The Blood, Part II: The New Testament

Without shedding of blood is no remission.” — Heb. ix, 7 y

We have seen what the Old Testament says about the blooc. now let us turn to the New.

In I Pet. ‘i. 18, we read: “Forasmuch as ye know that yt were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from youi fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Silver and gold could no’ redeem our souls. As I have tried to show, life had been forfeited. Death had come into the world by sin, and nothing but blood could atone for the soul. Therefore, says Peter, ‘you are not redeemed with silver and gold.” If gold and silver could have redeemed us, do you not think that God would have created millions of worlds full of gold? It would have been an easy matter for Him. But we are not redeemed by such corruptible things, but by the precious blood of Christ. Redemption means “buying back;” we had sold ourselves for nought, and Christ redeemed us and brought us back.

A friend in Ireland once met a little Irish boy who had caught a sparrow. The poor little bird was trembling in hi hand, and seemed very anxious to escape. The gentleman begged the boy to let it go, as the bird could not do him any good; but the boy said he would not, for he had chased it three hours before he could catch it. He tried to reason it out with Xtt boy, but in vain. At last he offered to buy the bird; the boi agreed to the price, and it was paid. Then the gentleman tooh the poor little thing and held it out on his hand. The boy had been holding it very fast, for the boy was stronger than the bird, just as Sain is stronger than we, and there it sat for a time scarcely able to realize the fact that it had got liberty; but, in a little, it flew away chirping, as if to say to the gentleman, “Thank you! thank you! you have redeemed me.” That is what redemption is — buying back and setting free. So Christ came to break the fetters of sin, to open the prison doors and set the sinner free. This is the good news, the Gospel of Christ — “Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.”

“How can I be saved to-night,” do you ask y Accept of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, and rest on His finished work. When Christ on Calvary said, “It is finished,” it was the shout Df the Conqueror. He had come to redeem the world, and now He had done it — done it without money! And His cry to the world comes ringing down the ages to-day —” Ho, every one hat thirsteth, come ye to the waters; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without priced

A few years ago, I was going away to preach one Sunday morning, when a young man drove up in front of us. He had an aged woman with him. “Who is that young man?” I asked. “Do you see that beautiful meadow y” said my friend, “and that land there with the house upon it y” “Yes.” “His fathei drank that all up,” he said. Then he went on to tell me all about him. His father was a great drunkard, squandered his property, died, and left his wife in the poor-house. “And that young man,” he said, “is one of the finest young men I ever knew. He has toiled hard and earned money, and bought back the land; he has taken his mother out of the poor-house, and now he is taking her to church.” I thought, that is an illustration for me. The first Adam, in Eden, sold us for nought, but the Messiah, the Second Adam, came and bought us back again. The first Adam brought us to the poor-house as it were; the

Second Adam makes us kings and priests unto God. If: is redemption. We get in Christ all that Adam lost, and lAore. Men look on the blood of Christ with scorn and contempt, but the time is coming when the blood of Christ will be worth more than all the kingdoms of the world. Suppose you were going down to death’s gate to-iiight, going down to the brink of the Jordan, without any hope in Christ. Suppose you were a millionnaire, what would your millions be worth then y The blood of Christ would be worth more to you than all the silver and gold of the world.

The blood has two cries: it cries either for my condemnation or if you will allow me to use a stronger word, for my damnation; or it cries for my salvation. If I reject the blood of Christ, it cries out for my condemnation; if I accept it, it cries out for pardon and peace. The blood of Abel cried out against his brother Cain. So it was in the days of Christ. When Pilate had Christ on his hands, he said to the Jews, “WTiat shall I do with Him?” They cried out, “Away with Him! crucify Him!” And when he asked which one he should release, Barabbas or Christ, they cried out, “Barabbas!” Then when he asked again, “What shall I then do with Him .?” a universal shout went up from Jerusalem, “Let Him be crucified! Away with Him! We do not want Him.” Pilate turned and washed his hands, and said, “I am innocent of this just Man’s blood,” and they cried, “His blood be on us and on our children; We shall take the responsibility of it; 7ve shall endorse the act; you crucify Him, and let His blood be on us and on our children.” Would to God that there might be a cry going up, “Let His blood be on us to save, not to condemn.”

Turn now to Col. i. 20: “Having made peace through ihc blood of His cross.” I can tell you there is no peace in the world. There are many rich men, many great men in the world, who have got no peace. No; I have never seen a man who knew what peace was until he got it at Calvary.

“Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans v. i). Sin covered — that brings peace. There is no peace for the wicked; they are like the troubled sea that cannot rest. Calvary is the place to find peace — peace for the past and grace for the present. But there is something better still. “And rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Some people think that when they get to Calvary they have got the best, but there is something better in store — glory. I do not know how near it may be to us; it may be that some of us will be ushered very soon into the presence of the King. One gaze at Him will be enough to reward us for all we have had to bear. Yes, there is peace for the past, grace for the present, and glory for the future. These are three things that every child of God ought to have. When the angels came bringing the gospel, they proclaimed, “Glory to God, peace on earth, and good will towards men.” That is what the blood brings — sin covered and taken away, peace for the past, grace for the present, and glory for the future.

Would you now turn to John xix. 34:” But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water. You know that in Zechariah it was foretold that there should be opened in the house of David a fountain for sin and for uncleanness. And now we have it opened. The Son of God has been pierced by that Roman soldier’s spear.. It seems to me that that was the crowning act of earth and hell — the crowning act of sin. Look at that Roman soldier as he pushed his spear into the very heart of the God-man. What a hellish deed! But what was the next thing that took place .? Blood covered the spear! Oh! thank God, the blood covers sin. There was the blood covering that spear — the veiry point of it. The very crowning act of sin brought out the crowning act of love; the crowning act of wickedness was the crowning act of grace.

A usurper has got this world now; but Christ will have it soon. The time of your redemption draweth nigh. A little more suffering, and He returns to set up His kingdom and reign upon the earth. He will rend the heavens, and His voice will be heard again. He shall descend from heaven with a shout.

He will sway His sceptre from the river to the ends of the earth. The thorn and thebrier shall be swept away and the wilderness shall rejoice. Let us rejoice; we shall see better Jays; the dreary darkness and sin that sweep along our earth shall be done away with. These dark waves of death and hell shall be beaten back. Oh, let us pray to the Lord to hasten his coming, that the Son of God may not tarry.

Would you now turn to Rom. iii, 24: “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” What God does He does freely, because He loves to do it. Mark these words, “Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Then in the fifth chapter, ninth verse, we read, “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” The sinner is justified with God by His matchless grace through the blood of His Son. Justified, that means, as just as if he had never committed sin. What a wonderful thing; not one sin against him! It is as if he owed -.some one a debt, and when he went to pay it, was told “There is nothing against you; it is all settled.” “Why,” he would say, “how is that y I got some things from you not long ago, and I want to pay the, bill.” “There is nothing against you.” “But I am sure I got something here.” “There is nothing against you in my ledger; some one else has come and paid it.” That is substitution. Now I know who paid my spiritual debts. It was the Lord Jesus Christ. And God looks at His ledger and there is nothing against us. Christ was raised up for our justification. It is a good deal better to be justified than pardoned. Suppose I was arrested for stealing $1,000, tried and found guilty, but suppose the judge had mercy on me and pardoned me. I would come out of prison, but it would be with my head down. I had been found guilty, I could never face the world again. But suppose I was accused of stealing it, but it could not be proven, and when the case came on, it was found I had not done anything of the kind; then I would be justified. It would make all the difference in the world. Now God justifies us by the blood of His Son This is what the blood does — sin covered, put out of the way, and nothing against us. Is not that good news? ^.. Rev. i. 5:” Unto Him that loved us and washed us from

-L. our sins in His own blood.” There are a great many people who wish to be saved, but who think they cannot be saved until they get a little better. I met a young man in the inquiry-room last night who was anxious to be saved, but he thought he couW not be, because he was not good enough. If you are going to wait till you get rid of your sins, you will never be saved. You cannot get rid of one sin. Instead of getting better you will get worse. But thanks be to God, He loves us even in our sins, even before He saves us from our sins. “He hath loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.’* Lmed us first, then washed us. But if we attempt to wash ourselves we will make wretched work of it. The blood will cover it all up if we only trust ourselves to Christ. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? If He has justified me it is enough. Why do we like to sing that old hymn —

‘* There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins?”

Why will it live as long as the church lives on earth y Why will it never die y Why do you hear it sung all over Christendom. I remember how it used to thrill my soul even before I was converted. I could not tell why. Thank God, every sin IS lost in that fountain. You will find that all these hymns with the scarlet thread in them will live. There is that grand

old hymn:

“Rock of Ages, cleft fer me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood.
From Thy riven side that flowed,
Be of 8in the double cure,
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.”

That speaks of the crucified Christ; it will never get worn out. Then there is —

“Ju^t as I am, without one plea.
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.”

That is another hymn that will live; you never tire of it. It will be sung on and on, as long as the church is on earth. I tell you why these hymns are so precious; it is because they tell us about the blood.

Look at Matt. xxvi. 28; it is Christ’s own testimony, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Look at this verse, “I declare unto you the gospel, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Look at Heb. ix. 22, “And without shedding of blood is no remission.” I would like to ask those men who do not believe in the blood, “What are you going to do with your sins y” Would you insult the Almighty by offering Him the fruit of your body to atone for them? Can a ftian atone for sin y If there is a scoffer here, a man who makes light of the blood, I want to know what he is going to do.** When I was in one of your cities, a gentleman came to me and said, ‘* If you are right, I am wrong; and if I am right, you are wrong.” I saw he was a minister, and I said, ‘* Well, I never heard you preach; if you have heard me you can tell what the difference is. Where do we differ!” “Well, you preach that it is the death of Christ; I preach His life. I tell people His death has nothing to do with it; you tell them His i*^” has nothing to do with their salvation, and that His deu.in only will save them. I do not believe a word of it.” “Well,” I said, “what do you do with this passage, * Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree? ’ “” Well, I never preached on that text. “” What do you do with this then, * Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ ’ ““I never preached on that text either,” was the reply. “Well, what do you do with this, * Without shedding of blood there is no remission? ’ “-” I never spoke on that,” he said. “What do you do with this, * He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him? ’ ““I never preached on that cither.’’ What do you preach, then?” I asked. He hesitated for a little, and then said,” I preach moral essays.’

THE BLOOD. isy

You leave out the atonement! ““Yes.” “Well,” I said, it would all be a sham to me if I did that; I could not understand it. I would be away home to-morrow. I would not know what to preach. Moral essays on Christ without His death! “The young man said, “Well, it does seem a sham sometimes.” He was honest enough to confess that. Why, the whole thing is a myth without the at-one-ment. The crucifixion of Christ is the foundation of the whole matter. If man is unsound on the blood, he is unsound in everything. “Without shedding of blood is no remission.”

Turn now to Heb. x. ii. Hebrews is full of the blood. “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man” — what man? — the man Christ Jesus, “after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God.” One sacrifice for sins for ever! He has offered as a sacrifice Himself. You need no lambs now, no bullocks now. The High Priest has offered Himself. The high priest of old could not take his seat; his work was never done. But our High Priest went up on high, and took his seat on the right hand of the Father’s throne; the work was done. “It is finished,” He said. All those types and shadows are fulfilled in Him, and now they have vanished away.

Look at Mark xiv. 24: “This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many.” These are Christ’s own words. Take that in connection with the passage I read from Hebrews, “Without shedding of blood is no remission.” I believe if a man could get to heaven without the blood of Christ, he would not be happy there. He could not join in the great song that is sung around the throne; he could not sing the song of Moses and the Lamb; he could not say he was redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. You would see him away in some corner; he would be out of tune with the rest; he would not be in harmony with them, and he would not wish to stay there. But he could not get there. The only way is by the new and living way that Christ has opened.

laS THE BLOOD.

Turn back again for a minute to Heb. x. 19: “Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he has consecrated for IS, through the veil, that is to say. His flesh.” Those Jews, before Christ died, had to have the high priest intercede iDr them. He used to go in once a year into the holy of holies with blood to make intercession; but since Christ, our great High Priest, came, we do not need any Aaron to intercede for us. When Christ died, He opened a new and living way. He made us all kings and priests. It is said that the veil that was rent was His flesh. When He cried on the cross, “It is finished,” the veil of the temple was rent in twain. God seized it with I lis right hand and tore it away. No veil between God and ‘nan now! We need no bishop, no pope, no priest to intercede ‘or us now. Christ has died, yea, is risen again. Yes, we are ill kings and priests now; we can go straight to the holy oi “lolies ourselves. We need no man to intercede for our souls. The moment a man is saved by the blood, he becomes a king ind a priest. God calls him “My son.” He is an heir of heaven and of glory. He is redeemed by the blood, he is made ‘ligh by the blood. He gets victory over the world, the flesh, ind the devil, by the blood.

There is a very solemn verse in Heb. x. 28: “He that desy)ised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, ii.d hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the pint of grace?” If a man despised Moses’ law, they led him i)iit and stoned him to death. Sinner, let me ask you, what are you going to do with the blood of God’s only Son y I tell you it is a terrible thing to make light of the blood, to laugh and ridicule the doctrine of the blood. I would rather fall dead on this platform than do such a thing. It makes my heart shudder when I hear men speak lightly of it. Some time ago a very solemn thought came stealing over me, and made a deep impression on my mind, ilic (jnly ihing that Christ left cf His, body on the earth was His blood. His flesh and bones He took away. But when He went up on high, He left His blood down here. What are you going to do with the blood y Arc you going to make light of this blood, to trample on it? Ma God give us all a glimpse of Christ crucified to-night.

Look at the book of Revelation; you will find the blood spoken of again and again. “They overcame by the blood of the I.amb and the word of their testimony.” That is the only way to overcome the devil, the lion of hell — by the blood of the Lamb. He knows that the moment a poor sinner flees to the biood he is beyond his reach.

As I have travelled up and down Christendom I have found out that a minister who gives a clear sound upon this doctrine is successful. A man who covers up the cross, though he may be an intellectual man, and draw large crowds, will have no life there, and his church will be but a gilded sepulchre. Those men who preach the doctrine of the cross, and hold up Christ as the sinner’s only hope of heaven, and as the sinner’s only substitute, who make much of the blood, God honours, and souls are always saved in the church where the blood of Christ is preached. May God help us to make much of the blood of His Son. It cost God so much to give us His Son, and shall we try to keep Him from the world which is perishing from the want of Him? The world can get along without us, but not without Christ. Let us preach Christ in season and out of season. Let us go to the sick and dying, and hold up the Saviour who came to seek and save them — who died to redeem them. “They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”

Once more, in Revelation vii. 14: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Sinner, how are you going to get your robes clean if you do not get them washed in the blood of the Lamb .? How are you going to wash them? Can you make them clean? I pray that at least we may all gel back to the paradise above. There they are singing the ^weet song of redemption. May it be the happy lot of each of us to join them. It will be a few years at the longest before we shall be there to sing the sweet song of Moses and the Lamb. But if you die without Christ, without hope, and witl out God, where will you be? O sinner, be wise; do not make light of the blood. An aged minister of the gospel, on his dying bed, said, “Bring me the Bible.” Putting his finger upon the verse, “The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin,” he said, “I die in the hope of this verse.” It was not his fifty years’ preaching, but the blood of Christ. May God grant that when we come at last to stand before the great white throne, our robes may be washed in the cleansing blood of Christ!