Bible Baptist Church, Port Orchard, Washington

The Blood
Pastor Al V. Hughes

Lev. 17:11; Col. 1:14

Every surgeon learns to identify blood with life. The blood and life are inseparable: You lose one, you lose both!

The Bible is alive. The Bible is a bloody Book. A scarlet thread runs from cover to cover. Cut it anywhere and it bleeds. Blood begins to flow in Genesis 3:21 and continues running through the Book of Revelation when blood will flow to a horse's bridle at the battle of Armageddon. Over 400 times God inspired men to use the word blood in the Scriptures.

One characteristic of a false teacher is what do they teach about the blood atonement of Christ. If they are wrong on redemption by the blood, they need to be avoided.

The writers of the New Testament choose the word "blood" three times as often as the "cross" of Christ, five times as frequently as "death."

PRECIOUS BLOOD-- "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
1. You cannot BUY salvation. You cannot PAY to get saved!
2. Precious = Of high worth; VALUABLE.
3. Precious because it is spotless. INCORRUPTIBLE�without spot.
4. Precious because it is life giving (TEXT). One speck of blood contains 5,000,000 living red cells; 300,000 platelets and 7,000 white cells. It is an ocean stocked with living matter!
PURGING BLOOD-- Cleansing blood. Hebrews 1:3-- "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Hebrews 9:22-- "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." Revelation 1:5-- "�Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
1. There Is A Fountain (Wm. Cowper).
2. Scientifically-- One of the functions of blood is to CLEAN the body: The components of blood cooperate to accomplish a simple goal: Nourishing and cleansing each living cell. From the red blood cells first entrance into the bloodstream they are pushed and shoved through rush hour traffic. Beginning the cycle at the heart, they take a short jaunt to the lungs to pick up a heavy load of oxygen. Then they are propelled throughout 60,000 miles of blood vessels linked to every living cell in the body. Highways narrow down to one-lane roads, then bike paths, then footpaths, until finally the red cell must bow sideways and edge through a capillary one-tenth the diameter of a human hair. In such narrow confines the cells are stripped of food and oxygen and loaded down with carbon dioxide and other waste products. From there the red cells rush to the kidneys and liver for a thorough scrubbing, where the hazardous waste chemicals can be dumped for elimination outside the body. Then they go back to the lungs for a refill of oxygen and the journey starts over. The complete cycle takes oly 23 seconds. An average red cell endures the cycle of loading, unloading, and jostling through the body for a half million round trips over four months.
3. We are contaminated with the toxin of SIN.
4. Sin is a blockage, a paralyzing toxin that restricts and hinders our lives from counting for God (Isa. 59:2; Jer. 5:25). Hebrews 9:14-- "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
5. ONLY THE BLOOD can cleanse from sin! 1 John 1:7-- "� the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." What color is blood? What color is sin? RED--"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isa. 1:18). ILLUS--I read, according to photography, if you take a red filter and look at something red through the red filter, it will appear to be white!
PROPITIATING BLOOD-- "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood�" (Rom. 3:24-25).
1. Propitiation = satisfaction; covering; that which turns away the incurred wrath of God upon sinners. Because God is righteous and just, sin must be penalized (Rom. 6:23a). The holiness of God prevents God from forgiving the sinner without a payment or "propitiation" of satisfaction. Propitiation is that which brings about a change in God's attitude toward us, so that we are restored to the fellowship and favor of God. Propitiation points to God's wrath being appeased. To appease means to make peace with someone who has been wronged. If I am angry because you have wronged me, but you then do something to appease me, the offence is removed. Propitiation results in God no longer being angry with us.
2. Propitiation is pictured by the mercy seat in the Old Testament tabernacle (Heb. 9:5; Ex. 25:17,21). Sin is no longer the issue between man and God. The only issue is "�faith in his blood�" (Rom. 3:25).
PLENTEOUS BLOOD-- (1 John 2:2).
POWERFUL BLOOD (Rev. 12:10-11)
PURCHASING BLOOD (Acts 20:28).
PREDETERMINED BLOOD (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet 1:19-20). Jesus blood was not spilt (accidental). It was shed (on purpose).

CONCLUSION: It is not enough that Jesus died-- THE BLOOD MUST BE APPLIED.