Propitiation Defined - 1 Joh..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Good afternoon, everyone. Very good to see you, all of you.

May the Lord bless us as the saints return and gather together. Brethren, I'm going to invite you to please open up your Bibles to the first letter of the Apostle John. The first letter of the Apostle John. We are going to continue with our studies through the first letter of the Apostle John. And as I have tried to remind you every time that I preach from this pulpit on this section of the Scriptures, what I'm trying to do is present to you the important topics or the important concepts of the passage of the Scripture that is found in 1 John 1-5, all the way into 2 John 2.

We have not done the exposition of the text, but I'm speaking to you about important topics that are found in that section, so that then we will be ready to do the exposition of the text. I have spoken to you about what it is to walk in the light and walk in darkness. I have spoken to you about a spiritual line. I have spoken to you about the spiritual maturity, biblical confession of sin, and also the advocating ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And today, I hope that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will address the topic of propitiation.

Propitiation. And you find that word there in chapter 2, in verse 2, where the Bible says that Jesus Christ, he himself is the propitiation for our sins. and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So we are going to be speaking about propitiation. And I think this is a good time for us to come before the Lord and ask Him that He may help us, that He may give us clarity as we speak and clarity as you hear these words on the topic of propitiation.

So please, brethren, if you can, Join me, please, in grace before the Lord as we ask Him to be with us in everything that we do. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I come before You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Beloved of the Father. And it's through the leading and the illumination of Your Holy Spirit by the glorious outpouring of His love in our hearts that has united us to Christ and has given us the right and the privilege to approach you in prayer, Lord. Father, we come before you to ask you that your Son, Jesus Christ, will be exalted in our hearts, that you may give us the humility of Christ that You may give us the love of Christ, that You may give us the condescension of Christ, that You may give us the unity and the fervency of the Spirit of Christ, that we will be edified, that we will be transformed through the preaching and the hearing of Your Word, that Your Holy Spirit will help us to endure in the flesh as we speak and as the brethren listen.

that we will endure in the flesh by your Holy Spirit, that we will be illuminated, that Jesus Christ will be enthroned in our hearts, that we will be transformed, that we will be changed, that we will not be the same, but rather, Lord, that we will have a greater glimpse of the glory of Christ, the shining face of Christ through the Scriptures and through the Holy Spirit. Please help us, Lord. We come before you asking you that you may help us. Help me, Lord, with the thoughts and with the words and with the ideas, and help the brethren to understand even in the limitation of words. Help us, please, Lord, that you will be exalted and that Jesus Christ will be enthroned in our hearts, that this church cornerstone will be edified, strengthening the faith, that we will grow in love one for the other, that we will understand the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ better and deeper.

and that indeed, as our brother preached, that we will be blessed, that our hearts will rejoice in the fact that we have been saved, that a price has been paid for our souls, that a life has been given for our souls, and that is the life of our Savior, your eternal begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Please bless us as we read and bless us as we preach. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Very good.

My dear brethren, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul. As I said, my desire is to speak to you about the topic of propitiation. That is a difficult word to pronounce, but not a word that is not in the Bible. It's actually there in verse 2, where it says, He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. The topic or the concept, brethren, of propitiation is very important for our faith.

If we were going to choose one word that summarizes the entirety of the gospel, then that word that summarizes the entirety of the gospel would be propitiation. Propitiation is the heart, the core of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, it's very important that we will pay careful attention to this topic of propitiation. And as you can hear the sound only of that word, it's a word that we don't use in our common language. We don't speak of propitiation on a daily basis.

People do not use the word propitiation. But certainly, that word propitiation is not a strange word to the Scriptures. At least four or five times in the New Testament, the word propitiation is used. And the concept of propitiation is extensively used and is extensively explained and assumed through the Scriptures. So if there is a word, my dear brother, my dear sister, that summarizes the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, this glorious message through which we have been saved, then it is the duty of the Christian that we will aim by the Spirit and in the help of the Scriptures and in the context of the local church, Try and aim with the gifts that the Lord has given us to understand deeper and better this concept of propitiation.

I'm presenting the topic in that way, my dear brothers and sisters, because as you can only hear with the word propitiation, it's not only a concept that is, or a word that is difficult to pronounce, at least for me, but also a concept that is so deep that at times the Christian can be tempted just to simply let this concept just fly over the head or just simply take this concept so much and make the theology an idol. strings there, either idolatry of intelligence on one side or on the other side. Simply that word so complicated, propitiation, is not for me. So, my dear brother, my dear sister, my goal is that we will be edified as a church. And it happens that edification is a spiritual activity that happens through your head.

If you do not understand the things that are said, it does not matter the effort, it does not matter what we do up here, then you are not going to be edified. For some of you, the Word of God is not sufficient that it takes you to sleep. But for some others, Brethren, it's so important that you want to receive the Word of God because you want to be transformed in your heart, in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, my dear brother, my dear sister, thanking and explaining to you the complexity of this topic of propitiation. Then what I want to do is to do just three simple things.

The first thing that I want to do is to present to you the concept of propitiation. And some of you may perhaps already know what propitiation is. But my goal and my desire is that our faith will be established upon a demonstration of the power of the Spirit of God and not upon the wisdom of men. Even if I ask to you what is propitiation, some of you might be able to articulate a definition in your head. But the question is not so much what propitiation means.

The question is, have you seen through the Spirit the concept of propitiation in the Scriptures? Have you come to a genuine encounter with the light of the Holy Spirit as God speaks to you and explains to you in the secret place or in the context of the local church where we belong, the concept of propitiation? Or is the idea of propitiation in your mind a concept that a famous preacher explained in a chalkboard that you learned and that you put in your mind and that is what you understand for propitiation? While the explanation of the famous teacher or preacher is true, it is a duty for each one of the believers to have an encounter, my dear brother, my dear sister, with the doctrines of the scriptures personally and intimately. Otherwise, your faith is established upon the wisdom of men.

