Let's look at Hebrews chapter number 12, verse number 18. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven. At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase, "yet once more" indicates the removal of things that are shaken, that is, things that have been made, in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. In Genesis chapter number four, verse one. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord." And again she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regarded, had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, He had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it." Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your, where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, You have driven me today away from the ground, and from Your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." Then the Lord said to him, "Not so. If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Let us pray. Father, we ask that this Good Friday we would see Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Help us, O God. Send Your spirit to give us eyes to see what Your word teaches us concerning the person and work of Your son, the Lord Jesus. Save us from our guilt and sin. Give us joy and everlasting life, and help us to lean upon You this morning and rejoice in our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. The book of Hebrews speaks more about blood than any other book in the New Testament. The book is essentially the substance of the shadows that you find in Leviticus. And what that means is that all that you find in the sacrificial system and in the temple and in in all that, or in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, you find fulfilled most clearly in the book of Hebrews, pointing us to the fact that Jesus is that better sacrifice. He is that better high priest. He is that temple, the one who brings us into a better covenant. This book gives clarity to the Old Testament, particularly regarding the perpetual animal sacrifices, showing that these only served a temporary purpose in God's redemptive plan. That they were there to remind the children of Israel and us, as we read the Old Testament, that blood is the price of sin, that the wages of sin is death, and that mankind needs a substitution and also a covering for our guilt. And all those sacrifices were culminating in the sacrifice of all sacrifices mentioned to us in the book of Hebrews, that once for all sacrifice, that was the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ who died to pay for our sins, who died to cover our sin, who died as a substitutionary sacrifice, who died in our place, bearing our sin, the innocent, spotless Lamb of God. And the entire epistle shows us that all that we have as believers in Jesus Christ has been secured to us through the blood of Christ. It gives significance, the book of Hebrews, to the cross of Jesus, which we would not ordinarily understand if we just had the shadows themselves, if we just had the Old Testament types and figures. When you read them in light of the book of Hebrews, it opens up and and and and makes itself more manifest as to what it is that we really have this side of the cross, what it is that we really have this side of Good Friday. And the exhortation of the entire book to these Hebrews, these people that were of a Jewish background, that were confessing now Jesus Christ as Lord and considering whether or not they had taken the right path. The exhortation is to them that the ship of Judaism, that old covenant religion, is finally and fully about to collapse. The call is to leave behind the shadows for the substance, to make the jump, as it were, to go on to maturity. Despite what it costs you, don't look back, look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. He's instructing them that that which is better is here. So don't be tempted to look back to what they had under the old covenant. Jesus is the fulfillment of that. And as the book exhorts people to press on to discipleship, as it were, to press on in obedience to Jesus and to trust in His finished work, the question of discipleship also arises. What do you mean? Well, the question of discipleship is what Peter asked Jesus when he said to Him in the gospel, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" The call of discipleship, "Come follow Jesus, leave the shadows behind." The question of discipleship, "If I leave the shadows behind, what am I coming to?" And the question is answered in verse number 18 down to verse number 21. Or sorry, down to verse number 24. And what what the author of Hebrews wants them to understand is that you are leaving that which you have been under, and you need to remember that which you have been under. Don't you remember Mount Sinai? Don't you remember the thundering and the lightning and the fear and the trepidation? Don't you remember the law that thundered forth and only declared to you your sinfulness and your inability to keep the law of God? Don't you remember that even Moses, that prophet of God, that holy man of God, trembled at the sight? Don't you remember that the people said, "You go up and speak to God for us. We don't want to draw near to Him." Don't you remember that God, once having given His law, instituted an entire sacrificial system and ceremonial system so that you might approach God without dying? Don't you remember Sinai? You have not come to Sinai. That's the old covenant, that's the place where you were, that was, that is what you were once held by. A covenant of law, a covenant of threat, which required an entire sacrificial system and a continual remembrance of offering up for sin in order for your conscience even to have the slightest sense of guilt satisfied, only to find yourself sinning again the next day and requiring another offering on that altar and your hands are once again bloody because of the guilt of sin. A covenant marked by sin, guilt, and threat, so much so that even Moses said, "I tremble with fear." And so he says, "This is where you were. You have not now come to that." In other words, "And don't try to go back to that." But what you have come to is far greater than that. That's the