Young man and never heard that word before. He'd been accustomed to those big words that doctors use and he thought it very amusing.
So he said. All right, Doctor, what's that in my language?
The doctor said young man Hansen's disease is commonly known as leprosy and that young soldier fainted dead away in the presence of the doctor. It wasn't something that you or I would like to hear.
A beloved friend, I want to tell you this, and I tell you this because God's Word declares it. I tell you this because it's true.
And because your eternal destiny is at stake, that in the sight of God you have been pronounced guilty. Furthermore, God has declared there is.
No difference. Now, when I look back here at this story of the children of Israel in the land of Egypt, I read of that approaching moment when the judgment of God was going to be felt in awful and final severity.
Upon that land. But there were those in that land who were very, very dear to the heart of God, and who is dear to the heart of God. Tonight, isn't it a wonderful and a precious thing to be able to look out over this entire company and say, according to the language of the word of God, God?
So loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him.
Should not perish but have everlasting life. It's a joy to my heart to look out over this company tonight and to tell everyone of you in this company that the very God who has pronounced you and me alike guilty in His sight is the same God who wants you to know that in spite of that record, He loves you. He loves you dearly. In that verse has told us how deep, how wondrous is His love.
He loved you enough to give his own beloved son to come into this world, to take my place, to die for me, to shed his own precious blood that my guilt might be removed. He suffered for me. He died for me. He shed his blood to put my sins away. And I'm going to pause now to ask, is there anyone in this company tonight?
Who can truthfully hang your head and say, but not for me all friend, it's gloriously true. He loves you. He died for you. And I wonder if you have ever thanked him. Have you? Don't consider yourself a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't consider yourself a Christian unless you can gladly say Indeed, I have thanked him.
For coming into this world for me. For suffering and dying for me. For sharing His own Precious Blood. To put my sins away. Now I want to go right down, please, to verse 12 of our chapter.
I will pass through the land of Egypt this night.
Beloved friend, this is a very, very important night in the history of your life. You're going to meet the record of that history in a day that's coming. It's all been written down. There has been an unabridged record kept of every day of your life and mine, everything we have ever done.
Has been seen by his eye and recorded by his hands. Isn't that solemn?
Every word you and I have ever uttered has been heard by him, and his hand has recorded it, Every thought you have ever entertained. He has known it, he has recorded it. And as I utter these words, I know.
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That if you believe them, you bow your head immediately.
And own guilty. Guilty before God. And yet the very one who kept that record looks down this night at you and me. And thank God, in the case of some of us, that record has been blotted clean by the cleansing power of the precious blood of Christ. But are there others in this room tonight, before and before God, that record still?
Remain. I don't know the name of each one present in this room tonight, but God does. And as the record of your life has been penned, it brings us to this very evening, the fact is recorded that you came to attend this Gospel meeting.
And the message that you hear will be recorded, and the response of your heart will be written down. Oh, my friend, I consider it to be so vital, so solemn, that my soul trembles as that clock moves around. The moment of time are so rapidly ticking away, and as I look out over this company and realize that there could be present in this room tonight.
Those who would be left behind for eternal hell.
If the Lord Jesus closed that door of his long-suffering before this hour was ended, thank God I know that I would be up there, numbered among the redeemed, to sing songs of eternal gratitude to Him who loved us and shed His precious blood, that we might be redeemed but beloved friend in the midst of my joy at that prospect.
And I think I can truly say my eagerness to be in the presence of my Savior when I look out over a company like this. I want to ask you personally, my friend, whether you be but a boy or a girl, but perhaps a son or daughter of Christian praying parents. Are you sure, my dear friend?
Are you sure that when the door of heaven is closed forever?
And it may be this very night that you would be found on the inside of that door.
Singing with gladness, the songs of praise to him who shed his blood, that we might be redeemed.
Notice these solemn words. I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where he are. And now I want to emphasize these next.
10 words.
And I hope they will ring in your ears with a note of glad certainty when I see the blood.
I will pass over you when I see the blood.
I will pass.
Over you. Those are wondrous words to my soul. Who is this?
Whose eye sees that precious blood and knows the value of it.
The very eye of God sees that blood, and God knows the value of that blood, as none of us knows it. It does not say when I see your sincerity.
When I see your repentance or anything else that you might think to offer to God.
I am quite sure that in this city of Ottawa where I grew up as a boy, there are many people who have been baptized and they're still on the road to hell. Many people who have been confirmed, I speak plainly and they're still lost, and they take the sacrament every Lord's day and they're still guilty before God.
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Sing in the choir and they're still on the Broad Rd. that leads to destruction. You add up, if you wish, everything that the natural religious man might boast of, and present the whole thing to God, and you'll hear these solemn words. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags again. You'll hear not by works of righteousness, which we have done.
But according to his mercy, he saved us. Sad to say again and again in the very presence of death, I will hear my neighbors say, oh, he was such a good man. She was such a fine neighbor. I'm sure that all is well.
Friend not so, not so, God, Word declares without the shedding of blood.
Is no remission. God's Word declares, whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point.
He is guilty of all These are not my words. I am quoting from James chapter two. I am going to repeat that first, whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all but beloved friend. This glorious book, the word of God, doesn't simply proclaim to us our ruined conditions.
Our guilt, our distance, it proclaims thank God for it. The wondrous glad tidings of God's loving heart, the wondrous provision that he has made, that you and I might be sheltered from the dust and righteous judgment of God. For God does not treat sin as lightly as man chooses to treat it. And when I hear a man speak lightly of meeting God, then tell me that he believes God is a very merciful and a very loving God.
I know what he means. He means that he hopes that God will look upon sin as likely as he does.
But I warn you ahead of time, my friend, that God does not look upon sin as you or I or anyone else looks upon it. One stain of sin was enough to banish our forefathers from the Garden of Eden long ago, and one stain of sin is enough to find you outside the door of heaven for eternity.
One stain of sin. True God is merciful. True God is loving.
But God is holy, God is righteous, and the judgment of God must fall upon every stain of sin that ever has fallen upon the human heart. That just judgment of God must fall upon every act of guilt.
In the life of every son of Adam, now that judgment falls either either upon God's beloved Son, upon the cross of Calvary.
Or falls upon the Sinner himself.
Forever and ever in the lake of fire. Oh, This is why the gospel is so vital, so important.
I know that these three meetings, these three days of meetings, were not gotten together.
Simply that souls might hear the gospel.
But this poor heart of mine was saved the three day conference in Ottawa years ago.
And I've always been thankful for that.
Always been thankful for every effort that ever was put forward to gather people together on an occasion like this that the gospel of the grace of God might be sounded out. Yes, it was after a gospel meeting.
In the winter time, here in the city of Portable, that this guilty heart of mine was cleansed from those stains of sin by the precious blood of Christ. And I stand here tonight once more to thank him for that day when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. Now shall we go over, please?
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Diverse.
22 And he shall take a bunch of hisses and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lentil in the two side posts with the blood that is in the basement. And none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. I don't believe it's wrong for us to picture this scene in Israel. They hear these words of God.
Passed on to them by Moses, and they believed those words.
But they don't simply fold their hands, they believe them with a belief of real faith.
And God told them that they were to take this lamb, to kill it, to catch its blood in the basin, to take a handful of hyssop and dip it in that blood, and sprinkle it upon the little and the two side posts in the houses wherein they were to spend that night.
Now, when they really believe that message, when they truly took God at His word and realized that the judgment was coming.
And that it was very, very near. They did exactly as God commanded them through the words of his servant Moses. That lamb was taken, The blood of that lamb was shed, caught in a basin. But that, my friend, was not enough. And this point I do wish to stress, as God helps me this evening, for I fear that there are many in this company tonight.
Who have come that far?
You know, you wouldn't deny for a moment the fact that center around the suffering and death of the beloved Son of God, our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
You know, somehow my heart is particularly saddened on a day like this.
Why do I say on a day like this?
Because, you know, on this very day.
The doors of learning, the doors of commerce, the doors of industry in these so-called Christian lands.
Our clothes.
Why? Because they say.
This is the day when Jesus was crucified.
And they close up shop and they close the school and everyone has the day off.
Good Friday, they call it.
That all, beloved friend, as I awaken this morning.
And I looked at my watch around 9:00 and on toward 12:00.
But I'm part of that which this world thinks of Indiana setting apart. This day, my heart was grieved within me to think of how many there are that still go on with the outward form of religious recognition of it all, but have no place in their hearts for the Savior and are not yet cleansed by His own precious blood.
Oh, I ask you, beloved friend, in this room tonight, and I ask you because it concerns your eternal destiny. Have you been cleansed by the precious blood of Christ? The lamb was slain. Its blood was caught in a basin. But there was one thing more that was most vital and most necessary. That blood had to be sprinkled on the lint and on the two side posts.
And as the Israelites looked up, there was the blood above him. There was the blood on either side of him. Thank God it was not beneath his feet. No, indeed, God would not permit that.
Sad to say, we see it all around us today.
I fear we even see it in the pulpits of the land today.
Trampled upon.
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Openly mocked and ridiculed.
But I stand here to say, and there's many another that would say it with me, Thank God for the precious cleansing power of the blood of Christ. But there was one thing here in this verse.
That really impressed me as I read it a few days ago. And that is, ye shall take a bunch of hyssop.
I hope I won't be accused of being spectacular, but I brought a bunch of hyssop with me tonight.
Some time ago, in walking through the streets of Old Jerusalem, I plucked a bunch of hyssop from between the stones of the Old Wall there.
And I'm sure, as I showed to you, you'll realize how utterly, absolutely.
Insignificant and worthless it is. That's all there is to it. That, my friend, is a bunch of hisses that once grew between the stones of the wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. It's worth persistent. If I had left it lying somewhere, I'm sure it would have been thrown away as a worthless handful of weeds, and that all it amounts to.
It speaks of something utterly insignificant in the eyes of man. But I believe that as an Israelite that night long ago reached out and took in his hand a bunch of hisses and looked at it, he must have realized the significance of what God was telling him. I believe, my friend, that God was telling them, and God is telling you.
That this is all that you and I amount to. This is all that you and I amount to.
I am absolutely nothing but a loss, guilty, worthless, hell bound, Sinner, apart from the value of the precious Blood of Christ and having been sheltered by the precious Blood of Christ. My friend, I want to tell you something. I stand here this night a child of God, by matchless grace, accepted in the beloved, destined to spend eternity not only.
In that wondrous home, but with and like the Savior who loved me and died for me.
And when I see his face in Yonder glory, I'm going to see reflected in that face forever.
The joy and delight and satisfaction of his heart that I am there, oh, that he wants you to be there too. Now let us picture, if you will, a home in Israel. The lamb is slain, the blood is shed. It has been caught in a basin, But one thing yet remains.
A humiliating experience in the eyes of the mocking neighbors.
To take that insignificance handful of hesitation, to dip it in the blood, to sprinkle it on the lentil and on the two side posts. What if some passerby might see this being done? What mockery they there might well be? What ridicule it would be termed nonsense.
Now I want to ask you, because God loves your soul, and because I also care in some little measures who is there in this company tonight.
Who would truthfully tell anyone of us? Yes, I do believe that I have been found a Sinner before God. I can't deny it. God's word says so. My own memory and conscience agree with it. I have sinned.
Furthermore, I doubt not that you would say that you know that God will never allow one stain of sin to enter heaven. Do I speak the truth? You know I do. You know that the Book of Revelation tells us solemnly that not one stain of sin, not one lie, will ever be permitted to enter through the Gate of Heaven. Who is there here that would stand up and say I qualify?
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I've never told a lie. I've never done anything wrong at a pride selfishness.
Anger never is there such in one. I'm sure there's not. Now Friend will go a step farther.
Would you also say Yes. And I also believe John 316. I believe that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I believe it. You believe that the Lord Jesus came into this world. You believe that he died on the cross? Yes. A step further, you believe that he died for sinners.
Yes, our friend hears a bunch of hisses.
Here's a bunch of hits. Will you take it?
And apply it to the need of your own soul. There came a moment with every home in Israel when they had to take that bunch of hisses. They had to dip it in the blood, no matter who was watching, and sprinkle it on the lentil and on the two side posts, close the door and step inside. Now I quite expect that when they did this.
They may have been mocked by some of their unbelieving neighbors. What nonsense to think that a little bunch of hyssop dips in the blood of a lamb sprinkled across the top and down each side of that door would make any difference whatsoever to that home, Supposing judgment is coming. What a strange notion that the splashing of blood in those three places would make any difference whatsoever.
Why did it make this difference? Because God said so. God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now, beloved friend, I trust you will pardon me, but I do want to speak to the boys and to the girls, to the young people who, like myself, grow up in a Christian home. Grow up to believe all this, I ask you as you look at this little handful of hisses.
Has that moment come?
Dear boy, dear girl, has that moment come when you personally, in the presence of God, have owned? I am lost. I am guilty.
But I accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
As my Savior, I want this very moment to be cleansed from those sins of mine by the precious blood of Christ. Will someone mock you? Quite possible, more than likely, although I have no doubt there are those present in this room tonight who would be filled with great joy.
If they knew that you did such a thing.
But I'll tell you something else. There's joy in the presence of the angels of God all as I think of that open door of heaven, as I think of my loving Savior up there, yearning for that glorious moment when he's going to give the assembling shout and call his redeemed bride home to himself, we naturally say, why has he waited till April of 76?
Why? You know why He doesn't want you, my friend, to be left.
05 Then it's much more solemn than being left outside. To be outside the door is bad enough, but the only other alternative, beloved friend is this.
Outer darkness.
The Lake of fire for how long?
Forever and ever and ever.
Let modern preachers say what they will, the lips of the Lord Jesus uttered with solemn, yearning words of warning.
That the destiny of the lost is just as eternal as the joy of the redeemed, I know by the grace of God.
I know by the sheltering power of the blood of Christ. I know by the authority of the word of God, that the endless ages of eternity will find me in the presence of the one who shed his blood to redeem my guilty soul, That beloved friend. What about you all? I want to press it, fall upon you, and I trust those who are a bit older will forgive me for bringing this.
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Insignificant reminder of what I wish to press upon your soul.
Will you, beloved friend, take the place that God wants you to take? Will you bow your head and own your absolute worthlessness before him, and with the hand of faith received except the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Permit me to put it yet more simply if I can.
If it were my wondrous privilege.
To step down from this place, to sit down Yonder. And the Lord Jesus Christ, my beloved, my precious Savior, stood here.
And spoke to you of his love, showed you his pierced side, stretched out his loving hand, and then came right to you where you sit. And could he call you by name? Of course he could, I can. But he can call you by name, told you of his love, and said to you.
I love you.
I died for you. I shed my blood to put your sins away.
And now I wish to save you and promise you.
A home with me in glory forever. And he stood waiting for your answers.
Tell me.
Don't pass up this moment. Tell me, friends, what would your answer be? Now, of course, he knows everyone in this room who has already said yes to the Lord Jesus. But he also knows those who have not yet reached out and accepted him as Savior. He waits for your answer. Don't wait till that clock comes around to 8:30.
Right now, beloved friend, write down why not just receive Him as your savior? His arms are outstretched, His precious blood was shed. And as we go on with this story, we find what took place. We find beloved friend that that which he had told them of came to pass. Shall we go on with the next few verses?
The 28th verse. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
And it came to pass. Aren't those solemn words. This is what he had said would come to pass, and it came to pass.
You know, it is noticeable in the ways of God that every time judgment falls, there are two things precede that judgment. A warning.
And a way of escape.
In the days of the city of Jericho, there were seven days of warning that preceded the judgment of that guilty city, and there was a way of escape available to in the days of Noah there, where I believe about 120 years of warning.
And the judgment came. But there was a way of escape. Now the judgment of God has been pronounced upon this world. A way of escape has been provided. And how long has God waited? Seven days. 40 days.
120 years. Over 1900 years, God has lingered and simply because he lingers still, I wonder, is there someone here who is saying, Oh well, I've heard this so often. Why, I remember almost six months ago somebody said, you know, the door might be closed tonight. Well, you can. Well, thank God that he left you here to hear it once more. But this I know it came to pass.
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At midnight. And this I know that the judgment of God is soon going to be poured out upon this guilty Christ rejecting world. And as I look around here this evening, I know that I am not alone in being aware of the fact that that moment is very, very near at hand. With gladness I say it, you know, quite a while ago I was in a home.
Where a Carpenter was putting kitchen cupboards in, he had his workmen's cap on, he had his hammer in his hand, and I was introduced to him and began to speak to him about the Lord Jesus.
He laid his hammer down and he listened very, very eagerly, and after a moment he took his cap off and listened yet more eagerly.
And after a little while, he did.
What really thrilled my soul?
He put out his hand and he said, I'd like you to know that here and now I accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. And you know, as I held that man's hand, a strange thought came to me. It had never occurred to me before, but I held his hand and held it tight for a moment. For one thing, I just couldn't speak. I was so glad. But another thought came through my soul as I held his hand.
I thought, if this is the last soul that's going to be saved, we're going home right now. And I just held his hand waiting to hear the shout. And I didn't hear it. And I thought, well, there must be someone else somewhere that he's still waiting for. And that's why we're here tonight. He's waiting still, friend. I tell you this. He's waiting for you. He loves you. He wants you to reach out your hand and take that worthless bunch of hisses, dip it in the blood and say this.
Is for the need of my guilty soul. Are you standing beneath the shelter of that precious blood?
Who is it that placed the value upon that blood? It wasn't Moses in his day, it wasn't Paul or Peter or John in their day. But it was the very one whose eye looked down on that scene so long ago, and has told us true through the pen of another. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from.
All sin.
Oh, if we were to turn over the pages of the New Testament, we would find John pointing and saying, behold, the Lamb of God. We would hear Peter saying, you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Verily foreordained before the foundation of the world. And then, if we were to turn to the very last book of the Bible, what would we find?
A glad company of the redeemed up Yonder at whole, singing, singing, and what is the theme of their song? While we're given the very words of that song they're in the midst of, that great post is a lab slave.
Oh, does this story of Exodus 12 not point onward to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Where God's appointed lamb was sacrificed for us, and point yet further onward to that which lies ahead. When in the glory land we shall surround the Lamb of God, Who there who once was slain? And what will be the song? Thou art worthy? For thou art slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred.
And tongue.
And people and nations.
I love that verse.
Oh, but it's a thrill.
From time to time.
To see the gladness reflected from the countenance of.
Of those whose language you can't understand, but to know that that joy and that gladness comes from the sheltering power of the precious blood that flowed from the wounded side of our beloved Savior, our Lord, Savior, Jesus Christ.
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Because of my guilt, he bowed his head. Because of my guilt, the strokes of God's judgment fell upon him.
And at last, when the last stroke of judgment had fallen upon God's Lamb.
My Savior, He bowed his head upon his own bosom and death, and there from his wounded side there flowed that precious blood concerning which God's Word declares the blood of Jesus Christ. His Son cleanses us.
From all sins? Us. Who does that mean?
I'm part of it, but I stand here all alone, and it's not even proper English to see us When you're all by yourself. There has to be more than one to make an us, does there not?
