1 Peter chapter 1, would like to ask that you stand as I read the word of God. And this is 1 Peter chapter 1, beginning in verse 18. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot who barely was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your souls, and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto the unfeign love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

For all flesh is as of grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Let us look to our Lord now once again in a word of prayer. Our most gracious heavenly father, would you thank you for your love to us, mercy and grace and what you care over us.

We thank thee our Lord for this day. This is the day the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. We're thankful to our Father for this time to meet the church here, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Hortense. We're thankful for this membership.

We are certainly thankful for our pastor, brother David and his family and the Friendship and the bond and everything that we have Lord we thank you and praise you we ask Father that you would Bless the ministry here and bless both Brother David and his family and the church here. Lord, we ask that you would just continue to lead, guide, and protect in all that we do. We ask that as our brethren have prayed for us as we travel, and as my wife and mother-in-law travel to meet us, Lord that you keep them safe and then as we depart and travel back to our homes that you keep us safe. I ask Lord that you lead us and guide us now in the ways that are right and pleasing in thy sight. Father I ask that you be with me as I serve, and give me liberty and ability to present Thy word in truth and in love.

And if there are any here today that know you're not a Savior, we pray that this would be the day of salvation. They come to know you in the full part in the forgiveness of sin. Forgiveness of our sins, may thy will be done, and these things we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, may you be seated. Well, I'll tell you the message, I am redeemed.

I am redeemed. I'm not going to go ahead and catalog everything of 2020. I don't think that we want to go down that road. Throughout the course of that though, kind of towards the latter end as we're starting to look towards 2021, I started a mini series of messages and Brother David's heard a couple of those messages actually that I titled, I don't think you heard this one though, maybe, I don't know, but anyway, I titled the series Keep On Keeping On and it was about six weeks leading into 2021. And then I went in two weeks after as an encouragement to God's children.

And so I didn't harp all the way through 2020 with everything. I mean, certainly I don't think that any man of God was unable to then stand behind a pulpit and not mention anything, right? Faith over fear and those types of messages. And so then I moved into 20... Well, I didn't, but we all moved into 2021.

And this was the first message of 2021 that I preached back at our church. So it's going to give you a little flavor of the whole keep on, keeping on messages and then kind of that kick start encouragement as we move and keep moving on in 2021. And so again, we won't we won't go through all of that, but I have this marked in here, no idea what Brother David was going to preach today and certainly no idea what I was going to preach. We didn't talk about any of that. But at the end of the day, with all of 2020 and all of 2021 I have right here, I won't have you turn there, but I said and with everything and I mean everything going on, I said Roman day 28 has never changed.

I literally wrote that in there. And so I'll just give you that and we'll be able to move on because it was adequately preached just a few moments ago. And so a couple things in the introduction before I give you the two parts that I'm going to say. So I titled the message, I am redeemed and we will certainly be talking about that but I want you to remember a couple things. Now we're in March and we are certainly under the Biden administration at the time that I wrote this or the Lord gave me this sermon.

It had not been January 20th yet and so I'm still thinking hey maybe not right so but so at the time but now now we are so I got to look through and I made a couple of little different highlights. But these truths are still the same. Two things to get you thinking about before the two parts of the sermon in there. So no matter what challenge in life, and brother David and his family certainly know some in this past year, but no matter what challenge in life, I want you to remember a couple things in your life, whether it's spiritual, personal work or anything else, we have to do two things. And The first one is this.

I want you to remember to take one step at a time, because that's all you can do. You know, none of us know how to do more than that. You can run a little bit quicker, but it's still one foot in front of the other, right? Always remember this too, We are not in a sprint in this life. This is a marathon.

We're in it for the long haul and so we're here While we're here on this earth, we can't see the finish line. I can't see the physical finish line We got excited when we could see the end of the truck, right? So That was exciting, but we don't know what all of this life has to offer. We can't see the end, but we know that we're going to take it one step at a time, no matter what. No matter what happens in 2021, 2022, unless the Lord come back and that we know what that line is all about.