better covenant. And it's described in verse number 22 of this text in chapter number 12. It says in verse number 22, "But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, that is the church of the firstborn, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood, the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." He says what you have come to is Mount Zion. And every time you see an "and to, and to, and to," he is building on the wonder and the glory of that which they have now entered into. But it is important to understand that as you're coming to the "and to's" of this passage, it is leading you to Jesus Christ. Okay? And to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the firstborn, and to, and to, and to, and to Jesus, the mediator, and to the blood, the sprinkled blood. You see, this passage is ordered and arranged in a way that it is climactic. This is a crescendo. This is an ascent. The idea of the author of Hebrews, what God is trying to convey to us at this point, is that you have Mount Zion, you have the city of God, you have the company of angels, and you are part of the church of the firstborn, which are made up of those on earth and in heaven. You are part of the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and you have all of these things that are so glorious and wonderful and amazing and causes us to stand in awe because you have come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, come to Jesus's blood which has been sprinkled upon you. It's climactic. The whole mediatorial new covenant work of Jesus and His blood applied to us secures for Jesus's disciples such blessing. He's basically is saying you're in heaven. You belong to the kingdom of God. You're tasting of the most glorious experience that all the saints of old long for. You have come into that in a new and living way. The curtain has been torn, the way has been opened. You have come into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus Christ. And then he goes on to say you have come to Jesus, the mediator, but also you have come to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things or a better word than the blood of Abel. That's in verse number 24. What he wants them to understand is that all the blessings that are secured to the disciples of Jesus Christ, no matter what they give up, is secured to them through the blood. And that is the blood of Jesus, sprinkled to you, upon you. You know, that's very important to understand this from this standpoint. We must beware of a view of Good Friday that looks at the events merely historical, historically. There are many people today that would look at the death of Jesus merely historically. It of course is a historical event. Jesus did die on a cross about 2,000 years ago. But many people, believing, unbelieving, atheistic, of other kind of religions, will be happy to identify with the fact that there was a man called Jesus who died 2,000 years ago on a cross. But the reason why we call it Good Friday is not because of the historic tragedy that occurred, because it is not really good that someone is crucified in such a horrific way and rejected of men. But the reason why we call it Good Friday is because of the theological significance of the fact that He died. Right? Big difference, right? It becomes good because of the blood of Jesus. It becomes good because the blood of Jesus speaks better things than the blood of Abel. It becomes good because Jesus Christ is now that mediator who is the one that brings us to God and brings us into the kingdom of God and brings us into the heavenly city and secures to us every good thing that we have. It is good because of what it means theologically, not just because of what it means historically. And this is what the author of Hebrews wants us to understand, that the blood of Jesus Christ speaks. As soon as those words are are conveyed to us, we understand that this is more than just the fact that this is a historical thing. That historical event is speaking to us. And that blood is still speaking to us. What is it trying to say to us? Well, the author of Hebrews says, well, why don't you go to Genesis chapter four and learn what it's trying to say about us, say to us. In Genesis chapter four, we see the blood of Abel that is shed, that is a, that Jesus's blood speaks a better word than that of the blood of Abel. And we go back to Genesis chapter four, and in this text, we learn of the first murder that ever occurred. In fact, the first actual death, not just the spiritual death, physical death that occurred since the fall of man. And when he says, "Let's go back as it were and look at, you know, Abel's blood," that means he's saying to us that there are some things that Abel's blood and Christ's blood are similar, but there are other things in which they differ, in which there's a superiority to the blood of Jesus Christ. And when we look at the blood of Abel that was spilt thousands of years ago, we see the likeness of the blood of Jesus, but also we see the superior distinctness of the blood of Jesus. Well, in what ways was the blood of Abel like the blood of Jesus? Well, three quick considerations. One, Abel's blood was shed through murderous envy. Two, the blood of innocent Abel was shed. And three, the blood was shed by his own brother. Cain was the brother of Abel. Abel was innocent, not in the sense of sinless, but innocent in the one that he was being killed as a man innocent, not because he was justice was being meted out to him. And Cain's blood, Abel's blood was shed by Cain due to murderous envy in the heart of Cain. And this is exactly what is true of the story of Good Friday, the story of the death of Jesus. Cain's anger rose because of jealousy. God accepted Abel's sacrifice, not Cain's. And so it was with Jesus. Why did they choose Barabbas over Jesus? You know, Pilate says these very words because he knew, or tells us what he was, what he understood, for Pilate knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered Him up. They were envious of Jesus. Pilate could see the big picture here. Here's a rabbi gaining popularity, success, performing miracles, changing lives. And and and how can this be? The religious