The Blood That Speaks

Please turn with me in your Bible to the letter to the Hebrews chapter 12. While we’ll be focusing on verses 24-25, let’s read verses 18-29 to remind ourselves of the context.

Let’s now turn to and read verses 1-16.

Illustration | Susan: In C.S. Lewis’s The Last Battle he writes Susan’s tragic ending:

“My sister Susan,” answered Peter shortly and gravely, “is no longer a friend of Narnia.”

“Yes,” said Eustace, “and whenever you’ve tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says ‘Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.’”

“Oh Susan!” said Jill, “she’s interested in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations.”

“Grown-up, indeed,” said the Lady Polly. “I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she’ll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one’s life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can.”

Immediately following this tragic ending, Lewis describs the joy Peter, Edmund, and Lucy experience after they go through the door, out of Narnia and into Aslan’s country. He describes it as a book where each chapter is better than the last.

But Susan, Susan is never mentioned again.

Why?

Because she stopped believing in Aslan and she stopped believing in Narnia.

Transition.

Transition: And while this is a fictional story, it is a small picture of an important spiritual truth the book of Hebrews is written to explain.

Exposition | Background on the Book: The author of our epistle is writing to a group of Jewish-Christians who were tempted to abandon Christianity and return to Judaism in the midst of Roman persecution. In response to this, the author’s main point is this: Jesus is better than anything Judaism has to offer. And he uses this truth to spur his audience on to further allegiance to Christ and his kingdom.

The first great Roman persecution of Christians. Would end with the destruction of the Jewish temple.

He implores his audience, “don't cast away your faith in Christ. Christ and his kingdom are eternal. Don't forsake that eternal kingdom because of current events around you. No matter what pressure you might feel from outside, the eternal benefits of staying faithful to Christ far outweigh whatever temporal comforts and pleasures are offered to those who forsake him.”

Look at the upheavals of nations in this earth through heavenly eyes. Christ is building his everlasting kingdom.

Over and over again, the author presents both the glories of our heavenly inheritance and the graciousness of Jesus as admonition to continue to believe the gospel, no matter the consequences.

In our text today, the author encourages us towards further faith in the gospel by using the Old Testament account of Cain and Abel as a picture, an illustration of the graciousness of Jesus. Why does he do this? Because pictures and stories affect our emotions and awaken our affections. And our author uses this specific story to awaken afresh our emotions to the incredible reality of our salvation, the graciousness of Jesus, and the incredible consequences if we, like Susan who loved this world more than Aslan’s Country, forsake out eternal inheritance for temporal pleasures.

Exposition | Setting the Context: The author describes the terror of God’s revelation at Mt. Sinai with words

Read: “But you have come to Jesus, the mediator of a New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.

I could boil down what the author is telling us in these two short verses like this:

Prop: Jesus’ gracious intercession for us demands unwavering allegiance from us.

Our outline tonight will be simple:

First, in verse 24 we will see “His graciousness.

Second, in verse 25 we will look at “Our response.”

1) His Graciousness (24).

Explanation: After explaining one glorious truth of our salvation after another in this paragraph, the author highlights for us the sprinkled blood of Christ as the climax of these glories. And he contrasts this blood to the blood of Abel from .

Explanation / Illustration | : As a quick reminder for us, in Cain and Abel both brought sacrifices to the Lord. And while God accepted Abel’s offering, he did not accept Cain’s offering. This caused Cain to be angry; so angry, in fact, that he killed his brother. God then went to Cain and said to him “Where is your brother? What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.”

Cain responds to God that his punishment is more than he can bare. Still, Cain is exiled from his family and from the presence of the Lord.

Transition: The author to the Hebrews notices similarities between the story of Jesus and the story of Abel. And he wants us to reexamine with the story of Jesus’ crucifixion in mind. He says that these stories are similar in key ways, yet different in one key way: Jesus’ blood speaks better than Abel’s.

Illustration: While we may not be used to reading the Old Testament like this, we make the same kind of comparisons every day between two things that are similar, yet one is clearly better.

For example, if someone had come here tonight with vegetarian bacon instead of real bacon, we’d say that while they both claim to be bacon, one is clearly better than the other. Similar, yet different in one key way.

Or if someone said that they went to Kentucky Kingdom, but Disney was better. We understand that both Disney and Kentucky Kingdom are amusement parks, but one is clearly better better than the other.

Your favorite sports team and your favorite sport’s team’s greatest rival.

I think we get the picture.

Sunergos and Starbucks.

So first, we need to examine how Jesus and Abel are similar, then we can examine how Jesus is better.

Illustration: Speaking Blood.

I can think of three ways in which Abel and Jesus are similar:

First, Abel was murdered by his brother. And Jesus “came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” He came to his brothers and they too became jealous of the favor he was receiving. And this caused them to, like Cain, become angry, plot, and murder their brother.

Second, Abel was innocent and didn’t deserve to be killed. Jesus too was innocent when he will nailed to the cross. He was falsely accused of blasphemy by the religious leaders of his day and was innocent of the charges brought against him.

Third, Abel’s blood spoke and God heard it. So with Jesus, his own blood also speaks and God hears it.

These are the ways in which they are similar, but our text today encourages us to look beyond how they are similar and examine how they are different. How is the blood of Jesus better than the blood of Abel?

How is Jesus better than Abel?

I can think of five categories for how the blood of Jesus is better than the blood of Abel.

First, and most clearly, Jesus’ blood is better in what it says, both in what it says to God and in what it says to us.

First, what it says to God. While Abel’s blood cried for vengeance, Jesus’ blood cries for mercy. The cry of Abel’s blood was heard loud and clear by God in heaven “avenge me!” and “condemn him!” and “Revenge!” And the blood of Jesus cries too. God hears the cry of his Son’s blood from heaven and says, “What is it my Son, my beloved, my only-begotten is saying?” He inclines his ear to listen and hears, not the cry of Abel, but he hears the voice of his Son, “Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!” He says to God for us “father, forgive them.”

The old hymn said it like this:

But the blood of Jesus cries out a better thing concerning us. Rather than crying our for our condemnation, Jesus blood cries out in heaven before the throne of God saying “Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!”

Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary; They pour effectual prayers; they strongly plead for me: "Forgive him, O forgive," they cry, "Forgive him, O forgive," they cry, "Nor let that ransomed sinner die!"

Brothers and sisters, the good news for us is that Jesus does not cry to God for our condemnation, but for our forgiveness. He does indeed speak a better word than the blood of Abel.

But this is not the only way in which the blood of Christ speaks better than the blood of Abel.

Second, what it says to us. While Abel’s blood gave no hope to Cain, Jesus’ blood speaks hope into our souls. When God punished Cain in response to Abel’s blood, Cain cried out in despair, “I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” The blood of Abel spoke and brought not only condemnation, but hopelessness. Not so the blood of Christ! Jesus’ blood speaks and brings to us hope of our inheritance to come. It also speaks to us that, although we have sinned, we are inheritors of that promised kingdom through faith. The blood of Jesus speaks; and because it speaks, we do not lose heart, for it speaks into our souls both confidence before God and hope.

Transition: And this is just the beginning of how the blood of Christ is better. For while most of our translations say that Jesus blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel, the NASB more faithfully renders the original when it says that the blood of Jesus speaks better than the blood of Abel, not only in what it says, but in other ways as well.

B) His graciousness towards us

Not only is the blood of Jesus better in what is says, but it also better in scope than the blood of Abel. I mean that in two ways.

First, while Abel’s blood cried out against one man, Jesus’ blood cries out for the world. Remember again the words of Jesus on the cross; he did not say “Father, forgive him.” If he said this, the scope of his crying would be the same as Abel’s. But Jesus said on the cross “Father, forgive them.” Jesus prayed for all those who would place their faith in him on that cross, not just for one person. And, as reveals, he prayed for “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” And for we who have trusted in Christ, we will join that number on the last day praising the Lamb who died for us. For we, like Cain, deserved the judgement of God, but because of Christ blood that pleaded for us, we received mercy.

C) His graciousness towards never ceases.

Also, while Abel’s blood cried out against one sin, Jesus’ blood cries for forgiveness for every one of our sins. There was only one act on the mind of Abel when he cried out to God, the sin that caused his death. But Jesus, Jesus does not cry for mercy for the sin of his murder alone, but for each and every one of the sins of his people. Remember , “He was pierced for our transgressions” and “he was crushed for our iniquities.” The result of this is found in , “I will remember their sins no more.” He will not remember a single one of our sins, for the blood of Christ pleads for mercy for every one of the sins his people have committed and will commit. My sin — oh the bliss of the glorious thought — my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bare it no more. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, oh my soul. How wonderful it is to have an omniscient and yet merciful Great High Priest — he knows the number of our sins ever more than we do, but what does he do with them, instead of executing judgement against us, he extends even greater mercy. Our sins, indeed, are many, but brothers and sisters, his mercy is more.

Transition: And this is not all the ways in which the blood of Christ is better than the blood of Abel. For it is not only better in what it says and in its scope, but also in its source

3. Better in its source. I think this is true in two ways:

First, While Abel was a victim of murder, he was still a sinner. Jesus, however, is sinless.

While Able was made in the image of God and thus his blood was precious to God, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the “beloved Son” of God in whom God is well-pleased.

Second, While Able was made in the image of God and thus his blood was precious to God, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the “beloved Son” of God in whom God is well-pleased.

Why does this matter? Because if God would hear the voice of Abel, how much more so will he hear the blood of Christ? God cannot resist the prayers of his Son of us. The prayers of his blood are effective; they always accomplish what they intend to accomplish. If Abel's blood is effective before God, how much more so is Christ's. Christ’s blood “Pours effectual prayers. He strongly pleads for me." And he please for me, is heard, and I am forgiven, not because of my faith, not because of my good deeds, not because God sees something wonderful in me, but because of who Christ is. I receive mercy before God, not because of who I am, but because of him Who pleads for me, the “beloved-son” of God.

And will the righteous Judge of men Condemn me for that debt of sin Now canceled at the cross? No. He won’t! God cannot judge us who are prayed for by Christ. The blood of Christ avails for you and for me, and for all who have placed their trust in the blood alone for salvation from their sins. Oh what a glorious and blessed reality to dwell under the scarlet banner of the blood of Christ and declare “God cannot strike me! For he has already stricken his Son in my stead.”

Transition: But brothers and sisters, that is not all. Not only is the blood of Christ better in what it says, not only is it better in its scope, not only is it better in its source, but it is better in its location as well.

4. While God said to Cain in that Abel’s blood cried out “from the ground,” Jesus’ blood cries to God from heaven itself. God does not bend down to earth to hear the blood of Christ as he did the blood of Abel, for Jesus has ascended to God. Christ’s desire that we receive mercy is so great that he must be face to face to God for us. And there He stands before the Father day and nice pleading for us. He prays for us, not from a distance, but looking God the Father directly in the eyes, and there he mentions all of his children by name, and prays that God forgive them.

Transition: But brothers and sisters, that still is not all. Not only is the blood of Christ better in what it says, not only is it better in its scope, not only is it better in its source, not only is it better in its location, but, finally, it is better in what it accomplishes.

5. Better in what it accomplishes:

Better in what it accomplishes:

While Abel’s blood evoked divine wrath, Jesus’ blood evokes divine mercy.

First, While Abel’s blood cries for divine justice, Jesus’ blood satisfies divine justice. It is not enough to say that the blood of Christ brings us mercy without also saying that the justice of God was satisfied in the death of Christ. For he bore our sins in himself on the cross. Our punishment was laid upon him. And by his stripes we are healed. Christian, God the Father has no wrath remaining for you or for me because every last drop of his wrath was spent upon his Son.

Second, While Abel’s blood brought a curse upon Cain in , Jesus’ blood lifted the curse from us. As Paul says in , “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”

But that is not all that Christ has done. He has not only taken away a curse where Abel brought a curse, but, third, Christ has replaced the curse with a blessing. As Paul says in , “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” We inherit all of the wonderful blessings of God in Christ as our text indicates:

you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that [speaks] a better [word] than the blood of Abel.

