to turn your bibles to Leviticus chapter 17. Leviticus 17, don't you just love that book, yes? Thank the Lord for Leviticus. There's a lot of good stuff in there, there really is. I know you've read through it, stayed awake all the way through. So in Leviticus chapter 17, we're gonna look at one verse. And it is verse 11. It says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you for the blood that was shed for our sins, Lord. Thank you that we can be washed whiter than snow. we can stand righteous before you because of Jesus Christ. So thank you for that, Lord. And we just pray tonight, Lord, help me, just to hide me behind the cross, Lord, help the words that are said to be your words. And Father, just bless us, encourage us, rebuke us, whatever needs to be done, and we'll thank you for it in Jesus' name, amen, amen. As the verse says, life is in the blood, it's in the physical blood, When you look at this Bible from the beginning to the end, the Old Testament talks quite a bit about the blood. And blood is needed for the atonement of a soul. When you get to the cross and Jesus Christ dies on that cross and sacrifices his blood for your sin and for my sin, it doesn't stop there, but it's more of a, I wanna say spiritual application, but it is physical blood that saves us. Just so you know, if you remember when Jesus Christ was resurrected and Mary Magdalene came and he said, don't touch me, I have not resurrected yet to the Father. I don't know for sure, but maybe that's when the blood, maybe the blood had to be put on the altar in heaven. I really don't know. We'll find that out when we do get to heaven. But it's all about the blood. The beginning, or at least the knowledge of the beginning of the blood cells wasn't really known until 1674 by Leeuwenhoek. And he just said that he discovered the blood cells. So before that, I'm sure they knew that blood kept the body alive. I'm sure they knew that if you had a bad cut and you bled out, obviously you were gonna die. So the blood keeps us alive. but it also kills us at times. So that blood is very, very important. And we're gonna look at some things about the blood to see what we can learn spiritually, but also really what God shows us through that blood. So just remember, the life of the flesh is in the blood. Look at Acts 17, 26. Is this a little too loud? It sounds like it's loud to me. It's all right? Okay, all right, I guess we're okay. Thank you. I can't tell. I can't hear. Okay, Acts chapter 17. The first thing I see is that the blood is universal. Acts 17 verse 26. It says, and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. So the blood is universal. You and I are brothers and sisters. Now, the world all says we're just one big family. Well, we are a physical family. We go back to Adam and Eve. We have the same blood. There's only three blood types, really, A, B, and O. There's a combination of A and B, and there's some oddball things, but there's only three blood types, and that's Shem, Ham, and Japheth. I mean, that's what it comes down to. So the blood is universal. But the thing is, the blood of man, the physical blood of man puts us in the family of man, but the blood of Jesus Christ puts us into the family of God. So there is a difference. When people say, when you hear the clergy say, we're all in the family of God. No, we're not. Not if you're not born again, you're not in the family of God. So the blood is universal. Romans chapter 12, I'm sorry, Romans chapter five verse 12, let me just read that for you. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for then all have sinned, we inherited our blood that keeps us alive, and that actually gives us death from Adam and Eve. Romans 5, six says, for when we were yet without strength, In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Now listen, you know this. If you're saved, you know all about the blood. You know these verses. Blood is universal, but at the same time, you need the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you from your sin. Now, look at Genesis chapter four. Genesis chapter four. The blood is spoken of very early in the Bible. Of course, when Adam and Eve sinned and they put on fig leaves, God supplied, what did he supply? Thank you, that's what he supplied. An animal had to die and shed his blood for those skins for God to cover them. But in Genesis chapter four, In verse nine it says this, and the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper? What's interesting about that is here's Cain and Abel, the first two sons basically mentioned of Adam and Eve, and Cain hates Abel so much that he kills him. I mean you talk about, is there anything new under the sun? When people say that we evolved, obviously we know biblically that we did not evolve. They say we came from a small little cell and here we are, we're professors now. But the way God puts it is we started perfect untested. Adam and Eve were created perfect, but untested. When they were tested, they fell. And here we are 6,000 years later. We're down here. And you can see that human nature, human sinful nature, is shown here in Genesis chapter 4. Cain kills Abel. It's interesting, the Mauthausen, the camp in Austria, I went to visit there a number of times when groups came. I always wanted to take them there. It's just such a place that shocks you into reality. It was small compared to the other camps in World War II, Dachau and some of those. But when you walk down to the quarry, which is where they had prisoners, the Jews working, before you go down that quarry, there's a sign that was put up by a Jewish society that has this verse. The voice of that brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground, and am I my brother's keeper? Now, when you think about that, you go back that far and you see how sinful we really are. I have a couple of stones that I grabbed from that quarry. And when we were in Austria, when people, when I got to talking to people and asked them about, well, do you realize you're a sinner? Well, I'm not that bad. And if they really fought it and they never really gave in to that thought, I would pull out the stone. I said, you know where this is from? And they would say, where? And I said, Mauthausen. and they would back off right away, because the point was, you're an Austrian, this happened in Mauthausen, maybe you didn't do it, but you know what, it reminds you how sinful you really are, because you're a human being. Now, the blood has a voice and it speaks to God. As we can see here, in Genesis chapter nine, look at Genesis chapter nine. just a couple pages over. Obviously in Genesis 4 and 9 it says, the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And in Genesis chapter 9 verse 5, It says, ìSurely your blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every manís brother will I require the life of man.î So when someone shed someoneís blood they were to pay for that with their own life. And that blood cries unto God from the ground. Now think of how serious that is. And you know, people would say, well, God doesn't really hear the blood. Listen, when you have a blood test, do you know how much it tells about you? I mean, how many of you have ever had a blood test? Most of you. and a DNA from blood or from spittle. A blood test reveals quite a bit from you. If a blood test can reveal that much, don't you think God can hear that blood crying from the ground? How many children have been killed? How many children have been aborted where their voice is crying out to God? Number 35 says he so she ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are for blood it Defileth the land so blood must be accounted for Look at Let's take a look at this numbers chapter 6 so blood is universal blood must be accounted for and blood must be repaired and I mean, we can't in our own power fix our blood. I mean, you can get a transfusion They created plasma, and plasma is really nothing but blood that's proteins taken out and kind of dried out, and it was great for when you're in the middle of warfare, you don't have fresh blood. So plasma can be mixed with water, and actually it is like blood, and it holds a little bit longer until you mix it. But we cannot fix our blood. we're not smart enough to fix our blood, amen? And someday, if you're saved, you're gonna get raptured, you're gonna be in a glorified body, and you're not gonna have to worry about blood. Numbers chapter six, look at... Look at verse four, it says, all the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree from the kernels even to the husk. Now I'm just gonna present something very quickly and I don't wanna spend too much time on it. The blood somehow went bad when Adam and Eve sinned. Now, the question I have is, did Adam and Eve have blood? And when they ate it, did it have fruit to change the blood? Or did Adam and Eve even have the blood that we have? and whatever was changed in them became the blood that we have. I really don't know. I'm gonna give you a few verses. You can take it home and you can study it out yourself. Amen? So number six, four, tells us that it is made of the vine tree. In other words, God calls the vine of grapes a tree. Okay? Exodus, or I'm sorry, Ezekiel chapter 15 verse two says, son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? The verse we read in Numbers chapter six is dealing with who? It's a Nazarene. Who was a Nazarene? A mention in Judges. Samson. And what was he told to do? To take a vow not to touch anything about a grape. Now the world or religion tells you that Adam and Eve ate what? An apple. That's usually what they tell you. That's why we have an Adam's apple, right? Isn't it? It's just tradition, I guess, you know? I'm not sure that's true, but at the same time, again, I wanna give you a couple scriptures and let's just take a look at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And take a look at verse 50. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. verse 50, and it says, now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Now I was talking about physical blood, that's what it seems like. Blood cannot enter the kingdom of God, because it's a spiritual kingdom. neither does corruption inherit incorruption. So the blood which is corrupt that we have cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Luke chapter 24, 39, take a look at that. Stay with me here. give you a couple more and then you can figure out what we're dealing with here. Luke 24 verse 39. Behold my hands and my feet, this is Jesus speaking after the resurrection, that it is myself. Handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. So it seems, again, I'm not teaching this as doctrine, but I'm just putting it out. It seems that Jesus Christ said, I have flesh and bones, nothing said about blood. If you can't inherit the kingdom of God physically with blood in you, then it's gonna be impossible to, you know, obviously to do. Ephesians chapter five, verse 30, it says, for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Take a look at Genesis chapter 49. I don't want to spend too much time on this, but I always thought it was an interesting premise. Genesis 49. Verse 11, this is Jacob speaking and blessing his sons. Chapter 49, verse 11. Binding his foal into the vine and his ass's coal into the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. So you're dealing with a vine, you're dealing with a grape. So here's my premise. When Adam and Eve sinned, what did they eat of? I mean, again, we don't know the fruit, but we know the tree. It was a tree of what? Good and evil, right? If you remember, at the end of that chapter, God puts an angel there so that Adam and Eve could not go back and eat of the tree of life because that would do what? It would make them live forever, it says. So here they are in a corrupt body, They can't eat of the tree of life because they will live in a corrupt body forever. So he has to cast them out of the Garden of Eden. So I'm just wondering if that tree was a vine and if it was grape. Think about what Jesus said about the blood. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Is the blood, is the grape, the tree, that Adam and Eve ate from? It's just a thought. We still have grapes. Well, sure, we're still in the fallen state. but the vial of Nazarene says stay away from grapes. It's just, again, it's just a thought. Think about that. I mean, there's a difference in the Bible between old and new wine. When we have the Lord's Supper, we have grape juice, which is what they had at the last supper. They didn't have leather wine. They didn't have alcoholic wine. How about Noah, remember? After the flood, it says that he was drunk in front of the wine. Did he know that that wine was fermented? Maybe that was the first time he ever had wine that fermented after the flood and he got drunk. Just a thought. Maybe it'll get your wheels going and look at some verses, right? Something to think about. Anyways, physically man cannot repair or create blood. He can only temporarily fix it by a transfusion, you know, with plasma, with a transfusion by blood. spiritually man cannot fix himself Hebrew 922 says in almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood is no remission that's what God requires in the Old Testament and the New Testament that blood is shed for remission of sins Old Testament The only sacrifice God will accept is a pure, unblemished, bloody sacrifice that we cannot provide. Jesus Christ was pure, he was holy, he was God himself. What does Acts chapter 20 say? It was God's blood in Jesus Christ. We're gonna see that real quick here. So what can we learn spiritually from studying blood? Anytime you take a physical type that we can see, that we deal with all the time, and we apply it spiritually, those types always break down eventually. Because you're gonna say, well, that is kind of tainted. How can you compare that to Jesus Christ? But it is a good picture. God says in Romans one, that the creation shows the handiwork of God. And by looking at the creation, we can learn something about God. So what can we learn about the blood? First of all, the average person has about five quarts of blood in them, just like a car. And you need your oil changed every once in a while too, right? It circulates through the average person's system in about 60 seconds. Now think about that a minute. 30 seconds going and 30 seconds coming back. 30 seconds, that blood goes through your system, it gives you protein, it gives you oxygen, it gives you heat, it gives you all sorts of things, and on the way back, it takes the waste, filters it through the blood, and it goes back out again in 60 seconds. Now, isn't it great that we evolved to such a wonderful thing? It's just amazing. I think the more you know about the body, the more you see, the more you realize that we have to be created. It supplies every cell and tissue with nourishment, heat, oxygen, electrolytes, hormones, vitamins, and antibodies. It's interesting because we're all obviously made different. When we are in the service on Sunday morning, I mean, I can watch people going, give me your jacket. And then there's like two people behind that person going. you know. So it depends on your ticker. It depends on how thin your blood is and how fast it's going. Sometimes it cools you, sometimes it heats you. Okay? My wife and I, I mean, this is really funny because the older you get, you start changing into other, morphing into other things. I used to be cold all the time. She was always hot. Now she's always cold and I'm always hot. What are you going to do? Anyways, it's my ticker I guess. the blood nourishes us. Colossians chapter two says this, and not holding the head, Jesus Christ, from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered and knit together, increases with the increase of God. So basically Jesus nourishes us as a body, as a church. Second Corinthians 5.17, it talks about the new man. and the old man listen if you're saved you are a new man now you still have the old man uh... you have a new heart uh... you have a new will uh... you have a new mind but the only thing you don't have that's new yet that you're not going to get until you are either raptured or or uh... uh... you might die and whenever the lord comes back you're going to be reconstructed that's when you're going to have a new body Everything else is new. You have a new man inside of you. You think different. Now you're going to have a fight with the old man. You've heard me say this. I don't do it every day, but I will look in that mirror in the morning and say, OK, what are you up to, rascal? And I think Ashley sent me a picture. OK, what are you up to, buddy? A little cartoon. The old man is always there and the new man's always there. Now we are covered by the blood, our sins are covered by the blood, but you know what? I still have blood flowing through here. You