I pray this finds you all well and good. I am sorry it's a little late, it's been a busy morning at Opportunity House. Last week we left off with our look at the red blood cells and their effect upon the purification process in our bodies. This is mirrored by the purification process that the blood of the Lamb administers to the body of Christ. Today we’ll continue our look at the book The Chemistry of the Blood by M.R. DeHaan. Our focus today will be our white blood cells.
These white blood cells are called “white cells” because they are pale or white in appearance, whereas the red cells, of course are not, they’re red. These white cells are somewhat larger than the red cells but fewer in number. However, the number of these white cells may be very rapidly increased in cases of emergency.
When an infection occurs anywhere in the body and the body is attacked by germs, the news is flushed around the body that the body is under attack. The body then begins rapidly producing white blood cells and rushes them to the point of infection.
These white blood cells have the power to kill germs and engulf them. This is why we swell when we have an infection. After the infection has been defeated and expelled from the body, the white cells continue to clean up the wound area and help in its healing. Afterwards, the white cell count that had rapidly increased, now returns to its original number.
What our blood in our bodies does for us in times of danger and attacks the Precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ does for each and every believer. Revelation 12:10-11,
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…’”
They overcame him (Satan) by the Blood of the Lamb. Now this scripture refers to the nation of Israel during the Tribulation, but it applies just as well to us today. Satan is the accuser of the brethren, the believers, those in the body of Christ. He brings charges against each one of us, before God, and these are justified in many cases, because we are sinners.
But when Satan comes before God to accuse us, there is One there, our great High Priest, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, and all he needs to do is point to the blood that was shed for us and it is enough. Because we are covered by the blood of the Lamb.
Sometimes Satan comes right at us, accusing us directly. Here Satan points out our sins and our failures and we see all our shortcomings and sins of the flesh and he says something like “You call yourself a Christian? Are you a Christian? Why you’re not even saved. You don’t look or act like a Christian.”
This is a very effective technique of Satan. The result is that often we go down to defeat once we are reminded of our past. Then we begin to doubt our salvation and redemption, and that little bit of doubt is all Satan needs to disrupt our relationship with Christ.
How can we overcome this enemy? How does the body of Christ overcome this infection? The answer is right there in Revelation 12:11,
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.”
I am a sinner saved by grace. I see no good in myself, even less than the Devil sees. I have no hope in myself and have no confidence in the flesh. Then I plead the blood. I look to the cross and point to Him who died for me and shed His blood for me, and the light breaks through. I understand that it is not my goodness nor that awful foul mountain of my own personal sin, but it all depends on His blood.
The blood fights for me. It is the white blood cells in the blood of Christ which puts Satan into flight. I acknowledge my sin, I do not deny it, and then I claim the promise from
1 John 1:9, 1 John 1:7, and Revelation 12:11,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.”
Now we move away from the white blood cells in our blood to elements that we have heard about frequently during the pandemic. These are the antibodies and the antitoxins that are in our blood. These are produced when our body is responding to an infection or disease. Sometimes they will help to prevent a disease once the person has had the disease. Once the body has had a disease these cells help the body to build up an immunity so that it will not be attacked by that disease again. This immunity is in the blood.
This is an important lesson here for all Christians when we see how Christ’s blood mirrors this immunity. Even after we have been saved we are still open to the attacks of the world, the flesh, and Satan. Even after being born again we can fall prey to temptation. The Christian who grows in maturity has this characteristic: When they fail they seek the cleansing blood of Christ and thereafter continue to plead the blood of Christ so as to guard against a repetition of the sin that once brought them down. They do not fall into that same sin again and again, for each experience builds up an immunity against that specific sin.
The difference between the sinner and the saint is that the saint hates their sin and pleads the blood of Christ, whereas the sinner loves their sin and goes back into it.
The saint is like a sheep. It may fall into a mud hole, but it is not comfortable there, and will bleat until the shepherd lifts it out, and thereafter will avoid that mud hole at all cost. The sinner is like a pig. It goes around looking for a mud hole and when it finds one it slides in with a grunt of glee and will squeal objections if you try to pull it out, and no sooner is it out than it will return to the mud hole again.
The saint may fall into sin but they will never remain there, and they will be unhappy while in it.
Do not despair if you have failed. We all have. The lord knew when he came to die for us what failures we would be. He died for us when we were failures, in the depth of our sin. Christ knew how hard it would be for us to live undefiled in this sinful world. He knew what we would face and the deceitfulness of the flesh, and so when He died to save you, He also shed his blood to cleanse you. The proof of this is our verse from the last couple of weeks, 1 John 1:8-9,
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
It does us no good to deny our sins. God is telling us right here, in verse 8, if we do deny our sins, we are deceiving ourselves only, nobody else. Because we are all sinners. Our sinfulness is in our blood.
Our only hope is in confessing your sin, and then Christ will wash you in His blood containing the red cells and the white cells for cleansing.
Then by trusting Him to keep you from sin through that same precious blood which contains antibodies and antitoxins, will enable you to build up an immunity against further sinning.
Do not fear confession. Run to it. Run to the blood of Christ.
Blessings,
Thad
Opportunity House
and Harmony UMC
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