I'd like to repeat my text again,
if you'll open your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18 and
19. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed, with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, verse 19, but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. I'm going to preach again tonight
on the very cornerstone of the gospel. My topic is the precious blood
of Christ. How many times will it be now
that I have preached on the substitutionary work of Christ? I cannot count
them. How many times have you heard
the gospel of substitution? How many times have you heard
messages on this subject, the precious blood of Christ? I never
get tired of it. Believe me, I believe everything
else can wait. I believe this message must be
preached over and over and over again. Let others preach what
they will. Let them major on what they will.
But I want to be able to say with Paul, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ, my Lord. I am determined. And this is
more than just a text. This is more than just a cliché. This is more than just a verse
of scripture. I am determined. I am determined. Whatever outside forces may be
exerted, I am determined to know nothing among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And this is not just a saying,
and this is not just a cliché, this is the very heart of this
pulpit and of this church and of this man's ministry. I am
determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. I have a fear. I think it's my
greatest fear. I have a fear not of dying. I have a fear not of the judgment. I have a fear not of hell. I
have a fear not of losing friends. I have a fear not of losing my
job. I have a fear not of losing members
from this congregation. I have one fear. Believe me,
God is my witness. I have one fear, and that is
of preaching about the gospel and not actually preaching the
gospel. That's my only fear. I don't care if I preach to ten
or to ten thousand, I want to preach the gospel. It really
doesn't matter to me whether we have twenty-five or twenty-five
hundred, I want to preach to those people the gospel. Now
this has been done more than once. This preaching about the
gospel and not preaching the gospel. Because this whole world
has a religious vocabulary, but very few people really know the
gospel. Did you know that? There are
very few preachers who really know the gospel. Now they know
religion, they talk about heaven and talk about hell. They talk
about the Bible and they talk about Jesus. But they don't know
the gospel, and their congregation doesn't know the gospel, and
their healers don't know the gospel. There are plenty of people
who are orthodox who do not know the gospel. The Pharisees were
orthodox. They were taught in the scriptures,
but they didn't know the gospel. There are plenty of people who
are church members who don't know the gospel. Judas was a
church member. He was an officer in the church,
but he didn't know the gospel. There are plenty of people who
give to support the church who don't know the gospel. Ananias
and Sapphira gave a great portion of their income to the church,
but they didn't know the gospel. There are many people who are
baptized who do not know the gospel. Simon Magus was baptized,
and Peter said, your heart's not right with God. I don't want
to preach just words. I want to preach the gospel.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 4, Paul is writing to the
church at Thessalonica, and he said, I know this. In 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 4, I know this. I know, beloved, your election
of God. For our gospel, our gospel, not
our religion, not our denomination, not our Baptist name, our gospel,
not our orthodoxy or our doctrine, our gospel came not unto you
in word only, but it came to you in power in the Holy Ghost
and in much assurance." Now, these believers did not hear
the gospel in word only. They didn't hear it in word only.
It was accompanied by the quickening power of God's Spirit. But they
did hear it in words. They didn't hear it only in words,
but they did hear it in words. Paul said, our gospel didn't
come to you in word only, it came in the Holy Ghost, it came
in power. The Spirit of God gave you eyes
to see the mysteries of the gospel. The Spirit of God gave you ears
to hear, not just the words of the preacher, but the words of
God. The Spirit of God gave you a heart to understand the mysteries
of the gospel, substitution, redemption, eternal life. vital union, a living relationship
with God. These things were revealed to
you by the Holy Spirit, but they did hear it from somebody in
words. There's no one going to be saved
without the gospel. Nobody. It's got to be heard
in words. Now, my responsibility is not
the power, but the words. My responsibility is not the
Holy Ghost, but the words. My responsibility is not the
assurance, but the word. I must preach it at least in
word, and the revelation is up to God's Spirit. But I must preach
the gospel in words. I must preach the gospel in plain
words. The Holy Spirit will have to
make it effectual. The Holy Spirit will have to
give you eyes to see. But you can't see the light if
there's no light shining. A man may be blind and the light's
shining through the window. Well, if they open his eyes,
well, he can see the light. But if he's blind and there's
no light shining, he can open his eyes all day and he won't
see any light. A man may be deaf and an orchestra playing, and
you open his ears, he can hear the music. But it doesn't matter
whether he's deaf or whether he can hear if there's no sound.
