The Blood Before the Lord

Now let's use our Bibles a little
bit tonight. If you will, open them to Leviticus
chapter 4. This is my text, Leviticus the
fourth chapter. I want to read the first seven
verses of Leviticus 4. Now I'm speaking tonight on the
subject, the blood before the Lord. In Leviticus 4, verse 1,
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children
of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against
any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which
ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them, if the
priests that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people,
Then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young
bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.
And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation before the Lord, and shall lay his hand
upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the Lord. And the priest that is anointed
shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle
of the congregation, And the priest shall dip his finger in
the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the
Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall
put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense
before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation,
and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom
of the altar of the burnt offering which is at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. All through the Word of God,
from Genesis to Revelation, you meet with the blood. Hebrews
9, verse 22 says, And almost all things under the law are
purged with blood. Without the shedding of blood
there is no remission of sins. 1 John 1 verse 7 says, If we
walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth
us from all sin. In 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19, Peter
wrote this, For as much as you know, you are not redeemed with
corruptible things from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." If I have
any apology to make to this congregation in reference to preaching about
the blood of Christ, the apology would be this, that I do not
preach it as often as I should, not that I preach it too much.
If I have any apology to make in reference to preaching about
the cross of Christ, the redemption of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ,
that apology would be in this manner. I wish I could preach
it more. I wish I could preach it in a
more powerful manner. I wish I could preach it as Paul
preached it and James and John and Peter, but never Would any
true minister of the gospel ever apologize for preaching the blood
of Christ too much? Now, what does the word blood
mean in the scripture? Well, first of all, it means
not merely suffering, but it means suffering unto death. Now,
suffering could be typified by the shedding of blood, but blood
in the scripture means suffering unto death. Now, sin deserves
death. The punishment for sin is not
discomfort. It is not discredit. The punishment
for sin is death. That's what the Word of God says.
The soul that sinneth shall surely die. And sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death. The wages of sin is death. Now,
we need to be honest about that. We need to be clear on that point.
Sin deserves not discomfort, not discredit, but death. eternal death. And the only way
that God Almighty can fulfill that righteous sentence upon
sin and yet forgive guilty men, the only way, there is no other
way. The only way that God can fulfill his righteous judgment
and his righteous sentence upon sin and yet forgive guilty sinners
is for Christ Jesus the Lord to come into this world in the
flesh and offer his life in death, suffering unto death for us. The way that men are saved from
sin is by the death of a substitute. The way that men are delivered
from condemnation is the shedding of the precious, redeeming, cleansing,
atoning blood of the Son of God. Now let's turn to 1 Peter 2. I want you to look at some Scripture
now. 1 Peter 2, verse 21. Now that's what the Scripture
teaches. The only way, not a way, but
the way. The only way that God Almighty
can save men from sin and execute his righteous judgment is for
Christ to die in our room, in our place, in our step. 1 Peter
2, verse 21, listen, For even hereunto were ye called, because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye
should follow his steps, who did no sin. Neither was guile
found in his mouth. He was a perfect substitute.