We go be with our Lord in glory. Well, we don't know all the obstacles that come our way. We know this life has challenges, so again I ask you to take them one step at a time. It has been shown that an average of the marathon runners, the 26.2 miles of the marathon, I mean I just ran my last one two weeks ago. No, I'm just kidding, I'm not a marathon runner, I'm not a runner at all.

David was like, he didn't know such a thing, he's not going to let that go is he? But watch this, of the 26.2 miles it is estimated that there is somewhere depending on the runner and the stride, there is somewhere between 55 to 62 thousand steps in those 26.2 miles. And do you know how that rotor completes that race? One step at a time. It's the only way they can.

We can't levitate, we can't skip it, We can't do any of those other things. They take all 62 or 55 to 62, 000 steps one step at a time. And that's what we can do beloved. So don't give up. Don't back out.

Stay in the fight. Find the good, find the faith. God is not through with us yet. How do I know? Because we're still here.

We haven't been taken away. So God is not through with us yet. And so we are grateful for that. Alright, now let's just begin the introduction. So the first part of the introduction was you got to take this line, right, one step at a time.

And then the second part is we have something that the worldly runner does not have. Alright, you know where it's going. And while certainly we can't see that finish line, we the children of God can know something we can know that the author, we can know what? We can know the author at the finish of our day that he has run that race and he has the victory there is victory in Jesus Christ so we as God's children we can know something different than even that marathon runner now there are undoubtedly some say marathon runners all right but we can know as we take one step at a time that there is victory in Jesus Christ. Let me show you here this in Hebrews chapter and this was really my main text throughout the course of the eight weeks that I preached this, eight or nine.

It's Hebrews chapter 12 and it's verses one and two and it says, Wherefore, and I won't go back, but generally whenever you see it wherefore, you want to see what it's there for. So you go back and see all of the men and women of faith. But seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lie inside every weight in the scene which so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Now watch this, here's that second part, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher, so there is that finish of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shaman and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. It took me eight weeks to go through that.

I'm not going to be able to dissect it for you in the next fifteen. I promise. But there's a lot of good stuff in there, right? That's how we do it. We get to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

We can know that the Lord, if you are a child of God this morning, we can know, not assume, but we can know that the Lord if you are a child of God this morning we can know not assume but we can know that the Lord is with us all the way through this race of life all the way through so one step at a time knowing that we can look to the author and finish of our faith and we hear that are the children of God that have been saved by the grace of Almighty God back to the time of the message can know that we are redeemed. Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And so look into the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, so that's the things that we can do. That's a little bit of a summary there.

So now I have two parts. First of all, we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And secondly, the redeemed can run the race. All right. So the redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Beloved, by the grace of God, I stand before you this morning, a sinner saved by grace, and I am redeemed. A sinner that has been saved by the grace and covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I stand before you this morning, not covered by anything that the world has to offer, not by anything corruptible that we read in our text in 1 Peter. I stand before you a redeemed child of God by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it said in our text if you would just turn back there for a moment back in 1st Peter chapter 1 and verse 18 and 19.

For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things. That's what we said as the silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blood and without spot. That's how I'm redeemed. By the blood of the lamb of Jesus Christ. So you see, the answer to all of our sin problems, and we all have a sin problem.

Romans 3.23 tells us that we all have a sin problem. Romans 3.23, for we have all sinned, or I'm sorry, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We all have sin problem. It says in Romans 5 12, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sin. So the answer to our sin problem is not at the time I wrote it President Trump and the answer to our sin problem is not Biden.

Our hope, our salvation, our answer is not in an administration. Our hope is not in a vaccination. Our hope is not in any of those things, but our hope, our set fast hope, is in Jesus Christ. And the word hope, as you study it in the scriptures isn't used like you and I would use it today. I hope that the U-Haul makes it from Ohio to Georgia.

I hope that it did, but I didn't have the assurance that it would. When you study the scriptures, I'm going to give you a verse, that way you know I'm not going all cuckoo crazy. When you study the scriptures and the word hope is used, it is used as a steadfastness, something you can be assured of and as soon as I show you that scripture you're going to be like, yeah, so let me turn you over there in a second. So it's not like a U-Haul trying to make it. Listen, our hope is not as I said in an administration we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ who is our hope steadfastly and sure now you know the verse probably in Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 19 and So it says in Hebrews 6 19, which hope, what, we have as an anchor of the soul, both short and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil.

I know from the scriptures that Jesus Christ is the solid anchor soul, rock and everything in my life and He is the Lamb who saves and it was His blood that was shed and so we can know that we have this whole and an anchor of the soul redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ I am redeemed I am born again and covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. And if you're here today having not been or not knowing the Lord, having been saved by His amazing grace, that's your greatest need. There is no greater need in your life than to be covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. And I can't give it to you. I can't save you.

You all know this. I know you know this. Your pastor can't save you, your grandparents can't save you, but Jesus can. Jesus saves. Alright.

So, it's all about the salvation that is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about the blood, the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Back in our text, I'm going to read it one more time, get you familiar with it of course. It says here again in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 18. It says once again, it says that you are not, as you know, that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver or gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as the Lamb without blood which without spot to the child of God I don't know that there is anything more precious than the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for me.

Me who deserve, I mean all that sinning from short of the glory of God. Jesus shed His blood for me. It is Jesus' blood that gives that redemption that sinners need. The blood that frees us from the power, or from sin's power. In Romans chapter 6 verse 14, because it is Christ that is able to take over the darkness of sin.

In Romans 6 verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace. Acts 16, 31 says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. We'll need, and brother, even I, it's a privilege of preaching many places together and all of that. We don't need these lights to dim all of a sudden. I don't need to get any fog going in here And get some music going.

What's going to give you the word? And the word says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's what the word says. God is able. God is able to say, the blood is never and will never lose its saving power.

Ever. There's power in the blood. There is power in the blood. And so I ask you today, no I'm not closing, I'm just asking you today, can you say that you are redeemed? Because I say to you again, it is Jesus Christ the Lord that saves.

He is able, nothing else in this world, only the Lord Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. I had it. A little tired this weekend, okay? So John 3.16, Forgot some of the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

And that in him was really important, that I was forgetting. Believeth in him. It's all about Jesus Christ. I'm thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ took away the chains of sin and set me free. No one will ever be saved by any other means than by the blood of Jesus Christ.

No church, no religion, no works, No preacher, no good deeds, nor anything else can save the soul, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Amen. I'm thankful to be able to sing, redeemed, how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Don't you love those old hymns? Aren't they glorious?

Oh, they're so wonderful. Alright, secondly. So it's the redeemed. It's those that have been saved by the grace of Almighty God, that have been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. Listen, that's who this is written to.

It's written to, and then Hebrews, I'm sorry, that's who that scripture is written to. Written to believers and so on, and it is the redeem that can run the race. Again, Brother David adequately already explained to you, and I'm sure throughout the course of the year that he was traveling, and I don't know anybody that has put more miles on a vehicle in the last year than Brother David, or two vehicles, or three, however many used to come down this way. He didn't get out of that race, did he? No.

No, they stayed in it. They stayed in it and here they are. And I'm going to get emotional for you all. So the redeemed can stay in the race, taking it one step at a time. Towards the end, it was very quick.

That felt like a sprint, but he's here now in the marathon again. Praise the Lord. Amen. So it's to us folks that can run this race. To stay in and find the good fight of faith.

And so no matter what 2021 brings, that's what I wrote before January 20th, it was funny. I didn't know exactly, none of us knew exactly what 2021 was going to bring right within the first six or seven or six or seven days. I then preached a sermon about six or like two weeks later, cataloging everything that kind of happened in those first six or seven days. And it blew my mind, you know, I was like, wow, I just didn't think that we'd keep going with this but it seems to be calming just a smidge I'll tell you it was refreshing to walk around Brunswick a bit yesterday or wherever we ended up I don't even know you know I know we ended up on the island a little bit freezing cold even for an Ohio road out there by the water by the way. So, okay.

I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, neither do you, but we know the one who holds to tomorrow and he's left us here and let's keep on running the race folks. All right let's keep on running. Looking unto Jesus as we read the author, finisher, our faith, we must look to our Redeemer and we must Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is with us. Listen to this verse, you know it very well. There's no doubt in my mind.

It's in the book of Matthew, it's chapter 28, and it's verse 20. Matthew chapter 28 and verse 20, again, no doubt in my mind if you're familiar to see with it. But this is what it's taught, and here's what we're doing, right? We're gonna look to our Redeemer, and I want you to see the little end of this. It says, in Matthew 28, 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you, And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Amen. I'll never forget Brother Hobbes, of course, Brother David's grandpa. When I first was preaching and sitting under his ministry, I would read that real fast. And I would just say, and though I'm with you always, even at the end of the world, they went, amen. I put an S on me in there, where there isn't an S there.

And Brother Hobbes, he said, can I teach you something? I'm like, no, I don't want to learn anything. Yeah, of course. He said, I want you to look at that word. He said, you said always.

I said, I did. I said, isn't the Lord always with us? He said, yes, He is. He said, but I want you to see there where it says all the way. I said, okay.

He said, that word there means all the way. Right? So He is always with us. We have scriptures that say that. But what a nice impact that Jesus Christ is with us all the way.

All the way through this life, and again that's not original to me, but I won't forget that. Even until the end of the world. Amen. All the way. Another lesson that we can draw from this passage is the truth that in this life there can be some discouragements, but it doesn't have to be a discouraging run.

There can be some discouragements, but it doesn't have to be a discouraging run. There can be some discouragements, but it doesn't have to be a discouraging run. It can be a fulfilling adventure. I like to tell some stories that I guess you can tell here, and I'm trying to cram a lot in, but last thing I'll mention is story-wise before I really wrap all of this up. So we did bring the truck, do feel bad about the ruts at the beginning there, but that wasn't even the biggest part of my fears as I was driving down this lane.

He told me it was going to be a dirt road as we're coming in and there was some stuff we wanted to pick up here and things like that. We said this could be our last adventure for this weekend. I'll tell you what, when you come up with a 28 foot truck and you see some of those water holes that you all drove through coming here, you're thinking to yourself, am I going to get this you-all stuff down at home? And so that was an adventure, but we made it. Right?

We didn't have to get discouraged by that. We kept going. We didn't back out. We said, let's go. And we finished.

So remember, folks, that the redeemed can run this race. We can run it. Let that be a peace and assurance in our lives. Our Lord is at the right hand of God the Father. So When the clouds of discouragement begin to gather, because they'll come, we can remember that our Savior is on His throne.

He sits at the right hand of the throne of God. And one day we're going to go be with Him. You remember John chapter 14. One day we're going to go be with Him, and I'm about to close here. In John chapter 14, beautiful, beautiful reminder, beautiful verses.

It says in verse 1, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me and my Father's house or many mansions if it were not so I would have told you. I go to repair a place for you. Even if I go to repair a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also. And whether I go you know in the way you know, You know what?

Jesus Christ is there and he promised that he's gonna take us there. And for me that's enough sunshine on even the cloudiest of days. So don't be discouraged in a discouraging world. I mean it happens, but get through it, right? Looking unto Jesus, the author and finish of our faith.

Run the race. Keep on keeping on. May God use His Word and the blessing to it. Turn the server to sleep.