The Book of Hebrews: Week 6

So today we're going to pick up and continue this

series of Hebrews. You've heard that this book of the

Bible we don't have an identified author, and that's fine.

Everybody has their ideas of who they believe wrote it.

I have my idea. Don't ask me, because I'm not

going to tell you. But it's so important that this

book was written for us, for the church. And so today, Church,

as we celebrate the fourth of July and all that

we have received over the two hundred and fifty years

of freedom, we talk about political freedom, we're talking about

independence as a nation, I want us to take a

deeper look at freedom, and I want us to talk

about a freedom that is not a purchase with muskets

and militias. It's not proclaimed on a document written on parchment,

but its freedom purchased on a hill called Calvary, and

it was paid for with blood, real blood, precious blood,

the blood of Jesus. And so today, as we launch

into this series or this sermon, nothing but the blood,

I want to talk to you about this idea of blood.

Blood is throughout the whole Bible. There is a blood

trail throughout scripture. When you look at the Old Testament.

You first see or hear about blood when God himself

makes the first blood sacrifice and covers Adam and Eve

with the skins of animals. And then we move to

Exodus and we see that blood or lamb's blood is

applied to the door posts to provide covering and protection

as a death al goes through Egypt. Then we see

the law and the sacrifices of lambs and doves that

covers the sins of the people. So much blood, so

much blood through the scripture, that it could fill this room,

that it would pour out into the streets. And although

there is great quantity of blood, the quality of the

blood was still lacking. The blood of bulls and goats

cannot permanently fix or remove sin. It could only cover it.

It can only delay it. It is a shadow, if

you would, or a preview of something greater or better

that is yet coming. In the Book of Hebrews, we

are reintroduced to what was and what is now. The

writer helps us to see that Jesus atones both for

past sin or the origin of sin, and beyond to

any sin that will ever happen through now throe eternity.

He deals with it because Jesus' blood is enough. And

with Jesus the blood moves from the doorposts to the

hearts of men, women, girls, and boys. It moves from

wood to flesh. Think about that, from wood to flesh.

So before I go too far into today's message, I

want to go through some terms that I feel would

be if Jesus was applying for a job. These terms

would be on his resume. Okay, check these terms out.

We'll use them throughout today. The first term is atonement Hebrew,

the word is kafar. Thursday night, some of my Arabic

brothers and sisters were in the room and I said,

did I say that right? I got the thumbs up,

so I felt good. This means to cover, to reconcile,

to make two parties one again. Jesus kafars us. He

atones for us. He brings us back into relationship with

the Father. Second term justification to be declared righteous by God,

not made righteous by effort, but declared so by grace.

We can't earn it, we can't do it, but because

of what Jesus did, we are justified. Jesus is also

third term, our mediator, one who stands between two parties

and brings reconciliation. He's not an instigator, he's a mediator.

He brings us back into relationship with the Father. And Fourth,

eternal redemption. It is a purchase that does not expire.

Freedom secured once effective forever. Our redemption is eternal. There

is no time lapse or expiration date on it. It

is not like milk. It's more like water. You can

hold on to it. Amen. And so first point today.

The old system was real, but it was temporary. Hebrews

nine to eight says this. The Holy Spirit was showing

by this that the way into the most holy place

had not yet been disclosed. As long as the First

Tabernacle was still functioning, they we had to practice. The

First Covenant had rules for worship the Tabernacle. In the Tabernacle,

there was an outer room, there was an inner room,

and there was a holies of holies. The high priests

could enter into the holies of holies. But he only

did it once a year, and only with blood. And

the blood that he offered he offered it for himself

and then for the people. This system was real. God

instituted the system. It was sacred, but it was limited.

Hebrews nine nine tells us that the gifts and sacrifices

being offered were not able to clear the conscience of

the worshiper. They could make you clean on the outside,

but they couldn't deal with what was happening on the inside.

They could lead the temple with clean hands, but their

hearts and their souls were still troubled. How many of

us know people who try to clean themselves up on

the outside with success, status, religion, groups of people, relationships,

and still they're conscious is still not intact. They're crying

out for something more because there is a hole in

their soul. There's a space that the blood needs to reach.