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered,
he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness by whose
stripes we are healed. Now, chapter 3, verse 18, 1 Peter
3, 18. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. And Paul wrote in Galatians,
Christ hath delivered us from the curse of the law being made
a curse for us. Now, I've just read from the
book of Leviticus about the sacrifice. And all of these sacrifices under
the law of Moses, when they died, when their blood was shed, all
of these sacrifices were typical of the life of Christ, of the
sacrifice of Christ, of the death of Christ, which was offered
in the stead and place of the believer. There is no salvation
under heaven, never has been, is not now, never will be. I
hear people sometimes talking about different dispensations
and different Gospels and those different dispensations, but
there is but one Gospel, and there is but one sacrifice, there
is but one substitute, and that is the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
And he redeemed us by the shedding of his blood. What can wash away
my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes
me white as snow, no other fount I know, nothing but the blood
of Jesus. His back was lacerated by the
scourge, and the blood flowed. The crown of thorns was placed
upon his brow, and the blood flowed. The nails were driven
into his hands and into his feet, and the blood flowed. The spear
was pierced, was driven into his side, his side was pierced
by the cruel spear, and the blood flowed. Blessed be the fountain
of blood. You can call it a slaughterhouse
religion, you can call it first century doctrine, you can call
it what you will. But to all who know their sinners,
and to all who are conscious of their inability, and to all
who cry out to God for forgiveness, it is blessed be the fountain
of blood. To a world of sinners revealed,
blessed be the dear Son of God, only by His stripes we are healed. Though I've wandered far from
the fold, bringing to my heart pain and woe, Wash me, O God,
wash me in the blood of the Lamb, and I shall be whiter than the
snow." Now, there are three things that I want to point out from
this Scripture in regard to the cleansing blood of Christ in
reference to our justification, the first of which is this. Now,
there are no more three important things, I believe, that can be
discussed. First of all, The blood atonement
was made before the Lord. Did you notice as I paused while
I was reading Leviticus 4 how many times the words, before
the Lord, were written? Look at it again, back in verse
4. And he shall bring the bullock
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the
Lord, and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and
kill the bullock before the Lord. Verse 6, And the priest shall
dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven
times before the Lord. And verse 7, And the priest shall
put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense
before the Lord. Now listen real carefully right
here. There's no question but that the death of Christ accomplished
something in relation to you and me. I read over there in
1 Peter 2 a moment ago where it says Christ suffered for us,
leaving us an example. There's no question about it,
the death of Christ did accomplish something in relation to me and
to you. First of all, he says this, if
he so loved us enough to die for us, we ought to love one
another. Therefore his death is an example
of believer's love. And then the scripture says,
let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Let this mind, this mind of humility,
this mind of submission, so therefore Christ in that way is an example
of the believer's humility. And then the scripture talking
about giving, about the church of the Lord Jesus Christ giving.
He says, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. That's
Christ. And Jesus Christ who was rich,
yet for our sakes became poor. So therefore his coming into
the world and his sacrifice is an example of the Christian's
spirit of giving. And then when our Lord was hanging
on the cross, he looked down upon those who nailed him there
in cruelty and mocking, and he said, Father, forgive them. They
know not what they do. So if we want to learn how to
love and how to be humble and how to give and how to show mercy
and how to forgive, we go to the cross, where Christ is our
example. So when he died and when he shed
his blood and when he gave his life, certainly something was
accomplished in relation to us. But, and this is an important
but, listen, the blood atonement was in reference to God himself,
not only to bring us to God, but to bring God to us. Now that
is important. And I know that preachers often
want to turn our attention to Calvary and stir up within us
some affection for God, some interest in God, some desire
for God, maybe some pity for God. But brethren, when Christ
gave his blood and when Christ gave his life, it was not just
in reference to us. The major emphasis of his death
was in reference to God himself. And not just to bring us to God,
but to bring God to us. Now, throughout the scripture
here and throughout the Old Testament, the blood was placed before the
Lord. The blood was placed before the
Lord. Whether any man saw it or not
was not important. It was a small account. For the
blood sacrifice was unto the Lord. It was before the Lord. It was in relationship to the
Lord. It was that the Father's justice
might be satisfied, and his law vindicated. Now, when Israel was down in
Egypt, and the judgment of God was upon that country, And the
wrath of God was against those people. And God said, Moses,
tonight at midnight I'm coming through. Now, you hear people
say, when the death angel came through. There was no death angel
came through there. Nowhere does it say anything
about a death angel. It says God came through. That's
what Scripture says, God came through. Death is not in the
hands of angels, it's in the hands of God. And he said, when
I come through, He said, Moses, you have the people of Israel
to kill a lamb, take the blood in a basin, and put it where? Put it in the house on a table
so they can all look at it and be inspired by it? Put it on
the walls of the house on the inside so it can encourage them
and keep their confidence up and give them assurance? Where
was the blood? It was outside on the door. It
was outside. Everybody was in the house. All
the people were inside. And the blood was on the outside. And God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. I'll tell you, when the Lord
Jesus Christ died on that cross, His blood was shared in reference
to God. It was an offering unto the Lord. It was an offering offered before
the Lord. It was an offering given in the
presence of the Lord. And the blood was placed before
God where God could see it, not where man could see it. It didn't
matter whether any man saw it. It was placed there where God
could see it in reference to the believer. Now, the atonement
doesn't change the nature of God. God's unchangeable in His
nature, you know that. God's unchangeable in His purpose,
you know that. The sacrifice of Christ does
not make God love you. God loved you before Christ died.
Because God loved you, He gave His Son. For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son. But God committed His love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. The death of Christ followed the love of God. The love of
God didn't follow the death of Christ. One poet put it this
way, "'Twas not to make Jehovah love, Jehovah's love, towards
the center flame, that Jesus from his home above a suffering
man became. "'Twas not the death which he
endured, nor all the pain he bore, that God's eternal love
procured, for God was loved before.'" Now listen to this. is not the cause of God's love,
but Christ's death is the result of God's love. The claims of
divine justice had to be met. The judge of the earth must do
right. Sin had to be punished. And the
death of Christ is this. God has given us in Christ all
that which satisfy the claims of his justice, the claims of
his law, the claims of his righteousness, and the claims of his holiness.
And Jesus Christ died in order that God might be just and justify
the ungodly. And the Father looks on Christ
and sees in Christ in his death, and the death of Christ brought
glory to the Father, the death of Christ brought delight to
the Father, and the death of Christ is a sweet savor of rest
in the nostrils of God. That's right. Because God sees
in the death of Christ the honoring of his holiness, the satisfaction
of his justice, the infinite glory of his grace, and the fulfillment
of his divine purpose. So when some preacher comes your
way and seems to be laboring to get you to feel sorry for
Jesus, when some preacher comes your way and gets to laboring,
trying to get you to do something because look what Christ did
for you, you tell that preacher to go alone in his study and
find out why Christ died and to whom Christ died and for whom
Christ died, and he'll learn something about the gospel. I'm
not denying that the death of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ
has much to do with us, in reference to us, in relation to us, but
the blood was put on the altar before the Lord. And God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. When I see the blood and the
death of Christ in our stead and our place, enable the Heavenly
Father to be just and to justify the ungodly. Christ said to those
who wept and lamented as he went to the cross, don't weep for
me. Christ said to his disciples who tried to keep him from the
cross, for this cause came out of this hour. He's born crucified. Now here's the second thing that's
oh so important. First of all, the blood of Christ.
is in reference to God. It's before the Lord. It's a
sacrifice that enables the Father to be just and to forgive our
sins. And then secondly, the blood
atonement gives power to the intercession of Christ. Now then
look at verse 7. And the priest shall put some
of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before
the Lord. Now this altar of sweet incense,
that's where they burn, you know what incense is, fragrant odor,
fragrant smell, a pleasing smell. And this altar of sweet incense
in the tabernacle was a type of Christ pleading for us, the
type of his prayers, a type, Charlie, of his intercession,
that's what it was, an altar of incense. Now the horns of
the altar signify the power. Where you find the word horn
in the Word of God, the horns in the Word of God are power.
Where do you tell them to put that blood? Put that blood on
the horns of the altar of sweet incense. And you know what that's
saying? It's saying that the power of prayer, the power of
the prayers of Christ, the power of the intercession of Christ,
is where? It's in the blood. It's in the
blood. Now, I have a friend that's a
contractor down south, and he had a fellow working for him.
I forget his name. But he was a poor laborer, and
he wasn't real sharp. And he was bad about getting
in debt. Oh, I tell you, he owed everybody
in his brother. And he saw in the paper one day
an ad from the First National Bank in Jackson, Mississippi.
