The Blood of a Covenant

[0:00] I had a jam on the printer today a few times and so this my notes came out a little crooked.! That within the commands, the judgments, there are some instructions and some certain expectations that God has for His people in this relationship and in this covenant that He's making with them.

[0:42] And it included some truths about the person of God, about His character and specifically last week about how He operates within the relationship. And so the latter third or half of the chapter, what we studied was that God in that relationship, He operates, He can either be for you or He can be against you and that's going to be completely determined upon you.

[1:05] You can obey, you can fear Him or you can transgress and provoke Him. And so we learned that last week. Secondly, a very important truth we learned last week in the operation of God here is that He does not operate in urgency.

[1:19] He is not on, you can't accelerate His hand. You cannot force Him to do something. You have to just wait on Him. You have to be patient and trust Him and He'll demand that of you.

[1:33] And He didn't drive them out even in a year's time. It was by little and little, forcing His people to be patient and to grow and increase. And the final thought last week was that God establishes the boundaries in this relationship, not you and I.

[1:48] He determines the rules, the right and the wrong. We just submit. We obey. We say, speak Lord, for thy servant heareth. And we're ready to obey.

[1:58] Like the Apostle Paul says, what wilt thou have me to do? Not, I will do this for you, but rather, what do you want me to do God? I'll follow through and comply. So now we move into the 24th chapter.

[2:10] And we'll just kind of introduce this chapter at the very beginning, reading the first two verses to start. So follow with me. And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off.

[2:30] And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him. Now Moses we know. Aaron is Moses' brother.

[2:41] We're familiar with him. Nadab and Abihu are Aaron's eldest two sons. And then he says in verse 1, seventy of the elders of Israel.

[2:52] There were more than seventy men that were considered elders. And these elders are mentioned many times already in the book. All the way back to the beginning of this in chapter 3 when Moses is standing before the Lord at the burning bush.

[3:05] He says, go back to Egypt. Gather the elders of Israel. Speak unto them and tell them, I've heard your cry. I've seen your affliction. I'm going to come to deliver you. And then in chapter 4 he goes back, gathers the elders.

[3:17] Speaks to them those words. Because several times throughout the chapter is referenced, or throughout this book in chapter 12, 17, 19, are the elders of Israel. But now in this case, it's seventy of the elders of Israel.

[3:32] And so these are principal men of a very large body of people. And before these men actually ascend the mount though, this is what he's calling them to do.

[3:42] You look ahead to verse number 9. It says, then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel. Before they actually ascend the mountain, some events take place.

[3:58] And that's what we're going to look at today and study these events and learn something from it. And so let's read together verses 3 through 8. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments.

[4:14] And the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which the Lord has said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and built an altar under the hill and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

[4:28] And he sent young men of the children of Israel which offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

[4:42] And he took the book of the covenant and read in the audience of the people. And they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

[5:03] Moses then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders. So before they ascend the mountain, an all-important, critical, monumental ceremony takes place.

[5:24] This is very unique. This is the only time you'll see this thing in the word of God. The people of Israel are present. Likely they're ordered according to tribe and possibly standing in some proximity to that pillar that's mentioned in verse 4.

[5:41] Twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. I wonder, and I'm probably wrong on this, but he builds an altar in verse 4. Builded an altar under the hill and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes.

[5:55] I wonder if that altar wasn't made of twelve pillars. A square altar with two in between each corner and therefore making twelve. But just to elevate this altar so it could be seen in front of such a mass.

[6:07] However, at the end of chapter 20 we read that they're not to go up upon steps to the altar of the Lord, lest their nakedness be seen. And so maybe that's not likely at all that it's pillars elevating an altar.

[6:21] Possibly they're individual pillars that stood alone. Maybe they surrounded the altar. And it'd give you that kind of Stonehenge look. But that's just pure speculation. I don't know what it was.

[6:32] They could have been lined up in a perfect row. No idea. But at any rate, there's the people of Israel, ordered likely by tribe, gathered together in front of Moses.

[6:44] There's the pillars. There's the altar. There is a newly written book, probably still wet with ink, that he just wrote in verse 4.

[6:55] He wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and built an altar. And so a newly written book called the Book of the Covenant in verse, where's that, verse number 7.

[7:09] The Book of the Covenant. He wrote the words that we have just read and studied from chapter 21, 2, and 3. He wrote them in a book.

[7:19] Then we also have this newly constructed altar. And then in addition to that, there are a number of goats, which we'll see in a minute, as well as oxen, mentioned in verse number 5, that are there for the offerings and sacrifices.

[7:33] We read that there's some basins that are there to collect the blood. And all of these sacrifices and all of this scene, the people, the animals, the pillars, the altar, the basins, the book of the covenant, it's all present.

[7:46] But after reading, it becomes obvious that the most essential and the most significant element of this ceremony is undoubtedly the blood.

[7:57] The blood that was shed, that was collected or gathered and divided among the basins, it was also sprinkled.

[8:10] And then finally, we'll see this very strong, it was enjoining or enjoined the people to God. It was what sealed this covenant.

[8:21] And so what I want to do this morning is just by way of outline, I'm going to say three things. Because the blood had to be acquired, the blood had to be applied, and the blood had to be accepted. And I want to look at these details, how it relates to this covenant first, and also called a testament.

[8:38] And then I want to consider how in similar fashion, the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood to institute a new, a better testament.

[8:49] One that you and I can experience, because I don't want to experience this one. I don't want to be part of the one that they were part of. And thank the Lord, He put this one away. He fulfilled it, and He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross, and He instituted a new one, which we'll look at here shortly.

[9:08] So let's begin here in this passage, looking about how the blood was acquired. In verse number 5, it says, He sent young men of the children of Israel, and offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord.

[9:21] And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins. So this is fairly straightforward, the process here of the slaying of the animal, and of collecting or dividing even the blood.

[9:37] The only necessary thing I think I want to note here is that in order to acquire blood, something has to die. There has to be the killing, the slaying of something in order to collect the blood.

[9:52] The goal was for the blood to be accepted. And so that something that has to die, this sacrifice has got to be innocent. It has to be pure. It has to be without blemish.

[10:02] And this is a biblical doctrine. I want to take you back to Exodus 12, when we see this happen for one of the first times in the Bible. Exodus 12. And see that for God to accept the blood, it's got to be coming from an acceptable source.

[10:23] In Exodus 12, we're reading about the Passover lamb. And just one verse to pull out here, verse number 5, they had to set aside a lamb. And that lamb, in verse 5, shall be without blemish.

[10:38] Other places in the Scripture will give you a little more details. It's not to have anything broken, or any disease, or any spots. It's got to be a pure, perfect lamb.

[10:49] Look at the next book of the Bible, Leviticus, and the first chapter, where God lays out descriptions of future offerings that are to be offered, burnt sacrifices.

[11:02] And I want to notate that, again, He calls for this sacrifice to be without blemish. And I'll read a portion of this, because some of it will just help us to see the way this was done in Exodus 24, in this ceremony.

[11:17] But I'll start in verse number 3. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.

[11:30] And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering. It shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. He shall kill the bullock before the Lord. And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

[11:49] And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall put fire under the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire, which is upon the altar.

[12:03] And his inwards and his legs shall wash with water. The priests shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord. And if his offering be of the flocks, namely of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice, again, he shall bring in a male without blemish.

[12:22] And he's going to go through the same thing in verse 11 about sprinkling the blood round about upon the altar, just like we read in chapter 24. Look a few chapters later, look at chapter 3.

[12:35] Leviticus chapter 3. More offerings. This one, not a burnt offering, but this one, the other one that's mentioned is the peace offering. Verse 1, And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd, whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.

[12:55] And it describes him sprinkling the blood at the end of verse 2 upon the altar round about. Notice again verse 6, And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord be of the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.

[13:10] And ditto the same description of how this is to take place. It is very critical, I might remind you, that the offering be without blemish.

[13:21] And so the blood has to be acquired. It had to be acquired from an innocent and clean and without blemish animal. Human blood would not satisfy the need because there's none righteous.

[13:36] Some of those wicked heathen would sacrifice their babies and supposing them to be innocent and pure. And yet we studied this in detail on Wednesday night.

