The blood of Jesus. That's today's topic from Dr. Don Wilton as we open the Bible itself, God's encouraging word together. As we study God's word, know that we'd love to connect with you on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org where you'll find great resources and opportunity to sign up for a daily devotional and more. Check us out online.
And now, Dr. Don Wilton. Hebrews chapter 9. My friends, we are going to be in one of the most awesome subjects known to man. I want to tell you that when you talk about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are about to talk about the most precious thing that God could ever tell us in His word. Because the Bible says that the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood, gave His life for us in order that we might be forgiven of our sin and in order that we might have life. In fact, the Bible says without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sin.
The whole of Hebrews chapter 9, it's a long chapter, but it has to do with that subject. Now, what does our blood do for us? Our blood is what keeps us alive. If you lose your blood or if your blood stops working in your body the way it's supposed to work, it means that you're going to die. Often we hear sad stories about people who bleed to death.
Well, because your blood is your life source. So when the Bible says that Jesus shed His blood, what that means literally was that His blood stopped Him from being alive as a human person and He died. Now folks, here's what we're going to do.
We're going to read this chapter and I'm going to stop a couple of times. This is, this is one of the most exciting chapters in all of God's Word. And our subject this morning is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 9, now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up in its first room with a lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread. This was called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the most holy place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold covered ark of the covenant.
The ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of the glory, that is the angels, overshadowing the atonement cover. The atonement cover was the mercy seat representing the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Verse six, when everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room and that only once a year, the day of atonement, here it is, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people who had committed sin in ignorance.
Now just watch me for a moment. What the Bible is telling us about the construction of the tabernacle, if you could just imagine the floor of the sanctuary, the priests in general, they could come onto the floor of the sanctuary. This was the tabernacle. Then there was a big curtain, just pretend it's right here where the pulpit area is in the choir, and that was the holy of holies behind that. Once a year, the high priest would come and the first thing that he would do is he would put on a ceremonial type of clothing. Now I wish I had time to describe it to you.
It's very interesting. Maybe we'll do that one time in our Bible study, but everything that he dressed up in was significant. It had significance according to the law of Moses and it was different colors.
It was black and orange and different shades of different colors. And what he would do is he would walk through this curtain into the holy of holies. And the first thing that the high priest would do is that he would make sacrifice for his own sins.
Now, how did he do that? Well, if I could be perfectly honest with you, he killed animals. He sacrificed them. Sheep and all different kinds of animals, whether it be goats or doves or calves, it didn't matter, but he had all different animals there, primarily sheep.
He would sacrifice them. Now folks, let me tell you what happened. The whole of the holy of holies became filled with blood. There was blood everywhere. In fact, not only did he do that, but he sprinkled blood on everything.
We've got this picture sometimes of this beautiful place in the holy of holies. Let me tell you, it was dripping with blood. When he was finished offering sacrifices for himself, he left the holy of holies and he changed clothes and he washed himself ceremoniously again. Then he put on pure white clothing, just pure white, just like the color of my shirt, pure white clothing. In pure white clothing, he would re-enter the holy of holies and he would start to sacrifice lambs for one specific purpose, not for the forgiveness of his sin this time, but for the forgiveness of all of the people, not only the sins that they knew about, but the sins that were in their conscience and the sins that they knew nothing about. See, that's what Jesus did. Jesus was the lamb of God without spot and without wrinkle.
He was pure and spotless. And what did Jesus do? Jesus entered the holy of holies.
What did he do? He shed his blood on behalf of the people. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our unrighteousness. And even in the Levitical law, you could not be forgiven of Jehovah unless blood was shed.
All right, now I want you to hold that thought. Go back to Hebrews with me. All right, we are in, where am I? I'm in verse eight. The holy spirit was showing by this that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.
This is an illustration or a symbol for the present time. The writer says it's an illustration of what Jesus Christ has done upon the cross indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings, external regulations applying until the time of the new covenant. So when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not manmade, that is to say not a part of creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place once for all by his own blood. He didn't need all these animals, folks.
All of those things were no longer relevant. He entered the holy of holies by his own blood, having thereby obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so they are outwardly clean. How much more then will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God for this reason. Christ is the mediator of a new covenant that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
And now that Jesus Christ has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. Now in the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it because a will is enforced only when someone has died. It never takes effect while the one who made it is living.
Watch me for a moment. What is the will of God? The will of God is that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That is God's last will and testament. God's last will and testament is that you and I are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
Let me ask you this. If that is the last will and testament of almighty God, how in the world did the last will and testament of almighty God be made possible for us? It was through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
When was it activated? It was activated when Jesus Christ gave his life. I want to speak to you about the blood of Jesus.
Let's continue to read. The Bible says in verse 19, verse 18, this is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves together with water and scarlet wood and branches of hyssop and he sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, this is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep in the same way. He sprinkled with the blood, both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies.
