The Blood of Christ

Sermon Transcript

Today, I want to talk to you about the blood of Christ. I want to talk to you about the blood of Christ. It's a topic that oftentimes now in churches people don't want to talk about anymore. We want to talk about a bloodless, Christ. We like all the things that Jesus can do for us. We like his healing power. We like his deliverance power. We like his love. We like his compassion.

But oftentimes we prefer a bloodless Christ. We don't like to talk about the fact of what Jesus did on our behalf in going to the cross. As a matter of fact, in general, we don't like talking about blood, period, do we? I mean, oftentimes, you'll talk to a young kid, and you'll ask him, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" They'll say something like this, "I'd love to be a doctor. But I just don't like the sight of blood. I don't think that's a good career choice for me."

Many of us, even if we're not queasy at the sight of blood, we don't like seeing it. Because while we understand that blood is important to pump nutrients throughout our body, when we see it outside of our body, it makes us feel uncomfortable. Back in January, when I had my biking accident, and my wife was called, the lady that called my wife, when she asked how I was doing, the lady said to my wife, "There's a lot of blood. Just prepare yourself."

I mean, even just the other day, I mean, things just happen. I was packing an overnight bag and I was holding my toiletries while I was multitasking and talking on the phone and was holding my deodorant and different things that I was getting ready to put in my bag, I dropped the phone and I went to grab the stuff really quick. Unfortunately, I caught the end of the razor.

I could just feel it go. I looked at my finger. I'm like, "I don't see anything yet. But I know it's about ready to start pouring blood." Sure enough, it did. When that happens, what do we want to do? Want to bandage it. We don't want to see it. We want it to heal. We want the blood to go away. Many times in the church, that's exactly how we talk about the blood of Christ.

We realize that the gospel is essential that Jesus had to shed his blood in order for our sin to be forgiven. But oftentimes in church, we don't want to talk about the blood. We don't want to be reminded of what was needed to cleanse us from our sin and from all unrighteousness. Today, we're going to be looking at Hebrews chapter 9.

There's no other chapter in the entire Bible that talks about blood more than this book, more than this chapter in your Bible. I'm just going to encourage you to open up to Hebrews chapter 9. All of this is one section. While I had intended on going through part of it today, and part of it next week, and part of it the week after, I think it's better that we see it as a whole. I think it's best that we understand what the blood of Jesus Christ does for us.

We're going to talk about four truths about the blood of Jesus. I invite you to open your Bible to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9, we're going to go through all 28 verses. I'm going to read some of this. This first section, and then we're going to begin to unpack it. Take a look at the four truths of the blood of Christ. Notice what he says.

He says, "Now, even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship, and the earthly sanctuary for there was a tabernacle prepare, the outer one, in which were the lamp-stand, and a table, and the sacred bread that is called the holy place. Behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna and Aaron's rod which butted and the tables of the covenant and above it were the chair of them of the glory overshadowing the mercy seat. But of these things, we cannot now speak in detail."

Now, when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship, but into the second only the high priests enters once a year, not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

The Holy Spirit is signifying this that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time according both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body, imposed until a time of reformation.

Here in that first section, we see the first point about the blood of Christ. Now you may not see the word blood. But because this whole section is about the blood, here's what you can understand about this section, that the blood of Christ transcends the best religious practices. The blood of Christ transcends the best religious practices.

Now we know that under the first covenant, it had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. He goes into great detail to talk about how this tabernacle was set up. Some of you who are students of God's word, love, understanding the tabernacle, and all the pieces of furniture, and how it was all laid out, and he goes into detail talking about these things.

He says, "We don't have time to talk about all these things right now. Every Jew in the first century would have knowing exactly how the tabernacle was set up. They would have been completely familiar because God went to great lengths to tell them, here's how I am to be approached." What I did for today was I just gave us a little diagram that I'll just walk you through.

I actually have a laser pointer today. I've never used a laser pointer. We'll see how this works. But you'll see up on the screen, you'll see a picture of the tabernacle. There's several in your Bible you might be able to see. You can see when you see that ... Look at that. It's pretty awesome. This was called the Entrance Gate or the Gate of Thanksgiving when we approach the throne of God.

By the way, there's a way that you can pray through the tabernacle. It's called the tabernacle prayer. There's a way I learned to pray a year ago. There are some days I pray this way. Usually takes me about an hour to walk through this whole process. But Psalm 100 and verse 4 says, "You enter the gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise."

When people were to enter the throne of God, they were to enter thankfully. Do you know when we approach God, that's how he wants us to enter? That regardless of circumstance, regardless of what's going on in our life, regardless of whether there's things that are good, or circumstances that are bad, we always have things to give God thanks for.

