Sermons - Love Bible Church

	LOVE
	Bible Church
	Madison, Tennessee

The Blood of the Lamb

Hebrews 9:1 - 13:21

Sermon Delivered by Thor Carden
September 7, 2003
Love One Another Gospel Church
Madison, TN

Blood is life - Gen 9:4, Lev 17:11, 14, Deut 12:23

Law

Innocent blood was not to be shed -
Prov 6:16-19, Gen 42:22, Deut 19:10-13, 1 Sam 19:5, 2 Kgs 21:16, 24:4, Ps 94:21, 106:38, Is 59:7, Jer 7:6, 22:3, 22:17, 26:15, Joel 3:19

Blood was used to signal the Angel of Death to "pass over" the Israelites' first born -
Ex 12, 23:18, 34:25, 1 Sam 14:33-34, Heb 11:28

Blood was shed for sin offerings and peace offerings -
Ex 30:10, Lev 4:25, 4:34, 5:9, 6:30, 9:18, 16:15, 16:27. Deut 12:27, 21:8-9, 1 Kgs 2:31, 2 Kgs 16:15, 2 Chr 29:24, Ez 45:19, Heb 9:1-10, 23-25

All of the above could not save us -
Is 1:11, 34:6, 66:3, Heb 10:1-8, 11

Gospel

Christ's blood :

= is the price He paid for the Church of God -
Acts 20:28, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14, 1 Pet 1:18, Rev 5:9

= is innocent -
Matt 27:3-10, Acts 5:28, 1 Pet 1:19

= is for the new covenant -
Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, Heb 9:15-20, 10:9, 16-17, 12:24, Jer 31:33

= purifies, sanctifies and cleanses us -
Heb 9:11-14, Heb 9:22-23, 26-28, 10:10, 14, 13:20-21, 1 Pet 1:2, 1 John 1:7, Rev 1:5, Rev 7:14

= is for the remission of sins leading to our salvation -
Matt 26:28, Rom 3:25, 5:9, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14, Heb 9:26-28, Heb 10:12, 13:11-12

= unifies and makes peace between believers and between man and God -
1 Cor 10:16, 11:25-27, Eph 2:13, Col 1:20, Heb 9:1-10, 10:18-25, 12:21-29

= gives us power over the devil -
Heb 2:14, Rev 12:11

= dripped out of Him while He was still alive -
Luke 22:44

= gives us eternal life -
John 6:47-58, 1 John 5:11-12

= is a sign of the last days - Acts 2:1-21

Stories and Information to Help Make Points:

Introduction

My wife's great-grandfather, Simon Monroe Ensor, was a Methodist preacher in the first half of the twentieth century. ( http://www.tcarden.com/tree/ensor/Simon.html ) As you know she is an amateur genealogist. She researched in the Methodist archives and found all the churches where he served during his life. Recently we took a trip and tried to get a photograph of each one of the churches. Many were thriving and alive. Others were dead. Some were deserted and rotting, one was turned into a junk store, several were sold to other denominations, and some were just gone - vanished into nothing. Why???

I'm not sure but I think there may be a hint of the reason in something that happened to older brother Paul. He was serving as a song leader in Methodist church and the pastor told him not to use any of the songs in the hymnal with the word "blood." But blood is life. Perhaps that is what happened to the vanished churches. Their pastor's didn't like the word "blood" being discussed so they died.

I do not believe for a minute that is all there is to it. But if the pastors did not understand the importance of Christ's blood they would never preach about it. And that coupled together with an attitude of deliberate ignorance towards this important Gospel fact did in fact kill those churches.

Blood is life

Even the most barbaric people know you can cut off a man's arm or leg and he might still live but you can prick him slightly on the neck and when the blood all leaked out he would die.

How can something that is sticky and staining like blood cleanse anything?

Blood stains, makes a mess, and smells bad. As anyone knows who watch crime shows on television knows, blood is also evidence of a crime that has been committed.

When I was in college I had a job one summer cleaning a butcher shop after the butchers were done for the day. There was blood on everything. The worst was the blood on the floor of the big cooler. It was like 20 degrees in there and the blood was frozen. I am here to tell you that blood is an icky mess and it is very difficult to see how it could be used to clean anything.

But that is exactly one of the main things it does in our bodies. It constantly cleans our tissues. It carries away waste, attacks germs, coagulates to protect wounds, and provides oxygen throughout our bodies. The difference is that it is living blood. The blood in the butcher shop is dead.

This is an important point. Christ's blood is able to cleanse us because He is alive. His living blood cleanses His body, the church, just as our blood cleanses our bodies. The blood of dead animals was just an Old Covenant symbol of Christ's death as the Lord's Supper is the New Covenant symbol.

Blood facts:

Blood carries oxygen and nutrients, for energy, growth and re-building the tissues.

Carries antibodies for preventing and fighting disease.

Cleanses waste products.

Coagulates to stop wounds from bleeding and forms a covering for them while they heal. Provides substance for healing.

It is the medium for the endocrine system. Adrenaline, for example, is carried throughout our body by the blood to give us a burst of energy in an emergency.

Passover to Cross connection

Blood was used to tell the Angel of Death to pass over the Israelites first born. The Passover was then supposed to be celebrated yearly in a certain way. The points where blood was/is placed on the door matches the nails and crown of thorns that wounded Jesus.

Connected to the blood

If you hold a limb of your body in such a way that it does not get a good blood supply it "goes to sleep." It becomes numb and useless.

Is some portion of your life cut off from the blood of the Lamb? Are there parts of your life you are still trying to hide from God? Well, they will be numb and useless parts of your life until you surrender them to Jesus.

If you are cut off entirely from the blood of the Lamb, if you have never given your life to Him, then you are dying.

For further study:

Matthew 23:29-39, Matthew 27:24-25, Luke 11:47-51, Acts 17:23-28, Acts 18:6, Acts 20:26, Hebrews 10:29, Hebrews 12:4, Hebrews 13:9-16, 1 Peter 1:13-25, 1 John 5:1-12, Revelation 19:13, Revelation 18:24, Revelation 19:2

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