[13:46] You can't bring a clean thing out of an unclean. And therefore, no human would be ever accepted. And God is not interested. That's appalling. That's an abominable practice to offer a human.

[14:00] But here they offered these clean beasts that were without blemish. So the blood's acquired. The animals were slain. The blood was collected in basins. Now secondly, what took place here in this ceremony, I said the blood had to be applied.

[14:15] And so here we are in verse number 6. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins. And half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. In verse number 8, Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people.

[14:28] So the altar gets covered with blood. The people get covered with blood. And keep your place. But we need to look over to Hebrews chapter 9 to see one more element here.

[14:40] And we're going to flip back and forth in the future. So when you find Hebrews, just keep your place there. I want to take you to chapter 9. And notice, not only was it applied to the altar, it wasn't just applied to the people, but also to the book of the covenant, as mentioned in Hebrews chapter 9.

[15:01] And look for verse number 19. Hebrews 9, 19. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people, we just read that, according to the law, he took of the blood of calves and of goats.

[15:19] There's why I said goats. With water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people. Now just remain there or keep your place.

[15:31] We will definitely be back there in a little bit. Maybe put a marker in there. But the blood had to be applied. According to this Bible, the blood was applied to the altar, to the book of the covenant, as well as to the people.

[15:47] Do you remember if we could rewind in our minds back to Egypt? And the very final plague of the ten plagues was the death of the firstborn. All over Egypt, the destroyer came in and killed the firstborn of whatever family and flock.

[16:06] He just killed them. They were instructed to kill a Passover lamb, as we read a moment ago, without blemish. A male. And they were to collect that blood, and they were to apply that blood.

[16:19] Where? To the two side posts of the door, and to the upper portion, the lintel. And when I see the blood, the Lord said, I will pass over you.

[16:31] And so a word was formed, Passover. From those two words, I will pass over you. And now comes the Hebrew Passover feast.

[16:42] And so God just made up a new word from those two words. And so the blood was applied there so that it provided shelter from the destroyer who was coming through to smite the firstborn in all the land of Egypt.

[16:57] The blood was collected, and it was applied. Again, in Exodus 24, in a different sense, this blood was collected in basins.

[17:07] It was sprinkled upon the altar, upon the book, and upon the people, but for a much different purpose. Flip back to chapter 19 of Exodus. Back in chapter 19, when they come up to this mount, the Lord speaks to Moses, tells him some things, and he goes and rehearses this in the ears of the people.

[17:34] Start in verse number 7. Exodus 19, Exodus 19, 7. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him.

[17:47] And all the people answered together and said, All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do. The Lord returned the words of the people unto the Lord. So that sounds like the same thing they say in chapter 24.

[17:58] The point being that the people earlier had verbally agreed to obey the Lord. Everything he says, yes, Moses, we're on board. And what followed this?

[18:11] You have to get this in your mind because it's going to come up. What followed this agreeance is that the Lord speaks to Moses and says, I'm coming unto you, verse 9, in a thick cloud.

[18:24] The people are going to hear when I speak. And what happens? The Lord shows up. And take a look at this in Exodus 19.

[18:37] In verse 16, It came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp they started shaking.

[18:54] They've never heard anything like this. They've never been up against a mountain that on top is just some violent storm-like occurrence and shaking.

[19:05] And verse number 18 says, Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace and the whole mount quaked greatly.

[19:22] And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake and God answered him by a voice. And the people, the people are scared to death.

[19:35] We've already come through all of this. I'm trying to rehearse this in your ears just to remind you of this. It'll play a part in a little bit. But when the people verbally agreed to obey the Lord, he shows up and shows a vision of himself that has them shaking in their boots.

[19:53] They don't want to, they say, Moses, you go near. You go near. You talk to him. We're good. We're going to stay far away. We promise. We don't want to come anywhere near that mountain where that powerful, fearful, dreadful, terrible God and his fire and his smoke and his thunders and his lightnings.

[20:13] That's a picture of judgment. They were rightfully afraid of the presence of God. And so Moses did do that. And Moses went forward and heard words from God.

[20:27] And he came back and he wrote those words in a book. They're freshly written in a book. And then as we've just read in chapter 24, Moses gives those words to the people.

[20:42] And as we just read, there's an official dedication ceremony taking place here in chapter 24 where God and his people are being enjoined together.

[20:56] This is making this official. It's like the marriage, the husband and wife ceremony. It's where God is enjoining these people unto him according to the words of this book, of this covenant, what Moses had written.

[21:12] The blood was sprinkled upon the book because that is what is joining the two together, those very words. That's the... God wasn't looking for a handshake.

[21:23] He wasn't looking for a signature on a dotted line. That's not how this covenant was enjoined. Now, you're in Hebrews. I'll point out one thing in Exodus first.

[21:35] Look back at chapter 24 and verse number 8. 24 verse 8. Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

[21:57] The blood of the... This is what I'm doing. I'm sealing this covenant, sprinkling it upon you. Come over to Hebrews 9 and let's continue reading. We left off at verse 19 where he sprinkled both the book and the people saying in verse 20, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

[22:21] This is the blood. The blood is what seals the covenant. Not gold. Not anointing oil. There's nothing more precious than innocent life blood.

[22:36] And he sprinkled the blood on the people on the book of the covenant and on the altar. The blood is enjoining the people of God to himself according to the words of the law.

[22:48] God wasn't looking for any other thing. They had already verbally agreed he wasn't looking for that anymore. The slaughter of these animal sacrifices and the sprinkling of their blood was the seal.

[23:01] It was the certification of this covenant. It's now official. So do you understand this is a ceremony that's taking place. It had to be applied to seal the deal.

[23:13] The blood had to be acquired. The blood had to be applied. And then finally the blood had to be accepted. The third thought. Now come back to Exodus 24. I'm going to be in Hebrews again so don't lose that.

[23:25] Exodus 24. And after Moses said that in verse 8 Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel.

[23:43] And verse 10 says They saw the God of Israel and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

[23:58] And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand. Also they saw God and did eat and drink.

[24:11] These were indeed enjoined to God by the blood of this covenant. It's proven by this unique occasion this where they were permitted to see God.

[24:28] Now it wasn't the spirit God the Father who is a spirit it was a manifestation an appearance of God through the eternal word that was manifest that angel that we saw earlier in the book in chapter 23 that God's name is in him Jehovah.

[24:47] They get to see God the God of Israel and it said in verse 11 he laid not his hand on them. That means they were permitted to see him and live.

[25:03] There shall no flesh see me and live he says later on to Moses or no flesh see my face and live. Here he allowed these men to see him proof that the blood had been accepted is that he didn't kill them.

[25:17] It's a very extremely rare and special moment for this people. It doesn't happen again. How is it possible for man to be brought up into the presence of God to see the God of Israel and not be slain because the blood was acquired the blood was applied and the blood was accepted.

[25:45] Now we're going to come back to this scene here in a little bit but let's now relate what we just read in these three points to what the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished and what he has fulfilled for us on the cross of Calvary.

[26:01] You may remember in Matthew chapter 26 when he sits there with his disciples that night before he was crucified in that upper room and they have a meal and after that he breaks bread and gives it to them and says take, eat this is my body which is broken for you and then he has a cup and he passes that cup around and says drink ye all of it this cup is my blood is the blood of the New Testament which is shed for many.

[26:39] The Lord Jesus Christ called his blood the blood of the New Testament what we read was blood of the First Testament the First Covenant as it were and yet the Lord Jesus has blood for a new one and that blood just like we read in Exodus that blood had to be acquired that means something had to die something without blemish had to die something that would be accepted of God had to die that takes me out of it that takes you out of it you can't offer your life to God and him be pleased with it and accept you something innocent had to die and so Christ Jesus shed his blood look at Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 4 the precious blood of Christ was shed as a payment for the sins of the world and in verse 4 of Hebrews 10 it says for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins not possible matter of fact nothing else could do the job to take away sins so in the passage it's a description of Jesus Christ the Son of God coming to do the will of the

[28:04] Father and offer himself and we've read this even recently at our communion time they couldn't offer holy water we can't offer anointing oil we can't offer incense and prayer we can't offer gold and silver no what God accepts has to be righteous pure blood I'm going to look ahead if you want flip over to 1 Peter chapter 1 it's just a few pages to the right from Hebrews 10 1 Peter chapter 1 and notice Peter describes that the redemption the payment that was made in the sufferings of Christ for our sins was with his blood not corruptible things like silver and gold verse 18 says for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from the vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot man

