Revelation 5 verse 9 we read, And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open the seals, for you were slain, and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Any city requires a well-organized delivery and defense systems. Every municipal area requires supplies of water, food, and electricity. These supplies are delivered through a complex infrastructure, and thousands of trucks travel down the freeways and the roads and the side streets to deliver essential supplies. to stores and to homes. Other trucks are removing refuse and garbage and allowing the city to function effectively and thriving. And a good, efficient city will have pipes, lines, wires, all helping to supply the water needed, the electricity needed, and to remove the waste. It's a biological fact that our bodies have a transportation system far more complex, far more complete than that of any metropolis. Our body's transportation system cuts through every tissue and organ by means of a network of approximately 100,000 kilometers of blood vessels. Can you imagine, in one person, 100,000 kilometers of blood vessels? Every cell of your body is a hairbreadth away from a blood capillary. The heart of this valve system is a pump about the size of a large apple that has to pump thousands of liters of blood through its chambers every single day, sending blood to every part of your body. You might only have about eight liters of blood in your body, but it's thousands of liters that is getting processed and pumped around the body every day by your heart. The blood carries vital, life-giving oxygen. and nutrients to every cell in your body, a healthy body, that is. Now, your body has approximately 25 trillion red blood cells. It sounds like the national deficit in the United States, but 25 trillion red blood cells in your body, which are like a postal courier service, only far more efficient than the government one, of course, which doesn't arrive. And it carries all kinds of packages, like oxygen, that's needed by the cells in your body. That's absolutely essential to life and health. And your blood is the very heart of the system. You cannot live without the blood flowing through your veins. Now every cell in your body requires oxygen to remain alive. If the blood is cut off to any part of the body, it deprives the father body of the oxygen, and it will cause death to that body part. And I know how this works, because my mother had gangrene in her leg. It's a circulation problem, and her leg needs to be amputated. That's extremely traumatic, but when your leg is going dark from death, it's no longer alive, you've got to amputate to save the rest of the body. I met an uncle in Germany after the war who'd spent 10 years in a Soviet concentration camp in the Gulag, and he'd lost his left hand to gangrene in the frostbites in the snow in the Gulags in Siberia. And a bit freaky for a young boy to see an uncle missing a hand, but, you know, that was better than losing the rest of the body. That's what happens when you don't get blood flow going to parts of the body. Now, if the brain is deprived of oxygen, you receive a stroke, and that part of the brain can die. If the heart is deprived of oxygen, like through a blockage in the artery, that can cause a heart attack. So, these things are serious. While the red blood cells transport essential nutrients and life-giving oxygen, the white blood cells in your body are like billions of little tanks and armored fighting vehicles protecting your body from infection and from disease. There are five different types of these white blood cells, and each one is trained to go after a different enemy. Just one drop of your blood can contain anything from 7,000 to 25,000 white blood cells. The number of them increases when your body is fighting an illness. And it works much like the military, they call up reserves in time of war. In time of illness and infection, your body will multiply the number of white blood cells to fight the infection and to protect your health. And I know about this too from personal experience because my mother being a nurse, she used to recruit us regularly to go and donate blood. you had to donate blood for just an essential part of your duty, we'd be lined up and chipped out. None of this, do you feel like it, do you want to, that's irrelevant. You will go and donate blood today. And that is a lifelong discipline. And then at one point, as you're old enough now, you should donate white blood cells. So I shipped off to UCT Medical School up on the hill, and I had to donate white blood cells because there are people suffering from leukemia who can't produce white blood cells. And so we donate our white blood cells. We'd sit in a nice comfortable chair. I remember the nurses were very thoughtful. that take the blood out of your body out the left arm, and there'd be a cushion put on top of it so you didn't watch the blood going across your body. And then they'd stick the blood back into this side. Now, they've got to do it very well. They take all the white cells out of your body and put them in these containers. And while I was giving this, along came some lady to thank me because it was her husband who was getting the white blood cells he was suffering from