I'm glad she sung that song. I'm going to attempt to speak
this evening on the shedding of blood. And I do so with fear. I don't want to speak of this subject with anything
but reverence and fear. And I trust with a God-given
understanding of what the shedding of blood means. And I hope none
of us will say, well, I already know what that means. I've got
that down pat. We can go on to something else.
I hope we don't have that attitude about the most glorious, high,
heavenly, holy thing that we can talk about, the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd like to read a few verses
from Hebrews chapter 9. I'd like to read verses 16 through
22 of Hebrews chapter 9. Beginning in verse 16, for where
a testament is, There must also of necessity be the death of
the testator. For a testament, this is talking
about a last will and testament. For a testament is a force after
men are dead. Otherwise it's 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 and wool and hyssop
and sprinkled with this blood both the book and all the people. Now think of this in your mind.
He's sprinkling blood on everybody. He's putting blood on him. Can
you imagine how you'd feel right now if you were looking at me
and I was sprinkling blood on you? and blood was put on the
book. Verse 20 saying, this is the
blood of the Testament, the last will and Testament, which God
has enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood,
both the tabernacle. You remember that glorious tabernacle. He sprinkled blood all over it. And all the vessels of the ministry,
the altar of incense, the golden candlesticks, everything had
blood all over it. We think of it as being nice
and shiny, but it wasn't like that at all. It had blood all
over it. Verse 22, and almost all things
are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood. is no remission. The shedding of blood. Now, there are very few people
who are not affected when they see blood running out of a body,
whether it's theirs or somebody else's. Now, I guess if you're
in the medical profession, you can get used to seeing that.
But those of us who are not in the medical profession, when
I see blood coming out of me, when I see blood coming out of
somebody else, it affects me. It affects me greatly. Now in
verse 16, he says, for where a testament is, there must also
of necessity be the death of the testator." Now that word
testament is the same word that's translated covenant in verse
15. And for this cause he's the mediator
of the New Testament that by means of death for the redemption
of the transgressions they that were under the first testament
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
This word testament is the same word that's generally translated
covenant. Christ is the mediator or the
guarantee of the New Covenant. Now, if you would have looked
at the ceremony surrounding the Old Testament, blood everywhere. Blood on the tabernacle, blood
on the altar, blood on the golden candlesticks, blood on the Ark
of the Covenant, blood on the book, blood on the people. It
was bloody. It was shocking. I mean, can
you imagine how shocked you'd be right now if I started Putting
blood on everybody here? It was a bloody ceremony. Everything was filled with blood. Now, for us to understand this
covenant, we have to see it in the light of a last will and
testament. And that's the way he presents
this covenant, as a last will and testament. That's how it's
stated in verses 16 and 17, for where a testament or a last will
is, there must also necessi be the death of the testator. For
a testament or a last will and testament is a force after men
are dead. Otherwise it's of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. Now, when I die, Lord willing,
everything that I have is gonna go to Aubrey. That's my last
will and testament. She doesn't have to meet any
conditions. She doesn't have to be a certain way or do certain
things. She is getting everything because
I willed for her to have it. That's why. Now, if I want to,
I can give it to somebody else. I can give it to Sarah there
instead of Aubrey. I surely can. If I want to, it's up to me.
It's a last will and testament. Now, God has a will. a last will and testament. Would
you turn with me for a moment to John chapter six. This covenant
of grace that we speak of so often is actually the last will
and testament of God. It's the will of God. Now, when
we're talking about God's will or the will of God, we're not
simply talking about what he wants to be done. We're talking
about what he's determined will be done. It's his will. Now look
here in John chapter six, beginning in verse 38. The Lord said, for
I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will
of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
which has sent me." Here's his last will and testament. This
is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all which He
hath given me, I should lose nothing. but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life. and I will raise him up at the
last day." Now, our Lord Jesus Christ came to do His Father's
will. He came to perform that will. And for that will to be done,
for all of God's elect to be saved, and that's what He said
His will was. This is the will of Him that sent me, which He
had given me. I should lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day. For that will to be done, Christ
had to die. Now, here's my big question. Why? Why? Why does God require blood? Why couldn't He just forgive? Why couldn't he just forgive?
You know, you and I forgive people. And it's a blessing to be able
to forgive somebody, isn't it? When someone sinned against you
and you can from your heart, only the grace of God can enable
you to do that. But when from your heart, you can forgive that
person and embrace that person. What a blessing it is to be enabled
to forgive somebody and embrace them completely and just act
as though it never happened. Now, why can't God do that? Why does God require blood? Is that not overly severe and
almost cruel? You know, I thought that before. I thought in my heart, why this
necessity of blood? Well, let me give you the answer
to that, because God is just. Because God is righteous, because
God is holy, the wages of sin is death, and God would be none
of those things, He would not be just, He would not be righteous,
He would not be holy, if He let one sin go unpunished. He would lose His justice. He
would lose His honor as the divine governor, the just one, the justice
and judgment of the habitation of His throne. Now, there's only
one reason for sin, I mean for death, and that is sin. God cannot forgive sin at the
expense of His law and at the expense of His justice. He can't
do it and still be God. He would no longer be God if
He did and we couldn't respect Him. The soul that sinneth shall
surely die. Now those ones that the Father
gave Christ to save, they sinned. He took my sin upon Him and He
paid the wages of sin, the Scripture says, who by His own self bear
our sins in His own body on the tree. That's sin must be punished. No death, no salvation. Verse 17 says, For a testament
is a force, a will comes into play only after men are dead. Otherwise, it's of no strength
at all, while the testator liveth. Now, let's read verses 18 through
21, and then there are several comments I'd like to make about
this. He says, Whereupon neither the first testament, that's talking
about The tabernacle, that's talking about the feast days,
that's talking about the law, that's talking about the moral
law, the ceremonial law, the civil law. Whereupon neither
the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses
had spoken every precept. He gave the people all the laws
to all the people according to the law. He took the blood of
calves, and goats with water, and scarlet, and wool, and hyssop,
and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This
is the blood of the testament, the covenant, the will, 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. Now this refers to what took
place in Exodus chapter 24. Would you turn with me there
for a moment? Hold your finger there and then turn to Exodus
chapter 24. Now Moses had just given the
people the law of God. It's in Exodus 20 through 23. And then we read beginning in
verse 3 of Exodus chapter 24. And Moses came and told the people
all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments, and all the
people answered with one voice and said, all the words which
the Lord has spoken will we do. Has there ever been a bigger
lie told? We'll keep every one of those
commandments. We'll never lie. We'll never
steal. We'll never commit adultery. We'll never covet. We'll love
God with all of our heart. We'll love our neighbors ourselves.
We'll remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. We'll never take
God's name in vain. Oh, all that the Lord has said,
we will do. And Moses, verse four, wrote
all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning.
and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars according
to the twelve tribes of Israel." You see, Moses had some understanding
of the gospel. And when he heard these people
say this, he knew it was a lie. He knew they wouldn't do it.
So he builds an altar. What's an altar for? Sacrifice. Verse 5, And he sent young men
of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings and sacrificed
peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half
of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled
on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant
and read it in the audience of the people. And they said, all
that the Lord has said will we do and be obedient. Has there
ever been a bigger lie than that? Why, in a very short time, they're
going to be making a golden calf and worshipping it. But yet they
say in this cocksure arrogance, all that the Lord has spoken,
we will do. And Moses took the blood and
sprinkled it on the people. You know why? He knew they were
lying. He knew they wouldn't do it.
That's why he sprinkled blood on them. I remember one time,
hearing a preacher preach on this passage of scripture, and
he said, now what this is, this is a pact of obedience between
the children of Israel and God. It's kind of like when kids prick
their thumbs and rub them together and become blood brothers. This
is what's happening, and they're making a pact of obedience before
God. No, sir. Moses knew these people. He knew
himself. He knew human nature. You see,
God had taught him, and he knew they wouldn't obey. And that's
so he sprinkles blood upon them. Now, what a bloody religion this
was. You see, the Old Testament, its
purpose is to illustrate the New Testament. Salvation by blood
and the fact that blood was sprinkled on the book tells us that this
book we call the Bible cannot be understood apart from the
blood of Christ. The blood of Christ, the person
of Christ, the blood of Christ is the key to understanding this
book. Now look in verse 20 of Hebrews
chapter 9, saying, This is the blood of the testament, the will
which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with
blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
Now remember the tabernacle. this glorious picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ back some time ago on Wednesday nights. We spent
quite a bit of time seeing how this pictures the Lord Jesus
Christ. Yet he sprinkles blood on the tabernacle, on the beautiful
white linen and the veil and all the golden boards and so
on of the tabernacle. He put blood on those beautiful
things. Why? To show us the incompleteness
of this. It's nothing more than a picture.
It had to be purged with blood. Verse 22 says, and almost all
things are by the law purged with blood and without the shedding
of blood is no remission. Now there is not a more important
verse in all the word of God than this verse. Almost all things
are by the law purged with blood and without the shedding of blood
is no remission. And here's the first question
I want to ask. What is meant by remission? Without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission. Now it's very easy. It's sometimes
translated forgiveness. It means a canceling. of putting
away, of passing over. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no forgiveness of sins. Now, the forgiveness that's being
spoken of is a forgiveness that can only be done by God. It's a God-like forgiveness. I don't know how else to say
it. Now, you and I forgive. I've offended you, who knows
how many times, I'm sure, and you've forgiven me. You love
me. And isn't it a blessing to be
able to forgive somebody from your heart when they have offended
you and they have done you wrong and yet God gives you the grace
to forgive them and embrace them anyway. That's a wonderful thing
when the Lord enables us to do this and understand this too.
If we don't forgive, we won't be saved. Lord says, if you forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive
you your trespasses. Now what a blessed thing it is
to be enabled by the grace of God to forgive. But I also know
this, I forgive you, you forgive me, but it's impossible for us
to forget. I'd like to be able to, but it
is impossible for us to complete. That forgiveness is real, it's
sincere, but I remember. I remember. I can't help it. I wish I didn't, but I do. But that's not the way God forgives.
God forgives so as to forget. Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. And it's not a faulty memory
on his part. I've got a very faulty memory.
There's a lot of things I do forget. I remember the stuff
I shouldn't, and I forget the stuff I should. But I got a faulty
memory. But God doesn't have a faulty
memory. Yet he says there's sins and there are iniquities. I remember
no more. And there's only one reason for that, justification.
You see, this is what Christ accomplished by His blood. He
accomplished justification. My sin was washed away. I have
nothing to feel guilty about. I stand just before God. I stand righteous before God.
I stand holy before God. When God looks at me, He sees
someone without sin. Now, that's the kind of forgiveness
God forgives. He justifies us, then He forgives
us. I've heard people say, God doesn't
forgive sin. He's going to punish it somewhere. Oh, yes, He does.
There is forgiveness with thee, but it's only after you've been
justified, after your sin's been dealt with, after your sin's
been put away, after it's been washed away, after He's done
a work of grace for you, then He forgives you. He doesn't just
sweep sin under the carpet. He justifies and He forgives. Now, Thank God there is remission
of sins, but without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. You see, good works will not
bring the remission of sin. Faith will not bring the remission
of sin. The tears of repentance never
remitted one sin. The love we have to God or man
does not remit sin. The Scripture still stands without
the shedding of blood. There is no remission of sin. The only way sin can be remitted
and put away and forgiven The only way we can be justified
is through the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, a negative is stated. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sin. But the opposite is also true.
With the shedding of blood, there is the full, free, complete forgiveness
of sins. And I love the way the Bible
speaks of the forgiveness of sins. There's many different
ways that the forgiveness of sins is described. Not remembered. We've already talked about that.
Not remembered. Cast into the depths of the sea. Blotted out. Behold I've blotted out as a
thick cloud thine iniquities. Separated from us. As far as
the east is from the west. Separated from us. Put away. Taken away. washed away, purged,
cast behind God's back, covered, sought for and not found. Turn
to Jeremiah chapter 50. Jeremiah chapter 50. Verse 20. In those days, and in that time,
saith the Lord, The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for. And whenever God looks for something,
He has the ability to find it. He never searches in vain. In
those days and that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for, and there shall be what? None. None. God in His holiness is
going to look, be through and through, and search for iniquity,
and search for sin, and there will be none. Because of the
shedding of His blood, because of the remission of sins. You see, the blood of Christ,
His redeeming work, His atonement was a success. Now, would to
God that you and I can enter into this and think about this.
Matthew 1.21 says, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. Did He? When He said in John chapter
19 verse 30, It is finished. All my sin, including the sins I haven't
even committed yet, all my sin was put away, was washed away. I have it no more. Now, His atonement was a successful
atonement. Listen to me, everybody Jesus
Christ died for must be saved. John Owen wrote a book entitled,
The Death of Death and the Death of Christ. And in that book,
he gave this as his premise. Christ either died for all the
sins of all men, or most of the sins of all men, or some of the
sins of all, or all of the sins of some men. Repeat that. Christ either died for all of
the sins of all men, some of the sins of all men, or all of
the sins of some men. Now, there aren't any other ways
to look at it. Now, he said if Christ died for
all the sins of all men, then all men will be saved. If Christ died for some of the
sins of all men, then nobody will be saved. Yeah, I've heard
people say, well, Christ died for every sin but unbelief. Well,
if that's the case, none of us will be saved. You've been guilty
of unbelief. Or he died for all of the sins
of some men. And that's exactly what he did.
He died for all of the sins of some men and everybody he died
for must be saved. My sins have been put away. I
don't bear them. And I'm aware of them, but I
do not bear them. He was manifested to take away
our sins, and in Him is no sin. That's what the shedding of His
blood does. The shedding of His blood makes me to where I do
not have any sin. I am clean and holy before God. Now there's not a drop of gospel
in the message that says Christ died for all men without exception.
Let me show you a scripture in Hebrews chapter 10. Look in Hebrews
chapter 10. Verse 29. Let's read verse 28
first. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy. under two or three witnesses,
somebody didn't agree with what God said
in the law and looked down upon it and treated it with contempt
or treated it with, you know, I'm not going to go in that direction.
What was he to do? He was to be killed. No mercy
was to be extended toward that individual, stone him, put him
to death. Verse 29, of how much sorer punishment,
of how much more severe punishment supposing he, shall he be thought
worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath
counted the blood of the covenant." Now that's the blood we're talking
about, the blood of the covenant, the last will and testament of
God, the blood of the everlasting covenant is what Hebrews 13.20
says. of how much sore punishment shall he be, who has counted
the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified." Christ set
himself apart for this, this blood, and somebody counts it
an unholy thing. Now, what comes to your mind
when you think of unholy? I know what comes to my mind.
I think of some kind of sinful action, some kind of evil thing.
And I've not run across many people who would talk about the
blood of Christ being evil. It's an evil, sinful thing. No,
no. That word unholy is the same word that's generally translated
common, general. The definition means
that which is general to all as opposed to that which is peculiar
to the few. Now, for someone to take the
blood of Christ and think it's general, it's general, He shed
it for everybody, but it's what you do that makes it work. That's
doing despite to the Spirit of grace. And men have different
theories about the atonement, that's what the problem is. The
atonement is not a theory. And it's blasphemy to present
it in that light. With the shedding of Christ's
blood, there is the remission of all the sins of all of God's
elect." Now, I thought Moses and Elijah understood this. I
think of them on the Mount of Transfiguration, when our Lord
was transfigured before Peter and James and John, and they
saw Moses and Elijah speaking to the Lord. Do you know what
they were talking about? Luke 9.31 tells us, they spake of
the decease of the death which he should accomplish. Now what did he accomplish by
his death? He accomplished the will of God. Remember, the will and testament
of God. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing but raise it up again at the last day. And that is
precisely what He did. Now the shedding of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I dread the thought of talking
about this flippantly, or casually, or conversationally, or well
here's what I believe, here's what you believe. May God deliver
me from this. The shedding of the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ is the subject of the eternities. Before
time began, Christ was the Lamb slain as the shedding of His
blood from the foundation of the world. When time is over, what is the
song of heaven going to be? Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. When John saw the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, what did he see? Remember the elder said weep
not behold the line of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open
the book and to loose the seals thereof. And I looked and behold,
there was a lamb as it had been slain. The shedding of blood tells us
how evil sin is. And you know, none of us really
understand this. I hope we can get a glimpse of this. But in
God's sight, sin is an infinite evil. The reason hell is eternal. And just the fact that we think
hell seems severe shows that we're looking at things from
man's perspective instead of God's perspective. Remember,
Moses said, who's on the Lord's side? Oh, I want to be on the
Lord's side, don't you? I don't want to be on the man's side.
I want to be on the Lord's side. Now, the reason hell is eternal
is because God can never get satisfaction out of the death
of that sinner because it doesn't pay the debt. If somebody murdered
my daughter and they said, well, here's a million dollars to make
up for it. Could I get any satisfaction from that? What about two million?
Nothing can satisfy that. Nothing could ever satisfy that.
And God cannot be satisfied with the death of the sinner because
sin is such an infinite evil. The only thing that could satisfy
God is when Christ put it away. And God said, I'm satisfied with
what He did. There doesn't need to be anything
else. He's satisfied. It's Christ that died. The shedding
of blood shows us how righteous and holy and just God is. Now,
I don't know how the Lord did this, but He's got the authority
to do it. Whatever He does is right. Somehow,
He took my sin. And he placed it upon Christ.
And it became Christ. Christ became guilty of it. He
bore the shame and the filth and the guilt of it. And the
Father punished him. He showed him no mercy. He showed
him no pity, no leniency. But still, he was his son. And he loved Him. That was His
Son. He showed Him no leniency. He
showed Him no mercy. But He still loved Him as His
Son. Now, if God is so just, that He'll kill His own Son before
He'll let sin go unpunished. That's just, isn't it? Jesus Christ would die on the
cross before he would let one sin go unpunished. God is just, judgment and justice
are the habitation of thy throne. Now the shedding of Christ's
blood is a declaration of the divine wisdom. How wise God is
that he's actually made a way. to justify me when I, in my person,
in myself, am utterly unjust and sinful. And he justifies
me. You know, the scripture says
there in Proverbs 17, the one who, if a man justifies the wicked,
or if he, anybody remember that one? Turn to Proverbs 17. I'm losing the ability to quote
it. I think it's verse 9. Verse 15 of Proverbs 17. He that
justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even
they both are an abomination to the Lord. Now, if the Lord
justifies me, The reason he does it is because I'm just. He doesn't
justify the wicked. He justifies me because I'm just.
He justifies me because I've got it coming. It's the way the
Lord works. Somehow He has made a way to
take my sin and place it on the Lord Jesus Christ and take His
righteousness and place it on me. And even though in myself
I'm ungodly and I'm sinful and I'm evil in and of myself, He
justifies me in a way that honors His justice. Only God could do
this. Oh, what wisdom, what divine wisdom He demonstrates in that. The shedding of blood is a declaration
of the wisdom of God. And this is where I have the
confidence to come into God's presence with boldness. Because
of the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the shedding of His blood is a declaration of the love of God. God so loved the world this much
that He gave His only begotten Son. Herein is love, not that
we love God. What do you think about your
love to God? It's nowhere near what it should
be, is it? And you also know the love that you do have is
what He gave you. You can't glory in it. Herein
is love, not that we love God. but that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Turn to Romans
chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, beginning in
verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now here's
two requisites for Christ dying for you. One, you gotta be without
strength. And number two, you gotta be
ungodly. Now if that describes you, Christ
died for you. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet for adventure for a good man, a merciful man,
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us in the while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. what love that He would send
His Son to die for me. Turn to Hebrews 10, in closing.
Verse 14, For by one offering, that's talking
about the shedding of His blood, He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us. This is what the Holy Ghost,
God the Holy Spirit, bears witness of. The blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For
after they had said before, this is the covenant that I'll make
with them after those days, saith the Lord, I'll put my laws into
their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Don't try to
bring one. It's already been made. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness. to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.
And having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw
near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith. And what is the profession of
our faith? With the shedding of His blood,
there is complete remission of sins. And that's who we're relying
on. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful, that promised. Oh, the preciousness of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ that actually makes this sinful, weak, contradictory man, perfect in
God's sight. Aren't you thankful for his precious
blood? Let's pray.