Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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From a sermon by Preacher Clark during the 1970’s
taken from Gary’s Reel #1, CD #4, Track 2
When the envious Cain murdered his righteous brother Abel, God came to Cain and told him, “the voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” Abel was the first person to die, and he died at the hand of his own brother who was envious of the blessing that his brother received from God. Then, from the ground where it had been shed, Abel’s blood cried out to the Creator as to a father for vengeance, and God heard that cry and came to avenge his righteous son, Abel.
Did you know that the blood of Christ also cried out to God when it was shed? On the day of Pentecost, when the blood of Christ was poured out from heaven on the disciples who were waiting in the upper room, it cried out “Abba! Father!” through those disciples. To the people who were watching this happen, the disciples were speaking in languages they had never learned, but to the Father in heaven, they were crying out to Him as newborn “babes in Christ”. Paul taught the saints in Rome that this is what is happening when the Spirit enters into us and moves us to speak in tongues (Rom. 8:15). When this happens, he explained, it is “the Spirit bearing witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16). What a blessing, for the blood of Christ to cry out to our Father through us!
When the voice of the blood of Christ, the holy Ghost, cries out to God, it does not cry out for vengeance, as Abel’s blood cried out to God for vengeance against his murderer. Instead, the blood of Christ cries out for mercy from the Father for us who killed him. Knowing this, the author of Hebrews (12:24) wrote these penetrating words: “You are come . . . to Jesus, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel”. Amen! The blood of Abel cried out against the one who killed him. But the blood of Christ cries out for those who killed him. That is a much better thing . . . for us.