Well, I want you to turn now,
this week, first Sunday of a new year, to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews
chapter 9, and I want to look at the first 14 verses of this
chapter this morning. And I've given this message the
title, Blueprint for the Gospel. Blueprint for the Gospel. And
what made me think of this was, in the 1980s, I used to work
for this country's submarine builder, naval submarine builder. At that organization, the blueprints
for the design and the model shop were absolutely fascinating. The submarines that now patrol
the North Atlantic as this country's nuclear deterrent were mocked
up at fifth scale in a huge great model shop. You know, the Trident
submarine would just about fit in this garden at fifth scale,
all modeled in plastic. And every detail of it was absolutely
perfect as to what it was to be. But you know that that model
couldn't fire one solitary missile. That model couldn't dive to one
foot of depth in the ocean. That model, I mean, I can remember
it now. I used to go across and look
at that model And I never ever saw that submarine in reality. There's probably two or three
of them tied up alongside at Faz Lane in the Clyde at the
moment. But because of what I know about that model and the time
I used to spend there, if they would allow me, which they wouldn't,
I could probably take you there down in that vessel and I'd know
my way around. I know what's where because of
that model. it was a blueprint for the real
thing. What we have here is a blueprint
for the real thing, a blueprint for the gospel. You see, the
old Mosaic law was ready to vanish away, we read in Hebrews 8, 13.
It waxed old, it's ready to vanish away, and we know it did vanish
away in A.D. 70, because the Roman Emperor
Titus flattened Jerusalem and destroyed it. And there's never
been a temple and animal sacrifices ever since in Jerusalem. There's
never been an acceptable Mosaic Law Jewish sacrifice ever since
A.D. 70. It was prophesied in the
Old Testament in Daniel. The Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew
24 said it was going to happen and in A.D. 70 it did actually
happen. This Mosaic Law was given about
1,440 years before the birth of Christ. So, about 3,450 years ago, from
where we are today, 3,400 was when it was given. And for about,
give or take a year or two, but just to make it easy to remember,
for about 500 years, of wilderness wanderings and then the days
of the judges in the land of Canaan, Israel they had a tabernacle,
a tent and then Solomon in 970, somewhere between 970 and 930
BC built the temple which then was destroyed by the Chaldeans
in the Babylonian exile and then Ezra was sent back and Nehemiah
was sent back to rebuild the temple and that's the temple
that Jesus went into as he ministered and that's the temple that was
destroyed in A.D. 70. But think about it, 500 years
of a tabernacle, about a thousand years of a physical temple in
one form or another in Jerusalem. That was it. 1,500 years. That's not very
long, is it? Think about, you know, I'm not talking about the
billions of years that evolutionary scientists talk about, but just
think about biblical history. Just think about archaeological
history. It's not very long. I mean, the
only thing that we know about civilized human beings, apart
from those that make ludicrous speculations, is no more than
about 6,000 years of human history. There's just no archaeological
artifacts of any credibility that are much older than that
that we can find. And even when they do find them and claim that
they're older than that, the dating methods, you really do
wonder about the scientific credibility of them. We're talking about
6,000 years or thereabouts that we know about of human civilization. 1,500 years for this Mosaic Law
is not really very long out of all of that time. And think about
the Kingdom of Israel, the United Kingdom of Israel. Do you know
how long they had a king? They only ever had three kings.
They had Saul, they had David and then they had Solomon and
then Rehoboam came along the son of Solomon and the kingdom
was split ten northern tribes and the two Judah and Benjamin
in the south it was only ever united for a hundred and twenty
years around about a thousand years before Christ that was
you see we're not talking about something that was very very
long-lived it's all relatively short even on the scale of biblical
history but it's there as a pattern and there's a template and there's
a blueprint to show us what the gospel was really like. It's
centered on a tabernacle. I just want to tell you one or
two things about the tabernacle. because it's talking about that
which was physical and real the tabernacle well you know i don't
normally like visual aids but i'm going to use a visual aid
and for anybody listening to the recording just go to google
on the internet and just put in the jewish tabernacle and
you'll come up with loads of things you'll come up with loads
You'll come up with loads of things that will show you what
it's like, but look, this is what it was like. Now, you need
to know what a cubit is, right? My arm stretched out like that,
from that fingertip to my elbow, that's about a cubit. Thereabouts. About 18 inches in old British
measuring. That's a cubit. And this was
about 50 cubits wide and 100 cubits long, and this was just
a court, this was open air, and there was a tented wall around
it, that was about seven and a half feet tall, about something
like that, up there, so that people outside couldn't see him.
