Hebrews 9 verse 19. When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, this is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf, for us. nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with blood of others. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world. But now once, in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Heavenly Father, we pray that as we continue these thoughts begun earlier, that they'd be brought to a proper conclusion with the uplifted Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, the Savior. We pray that the Savior might be seen here this morning. Move among us. May your power be here, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. You may take your seats. I have a copy here of a newspaper article that was published in 1979. You might think, wow, this must be important. Well, it is to me. It contains a picture of my father receiving an award. from city officials there in British Columbia. The article talks about the fact that Anthony Oldfield had been donating blood for 40 years. During that time, he had given more than 20 gallons of blood, saving the lives of a great many, many people. The article mentions that he had been involved in 11 open-heart surgeries, giving blood to meet the needs of specific individuals. It was not just a general thing in this case. It was for specific people. He met only one of them, an 11-year-old boy. He's quoted in the paper saying, to me, it was very traumatic. It was a beautiful situation. It was apparently necessary, absolutely necessary, that his type A negative blood be ready for that child whose heart was going to be opened up and the surgeons trying to repair the damages that were in it. That was in Omaha, Nebraska, a place known for the processing of excellent beef. It used to be proverbial. Omaha beef was the best in the United States. Why didn't someone from the hospital go down to one of the slaughterhouses and collect a few gallons of Angus blood and bring that to the operating room and give it to that little boy? It's because there is no substitute for human blood when another human being needs a transfusion. Any other blood would be poisonous. Last Wednesday, we had a lesson entitled, How God Became a Man. And earlier this morning, we looked at how God was man. My intention was to remind us that God became incarnate. He took upon himself human flesh. Christ Jesus was, and still is, the God-man. This is essential foundational Bible doctrine. Wednesday when I started, I didn't intend for it to become a trilogy, but as I was preparing for the Sunday school lesson this morning, I said, we need to consider why it was that Christ became a human being. And this can be summarized with the illustration that I just shared with you. God has decreed that blood, only blood can wash away sin. Judy was telling me the other day that some bird houses need to be cleaned every year or even before that. But can't use soap and water. Has to be pure water or perhaps water mixed with a little bleach. And in our homes, we get stains. And this stain can be removed with this thing, and this stain can be removed with that thing. There's quite a science in stain removal. And the moral stains, there was a word in the hymn that I sang a few minutes ago that I thought about changing. It was the word stain. I thought about changing it to sin. The moral stains caused by sin, stains which only God can really see clearly. The stains of sin can only be washed away with blood. It is not our prerogative to question that fact. God has said it, that's the way it is, only blood, simply it. In our opening text from Hebrews, the writer refers back to the Old Testament law and said, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood, without remission, without the purging of blood, without the shedding of blood is no remission. And in Leviticus, which we read earlier, 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. Scripture after scripture after scripture declares the same thing over and over and over again. Christ said, this is my blood, my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. The apostles said, Christ has purchased his blood with his own, excuse me, Christ has purchased his church with his own blood. Being now justified by Jesus' blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 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 of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Christ Jesus, who is the faithful witness and 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 sin with his own blood. John saw a certain group of people in heaven who were they which came out of the great tribulation having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. These are not all of the scriptures which talk about the necessity of Christ's blood to wash away our sins. There are others. If the thought of being baptized in blood disgusts you, then maybe you're not a Christian. Now, we're not baptized in blood, but that's an illustration of how important it is. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. What can wash away your sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make you whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Would you be free from the burden of sin? There's power in the blood. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. Now ransom from sin and a new work begun. Sing praise to the Father and praise to the Son. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. Blessed be the fountain of blood to world of sinners revealed. Blessed be the dear Son of God, only by His stripes we are healed. Though I have wandered far from His fold, bringing my heart pain and woe, wash me in the blood of the Lamb, and I shall be whiter than snow. Both the Word of God and the words which God has given to our hymn writers tell us that the blood of Christ is the only remedy for our sins. It saddens me. It grievously saddens me. that there are people preaching these verses that I've just shared with you, and people singing these hymns that I have just shared with you, who horribly underestimate the value of the blood of Christ. Remember that cattle's blood cannot be used for human transfusions. It's not useful for that purpose. And the Bible tells us that that cattle's blood cannot be used to cleanse us from our transgressions before God. Hebrews 10.4, it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Hebrews 9.9, they were nothing but a figure for the time then present in which they were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect. With these things, we head back toward our trilogy. At the time of eternal appointment, God sent his only begotten son into the world to redeem sinners. When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, Galatians 4, 4 and 5. Mary was told by God's angel that her baby would be the son of the highest. He would be the son of God. Elizabeth told Mary that her baby would be the Lord, as in the Lord God. Joseph was told, probably by that same angel, that the baby's name must be Jesus because he shall save his people from their sins. And finally, the shepherds outside Bethlehem were told to go into the city where they would find their savior. And he was described as the one who's wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And that is what they found, their savior lying in a manger. That is important to the gospel message. Even though for the most part, we take these things for granted and we move on to the application of the gospel. In the incarnation of Christ, the eternal God took upon him human flesh. And without controversy or debate, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And the book of Hebrews begins by saying, God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto our fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. whom he appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had himself purged our sins, sat down in the right hand of the majesty on high. God sent his son, someone who is everything that God the Father is, to purge our sins. He accomplished that purgation through his sacrificial death on the cross. Then he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high as the glorious heir of all things. Adding these to our previous thoughts, we get to the actual next point in the trilogy. Only Christ, only the theanthropic person, the God-man, could accomplish our salvation. No one else is fit. Would you be free from the burden of sin? There's power in the blood. Would you or evil a victory win? There is wonderful power in the blood. But, as I have said, it's not just any blood. Just as cattle's blood cannot be used for a human transfusion, not every kind of human blood is compatible with the needs of every other human's surgery. O, A negative, O negative may be required. Not even the God-prescribed blood of the Old Testament sacrifices. God-prescribed these sacrifices. They are not capable of washing away our sins. They're just a figure. Only the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ will meet the demands of God's absolute holiness. For as much as you know, you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, only the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from all sin. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven, given by men, whereby we must be saved. I know I've repeated myself several times just now, earlier Wednesday, Now I'll try to explain and illustrate. When Israel was given instructions on offering their sacrifices, one of the stipulations was that they were supposed to pick the very best they had for that sacrifice, whatever it happened to be, a lamb or a bullock, whatever. Those sacrifices were to be made without obvious blemish. Out of several scriptures, there are the words of Leviticus 22. You shall offer at your own will a male without blemish of the bees, of the sheep, or of the goats. But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer, for it is not acceptable for you. And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein. Blind, or broken, or maimed, having a wen, or scurvy, or scab, ye shall not offer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering of fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord. either a bullock or a lamb that hath anything superfluous or lacking any of his parts, that mayest thou offer for a free will. But for a vow, it shall not be accepted." That was the ideal. That was the command. Actually, it's impossible. There is nothing perfect in this world. There's nothing perfect in this world because of the corruption of sin. So when the time was come for the ultimate sacrifice to be made, God sent his own perfect son, the only one in whom he was well-placed. When Mary gave birth to her child Jesus, the angel explained to Joseph, they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. At the birth of Christ, it was not simply that he who had been God came into the world. And he didn't become God at any point, as some cults are trying to tell us. He who has always been God took upon himself human flesh. Christ Jesus, who was being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness a man. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2. I have read that God has never honored his creation any more than he did in Immanuel, God with us. And I've also read that if Christ was not truly Immanuel, then Christianity is nothing better than a reformed paganism of some sort. In the midst of the incredible blessing of God's presence among us and his purpose in becoming the perfect sacrifice, there is another essential thought involving the nature and the quality of that sacrifice. The sacrifice necessary to deliver us from the wrath of God against us in our sins had to be perfect. infinitely perfect. I know that's redundancy, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Infinitely perfect, which is already perfect. There is the necessity of the incarnation. There is the necessity for the God-man, the theanthropic person. Not only did Christ come into this world without the sinful nature of Adam, because he had no human father, But