DEWITT TABERNACLE TEACHING SERIES

 

THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST

VERSES

THE BLOOD OF A POPE

 

 

By C.W. Wood     February 2012

 

 

 

 

          Matthew 11:25, Jesus said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”

          This sermon, and others like it, is written to “Catholic babes,” “Protestant babes,” and any other “babes” who are not already too “wise and prudent” to learn truth.

          On my desk, I have a printout off the Internet that shows pictures of four Roman Catholic Vatican guards carrying on their shoulders a glass case containing vials of blood that was drawn from Pope John Paul II as he was dying. The picture was made at the cathedral in Bogotá January 20, 2012 . Other pictures show thousands of people lined up to view the blood! The news item said that the blood would be on tour throughout the country.

          What? What am I looking at? Are my eyes deceiving me? Are these precious people so misinformed and so spiritually blind as to put confidence in the blood of a man? Have they never known, or have they completely forgotten, the Bible teaching about the shed Blood of Jesus Christ being the only thing that can wash away our sins? For what reason are they carrying the blood of a Pope around? For what reason are thousands standing in long lines, just to see the blood of a Pope? Is this not the fulfilling of Scripture that declares that before God takes his Bride out, some will “count the blood of the covenant, wherewith we are sanctified, an unholy thing” (Hebrews 10:29)? This verse also says that to look to the blood of man is “doing despite to the spirit of grace.” It is turning away from the only way of Salvation. And that way is not “by the blood of goats and calves (nor by the blood of some Pope), but by His own Blood He entered in once into the Holy Place , having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9: 12 ). “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins…” (Colossians 1:14 ), “….unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Revelation 1:5).

          I will now quote a Scripture that if it was the only one we had, it would declare the displaying of a Pope’s blood to be a terrible crime against a loving Christ, who gave His own Blood (life) for us. It is found in Psalms 49:7, and it says no one else “can by any means redeem his Brother, nor give a ransom for him.” Here God directs our thoughts toward the one person, whose name is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, rather than let us lie in our deserved misery, punished his own bowels to save us.

          Then how dare any church, or any preacher, or any man, or any Devil dare to set forth any other way of salvation! To do so is to call down the wrath of God! Jeremiah 44:8, “…ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods…that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach….” (Verse 27) “Behold I will watch over them for evil, and not for good…”

          To put any kind of confidence in the blood of a man is to bring a terrible reproach on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). It is to deny that Jesus Christ is the only “door to salvation” (John 10:7-9) “…I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved…” To put any kind of confidence in the blood of a man, thinking his blood will save or heal, is to die in your sins (John 8:24 ).

          Both Catholics and Protestants, upon hearing the true Gospel preached, are receiving Christ as their personal Savior. To God be all the glory!

          We have entered into the time period in which the faith of God’s Elect Bride is being perfected for the Rapture, and without question, this faith is bound up in the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. For those of us who study a Prophet’s Message, it is evident that there is something peculiar in the death of Christ, something which unmistakably sets it apart from all other deaths. Therefore, we are moved by the Holy Ghost to study, and give a reverent attention to the revelations God has given His Prophet concerning this death. Many had been crucified, but none like this man had ever died.

          What has God one in order to secure the Eternal Salvation of sinners? What was God’s thought in submitting Jesus Christ to die upon the Cross and exactly what has been accomplished by it? to attempt to teach on this unique happening at Calvary which, in part, has been veiled in darkness until the opening of the Seven Seals, calls for the revealed knowledge given to our Prophet, William Branham. Therefore, this sermon will be of the most benefit to those people who have had the revelation that Brother Branham was the Prophet to come, as mentioned in Mal. 4:5.

          In the beginning, we must be warned against trying to understand what will be said here with human reason and of trying to  bring the world’s wisdom into our discussion. “The preaching of the Cross is to them that perish FOOLISHNESS; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (I Cor. 1:18) And to this Word, the Apostle Paul added, “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jew and Greek, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (I Cor. 1:23-24) There is a place where human reasoning must be abandoned, and pure Faith in God’s Word take over. We are at such a place as we begin to teach on the fact that, “We are saved by faith in the Blood of God.”

          Heb. 9:12, “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.”

          Col. 1:14-15, “In whom we have redemption through HIS BLOOD, even the forgiveness of sins; Who is the Image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.”

          Rev. 1:5, “And from Jesus Christ, who is the Faithful Witness, and the First Begotten of the Dead, and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins IN HIS OWN BOOD.”

          Now, the great question! Who was Jesus Christ? Was He another PERSON separate from God the Creator? Was He the second PERSON of the Godhead having all the attributes that make up another person? Was He another Person, sent by the Father to die for the sins of the people? What does the Scripture and the Prophet say? Is there one God, two Gods, three Gods? If there is more than one God, then which one are we suppose to love the most, and which one is the most powerful? Are we to have a divided loyalty? Let the Scripture settle these questions forever. They teach ONE God.

          Zech. 14:9, “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall there be ONE Lord, AND HIS NAME ONE.”

          Deut. 6:4, “Hear O Israel ; The Lord our God is One Lord; And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

          I Cor. 8:4, “As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, AND THERE IS NONE OTHER GOD BUT ONE.”

          Eph. 4:5-6, “There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism; ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, WHO IS ABOVE ALL, AND THROUGH ALL, AND IN YOUALL.”

          Gal. 3:20, “Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, BUT God IS ONE.”

          Mark 12:32, “And the Scribe said unto Him, well Master, Thou hast said the truth; FOR THERE IS ONE GOD; AND THERE IS NONE OTHER BUT HE….(Verse 34) “And when Jesus saw that he had answered discreetly He said unto him, thou art not far from the Kingdom of God…”

          James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is ONE God; Thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble.”

          John 10:30, “I and my Father are one.”

          Other Scripture could be given, but now let us hear what God’s End-Time Prophet said concerning one God. We have asked the question, “Who was this Jesus Christ? Was He another person, separate from God the Father? Are there two personalities or three personalities involved in the Godhead? We want to discover WHO IT WAS THAT DIED FOR US! Did God the Father send someone in His place to suffer the agony of the Cross or did HE COME HIMSELF?

          QUOTE: THE DIETY OF JESUS CHRIST, PAGE 7-8, “And so then the picture was painted out, back there through our first Father and Mother, and they fell. And that broke off relationship with God….And then the only way that God then, could ever redeem him would have to be to come down and redeem him HIMSELF; NOT IN ANOTHER, NOT SEND SOMEONE ELSE. He couldn’t send an angel, that wouldn’t be right. But, the only way God could redeem the man, was COME DOWN HIMSELF TO REDEEM IT. If somebody sins here, and I was the Judge of this group of people, and I had the jurisdiction over you all, and if somebody sinned and I said now Brother Graham, I want you to pay the price. That wouldn’t be just. If I said for my own boys to pay the price, that still wouldn’t be just. The only way that I could be just, is for me, myself to take his place. And what? I was the one (who) passed the judgment, and then if I want to redeem the man, I’ve got to take his place myself…”

          CONT. QUOTE PAGE 8, “Now look, I want you to notice something. Then the only way that God Himself could ever redeem this man was to come down and take his place. And that was a Law that was given by Moses, of redemption, that it had to be through a Kinsman Redeemer; a man first who was worthy, a man who was worth the price, a man then who would make his public testimony, and redeem the lost estate of somebody that had fallen. And then GOD WAS WORTHY. He came down some 1900 years ago, in the form of a baby. Born in a manger, overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, not born by sexual desire. HE WAS GOD. GOD’S BLOOD WAS IN HIM.” (End of quote)

          But, someone may reason that God is a spirit, and that a spirit has no blood in it, and they may question how God’s Blood came to be in Jesus Christ. Dear Friend, the answer to this question is the fact upon which Christianity rests. The true answer to this question is the only ground of hope for the guilty; it is the only source of peace and consolation for the sinner. The Blood shed by Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is the beginning of the saved sinner’s hope, and will be the theme of his praise when he casts his crown before the Throne on that day. Now, may we pay prayerful and reverent attention as we read the following answer to the question as given by God’s Prophet, William Branham. He points out that the answer in found in the Virgin Birth!

          QUOTE: THE DIETY OF JESUS CHRIST, PAGE 8, “The baby is always the blood of its father, never of its mother. We all know that…and you know that the baby has not one speck of its mother’s blood in it, not a bit. Therefore when Mary, knowing not a man, she was with THE MALE. THE ALMIGHTY JEHOVAH, and He overshadowed her, and God is the Creator that created a blood cell in the womb of Mary, (her) knowing not a man at all. AND THAT BROUGHT FORTH THE VERY CREATIVE BLOOD OF GOD, to redeem us from our life, coming in here (into the world) being born by sexual desire…And then that Blood was drawn out of IMMANUEL’S VEINS on Calvary’s Cross, and today has the same saving, redeeming power that it did the day the transfusion was made out at Calvary. Do you believe it? Amen! Now, that’s right, we are redeemed by the Blood of God. The Bible says we are bought by the Blood, and redeemed by God. God’s own Blood.”

          CONT. QUOTE: “How was it God’s Blood? God has no blood. How could it be? Because it was GOD’S CREATIVE BLOOD that He created in order to redeem us, and came and lived in the SAME BODY HE CREATED.

          PAGE 9, “And God Himself, coming out of Spirit, went into Jesus Christ. And the Bible said that, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself”...God Himself. Jehovah, lived in Christ and was made a kinsman to us, because He was born in human flesh like we are….The blood cells were developed by God, and the flesh cells were developed in the womb of Mary, that brought forth the child. And God came down and lived in human flesh, and was tempted in every manner just like we are. Do you believe that?” (End of quote)

          Now, we have said that the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross was PECULIAR, and it was more than just peculiar, it was the greatest mystery the world has ever seen. The Creator God, groaning in unbearable pain on the Cross, God the Creator, who created all the water of the earth, crying out, “I thirst.” God, the Creator, who created all life, dying by degrees until He gave up the Ghost. God, the Creator who is Love itself, made a spectacle of satanic hatred. God died, What a Mystery!

          But how is spiritually ignorant man to see these deep things? Since a man can receive nothing except it be given him from Heaven (John 3:27 ), it will take a special enlightenment by the Holy Ghost if he is to see at all into this highest mystery! “Great is the Mystery of Godliness.” (I Tim. 3:16) Amazing beyond all natural understanding is that which happened on Calvary ’s Cross. To what source then can we appeal for light, for understanding, for an explanation of who this man, Jesus really was? Human reason is of no use. The opinions of men are worthless.

          We find our answer in the scriptures, as usual. Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the Prophets.” What did the One, whose Mind controlled the sacred writers, intend for us to believe? Thanks be to God He has revealed it to His Prophet that has been here and gone, our precious Brother, William Branham. In this Prophet’s simple way, he has taught us that, “Only God can produce that which satisfies Himself.” He taught us that the work that was to be accomplished on the Cross was so drastically important that, it could not be trusted to another. God must see to it Himself. We were taught that since He came Himself, He is now totally, and completely, and eternally satisfied with the payment that was made. No sin is charged to the true Believer! (Rom. 4:8)

          Now, we can look at the Scripture in Rom. 8:33 in a different light. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s Elect? It is GOD THAT JUSTIFIETH.” Now we can understand the following verses in which we are asked, “Who shall separate us form the Love of Christ?” And the answer given that there is nothing in Heaven or Earth, or in Hell that can separate us. Our Creator, God, satisfied Himself that there remains not one spot on our “Robe of Righteousness.” (Rom. 5:17 ) No one but God, Himself, could have met the requirements of His own Holiness and Justice against our sins. No one else, “Can by any means redeem his Brother, not give a ransom for him.” (Ps. 49:7)

          And so our thoughts are directed toward the ONE PERSON in the Godhead, whose Name is “The Lord Jesus Christ” who rather than let us lie in our deserved misery, punished His own bowels to save us from it. God could not remain God and ignore sin. He could not let the sinner off without any satisfaction to His Divine Justice. The Love of God is not “Lawless” so that He is free to exercise it by the breaking of His own Laws! No! God could not do away with our sins without a payment being made that satisfied Himself. What the anxious heart of the Elect Bride member longs for today is the knowledge of the total REMISSION (doing away with) of all his sins, past, present, and future.

          And what is this REMISSION? What does it consist of? It is the announcement of God Himself to us of NOT GUILTY. It is to be removed from being under His wrath. It is to have our debt paid by the One who knew what degree of suffering was required to remove our guilt, and then suffering it Himself. Therefore, when we think about the work of redemption, we need to trace it to its source, the One Person in the Godhead, Jesus Christ, on whom the whole Plan of Grace to fallen man is founded.

          He would be a God-MAN, born with the created Blood of God flowing in His veins. This blood would make it possible for Him to live a life totally above all sin. This He did for 33 years. (You and I can never accomplish this. Our blood was from the lineage of Adam, and contaminated because of Adam’s sin.) When the full revelation of God’s Plan of Salvation comes into view, we see the infinite Wisdom of God, which wisdom never acts aimlessly. When the fullness of His Plan is revealed to us, we fall on our faces, and faith declares that, “He hath done all things well.” (Mark 7:37 ) Amen!