But this was open air. And then there was the big, big
altar for burnt offerings, on which the animal sacrifices were
burned. And then there was a great big bronze laver, full of crystal
clear water for washing. And then the tabernacle itself
was this tent. It was ten cubits wide, ten cubits
high, and thirty cubits long and it was split into two parts
the first bit twenty and the second bit ten so this bit down
here was a perfect cube ten of these by ten of these by ten
of these okay so that was what God that was the pattern God
gave to Moses for what it was to be like and in this tabernacle
in this tabernacle were things that were symbolical of the gospel
Outside this tabernacle was the altar for burnt offerings. Blood
was shed there. Blood for atonement, for the
purification, the symbolical purification of sin. There was
water for washing. You know, in the Old Testament
regime, there were all sorts of conditions. Somebody died
in the tent, you know, and a loved one would kiss the cheek of the
one that she defiled. He's defiled. Has to go through
ceremonial washings. Without those ceremonial washings,
they couldn't go and participate in the worship. Water for washing,
for purification. In the tabernacle itself, in
the first place, there were three pieces of furniture. There was
a table with showbread on it, 12 loaves of showbread. There
was a candlestick with seven branches to it, seven candles.
There was an altar, a small altar. with horns on it where they burned
incense, you know, the sweet smelling fragrances and the smoke
went up incense, that was the altar of incense. Then there
was a very, very thick veil and inside there, was only one piece
of furniture, and this was the Ark of the Covenant. You know,
you remember those films that were made, Raiders of the Lost
Ark and all of these things, people trying to find the Lost
Ark of the Covenant of Israel, because if they find it, you
know, wow, it's going to be like winning the lottery so many times
over, they're going to have so much power in their hands, all
of this stuff and nonsense. But that was where the Ark of
the Covenant was. And nobody has any idea where any trace
of it is to this day. And thank God for that because
if they did, as soon as they did, men and women would make
it into an object of idle worship and would be bowing down to it
and doing all sorts of things. Now in that holy place was a
table of showbread made of ordinary wood overlaid with gold. The
golden lampstand had seven candles, there was an altar of incense.
The ordinary priests went into that outer part of the tabernacle
daily, ministering morning and evening, the morning and evening
sacrifices. But behind that thick veil in
the holiest of all, where the Ark of the Covenant was, oh nobody
was allowed to go in there, just the high priest. And then, once
a year, on a specific day, the Day of Atonement, with the blood
of an acceptable sacrifice, and in there would go into where
the Ark of the Covenant was and sprinkle the blood on the mercy
seat. With the hyssop, he'd dip in
the blood and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. There was this
ark which was made of acacia wood, shitting wood as it is
in the King James version. A wood which is incorruptible
in the sense that there's very little that rots it. You know,
the bugs that bore into all the wood, you know, if you get woodworm
in your house you're in serious trouble. But it was pretty impervious
to that sort of thing. It was an incorruptible wood.
but just wood, very basic, but it was overlaid with gold, beaten
gold. And in it were the tables of
the law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, the law that
we have broken, the law that all have broken, for all have
sinned. In that Ark of the Covenant was Aaron's rod. That symbol
of the power of God upon that man was Aaron's rod. Aaron's
rod was the one, unlike the others, that budded. Even though it was
a dead rod, it budded with almond buds and almond blossom, and
it bore fruit in a miraculous way, showing the power and anointing
of God. and there was also in there the
pot of manna and this thing we understand wasn't just a little
thing it was quite big about three and a half liters sorry
for americans if there are any listening to this but we use
liters over here and not pints but three and a half liters it
was quite a lot of stuff it was an omer and we think that's about
three and a half liters that's quite a lot but only the high
priest once a year went in to that holiest of all What we have
here is the gospel in design. This is the issue. How will sinners
be saved? This is the crucial issue. How
will sinners be saved? As Cliff was showing us earlier,
You know, our flesh cringes from the thought of hell and the judgment
and punishment of God. But if we're to believe the scriptures,
if we delight in believing the things that tell us about the
blessings and grace and love of God, we must surely take notice. when the Scriptures tell us about
the wrath of God against sin, about the seriousness of it,
about what a dreadful thing it is to fall into the hands of
God who is the judge of sinners, who cannot abide sin, whose very
nature must punish sin. How will we be saved from this?
How will a just God who must punish sin justify the ungodly. Declare just those who are by
nature sinners. Romans 4 verse 5 talks about
God being He that justifies the ungodly. Romans 5 verse 6 talks
about Christ dying for the ungodly so that they might be justified.
To go back to my analogy of the warship design, the submarine
design, how will we make a warship that will defend our nation?
How will we do it? We need a warship that will defend
our... What do we do? We produce a design. we fabricate
a plan, we build a model, we see if the model looks like it
will fit together, we see if all the pipe work will bend into
the right places, you know they use that model and they used
to take it apart in sections and then with a big device, they
do it all much more automatically now I'm sure, but they would
go along and take the position of all the little plastic pipes
And then that would go off to the pipe bending machine and
bend the real pipes that went into the real submarine. So when
you took them into the real submarine, rather than it being a free-for-all
as to whoever got there first like it used to be, everybody
had the right piece of pipe that fitted in exactly the right place
with it all so it would slot on that end and then it would
connect the other. It was all done like that. It
was a perfect model for what would be produced in reality. The model enabled us to look
forward to what it would be like in reality, to check out the
feasibility. Would it work? That model was
never an alternative submarine. Have I made that clear? The model
was never an alternative submarine. In the same way, the Mosaic law,
the Levitical priesthood, was never an alternative way, a pre-Christian
way, of getting right with God. Have you been taught that in
the past? I certainly was. In the Old Testament, here was
the way you got right with God. You did all of these things.