And that faith is absolutely of no value. Three things I want to do. First thing to present to you the concept of propitiation, which is not simple, simple to explain. So you're going to have to bear with me with my accent and with my words. And you're going to have to ask the Lord to help you as I try what I try to do.

I could have just simply taken a definition from my theological dictionary and present to you as if it was mine. But what I'm going to try to do is to present to you the definition of propitiation from the scriptures. So that once, I hope that at least some of you, my good desires, that all of you will build this definition of propitiation from the Scriptures. From there, I want to present a second thing, and that is what propitiation accomplishes. What is propitiation first?

Second, what propitiation accomplishes? To thirdly, speak about what propitiation reveals. What propitiation reveals. I just simply want, my dear brother, and the repetition is with a purpose, just to speak to your mind about the definition of propitiation from the scriptures. Once we do that together through the scriptures, define what propitiation is, I want to speak to your soul then, not to your mind only, but to your soul about what propitiation accomplishes.

Do you thirdly speak to you about what propitiation reveals. Brethren, very important that we engage our minds. Definition, what accomplishes and what it reveals. These three things. Brethren, brethren, I'm saying to you that this word, propitiation, summarizes the gospel.

There is no salvation apart from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this word, in this word is the fullness of the gospel contained. So what we're going to be doing now is that we're going to be reading the scriptures, of course, for us just to get the context. in which the Apostle John, in the 2nd verse of chapter 2, uses that concept of propitiation. And then from there, we are going to see and speak about the importance of this concept and so on, I have already explained.

Let us then, brethren, brothers, sisters, friends, read together the words of the Apostle John, given to us by the Holy Spirit, in the first 10 verses of chapter 1 and the first 2 verses of chapter 2. This is the word of the Lord. that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, sorry, we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. The lie was made manifest and have seen and we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life. which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.

That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly, or indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be, or your joy may be, complete. This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have no sin, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. My little children.

I am writing these things to you, so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. This is the word of the Lord. My dear brother and my dear sister, the Scriptures clearly testify That the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.

That is what the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 1 verse 16. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. For the Jews first and also for the Greek. The gospel, my dear brethren, is the most important message that humans have received. There's absolutely no utterance of any king.

There's no message of any judge or any ruler of the age that compares to the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most glorious message in the condescension of God to humanity that we have ever received. And in that message is a message that is not only a message that intellectually communicates information, but the Scriptures calls the gospel, the power of God. This is the message of God. That is the power of God.

The one who created the heavens and the earth has manifested and revealed his power in this message of the gospel. That is that His son, Jesus Christ, came to this world 2000 years ago to live a perfect life, submitting himself to the requirements of the law of Moses and beyond that, to the requirements of the father, so that by dying upon the cross, he will fulfill the requirements of his church. He will receive the wrath of God upon that cross. And when he was resurrected from the dead, he's seated at the right hand of the father, so that from that point, everyone who believes, will not see the condemnation that they deserve, my dear brother or sister, but rather they will receive the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life that they do not deserve. As the brother said, happy, blessed is the one who has been saved by the Lord.

This message, my dear brother and my dear sister, of the gospel is the message of God. The Scriptures very clearly call and attach the message of the gospel to God. It says in Romans chapter 1 that this is the gospel of God. In verse 16, it says the gospel of Jesus Christ, or later it says that this is the gospel of the Spirit. And indeed, the gospel is the message that God has communicated to the earth.

Imagine thousands and millions of people, and even at times ourselves, Christians also, giving ourselves or giving themselves to listen to messages of people that are going to pass away. There's absolutely no message of any person that contains the hope that only the gospel has eternal hope. And this message is the message of God. But in the many condescensions, in the many graces, in the many favors, of the Lord for his church. He uses many times in words in the scriptures, and he attaches or attributes the message of the gospel, not only to the gospel of God, but also he attaches or attributes that gospel to the gospel of the church.

Even the apostle Paul takes ownership of the gospel and he says that God is going to judge everyone according to my gospel. Ephesians chapter 3 says that it's the church, the one that reveals the wisdom of God. And that happens through the gospel. That the message of God, that the King of kings and the Lord of lords who is seated in heaven, ruling over absolutely everything is also our message? that we are ambassadors, brethren, of the God who is seated in heaven, governing and being the king of absolutely everything?

Yes, that is true. The church is also the owner of this glorious message of salvation, the gospel. And imagine, not only is the carrier or the owners also of this message, but the same power that God speaks of that gospel in the Scriptures is the power that the church and every single believer has every time that they preach the gospel. Brethren, the power of God, the one who created the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them, the one who creates all things just by speaking, the power of that God is given to the church through the preaching of the gospel, through the message of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. Imagine the feeble, despised, rejected saint of a third world country that nobody wants, and nobody wants to be like him or like her.

Yet, by virtue of the grace that was manifested to that soul, by virtue of the condescension of Christ, and by virtue of their salvation, whoever that brother or sister is, whatever level of rejection and whatever level of despise that society has given to that brother or sister, that brother and sister, in his or her humility of what is seen and observed, contains in his or her mouth the power of the One who created the heavens and the earth. My dear brother and sister, sadly, what we have done at times is taking this message of the gospel that is supposed to be this powerful, and we have reduced it down to an intellectual set of principles that a person has to repeat and pray. So, if that person repeats and prays a prayer that is based on the main principles of this message gospel, then we just simply say that that person has received the power of that message. My dear brother, my dear sister, many times religion, many times traditions of men, many times just simply doing things takes us to rob the gospel. Not that we can, but you understand what I mean.

To take the power of the gospel and reduce it down just to simply a set of principles that are supposed to enter into the understanding of a person. And if I push those principles, those statements into the brain of that person, and I get a yes or an agreement with that person, then I say that that person has received the power of God. Brethren, that is not the testimony of the Scriptures. Let me just simply give you an example. When Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, he's writing to the Thessalonians and Paul is praising the church in Thessalonica because of their love, because of their hope and because of their faith.

