LET THE BLOOD FLOW!
Lev. 17:11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. We’ve all talked to people who claimed to be SELF-PROCLAIMED EXPERTS. Usually it’s “practicing without a license!” (Not worth too much).
2. It is said that Billie Burke, the Hollywood actress, was enjoying a transatlantic ocean voyage when she noticed a man at the next table was suffering from a bad cold.
3. "Uncomfortable?" she asked sympathetically. The man nodded. "I'll tell you what to do for it," she offered. "Go back to your stateroom and drink a lot of orange juice. Take five aspirin tablets. Cover yourself with all the blankets you can find. Sweat the cold out. I know what I'm talking about. I'm Billie Burke of Hollywood."
4. The man smiled warmly and said, "Thanks. I'm Dr. Mayo of the Mayo Clinic!" [Anonymous]
B. THESIS & TITLE
1. The reason diabetic’s feet or other extremities sometimes have to be amputated is that the blood vessels become blocked or constricted and the blood can’t reach them with the nourishment and oxygen they need, so they die.
2. I was praying for someone last weekend with this condition and the Holy Spirit led me to pray a prayer over them, “Let the blood flow!” (2X)
3. Afterward, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “That’s the same problem of the Body of Christ – why they’re not getting healing and not walking in newness of life. We need the blood of Jesus on a continuous basis. So my prayer is for you too, “Lord, let the Blood flow” in them!
I. THERE’S LIFE IN THE BLOOD
“For the life of an animal is in the blood. I have provided the blood for you to make atonement for your lives on the Altar” Lev. 17:11, MSG.
A. PHYSIOLOGY OF BLOOD
1. The stomach breaks down our food into portable nutrition, which it puts into our blood. Red blood cells absorb oxygen in our lungs and also put it into our blood. These are carried to every cell in our bodies, which circulates every 23 seconds!
2. As the blood flows through, cell-garbage and carbon dioxide are jettisoned into our blood, to be carried to the kidneys, etc., for disposal. The same vehicle that brings the food also picks up the garbage -- yet there’s never any cross-contamination! (The sanitation department would close down any business where food was stored in garbage trucks!) But the Creator makes it all work perfectly!
3. The white blood cells, which are far fewer (5-7K per cubic milliliter Versus Red Cells – 4-5 million per cub. mL) are the defending army, which attack infections. They multiply rapidly and millions of them die consuming the infection. That’s why there’s “pus” around it. The blood eventually “washes away” the dangerous infection.
B. ANALOGY OF CHRIST’S BLOOD
1. So essential is the Blood of the Jesus Christ, that it must reach every single member of the Body of Christ. Just as human blood supplies food and carries off the waste, so does the Blood of Jesus supply nourishment and carry away our sins, when we confess them.
2. Folks, we don’t just need a one-time exposure to the Blood, but we need a continuous exposure! The life of the creature is in the blood! If you ever get away from the freshness of the Blood of Jesus, you will die.
3. The Blood represents the indestructible life of Jesus Christ! ANY CORRUPTION THAT CONTACTS THE LIFE OF JESUS IS ERADICATED! Jesus touched the leper but He didn’t get leprosy -- the leprosy was driven out (Mt. 8:3). The sinful woman touched Jesus – He didn’t get contaminated, but she got cleansed!
4. 1 John 3:8 – “The reason the Son of God appeared was to DESTROY the works of the devil.” The HOLY BLOOD of Jesus is, to the devil, what water was to the wicked witch of the west in the Wizard of Oz! His blood is holy, pure, without sin, innocent. Any time we plead the Blood, the enemy has to flee!
5. Think how HOLY the Blood of Jesus is: even heaven is purified by that Blood (Heb. 9:23). Its sacredness outweighs all the evil sin could ever produce!
6. HUMAN BLOOD HAS A VERY SHORT LIFESPAN. Red blood cells only live for 120 days; after that they must be replaced. So the blood of Jesus should have been useless after 120 days, but the Bible tells us that that blood is STILL FRESH TODAY, because it’s still speaking (Heb. 12:24)! After 2,000 years and counting, THE BLOOD OF JESUS IS STILL FRESH AND POWERFUL! It’s on the Mercy Seat in Heaven and is pleading for mercy for us! PTL!
II. THE POWER OF JESUS’ ROYAL BLOOD
A. ROYAL BLOOD ESSENTIAL FOR SONSHIP
1. A few days ago they had the funeral for Queen Elizabeth, who was the daughter of King George VI. She reigned for 70 years, the longest of any British monarch.
2. Her son Charles has now assumed the throne as King. His wife is named Camilla. Camilla will never get the title of “Queen,” but “Queen-consort.” Queen Elizabeth’s husband Philip was called “Consort of the British Monarch.” Why? Because he didn’t have the blood of the Royal Line of Hanovers, who have ruled Britain for over 300 years!
3. To be called King or Queen, you have to have the genes of the royal bloodline. Praise God, if you’re washed in the blood of Jesus, and have been born again through the divine seed of Christ (1 Jn. 3:9), then you’re of the royal line of Heaven and are true Sons & Daughters of God, legitimate Kings and Queens of the God’s Royal House. Only those with royal blood can go to Heaven.
4. God only wants those who are: Blood-bought, Spirit Taught, Bible Thumpin’, Pew Jumpin’; Tithe Paying, Word Saying; Sin Hating, Devil Chasing; Jesus loving Christians! Are YOU one of them? Say Amen!