A way we can approach God is thanking him for all of his goodness in our lives, because the good that he's doing always outweighs the bad that's going on. He's a good God. Then the first thing you see there is the brazen altar or the altar of burnt offerings. That's where all the sacrifices took place. That represents blood. That represents sacrifice.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. We'll see that in Hebrews 9:22 today. That in order to approach God, sacrifice had to be made in order to approach him, and there every day the priests would stand at the altar, and they would offer animal upon animal upon animal upon animal upon animal.

If you were to study this, which I did this week, and you'd have to think about how many animals do you think were offered a year? I mean, just for all the people you got two, three, four million people in Israel and everybody's offering animals almost daily. I mean many animals? I mean, studies show there are millions of animals that gave their lives yearly, so that sin could be atone for.

When we come in, and we pray this way, we pray thanksgiving, and then we get to the Brazen Altar, or the Altar of Burnt Offerings, we begin to thank God for the shedding of blood. We begin to thank Jesus for being on the whipping post. We begin to thank Jesus for being on the cross. We begin to thank Jesus for wearing that crown of thorns. We begin to thank Jesus for His blood that was shed.

Then the next thing you see is this lab or this base and this was ceremonial washings. This represents sanctification. This is where we go before the Lord and we ask him to cleanse us and to wash us and to renew our mind and to renew our heart and to renew our soul and to renew us in a way that God begins to set us apart. No matter where we are in our journey, that we can always grow more in the holiness of God, amen.

That no matter where we are, we can ask God, "Hey, God, show me the areas that you're trying to cleanse in my life and areas that you're trying to grow in me." This area out here was called the outer courtyard. This was the area of forgiveness. Then you went into what was called the holy place. The holy places where the priests enter, and they would minister and here you see the menorah there, or that what we would call the lamp-stand.

The lamp-stand was the menorah that had seven lights on it. It's what lit up that room. I think it's representative of the seven spirits of God. You can read in Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 2 about the 7 spirits of God, the Spirit of the Lord, or the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of strength, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

When you begin to pray through all those different things on a daily basis, and you begin to ask God, God, give me more strength, give me more courage, give me a greater fear of you, give me more freedom and who I am in Christ, and we begin to pray that the Spirit of God would have his way with us. It's just a way we begin to approach God because of what we see in the tabernacle.

Then you see this table of showbread, where they had the fresh bread every single day. That's representative of a fresh word from the Lord, a fresh daily word from the scriptures. Can I just tell you this? Spend time in the word every single day. I've heard people say this to me before as a pastor. I've already read the Bible. I've already read it. I don't even know why I need to go to church. I don't need to hear it. I don't need friends.

This book is living and active. It's sharper than any two edged sword. This written word reveals the Living Word and God in a moment can give you a fresh word. That's what we're talking about when we talk about the table of bread. We talk about the show bread is do you get a fresh word from the Lord? Because sometimes we come to church and we get a fresh word. We think that's good enough for the whole week.

Or for some of you that come two times a month, that's good enough for the next two weeks. Daily, God wants us to come and get a fresh Word from Him, that God's always wanting to meet with us and give us something from his presence. Then we see this altar of incense right before the ... You go into the Holy of Holies. This altar of incense really represents our worship before the Lord, perhaps singing, perhaps praying, perhaps via a prayer language, praying in the Spirit as you pray before the Lord.

It's giving God your heart and your soul, and all your worship. If the only time you worship is on a Sunday morning, I'm just telling you, you're not worshiping enough. God wants psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. There's something about worship where there's power in your worship. There's something about worship that changes your circumstances when you worship.

I mean, you think about in the book of Acts, after they had been beaten, after they had been yelled at, and all these different things, and chained, and locked in about midnight, what do they begin to do? They begin to have a worship service. They begin to worship the Lord and the chains fall off, and the prison doors open.

Worship changes everything. As you spend time with the Lord daily, there should be a time of worship in your life. Some of you that are good at instruments, maybe you play the piano, maybe you play the guitar, maybe you can only play the kazoo. I don't know. But worship is your heart before the Lord. Some of you say, "Well, I'm not really a good singer. That's just not my thing. God gets that."

He gave you your voice. Just give it back to him. There's something about singing that's different than just speaking. It involves your whole soul when you have to sing. Maybe you make up your own words about the goodness of God, a song that nobody will ever hear. But you and Jesus, praise the Lord, about what he's doing in your life. Then you get into what's called the most holy place or the Holy of Holies.

In here, you had the Ark of the Covenant. In there was only one time a year that the high priest could enter, and he would bring in blood. When he would enter that place, he would offer blood for himself to cover his own sin and for the sin of the nation. Here's the problem. God set up that as a way to approach him. But there's a problem with the way to approach that, and that there was no presence of God, only the high priest, and only once a year could the high priest experience the presence of God.