know, I've always thought of this, thinking about if Eve actually took that grape, if it was a grape, and she tasted it, grape juice. I wonder why ladies wear lipstick, no. I'm not going there, anyway. because Adam was just as bad. So Jesus' blood nourishes. We are a new creature. Blood is the only tissue in the body that is unlimited in movement. In other words, The blood can surge through our body, do its work. We have fixed tissues. We have muscles, bones, nerves, fat, and skin. But blood is the only tissue that is unlimited in movement. You know what that reminds me of? The first time we ever went to Romania. Drove in and walked into their church. The majority of people didn't know English There were a couple of translators and we said they're getting ready for the service Started singing and you know what they were singing in Romanian victory in Jesus And I thought, here I am, 3,000 miles away, and we are in the body of Christ. I mean, that blood just flows very freely. It's unlimited in movement. It's like when Mary and I came, the first time we ever came to the church, we were, you know, it was like a transfusion into GBC. But you know what, we felt just like a family. We walked in here, it's like we've been here for 20 years. But you know why? Because you're a body. And we are part of that body, so no matter where you are, you can fit in that body. And it's just like getting a transfusion. You have to have the right blood type, but that transfusion will put you in that body. Now a couple more things, not only supply, In other words, the body, the blood rather, supplies so many things, but it also carries away waste matter, carbon dioxide, and a number of other things. It never contaminates itself unless an outside source weakens that blood. Now, what that reminds me of is that Jesus' blood cleans. You can't stop, once you're saved, you can't lose your salvation. There's nothing that the devil can do, there's nothing a man can do to lose your salvation once you're saved. Revelation chapter 1 verse 5 says this, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Man, It's an amazing thing that we can say that. Psalm 51 says, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 103, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression from us. I thank the Lord that he washed me from my sin because I was wicked. I mean, I know most of you probably weren't. But I was a wicked sinner. I thank the Lord. You know, there were people that after we got saved, we'd witness to people. I saw a guy that I was in a band with like a year later, a couple years later, and he said, hey, I hear you're a preacher now. Praise the Lord that he heard that at least. But it changed my life and it carried away the waste matter and it changed what I was doing. It changed my thoughts, it changed my habits, it changed so many things. Now one more thing, white cells fight infections like a soldier in your body. In other words, when you go to the doctor and you are not feeling well, there's something wrong, they take a blood test and if your white corpuscles are up, your cells are doubled or tripled to what they normally are, it means there's something wrong in your system. We have to overcome that by our red cells. In other words, the white cells fight until the red cells can catch up and kill that infection. Revelation chapter 12. Take a look. Let's turn there. Revelation chapter 12. I've never counted to see how many songs we sing about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but there's quite a few. And thank the Lord we can sing that. I wonder how many the Buddhists have. Singing about, what do they sing about? You know? How about the Muslims? Do they go into their whatever they go, and do they sing songs about Muhammad? I mean victory in Muhammad, no, there's no victory in Muhammad, I'm sorry. But Jesus Christ, I mean we have over 600 songs in our hymnal alone that we can sing about the victory, that we can sing about the blood that was shed for our sins. Revelation chapter 12, verse 10. For the accuser of our brethren, is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night, and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. The way we overcome, the way we overcome our sin, I'm sorry, Revelation 12, 10, and 12, 11. The way that they overcame temptation was by the blood of the Lamb. When Napoleon was in exile after Waterloo, he was looking at a map with some friends, and on that map, of course, was the whole empire, really, and there was Waterloo there, and there was a red spot, and he said this, if it weren't for that red spot, I would have conquered everything. Now, we can say the same thing. Satan points to Calvary, and he says, if it wasn't for that red spot, I would have conquered everything. Now listen, he is still in charge of this world. He still has the freedom to go up and down, just like it says in Job. He's not gonna be curtailed until the great tribulation. But even though he still has access and can trip us up and accuse us, we still have the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ and through that blood. That red spot conquered everything. Now along with this, because those white cells increase and get rid of some of those infections once the red blood cells take over, there's antitoxins in the blood build up immunity for that same disease. Listen, we still, even though we are saved, there are times where we still sin. I can say at least once a day. I mean, if you're honest, you're gonna quit counting by nine o'clock in the morning. Am I right? Yes. Just nod your bony head. Yeah, I'm right, I know I'm right. And all we have to do in 1 