And he makes a very interesting and super profound statement in 1st Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 4. He says that he knows, that he has certainty of the election of the Thessalonians by God. Think about that and the words that I have just said that are written in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4. It says, Paul says, knowing, that is having conviction of your election by God. A feeble man, a man who does not have access to the mind or to the decree of God, claims to have certainty, full conviction and assurance that the people in Thessalonica have been elected and chosen by the Lord.

And the election and the choosing of the saints, as we know, does not happen in time, but happen in eternity past. This doctrine that creates a lot of conflict in the church of election and choosing, the Apostle Paul, in a simple verse, claims to have absolute certainty that the Christians in Thessalonica were elected and chosen by God in eternity past. Why would a feeble man who does not have access to the mind of God? Why would a simple man with a limited mind who cannot claim certainty about what God thinks. Who can claim that?

Even people will feel uncomfortable speaking of the high and lofty things of God. One thing is what he says and what he thinks, and another thing is what we say and what we think. Why would a man claim to have absolute certainty of the election, the eternal choosing of the saints in Thessalonica? Verse 5 gives the answer. It says, "...

because the gospel that we preach came not only in word, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance." The Apostle Paul, my dear brethren, comes to the conclusion that he can have absolute certainty about the eternal decree of God for the Thessalonians, namely that they had been chosen before the foundation of the world. Because when he came to the Thessalonians, he preached the gospel, not only in word, but what was manifested in the preaching of the gospel was power. the presence of the Holy Spirit, and not a little bit, but much conviction or much assurance. And we have reduced down the gospel to simply words.

Words that are to be uttered, and words that another person is to agree, words that another person is just to confirm. I pray a prayer about those words that have been uttered, and then that person is confirmed to be a Christian. Sign a card, put it in the back of your Bible, and then join the church. Brethren, the gospel indeed is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. And when the gospel comes to the heart of a person, indeed, the gospel arrives with power, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and much assurance.

The person has been forgiven, not only, but also transformed. That person was dead in trespasses. Now this person is alive. That person was walking in darkness. Now that person is walking in the light.

That person hated God and the things of God. Now that person loves God and the things of God. That person loves sin, not this person hates sin. That is to be a new creature that is to be transformed. And if someone does not experience the power of the gospel coming upon them in that way, then my brethren, my brother, my sister, my soul, my friend, there is a high chance that what that person is experiencing, it is just simply the gospel in word.

because there's absolutely no one who can have a genuine encounter with the Spirit of God and remain the same. Do you agree, brethren? There's absolutely no possibility that a person genuinely believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and has an encounter with the Spirit of Christ and remains the same. That person is not going to be perfect, but that person is going to be a near creature. That person is going to have a heart of flesh and not a heart of stone.

And that is the message of the gospel, my dear brother and sister. This is the gospel. This is the power of God unto salvation. Not only when we first believe, but from faith to Faith, from the moment that we're saved to the moment that we're taken up in glory, from the moment that we are inserted into the body of Christ, to the moment that we live and experience Christ and we're taken up to glory. The gospel and this message, my dear brethren, is summarized in this word, propitiation.

Now, brethren, what comes ahead, I don't even know what comes ahead, but I ask you, brethren, that you please try to pay attention to the explanation that I'm going to try to give you. It's going to look like a Bible study, because I want that your understanding of propitiation will be established upon this book. You see, when people come to take our lives, when people come to test us, what is going to be manifested is the substance of what it is in your heart. And your heart can only have substance if you are fed the Word of God. And being fed the Word of God is not simply narrate or utter statements that agree with the truth of God.

No. It's much more than that. It's a spiritual activity that, of course, happens through truth. But it has to, as you use the word, sink, I think is the word that you use, right? Go into your heart.

Abide. Take your heart captive. And that happens only through a spiritual activity, beyond seminaries, beyond books, beyond videos online. It happens on your knees before the Lord, and He's the one that feeds you, and He's the one that teaches you. And that happens in the secret place and in the context of the local church.

Secret place and in the local church. Propitiation. How are we going to understand? How am I going to explain to you, my dear, my dear, very dear soul, this concept of propitiation? Well, the first thing that we're going to do is that we're going to put our eyes in the text.

And we are going to ask ourselves simple questions as simple humble students of the Word of God, not lofty minds, simple students of the Word of God. We're going to put our eyes in the text and we're just simply going to observe things and try to be finding from the Scriptures, of course, with the help of the one that speaks. The first thing that I want you to see in verse 2 is that the word propitiation, the word propitiation is given as a characteristic of who? The Lord Jesus Christ, he says, for he himself is the propitiation for our sins. So the first thing that we see here in the text or in the scriptures is that this word propitiation, whatever it means, the description of the meaning that we're going to try to arrive to, whatever that is, This word, propitiation, is a characteristic of the Lord Jesus Christ, or at least it's attached to the Lord Jesus Christ.

It says He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. Then, when we just take a step back and we know our Scriptures, there's another passage of the Scriptures in Romans chapter 3, in which Paul also uses this word, propitiation, and in there, He gives us a little bit more information about this concept of propitiation. He says that when the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross, that was God, the Father, who set forth Christ as a propitiation by his blood. And you can find that in your own time. In Romans 3, verse 25, we are told that what happened upon the cross, my dear brethren, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross was the father putting his son publicly, portraying his son, Jesus Christ, as a propitiation by his blood.

His blood, referring to what happened upon the cross. So, if we take 1 John 2, verse 2, and also we take Romans 3, verse 25, we can just simply conclude that propitiation is something that is related to the Lord Jesus Christ, and more particularly, something that happened at the cross. Easy. And I just simply want to build that through the scriptures for the sake of our hearts and for the sake of our souls, my dear brethren. Propitiation is something that is attached to the Lord Jesus Christ and something that happened at the cross.

Second thing that I want us to notice or see, at least in the text of first John, chapter two, is that propitiation is a difficult word not only to pronounce, but it's also a very difficult topic. A very difficult concept, if you want. And as you have read the New Testament, we can easily conclude that propitiation in nature is a religious term. Propitiation is a religious term. And when I say religions, I don't want you to think about the negative connotation of someone or something being religious.