It's got to be sound. And it doesn't matter whether
a sinner is blind or not blind. If there's no gospel preached,
he's not going to see any light. He might well be blind. It doesn't
matter if a sinner's not deaf or is deaf. If there's no gospel
preached, he's not going to hear anything. We've got to preach
it in words. Turn to the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Now we'll let the Holy Spirit
keep the records. This church, and this is an unusual
thing, but I mean for it to be, and these men do too, we keep
no records. I don't have the faintest idea
how many people were here last Sunday, or how many were here
the Sunday before, or how many were here a year ago. I couldn't
tell you how many members this church has. Not the faintest
idea. I refuse to count them. There's a roll in there somewhere,
but it's unimportant, totally unimportant to me. I'm interested
not in hundreds and two hundreds, I'm interested in one person,
that's you. One person, that's you, and that's you. I'm interested
in you coming to know Christ in your heart. That's the only
thing I'm interested in. We do count the money, so we
can deposit in the bank. That's the main thing. Nothing
else is counted, and as long as I'm pastor, ever will be counted.
But there's one thing I'm interested in. Now watch 1 Corinthians 1,
17. Christ sent me not to baptize. He sent me to preach the gospel.
But he didn't send me to preach it with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of non-effect. Men may not
understand what we're saying in their hearts, but if they
come to hear us, they ought to at least understand it in their
heads. We need to preach the gospel so clearly and so plainly
that everybody who hears us will at least in their heads understand
what we're saying. We can preach it in such a way
that, look at 1 Corinthians 5 verse 4, Paul said, my preaching, my
speech and my preaching, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 4, was not with enticing
words of man's wisdom. I'm not here to impress you. I'm not here to impress you at
all. We're supposed to be here to
instruct you. There's a difference. My preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. but in the demonstration
and power of the Holy Spirit. Now brethren, let the Holy Spirit
keep the record books and let God number His people if He wants
to, but let us declare unto all men everywhere the one way of
salvation. And Peter gives it to us here
in our text. Now, if I don't preach the gospel
tonight, it's sure my fault because it's right here in front of me.
If I don't make the gospel clear tonight, if anybody gets up and
walks out of here after this message tonight not knowing how
to be saved, it's my fault. Because it's right here in front
of me, and it's my fault if I'm not honest and true to this scripture. You know you were not redeemed,
saved, with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of
Christ. Now I want to point out briefly
six things about the blood of Christ. This is the way of life. This is the way to heaven. This
is the way sins are forgiven. The blood of Christ. The precious
blood of Christ. The first statement is this.
The blood of Christ has redeeming power. You are redeemed, it says,
with the precious blood of Christ. What does that mean, redeemed?
Well, first of all, we're redeemed from the law. We were all under
the law. The law of God which says, this
do and live. The law of God which issues no
mercy and affords no grace, but the law of God which is strict
and demanding as God's very character. perfect holiness and perfect
righteousness, and Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from this loss. Now let me point something out
to you. This is something that I read this week that made a
profound impression upon me. Have you ever read that verse
of Scripture that goes like this? You who would be saved by the
law, you who would be saved by your works, do you not hear the
law? Have you not heard the law? Do
you know what the law requires? When somebody comes to you and
says, you say, I'm doing the best I can. Do you really know
what's required of the man who hopes to be saved by doing the
best he can? Let's go back just briefly and
look at the life of a Jew under the law. First of all, he was
hedged in by a thousand commandments. Not just ten. Thousands of commandments. He had a multitude of ceremonies. He had a multitude of forms to
keep up with, and not only keep up with, but to do. He was always
in danger of making himself unclean. 24 hours a day. If he sat on
the wrong stool. If he slept on the wrong bed.