leukemia. And one day, I almost had a heart attack. I suddenly felt absolute ice-cold blood coming into my right arm. And the nurse got in a shock and said, sorry, I forgot to turn on the heater to the machine. You know, taking your blood that's going through the machines, and it gets cold. So talk about your blood running cold. I experienced that when they accidentally didn't reheat the blood before it came into my body again. And to have ice-cold blood coming into your veins is quite an experience. Another time I had an inexperienced nurse take the blood across me in front, and I realized why the others were so wise to tuck it behind. It's a little disconcerting to watch your blood going in a transparent tube across your body. So these people who are involved in white blood cell harvesting and all that, they know what they're doing. So of course my question was, Well, what about me? If I've given all my white blood cells away, how am I going to manage? He said, if you've got a healthy body, you will have replenished virtually all the white blood cells by the time you leave the hospital anyway. So, yes, I could donate them and my body would just produce a whole lot more to fill the gap. Now, isn't the body amazingly made? Absolutely extraordinary. As far as our skeletal structure goes, our bones do double duty. Not only do they support our body, keeping us upright so we don't flop around like jellyfish, but the bones are hollow. On the inside of our bones are marvellous little factories that operate day and night, producing billions of little red blood cell delivery vehicles, trucks, and white blood cell defensive tanks, armoured fighting vehicles, and the rest of it. So overseeing and coordinating this entire operation is the brain and the heart, which has to keep the blood flowing. Now, that's just amazing. You know, I thought the busiest creatures on this mission station would be the bees. And bees have to fly thousands of kilometers to produce just a teaspoonful of honey. So the bees are very, very busy. But inside our own bodies, there's these busy little bees as well, producing the white cells, the red cells, and everything else you need. And over 3,400 years ago, God said in Leviticus 17, 11, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. Now, until recently, no one could have actually understood just how true and profound that truth is. The first reference we have to blood is in Genesis 4, verse 10. What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out from the soil. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. And so Cain is cursed because he killed his own brother, the first murderer, and he murdered his own brother. And the blood cries out for justice. God hears the blood spilled into the soil. Now, can you imagine how much blood around the world that's being spilled, whether you're talking about the Middle East or Ukraine or the Congo, crying out to God for justice? Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Leviticus 17, 11 says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I've given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your soul, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Now after the flood, God communicates the covenant to Noah and to his descendants for perpetual generations. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God has God made man. And this is the first major law or statute. Governments, civil governments, are responsible to avenge man's blood, to ensure that those who shed innocent blood will themselves pay with their own blood. And so we read, according to the law, almost all things are purified with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Hebrews 9, verse 22. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. You can ask this of For example, our Jewish neighbors or Muslim friends, how are your sins forgiven? And they may come up with some different things, you know, Allah is most merciful, whatever, but the Bible says without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. Where is the blood atonement? There's no more sacrifice in Judaism, there's no more temple, no longer have a temple priesthood. Where is the blood that cleanses from sin? And only in Jesus do we have the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Zechariah 9 verse 11 as you also because of the blood of your covenant. I would set your prisoners free so the blood can bring freedom and protection Exodus 12 verse 13 We read at the Passover now the blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are and when I see the blood I will pass over you and the plague shall not come on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt so at the Passover A sacrificial lamb was to be, the blood was to be shed, and the blood was to be put on the top of the doorpost and on the sides. That's almost like making a sign of the cross on the front and on the side posts of the door. And so the blood protected the inhabitants of this home. And so the families that had the blood on the doorpost were spared when the final plague hit Egypt, killing the firstborn of each home. And we read in Zechariah 13 verse 1, in that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Now Jesus is that fountain. The