The Blood of Jesus Speaks - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Hebrews twelve twenty two. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels and festival gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. The author of Hebrews is speaking to a specific audience that is experiencing pressure from outsiders through the means of persecution to head into a direction in which they would cut off any ties with Jesus Christ. Now the temptation was not to live in a moral lifestyle or to give up the flesh to lustful passions per se, it was the pressure to go back to the old covenant. It was the pressure to go back to the sacrificial system, to rituals, to depending upon a righteousness that comes from self.

And what the author does by the power of the Holy Spirit is convinces them to stay the course in Christ. And he does so by doing this. He takes the gloom that comes from the old covenant, and he lines it up to the mountainous blessings that come from the new covenant and tower over any hint of glory that would come from the old covenant. The way that this author is convincing them to stay faithful and to cling to Christ is to present and display the beauty of Jesus Christ. This is what the book of Hebrews is about.

It's about declaring the supremacy and the preeminence of Jesus, which tells all of us a wonderful thing. Does it not? That if you are facing pressure or persecution, if you are being pushed into a direction, whether it's something that does not rely solely on the on the grace of Jesus Christ or to go and to live a life that is sensual and sinful, or even as a believer, to slow down in this race and not give everything, the best thing that you and I can do for ourselves is to behold the majesty of Christ. The greatest motivation is to understand his sacrifice and to realize the riches that come when a person steps into faith and comes into union with the son of God. And he does so in verse 22 down to 24, does he not?

He he tells them, but you have come to something in Christ. And he begins to list all these glorious blessings, and he lands in verse 24. He lands by saying this, you have come to something, and not just something, but you have come to someone. You've come to who? To Jesus.

And he is the mediator of a new covenant. And, oh, how glorious is this last part of this verse. And to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Sprinkled blood. Whose blood are we speaking of here?

The blood of Jesus Christ. You know, this imagery of blood doesn't settle well with many people. Some people are are are squeamish, and some people don't find it really much to be appeasing. I myself, with my own ears, have heard a minister suggest to other ministers that it's probably better to dodge the idea of the blood of Jesus being sung in our songs, because it would seem strange, and it would seem uncomfortable to discuss specifically to the ears of the unconverted. Oh, what a shame.

Because I wanna tell you tonight that if we do not understand, acknowledge, and accept the blood of Jesus Christ, There is no true hope. There is no heart transforming power, and there is no eternal life. You have come to the sprinkled blood and and here lies the power of the blood of Jesus, it speaks. This blood, it speaks. It testifies something glorious to the glorious one.

And before we understand what it speaks, we have to understand two things. Who this blood speaks to and who it speaks for. And what the author does, what the Holy Spirit does, takes the sprinkled blood of Jesus and parallels it to the blood of Abel from Genesis chapter four, because there are some parallels there. In Genesis four, when Cain slew his brother Abel, it says that his blood cried out to God. His blood got the attention of heaven, and how much more the crimson flow on Calvary's Cross get the attention of the holy one?

This blood speaks to God. It speaks to the father. And notice, it does not say that this sprinkled blood spoke. No. It says it speaks.

It has been speaking the moment it was shed on Golgotha's Hill, and it's still speaking today. What is it speaking for, or who is it speaking for? It speaks for anyone who understands their need of it. In Genesis four ten, this is what it says about Abel. It says that Abel, a righteous was a righteous man and an innocent man.

It says that, what have you done concerning Cain? The blood and the voice of your brother's blood cries out to me. Abel was a righteous man. Abel was an innocent man. Abel did not deserve to die.

Abel was killed by his brother. And when he was killed, his blood testified against Cain. But this is why the blood of Jesus speaks better than the blood of Abel. Because Jesus, the righteous and perfect one, who did not deserve to die and who was killed by his brethren, his blood testifies not against us though. It testifies for us.

It testifies for us. And this is why it is a better word. If Abel blood says, what have you done? If Abel's blood caused God to say, what have you done? Jesus's blood says, look what I've done.

Abel's blood says, condemn the sinner. Jesus's blood says, cleanse the sinner. Abel's blood says, destroy the transgressor. And Jesus says, deliver him. Abel's blood says, vengeance, vengeance, vengeance.

Jesus shouts mercy, mercy, mercy. The blood, the sprinkled blood of Jesus speaks to God on behalf of repented sinners. And when you humbly accept this crisis flow as the payment of your sin, you must realize that Christ now steps in and speaks on your behalf before the holy one. Now the question is, what does it say? Imagine with me just a scenario of a young man named John, who's not a believer.

And John works at a specific place, and he has a coworker who's a Christian. And one day, this Christian testifies of the gospel to John. He has heard some idea of Jesus, but now he's beginning to sense this person, Jesus. He he begins to feel the weight of his sin. And day after day after small conversation, he begins to realize that he is guilty.

He begins to sense that he did sin against God. He begins to realize even this, that if he were to die, that God had every right to condemn him to an eternal hell. And this condemnation and this voice begins to get louder and louder day after day, and he's trying to do his menial task hour after hour, but he is haunted by this conviction. He can't shake it off. It's coming with him when he goes to bed.

It's there when he wakes up until finally one day John goes to work with one thing on mind. I must find this person, and I must tell him that I need to be saved. And so in that factory house, in that obscure lunchroom, John finds his coworker, sits him down and says, what must I do to be saved? And this faithful Christian, who understands the gospel, looks at him and says, you cannot trust on your own righteousness. You have a record of sin, and only faith in the blood of Jesus can save you.

The moment John accepts and believes, the moment he repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, every sin, every record of wrong, every accuser, whether man or the devil himself, is silenced because it is drowned out by the voice of the blood of Jesus Christ. In that moment. And it speaks on behalf of John. What does it say? What does this blood say for John?

Christ steps into his place. His sacrifice says this, father, your wrath does not need to fall upon John. I have satisfied it. Father, your blood your wrath does not need to fall because my blood has covered him. Romans five nine says this, since therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

I wanna tell you something very bold tonight. If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you have a problem to deal with. And you might be experiencing some problems in life right now, but I wanna tell you something that's not your biggest problem. Your biggest problem is that you don't have enough friends. Your biggest problem is not that you're lonely.

Your biggest problem is not that you can't find the right job. Your biggest problem is that you don't have enough money in your bank account. Your biggest problem is not that even you're sick in the body. Your biggest problem is not that your boyfriend or your girlfriend left you. And even if everything was going smooth in your life, and you have figured everything out, and it seems to be a plus, you still have a problem that you have not dealt with.

And this is the problem you face, that one day you will face the fierce, heart paralyzing, daunting wrath of the almighty that's hanging over your head. Have you dealt with that problem yet? Are you dealing with problems that are in the temporary? John three thirty six says this, if you believe in the son, you shall see life. But if you do not obey the son, you do not have life.

But the wrath of God remains on you. God's wrath will be faced by every person who has not received the blood of Jesus to cover them. And the only way, sir, you can avert the wrath of God, is when you realize that Jesus Christ drank your hell on your behalf. When you realize that he drank every drop of the wrath that you deserve as a wicked, vile, despicable son or daughter of Adam, He paid it for you, and you have to cry out to the blood that cries out for you, lest you pay for it yourself. What else does this blood speak on behalf of John, on behalf of any man or woman?

It says this, father, here's my blood. Here's my blood. The record of sin that makes John guilty is no more. The record of sin from the moment he breathed his first is no more. My blood cleanses it all.

Revelation 12 tells us something about Satan in verse 10. That ancient serpent, that dragon, he is the accuser of the brethren, and he comes before God day and night to accuse. And so Satan has the audacity to come before God viciously and boldly, and brings before the almighty all your sins, all the things that you've done to blaspheme God, all the things that you've done to disobey God, and he begins to in some twisted way, why else would he do it other than to provoke God to bring judgment upon your head and mine? And so there he is with that native tongue of his that loves to accuse and loves to lie, and he looks at God and says, look at that sexually immoral filth. You're gonna let that sin go?

Aren't you holy? Aren't you righteous? Don't you want glory for yourself? Look at how the how many times they've taken your name in vain. Look at their hypocrisy.

Look at all the things that they've done to tarnish your name. Why don't you just step in and destroy? Why don't you just destroy them? Why don't you just kill? Why don't you make your vengeance known, god?

Accusing, accusing, accusing, accusing. But in the same verses, in that same paragraph, it says that the accused of the brethren has been conquered, and he's been silenced. Now what was the source of power that silences the voice of the accuser over your life and over yours? What is it? Verse 11 of Revelation 12.