God's people could not experience His presence. I mean, God's love invites us. But God's holiness and righteous prohibits us. He's like, "Come. But you can't get any closer, because if you do, you'll die." Only the high priest once a year can do that. There is no presence. There is no cleansing either. There's no perfection. All of the sacrifices that took place could not make you right with God. Did you know that?

It just covered your sin for a period of time until the Promised Messiah came. It was this one-year guarantee. That's all you get. All it did was cover. It didn't cleanse. Any guilt and shame you felt, you got to keep that. It just covered it. It's only a one-year guarantee. The high priests had to go on next year and the year after that. You know what a one-year warranty is like, don't you?

I mean, just recently, my iPhone cracked again. I went online to see if I had Apple Care. I had just missed it by a few days. Do you think that they cared? Didn't matter. I missed the warranty. Got to buy a new phone if I want a new phone. I'm just living with a crack on my phone. One-year guarantee no presence, no cleansing, no perfection.

Here's another problem with that. There's no completion to it. I mean, the priest has got to go in every single day. Once a year, there's no end in sight. This is never going to end. It's never going to end where your sins aren't going to be cleansed. It's never going to end where you don't experience the presence of God. It's just going to go on and on and on.

The only thing you can do is make sure you're covered. That's it. The covering is only for sins that you didn't mean to do. If you deliberately transgress God, according to the Old Testament, you died. That was it. These were just for sins that you didn't mean to do or that you weren't aware of. This is how holy God is. That's what God was establishing through the Old Covenant.

It never promised to forgive all your sins. It never promised that you would be in the presence of God. It never promised that there was an end. It was always looking forward to a Messiah that would come. Which means this, got to establish this, it's good. It's holy. It's righteous. But it doesn't provide what our hearts longed for the most, which is the presence of God and the cleansing of our conscience.

Nobody can be cleansed in the Old Testament that way. They're always looking for it. There's no end. You ever hiked the 14er before? Couple of you. I don't necessarily recommend it. I'm just telling you, I'm just wondering who did. I remember the first time I hiked the 14er. I was talking to friends. We first moved out here. I had been here no longer than a week. They're like, "Let's hike up 14er." I said, "What's that?"

They said, "You got to climb stuff you'll just walk it." I'm like, "I can do that." No. We set this time to go and hike. We left at about 5:00 in the morning. They told me we would summit in about three hours and be back down to have lunch. That did not happen. We weren't even through the tree line yet. I was asking how much further.

There's these false summits. It looks like, "Okay. There's the top. I know when I get there. It's over." You get to the top and you look up, and it never ends. It's never over. Perhaps you've run a race before. You think the finish line is near only to find you turn the corner and there's way more to run. This is what it felt like to everybody in the Old Testament.

There was no end in sight. Why do you think all the prophets and all the writers of God's word were wanting the Messiah to come? Because they wanted God's presence and they wanted to be cleansed. Under the religious practices that God's set up, they couldn't have either of those things. God was saying, "Come, but don't get any closer, because I'm holy, and there's no way for us to be in relationship."

This is why in Leviticus chapter 10:1 through 3, we hear about Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, who offered strange fire before the Lord. They decided they would approach God in their own way. That they would enter the Holy of Holies their own way, and God struck them dead right there. Boom.

Aaron was upset by it. But he wasn't about ready to say anything, because he knew God was holy and righteous. He's kept his mouth shut. What about in First Chronicles 13, when they decide to move the ark back into Jerusalem and bring it back, and they're like, "Why carry it on poles. It'd be so much better if we put it on wheels?"

They started to cart it back and do it their way and not treat God's holiness right. As the cart was ready to tip, a guy named Uza reached out to make sure it didn't fall. He touched the Ark of the Covenant. What happened? Bam. He died on the spot, because the holiness of God is so strong. You say, "Well, that's Old Testament stuff, when God was really mean."

He's changed. Oh, yeah? How about Acts chapter 5? When Ananias and Sapphira lied before the Lord about the offering they were giving, right when the church was getting started, and boom, goes down Ananias and hours later, there goes his wife, because they lied to the Holy Spirit. God has not changed. God is holy. He's righteous. He's good.

No religion in the world can bring you closer to God. Only God can bring you closer to God. That's why when you hear people talk about their religion, or their religious practices, or what they do, where they think they can be right with a holy God, 100% of the time, they're 100% wrong. There's no religion in the world that man has created that gets you closer to God, only God can get you closer to God.

It's only through the blood of Jesus that you can have access to God. The blood of Christ transcends the best religious practices in the world. For some of us, even as believers in Christ, who believe the blood of Christ is what forgives us from all of our sins, when it comes to that chart that we had earlier, some of us like to hang out by the brazen Altar, and thank God for the forgiveness.

