A recent edition of “Christianity Today” magazine had an article about modern church designs. It showed churches with indoor fountains, and ornate metal deck furniture as might be found by a pool. It depicted churches with patios and large windows so that parishioners can sit outdoors and still “participate” in the service. There is natural lighting, electric sound, satellite broadcasting, and a casual, non-worshipful atmosphere. And the sermon is designed to make people feel good about themselves. They can feel good about their common-law marriages. They can feel victimized by their drinking problem or their addictions. They are encouraged to become as sinlessly worldly as humanly possible, which of course is impossible. And they can know that the pastor commiserates and empathizes with them in their rebellion against restrictive parents and a rigorous religious upbringing. Many of those congregations have no church membership and thus no responsibility or accountability. Those people aren’t much different from sports fans that semi-regularly attend Mariners games. Then again, the sports-fan often shows more religious loyalty to his team than these people do to their church.
I saw an article the other day which perfectly illustrates the religion of modern man. There are funeral supply companies which are now marketing caskets and urns carrying team logos. These companies have paid huge sums of money to various football, baseball and basketball leagues so that they can legally use their teams’ insignias. Then they bury uncle George in caskets with team colors and logos. One man had his father cremated and put in a New York Yankee urn, with a baseball as a lid. That urn sits on a shelf at the side of the room so that father and son can still watch baseball games together. But even worse are those teams which permit the ashes of their fans to be spread on the playing field. There are football clubs in Europe which actually have dedicated cemeteries next to their soccer pitch where their fans can be interred forever. One problem with that has surfaced in a club that wants to build a new stadium but doesn’t know what to do with their cemetery and the remains of their eternal fans. Is there anything that more clearly demonstrates that sports is the religion of millions of people?
Calvary Baptist Church will never be like the modern churches because we believe that our duty is to God first and not to people. We are not trying to tickle people’s ears, but rather to grate upon people’s hearts, that God might be glorified and people might be saved from their sin. Our message this morning will not be heard in those kinds of churches. Our theme this morning is detestable to many people, because it used the word “elect” a time or two.
And our message this evening would probably not be much more welcome that our earlier one. Because the most of the genteel world, doesn’t like the subject of blood. And yet the Bible makes much about blood. It doesn’t put on surgical gloves, splash-guards and protective glasses when it deals with that blood.
The pages of the Old Testament virtually drip with warm, rich, red blood. And it is no less prominent in the New Testament. Did you know that in the New Testament the blood of Christ is mentioned three times as often as the cross? Did you that the blood of the Lord Jesus is mentioned five times as often as Jesus’ death? But Bible Christians don’t consider that blood often enough. I’m not sure that we could consider it too often. But most of the modern, seeker-type churches avoid the subject, because it is not “user friendly.” As a rule I don’t buy modern religious books to help me in my study. The one exception are books of illustrations, which I only use sporadically. I was looking at the three most recent additions to my library. Not one of them even has the word “blood” in the index.
Brethren, I believe that the Holy Spirit highlights the blood of Christ. I believe that unless a church preaches the blood of Christ – it is not a Christian church. I believe that we need to understand the blood of Christ as far as we are humanly capable. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
As I said this morning, it is easy to loose the true significance of a word that we hear really often. And it is particularly easy to loose that significance when we never hear the word at all. Some people try to tell us that any Bible reference to the word “blood” is really just a synonym for “death.” It is true that sometimes symbolism gets involved in our study of blood, but the blood is real. When Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” When Jesus spoke those words, the eating and drinking was symbolical, but the flesh and blood was real. By that I mean that we are saved through Jesus’ blood, but that blood is ingested by faith not feeding.
Think with me of the crucifixion and try to picture it without blood. Although some people are successful at doing that, it can’t really be done. Think of Gethsemane, while Jesus prayed – what happened? There is his arrest and trial. When Peter cut off that man’s ear trying to defend his Saviour, was there no blood? There certainly was, and there was probably a lot of it. Why then when Jesus was beaten, and whipped, and crowned with thorns there was no blood covering his face and back? And now He is nailed to the cross – without blood? After he says that it is “finished” – the soldiers ran a spear into His side and out poured blood and other fluids. Can you have a crucifixion without literal blood?
The blood of Christ is a summary of the cross. That word links the pain, and the shame, and the bruises, and the open wounds all together. When the Bible says “blood,” it is speaking of Christ’s blood at the time of His death. It’s not about the child who ran, and fell, and scraped his knee or cut his finger on his father’s ax blade. The word “blood” is used to represent the whole crucifixion. But that blood actually had a specific ministry and role to play in that crucifixion. And that blood was as real as your own.
Jesus’ blood is the blood of a unique person. His biology and hematology was not, and is not, that of an ordinary person. Since he had only a mother and no human father, His make-up was different from yours. An expert in DNA would be totally mystified if given the opportunity to study the blood of the Saviour. And Paul touches on an exquisite theme when he spoke to the Ephesians elders and referred to: “The church of God which he purchased with his OWN blood.” That precious blood has been found, and can be found, in no other human being.
The blood of a mere human avails nothing for sin, because it flows with sin. But Jesus Christ was and continues to be Jehovah – holy and without internal or external blemish. “For unto us a child was born….unto us a Son of God was given.” “The word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son of God.” “In the fullness of time God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law.” In one sense, Christ’s was divine blood.
Jesus’ blood was precious because it was absolutely free from any corruption. We have to wonder if it was made up of the same ingredients: plasma, corpuscles, white blood cells and platelets. I believe that it probably did, but whether it did or didn’t, it certainly carried no sin. The Bible teaches that sin is passed from fathers to their children. Since Jesus had no human father, He was a perfect human through his mother. Jesus was perfectly perfect through the incarnation. And Christ was thoroughly human – but holy, harmless and undefiled by human nature.
Not only these things, but that blood of Christ was precious in the plan of God. All one has to do is look at the importance of Old Testament blood symbolism. “The life of the flesh is in the blood, and the Lord has given us that blood upon the altar to make an atonement for our sins.”
Oh, how I wish that the words of Hebrews 9-10 could be read in every so-called Christian church in America. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” ” For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
“Once for all, O brother believe it; One for all O sinner receive it.” The blood that Jesus shed on the cross so many years ago, was sufficient for every sinner and every sin man will ever commit. But the blood that Jesus shed on the cross was efficient only toward repenting, surrendering sinners.
Because that blood cannot be separated from the grace of God. Romans 3:23 once again – “all have sinned” – that means all of us. But the precious blood of Christ has settled the account with the justice of God. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.” It is the literal blood of the Lord that enables us to stand at the bar of God without fear. Ephesians 1:7 – “In whom we redemption thru his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according the riches of grace.” The blood of Christ has freed the repenting believer. I John 1:7 – “If we walk in light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. The blood is the cleansing agent for sin. It is the blood of Christ that makes those who were once aliens and separated to have peace with God. “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” It is the blood that purges the guilty conscience of the sinner – Hebrews 9:14.
There is just so much that the precious blood of Christ does for the saint. It provides the key to th the throne-room of God – Hebrews 10:19. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” It removes the spot of stain caused by daily sin – I John 1:7. It makes us different from the rest of the world – Hebrews 13:12. “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.” That blood gives us overcoming power – Revelation 12:11. “They overcame the great dragon, that old serpent, called Devil and Satan, by the blood of the Lamb.” That blood shall have a part in uniting people from around the world some day. “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood our of every kindred, tongue and people and nation.”
The literal red blood of Christ is the most powerful substance in the world.
Just as in physical life, in eternal life, a bloodless gospel is a lifeless gospel. “The life of the flesh is in the blood, and (the Lord has) given it upon the altar to make an atonement for our souls.” Jesus blood must have been shed. Nothing has been more necessary in all the world. Because “the soul that sinneth it shall die.” “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed.” But Jesus’ blood was shed as a substitute for our sin. It had to be shed.
But more than that – it had to be sprinkled. Remember I Peter 1:2 – “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” This takes us back to the days of the Old Testament Passover and other sacrifices. If the Egyptianized Jews didn’t sprinkle the blood of the lamb upon the door of their house, then the angel of the Lord would attack the residents in that house. God had said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
Today we are not in Egypt, but we are certainly in sin and in a sinful society. And the message is still clear. The precious blood of Christ, shed and applied to our hearts is the only thing that can turn aside the wrath of God.
There is a Jewish legend that on the night of the Passover, there was a little boy, an only child, who was sick. He believed the words of the Lord and was terribly frightened that he would die. Over and over he asked his father, “Is the blood there? Is the blood there? Is the blood still there?” The times have changed but the need is the same, “Is the blood there?”
I preach the blood, I trust Jesus’ blood, I wash in it, and I drink it by faith. Do you? Paul certainly did.