John 1, it says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Listen, there's antitoxins in the blood that build up the immunity. And once you realize the sin that just haunts you, and once you get on your knees and ask the Lord to forsake that sin, help me to get over that sin, once you're over that, listen, that builds up an immunity. And then usually, you go on to another sin that God exposes and says, you need to take care of that. But thank God for the blood that washes away our sins. Now, take a look at Acts chapter 20, and we'll finish up here, Acts chapter 20. The medical community knows that a child gets its blood from the father. They've proven that, they know that. In Acts chapter 20, verse 28, it says take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he pointing back to God hath purchased with his own blood Jesus Christ was born of a virgin now There's an interesting fact there. From the time of conception to the time of birth of an infant, not one single drop of blood ever passes from the mother to the child. That's medically known. It was God's blood. Now think about that a minute. Here's Jesus Christ, born of a woman. He has a man's body. He has everything that you and I have ever experienced. There will never be an experience or a time that you go through or a sin that you go through where you can say to God, well, you don't know how I felt. You never went through that. He went through anything and everything we've ever gone through in this room and worldwide. But it is God's blood that were shed. Hebrews 2.14 says, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself, Christ, likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. In Hebrews 9.14 says, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. He's a perfect man and he's a perfect God. Tempted in all points as we, yet without Nobody can go and say, Jesus, you just don't know how. You just don't know. When I went through this divorce, you just don't know how I felt. He knows exactly how you feel. Praise the Lord for that. He's our Savior. He is the one that will give us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ, through his blood. First Peter 118, for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, like the blood we have, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. When that blood was shed, when that blood was put on the altar in heaven, it was done. no more sacrifices. There's nothing that you could possibly do to be holy enough and righteous enough to get into heaven. You've got to have access through that blood. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Think about what that means to us in the light of what we've seen. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. When you stand at heaven's door, and you know, this is not gonna happen, obviously. You know, you hear these stories about people going to heaven and Peter's at the gate and all that good stuff. Listen, when we get raptured, it's gonna be woo-hoo, rapture practice, let's do it right now. Or if you happen to succumb to death and the Lord just takes you from that grave in your new body and you're flying through space, praise the Lord for that blood that was shed for our sins. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. There's just something about that blood. Let me leave you with this. Matthew 26 says, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Something about that blood. I mean, there's so much to learn about that blood. I'm not a doctor. I mean, I looked things up in Wikipedia. They're probably wrong. You know, false news. But if you look at God's creation and you look at just one part of that creation, just that blood, you can see that God's creation is through everything that he ever made. You can just see the picture of God and the principles that are there. There's just something about that blood. Colossians 1.20, having made peace through the blood of his cross. That's good. You know, I have a picture of myself, my old self, and my phone, and once in a while, I just have to turn it in. I know a couple of you have seen it, but I just gotta turn it in and look at that and say, I ain't like that anymore. I mean, I'm still a sinner. I still fall on my face and sin, but you know what? I can go to Jesus Christ because of that blood and ask forgiveness of sins. I'm a new man. Even when the devil says to me, the old accuser, you know what you can do? because that blood, that little red spot will conquer any sin. All you gotta do is confess it and just go to Him. Whew, man, we're under the blood, amen? Let's pray. Father, Lord, we do thank You. What a wonderful thing, what a wonderful God You are. Father, if we would just submit to you, and Father, ask for wisdom. Sometimes we just don't even realize what goes on around us and what we're made of, Lord, and the wonderful creation that we are. So thank you for it, Lord. Father, as the world gets worse, as we just seem to be enveloped by evil, we know, Lord, that the victory has been won. Lord, the battle still rages on, but Lord, we have victory through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we thank you for that. And Lord, as we come to you tonight with these prayer requests, we pray that you might answer them according to your will. Father, I know there's many people hurting. I pray that you be with them, Lord. Heal them up, and Lord, people on vacation, give them safety, give them some rest. Be with the pastor, Lord, and hide his away, preaching. Just have them be a blessing there, Lord. And again, we love you. We thank you now, Lord, in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Amen.