If he drank from an earthen pitcher. If he touched a certain wall
that a leprous man had touched before him. If he ate the wrong
kind of meat. If he erred even a little bit
in picking out the right sacrifice, or washing his clothes, or his
hands, or bringing that sacrifice, or the correct basin in which
to bring it. If he walked in the wrong place.
A thousand sins of ignorance were like so many hidden pits
all around him awaiting his stumbling and his fall. He might any day,
any moment, be cut off from the people of God. When he had done
his dead level best to follow every particular form and every
particular ordinance and every particular ritual on that day,
he wasn't finished. because no Jew ever spoke of
a finished work. The bullet must be offered, but
tomorrow he must offer another. The lamb must be slain, but tomorrow
another must be offered. This morning the sacrifice, this
evening the sacrifice, tomorrow the sacrifice, the next day the
sacrifice. The high priest may enter behind
the veil, But he must go again, and again, and again, and again. The work of the law was never
finished. You who would be under the law,
do you not hear the law? In Christ our law is fulfilled. Our priest has gone within the
veil, and by his sacrifice has perfected us forever. It is done,
the great transaction's done, I am my Lord's and He is mine. Turn to Galatians, chapter 3.
Now listen to this. The book of Galatians, that awful,
awful law. And every human being is born
under the law. And they that would be saved
by the law must keep the whole law. And here in Galatians, chapter
4, verse 4, listen to this good news. And thank God for it. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under that
law. That law of God, that moral law,
that ceremonial law, that judicial law, Christ was made under that
law. And He didn't come to destroy
it, He came to fulfill it. And as a man, he fulfilled every
one of those thousands of commandments, those multitudes of ceremonies,
every commandment of God, he kept perfectly, listen, and redeemed
us that were under that law that we might receive the adoption
of sons. The blood of Christ redeemed
me from that law. And I'm no longer under law,
I'm under grace. Christ hath kept that, that's
the only reason I can have any peace at all. That's the reason
I can come to the end of any day and retire and put my head
on the pillar and go to sleep without feeling that horrible
sense of guilt. Have I somewhere along the line
this day offended God, offended the least of His laws? Have I
been cut off? from the people of God. I don't
have to worry about that, because Christ has redeemed me from the
curse of the law. And who can lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemned Christ
to die? And Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to them that believe. Christ is my righteousness. Not my deeds and not my works,
but Christ my Lord. That's what the precious blood
of Christ does first. It has redeeming power. Secondly,
turn to the book of Leviticus, chapter 17, verse 11. Now watch this. Leviticus 17,
11. It says here, For the life of
the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the
altar to make an atonement for your souls. For it is baptism? No, sir. It is walking down an
aisle? No, sir. It is shaking the preacher's
hand? No, sir. It's doing the best
you can? No, sir. It's having a feeling,
having an experience, seeing a vision? No, sir. It is the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. What is it? It's the blood. Whose
blood? Christ's blood. shed on Calvary's
cross, the blood maketh atonement for the soul. God Almighty has
never forgiven sin apart from the shedding of the blood. That's
the reason there was so much blood shed under the old dispensation. All of the meal offerings and
honey offerings and sweet spices and incense and all of these
things were of no avail without the blood. Almost all things
are by the law purged with blood. The tying of the garments, repentance,
faith, promises of future obedience, all of these are useless without
the blood. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. The blood and the blood alone
permitted a man to come to God, for the blood puts away sin. God said the soul that's in it,
it shall die. And when a man dies, he sheds
his blood. And when Christ died, he shed
his blood to make an atonement. Look at this word atonement.
A-T-O-N-E-M-E-N-T. At one month. Christ shed his
blood to make us one with the Father. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. Now thirdly, there's six statements
I want to make about the blood of Christ. The third thing, found
in 1 John 1, the blood of Christ hath redeeming power. Christ
hath redeemed me from the curse of the law. Christ hath made
an atonement, a perfect atonement before the Father for my soul.
Thirdly, the blood of Christ has cleansing power. In 1 John 1, 7, listen. If we
walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth
us from all sin. Now brethren, sin is defiling. It doesn't have to be murder.
