Heavenly Father, we come before
Thee in awe of who You are, righteous, holy, sovereign of the universe,
of all things visible and invisible. We pray that as we come before
Thee today, knowing that we come before Thee in the merits of
our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray that You would
bless the studies of today and bless the messages today, that
you'd be glorified and magnified. O Lord, help us to keep our eyes
upon thee. Help us to have the cares of
this world dissipate while we're here, and the cares of things
in our lives. May we have our eyes focused
upon you and our hearts focused upon you. May you be lifted up
and glorified and magnified. Lord Jesus, We thank Thee for Thy sacrifice
and for what You've done for us. And may we look to You today,
and may the Holy Spirit illuminate the Scriptures today, that we
might see Thee, because without that happening, we won't see
anything, Lord. So refresh your saints, we pray.
Fill us with joy and thanksgiving for the great things that You've
done for us. In Jesus' name, amen. Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. We'll continue
our Christ is series. Today we'll look at Christ is
our altar. Christ is our altar. Hebrews chapter 13. And then
put your finger in Leviticus chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 13. And I'll
tell you to turn there right, because we're going to go right
to Leviticus 6 right after that, so that's why I'm telling you
to put your finger there. But our text is found in Hebrews
chapter 13. Let's read verses 8 to 16. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. be not carried about with divers
and strange doctrines, verse nine, for it is a good thing
that the heart be established with grace, not with meats which
have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have
an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the
tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is bought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also that
he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without
the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the camp bearing his reproach. For here have we
no continuing city but we seek one to come. By him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that
is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do
good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased. Our text is found in verse 10.
We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat, which serve
the tabernacle. And turn, if you would, to Leviticus
6. We'll look at today, Christ is
our altar. Now the reference in the passage in Hebrews 13.10
is to the eating of the sacrifice by the priests. In Leviticus
chapter 6, we see that. Verses 14 to 18. And this is
the law of the meat offering. Leviticus 6.14. And this is the
law of the meat offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer
it before the Lord before the altar. he shall take of it his
handful of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof,
and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and
shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor, even the memorial
of it unto the Lord. And the remainder thereof shall
Aaron and his sons eat with unleavened bread, shall it be eaten in the
holy place, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation,
they shall eat it. It shall not be bacon with leaven,
I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings
made by fire. It is most holy as it is the
sin offering and as the trespass offering. All the males among
the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute
forever in your generations concerning the offerings of the Lord made
by fire. Everyone that touches them shall
be holy. So the sacrifice was offered
and burned upon the altar and then eaten by the priests. Here
in Leviticus chapter six, a portion of it. And we have an altar.
We who believe have an altar. It's not the cross. It's not
the cross. It's not the Lord's table. It's
not a bench at the front where people go and cry, which is being
maligned by religion. But Christ Himself is our altar. Christ Himself is our altar.
And He is not only our altar, but He's also the sacrifice.
He's our sacrifice. And He's also our priest. He's
everything. He's everything for the believer.
And we who are the elect of God are redeemed by His blood. And
turn, if you would, to John chapter 6. We have a right to eat of
his flesh and drink of his blood only because of him. Only because
of him. Look at John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Verses 53 to 57. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. Now those priests ate that sacrifice,
didn't they? By faith, we feast on Christ. By faith, don't we? It's not
talking about cannibalism here either. It's not talking about
that at all. By faith, we look to him. He's the bread of life
for us. He's who sustains us. My flesh is meat indeed and my
blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. As the living Father has
sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me even he
shall live by me." Now turn if you would to Galatians chapter
5. Those who persist in being saved by their works and the
duties of the law have no right to come to Christ. They have
no right to come to Christ. And I'll read our text again.
We have an altar where they have no right to eat. So those who
Those who persist in works-based salvation, persist in trying
to earn their own righteousness, have no right to eat. And remember
John 6? We feast on the Lord, don't we?
We feast upon Him. They have no right to eat which
serve the tabernacle. Look at Galatians chapter 5,
verses 2 to 4. And this is those who persist
in being saved by works and the duties of the law. They have
no right to come to Christ. They don't have any need for
Him. They think themselves whole by their doings. Look at Galatians
5 here. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. The Judaizers were trying to
have the converts, the Gentile converts, be circumcised. But
Paul here brings forth that it profits them nothing. It profits
them nothing. And there's all kinds of people
doing all kinds of things to try to gain merit and favor with
God, right? Either their baptism or something
that they do, coming to an altar, praying a prayer, making a decision, trying to justify themselves
before God. But it profits them nothing.