B. YOU NEED A TRANSFUSION!
1. Chaplain Robinson said, “In 1949, my father had just returned from WW2. On every highway you could see soldiers in uniform hitchhiking home to their families.
2. His joy was overshadowed by his mother’s illness...she needed a blood transfusion or she wouldn’t live through the night. His mother’s blood type was AB negative, a very rare type. No one in the family had that type and there weren’t any “blood banks” in those days. My Dad was heading home to change clothes and then return for the inevitable good-byes.
3. As Dad drove home, he passed a soldier in uniform hitchhiking...he wasn’t going to stop, but something compelled him to pull over. The soldier climbed in but my father never spoke. The soldier saw the tear running down my father’s cheek and asked about it. Dad told him about his mother, the rare blood type, and that she would die for lack of transfusion.
4. The soldier smiled and held up his dog tags, which read “AB negative.” The soldier told my Dad to turn around and head back to the hospital. Robinson said, “My grandmother lived for 47 more years. To this day we don’t know the name of that soldier with the perfect blood type.”
5. YOU ALSO WILL DIE WITHOUT A TRANSFUSION! No one on earth has the right blood-type. But God has provided the perfect blood for you and me -- the only one that could save us from sin – the blood of Jesus! "Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" Heb. 9:22. [Kim Huffman] Let’s get that transfusion today!
III. THE POWERS OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS
A. IT’S THE ONLY SIN-CLEANSING AGENT
1. The Bible tells us that the Blood of Jesus “freed us from sin” Rev. 1:5; “purifies us” 1Jn. 1:7 (continuous tense); “washes” us Rev. 7:14; “justifies” Rom. 5:9; “redeemed us” 1 Pet. 1:19; “purchased” us, Acts 20:28; “sanctified” us, Heb. 10:29; and gave us “peace” with God, Col. 1:20.
2. ILLUS.: HE COULDN’T GET THE GREEN OFF
a. The UK Sun reports: “A Brazilian man, Enrique dos Santos, 35, a swimming pool attendant, was trying to look like [the] superhero character, The Hulk, but used a paint reserved for ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines.
b. After the event, he tried to scrub off the glossy green paint, but it had stained his skin. Embarrassingly, the superhero wannabe didn’t have the power to get the stuff off.
c. Likewise, we don’t have the power to get rid of our anger, lust, envy, greed, you name it—they all leave their stain. And when the heat of rage cools, all that we’re left with is shame and regret.
d. But as the song says, “What can wash away my stain? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!” Aren’t you glad that what we CAN’T DO, the Blood of Jesus CAN DO!
3. As 1 John 1:7 tells us, “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from ALL sin!” NOT SOME, BUT ALL! Hallelujah!!!
B. HIS BLOOD HAS THE POWER TO TRANSFORM
1. HUMOR: SOME PEOPLE ARE ROTTEN!
a. “When I was much younger my mother would PAY us kids money if we would be good.
b. My brother was good for a dollar, and my sister was good for 50 cents. Me? I was good for nothing!”
2. It is the blood of Jesus that when applied to our lives takes the chiefest, vilest of sinners, transforms them -- body, soul, and spirit -- into a new creature formed in the image of God’s Holiness.
3. “How much more shall the blood of Christ...PURGE YOUR CONSCIENCE from dead works to serve the living God?” Heb. 9:14.
4. Saul, a murderer, that tried to destroy the church of the living God, had an encounter with the power of that blood and was forever transformed into “Paul, an apostle of Christ”
5. The thief on the cross had an encounter with the power of the blood of Jesus, and was transformed from that of a condemned man into a saint dwelling in Paradise.
C. HIS BLOOD GIVES LIFE & PROTECTION
1. HUMOR.
a. A tough old cowboy once counseled his grandson that if he wanted to live a long life, the secret was to sprinkle a little gunpowder on his oatmeal every morning.
b. The grandson did this religiously and he lived to the very old age of 93.
c. When he died, he left 14 children, 28 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren, and when they cremated him he blew a fifteen foot hole in the wall of the crematorium.
2. Just as human blood is the source of its life, JESUS’ BLOOD, “the blood of God” (Acts 20:28), IS THE SOURCE OF HIS LIFE -- it has the special God-kind-of-life power in it.
3. Just as our blood protects us from infection, the Blood of Jesus shields us (enemy must “pass over,” Ex. 12:13) and it defeats him; “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” Rev. 12:11.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: DOES YOUR GOD BLEED?
1. A little boy went up to a missionary Sunday School leader in another country. The boy said, "I like what you say about the God of the Bible but I can’t see him. But if I go to the temple I can see my God."
2. The missionary said to the little boy, "Son, may I ask you a question? Does your God bleed?" The boy said, "I don’t know." The missionary gave him a pin and said, "Next time you go to the temple, when no one else is watching, prick him and see what happens."
3. The following week the boy returned to his Sunday School class. He said to the missionary, "I did it, I did it, I pricked the idol." The missionary said, "And what happened?" The boy replied, "Nothing, my god doesn’t bleed."
4. Then the missionary said, "But my God did! He bled for my sins and he bled for your sins, too!" [Larry Petton]
B. THE CALL
1. LORD’S SUPPER
2. How many of you want a fresh application of the Blood of Jesus to wash you and give you life? Let’s pray.
[Section one has thoughts from M.R. DeHaan, M.D.’s book, “The Chemistry of the Blood.”]
