The Battle of the Blood
TEXT: Hebrews 11:32-12:4
In the scriptures, you can see 3 major points of Jesus ministry: (1) Christ will have a church in this world; (2) His church will be mightily attacked; (3) None of the devil’s attacks will destroy it. The portion of Scripture in Hebrews begins telling awesome stories of victorious warriors for God. It speaks of miracles & feats of power exercised in common men & women. But in the middle of the passage, it seems to take a turn from the victorious point of view, to the persecuted one. It begins describing the negative side of discipleship. It talks about horrific acts of persecution & violence against prophets & people of God.
The prophet Isaiah is the one spoken of in the passage of being sawed in half. Jesus mentions the prophet Zechariah running to the altar of God to find protection & being murdered in the temple between the porch & the altar. The Bible talks about the stoning of Stephen & the beheading of John the Baptist & the Apostle James. We also learn from historical accounts of other martyrs: The Apostles Matthew, Jude, Bartholomew & Paul were beheaded. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Simon Peter said that he was unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus & requested that he be crucified upside-down. The Apostle Matthais was stoned & then beheaded. James the brother of Jesus was thrown down from the Temple tower; He managed to survive the fall, so his head was bashed in with a club. Mark was dragged to pieces. Thomas was tortured, impaled with spears & thrown into the flames of an oven.
Much blood has been shed to create the church of Jesus Christ. In church, we talk about the blood in reference to sacrifices & to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. We need to consider several things to fully understand how important the blood is.
1.The Blood brings justice: In Genesis 4, Cain murdered his own brother over God’s acceptance of a sacrifice. In Hebrews, the murder gives the graphic description meaning that he slit his throat. God said to Cain, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” In Genesis 9:6, God gives the decree of justice: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.”
Joseph’s brothers devised a plot to kill the dreamer, but instead the sold him as a slave to nomads. Then they convinced their father Jacob that he was dead. Years later, Joseph is in power in Egypt & decides to teach them a lesson. Joseph demands that the men bring Benjamin to him. The brothers were afraid that if anything were to happen to Benjamin, it would kill their father Jacob. The brothers said to themselves, “It’s because of what we did to Joseph, that this is happening to us.” Reuben spoke up & said, “See, I told you! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.”
God tells us in Isaiah 26:21 that the earth will tell him all of the blood that has been shed on her and she will hide the dead no longer. The innocent blood will bring God’s justice! In Deuteronomy 32:43, God tells Israel, “Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for I will avenge the blood of my servants; I will take vengeance on my enemies…” God was saying, “They’re no longer just your enemies. They are mine too.”
On April 16, 1948, the great missionary Jim Elliot wrote these words: “Father, take my life, even my blood if You will, and consume it with Your enveloping fire. I would not save it, for it is not mine to save. Have it, Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as a sacrifice for the world. Blood is only of value as it flows before Your altar.” Eight years after penning this in his diary, Jim Elliot & his 4 partners would be martyred by the Auca Indians of Ecuador. Fortunately, Jim’s wife, Elisabeth, would not give up hope for the salvation of these people. These Indians were so amazed at her resolve & dedication to Christ, she led the tribe to Jesus Christ.
You may say, “But what about all of those Christian people that were lost in the attacks of September 11th, 2001?” If they were Christians, they weren’t lost; they were promoted. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” And don’t worry, God will make sure that those responsible will receive their punishment in this life & in eternity. The blood brings justice.
2.The blood also brings protection: In Exodus 12, God has punished the Egyptians for their unbelief & cruelty towards the Israelites. On the last day of that punishment, God tells the Israelites to take a lamb & slay it (slit it’s throat) to drain all of the blood out of it. Then they took the blood & applied it to the doorframes of their homes. Exodus 12:23 says, “When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on to top & sides of the doorframe and he will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses & strike you down.”
God makes a clear distinction between the righteous & unrighteous. He does not punish the Israelites for the sins of the Egyptians. What is it that makes the distinction between the two? The blood. At Mount Sinai, Moses presented the covenant with God to the people of Israel & he sprinkled them with blood to seal that covenant. The blood of the covenant brings protection over God’s people.