Some of us like to get in there and serve. But some of us aren't willing to press into intimacy. Jesus Christ died. When he died, that veil between the holy place and the most holy place, the Holy of Holies, that was rent, that was torn. It was showing that the presence of God now has availability to all people. What your heart is looking for this morning, whether you know it or not, is God's presence in your life.

You're not looking for what do I got to do? You're not looking for what is he going to say? You are looking for God and His presence in your life, in all your circumstances to be rightly related to you. Amen. The old covenant couldn't do that. If it could, we would still have the old covenant. It was there to show us there was God and He's holy, and there's a way but it's coming through His son, Jesus Christ.

The blood of Christ transcends the best religious practices. Notice this. The blood of Christ also cleanses our conscience from all sin. Verse 11 says, "But when Christ appeared as a High Priest, we've been talking about him as this high priest who's ministering on our behalf and heaven. When Christ appeared as our high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered the holy place, once for all having obtained eternal redemption."

"For the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling, those who have been defiled, sanctified for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Friends, I'm here to tell you the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all your sin. If the blood of goats and bulls or calves or the ashes of a heifer did it, Jesus would not have needed to come. When Jesus came, He didn't go into the earthly tabernacle, and offer blood on his behalf and for all the people. He took his blood that he shed all the way into the heavenly tabernacle, and gave it to his father, which created an all access pass for anyone who has turned from their sins and believed in Christ.

Anyone who's repented and trusted in the blood of Christ now has an all access pass to the presence of God. Have you ever in an all access pass anything? I remember my first time I ever had all access pass, I was in about eighth grade, I got to go to Billy Joel concert. My grandfather and Billy Joe's dad were best friends growing up in Germany.

I remember I had all access pass to Billy Joel concert. When I went to the concert, I was backstage before the concert. I met Billy and all of his band. I walked out on the stage and stood over his piano where he was going to be playing. Nobody said a word to me. I could go in and out of any room I want it. You know what? It had nothing to do with me.

People were not looking at me. People were not asking my name. I had a badge that said I could do that. Friends, when it comes to an all access pass with God, it is not who you are or what you've done. It's what Christ has done for you. When you've turned from your sins and turn to Christ, you are covered in the blood. That blood gives you all access anytime, anywhere to the very presence of God.

Now, I want you to hear this. Amen. I want you to hear this because oftentimes, if we're in a bad spot, we know that God forgave us and we'll come. But then afterwards, as a believer, when we still find ourselves in a situation where we've sinned, oftentimes the enemy lies to us, and he'll tell us this, "I wouldn't go to God now." You probably need to pray a little more this week.

If you just read your Bible a little longer this week, maybe if you say you're sorry, like 150 times or pray this prayer certain way, then over time, as you start feeling a little better, and God releases his anger, then maybe you can come back. Friends, it's all access all the time. There's no greater time to access the throne of God than when you've sinned, to come running to the Father, through the sun, and experience a cleansing of your conscience.

See, forgiveness of sin is not just transactional in the way that God won't hold your sin against you and you're justified, which is true. But he's also willing to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness which means this. You do not need to carry around your guilt and shame ever again. You're forgiven, forgiven. You're completely forgiven. That voice that goes in your head internally telling you, "Yeah. But you should have known better about that one. Yeah. But look at you, you did that. Yeah. Look at you, you're still not perfect that way."

Those things can be gone, too. If you understand that the blood of Jesus perfectly cleanses you, and that you can experience His presence, and that He sees you as perfect, not because you are in your behavior, but you're perfect, because the blood of Jesus makes you perfect, you'll live differently. It means this. For those of you who are Christians, if you are going to heaven today, if today was the day you were going to die, Jesus Christ would present you with exceedingly great joy before the Father, perfect.

That's how he sees you. If you really believe that's how God sees you, then you'll live differently. See, behavior is how I see myself. The mirror of my life is how I see myself. The blood of Jesus is how God sees me. He sees me as holy. He sees me as righteous. He sees me as good. He sees me as perfect. He sees me as adopted, blessed, favored. He sees me as all of those things. Not because of anything I've done, but because of the blood of Jesus who gave his life for me.

The blood of Jesus gives us an all access pass to the only God of the entire universe, it's through Jesus. That's why when Jesus said, "He has the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through him," he was telling the truth. It's only through the blood of Jesus that we have salvation. It's only through the blood of Jesus, we have God's presence. It's only through the blood of Jesus that you'll ever be saved eternally.

It's the blood. It's the blood. It's the blood. When Jesus Christ died, that veil between the Holy of Holies and the Holy place, it was torn. It was saying that anybody can enter. Some of you who are older like me will remember a speech by Ronald Reagan on June the 12th 1987 from West Berlin where he was speaking about communism.