blood of Jesus is a synonym for the gospel. It's a blood of Christ that redeems us from all sin. But this is my blood of the new covenant, Jesus said, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. So at the first Lord's Supper, our Lord in the upper room said, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. The blood of Jesus is a synonym for the gospel. When we say the blood, it's like shorthand for the atonement of Christ, for his sacrifice, him giving his life. But there's something particularly special about the blood. The first greeting that Christ received was that which hailed the power of his blood. When John the Baptist points and says, behold the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. So he's referring to the blood of the Lamb when he points to Christ. His blood will take away the sins of the world. Now the last recorded salutation that Christ will receive is recorded in Revelation 5 verse 9. the song of the redeemed. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open a seal for you were slain and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever. And this passage from Revelation 5 is pounded out and handles Messiah. Who can forget those words just sung with such emphasis? And the one time when you hear the drums and handles Messiah. The drummer sits stationary just like the whole concert, but just at this point with Revelation 5, the drama of the song of the redeemed. And it's the blood of the Lamb that takes away our sins. Sin is the breaking of the law of God. A broken law demands penalty. The wages of sin is death. All men have broken God's law. We are all under the sentence of eternal death. But Christ has died as our substitute in our place. He lived the perfect life we should live. He died the sinless death we deserve to die. He rendered complete obedience to the law of God. He made full atonement for our sins. Colossians 1 verse 20, Again, the cross is another synonym for the gospel. The blood and the cross are synonymous of the atonement of Christ. The Puritan writer, John Milton, The school I went to in Rhodesia was called Milton Junior School and Milton High School. Milton wrote Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, great Puritan writer, also the secretary for Oliver Cromwell. He declared, the greatness and the sacredness of man's soul is attested to by two facts. Firstly, the creation of our soul in the image of the eternal God. Our Creator gives it value because He has made us. But secondly, the price that has been paid for the redemption of our soul in the precious blood of Christ. And so we are twice bought by our Creator and by our Savior, and we are valuable because of who made us and we're valuable for who redeemed us, who purchased us. And Christ redeemed us from the bondage and the slavery of sin. 1 Peter 1 verse 18. Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct, but you were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot and without blemish. Sin has alienated and separated us from God. Isaiah 59 verse 1, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot save, nor is his ear heavy that he cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has uttered perversity. Even in our human relationships, we see how wrongdoing can produce separation and alienation. The divorce courts are full of examples of how even the closest of relationships can be alienated and be broken. And it's always by sin. That's true between God and man as well. Sin alienates, sin separates us from the presence of God. It interrupts and interferes with our fellowship. The question is, how can sinful men and women like you and I, how can we be redeemed, reconciled to the Holy God? And the answer is by the precious blood of Christ, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Colossians 1.20, and by him to reconcile all things to himself by him, were the things on earth all things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross. The blood of Jesus Christ justifies us from the guilt of sin, and it redeems us from the slavery of sin. The blood of Christ reconciles us after the separation of sin, and it cleanses our conscience from the burden and shame of sin. 1 John 1 verse 7, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. Romans 5 verse 9, much more than having been justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him. Now, according to legend, Joseph of Arimathea, who took the body of Christ down from the cross, he carried the vessel, the Holy Grail, in which it caught some of the blood of Christ, to Glastonbury, that's southwest England. And I've been there to the ruins of the cathedral on the island of Somerset, and there in Glastonbury, Joseph formed the Order of Knights, whose duty it was to protect the precious blood and the chalice, the cup of Christ. And Joseph formed these orders and the chief of these knights was made their king. such as King Arthur. And interestingly enough, I saw the grave of King Arthur at Glastonbury as well. Intriguing. So, this, at certain seasons, the king would unveil the golden cup which held the precious blood, and then glorious radiant light fell on the faces of all the knights, and endued them with strength from on high that they could protect the defenseless, rescue widows and orphans, fight dragons and all the rest of it. So only the pure in heart could look at the cup, and they could behold the light that streamed from the blood of Christ. And this beautiful story has played a part in many songs and poetries. The scripture says, though your sins be as scarlet, yet they shall be as white as snow. Though they be like crimson, yet they can become like wool. Isaiah 1 verse 18. Romans 3, 25 speaks of whom God has set forth as a propitiation by his blood. You know the hymn, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that flood and lose all their guilty stains. Romans 5 verse 9 declares, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Ephesians 1 verse 7, in him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the richness of his grace. Now, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the Sherlock Holmes series, wrote a book on the history of the Anglo-Boer War, in which he tells of a detachment of British soldiers who were overwhelmed by the Boers and fell back under heavy fire, and their wounded lay in a perilous position and were facing certain death. And one of them, a corporal in the Ceylon Mounted Infantry, later told that when they realized that They had come to a position where they could not escape, they were going to be killed. Their only solution was to come under the protection of a red cross flag if they wanted to survive. And somebody produced a white handkerchief, but they had no red paint, so they used blood from their own wounds to make a red cross on this white handkerchief, lifted it up, and when the Boers saw the red cross on the white flag, the firing ceased, a truce was called, The Boers stood back while the British wounded were carried to safety. In C.S. Lewis' book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Edmund had become enslaved by the white witch. He had been foolish and he had been treacherous and rebellious and evil. He had become a traitor to his own brother and sisters and betrayed them. And so when the great lion, Aslan, came to rescue him, the wicked witch reminded Aslan of the deep magic written on the stone table. Every traitor belonged to her. She had the right to the blood of every sinner. And to the amazement of all, after Aslan spoke privately with her, she left Edmund alone. And later that night, Aslan surrendered himself to the witch's camp. And they took him, shaved off his magnificent mane, ridiculed him, beat him, spattered him, tied him to the stone table, and the witch sharpened her knife, plunged it into the lion's heart, killing Aslan. And from a distance, Lucy and Susan wept. And the next morning, they went to recover his body, but they found the stone table was broken, and the body of Aslan was nowhere to be seen. But turning around, they saw Aslan no longer dead, but larger than they'd ever seen him before, and alive. Shakey's magnificent mane, fully physically alive. And Susan and Lucy hugged and kissed Aslan, and they wept in joy. And then they asked him, but Aslan, what does this mean? And Aslan replies, it means that though the witch knew the deep magic, there is a deeper magic still which she did not know. Her knowledge only goes back to the beginning of time, but if she could have looked back a little further into the stillness and darkness before time dawned, she would have read there that when a willing victim who has committed no treachery is killed in the traitor's stead, the table will crack and death itself will start to work backwards. In this way, C.S. Lewis gives an excellent picture of what's at work in the cross of Christ. Isaiah 53, he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. By his wounds we are healed. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. For the transgressions of my people, he was stricken. The Lord makes his life a guilt offering. My righteous servant will justify many. He will bear their iniquities. So Christ is our Passover lamb. He is our sin offering. He is our atonement. He is the lamb without spot or blemish. His precious blood shed on the cross of Calvary was a substitutionary death. He died for us in our place. He shed the blood. He paid the price for our guilt, the just in the place of the unjust. He is the propitiation for our sins, 1 Peter 2 verse 2. And 1 John 4 verse 10 declares, this is love, not that We loved God, but that he loved us. And he sent his son as an atoning sacrifice, a propitiation for our sins. Raymond Lull was born in 1132 into a wealthy family on an island off the coast of Spain. And his early life was spent in debauchery. He later put it out of immorality. Yet he was recognized by his peers in Spain as a young man of great brilliance and promise, a knight, a well-experienced, courageous soldier. But during his early 30s, Raymond was born again as a result of a vision he saw. He saw the Savior hanging upon the cross, his blood trickling from his hands and feet and brow, looking reproachfully at him. And as a result, Raymond Lowell gave his life to Christ, and he devoted himself to ministry, and he became the first full-time focused mission into the Muslim world. Raymond Bell served a very effective life and he eventually died a martyr's death at age 80. while taking the Gospel to Muslims. But it was his vision of the cross of Christ, his sacrifice, his blood, that led him to take up his cross and shed his own blood in service of the Saviour. Well, years later, Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf was born into one of Europe's leading families in the year 1700. And Ludwig von Zinzendorf grew up in an atmosphere of Bible reading, hymn singing, praise. He excelled in school. He possessed all the qualities for national leadership. But after finishing his studies at the University of Wittenberg, Zinzendorf embarked on a grand tour of Europe, visiting museums, palaces, universities, hearing lectures. And when he visited the Art Museum in Dusseldorf, The young Count von Zinzendorf had a deeply moving experience as he looked at a picture of Christ entitled, Behold the Man, Ecce Homme. And he saw a portrait of the suffering saviour with a crown of thorns, and he read the description below this. This I did for thee, what hast thou done for me? And Count Zinzendorf admits, I have loved him for a long time, but I've never actually done anything for him. From now on, I will do whatever he leads me to do. And as a result, he went and he started the spiritual community, the Moravians on his property, which was called Herenhut. And from this dynamic community, revival ensued. He started a prayer chain. that lasted for 150 years, continuous prayer chain, one after the other, people praying 25 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for 150 years. And they sent out, in that time, 2,500 missionaries, including George Smith, who came all the way to the Cape of Good Hope, went up the road to Cunardendal, planted the first mission station in Southern Africa. First Protestant mission station in the Southern Hemisphere, even. And it was This test me that was given on the night that I was converted. Rex Matthew was preaching in a cinema in Pines, a stir cinema, and he told me of this, and he then asked us directly, what have you ever done for Christ? He described what Christ has done for us. He said, what have you done for Christ? And I sat there under conviction. I'd done nothing for Christ. I'd never so much as given him thanks. My family was secular. We didn't even pray at meals. Never thank God for a thing. And so I was under conviction, and when he gave the challenge, I went forward, bowed at the front, gave my life to Christ, and I was called to missions that very night. Now, interestingly, we read the testimony of Frances Ridley Havergill, who's a famous hymn writer. We've sung many of Frances' hymns. And she visited the same art museum in Dusseldorf years later, January 1858. And while gazing at the same picture of Christ, she is struck by the caption, this I did for thee, what hast thou done for me? And deeply moved, Frances Havergill wrote some lines of poetry which became a basis for a hymn. Later, she is not satisfied with the first attempt, and she tossed the paper into the fire, but the pages fell out of the fireplace untouched. And some months later, she showed the paper to her father, and encouraged her, you must preserve this. And she wrote a melody to accompany the words. And the resulting hymn, I Gave My Life for Thee, was published in 1860, and launched Frances Ridley Have a Girl as a hymn writer, and she wrote many more since, but that was her first. I gave my life for thee, my precious blood I shed, that thou might ransom me and quicken from the dead. I gave, I gave my life for thee, what is now given for me. And Francis Hevigel went on to compose classics like Like a River Glorious. Who is on the Lord's side? I am trusting thee, Lord Jesus. Take my life and let it be. which is what they were singing when I gave my life to the Lord that very night on the 3rd of April, 1977. And I clearly remember determining and knowing the rest of my life must be spent in sacrificial gratitude and service to the Lord because of what He did for me. The one-time slave trader John Newton, after his conversion, wrote the classic hymn, Amazing Grace. But he also wrote these words on his vision of the cross. In evil long I took to light, unawed by shame or fear, till a new object struck my sight and stopped my wild career. I saw one hanging on a tree in agonies and blood, who fixed his languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood. Have you ever been to Calvary? Have you seen a vision of his cross? Charles Spurgeon said, stand at the foot of the cross, count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed, see the crown of thorns, mark his scourged shoulders, still gushing with crimson drolls. And if you do not surrender your life to Christ on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it. That's what Charles Spurgeon said. Have you seen a vision of the cross? Have you been to Calvary? Have you bowed before the cross of Christ? Romans 5 verse 8 we read, but God demonstrates his love towards us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him? For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more than having been reconciled shall we be saved through his life, not only in this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received reconciliation. Christ died for you. Are you living for him?