If there's a better course than
that, I don't know what it is. It'd be a blessing to us if tonight,
when we went to bed, we said in our hearts, living, He loved
me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, He
carried my sins far away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day, He's coming. Oh, glorious
day. Exodus 24. And he. God. Said unto Moses, come up unto
the Lord thou and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy of
the elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone
shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come nigh, neither
shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people
all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. Everything
that was said in Exodus chapter 20 through 23, the giving of
the law, the 10 commandments and so on. And all the people
answered with one voice and said. All the words which the Lord
has said, will we do? And Moses wrote all the words
of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and build an altar. under the hill and 12 pillars,
according to the 12 tribes of Israel. And he sent young men
of the children of Israel, which offered burn offerings and sacrifice
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 in the audience of the people. And they said, all that
the Lord has said, will we do and be obedient. And Moses took the blood and
sprinkled it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the
covenant. which the Lord hath made with
you concerning all these words. I've entitled this message, the
sprinkling of the blood. The sprinkling of the blood. Now that word sprinkle doesn't
mean he just dropped a little here and there. It means he threw
the blood on the people. He threw the blood on the altar. Now there's only one type of
person who will have a true appreciation of the doctrine set forth in
our text. A real sinner. That's the only one who will
have any appreciation of the doctrine set forth in our text. A real sinner is someone who
cannot not sin. I've tried to think of different
definitions of what a sinner is, but that's as good a one
as I can come up with. I mean, there's a lot of things
we could say from the scriptures, but a sinner is someone who cannot
not sin. A real sinner is somebody who
has in fact committed real sins and he stands before God self-condemned. He is not able to stand on a
moral high ground with anybody, not a real sinner, because he
knows that any sin he has not actually committed, he has committed
in his heart and he knows that there is no sin he would not
now commit if not restrained by grace. And that's what a real
sinner is. You know, the Lord taught us
to pray, lead us not into temptation. And you know why we pray that
prayer? Because we know that if we are tempted, we'll fall.
We ask the Lord to deliver us from even being tempted. There was a man who once boasted,
I have never committed adultery against my wife. And that's a
good thing. That's a good thing. But a wise
old preacher replied, could that be? Because you were never placed
in a position where you had the opportunity. That's a searching question,
isn't it? A searching question. As I said, a real sinner, somebody
who cannot not sin, they and they only will have an appreciation
of the doctrine of our text. Now, God has just given the law.
That's what Exodus chapters 20 through 23 is. The 10 commandments
and the civil law. Now, let's look in verse 1. And
he said unto Moses, come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, and
Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and worship
ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near
the Lord, but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the
people go up with him. Now there are two things that
strike me about those two verses I just read. Did you notice how
he said, worship ye afar off? And he said, the people shall
not come nigh. Now let me tell you about this
one thing about God's law. You can only worship afar off.
You can't come into the presence of God if all you've got is law.
You can't draw nigh. You see, the only way you can
draw nigh is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is no other way of drawing near. He says to these people, worship
ye afar off and come not nigh. Verse three, 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. They were unified
here. They all gave complete agreement.
And they said all the words which the Lord has said, will we do? We will keep every one of his
commandments. Now that's a good response. But has there ever been a bigger
lie told than this? Has there ever been a bigger
lie told than this? Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter
five for just a moment. Moses is recounting what took
place and he gives the law once again, the 10 commandments in
the first part of Deuteronomy chapter five. And we read beginning
in verse 22. of Deuteronomy chapter 5, these
words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mouth out
of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, of the thick darkness,
with a great voice. And he added no more. He wrote
them in two tables of stone and delivered them unto me. And it
came to pass when you heard the voice of the midst of the the
voice out of the midst of darkness? For the mount did burn with fire,
that you came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes
and your elders, and you said, Behold, the Lord our God hath
showed us his glory and his greatness, and we've heard his voice out
of the midst of the fire. We've seen this day that God
doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore, why should we
die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice
of the Lord our God anymore, we'll die. For who is there of
all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking
out of the midst of the fires? We haven't lived. Go thou near
and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou
unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and
we will hear it and do it. And the Lord heard the voice
of your words when you spake unto me, and the Lord said unto
me, I've heard the voice of the words of the people which they
have spoken unto thee, They have well said all that they've spoken. You know, that's the only appropriate.
