Eternal Life Is in the Blood of Christ

Well, brethren, life is in the blood. You've heard that expression before, haven't you? Life is in the blood? Do you know from whence it comes where the phrase originated? I'm sure many of you do. It comes from the Bible. It's in Leviticus 17. Let's go to Leviticus 17. And let's consider what it says here in Leviticus 17 regarding the blood. Leviticus 17. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. We know that God had instituted a number of different types of sacrifices for the sins that man would commit, and there were other types of offerings as well. Burn offerings, peace offerings, and a variety of different types of offerings. Verse 12. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood. For whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust. It was a practice to eat blood in various cultures at that time. For it is the life of all flesh. The blood is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any flesh. For the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. So, obviously, an important instruction for the children of Israel. Matthew Henry's commentary in regard to a few of these verses, and specifically regarding blood, he says, The sinner deserved to die, therefore the sacrifice, the animal, must die. Now the blood being so the life that ordinarily beasts were killed for man's use by the drawing out of all their blood, God appointed to shrinking or pouring out of the blood of the sacrifice upon the altar to signify that the life of the sacrifice was given to God instead of the sinner's life, and as a ransom or counter-price for it. Therefore, without shedding of blood, there was no remission. Of course, Hebrews 9.2 says that. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. For this reason they must eat no blood, and it was then a very good reason for God would, by this means, preserve the honor of that way of atonement, which he had instituted, and keep up in the minds of the people a reverent regard to it. The blood of the covenant being then a sensible object, no blood must be either eaten or trodden under foot as a common thing. Now, brethren, when the heart stops pumping blood throughout the body, the human body, or anybody, for that matter, the body quickly begins to die. The person quickly becomes pale and lifeless when the blood is no longer circulating throughout the body. I've personally seen a few people die, and it's very evident, and it happens very quickly, that the color drains from their face, it drains from the body. So life, in that sense, is in the blood. You can see it very quickly. The heart stops and it stops pumping blood throughout the body. The body then first decides they become pale, they become lifeless, but the blood is no longer circulating. So they lose their color in their face, their hands, their legs, and throughout their body.

Life is in the blood, but eternal life is in Christ blood. That's the topic in the title of this sermon. Eternal life is in Christ blood. It's important that we understand what this means to each of us individually and collectively as the body of Christ. Eternal life is in Christ blood, or eternal life is in the spirit of Christ blood. You might say in the Bible, we read that life is in the flesh. In the blood of the flesh, I believe it's that. So that's the second picture of the dead life. It is the blood that makes the tunnel for the soul.

The life of the flesh is in the blood. The life of the flesh is in the blood. So in one sense, we could say eternal life is in the spirit of Christ blood. It's in the spirit of Christ blood. We have to understand what that means. Now, let's ask the question, what does the blood do?

Now, blood is the circulating fluid or tissue of the body. It's the body's delivery system. I'd like to talk about three important things. The blood does more than this, but three very important things that the blood does. First of all, it brings life, sustaining oxygen and nutrients, such as amino acids, fatty acids, glucose, etc. to every system, to every organ, to every tissue, and to every cell of the body.

The arteries, the veins, the capillaries, the blood has a way to getting in there to all parts of the body, to all cells of the body. Christ is the life-sustaining source for His body, for each of us individually, and also for the Church of God. It's important that we realize that. Christ is the sustaining source of life for us. In John 6, Christ said some things that were misunderstood by a number of people back at the time. He said these things, and no doubt people continue to misunderstand what Christ was saying.

Let's go to John 6. You've heard this before. We're not only going to talk about the blood, we will talk some about the flesh as well today, the body of Christ as well as the blood of Christ. Primarily, we're focusing on the blood, though. Eternal life is in Christ's blood. Let's begin reading in John 6, verse 48. Christ said, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they're dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.

Of course, he was talking about himself. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. Now, brethren, this is clearly talking about accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, as the one who died for us, who gave his life, who gave up his flesh.

He was crucified, he was beaten and crucified, and blood poured out of him, and his blood was shed for us. Verse 52, the Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Now, this is a little outrageous in some ways. We can stop and think about it, because they had been instructed not to eat blood. Christ is telling them that they need to eat his blood.

Verse 54, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. So that's the promise of the resurrection. If we eat the flesh of Jesus Christ, and if we drink his blood, we shall have eternal life, and we will be resurrected at his return.

