Power in the Blood- Sunday March 13, 2022

Text: 1 Peter 1:17-19

The Apostle Peter gives us many insights in this short, 3-verse, passage.

Let’s look at one.

How we view God.

First, he talks about how we view God.

Yesterday we celebrated the life of Bob Millage.

Several of you were unable to be here because of the snow and the bad road conditions.

Thankfully, the roads around the church, and for most others, and our drive and parking lot were not affected.

So we had over 100 people here to celebrate Bob’s life.

I think it is the most we have ever had in the sanctuary.

We pretty much filled the 80 places set for a lunch afterward

As Bob’s pastor I did my best to honor his life and, with Sister Donna’s help, to included everything she wanted in the service.

The North GA Honor guard honoring Bob’s service in the Army as a Vietnam vet

Their former pastor from Antioch Baptist Church spoke.

His brother, his son and a friend spoke about his life.

By the time it came to me, the service had lasted about an hour and a half.

I imagined everyone was tired and so I wasn’t going to preach some long-winded sermon.

So, I shared one verse: where Isaiah says in Isaiah 64:8 (NASB95) But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.

See how yesterday connects with today?

Peter says, IF you address God as Father ...

Is that how you perceive God?

I pray that it is because, what I prepared but didn’t share yesterday — yes, you are getting leftovers (the long-winded sermon) — but leftovers at God’s table is better than anything you’ll get looking at social media, or watching news on TV, or anything else the world has to offer.

… What I prepared yesterday, was that this past Wednesday we started a study in the Gospel according to Matthew that includes Jesus’ instructions on how to pray. Jesus tells us to begin our prayer with:

Our Father who is in heaven ...

Who?

Our Father

Our GOOD Father

I pray that you have a relationship with God where the Holy Spirit is doing the work described in:

Romans 8:14–18 (NASB95) For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons [daughters, children] of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

If you call God Father ...

It is because you are in right relationship with Him.

And if you are in right relationship with Him, you not only call God your Father, but you see Him as a GOOD Father.

God speaking in Isaiah and Jesus speaking in the Gospel of Matthew wanted us to know that we have a Father in heaven.

A good Father.

Jesus said in: Matthew 7:11 (NASB95) “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

James 1:17 (NASB95) Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

I like what two contemporary Christian songwriters, Anthony Brown and Pat Barrett, say in a song they wrote that about God being good. They say:

You're a Good, Good Father

It's who You are It's who You are It's who You are

And I'm loved by You

It's who I am It's who I am It's who I am

The Bridge of that song says:

You are perfect in all of Your ways You are perfect in all of Your ways You are perfect in all of Your ways to us

Now I know that it would be easy to question whether God is a GOOD heavenly Father at a funeral.

That He is perfect in all of His ways.

How could a good heavenly Father take away an earthly father — even if He did give him to us, in Bob’s case, for 73 years?

That was 20 years longer than my father lived — we have no guarantees about how long we will live.

But we question, how could Father God who is perfect in all of His ways...

Take away a husband?

A grandfather?

A brother, uncle, brother-in-law, cousin ...

A brother in Christ?

As I mentioned yesterday, the problem is, those who serve a perfect, loving heavenly Father, do so in an imperfect and harsh world.

Let me repeat that.

I speak of those who serve God, because there are those who have chosen to NOT be in relationship with Him.

God doesn’t force us to accept Him.

We can live in rebellion against our Creator and Sustainer.

We can refuse to accept the love and compassion of the One who gave His only begotten Son to die in our place — that’s what the Father did when He gave Jesus to die on the cross.

It doesn’t seem wise to reject such love — but there are those who do.

But ALL of us whether in relationship or outside of relationship with God, live in an imperfect and harsh world made that way, NOT by Father God — NO!

As Genesis 1 repeatedly says: what God created was good.

It was perfect.

But then, as Romans 8:20-22 tells us, God’s perfectly created, good world was corrupted and made imperfect and harsh by sin.

Humanity chose this imperfection, the harshness when they chose to disobey their good Father who always knows best.

With that choice came death.

And that is what we dealt with yesterday, the death of a man loved by many.

But Bob Millage didn’t die a hopeless, futile death.

Through a relationship with his Savior and Lord, Bob knew God was his Father, he knew God AS his Father.

Because of what we read in vs. 19 of our text, Bob died in hope — in the hope of a better tomorrow — of an eternity with Jesus.

Bob had, as verse 19 says, been redeemed with precious Blood, the Blood of Christ.

