Over the last few weeks, I've
brought several messages to you concerning this matter of the
blood. I tell you, it's so important. Most people, they don't like
to see blood. They don't like to talk about
blood. It doesn't seem like it bothers
me as long as it's not mine. For the most part, we don't like
this matter of blood. Sometimes a wound doesn't even
have to hurt to bother us. The blood gets to us. Have you ever noticed, well I
know you have, a little child will worry about even just a
little drop of blood on his finger. We're just like that. But it's
so important. It's so important to see what
the Scriptures say about this matter of the blood. And I want
us to come back to it again this morning. I want to begin reading
in Hebrews chapter 9. And I'm going to read from verse
1. The apostle says, Then, verily,
the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly
sanctuary. He's referring to what he just
finished saying in the previous chapter. Verse 2, he said, For
there was a tabernacle made, the first wherein was the candlestick,
and the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary,
or the holy. And then after the second veil,
the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all, which had
the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid round
about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna,
and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant,
and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat
of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these
things were thus ordained, the priest went always into the first
tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the
second, that is, the holiest of all, went the high priest
alone, once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself
and for the errors of the people. The Holy Ghost thus signifying
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest
while as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a
figure For the time then present, in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices, they could not make him that did the service
perfect as pertaining to the conscience, which stood only
in meats and drinks. And divers are different washings. and carnal ordinances, imposed
on them until the time of Reformation. But Christ, being common high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood,
He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God. And for this cause He is the
mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there
must also in necessity be the death of the testator. For a
testament is of force after men are dead, otherwise it is of
no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither
the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses
had spoken every precept, to all the people, according to
the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water,
and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and
all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament
which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with
blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and
without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore
necessary that the pattern of things in the heavens should
be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with blood of others. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
when Moses, verse 19, had spoken every precept to the people.
According to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats
with water, scarlet wool, hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and
all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament
which God hath enjoined unto you." Thinking about this, thinking
about how blood affects us. Can you imagine our first parents,
Adam and Eve, when that animal was slain for
that first sacrifice? It had to have been their first
sight of blood. I don't know if it was. It's
never mentioned before. But can you imagine how it must
have affected them? They tried other ways of clothing
themselves before a holy God. They tried other ways of covering
their nakedness before a holy God. But God required a sacrifice. Sin demands death. It demands
our death. Our only hope is that one who
takes our place. Our only hope is that substitute. I wonder what their thoughts
were about this blood. I wonder what they thought when
they saw this blood. You know, this maybe, when they
saw that, When they saw that animal die, and they saw that
blood, maybe it gave them some insight into the sinfulness of
their sin. Made them realize a little bit
about what that rebellion against the Lord God of Heaven was. Probably gave them a little bit
more understanding Those words, God said, in the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now they truly understood
what those words mean. They saw death. They saw the
sentence of sin executed on this animal. They saw what sin did
to a beautiful creature. They saw what sin did to an innocent
creature. It died. And that innocent creature
died because of their sin. I just let my mind wander a little
bit this week thinking about this matter. I tried to put myself in their
place. I couldn't do it. We see blood
all the time. We see it on TV. We see it in
the newspapers. See it all the time. The children
see it in their games. And it's to the point now where
death doesn't mean a whole lot because we see one die and the
next week we see him back again. Maybe in another place, but we
see him again. And then to think about Adam and Eve as time passed and then they
saw the death of their son. They had to have seen the blood
of their son. They had to have been reminded
of their first sighting of blood from that sacrifice, that first
sacrifice that was slain because of their sin. And they were reminded one more
time of the horribleness of sin. All over again, it started all
over again when they saw their own sons' blood shed. And that's the way blood always
is. We see in blood the destruction
of life. There was not one sacrifice that was wounded. They were killed. They died. You didn't find a sacrifice that
was wounded just a little bit to draw out a portion of its
blood to make satisfaction. The law requires death. And the shedding of that life's
blood, that's what it's talking about. Death. Death. Death. The law requires death. Sacrifice
wasn't just wounded to draw out a little bit of blood. It was
death. In that blood, we see the destruction
of life. Blood was constantly used to
instruct Israel concerning the guilt of sin, concerning the
horribleness of sin, always. Blood was always used to instruct
Israel in the greatness of the atonement that was necessary
to put sin away. It's not going to be just a wounding.
