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The Importance of the Blood By Don McMurray

and another important subject today we've looked at many important subjects if you think over the
past six weeks just think of the important subjects we've looked at we've looked at the
importance of growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord we've looked at the
importance of justification by faith we've looked at the importance of hope we've looked at the
importance of our children of sin and of repentance but Spurgeon made a very interesting
comment as I was studying for today he said this if anyone should proclaim a religion without a
sacrifice you would soon see how quickly this building would be emptied or any other place of
worship there are always more spiders than people where the atonement is left out men
must have a sacrifice in their inmost hearts they know their absolute need of it when they seek to
approach the Lord I thought it was very interesting isn't it you leave out the blood and the
righteousness of Christ you live out the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and it's true that
buildings like Spurgeon's tabernacle where he preached to five thousand or so every time
that would be full of spiders but not many people and that's why
it's of the utmost importance today that we come and we think about this subject of the importance
of the blood now it's not the first time that I've spoken on the blood of Jesus Christ as we've gone
through Hebrews we've spoken about it many times but in the light of what we've been doing over the
past several weeks and particularly when we've thought about the exceeding sinfulness of sin
and the need of coming to repentance as we pleaded with those who knew not Christ last week to repent
and believe the gospel we need to have a very sound basis for that belief and for that hope
people are troubled with sin about continuing sin even after salvation people are still troubled
so when I consider that part of our text in 1 John 1 7 where it says
and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin I had to ask myself several questions
and one of the questions that was prompted that was prompted by a brother who's not here today
but it was a very interesting question and I'll deal with that a little later on
but there are five questions and a conclusion if you like to this morning's topic on the importance
of the blood the first question I asked myself when I read that text was does the blood of Jesus
does the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse me from all sins past present and future
if all my sins are written in God's book of remembrance
if it were for instance a scroll as they had in the old times when they did the old testament on
the scrolls if all my sins up to these 63 almost 64 years were written surely it would encompass
the earth and maybe further on it would be sins that I've no doubt forgotten
that I've no doubt forgotten
and I do call to remember certain sins that I would not want anyone
here or anyone anywhere to read or to know about
there is enough evidence on that scroll of my life of my sins
not to need a royal commission to delve into whether I'm guilty or not
it's a fait accompli
God knows even though you don't know
and if you're honest with yourself and with God you'd have to say the same wouldn't you
I'm sure you would
and if you're not honest then I believe that God the Holy Spirit
is come to convict you this morning that you are indeed as I without Christ exceedingly sinful
and he will make your own up to it and I trust he does before you leave this life
because he will afterwards
but such has been the grace of God in my life that he's brought me to my knees and to a saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ he's brought me out of darkness the darkness of sin and to the light of
life in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in the person of Jesus Christ
we see that in this passage in 1 John
but if we walk in the life in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another
the only reason why I'm here this morning and have fellowship with you
is because God has saved me from my sin and brought me out of darkness unto his light
and given me fellowship with people of like mind
because of this God assures me in this passage in 1 John 1 7
he assures me that that statement is absolutely true the all is not limited to my past sins
nor to my present sin but to my future sin
to deny that is to deny the word of God because he says the blood of Jesus Christ
God's son cleanses me from all sin now that's an all-embracing word it's not the same all
that we read about when uh for instance John was baptizing in the river Jordan he said all
Judea and and all the surroundings came out to be baptized that was not an all-embracing thing
not every man woman and child from every place came to that
but this all means an absolute all what a marvelous text it is when when I can come
and I can see and I can rest my soul in the in this absolute truth of God's word that he has
cleansed me with the precious blood of Christ from all my sin I will not deny the word of the
living God but that brought me to another question if that is true that God's blood cleanses me from
all sin past present and future why does it why does it
well we know from the very beginning of time when sin entered into the world that God
introduced the matter of blood being a sacrifice blood being needed to be spilt to atone for the
sin when Adam and Eve sinned there was the taking of the skin of an animal he might close
Adam and Eve when Abel was killed by his brother Cain the blood cried out from the from the ground
against him when it came to the matter of the institution of sacrifices in Leviticus when Moses