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. It was necessary then for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with the better sacrifice than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one. No, he entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence, nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again and again and again. The way the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood, that is not even his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.
He would have had to be executed and crucified time without number. No, but now Jesus Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself for just as man is destined to die once and after that to face the judgment. So it is that Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.
And then he will appear for a second time, not to bear sin as he did the first time, but rather to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Is that not the most remarkable passage of scripture? Somebody say amen this morning. I can't even conceive that people would go to church and look like they're recovering from hookworm treatment when we're dealing with the blood of Jesus Christ. Somebody say amen again.
Is this not the most incredible subject in the world? The blood of Jesus Christ. Some of you saying, preacher settle down. You don't settle down, you're going to have another blood clot. I want to tell you something, my friend, it is so hard to settle down when it comes to the blood of Jesus Christ.
There is nothing more precious than the blood of Jesus Christ. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on The Encouraging Word. Don't go away. He'll be back with the rest of today's message in just a moment, but no one is born courageous, but everyone hopes courage will come to us. There's a wonderful resource on our website right now called A Call for Courage. It's at TEWonline.org. I hope you'll visit and see how you can get your copy along with a message from Dr. Wilton called Be Salt and Light.
It's all online at TEWonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. I want to look at this blood from four perspectives. Number one, shadow blood. Number two, shed blood. Number three, shed blood. And number four, sealed blood. This chapter in Hebrews is about blood.
Number one, it's about shadow blood. If you go with me for the first few verses of chapter nine from verse one through 10, the key verse is verse seven. The Bible says, only the high priest entered the inner room and that only once a year, here it is, and never without blood. Now, what has the writer to the Hebrews been trying to tell us about the Old Testament?
It is a shadow or a copy of things to come. In fact, the Bible tells us five things about the shadow blood. Number one, it was regulated in verse one. Number two, it was set up in verse two. Number three, it was secretive in verse three. It was hidden.
There was no access given. Number four, it was limited. Why was it limited in verse seven and the second part of verse nine? Because these sacrifices of the shadow blood had to be offered time without number again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again, over and over and over and over.
There was never a time that one of those Jewish people could ever sit down and say, boy, I am forgiven because the next second he wasn't. Time without number. And number five, it was symbolic. The Bible tells us in verse nine, all of this is an illustration of the present time.
What was the present time? It was the context in which the writer to the Hebrews was writing to these Jewish Christians and those who were on the verge of accepting that Jesus Christ was and is the Messiah, the shadow blood. But then the Bible moves from that point from verse 11 through 14 to the shed blood. This is the apex.
This is the pinnacle point around which everything else revolves. From verse 11 through 14, the Bible even introduces it. But when Christ came, we are given a glimpse in the shadow blood of the construction, the regulations, the importance and the significance of the old covenant under the Old Testament priest. But when Christ came to shed his blood, it all changed. Three things here about the shed blood of Jesus. Number one, he came in verse 11, speaks to the absolute complete obedience of Jesus Christ, the son.
Number two, he went through. That's what the word says in the second part of verse 11. But when Jesus Christ came, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that has not made man. By the way, that word he went through is just simply the word from which we get our word to pierce or to penetrate or to tear asunder. What was it that Jesus did when he went through? He pierced the old covenant. What did the Bible tell us? When Jesus died upon the cross, what happened in the temple?
The curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The old covenant was done away with. Jesus Christ was and is the complete fulfillment of all the law. Jesus Christ shed his blood. He didn't walk in there carrying a bull or an ox or a calf or a lamb. He walked in there on his own recognizance.
Why? Because he alone had the complete authority of almighty God. He is the son of God. And because he is the son of God, it is his sacrifice that is completely sufficient to ransom people like you and me from our sin. Nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ himself.
What did he do? He came. Number two, he went right through.
He ripped it apart. And number three, he paid it in full. Verses 12 and verse 13 remind us of that, that this once for all complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ was all that was necessary to pay the price completely for the sin of mankind because it was by his blood that our eternal redemption has been obtained. Are there shadow blood?
Yes, sir. The shed blood of Jesus. But number three, the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every time I get word that there's someone in our congregation or someone in our community who has left us in their will, my heart rejoices.
Why? Because these people in whatever manner they've been blessed are now sharing that blessing. This particular lady that I'm talking to you about, folks for years to come, there are going to be people right here where she was, where she was blessed, where she served the Lord. For generations to come, people are going to share in the blessings of one individual. For generations. It's an incredible thing. Well, the question is this, what about the shed blood of Jesus Christ? How do we share in that?
What has it done for us? Well, the Bible here from verse 14 and 15 tells us all about it. First of all, the shed blood of Jesus provided cleansing. The first part of verse 14, the Bible says, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to cleanse our consciences. Folks, that's what the day of atonement is all about.
Yom Kippur. I mean relentlessly time without number, people trying to cleanse their consciences, trying to find forgiveness, going through external regulations. Bible says it's not going to happen. The shed blood of Jesus Christ provides complete cleansing. Number two, it provided deliverance. Look at the second part of verse 14 that the shed blood, the unblemished offering of Jesus Christ has given to us deliverance from acts that lead to death. If you want to read about what those are, you go back into verse 10.
They're only a matter of food and drink. They're external regulations. My heart breaks every time I see people today going through rules and regulations.
Friends, I'm going to tell you this without any apology. That is why I am very careful in this congregation. That is why I do not ask you to stand up and recite the Lord's prayer every week.
Why? Because there's something wrong with the Lord's prayer, not on your life. But the Bible says, I have been delivered from rituals. That's why we don't have a prayer book. We are not going to stand up and read out of a prayer book and recite as a congregation.
That is why it is very rare that I ask you to stand up and read off to me and recite and kneel and do things and go out and follow rituals and regulations. The Bible says the shed blood of Jesus Christ provides my deliverance. I am set free from acts that lead to death. I am free in Jesus Christ. I'm set free. I'm no longer bound by all of this ritual. I don't want anybody within the sound of my voice ever to come into this church and say, well, that preacher, Dr. Wilton, made us do this and made us do that and follow this ritual and this custom. Therefore, because I followed that ritual, I now have forgiveness.
Absolutely not. Nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ will deliver you from your sin. Absolutely nothing. Number three, it provided service in verse 14 that we may serve the living God. Number four, it provides advocacy. The shed blood of Jesus Christ in verse 15, the Bible says quite clearly, for this reason, Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. I have an advocate with the father through the spirit who is God the father, God the son.
I have someone who is mediating for me. Jesus Christ himself seated at the right hand of the father making into session for me. Number five, it provides an eternal inheritance.
Bible tells us that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance in verse 15. And number six, the shed blood of Jesus Christ provides freedom. Look at this.
I love this. Now that he has died as a ransom to set free from the sins committed under the first covenant. Folks, this is what it's all about. Guess what Jesus Christ has done for me and what he's done for you. He has set us free.
Somebody say amen this morning. You and I have been declared free because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Folks, everything about this is about the blood of Jesus. Everything about this is about the blood of Jesus. And so we look at shadow blood, the shed blood, shed blood, and I'm going to close with the fourth one, sealed blood. Well, you say to me, pastor, what do you mean by that? Well, the Bible of my friends from verse 23 through 28 talks about the sealed blood of Jesus.
How does all of this work? Do you know something about the blood of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins? God has sealed the blood of the lamb. There are no runs, no drips, no errors. This is not the big drip we're talking about, folks. We're talking about the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Listen to me. When Jesus died, God declared there will no longer be an alternative. There will never be a need to have any repairs done. You don't have to go to Home Depot and get any more sealant.
You don't have to find some alternative method. I want to tell you something God said according to his last Testament and will. I want you to know this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And when Jesus hung upon the cross and when he said it is finished and he gave his blood, God put his stamp of approval and he said, this is sealed with the seal of my grace.
This is my mercy seat. This is my atonement for you, my redemption for you for all time and for all eternity. How did he seal his blood? Well, in this passage in three ways. Number one, by his coming to die.
In verse 26, the Bible says, but now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. How did Jesus seal his blood? Number one, by his coming to die.
Number two, by his going to take a seat. You go back to verse 24. The Bible says that Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one. No, he entered heaven itself. What did Jesus Christ do when he entered heaven? He was not a copy or a shadow.
He was the real thing. He was sealing his blood by coming to die, by going to take a seat at the right hand of God. And number three, by appearing again to bring. The word of God says in verse 28, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and he will appear a second time. Not to bear sin. Why not to bear sin? Because that was his first coming. That was the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross when he was born to die. Oh no, he's already gone back and taken a seat. When he comes again at the second coming, my friends, he is sealing it for all time and for all eternity because it is on that occasion that he is going to bring to salvation all those who are waiting for him.
Wow. That is exciting news to know that when Jesus comes again, he will deliver that salvation to those who are ready. The question is, are you ready? You've heard Dr. Wilton as he's been teaching and preaching from the pulpit.
Now, as he steps in the studio, open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart in Jesus name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.
This is exciting news. Perhaps God's been working in your life and you had prayed along with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Jesus Christ. As the Lord is stirring your heart, know that we love to be a part of the next steps. If you gave your life to Christ or rededicated your life, we have free resources we want you to have.
They're free by calling 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 or you can meet us online at www.tewonline.org. You know, I'd love to be a part of your daily devotional. Love to be able to send you the encouraging word daily devotional and be a part of what God says to each one of us through his word every day. You can become part of that and receive one yourself from me. Just go online to www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org and get your copy of the encouraging word Bible devotion today. Again, you can sign up online at www.tewonline.org and don't forget to check out the Call for Courage book and message from Dr. Wilton about being salt and light in the world in which we live. Until next time, let's stay connected online at www.tewonline.org.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-08-07 17:58:04 / 2023-08-07 18:08:04 / 10