Turn that one on Hebrews a little
Hebrews 9 verses 11 through 14 But Christ That's a good way
to start any statement But Christ being come and 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, 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 What I want to talk about this
morning is his blood The blood of our Lord and our
Savior Jesus Christ. Now this is not necessarily or
even close to what we would call a pretty subject, but the blood
is real. It's real. I believe it to be
important and necessary. It plays a very, very big part
in the scripture Old Testament and New, because there are multiple
references in both to the blood. In the Old Testament we have
it in figure, it's a good word, because it was literally real
blood that was shed in the Old Testament, notwithstanding what
the Reformed Jews say today. I had a discussion with a rabbi
once, and he was a reformed rabbi. Not reformed, to be that very
clear. I don't know what the difference
is, but he said he was a reformed rabbi. And he tried to tell me
that this book, this Old Testament, which is all the Jews had, and
all they want now, was just a book of stories to show us how We
should behave and how we should act and how we should live. Now
I mentioned the fact to him that I guess it's a bunch of stories
about how God was sticking his nose in our business if all it
was supposed to do was teach us how to act. Because the Old
Testament is full of what God does. What God did and what God
was going to do. But he did tell me that, no,
they really didn't kill all those bulls and goats. That was just
stories. I beg to differ. This book is
true. This book is real. And that blood
that was shed in the Old Testament was real. And it was a figure
of what was to come. And he came. But we'll see it
in history, in the reality of the blood in the Old Testament.
Because this Bible speaks of blood very, very, very often. And it's real blood, and they
speak real often. Because there were blood sacrifices. A lot of people don't realize
this. A lot of people don't think about this. There were blood
sacrifices before there was the law. Long before there was a
law. just for a place where I had
to start Genesis 4-3. I started to do Genesis 3, where
somebody got clothed with coats of skin. But that wasn't shown
or spoken of there as a sacrifice. I do believe blood was shed.
Because I don't think you can get skins off animals without
having blood shed, no matter what happens. But it doesn't
say it there. It does say in Genesis 4, 3,
and in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought
of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord. And Abel
he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat
thereof. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering
He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and
his countenance fell, and bad things happened after that. Abel brought the first sling
of the flock for an offering to God. Now, I've seen pictures of this, and
usually what they show is a picture of a guy standing next to a baby
sheep. That baby sheep is alive and kicking. Abel offered that to God and
the fat thereof. He killed that thing. It's a firstling of the flock.
That's a lamb. Now where did Abel get this information? We're
not told. But I suspect he learned it from
his daddy Adam. And I suspect Adam learned it
from Christ who spoke to him in the garden. But blood was shed. at this offering. You don't get the fat thereof
without shedding blood, okay? There was no liposuction back
then. Blood was shed, blood offering. And the firstling of the flock,
he told him what kind of prayer. And Abel, the Lord had respect
unto Abel and his offering. a blood sacrifice, the firstling
of the flock, and the fat thereof. But unto Cain he did not have
respect to him or his offering." Then in Genesis 9, 4, God's instructions to Noah after
the flood. Walter, I watched that movie.
We're going to have to talk, because my gosh. Lord have mercy. Well, by the end of that movie,
before you get quite to the end of that movie, you're getting
kind of ticked at Noah. But there were some things they
changed for no particular reason other than to create conflict
in that movie. They were making up stuff. But he told Noah, after the ark
landed, Go forth be fruitful and multiply and replenish the
earth And then he gave this command at the end. He said But the flesh with the life thereof
which is the blood thereof shall ye not eat You can eat the flesh
of animals eat the flesh of animals. There's nothing wrong with being
a omnivore You can eat meat But he told them, he said, don't
eat the blood. He doesn't tell them why. Not
here. He just tells them don't. This is the first mention of
the Bible why the Lord considers the blood to be special and different
from the flesh. He says, blood is the life of
the flesh. The blood is said to be life
outside of the flesh. And we are not to eat it. We're
to eat the flesh, but you don't eat the blood. And this is what
he says. And the reason he said it is,
this is what he meant. The blood was special to the
Lord because of what it typified, what it was a figure of, what
was to come. And that's the instruction God
gave to Noah. Still, all this before the law. Again, before the law, Genesis
22 and verse 7, and Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said,
my father. And he said, here I am, my son.