[29:09] Peter nails it on the head exactly what we're covering and studying Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of just what we read in Exodus 24 but his is for the New Testament the blood was acquired the blood had to be applied come back to Hebrews and here I want to read a portion of this of chapter 9 with you so come back and find chapter 9 and just follow along I'm going to read from verse 11 and read the majority of this chapter and understand the context of this is the author saying to Hebrews saying you all know what Moses did but I'm trying to convince you that what Jesus Christ did was better and you need to get under that one and let go of Moses and so this is a transition and a change that happened some many years later in Hebrews 9 I'm beginning in verse 11 but Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us for if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living

[30:42] God and for this cause he Jesus Christ he is the mediator of the new testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance for where a testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator for a testament is a force after men are dead otherwise it's of no strength at all while the testator liveth whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood we just read that that was Moses dedicating that testament that covenant and joining them to God for when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law he took the blood of calves and of goats and water with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people saying this is the blood of the testament with God hath enjoined unto you moreover in the future a little bit later after a tabernacle is built moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all is no remission it was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these that is the old testament blood but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands which are figures of the true but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of

[32:20] God for us nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the 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 he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and so we'll stop there Moses and even the old testament priests after the fact offered sacrifices upon the altar blood was collected blood was applied to that altar and even at times into the most holy place on the mercy seat and to the other instruments and furniture of the tabernacle itself and comparatively now the Lord Jesus Christ offered himself upon the altar of the cross and shed his blood upon that cross and that holy precious blood effectively applied from Calvary where he died all the way up place and presence of God himself in heaven covering all of space and in fact the blood of the cross covered all of time from those sins under the first testament check to my sins today check the sins of the whole world

[33:36] John said are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ from eternity past to eternity presence as we understand it or future rather look at Hebrews chapter 10 and verses 10 through 12 this blood not just covers and is effective through all of space but through all of time in chapter 10 verse 10 by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all and every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins but this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God work is done the blood was applied it was applied by the offering of himself to God and thirdly the blood had to be accepted it had to be accepted the proof in the Old

[34:38] Testament was they were enjoined and God accepted them and allowed them to come up and see him look at Ephesians chapter number one we're finished with Hebrews now just turn to your left a little bit the book of Ephesians and find chapter number one and before we read here remember that that in the time of Christ in the Gospels it's been recorded that the Father spake from heaven on more than one occasion but he spake from heaven referring to the son he said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased he calls him his beloved son in Ephesians chapter one in verse number six I'll begin in verse six Paul writes to these believers and says to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved that's

[35:39] Jesus Christ you and I are accepted by God if we're in Christ verse seven in whom we have redemption oh my through his blood if you don't have those three words in your Bible you need to get a King James Bible because those three words are missing in new versions in whom we have redemption through his blood side note who would want to take out a reference to the blood of Jesus Christ not the Holy Spirit we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence and on we've been made accepted in the beloved that tells me that the blood that was applied was accepted because he's accepting me through faith in his son he gives me redemption and forgiveness of sins through his blood it was indeed accepted the Bible says in

[36:42] Philippians let's look at it we're right there look at Philippians chapter 2 just a few pages when it speaks of the death of the cross in verse number 8 Philippians 2 verse 8 being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name you better believe that the father accepted the work of the son the offering of himself to God he exalted him after the death of his son and gave him a name above every name and that name every knee is going to bow to the one who became like a servant and submitted himself unto death and took upon him the sins of the world and paid the wrath of God against our sins so the blood of Christ was acquired and applied and accepted by the father now remember what we read happened following that ceremony would you go back to our text in exodus 24 and we're almost finished here come back to exodus 24 you remember that those men in verses 9 10 and 11 went up to see the God of Israel in verse 9 then went up

[38:09] Moses and Aaron Nadab and Abihu seven of the elders they saw the God of Israel and there was under his feet as it were paved work of sapphire stone as it were the body of heaven in his clearness and upon the nobles and children of Israel he laid not his hand also they saw God and did eat and drink I need to note this very clearly and this to me this is like gives me chills the experience that they had with God was far far different than the earlier one the earlier experience not too long before it was fire and smoke and blackness and darkness and tempest and thunder and noise and fear and now they're seeing the God of Israel in his clearness the one shows a picture of judgment and of hell the other one even uses the word heaven as it were the body of heaven in his clearness now