He said these words to Mikhail Gorbachev, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Eventually the Berlin Wall fell. When it fell, there wasn't East and West Germany anymore, everybody could come together. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, that wall was torn down. It means you have an all access pass to God. You don't need to ask where is God? God is located in the heavens, but God bids you to come and through the blood you are welcome to come because God's blood is what makes you holy.

Christ blood is what sanctifies you. Christ's blood is what sets you apart. What's the practical application? Practical application is there are many people who come to church week in and week out who cognitively know, "Yeah. God forgave my sins. I've heard that since I was a little kid in Sunday school." But still live with the idea in your mind and the thoughts that circle around are, "I'm no good. I'm unlovable. I'll never get this right. I'm still a screw up. I'm still going to mess up. I'm no good. I'm glad Jesus died for me. But I know he doesn't like me."

All those thoughts are from the evil one, because he doesn't want you to have time with God. He doesn't want you to be in God's presence. If you viewed yourself the way God sees you, if you viewed yourself the way God delivered you, if you see yourself as free and holy and delivered and righteous and good, you will approach the throne differently.

You'll approach it with thanksgiving. You'll approach it with joy. You'll approach it with gratitude for all that God's done in you. Do you realize all your sin is done? I mean, how many times do you carry a burden into church? That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a bad thing if you carry it out with you. Leave it at the cross. Leave it at the foot of Jesus.

It's really interesting because the priests the way they would do it, they would have to do this day after day after day after day after day. Jesus Christ offered Himself without blemish to God to cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. You say, "Well, what's dead works?" Dead works as any religious thing you do, thinking you're going to be made right with God because it's something you do.

Let me tell you something, there is nothing you can do to be made right with God. Well, one day, I'm going to be a pastor, and that'll count. I'm telling you, it counts for nothing in terms of being made right with God. Only what Jesus Christ did on the cross can make a man, woman, boy or girl right with God. It's only the blood. It's only the blood. It's only the blood. It's only the blood. It's only the blood.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Without the shedding of blood, you can't be in the holiness of God. Every manmade religion in the world tells you, there are certain things you can do so that God will be pleased. The only way God, as a holy God can be pleased was through the shedding of His Son's blood. Jesus is the only way to get right with God, there is no other way.

Friends, here's what He'll do, He'll clean your conscience. He'll clean your conscience. But I love that. I love that. Because much like many of you, I have a past. I used to think about my past. I used to say, "God, I can never go into ministry because of my past. I can't do this because look what I did. Here's how I acted. Here's how I thought. Here's how I behaved."

But when I understood the cleansing power of Jesus, and understood on the cross, He said, "It is finished." He wasn't bringing it up anymore than I didn't need to bring it up anymore, because it's gone. It's forgiven. You are cleansed. You are righteous. You are holy. Am I being redundant enough for you today?

We need to hear this as a church. For many of us, we wake up every day and take a shower. I know I like to take a shower in the morning, every day before I started. It's good to feel fresh before we start the day. But sometimes on the weekends, if I know I'm going to work out I don't get up and take a shower. I just get up.

All right. Don't shave. I just go work out. But it's interesting when I come back home from a workout after not showering that morning, my family usually has something to say about things. Maybe you should go take a shower now. Because you got to continually be clean and continually be cleansed. But Jesus Christ once for all cleansed us once for all.

Once he died on the cross for all sins, when Jesus Christ died on the cross 2,000 years ago, I hadn't seen any sins yet. Which ones did he die for when I believed in him? Every single one I would ever commit, cleansed. You say, "Well then why confess?" Because I want to stay in fellowship with God.

When I sinned today, I'm confessing saying, "God, that's wrong. I'm out of relationship with you. That's not how a believer would act. Thank you for your forgiveness. I love that you've already forgiven that. Thank you, Lord. I want to stay in fellowship with you." But I know at the cross it was done. It was complete. What if I forget to confess my sins?

Well, guess what? I'm still forgiven, because the cross of Jesus Christ forgave it. Amen. Friends, he cleanses our conscious from all sin. He appeared as a high praise. He entered the holy place. He obtained eternal redemption. How much more is his blood powerful than the blood of animals? The blood of Christ transcends any religious practice you will ever study, cleanses your conscience from all sin, gives you an all access pass to God.

Let me tell you, number three, the blood of Jesus Christ secures an eternal inheritance secures an eternal inheritance. Notice verse 15. He says, "For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant." We've been talking about the new covenant. The new covenant was inaugurated when Jesus Christ died on the cross. On the night he was betrayed, he took bread and he took wine.

When he gave the wine after supper, he said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins." For this reason, he's the mediator of a New Covenant so that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the internal inheritance.

