13, and I'm going to read two
verses and speak to us from two words that are found in these
two verses. These two verses make up a prayer,
a prayer that the Apostle prayed for the Hebrews. In verse 18,
if you want to look there, you notice that he asked them to
pray for him Hebrews 13 and verse 18, pray for us. And that's what
every pastor, every preacher asks, that you pray for us, that
you remember us in your prayer. But then in verses 20 and 21,
he prays for them. 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. Two words, the blood,
the blood. You know, there's so many important
truths found in this prayer, very short prayer. There's so
many different truths that are found in it, but I've chosen
this morning to speak to us on one truth, and that is the blood. You know, the blood, the truth
about the blood, runs all the way through the scriptures. If
a person were to buy a Bible, never having read one before,
and began to read in Genesis, It would not be long before he
would come to the place where blood was shed, that God clothed
Adam and Eve after they had sinned with animals' skins. And that tells us that blood
was shed. And then you read all the way
through the scripture And you find this recurring theme over
and over and over again, the blood. And when you come to the
last book in the Bible, the book of Revelation, you will find
those in heaven have made their robes white in the blood of Christ. So let's thank this morning,
if you will, about seven truths about the blood. Now before I
mention the first truth, let's make sure we all understand,
all of us here, young people, old people, all of us in between. When I talk about the blood,
when the preacher speaks about the blood, when the Bible speaks
about the blood, we're talking about the sacrificial death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we mean when we speak
about the blood. That's what we mean when we say
that this theme runs all the way through the Bible, the sacrificial
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here are seven truths we're
going to look at about the blood. First, the blood is the blood
of God. Now, you might say, well, preacher,
you've gone too far there. God's a spirit. God doesn't have
flesh and bones and flesh and blood. God's a spirit. I know
He is, but God became flesh. And if you will, we're going
to turn to a number of scriptures. And remember, if a preacher does
not speak according to the word, then don't pay him any mind. But if he speaks according to
the word of God, it's not my word, it's God's word. And so
let's look in Acts chapter 20 and see if this is not exactly
what we are told here. In Acts chapter 20, in verse
28, the apostle is meeting for the last time with the elders
of the church at Ephesus. And he gives them this warning. Take heed, what a warning to
every elder, every pastor, every minister of the gospel. Take
heed, therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church
of God. That's what pastor's to do, is
to feed the church of God. We're not to entertain the church
of God. master of ceremonies, and have
a bunch of jokes to tell, and make people laugh, and make people
feel good about themselves, necessarily. No. Feed the Church of God. Now the Church of God is made
up of sheep, and sheep need to eat food for sheep. And the food
for sheep is the Word of God. The Word of God. Feed, feed the
church of God. Now notice, God, feed the church
of God, which He, God, hath purchased with His own blood. The only way this scripture may
be true, may be understood, is by recognizing that God became
flesh, that the eternal Word, the eternal Son of God, that
He was made flesh and dwelt among us. And that's the reason the
Apostle Peter, we read the scripture just a few minutes ago in 1 Peter
chapter 1, where he said, For as much as you know, you were
not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold,
but with the Precious blood of Christ. The blood of Christ. The blood of God. He who is both
God and man. He shed His blood. Now if He
were only a man, the shedding of His blood, His blood, His
sacrifice could not avail for all the church of God. Oh no. But because He is both God and
man. It is His deity. that gives power,
that gives worth, that makes the blood efficacious. He purchased the church with
His blood. So that's the first thing that
we see about the blood. It is the blood of God. And this is where we begin. This
is where I began when I would preach the gospel. Iím not out
here telling people, ìBelieve in Jesus. Believe in Jesus. Believe
in Jesus.î Iíve got to tell people, first of all, who Jesus is. There are many so-called ìJesusesî
in this world. But the Jesus that men are to
believe in is the Jesus who is both God and man. That he is God manifest in the
flesh. So that's the first thing about
the blood. It is the blood of God. The second thing about the blood
is the blood is innocent blood. Innocent blood. Turn with me,
if you will, to Matthew chapter 27. These words are the words
of Judas Iscariot in Matthew chapter 27, verses 3 and 4. Then Judas, which had betrayed
him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself.
Now this Judas, before we read on, let's think about this. This Judas was one of the 12
disciples of the Lord. He had walked with the Lord Jesus
Christ for approximately three years. He had observed him both
publicly and privately. He had eaten with him. He had
sat at his feet, hearing him teach. He had saw him, or he
had seen him rather, interact with everyone that he interacted
with. And he betrayed the Lord Jesus.
And he betrayed him with a kiss. Now, he's convicted. His conscience
convicts him that he's done wrong. Well, you know and I know human
nature well enough to know that when a man's conscience convicts
him that he's done something wrong, the first thing he tries
to do is to justify himself. Oh, well, those were extenuating
circumstances that made me do that, that I was in. I mean,
that's just fallen human nature. And that was Judas. His nature
was fallen human nature. But rather than try to justify
what He had done, here's a man who had observed Christ all this
time, both publicly and privately, and what does he say? Well, read
on. Saying, verse 4, I have sinned
in that I have betrayed innocent blood. Innocent blood. Now under the law that God gave
to Moses at Sinai, which was a type, those shadows and pictures
of the gospel, we recognize that. There were different offerings.
There was a peace offering, there was a trespass offering, a sin
offering, a burn offering, and there were various animals that
could be used in these sacrifices. Some sacrifices, it would be
a beef. Some it would be a sheep. Some
it would be a goat. Some it would be fowls. But one
thing is consistent about each and every one of the animals
that was used in sacrifice. What was it? It must be without
blemish. It must be without blemish. The Lord Jesus Christ in his
person was innocent. He was without blemish. As our great high priest, the
apostle writing in Hebrews said that he is holy and he never
ceased to be holy. He was holy when he was born.
He was holy when he was hanging on the cross in himself personally. He was holy, harmless, undefiled. Yes, he was bearing the sins
of his people, but he himself was innocent. I've betrayed innocent
blood. He was separate from sinners.
You say, what does that mean? He did not partake of a sinful
nature. He was in the likeness of sinful
flesh. Yes, when you If you had been
alive at that time, if you had seen him, he would have looked
like every other man. He didn't have a halo about his
head or anything like that, like the artists try to paint. No,
he came in the likeness of sinful flesh, but he had no sin in himself. He did no sin. He knew no sin. The Bible is very clear that
he was innocent. And if he had not been innocent,
then his blood could not atone for the sins of his people. That
blood, that animal that was used in sacrifice, it had to be without
blemish. And I say the same thing this
morning, after being pastor here for 40 years, that I have said
over these 40 years, and I distinctly remember saying this a time or
two, that when Christ died, he was just as innocent as he was
when he was born. When he came from his mother's
womb, he was called that Holy One. That's what God the Holy
Spirit told Mary, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God. He was just as holy when he died
on the tree, personally, And if he wasn't, then the sacrifice
would not avail. Here's the third thing I want
to say about the blood. The blood was shed by God's determinate
counsel. If you look in Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2, these are the
words of the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 23, Peter said, Him, that is Christ,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. What took place at Calvary? about
2,100 years ago now, was ordained of God to take place from before
the foundation of the world. It was done, as we see here,
by God's determinate counsel. In other words, God determined
before the foundation of the world that He would send His
Son into this world to shed the blood for the saving of His people. These that were involved in His
crucifixion, and you were involved, I was involved, we were all involved. If you turn over just a few pages
to chapter 4 of Acts, it makes it very clear. Chapter 4 and verse 26. The kings of the earth. You say,
well, I wasn't a king. I've never been a king. No, but
there were kings involved. The kings of the earth, they
stood up. The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against
his Christ for of a truth against the holy child Jesus whom thou
hast anointed both Herod, Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, there
you are, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, that is
the nation of Israel, were gathered together, together, gathered
together, all men, because All men, when we come into this world,
are enmity with God. All men, as we come into this
world, hate God. You say, that's a strong statement. It may be a strong statement,
but it is the truth. And the reason the Lord Jesus
Christ was crucified on man's part is because man hates God. Man cannot get to Almighty God
in heaven, but when God came down to earth, where men could
get their hands on Him, what did we do? We nailed Him to a
tree. We crucified Him. But in doing
so, we did exactly what God had determined before the foundation
of the world to be done. When you look at the death of
Christ, From God's point of view, God did something wonderful. God did something marvelous.
When you look at His death from man's point of view, man did
something wicked, awful, atrocious. The same act on God's part was
for His glory and for the saving of His people on man's part out
of hatred and animosity that we are born with against God. All right, here's the fourth.
The blood has a relationship to His resurrection. A relationship
to His resurrection. And I want us to turn back to
our text where we began in Hebrews chapter 13. to see this in Hebrews chapter
13 and 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 brought again from the dead the Lord
Jesus Christ through the blood of the everlasting covenant. You say, what does that mean,
through the blood? What does that mean? Well, it
means these two things for sure. It means by the blood, by his
death, he ratified that everlasting covenant. Remember when he instituted
the Lord's table before he was crucified, he said, this is my
blood of what? Of the New Testament, of the
new covenant. And so it was by the shedding
of blood that the everlasting covenant, that covenant of grace
in which Christ stood as a surety for God's elect people, the covenant was ratified by
the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the first thing. The second
thing is the blood brought again through the blood The blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, hear
me now, satisfied God's justice. God's justice. When sin was found
upon his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the surety, it said,
smite the shepherd. Smite the shepherd. And he was
smitten. He was bruised. He was chastised. He suffered. He died. He shed his blood in the stead
of his people. Brought again through the blood,
brought again from the dead through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, it means that the blood of Jesus Christ satisfied God's
justice. And let me tell you something.
If his justice was not satisfied, he would never have come out
of that grave. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. You say raised again for our
justification. That's what Paul says in Romans.
Yes. He took the sins of his people
upon himself. He bore those sins in his own
body on the tree. suffered at the hands of God's
justice, but he was justified. On that third day, he was justified. He was declared holy. Even though he had carried our
sins, he carried them away. They're all taken away. Here's the fifth thing. The blood
justifies the ungodly. The blood. justifies the ungodly. I want you to turn to Romans
chapter 5 and verse 8. Romans chapter 5 verses 8 and
9. But God commendeth his love toward us, and that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than being
now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath
through him. It is through the blood of Christ,
through his substitutionary sacrifice, that the ungodly are justified. Now you might ask, Preacher,
why, this is not the first time I've heard you say this, why
do you say the ungodly? The blood justifies the ungodly. Well let me say what I'm not
saying. I'm not saying that justification, when a person is justified, a
person is declared righteous by God, that that will result
in that man or woman living an ungodly life. I'm not saying
that at all. That's just the opposite of what
we know the Scriptures teach. The Bible teaches that if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All things are passed
away. Behold, all things are become
new. We begin to live a new life,
a life so much different from the life that we did live. It's
as different as day from night. Because now we have the glory
of God as our object for living. But the reason I say that God
justifies the ungodly is because this is what the scripture says.
Turn back here in Romans chapter 4, verses 3 and 4. For what saith the Scripture?
That's always the most important question, isn't it? What saith
the Scripture? What does God say? It's not what
the preacher says, what the Baptist Church says, what the Roman Catholic
Church says. What saith the Scripture? What
does God say? Of course, a lot of these churches,
they don't believe that the Scripture is God's Word. They've already
gone off the rails, haven't they? This is the Word of God. All
Scriptures given by inspiration of God. And it's profitable.
What saith the Scripture? Well, this is what it says. Abraham
believed God, and it was counted, it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Not his faith. His faith was
not imputed unto him. He believed God, and it was reckoned
or counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is a
reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. Why do you say, preacher, that
His blood justifies the ungodly, that God justifies the ungodly? I say this because this is what
the Word of God says. And we know the Word of God tells
us this, showing us that it is only the blood of Christ, the
death of Christ, that justifies. It's not our faith, it's not
our good works, it's not our baptism, it's nothing that we
can do. But it's all based upon what
He did, who He is, and what He did. That God may be just, and
yes He is, absolutely righteous, and at the same time justify
the ungodly. How? by taking the sins of the
ungodly and imputing them to Christ. And Christ bearing those
sins. And now when a person believes
in Christ, his righteousness, his perfect obedience is imputed
unto the ungodly. Here's a sixth thing. The blood
washes us from sin. Notice in Revelation, we'll look
in Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Verse 5. And from Jesus Christ
who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead,
the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us
and washed us from our sins in his own blood. The blood washes
us from sin. The Greek word which is here
translated washed is a primary verb and it means to bathe the
whole person. Through the prophet Zechariah,
God told of a day that was then coming in which he would open
a fountain for sin and for uncleanness. We sang that hymn just a few
minutes ago. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel, Emmanuel's veins, God with us. And sinners
plunge beneath that flow, lose all their guilty stains. The
blood washes us from our sin. You know, the fountain that God
opened at Calvary, with the power to cleanse, to wash sinners,
it flowed backward as it flows forward. You say, what do you
mean by that? I mean it flowed backward to
the very first sinner, if it was Adam, whoever. It was that God saved. That sinner
was washed with the same precious blood, though it was not yet
shed. And it flows forward. It flowed
to us, didn't it? Here some 2,000 years later,
it's flowed to us to wash us from our sins. And it will continue. It will never lose its power
till all the ransoms Church of God, be saved to sin no more. Listen to this gracious admonition
of God to sinners in Isaiah. He said, come now. Oh listen,
now. Come now. Don't say tomorrow,
next week, next year. Oh no. Come now. Let us reason together. saith
the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be white as wool. Do you see the word crimson in
this verse? Though they be red like crimson.
This crimson was a dye. And this dye was made from a
worm. And as far as they were concerned,
when a garment was dyed with this dye, it could never be taken
out. I mean, it was in that cloth
forever. Did you know in Psalm 22, that
begins with the words of our Lord from the cross, My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Then in verse six, the one
on the cross, the one that cried those words, he said, I am a
worm. Very same word, the very same
word. Sin has left an indelible mark
on the souls of men. And the only means of washing
sin away is the blood of Jesus Christ. The death of Christ in
the stead and in the place of sinners. And here's the last. Turn to Hebrews 9 and verse 7. The blood admits us to the presence
of God. In Hebrews chapter 9, In verse 7, the apostle is speaking
about the Old Testament type. And he says this in verse 7.
Remember, there's a tabernacle, a tent, as we would call it.
It had two compartments. And in the first compartment
that men went in every day, there was a table for the showbread. There was a candelabra. a lampstand,
and there was a golden altar. But then there was this veil.
And no one went behind the veil. Why? Because behind the veil
was the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat. And above that
mercy seat was a manifested presence of God, the Shekinah. And once a year, once a year,
the high priest would take blood from the goat that the lot had
fallen on as the Lord's goat, and he would raise up that veil,
and with that incense also, he would enter in to the, as we
would say, the presence of God. But listen, not without blood. not without blood. It was blood
that gave him entrance into the manifested presence of God. Notice it says, but into the
second went the high priest alone once every year, not without
blood. You say, what would have happened
if he had raised up that veil and gone behind that veil without
blood? Death. That's what would have happened.
No one will approach and come into the presence of holy God
that has not been washed and prepared by the blood of Jesus
Christ. I trust the Lord would bless
these words to all of us here today. When we sing about the
blood, We're talking about his sacrificial
death when we preach about the blood of Christ dying, shedding
his blood in the place and in the stead of his people. We're
going to sing a couple of verses of a hymn now, and then we'll
be dismissed. Number 212, hymn number 212.