Fourth, while Abel’s blood resulted in Cain’s exile from the presence of God and the presence of his family in , the blood of Christ brings us into the presence of God and unites us to the church. The fellowship we have with God, and the joy we experience with one another, all of that is because of the precious blood of Christ. How sweet and precious is that blood.

Finally, while Abel’s blood brought a punishment upon Cain so severe that he said his punishment was more than he could bare, Jesus willingly took our punishment upon himself, and bore it on the cross.” “My guilt and cross was on his shoulders. In my place, he suffered, bled and died.” There is no need for any child of God to feel upon him the weight of punishment or the weight of guilt, for Christ has said “come to me, all you who are weary and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Christian, do you remember the first time you first felt that all of your guilt over sin and fear of future punishment was lifted off of your shoulders? That is still true today. For Christ has born upon himself all the punishment that we deserve. We do not say with Cain that our punishment is more than we can bare, we say that the blessing we receive in Christ is more than we can ever fathom. Like Cain, we hear the words of God, “where is your brother?” and instead of bowing in shame, we point with confidence and say, “Behold him there, the Risen Lamb. My perfect, spotless Righteousness.” and “One with himself, I cannot die. My soul is purchased by his blood.”

Better in its source.

While Abel was a victim of murder, he was still a sinner. Jesus, however, is sinless.

While Able was made in the image of God and thus his blood was precious to God, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the “beloved Son” of God in whom God is well-pleased.

Summary: Christ’s blood is greater than Abel’s blood. It is greater in what it says; it’s greater in its scope; its greater in its source; its greater in its location; and its greater in its affect.

Transition: Brothers and sisters, I know that list was long, but let the cumulative effect of the ways the blood of Christ please for us flood over you until you feel the graciousness of our Savior. Christ is far more gracious to us than we could ever list or ever understand. And that graciousness, it demands a response.

While Abel’s blood evoked divine wrath, Jesus’ blood evokes divine mercy.

Prop: Jesus’ gracious intercession for us demands unwavering allegiance from us.

While Abel’s blood cries for divine justice, Jesus’ blood satisfies divine justice.

In verse 24 we focused on Christ’s graciousness, as we transition to verse 25, we will now examine together our appropriate response.

While Abel’s blood brought a curse, Jesus’ blood lifted the curse and brought a blessing.

While Abel’s blood resulted in Cain’s exile from the presence of God and the presence of his family, the blood of Christ joins us into the presence of God and unites us to the church.

While Abel’s blood brought a punishment that was more than Cain could bare, Jesus bore our punishment on the cross.

Better in its source.

While Abel was a victim of murder, he was still a sinner. Jesus, however, is sinless.

While Able was made in the image of God and thus his blood was precious to God, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the “beloved Son” of God in whom God is well-pleased.

2) Our Response (25).

Read: “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.”

B)

Explanation: This great doctrine of the intercession of Christ on our behalf demands that we respond appropriately. In light of the all-surpassing graciousness of Christ in his prayers for us, we must be sure that we listen to him. We must be sure that we do not refuse him. Jesus’ graciousness towards us demands our faithfulness towards him. For the original audience, they were tempted to refuse Christ by abandoning their Christian faith returning to Judaism. And while we may not face that specific set of temptations today, I do believe that there are many ways in which we too might be tempted to refuse Jesus, where we too are tempted to reject our gracious intercessor. While there are several ways this could be true of us, I’d like to focus on four specifically.

C)

We must not refuse Christ’s gracious words:

First, we might be tempted to refuse Christ by refusing to believe the gospel. I do believe that this is the primary sense our author has in mind, that we would reject the gospel even in light of the graciousness of Christ. Brothers and sisters, do you sense in your heart a coldness towards the graciousness of Christ? Are you no longer in awe of your glorious salvation? Do you find your soul delighting in the things of this earth more than in Christ? Do you find more satisfaction in your phone, or food, or social media, or anything more than our Lord? Beware, this is the inclining of the heart away from the gospel and towards a kingdom that will soon be shaken. As the Song of Songs so profoundly says, it is the “little foxes” that spoil the vineyard of the love between Christ and his church. It’s not the large and expected things, but the little, unexpected, unwatched, day-to-day temptations that slowly spoil the love you have with Christ. Brothers and sisters, in light of the all surpassing graciousness of our Lord, do not refuse he who is speaking. Rather, have your mind often preoccupied with the gospel and the all-together loveliness of Christ. And if you hear this warning and think “it is too late for me.” Know that you can even now unplug your ears and listen to our gracious Lord. Our text reminds us that we “have come to Jesus.” And it invites us now, “come again.” “Come again to Christ.” He is far more patient and far more gracious than we could ever imagine. And he will never refuse those who come to him in faith and repentance.

