Peter Brandon preaches on the significance of the precious blood of Christ, explaining the necessity of blood for forgiveness and the profound implications of Christ's sacrifice. He contrasts parental forgiveness with judicial forgiveness, emphasizing that God must remain just while offering mercy. The sermon highlights the authority and dignity of Christ's blood, which cleanses all sins for all people, and the importance of walking in the light to maintain fellowship with God. Brandon encourages listeners to recognize their need for cleansing and to embrace the transformative power of Christ's sacrifice.

The subject we're going to discuss tonight is Why the Precious Blood of Christ, and trust it might be a blessing to all. We're going to read from the first epistle of John, chapter 1, and we shall read from verse 1. 1 John, chapter 1, reading from verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life, for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and we are witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. 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, cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Now God will bless to us the reading of the Holy Scripture. We were having an afternoon meeting in a lady's home, and I was interrupted, correctly so, by a lady who had a real problem. And this is what she said. When I forgive my children, I forgive them. I never demand the shedding of blood. Why does God demand that before he can forgive us, there must be the shedding of blood? Now quite frankly, that lady was sincere, and it was a genuine problem. Now there's all the difference in the world between a parental forgiveness and a judicial forgiveness. Now let me explain. A mother can forgive her child of anything, even murder. But should that child go to a court, the judge is there to vindicate justice. And therefore he cannot forgive the child that's been rebellious to the law, and therefore he must heap upon that child the heaviest penalty of the law. So can you see by that simple illustration, there's a parental forgiveness, there's a judicial forgiveness. Now God has made us all as human beings in his image and in his likeness. And therefore there's something about us that's small, and there's something about us that's big. We are a little, wee, finite replica of God. And God has given to us ten commandments. And the whole of the human race has broken those commandments. Therefore we're all guilty before God. So you can see now the problem with forgiveness. Now when God forgives, and I want to say this quickly before we get right into this subject. He must remain just. He can't say, oh well, we'll let bygones be bygones and we'll just forgive. He must remain just because he is holy. And yet he has to devise means where he can be made just, or remain just, and still forgive the sinner. Now that's a problem. And we're going to see from the scripture, in a remarkable way, how God has actually done this. Now the word blood, and the blood of an animal, or the blood of Christ, is mentioned 321 times in the Old Testament. It's mentioned 99 times in the New Testament. So we can see it's a biblical conception. The scripture says in Hebrews 9, without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. So you can see it's an absolute necessity with God. Now what I want to do is to go through this subject as simply as I can from the scripture, and explain why the blood was so necessary. First of all, we're going to look at the fact, the necessity for the blood. Secondly, we're going to look at the fact again, and we're going to consider the profundity of the blood. Having considered the profundity of the blood, I want to show you from the scripture, the authority of the blood. And then lastly, I want to speak on our responsibility to the blood of Christ. Now, first of all, why do we need cleansing through the blood? You see, because we have all sinned, in God's sight we are unclean. And because sin is an affront to God, we need forgiveness. And if we could see ourselves as God sees us tonight, all of us, the best of us, would realise that we are very unclean in God's sight. Now, what does it mean to be unclean? It doesn't mean to say if we had a surgical operation, we would be physically unclean inside. We say a man has unclean thoughts. We say a person has an unclean tongue. It doesn't mean to say the tongue is always unclean. And it doesn't mean to say if you had an operation on that mind, the mind would be unclean. But we simply mean this, he's constantly thinking evil, he is constantly talking unclean things. So we say the mind's unclean, and we say the tongue is unclean. Now, we are unclean before God like that. There are three ways in which we can look at ourselves, and this is very important. I can look at myself and make an assessment, and I can say something like this. Well, I'm as good as my neighbour. I've reared my children. I've tried to teach them to do the best they can. If anybody was in need, I would help them. I don't think I'm a sacrifice. I'm quite all right. And lots of people think like that. And on a human basis, they're like that. Then you could be a little more honest, and you could lean over the fence, and you could have a little chat with your neighbour, and you could say to them, now I want you to do something. I want you to tell me exactly what I'm like. So, be honest. If you offend me, it won't matter. Just tell me what I'm like. And your neighbour would smile a little and say, well, you're as bad as what I am, and you're as good as me. And then you might smile and say, now tell me what I basically like. And your neighbour would say, well, you're not bad, you're not perfect, but you're a very respectable person. So, can you see what's happened? Two things have taken place. You have assessed yourself, and your neighbour has given to you an assessment. But is that really a correct estimation? After all, you're not going to stand before your