The Blood of the Lamb

Lesson prepared by Richard Chambers

For the topic this morning, at the beginning of the lesson, I’m going to refer to some passages in general, rather than turning to those passages individually and reading those verses, for the sake of time. If I did read those, it would be as we studied in class this morning, in Acts Chapter 20 verse 7, I might preach till midnight. I’m going to try to squeeze a lot into the lesson this morning, and so if you would follow along. If you have some questions, there are some outlines — I put a few more out there before the worship service began — and in that outline, you’ll find the individual passages that I’m going to refer to generally to start the lesson.

Back in Genesis Chapter 12, God gave some instructions to Abraham and also made some promises to Abraham, and we find that promise being repeated to Abraham on a couple of other occasions and then to certain of his descendants. In Genesis Chapter 17 and Genesis Chapter 22, we find those promises being delivered once again to Abraham, and those promises including that his seed would multiply greatly, that his seed or his descendants would become a great nation, that they would inherit the land and that through his seed, all nations would be blessed.

In Genesis Chapter 15, we find that there was some additional information given to Abraham regarding his descendants. He is told that they will end up as strangers in a foreign land, that they will be in that land for approximately 400 years, and that while they are in that land, they will be afflicted. But then, we know that God would deliver His people. And we find Abraham’s son, Isaac, also received these similar promises, and that also was given to Jacob, Isaac’s son, Jacob’s name eventually being changed to Israel. And so when we hear of the children of Jacob, it is in reference to the children of Israel.

Included in Jacob’s children was Joseph, Jacob’s favorite. The brothers, then, did not like that Jacob was their father’s favorite, and so they envied him, they were jealous of him and they sold him off into slavery. We find, then, through Joseph’s moral goodness and his desire to do what was right, combined with the providence of God, we find a sequence of events unfolding through the book of Genesis that leads to Joseph’s being in the land of Egypt at the right hand of the pharaoh, a very prominent and powerful position. And we find, through the wisdom of Joseph and with God’s help, he reveals that there are going to be seven wonderful years, plenteous years, in Egypt, but that following that, there’s going to be seven years of famine. And so Joseph gives the recommendation that the years of plenty, there were to be reserves taken and those reserves kept in store for the years of famine. And that is what took place.

So we find, during those years of famine, that the nations around Egypt would come to Egypt to buy grain for food. So Jacob sent his children to Egypt to buy food, and so the brothers of Joseph, unknowingly, stand before their brother that they sold into slavery. But Joseph recognized them and knew them, and eventually, he reveals himself to them and shows a great amount of compassion for them. And the ending chapters of Genesis, we find that Joseph sends for his father and then invites him and his other children, Joseph’s brothers and their families, to come and live in the land of Egypt. And so the book of Genesis closes in such manner, and we find that they are in a good position, it seems, there in Egypt, and then we find the death of Joseph.

But when we come to the book of Exodus, in Exodus Chapter 1, we find that there is a new king, or a new pharaoh, in Egypt. (Exodus 1:8) He is one who does not know Joseph, did not know nor remember Joseph, and so he feels threatened because of these children of Israel, the children of Jacob, those descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. He is threatened by them because they have multiplied so greatly, and he thinks that if an enemy comes and fights against Egypt and these descendants of Abraham join forces with them, then we don’t stand a chance. And so to counteract that or to try to prevent that, he took these descendants of Abraham, the children of Jacob, the children of Israel, and he put them into bondage, into rigor, he made them serve diligently for the Egyptians.

And so we find in Exodus Chapter 2 and verse 23,

"(23) And it came to pass in the process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

"(24) And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob" — those we’ve been discussing —

"(25) And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them."

So God heard the cries of the descendants of Abraham. They were strangers in a foreign land, just as He had told Abraham, and they had been afflicted, just as He had told Abraham. And now the time had come for God to deliver them. And so we find the story of Moses, that Moses is born in the land of Egypt, brought up in the house of Pharaoh, but yet left Egypt, fled from Egypt, after killing another Egyptian.

But we find that in the land of Midian, that Moses in tending to a herd and encounters the burning bush, and so while he is out tending to this flock, he investigates the burning bush. And God speaks to him out of the midst of the burning bush and gives him instructions, that he is to go back down into Egypt, that he is to return to Egypt, and this time to stand before Pharaoh and demand that the people be released. We know that Moses takes Aaron, his brother, with him, and they do exactly as God said: they go back to Egypt and they stand before Pharaoh and demand that the people be released.

But Pharaoh is very stubborn, very reluctant, hard-hearted, and he does not want to let the people of God, those that God had chosen here, the descendants of Abraham — he does not want to release them, to let them go. And so we find that God sends a series of plagues upon the Egyptians to make them suffer, to punish them and to encourage Pharaoh to release the people, but through those plagues, Pharaoh remains very stubborn.

And then word comes, in Exodus Chapter 11, of the final plague that is going to be sent on the Egyptians.

"(Exodus 11:4) And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:

"(5) And all the first born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.

"(6) And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more."

And so the people were warned. But God allows protection and provides protection for His people, so that they won’t have to suffer at the same time as the Egyptians. And so in Exodus Chapter 12 and verse 3, we find instructions, that the people, the children of Israel, were to take to them a lamb. And we see, in verse 4 also, a lamb being repeated. We see, in verse 5, that it was to be a certain type of lamb.

"(Exodus 12:5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats."

And so we see here that they were to do certain things involving the killing of this lamb, the preparing of this lamb, the eating of this lamb. But also, we find in this passage, in Exodus Chapter 12, a great amount of emphasis being placed upon the blood of the lamb. Notice in verse 7.

"(7) And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it."

So they were to take of the blood of this lamb and they were to put it on the side posts and the top post of the doorway of their houses. And then it says, in verse 13,

"(13) And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

"(14) And this day shall be unto you for a memorial...."

Here we have the instituting of the Passover. This was to be something that the children of Israel, God’s chosen people, were to continue. We see that they were to continue doing this — if we’d continued reading in verse 14 — throughout their generations. The purpose of it was to bring remembrance upon God’s providing for them, protection of them and deliverance of them out of the bondage of the Egyptians. But notice that statement in verse 13, "...[W]hen I see the blood, I will pass over you...."

We find, then, that Pharaoh does release God’s people. Through the remainder of the Old Testament, we find their leaving Egypt, being led through the wilderness, wandering, being given a promised land, of conquering that promised land, inheriting it and living in it. We see the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham in the fact that his seed multiplied greatly, that they became a great nation and that they were given the land.

We find, through the remainder of the Old Testament, the history of these people, and we find their actions, their decisions, both good a bad. And in Romans Chapter 15 verse 4, Paul reminds us that the things written aforetime were written for our learning, and so through the descendants of Abraham, we learn valuable lessons. We learn that God gives commandments, and when He does, He expects those commandments to be followed. We find that when the people followed God’s commandments, they prospered, they were rewarded for doing so. But we find, when they rejected God or rebelled against God or forgot God, when they were disobedient to Him, they fell into afflictions and hardships, punishment, because God punishes sin.

And so we see that God rewards obedience; God punishes disobedience: a wonderful concept and very important for us to understand. We see that throughout the Old Testament. But we do not find the full fulfillment of that promise made to Abraham in the Old Testament scriptures, that through his seed, all nations would be blessed.

Now, God had that plan in place before the foundation of the world, a single plan that he unfolded in different stages and in different ways to mankind, a plan of salvation that would offer His grace and mercy and forgiveness to all people. That plan is still unfolding, it is still developing, through the Old Testament, but it is not fulfilled completely. We have to go to the New Testament scriptures to find the fulfillment of that final stage of the promise to Abraham, that through his seed all nations would be blessed.

If you turn to Matthew Chapter 1, this is a chapter of genealogies, that such and such begat such and such, who begat such and such, and many of the names that we kind of stumble through are hard to pronounce. Because of that and with this being the beginning of the New Testament, I think some people get bogged down immediately with the book of Matthew. And unfortunately, some choose not to proceed past Matthew 1. Those who have had very little contact with the scriptures, sometimes they start with Matthew 1, they don’t get very far ‘till they say, That’s not very interesting. I’m not getting anything, and they set it aside. That is a shame, because we need to understand there is a particular purpose for this genealogy in Matthew Chapter 1.

We see, in verse 1, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ...." So Jesus Christ is the topic of the book of Matthew, as he is with the account of the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the gospel of Christ. But notice how Jesus is described in Matthew 1:1, "...[T]he son of David, the son of Abraham." Abraham, through your see, all nations shall be blessed, and Matthew 1 points out that Jesus is the seed of Abraham. Notice in verse 2,

"(2) Abraham beat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren."

Those are the ones we’ve been discussing, back there in Genesis and Exodus. But then it continues on, and notice over in verse 16,

"(16) And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ."

And so, yes, Jesus is of the seed of Abraham. We have recorded for us in the gospels, the accounts of the gospel, the life of Christ, from his birth to his death, resurrection and ascension. But you know, we are told very little about Jesus in his early years. We are told that he was born of a virgin. Of course, that’s in fulfillment of other prophecies in the Old Testament scriptures. Born in a manger because there wasn’t room in the inn — and it’s a shame that all too often, people still don’t allow room for Jesus in their lives.

But we find, in Luke Chapter 2, that it was the time of Passover, and Jesus’ family had gone to Jerusalem for the observance of Passover. And we find, when they are returning home, that they assume that Jesus is within their company. He is not. They discover that. They return back toward Jerusalem, and a period of three days goes by. And they find Jesus in the temple, and he’s there with the Jewish leaders. And he’s listening and he’s asking questions — and not only asking questions, but he’s answering questions in a manner in which they were amazed at his knowledge of the scriptures.

When his mother came to Jesus and, paraphrasing, said, Why did you do this to us? Don’t you know we’re looking for you? Jesus made it clear to her that he was to be about his Father’s business. Jesus, at that point, is twelve years old, and so we find, early on, that Jesus knew that he was here for a particular specific purpose. We’re not told too much more about Jesus, other than, at the end of Luke Chapter 2, that he grew in favor with God and with man.

But then we come to Matthew Chapter 3, and Jesus comes to John the Baptist. John the Baptist had been sent out to prepare the way for the Lord, for Jesus. And now Jesus is coming to him, and in Matthew Chapter 3 verse 13,

"(Matthew 3:13) The cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him."

John Chapter 1 verse 29 says that when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, he said, Behold the Lamb of God.... As the lesson unfolds, we’re going to see that there’s great importance still in the Lamb of God and great emphasis placed in the blood of the lamb.

But here, Jesus comes to John to be baptized of him, Matthew 3 verse 14,

"(Matthew 3:14) But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

"(15) And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

"(16) And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.

"(17) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

This is one of the rare occasions in which the silence of heaven is broken and the voice of God is heard: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

We find then, in Matthew Chapter 4, that Jesus is tempted by Satan, but Jesus overcomes his temptations, remaining faithful to the Father, obedient, and in accordance with the plan of salvation that God had designed. And so Jesus is victorious over Satan. That brings us to Matthew Chapter 4 verse 17.

"(Matthew 4:17) From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

So now we have, in the remainder of the accounts of the gospel, that Jesus is out in his ministry. He is teaching; he is preaching the word of God, the truth delivered from heaven. In John Chapter 14, we find that Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. (John 14:6)

By going out and preaching, Jesus was preaching the way, he was providing the way to salvation. He was delivering the truth, the truth from the Father that would instruct those that listened and accepted and obeyed to that salvation. And he offered life, eternal life, a home in heaven with God for all time.

But unfortunately, there were many who rejected Jesus. They didn’t follow the way that he provided. They did not want to accept the truth that he taught, and therefore, they rejected the life that he made available. The Jewish leaders, for the most part, were the ones that rejected Jesus and chose not to receive him.

Oh, there are so many things that we could talk about in the life of Christ: his actions, his teachings, his words, his miracles, all the things that he did. But in everything, without one single exception, he was always perfect, he was always sinless, and he always showed great compassion for those around him. Never did that show forth, his compassion for mankind, more so than the events the night before his crucifixion and the day of his crucifixion, and so that’s what I’d like to focus on for the remainder of the lesson.

In John Chapter 13, in verse 1, it says, Now before the feast of — guess what? The Passover. We once again are back to the time of Passover.

"(John 13:1) Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end."

We find in John Chapter 13, that Jesus washes the feet of the apostles. What a humble act, indeed, showing the attitude of Jesus, that he was extremely humble. As Philippians Chapter 2 tells us, he humbled himself and became obedient, even unto the death of the cross. But here he washes the disciples feet, showing that wonderful example for them, that we all are to be servants, that we are to humble ourselves.

We find here in John Chapter 13 and in parallel passages, that Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper, which we observed just moments ago. No longer is it the Passover observance, but now it is the Lord’s Supper. Also a memorial, something to bring us to remembrance of Jesus, of his life for us and his death for us, to remind us that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and offers us eternal salvation.

We find then in John Chapter 14, John Chapter 15 and John Chapter 16, somewhat of a farewell address to the apostles, ‘cause Jesus, as it said there just a moment ago, knew that his time was at hand. In John Chapter 17, we find Jesus praying to the Father. We have one of his prayers recorded for us, and as part of that prayer, we are included in it. That ought to be great reassurance and great confidence to us, knowing that Jesus prayed for us.

"(John 17:20) Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word."

That applies to us today, as long as we believe and act upon the word of God. But we find that Jesus here takes his apostles, minus Judas Iscariot of course, the one who had betrayed Jesus, and Judas had already left their company. And so he takes the remaining apostles, and he goes outside of the walls of Jerusalem. And he goes to the garden of Gethsemane, and he kneels down and he prays three times that this cup — the things about to happen to him — this cup would pass from him. But always he said, But not my will be done, but thy will be done, and he submitted himself to the will of the Father.

We know, as he was praying, there shortly after he finished praying, a mob came out in search for him, Judas with them to betray Jesus with a kiss. But Jesus did not resist. But instead, he offered himself to them and voluntarily went with them. And so now the process begins. Jesus is taken captive. Jesus now, the night before his crucifixion, started through a process of being led from one place to another, falsely accused, given a mock trial, being abused greatly every step of the way.

Matter of fact, if you go to — let’s stay here in John, John Chapter 18, we see here that Jesus now is with his apostles. The betrayal takes place. Notice, in verse 5, they answered Jesus; when he asked in verse 4, Whom seek ye? they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. Again, not resisting. But they lay hold on him, and we find, in verse 12,

"(John 18:12) Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,

"(13) And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year."

And so we find that he is first taken to Annas. We find, over in verse 24,

"(24) Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest."

And so he goes first to Annas and then taken over to Caiaphas. With Caiaphas, they gather together the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, and they interrogate Jesus. This is the time in which Peter follows somewhat at a distance, and we find later that he does betray Jesus. Notice in John 18:19,

"(19) The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.

"(20) Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.

"(21) Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said."

And so the abuse begins — or actually, continues.

"(22) And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?

"(23) Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?"

And so the physical abuse of Jesus begins.

If you go over to Matthew Chapter 26 in a parallel passage, let’s notice what it says there. I want to begin in verse 57.

"(Matthew 26:57) And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

"(58) But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

"(59) Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

"(60) But found none" — because there was no reason to put Jesus to death, but we see that — "yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses."

And in parallel passage, we’re told that even the witnesses couldn’t agree upon their accounts. But that didn’t matter, that’s not what the Jews were looking for. They did not want justice, they wanted condemnation for Jesus.

"(61) And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

"(62) And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee?

"(63) But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

"(64) Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

"(65) Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.

"(66) What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death."

Of course, Jesus had done nothing wrong.

In Luke Chapter 22, we find, then, that the Sanhedrin had gathered together at night, this initial meeting. Now, it was on a Thursday, Thursday evening, that Jesus was betrayed and taken into captivity. We find, throughout Thursday night, according to our time — we need to keep in mind that the Jews kept time differently than we do: their day started at six in the evening; we go midnight to midnight. And so when I talk of the time and the days, I’m going to talk in reference to our time, midnight to midnight.

On Thursday evening late is when Jesus is taken. He’s paraded from place to place, Annas to Caiaphas, before the Sanhedrin. We find another meeting of them that we’re going to look at here in just a moment. But we find, throughout the night, that Jesus is abused, gets no sleep. The last time he’d eaten was when he was with his apostles. We find that Jesus suffers greatly for us.

But about daybreak Friday morning, the Sanhedrin meets together, because it was against their own laws to meet at night. And so we see that it seems they met again, the Sanhedrin, these Jewish leaders, to make it official. And so in verse 66 of Luke 22,

"(Luke 22:66) And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council...."

And we see a repeating of the interrogation of Jesus, and so we see again that they condemned Jesus to death.

However, the Jews, on their own, could not put a person to death. Again, this is in the time of the Roman empire, and they needed the Romans to exercise that authority. So in Luke Chapter 23, they take Jesus before Pilate, and they give some lies regarding Jesus, in verse 2, to try to get Pilate on their side against Jesus. Pilate, in verse 4, says that he find no fault with this man, with Jesus.

Pilate hears that Jesus had been preaching in Galilee and teaching there, and so he sends Jesus over to Herod, because Herod had jurisdiction over Galilee. It seems that Pilate is trying to get out of the hot seat, Let Herod deal with this matter, and so he sends Jesus there.

And so Jesus comes to Herod. Herod was glad to see him, in verse 8 of Luke 23, because he had heard many things of Jesus and hoped to see a miracle. We find that Herod finds nothing wrong regarding Jesus; however, we see, in verse 11, that Herod,

"(11) ...[W]ith his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate."

So Jesus sent back to Pilate.

Now then, as we saw in the scripture reading this morning, that Pilate offers to release Barabbas to the people, one who was guilty of some crimes, including murder, but they don’t want that. They don’t want him executed, they want Jesus executed. And so instead of turning Barabbas over to the people, they want Jesus turned over, and they want Barabbas set free, rather than Jesus, the pure Son of God, completely sinless.

And so we find, if you go back to the book of John, John Chapter 19, that Pilate tells the people that he can find no fault with Jesus and nothing, indeed, that would be worthy of death. But the people do not listen, and so after some time in dealing with the mob, Pilate takes Jesus to be scourged. Now, we’re going to talk more about that in the lesson this evening: what was involved with that. It was a terrible act, indeed. Many people died at that particular stage of the punishment. But we find, in Chapter 19 verse 1,

"(John 19:1) Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.

"(2) And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

"(3) And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

"(4) Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him."

And it seems, perhaps, that Pilate is hoping there will be some degree of pity shown toward Jesus: this man now, who has been abused throughout the night; now early on Friday morning, that stands before them beaten, abused, tired, hungry, whipped, scourged by the Romans, arrayed in a purple robe, a crown of thorns. Surely, the people will have some pity for him at this point, perhaps thought Pilate. But they didn’t. But instead, they called out, Crucify him! Crucify him!

Not only had they decided and determined that they wanted Jesus dead — they would consider nothing else — but they also had decided as to the way that they wanted him to die.

"(John 19:6) When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him."

So we know that Jesus is led away, that he is taken to the cross of Calvary and nails are driven through his hands and nails are driven through his feet. Then he is raised up on a cross to die a terrible, agonizing death.

But it wasn’t good enough for the Jews, those leaders, that Jesus died such a horrible death. We’ll talk more about that this evening. They wanted the abuse to continue, so in Matthew Chapter 27, we see that the abuse did continue. Verbal abuse of Jesus, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, as he hung and suffered terribly on that cross.

"(Matthew 27:39) And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,

"(40) And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross," mocking him and taunting him.

"(41) Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,

"(42) He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

"(43) He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God."

They continued to abuse Jesus, even as he hung on the cross and died. They didn’t realize it at that time, that Jesus was dying for them. In Luke 23 verse 34, we find Jesus on the cross saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

If you go back to the book of John, John Chapter 19, the instructions were given for the legs of those that were hanging on the cross, as Jesus and a few others being crucified with him, that their legs were to be broken. This was to speed up the death. But when the soldier came to Jesus, he found that Jesus had already died. No doubt, resulting from the fact that he had not slept the night before, that he’d been led and paraded from place to place, abused every step of the way. Again, extremely tired and hungry and weak and whipped by the Romans, which was a severe act, hanging upon the cross beginning at the third hour; now the ninth hour, he dies. Hours upon the cross. Not moments. Not minutes. But hours upon the cross; Jesus hung there for us.

So when the soldier comes to Jesus and sees that he has already died, in verse 34,

"(John 19:34) But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water."

And so there we have the blood of the Lamb of God.

We need to be careful that we don’t reject Jesus, as did those Jewish leaders. You’ll find, in John Chapter 12 in verses 48 through 50, that Jesus says that,

"(John 12:48) He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

We’ll be judged according to the word. Jesus said that he didn’t speak his own commandment, that he came with the commandment from the Father; as the Father told him, so Jesus spoke, and he delivered the commandments of God, the truth of the word, the way, the truth, and offered the life. And God’s commandments lead to everlasting life.

We find then that he commissioned the apostles, gave them authority to go out and teach and to preach and to baptize all people, all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 28:18-20) They were to teach the people all things that Jesus had taught them.

Well, how could they do that? In John Chapter 14, we find that Jesus, in verse 26, had promised the apostles that he would send a Comforter, the Holy Ghost, who the Father would send, and the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance. They were led by the Holy Spirit, so we have the inspired word of God here at our fingertips today.

In I Corinthians Chapter 2, in verses 9 through 11, we’re told that God has revealed Himself through the Spirit. II Timothy Chapter 8, in verse 16, tells us that all scripture is given by inspiration of God; it is profitable to us. It completely furnishes us, as II Timothy 3 and verse 17 tells us. That is the word that we have here. We cannot reject this word. If we reject the word, we’re rejecting Christ; if we reject Christ, we reject the word. You cannot have one without the other. We need to be careful that we don’t reject the Son of God, as those Jewish leaders did.

But the scriptures reveal that we are to be cleansed through the blood of Christ, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. If you turn to Ephesians Chapter 1 and verse 7, in talking about Christ, Paul says,

"(Ephesians 1:7) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

In I Peter Chapter 1, Peter also reminds us that we have the opportunity to be redeemed.

"(I Peter 1:18) Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

"(19) But with the precious blood of Christ...."

Jesus shed his blood so that we could have our sins forgiven. And we all need that forgiveness, because we’ve all sinned. (Romans 3:23) Notice what Peter went on to say in I Peter 1 verse 22, Seeing ye have purified your souls.... You see, their souls had been cleansed. But how did they accomplish that? He says,

"(I Peter 1:22) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

"(23) Being boron again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

We must be obedient to the word of God, the instructions that God has given, so that we can be purified, our souls can be cleansed. And that is only through the blood of Christ.

What about you? Have you been cleansed through the blood of Christ? It is through obeying the truth — Jesus said, I am the way, the truth.... It is the word that he has revealed, the word of God, the inspired scriptures, that teach us how we can be purified, cleansed, through the blood of the Lamb.

Oh, there’s many passages that we could refer to in which God gave us instructions on what we must do to follow those steps according to His plan, to receive His grace and His mercy, to be cleansed by the blood of Christ. But let’s take Jesus’ word for it himself, the very Lamb of God who gave his blood, his cleansing blood. Let’s notice what he said that we must do in order to be saved.

It was Jesus that was speaking in John 3 verse 16 when he said,

"(John 3:16) For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

We must believe in Jesus.

"(Mark 16:16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

So we see that, yes, we must believe in Jesus. We must have the willingness to confess that belief. In Matthew Chapter 10 verse 32, Jesus said that if we’ll confess him before mankind, Jesus will confess us before the Father. We must believe in him and confess that belief. Jesus went out preaching the message of repentance.

"(Matthew 4:17) ...Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

"(Luke 13:3) ...[Unless] ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

If we don’t repent, making the necessary changes, we will perish, according to the words of Christ.

And then also, we must be baptized. In Mark 16 verse 16, again Jesus said, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. We see his example: as we read in Matthew Chapter 3, to set the perfect example for us, he was baptized. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized to remove sin, because he had no sin, but yet he had to set the perfect example for us. He said, Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.

You see in Acts Chapter 2 verse 38, Peter said, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin," so we see the purpose of baptism for the forgiveness, or remission, of sins. In Romans Chapter 6 verses 3 and 4, Paul talks about being buried in baptism. We see the form of baptism, that we are to be immersed in the watery grave of baptism, where we come into contact with the blood of Christ that cleanses us from our sins. Then to rise out of the baptism, to walk in the newness of life, as Paul said in Romans 6:4.

Jesus said, in John 14:15, If you love me, keep my commandments. We are to continue within the faith, not be moved away from the gospel, as Paul said in Colossians 1:23.

What about you? Have you been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb? Because you see, when it comes to that Judgment Day, we’re all going to stand before the Lamb of God, the judgment seat of Christ. And God’s judgment, through Jesus, will be this: When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

When God sees us, does He see a soul that is stained with unforgiven sin... or does He see a soul that has been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb? If you haven’t responded to the gospel, we give you that opportunity this very moment. And we urge you to do so, respond to the gospel, have your soul purified, be cleansed with the blood of the Lamb, as we stand and sing.