It says, Come down to our bank and consolidate all your bills. We'll pay all your bills, and
you just make us one small monthly payment. And he brought that
to work that morning, showed it to his boss, and he said,
now that's what I'm going to do. I'm going down and get some
money and pay off all my bills. And then I'll pay them that one
small monthly payment. And he said, can I get off an
hour to go down to the bank? So the boss let him off. And
he was happy as a lark. He was just walking on cloud
nine. He came back in about 30 minutes,
and he looked like it was the end of the world. He was so sad,
and the contractor said, uh, Joe, what happened? Oh, he said,
I went in to see that man, said, he's nice to him, and said, we
sat down, and he asked me what all I owed, and I told him what
all I owed, how much I owed, and he said he'd give me the
money, and we'd take care of him, and then he asked me how
much collateral I had. And I said, how much what? He said, how much collateral
have you got? And he said, the man explained
to me what collateral is, and he said, I ain't got no collateral.
Now he said, what I need is some collateral. And I'm telling you
this, that's exactly, we don't have anything to offer. We don't
have any collateral. The blessings there, the need
is here. But we don't have anything to
plead. We don't have any collateral. But Christ does. What does Christ
have? He pleads for the cancellation
of all our debts, and what does he bring in his hand? His blood. His blood. We have nothing to
pay, but he does. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owed. Sin left a crimson stain. He
washed it white as snow because he paid the debt. Job said, I
found a ransom. I found some collateral. I found
a payment. I found something to plead. I
found a basis for intercession. Christ's blood, first of all,
shows His oneness with us. Turn to Hebrews 2. First of all,
the blood which Christ shed, the blood that came out of His
veins, first of all, shows a oneness with His people. Hebrews 2, verse
14, look at it. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same flesh and blood, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death That is the devil. Christ took
blood. And when he died on that cross,
actual blood came from his hands and feet. Blood. He was a man,
truly a man. A man died on that cross. That's
his blood on that altar. Then secondly, his blood shows
the pavement of the dead. His blood is no longer in his
veins. Where is it? It's on the altar. His blood is no longer in his
body. Where is it? It's on the ground.
He shed his blood. In shedding that blood, he shed
his life, he gave his life. And his blood shows the fulfillment
of the covenant. His blood is the blood of an
everlasting what? Covenant. You know what the word
covenant means? Testament. You know what a testament is?
Well, you know what a last will and testament is, don't you?
And a covenant or a testament or a will is of no value until
what? the death of the testator. In other words, if I were a wealthy man and I
made out a will, and I left all that I had to Doris and Becky,
I might write that down, and Becky may carry that around.
I keep telling her I'm going to cut her out of my will if
she doesn't come home, and it doesn't scare her a bit in the
world. But she could carry that will around and she wouldn't
have a dime. She's not going to have anything
till what happens, till I die. You see what I'm saying? That
is no good. I might have a million dollars
and right on there I leave to her one million dollars. And
she'd go around telling people, I'm rich. No, you're not rich,
you're not rich till he dies. It's no good till he dies. And
what Christ willed us in the testament, in the covenant, is
not ours till what? Till he dies. And he dies. Let me tell you a story to illustrate
that. Mr. Spurgeon had a friend over in
England who was an itinerant evangelist. He was a man who
preached the gospel. He traveled around different
places preaching the gospel. People loved him. They respected
him. They listened to him. People
were converted through his message. But he was a very poor man. And
Spurgeon said one day one of his hearers, a man who came to
hear him quite often, an elderly man, Came up to him after a service
one night and said to him, called him by name, and he said to this
poor itinerant evangelical preacher, I've left you a large part of
my estate. When I die, you're going to be
well taken care of. Well, not many months passed
by until one day this preacher friend of Spurgeon's, this itinerant
evangelist, picked up the newspaper and this man had died. So he
went down to the place where he lived to see some of his people
to tell them to claim his estate. And the man had never recorded
the will. He had never recorded his promise. He had never recorded what he
agreed to do, and therefore the itinerant evangelist never got
a dime. It was never recorded. Christ's
will is recorded. His testament is all written
down. When he died, I know it's mine because it's right there.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. The blood
of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. In my Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and it's all written down right here in his Word. But that's
not all. That same preacher That same
itinerant evangelist, another man told him the same thing. He made the same promise to him.