Those of us God is calling now, the firstfruits, those who have been given the Spirit of God, they shall be resurrected at Christ's return. Those who are alive shall be changed in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

Verse 55, For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and our dead. Now the manna was great. It sustained their lives for forty years in the wilderness.

But nevertheless they still died, didn't they? Their dead. He who eats this bread, he who eats Jesus Christ and drinks his blood, will live forever. These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. So I'm sure a lot of people were discussing that topic. What is he talking about? In fact, it goes on to show that many people turn away from him right after this, because evidently they don't grasp it, they don't understand it, they don't accept it, they don't accept him.

In fact, in verse 66 it says, From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. And Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And then he went on to say that even one of them would betray him. And of course, even Peter himself would deny him three times. But even so, Peter repented of those denials. And he certainly did accept Jesus Christ as a Savior. He became a very powerful apostle and witness of Jesus Christ and his life and death. In Galatians chapter 2, and this is a very, very important scripture that Paul talks about here, he talks about how we are crucified with Christ. All of us who accept Christ as our Savior, all of us who repent of our sins as well, because Christ died for your sins. He was your sacrifice. The wages of sin is death, and Christ paid that penalty for you.

Christ paid that penalty so that you would not suffer eternal death. Galatians chapter 2 verse 20. Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. You know that Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus. He had been persecuting Christ and those who followed Christ. But he repented of all that. He says, I'm crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Christ now lives in me. In that sense, Paul ate and drank of Jesus Christ. Christ was now living in him. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me in the life which I now live in the flesh.

I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. He says, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. Now, there isn't any way that your law-keeping will earn salvation for you, because you've all broken the laws of God. You've all come under the death penalty. The wages of sin is death. Christ did not die in vain because we're all sinners.

Christ died for each and every one of us. He died for you. He died for you personally. And as we draw close to the Passover, we need to take this personal message.

This is a personal message for you today. It's also a message for us collectively. We are members of the body of Christ. So we have to take it very personally, but we also have to see the larger connection that it applies to each and every one of us together. As we make up the body of Christ, it really does show the importance of this church family. If we don't get anything else out of this, and we should get plenty more, but we should realize certainly that church family is important.

And every time around Passover, we discuss the body of Christ, the shed blood of Christ, the broken body of Christ. And it does apply to us individually, but also collectively as God's church. Christ's blood we know is symbolized through wine. We drink a little wine for Passover service. Christ is the vine, and we need to be connected to the vine in order to continue being nourished. If you're going to be nourished spiritually, then your nourishment must come from crime. That's where you need to be nourished. Nowhere else. John 15. Let's go there and consider this. John 15. Remember, eternal life is in Christ's blood.

And again, wine is symbolic of the blood of Christ. John 15. Of course, growing wine was certainly one of the biggest agricultural industries. John 15. John 15. Christ says, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. In every branch that bears fruit, He prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. That's very important that we understand that we are to abide in Christ. And Christ is to abide in us. We are to become one. With Christ, and also, of course, with the Father. We are supposed to learn to think like Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in a vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. You can do anything worthwhile, but you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. So again, we have to be tapped into the proper vine, and that vine is Jesus Christ. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch, and is withered, and they gather them, and throw them into the fire, and they're burned. Now obviously, that is an analogy to being cast into a lake of fire. Now, if we don't tap into the vine, if we don't allow Christ to live in us, if we don't allow Christ's blood to course through our bodies, symbolically and figuratively, then we will be cast into the lake of fire, just as these vines who do not bear fruit are pulled up and thrown away or cast away. Verse 7, if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, the Bible says we're supposed to live by every word of God. Christ's words must abide in us. Christ is the living Word of God. Christ was the spokesman, the Logos, before he became Jesus Christ. Christ was the one who brought the Law, the Lawgiver, under the Father's direction. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples.

We need to be Christ's disciples. We need to have Christ's blood coursing through our bodies. We need to be nourished by Jesus Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 11, let's go there. Of course, it talks here about the Passover service. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. He took unleavened bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Now, we know that none of Christ's bones were broken, but Christ was beaten for us, and beaten so badly that one would not have recognized Him.

Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper or during supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. He says, Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink the cup. We are told to examine ourselves, and then we are to go eat and drink at the Passover. He doesn't say, Examine yourself and decide you need to stay home. That's not what it says. It says, Examine yourself, admit your sins, and go before the throne of grace. Be there on Passover, looking to Jesus Christ to wash away your sins, to cleanse you, clean you up.

