The Ohio Independent Baptist, July 1973

he Blood o estts Christ by Dr. Robert T. Ketcham In l cutcron 111 ' 4 : ....4 and He– brc,,, 1 _ : 2 ,,,c r 'ad: "Ot1r od I a nst1n1ing fire · Fire in the cr1p- tt1res 1, often t1scd \'mholicall)' and t i nll tl) ignif , the holine of gain and again in the Scrip– ture d 1 re, 1 ealed a expre ing H1, hol1ne tn the form of literal fire ometime thi e pres ion of hol1ne i 1n conde111nation of sin. t other time it i in co,nmendation 0 1 rigl1teoi1sness. On the one hand God manifests his displeasure with s,n by the use of literal fire. On the other hand He manifests His pleasure \\ ith righteousne s by the use of liter– al fire. For instance, in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah we are told that the wickedness of these cities had in– creased so that the cry of it had reached unto Heaven, and God an– nounced that He was coming down to destroy. When He did, it was in the form of literal fire. Again in the case of adab and Abihu (Leviticus 10) we read that when these two men offered strange fire before the Lord, fire came out from the presence of the Lord and devoured them. Here again, God,s holiness was expressing its dis– pleasure in the form of literal fire. On the other hand, we find in– stances such as Elijah on Mount Car– mel, where God expresses His de– light in the form of fire. On Mount Carmel God's holiness leaped forth in the form of literal fire and con– sumed Elijah's offering in commenda– tion and vindication of the righteous position of the prophet. On the day of Pentecost God's holiness was mani– fested in tongues of literal fire resting upon every believer. Thus we see that fire is a symbol of God's holiness, act– ing in either one direction or the other. It either condemns or com– mends. It causes either perishing or • purging. The question immediately arises, What makes the difference? Why _ should the holiness of God condemn in one instance and commend in an– other? The answer is, the presence or absence of sacrificial blood. In the case of Sodom and Gomorr ah there Vv·as no blood, therefore condemna– tion. In the case of Elijah there was the blood of the whole burnt offerino , therefore commendation. Perhaps one of the most outstand– ing illustrations of the principles we 4 JULY, 1973 arc tr) 1 ing to make c lear i found in I aiah 6: l to 8. The prophet is tand- 1ng i11 the temple area at the hour of the evening acrifice, when he sees the Lord. He at once falls to his face and c rie , " I am a man of unclean lips.' ' Whereupon a seraph takes a coal from off the altar, draws it across Isaiah's lips, and says, "Thine iniquity is taken away, thy sin is purged." It is interesting to note that this coal came from the brazen al tar. In Li– vi ticus 9: 24 we read that the fire on this al tar was kindled directly from D.r. R. T. Ketcham God. In other words, again God's holiness expressed itself in the kindl– ing of the fire on the brazen altar where sin was to be dealt with. In Leviticus 6: 12 & 13 was read that this fire was never to go out. Therefore, the fire on the altar, in every sense of the word , was God's fire. It was for failure to recognize this that N adab and Abihu got into trouble when they thought they could produce better fire. It was the hour of the evening sacrifice, therefore these coals on the brazen altar at the moment were coals of God's fire, but coals which had been touched by the drip– pings of sacrificial blood. The result was that when God's fire, God's holi– ness, touched the lips of Isaiah it re– sulted in purging and cleansing· but had this coal been taken from the altar where there had been no sacri– ficial blood applied, Isaiah would have been utterly consumed. Our God is a consuming fire. He consumes either the sin or the sinner. The pres– ence or a bsence of sacrificial blood determines which it shall be. he ho] i ncss of ocf is racing to- warcl every poor, lo t sinner today. ooncr or later it will overtake l1im ' and tl1c fate of Sodom ancl omorrah, Nae-tab and Abiht1 will rcst1lt unle that poo r , lo5t sinner pleads the bJood of Jesus Christ a his she) ter, where– upon the holiness of God will be tt1rn– ed into a clean ing, purging agent, and he, like J5aiah, will hear, "Thine iniquity is taken away, thy sin is purged." Behold the sin of man! Behold the fire of God! For these two to come together without sacrificial blood- to intervene means Hell. For those two to come together with the presence of sacrificial blood means Heaven. ' 'He to rescue me from danger inter– posed His precious blood." On Mount Moriah Isaac made a s tatement and asked a question. His statement was: "Behold the fire." His question was: "Where is the lamb?" Send the call to Heaven above, "Where is the lamb?" Ask the Angels, ask Gabriel, ask the seraphim, "Where is the lamb?" and for four thousand years the heavens were silent. Then one day the last of the Old Testament prophets stood clothed in camel s hair and, with unerring vision, pointed across the way to an approaching figure and declared, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" At last Isaac's ques– tion is answered. It is the answer that set a world singing. It is the answer · that turned night into morning. It is the answer that turned tears into diamonds of hope. It is the answer that opened the graves in resurrection. . It is the answer that arrested the on– ward march of a ruined race toward the gaping jaws of Hell, and made it - possible to ascend the stairway of the skies, back to the heart of God. Yes, Christ is the Lamb whose pro– tecting stream of sacrificial blood ever flows, instantaneously efficacious for every sinner who will believe it. But its efficacy must be .plead this side of the grave. Look down into the pit of Hell and see the fire of God and the sin of men. Call down into its depths and say, "Behold the fire and behold lost sinners, but where is the lamb?' ' And those corridors of hope– less eternity will answer back, "There is no lamb here." Unjust, you say, that Heaven should be filled with countless millions of happy and redeemed souls, ·while Hell is filled with countless millions who are to suffer eternally? The only reason that anyone is in Heaven is that he put the blood of God's lamb between him and a holy God. The only reason that anyone is in Hell is that he refused this infinite provision of the blood of the Lamb. Where will you spend eternity? THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST