David Bauer heads in prayer.
Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable unto Thee,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Amen.
We are speaking from morning to morning on
prayer.
The theme this morning was the laws of
prayer.
Tomorrow morning we hope to speak about prayers
of ministry, the ministry of intercession.
And from evening to evening it is our
purpose simply to preach the gospel.
The theme this evening I shall entitle Jesus
in the way of the shedding of his
blood.
I can hardly say that without adding his
precious blood, as we heard in the song
so sweetly sung a moment ago.
John tells us in the book of Revelation,
the thirteenth chapter, that he was slain from
the foundation of the world, already a fact,
in a sense, in the mind of God.
Peter, on the day of Pentecost, said that
he was delivered up by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, though wicked hands crucified
him.
The shedding of his precious blood began sometime
before he reached Calvary's brow.
It was there in the garden, the garden
of Gethsemane.
A friend of mine recently was visiting in
the Holy Land, and as he returned he
said, there is uncertainty with regard to many
of the sites, but not as
regards Gethsemane.
The gnarled oaks are just as they were
twenty centuries ago.
The trees that witnessed the Redeemer's agony
as they're in the garden.
He cried, according to the word we have
in the fifth chapter of the epistle to
the Hebrews, offering up prayers and supplications with
strong crying and tears unto him that was
able to save him from death, and was
heard in that he feared.
However, we can be sure it was not
simply the fear of death as we speak
of it here.
No, it couldn't have been that.
Why Christian martyrs, disciples of the Lord Jesus
Christ, have gone to the stake to martyrdom
singing songs of triumph.
No, not the fear of death as we
speak of it and think of it here
upon earth.
Ah yes, there's mystery here.
For in the Savior's death there was something
altogether, utterly and absolutely unique.
He takes it of death for every man,
we read.
In the 23rd Psalm we're told that for
us it is only the shadow.
Though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death.
Just a shadow, friends, but not in the
case of the Lord Jesus.
For he was made sin, he who knew
no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.
Made a curse, as it is in the
epistle to the Galatians.
Ah, it must have been this.
It must have been this that caused him
there in the garden to fall prostrate with
strong crying and tears as we have just
read.
Saying, Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass.
The cup, well only an hour, perhaps two
prior in the upper room, he had said,
this is the cup of the New Testament
in my blood shed for many for the
remission of sins.
I think that gives us the key.
No, it wasn't just the fear of death,
as men are wont to experience death.
The cup, this is the cup of the
New Testament in my blood shed for many
for the remission of sins.
He poured his body on the tree, the
sins of all men.
It was this, we can be sure of
that, which caused that from his brow there
should fall great drops of blood.
Crying out and saying, my soul is sorrowful
even unto death.
The bleeding for our Redeemer began in the
garden.
We shall not tarry over the scenes there
as the soldiers came and the priests, the
enemies of the Lord Jesus, that he might
be bound and taken before the high priest.
Neither shall we linger over the scenes there
in the high priest's palace.
We might point out the fact that it
was really contrary to Jewish law, the session
at midnight for the members of the Sanhedrin
for such a purpose, but everything there was
contrary to law and contrary to reason.
You will recall how the high priest finally,
desperate, cried out and said, I adjure thee
by the living God that thou tellest, art
thou the Christ?
And when the Savior said, thou hast said
so, it is true, he rent his garments.
Then it was that the members of this
council gave their verdict, guilty of death.
Well, in a sense, according to their premise,
but we know that he was and that
he is the God-man.
Neither shall we linger long with the scenes
that were enacted the following morning as the
Son of God is brought before the president,
before Pontius Pilate.
In his book, Morrison, his book entitled, Who
Rolled Away the Stone?
points out that surely there must have been
a midnight interview on the part of the
high priest and some of his henchmen, so
to speak, with the king, with the president,
the Roman governor, else he would not have
been ready early in the morning to receive
them for such a purpose.
And Morrison says that this no doubt caused
the dream, the governor's wife.
You will recall sending to her husband a
note saying, Have nothing to do with this
just man, for I have suffered great things
in a dream this night because of him.
It seems that Pilate had time to think
it over.
And to stiffen, having given his consent, when
the Jewish leaders came the following morning with
their victim divine, for the governor said, What
accusation have you against this man?
If he were not a malfactor, we would
not have brought him before thee.
They were nettled, piqued by the question.
And then that scene, Pilate stiffening more and
more, for he knew, as we read in
the gospel according to Mark, that it was
because of envy that Jesus had been brought
before him by the Jews who demanded the
high priests, princes, Pharisees, leaders of the Jewish
people because of envy.
I say we must not linger.
You will recall how Pilate struggled and availed
himself of every means possible to make a
way for Jesus, all to no avail.
And then a final effort, according
to the order which John the Apostle gives
in his gospel, Pilate turning
Jesus over to the soldiers, thinking that this
would placate the wrath of the Jews.
For the Roman, ah, the flagellation, the flagellation,
the discouraging, the post there in the courtyard,
blackened by the blood of victims, and the
Savior bound to the post to receive this,
under which the victims often died, these leather
ropes with bones, sharp bones, thongs on the
end, the soldiers applying the scourge.
It was the great Scottish preacher McKinney who
used to say, for every sin of mine,
a stripe on the Savior's back, wounded for
our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.
And again, there is the shedding of blood,
trickling down that blackened post.
But the Jewish leaders are not placated.
They continue to cry as Pilate brings Jesus
afresh before them, saying, Behold the man crucified,
crucified.
And then it was that the soldiers, ah,
that scene in the barracks, the Roman soldiers,
guards, the governor's guards, we read that they
brought together the entire cohort, cohorts, to
express their scorn, mocking Jesus
the Lord, taking from him his garments to
dress him as a king, and to place
a scepter in his hand.
And then, as they marked, the crown of
thorns placed upon his brow.
And again, there is the shedding of blood
as it is pressed upon his head.
This which was done in derision, in a
sense infinitely appropriate.
For he who borne his body on the
tree, the sins of all men, could not
have been crowned save by a crown of
thorns, in view of the fact that in
the scriptures the thorn is the emblem of
faith.
And then, as the march gets underway along
the Via Dolorosa, Jesus the Lord bearing
his cross, we can be sure that at
every step there was blood trickling on the
ground as he's heavy wooden
bars pressed upon his bleeding back, falling at
last, according to the scriptures, beneath the load.
While the Roman soldiers brought Simon, Simeon, and
how lovely to realize that he must have
become a Christian later, willingly bearing the cross,
for Paul speaks of his two sons, Rufus
and Alexander, and greets them as fellow Christians.
The Cyrenian bearing the Savior's cross.
And now on the hill, on Calvary's brow,
the shedding of the Redeemer's blood continues.
It is only enhanced as the Roman soldiers
pierce his hands and his feet, and he
is lifted up from the earth.
No, we shall not linger long over those
six hours, only to point out that there
must have been a constant trickling of the
blood, falling to the earth because of the
many wounds in that sacred body.
And then, when the Savior cries, It is
finished, Father, into thy hands I commend my
spirit, John tells us that the soldiers drew
near to fulfill that custom, Roman custom, to
put an end to the victims' agonies.
They were wont to endure, they were wont
to agonize for days, unable to die, breaking
their legs.
And so it was with the thief on
the one hand and the repentant thief on
the other.
But John tells us that they saw that
there was no need.
In the case of the one there in
the center, they did not touch him.
An ancient prophecy being fulfilled, Exodus
12, Not a bone of the lamb without
blemish shall be broken.
And then it was that the Roman soldier,
taking his spear, pierced the breast of our
adorable Savior.
Blood and water gushing forth.
And you will recall that when John, in
writing the story, the gospel, when John comes
to this point, he seems to lose his
self-control, that objective manner of his, he
is overcome.
And he says, he that beareth witness, he
that saw it bear record, and his record
is true, and he knoweth that he saith
true, that he may believe.
For these things were done that the Scripture
should be fulfilled.
A bone of him shall not be broken.
Please turn the tape over at this time.
And again, another Scripture says, They that look
on him whom they pierce.
Physicians tell us that in such a death,
the blood gathers slowly.
There in that sack called the pericardium would
appear the drop of blood.
And John seemed
to look upon it as a miracle, for
a corpse does not bleed in this fashion.
And there it came forth.
The blood had gathered there in the pericardium,
and it came forth.
So there fell to earth the very last
drop of blood in the Savior's veins.
Now, why go into such detail regarding
the shedding, the bleeding, the
precious blood of Christ?
Why go into these details?
Now, friends, it is because of the vast
significance, according to the Scriptures, of the efficacy,
the redeeming potency of the precious blood of
Christ.
Friends, we're at the very heart of the
gospel tonight, and it seems that even
in heaven, the millions upon millions of redeemed
are forever commemorating this of which we have
just spoken.
Worthy art thou, O Lamb of God, for
thou hast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood.
Friends, I can't use any other terms.
I can't use any other terms.
Speaking of the precious blood of Christ, it
would seem, let us rapidly lead through the
epistles, it would seem that here is the
very fountainhead of all that has to do
with everlasting blessedness as redeemed souls.
In the fifth chapter of the epistle to
the Romans, the ninth verse, much more than
being now justified by his blood, we shall
be safe from wrath to come.
And I'd like to point out that it
isn't really our faith that justifies this.
No, brethren, I'm so glad it isn't because
of my faith.
No, it isn't our faith.
It isn't because of our faith, because in
our faith is to be found some great
virtue.
Virtue, no.
The virtue is all in the blood.
Why, faith is only the hand that reaches
out to receive the gift, what the gift
brings from the cross.
Justified.
Oh, how we need to make this clear.
A lot of folks stumble here because, well,
I don't have enough faith.
You don't need.
Just rest in this great consummation.
And then we are told in the passage
that was read just a moment ago, Hebrews
13, that it is in the blood that
we're sanctified.
Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people
with his own blood, suffered without the gain.
I really should have read verse 11, to
the bodies of those beasts whose blood is
brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin are burned without the can.
Is it possible that our Redeemer should have
gone that far?
Yes.
Without the can.
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the
people with his own blood, suffered without the
gain.
Like these beasts burned there on these refuse
heaps.
Let us go forth therefore unto him without
the can, bearing his reproach.
There is reproach in the blood.
There is reproach.
Blessed are they who are not offended, the
Savior said.
The reproach, but the reproach is in the
fact that my sin was so great that
only such a sacrifice could remedy it.
And the sacrifice shows up the fact.
And then we are told here in this
same chapter, Hebrews 13, that it is through
the blood that we shall be our works
made perfect.
Now the God of peace that brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of
the everlasting covenant makes you perfect, bring you
to maturity, is the thought all through the
New Testament in this expression.
And then it is our redemption, our
very redemption which is attributed to the efficacy
of the precious blood of Christ as we
read in Colossians, the first chapter, the fourteenth
verse, beginning with the thirteenth, who hath delivered
us, the Father, from the power of darkness
and hath translated us into the kingdom of
his dear Son in whom we have redemption
through his blood.
And then, of course, it is through the
blood that we are reconciled to the Father,
the blood of the cross as it appears
here in this same chapter of the epistle
to the Colossians.
It pleased the Father that in him should
all fullness dwell, beginning with the nineteenth verse,
and having made peace through the blood of
his cross by him to reconcile all things
unto himself.
By him, I say, whether they be things
in earth or things in heaven.
And then the apostle tells us in his
epistle to the Ephesians that we are brought
nigh through the blood, through
him we both have access by one spirit
unto the Father, beginning with the thirteenth verse,
Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were
far off are made nigh by the blood
of Christ.
And then, friends, oh, this wondrous affirmation found
in the first epistle of the apostle John,
the first chapter.
Oh, this word that God used to bring
that lovely child of his, Francis Haverhill, the
author of so many of the songs that
are sung throughout the world in the churches
of God.
That great song on consecration, Francis Haverhill.
As a girl stumbled along, defeated in her
Christian life, the child, the child of the
mans, she confessed later that it was her
fault that kept troubling her.
And so she was defeated, discouraged.
And then one day, reading, as she was
wont to do, her New Testament in the
Greek, she came upon 1 John 1, 7.
The verb here is in the present active
tense.
If we walk in the light as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another in the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son is forever cleansing, brethren.
Forever cleansing.
And you know, with this verse, she marched
right into the promised land of a life
of fullness and victory in Christ.
And when she died, when she went home
to heaven, why, her Bible was open on
the, on the casket, at her verse.
John, 1 John 1, 7, the blood is
forever cleansing.
Why, she said to herself, I'm not going
to worry about my faults anymore.
I'm just going to rejoice.
This eye is forever washing its face.
I'm quite conscious of the fact that this
one, because the water no longer goes down
the duct as it should with the rather
microscopic dirt, and so I'm constantly weeping.
The eye is forever.
It's so delicate, this organ.
And the soul, oh yes, even more delicate,
is it not?
That we might, that we might be in
communion in, without interruption, with our Heavenly Father.
Evil thoughts come.
We do stumble.
We say things we shouldn't have said.
We speak unkindly.
There's so many things each day that are
grievous.
But the blood is forever cleansing.
So great is its efficacy.
The Holy Spirit forever applying the virtue of
the precious blood of Christ, the cross of
our adorable Redeemer.
Now we haven't yet exhausted the glory of
the fountain.
Isn't there a song about the fountain?
Yes.
The blood.
John tells us that this is the ground
of our victory over the enemy.
Revelation 12, they overcame him, the dragon, or
if you prefer, that old serpent.
And friends, we're living in an age of
unprecedented satanic oppression.
I needn't tell you that.
All Christians everywhere are aware of this fact.
The darkness seems to be increasing.
I'm not standing before you as a prophet.
No, I know nothing.
But I know that it's written that there
will be a period in which the enemy,
knowing that his time is short, will come
with great wrath.
Who knows, it may be that we're entering.
I can say that.
They overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb.
You know, I came upon an illustration.
I have a dear friend down in Mexico
City.
Father was a Chinaman.
Mother is Latin.
Outstanding Christians there in the capital.
They're millionaires and are very generous in the
Lord's work.
The son is at the head of that
great Wong institution, Chocolate King.
He reads Watchman Nee.
I went out to see him the other
day and he said, You know, the first
chapters of Watchman Nee's book, Sit, Walk, Stand,
I couldn't quite reconcile that with conflict.
He seemed to say everything was done.
Just sit down and enjoy the feast.
But he said, I had an experience the
other day that sort of illustrates the fact
that there is conflict nevertheless.
You know, I had paid the water bill,
but a man came out demanding the payment.
The water, 400 pesos.
I said, But it's paid.
Here's the receipt.
Well, he said he went away and then
some days later another man came to get
the cash register.
The water wasn't paid.
I told you it was paid.
And Ernesto Wong said to me, I had
to shriek at him and hold the receipt
up before him and say, Here it is.
It's paid.
And then he walked away.
And then Ernesto said to me, Now, that's
just what we're to do when the devil
comes.
Just hold up before him the receipt.
Point him to Calvary.
And then he'll flee.
Here's my answer.
The Savior took care of all this at
Calvary.
They overcame him.
That's what it means.
By the blood of the Lamb.
And by the word of their testimony.
You have to sometimes just shriek at him.
Give your own testimony.
You may, you know, praise or tell this
in that great book of his, Beyond the
Ranges, that that's what he did up and
down the frontiers of Burma.
He was going under.
He wrote to his mother, I can't bear
it any longer.
I daily breathe the fumes of hell.
And then there fell into his hands a
little tract in which the writer Jesse Penn
Lewis spoke of the victory wrought on Calvary,
that the devil is a defeated foe.
Why, this missionary hadn't thought of that.
Hadn't thought of that.
And he said he just took hold and
he went out into a desert place where
no one could see him and just shouted
it all over the place.
Yes.
And then he said that was the turning
point in the whole missionary undertaking.
Later on, revival came up and down the
frontiers.
Just take a look at this.
It's paid.
They overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb.
No other weapon, Frank.
There's no other weapon.
You cannot stand up before the Prince of
this world and overcome him with any other
weapon.
The victory wrought on Calvary by the Son
of God.
And it was for this purpose he came.
John said that in his first epistle, for
this purpose the Son of God appeared.
Think of it.
That he might destroy the works of that
devil.
And so let us sing with the millions
upon millions of redeemed.
The redeemed in mansions of light.
Oh, surely they look deeper, deeper, deeper into
these mysteries than we can here upon earth.
As they sing, sing, worthy art thou, O
Lamb of God, for thou hast slain and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.
From every tribe and tongue and people and
nation.
And so let us just pray the Lord
that by his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, he'll
lock us right into that wounded side.
That's where the Christian should dwell.
Identified as he is with the crucified, risen
Lord.
We give thanks, gracious Father.
We just have no words with which to
express our gratitude for the one who went
all the way, so willingly, all the way
to Calvary that our sins might be put
away forever.
Oh, how we thank thee, Father, for the
efficacy of the precious blood of Christ, which
thou didst tell us in thy word is
forever cleansing the saint.
Accept our praises, Father, tonight, in the precious
name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.