I mean, throughout the Old Testament, they weren't forgiven, because they sacrificed animals. They were covered. But they were forgiven, because they believed God's provision that he was going to bring a messiah. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, that's what they were looking forward to, even though they didn't know his name was going to be Jesus, even though they didn't know everything about him.

They were forgiven by God. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham believed God had a way to forgive all this. It was credited to him as righteousness. When Jesus Christ came, he forgave all sin. Jesus Christ is the way and he secures an eternal inheritance. Listen to what he says as we go on in verse 16.

He says, "We may receive the promise of an eternal inheritance for where a covenant is, there must of necessity be a death of the one who made it for a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never enforced, while the one who made it lives," much like life insurance.

Do you have life insurance right now? You could say I got $5 million in life insurance. I got $500,000 life insurance. On paper, you have it all. But until you die, that doesn't go into effect. Until you're dead, and they can prove that you're dead. Nobody's going to just dispense money. It requires a death. A will requires a death.

If at your will, you're going to leave your Matchbox cars to your kids, or if you're going to leave a million dollars to your kids, whatever you put in the will that goes to them, but not until you're dead. This new covenant required death. That's why Jesus Christ had to die. He didn't sign an inky signed with his blood. He gave His life on a cross. It's only through his death that the New Covenant has come into existence.

It's only through his death that we become beneficiaries of the new covenant that he has. This is what he's going to talk about here. Notice this, verse 18. Therefore, even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood, for when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people. According to the law, he took the blood of the calves and of the goats and water and scarlet yarn, hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you."

You can read about that in Exodus 24:8. When the old covenant was established, Moses took blood and sprinkled it on the beneficiaries, sprinkled it on those who needed it. In the same way, verse 21, he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. According to the law, one may almost say all things are cleansed with blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.

Now he says almost everything. There was a part in Leviticus chapter 5:11, for those who couldn't afford the animals. What if you were poor, and you couldn't afford the two turtle doves, or you couldn't afford the two pigeons, does that mean your sin couldn't be covered? No. God made a provision. Leviticus 5:11 said they could bring 1/10 of an ephah of flour and give a flour offering.

God was saying, "I'll still cover your sins." But for the most part, it was always the shedding of blood that produced forgiveness of sin." In order for forgiveness to take place, blood had to be shed. Go all the way back to the garden. Adam and Eve sinned. As soon as they sinned, what do they realize? We sinned. We're in trouble. We're going to hide. Oh, look at all of our differences.

They made fig leaves, fig leaf clothing, and God's like, "Nah, it's not going to work." What did God clothed them with? He clothed them with skins. Well, where did they get the skin? From an animal. Some animal had to give it to life in order to cover their sin. That's always been the way that it works. When each covenant was established, it was always established with blood. That's how the covenant system works all the way up pointing to Jesus.

You remember, even in the Old Testament, when God was taking Israel from Egypt, on the very last plague, on the very last night after they had been there for 400 years, what God had them do? Took a lamb, an unblemished lamb, slaughtered it. Then what did they have to do with the blood? They had to apply the blood. It wasn't enough that they just killed the lamb and ate the meat.

They had to take the blood of the Lamb and paint it on their doorposts. Because it's one thing to do that and secret like, yeah, we had lamb for dinner last night. Now they had to go public with the application of the blood. If they went public with the application of the blood, then when the angel of death came through the town, the angel of death would pass over those that were covered in the blood. It's foreshadowing to exactly what Jesus did on the cross.

That one day he would be put on a beam and his blood would be shed, so that those who applied the blood to their own lives, who would say I need the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, then death would also pass us over. Friends, you need to realize this. Life is just the opening act of what you're going to have for all eternity.

Most people live as if this is all the life you ever get, for this is the shortest amount of time you'll ever have, even if you live to be 120 years old. This is just the warm up. This is the opening act. This is just the stage being set. God has set eternity in your hearts. You will live somewhere. You'll live apart from Christ and in eternal hell, or you will live with Christ with favor and grace forever and ever based on what you do with his blood.

It's the blood of Jesus. Have you applied the blood in your life? See, death was necessary for the sin to be completely forgiven, and only Christ could pay the penalty. Only Christ was the one that could do that. Have you ever thought about securing an eternal inheritance? I mean, some of you may look for and you probably don't look forward to the day where your grandparents or parents pass away.

But maybe you look forward to what's promised in the event that they do. Hey, one day, if my parents were to pass away, they're granting me this. I'm going to have this. Friends, you've been guaranteed an eternity with God forever and ever. Which means this, no matter what you think you have coming to you in this life, it ain't any better than what's coming with Jesus.

