Nothing But The Blood

Leviticus 14:14-18

And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: [15] And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: [16] And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord : [17] And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: [18] And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord.

All week long I been struggling through some changes in my life, changes that were forced upon me by the circumstances of my secular career, and I have been praying for God to help me through this struggle. As I spent time in prayer, the Holy Spirit has been impressing on me the importance and the power of the blood of Jesus.

I sense, this morning, that the Holy Spirit is trying to send a strong advance notice to the church to get back to the blood, not only in our thinking but also in our speaking and in our living.

Rahab, the harlot, saved herself and her entire family from destruction when she hung a scarlet thread from her window: that scarlet thread represents the blood. The children of Israel saved their household from the death angel when they applied the blood of the lamb to the top and the sides of their door posts.

This Scripture I have chosen this week deals with the cleansing of those infected with leprosy. Leprosy in the Old Testament(OT) was a type for sin. What this text shows us is that the leper was not considered clean until the blood was applied, then after the leper was pronounced clean by the application of the blood, then the priest would apply the oil right on top of the blood: The oil was only applied where the blood was present.

Oil in the OT, is a type of the Holy Spirit. The importance of that to you and I is this: The Holy Spirit answers to the blood, witnesses to the blood, honors the blood, testifies to the blood, and He waits for the blood. In other words: The Holy Spirit only comes where the blood has been applied.

First it's the blood and then it's the oil. Without the blood there is no salvation, no justification, no sanctification, and no deliverance! Without the blood there is no oil, no anointing, no power, and no authority! Without the blood there is no peace and no joy. Without the blood, there is no protection!

Why is the Holy Spirit trying so hard to bring the Church back to the blood? Because there is no Pentecost without a Passover!

Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin. When we are baptized for the remission of sin, we are baptized in essence in the blood, we are buried in the death of Jesus so that we can be raised in the power of the Holy Ghost! Cleansed by the blood and anointed by the oil! I’ll say it again, there is no Pentecost without a Passover! There is no fire, without Blood!

Acts 2:1-4

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

I want to speak boldly what I think many sometimes forget, you've got to go to Calvary before you can get to the upper room. The pathway to power of the Holy Ghost is soaked in the blood of Jesus. If you want to walk in power like the Lion, you must first be covered in the blood of the lamb.

I know we’re all modern today and we’ve got access to the libraries of the world at our finger tips. We’ve got the Bible on our tablets, our iPads, and iPhones. We can study the Hebrew and the Greek meaning of bible words right from our cell phones We are in a hear it all, see it all and know it all Generation. But for all our technology and for all our intelligence and know how, I am concerned that we have lost something.

Our elders didn’t have access to all the modern conveniences and technology we have today, but they had something we have lost in our modern high tech church age: they understood the importance of living under the blood of Jesus. Those old timers would do something they would call pleading the blood, some churches still practice this.

They might not have understood it, but the act of pleading is a legal term. It was an answer to a judgment. The judge would say: You have been charged with such and such a crime, how do you plead? That means that the Judge was asking: What is your defense to this and the accused would answer I plead guilty, or I plead the fifth.

Well that legal proceeding carries over into the Spirit realm: When the devil comes around saying you have been accused of such and such, and the he reminds you have that you have sinned and come short of the glory of God. How do you plead? That is when you look the devil in the eye and you square your shoulders back and you say, “I plead the Blood!”

Thank you Sister Joann for introducing me that song we sing in choir! Man I feel the Holy Ghost right now! I plead, I plead the Blood! The blood is my defense! I will overcome this trial by the blood of the Lamb and my testimony that I have been born again, washed in the blood, and anointed with the oil of the Holy Ghost! I no longer have to answer for myself, the blood speaks for me!

It doesn’t matter how muscular a body is, how fit it appears, how attractive it becomes: without the blood, the body is dead! I'm going to be bold and tell you today: I don't care how big or how beautiful your church may be, without the blood it's dead. You may have beautiful singing, you may have great enthusiasm and you may even have educated preachers, but if you don't have the blood you're nothing but a pretty corpse. Just like a dead body dressed up by the undertaker to look good for a funeral, without the blood, you're dead!

I have to post a warning here: Rough road ahead, buckle your seat belts.

There's no such thing as a Christian without the blood. Jesus said: “Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you.”

Many churches today don’t talk about the blood, they don’t sing about the blood, and they don’t preach about the blood. Because it’s too offensive. But this gospel that I preach is a bloody gospel! Calvary was bloody, the cross was bloody, Jesus blood poured out of his body, Jesus carried his own blood into the holy place and offered it upon the mercy seat in heaven. God accepted Jesus blood as an offering for our sin.

And it is by and because of that same blood that we are saved today. We are washed by that blood, sanctified by that blood, justified by that blood, redeemed by that blood, protected by that blood, and delivered by that blood! Our consciences are cleansed by that blood and we are healed by that blood!

I love that old song that pronounces as it is sung:

“Come ye sinners lost and lonely Jesus blood can make you clean, for he saved the worst among you when he saved a wretch like me. And I know, yes I know, Jesus blood can make the vilest sinner clean. And I know, yes I know, Jesus blood can make the vilest sinner clean.

I really am not trying to be mean or hurt anyone’s feelings, but I feel in my spirit this morning that this message could be the difference between heaven and hell for someone. You may quit smoking and drinking. You may dress up and carry a Bible and sing on perfect pitch, you may look good, smell good, and feel good, but if you haven't been to Calvary you're lost. If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior and you have not had your sins washed away by His blood, then you are lost and if you die that way you will go to hell.

God is going to hold us preachers responsible that don't tell the truth. The most important thing in your life is not a new car, a new house, a new wife, or a new self-esteem. The most important thing is your soul.

The reason why many of our churches today are lifeless and powerless is because they are anemic, they have a blood deficiency. That’s why they have to resort to lighting, and mood setting, and pageantry, and smoke and mirrors, and Holly wood theatrics. Because they have no power. And the reason they have no power is because there is no blood. There's no blood in their preaching, there's no blood in their singing, and there is no blood in their testimony!

If you want to see the power of God in the church again talk about the blood, sing about the blood, testify about the blood, preach about the blood, look for the blood. That’s what the Holy Spirit is looking for. That’s the question the Holy Spirit is asking every church: Where is the blood?

Just as surely as the death angel passed through Egypt and death came to every house where the blood was not applied. Death, spiritual death, is passing through the land today and the only safe place is under the blood. Death is coming to every house that is not under the blood, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a white house, or a black house. It doesn’t matter how religious that house is. It doesn't matter what kind of house it is: school house, crack house, penthouse, or church house: the only house that is safe is the house that is under the blood.