Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 9. We'll read a few verses here
in Hebrews chapter 9. The name of the message is the
perfect substitute. The perfect substitute. Hebrews
9 verses 11 to 13. But Christ, being come in high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctify it to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to purge your conscience? from dead works to serve the
living God. This passage here speaks of the
Lord Jesus Christ, God's only begotten son, who is sent here
to this earth to live a life as a substitute for God's people,
called his elect in the scripture, and to live to live that perfect
life and to weave that coat of righteousness, which we need
to be in the presence of God, because we're sinners. All our
righteousness is like filthy rags. He's perfect and spotless.
So he's weaving that coat of righteousness for us. The sinless,
spotless Lamb of God is doing that for sinners. And then he
goes to the cross and dies as our substitute. So he lives a
life, perfect life as our substitute. And then he Then he dies, the
perfect Lamb of God. As that text said there, he offered
himself up without spot. He's totally sinless. And he's
not just a mere man. Jesus Christ is not just a mere
man. He's God incarnate in the flesh. Talked to Brother Norm this week,
and he was saying that after they went to Europe, and he said,
Wayne, He said, religion is the same all around the world. It's
all about man's works. It's all about man's, and they're
saying, well, Jesus was a good teacher, but, and no, he wasn't
just a good teacher. He was God in the flesh, and
he came here on a mission, and that's to save his people from
their sins, and he did that as the perfect substitute. Now,
everyone knows what a substitute is. It's someone who stands in
the place of another. When we're in school and our
teacher has an appointment or a sickness, that does not allow
them to be in the class, then a substitute teacher comes. We've
all experienced that in our lives in grade school. And that substitute
teacher will fill in and stands in the place of the regular teacher. In hockey, when there's a line
change, one player takes the place of another in the designated
position. In basketball, in baseball, soccer,
the team uses a substitute player which is a player who fills in
the place of another player who needs a rest or is absent. So
we understand where the substitute is. But here's the wonderful
news of the gospel of God's grace found in Christ alone. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the sinner substitute. He stands in the place of God's
elect, living a perfect life upon this world and weaving a
perfect coat of righteousness for us. And then he goes to the
cross and dies the death that's due us. The wrath of God, remember,
the infinite wrath of God falling upon Christ rather than falling
upon we who are sinners. Oh, it's mercy, such grace. And
everywhere in the scriptures, the redemptive work of our Lord
Jesus Christ is set forth is the work of a substitute. Substitution
is the great foundational doctrine of the Bible. The man and woman,
who understands the gospel doctrine of substitution, understands
the message of the Bible. Christ died for sinners. The
sinless one, the spotless one, died for sinners. So marvel at
this wonderful truth. Because God's grace is only found
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone. Here's
the gospel doctrine of substitution. The Lord Jesus, the Son of God,
stood in the place of sinners. so that all who trust in him
might stand accepted before God in all eternity. The only reason
I stand before you as a man justified by God is because Christ justified
me. God himself justified me, and
that's true of all of God's people, all his elect of all the ages. And since I do fully trust my
soul upon the merits of Christ in Him alone, resting upon His
obedience for my righteousness, and His blood for my atonement,
I have good reason to believe that He's my substitute. Is He
that to you? Do you believe that Christ was
obedient unto death for you? Do you believe that? Oh, do you
believe his righteousness is the only righteousness that God
will accept? Do you believe he shed his precious blood to make
atonement for your sins and mine? Well, praise be to God. Oh, if it's so for we who are
hearing this message, I praise God. But if it's not so for you
who hear this message, I pray that God would give you faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that you could say
with sinners such as I, such as we, we who are God's people,
I'm only a sinner saved by grace, saved by Christ, my great substitute. Oh, let me tell you five wonderful
truths about substitution. about our substitute, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And these five truths are true
for every born-again, blood-washed believer. Number one, the Lord
Jesus Christ stood as my substitute in eternity past. The Lord Jesus
Christ was my surety in the everlasting covenant of grace. Hebrews 7.22
says, by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
Before I sinned, before I sinned, Christ stood as my ransom. Before
I broke God's law, He stood as my righteousness. And that's
true for every believer. Every believer on the Lord Jesus
Christ. God the Father gave my soul, along with all the host
of His elect, into the hands of Christ in eternity, as the
surety of the covenant, before the world began. Listen to this,
John 6, 39. And this is the Father's will, which has sent me, that
of all which He hath given me. When did He give them to Him?
In eternity. Oh my, I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day. See, our salvation
is all dependent upon the substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our preservation
is all dependent upon the substitute. It's he who saved us, and it's
he who's kept us, and it's he who'll glorify us, beloved. Oh,
it's wonderful. God the Father chose his people
in Christ. And in Christ, he gave all the
elect grace and salvation in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Oh my. And do you know what else
we have in Christ? We have all spiritual blessings
in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. And do you know what else? All
the promises of God are yay and amen in Christ. So if you have
Christ, you have all the promises of God, which are yay and amen
in him. Number two. Jesus Christ stood in my place
as my federal head and my representative while he lived in this world.
The sinless life of Christ was necessary for my redemption,
for my redemption and for the redemption of all of God's people.
And in his death, his death, All mine was absolutely necessary
too. His life was necessary for my
redemption, just as much as his death was necessary for my redemption.
Because you know what Christ did in his life? He fulfilled
the law of God in the room and place of every one of his people
as their substitute, fully satisfying God's law, fulfilling it perfectly,
perfectly. He's the sinless man, not a sin
thought, not a sin spoken, not a sin indeed, not a sin of affection.
Oh my, it's amazing. And that's God in the flesh that
did that for me and for you if you're a believer. Oh my. Because
without his righteousness, without him doing that, perfectly fulfilling
the law, we would never have a righteousness that would make
us acceptable before God. Because our own righteousness
is like filthy rags before the Lord. But clothed in Christ's
righteousness, we're accepted in the beloved. We're accepted
in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, what
a wonderful, wonderful truth, beloved. So by his perfect life
of obedience, he bought in an everlasting righteousness for
his people. And you know what his name is?
His name is the Lord our righteousness. Isn't that wonderful? That's
who Jesus Christ is to his people. It's wonderful. Number three,
the Son of God stood in my place as my substitute at Calvary's
cross. Oh my! The judgment of God was
poured out upon Christ for my sin at Calvary's cross. Oh my! And if you're a believer, for
your sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, the sinless one, died under the
penalty of God's law, right? God's law says the soul that
sinneth it must die. So here's Christ. He's the sinless,
spotless lamb of God as our substitute. And he dies in our room and place,
beloved, as our substitute. Do you see the substitution?
Oh my, it's wonderful. He dies before God's law. He
dies before God's justice. His wrath, God's wrath is poured
out upon Christ so that not a drop of it will fall upon we who believe.
Oh, it's absolutely wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And He
bore my sin, my shame, my guilt, and all the wrath that was due
me, and due everyone. Think of this. The infinite wrath
of God that was due us. Each individual one of God's
elect. And Christ bore it all. And He
said, it is finished. The work of redemption's done,
and he brought in everlasting righteousness, beloved. Everlasting
righteousness. He died in my place, the believer
says, and satisfied God's law and justice for me and for all
who believe on Jesus Christ, our Lord. He's our substitute,
shed in his precious blood to redeem our eternal souls. Galatians
chapter 3 says this, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, be ye made the curse for us. For it is written, Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham
might come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we
might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Oh,
my number four, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, stands in
my place today as my advocate and my substitute in heaven.
Today. Oh, his five precious wounds,
the merits of his blood, have secured my present and eternal
welfare before God. God will not charge me with sin,
he will not charge his elect with sin, and the law cannot
require punishment upon me, because Christ, the risen Lord, my substitute,
stands today, right now, as my advocate, right now, beloved,
with the Father. And that's true, if you're a
born-again, blood-washed believer, that's true for you. Number five,
the fifth and last point. O my, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as my substitute, has borne God's wrath in my place. And there
is therefore now no more judgment for me. Romans chapter 8, verse
1. There is therefore now no condemnation,
that's judgment in the Greek, to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. The apostle
does not say we are not condemnable, because we are. And we are condemnable for our sin
within us. and all sin is condemnable, but
sins cannot bring us into condemnation now because we're in Christ and
he paid for all our sins, beloved. He's borne the penalty, He's
borne the judgment, He's borne the condemnation for all our
sins, past, present, and future. So there's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not of the flesh but
after the spirit. So for the born again, blood-washed
saint of God in Christ, the flesh is not our master, not our master,
nor our guide. Christ Jesus our Lord in the
Holy Spirit is our guide. Therefore, as a blood-washed
believer on Christ, when God himself examines me, he will
behold no spot of blemish in me, because his own Son performed
in my place perfect righteousness, satisfied God's law. extinguish
his wrath that was against me. And by his obedience, he's clothed
me in his perfect spotless righteousness, and his precious blood has washed
all my sins away, beloved. Oh my, by the shedding of his
precious blood. Trusting Christ as my substitute,
I fully expect to hear him say, well done, well done, only because
of what Christ done, only because of what Christ done. And Christ
receives his elect as a gift from the Father, and the Father
receives them as a purchase paid for by Christ's precious blood. And Christ receives his elect
from the Holy Spirit as he seeks them. Oh, he seeks them in their
lost, sinful condition. And they're called, born again
by God, the Holy Spirit's almighty power, given faith to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they willingly come
to Christ. Oh, in God-given faith. And what
do we say? We say, praise be to God. Salvation
is of the Lord. Amen and amen.