You have an eternal inheritance. You've inherited that. All of the blessings in eternity belong to you now, through the blood of Jesus. Why do you think the devil lies to you all the time and tells you, you can't have that, you can't have that? But one day when you die, then you'll have this. Why do you think he lies to you like that? Because he does not want you to experience the fullness of Christ on this planet.

You say, "Well, how do I know about this covenant, this book that was sprinkled in blood?" This book is God's covenant. This book is God's will. Well, how do I know if it's God's will for me, too? Because if it says it in this book, it's God's will. Romans 10:9 and 10 says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

You know that means? It means if you confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you believe that He died on the cross for your sins and shed, you will be saved." It's a guarantee, because God can't lie. Romans 8 says, "If God is for you, who can be against you?" God's covenant will says about me, God is for me, the God of the universe is for me. He's got my back. Psalm 23 says, "Goodness and mercy chases me down and tries to overtake me."

That's what His word says. That's what his will says about me. His will in Romans 8 says, "Nothing can separate me from the love of God, not even anything in all creation. No matter what I do, God still loves me." See, the devil doesn't want us to read God's word and believe what His word says. When it comes to freedom or deliverance or healing or gifts or anything, because he would rather have us pray like this, "Lord, if it's your will, and I have no idea if it's your will because I've never really Read your word. I don't even know what promised to me."

He loves that. The enemy loves that. He hates it when God's people take God at His word and say, "Lord, this is what you say, and it's your will and I'm totally trusting in you." Psalm 34 says, "The angel of the Lord and camps around those who fear Him and delivers them. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The Lord hears the prayers of the righteous and delivers them from all their fears."

That's either true or it's not. The devil hates it when we believe the word. When we walk by faith, and we don't see it, but we're believing that God's going to do exactly what His word says. Friends, because you have an eternal inheritance, it doesn't just mean that, "Oh, one day and the by and by when you get old and die, you'll go to heaven, and that'll all be good.

An eternal inheritance has already been secured by the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the promises of God that come with that eternal inheritance are yours today. You can have it. I mean, when people go, I mean, reading the will may be one of the most boring things that you ever do. I don't necessarily recommend it. But if the will was about you, and your parents, you would tear it. What's in it for me? What do I get?

Friends, this word of God is his will. You should be tearing this open, saying, "God, what did you secure for me?" Well, you secured healing. You secured health. You secured love. You secured mercy. You secured all these things for me that I'm a beneficiary of not because I earned any of it, or did anything for it, but you gave it to me through your blood. Is the blood of Jesus good or what?

It's the blood. It's the blood. It's the blood. It's the blood. It's the blood. Don't ever say we don't talk about the blood at BRAVE. We talk about the blood at BRAVE. It's the blood that sets us free. Blood is a metonymy for death. He died for you. Jesus Christ paid the entire penalty for you. God's forgiven you of all your sin. God wants relationship with you. God wants you to come home and be with Him for all eternity.

But until you get there, God wants all the promises that are secured in the eternal inheritance to be yours now, and for you to take ownership of them. It's really interesting Revelation chapter 12:11, when it's talking about the Anti-Christ, and the end of things it says, "They overcame him," talking about the saints, by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even when they face death.

The blood of the lamb, the blood of the lamb, the blood of the lamb, the blood of the lamb. Let me give you a final point. The blood of Christ also satisfies the father's requirement for sin, satisfies the father's requirement for sin. We just got done reading how without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. If blood's not shed, if Jesus didn't die, you can't be forgiven. When you hear somebody talk about their religion, and it's apart from Christ, they're not forgiven.

As a matter of fact, they're already children of wrath, and they're under the wrath of God that's to come. You need to let them know that it's only through the blood that they can ever be forgiven. People go to all sorts of creative ways to get out of this idea. They goes through all sorts of creative ways to think, "Well, I can just figure my way out of it, or I'll just do good work from now on, or I'll just be a good person, or my faith is better than your."

It's only through the death of the cross. Whether you're the most prideful person or the most insecure person, whether you're 95 years old, or 5 years old, there's only one way to gain all access to Jesus, and that's coming to the grace of Christ, and recognize you need his blood to cleanse you from all of your sin and unrighteousness. It's the blood. It's only through Jesus that we see that it satisfies the father's requirement for sin.

Notice verse 23, therefore, it was necessary for the copies of things in heaven to be cleansed with these but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ's did not enter a holy place made with hands a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. He didn't enter the earthly tabernacle. He went right into the throne room of God.

He took his blood right to his father and said, "Paid in full. Anyone who believes in me, that covers it all. I did exactly what you asked me to do, dad." Remember when Jesus was in the garden, the night that he was betrayed, asking his father if there's any other way, there's any other way, just let me know, but not my will be done, but thy will be done.

