"The Blood Still Speaks"

now I believe in the blood of Jesus Christ I don't just believe that he died a brutal death on a cross and we'll celebrate ated a couple of weeks from now on Easter I believe something far more than that about the blood of Jesus Christ I believe that the blood still has power today the blood that God shed manifest in flesh that wasn't just a carpenter on that cross that that wasn't just a prophet or a rabbi or a good teacher or even a miracle worker on that cross that was God who had robed himself in a body of Flesh because when nothing else could help his love reached down and it lifted us up now that blood was powerful enough to change the destiny of humanity forever it was powerful enough to split time in half it was powerful enough to change the trajectory of every life that would ever come under the provision of the blood of Jesus Christ that's what I want to talk to you about tonight because today that blood still talks for us let's go to the first book in your Bible Genesis chap 4 and the story here is about Adam and Eve and their two sons and the story if you read down through Genesis chapter 4 you'll find out that the firstborn son of Adam is a man named Cain the second born son of Adam is a man named Abel and the Bible's very specific about their occupations Abel he's a keeper of sheep he works over here in the sheep fold and and he 10 sheep and so when it comes time to offer a sacrifice to God and the sacrifice needs to be blood because only blood atones for mistake for wrong for failure for sin only blood atones for that and so when God asks for a sacrifice uh Abel's well equipped to give that sacrifice Cain works over here he works in the field he tills the ground he plants seed and he waits for a few months and then there's a harvest and that's his cycle of life and living He plants seed in the ground he waits a while he tends it and then it brings him a harvest and so when Cain's asked to give a sacrifice he either doesn't get it or he chooses to ignore it or he or he Rebels against it but Cain does not bring a blood offering he brings the best of everything his hands can bring and God's not pleased with that and then Cain's not pleased that God's not pleased and so Cain and God have a a talk and and and God's very Stern with Cain now Cain doesn't take admonition from God and that's where we come to verse eight he's angry he's jealous perhaps he he's fed up with this whole business of his younger brother and the Bible says and Cain talked with Abel his brother and it came to pass now this is very important do you know nothing's in your Bible by accident it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him and the Lord said unto Cain where is Abel your brother and he said I know not am I My Brother's Keeper and he said what have you done the voice of thy brother's blood crith unto me from the ground now now you got to get this because this is a picture and some of you Bible readers and Bible lovers you're you're already like out on the freeway on the on-ramp but but just hang on okay here here over here you've got Abel he's the Second Son of Adam and and he works in the sheep fold he tends sheep and one day the Bible tells us Abel the Second Son of Adam goes to the territory of Kain the first son of Adam Cain works with his hands he plants seed in the ground he's a farmer he reaps the Harvest and while Abel the Second Son of Adam is in Cain's territory the first son of Adam Cain lifts up his hand and he slays his brother Abel and then he buries his body in the ground and thinks there that will take care of that but God said Cain where's your brother Cain said am I My Brother's Keeper watch anytime anybody answers your question with another question because they're trying to hide something on you the problem with doing that with God is God already knew and and so God said Cain uh you can't hide your brother's body because now this is an eternal principle here the blood of your brother is crying out from the ground I can hear the voice of his blood I can hear his blood talking Cain you can't hide the evidence because what you didn't realize Cain is that blood when it's spilled it has a voice blood when it's shed it starts talking blood when it's shed it starts crying out and so that's an eternal principle in the opening chapters of the word of God now you already know where this car is going Romans chapter 8:3 what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh see you can't keep enough rules or go to enough church services to be ready for heaven but what the law couldn't do it was so weak you know we try our best it still comes up so short but here's what fixed it God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh he shut it down how did he shut it down he didn't shut it down by bringing us a religion we already had that he didn't shut it down by bringing us a code of conduct we'd already developed that he shut it down by giving a perfect life on a cross called Calvary for our sin and when his blood was shed it started speaking for us goodness Isaiah caught a glimpse of it in 53 verse three he said he is despised and rejected of men he's a man of Sorrows acquainted with grief we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised we esteemed him not surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and Afflicted now notice that smitten of God it wasn't just men that killed Jesus that was in his own purpose and his own plan it was already he was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world he was smitten of God and Afflicted but here's where it gets so good because that's a tragedy and a travesty so far but when you hit that next verse but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and then all of a sudden Isaiah just gets this prophetic burst of inspiration and he changes verb T Tes and he says and with his stripes we are present tense we are healed let me tell you something the word of God says about itself he sent his word and healed them and delivered them from all their destructions you don't have to be in a healing crusade to get healed by the power of the blood of Jesus all you have to do is be exposed to the word of God because he sends his word you see that blood it has a voice and when the Blood starts when the Blood starts talking it's all over for the devil oh I wish somebody lift up your voice in the sanctuary and give him praise with his stripes we are healed you can walk out of here totally different than you came in I'm glad God heals cancer but this isn't just about cancer you can go out of here healed in your emotions healed in your mind healed from your addictions healed from all the bondage of life you can go out of here healed because he sent his word and healed them thank you Jesus thank you Jesus now see here here's the thing God says to Cain um Cain I can hear the blood and see you can't hear the blood if you could it' be kind of distracting those people sitting next to you but if you went to the doctor and they dig out a medical instrument called a stethoscope and they put it here or they put it here they can hear the blood move they can hear the pulse of the blood but if you had the ear of God God said oh wait a minute I can go one better than that I can hear the blood speak the blood talks now now you got to get this because uh Cain over here working in the field he's the first son of Adam this is very important theologically okay we'll get there over here is the Second Son of Adam that's Abel so you got the first Adam and you got the second Adam first son of Adam Second Son of Adam and when the second innocent son of Adam comes to the territory of the first sinful son of Adam that first son of Adam lifts up his hand and kills his brother the Bible calls did you know this the Bible calls Jesus the second Adam so the parallel in the opening chapters of the Bible nothing's in your Bible by accident the second Adam comes from the halls of heaven and he comes to our territory this Earth this ground and while he's here we lifted up our hand and we slew him we put him on a cross and the devil walked away from Calvary thinking well that's great I've got that fixed but he didn't have it fixed 1 Corinthians chapter 15: 45 says so it is written the first man Adam was made a living Soul the last Adam was made a quickening spirit there was something more to Jesus than just a body and a soul verse 47 if you didn't catch it there verse 47 is very clear it says the first man is of the earth and he's earthy but the second man just in case you missed his identity he's the Lord from from heaven now now in that opening chapter of the the Bible Abel dies and his blood becomes like his defense attorney when we say pleading the blood that's what our elders taught us they taught us to plead the blood when in trouble plead the blood when in danger plead the blood when somebody's sick plead the blood when the devil's fighting you plead the blood they're not talking pleading in the sense of begging they're talking pleading in the sense of a lawyer in a courtroom you don't have the right to do this devil you don't have the right to do this Satan because I'm going to use the authority of the blood against you I stand here and I dare to plead the blood you don't have a right to mess up my life my home my marriage my teenagers my kids you don't have a right to mess with me I dare to stand Toe to Toe with the Enemy and plead the blood cuz when you plead the blood it pushes the devil back and it lets Heaven loose all the power that God had to redeem us from sin it was resident in that blood oh my goodness you see the Devil he's Fierce and he's mean and he doesn't fight fair but he's dumb because if the devil had been smart Calvary wouldn't happened Calvary which we'll celebrate in a couple of weeks at Easter time Calvary that was the only time in human history when God and the devil agreed the devil thought I'm going to get that Jesus somehow he had a blind spot he he knew Jesus was a miracle worker he he knew that Jesus had this great relationship with the father but he didn't see who Jesus was God let him have a blind spot somehow because if he had known that Jesus was not just part of God or kind of like God but if he'd had even thought for a second that Jesus was God manifests in flesh there's no way he would have done that so he takes this Prophet Rabbi teacher man anointed by God whatever the devil thought Jesus was he orchestrates the crucifixion he's whispering in the ears of the Roman government he's whispering in the ears of the Sanhedrin he's whispering in the ears of the high priest he's he's whispering in everybody everybody's ears and he orchestrates the crucifixion and so Jesus is taken to the cross and he's put on the cross but the Bible tells me in 1 Corinthians 2 that none of the princes of this world knew they didn't recognize the wisdom of God for if they had known it they would not have crucified the Lord Of Glory this was like hell's worst accident in history the devil walks away from the cross thinking well there that's the end of that and then he hears this faint little voice cry it is finished and he thinks good about time and maybe he misheard and thought Jesus was crying I'm finished but that's not what he was saying when Jesus said it is finished all the laser beams of Prophecy came converging on that one spot and when Jesus said it is finished exactly what he said is exactly what he meant all of redemption's plan was finished all of prophetic fulfillment was finished all the prophets of all the ages that foretold that God could redeem redeem mankind at that one moment in human history when his blood came out of his body and his blood went down that cross and into the ground Jesus said it is finished literally it is finished it stands finished and it ever will be finished and if you're in Jesus today guess what it's finished for you I'm not here because I'm worthy to be here I'm here because he's worthy I'm not here because I'm good I'm here because he's good I'm not here because I'm great I'm here because he's great thank you Jesus thank you Jesus now now now here's here's the deal as long as the blood is inside you can't hear it it's when it comes out of the body when they pierce Jesus body on the cross and when the the blood stopped being in and it came out just like Abel's blood that's when it started speaking Hebrews 11:4 says by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts now watch this and by it he able being dead yet speaketh now there's about four 4,000 years give or take between the time Abel's blood is shed and the time that verse is written by the author of Hebrews and he tells us that although Abel has been in the ground and his body has decayed to dust because his innocent blood was shed and entered into the ground his blood is still talking 4,000 years later now it's only been 2,000 years since Calvary give or take so if Abel's blood just the blood of an innocent man could enter into the ground and still be talking 4,000 years later what in the world do you think the blood of Jesus that entered into the ground that wasn't just man's blood the Bible tells us in Acts that was the blood of God that literally is what your Bible says this is the church that was purchased by the blood of God so if God's blood entered into the ground and it's only 2,000 years how loud do you think his blood is speaking today for the people of God how loud do you think his blood is talking today as a defense against the enemy that's why I stand here today and I Rise to tell you that when you're in trouble you need to plead the blood when the enemy's attacking you need to plead the blood when you need a healing you need to plead the blood Hallelujah if you don't get it there flip to the next chapter of Hebrews 12: 24 says we have come to Jesus he's the mediator of the New Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling watch that speaketh better things than that of Abel Abel's blood was innocent Abel's blood was shed Abel's blood had a voice from the ground but Jesus blood it's Eternal Jesus blood is Heavenly Jesus blood is divine and it's better than the blood of Abel so his blood is talking for me and some of you you know this all too well because church is not a collection of Museum pieces oh look at this brother he's so wonderful look at that he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps we're so privileged to have him here look at this sister she's so perfect she came into this church and we just made a little Shrine here for her the church is not a museum for all these beautiful things that never were scarred never were marred never had an issue never had a a crack or a a break that's not what the church is the church is like an emergency ward in your hospital where God goes out and he reaches people their lives are a mess their lives are destroyed their lives are addicted and bound and he brings them in and when they get here we don't let say oh that's too dirty oh that's just terrible oh that's a mess that's not what we do because that's where we were when he found us that's where we were when he brought us you look around in this room and everybody looks so nice and it's Sunday morning in Tennessee and there's no snow like there is in Canada bless God forever you look around it all looks so nice but if you could look with the eyes of God you'd understand something that if the blood hadn't talked for some of us we wouldn't be here if the blood hadn't spoken for some of us we'd be in a hospital we'd be in rehab we'd be in a mortuary we'd be in a cemetery if the blood hadn't talked for us some of us our families would have been messed up split up it would have been history but the blood said not this one the blood got between me and cancer the blood got between me and death the blood got between me and a car wreck the blood spoke for me