And they, the ones who are being accused, have conquered him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony. By the blood of the lamb. That blood which speaks actually silences the voice of the accuser. And so when he begins to bring sin and iniquity and mistakes and transgressions over your life and comes to God and accuses, his voice is muted by what? The blood that speaks on your behalf, and all God hears over your life is innocent, blameless, pure, holy, made right, my son, my daughter.

That's what he hears. Now I wanna challenge you. If that's what god hears, why are you letting other voices tell you otherwise? Why are you living in condemnation? There is now therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

If God hears that over your life, you need to hear it too. Righteous, holy, blameless, eternal life on your merit? No. On Christ. What else does his blood say?

It says so much does it not? What else does his blood say? On behalf of John and every man or woman who allows the blood of this cross to wash them. What does it say? Says father, John has access to your presence forever.

Because of my blood being sprinkled, that is old testament language. It's speaking of the priest that would come and sprinkle the blood of that goat or that bull on that mercy seat. The blood of Jesus that was sprinkled, but once and for all, not year after year, gives access for us to acknowledge and experience his presence on this side of heaven. That's why Hebrews ten nineteen says, therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, we have confidence to enter into the holy place, the holy of holies, because of the blood of the lamb. What right do you think and do I think we have to at any moment, whether you're in your car, whether you're walking from one class to another, or whether you find the time to shut the door of your bedroom and to get on your knees and to seek God and to have the assurance that he gives you his full attention in that moment?

What right do you think you and I have? We have no right. We have no right. What right do we have to think that we can come and bring our burdens before god, that we can intercede, that we can part our hearts before him knowing that he hears us? And oftentimes, we can sense his nearness.

Do you think that's based on your goodness on that day? Is it because you went a few weeks without really falling? No. The only right that you have to access God in such a manner is because Jesus sprinkled his blood and has given you access. That is why we pray in Jesus's name.

That is why I am baffled that so many who have a understanding, a general understanding of Christianity, yet still find it within themselves to wanting to pray through another name to come to God. When Jesus himself, hear me very carefully, paid a high price for you to come to the father at any moment. Because I will tell you this, if you are trying to access God through any person, I don't care how saintly he or she is, you are not accessing God. Because only Jesus and through his blood alone do you have access to relationship with the father. Only Jesus.

And this life can be walked with God like Enoch walked with him in his day because of what Christ has done for you and me. And I'm ending it here. Are you washed in the blood? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Because it longs to speak for you.

It does not wanna testify against you. It wants to testify for you. And there are so many things to be experienced through the blood, and it requires you to acknowledge your need of it. It requires you to say, I realize I'm filthy. Wash me with that crimson flow.

Wash me with the blood that pumped through Emmanuel's veins. I need cleansing. Do you need cleansing from your sin? Are you basing your confidence on anything else other than the blood of Jesus? Because only the blood of Jesus satisfies.

And here's the glorious truth, there is enough for everyone. And it does not speak in the past. That blood is willing to speak for you today. Come to the fountain. Come to the place, the foot of the cross, and allow that blood to wash you clean.

Let's pray together. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Lord, we thank you that this blood still speaks, and it speaks on our behalf. Lord that even when our own hearts condemn us, your blood speaks for us.

Help us hear that voice. Help us understand how precious it really is, more precious than gold and silver. Lord, we just pray in this moment that if there's any man or woman who has sinned crying out against them, who has transgression, screaming for vengeance and for justice to be poured out on them, to realize that that transfer can be made by receiving the blood into our accounts, and that that blood now speaks on our behalf, and we have right standing. Lord, help that person realize who does not have that assurance that in a moment, right here tonight, everything can change for them. Everything can change for them.

Lord, for those who have been washed by the blood, to those who can testify, I have been washed by the blood of Jesus. May we realize how awesome it is. And may it be the theme of our singing, and may we not be ashamed to speak of it. Lord, we acknowledge in this house tonight as churches are filled for this Good Friday service. May every heart know that the blood of Jesus is the answer for them.

The blood of Jesus is the answer for Chicago. The blood of Jesus is the answer for America's problem. May you revive this nation again to realize it. In your precious and holy name we pray. Amen.