transgressions and all their
sins. So shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation
that remain among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And
there shall no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth
in to make an atonement in the holy place until he come out
and have made an atonement for himself and for his household
and for all the congregation of Israel. So we see the sacrifices
for all the congregation of Israel. One thing I want to say too,
is on this holy day, the Israelites were told no one would work.
So the only one who's doing something is the high priest. Okay? The only one who's doing the
work is the high priest. And we know he pictures Christ.
So the congregation, They're watching, they can't see him
in the Holy of Holies, but we're gonna see with the scapegoat,
it's public with the scapegoat, but they can't work. Oh my, grace,
grace, grace. And there shall be no man in
the Tabernacle congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement
in the holy place until he come out and have made an atonement
for himself and for his household and for all the congregation
of Israel. verse 18 and he shall go out into the altar that is
before the Lord and make an atonement for it and shall take of the
blood of the balkan the blood of the goat and put it upon the
horns of the altar round about and he shall sprinkle the blood
upon it with his finger seven times and cleanse it and hollow
it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel and when he
hath made an end of reconciling the holy place in the tabernacle
of the congregation and altar he shall bring the live goats
and Aaron shall lay both hands upon the live goat Here's our
text, verses 21 and 22. And Aaron shall lay both his
hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all
the iniquities of the children of Israel and their transgressions
in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat and
shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited. And he
shall go And and he shall let the goat go. He shall let go
the goat in the wilderness and Aaron shall come into the tabernacle
of the congregation and shall put off the linen garments, which
he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them
there. And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy
place and put on his garments and come forth and offer his
burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make
an atonement for himself and for the people. and the fat of
the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. And he that let
go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe
his flesh in water and afterwards come into the camp. And the bullock
for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering whose
blood was bought in to make an atonement in the holy place shall
one carry forth without the camp and they shall burn in the fire
their skins and their flesh and their dung. And he that burneth
them shall wash his clothes, bathe his flesh in water, and
afterward he shall come into the camp. And this shall be a
statute forever unto you, that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls and do no
work at all. No work at all. Whether it be
one of your own country or a stranger that's joined among you. For
on that day shall the priest make atonement for you. The only
one doing anything. is the priest and that priest
beloved pictures christ pictures christ to cleanse you that you
may be clean from look at this all your sins before the lord
it shall be a sabbath of rest unto you and ye shall afflict
your souls by a statute forever And the priest whom he shall
anoint and whom he shall concentrate to minister in the priest's office
in his father's stead shall make the atonement and shall put on
the linen clothes, even the holy garments. And he shall make an
atonement for the holy sanctuary and he shall make an atonement
for the tabernacle, the congregation, and for the altar. He shall make
an atonement for the priests and for all the people of the
congregation. So for all of Israel, only for Israel. But it's for
all of them. It's for all of them. And this
shall be an everlasting statute unto you to make an atonement
for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded
Moses. I wanted to read that whole chapter
because I think it's important to read the whole context of
what we're looking at. Now last week, we looked again
at the first sacrifice in the text, the first goat, which was
slain. Tonight, I'd like us to consider
the scapegoat and the fit man in light of them being pictures
of Christ. And here before us again in our text, we have Israel
in the wilderness. We have Israel in the wilderness
during the days of the tabernacle and one day a year, which was
called the day of atonement. The high priest went into the
holy of holies the earthly sanctuary where the Ark of the Covenant
containing the Ten Commandments was and and This was where God's
presence once again was manifested in in in what's called the Shekinah
glory And this day we've heard this this name this day this
annual fast day this annual day of atonement is called Yom Kippur
And on this most solemn day the Holy The people confessed their
sins and the high priest only on this day entered the Holy
of Holies to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, on the mercy
seat. And on the Ark of the Covenant,
we looked at that in our text. It was a day of great humiliation,
a reminder to the people of the holiness of God and a reminder
of their own sinfulness. And it was a reminder that they
were separated Because God dwelt in the holy of holies. And they
couldn't enter. They couldn't enter. High priests
could enter, but they couldn't enter. And this was a very important
day on the Hebrew calendar because of the significance of this day.
Special sacrifice with the sins of the whole, all of Israel were
covered and atoned for and the entire nation. We see that in
verses 16, 21, 30, and 33. And for the sanctuary, we see
that in verses 16 to 19 and verses 33. So, but while we're doing
the study, our key is to keep our eyes on Christ, on him. Because
we know that all those sacrifices couldn't take away sin. We know
that. We'll look at that too. They
could never take away sin. They were pointing to one who
would be the fulfillment of what these picture. The atonement
was made, first of all, by the sacrifice. And we know the scripture
declares the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. But these pictures here before
us very distinctly point to the sufferings of our Redeemer. very
distinctly point to the sufferings of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who died for our sins. We're the guilty ones, just like
the Israelites were the guilty ones. And an innocent victim
was offered to atone for their sins. Well, that's what the Lord
Jesus Christ did for us, for we who believe. He's the sinless
sacrifice. And the atonement was not only
made by the blood of the sacrifice, but
by the presentation of the blood within the veil, as well as the
smoke of the incense and a bowl filled with blood, Aaron passed
into the most holy place. And we looked at all that last
week. So let us never forget that our Lord has gone into the
heavenly places with a better sacrifice than Aaron. And it's
him. It's himself. It's himself. Oh, my. A better sacrifice than
Aaron could present. He presents his own merits as
sweet incense and himself as a sacrifice before the throne
of grace. His death supplies the blood
of the sprinkling, the blood of the sprinkling. Furthermore,
we see that the atonement was made effectual by its application
to the thing or person cleansed, and the atonement was made for
the holy place. It was sprinkled seven times
with blood, and the same was to be done with the altar. The
horns thereof were smeared seven times. And we have here, turn,
if you would, to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10, verse
22, and look at this. We who believe have our hearts
sprinkled with the blood of Christ. We have our hearts sprinkled
with the blood of Christ, beloved. Look at Hebrews 10, verse 22. Let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith. Heaven, our hearts, what? Sprinkled
from an evil conscience. And our bodies washed with pure
water. How precious, beloved, is the
blood of Christ. How precious is the blood of
Christ, which being sprinkled on our hearts by the Spirit of
God, purges us from dead works, purges us from dead works, cleanses
us from all sin, and speaks peace and pardon. Does not the blood
of Christ ask you, beloved God, does not the blood of Christ
speak pardon and peace to your heart? It does, doesn't it? It does, oh my. I'm forgiven
all my sins. My goodness. And it allows us freedom and
boldness and readiness and with cheerfulness and a reverence
and a godly fear to come to our great God. And it's all because
of Christ. And it's all because of His shed
blood. We know that the high priest pictures Christ and the
sacrifice offered pictured Christ. Now let us consider the scapegoat
and the fifth man. Let's go back to Leviticus chapter
16 verses 20 and we'll read the 22. And when he hath made an end
of reconciling the holy place in the tabernacle of the congregation
in the altar, he shall bring the live goats and Aaron shall
lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess
over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel in all
their transgression, in all their sins, putting them upon the head
of the goat and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man
into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited and he shall
let go the goat in the wilderness. Now studying for this, I did
a quick search for scapegoat and fit man. And up popped something
and I clicked on it and it turned out to be a Seventh Day Adventist
link. And I knew that Seventh Day Adventists
are work mongers, it's another gospel, but I wanted to read
what they said. And do you know they have the
audacity to say that the scapegoat is Satan, bearing away the sins
of God's people. I have never heard such blasphemy
in my life, beloved. That's utter blasphemy. That's utter blasphemy. The only
one who carried away my sins, the only one who carried away
your sins, if you're a believer, is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
Him alone. Oh, I could not believe it when
I saw that. I could not believe it. What
a picture we have, what such a clear, beautiful picture we
have, and we'll see that tonight, of Christ and Christ alone. So the blood atonement's being
made, the sacrifice of the first goat. And now we see here in
our text, the second goat has Aaron lay his hands, and it means
to press upon, beloved. He lays his hands upon the head
of the live goat, and he confesses over them all the iniquity of
the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and he
leans upon it. That's what that word means. Oh, he leans upon it. So here in this chapter, our
subject, which is the sacrifices, illustrates the one appointed
Way and access to God. That's what these sacrifices
picture. There's only one way to God.
And there's only one access to God. The Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way we get the glory
of the Lord is because of what He's done. And He's regenerated
us. The Holy Spirit. He sent the
Holy Spirit to regenerate us. And so therefore, salvation's
of the Lord, isn't it? Oh my, it's so clear. It's so
clear. The only one doing any work here
is the high priest. My goodness, beloved. My goodness. This chapter shows again that
the way of access to God is by atonement. It shows us that. We saw that in the sacrifice.
We're seeing the same thing here with the scapegoat. The only way is for someone to
bear our sins. The only way for us to be forgiven.
There's no other method. And I want us to notice this.
This type. The Great Day of Atonement did
not really put away sin, but it was a picture. It was a picture
below. It was a shadow of heavenly things
to come. And I'll read from Colossians.
We've read this before, but I believe we need to read this, because
let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect
of an holy day or of a new moon or of the Sabbath days, which
are a shadow of things to come. So this day of atonement, beloved,
the Scripture declares in Colossians chapter 2, that it's a shadow
of things to come. It's a picture of things to come.
That sacrifice being offered is a shadow and a picture of
things to come. The scapegoat's a picture and a shadow of things
to come. The fit man's a picture and a shadow of things to come. And then the scripture goes on
in Colossians chapter 2. If you want to write it, 16 and
17, it says this, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body
is of Christ. They're just pointing right to
him. They're pointing right to him. And we rejoice as believers
when we, when we, when the Holy Spirit illuminates these precious
truths to us, it fills our hearts with joy because we see pictured
right there before us in the scriptures, our great substitute,
our great sin bearer. We'll see that tonight, our great
sin bearer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my, and something I want us
to note here too. This is stunning in the way that
it pictures Christ's beloved. Look in verse twenty one and
look at the small word. I want it as we read verse twenty
one. This is what's done. I want us to notice this because
it points right to Christ and it points right to what he's
done. Notice the little word a l. All. Such a small word, but what a
vast. Thing we see here before us and
Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat
and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of
Israel. And all their transgressions
in all their sins. Putting them upon the head of
the goat and shall send them away by the hand of a fit man
into the wilderness and confess over him all the iniquities of
the children of Israel in all their transgression, in all their
sins, Only Christ can be pictured here. Only nobody else. No one else. Only Christ. He bore, what did he bear? What
did the Lord Jesus Christ bear? All the sins of his people. There's
nothing left. There's not one left behind.
There's not, oh, I missed one. No, no, no, no, no. No, this
is such a perfect picture, brother. Christ bore the sins of all his
people. Every one of the elect of God,
a number that no man can number, but just like he bore the sins
of all of Israel, this this picture of the scapegoat burying the
sins of all all of Israel, such a small word. But such great
truths hinge on these little words, don't they? It's wonderful,
wonderful. But the Lord Jesus Christ bore
all the sins of his people. He paid the price for the transgression
of all his people. He alone bore away our sins to
a place where God remembers our sin no more. And why does God
remember our sins no more? Because Christ bore them all.
He bore them all. All. We're going to see at the
end, the people rejoice. This brings God's people great
joy. Great joy. Oh, my great joy. The goat, the scapegoat shall
bear upon him all their iniquities. This includes every sin of thought.
Every sin of word. Every sin of deed, every sin
of pride, every sin of falsehood, every sin of lust, every sin
of malice, every sin of blasphemies. This comprehends both crimes
against men and offenses against God. transgressions of Israel Whether
sins of intellect and the sins of affection Beloved all the
sins and it pitches what Christ is that what is Christ done for
we who believe all our sins are blotted out all You see how important
that little word is all all My goodness will happen So we here
see here a picture of the sins of the elect of God being imputed
to Christ, the lamb, the great sin bearer, the perfect spotless
sacrifice. Remember the two goats and to
remember this, the two goats that were bought. OK, I was thinking
about this today. The two goats that bought actually
Vicky bought this to mine for me, and it was absolutely wonderful.
The two goats that were bought up. And I was talking about how
how the seven days said, you know, this was this was Satan.
I was. How can this be? This is blasphemy.
The two goats that were bought were both spotless. How do we
know that? Because the lot was going to
be cast, which one would die. Therefore, they both had to be
perfect and spotless. That only pictures Christ and
Christ alone. They both had to be perfect.
They both had to be spotless. Or else the picture would break
right down. Beloved. These two, these two lambs were
spotless, the goats were spotless, the one that was sacrificed and
the scapegoat that would take away and bear the sins of the
people. Oh, my. Perfect, spotless sacrifice.
The Lord Jesus Christ, and remember, we know we know from what we
looked at last week that a lot was cast right for which one
would live, which one would die. We know from Proverbs, the lot
is cast into the lot, but the whole disposing thereof is of
the Lord. It's all his choosing. All his choosing. Christ is a
chosen vessel. Sent here to die for the sins
of his people. Sent here to be a scapegoat,
too. Sent here to bear the sins of
his people. And oh, putting this message
together just made my heart sing, beloved, as I looked at this
scapegoat. Oh, what's the definition of a scapegoat? A goat upon whose
head are symbolically placed the sins of the people, after
which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for
Yom Kippur. And then this was the second
one. One that bears the blame for others. One that bears the blame for
others. What a savior. This only pictures
one more to blame for his people. It's only pictures one who could
die for the sins of his people. The perfect spotless lamb of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ. So here in the scapegoat, we
see set forth the removal of sin by the scapegoat and the
goat, which the one goat was chosen to live. And that's the
scapegoat. And one goat was chosen to die. Both picture Christ, and it was
God who determined which one would live and which one would
die. Now, the putting on the putting
of both hands upon the head of the goat and confessing over
the animal all the iniquities of Israel implied in picture
in the strongest way possible, the truth of the scripture that
the Lord had laid on him. that our sins were imputed, the
sins of God's people. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
53. I want us to read Isaiah. I know we've read it many times,
but I want us to read it in light of what we're looking at tonight.
That that priest put his hands upon that, that go confess the
sins of all the people of Israel. And we're going to see that he
bore away, he bore away the sins. And look at what it says in Isaiah.
This is marvelous. In light of that, look at this.
Oh, and the truth of the scripture that the Lord Jesus on him was
laid the sins of his people. They were imputed to him the
sinless sacrifice. And what did he do for you and
I, we who believe? What did he do? He bore them
all away. He bore them all away. It's wonderful. Look at this
in Isaiah, chapter 53, verses four to six. Surely he had borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. Remember that first sacrifice?
He was killed for the sins of the Israelites, wasn't it? And
then the live goat. The hands were placed upon him.
that he might bear away the sins of the people. He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes,
we are healed. All we like sheep gone astray,
we have turned everyone to his own way. And look at this, just
like that priest, right? Remember the priest leaned upon
him, with pictures laying upon him. Look at this. And the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. Boy, it makes them verses come
alive, doesn't it? Makes them verses come alive. So we see in Leviticus chapter
six, the scapegoat in picture laden. Well, we see that in Isaiah,
the scapegoat in picture to laden with the sins of Israel and into
the wilderness he goes. Let's look back in Leviticus
chapter 16, verses 21 to 22. And Aaron shall lay both hands
upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the
iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions
and all the sins. putting them upon the head of
the goat and shall send them away by the hand of a fit man
in the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities. Oh, I love that word all beloved
unto a land not inhabited. And he shall let go the goat
in the wilderness. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
103. Psalm 103. The scapegoat carried away the sins of the people. But a picture we have of Christ
paying all that God demanded in picture for our sins. With
the slaying goat and here with the scapegoat carrying away our
sins, beloved. And you know what? They'll never be bought against
us. They'll never be bought against
us. That's good news. That's good
news for sinners. Look at this in Psalm. Psalm
103, verse 12, and we know God forgives the sins of his people
only by the sacrifice of Christ. And the Lord so forgives our
sins that he said to remember them no more. Look at this. Psalm 103, verse 12. And remember,
the scapegoat carries those sins off to the wilderness. It can't be found anymore. Look
at this. Oh, this is wonderful. As far
as the east is from the west, so far have he removed our transgressions
from us. And we see right here in this
verse that God's ways are not our ways. God will remember our sins no
more. He's the one who's being offended.
But Christ has so satisfied his justice and law. in the place
of his people. And he says to his people, I
won't remember your sins. I won't remember. That's is that
not what the scriptures are in this beautiful. This is wonderful.
As far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed
our transgressions from us. Christ has paid that which God
demands for the ransom of his people. far as the east is from
the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions for us. The
psalmist here declares before us in scripture that God will
utterly forget the sins of his people in Christ. They've been paid for that which
he demanded has been paid for. He won't wink at him, will he?
God will never wink at sin. Never. But Christ so paid for the sins
of his people. that God himself says, I won't
remember them. I remember them no more. That's what the scripture declares.
This is wonderful. This is wonderful news. Wonderful
news. You utterly forget the sins of
his people in Christ, and that's the key in Christ. In the sacrifice
that the only sacrifice that here except. Here are three figures
set before us in scripture of the limitlessness of God's forgiveness
of his people in Christ. Now, the first verse I'd like
you to look at is what we just looked at there. As far as the
east is from the west, so far have you removed our transgressions
for us. Fly as far as the wing of imagination
can bear you. And if you journey through space
eastward, you are further from the west at every beat of your
wing. The distance from north to south
can be measured, right, by poles, by poles. There are north poles
and south pole. There are north pole and the
south pole, which are fixed points. But there's no eastern or western
poles. Thus, in the circular world,
the east extends in one direction. If you go east, I've said this
many times, if you go east, you're gonna keep going east. And if
you go west, you're gonna keep going west. They don't ever meet. They don't
ever meet. One commentator said, thus the
traveler westward may be said to be ever chasing the west without
coming nearer to it, as they are always going west. They're
always going west. Turn, if you would, over to Isaiah
38, 17, in light of the scapegoat too, who carries the sins of
God's people, the Israelites, into the wilderness. Look at
this in Isaiah 38, 17. And again, this shows us the
limitlessness of God's forgiveness of His people in Christ. Look
at Isaiah 38, 17. Behold, for peace, I have had
great bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul delivered
it from the pit of corruption, for thou has cast all my sins
behind thy back. I remember, he said, I'll remember
your sins no more. The idea suggested here from
what I looked at in the Hebrew is behind the back is a strong
figure for out of sight. You look forward, you don't you
don't see what's behind you. What's behind you is out of sight.
You're looking forward. But now has cast all my sins
behind my back. One commentator said this is
if God had thoroughly made up his mind that he would never
look upon our sins again. He is done with them forever.
because they are absolutely fully paid in Christ. In Christ. And He will remember
them no more. No more. Turn, if you would,
to Micah, chapter 7, verse 19. Do you see how we can see here
the limitlessness of God's forgiveness? you can't plot it. I used to
be a sign painter. I used to paint the Coca-Cola
trucks when I lived in Canada on the side and back then we
did it all by hand and by paint and but what we would do was
in order for us to start up we have to have a baseline on the
top and a baseline, a baseline on the top and a baseline on
the bottom in order to put our our pattern that we had up there
and we'd pounce it and then we'd tape it all out and then we'd
paint it and peel it off and it was, there it was, coke on
the side of a trailer. But we would plum it first. And
what we did was we had a, we had a plum wine. Blue chalk. And we would, one guy would go
to the one end and the other guy would go to the other end
and we'd have one guy in the middle and when they were both
on the spots, one guy in the middle would pull the line, and
there was your plumb line. Beloved, you cannot plumb. See, that was a measurement,
right? You cannot measure the forgiveness of God for his
people in Christ. You just can't measure it. And it's even hard for us to
comprehend. We who are believers, we have trouble comprehending
it. That's why we rejoice so much when we start talking about
it. Because we're overwhelmed. At God's grace and mercy towards
us, because we know what we are. Look at this in Micah, chapter
seven, verse 19. We have a picture here of our
sins being cast into the depths of the sea. He will turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities,
and thou will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Now, remember, this is in picture what we saw in Leviticus with
the scapegoat carrying away the sins, the sin bearer carrying
away the sins. Look what it says there in Micah.
