Blood Before The Lord

”Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth 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 door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.” | Exodus 12: 5-7

Note in the scriptures how many times the blood is said to be “before the Lord.”

Whether any man saw it or not was of small account, for it was offered for sin “before the Lord.”

“And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.” (Leviticus 16: 18)

When the passover lamb was slain in Egypt, where was the blood placed?

It was on the OUTSIDE of the door “before the Lord.”

“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn 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 ye are: and 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.” (Exodus 12-13)

He said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Hebrews 2: 9)

The suffering and death of Christ on behalf of His people was “BEFORE the Lord,” UNTO the Lord, to declare the Lord’s righteousness, to satisfy the Lord’s justice, to fulfill the Lord’s purpose, to glorify the Lord’s character, to enable the Lord to be both just and justifier.

The atonement does not change the NATURE and CHARACTER of God, but rather the atonement HONORS and MAGNIFIES the character of God.

“Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 38: 23)

The death of Christ is NOT the cause of God’s love, but the result of it.

God is not merciful because Christ died; Christ died because God is merciful.

“And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.” (2 Chronicles 20: 21)

In order that every attribute might be expressed, glorified, and honored, God gave His Son to be the Saviour of the chosen people!

Thank God we have an atonement “before the Lord.”

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Christ’s Blood Speaks” (34:48 minutes)

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Bulletin Article date: 3 March, 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey

For The Labored & Heavy Laden

”In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me. Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.” | Psalm 71: 1-3

That wrath, that great wrath, that fierce wrath, that pure wrath, that infinite wrath, that matchless wrath of an angry God, that was so terribly impressed upon the soul of Christ, quickly spent his natural strength, and turned his moisture into the drought of summer. “For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.” (Psalm 32: 4)

And yet all this wrath he patiently underwent, that sinners might be saved, and that ‘he might bring many sons unto glory,’

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (Hebrews 2: 10)

Oh wonder of love!

~ Thomas Brooks

Click here to listen to the message “For The Labored & Heavy Laden”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 19 September, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

Sacrifice

”And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” | Romans 8: 28-31

Sacrifice means to ‘suffer loss’ …’give up something.’

The Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself to God for His people.

He ‘suffered many things’ because of us.

He suffered the wrath and judgment of God against our sins.

He gave His life for His sheep.

He ‘gave up’ His glory, honour and happiness in Heaven to become a man of sorrows and be a servant to God and men.

He gave every waking hour of His thirty-three years on earth for us; and He did it willingly and happily, knowing it was for God’s glory and our good.

Now… scripture says to those whom Christ did this for: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12: 1)

Let each of us ask ourselves:

In light of what Christ has done for me, what have I done for Him?

In light of what Christ has done for me, what have I done for His People?

In light of what Christ has done for me, what have I suffered the loss of?

In light of what Christ has done for me, what have I given up?

In light of what Christ has done for me, how much of myself, my time, my material goods (which He gave us) have I given to the cause of Christ, support of the gospel and the care of His church?

In light of what Christ has done for me, have I made any sacrifice at all?

In light of what Christ has done for me, have I suffered the loss of anything or given up anything or anyone for Christ, Who gave Himself for me?

~ Pastor Paul Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “God’s Saving Purpose And Power”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Central Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 18 May, 2014 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

The Only Man Who Can Plead For Us

”He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” | Romans 8: 32-34

We should always read the Old Testament with a desire to find something in it about Jesus Christ.

We study this portion of the Bible with little profit, if we can see nothing in it but Moses, and David, and Samuel, and the Prophets.

Let us search the books of the Old Testament more closely.

It was said by Him whose words can never pass away, “These are they which testify of Me”

~ J. C. Ryle

Click here to listen to the message “The Only Man Who Can Plead For Us”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 9 February, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a

A PERFECT SACRIFICE

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” | Matthew 11: 28

God cannot have a blemished priest at His altar or a blemished sacrifice thereon. Both the priest and the sacrifice must be perfect. (Leviticus 21-22)

Now we have both the perfect Priest and the perfect sacrifice in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, He having offered Himself without spot to God.

In Him we have all that God requires, whether as the victim or the Priest.

We have all that God could require, and all that a man could need.

~ Pastor Scott Richardson

Click here to listen to the message “Christ, Our Rest”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 2 May, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

The Humiliation and Sufferings of Christ

“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” | Isaiah 53: 1-3

I saw where someone wrote recently, “there’s a lot more in the word of God, than Christ.” That is a sad and horrible statement.

If I tell you that I grew up in Deer Park TX, my first car was a Plymouth Duster and I worked at Houston Independent School District, this is not a treatise on cities, cars or companies. It is all about me.

The scriptures have some things to say about Heaven, Hell, Bethlehem and even heresy, but we need to understand that the word of God concerns His Son Jesus Christ, all Him, only Him, always Him. Every other person, place, thing and subject are included, only as they relate to, reveal and glorify Him.

When it comes right down to it, He is all there is. Anyone who does not, by God’s grace, know this, has no business saying or writing anything about God or His word.

If God will ever reveal anything to you, it will begin right there; Christ is all.

If God is ever going to use you for His glory, in His ministry, in any capacity, He will cause you to determine to know nothing, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

~ Pastor Chris Cunningham

Click here to listen to the message “Why Christ is Despised and Rejected”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article | Previous post date: 22 December, 2020