The Blood of Christ - Lawrence Barham

It was at a Grace Abounding Convention in London that, in 1963, Lawrence Barham, a brother whom I appreciated as a teacher for many years, gave a very brief presentation on a rather neglected topic, The Blood of Christ. Here is the text of that message. It goes right to the heart of salvation.

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THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
By Lawrence Barham
Grace Abounding Convention, London England 1963

In John 1:14 we have the testimony of two men named 'John'. "The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." What a wonderful expression. John saw that Glory on the Mount of Transfiguration and he would never forget it.

Then John the Baptist came along. John bare witness of Him and cried saying, "This is the One I was speaking about and of His fullness have we all received and grace upon grace." Then he went on to say what this Glory meant: “The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) He wants to do that very thing for each of us - to enable us to 'behold the Lamb of God which takes away my sin, your sin, not just the guilt of it but cleansing us day by day.

Do you think that John the Baptist saw a picture when he saw the Lord Jesus walking along? We read of him that he was to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. What a wonderful thing to be that man. And don't you think that the Holy Spirit in him was teaching him these things? Nobody else can teach us these things except the Holy Spirit. From a small boy, John was filled with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit was lighting up God's truth to him. When he saw Jesus, I think that the whole meaning of the Old Testament flashed before him. I think that his mind went right back to the first family, to Abel. Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. It was better because it was the shed blood, of an animal. Cain offered his produce from the garden and God didn't accept that. But Abel offered a lamb, killed it and offered it up. God accepted it and He accepted Abel. It was counted as a righteous offering. It was by faith that he did it. (Hebrews 11:4)

Cain's family grew worse until God said, 'I shall have to destroy them all except the family of Noah.' When Noah and his family came out of the ark, after that terrible destruction from the flood, what was the first thing he did? He built an altar and offered up a sacrifice as much as to say, 'God has delivered us, but we are still sinners. We did not deliver ourselves. God did it! The Lord smelled a sweet fragrance and the Lord said in His heart, 'I won't curse them again like that.' (Genesis 8: 20)

Now we go on to Abraham. He was told to leave the comfort of Ur of the Chaldees and go to a place he did not know where. And what was the first thing he did? - the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: 'Unto your seed will I give this land' and there he built an altar to the Lord who appeared to him. Once again Abraham said, 'I am a sinner chosen by God in His grace, but I am a sinner. It is not my goodness that caused Him to choose me. I deserve to die, but I am trusting in the blood of this animal that I am killing.' And God accepted him.” (Genesis 12:6,7)

Next we go on to Moses appearing before the King of Egypt. He delivered God's message. 'Every house must choose a lamb and kill it and sprinkle the blood upon the doorposts of the houses where you are.' If I may dare to say it, it is a silly thing to do from a human reasoning point of view. How could that help to deliver people from a strong nation like Egypt? Hopeless! And some people said that ... So the Israelites took the lamb and killed it and took its blood and sprinkled it on the doorposts and, in the morning, the firstborn was alive 'When I see the blood' God had said, 'I will pass over you.' (Ex 12:1-12)

There is such a thing as judgment. Whatever we may think about it, the word of God makes that very clear. And God says: 'When I see the blood, I will pass over you.' That was God's way of setting those Israelites free, set free by the blood of the lamb. And when they reached the wilderness, God met with them on Mount Sinai and He ordered them to offer a sacrifice. And they did. God made a covenant with them - a covenant of blood. Moses sprinkled blood on the people and on the book of the covenant and said: 'This is the blood of the covenant which I have made with you. You will be my people and I will lead you into the promised land. And they said, 'We will keep it.' But they didn't ... And God gave them all the wonderful sacrificial system. Detailed descriptions of it go on for chapter after chapter in the book of Moses. All pointed to the fact that these people though redeemed were still sinful people. They had not become perfect. They still needed those daily sacrifices, morning and evening all through the year, as much as to say there is never a time when you don't need atoning for by blood. You are that bad! And so they had this system. It was all picture language pointing forwards.

And they had the great Day of Atonement once a year when the High Priest was told to take the blood of an animal, of a goat, and go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, within the veil. Then there was the other goat. When the High Priest put his hand on the head of the goat and confessed all the sins of the people, the goat was immediately taken away into the wilderness bearing their sins in its own body so to speak. These were pictures - divinely given pictures - and they meant something. (Leviticus 16:34)

There are many references in the Prophets, but I only want to bring you that one in Isaiah 53. It is the most wonderful chapter in Isaiah. "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent so he did not open his mouth. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed." Who could that have referred to but our Lord Jesus?