It's going to require death. And you know, if you read the
list of the many beasts that were slain at that tabernacle,
in a single day, you'll see that the priest must have stood, I
can't even imagine, I try to imagine, but my mind just won't
let me imagine how the gore in which those priests stood from the slaying of these animals,
their garments. Their garments had to have been
covered with blood. Let me tell you something, the
Lord God of Heaven intended it to be this way. What all that talk was What a
loathsome and detestable thing sin is before a holy God. As I mentioned before, just on
the day of that Passover, after they had selected the lamb, checked
it over, kept it for four days, and then those lambs were slain. The blood was taken, put on the
door post of the house. It's estimated by those who estimate
these kind of things that 250,000 lambs were slain on that day. There's only one conclusion that
we can come to in this, if we could just see What a loathsome
and a detestable thing sin is if it required the sacrifice
of these animals. Just those that were brought.
Just those that thought that they needed a sacrifice. Oh,
what a loathsome and horrible thing, detestable thing sin must
be. All of this talk that it takes
A sacrifice whose value is mind-boggling. Inconceivable. A great sacrifice to put away
sin. That's how loathsome and how
horrible it is in God's sight. I don't know how much blood is
sickening to you. But I can tell you this, ever
how sickening it is, sin is infinitely more sickening and reviling and
detestable before a thrice holy God. To some, to imagine having
to be washed in the blood. And sinners plunged beneath that
flow, washed in that blood. The blood
of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Covered by the blood. Even think about those things.
It has to be sickening. But to those who know their sin,
They'll come God's way. They'll come through that fountain
filled with blood. No one knows. Oh, we take all the blood of
those goats and those calves and we put it all together and
we see that it could never take away one sin. But the blood of Christ could.
How could we ever imagine the preciousness of the blood of
Christ? And we can never know the preciousness
of His blood until we've seen and felt our own sin. Until we've
felt our own uncleanness. We've felt our own unworthiness
before a holy God. We'll never come to Christ until
we see what our sin really deserves. That law will drive us to the
Lord Jesus Christ. That was the purpose of the law. We throw up our hands in hopelessness
when we see all these sacrifices. And we see that all these sacrifices
were fulfilled in Christ, complete in Him. And we see how this high
priest went every day, every year, into that most holy, that
holiest of all, and offered those sacrifices, offered that blood,
sprinkling that altar. All that He did. He could never
take away sin. And then we turn around and we
see that the blood of Jesus Christ, one who died once for all time,
doesn't have to repeat it, how it takes away our sin. We see
just a little bit about who He is. There must be something very
special about this sacrifice. And that brings us to conclude
that that's what our sin really deserves. That ought to cause us to rejoice
in that which calls the Savior to give Himself as a ransom for
us, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.
That's what's called here in this passage of Scripture, verse
20, the blood of the Testament. This is the blood of the Testament.
This. This is the blood of the covenant.
That word used means both covenant and testament. The blood of Jesus
is the blood of the covenant. Before this world was ever made,
the Lord God of heaven determined to make man. Man would fall into
sin. And out of that fall, God's distinguishing
grace and infinite sovereignty selected a multitude that no
man can number to be his. But having offended God, a way
had to be made by which the justice of God would be fully satisfied,
and yet the Lord God of heaven could still show mercy. So a
covenant was made. A covenant not with us, but between the Father, the Son,
the Holy Spirit. And it was agreed and sworn to
by the oath of the Eternal Father that He would give to the Son
a multitude that no man could number who would be His. And the Savior accepted these
as His own. And for them He undertook on
himself to keep the law, every precept, to obey every precept
of God's law for us. And then also to suffer
the punishment of our sin. Suffer all the penalties that
were due to us for all of our offenses against this holy law. And he covenanted that he would
keep and preserve every one of them until the day of his appearing. And on that covenant, sworn to by God the Father, sealed
by the blood of the Son, applied by the Spirit of God. The salvation
on that covenant, the salvation of every saved person depends. It all depends on that covenant.