Response. What are you going to say? Well,
I keep this one. I won't keep that one. No, they gave the appropriate
response, but look what he says next in verse 29. Oh, and this
is God speaking. He says, oh, that there were
such an heart in them. That they would fear me and keep
all my commandments. Always. that it might be well
with them and with their children forever. And they gave the right
answer, but oh, that they had a heart. I think of that passage
of scripture where our Lord says, these people draw nigh unto me
with their lips and they honor me with their mouth, but their
heart is far from me. Let's go on reading back to our
text in Exodus chapter 24. They make this boast, all the
words which the Lord hath said will we do. Verse four, and Moses
wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning
and builded an altar under the hill and 12 pillars according
to the 12 tribes of Israel, he sent young men of the children
of Israel which offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace
offerings of oxen unto the Lord. Now, what's an altar for? There's only one reason for an
altar. death, sacrifice. You know, these altars you see
in religious houses of whatever it is they are, they have these
altars. There's only one person, only
one reason for an altar. It's to slay the sacrifice and
put the sacrifice on the altar. Now, Abraham or Moses rose up
early. There was no delays here. There
would be no need for an altar if there were no sin, but where
there is sin, there must be death. An altar for sacrifice. Now,
who is this sacrifice for? Well, I see the answer. First, it was the people who
told this lie. It was for them. It was for the people who told
this hypocritical lie. And it was for all the 12 tribes
of Israel. It wasn't for everybody. It was
only for the 12 tribes of Israel. Now, we read in verse 5, He sent
young men of the children of Israel which offered burnt offerings
and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. Burnt
offering for sin and the peace that comes as a result of that
whole burnt offering. Now, Moses knew when they said
this, they'd sinned a great sin. You know, it was really hypocritical.
You know, I say, well, they were sincere when they said it. Well,
I don't know if they were or not. Can you sincerely say, all that
the Lord has spoken, I'll do? Can you say that with a true
sincere heart right now? If you read the Ten Commandments, can
you say, I'm not going to break one of them? And can you be sincere
when you say something like that? Well, I don't think they could
either. I think that there was grotesque hypocrisy and sinfulness in making
this confession. And as far as that goes, they
demonstrated a complete ignorance of the law, didn't they? Anybody
that has any spiritual understanding of the law knows that all the
law does is condemn them. They know they can't keep the
law. We're showing great disrespect for God's law and a very high
opinion of ourselves when we make a statement like, all that
the Lord has spoken, that will we do. What arrogance these people
demonstrate at this time. And Moses knows it. And so what's
the first thing he does? He builds an altar for sacrifice. Verse 6. And Moses took half
of the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled
on the altar. Now, there must have been a lot
of blood. And how blood makes you feel when you see it. You
know, it's a shame that we've got all these programs, movies
and so on where there's blood shedding and I think it makes
people desensitized toward it. But still, you know, there's
something that actually creeps you out when you see blood shed,
doesn't it? When you see blood running out of somebody and onto
the floor, it means death. It means death and it's a very
sobering experience. It speaks to our gut, doesn't
it, when you see bloodshed. I can't help but wonder how Adam
and Eve must have felt when God slew that beast and they saw
blood come out of that beast for the first time and they saw
death for the first time. There was a bloodshed going on. And he took the blood, he sprinkled
it on the altar, the scripture says. You know, since Moses built
the altar, It had to be purged with blood because a sinful man
built it. Even the altar had to be purged with blood. Did
you notice in that passage of Scripture I opened with, it said
almost all things are by the law purged with blood. He'd throw
blood on the altar. He'd throw blood on the sacrifice,
on the vessels, on the book itself. Everything was purged with blood,
without the shedding of blood. There is no remission of sins.