The old system was not wrong, it was incomplete. It

was not the cure. It was only the diagnosis. Many

of us, you can receive a diagnosis, but I don't

know about you. I don't want to know what's wrong

with me. I want to know how to fix it.

Jesus is the fix. But here is a hope in

the incompleteness. It was pointing somewhere. Every lamb that was

ever slain was whispering the name of another lamb. Every

high priest who entered the holies of holies was only

adore posts or assigned to another high priest who would come.

God was building anticipation for a solution that would work

every time for everyone forever. Do you know his name?

Every temporary thing was pointing to the permanent point. Two.

Jesus paid the price we could not pay once and

for all now here. The scripture Hebrews nine eleven says,

but when Christ came, as high priests of the good

things that are now already here, he went through the

greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with

human hands, that is to say, is not a part

of this creation. He did not enter by means of

the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the

most holy place once for all by his own blood,

thus obtaining eternal redemption. Church. I want you to see

this this morning. Jesus enters and resolves this once. Notice,

not twice, not annually, not repeatedly, not here and there

once one time. I don't know about you, but when

I'm doing something, if I'm going to do a job,

if you invite me to do something, or if something

breaks up the house, or it doesn't matter what it is,

I will pay the cost to do it one time,

because I want to do it one time, and I

want to do it right. I'm not trying to do

it two time. I'm not gonna buy something that's gonna

break down in three more years and say I gotta

buy it again. No, Jesus solves the problem when he

deals with it wants and for all. Now check out

this all part. I need you to understand this because

sometimes we think that this was for some. It was

not for some, for all. It doesn't matter where you've been,

what you've been through. He died for you too. It's

not because you think you're righteous or because somebody feels

more worthy than the other. Jesus died for all. He

did it once, and he did it for all. This

blood that flows in the veins of the eternal Son

of God has great value. So let me tell you

something about value. Today. You know someone really wants something

or really love something and they pay full price. Oh

you know what I'm talking about today. Some of y'all

got some stuff you paid full price for and then

it went on sale. Mm hmm. But you know what,

You got it first, right, and you were glad about it. Now.

I love a good discount. You know you go to

nostrom Rack. You know you go there because it's a discount,

But then when you go inside, I look for the

discount and the discount, I'm looking for the place where

it's like they're about trying to really get rid of

this thing right there, and I sought through. I don't

need anything. I shouldn't even be in the place, but

if there's a seal, I want to get it. And

so I want to let you know today that Jesus

did not look for a discount. He did not look

at the broken you, the addicted you, the failed you,

the ashamed you, the you that you don't like and

say to someone, hey, is this one on sell? No,

he said, this one is worthy of everything I have,

and everything I have is my life. You're not on discount.

Jesus paid full price for you, So don't discount yourself.

You are not unworthy. No, you're not perfect. Will all

the perfect people please stand up? Lane just sat down

in the back. I love you, man, He was like.

I was already standing up, and He's like, I love that.

Nobody's perfect. We all have fallen short of the glory

of God, and we are all in the need of

a savior, so Jesus gives himself. Hebrews nine fourteen says,

how much more then will the blood of Christ, who

threw the eternal spirit entered himself. He offered himself unblemished

to God cleanse our consciousns from acts that led to death,

so that we may serve the living God. The blood

of Jesus doesn't just make you ritually clean. It cleanses

your conscience. It cleanses the stuff that cannot be cleaned

on the outside, the internal stuff, the stuff that we

are dealing with on the inside, the hurts, the pains,

the habits, the hang up, the things that we've been through.

It deals with those things. It reaches into the places

where guilt lives, where shame lies and regrets set up camp.

And when it shows up, it says paid finished done.

Verse twenty two says it plainly, without the shedding of blood,

there is no forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood, there

is no forgiveness. But with it there's full forgiveness, complete forgiveness,

eternal forgiveness, not forgiveness on probation, because you know how

we do we put people on probation. I forgive you

but I'm watching you. It's not forgiveness until you mess

up again. It's forgiveness. You've been forgiven, completely forgiveno. Point three.

The blood gives us access we never had before. Hebrews

ten nineteen through twenty two helps us to understand. It says, therefore,

brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the

most holy place by the blood of Jesus, excuse need.

Jesus by a new and living way open for us

through the curtain that is his body. Hear this, His

body becomes the curtain that's opened. And since we have

a great priest over the House of God, let us

draw near to God with a sincere heart and with

the full assurance that faith brings. We go to God

in faith because of what Jesus did, because he opened

the curtain, his body was open, and blood was shed

for us. The curtain in the original temple, it was

not decorative. It was a barrier. It was sixty feet tall,

four inches thick. It was saying that you don't belong here,

you don't have access here, You can't come into this place.

This presence of God is not for you. But when

Jesus died on the cross, Matthew records that the curtain

was torn in two from top to bottom, not from

bottom to top, because if it had been that way,

someone would have said, some man some woman walked into

the temple and they ripped the curtain. No, it was

from top to bottom, as if the hand of God

reached down and ripped the curtain and said, access granted

for you today. Hebrews nine point fifteen tells us that

Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant. Because of

his death, those who are called may receive the promise

of eternal inheritance. Today you have been called, You are invited.

The curtain is down and the door is open. The

blood of Jesus is your past into the presence of

a living God. And no, this is not a small

thing for generations. People have to count on a priest,

a high priest going in once a year for them.

But you have continual, consistent access anytime anywhere you can

go to God. You can go to God right now

in prayer and can't nobody stop you. That's the good news.

This direct access is available for you right now because

of the blood of Jesus. Before I go into how

do we apply the blood of Jesus. I really want

us to understand some scriptural truths about the power of

the blood. So I'm gonna offer three truths. The first

truth is this, the blood speaks on our behalf. Hebrews

twelve twenty two says, but you have come to Mount Zion,

to the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,

to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to

the sprinkled blood. That speaks a better word than the

blood of Abel. Now, if you remember, Abel was killed

by his brother Cain, and the Bible says that his

blood cried out from the earth. And I want to

let you know that when his blood cried out from

the earth, it was crying out for justice. It was

crying out for vengeance. It was crying out for relief

for what a brother had done to him. But the

blood of Jesus cries out for something different. The blood

of Jesus cries out for mercy, It cries out for forgiveness.

It cries out and says, no, this one is mine.

On the jury stand of life, all of us stand

rightfully accused. But God hears the sound of his son's

blood in the eternal. It is the eternal reminder that

Jesus loves us, that God loves us. This blood is

not silent, it's not mute. It speaks, It intercedes, and

it aggregates truth too. The blood overcomes the enemy. Revelations

twelve eleven says they triumphed over him by the blood

of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. I

want to let you know today that there are many

of us in this room who have amazing testimonies. You

have testimonies of where you've been, what you came out

of it, how you came out of it. You don't

even know how you came out of it except for Jesus.

But I want to let you know it's the tagline

of the first part of that is the blood of

the Lamb. The blood of the Lamb is what made

the difference. You didn't come out by yourself. You could

have tried it on your own, but you can't sustain that.

But the blood of the Lamb will bring you out.

It matters no attack that the enemy may throw at you.

The blood of the Lamb will cause you to overcome it. Yes,

the devil is an accuser. He stands before God pointing

to your failures, pointing to every sin, pointing to the

shortcomings in your life. He has a foul on you,

and everything in the file is true. But the blood

of the Lamb has sealed your case. Oh my God,

you cannot be condemned for what God has already done

through Jesus on the cross. The blood of Jesus nullifies

every accusation. The enemy forms the weapon, and it's real,

but the blood ensures that it does not prosper. You

can't overcome by your own strength. It's not by your righteousness,

your good deeds, how well you behave, or come to church,

how many Bible studies you attend. You overcome because of

the blood of the Lamb zero point three. The blood

sanctifies and sets apart Hebrews thirteen twelve says, And so

Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the

people wholly through his own blood. I need you to

understand today that Jesus suffered and died outside of the city,

just like those four leopers who set outside the city.

You remember, several weeks ago through the series we were

doing the Connected Life. We talked about Neamiah four, and

I was teaching about these four leopers who were outside

the gate because they were not clean, they were not pure.

Jesus goes and dies among them, my God, so that

we could have access. He stood alone outside with those

who were unclean and unworthy, and he dies and gives

up his life so that we could have access. The

blood does not just forgive you, It also sets you apart.

It marks you. It says that this one belongs to God,

this one is holy, this one is covered, this one

is mine. As a youth, I remember the older saints.

They would pray and I would hear this term that

they would say. They would say, I plead and apply

the blood of Jesus over this situation, over this circumstance.

And when I would hear that, I didn't understand what

that meant. But as I grew, I started to understand

that these mature Christians, they were taking authority over the

situations around them. So today, saints, believers, friends, brothers, and sisters,

I want to equip you with that same authority because

you have it through the word of God. I want

to give you three action steps how we plead and

apply the blood of Jesus to our lives. This is

not just a theological knowledge. This is practical power for

the believer. You got power, and sometimes we act like

we don't. You have power through the blood of Jesus.

He died to give you power. It's time to use it.

Action Step one, plead the blood of Jesus through specific

intentional prayer. When you pray, you need to declare the covering,

the authority, the power that comes through the blood over people, places, situations.

You can pray and ask that that thing be covered

by the blood of Jesus, and the enemy cannot attack

what the blood covers. I remember when our girls were little,

at least two of them would have nightmares, horrible dreams

that would wake them up, and we would hear in

the other room mommy daddy, mommy daddy, mommy daddy, and

we would come. But that wears on you. After a while,

get tired of getting up in the middle of the night,

another bad dream. What did you eat? We start going

to all the stuff, the human stuff must have been

the pizza. No more spaghetti for you, and we forget

that this could possibly be a spiritual attack. And then

we went in like the gestabo. We weren't playing about

them and we started to pray for them, when we

started to plead and apply the blood of Jesus over them,

over the door, over the windows, that nothing could come

into that room and attack their dream. That they would

have peaceful rest, that they would have good sleep, that

they would be okay in the morning. They'll get a

full night's sleep, no more bad dreams. And I want

to let you know the dream stopped. But you gotta plead,

plead and apply the blood of Jesus over your marriage,

over your workspace, your school space, the places that you go,

when you get on a plane, when you get in

a car, protection covering Amen. Step two, speak the blood

over your circumstances. Declare freedom. Listen, the blood has already

been shed. The victory is already won. You already have

the victory. I know you got the results, but I

want to let you know you already have the victory.

I know you got the news, but you already got

the victory. You have it already, And we behave like

we don't know. We are like we're gonna be sitting

around and say, oh, surprise, No, it's not a surprise.

You got the victory. Walk in the victory that Jesus

gives you the authority he gives you, you can walk

in it. Listen, as we are celebrating this two hundred

and fifty years of freedom and national independence, I want

us to stop for a moment and lean into the

spiritual dependence we have on Jesus and the blood that

was shed for us. The enemy has no authority, no

rights over the things that the blood covers. Amen. So

some of you when you go to work on Monday tomorrow, Monday,

some y'all took the day off, I know. But whenever

you go back to work, walk through that place and

apply and plead the blood of Jesus over situation and

people you are trying to minister to and witness to

and trying to draw in to the kingdom. Apply it.

The blood still works. I'm gonna say that again. The

blood still works and it will never lose its power.

Action Step three. Live under the authority the blood provised.

The blood doesn't just forgive you, It gives you authority.

You've been redeemed, you have been brought back, you have

been purchased with the price, and you are no longer

a slave to sin, nor are you a slave to

your addiction or to the past. I want to let

you know the past is the past. Stop praying about

the thing. God already forgave you for it's done, it's finished.

I don't know about you, but if I forgive you,

please don't come back, because then I'm like, come on, dude, already,

it's good, We're good. I'm so sorry it's good last

two years ago, Because what's that telling me? I forgave you,

but you didn't forgive yourself. When he forgave you, he

meant it. You are forgiven. Hebrews tells us to draw

near with a sincere heart, full assurance, and full assurance

of faith. That means that when we come to God,

we should not be timid. You don't come in with

your head down. You don't come and apologizing for showing up,

but you come with confidence. I need to let you

I know this, and I'm so serious about this. If

I never say anything, If something ever happens to me

and I'm in the hospital right and the Lord calls

you or leads you to come and pray for me,

please do not come in with a halfway prayer. Don't

come in be like God. You know, maybe you can

touch him. Maybe you can bring him out. Maybe no, no, no,

no no. I want to let you know you come

in there, hardcore. Father God, in the name of Jesus,

raise this brother up right now through the power and

the blood of Jesus. You hear what I'm saying to you,

because if you come with the other prayers, stay at home. Amen,

pray for home. Amen, praise God. All right, So here

it is. You've been given access, You've been given authority.

Use it daily, boldness and confidence. I want to let

you know that as we've prepare to close, the reality

of it is that we all have charges against us.

The accusations are accurate. We have all sinned, we've all

fallen short, We've done things in the dark that we

would not want the light to find out. And on

the jury stand of life, we stand rightfully accused. We

deserve the penalty, and all of the evidence is overwhelming.

We are guilty. A prosecutor would stand up and open

their mouth about it all, and the case is literally airtight.

Every witness that gets on the stand is telling the truth.

But then the defense rises and the defense says, I

have one more witness. I just have one witness to

testify on your behalf, on my behalf. So the bailiff

goes and gets the witness, and when the witness enters

the room, the judge instantly hits the gavel and says

case dismiss. Everybody stands in astonishment to try to figure

out what just happened in this room. How could this

judge make this decision? But the judge sees that the

person standing there is Jesus, and all he can say

see is the blood. The blood, the blood of Jesus,

which frees us and deems us in a sense that

we do not deserve. Because the innocent one laid down

his life for you and me. There is power in

the blood. Take and receive this power. Stand with me today.

It would have been great if we had communion today, right,

But you can do communion on your own when you

go home, because the power is not in the elements.

It's in the Savior, the one who loved us so

much that no matter what you do, no matter what

you've done, won't stop them from loving you. Today, I

want to arm you like those saints of old who

would take on the authority because of the full price

he paid for you and I this blood touches every

space in your life. What is the space that you're

hiding that you have not given them access? The place

that you feel is too dark, too deep, the well

is too deep. Give it to them. The blood can

reach there because it reaches from the highest mountain and

it flows to the deepest valley. The blood that gives

me strength from day today. It will never lose its

power today. I'm talking to two groups here today. Those

who have not come under the authority of the Blood.

You are not in relationship with Jesus. I want to

let you know today is your day. If the Lord

is speaking to you today, do not harden your heart,

but receive what the Lord has for you today. At

the end of the service, there will be prayer and

assessors here at the front, and they will pray with you.

If you want to make Jesus your choice, if you

are deciding to follow Jesus for the first time, I

want you to come at the end of service and

pray with them. Let them know, Hey, I'm whoever I am,

and I am making Jesus my choice. Best choice you'll

ever make, ever make a better choice in your life.

I'm also talking to those of us who forgot the

power of the blood, who forgot how to plead and

apply the blood over the situations in our lives. Saints,

It's time to go back. It's time to go back

because the blood still works. It still works. We can

no longer sit back and allow the things happening in

our families and our community and our world and never

say anything. But we are going to take authority, and

we are going to plead and apply the blood of

Jesus in every situation, every situation. So today, I want

to practice this today because sometimes we do things and

then we walk away and it's like, well it sounds

range coming out of my mouth. But we're going to

say it together, and I want you to take authority.

When you say this, remember, don't halfway do it with me.

Repeat after me. I plead the blood of Jesus over

my life. I plead the blood of Jesus over my family.

I plead the blood of Jesus over my home and

my workplace, over my school, over my friends. I plead

the blood of Jesus over my community. I stand covered

by the blood of Jesus. Nothing can separate me from

what the blood purchased. I am not on discount. God

paid full price for me. I walk in the authority

of the blood. I walk in the freedom of the blood.

Everything the blood touches changes, and the blood has touched me,

and it is so, and so it is in Jesus' name. Amen,