The father told him, "No, you're going to the cross." Fine. In obedience to Him, He sacrificed His blood said on the cross, "Tetelestai," it is finished. Now he's in the presence of God, nor was it that he would offer himself off in verse 25, as the high priest enters the holy place, year-by-year with the blood that is not his own. Otherwise, he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world.

But now once at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. If Jesus blood was not completed, you know what he have to do, since the foundation of will, He have to come back and suffer. He have to come back and die. He'd have to come shed more blood. He'd have to come and suffer more for sin, because there's more sinners than there's more sin.

Now, once for all, He cleansed the entire world for anybody who would turn from their sin and turn to Christ. It's done. It's not like blood of bulls and goats and calves and anything else. It's His own blood once for all. Verse 27, and in as much as it is appointed for men to die once and after that comes judgment. Christ also haven't been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to send to those who eagerly await him.

Let me make a couple of comments about this. It's appointed on demand to die how many times? Say it with me really loud. It's appointed on demand to die.

Once.

Okay. There's no such thing as reincarnation, because it's appointed on demand to die once. Well, how do I know I'm not going to die and then come back as like a sheep and then die and come back as a cow? Because you die once, and after that you face judgment. It's appointed under you that you're going to die. When you die, you're going to face judgment.

Either you face judgment, apart from having the blood of Christ applied in your life, or you faced judgment with the blood of Christ applied to your life, two different scenarios. Without the blood of Christ, here's what you'll hear, "Depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you and you'll be thrown into hell and in the lake of fire."

With the blood of Jesus Christ, here's what you'll hear, "Welcome home. Well done good and faithful servant. You are loved since the foundation of the world." That's what he's saying. It's point-on-demand to die once and after that face judgment. You don't get a second chance after you die. Well, maybe after the years go by God will relent and give us a break. No.

When you're dead, you're dead. You've already made your choice. It's imperative that you make the choice now. Christ having offered once to bear the sins of the world of the many will appear second time. When he comes to second time, he's not coming to take care of sin. Did you know that? He already did that on his first trip. Guess what he's doing the next time.

He's coming for those of us who are waiting for him, and yearning for him, who are not only enjoying his presence presently, but are waiting till he is presently with us forever and ever. Amen. That's what he wants for us. The first time He came as prophet to declare the truth to God. Now, he lives as a priest who ministers on behalf of God. But when he comes back, he's coming as a king to rule and to reign.

He's ministering presently as high priest. He's already been here as a prophet, and he's coming back as king. He is and he was and he is to come. Amen. Here's my question. Do you have the eternal warranty? Have you been covered by the blood? I recently bought patio furniture. When I bought patio furniture, they sent me all the patio furniture, all the patio furniture is fine, except the table that they sent was broken.

I immediately called them on the phone. They said, "No problem. We'll send you another one." They sent me another one. That one was chipped. I called them back again. They said, "Hey, we'll send you another one." I'm thinking how many pieces of patio furniture I'm going to have by the time we're done." I said, "I hope it works this time."

They're like, "If not don't even worry about it. We'll send you another one." It's a guarantee forever and ever. Hey, here's the truth. Do you have God's eternal covering? Have you seen the blood of Jesus take away all your sin? Friends, if you haven't make today the day. Make right now the time. Apply the blood of Christ in your life. Let him wash your conscience clean.

Believe or listen to me for those ... I know I'm saved. I know I'm going to heaven. But you live as though you're not. You live in guilt and shame and doubt and fear. Maybe I'm just not good enough. I hope I may ... Friends let the blood of Jesus wash you clean. We've been doing a hymn sing all day. But what song do you think I want to sing right now? What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. It's the blood. It's the blood. It's the blood. Here's the question. Have you applied the blood to your life? Not are you aware that the blood will do it, not are you aware that Jesus is the only way, but have you taken the blood and said, "Lord, I need the blood washed me clean. I believe in you and only you." If not make today your day would you?

Would you stand with me as we close? Father in heaven we just pray now, as we get ready to say a couple of hymns and as we sing about the blood that Lord that you would do a work in and through our lives that can only be attributed to you. If you're here today, you're listening today and you know I've never made Jesus the Lord in my life.

Then here's how I'd asked you to pray. Lord Jesus, I repent of my sin. Wash me clean. Cleanse me from the inside out. I confess you as my personal Lord and Savior. For those of you who are here today say, "I've done them, but I'm wrestling with sin. I don't know that I know that I know that God's really willing to forgive," come to his altar this morning.

Experience His mercy and His grace afresh and let the Lord speak over you and say, "It is finished." You are cleansed. You are whole. You are righteous. You're good. Father, do a work in and through our lives as we pray together, as we seek your face together, do a work in and through us, in Jesus' name, amen and amen. Can we give God praise for his word today?