Second, we might be tempted to refuse Christ’s gracious words by listening to condemning thoughts from the Devil and from our flesh rather than listening to the gracious Christ we’ve explored already in the sermon. John tells us in that Satan who accuses us day and night before God has been cast out of heaven and away from the ear of God by the blood of Christ. And if God would not listen to the condemnations of Satan towards us, then neither should we. The disposition of God towards his blood-bought children is a smile. He isn’t frustrated with us. But, because of the blood of Christ, for all those who have trusted in him for their eternal salvation, he loves us. He sings over us. He looks down at us and smiles. And will the righteous Judge of men Condemn me for that debt of sin Now canceled at the cross? No. He won’t! God cannot judge us who are prayed for by Christ. The blood of Christ avails for you and for me, and for all who have placed their trust in the blood alone for salvation from their sins. Oh what a glorious and blessed reality to dwell under the scarlet banner of the blood of Christ and declare “God cannot strike me! For he has already stricken his Son in my stead.” We hear God our Father say to us as he did to Cain, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me.” In the sight of God our Father, because of Christ’s intercession, There is no sin that we have done that has such height and breath, it is not washed in Jesus blood and covered by his death. There is no spot that still remains, no cause to hide my face, for he has stooped to wash me clear, and covered me with grace. Brothers and sisters, do not refuse to hear the graciousness of Christ and instead listen to the words of the Devil.

Third, because I know this room is full of men who want to preach and are studying to preach, I believe that we will be tempted to refuse to preach the blood of Christ. Our culture is more hostile towards Christianity today than perhaps it every has been. And as that hostility increases, we will continue to feel more and more pressure to preach Christ as a good teacher, or as an excellent role model, but not the blood, not the gospel. Or perhaps it won’t be hostility towards the gospel that will tempt you away from preaching the blood, but thoughts that your church would be growing faster, like the church across the street, if only you preach a less explicit gospel. Perhaps a member of your church will come to you and say that he likes your preaching, but do you have to talk so much about the death and blood of Jesus so much? That’s not what people what to hear. Brothers, we must guard ourselves. We must not refuse him who is speaking. And we must preach the gospel until our dying breaths. Do not turn away from the gospel. Let us say with Paul, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” (). By the grace of Christ, let us never shy away, and may we always preach the glorious gospel and the precious blood of Christ.

Finally, as we look towards our future ministries, we may be tempted to refuse him who is speaking by harboring bitter thoughts towards our congregation in our hearts. Ministry will be difficult. We will be betrayed, hurt, and slandered. People will leave our churches after having gone there for years. We will finish preaching a sermon that he greatly blessed us and the first person to talk to us after the service will have a long list of only criticisms of our preaching. But even when faced with this, we must not refuse to listen to what Christ says over them, “they are my blood bought children.” “I love them.” “I have forgiven them” and “forgive them, they know not what they do.” When we are tempted towards bitterness against those whom we are commanded to love, we must remember that we too are unworthy sheep, we too have been forgiven of gossip and slander, the people we will serve today, we will sing praises to Christ with on the last day.

Let us hear and love the gracious words of Christ. His words towards God for us for our pardon. His words towards us for our hope and acceptance before God. And his words over others of his love and acceptance of them. Let us cherish these words of the gracious Christ.

Prop: Jesus’ gracious intercession for us demands unwavering allegiance from us.

Conclusion

So let us hear and love the gracious words of Christ. His words towards God for us for our pardon. His words towards us for our hope and acceptance before God. And his words over others of his love and acceptance of them. Let us cherish these words of the gracious Christ.

Prop: Jesus’ gracious intercession for us demands unwavering allegiance from us.

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