But rather, when I say that propitiation is something religious, I refer to that propitiation is something that is done within the context of religious ceremonies. You would have think perhaps through the book of Hebrews, where is the other part in which we are told about propitiation? And that is correct. So come with me, please, to Hebrew chapter two and Hebrew chapter two. We will see the other use of that word propitiation.

Hebrew chapter two. First thing that I have said to you, my dear brother and sister, is that propitiation is a concept that is attached to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his work. 1st John chapter 2 verse 2 and Romans chapter 3 verse 25. Second thing that I want us just to see from the scriptures is that propitiation is a religious term. And I hope that you understand what I mean by it.

Ceremonies of religion, something that happens within the context of a religion. And that is, of course, the religion of Judaism. as a religious practices that is attached to the ceremonial system of the people of Israel, which is going to be explained to us very carefully in chapter 2 of Hebrews in verse 14. So what we're going to read there, my dear brother and sister, is the connection that exists between this concept of propitiation as a religious activity of the Jews with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we have proved it from 1 John 2, Romans 3, verse 25. I want you to see the connection now that the Scriptures make between the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and the religious ceremonial system of Israel in the context of propitiation.

From verse 14, my dear soul, my dear brother and dear sister, I'm really sorry that I'm putting you through this. Please bear with me. I really want to present to you something that is very important. Here in verse 14, my dear brother, my dear sister, what I want you to see is how the author is going to speak of the necessity of Jesus Christ becoming a person like us, so that by dying upon the cross, he will accomplish our salvation. And in there, he gives us this concept of propitiation attached to the religious ceremonies of the Jews.

Verse 14, please see that with your eyes in Hebrews chapter 2. Since, therefore, the children share in flesh and blood, he, speaking of Christ, he himself, likewise, partook of the same things, that through death he may destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who, through fear of death, were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham." Speaking of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, becoming like one of us, and it says, he does not save angels, he saves people, the offspring of Abraham. Now he's going to continue in verse 17, continuation of this.

Therefore he, that is, Christ, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he that is Christ might become a merciful and faithful. Here we have it. high priest in the service of God. Here we have a religious ceremony connected to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this case, we are told high priest in the service of God.

It says to or with the purpose of to make propitiation for the sins of the people. So now, my dear brother, my dear sister, what I'm just simply trying to say to you here is that propitiation is a concept that was used for the religious ceremonies of the Old Testament, more particularly for the high priest. And when we see the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, we know that the New Testament speaks of propitiation of that something that is attached to the Lord himself that happened at the cross. I want you to see further information when you turn your page and you come to chapter four, because in chapter four, now we are going to be given either deeper and more information about this concept or this idea of the Lord Jesus Christ being a high priest for the service of God to offer or to make propitiation for our sins. Bear with me, please, in chapter 4, in verse 14.

Further or more information given to us, which is very, very important. Verse 14 of chapter 4, it says, Since then... This is actually the continuation of that argument that is coming from the end of chapter 2. It says, Since then we have a great high priest, that is Christ, right? Who has passed through the heavens Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted, as we are tempted yet without sin.

You see the same principle of chapter 2, that he was made like one of us and that he died to become a high priest? Now it says in verse 16, because, in other words, because we have a high priest who has entered into heaven, it says, verse 16, let us then with confidence drawn near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And it continues. There's no chapters. For every high priest," now the argument of the author of Hebrews starts, "...

for every high priest chosen from among men," that is, from the Jews, from the people of Israel, "...is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins." Here is explaining the office of the high priest, men. in the religious ceremony under the old covenant. It says in verse 2, he that is a high priest, according to that order of men, he can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weaknesses.

Verse 3, "...because of this, he that is the high priest in the flesh, the man..." Think about Aaron, which is what he's going to say now. "...because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins, just as he does for those of the people."

Pay attention to verse 3, and I know that this is a lot of information, my dear brethren, but please bear with me. Here we are told in verse three that the high priest to whom Jesus Christ is compared, this is the high priest under dual covenant. He was in need of offering sacrifices, not only for the people, but also for himself. And he says in verse four, and no one takes dishonor for himself, but only when called by God. And then the explanation is given, just as Aaron was.

You remember Aaron? Who was Aaron? Moses' brother, and also through him will come the high priest, the Levitical priesthood, right? And then it says in verse 5, a very important word, so it says, in the same way, Also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, you are my son today. I have begotten you.

And as he says also in another place, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Difficult explanation and text. Just to say this, bear with me, my dear brother and my dear sister. The concept of propitiation, what we know so far is that it's a religious term that was performed and it was done by the high priest under the old covenant, to whom the Lord Jesus Christ is compared under the new covenant, because Christ is called to be the high priest. Our high priest.

And when we take this concept of propitiation under the new covenant, we are told that this propitiation, whatever it is, is attached to Christ, our high priest, and it happened at the cross. Now, as we know, and because we know and we could build more even things there, because we know of this comparison that the author of Hebrews is doing here, we know that what he's doing is taking the priesthood of the old covenant and making that a shadow for the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that he's saying is that the sacrifices that the priesthood under the old covenant, the sacrifices that they offer, our eye shadow of the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ offered upon the cross. So if we want to understand the concept of propitiation, my dear brethren, we need to see the elements of the propitiatory sacrifices of the old covenant in the high priest. And from there, we will get our definition and our important elements of propitiation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Of course, you will know that when you go through the book of Leviticus, my dear brethren, there will be sacrifices and sacrifices and sacrifices that are offered many and multiple times. There is going to be one sacrifice, of course, that is going to take everything into the activity and is going to present to us the concept of propitiation very clearly. As you will know, that is the Day of Atonement, to which I'm going to invite you to come in Leviticus chapter 16, The verses and the many explanations will come to an end very soon. So please bear with me as I present the definition of propitiation very soon. Leviticus chapter 16, my dear brother, my dear sister, and as you go and see in your Bible, you will see that in chapter 16 you have perhaps even the title, The Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement was the day, only one day per year, in which the high priest will offer, indeed, the sacrifice for the people. And he will offer the sacrifice for himself. And even he will offer the sacrifice for the altar and for the sanctuary. Everything will have to be cleansed by blood. And then the Lord will accept the sacrifice in the Day of Atonement.

