The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his116/vanimp2b.txt

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CHAPTER 2

In the last study I wrote about our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ
being the Savior of the world. And now I want to continue the series
by showing you the sacrifice he made in order that he might be our
Savior.

HEAVENLY HOME

1. First of all, he sacrificed the pleasures of his heavenly home. Heaven
is a place where joy, happiness and pleasure abound. The Psalmist,
speaking to his God in chapter 16:11 says, "In thy presence is fullness of
joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." In heaven
there is no fear of being mugged, robbed or raped because there tha
wicked cease from troubling, making trouble. And there the weary be at
rest (Job 3:17). Christ the Savior came from that heaven to give his life
and blood to save sinners. He said, ~I came down from heaven," John
6:38. Again, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven," John
6:51. The Apostle Paul beautifully tells the story in Philippians 2:5-8,
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross." Say, this Jesus so loved you that he left the
palatial mansions of his home above to become a poverty-stricken
pauper, if I may use that terminology reverently, because of his love for
you and your never-dying soul.

NO HOME

He owned nothing while he was upon this earth. He had no home and
few possessions. In Matthew 8, a scribe flippantly tells the Lord that he
wants to follow him. Immediately Christ tells him the cost involved.
Verse 20, "Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes (a place into which
they crawl at night for sleep) and the birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of Man (Jesus), hath not where to lay his head." No home, not even
his own bed. Oh, our Lord had so little as he walked up and down on this
old globe we call planet earth.

HIS LOVE

But the thing I want to impress upon you is the fact that his love
chose this lifestyle because he wanted to sacrifice his all to save you.
The Word of God tells us what he left, and why he came; because of his
desire to give every human being eternal life. In II Corinthians 8:9 we
find, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, tho he was
rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be rich." He was rich; that's his pre-existence in heaven. But he
became poor; that's his coming to earth. That you, dear friend, might
become rich. The way you can become rich is to partake of the eternal
life he provided as he shed his blood on Calvary's cross. When you have
life, abundant life, eternal life, you have the wealth of all of the
international bankers combined. They'll die after 70 years, and leave it
behind. But your wealth will abide forever. Oh, get ahold of this eternal
life by receiving Jesus Christ, for the Bible says in John 3:36, "He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." And Jesus said in John 6:47,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting
life."

HONOR

2. Secondly, as we continue this study, we find that Christ sacrificed
his honor. I do not mean by this statement that he did wrong,
"Because he did no sin," I Peter 2:22. "He knew no sin," II Corinthians
5:21. "And he is holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners,"
Hebrews 7:26. Instead, my thought is that the world dishonored him.
Psalm 22 is Messianic, meaning that it is all about the Lord Jesus
Christ in prophetical form, and we hear Jesus saying the following
beginning with verse 6. "I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men,
and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn:
they shake the head." Verse 11, "There is none to help. Many have
compassed me, bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped
upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am
poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is
like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried
up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast
brought me into the dust of death. I may tell all my bones: they look
and stare upon me." Oh, when I consider these verses my soul cries
out, "Lord Jesus, I love you. If ever I loved you, my Savior, it's now."
Was Christ ridiculed and hated? Did his predictions materialize? You
be the judge. A religious sinner said, 'This fellow doth not cast out
devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of devils," Matthew 12:24. "He has
an unclean spirit," Mark 3:30. "We be not born of fornication," (sexual
impurity), as you were, Jesus, John 8:41. Imagine, how they even
mocked the precious virgin birth like so many apostate preachers do
today. If you have, you ought to repent and turn to Christ and get real
Christianity. The Pharisees said, "This man is not of God, because he
keepeth not the sabbath day," John 9:16. The Pharisees again said to
the blind man who was healed by Jesus, "Give God the praise--we
know that this man, (Jesus) is a sinner." Imagine. They called Jesus a
sinner. And the blind man replies, "Whether he be a sinner or no, I
know not: one thing I know that, whereas I was blind, now I see,"
John 9:24-25. Oh, friend, so many folks have been blind as to who
Jesus really is, the Savior of the world, the only Savior. You can have
your eyes opened today if you only give him a chance, and receive
him. "Many of them said "He hath a devil, and is mad," demented and
out of his mind, John 10:20. "For a good work we stone thee not; but
for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself
God," John 10:33. Just think of the things they called him--The Prince
of the Devils, an unclean spirit, born of sexual impurity, one who kept
not the Sabbath, one who was a sinner, one who had a devil, who was
mad and demented, one who was a blasphemer. Jesus, God in the
flesh. Oh, when he came to die for you, certainly he sacrificed his
honor. Why did Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, allow all of this?
Philippians 2:6-8 again tells the story. "Who, being in the form of God
(that's before he came to earth) . . . made himself of no reputation."
How? By "taking upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men." Why? Verse 8, "So that he might humble himself and
become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." The
sacrifice of home and honor was because he wanted you saved for
time and eternity.

HIS BLOOD

3. But thirdly and most importantly, he sacrificed his life by the
shedding of his blood. I've touched upon this in other studies, but it
needs continual emphasis in this day and age when the bloodshed of
Christ upon a cross is looked upon as something incidental or accidental
or insignificant. It must be reiterated thousands of times when
unbelieving clergymen scoff at the message of his precious blood, calling
it a slaughterhouse religion. Oh, you preachers who are so blind as to
preach a system of man-made works to get sinners to heaven. And you
laymen who are making cookies for the bake sale and selling old socks
at the church rummage bazaar in order to work your way to heaven
need to know that the old book, God's Word, contains 700 verses
pointing to the shed blood as God's offering; and the only, I said only,
plan of salvation. Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration." That washing is thru his blood because Revelation 1:5
declares, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood." This sacrifice to save you brought great agony and
suffering to the body and soul of Jesus Christ our Lord. Just before they
crucified him, he said, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto
death," Matthew 26:38. In Hebrews 12:2 we find, "Looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith." I like that. He is the author and
finisher, or, the beginner and ender of our faith. Not works, creeds,
ceremonies, prayers, or a code of ethics, but Christ. The text goes on to
say, "This Christ, for or because of the joy that was set before him,
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God." In modern English it states, "Because he
could see what his shed blood on the cross was going to accomplish,
(your presence with him for all of eternity), he was willing to endure
being nailed to the tree and the suffering.

Again, Christ also suffered for us (I Peter 2:21), "the just for the unjust--
(the just, (Jesus), suffering for you and me, (the unjust), that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (or being
made alive), by the spirit (I Peter 3:18). Look at that suffering Savior. I
have a full-length sermon recorded containing every detail of Christ's
agony and ignominious death. Write for it if you're interested. I will
simply, at this point, show you what Christ endured because of his love
for you. You say, "For me?" Yes, for you. Listen to the prophet, Isaiah, in
chapter 53:4-6, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him (Jesus),
the iniquity of us all." That's why he said, "It was for you." Look with me
at Calvary for a moment. This wounding and bruising took place so that
his blood might flow freely for the remission of your sin. Can you in
your mind's eye picture Jesus on that cross? Close your eyes now and
get a vision of this. There he is. A crown of thorns on his head and the
blood flowing down his cheeks into his beard. His face lacerated from
hitting it with sticks and fists, and the blood flowing from those wounds,
his beard ripped out of his face because Isaiah 50:6 says, "I gave my
cheeks to them that plucked off the hair." Do you see him? Can you
visualize it? Do you see where his chest, arms, and back are torn wide
open because of the Roman scourge? Do you see the nails in his hands
and feet? "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for
our iniquities." His body was bruised horribly, terribly, almost beyond
recognition. That's why Isaiah says in that 53rd chapter "He hath no
form or shape or comeliness." This was for you.

There is no other way to get saved but thru this shed blood. Acts 20:28
mentions "the Church of God which he purchased with his own blood."
You see friend, the true Church has been purchased by Christ's blood
and your church is swindling you when it offers a stone of self-righteous
human attainment. It's the dry vegetable offering or religion of Cain, the
murderer (Genesis 4). Ephesians 1:7, "In whom we have redemption
through his blood." I Peter 1:19, "Redeemed with the precious blood of
Jesus." I John 1:7, "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from
all sin." It's the sacrifice of Christ's blood that saves you. Had he died
upon the cross of strangulation or heart failure, you could not have been
saved, because, "without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin"
(Hebrews 9:22).

You dear people who are sincerely seeking the truth, quit listening to
pompous platitudes from your pulpits that mislead you on earth and
will make you miss being in the presence of God for eternity. If you
have been deceived into thinking that the shed blood for salvation is
passe in the Twentieth Century because some lost clergyman said it
was not relevant, then hear Christ in these closing moments. The scene
is the Last Supper, and Jesus illustrates thru bread and juice his
coming sacrifice upon a cross. Matthew 26:26, "And as they were
eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to
the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup
and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this
is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the
remission of sins." You can't mistake it. It is the blood that is shed for
the remission of sin. If you reject this truth because some ordained
wolf in sheep's clothing told you that it was passe for up-to-date
people to believe this, I can only have sorrow for your condition.
Why? Because you have listened to man rather than Jesus Christ, my
Savior. Hear him. Believe him. His shed blood is the only way of
salvation.