And he said, behold the fire and the wood. Where is the lamb?
For a burnt offering. This is before the law, too.
It says Abraham was before the law 400 years before the law.
But Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for
a burnt offering. So they went, both of them, together. Now you know the story. God did
provide a lamb. Abraham was ready to slay his
son as an offering because God said to. Isaac was already dead in his
eyes. But Isaac was delivered by the substitution of a ram
caught in a thicket by its horns. And they slew that ram in the
place of Isaac. Blood was shed. Abraham, believing that he and
Isaac were going up Both coming down because God had promised
that seed through Isaac. So I see be called Abraham believed
God and it was counted unto him for righteousness God would raise
up Isaac if Abraham killed him. That's what he thought But here
the point is every true sacrifice ever made Was provided by God
above God will provide himself a sacrifice. From Abel to Christ,
it has always been that way. If you got a firstling of the
flock when you were in the Old Testament, God gave you that
firstling. Every sacrifice has been provided
by God. Every good and perfect gift cometh
down from the Father of lights. That was in figure and in reality. Then we have the Passover. I'm
going to look there. It's Exodus chapter 12. Mainly
because I really like the Passover. I can't help it. This is also before the law. The Passover sacrifice was before
the law. Exodus chapter 12 this month
shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first
month of the year to you Amen Because this is what we're going
to do Speak ye unto all the congregation
of Israel saying the tenth day of this month they shall take
To them every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers
a lamb for the house and if the household be too little for the
lamb Let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according
to the number of their souls. Every man according to his eating
shall you make your count for the lamb. Verse five, your lamb
shall be without blemish a male of the first year. You shall take it out from the
sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it up unto the
14th day of the same month. this next verse or this next
portion of this verse and the whole Assembly of the congregation
of Israel shall kill it In the evening now there was a bunch
of lambs there There was one for every family or one for every
two families There were several thousand people there But it says the whole congregation
shall slay it is one Passover lamb. But if you don't have a Passover
lamb for your house, you're doomed. The only one that matters is
the one that's at your house. And the whole congregation does
it at one time. Why? Because that blood was shed
for the congregation. For the whole congregation. For
the whole of God's people. that blood was to be shed. And it was done at one time and
it was done as one and the whole congregation killed that sheep,
that lamb. But then in verse seven, we have
an application of the blood. They shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts
of the houses wherein they shall eat it Gonna eat the lamb you're gonna
take the lamb into your body, but the blood gets applied on
the outside And they shall eat the flesh in that night roast
with fire and unleavened bread and bitter herbs Shall they they
shall eat it? Verse 11, thus shall ye eat it,
with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff
in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste. It's the Lord's
Passover. It's His Passover. It ain't your Passover. It's
His Passover. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night, and smite all the firstborn, In the land
of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord, verse 13, and
the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where
ye are. And when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. The only difference between their
house and the house of an Egyptian was that blood. That's the only
difference. And that's the only difference
that matters. And it didn't matter whether
you saw the blood or not inside that house. Walter and I talked
about this. This is speaking of justification.
OK? This is not speaking of regeneration
and conversion. This is speaking of justification, redemption. You could have been a baby in
that house basically and been totally unaware of it, but you
were covered by that blood. And when God saw that blood,
you were passed over. You didn't die. Death went everywhere
else, but not where the blood was. Because the death had already
taken place. The death had already been happened.
The blood had already been shed. And when I see that blood, death
is already there. I don't need death. I will pass
over you. They were given a substitute. They were given that substitute
and that blood showed. It was put on the door and it
was right where God could see it. Why? Because that's where
God told them to put it. death passed in every other household
in Egypt except for those that were covered by that blood. Inside those houses, with the
blood applied, not only was there life, there was food. There was sustenance. Now you
were to eat it, fully dressed, with your shoes on, your staff
in your hand, and you eat it in haste. Why? Because you might
have something to do once God passes over you. Because once God passes over
you, it's time to get up and get out. And that's what happened. They left. They left Egypt behind
with the death and the wailing of the families who lost their
firstborns. Those deaths were real. This is not just a story
to scare children. This is not a cute Bible story. This is the way God works. I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. And whom he will, he hardens.
That's what he tells Moses in the wilderness. He says, let
me see your glories. I'll let my goodness pass before
you. Yes, he's a merciful God. Yes,
he is a gracious God. But he has mercy to whom he will
have mercy, and he has grace to whom he will have grace. He
has compassion to whom he will have compassion. Why? Because
it's his will that matters, not ours. He could have told the Egyptians
to put blood over their lintels. He didn't. He didn't. Why? I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. That's the only answer we have. Because that's the only answer
he's given us. God is in the heavens he hath
done whatsoever. He hath pleased and that's in
Egypt on the night of Passover Just as true as it is right now
here 2015 God is still on the throne and
God is still doing all his good pleasure Why because he wills
to do so? But here in this picture it is
just a For me a beautiful picture even though it it's not pretty
I You know? I don't take great pride in my
house, but I like my house. I like my lawn to be mowed and
all that stuff. But I don't like throwing blood on the door. But when God says do it, you
do it. And when God does it, God does
it. And when the blood is applied, the blood is applied. You don't
have any say in that. But in Leviticus, then, chapter
17, verse 11, it says, for the life of the
flesh is in the blood. Now, this is what he told Noah.
And I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement
for your souls. That's not what he told Noah,
at least that we know of. It's not written down. For it
is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Verse 14 continues on, For it
is the life of all flesh, the blood of it is for the life thereof. Therefore, because of this, I
said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no
manner of flesh. For the life of all flesh is
the blood thereof, and whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. It's the blood that makes an
atonement for the soul This is the word of the law of
God The blood makes the atonement
for the soul Now these sacrifices there are many. I'm not going
to go into those But there are many there were doves and There
were bulls, there were heifers, there were goats, there were
sheep, there were he-goats, there were she-goats. All of them, blood was shed. And all of these sacrifices were
ordered, ordained, authorized, provided, and required by God
at that time. And not a one of them took away
one sin. But they were the figures of
the truth. They were the types of he who was to come. Sacrifices
were made as a type of the sacrifice to come. The blood that was shed
in the Old Testament was a figure of the blood that was to be shed
in the New Testament. And his blood is real. Jesus
Christ is a man I Said that purposely He came to this planet God manifest
in the flesh he was he came in the fullness of time and God
sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law He was made
by God a little lower than the angels That's psalm 8 5 and Hebrews
2 7 and 9 Philippians 2 says this let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God
Thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Jesus Christ came in the flesh. He came in flesh and blood. He didn't come in sinful flesh
in the likeness of sinful flesh. He did come in well He did not
come in sinful flesh. He came in the likeness of sinful
flesh. Let me get that right He did not come in the nature
or in the appearance of unfallen Adam as a perfect human being
He came he had no beauty that we should desire him But he did come as a man He came
in the flesh. There was no sin in him, in his
flesh, in his blood, in his mind, in his heart. I like that word, Walter, impeccable. But he came as a man. He lived as a man. Oh yeah, I
see you. Videotape the yellow jacket I
might have to kill later. He came as a man. He lived as
a man. And he allowed himself to be
crucified. He allowed himself. He told Peter, he says, don't
you know that if I wanted to, I could call 12 legions of angels? And he could. All it would have
took was his word, his voice. But no, for this cause came I
into this world. It was prophesied before he got
here, that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be the son
of God. He shall save his people from their sins. Call his name
Jesus. And we have the whole Old Testament
speaking to us, the atonement for the soul is in the blood.
He was crucified and he died. He was pierced with a spear and
out forth came blood and water. His blood was shed. His blood
was shed. His blood was shed for real. And his blood was shed for a
purpose. the purpose spoken of in the Old Testament, the purpose
he spoke of while he was here, and the purpose that exists right
now that we know of in the writings in this book, we are told. His
actual, literal blood was shed for his people. Because that's what we have here.