It says, For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Now, it's important that we understand that Christ sacrificed Himself for us. That should change the way we live. It should change the choices that we make.

It should make life-altering changes in our lives. We should be different because of Christ's sacrifice.

And also, we should discern the Lord's body in a collective way. We are members of the body of Christ. We should show love and respect. For everyone here, we should not be respecters of people. God is not a respecter of people.

Christ is not a respecter of people. Christ loves everyone. The Father loves all people. We should follow their example and learn to love each other and respect each other. We all have our own shortcomings in various ways, but we also all have our strengths. We need to learn to respect each other and realize that we too are not perfect. So if someone else isn't perfect, that's no surprise because you're not perfect. We're all different, but we should discern the Lord's body and have love and respect for one another. We should act accordingly as the body of Christ. It's no wonder so many are sick among us. Have we really done that as a church? All of us? Everybody? I say shame. Shame on us because I don't think we're really getting it when it comes to the relationship that we need to have for each other as the body of Christ. The body has suffered because of choices and decisions that we've all made to one degree or another. So we all need to repent of that and do better in the future.

Remember, if anyone has the spirit of God or Christ, they are Christ. They are a member of the body of Christ. They're in a different organization, but they believe the same thing you do, and they're living the same way you are. They're not perfect, and they may have decided to go somewhere else. But nevertheless, we should show respect. We should show love toward them. Because it isn't just a single organization. It is the overall body of Christ. Anyone who has the spirit of Christ, the spirit of the Father living in them, they are members of the body of Christ. So we should learn to love and respect them and be careful how we treat them. Christ was a sacrifice for you. He shed his blood for you. We know the Scripture says we are to be a living sacrifice for him. Romans 12. Let's go there for a moment. Romans 12. We are to be living sacrifices. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Your rational service. It's rational and it's reasonable that because Christ died for you, he was your sacrifice, then you should live for him. That you should be his living sacrifice. Christ owns you. He bought you. He purchased you with his blood. Is that not what the Scripture says? You are not your own. You are bought with a price. That price is the blood of Jesus Christ. So you are to become a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. It is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this world, but come out of the world, come out of Babylon, and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You know, one thing about a person's mind or their brain, when there's no blood to the brain, you've got big problems. There may be blood coursing through the rest of your body, but if it's not getting to your brain or hasn't gotten to your brain for a very short time, you are in very, very serious trouble.

Let the blood of Christ renew your mind. Let the blood of Christ get to every part of your body. Of course, through every part of your body, bringing you nutrients. Every part of your body, a living sacrifice. That means every bit of you. Not some of you. Not a little bit of you, not one leg and one arm, but your entire body. This has become a living sacrifice. It's been sobering, frankly, to go into the hospitals, to see people who are dying the last couple of months, on a couple of different occasions. It is sobering to see the life, blood, basically, ebb from a person. No longer alive, no longer conscious, no longer there. It's pretty sobering. In Colossians chapter 3, it tells us what it means to be a living sacrifice. So let's go to Colossians chapter 3. We're still under this first point about the blood bringing life-sustaining oxygen and nutrients to the body, to every cell, to every part of our body, to every organ. Accepting Christ as our Savior, that's what it's supposed to do to us. We are to become living sacrifices. And Colossians chapter 3 gets about as close as anywhere in the Bible to telling us what a living sacrifice is. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3. We'll actually read a lot of this chapter, maybe all of it, or certainly most of it. Colossians chapter 3, verse 1, If you're a baptized member of the body of Christ, then you are to seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. You should not be so concerned about what's happening down here on earth. Except in the context of what's happening at the throne of God.

Set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth. The Bible says we're to lay up treasures in heaven, not on this earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. You died! You died to Christ. You accepted Him as your Savior. You went under the watery grave. You buried the old man. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Yes, there is a great reward for sacrificing your life, for becoming a living sacrifice, for accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf, because when He appears in glory, you also shall appear in glory, because you will be resurrected in glory. Therefore, this is the conclusion.

Since you have all of this coming for you, this is your destiny. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth, which is fornication. Put that behind you. Get rid of it. Uncleanness, passion, and talking about evil passions, ungodly passions, not that we aren't still supposed to be passionate people, we should be, but in the right ways, in the pure ways. Evil desire and covetousness, these are things that we should put away. Put them to death. Covetousness, which is idolatry. Where is your heart? What is it focused upon? Are you bowing down before the idols of this world?