3.The blood brings life: 1 Samuel 14:31-35. So these hungry guys were eating food with blood in it. What’s the big deal? Chances are, if you buy beef from Kroger’s, it will have some blood left in it as well. Do you take the time to ensure all of the blood is drained out, before you put your steaks on the grill? Probably not; But in Leviticus 7:27, God says that any Israelite who consumes blood shall be cut off. Why was it so important to drain the blood out of meat before they ate it? It is the principle that God teaches Israel in Deu. 12:23, “Be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.”
When a person dies, the first thing that stops is the breathing. When oxygen no longer is being supplied to the blood stream, the heart slows down. When the heart slows down, the blood flow to the body slows down. Eventually, the heart will stop & then the blood stops. At that point, a person is pronounced dead.
It is said that when a person is beheaded, they are still alive for at least 15 seconds.
My family was visiting my grandparents in Oklahoma when I was a boy. My grandfather had a chicken coop & I liked to go out early in the morning with him to “pick eggs.” One day, Jeremy & I went out to the chicken coop with my Granddad. The rooster started pecking at Jeremy & chasing him. My grandfather ran in there & grabbed that rooster by the throat. He executed a swift judgment upon that rooster. He laid him across a tree stump & with axe in hand, chopped off his head. Anyone was has seen this sight knows what happens next: the rooster didn’t exactly fall to the ground & die. It started running around, flapping its wings & running into everything. I don’t know what was scarier: a rooster attacking you or a headless rooster having a panic attack. But it illustrates that the life is not in the brain, it’s not in the lungs, it’s not even in the heart. As long as the blood flows, there is life. The life is in the blood.
4. The blood brings responsibility: Ezekiel 3:17-21. We are called to be watchmen for the people around us. When we see wickedness & unrighteous acts around us, we are responsible to tell that person. This is the Old Testament version of the Great Commission. We must “Go & tell.”
I was at a mall in Dallas with some college friends many years ago. We were leaving & I felt God tell me to turn around. I did & he directed my attention to a woman sitting on a bench in the middle of the mall. The woman had dyed her hair jet black, wore a black floor-length dress & had several charms or talismans around her neck. God told me, “That woman is a witch. I want you to go witness to her.” I felt like my feet were cemented to the floor. I couldn’t move. I was terrified at the thought of confronting a witch. I stood there & said to God, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do it. I’m too afraid.” God replied to me, “Jason, you are responsible for that person. If she dies without Christ, her blood is on your hands.”
That may seem harsh to some, but the blood brings responsibility. I have an obligation to tell everyone I can about Jesus Christ. Since then, I don’t think I’ve missed another opportunity to witness to someone. I began to pray that God would give me the words to say & the boldness to confront people. Not only do I witness, but I let my car do it for me while I’m driving. Many of you have seen the stickers on my car: “John 3:16” & “Body piercing saved my life” with a picture of the nail through Jesus’ hand. The blood brings responsibility.
5.The blood brings sacrifice: Hebrews 12:1-4. We Christians persevere. We hold fast our profession of faith. We study the Word of God. We read Max Lucado books. We get Charisma magazine as soon as it hits the stands. We pray for each other & missionaries around the world. We fellowship & grow together. But we haven’t bled together. We are in a comfortable religious environment where we are not persecuted. The worst persecution we face is being teased at work. There have been some incidents where churches have been burned, but only in some extreme racist parts of the country. Most of the time, we are persecuted lightly, if at all.
Yet across the globe, the Christian Church is being persecuted very heavily. Pastors are being imprisoned, tortured & martyred for the faith. Even in those times of persecution, you would think that the church would begin to waiver; it would begin to surrender & renounce its beliefs. You would think that the pastors would seek an easier & less threatening line of work. You would think that church attendance would decline in heavy persecution. But it just doesn’t work that way.
My opinion is that most people want something to believe in. And if you believe in a cause so much that you’re willing to die for it, they will follow you. That is one reason that Islam is such a widely followed religion. Muslims are devout, dedicated people who are generally willing to give their life for their beliefs. They are willing to strap on explosives & kill themselves if it can possibly advance their religion, influence or territory.
The problem with Christians is that most of us would not die for our faith. Of course, I do not believe that suicide bombing is what Christians should do. But I am saying that we could learn a lesson from their commitment. When was the last time you sacrificed something for God? When was the last time you fasted & prayed? When was the last time you sacrificed your time, your talent, your blood, sweat or tears for the kingdom of God?
Many Christians believe that all they have to do is show up to church on Sunday mornings & that should be enough. Generally speaking, we have an easy life. We have freedom afforded to us by the government. We can come & go as we please. The president can’t force us to go to church. No one is really persecuting the church in America today. It’s mainly name-calling & lawsuits. That’s not persecution. That’s not sacrifice.
When I think of sacrifice, I think of my grandfather. I think of a man who has given his whole life to ministering to people. The man has been an Evangelist for 60+ years. He’s attended over 13,000 church services in his lifetime. By means of comparison, I have attended over 5,000 church services in my 25 years of life.
There are men & women all over the globe that sacrifice their lives for the kingdom of God, whether by life or by death. There are ministers & missionaries that are well-educated, hard-working, intelligent, successful people that give it all up. They turn down the higher-paying jobs. They turn down the fancy cars, expensive penthouses, and fat paychecks for one thing: to serve God & His kingdom.
I think of a young man who was doing very well at his first position in ministry. And I think about how he left that place because God had put it in His heart to come back to Houston & minister. I think about how he had no job lined up. I think about how the church couldn’t afford to pay him a dime because it was so small at the time. But I think about how it didn’t matter what the church could or couldn’t do for him. He knew that Radiant Life was where God wanted him to be & he made the necessary sacrifices to get here. I think of how God gave Him a vision for this church & how the gates of hell will not prevail against it!
When I think of ultimate sacrifice, I don’t think about a career move or how many church services a person attended. I think about a man who gave up the best seat in Heaven; a man who would pour out his heart & mind to men who would scatter at the first sign of trouble; a man who would endure the stripes on his back to secure our healing; a man who would carry the cross for our guilt & shame; a man who would die for our sins; a man who would rise from the dead to secure our place in Heaven; a man who would ascend to the Father to be our advocate & intercessor. That is sacrifice. And that’s what the blood brings.
(Read poem, “When the Creation Crucified the Creator”)
Not only does the blood bring justice, protection, life, responsibility & sacrifice, it also brings redemption, forgiveness, cleansing, freedom & peace. I am so glad for the blood of Christ that washed me white as snow. I am so glad that I can know that I’m right with God. I don’t have to wonder, guess or assume that I am going to Heaven. I can have total assurance that I am forgiven by God & accepted in His sight.
Some people have the wrong opinion that God can’t or won’t forgive them. Or sometimes people let pride get in the way & think that they’ve done too much wrong. “I know God would forgive me, but I’m just not worthy,” some people think. The great thing is that no one is worthy to receive His forgiveness. That’s why it’s called grace, unmerited favor. We don’t deserve it, we can’t earn it, but we sure do need it.
If you doubt me, let’s examine the prime example of Israel. In Psalm 106, the author says that they have sinned. They saw the miracles of God in Egypt & didn’t give them a 2nd thought. They saw how you got them out of slavery & then rebelled at the Red Sea. But God saved them anyway & led them to the other side on dry ground. He destroyed their enemies so they could no longer pursue them. Then they believed in Him again & sang praises to Him.
But they soon forgot what He had done & tested God in the desert. They spoke evil against God’s leaders. They made & worshipped a golden calf. They forgot the God who saved them. They despised the Promised Land. They complained & disobeyed. They worshipped other gods, intermarried with other nations & took up their religions. They sacrificed their sons & daughters to demons. They murdered their own children. So He sent them into captivity. Many times He delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion & they wasted away in their sin.
But He heard their cry, He remembered His covenant with them & He saved them. If God will save Israel after all of the things that it did, how much more is God willing to save us.
Altar Call: If you are saved, forgiven, and you know that you are going to heaven when you die, I want you to bow your heads. Everyone else, look at me. Whatever is going on in your life, whatever sin, whatever problem, take it to Jesus. Let Him cover it in His blood. If it sin, He will forgive you & help you break the habits leading to those sins. Don’t leave this building with sin in your life. You are not guaranteed to live until tomorrow. You are not guaranteed to have a week to “think it over.” You’ve got this moment to make a life & death decision. Choose life. Whether it’s the first time or the 100th time, I want you to come to these altars & take it to Jesus.