It can just be hatred. It doesn't have to be hatred.
It can just be an unkind spirit. It doesn't have to be an unkind
spirit. It can be just neglecting a duty
which is ours. It doesn't have to be theft.
It can be covetousness. It doesn't have to be covetousness.
It can just be dissatisfaction. It doesn't have to be a lie.
It can just be an exaggeration. It doesn't have to be an exaggeration.
It can just be something besides the plain, unvarnished truth.
Sin is defiling. It has defiled our minds. It
has defiled our fictions. It has defiled our imaginations. It has defiled our souls. It
has defiled our consciences. We're prone to look on men in
the penitentiary who have committed murder as being great sinners. But let me say this to you, and
say it as kindly as I can say it to you, and as hopefully as
I can say it to them, that their worst criminal in the penitentiary
tonight is no more defiled and unclean before God than the finest
woman in this congregation apart from the blood of Christ. That's
so. Turn to Isaiah 64. And we don't
like to think of that because we've got sin cataloged. We've
got some sins that are awful. We've got some sins that are
bad. We've got some sins that are pretty bad, and we've got
some sins that are not so bad. But the sins that are not so
bad in your sight are ungodly and defiling and unclean as the
worst ones in God's sight. Sin is sin. To offend in one
point of the law is to be guilty of the whole law of God. In Isaiah 64, verse 6, the scripture
says, we are all, not some of us, not the worst of us, we are
all as an unclean thing. Unclean, that's what we are.
And all our righteousness is. Now, read that carefully. Oh,
you preachers, you misread that. That's unrighteousness. No, it
isn't. That's all our righteousness is, all your little goody-goody
deeds, all your little religious deeds, all these little nice,
sweet, wonderful things you've done for God. They're all filthy
rags in God's sight, that's what it says, filthy, dirty rags. Sin is defiling, sin is unclean,
and sin hath made us unclean. Isaiah said, from the sole of
your feet to the top of your head, you're unclean. There's
no soundness in you. You're nothing but open running
sores. Now to fellowship with God, I've
got to be made clean. This defilement's got to be put
away. And there's just one thing that'll
make me clean before God, and that's not promising to do better.
And that's not coming to the altar and praying through either.
And that's not walking down an aisle, giving a preacher your
hand and shaking it, and saying, I believe Jesus died on the cross.
And that's not joining the church and being baptized. It's just
one thing that'll cleanse a dirty heart, and that's the blood of
Christ. One thing. The blood of Christ. The blood
of Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And the blood
is applied by grace and by faith. by God's grace through faith. That's what I need, the blood
of Christ. Though your sin be as scarlet, He said, I'll make
them white as snow. Though they be red, double-dyed,
red like crimson, I'll make them white as wool. I'm interested
in that. Though in myself defiled I am,
and black as coal the fountain runs, Yet in the blood of Calvary's
cross, I'm as pure and clean as God's own Son. Do you believe
that? I do. I know this. Almighty God's not going to fellowship
with somebody until he is clean as his own Son. Now you better
find out what will make you that clean. If that little simple,
easy belief doesn't make you as pure and clean as God's Son,
you better try something else. If your baptism won't make you
as clean and pure as God's Son, you better try something else.
