The Voice of Blood

Introduction: The Framework for Communion Meditation

0:00 The following message was delivered on Sunday evening, March 1st, 1992, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. May I urge you to follow with me in your Bibles as I read from two portions of the Word of God in setting the framework for our communion meditation this evening. The first is found in the book of Genesis, chapter 4, and I shall read in your hearing the first 13 verses, Genesis chapter 4, and then we'll turn over to Hebrews chapter 12.

0:47 Referring to Adam, Moses writes,

0:59 And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah. And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof.

1:26 And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his children. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen?

1:48 If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? And if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door. And unto thee shall be its desire. But doest thou not?

2:00 Do thou rule over it? And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?

2:19 And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood.

2:31 The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength. A fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.

2:53 And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear. And now over to chapter 12 of the book of Hebrews. And in this marvelous section in which the writer to the Hebrews is contrasting that to which the people of God come in the new covenant with that to which God's ancient people came in the circumstances of ratifying the old covenant. And he says in verse 18 of Hebrews 12, You are not come.

3:32 And then he mentions many of the circumstances surrounding the ratification of the old covenant. And then in the transition, verse 22, But ye are come. And then he lists, according to the reckoning of whether or not one or two of these things are joined, seven or possibly eight things to which we come in the new covenant. And so the verb, ye are come, carries right down through, and we want to pick up the reading at verse 24.

The Voice of Blood That Speaks: Abel's Blood

4:08 But ye are come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel. Now when I announced on Wednesday night that we would be taking up the first of our Old Testament character studies this evening, and that our subject would be an initial study in the lives of Cain and Abel, I had on that occasion overlooked the fact that this would be a communion service and that a communion meditation would be in order. However, while we are totally bypassing some of the things to be expounded in subsequent messages, I do want us to focus our attention, on what in many ways is probably, if not the, it is one of the two most central and most well-known incidents in the lives of these first two human beings born upon the earth, Cain and Abel. And the incident to which I refer is the slaying of Abel by his older brother, Cain, and the subsequent inquisition of God, and the subsequent inquisition of God, and the subsequent inquisition of Cain, and the subsequent inquisition of God, and the subsequent inquisition of Cain,

5:33 coupled with the Spirit-inspired reference to that very incident that I have read from the book of Hebrews. And the title of our communion meditation focusing upon that single incident and the Holy Spirit's comment upon it is, The Voice of Blood That Speaks. The Voice of Blood That Speaks. You are come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.

6:18 Strange language. Blood that speaks. We've heard of blood that soaked a man's garment. Blood spattered upon walls or upon concrete.

6:34 In gang-style murders. But here we have something utterly unique. It is blood that speaks. Blood that has a voice.

6:47 Blood that speaks to God. And blood that speaks to man. And I want you to consider with me, first of all, Abel's blood speaking. And then secondly, Holy Christ's blood speaking.

7:07 And under those two simple headings, we're going to ask three very straightforward questions. Abel's blood speaks. Verse 24. We come to Jesus, mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.

7:28 But Abel's blood does indeed speak. Question one. What was the blood of Abel? Well, according to the passage which we read in Genesis chapter 4, it was the blood of an unjustly, brutally murdered, innocent man.

7:54 Abel had done nothing to provoke his brother Cain. He did not taunt him. He did not defraud him. He did not...

8:04 Nothing to provoke even a frown from his brother, let alone being slain in cold blood. According to the scriptures, particularly Hebrews 11, 4, this man Abel was not only innocent of any specific provocation of his brother, he was a righteous, believing man. We would say he was a godly Christian man. For by faith he offered unto God a more acceptable sacrifice than his brother.

8:42 And he is called in a passage in 1 John, a righteous man whose pattern of life was that of practical godliness. But for all that he was but a man, a son of Adam and of Eve, and brother to the man. Who slew him. So in answer to the question, what was the blood of Abel?

9:09 The scripture is clear. It was the blood of an unjustly, brutally murdered, righteous, believing man, son of Adam and Eve, and brother to Cain. Question two. What was the message of Abel's blood?

9:29 If Abel's blood speaks, what is... its message?

9:35 Well, when we turn to Genesis chapter 4, the answer to that question is clear. For God himself both hears and interprets the message that Abel's blood speaks. When God comes as the heavenly inquisitor, verse 10, he speaks to Cain and says, what have you done? And he comes on this...

10:03 inquisition because God has heard a voice. And the voice he has heard is not the voice of the corpse of Abel, but the voice of the blood that having been shed left him a corpse. What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries unto me from the ground.

10:34 This is very graphic imagery because later on in verse 11 he says, cursed art thou from the ground which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. Here the ground is likened to that which has a mouth. And when the blood of Abel is spilled, the mouth is opened to swallow it. And now God says the mouth is opened again not to swallow anything but to speak.

11:04 And when it speaks, it cries. And when it cries, it cries with a voice that pierces the ear of God in heaven and brings God down to earth to make inquisition of Cain. What have you done? And the message of Abel's blood was nothing more or less than a cry to God for vengeance, for retribution, and for judgment.

11:35 For he had wantonly taken away the life of a fellow human being made in the image of God and though stained with sin, one in whom that image was being restored by grace as a righteous believing man. So in a very real sense, he was attacking the thing most like God that he could get his hands on.

12:03 And the message that cried to heaven was one which requested of God that there be vengeance and retribution upon this murderer Cain. Third question, what was the effect of the message? Well, according to verse 11 and verse 14, the effect of that message is that God does indeed bring retribution and vengeance. The first words from the mouth, the mouth of God, verse 11, and now cursed art thou.

12:42 A cursed is pronounced upon the man Cain and then he is banished from the special presence of God laden with his guilt. Cursed art thou. And then verse 12, a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth. Verse 16, and Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah.

13:14 The voice of Abel's blood spoke. It spoke eloquently and powerfully and persuasively in the ear of God and it spoke efficaciously and the effect of its voice was that God brought a curse and banishment to Cain, the murderer. Why? Why he did not inflict capital punishment is a discussion that is not germane to our study tonight.

13:46 I probably will address that issue when we come to our more detailed study, but suffice it to say that when the blood of Abel cried to heaven, heaven responded and the response was an efficacious administration of curse and banishment upon God. Cain, Abel's blood speaks. What was the blood of Abel? We've answered the question.

The Voice of Blood That Speaks: Christ's Blood

14:17 What was the message of Abel's blood? What was the effect of the message? Now we ask the three same questions of Christ's blood that speaks. When we read in Hebrews 12 that we are come unto Jesus, mediator of a new, covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh, we have a present participle.

14:45 It is blood that continues to speak and then that key word in the book of Hebrews, better, and in this form and in its sister form used 13 times in the book of Hebrews of the better sacrifice and the better covenant and the better priesthood and the better inheritance. And here it is, a voice that speaks better than that of Abel. But now Christ's blood speaks. Question one, what is his blood?

15:21 The blood of Abel was the blood of an unjustly, brutally murdered, innocent, righteous, believing man.

15:32 Well at that point there is a strict parallel. The blood of Christ also was the blood of an unjustly, brutally murdered, innocent man.

15:46 But there the parallel stops. For he was more than righteous by faith. He was the sinless, incarnate son of the living God. In this very epistle to the Hebrews he is called the one who is holy, harmless, undefiled, higher than the heavens.

16:10 Moreover, he was not murdered as a private person. But in this text we are told we come to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh.