neighbour in the day of judgment, are you? You're going to stand before God. As the Bible says, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. So, what does God actually say about the human race? Now, before we get to this very difficult point, I want you to see from the Old and the New Testament, two outstanding men that came into the presence of God. One was called Isaiah, and probably he was one of the most moral men that ever lived. An outstanding man. In Isaiah chapter 5, he stood before the children of Israel, and he gave them a spiritual cleaning. And he said five times to them, Woe unto you, Israel. And he meant it. And quite frankly, they were a wicked people. And then, in chapter 6 of Isaiah, he came into a state before God, where, quite frankly, something tremendous happened. He was in the presence of God, and he was waiting on God, and suddenly the heavens opened, and he got a vision of the glory of God. A vision that he had never seen before. He saw the throne high and lifted up. He saw the seraphim above the temple, or above the throne, saying one to another, Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And when the Lord Jehovah spoke, the whole of the temple shook at the voice of him that spake. And when he caught a glimpse of the glory and the majesty of the Lord, when he saw this utter, impeccable perfection, he fell at his feet and he was heard to say, Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. In other words, in the presence of God, he felt like an unclean wretch. Or to put it literally, he felt like a man that was full of spiritual leprosy. And that was Isaiah. In the New Testament, there was one man, and only one man, that could actually say of touching the Lord blameless. And this man was probably the most moral man that ever lived. Saul of Carthage. And this man, when he was on the Damascus road, caught a vision of the risen Christ. He saw a light far brighter than the noonday sun. And as he caught a glimpse of the glory of the risen Christ, he fell into the dark. And he was heard to say that he was the chief of sinners. He felt that he was the worst person on earth. Beloved friends, it's just a flash of the glory of the Lord came into this hall tonight. Just a small flash of his glory. Every single one of us would be prostrated. Therefore, when God makes an assessment of the human race, it's right. And this is what he says. There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that doeth good. There's none that seek after God. We have all gone out of the way. In fact, the Bible makes it quite clear that we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. This doesn't mean to say someone that drags along in the gutter. It means the religious person that goes to church, or the good person that goes to chapel. All in the sight of God are unclean. Why? Because of the utterance of the Lord. Now there comes a time in your experience, dear friends, when God brings you into a meeting like this, and you hear these remarkable words. This then is the message that we have heard of him, and declare unto you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. And that means God is the embodiment of all truth, all holiness, all righteousness. He dwells in a glory that is completely without all sin. And therefore when we come into his presence, even the best of us are unclean. And that is why we need cleansing. I know sometimes we're asked in evangelical meetings to give our hearts to the Lord, or to give our lives to the Lord, but quite frankly that is so totally wrong. Because how can you give a life to the Lord, and a heart to the Lord, that's dirty with sins? Can you see the point? First of all we've got to discover that we are unclean in the sight of God, and we need cleansing. Now when this process takes place in our hearts, two things can happen, and I've seen this over and over again. I have seen people in England coming under the sound of the gospel of Christ, and they come face to face with the holiness of God, the God who is life, and they've run away. They can't stand it. And they never come again. You see they don't like to be exposed. Whilst I've seen other people who have come, and some of them exceedingly respectable, and they hear the gospel, and they receive an awful shock, but they stay on. They acknowledge their uncleanness, and the Lord blesses them. And this is what Jesus says, this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. So can you see in God's sight, not in our own sight, but in God's sight, we're all unclean. We're just like a filthy bag, and every single one of us needs cleansing through the blood of Christ. Now what does the blood mean, the profundity of the blood? Well it doesn't mean for one moment that the Lord has a great fountain, and it's filled with the blood of Jesus, and when you come to him, he puts you under the fountain of the blood. We've seen that sometimes, but that's not the meaning of the blood. Now what does he mean by the blood? In Leviticus 17, we read this remarkable statement, the light of the flesh is in the blood. And it means, pathologically, the secret of your physical life is in blood, and that's a fact. And therefore, blood is the secret of our physical life. Now you will note, I'm using the word physical life. We read in Genesis 4, when Cain killed his brother Abel, a remarkable statement, and it says this, the voice of thy brother's blood cries up to me from the ground. Now what does that mean? Did it mean that the blood actually spoke on Costa? But it meant this, when God saw that blood was shed, it was a sign to God that life had been taken, and murder had taken place. When a man sinned in the Old Testament, he knew one thing, the wages of sin was there. And he knew it meant two things, either he should die, or something else should die for him. And God, in all his mercy, provided animal sacrifices. And in those days, if a man broke one of the commandments deliberately, he would go to his flock, and he would make sure the lamb that he was going to offer was without spot and without a blemish, and he would take it to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and that was like their mobile church, and a priest would come out, and he would tell the priest what he had done, and then he would lay his hands upon the head of the little lamb, confess his sins, and then he would kill it. And the priest would take all its blood very carefully, and he would sprinkle it upon the four horns of the altar, and then pour it at the base of the altar, and the rest of the beast was burned outside the camp. And therefore, in God's sight, the little lamb died instead of him, but it was the blood that was a receipt to God that life had been taken. Therefore, what does it mean when it says the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleansed us from all sin? It means this. The life of the Lord Jesus, perfect and holy, that was given on behalf of our sins on the cross, and therefore his blood was shed, and his life was taken on behalf of the sins of the whole world. And basically, that is the simple meaning of the blood. It is the analysis, it's the summary of all the sufferings of the Lord Jesus that he endured before God on the cross. Secondly, I want you now to think of the dignity of the blood. It is the blood, and now I want you to stop, of Jesus Christ. Not the blood of a prophet, not the blood of a lamb, not the blood of a ram, not the blood of a bullock, but the blood of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? There was only one man that ever lived that couldn't sin, and that was the Lord Jesus. And the Lord Jesus was the only man that was born into this world that was sinless. Only one. And he was completely and absolutely outside and exempt of the sin of Adam. When he was born, he was as pure as heaven itself. And when the Lord Jesus Christ went to that cross, we must remember this, that he was absolutely perfect. When he was bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, no sin ever permeated into his nature. He never became a sinner, but praise God, he became a sin bearer. And on the cross, the Lord Jesus was just as pure as when he was creating the world. But we shall see in a moment, he became a great sin bearer. But then John... Now, first of all, I want to read this as it should. The blood of Jesus Christ, stop. His son. His son. When the Lord Jesus was betrayed by Judas with that hypocritical kiss, who was his? His son. When those soldiers came and flogged him and scourged him 39 times until his back was like a ploughed field, who was his? His son. His son. When they spat at him and then smashed those iron nails through his hands and feet and lifted him up upon the central cross to die, who was his? His son. And when he was bearing the sin of the world so that he could say on the cross, he was a worm and no man, who was he? His son. You see, my dear friends, if we don't see the dignity of the sufferer, we shall never see the preciousness of the blood. And that person that died upon the cross was the only perfect man that ever lived. And he was the perfect son of God. Lightfoot put it beautifully, it was not God who died, but he who died was God. Think of that. So there's dignity in the blood. But then there's preciousness in the blood. Peter says this, we're redeemed not with corruptible things of silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. But then you might say, even now, Mr. Brandon, as I'm sitting here, I see nothing precious in the blood. Ah, it's not what you see, it's what God sees. The scripture says this, in the Old Testament, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. You have every right then to propose a question and put it to the preacher and say, well, what does God see in the blood? Shall I tell you? When he sees the blood of Christ shed from that wounded side, he sees the fulfilment of 99 prophecies. There were 99 prophecies in the Old Testament directly related to the cross of Christ, and they go back right to the very beginning. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, thou shall bruise his hill. That was all fulfilled when the Lord Jesus died. The prophet Isaiah had a vision of the cross that was so vivid, that he could actually say this, he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. And therefore, when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, and God saw the blood, he saw the fulfilment of all those prophecies that you make. Secondly, when he saw the blood for the first time ever, spotless, precious, holy, undefiled blood touched our sinful soil. And when that blood trickled to the ground, that blood was spotless and sinless. For the one that hung upon that cross, and I say this with holy reverence, was as pure as God himself, and therefore, it speaks of absolute purity of the blood. But when he sees that precious blood, he sees agony. You say, what do you mean? Let me explain. There was only one time, and it will never happen again, when God brought the whole question of sin together. God knows every person that has been born into this world, and he will know every person that will be born into the world, and therefore, he can see the whole of this world as but a yesterday. You see, sometimes we are puzzled because of the greatness of the world and because of population explosion. That is just a small, limited thing. And God knows every sin that has been committed, and he knows every sin that will be committed. And when Christ died upon the cross, he brought the whole massive, vulgar lot together. But more, when the Lord Jesus was hanging on that cross, he measured meticulously its judgment. And remember this, the smallest sin, the smallest sin, will bring us into hell. The smallest. And when the Lord Jesus was hanging on that cross, God measured his judgment, and he brought that judgment upon the Son. That's why he turned all the lights of creation out, and for three hours, and watched suffering. In fact, that suffering was so deep that he said to his father, I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. The waves and the billows pass over me. When he had completed bearing the wrath and the judgment of God's concerning sin, because he loved the human race, he let out the forsaken cry, My God, my God, why hast thou? When God looks upon the blood, he sees all the agony of his Son, all the atoning pains that he endured for our sins. But God sees more. Yes. When he looks upon that blood, he not only sees the agony that his Son endured as he bore our sins, but he sees the victory. He remembers the time when his Son put his head back to heaven, and said with mighty triumph, Finish. Accomplish. Done. He remembers the time when he went down into Herod's temple, and split the cup. He remembers the time because of the triumph of that death, when he raised his Son from the dead. And he remembers the moment when his Son went into heaven by the cross in absolute victory. And therefore he sees in the blood absolute victory. They overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb. And therefore I can say with a sense of triumph tonight, through the blood of Christ, the Lord Jesus has dealt with sin once and for all. He's dealt with death by tasting it. And thank God, potentially, Satan is a defeated foe, and he sees that in the blood. But there's something more. He sees in the blood infinity. You say, what do you mean? When Christ died upon the cross, we must remember this. He not only died for the human race, He died for creation. You see, when man sinned, God subjected the whole of creation, so it fell with a fallen man. But all through that cross, all things are going to be reconciled. So that one day through the cross, He will take from nature its very seed. But the greatest thing of all in the cross is this. It brought glory to God. In fact, dear friends, I know you will find this hard to understand, but the Lord Jesus restored to God more glory than Adam's sin took away. And where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And you see, God sees all that in the blood. He sees the fulfilment of prophecy. He sees absolute purity. He sees the agony of Calvary. He sees the victory of the cross. He sees the infinity of all things being reconciled. And He gets glory. No wonder it's precious to Him. And when you become a Christian, the blood will be precious to you. But what about its authority? Through that once and for all sacrifice for sin, and now I must quote the scripture, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. You see, when the Lord Jesus died upon the cross, it wasn't an individual sacrifice, as it were, like an individual lamb that's brought for a person's sins. It wasn't even a sacrifice for a nation, like they had on a day of atonement. But it was once and for all, it was an infinite, massive sacrifice that enabled God to be holy, and at the same time forgive the sinners. Therefore, according to the teaching of scripture, the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And that simply means this. There's not a person in this world that Jesus Christ can't forgive and bless. Can we go round the world and see? There are at least 200 million people and more in Soviet Russia, not referring to the Ukraine, Soviet Russia. And there's not a Russian that the Lord Jesus can't cleanse. There are at least a thousand million people in China. And hallelujah, there isn't a Chinaman that he can't cleanse. There are now 450 million people in India, probably more. And there's not an Indian that the Lord cannot forgive. And it doesn't matter about the world's population explosion. The cross of Christ towers above it all. And there's not a man in this world that can't be forgiven. Therefore, when we stand before God in the day of judgment, none of us will be able to say this, Lord, you didn't die for me. He died on behalf of all. He gave himself, says the scripture, a ransom for all. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. But there's something much more than that. He can not only cleanse all sinners, but he can cleanse all sinners from all sins. Now, this is very interesting. And if you can, I want you to pay careful attention to this, because this is a vital matter. There are two kinds of sins. There's the sins that we see and the sins that God says. I suppose if we were all honest, as we were saying the other day, we could work out about a hundred sins that we have committed. Well, the blood of Christ will cleanse all those. But when God looks into our lives, oh, the difference. Can I illustrate it by this glass? I shall pour some water now in this glass. Now, that water, as far as my vision is concerned, looks clean. But if I looked at that water under a very powerful microscope, it would be full of impurities. Now, what's right? My naked vision or my microscopic vision? Now, when we look at ourselves, we can see sins in our lives. And we might be able to see a hundred. When God looks into our lives, He sees millions. The thought of foolishness is sin. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Every time we please ourselves instead of glorifying God, we sin. So you can see, we sin as often as an old-fashioned ticking clock ticks day by day. Now then, this is the great news. When Christ died, He not only died for the sins that you know. He died for the sins that God knew. And He put away our sins as far as God is concerned. And when God forgives your sins, He forgives the sins that He sees. And you're forgiven once and for all. Well, you say, I can hardly believe that. It is difficult. But that's what the Scripture says. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Because God never forgives you because of the size of your repentance of faith. He always forgives you through the blood. But there's something more. He can not only cleanse all sinners. He can not only cleanse all sinners from all sins. But He can cleanse all sinners from all sins for always. Always, yes. You see, if it was a Meccano forgiveness, all in bits and pieces. God would have to do the forgiving every day. But when God forgives you, He forgives you purely on the work that Jesus Christ did for you on the cross. And this enables God to put away sin once and for all. The Scripture actually says this. For by one offering, He has perfected forever them that are sanctified. And friends, I know this takes your breath away. But when you are forgiven by God, in God's sight, you are perfect. So clean that every single sin has been put away. And that makes you right with God. Now, that doesn't mean to say that you will then live a perfect life. But as far as God is concerned, your sins have been put away by the once and for all sacrifice of sin. So you see, it's a continual forgiveness. It's a once and for all forgiveness. In our country, we have lots of people who are having difficulty with the poll tax. And they can't pay it. And I want you to imagine an old lady going to court and she's told to pay £50 poll tax. And she can't do it. And someone comes along who likes her and pays the £50. Now that clears her ears for three months. But she's afraid of the future. Well, she's a poor old dear and she can't get very much money. And she goes to court again and the judge says, Well, my dear, you'll have to pay £50 or do a week inside. And she's just about to go inside and someone gives her another £50. Well, that deals with her past. But she's got no peace. She's afraid of the future. Now, could you imagine she goes to the court and along comes a man and he goes to the judge and he says, Right, I'm going to speak on behalf of her in regard to the town hall. I'm going to invest £20,000 and that will cover her past and that will cover her present and that will cover her future. Oh, she says to the man, Thank you. I've got peace at last. And she can pillow her head on her bed. Wouldn't it be terrible if the Lord said to us, I'll forgive all your past, all your present, but don't you ever sin again. You'll be under judgment. None of us could have peace. But when we see that through the blood that we have this once and for all forgiveness, then we can have perfect peace with God. Well, someone might say tonight, Mr. Brandon, I would like that forgiveness. And I would like God to declare me right. I would like to go out of this building tonight clean. But it seems a very easy kind of forgiveness. After all, we could take the forgiveness and then do what we like. Oh, no, you can't. Now why? It's as if we walk in the light. As he is in the light. You see, he brings you right into the light of his presence. And he shows you what you're like. And we all have it. We bow our heads and we say with Isaiah, Woe is me, I'm undone, I'm unclean. And then he doesn't take you back into the darkness and there do the cleansing. He leaves you in the light of his presence and he puts away your sin in his holy presence. And he can do it once and for all so that he can remain just and still the justifier. And then because you see the cost of your sins causing his precious blood, you're broken. You say something like this, Lord, I've offended thy throne. I've sinned against thee. My sins caused the death of the Lord Jesus. And there's deep confession. Now I'm only applying this. This is not the interpretation. I'm only applying this. He says, if we concess our sins, and that means we stay in God's light. And we say this, Lord, I'm tired of a sinning life. I can see that sin will break me and bring me down to perdition. I'm tired of all these evil habits that's breaking me. I'm in the light of your presence now and I want to stay in thy light forever. And I come now with bitter tears. I come with deep sorrow for my sin. And I confess. And as you confess them, you turn from them. And you turn to God with a desire like this. Oh God, I want to be holy. I want to be righteous. I want my life to be completely changed. So you come into the light. And then you say, I want to live in the light forever. You've looked back into the darkness. And you've seen the mess that you've made of your life. Without Christ and without God and without hope. And you say, I don't want that life anymore. Life to be totally controlled by thee. That's contrition. And then you take that lovely step of faith and you say something like this. Precious, precious blood of Jesus. Shed on Calvary. Shed for sinners. Shed for rebels. Shed for sinners. Shed for me. Or you may even use the words of that lovely hymn, Just as I am without one plea. But that thy blood was shed for me. And that thou bidst me come to thee. Oh Lamb of God, I come. We were having some meetings in Paisley. I shall never forget this. And there was one man coming who had gone very deeply into sin. I'm not going into the details of what he did. But he was under sedation. And he was under a very powerful addiction. And he was quite young. And one night I was preaching the cross. And while I was preaching the cross, I saw him get up. And then he came right down a narrow path. And I wondered what was going to happen. And then he came right to the platform in that particular school, the assembly hall where we had hired. And then he called me and I came down from the platform. I've never done this before. And this is what he said. Mr. Brandon, I've seen two things. I said, what have you seen Chuck? I've seen the deadly seriousness of my sins causing the death of Christ. And I've seen his sincere love for me. And he knelt down and wept and wept and wept. And there on that school floor, he received the forgiveness of sin. And he was born of God. Wouldn't it be lovely if someone came into that blessing tonight? You claim cleansing through the blood of Christ. You claim that forgiveness. You claim what God wants to do to you, forgive and cleanse. And you went home tonight with a clean heart. We long that all of you should have that blessing tonight.