Hebrews chapter 9 Is this a fact Walter I wanted to put is his
blood is sufficient. His blood is efficacious. His
blood is effective But I Know all that's true, but I just kind
of marked that and put his blood is precious. I 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." And right there,
the words, for us, are interpolated. You can read them all. He's obtained
eternal redemption. We'll find out who it's for later. He entered by his own blood.
His blood is incorruptible. 1 Peter, I want to read that because
I don't want to get it wrong. 1 Peter, where was it? 2 Peter, I wonder if I can find
it. 1st Peter chapter 1 and verse
18 for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things As silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers You weren't redeemed by corruptible
things But with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb's without blemish and without spot I His
blood is precious. His blood's incorruptible. That's the juxtaposition here.
That's the inference or whatever. I forgot the other word. He talks about corruptible things
such as silver and gold and we such great store by them. But
no, that's corruptible. His blood is incorruptible. incorruptible as he is and That
is how we were redeemed With his blood by his blood we have
that redemption he obtained through his blood The Church of God was
purchased With his blood God set him forth as the propitiation
the mercy seat the appeasement of through faith in his blood
to declare his righteousness what for the remission I look
that word remission definition that word remission is Passover
two words Passover for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God we are justified by his blood declared
righteous He made peace through his blood, through the blood
of his cross. I don't have to make peace, he
has made peace. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. Now be ye reconciled to God. from Christ Jesus who is a faithful
witness and the first begotten of the dead, the prince of the
kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our
sins in his own blood. He that loved us and washed us There are people that talk a
lot. You've got to get your sins under
the blood. I wish you could. He applies His blood. He washes us in His blood. We are washed in His blood. That's
true. It's not something we do. Never has been John put it this way, but if
we walk in the light as he is in the light We have fellowship
one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth
us from all sin There is an ongoing thing but guess what he does
that too It's all his work And it's all through His precious
blood, which was shed. I'm sorry, I hate to bring this
part up. It was shed for many. From the beginning to the end.
God is particular. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. The words of Jesus Christ Says
for this this is Matthew 26 and verse 28 for this is my blood
of the New Testament which is shed for me For the remission
of sin The remission of sins for me The right of Hebrews takes it
up in verse 22 and almost was that 22? Oh, that's the one I'm
sorry. That's not what I wanted right
here verse 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many
Many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time without sin unto salvation Those that the Lord shed his
blood for that many Will look for him There's a result of the
blood of Jesus Christ, of you being washed in the blood. There's
a result to election. There's a result to redemption.
There's a result. He brings you into the fold. The Good Shepherd does. You hear
His voice and you follow. If you're not following, you've
got no claim to the blood. You've got no reason to think
you're under the blood. You got no reason to think you've
been watching them. If you're not following, you need to pay attention. If you're not following, you
don't know him. And if you don't know him, that
means you don't know him. And if you don't know him, you're
not looking for him. And He is going to appear the second time
without sin unto salvation. If you want to know what that
is, that's to wit, the redemption of the body. That's been promised
too. The shedding of the blood is
over. The redemption is complete, eternal, and it is obtained. The cleansing is by Christ and
it continues. And here's the conclusion of
the whole matter. If you know him and you're looking for him, life is good. I get tickled every now and then.
I see them people wearing them t-shirts. They got the bumper
stickers. And that's what I'll say. Life is good. Yeah. But not if you're dead. But if he has shed his blood
for you, and if he has revealed it If he has brought you cleansed
you washed you and you are following him Life is good In him and there
is only life in him There's no life outside of him, but there
is life in him and it is good It's a pleasure to know Christ
and It's a privilege, a blessing, a wonder, a miracle to know Him
and to be looking for Him. And we owe it all to His blood,
which was literally, willingly shed for His people. Because it's the blood that made
the atonement for your soul. It's His blood. Our Heavenly
Father, we are thankful again for this time and this place.
But most of all, thankful for you. You give us everything. In and
through your son, life, love, fellowship. Everything comes from you. Thank
you, Lord. In Christ's name we pray, amen. It's good, Joe. Thank you, Joe. Do we have a glass of water where
we can kill it? Huh? Ah, there it is. Oh, I'd smack it. Where'd it go? It's in the window there. there he won't stay down he's
dead oh