The Gift of Blood - Billy Graham — From the Pulpit & Classic Sermons

Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons. Each week we bring you a different message from some of history's greatest speakers in the Christian faith and powerful sermons from modern preachers too.

This week we have Billy Graham with his message, The Gift of Blood.

The Worthiness of the Lamb in Revelation 5

Now tonight I want you to turn with me to the fifth chapter, the fifth chapter of the book of Revelation. The fifth chapter of the book of Revelation. These words,. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not. Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And I beheld, and low in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

And he came, and he took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for Thou hast slain and has redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.

For Thou hast made us kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beast and the elders, and the number of them were 10 ,000 times 10 ,000 and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

And every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessed in honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb forever and ever.

And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and 20 elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever and ever. This is a picture of a scene that is going to take place someday in heaven at the throne of God.

The Sealed Book and the Secret of Human History

These 24 elders that you read about here represent the 12 apostles and they represent the 12 tribes of Israel. The four beasts that it says, there's a mistranslation, it's four creatures, angelic beings, mighty beings of God.

And they're at the throne of God. And God has never allowed anybody to look into the future. No one can look into the future. We have computers today searching in many laboratories, whether it's the Pentagon or whether it's in the Soviet Union or throughout the world, trying to find out what's going to happen next.

What is the enemy going to do next? God has it in that book. And it was sealed. And the reason John was weeping is because nobody could open those seals. Nobody was worthy to open these seals because these seals held the secret of the past, present, and future of the human race.

And God was going to show through these seals what is about to come upon the earth. And John saw that nobody was worthy to open them. And he wept. Then an angel came to him and said, don't weep anymore.

There's somebody here worthy. He is the lion. He's a lion. The root of David. Hath prevailed. Then when John looked, he didn't see a lion. If somebody tells me as we're traveling along there's a garden, I expect to see a garden.

If somebody says there's an airplane, I expect to see an airplane. If somebody says that's a train, I expect to see a train. But he didn't see that. He didn't see that. When he looked, instead of seeing a lion, he saw a lamb.

A sacrificial lamb who had died. And this lamb was the only one in all of heaven, on all the earth, or under the earth, or in hell, that was able to open those seals. I'm writing a book right now. It'll be out, I hope, this fall, about November 1st.

The Four Horsemen and Coming Judgment

On the four horsemen of the apocalypse. And I've been working on it for many months, and we're getting toward the end of it, hopefully, now. And I have been amazed at the things that, and the research that I've done, and friends have helped me do.

If what is about to happen on the earth, the four horsemen, I can hear their hoofbeats now, approaching. And so can you. And we see in our newspapers and on our television screens, the evidence of these four horsemen.

Well, those four horsemen come under the first seal. The seal that is to be broken. And God is going to pull out upon the world. Judgment. And the fifth chapter that I've just read is really one of the most thrilling in the Bible.

There was a period of silence, and then John weeping. No one able to open the book. And out of the midst of the throne came the lion, but not in the form of a lion, but a lamb, which had been slain. And the book was opened, and it reveals the past, present, and future.

The secret of the ages is out at last. And it says that by Thy blood, God has reconciled the world unto Himself through the death of His only begotten Son. And they sang a new song. And Brother Odom and Shea and Baraz and the choir are going to have to learn a new song.

A song they've never heard before. But it's going to be about the blood of the Lamb. The blood that was slain. Not about a lion, but about a lamb. The music of heaven has centered around the cleansing and redeeming power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

All heaven recognized at this moment that redemption was through and by the blood of the Lamb. But you know, the Bible tells us about blood from Genesis to Revelation. And many people wonder why God demands blood.

Blood, Life, and the Biblical Story of Salvation

The scripture says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. You see, blood stands for life. When blood leaves your body, that means life is gone. The first war that I ever went to was the one in Korea.

Grady Wilson and I went in that fall after we had been here. And we spent Christmas there. And I'll never forget the bloody sights that we saw. And we were in Pusan and I remember we got on a train to go up to Seoul at night.

And they warned us, get down behind your baggage because the train will likely be shot at. Boy, we stayed down behind that baggage all night. But there was a report on that train that didn't and he had his hand a little bit up and got his finger shot off.

But somehow we survived it when the guerrillas did attack. And then during the Vietnam War, several Christmases we spent there with our service men. And I remember I was on an aircraft carrier. I think it was a Kitty Hawk.

And the night before Christmas and Bob Hope sent a wire. And Bob said, would you come and be with us at, I forget the name of the town, the next day. And be on our, the base the next day and be on our program.

Well, it was zero, zero outside. You couldn't see anything. They'd grounded all the planes. Or at least they were all on the aircraft carrier. They couldn't leave. But finally, the admiral decided that he'd let us go, or the captain.

And we took the cod and took off. Somebody said it's the world's greatest slingshot. And it shot us right off. And we went. And I'll never forget, the clouds were real low over this base. And the mountains were real high, it seemed to me.

And so I took the microphone and said to the captain or the pilot of the plane. I said, if you fellas don't just have to land down here. I said, if I were going there to preach, but just to be with Bob Hope.

I said, you can just keep on going to some other town where it's clear. And this man that was the pilot said, don't worry, Dr. Graham, I'm a big coward. I was delighted to hear that. But we finally landed and we were on Bob Hope's show, that Christmas show that he put on.

And we were there a number of times and had some interesting and very teary and brokenhearted times with servicemen during the war. And I'm so delighted to see so many here tonight. And we are so honored to have them here from the various bases, both from the Air Force and the Navy and the Army.

How many bases we've been to, I don't know whether we could ever count them up. We've been to all over the world to minister and to greet them. And they've always encouraged us wherever we've gone. And we ought to support those people who've dedicated their lives to defending our freedom and defending our way of life.

Eden, Cain and Abel, and the First Blood Sacrifices

Now, from the third chapter of Genesis, when man was in the Garden of Eden and he broke God's law, he rebelled against God. And he found out that he was naked. And God went out in the field and slew some animals and shed some blood in order to take their skins and cover their nakedness.

From that moment on, blood has been shed as a symbol of our salvation. Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel had apparently been instructed as to how to worship God. And Cain paid no attention. He brought some vegetables to God as an offering.

God rejected it. And Abel brought a blood sacrifice, a calf, and offered it to the Lord. And God accepted it. And Cain grew very angry and very jealous of his brother and he slew him. And that was the first murder.

And blood again was slain, the first blood that was shed in anger. And war has been going on between brothers in the human race ever since. And Jesus said there'll be wars and rumors of wars till the end of time.

And then we move over again and we see when Moses was down in Egypt trying to get the people out of Egypt. And trying to get them into the promised land. And he was having these debates with Pharaoh. And you remember that God said, alright, tell them that I'm going to kill the firstborn and all of Egypt tonight.

And tell the people, the Jewish people to go out and slay a lamb without blemish. And put the blood on the doorpost and when I see the blood I will pass over. Not when I see their good works. And that was the beginning of Passover.

The slaying of those animals and the blood. God didn't say when I see their good works or even when I see your ethnic background. When I see the blood. When I see the blood I will pass over. Now there are several great words on the power and value of the blood.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

Around which the music of the angelic host in this fifth chapter of Revelation is gathered. The first word is redemption. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold.

But with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish. You go to a pawn shop and articles of value are placed for a loan. A time limit is set and the failure of the borrower to reimburse with interest.

The pawn shop automatically releases the article to the public. And any person putting up that amount required is able to buy out of the pawn that article. And this is called redemption. We redeem it out of the pawn shop.

Now the Bible teaches that we as a human race are in the pawn shop of the devil. And by disobedience we're enslaved and spiritually under his authority. Unable to redeem ourselves. And Christ died on the cross and paid the price for our salvation.

And redeemed us by the giving of his own blood. I read about a Roman slave girl who was given her freedom. And the girl jumps on the ground and says you've redeemed me and I will serve you faithfully the rest of my life.

Fallen man and women are on the auction block with no one to redeem us. We're lost. We're going to judgment and hell. What are we going to do? That's where Jesus Christ came and died and shed his blood.

And gave his blood to pay for our sins and to redeem us. And if you are not under the blood you're not going to go to heaven. You must be under the blood. Are you sure that that experience has been yours?