How important is this world to you? How important are the material things of this world? Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. The day of God's wrath is coming, because people do not put God first in their lives. They're not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, so God is coming to wreak havoc and wrath upon this earth, in which you yourself once walked when you lived in them, when you lived by the course of this world, when you lived a disobedient life.

But now you yourselves are to put off all of these things. You're to put off anger. You're to put off wrath. You're to put off malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds. You buried the old man in that watery grave. And you have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him, who created him.

Whether there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Therefore, again, another conclusion, therefore, considering all of this, as the elect of God, you are the elect of God. I'm speaking to those who are the elect of God, holy and beloved. Put on tender mercies. This is what you are to become. You're to put off these other things. That's putting the leaven out. Malice, hypocrisy, you know, all of those things, evil speaking, putting those things out and then putting these things in.

This is taking the unleavened bread into your life. Put on tender mercies. Put on kindness, which is the fruit of God's spirit, as well as humility and meekness and long-suffering. These are all fruits of God's Holy Spirit, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. Very, very important because we will be forgiven in the same manner that we have forgiven others. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. This is how we are to treat one another in the body of Christ.

We must not hold grudges toward each other. We need to learn to forgive. If there's a problem between members, if some of you are not talking and you will not talk to each other, then you need to come and see. You need to come together and see. Can you do that? I don't know that there is anyone like that. But if there is anyone here that won't talk to someone else, basically hates the other person, comes to church, sits on the other side of the room, never talks to him. You know, that has happened in the Church of God.

It wouldn't be the first time. Again, I don't believe there's anything going on like that. But if there is, you need to take care of it. You're not discerning the Lord's body. That's dangerous. So, we need to forgive one another, and we need to draw close to each other. As it says here, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. Now, if you can forgive them and get on with your life, you don't need to come and talk to them.

But if you can't, you really need to. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Put on love, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Now, this really isn't complicated. Putting on the mind of Christ, or allowing Christ to live in you, allowing Christ's blood, figuratively to bring you nourishment. This is what we're talking about. This is a person who has become a living sacrifice. They've changed their way of life. They're living like Christ. They're caring for the poor. They're caring for the widow.

They're caring for the fatherless. They're caring for each other. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. That sums it up. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all of it in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Whatever you do, make sure you're doing it in the name of the Lord Jesus. If you're not, then stop doing it. Stop doing it. Give thanks to God the Father through Christ. It goes on to give wives instructions. Submit to your own husbands as it's fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Repent, men. If you have bitterness toward your wife, repent of that.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. You children need to obey your parents in all things. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. We parents have a responsibility to our children to treat them with love and respect. To treat them the way God would, the way Christ would. And bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh.

Not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not to men. Whatever you do, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. Do it heartily and do it to the Lord. And if you're not doing it to the Lord, then stop doing it.

For you serve the Lord Christ, because you've become a living sacrifice. That's what it's talking about. It's a whole change of your life. It's allowing Christ to nourish every cell in your body. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done. And there is no partiality. God is very just, he's equitable.

Now is the time of repentance, brethren. He who does wrong will be repaid for what he's done. There is a consequence for our sins. Be sure your sins will find you out, to one degree or another. God is very merciful and often doesn't extract the uttermost farthing. But nevertheless, we will pay a price to one degree or another. Don't be sinned. Be sure your sins will find you out.

Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. You have a master. All of you who have employees that work for you, remember you have a master in heaven. How you treat your employees is important.

That's as far as we'll read. I'm sure we could go on reading further, getting more instruction. But I think chapter 3 gives us a pretty good idea of what it means to become a living sacrifice. If you're practicing everything that's in chapter 3, then I'd say you're well on your road to eternal life. Well on your way. Now let's go to a second important thing that the blood does. What else does the blood do? These other points aren't as long as the first one. Second point. It carries away the waste products of respiration and metabolism of every cell. It carries away the waste. That's what your blood does. I mean, there's also the other system, the digestive system, so on that takes care of waste. But there's a very important job that the blood also does. It carries away waste products of respiration and metabolism of every single cell.

