By

Wayne Cox

(This article is from “Marred Vessels” Chapter 12)

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins, 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. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.”—Matthew 26:26-28.

The 28th verse of this 26th Chapter of Matthew will suffice for the subject: “For this is my BLOOD of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

The subject under consideration is one that is timely and important inasmuch as it deals with the only thing that can cleanse, redeem, and save—that is the BLOOD of Jesus.

You hear people speak about the cross. The cross holds a fascination for many people, but there is nothing of a meritorious nature about the wooden cross upon which Jesus died, with this exception, it held the Son of God. Therefore it is not the cross that is so important, but the BLOOD that was shed upon the cross. That is the thing that is important; that is the thing we should learn more about—the blood of Jesus.

People in this modern age, the age of so-called enlightenment, have gotten way ahead of the Lord. The Bible has become to many an outmoded, outdated, book of Psalms. Then people hear something about the blood of Jesus, and they are quick to retaliate with, “That’s a butcher-shop gospel.” Call it what you will, term it a “butcher-shop gospel” if you please, but if there is one thing the Bible teaches, it is that “without the shedding of BLOOD there is no REMISSION of sin” (Heb. 9:22).

Attack the blood of Jesus all you please, denounce it, deny it; yet it still stands as the only thing that remits sin.

Fifty years ago professing Christians were quite different than they are today. Fifty years ago if a man preached a sermon without exalting the blood of Jesus, without mentioning the blood of Christ in the message, people said he wasn’t preaching. But today it is revised; it has changed altogether. Today if a man preaches on the blood of Jesus, he is preaching that which is offensive. The Apostle Paul wanted the offense of the cross to continue and every Bible-loving, Christ-honoring member of the Lord’s church and every God-called preacher of the Gospel ought to be willing for the offense of the cross to continue. Certainly one way to offend, is to preach on the blood of Jesus—the “butcher-shop gospel.”

A man stood in a leading university, less than five years ago, and spoke to six hundred ministers, or supposed-to-be ministers, and said, “Boys, when you go out to preach, one thing I don’t want you to mention is the blood of Jesus. There is no meritorious power in the blood of Christ, no more than in a hog’s blood, and when you get up and talk about it you are only preaching a “butcher-shop gospel.”

He was heralded as one of the greatest religious men of this age. They held him in the highest esteem. They said, “He is an eloquent speaker, a wonderful Christian gentleman.”

He was a rank infidel, that’s what he was. It’s a sin to call anything by the wrong name. Why beat the Devil around the stump, so to speak; why not come right out and call him what he is, what anyone is who denies the blood of Christ?

There are a number of things I want to say about the blood of Jesus—

I’ve said this from the pulpit many times and I say it now again. The believer is not a free moral agent in the Arminian sense. People get the idea that life is their own, to do with as they please, to order after their own discretion. Beloved, that isn’t true. Here is a text I want you to notice. I’m sure it has been read and heard many times without striking pay-dirt, without hitting home. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20, Paul is talking to the church at Corinth:

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of GOD, AND YE ARE NOT YOUR OWN? For ye are BOUGHT with a PRICE: therefore glorify God in your body. and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Brethren, you are not your own, you have been bought with a price, and you belong to God.

I have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, and it is not for me to order my life as I please. God has the authority to command, and it is for me to obey. Remember that friends, if you are saved, you are not your own, you belong to God. Paul said, “You no longer belong to yourself. You have been purchased, bought with a price. Then use that which you have to glorify God; that is, your body and spirit.”

You may raise the question this evening: “What WAS the PRICE that was paid?”

The PRICE, beloved, was the BLOOD of Jesus. Paul makes it so plain, talking to the Ephesian elders, pointing out to them their responsibilities as pastors and preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Acts 20:28: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath PURCHASED with his own BLOOD.”

Purchased how? With His own blood. That’s the price.

I fear a lot of people who claim to be the children of God, have missed the boat; they have failed to take into consideration that it was the blood of Jesus that purchased, bought, and set free. It’s the BLOOD, that’s the PRICE.

My salvation didn’t cost me one thing in the world, but it came at a tremendous price, for it cost Heaven, Christ; God, His Son; and Christ, His blood.

People who claim to be Christians sometimes hug their children to their bosoms and say, “I love you best in the world.” Wives put their arms around their husbands, and husbands their wives, and say, “Honey, I love you better than anything.”