[39:22] God is being described as someone that can be approached someone that can be fellowshiped with they sat down and ate and drank in the presence of God what a wonderful difference from the first experience to the second in the second it's like the garden of Eden being relived they're in the presence of God fellowshipping with God accepted by God their sinfulness is not an issue because the blood had been applied and accepted and concluding this morning because the blood was acquired applied and accepted they could go up to where God was and they could see him in his glory and in his beauty and they didn't have to fear his wrath against their sinfulness and so

[40:26] Christian do you see because of the blood that Jesus Christ shed for me and for you because it was acquired the innocent lamb of God because it was applied as he offered himself to God and was accepted you and I can one day go up to where God is and see him in his beauty and in his glory and fellowship with him and sit down and eat and drink and be unafraid because there's no fire here there's no darkness here there's no terrible tempest here we'll never experience that side of God because the blood's been accepted the blood of his son has it joined me to him have you been enjoined to the father it has to be through the blood of the son because that's the only one he accepts so have you been accepted have you been enjoined have you been sprinkled by the blood the song we sing says are you washed in the blood of the lamb this is new testament salvation this is a better salvation than what they had you can be enjoined to

[42:08] God by the death of his son you can know and experience the forgiveness of your sins it is eternal you can have complete acceptance being in the beloved and the gift of God which is eternal life can be yours through Jesus Christ our Lord we're reading about the blood of the covenant in Exodus how God enjoined himself to that people but the application and far better is to be enjoined to God by the blood of the covenant his son made by the death of his son have you been to Jesus for the cleansing flood or you washed in the blood of the lamb everybody heads bowed and eyes closed would you just have a moment here of an attitude of prayer and sobriety with nobody looking around at all would you please reverently would you consider have you been accepted by

[43:18] God have you individually you where you sit have you been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ do you understand what we're talking about this morning I made it pretty clear Christ died for your sins and he offers to give you eternal life if you receive by faith that he died for you that he was the sacrifice that God accepts don't try to offer God anything but the son he will not accept you unless you have the blood applied it had to be sprinkled on the people the blood of Christ is effective but you have to accept it personally you can do that by just coming to God as a sinner and saying God I need Jesus Christ I am a sinner will you forgive me of my sin because

[44:19] Jesus died for my sins paid for my sins and I believe on him and I want to receive him as my savior you can pray that to God today believing in your heart that Christ is your savior I'm not going to press you but if you feel the Lord dealing with your heart that you need to get this settled today is the day tomorrow might be too late for you to get it settled you might forget about this you might get busy you might get lost in the cares of this life but now in this moment God is dealing with your heart because he wants to save your soul humble!

[45:09] keeping you from Calvary and say God I want to be forgiven I believe on your son and you by faith receive him as your savior father I pray for these that may be struggling with this thought would you give clarity and all understanding salvation is so simple may it be just as clear this morning please remove any confusion please remove any doubt help us to rest completely in the word of God that it is faithful that it is true that it is right I pray for those who are unsure of their own salvation that today they get it right I pray this Lord it's your will I believe it I pray it would be accomplished!

[46:02] today for the rest of you that know you're saved you've been accepted in the beloved and one day you'll get to go up rejoice in that this morning be thankful for that this morning don't take it lightly so many are lost and on their way to hell and so let's do our part to tell them what God has enjoined us to Lord as we dismiss I want to thank you for this morning and for this truth I pray that it be effective in each heart and pray that you'll use this for your glory please save souls please strengthen believers and once again thank you from the bottom of my heart and from these my brothers and sisters thank you for salvation thank you

[47:03] Lord thank you for being here this morning and we'll conclude with that I'll let you go I want to remind you that our brother Mark is out there again with some of his baked goods so please feel free to stop by and check that out and if you have anything you want to talk to me about I'll be around be available and I look forward to talking to singing Amen.

[48:29] Amen. Amen.

[49:29] Amen. Amen.