The carbon dioxide, the urea, the lactic acid. That's what the blood does. It brings those waste products and helps us eliminate those waste products. Now I hope the symbolic significance is there. Christ's blood will help us deal with those things that are negative around us. There's a lot of negative...we're surrounded by a negative world. We're surrounded by a world that has gone crazy. It's topsy-turvy. It's hell-bouncing for destruction. And we're affected by the world. So we need something to keep us away from the world, to cleanse us from the world. And that's what Christ's blood does. It cleanses us from this world. Revelation 1. Let's read here how this works to some degree. Revelation 1. Verse 4. The Apostle John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was. This is speaking of the Father now. Him who is and who was and who is to come. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne. And also from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins. Christ is the one that washed us from our sins. It's our sins that destroy us. Your sins destroy you. My sins destroy me. It is through Christ's blood that we are cleansed, that those waste products of sin are eliminated.

To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. And has made us kings and priests to his God and Father. That is our destiny to become kings and priests to God and to the Father to reign here upon the earth. Not just for a thousand years, but then to reign with Christ forever throughout eternity.

To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds. Christ is coming back. Christ, your Savior, my Savior, is coming back. Christ, in the meantime, is cleansing us from our sins. His blood cleanses us from our sins. We are forgiven when we accept the blood of Jesus Christ on our behalf and when we strive to put sin out of our lives.

There is no free path to go on sinning. Hall made that very clear. God forbid that you go on sinning.

You are not called to sin. You are called to righteousness.

But when you do sin, because of your weakness, because of the flesh, then you do have a Savior. And you can come boldly before the throne of grace to help in time of need. And when you sin, you certainly are in need.

Christ's blood cleanses us from all sins to help us live a new and a clean life, a new and a clean purified life, dedicated to Him. In Hebrews 9, where we see that Christ shed blood is much better than that of bulls and ghosts, of course. But what an example that was for the people. All of that blood being shed, those innocent lambs that had to be taken, and had to have their throats slit, and blood would come pouring out on the person who had to sacrifice that lamb. And that was a personal thing in each household to sacrifice that lamb, the blood of the lamb. That's what saved the children of Israel from the death angel. The death angel came upon Egypt because that blood was not there. But that blood was personally there for each of the Israelite homes, because that innocent lamb had its blood shed from those who were in the household. And the firstborn did not die in any of those homes because the shed blood of the lamb was there. Hebrews 9, verse 11. But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God? Christ was without spot. He was perfect. He was without blemish. And it will cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. That's what Christ's blood does. It cleanses your conscience from dead works.

From the things that bring destruction upon you. These are the things that are dead works. Things that bring death. The sins that we commit bring death upon us. That's what it's talking about here. He will cleanse us from all of those things and help us serve the living God. So the idea is to put out the sin and to put in Christ. Put out the sin, brethren. Cast off the sins. Become a better person this year. As we go up to Passover, let's determine in our hearts and minds to make some changes to be different in a certain way. You know your weaknesses. Work on those weaknesses and help God change you and strengthen you and give you power and strength in those areas. For this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant. Christ is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death. Of course, Christ will write his laws in our hearts and in our minds. So we will be better able to put sin out of our lives. Because God's laws will be written in our hearts and minds. And they will motivate us to do the right thing. For the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the Eternal Inheritance. It's an eternal inheritance. It's eternal life. Remember, life is in the blood. Life is in the blood of Christ. Eternal life is in his blood. In Titus 2, we see that Christ redeems us from every lawless deed. Not just some of them, but every lawless deed. We can thank God and Christ for the redemption that comes in the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood that was shed for you and me. Titus 2, verse 11. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly. Yes, we are to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. Some of us aren't very good at denying ourselves. There are times when I haven't been very good at denying myself. But there is great validity in learning to deny yourself. Deny those things that are wrong in your life. Even though they may somehow give some pleasure for a thieving, learn to deny yourself those things. Because those things lead to destruction. They're waste products. They need to be eliminated in your life.

On the other hand, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed. Christ redeems us from every lawless deed and purifies for Himself His own special people. That's how God deals about you. You are His own special person. Christ died for you should you not become a living sacrifice for Him. Because you're His own special people. That's how He deals about you. All of us, individually and collectively, are God's own special people. He says, Speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. This is the instruction that Paul gave Titus. Let no one despise you as a minister of God. Speak the truth. Some people may despise you, but in other words, don't let that bother you. Don't let that change the way you are supposed to do God's work, to do God's will. So the second point is that the blood carries away the waste products, physically, of respiration and metabolism of every single cell in our bodies. But spiritually, the blood of Christ clears away all the waste products. It clears away the sin that so easily besets us.

And thirdly, the blood carries white blood cells which fight infection and help the body resist infection. The white blood cells fight infection and they help the body resist infection. The white blood cells fight abnormal cells like cancer cells. Cancer cells and abnormal cells.

And the immune system, of course, fights off these cells, or fights off these cancer cells, these abnormal cells. It's important that our immune systems are strong. Some white blood cells leave the bloodstream, even. They leave the bloodstream and they go in and out of the bloodstream to reach the affected areas of tissue to attack those abnormal cells. Kill them. Now, the blood of Christ cleanses us from spiritual impurities and it is the source of strength to fight off spiritual diseases. There's lots of spiritual diseases out there. How is your spiritual immune system? How is your blood? How healthy is your blood? In Psalm 27, let's go there, Psalm 27, David says, the Lord is the strength of my life. Is the eternal the strength of your life? Is that where you get your power every day to go on? Mr. Mann talked about getting right with God. Well, we do need to get right with God. And we need to draw strength from God. Psalm 27, verse 1, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? You know, fear is one of the biggest problems that we as human beings have. We're afraid of things. We're fearful. The Bible says that fearful will not inherit the kingdom of God. We've got to get over our fears. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies imposed, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. David was a man after God's own heart because, primarily, David had faith in God. He drew his strength from God. He trusted in God. Now, he wasn't perfect, and he did slip, and he did sin. But he had faith in God, and he drew his strength from God. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Now, that's how David fell. He was wholehearted. He wanted to dwell with God all the days of his life, for all eternity, and he knew that he had to live his life now, as though he really wanted to live for all eternity. That's how we need to live our lives.

To behold the beauty of the Lord, that's what he wanted to see. Do you not want to see the beauty of God's kingdom? For all eternity? How horrible it would be to be cast into the lake of fire and miss out on eternity.

To inquire in his temple, for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret place of his tabernacle he shall hide me, he shall take care of me, he shall be my refuge, he shall set me high upon a rock, and now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. We should rejoice, we should all rejoice in the Lord every single day of our lives.

The Lord is the strength of my life. The Lord is the strength of your life. Let him live in you powerfully so that you can fight off all the infections and diseases that are out there spiritually. Let's talk about some blood diseases now. You know, there are lots of blood diseases. I'm just going to touch the surface here. There's leukemia, lymphoma, hemophilia, anemia. Some of these diseases are more severe than others. There's sickle cell anemia, malaria. These are all blood diseases. There are blood disorders that affect our white blood cells. Some of them that affect the white blood cells include lymphoma. By the way, as a source of reference, WebMB, Wikipedia. These are some of the sources that I drew from. I didn't have a lot of time to work on this sermon with all that was going on this week. So it was handy to come up with some quick help. Lymphoma is a form of blood cancer that develops in the lymph system. In lymphoma, a white blood cell becomes malignant. A single white blood cell becomes malignant, multiplying and spreading abnormally. We all know about cancer, what cancer does. Until it takes over the body, until it destroys the body. Leukemia is a form of blood cancer in which a white blood cell becomes malignant and multiplies inside the bone marrow. There's multiple myeloma. Of course, these are physical diseases. But are there not spiritual diseases out there as well? Multiple myeloma, a blood cancer in which a white blood cell called a plasma cell becomes malignant. The plasma becomes malignant. The plasma cells multiply and release damaging substances that eventually cause organ damage. Multiple myeloma. And then there's malaria. We've all known as people who have gone to Africa and gotten malaria. The mosquito bite transmits a parasite into a person's blood, where it infects red blood cells. And periodically, the red blood cells rupture, causing fever, chills, and organ damage.

Each cell must be tapped into the blood supply to be cleaned and nourished. Each of your cells must be tapped into the blood cells, or the blood supply to be cleaned and nourished. One cell gone awry can cause cancer and can affect the entire body. You know how devastating that can be. So we should take more seriously the guarding of our minds. Do you want spiritual cancer? Because if you infect your mind with pornography, you will get spiritual cancer.

It will take over your life if you allow it to. It has done that, in some cases, with people becoming so addicted. And there are many other dangers out there. Whatever is dangerous to you, stay away from it. Make some good choices in your life. Remember, look to Christ at the right hand of God for the strength that you need. Make some changes this past overseas. Don't continue to repeat the sins that have plagued you for years. Make changes. Put sin out of your life. Become different. Become better.