Listen, beloved, that isn’t right. Christ has bought us, and to Him and Him alone belongs the best love of our hearts, for He has redeemed us. “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold . . . but with the precious BLOOD of CHRIST, as a lamb without spot or blemish.”—1 Peter 1:18, 19.

There are three words used in the New Testament for redemption; Agorazo, which means to buy in the forum, or market-place.

The second word is Exagorazo, which means to buy out of the market-place, and set free. We were being auctioned off in the market-place as slaves to sin, but Jesus, by His Blood, bought us and forever set us free.

The third word used is Lutroo which means to pay the price and set free. Jesus paid the price and set us free, therefore we are now bond servants of the Master. He has the right to command and demand of me the best love of my heart.

Here in 1 Peter 1:18, 19 the Apostle Peter was talking to saved Jews, and they understood that under the law, men who were sold into slavery, if they could, would save enough money to redeem themselves from their masters. So he raises the question, how they were redeemed from sin, and tells them it was not with such corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious BLOOD of Christ. It was the BLOOD, he said, that redeemed.

Preachers, if you ever get up to preach and you suddenly forget everything you ever knew, if you can remember just one thing, it is the BLOOD that makes everything right. It is the BLOOD that saves. It is the BLOOD that redeems. If you never preach but one sermon in your whole life, let it be the blood of Jesus. Exalt the blood of Christ.

When I was a young preacher-boy I made many mistakes, many blundering mistakes, in trying to win lost souls to Christ. I would approach a lost man and ask him if he wanted to make peace with God. Beloved, don’t ever ask a lost man if he wants to make peace with God, for CHRIST has already made the PEACE. Peace is God’s gift. Colossians 1:20: “And having made PEACE through the BLOOD of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself.” Who made the peace? JESUS. How? Through the BLOOD of His cross. It’s the BLOOD. . . It’s the BLOOD. . . It’s the BLOOD.

You may say, then, “Brother Cox, if Jesus has already made the peace, and I am lost, how can I become the recipient of this peace with God?”

Through faith in Jesus, that’s how. It’s not in the church, nor church ordinances, your friends, neighbors, or loved ones. Man without Christ is an enemy of God. There is enmity between the man and God, but through the blood of the cross, the enmity has been slain, and through the blood man can become reconciled to God, and enjoy peace with God. It is the BLOOD all the way. Romans 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have PEACE with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Therefore the BLOOD is the basis of our PEACE.

Not only that—

I’d like to point out here that the forgiveness of sins is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Bible. You have heard people tell the lost to get down on their knees and beg God to forgive them of their sins, that if you pray long enough and hard enough, God will remit the penalty for sins. That’s human forgiveness, beloved, not Divine. Divine forgiveness is the execution of the penalty, and that penalty is death. Jesus died under the penalty. Divine forgiveness means the bearing away of sins, and men RECEIVE the forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7: “In whom we HAVE REDEMPTION through his BLOOD, the FORGIVENESS of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” We have REDEMPTION. What else? FORGIVENESS of sins. We have it, we didn’t get it, it’s a gift.

The translation of the word “forgiveness” comes from a Greek word Aphesus, and means to bear up and bear away, to separate the sins from the sinner. Fifteen times it is found in the New Testament. Six times it is rendered “forgiveness,” and nine times it is rendered “remission;” but it always means the same thing, to bear up and to bear away.

Paul talking to King Agrippa, told him how that God had called him to preach to the Gentiles to open their eyes and turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan, unto God, that they might RECEIVE the forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Christ. In Christ, you see, you RECEIVE it. In Acts 10:43 the Apostle Peter says the same thing to the household of Cornelius:

“To him (Christ) give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall RECEIVE remission of sins.”

You receive it, don’t you see? You don’t get it, for this expression carries with it an implication you have done something to earn forgiveness of sins.

The BLOOD of JESUS is the CHANNEL of our FORGIVENESS . . . The blood of Jesus was shed and Jesus paid for our sins. The old debt was settled on the cross, thus we who believe On Jesus, can sing as in that old song, “The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago.” IT’S the BLOOD, don’t you see? It’s the blood.

Beloved, may I say this as tenderly and as kindly as I know how: anything, ANYTHING, that detracts from the blood of Christ and its power is a dangerous thing. May you always have before you this one great cardinal fact: it is the BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST that saves, cleanses, sanctifies, purifies and redeems.