Bob had experienced the POWER of the Blood that we sang about a few minutes ago.

Yes, There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

That Blood has the power to redeem us from death!

Over the next few weeks leading up to our service on Good Friday at 6:30 pm. I will be talking about the Blood of Jesus, shed by the Lamb of God.

… You know, last year I talked about this.

Non liturgical churches, like ours and most others in the AG, have normally just skipped Good Friday — the day we remember the death of Jesus on the Cross.

We skipped it and only celebrated the resurrection.

I know in a lot of churches I’ve attended and some I’ve pastored, it has led to people wanting to sing and talk about the Cross on Resurrection Sunday when we should be rejoicing over … uh, the Resurrection, the empty tomb, death defeated.

But this year we will remember Jesus’ death on the Cross:

Singing songs about the Cross and the Blood

Remembering Jesus’ sacrifice by sharing the Lord’s Supper together.

I encourage you to plan to be here for that service.

We want to especially remember the Blood, because it is ONLY through Jesus and His Blood, shed for us, only through the witness of the Holy Spirit and in no other way, that we and Bob know the truth of the scripture with which I mentioned earlier: Isaiah 64:8 that tells us:

That the LORD, is our Father,

That we are the clay, and God is our potter;

That everyone is the work of His hand.

Clay in the Potter’s Hand

Seeing himself as clay in the Potter’s hand caused Bob to seek to live for Jesus.

There is a passage in Jeremiah that talks about the relationship between clay and the Potter molding it:

Jeremiah 18:1–6 (NASB95) The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. 4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

Do WE see ourselves as clay in the Potter’s hand?

That our Good Father knows best about our lives?

So that, like clay in the Potter’s hand we yield to what He is doing, so that we bring glory to God.

Yesterday on Instagram, I saw an Elisabeth Elliot quote, you know, the widow of Jim Elliot who died taking the Gospel to a hostile Ecuadorian tribe. She said:

The fact is, as believers , it’s not about us. It is not about my happiness, my joy, my wellbeing. It is about the glory of God and the Kingdom of Christ. The only means to real joy and contentment is to make His glory the supreme objective in my life.

May we always remember that we are the clay and the wisest course of action is to submit to a loving Father, who as a Master Potter is molding us into the vessel He desires.

Using techniques we may not have chosen, but which accomplish His goal.

As Ephesians 2:10 (NASB95) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Psalm 100:3 (NASB95) Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

In my conversations with him, I believe Bob knew that — he understood that.

Everyone as the creation of God’s hand

Not only did Bob, and all those who call God Father, know and understand that he was clay.

But he understood that everyone is the work of the Father’s hand — even if they don’t know it — even if they are not in relationship with the Father.

Seeing everyone as the creation of God’s hand is what compelled Bob to take the Gospel to other countries.

He lived by: 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT) [that says] … we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come ... to God!”

He felt the conviction mentioned a few verses before vs. 20 in 2 Corinthians 5:14–15 (NIV) For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And He [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Worshiping the Father

Knowing God as Father, as the One who formed him and loved him not only compelled Bob to tell others about Him, but also to worship God.

So much so that in the last days of his life, Bob listened to the song that we sang yesterday to close his service.

With his last breath, Bob declared:

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul! Worship His holy Name!

And now, Bob’s faith in God, in his loving heavenly Father has become sight.

He now knows 10,000 reasons and more to worship his Heavenly Father.

Do, you know that same heavenly Father?

You can if you will repent of your sins.

If you will by faith receive forgiveness of those sins.

If you will make Jesus, the master of your life, you too can know that blessed heavenly Father.

Can I pray with you for that relationship?

Pray for the lost.

Please speak to me after this service or contact me if you are watching through livestream or a recording of this service if you asked Jesus to forgive your sins and take control of your life.

Because if you have before this service, or you did during this service, you are beginning to know that same heavenly Father that Bob served.

The One before whom Bob stands at this moment.

No longer struggling for breath.

No more blood pressure or heart rate problems.

No failing kidneys.

Bob stands before his heavenly Father completely whole and well.

He loved to be a part of the worship team.

But even if you don’t have a mic in your hand, you are part of the Worship Team of this church — worshipping God.

If you call God Father, you will feel compelled, like Bob did to worship the Father.

Bob sang worship to Him until he had no more breath to sing.

What a testimony!

May each of us have such a tremendous testimony of our love for our heavenly Father!

We can, if we will only trust Him.

Are you trusting Him?