1 Corinthians 5 speaks of a little leaven that leavens the whole lump. Just like a little cancer, a little tiny cell, begin with, that will spread leaven the whole lump. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 6. Your glory is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? This was a church that was allowing some spiritual leaven. They were turning a blind eye to a blatant sin that was going on. Sexual immorality. Sometimes people think some sin is going on, but they don't really know. They don't really know what's happening in a situation, and they overreact. And they turn against somebody for no good reason. Now, that's not what God wants us to do. He doesn't want us to judge one another unless we've got the goods. If we know for sure the blatant sin, then it is what it is. And we should not deny that. But we need to be careful that we don't become accusers of the brethren either. So we need to be careful that we can discern what is sin and what isn't sin, and what may be sin, but we don't really know. But if it's a blatant sin, obviously, if it's something that is as obvious as this was, this was a man who was committing sexual immorality with his father's wife, and the congregation knew about it, and they were condoning it. He says, your glorying is not good. Do you not know that the little leaven leaven is the whole lump? You can't allow something like that to continue within the body of Christ, because it will cause cancer throughout the body. Therefore, purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleaven, for indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep this coming feast of unleavened bread, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness. Let's put the leaven out, brethren. We're all going to be doing that. We're going to be putting the leaven out of our home. Symbolically, it shows that we want to put the leaven out of our lives. The spiritual leaven. We want to put sin out of our lives. And not only do we want to, but we're going to, and we are doing that. We're in the process of doing that. Putting the spiritual wickedness out, the leaven of malice and wickedness. But let's keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Sincerity and truth. The unleavened bread. Let's take in Christ. That's the unleavened bread that comes down from heaven. So let's prepare ourselves these next two weeks by tapping into the vine. By drawing our strength from Jesus Christ, who loves us. Brethren, perhaps we need a spiritual blood transfusion. Maybe you need a spiritual blood transfusion. Have you ever seen someone who's had a blood transfusion? They perk up just like that. In some cases. I've seen people that were so tired and miserable and worn out and they got a blood transfusion. They were a new person within just a few hours. Because that new blood had the right nutrients in it, and the body was needing that life. So I've seen people in hospitals who've had blood transfusions. And they just all of a sudden are feeling so much better. Because they've got that new blood.

So a spiritual blood transfusion from Jesus Christ is what we all need.

Christ's blood is pure without disease. Christ's blood is perfect. Satan, of course, is just the opposite. Satan will infect us with his blood if we let him. He will infect us with his tainted blood. Which blood source are you tapped into? Are you tapped into Jesus Christ? Or are you allowing yourselves at times to get a blood transfusion from Satan the devil? And that's leading you into sin and allowing you to continue in sin.

Satan's blood supply is infected with all types of blood diseases. He's got them all filled with cancer.

He's got every single one of them in a spiritual sense. He spiritually HIV-positive. He's got AIDS. You don't want AIDS, do you? You want spiritual AIDS? What you do, tap into that source and you'll get it.

Tap into Satan's blood source. It is a death sentence. It will cause death. Remember in John 56 verses 53 and 54, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. That is a promise. But if you tap into Satan and his blood supply, you will not raise up on that last day. You'll come up in a third resurrection. Be cast into a lake of fire. It is that serious.

What about the heart's role in pumping blood to all parts of the body? You know, the heart is very important to the blood. The heart must be strong. The arteries must be clear from plaque and disease. In order to pump the blood. You know, when people get heartening of the arteries and they have to have four and five bypasses. Because the blood isn't flowing. It's not circulating properly. They've got a disease. They've got heart disease. It's affecting them and it could kill them. Heart disease is the number one killer. Mr. Man referred to Jeremiah 17 9 and 10. How God... Let's go there briefly and just read it. We didn't go there before, but let's read it together. Jeremiah 17 Jeremiah 17 It does tell us about the condition of our human heart. Jeremiah 17 We've got some strikes against us, but with God we can hit a home run. We don't have to strike out. Jeremiah 17 verse 9 The heart is deceitful above all things. It's desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Eternal, search the heart. God searches your heart. I test the mind. Wanting to make sure that good oxygen from the blood is getting to the brain. Is Christ getting to your brain? I search the heart and the brain. I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing. Be sure, again, your sins will find you out, but also you will be rewarded for those things that you do well.

God tries the heart. He tests it to know it. But also to strengthen it. God wants to strengthen your heart. So you must have spiritual cardiovascular exercise. Have you been working your spiritual heart? Are you studying the Bible? Are you praying? Are you meditating? Are you fasting? All of these things have to be done in order to get spiritual exercise.

So don't neglect these things. They're important. That's why we harp on them a lot. Pray, read your Bible, study your Bible, come to church, come to Bible studies, stir up the Spirit of God within you, meditate on these things, help one another, serve one another. These are all ways to get some good spiritual heart exercise. Have you been passing your spiritual stress tests?

Have you been going through some stress tests lately? Is your heart able to keep up? Romans 6, verses 4 and 5 talks about how we need to walk in newness of life. I'm not going to take the time to go there. You can read it. It talks about walking in newness of life. Coming out of that watery grave, the walk in newness of life. Romans 6 is the baptism chapter.

We have to walk in newness of life. We have to be different. Psalm 51, and we're not going to take the time to go there. You're aware of it. It's the prayer of repentance of David.

We're sitting with Bathsheba. He says, Create in me a clean heart, O God. You want to be able to pump the blood throughout your body. You want that blood to be able to get to every single cell in your body. And most importantly, spiritually, you want the blood of Christ coursing through your body.

Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. You want to have the mind of Christ. He said, Create in me a clean heart, purify within me, clean me with hyssop. We all need to be cleansed this Passover season. Now, the Old Testament Passover, the trespasses, the trespass offerings, the sin offerings, the various offerings, were offered again by one who would slit the throat of a lamb or a goat or a bull, and the blood would get on their hands. It was a very personal connection.

You wouldn't miss the symbolism back then. And, you know, when I dress a deer, the Bible, it even talks about if someone goes out and kills a deer. I read it here the other day. It wasn't necessarily a deer that it was talking about. You know, the blood, I forget exactly what it said, but it gave credence to hunting and to actually processing deer and so forth. But it's a bloody thing. You know, the blood is warm.

It gets all over your hands. You know, there's no way to avoid it. It's a very personal connection. It was a bloody business to sacrifice animals at the temple and even the personal sacrifice to pass over lamb in the beginning. Likewise, Christ our Passover lamb died by shedding his blood for us. He was speared in the side. His blood poured out. All of his blood poured out for us. We individually had a part to play with that of Jesus Christ.

Each person who offered the sacrifice back in the old days would slit the throat of those various lands. And again, it was a personal connection. We need to have that personal connection with Christ died. You need to have that personal connection. And, brethren, not only do we need the blood, but we must take in the body of Christ to continue his work in us in a personal way.

We eat the unleavened bread every day during the days of unleavened bread, bringing Christ into our lives. Christ has given us life. What are we going to do with the life that Christ gives us? Back in World War II, when vets came home, they would reflect on how their comrades oftentimes would die for them. People were dying for each other. They really were looking out for each other, trying to protect each other.

And sometimes they would die for each other. There was a band of brothers in many regards. Friends had saved them in the field of battle. Many mentioned that they came back feeling that they must live the best life possible because of that sacrifice. I remember in Forrest Gump, where we remember how Forrest Gump pulled Lieutenant Dan out of the battlefield. The bombs were dropping everywhere in Vietnam. And Lieutenant Dan was not happy with Forrest Gump for saving his life. Until later on. Lieutenant Dan lost both legs. It was hard. But he came to realize that he had life. He still had life. And as it says, he made peace with God.

We need to make peace with our God. We need to realize that Christ died for us. Personal sacrifice. It's something he did for us. You probably saw, or some of you may have seen, Private Ryan. Where Private Ryan says, My life has to have meaning because someone died so I could live.

They went in to get Private Ryan. At least one person died. I don't remember the story. It's been a long time since I watched it. He made the comment that, My life has to have meaning because someone died for me so I could live. Remember, Private Ryan was maybe the fourth or fifth son, but all the others had died in the war. They didn't want Mrs. Ryan to have all of their sons die. So they went to get the one Private Ryan that was still alive.

They sacrificed themselves to drag him out of the battlefield. When Christ went into the trenches for you, He fought the battle for you. He won. He never gave in to any of Satan's temptations. He never allowed his blood to be tainted. He never allowed his blood to be defined. Christ was perfect for you. He was faithful for you. So make it personal this Passover season. Make it personal. I must be a living sacrifice because Christ died for me personally. Remember, brother, in eternal life, it's in Christ's life. Eternal life is in Christ's life.