Here is another thing—

No man without the merits of Christ’s blood has the right to approach God. He is not God’s child. He has nothing wherewith to plead his own cause before God. He must have the blood of Christ. “Watch it now,” you say, “Brother Pastor, I can’t accept that.” Well, let’s see what God’s Word says. Hebrews 10:19, 20: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the BLOOD of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the evil, that is to say, his flesh.”

Paul said by the blood of Jesus we have access into the Holiest. Who dwells in the Holy Place? God. Who has access to the holy place? Only those who come by the blood of Jesus. Every saved person in the world can talk to God, can plead with God, can communicate with God, because he does it on the merits of the blood of Jesus, the blood of the Lamb of God. Therefore the BLOOD of Jesus provides the liberty of our ACCESS to God.

I talked to a man a long time ago on the campus of the Baptist Hospital. He was a retired minister. I had gone there to take a patient, and his wife was in the hospital. We were discussing the Bible, and he said, “Brother Cox, I’m afraid the Lord’s church will eventually lose her identity.”

I said, “That won’t do because the Lord Himself gives the marching orders, and has promised to be with her always, and the council of the unseen world shall not prevail against her. Therefore she will never lose her identity.”

He said he was afraid a lot of God’s people would not overcome, that they would succumb to temptation and be drowned out.

I said, “Every child of God will overcome, because the blood of Christ makes it so.”

You watch it now. I said a moment ago that the blood of Christ is our certainty of overcoming all things and we shall walk in the sunlight of the presence of Jesus Christ, having been made as pure as the blood of Jesus can make us, having overcome. Notice Revelation 3:21: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”

Who is the man that overcomes? The Apostle John had this to say in 1 John 5:4, 5: “For whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that OVERCOMETH the world, but he that BELIEVETH that Jesus is the Son of God?”

You may say, “That’s fine, that’s good, but my faith may grow weak.”

But you know, beloved, faithful is He who promised (Hebrews 10:32).

But here is the one that climaxes and proves the certainty of our overcoming: Revelation 12:11, “And they OVERCAME him by the BLOOD of the LAMB.”

We are victorious through the blood of the Lamb of God. Don’t talk to me about a man who believes in Christ not overcoming. He shall walk victorious into the presence of God, because the BLOOD sustains him. Through the BLOOD we are victorious. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb.

1 John 1:7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST his Son CLEANSETH us from all sin.”

You see, friends, it is a continuing, present tense, CLEANSING. The BLOOD is always there to cleanse from sin. It’s continuous. It’s there all the time.

Don’t you see what the blood does? It saves us, it purifies us, and cleanses us from daily sins. It’s the blood of Jesus, and not anything else.

And here is another thing—

I love to hear gospel hymns as well as anyone I know. I love to hear men sing, who know the One they are singing about. The blood will be the theme of our praise in the “by and by.”

Revelation 5:9-10: “And they SUNG a new song, saying, THOU ART WORTHY to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and has redeemed us to God by THY BLOOD out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.”

They sing about the blood of Jesus; it is a victorious song. That’s why we love to sing the old hymn:

You want to know what you’ll be doing on the other side? You’ll be singing about the blood of Jesus, that’s what you will be doing. “And they SUNG a new song, and said, Thou art worthy; Thou wast slain to redeem us; by thy blood, by thy blood, thou hast redeemed us.”

“Thy blood has made us become priests of God.

“Thy blood has made it possible to reign with thee on earth.

“Thy blood has saved us.

“Thy blood hast sanctified us. Thy BLOOD, thy blood, O Lord, thy blood!”

How many people realize, when they read the Word of God, that God is speaking to their hearts? How many people read about the blood of Jesus Christ and exult in the knowledge that they have been redeemed with that precious blood? How many people read the trial of Jesus, in Gethsemane, as we see Him there on His knees, as His pores open and He sweats great drops of blood, and forever hallows ‘the place where He kneels—how many people read that and cry out, “Oh, Lord Jesus of Calvary, all that suffering for me!” How many read and think about the Word of God as they ought? They think of church membership, rituals, ceremonies, thus and so, but it is the BLOOD. It has always been the BLOOD and throughout all eternity it will always be the BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST.

Oh, if I could only make you realize it’s the blood, beloved, that saves and you become the recipients of the power of the blood of Jesus, through faith in His blessed and holy name. Then you can say with the poet of old, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling,” wash me and free me in the blood of Christ. Amen.

Providence Baptist Ministries © 2006 ,
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Revised: February 14, 2005 .