THE SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT STAIN REMOVER

Hebrews 9:11-15

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for 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 God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."

In Christ Jesus, our great High Priest, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

What kind of stain remover do you use? Everybody has their own favorite, liquid or powder, spray-on or dab-on. It's standing in your closet at home, or on the shelf in the laundry room. How well does your stain remover work? Chances are it's helped you get some pretty tough spots out of your laundry from time to time. If you believe what the ads for some of these products say, why, there's no stain that can stand up to their powerful cleansing action! But you housewives know that's not true. Garments still get ruined from time to time. There just are some stains that nothing will get out.

I want to talk to you today about a particularly stubborn kind of stain. It's a stain that troubles every human being, and a stain that everyone, in his or her own way, tries to get out. It's the stain of sin. God made everybody with a conscience, believers and unbelievers alike. And sooner or later, everyone tries to come to grips with the ugly sins that stain their conscience. Sooner or later, everyone goes looking for a stain remover! ...And that's really what our Word of God for today is all about:

"THE SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT STAIN REMOVER"

I. Good deeds won't work II. The blood of beasts won't work III. Only Jesus' blood gets out the stain of sin!

You've felt that stain of sin, haven't you? Everyone feels it from time to time. Some feel it more sharply than others. The gnawing accusation of a guilty conscience when you do something wrong. The gloomy feeling that, no matter how hard you try, you just can't escape sin. Paul was going through the same thing when he said, "The good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice... O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" -- Rom 7:19, 24. It's not imaginary...the sin is real, and the guilt is real. Deep down, every human being knows it!

When parents catch a child doing something wrong, and he knows he's in for a spanking, how does he usually react? "I'm sorry, Dad, I'll never do it again. I'll make up for it, I promise - I'll be good from now on!" Do you think kids are the only ones who do that? That's the way all human beings are naturally programmed to react to sin. Every person's first response to sin is, "I'll make up for it. I'll do something extra good to make up for the evil that I've done." That's why it's been said that there are really only two religions in the world; the one where Christ is your Savior, and the one where you are your savior. It's amazing that so many people choose the second way - the impossible way!

And it is impossible, because "good deeds" can never get out the stain of sin. For one thing, the load of sin that each of is responsible for is just too big. Our sin is overwhelming; we're in way over our heads! The Bible calls King David "the apple of God's eye," and yet David cried, "There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor is there any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me." -- Ps 38:3-4. Besides, God's plan for salvation just doesn't work on the basis of "good deeds." Our text refers to them as "dead works." The Apostle Paul clearly ruled out any kind of self-redemption when he said, "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." -- Rom 3:20. Obviously, in our search for the perfect stain remover, "good deeds" go right in the wastebasket!

Let's try something else. The writer to the Hebrews, obviously, was addressing Jewish people. And the Jews had their own stain remover for sin - blood. The blood of sacrificial animals: bulls, calves, goats, doves... The Jews thought they had a perfectly good system for removing sin. After all, it was God who gave them the system, way back in the time of Moses. God told them to appoint priests who would offer sacrifices for the people. God told them what animals to sacrifice, and when. God told them how to build the "tabernacle," the tent of meeting where the sacrifices were carried out. Surely, the Jews thought, the blood of all these sacrifices would work to get out the stain of sin! But they had made a mistake.

Have you ever noticed that, on a sunny day, sometimes you can recognize a person by his shadow - when he's coming around a corner - even before you see the real person? You see the shadow on the sidewalk and think, "Well! Here comes Bill!" But when the real person comes into view, you forget about the shadow, right? You wouldn't ignore the person and keep looking at the shadow, would you? That would be silly. But that's just the mistake the Jews were making! All through the Old Testament, the sacrifices were supposed to remind the Jews of the coming Messiah. The real Redeemer from sin. And yet, when Jesus finally arrived on earth, the Jews kept "looking at the shadow." They kept trusting in the ritual sacrifices. They thought the blood of beasts would work to get out the stain of sin. The writer to the Hebrews was trying to explain that they had it all wrong. In the portion just before our text, he said the sacrifices were "only a shadow of good things to come - not the realities themselves...because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." -- Heb 10:1,4 NIV. It's obvious that, in the search for the perfect stain remover, the blood of beasts won't work, either!

What will work? Our text tells us that there's only one sure-fire stain remover for sin, and that's the blood of Christ! "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption."

In twelve days it will be "Good Friday." That's the day when we commemorate the final stroke in God's plan to save us - the death of His Son. On that fateful day, Jesus made the supreme sacrifice. It was the sacrifice of His own blood. The blood that streamed from his back where the Romans has scourged Him. The blood that showed on his head where they had pressed down the crown of thorns. The blood that flowed from the nails in His hands, and the spear wound in His side. This sacrificial blood wasn't offered in any manmade tabernacle - it was presented directly to God in heaven, as payment for our sins. And isn't that what really matters? Not how you stand in other people's eyes, not even how you stand in your own eyes. But how you stand before God in heaven! And we have the reassurance that Jesus came before the very throne of God, the Most Holy Place, bringing the sacrifice of His own blood. And that reconciles us before our Heavenly Father - lets us stand before God with the pureness, the holiness, the righteousness of Christ Himself! Paul says, in Colossians, "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."

Jesus' blood is truly the perfect stain remover for sin. Best of all, one application is all it takes! You can try good deeds over and over again to sooth your conscience, but you'll come up short. The Jews sacrificed thousands of animals, day after day, year after year...but that couldn't remove sin. But Jesus' blood paid the price for sin, once and for all. It's over! The problem of sin has been resolved for all time, and for every human being. Your conscience can be set to rest, and you can sleep peacefully. Relax! - God has told you that your load of sin has been removed from your shoulders. God provided the Old Testament sacrifices merely to purify the people outwardly and remind them of the Christ, and after all, our text says, "if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for 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 God?." The blood of Christ has removed every last stain of sin from your soul. Now you are freed, purified, sanctified, and set apart as a spotless servant of God!

I recently read an interesting article about a woman named Rose McMullin. She's sort of a phenomenon in the medical world. Mrs. McMullin has traveled from coast to coast, donating her blood for more than 4OO transfusions in forty states. Why is her blood in such high demand? She is one of the very few people in the world who's blood can resist staphylococcus aureus, a disease of the blood stream. For many grateful people across this nation, her blood has made the difference between life and death. Lent is the time for us to sing the praises our Lord, who has given His blood for us. It's the precious liquid which means life for a world of sinners who, otherwise, would have faced certain death. It's the perfect stain remover, taking away every spot of sin that soils our conscience. May our thanks for this precious gift continue to ring out during this Passion Season, as we join with the hymnist:

Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience
peace Or wash away the stain.

But Christ, the heav'nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they."

AMEN.

ONE THING IS NEEDFUL

Lutheran Sermons for the Church Year by Pastor Paul Naumann