Now verse 7, And he took the book of the covenant, and read
in the audience of the people. He read Exodus chapter 20 through
23, once again, the commandments of the Lord. And they said, all
that the Lord has said will we do, and be obedient. Now, I hope they meant well,
but I can't imagine anybody even being sincere when they say this.
I'm going to do everything he said. I'm going to keep every
one of those commandments. I'm going to be obedient. All that the Lord
has spoken, that will we do. And so what does Moses do? Moses
took the blood and he sprinkled it on the people. That means
he took blood and he threw it on the crowd. Now can you imagine
having blood thrown on you? I mean, what a sight, what a
gruesome sight that must have been. He was actually taking
the blood of all these oxen and throwing it on the people. And
what a sight that must have been. Can you imagine? What's he doing?
Why is he doing this? What's this blood all about?
You know, I remember hearing one preacher comment on this
passage of Scripture, and he said, this is the pact of obedience
between God and the people. It's kind of like two kids pricking
their fingers and putting blood and putting them together, you
know, as a pact. He said this is a pact of obedience
between God and the people. No, it's not. It's God's blood
because He knew they wouldn't obey. That's the purpose of this. He gave this blood of the covenant
because He knew they would not obey. Verse 8, And Moses took
the blood and sprinkled it on the people. And he said, Behold,
The blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning
all these words. Somebody's going to have to die.
Either you or a substitute. This is God's blood. It's the
blood of his covenant, which he's made with you. Not a covenant
you two made together, but a covenant he made with you. concerning
all these words. Now, the sprinkling of the blood
has to do with the application of the blood. Now, let me repeat
that. The sprinkling of the blood has
to do with the application of the blood. Now, what do I mean
by that? Well, there are two different views of the application
of the blood of Christ. That means it works for you.
The first view that most people hold is that Jesus Christ shed
his blood for everybody Paid for everybody's sins. That blood
was shed for every individual to ever live, but it's up to
you to do something to make it work for you. You've got to apply
the blood to yourself, either the act of your faith, either
the act of your repentance. There's something you need to
do, some work you need to perform in order to apply the blood to
yourself. I remember one time hearing a preacher, and it was
after he had been caught in a moral scandal. It was way back in the
80s when all that stuff was going on. And there were some people
interviewing this preacher, and they said, now, what are you
going to do about your sin? I mean, you were caught red-handed.
What are you going to do about that sin? And he said, I put
that sin under the blood. And I thought, oh, you've got
the authority to do that? You can just up and put your
sin under the blood whenever you want to? Is that what the
Scripture teaches? What about right here? Was there
anything they did to apply the blood to themselves? No, God sprinkled the blood on
them. God threw the blood on them. They didn't apply to the blood
themselves, it was thrown on them. I listen to the language. It's not the blood of the covenant,
which the Lord and you made together. He does his part. We do our part,
but it's the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with
you. Now the Lord made a covenant
and it's called the. covenant of grace. We read several
times in the New Testament of the blood of the covenant and
the blood of the everlasting covenant. And here's what happened.
I love thinking about this covenant. And the reason I love thinking
about this covenant is because I know exactly what David meant
when he said, although my house be not so with God, yet hath
he made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things
insure. And this David said, the man
after God's own heart, the son of Jesse, This, he said, is all
my salvation and it's all my desire. Now, we see David's attitude
toward the covenant and that's my attitude too. I have
the same attitude David did toward this covenant and the blood of
the covenant. Now, here's the way the covenant
works. God, before time began, If I say foresaw the fall of
Adam, I'm probably not using proper language. It was all part
of his purpose and it was all part of his plan. Adam was going
to fall, our entire race was going to fall in him. Yeah, God
foresaw it because it was all part of his purpose and his plan.
He foresaw it, sure enough, but that's weak language if that's
all we say. God purposed this, but God in His mercy elected,
chose out, selected a vast number of Adam's race, and He gave them
to His Son. And He said, you're going to
be responsible for their sin. You're going to be responsible
for their fall. You're going to have to bear all the weight
of the responsibility of their salvation. You're going to have
to keep the law for them. You're going to have to die for them.
You're going to have to put away their sins. And it's your blood
that's going to wash away their sins. And hence we have the blood
of the everlasting And like David said, this is
all my salvation and all my desire. And this thrills my heart to
know this. Do you know that when Christ agreed to be my surety,
everything God required of me, he looked to Christ for? I'm
off the hook. I love that. We're talking about
a salvation that's all of grace. It's all in the covenant. Let's
look at some scriptures regarding this. You know, when the Lord
came to this world, We read in Matthew 121, Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. That's why He came in the first
place. Now look in Hebrews chapter 9. Verse 12. 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, Hey, you purge your conscience from dead
works. Your works don't have anything
to do with salvation. Just get rid of that way of thinking.
It's the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for this cause, verse
15, He's the mediator of the New Testament, the New Covenant,
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. Look in Hebrews chapter 10, verse
28, He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. Now of how much sore
punishment suppose you? Shall he be thought worthy who
hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted, has
regarded, has viewed, The blood of the covenant. That's what
Moses was talking about here in Exodus chapter 24. He's counted
the blood of the covenant an unholy thing. And have done despite
unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that said, Vengeance
belongeth unto me. I will recompense the Lord. Now
how do you view the blood of the covenant? Now, he gives this
warning. That person who views the blood
of the covenant as an unholy thing. Now that word unholy is
the word that's generally translated common. Common. The word means by definition
that which is general to all, that which is common to all as
opposed to that which is peculiar to the few. Now if you look at
the blood of Christ as just common, just general, it made salvation
possible but it didn't actually save. And that's what most folks
believe. You know what you've done? You've done despite to
the Spirit of grace. And the scripture says you've
prodden underfoot the Son of God. That's a scary thing, isn't
it? How do you view the blood of the covenant? I view it as
my all in salvation. I view it as holy, as precious,
precious to God. I view it as having done everything
He intended to do with it. He saved His people by this blood
of the covenant. And this is all my salvation.
The only hope I have, the only hope that a bunch like this has,
these folks who told this hypocritical lie, the only hope that they
have is that God would apply the blood to them. and do something
for them. That's that's all our salvation. Look at Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 20. Now, the God of peace. That brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Make
you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you
that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Turn over to Hebrews
chapter 9. Now here, the writer to the Hebrews
actually talks about what took place in Exodus chapter 24. Look
within verse 19. For when Moses had spoken every
precinct, to all the people according to the law. He gave the Ten Commandments,
he gave the civil laws and so on. What did he do? 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. Now, we read of blood with water. I like this, blood with water.
What came out of the Lord's side when they thrust that spear through
him? Blood and water. justification and sanctification,
the complete salvation that His blood accomplished. Not blood
only, but blood and water. When you went into the tabernacle,
when you were in the outer court, what did you have to do? You
had to have blood and you had to be washed in the basin, blood
and water to get into the presence of God, into the holy place.
Blood and water. Now what does it say? Look back
in verse 19, 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. You know what that is?
That's purple. That means royal blood. You see, this is why this
is such a glorious thing. It's whose blood was shed. It's
whose blood was it? It's Christ that died. That's
why His blood must put away sins. And to look at it in any other
way is to trample underfoot the Son of God. This is royal blood. What good would it do for you
if I died for you? Could it wash away any of your
sins? Of course not. It couldn't do anything for you.
But this is the blood of Jesus Christ. This is the blood of
God, the God-man. And I say that almost scared
when I say it. This is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, this
royal blood, the royal color of purple. And how is it applied? I like this, verse 19, "...and
scarlet wool and hyssop." What is hyssop? Hyssop was that branch
that was dipped in the blood on the Passover and put over
the door. That's what David was talking about when he said, "...purge
me with hyssop, and I'll be clean." That's how that blood was applied. on all the people, let's go over
it in verse 20, saying, this is the blood of the Testament,
which God hath enjoined to 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
the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Now, what happens when the blood
is applied? He took that blood. He took a
hyssop branch, threw it on the people. The blood hit them. What
a gruesome sight it must have been. But what happens when the
blood is applied? You see, just bloodshed without
blood being applied isn't going to do anybody any good. I have
to have the blood applied to me. What takes place when the
blood is applied? Well, turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 6. 1 Corinthians 6. Verse 9. Now he speaks of sin. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But here's what happens when
the blood is applied. You are washed. You are sanctified. You are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. You are washed. Now, what happens when you're
washed? Filth is removed. When you take something dirty
and putting it in the washing machine, if your washing machine
works, you know what happens when it comes out? That filth
is gone. It's washed away. It's not there
anymore. When the blood is applied, sin
is removed. Turn to Revelation 1. Hold your
finger there in 1 Corinthians 6 and turn to Revelation 1. Verse 5. And from Jesus Christ,
who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead
and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved
us and washed us. from our sins in his own blood. Look in revelation seven, verse
13. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, what are these? which are arrayed in white robes.
And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of great
tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb. Now understand this regarding
the blood of Christ. It washed away the sin of everybody
it was shed for. Now here's a bigger question.
It's not a bigger question, but it's just as important. How can
I know if he did it for me? How can I know my sin was washed
away? Well, I know this. Everybody who sins is washed
away. They look to the blood of Christ
as the way they're washed away. They rest in the blood of Christ
as the way they're washed away. You know, right now, I really
believe that his precious blood washed away my sins. And I stand
without guilt before God. You're washed. And the next thing
he says, when the blood is applied, you're sanctified. You're declared
by God to be holy. Hebrews 10.10 says, by the witch
will we are sanctified. through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. You're justified, he said in
1 Corinthians 6, in that verse in verse 11. You're washed, you're
sanctified, you're justified, you're cleared of all guilt,
being now justified by His blood. Now that's what happens to somebody
when the blood is applied. They're washed, they're sanctified,
and they're justified. Now turn back to Hebrews chapter
9. Verse 21. 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. Now, would to
God that this would be burned in our hearts. Without shedding
of blood is no remission. How decisive this statement is. Well, if I quit sinning, won't
I get remission of sins? Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. Well, what if I believe? If I
believe, will I have the remission of sins? Without the shedding
of blood is no remission. Well, what if I never sin again
without the shedding of blood? is no remission. The only way
sin is remitted is by the bloodshedding of the Lord Jesus Christ. No
other way. And how universal this is. I
love this. The self-righteous, religious,
and the prostitute are put on the same plane. Without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sin. The rich and the poor,
the educated and the uneducated. This is so leveling without the
shedding of blood. There is no remission of sins,
but this is so eternally true. While it's true that without
the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin, it's equally
true with the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is remission of sins. My sins have been remitted. They've
been washed away. They're gone. I bear them no
more. I'm holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. Now let's close by looking back
to our text. Verse 7. Exodus 24. And He took the book of the covenant
and read in the audience of the people, and they said, all that
the Lord has said will we do and be obedient. What is the only hope that somebody
has who has been this much of a liar? It's for God to take the blood
and apply it to them. That's what took place in this
passage of scripture. He applied the blood to them. You know, I can't help but think
this. I was thinking of the power of
the blood, the glory of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Should
there ever be a sermon preached without the blood? Any message preached without
the blood is a crime in its execution. Now, if you're a real sinner,
this is the only place you'll find hope. The blood. of the Lord Jesus Christ applied
to you. And you know you don't need anything
else, do you? Is that enough to satisfy you that the blood
of Christ makes you perfect in God's sight? God's satisfied
with it and I am too. Let's pray.