I remember years ago in Bermuda talking to a group of boys and girls, and we were speaking on this very verse and we read those precious words. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
And I suddenly realized, but here I am all alone, and this first refers to us.
And I looked down at the front row, and there was an eager little boy there, looking up with such delight on his face.
I guess I was taking a chance, But I said to him, my boy, do you know the Lord Jesus as your savior? And he was on his feet in a moment with gladness. He said, yes, Sir, I do. Could you say that? Could you say that? I do. Then I said, would you please come up here with me? And he did. And we stood there side by side, and I opened the word and we read that verse.
The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us.
He looked up at me. I looked down at him as we read that wonderful word together.
And it just filled my heart with gladness to see the look on my dear little boy's face as he looked up at me and said us. Come now, let's be simple and truthful about this. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us.
By God's wondrous grace, that simple necessary steps the application of the precious blood of Christ.
To meet the need of this guilty soul of mine took place after a meeting just like this, long years ago. I thank God for it with all my heart. And if there's someone here tonight who would like to be sheltered by the blood of Christ, who would like to know what it means to be on the way home to the glory.
Say glorious word then, beloved friend, don't leave tonight. There are many, many here who would just love to have you turn to them.
And speak with them about your needs. But you know the best one to speak to is not me or anyone else but you. Speak to the Lord Jesus, Tell him of your needs, And if there should be some older one here, and this burns upon my soul tonight, an older one here, who has all your years trusted in that wonderful reputation of yours.
Be warned in time that you're lost unless you're sheltered by the blood of Christ.
When I was four years old, I took a journey with my mother to the city of Toronto. Her dear old mother was dying.
A very, very, very religious old lady she was.
Absolutely everything that the church required of her, she devoutly fulfilled.
She had her daughter, my mother, baptized with water, brought all the way from the River Jordan in order that it just might do something a little extra for her.
And everything that her church required of her she fulfilled to the letter on what she considered to be the Sabbath day. You couldn't get her to set foot outside the door of the house, except to go to church and back. Baptized confirmed the sacrament. Everything that had that a pious old lady could do, Grandma Knowles did it to the letter.
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But there came a time when the doctor told her Mrs. Knowles.
You're not going to be here much longer.
And my mother had disgraced her dear old mother by reaching out and taking a bunch of hits of and accepting the Lord Jesus as her savior. My mother had really embarrassed her dear old mother by owning that all this ritual could not fit her soul for heaven. My dear mother had in the days of her youth accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior.
And had lived in the joy of it. And you know, when it came time for her mother to step out into eternity and meet God.
What do you suppose she wanted? She said. Please send for I read.
So Irene, my mother took me with her just a little fellow, 4 years of age.
Strangely enough, I could take you to that home. I could take you to the room. I could take you to the place in the room where that bed was, where my dear old grandmother lay just about to breathe her last. And she said, oh, Irene, will you please sing with me?
Just as I am without one, please.
But that thy blood was shed for me.
And the top bids we come to thee, full Lamb of God, I come. And my mother and my grandmother sang that precious hymn together. And when it was all ended with a very feeble voice, Grandma said, Irene, how often I have sung those words in church and never really meant it, never really came. But tonight, Irene, I come with no other plea than the blood of Christ.
I.
I went off up to bed up on the third floor and the next morning when I came down.
I went into that room and there was a white sheep pulled up over Grandma's face. I'd never seen that before and I didn't know what it meant. I said. Mother, Mother, what's the seat up over Grandma's face for?
I was told that during the night grandma had gone home home to be with the Lord Jesus.
Bearing no other plea and the value of the precious Blood of Christ.
To save a deep dive Sinner or a religious old lady? Either one. There's no other plea. Beloved friend, could we sing that hymn?
Just as I am without one please, but the thy blood was shed for me first and last stanzas only, plead of numbers 12 #12 first and last Santa only.
Thus as I am.
I love who I am.