With that in mind, he will turn again, he will have compassion
upon us, He will subdue our iniquities and that will cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. Now think upon this. Nothing
brings to us the sense of hopelessness and irretrievable loss than being
in the middle of the ocean and dropping something into the ocean. I've been on the Pacific and
I've been on the Atlantic. I've been further out in the
Pacific, and I know that if I drop something off at the side, I'm
never getting it back. I'm never getting it back. It's gone. Look at this. Now we'll cast
all their sins into the depths of the sea. go to the middle of the sea again
and drop something, you'll never find it. So think upon this. It's as if our sins are cast
into the sea. That's what it says. That's what
the scripture declares, isn't it? And that will cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. So the Lord gives us a picture,
something we can understand. of the forgiveness the believer
has in Christ. And if you drop something in
that sea. You'll never see it again. No one else will ever see it
again, either, will they? Oh, what a picture, beloved. What
a picture. It's gone. Think of our sins, beloved. God
does not see our sin. He sees us in Christ. And God
will not remember our sins against us, against His people, because
Christ has so paid for our sins, so cleansed us from all our sins,
that God says, I'll remember them no more. Cast them behind
my back. And they're cast into the depths
of the sea. God's gracious dealing with our
sins depends on Christ and Christ alone. Our sins are only forgiven
in Him, only covered by His precious blood, and only carried away
by Him. If Christ isn't your Savior,
if Christ isn't your sin bearer, then you bear your sins. And
I am so thankful as a believer. that Christ shed his blood for
my sin, and I know you are to who believe, and that he bore
them all away. He bore them all away. The believers
cry as this, God, enable me by faith to lay my hand upon thy
sacred head and confess with shame my numberless transgressions. My numberless transgressions.
And may I find grace and faith to keep this in remembrance that
I'm only forgiven by the sacrifice of Christ. I'm only forgiven
by the fact that He was my sin bearer. That's the only reason
I'm forgiven. I only have redemption through
His precious blood. I only have all my sins forgiven
according to the riches of God's grace in Christ Jesus my Lord
and to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath
made us accepted in the blood. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace. Now let's read a text again.
It says, An Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of a
live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel and their transgression and all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat, and shall send them away by the hand
of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon
him all the iniquities into a land not inhabited, and he shall let
go the goat in the wilderness. Now let us be silent with scripture,
silent, beloved. This type here before us of the
scapegoat, in this type we see all the sins of God's people
laid upon him. We see it's led away into the
solitary wilderness. It's gone and the sin is gone
with it. Let us not follow the scapegoat
in our imagination as to where it's gone. It's gone to a place
where it can never be found. For there's nobody to find it. It's gone into a land not inhabited.
Into no man's land, so let us stop where the scriptures stop.
Sin is carried away into the silent land by an unknown, into
an unknown wilderness, and the sins of God's people have gone
to a place, beloved, where they're beyond recall. They're beyond recall. To a place where God says, I'll
remember them no more. No more. If they were sought for, they
could not be found. If they were sought for, they
could not be found. They are so gone. They are so
blotted out by the precious blood of Christ that the scriptures
declare this and think of this in light of the scapegoat, carrying
away the sins, considering this in light of Christ, the scapegoat,
burying the sins of his people. Consider this, they are so far
gone. They are so far removed that
the scripture says this, who shall lay anything to the charge
of God? That's how far gone they are.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's land? It's God who justifies us. It's amazing. Remember, all,
that little word, all their sins. Now let us consider the fit men
who would lead the scapegoat into the wilderness. Aaron shall lay both his hands
upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the
iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions
and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and
shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness.
And the goat shall bear upon him all the iniquities into a
land not inhabited, and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
And Aaron shall come into a tabernacle of the congregation and shall
put off the linen We put on the holy place and she'll leave them
Now we see later on though the fit man comes back doesn't he
he comes back? But there's something missing What's missing the scapegoat
Because it's been left in the wilderness hasn't it Now I want
us to consider this fit man that's mentioned there. This fit man,
just quickly, we won't spend too much time with the fit man,
but I want us to consider this. The fit man would lead the scapegoat
into the wilderness. And this is a picture of Christ
too. The man who took the scapegoat to the wilderness was one fit
for the purpose. Several commentators said he
was one fit for the purpose of taking that scapegoat to the
wilderness. He was acquainted with it. Scripture
or some commentator said a man of years and understanding and
of a disposition suitable for such service. The Septuagint,
which is the Greek version of the Old Testament, renders this
word one that was ready. Who's the fit man? There's only
one man. who was absolutely perfect and
fit and prepared to come to this world sinless and to die for
his people, the Lord Jesus Christ, a man of God's own choosing.
Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter seven. The one that was
prepared to go or appointed also was bought out. In the Hebrew,
one that was prepared to go or appointed and got ready and got
ready, what a picture again we have of Christ. Think of this,
the Lord Jesus Christ, our great God and King, came into the wilderness
of this world. He came into the wilderness of
this world and he was on a mission to save his people from their
sins. He's the only true fit man. He's
pictured in the scapegoat and he's pictured in the fit man.
But he's pictured in the scapegoat to take away the sins of his
people. But again, he's also pictured in the fit man. The
fit man selected for the purpose led this goat away into the land
not inhabited. Look at Hebrews chapter 7 verses
26 to 28. The writer of the Hebrews describes
this fit man and it can only be Christ and Christ alone in
picture. For such an high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens. Who needeth not daily, as those
high priests do, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own
sins, and then for the people's. For this he did once, when he
offered up himself. For the law maketh man high priests,
which have infirmity. But the word of the oath, which
was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated forevermore."
Forevermore. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ. is
the only fit man, the only fit man, no other, beloved, no other. The sin which was imputed to
the goat was taken away by the fit man who led the goat into
the wilderness. And this fit man returned, now
this fit man returned his proof that what he was sent to do was
done. He returned to prove that what
he was sent to do was done. In like fashion, the fit man
of whom we speak of, the Lord Jesus Christ, has arisen from
the dead. He has triumphed over the sin
which he bore, the sins of his people, which was imputed to
him. And he is now risen and sits in royal state, ever late,
ever making intercession for us, for us. Now, think of this,
the first part of the atonement was done by the high priest before
God alone in the Holy of Holies. But this part that we've looked
at tonight with the scapegoat and the fit man was very public,
was very public. All of Israel would see the goat's
departure and all would see the promise of God. And that which
begins psalmally would end with great joy and gladness, with
great joy and gladness, beloved. at the heart of the Christian
gospel of what we believe is the blood atonement by Christ
alone. You take Christ in the blood away and there's no atonement.
And this is what's pictured here before us. Pictured in our text
very clearly the death of our Savior and the fact, beloved,
that he is the great sin bearer of his The fact that like the
scapegoat who carried away the sin of the Israelites, Christ
has so far carried away the sin of his people, so far paid for
the sins of his people that God says, I'll remember their sin
no more, no more. Christ went to the cross for
the glory of his father and a love for his people. And what Yom
Kippur pictured here in shadow, the gospel gives in substance,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the great propitiation for the sins of
his people. that we who are the redeemed
of the Lord leave here tonight rejoicing in these facts right
here these facts right here the guilt of all our sin is gone
scripture declares in hebrews 10 14 for by one offering He
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Number two, I'd
like us to leave here remembering, the punishment for our sin is
all gone. It's done. It's been paid. Romans 8.1, there is therefore
now no condemnation, no judgment for those, to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
spirit. And the third thing I'd like us to leave here remembering,
We who are the redeemed of the lord we who are the blood-bought
saints of god is this fact god remembers our sin No more jeremiah
50 20 in those days and in that time saith the lord the iniquity
of israel shall be sought for And there shall be none There
shall be none in the sins of judah and they shall not be found
For I will pardon them whom I reserve Salvation is of the Lord. Let's
go Lord in prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank thee for this wonderful picture of our great God and
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we've seen, Lord, how he's
pictured as the high priest, how he's pictured as the sacrifices,
the sin offering and the sin bearer. Oh, Lord. And how, Lord
Jesus, you are pictured also as the fit man, the only one
who is fit, the only one who can save a sinner from all their
sins. And we who are the redeemed of
the Lord, just as the Israelites rejoiced at the end of this festival,
or at the end of this day of atonement, we rejoice in the
fact that all our sins, all our sins, O Lord, are forgiven, and
we are washed clean by thy precious blood. Glory to thy name, We
give you all the honor, all the glory, and all the praise, and
we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.