Absolutely nothing. For I testify to every man that
is circumcised that he is indebted to do the whole law. You want
to put yourself under the law? You gotta keep it all. There's a whole bunch of people
in a heap of trouble, isn't there? Christ fulfilled the law for
us. Praise be to God. Praise be to God. Christ has
become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you is justified
by the law, you are fallen from grace. Christ profits from nothing. Those who proclaim to seek to
be justified by the law, by their works, Christ profits them nothing. Nothing. I was there. I was in religion. I was caught
up in all that. And think of this, during the
time of the scripture Those that serve the tabernacle, the unregenerate,
wicked Jews that would adhere to Moses and retain the ceremonial
law and worship the carnal ordinances thereof, either entirely or a
little bit, by themselves. Those who would try to unite
the gospel with some of the law. Christ profits them nothing.
They don't have an altar. They don't have an altar. They
have no right to eat of Him. No right to partake of gospel
privileges by Him. And they do not trust Christ
and Him alone. And we have those who are cut
from the same mold with us even today, don't we? We still have
folks like that. They mix the law with the gospel.
They mix works with the gospel to be justified before God. But
beloved, think of this, our justification, our salvation is in Christ and
Him alone. It's in Him. It's all in Him. And we have an altar and that's
Christ. Christ. We have a right to partake
because of Christ, because of Him, because of what He's done
for us and in us. And the believer proclaims that
Christ is our altar. So let us now consider the altar
from scripture. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 8. The Lord Jesus Christ is our altar. He is made of God
to be so unto us. We don't make him our altar.
God makes him our altar for us. And we are to call him by that
name and to own him as such. And since the fall of our father
Adam, God has never allowed man to approach without an altar
and without a sacrifice. God has never allowed man to
approach Him without an altar and without a sacrifice. Look
at Genesis chapter 8. From Adam to Moses, God's people
built altars, hewn of stone, and they offered sacrifices to
God upon those stones, a sacrifice of blood. Look at Genesis chapter
8 verses 20 and 21. And Noah built an altar. Now
look who he built the altar unto the Lord. That's so important. He built the altar unto the Lord. And took of every clean beast
and every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And the Lord smelled a sweet savor. Oh, he smelled a sweet
savor. And the Lord said in his heart,
I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither
will I again smite anymore every living thing as I have done.
Now keep your finger in Genesis, but turn to Ephesians 5.2. So
Noah built an altar. He built an altar unto the Lord.
And note the promise in verse 21. It's a gracious promise confirmed
Confirmed in Christ Jesus. He says, I will not again curse
the ground for any man's sake, for the imagination of every
man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite
anymore every living thing as I have done. But in verse 21
it says, and the Lord smelled a sweet savor. Now what is Christ
to God? Look at Ephesians chapter 5,
verse 2. And walk in love as Christ also
had loved us and had given himself for us. and offering and a sacrifice
to God for what? For a sweet smelling savor. What a picture in Genesis chapter
eight of the death of Christ. Christ has offered himself up
to God for his people as a sweet smelling savor. Go back to Genesis
if you could, verse Genesis chapter 12, Abraham also and Isaac And
Jacob did all rear altars in several places to which they
came in their travels. Genesis chapter 12, verses 7
and 8. And the Lord appeared unto Abram,
and said unto thy seed, Will I give this land? And there builded
he an altar, again, unto the Lord, unto the Lord, who appeared
unto him. And he removed from tents unto
a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having
Bethel on the west, high on the east, and there he built an altar
unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord." Now we
know when they built an altar, there was a sacrifice. And every
time there was a sacrifice, there was a blood sacrifice before
God. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
26. Isaac did this also. Genesis
26, verses 24 and 25. And the Lord appeared unto him
the same night, verse 24 of Genesis 26, And the Lord appeared unto
him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father.
Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply
thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. And he built an altar there,
and called upon the name of the Lord. and pitched his tent there,
and there Isaac's servants digged a well." Note again in verse
26, he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord.
And then look at Genesis 35. Jacob was commanded to build
an altar. And again, let us remember that
where there's an altar, there's a sacrifice. There's a blood
sacrifice. Genesis 35, verse 1, and God
said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and
make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee, when
thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. And what did
Jacob do? Look at verses 6 and 7. He did
what God commanded. So Jacob came to Luz, which is
in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the people
that were with him, and he built there an altar. and called the
place El Bethel, because there God appeared unto him when he
fled from the face of his brother. So in the days of the patriarchs,
they built an altar unto God and offered a sacrifice of blood.
And those sacrifices were offered to God to appease God, to please
Him. And remember, they were all pictures
of Christ. The altar was a picture of Christ.
The sacrifice was a picture of Christ. And they were offered
to God. What a picture of Christ. Offered
to God as a sacrifice for sins. And let his people marvel. Let
us marvel that even in those days, men of faith knew that
the justice of God could only be satisfied by blood. By blood. What a picture again of the blood
of God's Son, the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who must come
into this world. He must come into this world
to put away sin. And then again, let us marvel
that not only is he the sacrifice, but he's the priest and he's
the altar. And he did that for us, for his
people. And each believer can say, for
me, For me. He did that for me. Now think of this. When God called
Moses up to the mountain, spoke to him face to face, he appointed
one altar of sacrifice to be built. And appointed a place
for that one altar in Israel alone. In the tabernacle. In
the tabernacle. One spot was selected. One spot
was selected. And think of this, all the rest
of the world was left without an altar. All the rest of the world was
left without a sacrifice. Only Israel, where God had chosen
to place his name, only Israel, People of His choosing. Only they would offer sacrifice
to God. Now what a picture Israel is
of the elect of God. Oh, we look to one sacrifice. We look to one altar. We look
to one priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now at first the altar
was placed in the tabernacle and later it was placed in the
temple at Jerusalem. And this was the one place where
men might approach God. This was the only altar of sacrifice. And this was God's unbending
command for it to be so. Now think upon this, beloved.
Again, there's only one altar upon whom God will accept the
sacrifice. And there's only one sacrifice
that God will accept. And there's only one priest who
can offer that sacrifice. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now from time to time in scripture, men have erected their own altar
in utter defiance of God's command, but those altars were an abomination.
An abomination in the eyes of the Lord. And the sacrifices
were not accepted. They were unacceptable before
the Lord. Now think about this, there's
a whole bunch of people who get all riled up about the supposed
temple being rebuilt. A lot of folks focus on that
nowadays. That would be an abomination
to the Lord. Let me tell you why. Because there's only one sacrifice,
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one altar, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And there's only one priest who
can offer that sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he cried,
it is finished. What's that mean? That means
there's no need for any more sacrifices. It's done. It's finished. It's finished. So those altars that man erected
on their own were unacceptable before the Lord. Think about
this today. Men erect altars of their own,
doing their own, altars of their own works, thinking that God
will accept them for their doing. But God will not accept any work
except the sacrifice of Christ and Christ alone. God will only
meet sinners at one altar, one altar. He will only have mercy
at one altar, and that altar is Christ and Christ alone. Now
the altar in the tabernacle was an altar made of chitimord and
covered with brass, denoting the incorruptibleness and duration
and strength of Christ. The horns of it at the four corners
were for a refuge. Whoever fled to it and laid hold
on them were safe. Think of all who come from the
four corners of the earth and who lay hold upon Christ, a refuge. And Christ is the refuge to His
people. Again, that come from the four
corners of the earth. And we who believe in Him, lay
hold upon Him. And we are protected and preserved
by His power and by His grace. And the use of the altar and
the tabernacle was for sacrifice. Was for sacrifice. The sacrifice
would be offered upon the altar. The sacrifice was a male without
blemish and was to be sacrificed before the Lord for a sweet smelling
savor unto our God. And this was typical of Christ.
He offered himself before God and unto God for the sins of
his people. A perfect spotless lamb. And he suffered the fire of divine
wrath for his people. And he was a sweet smelling savor
unto the Lord. A sacrifice accepted by God. Again, there's only one altar.
And there's only one altar for the church, isn't there? There's
only one altar for us, and it's not some piece of wood in the
building. It's Christ and Christ alone.
No one's ever been saved by coming up to a wood altar, have they? But all who come to the altar
of Christ are saved, are saved. Oh, what a Savior! Christ is
our New Testament altar and sacrifice, our high priest, and it is to
Him alone that the believer looks. There'd be no benefit if we look
to Him and ourselves, or Him and the Law, because this would
be mixing works with grace. No, we look to Christ and Christ
alone. Hebrews 9.14 says this, How much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God? He offered Himself without
spot to God. Perfect. Sinless. dying for the
sins of his people. Purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 4. We look to no other sacrifice
but Christ. We have no other altar but Christ.
Anyone who's looking to something other than Christ as their altar,
be it their works or their self-righteousness, they have no benefit or right
to our altar. They bring the sacrifice of their
hands and they build up a false righteousness in making Christ
only a part Savior with themselves. And you know what they have?