leaders are being threatened. People are going after them. Soon the whole world will go after Jesus. And their concerns about what that's going to do. People acknowledging that God is for Him. People are acknowledging that God is accepting the works of Christ, that God is accepting, as it were, his offering, just as He accepted Abel's offering. And the Cain's of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes don't like it because the holiness of Jesus and the righteousness of Jesus and the truth of Jesus exposes their unrighteousness, their unholiness, and their untruthfulness. Their works religion is like the offering of Cain. It is but vegetables, not going the way of God, not sacrifice through blood, but through the works of one one's own hands. And the religious leaders, their system, their religion is failing before their eyes because of their legalism. And here is Jesus coming in the power of God with the truth of God and with the grace of God. In Him is full of grace and truth. And they rise up with envy as Cain and they slay and crucify the Lord of glory. Jesus's blood was innocent blood. Abel wasn't sinless, but undoubtedly he was innocent. And so it was with Pilate when he said of Jesus, "Why? What evil has He done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let Him be crucified." You see, it was the, it was the murder of the seed of the serpent, Cain, a child of the wicked one that was slaying the innocent seed, the righteous one. Here is the seed of the woman, the first of the seed of the woman, as it were, that is truly the believing remnants that comes from the woman. Here is Abel, and here is Cain of the seed of the serpent who kills his own brother. And so we see it, don't we? In Jesus Christ, the ultimate seed of the woman, the final seed, the one that will crush the serpent's head. He here is slain by his brothers. He came unto his own and his own did not receive Him. They said, "Let His blood be upon us and upon our children." And the blood of Abel was upon Cain's children. And murder found its way in that line, even all the way to Lamech, who was a murderer just like his father. And so here are some of the similarities, at least brief and just a couple to get us thinking, but there are also some distinct glories about the blood of Jesus that outshines the blood of Abel. You see, the blood of Abel was spilt, not sprinkled. When you look at the story of Cain and Abel, we have a tragedy that appears to be, if we could say, the waste of blood. Here is death. Here is sin. Here is tragedy. Here is a brother murdering another brother. And the blood is spilt, poured out on the ground, and the story goes on of murder. We ask ourselves, what good came from the bloodshed? We ask ourselves, look at this tragedy. It's spilt to the cursed ground with no application. Whereas the blood of Jesus is spilt, but it is sprinkled. It is shed, but it is sprinkled. It's a blood that is not just laid in the ground, as it were, to dry up in a kind of waste, but it is a blood that is taken and sprinkled on the altar of sacrifice. It is a blood that goes into the holiest of all and satisfies the wrath of a holy God. It is the blood that is sprinkled upon us who believe in Jesus, that separates us unto God, that washes us clean, that covers us from our guilt and sin, that gives us a conscience clean. It's the blood of Jesus, far better than the blood of Abel, in that it binds, cleanses, and sets us apart unto the covenant of God, that new covenant whereby our evil conscience is washed and it purifies us from dead works so that we can serve the living and true God. It is the blood that overcomes. It is the blood that is sung of by the saints in Book of, in the Book of Revelation, and will be sung of by the people of God throughout the generations to come. Why? Because it's the blood of Jesus Christ that is an overcoming blood. Better than the blood of Abel. Abel's blood was spilt in tragedy. Jesus Christ's blood was shed, yes in tragedy, but not to any waste. It will accomplish what it has purposed to do, and that is to redeem sinners from their sin. And God sends His spirit to sprinkle that blood upon the most darkest, corrupt heart that they might know cleansing and they might know forgiveness. You can only sing of the blood of Jesus these words, "Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin. Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean. Oh, be washed in the blood of the lamb. Are you washed in the blood, in the soul-cleansing blood of the lamb? Have you been to Jesus? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?" You can't sing that of Abel's blood. You can't sing that of any blood but the blood of Jesus Christ. It's a blood that speaks better things than that of Abel because it's a blood of overcoming power that is applied by the spirit to the sinful soul who can know forgiveness and conscience cleansed. It is the blood of the Passover lamb. But the thing that the author of Hebrews wants us to really comprehend is that not only that the blood of Jesus is better in that it is blood applied and overcoming power blood, but it is the blood that speaks, speaks, better a better word than that of Abel. It's the blood that speaks a better word than that of Abel. If you remember the account in Genesis chapter four, we see that it is the blood of Abel that cries from the ground, doesn't it? This is what God says in Genesis chapter number four verse 10. He says, "I don't know, he says I don't know where am I my brother's keeper?" you know, when he asked him where is your brother? And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground." And Jesus's blood cries as well. It speaks. You see the connection here? The author of the book of Hebrews is trying to help us understand that both bloods cry to God. But the blood of Abel cries something different to the blood of Jesus. The blood of Abel cries out, "Justice, judgment, revenge for sin done." So how do we know that it does that? Well, all the words that follow Jesus, our God's statement, sorry, the Lord's statement in chapter number four verse 10 indicate that. Remember, God comes to him and says to him, "What have you done?" There is the voice of question and interrogation. What have you done wrong is the implication of that. And then God goes on to say, "Now you are cursed." To which Cain says, "Now my punishment is too great to bear." And the narrative ends in this way: "Cain went away from the presence of the Lord." The blood of Abel cried out to God from the ground, "Justice, judgment, punishment for sin and guilt done." And that's what the blood of Abel speaks to us about. It reminds us that we all like Cain, murderers in the sight of God. Whoever is angry with his brother is a murderer at heart. It shows us that we are like Cain, children of the wicked one without the grace of Christ, and our hands are tainted and our hearts are corrupted. And we are murderers. And the blood of Abel, as it were, cries out to God, "You have violated the law. You have broken the truth of God. You have broken the ways of God and gone your own way. And therefore, you deserve the punishment of Cain, the guilt of Cain, you deserve the judgment that belongs to Cain." This is what the law does, doesn't it? This is exactly what the blood of the old covenant, this is what Sinai was magnifying to the eyes of the people, that you're no different to Cain. But what does the blood of Jesus cry? Well, see Him there hanging on the cross while His blood is being spilt to the ground, and hear Him say these words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." See Him there hanging between two criminals, crying out, "It is finished. The price has been paid, the debt has been satisfied, the work has been done. No more sacrifice and offering for sins. No more having to go to an altar and make sacrifice after sacrifice to, to, to cover for your sin." He's crying, "It is finished." Hear him say to the penitent, to the repentant man there upon the cross, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." Do you see the difference? Both bloods cries from the ground. One cries justice and punishment and judgment for wrong done. The other cries mercy and forgiveness and grace for those who have violated God's holy law. Jesus's blood is the blood of covering, of atonement, of sacrifice. It is the blood that satisfies the holiness of God. It is the blood of mercy, the blood of love, the blood of kindness and of forgiveness. It's the blood that speaks to us Cain today. It speaks to us Cain, it speaks to us Pharisees, it speaks to us self-righteous ones, and says to us that you can leave your anger behind and your murderous envy behind and find mercy and grace at the foot of the cross. It's the blood that still cries out, not from the ground as Abel's blood, but it cries out from heaven, sprinkled upon the mercy seat of God. It cries out, "If you believe on me, you shall be sprinkled clean and cleansed from all your sin." It cries out, "This is the blood of my covenant which was shed for the remission of sins. If you believe on me, you shall be joined to me in in in in in in communion and in fellowship, and you will be belonging to me as my people, and I will be your God." It's the blood that calls us and saying, "Come from Sinai to Zion. Come, eat and drink. Come with the saints of old. Come worship the living God. Come rejoice with the angels of heaven. Come, be free, as it were, from the depths of your sin and trepidation." Not because the character of God has changed, because our God is a consuming fire. But understanding that that consuming fire, that God of holiness and of truth is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He has paid the price for our sins. It's the blood that does not curse as the blood of Abel did, but it's the blood that removes the curse. It's the blood that makes righteous and does not impute unto us iniquity. It's the blood that redeems and does not destroy. It's the blood that makes peace. It's the blood that was never wasted because it shall redeem all for whom He died. It is the blood that saves. And if you will believe on His name this morning, that blood will be applied to your soul. You'll be able to come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. You would join in praise and adoration of the Lamb that was slain. It's the blood that speaks a better word than Abel, that calls you this morning to come and embrace a savior whose blood was shed for you. The warning of the text is clear. "See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking." The blood still speaks. God speaks from heaven, pointing to it, saying, "Do not refuse the word that comes from heaven, from the altar of God, the blood of Jesus Christ." If you resort to offering up sacrifices in your own strength, trusting in your own righteousness, you will end up like Cain, cursed. But if you come to Jesus, the blood of the Lamb that was slain, you will find forgiveness of sins and mercy and grace by believing in His name. God points you this day to the blood and bids you to come and invites you to come to that Lamb that may cover you from your sin because He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There is no other sacrifice that can make you clean before God and cleanse your conscience this morning. Good Friday is all about this, brothers and sisters, friends. This is what Good Friday is all about. That we were going the way of Cain, we were offering up sacrifices unacceptable to God because our hands are guilty and our hearts are corrupt. But God sends His son into the world to redeem us by shedding His blood for us. And He says, "Come. All has been done. The price has been paid. You have nothing else to do but bow and come believing in His name." That is good news. That is Good Friday news. That's the headline of every Good Friday. Should be the headline of every Good Friday newspaper. Jesus Christ died for our sins. Believe in Him. Is it the news that you hold dearly to? I mean, can you say honestly that my conscience has been cleansed, my guilt has been satisfied, my price has been paid because Jesus died for me? Oh, no, not just a historical man who died 2,000 years ago, but it's a good Friday and it's good for me because that blood was shed for me. Do you hear His blood speaking to you this morning? Why don't we not refuse Him whose blood is speaking from heaven? Let us pray.