You have to repent of sin and receive Christ into your own heart? Then the second word is remission which means forgiveness. Matthew 26, for this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

And we go back again to the Old Testament. Hebrews quotes it. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And without the shedding of blood is no forgiveness. The blood you see is a shadow and a type in the Old Testament.

And it was sprinkled on the tabernacle, the vessels, the book, the congregations annually. And this action enabled God to forgive sin. Divine justice was satisfied and divine mercy extended through the types of blood.

And Jesus in his death on the cross made possible the forgiveness of sins and the extension of mercy at the same time. Holiness was left pure and while mercy and love provided the demands of justice. This is the heart of the gospel.

There is no gospel but this. I read about a daughter of a poor widow. She left home to go out into sin. For three years she was gone and when she came back stumbling back having been beaten up by her boyfriend.

She came to the back door and expected it to be locked but it was open and she opened the door. And she went in and her mother was sitting there reading the Bible. And she said, mother I never expected to find the door open, are you here?

And the mother said, my darling ever since that night you walked out that door has been open. God stands ready to forgive. You see God doesn't have to get ready for you to repent. He doesn't have to get ready for you to come to the cross.

He doesn't have to get ready for you to be forgiven. But thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and in great kindness the scripture says. God's ready right now. He's standing here with open arms and saying Jim, Bill, Susie, Mary come.

You that are watching by television right now can pick up a telephone and call the number on the screen. And talk to a counselor about your own spiritual need and about Christ coming into your heart right now.

Justification by Christ's Blood

Redemption, remission. Then there's another word associated with the blood and that's justification. In Romans 5, but God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

Much more than being justified by His blood. We shall be saved from wrath through Him. Again the blood. And the dictionary defines justification to be free from blame, to be proven to be innocent. We cannot do it ourselves.

It's impossible. You can work all your life and do good works and pay money to the church but that won't justify you. The only thing that will justify you in heaven or upon earth or in hell is the blood of Jesus Christ.

And justification means just as though you'd never sinned. Wouldn't it be wonderful as though you'd never committed a sin in your whole life? Well that's what can happen tonight when you come to the cross.

That's the power of the blood. The physiological and psychological and spiritual all convict man of guilt. Being justified freely by His grace. Notice His grace. Grace is unmerited favor. Something I don't deserve.

I don't deserve my sins forgiven. I don't deserve to go to heaven. I'll be honest with you I don't deserve it. I deserve hell. Someone asked me a few moments ago before I came on the platform. Don't you feel very good about all this and all that?

I said I feel like Martin Luther did. He was born 500 years ago this year. He said when I come into the presence of God I feel like a worm. I feel like a worm all the time. I feel like I don't deserve anything.

But I receive forgiveness and justification. And my name written in the book of life. I'm going to receive heaven forever. Because the blood was shed. A little girl was asked by her mother if she was afraid to die.

And she said no mother. On what are you depending the mother asked. On the justice of God said the little girl. Oh you don't mean the justice of God you mean the mercy of God. No mother said the daughter.

I mean the justice of God. You know mother all my sins were laid on Jesus. And he bore my punishment. And God in his justice is not going to punish me too. He's not going to punish. He's not going to let Christ down the cross.

And you be lost. If you believe in Christ and put your trust in him. And then another word associated with blood is cleansing. First John 1 7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light. We have fellowship one with another.

And the blood of Jesus Christ his son. Continues to cleanse us from all sin. When you come to the cross not only does he cleanse all the past sins. But that blood is available for any present or future sins.

So that you stand before God justified. Ready to go to heaven. That's a marvelous thing to have happen to you. You see fire is a cleansing power. The jeweler is often called upon to refashion some old silver or gold.

And the article is placed in a pot over an alcoholic on alcohol flame. And allowed to remain there for several hours. And the boiling process cleanses. Corrosion and dust and other metals come to the surface and are dipped off.

It's called dross. And that's what God's what the blood of Christ does. It cleanses. It takes all those bad elements out. And leaves you standing before God justified and pure. God can no longer see your sins.

You can take some brown sugar and dip it in a blood from animals. And it obliques the sugar next to the snow and its whiteness. We're cleansed by blood in the spiritual realm. The process is that of repentance and faith.

To all who would forsake sin God offers a new chance. There was a student co-ed I read about the other day at 19 years of age. She got into the Guinness Book of Records this year. By standing in the shower for a consecutive 121 hours.

Think of that. You know back when I was a boy they used to see how many goldfish they could swallow. And then they'd see how many kids could get in a telephone booth. And we had all kinds of, or how you could sit on a pole.

How long you could sit on a pole. Then they had what they called the walk-a-thons. They would go all over the country and people would see how long they could dance. And some of them would dance for three and four and five weeks.

Night and day, night and day. Never sleeping, dancing. And the one that lasted the longest would get maybe $75. But tonight you can be cleansed by the blood of Christ. And you don't have to take a 121 hour shower.

It can happen tonight, right now. It's an instant thing with Christ. He promises to blot out all the old sins. And make the record begin with a new start. Wouldn't that be wonderful? A brand new start in life.

To be born from above. To be born anew. To start over. And all the past forgiven. That's what God offers you tonight. Then there's another word. There's redemption and remission and justification and cleansing.

Peace Through the Blood of the Cross

Then there's peace. Peace in the midst of a world filled with war. We're told that there are 40 wars going on right now in the world. And there's all sorts of wars in families. All sorts of wars between friends going on.

In Colossians 1 .20 it says,. And having made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. Because of that blood we can have peace. There are three types of peace spoken of in the Bible.

First is peace with God. You see God says that because of our sins we're at war with Him. He makes peace at the cross. Then there's the peace of God that the Holy Spirit produces in you when you come to Christ you have a peace that you've never known before.

Think of the restlessness in the world today. Among so many of us the pressures that we live under. But to think of having peace in the midst of it all. And then there's peace between nations. And that's going to happen someday when Jesus comes back again.

And reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I'll talk about that Sunday afternoon. There's absolute harmony in heaven because of the shed blood. I heard about a famous incident in the First World War.

A terrible battle had taken place and there were two wounded soldiers. One was a German and the other was French. And as they lay near each other on the field the Frenchman gave his enemy a drink of cool water for his tongue.

Then they clasped hands and they prayed. And the dying German said, there'll be no war on the other side. And in a few moments they were both on the other side. And there's no war there. Peace. But you can have that peace here and now.

In the midst of the troubles and trials and discouragements of life. And the pressures of life. You can have the peace of God that passeth all understanding. Right now. There's no war going on in the heart of those who really know Christ.

If you surrender to Him. Not only is there peace but there's also another word, access. Access. But now in Christ Jesus ye who were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. We can come straight into the presence of God.

We don't have to come through a third person. Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Christ. By a new and a living way says Hebrews 10. From the cross the Lord said it is finished.

The veil in the temple was rent in twain. There was a veil between the people and God. But when Christ died that veil was rent in two. And it's been rent ever since. And this was symbolic of the veil between God and man that had kept fallen man from having access to the Father.

And Sir Walter Scott was speaking one day. And he's once speaking about the veil of the temple being rent in two. And a man in the back stood up and said how big was that hole? And Sir Walter Scott said it was big enough for any sinner to get through.

Yes it's big enough for any sinner to get through. And you can come directly into the presence of God with boldness. I heard about a prisoner who was brought up to trial in England under the reign of Charles I.

And throughout the proceedings the condemned man remained calm. And people couldn't figure out because everything was going against him. They knew the judge was going to pronounce him guilty and they knew that he was going to be condemned to hang.

And he was so calm and he had such peace it seemed. And so the sentence of death was passed. And he reached in his pocket and he pulled out a paper and handed it to the judge. It was a pardon from King Charles I.

He already had it. If you have pardon from God you can stand before anything in this world with peace in your heart. Because if you're ready to die you're ready to live. And you've already been pardoned because of Christ.

The Blood That Satisfies, Saves, and Silences the Accuser

So in the day of judgment if we have Christ's free pardon for sin we're not afraid of anything at the judgment. When I see the blood. I read about in a hospital in Pennsylvania recently a fellow died in the hospital because he was given the wrong kind of blood.

The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son shed on the cross for us was the right type of blood to cleanse and infuse every person in this room tonight. With life and life eternal. We've been reading a lot about a new disease that people are frightened about and it gets in the bloodstream through transfusion.

There's no pollution in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's pure. It'll cleanse from every sin no matter what it is. The blood accomplishes three things. It satisfies God who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.

You see we sometimes refuse to rest where God rests. When the atonement has been made God was satisfied. Nothing needs to be added to the demands of His holy nature. Divine justice was completely satisfied.

We're constantly seeking to add merit or to combine work along with what Christ did on the cross. But you don't have to. It was all done at the cross. And in the resurrection. Are you ready to meet Him though your sins were scarlet?

They shall be as white as snow. Though they were red like crimson they shall be as wool. So we can say with Paul I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me. The second thing the blood does it saves sinners like you and me.

I'm a sinner, yes. I deserve judgment in hell, yes. But for by grace are you saved through faith in that and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Oh there's a tremendous sense of relief when I realize that He gave it to me.

That my name is written in the book of life. That I know that I'm going to heaven. It liberates you from anxiety and fear. And how many of us live in anxiety and fear today? If I had the ability to sing like Doug Odom or Bev Shea or some of these people.

I would burst forth right now in amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a sinner like me. But it also does one other thing. It silences the devil. The Bible says who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect it is God that justify.

You see the Bible teaches a strange thing and I don't quite understand all this now. I'll get some clergyman here to explain it to me sometime. But Satan is standing daily before the throne of God accusing us.

He's the accuser of the brethren. He's saying look at that Billy Graham you see that? He didn't do that. He did that. He did this. He did that. He's accusing us all the time. But Jesus Christ is our advocate.

He's my lawyer. At the right hand of God the Father. He answers the devil. And he reminds the devil. That when he died on the cross. That took care of Billy Graham's sins. And there came a day when Billy Graham repented of his sins and received Christ as his own Savior.

And Jesus said look at that. And the devil has to back away and says yes. He's under the blood. When I see the blood I will pass over. Is the blood tonight sprinkled on the door of your heart? Will the judgment of God pass over you?

At least the judgment of God. Which is it going to be? You say well Billy I'm really not sure. I'm a member of the church. I'm a deacon in the church. I'm the pastor of a church. But I'm really not sure.

I had a bishop come to me some time ago of a great church. And he said you know I've been through a theological school in England. I'm a bishop in my denomination. But he said I really don't know for sure that I know Christ.

I want to know. And I talked to that bishop in his home as though he were a little child even though he held a doctor's degree in theology from Cambridge University. And he got on his knees and with tears coming down his cheeks he confessed before God.

How many people here tonight are in the church? But you're a long way from full fellowship with Christ. Jesus said you can serve me with your lips but your heart is far from me. Tonight is the night. You may never have another moment like this.

The Public Call to Repentance and Faith

We've seen hundreds of people every night come forward to make their commitment to Christ and to be sure. I'm going to ask you to do that tonight. I'm going to ask hundreds of you to get up out of your seats in a few moments.

And come and stand in front of this platform and as you come and stand here. Quietly and reverently. I'm going to say a word to you and have a prayer with you and give you some literature and you can go back and join your friends.

If you're with friends or relatives or come in a bus they'll wait on you. But Christ paid the price on the cross for you. And shed his blood certainly you can come a few steps to make your commitment to him.

You say Billy why do you ask us to come publicly? Because every person that Jesus called in the New Testament he called publicly. Publicly. He said if you're not willing to acknowledge me before men I'll not acknowledge you before my father which is in heaven.

So it's biblical and it's psychologically sound for you to come publicly and make your commitment to Christ. Husbands and wives and whole families need to come. Sweethearts need to come. And surrender to him tonight.

And say tonight I want to leave here knowing that my sins are forgiven and that I'm going to heaven. If you're with friends they'll wait. I'm going to ask that no one leave the stadium now. This is the holy moment.

Ask us to be bowed in prayer. Everyone praying as people come. You get up and come right now quickly. We're going to wait. Hundreds of you from everywhere.

And make this commitment to Christ. You have been listening to the From the Pulpit and Classic Sermon series. This week you heard Billy Graham with his message The Gift of Blood. Tune in next week to hear Chuck Smith talk about The Worship of False Gods on From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons.