From the first verse of Genesis to the closing words of Revelation there runs a Scarlet Thread. It is the Blood line of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. What a beautiful, glorious story! Surely every evangelist and minister in the world must enjoy telling this story, and what a privilege is ours in being able to witness of it.
Did you ever read the fairy story about the little boy and girl who were lost in the woods? This little boy and girl were going through the forest where tall trees rose far heavenward, and they had to wind their way about. Fearing they would be lost, they took the bread which their mother had given them for lunch and scattered crumbs all along the way so that they might have something to guide them back. In the meantime, the birds came and ate up the crumbs and they were lost. They would never have reached home if it were not for a kind friend, who rescued them and took them back.
The next time they went into the forest, they said, "We will have to take something that the birds won't eat." So they took paper, cut it into bits and scattered it along the trail. Surely the birds would not eat them. No—but when they came to find their way back, the wind had blown the bits of paper away. Again they were rescued and brought home by the efforts of a kind friend.
Once again as they were about to journey into the forest, they went to their mother's sewing machine drawer, took out a spool of red thread, and after bidding goodbye to their mother, tied one end to the gatepost. As they went along, they wrapped it around first a tree, then a stump, and another tree. Then when it was time to come home, the birds hadn't eaten the thread, neither had the winds blown it away. Even though the sun was rapidly sinking over the western hills, they didn't tremble or become frightened, for they could see the scarlet thread guiding them from tree to tree and stump to stump through the gathering gloom. At last, under their searching fingers, the Scarlet Thread led them safely to the old gatepost and the next moment they heard their mother's voice and her welcome smile shone upon them.
We of the world are children lost in the mighty mountain passes of Life. The shadows are deep and dark. We have failed and become tangled and lost. Thank God! There is a Scarlet Thread which our home by many paths but we have failed and become way to the throne of God.
This Scarlet Thread goes out through all the world. In the mighty forests of the earth, through the dark corridors of Time, through the gloom and the shadows, even the sinner and the veriest unbelievers can reach out their hands and beside them they may follow it home where the light is burning in the window; where the angels are singing at their returning and the Father's smile awaits. Hallelujah!
"What is the Scarlet Thread?" you ask. It is the story of redemption, of the Saviour Who shed His blood for you and for me. If you, like the students of our Bible School, take your red crayon and mark the references of it in your Bible you will find that you have a complete Scarlet Thread from the beginning to the end, and that it will lead you home.
We find men and women every day who are saying, "Be born again? What is that? I don't mean to be ignorant. In fact, I am not, for I could talk on science, education and learning, but why does one need to get saved? Why do I need to be washed in the blood of Jesus?"
Big, fine looking men say, "Why did Jesus have to die in order for me to be saved and get to Heaven? What is the idea? Why did He have to die for me to be saved?"
Why! Why! Why! We are so full of "whys." But we are going to try to make everything as plain as that Scarlet Thread which drops from the dome of the building tonight.
First, we must always go back to the book of beginnings. In the beginning God made His people sinless. He placed them in the Garden of Eden and there He walked with them day by day. But Satan, who had once been seated near the Throne in Heaven, had rebelled and now saw his chance to "get back at God." He had always wanted to, but had never found a chance until one day when looking into the garden he saw Adam and Eve walking among the trees with God. Then he cried, "Ah ha, now I see how I may get even with God. He threw me out of Heaven and cast me down as a fallen star, but I see how I can get back at Him. He loves these children. They are the apple of His eye and He hates nothing so bad as sin."
Then in came Satan—tiptoeing along, His garments were all shimmering and shining with light as he approached Eve. In a voice all soft and enticing, he said, "Yea, hath God said that the day ye eat of this fruit ye shall die? It is a mistake. Help yourself and eat."
Eve was deceived by this dazzling creature, the most beautiful of all the field, and succumbed to his pleasing manner. Immediately she touched the forbidden fruit; she became disobedient, an unbeliever, and she realized it all as she ate the apple. Her eyes were opened, but as she was a generous soul she immediately gave some to Adam, too. And then instead of him saying, "Eve, you are wrong," he just took hold and ate of the apple also. He, too, became a sinner.
God came once more in the cool of the day to walk with His children, but darkness had fallen in the garden. Man had sinned and was to be cast out because of his unbelief and hopeless despair. They had sold themselves to the devil. It seemed as though they were shut out on every hand with death facing them.
Then God spoke and gave them a mighty promise. The seed of woman should bruise the head that had bruised His heel. In other words God promised that He so loved this world that He would give His only Son to die for us. Man had sold himself and was under sentence of death for "his you are whom you promise to obey" and "the wages of sin are death." God was a just God who could not look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. Even then they did not repent. They saw themselves naked and unhealed. They tried to make themselves an apron, but it was of no avail. Our own good works of usefulness will never cover sin from God's eyes.
God left them for a moment and soon in the distance a little cry was heard. A little lamb had died at the hand of God. He took its life. The blood of the first thing in the world to die went streaming down and He took the skin and formed coats for Adam and Eve to wear.
This first shed blood was part of the Scarlet Thread, bespeaking that our own righteousness of fig leaves and excuses will not do, that through the blood of the Lamb we must put on the righteousness of God.
Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, were once making an offering unto God. Cain had brought the fruits of the field, fruits and vegetables—the best he had to offer. The other came with the blood of the slain lamb, the innocent, spotless gift.
God looked down on the gifts Cain brought but He couldn't smile upon them for they were things of the earth, earthly. They would not do, for if our own good works would do, God's Son would not need to die for us. Upon an altar Abel made a better offering than his brother Cain, and God's smile came streaming down. He honored a little, white, soft, innocent lamb.
If a little lamb, laying there so prone, could but speak, it would say, "I am but a type of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world."
Days passed swiftly by and down in Egypt's land the hearts of the Children of Israel were hardened against God. Yet at the same time they longed to get back into the sunshine of His smile. Came the day when God told them that the angel of Death, His angel, would pass over the land that night and all the firstborn should die. He told them that if they would take the blood of a lamb, put it over their doorposts and down the sides thereof, that when He saw the blood He would pass over them. Hyssop, type of faith, was to be dipped into the blood and sprinkled over the doorposts and down the sides.
Dear Jewish friends, how can you explain what your Scarlet Thread meant in any other way?
Why was the blood put there? It was but a type of the door into the heart. The lamb that was slain is but a type of the Lamb of God.
The night on which the Lord was to pass through the country came, and darkness fell swiftly. It was deep darkness, too, very dense and black. We will picture a typical home that night. The family have gone to bed. Almost in the middle of the night comes the voice of Junior, "Daddy."
"Yes, son, what is it?"
"Are you sure the blood is over the door?"
"Yes, Go to sleep. It is all right for I told the servant to put it there."
Silence for a little while, then,
"Daddy, are you sure that the servant put it there?"
"Yes, he is a good servant and I am sure he put it there."
But Daddy, I can't sleep. You know it means my life. Do you mind getting up and looking to see if it is there?"
To satisfy the child more than anything else, the father gets up and looks. To his horror he finds there is no blood there. It is only five or ten minutes to the midnight hour. The father runs quickly and kills the lamb. The blood is brought and sprinkled on the door. Then when the angel of Death went over the land and the first-born of the Egyptians were slain, that house where the blood was sprinkled on the door, was saved.
When, at the stroke of twelve should the angel come to your door would it be well with your soul? If so, you can lie down in peace and safety.
One day a father and son were commanded of God to make a certain sacrifice and were on their way up a hill in obedience to His command. The father's name was Abraham and the son's Isaac. Abraham had been commanded by God to make the offering of his son. The son did not know of this and on the way up the hill he turned to his father and said in a rather plaintive voice, "Father, here is the wood and here is the fire, but where is the lamb for the offering?"
Abraham answered, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb."
What a Lamb! What a pure, spotless, innocent Lamb He provided in Jesus Christ!
When at last they reached the top of that hill, the altar was built, wood laid upon the altar and Isaac bound to it. Seems I can see him there now, tightly bound with the Scarlet Thread. Abraham lifted his hand, raising it high toward Heaven. Although with a broken heart he was willing to do it, God said, "I see you love your son and yet are willing to do this thing for me. But look, Abraham. There in the thicket is a ram caught by the horns. Just put him in the place of the boy."
That ram took the place of Isaac; but how different it was with Jesus Christ. When He reached the top of the hill, and the soldier was ready to drive the spear home, there was no ram to take the place of Jesus Christ. There was nothing that could suffer in His place and the blow fell.
There are many other Scarlet Threads. Let me paint another picture for you. It is in the days of the Children of Israel.
Here is the leper. The dread spots of the horrible disease are covering his body. Realizing that death is facing him he comes to the priest for cleansing.
"O priest, look at me. I am a leper. Is there anything that will cleanse me?"
"Yes, indeed,—the blood. Bring hither quickly two doves. Then the priest took the two doves, killed one and caught its blood in a laver. The Scarlet Thread that leads to Calvary was being formed. As the leper stood looking, the blood of the dead dove went dripping down into the basin. Then the priest did a peculiar thing. He dipped a sprig of hyssop down into the blood of the dead dove. Then he sprinkled it upon the live one, upon the leper, and up toward God. The priest then loosed the living dove and as the leper watched it go soaring up into the Heavens, he looked down and was cleansed. Read the story for yourself in Lev. 14:4-7.
This is a type of Jesus Christ. It always takes two of anything to represent Him. He is the dead dove and the living dove. He is the dead lamb and He is the living lamb.
Hallelujah! Jesus, our living dove, has spread His snowy pinions crimsoned over by His own blood and has ascended into the Heavens to show Himself in our behalf before the throne of God.
Now comes the sixth Scarlet Thread in the Old Testament. It is found in the story of Rahab. Jericho's walls were to be overthrown. Death was stalking through the land and when she said, "How shall I escape when the city of sin is overthrown?" they answered, "There is only one way."
"I am a terrible sinner. My life has been spent far from God."
"Yes, you are a sinner but you can be saved if you will take a Scarlet Thread and bind it in the window," which she did. I have been right down through the city and seen the remains of the wall. Rahab was spared and the little house in which she lived still stood because of the scarlet line in her window.
This old world is a Jericho of sin, wickedness and heartache and the soul that sinneth shall surely die and stand before God. There is only one way to escape. Bind the blood of Jesus in the window of your soul and when all else fails, He will never forsake nor leave you.
This are many Scarlet Threads running through the Old Testament, but I would like to bring you just one more. We read that as a sheep before His shearers He was dumb and opened not His mouth. "He was bruised for our iniquities and wounded for our transgressions." How glorious to know that it was Jesus Christ who we pass from the Old Testament into the New. The Scarlet Thread runs on and on. Jesus is grown now. He is thirty years of age and ready to begin His ministry. John is baptizing in the Jordan when Jesus steps down to be baptized. Seeing Jesus Christ approaching he lifted up his eyes and said, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world."
That was really the passing from the Old Testament to the New. Jesus lived and died for His people. For three years He preached to them, healed them, cleansed and forgave them. He fed the multitude, calmed the seas, blessed the little children, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, taught His disciples to go on with His work and when at last He was to die He distinctly said, "For this cause came I forth."
He didn't need to die. He could have backed down on His Message and compromised. Even that last night in Gethsemane He could have gone down to Jericho and pass over into another region beyond the Jordan. But no, He set His face toward Jerusalem. That night as He stood in the midst of His disciples, the fruit of the vine was there typifying His blood and He said, "Drink ye all of it. For this is the New Testament in my blood. Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood ye are none of mine." They looked at Him in horror and could not understand, but we understand now. It was the Scarlet Thread.
Then came the dark shadows of Gethsemane. In anguish of heart and soul Christ was praying in the Garden for you and for me. He sweat great drops of blood, and they went dripping down upon the carpet of leaves on the floor of the Garden. Yes, it was the Scarlet Thread.
Events run swiftly now. He is taken by the soldiers before Pilate and shouts of "Crucify! Crucify Him" go out through the hall, and they brought out the heavy cat o'nine tails. The Romans are taken to the whipping post and the lash falls upon His back, fulfilling the prophecy, "By His stripes we are healed." A crown of thorns is placed upon His brow and the blood goes dripping down.
He is taken up Calvary's brow. The hammers and nails are brought and the nails are driven through those beautiful hands and feet. From whence these bright red drops? They are working out the Scarlet Thread, that thread which leads us out of the light shines in the Father's window.
The blood is dripping from His hands, His feet and His brow, but the glory of the Lord is in His heart and he says, "Father forgive them. They know not what they do."
Behold! A soldier is coming. He is one of the last of the guards of the crucifixion as he comes, carrying in his hands a great spear. He draws it back and plunges it into the heart of Jesus Christ, and we read that blood and water flowed mingled forth. As the blood went dripping down onto the ground it formed a fountain in which the sins of all the world may be washed away, if we but believe and trust Him. The sky overhead grows black. Clouds cover the face of the sun, and a storm is coming. The sun hides its face entirely. In that awful hour the Scarlet Threads are being bound together at Calvary.
The mocking crowd below the Cross didn't know what it meant. They knew it must mean something, but they didn't understand the real typological significance of it. Suddenly the light struck the place where Jesus hung, and He cried,
"My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
And He gave up the Ghost and died. At that moment the veil in the Temple was rent from top to bottom. Praise the Lord, it is finished. His last words, "Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." Then His head fell on His breast and He died. The storm abated and the blessed cross shone out through the gloom and the storm that crossed the sky. That precious blood of Jesus Christ was flowing—flowing into the fountain of an ever troubled stream where the sorrows of the world are buried and Christ is enthroned in the heart.
Hallelujah for the Cross! There is power in the blood of the Lamb. It doesn't matter who you are or how great your sin, Jesus can wash you and make you whiter than the driven snow. See Him hanging there for you! Believe Him! Receive Him! Open your heart and say, "Lord, I will."
He gathered all those Scarlet Threads together at the cross of Calvary. They were lifted to the very top of His cross, and there he healed for this old sin-torn world, healing for the soul, and healing for the spirit. Yea, healing for the nations.
We sinned, but Jesus died for us. We were sentenced to die, but He died that we might live. We were condemned, but He bore our condemnation. Glory to His name!
Then they took him away and buried Him in the earth, but He said, "Though I die, yet shall I live again." And on the third day He was raised from the dead. He stood upon His feet and came forth—Jesus, the glorified Lord.
When He arose from the dead He bore in His hand just one more Scarlet Thread. It was the glorious thread which He has to take to the Father's throne that we might have an anchor within the veil.
What does that last Scarlet Cord mean? It means that all the lambs, goats, bulls and heifers and doves, all the blood that was ever shed on Jewish altars could never wash man's sin away, or make the vilest sinner clean; but when Jesus died, the Lamb of God, He died once for all. He shed His blood and it is finished—come into the family of God, shall become a new-born son of God and a brother of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
Jesus knew when He arose from the dead that we would have an accuser which would say, "You old rascal! You sinner! Look at the woman, see what she did? He took the last thread and today He stands before the throne and answers His hands, His feet and His wounded side to the Father.
The old devil comes along and says, "Lord, look at Mr. Jones. He is without the fountain. He has turned you away for years. But up there beside the Throne, Jesus is saying, "Behold My hands and My feet! Father, I died for that man. Spare him, Lord, spare him."
and also that woman in her sins. If they just plunge beneath this crimson stream, their sins are gone."
One says, "Don't let that woman live any longer. She if fifty years old now and, I declare to you, this is the thousandth sermon she has heard, and every sermon she turns Jesus down. What is the use of letting her live any longer? Snuff her life out tonight."
Then Jesus, still holding this last cord between Heaven and earth, says, "But, Father, I died for her. Although she has heard one thousand sermons, and turned me away as many times, let her hear just one more message—behold My hands and My side,"
The Lord has spared you until this hour, and my message is almost finished. Take hold of the Scarlet Thread and let it guide you safely homeward.
You say, "I am lost."
That may be, but you need not remain lost. I don't know who you are or where you have gone, but Jesus Christ will bring you home if you will just let Him.
Sinner, backslider, professing church member without the real glory in your hearts, get hold of the Scarlet Thread. Millions have knelt at the foot of the Cross. Your mother knelt there. Your father knelt there, and you must kneel there. You must find your way to the foot of the Cross, for the way of the cross leads home.