16:32 Abel was murdered as a private person. He sustained no unique relationship other than those natural blood ties to his mother and father and to his brother Cain. But when Jesus' blood was spilt in all of the pristine innocence of his person it was not blood spilt as a private person but in his official capacity as the mediator of a new covenant. That is an arrangement instituted by God for the intervention of grace and pardon for sinners in which Jesus stands as the party between the offended deity and the offending creature man. 1 Timothy 2.5 There is one God and one mediator between God and man himself man Christ Jesus. So when we ask the question what is his blood it is not merely the blood of one unjustly brutally murdered in an innocence that goes far beyond that of Abel's innocence but he was slain in his capacity

18:00 as the go-between between God and man effecting administering ratifying bringing into being the blood of God. And when we a new covenant hence his blood is called blood of sprinkling. Now what in the world does that mean? Well if you just turn back to Hebrews 9 I believe you'll see at least in principle the answer.

The Message and Effect of Christ's Blood

18:31 Hebrews 9 verse 18 Wherefore even the first covenant hath not been dedicated without blood for when every commandment had been spoken by Moses unto all the people according to the law he took the blood of the calves and the goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people saying this is the blood of the covenant which God commanded to you word. When that blood was sprinkled upon the book that contained the terms of the covenant upon the people who are entering the covenant entering into covenant the blood of sprinkling binds God officially to his people in covenant engagement and it binds them to God in covenant commitment and gives them the right of access into the presence of God. It gives them right of participation in the institutions of God to be considered part of the covenant nation of God. So when we ask the question concerning Christ blood speaking what is his blood it is more than the blood of one unjustly and brutally murdered it is not only

20:00 the blood of the innocent pure holy son of God but it is his blood shed in his capacity as the go between between the offended deity and man the offending sinner but it is but it is blood of sprinkling blood which was shed not simply to make salvation possible but that real life sinners might be sprinkled with that blood and therefore bound to God under the blessings of the new covenant and so it is called then the blood of sprinkling and it is called sprinkling now the second question what is the message then of Jesus blood well if the message of Abel's blood is a cry for vengeance as we've often sung in hymn number 190 Abel's blood for vengeance pleaded to the skies the second line of that stanza is but the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries Jesus blood also cries to God but not for vengeance but for expiation for pardon for reconciliation for acceptance it speaks now

21:29 in the ears of God saying justice is satisfied sin has been punished wrath has been exhausted upon the sin of the people of God all who are sprinkled in that blood that blood cries that all that it provided and secured be made theirs in an eternal possession so the message of Jesus blood his blood that speaks better than that of Abel is the contrast between blood crying from the ground for vengeance and blood that cries for blood just pardon righteous forgiveness equitable acceptance of the sinner before God question three what is the effect of its message we saw that Abel's blood gave an efficacious cry from the ground brought God as it were out of heaven to take vengeance upon Cain do you have any question that the blood of Jesus would be less efficacious than the blood of Abel a mere man the speaking

The Blessings of the New Covenant Secured by Christ's Blood

22:57 blood of Jesus is efficacious and it is efficacious to bring all the blessings of the new covenant to every man woman boy or girl who by faith is sprinkled by that blood everyone who was sprinkled by that blood in the ratification of the old covenant sprinkled upon the book of the law and upon all the people entered into all the blessings of that covenant engagement by God so under the new covenant all who by faith are sprinkled by the blood of Christ are effectively and truly made the benefactors of all the blessings of the new covenant and what are those blessings if you just turn over to chapter eight in this very chapter yes chapter eight in the book of Hebrews beginning with verse eight you find a quotation from Jeremiah thirty one and very quickly notice what the major blessings of that covenant are in terms of this passage for finding fault with them he saith behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house

24:25 of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt for they continued not in my covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord blessing number one I will put my laws into their mind and on their heart also I will write them under this covenant ratified in the blood of Jesus that speaks better than that of Abel that blood wherever it is sprinkled calls for God's law to be written upon the heart of all of the participants in the covenant blessing and what does that mean it means that God will graciously grant an internal disposition towards and an inclination to a life of joyful obedience to God himself from the state of being those possessed with a carnal mind enmity towards God now there is an inward disposition and powerful inclination to a life of joyful obedience