Zechariah, another prophet, said, 'They shall look on Him who they have pierced and they shall mourn for Him and there shall be opened a fountain for sin and uncleanness.' What is in the fountain? It is the blood of Jesus. What other fountain could there be? (Zechariah 12:10)

I went quickly through these little cameos in the Old Testament, some of the things which the Holy Spirit shone into the heart of John the Baptist when he said, 'Look! There is the Lamb of God." (John 1:36)

The Lord Jesus Himself spoke about His own blood. 'This is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for the remission of sins.' He said it Himself before He had actually shed it. (Matthew 26:28)

The apostle John was at the crucifixion when the death of the Lamb of God actually took place. He saw a soldier come and pierce His side. He did not do it to the others, but he did it to the Lord Jesus because He was already dead. John saw that blood and water came out. 'I saw it and I bear witness to it', he said. He saw a spiritual significance in it. There was the blood of the Lamb of God actually being shed in his presence and he saw it ... the life blood of Jesus. The very life of Jesus the perfect Holy life of the Son of God - was poured out on the Cross for us.

In the Epistles, the various writers all refer to it. Paul says to the Romans: 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God .. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith' - what in? 'In His Blood - to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.' (Romans 3:23-25)

Where else shall we go? I am only going quickly through these things so that we may see that the Blood of Jesus is not an isolated matter, but runs right through the Bible. It is the kernel of the whole plan of God for our redemption.

What about Ephesians? 'In Christ Jesus you Gentiles who once were far off have been brought near through the blood of Christ.' In Colossians, 'Having made peace' - how did He do it? - 'through the blood of His cross.' No other way. But He did it. Peace was made by the Blood of the Cross. (Ephesians 2: 13)

Hebrews - There is a lot there about the blood. Christ became a High Priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood. He entered into the Holy Place having obtained eternal redemption for us. Not a 'once a year' business; it is done forever. He offered His own Blood. His perfect life, once for ever. (Hebrews 9:12,14) We are sanctified by the Blood of Jesus, set apart, cleansed, purified, made able to stay in His presence and live with Him in fellowship. There is no other way.

Peter was another of those people who saw the glory of the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration and Peter no doubt saw the Lamb of God actually being killed on the cross. He said, 'For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.' Peter sow the meaning of that Blood he shed. (1 Peter 1:18)

John, in his epistle, said, 'If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin' - it goes on cleansing us from all sin, keeping us cleansed as we walk in the light with Him. (1 John 1:7)

When you get to the Revelation, you find that the Lamb is the favorite title of the Lord Jesus. If you go to Heaven - as you will if you are trusting in the Blood of the Lord Jesus - you will find them all talking about the Lamb of God who shed His blood for them and redeemed them. And they think, 'We would not be here but for Him. However did we get here, if it wasn't that we have been cleansed by that precious Blood of Jesus? And they sing, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, for He has redeemed us by His blood out of every tribe and nation and country.' (Revelation 5:12)

Do you know the blood of Jesus? Do you know the power of the Blood of Jesus in your life? First of all do you know Him as your Passover Lamb? You may be in bondage. We have all been in bondage. You may never have come out of the bondage of sin and Satan. You may not be saved and the angel of Judgment is, so to speak, hovering over you with the Sword of Judgment. If you haven't trusted in the Lord Jesus, that is what is happening. Do you know Him as the Lamb of God that takes away your sin, the guilt of it, the penalty of it, the fear of it? And do you know that cleansing in the blood of Jesus day by day? It doesn't make us wonderful people, but it makes the Lord Jesus very wonderful. He becomes precious and we begin to understand about the precious blood of Jesus. And there is victory. 'They overcame him, that is the devil, by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death. (Rev 12:11) When the blood of Christ is being applied to our hearts, how can the devil get there? He is a defeated foe. There is victory there.

God is offering us, in His beloved Son, a fullness of life that we may enjoy Him and serve Him forever. He is offering it to us. We can say, "Not I cannot accept it. Or we can say, 'Lord, I am willing. I am a sinful person. I am a failing person, but I believe the Lord Jesus is not a failure. May God open our eyes to see the Blood of Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us day by day and make us willing to say,”Yes, Lord' to Jesus.

"We must know the power of the Blood if we are to know the power of God. Our knowing experimentally the power. of the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the power of prayer is dependent upon our knowing the power of the Blood of Christ."