They have a refuge of lies. They have a refuge of lies. And
God will not accept their sacrifice, just as He did not accept Cain's
sacrifice. Look at Genesis chapter 4, verses
1 to 5. And Adam knew Eve and his wife,
Eve his wife, and she conceived and bear Cain, and said, I have
gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bear his brother
Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller
of the ground. Abel was a shepherd. Cain grew
vegetables. In the process of time, It came
to pass that Cain bought of the fruit of the ground an offering
unto the Lord. So he probably bought the most
choicest vegetables he had grown. But there's something missing. There's no blood. Cain brings the fruit of his
hands. The fruit of his labor. His own works. Now we know that
Abel was a keeper of sheep. So what did Abel bring? He bought
a lamb. And Abel, he also bought of the
first things, first things of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his offering. He bought that which pictured
Christ. And that shed blood pictured
the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ dying, the Lamb of God,
for His people. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain, to his offering,
He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and
his countenance fell. Now you tell people in this world that they're not saved by their
works, and what happens? They get wroth. They get mad. But the believer is one who has
been humbled by God. Born again of the Holy Spirit
of God. Showing that his works cannot
justify him or her works cannot justify them. That we must bring
the proper sacrifice. And that sacrifice is Christ.
And Christ alone. It's God who provided them. It's
God who executed the, it's incredible. It's absolutely incredible. So what a picture of Christ we
have in the sacrifices. Christ is the provision from
God, pictured in the offering. And he's our priest, and is pictured
in the priest. And he's our sacrifice, and he's
pictured in the sacrifice. And he's our altar, and he's
pictured in the altar of sacrifice. There must be a sacrifice. There
must be a shedding of blood or there's no atonement. We saw
that in Genesis. There must be a shedding of blood
or there's no atonement. And there must be an altar upon
which the sacrifice is offered to God. And the Son of Man, the Son of
God Himself must be the sacrifice. No other could do. No other could
do. Who will be the priest then?
Where is one sufficient to manage this sacrifice? Priests were
men of mighty valor, but Christ says, I will be priest myself. But where will an altar be found
for this purpose, sufficient to bear the weight of this sacrifice? Brother Matt, you and I were
talking this week about all the sins of the elect being poured
out upon Christ, imputed to him. Where is the altar sufficient
to bear the weight of the sacrifice? Christ says, I myself will be
the altar to you. Sacrificed priest and altar. Turn, if you would, again to
Hebrews 13.10. We have an altar. The believer
has an altar. Whereof they have no right to
eat which serve the tabernacle. Those who mix grace and works
have no right to eat. Remember in Leviticus, the priest
eating that sacrifice? Those who mix grace and works
have no right to eat. Now the tabernacle was wood covered
with brass. Or the altar was wood covered
with brass. And think of this. If it had
been just wood, the fire would have burned it. But it was wood within brass
and brass without. One commentator brings up this
signifying the two natures of Christ, his divine nature and
his human nature. Pictures again. Pictures of Christ
again. The figure and form of the altar
was exactly four square, as broad as it was long, and as long as
it was broad. And now by whose order was it
made thus? Oh, God. God appointed it so. And this
signified, one commentator brought this out, and I thought this
was marvelous. This signified the stability
and permanency of his undertaking. The square figure is steadfast
and stable. It's steadfast and stable. My. Jesus Christ, now think of
this. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday.
today and forever. Steadfast, instable. He don't change. He's unchanging. He alone is a sure foundation. He alone. If you're trusting
in anything else, cast it aside and just trust in Christ. He's
the only sure foundation. And let us close with this, that
Christ who is our altar, and Christ who is our sacrifice,
is all the hope we have for reconciliation with God. We have no other hope
than Christ. Jesus Christ alone is our propitiation. And God has set him forth to
be so, therefore the believer in Christ trusts him alone. We
trust in his merit, don't we? We don't trust in our own merit,
we trust in His merit. We trust in His righteousness
for peace with God. We trust in Him for pardon with
God. And it is impossible, let us
remember this, it is impossible to have peace with God any other
way. Any other way. Outside of Christ,
there's no peace with God. And so, beloved of God, Let us
look to our glorified Redeemer and let us ponder this week that
God alone, God alone appointed Christ as our altar. God alone
appointed Christ as our sacrifice. God alone appointed Christ as
our Savior. And He is made unto we who believe
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And He liveth
evermore right now. We read that too this way. He
liveth evermore right now, interceding for us. Right now. Isn't that wonderful? We're sinners,
aren't we? The Lord liveth right now, making
the intercession for us. Now think of this, too. Think
of this. Other altars were dead things,
made of dead materials. But our altar's a living altar.
He's a living altar. And he lives forever. He's eternal. He's a lasting altar. Other altars would wear out. He needs no repair. He's an everlasting
altar, and there is no need for any other altar. Christ is the
only altar for the believer. May we look to Him alone for
acceptance with God. He alone is our Savior and our
Redeemer. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for our glorious altar. your Son, our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. May we ponder these precious
truths this week. May we ponder that, Lord Jesus,
you are the priest, the sacrifice, and our altar. You are all in
all to us. We pray you be glorified today
and magnified in the preaching of your word. In Jesus' name,
amen.