was going through the desert through the wilderness with all the people of Israel God took him up into
the mountain and there he laid out all the laws and he instituted the sacrifices that needed to
be made and the priests who used had to make it and so there was the morning and the evening
sacrifice of the lamb of God a lamb that was to be given up to God I should say so every morning
there would be the sacrifice every evening there would be the sacrifice as we read in Leviticus 17
people were to bring their their sacrifice to the priest and the blood was to be sprinkled
on the altar and in all the places God had appointed and then of course he came to that matter
of he said there will be a day a day of atonement when the high priest shall take the blood of the
lamb the lamb without spot and without blemish and he will bring it and he will make atonement for
his own sins and for the sins of the people and he will go into the holy of holies with the blood
of the lamb and he will sprinkle the altar now the fact of whether he was that was accepted in
God's sort of sight or not was whether he came out of that presence and when he came out of that
presence of the holy of holies there must have been great joy amongst the people because they
knew the blood had been accepted by God and of course all the blood sacrifices
continued until that day when Jesus Christ the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
came to the point of him going to Calvary of him being nailed on the cross of him giving up his
life for the life is in the blood and he gave up his life to atone for the sins of his people
and what a great day it was when Christ died and paid the penalty that was due to you and I
that once for all offering was acceptable to God as the price that was required of God to redeem
to buy back his people from their sin and he ascended into heaven received of God and we
rejoice because that sacrifice has been accepted God's anger was appeased by the death of Jesus
Christ God's justice was satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ as the lamb of God without spot
and without blemish and also his mercy and his compassion were magnified for whosoever believes
in the Lord shall be saved and his people were purchased with the precious blood of Christ
what God does to those he convicts of being sinners indeed is to take the blood of Christ
and apply it to that role of sin
here is our great list of sin this role of sin that we talked about before
and God takes the blood and he applies it to them and at the very moment the whole record
is blotted out and there shall be never any more sin inscribed there as Spurgeon says
for Jesus Christ never yet divided a man's sins forgiving some and leaving others unforgiven
he deals with sin in the mass and takes it all up and flings it into the sea or buries it in
his own sepulchre and never shall it be resurrected for says the Lord I will put my laws into their
hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more
I've been reading through Isaiah I don't know what you're reading in your devations of a morning
or evening but I've been reading through Isaiah and I'd like you to have a look at Isaiah
43 this was going to be the text really that I was going to use but I changed my mind
in Isaiah 43
and verse 25
the Lord says I
even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember
your sins I even I says the Lord
am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins
it's hard for young people today to understand about blotters I think
don't you some of you are older when we were kids at school
we used to have a pen with a nib on it and an inkwell which some of us boys used to put some
carbide in and a plug on and blow all over the school and all this sort of thing which was
very naughty and just another one of my sinful actions but we used to have a nib and we used to
write on our paper but the school also not only supplied the ink and the pen and teach you how
to write of course but they supplied you with blotting paper and it was just to soak up the
excess on the ink now that's what a blotter is but when we talk about God blotting out
he's going beyond that he's actually cleaning the slate and some of you who are old enough
and I'm not old enough to remember using slates will know that the slate was wiped clean you had
a little square with a piece of slate and you had a bit of stuff like chalk and you wrote on it
and you did your sum and when the next sum was on you'd wipe off the slate and you'd do the next
thing so that's what God is saying to us in his passage here he says I will blot out your
transgressions I will remember them no more I will wipe the slate clean but I want you to see
something special here and I ask myself why does God cleanse me a repentant sinner from all my sin
and I looked at these passages and I saw this
firstly because of Christ's sacrifice for me satisfied the just demands of the father
or else he wouldn't be in heaven that's the first reason Christ has met all that I could not do
and paid the debt that I could not paid and he fully satisfied the demands of God
and he has blotted out my transgressions with his own blood the second thing is from this
text I think what does it say why God shall blot them out what's the word say did you have a look
for my own sake God did it for his own glory and isn't it a marvelous thing
you said to think about this you have been saved by grace think about it here you were
a sinner going your own way lost going the opposite direction to God and God in his mercy
like he did with Saul of Tarsus convicted you of sin and made it exceeding sinfulness in your eyes
and showed you your hopeless condition and he brought you to Christ and he blotted out
your transgressions all for his own glory it's not marvelous that he should pick you
and should pick me to be the object that would bring glory to his own name and for his own sake
he did it for his own sake it's not a marvelous thing if therefore I'm assured from God's word
that all my sins past present and future are cleansed by the blood of Christ
another question popped into my mind if that's true does it mean that I can sin with immunity
once I've repented of my sin and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ
does it mean that now that's a pretty common thought
among some people and especially among some people who we call antinomian
they're the sort of people who hold that under the gospel dispensation
this time of grace of God the moral law is of no use or obligation
because faith alone is necessary to salvation so you can have people who profess to be Christians
who say they're saved by the grace of God they live by faith and they just do as they like
they're antinomian and if they continue on that attitude I think we have to ask a question
are they really the Lord's
so how are we to answer such people well you'll have to look at Romans won't you
Paul anticipated this when he wrote the epistle to the Romans and no doubt as he explained so
very carefully how a man becomes right with God being justified by faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ he goes on to explain these various things in verse 20 of
chapter 5 moreover the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin abounded
grace abounded much more so that as sin reigned in death even so grace even so grace might reign
through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord ah what shall we say then
he asked the question in verse 1 of chapter 6 shall we continue in sin that grace may abound
certainly not or in the av it says God forbid
how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it or do you not know that as many of us as were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death therefore we were buried with him in
baptism into death the justice Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so
we also should walk in newness of life for if we have been united together in the name of Jesus
for if we have been united together in the likeness of his death certainly we also shall
be in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that our old man was crucified with him
that the body of sin might be done away that we should no longer be slaves to sin for he who has
died has been freed from sin now if we died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him
knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead dies no more death no longer has dominion
over him for the death that he died he died to sin once for all but the life that he lives he
lives to God likewise you also you who perhaps think that you can be saved by God's grace and
go on sinning he says now this is what Christ was like and this is what he did so he says likewise
you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord
therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lust do not present
your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive
from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God for sin shall not have
dominion over you for you are not under the law but under grace and brethren that was a great
blessing to me that last verse that I read when sin would so come upon me unexpectedly flood my
mind with evil and lustful and and proud thoughts and and this verse that I learned as a young
Christian would come flooding back sin shall not have dominion over you and I'd cry out unto the
Lord oh brethren we can't we can't continue in sin when we've been saved by grace
verse 20 and 23 22 and 23 but now having been set free from sin and having become slaves to God
you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life for the wages of sin is death
and the gift of God is everlasting life eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
so we cannot continue in sin so that posed another question
does it mean that this passage that we're looking at in 1 John 1 7 through 9 is just a formality
and I think it can be I think it can become just a formality oh yes I've sinned God says that if
we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness so Lord I confess my sin I've done my deed I've done what's required of me
well I think it's on the contrary it's not a formality
I believe that this passage in 1 John 1 7 through 9 is a great comfort
and a great encouragement to the true believer
for a true believer when he has sin acutely feels his sin it's not a case of oh it's just another
sin who cares I'll do something worse tomorrow so you know God says to do this I'll do it no a true
do this I'll do it no a true believer feels his sin
it's as Paul said when the law came and said thou shalt not covet
he said he felt it deeply he was convicted and he saw himself as exceedingly sinful
and so the true Christian fears his sin and longs to be in harmony with his gracious Lord
he knows that whatever he is in this body sin will plague him but he wants to keep short accounts
with God because God is his Savior and his Lord and he hates to grieve the Spirit of God
and let me encourage you young believers and perhaps older believers don't let the sins
that do plague you day by day if you're a Christian just keep on mounting up and mounting
up until you're overcome with it and you don't know what to do with it and eventually some week
down the track or weeks down the track you're just despairing and you fall down on your knees before
God well you've wasted all that energy you've wasted all those opportunities to be a witness
to Christ when you should have been immediately the sin has come Lord forgive me Lord take this
from me Lord I claim your blood and your righteousness I have no other plea but in him
and God says if you confess your sin he is faithful and just to forgive you and will
cleanse you from all in righteousness
so I ask another question it's my last question before I give a summary or a conclusion
does it mean that I haven't got to worry about having to give an account
of every idle word and work on the day of judgment
this is the question that my friend asked me or didn't ask me but made a statement last week
let me turn to a couple of passages if you'd like to turn to Matthew
let's quickly turn there Matthew chapter 12
there are quite a number of passages that we could turn to but let me just take a couple
Matthew chapter 12 and reading verse 36 and verse 37
Jesus said
but I say to you that for every idle word men and that covers men women and children
for every idle word men may speak they will give an account of it in the day of judgment
for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned
Luke chapter 16 and verse 2 says
so he called this rich man and said to him what is this I hear about you
oh this steward of the rich man he said what is this that I hear about you
give an account of your stewardship for you can no longer be steward
then over in Romans chapter 2 and verse 16
let me go back to verse 15 talking about the gentiles who show the work of the law written
in their hearts and their consciences also bearing witness and between themselves their
thoughts accusing or else excusing him in the day when god will judge the secrets of men by
in the day when god will judge the secrets of men by jesus christ according to my gospel
and then over chapter 14 of romans
and verse 8
through 13
for if we live we live to the lord and if we die we die to the lord therefore whether we live or die
we are the lords for to this end christ died and rose and lived again that he might be the lord of
both the dead and the living but why do you judge your brother or why do you show contempt for your
brother for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of christ for we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of christ for it is written as i live says the lord every knee shall bow to me
and every tongue shall confess to god so then each of us shall give account of himself to god
therefore let us not judge one another anymore but rather resolve this not to put a stumbling block
or a cause to fall in our brother's way
we shall all stand before the judgment seat of god
it's obvious to you and i
and we cannot forget the fact that there is a judgment day
the lord jesus christ will be the judge
he will judge our words and our works
he will judge in perfect righteousness and in accordance with his gospel
every one of you have heard the gospel the christ jesus came into the world to save
sinners that he died on the cross he was buried he rose again from the dead
he ascended into heaven but he will come again to judge
so i come to this conclusion as i thought on this subject i said if all this is the case
therefore the blood of jesus christ is of the utmost importance to me
and it's the utmost importance to you and so just two people let me speak to the unsaved
to you who are unsaved sinners this morning the blood of jesus christ is of the utmost importance
because in in hebrews 9 and verse 22 it says without the shedding of blood there is
no remission there's no forgiveness there's no blotting out of your iniquities
without the shedding of christ's blood
spurgeon's got some quaint sayings hasn't he he said this
which was rather not a quaint saying but a rather terrifying saying
he said
this is indeed one of the inscriptions across the vault of hell no remission no remission
and yet the very opposite is true you who do not believe in christ when you came in here this
morning you've heard the preaching of god's word you've heard the importance of the blood of christ
you've heard the importance of the blood of christ that he has made atonement for your sin
and he says for you to recognize just learn the three r's we've been talking about some things
at school but the three r's not reading writing arithmetic i don't know they've got the the r out
the last one but never mind but three r's just think about this you must recognize yourself as
sinner that you've sinned against a holy god and that hell waits you if you don't do the second r
and that is to repent to turn from yourself and to come to christ and believe in him
and so the third r is to receive jesus christ as your lord and savior as many as received him
to them gave him power to become the sons of god even to those that believe on his name now you
may not understand all i've said but you may certainly be one who knows you've sinned against
god and that you're still sinning against god but he says to you this morning my blood is of such
importance my blood is of such value that you can plunge beneath that that flood as it were
that fountain filled with blood that fountain filled with the mercy and love of god and you
can trust me that i will save you to the uppermost and so my plea is with the unsaved believe in the
lord jesus christ and you shall be saved we recognize your sin repent of your sin and
receive jesus christ as your lord and savior we have a lovely hymn that might express it
a little better than i might have been able to just put it to you so let me read you you who
are unsaved this morning
in hymn 5 23 i hear thy welcome voice that calls me lord to thee for cleansing in the
precious blood that flowed on calvary i am coming lord coming now to thee wash me cleanse me
in the blood that flowed on calvary oh i hope that's your your cry this morning i am coming
lord well come now now is the time for you to come you know to the believer
oh if you've listened to what's been said today and if you've thought about it
you cannot help but say that the blood of jesus christ is of the utmost importance to you
it's important how we live if you're washed in the blood of the lamb it affects how you live
you remember we live as redeemed people that's what the word of god tells us in first peter isn't
it we've been redeemed not with the corruptible things of silver and gold but with what the
precious blood across and also he tells us doesn't he in revelation 5 and verse 9 wasn't
they said who are these that are waiting arrayed in white robes and whence come that he said these
are they have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in
what the blood of the land and you're we're not only redeemed but we're cleansed isn't that what
gordon read to us in revelation chapter 1 you remember he was reading there and and we read
about that in in revelation 1 5 where it says to him who loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood and then again we find in revelation 7 and verse 14 there is this cleansing
this cleansing of the blood of christ but also it tells us that we are liberated people
we're no longer slaves to sin in zechariah in verse 9 and verse 11 chapter 9 verse 11 and 12
and as for you also because of the blood of your covenant i will set your prisoners free from the
waterless pit return to the stronghold you prisoners of hope come and welcome to jesus
and have him as your stronghold you've been liberated and then we read about in leviticus
that we've been attained for by the blood of christ in hebrews i should say in isaiah
you know though your sins be a scarlet those parts there but he says we've been pardoned
because he's abundantly pardoned us we've been justified according to romans 5 9 justified
he says here much more then having been and now been justified by his blood we shall be saved
from the wrath through him and isn't it wonderful to shelter beneath the blood wasn't it there in
exodus when the children of israel were awaiting that time when the angel of death was to come
he says when i see the blood i will pass over you and so we shelter beneath the blood
and we're overcomers through the blood many people are plagued by the the evil one in chapter 12 of
revelation it says and they overcame him overcame satan by the blood of the land and the word of
their testimony and they loved not their lives to the to the death oh my brothers and sisters in
christ do not question your remission of sin for to question that is to question the very word of
god but it affects how we live it affects how we die we don't presumptually see
die as christian we die confidently because for to me to live is is the is to live is christ but
to die is what it's to gain isn't it because we know we're being cleansed by the blood of christ
we have no fear of death we shall be absent from the body and present with the lord
and it affects how we meet the lord or how shall we meet christ we shall see him as he is
we'll meet him with that great love and gratitude that words cannot express and it affects how we
stand in the day of judgment because on that day that great and terrible day when christ will come
to the salvation of his people though every idle word now hear me though every idle word christian
that you've added though every work that you've done that's not been pleasing in god's sign
every worthless work shall be revealed how shall they be revealed and that's of interest to me
they'll be revealed with that stamp pardon
pardon cleansed blotted out forgiven remembered no more as a condemnatory indictment against us
for there we shall be on his right hand of his perfect uh as his perfect bride
clothed in our spotless robe of his righteousness no condemnation isn't that a marvelous thought
there is therefore now no condemnation and there shall be no condemnation
seated with him in the banquet feast forever
it will affect us brethren how we live in glory to know that the blood of jesus christ cleanses us
from all sin what can i say how can i express my love how can i express god's grace towards me
and the importance of his blood i'd like to read you a little of him 674
to express a little in tenderness he sought me weary and sick with sin and on his shoulders
brought me back to his fold again while angels in his presence sang until the courts of heaven rang
he washed the bleeding sin wounds and poured in oil of wine he whispered to assure me i found thee
thou at mine i never heard a sweeter voice i it made my aching heart rejoice
he pointed to the nail prints for me his blood was shed a mocking crown so thorny was placed
upon his head i wondered what he saw in me to suffer such deep agony i'm sitting in his presence
the sunshine of his face with while with adoring wonder his blessings i retrace it seems as if
eternal days are far too short to sound his praise so while the hours are passing and now
is perfect rest i'm waiting for the morning the brightest and the best when he will call us to
his side to be with him his spotless bride oh the love that sought me oh the blood that brought me
bought me oh the grace that brought me to the fold wondrous grace that brought me to the fold
is this your testimony this morning let us pray
our father we are thankful to be here this morning we are thankful that the blood of
jesus christ godson cleanses us from all and righteousness and may oh god this be the testimony
of all who gather this morning from the youngest to the oldest and may it be that those sins that
plague us will be confessed quickly and will be forsaken