If you're walking down the aisle, joining the church and going
to church on Easter and Christmas, if that won't make you as pure
and clean as God's Son, you better try something else. Because only
those as pure and clean as His only begotten Son are going to
walk with Him. But he said, the blood of Jesus
Christ cleanseth us from all sin, murder, theft, adultery,
blasphemy, idolatry, covetous, envy, hate, all of these things
are made white in the blood of the Lamb. That's the gospel. In Christ I'm not guilty. I'm
not guilty. The fourth statement, the blood
of Christ has preserving power. He said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. He doesn't say, when I see your
Sunday school perfect attendance record with all the little things
all down the lapel, first year, second year, third year, fourth
year, went to Sunday school, got missed in the Sunday. When
I see all your little doodads that you've got for being a good
boy or girl, I'm going to pass over you. No, when I see the
blood. That's all. Picture that family
down in Egypt. It's midnight. Five minutes till
midnight. This is the night that God says,
I'm passing through the land of Egypt. I'm killing the firstborn
in every home from Pharaoh's palace to the cattle on the hillside. That Jewish family has killed
the lamb. They roasted it with fire and
eaten it. They took the hyssop and dipped
it in the blood and put it out there on the door. And the family
is inside and the door is shut. And the firstborn son is sitting
at his father's right side. And the clock creaks closer to
midnight. Four minutes, three minutes,
two minutes, one minute, midnight. Over yonder in the distance,
they hear a shriek. Coming closer, they hear another
one. Coming closer, they hear another one. I know that father
believes. And I know he had faith in God,
and I know he knew that blood was on the door, but I know he
must have reached out and grabbed that boy's hand and squeezed
it tight, and that boy sat there, and there's anxiety. And they
listen, and then they hear a shriek on that side, and on down, the
Lord's passed over. Why? Just one reason. He said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. And brethren, I'll tell you this,
my eye of faith is sometimes awful dim, and sins, trials get
mighty heavy, and the storms grow bigger with the passing
of years, and death is real, and judgment is fearful, and
eternity is long, and I may quench my fist and white-knuckle it
a little bit, but I tell you this, God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. That's all I know. This is my
hope. This is the blood which is shed
for you for the remission of sin. Not how tight the door is
shut. It's not how confident I sit
inside. But it's the blood on that door.
And by God's grace on the doorpost of my heart, by faith in Christ,
the blood of the Son of God has been poured. That's all I know. That's the gospel. Now the fifth
place, turn to Hebrews 12. The blood of Christ has pleading
power. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse
24, listen to this. In Hebrews 12, verse 24, he says,
And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
What does Abel's blood say? Abel's blood cries for vengeance. His brother rose up in anger
and slew him, and he fell dead, and his blood seeped into the
sand where his head lay. And God said, Your brother's
blood cries to me from the ground. Abel's blood cries for vengeance,
and King was punished. But the blood of Christ speaks
better things than Abel's blood. The blood of Christ says, Father,
forgive them. Forgive them. The blood of Christ
says, I died for their sins. Put them away. And when I cannot
pray as I would, His blood prays. When I can say no more than,
God be merciful, the blood is not dumb. The blood speaks of
payment made. justification assured. The wounds
of Christ, somebody said, are so many miles to plead before
the throne of the Father for every believing sinner. I read
a story one time, long years ago, when Europe was divided
up into so many little kingdoms, with a powerful king over each
little kingdom. And there was a poor family which
could not make tax payments to the king on their little farm,
and they were going to lose the farm. And the firstborn son,
a young man who had lost both arms in a war defending that
little kingdom, came before the king. He got an audience, a hearing,
and he came before the king, and when the king asked him what
he wanted, He said, the tax is due on my father and mother's
farm, and we're poor people, our crops have not been good
the past two years, and we don't have anything to pay, and they're
about to take the farm away from them. But O King, and he held
up those two stubs, the arms both off at the elbow, he held
up two stubs, and he said, O King, is not this payment enough? and the little farm was saved.
And our Lord Jesus Christ stands before the Father, and he pleads,
not your goodness, you're bankrupt. He pleads, not your merit, you
don't have anything with which to pay the debt on your farm. Christ stands up and he says,
Father, behold, these wounds in my hands and my feet and my
side is not this payment enough. And the sixth thing is found
in Hebrews 10, the blood of Christ has power to give us a free,
full entrance into the presence of God. In Hebrews chapter 10,
verse 19, the scripture says, Brethren, we have therefore boldness. Now I don't mean an over-familiarity. I think we ought to be careful
about this. But we do have boldness. We can confidently come. Where? Well, we can come outside the
tent and send some priest in in our place. Uh-uh. No, sir. No, sirree. Well, you could slip
even into the holy place, but don't get behind the veil. Let
somebody else go in there for you. No, sir. Having therefore,
brethren, every believer boldness to enter into the holiest. Where might that be? That's God's
very throne, the holiest of holies. I have boldness to enter into
the holiest because I'm a preacher. No, not on your bottom dollar. I have boldness to enter into
the holiest because I've been holding out. No, sir. Why? Because I traipsed down
an aisle and made a profession of faith, and that makes me different
from everybody else. No, sir. To enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus. That's all, my friend. That's
it. The high priest never went behind
the veil without the blood, and you and I better not try it either.
