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 goats with water and scarlet 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 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 hath 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 translated covenant in verse 15. And for
this cause, he's the mediator of the new covenant. 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 covenants
Christ is the mediator of the or the guarantee of the new covenant
now if you 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 of necessity 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 going
to 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. 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. 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 thirty eight.
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 is sent me." Here's his last will and testament. This is the Father's will which
is 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, that of all 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? 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. 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's 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 with that 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
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. 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 built an altar under the hill. And 12 pillars according
to the 12 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
and 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 worshiping 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 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 nine, 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 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 that 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, a putting
away, a 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. The 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. 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 it 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 are 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 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. That's funny. 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 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 sin. Do 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 121 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 in 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 men, 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. 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 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. I am pure. Now, there's not a drop of gospel
in the message that says Christ died for all men without exception.
Let me show you the 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, 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 shall he be thought worthy, who
hath trodden underfoot 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 you 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 it 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 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 mat 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 speak 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. There's 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 elders said, Weep
not. Behold, the Lion 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 2 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, what is it? Anybody remember
that one? Justify, let me, turn to Proverbs 17. I'm losing the ability to quote
it. I think it's verse 9. Verse 15, Proverbs 17. He that
justifieth the wicked and he that condemned 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 get glory in it. Herein is love, not that
we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son. could be the propitiation for
our sins. were yet without strength in
due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now, here's two requisites
for Christ dying for you. One, you've got to be without
strength. And number two, you've got to 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 and close
it. 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 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 bold 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, contradictory man, perfect in
God's sight. Aren't you thankful for his precious
blood?