And the community, the people of Israel, will be forgiven for their sins. What happened on the Day of Atonement is a propitiatory service, if you want. And I want us to see the important elements of propitiation, that if we don't understand, we don't have the Gospel. My dear brethren, My dear brethren, I want to point your attention to an important verse. First of all, in verse 32, in which you are going to have the summary of the totality of what takes place on the Day of Atonement.

It says, and the priest, in verse 32, in chapter 16, And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priest and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be a statue forever for you. The atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because for because of all their sins. And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses."

That is, simply put, and I'm really sorry that I'm taking you through this whole thing, but simply put, my dear brethren, that is just the summary of the Day of Atonement. What am I trying to do now? What I'm trying to do now is that I want us to see in the Day of Atonement and in the propitiatory activity that the high priest under the Old Covenant performed, I want us to see the elements that we need to have to understand propitiation as it took place upon the cross. It's very important. The verse that we are going to be using to see those elements, as some of you may know, is verse 30.

If you're going to remember something from Bible references is that Leviticus chapter 16, verse 30, encapsulates, if that is a word that you have in English, or brings together all the important elements of propitiation under the old covenant that are then taken under the new covenant to explain to us the death of the Lord upon the cross. That key verse is verse 13. It says, For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. There is a sense in which you could forget everything that I have said so far.

Of course, I don't want you to do that. But if that happens, that happens. But there is a sense in which, if you pay attention and bear with me in this point here, we would have gained a lot of biblical understanding and insight into what propitiation is. Remember, I said to you, propitiation can be easily defined by a theological dictionary that someone shared with you, or a sermon that you heard, or something like this, or someone else's definition of propitiation. Yet, my interest is that you will be able to build that in your heart from the Scriptures itself.

This is going to be the verse. What is the verse, brethren? Leviticus chapter 16 verse. And in that verse, we are going to see the definition of what propitiation is. Now, for us to define what propitiation is, we need to identify four elements that are necessary for the definition of propitiation.

If you do not have these four elements, which are going to be given in the text, we cannot have propitiation. That is important. For us to understand propitiation, we need to have these four elements. If we don't have those four elements, we don't have propitiation. We could have expiation, which we are going to speak about, but we don't have propitiation.

We need to have these four elements. And not only that, brethren, These four elements, they need to happen sequentially. They need to happen in that order. They need to take place, logically, in that order. These four elements.

Otherwise, there's no propitiation. There's no propitiation as it is explained in the New Testament. So, we are going to see, first of all, the four elements that are necessary for us understanding propitiation. First element, my dear brother, my dear sister, for us to have propitiation, we need to have a relationship and relationship that happens between two. And those two are given here in the text, it says, for in this day atonement shall be made for you.

This is the people to cleanse you. You shall be clean. You shall be clean before the Lord. The first element that we need for us to understand propitiation is that there has to be a relationship. And that relationship happens to be between a sinner and the Lord.

That means that propitiation is not something that happens abstractedly. It's not something that happens just simply there in the air. But rather for propitiation to take place, there has to be a sinner and there has to be a Lord. And they have to have a relationship and that is fearful. Because the wages of sin, my dear brethren, is death.

So when I say relationship, I'm not speaking about the positive sense, just simply that they have to be related one to the other. And if there is a sinner, and if there is the Lord, then how fearful that relationship is. Because the only outcome of that relationship is for this sinner to pay for the sins that they have committed in hell. But the first thing that we need for propitiation is a relationship between a sinner and the Lord. Second element that happens after this relationship exists is what we have in that word there.

It says, for on this day shall atonement be made. Second element that needs to be or happen when propitiation is or takes place is atonement. Now, I would love to have the opportunity just to go and ask, give me your definition of atonement. But this is not the way that church is done, I suppose, sadly. But think in your mind, what is your definition of atonement, my dear Christian?

My dear brother and sister, you have been saved for one year, two years, three years, five years, 20 years, 40 years, 50 years, I don't know. The many times that you have read these words, because we have even read them together. What is atonement in your mind? What is the definition? The lost is coming.

You are going to preach the gospel on the streets and someone is coming and say, Hey, I know that you're a Christian and I've been reading the Bible and I heard that term atonement. What is it? Perhaps we might just simply go and Google it and find what atonement is, and then just narrate the definition that we find on Google. But we're not to do so, brethren. Atonement is very easily defined for us, and is defined even in the first chapter of the book of Leviticus.

Every time that you think about atonement, think about the first nine verses of the Book of Leviticus, because in what is narrated there in the first nine verses of the Book of Leviticus is what atonement is. That concept is introduced to us there. Let us quickly read this and just define what atonement is as the second element of propitiation. Verse 1, The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. These are offerings, right?

Animals that are brought as offerings in the tabernacle to be sacrificed. This is what it's saying here, verse 3. If his offering, that is the animal, if his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male with a blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting. He is narrating the whole process, that he may be accepted before the Lord.

He shall lay, the worshipper, he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that is the animal, put the hand on the head, and he shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Let us just read a little bit further in this ceremony. Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron, that is the son's priest, shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, and the son of Aaron, the priest, shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. And Aaron's sons, the priests, shall arrange the pieces of the offering, the sacrifice, the head and the fat and the wood that is on the fire on the altar.

But its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water, and the priests shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a food offering. with a pleasing aroma to the Lord, my brethren. What took place just there in that sacrifice, that burnt offering? A worshiper brought an animal, and this animal is going to operate as a substitution so that when he lays the hand on the head of the animal, the guilt of the person is going to be transferred onto the animal. And then this animal is going to live Or die.

Die. The high priest, together with the worshipper, will offer this sacrifice on the altar and it will be burned. So we have a simple definition of atonement. Atonement, my dear sisters, is just simply a substitutionary sacrifice that is offered on behalf of the sinner that is in relationship to this God. So for propitiation to exist, we need to have relationship between a sinner and between the Lord.

The next thing that we need is atonement to be made. And that atonement is just a substitutionary sacrifice. When I say substitutionary, that means that takes the place of the animal, takes the place of the sinner and is offered as a sacrifice. in behalf of the sinner. When we come back to Leviticus chapter 16, I want to show you the third element that needs to take place after there is atonement.

Atonement is a substitutionary sacrifice that is offered on behalf of the sinner. Verse 30, my dear brother, my dear sister, it says, For on this day shall atonement be made for you to for you to cleanse you. Now, my dear brother, the third element that is necessary for propitiation to take place is that there has to be a cleansing. And here it says, you shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. The third element that there has to be, my dear brother and sister, in propitiation, there has to be a cleansing from the guilt of sin.

When the atonement is offered on behalf of the sinner, then there is a cleansing of the guilt that the sinner has on behalf of God. And that moment of cleansing is called expiation. Expiation is the cleansing of the guilt that the sinner has because they have committed a sin against the Lord. So for you to have propitiation, you need to have a relationship between a sinner and the Lord, an atonement or a substitutionary sacrifice is offered on behalf of the sinner that initially removes the guilt of the sinner that is cleansing the guilt of the sinner or expiating the sinner, removing the guilt of the sin from the sinner so that for element. Satisfaction will take place.

Whose satisfaction? God's satisfaction. Because in this verse 30, once the sacrifice has been offered and the cleansing has been taken place, then the sinner has now the status of clean and he's brought before the Lord, it says. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.

Brethren, four elements of propitiation. And we are going to give the definition, of course. is a relationship between a sinner and the Lord in the need of an atonement to be offered for this sinner as a substitutionary sacrifice so that this sinner will be cleansed, expiation will be cleansed from their guilt of their sins. And by removing the guilt of their sins, this sinner can be brought in the presence of the Lord in which there will be peace and satisfaction. Because, my dear brethren, when we take the opposite of it, the sinner, when the sinner comes before the presence of the Lord, the only thing that the sinner deserves is the wrath of God upon them.

And the fire and the death that came upon the animal, who was the substitutionary sacrifice, is the wrath and is the fire that is supposed legally and justly come upon the sinner because there's no one to intercede. or intermediate for them. These are the four elements of propitiation, my dear brothers and sisters. So we conclude that propitiation is the act of the religious act in which a sinner before the Lord comes with a substitutionary sacrifice that cleanses the sinner from their guilt so that they can be presented in the presence of the Lord after the wrath of God has come upon the substitutionary atonement, removing the guilt of the sinner and allowing that sinner not to be in enmity with the Lord, but rather to have terms of peace. And my dear brother, my dear sister, even though we have heard these many times, every single person who is within the sound of my voice, who is not genuinely in the person of Jesus Christ, every single person that you know, your brother, your sister, your father, your mother, your friend, whoever you know, your co-worker, who is not In the person of Jesus Christ is a person that is not only a sinner, but is in a relation of enmity and in a relationship of wrath with God.

And if that person, whoever that person in your mind is, if that person dies, then when that person dies, they are going to receive the fullness of the wrath that they are not going to be able to consume. And hence, they are going to spend an eternity in hell. But my dear brother and my dear sister, if it happens that by the grace of the Lord, you are a Christian, the wrath that you deserve was fully absorbed by the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, because it happens that for the Christian, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, is that substitutionary sacrifice that was offered on our behalf, on the altar of the cross, so that the fullness of the wrath of God will come upon Him, our guilt will be taken, our expiation will be made on our behalf, But beyond that, the life of God will rescue us to present that before the Lord, because He has absorbed the fullness of the wrath of God. And we are in terms of peace, so that we can say that having been justified by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ, we have obtained peace. With the Lord, we are not in enmity anymore, and we are not to be fearful of the genuinely fearful wrath of God, because, dear brethren, there's absolutely nothing more terrifying than for a sinner to fall into the hands of the Living God.

There's absolutely nothing worse than for a person to die in their sins. There's no disease, there's no problem, there's no difficulty of the flesh or the mind that compares with the fact or with the possibility that a person will die in their sins and they will have to give an account before the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ was that atonement upon the cross and propitiation took place upon there, so that God would be satisfied with the offering, the sacrifice that was given upon the cross on your behalf. so that you will be made free, not only from your sin, but from your guilt. And you can come before the presence of the Lord.

That is what Hebrews says. Because we have this high priest who has entered into the heavenly places, we can come with boldness. What does propitiation accomplish? The first thing, my dear brother, sister, propitiation, the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes the fullness of your salvation. Come with me very quickly, please, and I will conclude very soon to Hebrews chapter 10.

The author of Hebrews, after he has spoken not only about the high priest, but the many sacrifices that were offered, not even in one day, but in every single day, he will come to this glorious conclusion in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11. Hebrews 10, verse 11, and every priest stands daily at his service, speaking of the human priest, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. Brethren, I truly, we ought to hear those words. This ceremonial system of the old can never take away sins. Never.

It says in verse 12, But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering, or atonement if you want, He has perfected for all times those who are being sanctified. And imagine who are those who are being sanctified, brethren? The church, those who by grace through faith. come to a genuine encounter with the power of the gospel and they're genuinely transformed and they genuinely become Christians, then they are absolutely not only forgiven, but they are being sanctified in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And there's absolutely not only no other sacrifice to be offered, but absolutely nothing to be done. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in the person of Christ Jesus. Absolutely nothing can separate the soul of the person who has been genuinely saved. Do you see why genuine salvation is so important? Because false conversions and false salvations will never accomplish for a soul what genuine salvation accomplishes and does.

What genuine salvation does, my dear brother and sister, is removing the wrath that a person deserves, apart from Christ. We deserve the wrath of God upon us because of the sins, the many sins that we have committed, continue to commit, and we will commit in the future. Yet, it pleases the Lord that in His love and in His mercy, He will save you and the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ will fully accomplish your salvation. There's a second thing that it accomplishes, my dear brother and sister. One with which, at times, the Calvinist is very uncomfortable.

And that is the second half there of verse 2, in 1 John chapter 2, that he says that he is a propitiation, not only for the sins of the Christian, but it says that it's also the propitiation, and the ESV very clearly adds the word there, sins, for the sins of the whole world. And that instead of causing some theological discomfort in the heart of a person, it should cause reason to rejoice, my dear brother and my dear sister, because the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the propitiation not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. How are we going to understand that? Are we going to say that the Savior died upon the cross and His sacrifice was accepted by the Father and that He died for a person and that that person ends up in hell? Are we going to say that the Lord Jesus Christ received the fullness of the wrath of God upon the cross for our soul and that for some reason this soul is going to end up in hell, paying for his own or her own sins?

Of course not. The Scriptures clearly say that it was only one sacrifice and that that single sacrifice is making perfect those who are united to Him. And that is because, the first thing that I said to you, propitiation fully and completely accomplishes salvation for those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died." That is, for those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross, there is absolutely nothing that can separate them from the love of God, because the propitiation of their sins happens to be the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. But at the same time, my dear brethren, this world is saved by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the church, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, which is the same statement that the Apostle John has. The Lamb, the sacrifice who takes away the sin of the world, because this Lamb of God is indeed the propitiation for the sins of the world. And how are we going to explain that? Are we going to make maneuvers, theological maneuvers, and just to go into this or there and then just enforce it into our minds? No, brethren, it's more simple than what we think.

Just simply think about the judgment of the Lord. The Lord has already judged the world and the Lord has already saved the world. And that happened to happen thousands of years ago with the flood. The world was condemned and the world was judged by God, wasn't it? But at the same time, the world was saved by the Lord.

And not only the world in the people who were in the ark, but the world itself, the cosmos. When the judgment of God was supposed to destroy the world, it actually accomplished that. The world was destroyed by the flood. The flood came and destroyed absolutely everything. And people were judged by the Lord.

But at the same time, my dear brethren, The Lord saved the world and the way that the Lord saved the world was in the salvation of eight souls who, by God's grace, made it into the ark. And the Lord saved humanity. Even though millions of people died, the Lord saved humanity. And He was the Savior, not only of the physical world, but He was the Savior of humanity. In saving Noah and his family, the Lord indeed saved the whole world, because after many days of rain, and after many days of the waters being covering the earth, the fullness of the earth, then the earth emerged, after the judgment had passed.

The world now had been prepared for those who had made it into the ark of the Lord, and when they came out of the ark, Everyone could say that, yes, God has judged the world. Yet, God has condemned the world, not only people, but even the whole world. And at the same time, God has saved the world and God has saved humanity. Even if only one person is saved. Even if only two people are saved by virtue of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, and even if those two people die and they are resurrected into glory and they reign with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord would have saved the world.

Because my dear brother and my dear sister, everything that we see is going to pass away and the new heavens and the new earth will come and exist and take place. And you know why there will be new heavens and new earth? Because Christ died upon the cross. The hope that we have of new heavens and new earth is accomplished by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. That's why creation is groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Because when the sons of God are manifested, then everything that has been created, the cosmos, the world will be remade in righteousness because the Lord came to save the world. And humanity is going to be saved. Two people only saved, three people only saved, the Lord would have saved humanity and He's indeed the Savior of the world. All humanity deserved to perish, all humanity deserved to disappear, but in the salvation and even I could go beyond, but it will be too complicated, even in the Incarnation itself. The world is already saved because he pleased the triune God that he will condescend in the second person on the Trinity to become like one of us.

And when he was mightily resurrected as one man, humanity was already saved in the person of Jesus Christ and in him, those who are united to him. What does propitiation accomplish? Propitiation accomplishes the fullness of the salvation of your soul, brethren. If there is hope for us to go and preach the gospel, it's because God has saved the world in the person of Jesus Christ, because He has saved this world. And the hope that we have that we are going to eat an apple or a nectarine in the new heavens and new earth and enjoy the fullness of the creation of God without sin and without death is because Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away The sin of the world.

And that is true, my dear brother and my dear sister. The third thing that I want to see very briefly, I said to you the definition of propitiation, what propitiation accomplishes. And the third thing I just want to point to you, two things that propitiation reveals. And we conclude there. Please come with me to Romans chapter 3.

Two things, two things propitiation reveals. The first one of those is found in Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Please come there to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3.

Remember, my dear brethren, here I want to show you two things, the first one of those, that propitiation reveals. And when I say reveals, it demonstrates, manifests, That is found here in verse 23 onwards. It says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. This is the verse that I think I quoted before, whom God put forward or set forth as a propitiation by His blood. And then it says, the propitiation is to be received by faith.

And then it gives the purpose. Pay attention to the purpose in the ESV. It's written this way in your other translations. It's also clearly, you can see it there. It says, this was to show.

You may have to demonstrate or worship something like this. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It was, he's going to add to the explanation, it was to show his righteousness at the present time. So that he that is God might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ Jesus, in Jesus. My dear brother, it says.

that the propitiation that is in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is to be received by faith, it was to show God's righteousness. The righteousness of God was revealed, it will say in Romans chapter one, verse 16, is the gospel reveals or shows the righteousness of God because in former times or it says because in his divine forbearance, he has passed over the former sins. And it says it was to show the righteousness at the present time so that he may be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Now, my dear brother, knowing that I have spoken very long and having many things to say, I have to choose in the first one or two seconds, one of the three things that I wanted to share with you. And I'm extending my voice so that I could choose wisely.

My dear brother and my dear sister, in your life, In your Christian life, as you experience in your heart this of being a Christian, many times because of the unrighteousness that still dwells in you, and many times because of the sins that you commit, And the things that you fall into and again, and the sins that you repent of, and there are times you will again commit and you will come to the Lord and say, Lord, forgive me. And you're broken before the Lord because of the dynamics of the Christian life. At times when we're growing up in maturity and in Christ likeness and we are developing and we're growing in the spirit and we're growing in the light. The many times that we fall into those sins are going to be used not only by your flesh, but by Satan. Yes, Satan and demons, yes, demons, they exist, Satan and demons, to bring senses of condemnation upon you, that because of the sins that you have committed, at times will take you to forget that you have been cleansed, as 2 Peter 1 says, to forget that you have already been cleansed from your former sins, and it will take you to a point of self-condemnation in your heart to make you walk in a defeated, powerless Christian life with the sense and with the burden that you are guilty and that even perhaps you're not even in Christ.

Now brethren, think about that in light of what propitiation is. Think about the lie that your flesh and that Satan will bring upon you when you have fallen in sin and when you have fallen in unrighteousness or wickedness, this sense of condemnation upon you experientially to the point that at times the Christian may even doubt their condition before the Lord. Yet in the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed, my dear brethren. And when He said, I forgive you, it's not that He took your sins illegally and He just put them under the rack or they just just throw the sins that let's just not pay attention to the sins that you have committed. But rather, my dear brother, my dear sister, in the propitiation and in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, The Lord God of this universe can be found to be just and the justifier of the ungodly, if the ungodly has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because once a person has genuinely had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that person is utterly and completely forgiven. And more than that, that person is made just. And not even Satan is able to bring a case against the person who has been genuinely forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ, because in the gospel and in the propitiation of the Lord, the righteousness of the Lord is fully revealed. He has demonstrated that the forgiveness that He has given you is not only a manifestation of what He cares for your soul, but it's also a manifestation of His justice, and it's also a manifestation of His righteousness. What can actually separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus?

Absolutely nothing, and even if the saint does not feel the forgiveness, even if the saint does not experience the forgiveness, the justification that a person has received is fully incomplete from the moment of salvation to the moment of eternity. There is no righteousness that we gain or there's no justification that we add onto our condition or status. The righteousness of God has been fully revealed in the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ for your soul. And Christ, my dear brother and sister, died for your soul, for that particular purpose. The second thing that we see in the propitiation is found in 1 John 4.

Please come here. This is a verse that we have mentioned many times. The first thing that the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ reveals is the righteousness of God. He is the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ Jesus. And thirdly, my dear brother, my dear sister, in 1 John chapter 4, the second thing that the propitiation of Christ or we could even say propitiation of God, reveals this in verse 9.

In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we may live through him. Verse 10. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us, see the progression here, He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Brethren, my dear brethren, many times when we are hearing someone preaching about these matters and about things of righteousness and love, We are tempted to receive the message in a collective way. He is speaking to us.

And it's true that the preacher is speaking to the congregation in the collective sense. And it is even true that when John was writing these words, he was speaking collectively to his audience and to the church that was receiving these words. But brethren, the power of the gospel that was so clearly manifested in the Thessalonians, remember what I said to you in the beginning about the Thessalonians, that Paul knew of their choosing and the election because the gospel had come in power in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance? The reason why Paul was so certain is because in each one of the hearts of the members of that church, the power of this gospel had been made clear. That is, not only the righteousness of God had been revealed in the hearts of each one of these persons, but also the love of God had been clearly communicated to each one of the hearts of the members of the church in Thessalonica, to the point that the abundance of the Holy Spirit brought to them much assurance, full conviction of their state, My dear brother, my dear sister, when our Father, who is in heaven, in eternity past, loved us, He decided to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to this world and to die upon the cross.

And when that took place upon the cross, that was the manifestation, brethren, brethren, that was the manifestation of the love of God for your soul. the love of God for the soul, for your heart and for your mind, the many sins that you have committed, the many things that we have done, the many commandments that we have broken, the many thoughts that we have had against the Lord. Yet it pleased the Lord to manifest his love towards us in choosing his son to be sent to die upon the cross, that on that cross he will receive the fullness of the wrath that we deserve and that we could be forgiven. I said to you in the limitations of my thoughts and of my mind, my dear brethren, that the power, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. It is indeed the power of God unto salvation, because when this message is clearly communicated to the heart of the sinner, and when that sinner is visited with the genuine love of God, then there is no other outcome, rather than full transformation, that to take up our crosses and to follow the one who died upon the cross, to take up our crosses and to set our minds on things above and not on things of the earth, to count it all lost, to count it all done for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, not to set our minds on the things that are passing away, but rather to set our minds on things above where Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father.

And you know what? Our lives are hid in Christ with God. And when He appears, when He reveals Himself unto us, my dear brethren, we will be like He is, and the fullness of the manifestation of the love of God will be seen. And not only that we will be restored to a new body and that we will receive a name from the Lord Jesus Christ, but that when our eyes are opened in the new heavens and the new earth, we will witness in each one of the saints around us the love and the righteousness of God, as it was manifested and given to the world in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. And not only that, but the fellowship of community that the church will have in eternity will be so profound and will be so beautiful.

And not because of the love that one will have with the other, but because there will be one among the brethren, who even though is like them, is not like them. There will be one among the brethren, who even though has come descended to speak the words and to be like them, even to look like them, there's one among the brethren who is like them, yet is not like them. And the condescension of God will not only be seen upon the cross, but will also be seen in eternity, because this one who is among the brethren, who is like them, yet is not like them, will remain like a man for the rest of eternity. And his name is Christ Jesus. The wounds in his hand and the pierced side will be there to witness and to be a testimony for all of these people that are around me that had been saved.

He will say, of course, not me. that had been saved and redeemed by peer. Brethren, this word that in our times now has no meaning. Love. He loved us and he gave himself for us.

What is the value of life? Absolutely nothing. The only one who takes value is Christ. And that is the only important thing. Absolutely nothing else matters.

The only one who matters is Christ and Christ enthroned in the heart of these saints. And brethren, I rejoice that I know that He is enthroned in some of your hearts. I rejoice to know that even though the failures and the things that we do and the shortcomings of our feebleness and the things that we do, that He is in your hearts. And we are to rejoice that He is indeed in our hearts and that He has saved us and He has redeemed us. Amen.

Amen.