The high priest never went into the Holy of Holies without the
blood. You better not try it either,
mama. The high priest never went into the throne room except through
the blood. You better not try it either.
God'll smite you, God'll strike you down, God'll cast you into
hell so quick it'll make your head swim. The only way any old
sinner, I don't care whether he's in the pulpit, the pure
of the world, can come into the holiest is pleading and professing
and believing and claiming and resting in the blood of Jesus
Christ. That's it. Oh Lord, have we not
prophesied in your name? I don't know you. Oh Lord, have
we not cast out devils in your name? I don't know you. Oh Lord,
have we not done many wonderful works? Get out of here, you workers
of iniquity. Oh Lord, thy blood, let it be
propitiation for me on the mercy seat. Come in, welcome. Welcome. The preacher, I had a vision,
I was sleeping one night and dreamed I saw Jesus. Well, let
me ask you, what did he look like? Well, just like the pictures. That was the Antichrist. That's
who that was. You didn't see the Lord. Nobody
ever took a picture of the Lord Jesus, you know that? Those silly
pictures you got on the walls of your house, if you don't want
to be an idolater any longer, you go home and tear them down,
because that's what you are. If you've got a picture on your
wall of me, that's all right, you can pass by and say, that
there's my favorite preacher right there. But don't you have
a picture of the Lord on your wall, because you don't have
a picture of the Lord. And don't you make any graven
images of anything in heaven. Don't you rest in your experiences
or your feelings or your visions. They are satanic. Tell you what
you can rest in? You can rest in the blood. That's
it. When you come tonight with me,
saying, under the blood of Jesus, safe in the shepherd's fold,
under the blood of Jesus I'm safe, while the ages roll, safe,
though the worlds may crumble, safe, though the stars grow dim,
when I'm under the blood of Jesus, I'm secure. in him. You can't perish on that. Ain't
no way. No way. There's nobody ever went.
There's people going to hell claiming to be great preachers,
but nobody ever went to hell resting in the blood. There's
not any of Christ's blood in hell, and there's not going to
be. And if his blood's on me by faith, I can't ever go there.
No, sirree, you rest in him, in the blood of Christ, the Son
of God." We're going to come to the Lord's table. Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 11, I want you to turn there with me. 1 Corinthians
11, Paul said, That which I have received of the Lord, I deliver
it unto you. Verse 23 of 1 Corinthians 11. The Lord Jesus, same night in
which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had break it, he
gave thanks. He said, take, eat. This is my
body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me.
If you are here tonight, And you can say in here, I'm not
going to examine you, this is not a Baptist supper, this is
a Lord's supper. It's not 13th Street Baptist
Church supper, this is a Lord's supper. I'm not the host, he
is. It's between you and him. You're
eating his supper tonight. He said, come, my table is ready. And it's between you and the
Lord. If you're here tonight and you can see that his body
was broken for you, in your heart, by faith, you believe that. And
you can say, his blood, after the same manner he took the cup,
and when he himself sang, this cup is the new covenant or new
testament in my blood, this do ye, as oft as ye drink it. Not
as a ceremony, not as a way of salvation. Not as a fellowship
supper with each other. Not to discipline the church.
You do it in remembrance of me. Can you do it that way? I can.
I can come and when these deacons hand me that bread, I can take
it and in my heart, thank you Lord for breaking your body on
the cross for me. And I can take that wine and
I can say, Lord, thank you. It's your blood that cleanses
this old filthy heart. It's your blood that redeemed
me from that terrible law. It's your blood that maketh atonement
for my soul. It's your blood that prays before
the Father for my sins and forgiveness. And it's your blood that lets
me come into the Holy of Holies. Thank you, Lord, for shedding
your blood.