25:54 what is the second great blessing of this covenant 10b and on their hearts will I write them and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people you see the mutual engagements they will have the right to claim me as their possession and wonder of wonder and wonder I will gladly own them as my possession that's the language I will be to them a God I will be to them one whom they will have every right to call my God and my Father and engage me in terms of what I've committed myself to do to perfect in them all that I promise not because of any merit in them but because of the work of the mediator of the new covenant and his infallible securing of those blessings by his own life and death I will be their God they shall be to me a people it's a marvelous doctrine in the new testament that we have an inheritance in Christ but there's an equally marvelous doctrine that we are God's inheritance think of it God's inheritance an inheritance that he acquired at such a price at such

27:23 a price third great blessing of the covenant is they will have a heart knowledge of and communion with the living God verse 11 and they shall not teach every man his fellow citizen and every man his brother saying know the Lord in other words they will not be bound together in a covenant community tied together by common external religious rituals but devoid of internal saving knowledge of God they shall not teach every man his fellow citizen every man his brother saying know the Lord for all upon whom the blood of this covenant are sprinkled they shall all know me from the least to the greatest of them what is it that binds the most mature white haired ripened saint in this building to the youngest child who may by faith have laid hold of Christ and has a minimal knowledge of truth a minimal experience of grace what binds them together and puts them on common ground they both have experimental heart knowledge of God to that old saint God is more than a name upon his lips to that ripened saint God is more than an abstract notion with which he or she interacts from time to time in a place

28:52 called church God is that known loved companion throughout all of the hours of the day in days of darkness days of heaviness days of joy days of dullness days of alertness and to that little child in the simplicity of its present development of mind and psyche and its limited knowledge God is more than a word in the catechism questions who made you God made me what else did God make God made all things that's how God begins to be introduced a word in the catechism a word in the bible in the beginning God created but if that child has come to faith in Christ that child the least in this covenantal community has an experiential knowledge of God and that's why that little child loves to pray doesn't simply obey it fold its hands and bow its heads when daddy says time to give thanks mom and dad are surprised to come in and find the child praying when no one told him to find him weeping over his sins when no one has rebuked him you parents say what do you look for in a child that's surrounded with the knowledge of God and the truth of the gospel from infancy what are the indications that it's been internalized

30:22 here is the great indication the knowledge of God is internalized and becomes real to that child according to his capacity yes but from the least to the greatest they will all know me they'll know me that's what God says and then the fourth blessing of that covenant is they will be completely forgiven of all their sins for I will be merciful to their iniquities and their sins will I remember no more God has a self imposed area of amnesia self imposed their sins and iniquities I'll remember now I'm speaking in figurative language of course God cannot forget anything from any sphere at any point in all of eternity for his mind is infinitely perfect but he will to forget our sins and iniquities when they have been righteously dealt with through the blood of the cross of his dear son sins and iniquities I'll remember no more so when the text says that you have come to Jesus

31:50 mediator of a new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel and we ask the question what is the effect of his blood speaking the effect is nothing less than all of these blessings of the new covenant granted by God to all and to each one upon whom that blood is sprinkled and if we may again speak in material physical terms it's not literally sprinkled upon it but if we can envision it as such it speaks to God and what does it say it says God you have bound yourself to give that blood sprinkled hell deserving sinner a heart to love you you have bound yourself to give to that wretched hell deserving sinner your very self as his great possession and to take him as your great possession and you are bound by the speaking of the voice of the blood of your son to give to that sinner who is natively ignorant of you and devoid of your life and communion with you you are bound to give him heart acquaintance with yourself and forever to blot out and never to bring to

Communion and the Speaking Blood of Christ

33:19 remembrance all of his sins and his iniquity what a wonderful thing to have Jesus blood speaking such things for me to have the blood of Jesus speaking that for me and dear people that's what we're doing when we're coming to the table this do in remembrance of me that is to have communion with him who is the mediator of the new covenant but you see you cannot separate him at the table from what he did for he said this cup is the new covenant in my blood and as you hold the cup tonight may I urge you to put your spiritual ear close to the cup and hear its voice as it represents the blood of Christ what is it saying it is not crying out oh father righteous father vent vengeance on that guilty sinner no that's what Abel's blood said to God from the ground but this is a cup of blessing this represents blood that says holy father I spilt my blood for that believing sinner I've sprinkled that blood upon his conscience holy father you have pledged that your law would be written upon