That covenant with the Father. That's why the scriptures say
it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. You can read it just about every
day in our paper. They'll say, if you will. If you will do this, or if you
will do that, or if you will do the other. Starts out so good. But it all ends up, if you will. When the scriptures say so clearly,
it's not of him that willeth. But it's of God that showeth
mercy. And aren't you glad? Aren't you
glad? We never will. And it's not only whosoever will,
it's not of Him that willeth. You can keep on willing from
now on, but it's not of Him that willeth. Paul said, the will is present
with me. But how to perform, that I find
not. He said to Moses, I'll have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. And I will, I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. And to show that salvation is
not by human merit, not by human will, not by what we will, God
was pleased to base it entirely upon this covenant that was made
back in eternity. In that covenant made between
the Godhead, there was not one word mentioned about our actions
having any merit in them whatsoever. We're not even taken into account,
except that we're chosen in Christ, that we stand in Him. And our
only part of this covenant is that part where we're represented
by Christ. It doesn't have anything to do
with us. Except as the Father chose us and gave us to Christ.
And Christ promised to keep us. And the Spirit promised in time
to bring this home to us. That's our only part. We just
stand as receptacles of His mercy. According as He
had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
and in the fullness of time. That's what the apostle said
back in verse 16. For where a testament is, there
must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a
testament is a force after men are dead, otherwise it hath no
strength at all while the testator liveth. Wherefore neither the
first testament was dedicated without blood, In the fullness
of time, the Lord Jesus Christ sealed that covenant with His
blood in actuality. Now the covenant was sealed from
all eternity because with God we're not talking about today
and tomorrow or yesterday. It's all now. In the mind of
God, the Godhead, that covenant was done, sealed. from all eternity, but in time,
God fulfilled it in the sight of everyone. The Lord Jesus Christ
poured out His life's blood. Now this covenant of grace, it's
as strong and sure as the throne of God. It's sure in all of its
details down to the most minute detail. Every soul whose name
is in that covenant, every person who is represented in that covenant
must be saved. That blood will never lose its
power. until all the ransomed church
of God be saved to sin no more. Every blessing of that covenant
was guaranteed to the chosen seed and secured by that precious
blood. That's the reason David said,
although my house be not so with God. Not everybody, not everybody
in my family. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, ensured. For this is all my salvation,
and all my desire, although he make it not to grow." Although
it doesn't include everybody, I wish it did. I wish it included
everyone in my family. But he said, this is my hope.
This is my hope. It's the blood that makes it
my hope. It's the blood that makes it
sure. It's not what we do, what we
don't do. It's the blood. It's not whether
I'm worthy. I'm not. It's the blood. It's not whether I feel like
it. It's the blood. Trust the blood. Plead the blood. Are you under the blood? That's
our hope. And there's this blood. It was
sprinkled everywhere. He said here in verse 21, Moreover,
Moses sprinkled with blood both the
tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. It says back
in verse 19 that He took the blood of calves and of goats
with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the
book and all the people. And then not only that, but He
sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. He sprinkled it on the book.
That's what sanctifies this book to us. Oh, I tell you, this Bible
never looked so good to me until I see the blood of Christ sprinkled
on it. It never means anything. It's
just a bunch of words that are hard to read and hard to understand
until I see the blood sprinkled on it. There's no peace found here in
this book without the blood. No peace. There's no life here for me. It's all condemnation and death
without the blood. There's nothing here but thunderings
and wrath from Sinai without the blood. You remember when
Moses came down from that mountain and he saw what the children
of Israel had done? How they had made that golden
calf? And in his fury, what he did? That's the way I am. Except for the blood. Nothing
but the fury of Mount Sinai falls on me except for the blood. It's
the blood applied to me that makes these promises applicable
to me. He sprinkled the mercy seed.
Sprinkled the mercy seed. When you came to pray, remember
that Jesus Christ's blood has gone before you and is pleading
for you before that eternal throne. Our sin shuts the door. The blood
gives us access. He sprinkled it on every vessel
of the sanctuary. And nothing more than religious
fetishes without the sprinkled blood. This right here, it's
just another religious ceremony. We go through this morning without
the sprinkle blood on it. There's nothing. We came together
around the Lord's table Wednesday night. Oh, what a blessed time
it is. But without the blood sprinkled
on it, it's just a religious ceremony. It's just eating bread
and drinking A cup of wine. That's all it is. Without the
blood. And he sprinkled it on the people
too. All the people. By faith. It was applied for
those who looked at God's Lamb. The sin-dead will never be discharged
from them without the blood. Our only hope is to come and
cast ourselves on what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for me. That's my only hope. Is that your hope? And this blood
is effectual. Its effect is more than miraculous. You know, without the blood,
we don't care anything about Christ. He's just another religious icon.
And we'll put him up on the shelf with all of our other little
religious icons, except for the blood. Without the blood, we're
loaded down with guilt. And that punishment for that
guilt, it's heavy on us. It's a burden. And we can't bear. That's what Peter said. You know,
that's a yoke that neither we nor our forefathers could bear.
That's what the law does. Puts this heavy burden on us.
That law says we're guilty. But it doesn't show mercy. It
doesn't show pardon. It doesn't show forgiveness. It drives us to Christ. When
I look to Christ, I rise from the depths of despair to the
heights of joy. No wonder Paul could say, as
we saw this morning in Philippians, Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Even in the worst of
circumstances. I see that God punished Christ
instead of me. I find that He's able to save
the uttermost, them that come unto God by Him. That blood,
Oh, does it do its job? Oh, it does. It's a whole basis
for my peace. When I lose that hope that I
once had, all I have to do is come back to the blood. That's
what salvation is. It's a continual coming to Christ. And that blood gives us access
with boldness to God. The blood. Having taken away
the guilt of sin, sanctifies and takes away the power of sin. That's the reason the believer
don't live like he once did. He has a new heart. He has a
new life. He has holy desires now. He has
heavenly desires, not like they once were. He's different. Is he different because the preacher's
watching? No. He's different when he's
all by himself and nobody sees him. He's just different. I was
thinking about this. I had to go down to Oakdale yesterday
morning. And, oh, that's a tough road
to drive. And you that drive it all, I
feel for you. I feel for you. You know, out
there in the middle of nowhere, the speed limit's 35 miles an
hour. You know, I thought now, why
am I obeying this speed limit? Because I'm afraid that I'm going
to run up on, you know, troopers sitting on the side of the road
up here running radar? Probably. I said yes in all probability. I thought, why can't we just,
I'm not going to talk about you. Why can't I just obey that 35
mile an hour speed limit out in the middle of nowhere? Just
because that's what the sign says. That's what the law says. I don't understand it. I mean,
you'll be driving along there at 55 and all of a sudden it'll
drop to 45 and the next 10 feet it drops to 35 and you'll think,
why? That's what the law says. And
I kept thinking, yeah, it's just because I don't want to pay a
speeding ticket. That's why. Especially when you
see that sign that says that the fines are doubled in a work
zone. And they don't always put that
fine letter down there when workers are present. Sometimes they don't
put that down there. But you know that law, it kills
us. What makes us want just to live
a life that honors and glorifies the Lord God of Heaven? We've
got a new heart. A new heart. We desire to be
free of all sin. To be like Christ. Just because,
you know, get off, get away from everybody, I can do what I want
to do. You do what you want to do anyway. A believer already
does what he wants to. In fact, a believer already does
a whole lot more than he wants to. I tell you, we have a new
one that we're honoring. Got a new heart, a new life.
Our desires have changed. We just don't like to sin. We
do. That's no excuse. A believer
never makes up for an excuse. He never said, well, nobody's
perfect. That's never an excuse he uses. Oh, it's the blood. That's the distinguishing mark.
It's the blood. It's what separates us. Come
to Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how that blood's applied.
It's how that blood becomes a part of us. Oh, when Moses had spoken
every precept to all the people according to the law, he took
the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and
hyssop, and he sprinkled the book. And all his people sang,
This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto
you. Oh, I pray that you'd get under
the blood, come to Christ.