because he was as much God as he was human, he lived his entire life without sin. There are several scriptures which testify of that fact. There's 2 Corinthians 5.21, for example. God hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in the sinless one. Christ demanded that witnesses step forward with evidence that he had, at any time during his 33 years, sinned. No one could step forward. No evidence. Peter says that Jesus shed his blood as of a lamb, without blemish, without spot. And he did no sin. Neither was guile found in his mouth. There are people, wanting to emphasize Jesus' humanity, who have taught that he could have sinned, but he chose not to do so. In other words, because of his desire to fulfill the Father's wishes, Christ would not sin. But the fact is, in his humanity, That is as much an impossibility as it is for me not to see it. I may wake up in the morning and say, Lord, keep me from seeing. I sin far too often. No matter how stubborn I might be, how resolute I may be in trying to fight against those temptations, I am a sinner because I am a human. Oh, Christ was human. The thing to remember is that Christ was not merely an exquisite human being. He is God. The humanity of Christ never stood alone. The humanity of Christ never could stand alone. He was always linked and supported by his deity. After his incarnation, the two, the deity and the humanity of Christ, could never be separated. So the question becomes, can God sin? And the answer is, absolutely not. God has defined sin as anything which is against his nature. And God cannot do anything which is contrary to his own nature. Therefore, God cannot sin. And having already proved that Jesus Christ is God, I believe that he could not, cannot sin. I believe in the impeccability of Christ. Not only did he never sin, he could never sin. Christ could never sin. In this area, Jesus' deity ruled over his humanity. But what about those days when Jesus got tired? Where's the divinity of Christ there? When he got hungry, when he got thirsty, where was his deity then? While admitting my understanding is limited, let me put it this way. In matters of simple human weakness, when there were no moral issues involved, Jesus' humanity ruled during those 33 years. But because of the unity of his humanity and deity, when it came to sin and righteousness, sin or righteousness. When it came to right or wrong, Christ's deity superseded his humanity. Christ could never sin, and in this he remained the perfect sacrifice for sin. He couldn't have sinned if he wanted to, which is a stupid thing to say. Retract that, it's not in my notes. The other day in our family devotions, the Lord taught me something that I had never seen before. And not only answered a question that I have had for a while, but it also sheds light on this particular subject. In Matthew 26, Jesus was on trial before the high priest. And the council sought false witnesses against him. Various people stepped forward making all kinds of accusations. But Jesus held his peace, not answering a word. He didn't defend himself. He didn't prove the foolishness of those witnesses. He didn't point out how they were lying. He was, as Isaiah prophesied, as a sheep before her shears is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. But then the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the son of God. And Jesus instantly said unto him, thou hast said. The reference Judy and I were reading pointed to Leviticus 5 as the reason for Jesus breaking the silence that he had for the last few minutes. If a soul hear the voice of swearing, as the priest had just done, and is a witness, if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity. If it is a lie or blasphemy and we say nothing, we have sinned. If someone swears and we don't expose it, we sin. And if under an oath someone demands the truth, and we don't agree, then we sin and are accountable before God. Because the high priest used an oath, swearing as he did, I adjure thee in the name of the most high God, our sinless savior became obligated to reply. And he simply said, thou hast said, you've told the truth, I am who you claim I am. Christ could never sin, but yet the devil put pressure on him to sin. He was tempted in all points like as we are. He was tried, he was tested, he did not break. Hebrews 4.15, we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. It was somewhat like the Old Testament priest looking for the perfect red heifer to sacrifice. He took a fine tooth comb and went over the back of that animal. And if there were too many white hairs, he was not fit to be the red heifer. Satan combed through every hair of our savior. Looking for a fault. Trying to cause failure. But it was Satan who failed. Christ Jesus is the perfect God-man. And in that, he is also God's perfect sacrifice. Our remedy for sin. His human blood type, so to speak, matched our human needs. And in that, in that he is God, That sacrificial blood was perfect. I've gotten a little more involved than I usually do on Sunday morning. So let me simplify and summarize. I would like to set before you the Savior, the one that we need due to our wretched sins. In ourselves, we do not possess what's necessary to wash away the effects of our sin nature or any of our individual transgressions. But in the God-man Savior, we have the one and only perfect substitutionary sacrifice. What is required of us is simply to acknowledge that we need a Savior. We're sinners. And then all that's left is us to trust that sacrifice. The death that Christ Jesus made on the cross. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now I'll emphasize that word, Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be saved. Our Savior is the Lord God of heaven and earth. The second person of the Godhead. I would take you back to our testimony earlier this morning. I plead with you using God's own words. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Won't you call on the name of the Lord this morning? There's salvation in no other blood but that. Please stand.