34:49 the heart you pledged that you would be their possession that they would know you that you would completely forgive them of all their sins and joy fully thank God that that blood is efficacious and then plead for greater dimensions of the blessings which it secured but in the remaining two to three minutes I have I want you to look at the next verse in Hebrews 12 yes the blood of Jesus speaks better than that of Abel but verse 25 says see that you refuse not him that speaks behind the blood of Jesus is the speaking voice of God in this context referring to all that God has spoken in the last days in his son and there is the frightening possibility more than that the horrible reality that some can sit in a place like this tonight and hear of Abel's blood that cried for vengeance and know that God isn't playing games when he says the soul that sins it shall die when that innocent blood was swallowed up by the earth and the earth spoke its

A Solemn Warning: Do Not Refuse Him Who Speaks

36:15 voice into heaven and God came down and that voice was efficacious and curse and banishment came to came my friends don't you refuse him who speaks it is God who speaks in these great reality and he says to every one of you in your sin in your guilt in your uncleanness in your defilement in your ignorance of and rebellion to God in my son I have made an adequate provision for all and any and every sinner who will come and be sprinkled in the blood of my son God graciously invites everyone boys girls men and women and says here is my son and though his blood has been sprinkled upon millions and the mighty power of his spirit has brought to pass these wonderful blessings of the new covenant in the heart of millions he has not even increased his heartbeat a half a beat a minute expending any energy that would ever exhaust him he is fresh in the dew of his saving power as though he had never exerted it upon one the plenitude of grace is in Christ don't refuse him this why would

37:45 anyone refuse him who speaks saying come come into the orbit of all the blessings secured for sinners by my blood your sins will be pardoned I'll take out your stubborn proud rebellious heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh that will delight to walk in obedience and humility before the living God

38:39 claim you as his possession and in the day of judgment say depart from me I never knew you you're not part of my possession hell is God's rejection heap is that what you want outer darkness weeping wailing gnashing of teeth are you so foolish as to sit here and say yeah I'll take that I'll take God's place of banishment for stubborn rebels I'll take God's place of rejection rather than be his possession no desire to know the God who made you no desire to go home tonight and pillow your head knowing all your sins apart what madness sin is oh dear men and women boys and girls see that you refuse not him who speaks if you refuse him what will your backup system be what will it be think think boys girls men and women think what will your backup system be there is therefore hearing the blood of Abel that spoke for vengeance the efficacious voice that brought God down to take vengeance having considered the blood of

Call to Repentance and Faith

40:09 Christ that speaks that voice that speaks efficaciously and confers all the blessings of the new covenant upon all who are sprinkled by that blood run to the Lord Jesus with the feet of your heart by repentance and faith go to him and say oh Lord Jesus sprinkle me in your precious blood bind me to yourself and all the blessings of that covenant I want God to be my God and I want him to claim me as my own oh what better place to come to Christ than when he's been set forth in the word and then as he's set forth in the symbols of his body and his blood Christ preach to your ears Christ preach to your eyes oh come to him you'll never find a better hour than this let us pray our father how we thank you for the blood of Jesus that speaks and how we thank you that it speaks better than that of Abel oh we thank you for all the blessings which it cures for everyone who is sprinkled

41:38 by that blood give us great joy as we come to your table and oh may the joy of heaven be triggered as you oh God see that while we come to the table others for the first time are coming to Jesus mediator of the new covenant oh set heaven's joy loose tonight for you have said there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents oh father do it for the honor of your name that your son may have the fuller reward of his sufferings we ask in his worthy name amen