He said, when I die, I'm going to leave you enough to live on. You don't have anybody to take
care of you, and you're getting old just like I am, and when
I die, I'm going to leave you enough to live on. Well, this
man died, and the evangelist went to see the lawyer. It was
recorded. He'd written it down. He'd told
the evangelists about it. But the family contested the
will. And the evangelists didn't get
a thing. The preacher did not get a thing. And the man who died, who wrote
it down, who willed it to him, who promised it to him, was dead.
And the evangelist came to the lawyer, and he said, but he told
me, and he wrote it down. But the lawyer said, the family
has contested the will, and there's not a thing I can do about it.
The case is lost. The man can't come back and guarantee
that you're going to get what he promised you. You see where
I'm coming to, don't you? If that man who died and left
that preacher enough to live on, if he could have come back,
and stood before that log and said, You give him what I promised
him. But he couldn't do it. But my
Lord did. My Lord not only recorded the
benefits that he gave me through his death, but he arose and he
lives on the right hand of God to make sure I get it. That's
what it says. Turn to Romans 8.34. Let me show
you that. The testator died. And he rose
again, and he sits at the right hand of the Father to make sure
that every stipulation of his will is carried out. Look at
Romans 8, 34. Who is he that condemned him? It is Christ that
died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is at the right hand
of God, who maketh intercession for us. So who can separate us
from the love of Christ? Yes, sir. He arose again. So the blood of Jesus Christ
gives power to his intercession. That sweet savor of prayer that
comes up to the nostrils of God is empowered by his own blood,
the blood of a man that came out of his veins and was shed
and put on the horns of the altar. And that blood has got convincing
power. And last of all, and this is
so important, turn to Hebrews 10. This is very important. Hebrews 10, verse 19. Now listen
to me a minute. The blood atonement gives acceptance
to our worship. I don't know about you, but let's
be honest, if we can. The best worship that we've rendered
here tonight is far from perfect, isn't it? The best prayer that
we can pray is far from perfect, huh? The best works that we can
do are what? Filthy rags. Job said, how can
man be just with God? Behold the moon, it shineth not. The stars are not clean in his
sight. The heavens are not pure in his
sight. How much more abominable is man, filthy as man, that drinketh
iniquity like the water? We praise God, but how faint
is the best praise that we offer. We try to pray, but don't we
waver and wonder while we pray? When we get nearest to God, how
far off we are. When we think we're the most
like God, how unlike God we are. This thing is deceptive, deceitful. And here's the only way that
we can come, listen, in the presence of God. Hebrews 10, 19, having
therefore, brethren, boldness with your imperfect worship,
with your wavering, wandering prayer, with your faint and feeble
praise, with your fleshly imagination. You have boldness to enter into
the holiest, right into the presence of God. How? Huh? By the blood
of Jesus. That's it. Don't come any other
way. Don't come any other way. Every
prayer and every worship and every act of praise and every
work will be acceptable in the presence of the Father only as
it's offered. with a mind to, and an affection
for, and a faith in, and a confidence in the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me as white as snow. Me, think about it, no other
fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Having boldness
to enter into the presence of God, into the holiest But don't
forget, by the blood of Jesus. I tremble, oh I tremble, for
any person, any man, woman, boy or girl, for whom this story
ever grows old. I tremble, oh how I tremble. The blood of Christ is so precious
to the Father. The blood of Christ is that sweet
incense That sweet savor of rest and peace and acceptance, it's
the blood of Christ. And any person who ever gets
weary of hearing of it and weary of preaching it and any person
who ever feels like we need a new direction, God have mercy. This is our life, the blood of
Christ. Our Father, we give thanks. Oh,
how feeble, how feeble. how unprepared to approach thy
presence, and yet these faltering, fumbling words are made holy,
they are made eloquent, they are made acceptable because of
that blood shed on Calvary's cross, because there is a fountain
filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinners
plunge beneath that flood, lose all all their guilty stains,
holy, unreprovable, unblameable, perfect in thy presence, washed
in the blood. Speak to us according to thy
will, for his glory. Amen.

The Blood Before the Lord

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The Blood Before the Lord

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