This was the way to be right with God. no it was only ever
the model, the pattern, it had to be done to follow everything
that God had given as the pattern but it was never the way that
you were made right with God the thing that only ever made
anybody right with God was the thing that made Abraham right
with God, Noah right with God it was Christ and the shed blood
of Christ and the salvation that he procured not an alternative
pre-christian way to get right with God. Because these Hebrew
Christians, these Hebrew believers, to whom Paul was writing, were
of the opinion that they'd thrown out the baby with the bathwater
and they needed to go back to their Old Testament rites. And
he's showing them how those were just pictures, they were just
designs. they mustn't miss the reality
which is so much better Christ is better than the angels better
than Moses better than the law better than all of those things
he's better than the priesthood for his priesthood is that eternal
priesthood after the order of Melchizedek so let's read these
verses I won't detain you long but let's read these verses one
to fourteen and see the way in which this is a pattern, a design,
a blueprint for the gospel of God's grace. Verse one, then
verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service
and a worldly sanctuary. We know that it was first in
the sense that it was first in time to be revealed, but the
covenant of grace, the eternal covenant of grace, was in reality
first, because it was from eternity. But this was the first one to
be revealed to man. The first covenant had these
ordinances. It was physical. They were a visible representation
of that which is spiritual, and therefore invisible. Just as
Christ came in the flesh, the Word made flesh, He manifested
the invisible God, for no one has seen God at any time. But
the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He
has declared Him. He has made Him known. He has
manifested Him. Well, this was a manifestation
of that which was invisible. Verse 2. for there was a tabernacle
first there was a tabernacle for five hundred years then a
temple but there was a tabernacle made the first bit of it the
first part of it wherein was the candlestick and the table
and the showbread which is called the sanctuary and he's missed
out for the sake of not defining every detail here the fact that
there was also the altar of incense in there this was the the sanctuary
into which the priest would go. Now everything symbolized the
gospel of God's grace. The gospel of God's grace is
the Christ of the gospel. It's not just an intellectual
notion, it's a person. The gospel is a person who is
our Lord Jesus Christ. And this represented our Lord
Jesus Christ in every respect. It was a tabernacle, in that,
from the outside, I mean if you do go online and look, and I
think they're not bad pictures that people have come up with,
it looks pretty ordinary from the outside. It's pretty humble
from the outside. It just looked like a, you know,
a walled fence, an oblong walled fence round an area of dusty
desert. Pretty ordinary from the outside,
but glorious within. The things that were within were
gold. They were fine things. The materials
and the animal skins that were used were fine materials. They were very glorious materials.
in the same way the Lord Jesus Christ when he was looked at
as a man walking this earth from the outside he had no form nor
comeliness that we should desire him he was a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief they said to him when he was only thirty-one,
thirty-two years old in John's gospel and he said before Abraham
was I am in that chapter of John, John chapter eight they said
to him you are not yet fifty years old You see, you didn't
look like a young spring chicken. Even though only 30-something,
you're not yet 50 years old. There was no form nor comeliness.
Ordinary, humble from without, man of sorrows acquainted with
grief, all glorious within, the gold of the tabernacle inside. And within it was the candlestick,
the candlestick, all symbol all picture seven, seven candles,
seven number of perfection the number of perfect, what did candles
give off? Light what did Jesus say? I am
the light of the world the perfect revelation of God here's a candle
that's got seven branches to it, seven lights, I am the light
of the world the perfect revelation of God and then there was the
table the table table speak of communion I guess after this
service we'll get the table out and put some food on it and gather
around it a table of communion and the showbread there was the
showbread twelve loaves were on that table I don't know whether
that symbolizes the twelve tribes of Israel the people of God it's
bread for the people of God enough for all of his people He is the
bread of life. Jesus said that manna which was
sent down in the wilderness, he said, I am the true bread
which came down from heaven. He is the bread of life, the
bread which came down from heaven. And here is a table with the
bread on it. It's a picture of him. And that table again was
ordinary wood covered with gold, the ordinary wood of his humanity,
the incorruptible wood of his incorruptible, sinless humanity,
clothed with the gold, the glory of his deity, his glorious deity. And there around him is that
situation of communion, of getting together, and we're going to
break bread and share wine later on. We're going to remember the
broken body and the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in an
act of communion, a fellowship with him. There's a table with
showbread. And then there was also the the
altar of incense where the incense, and incense it's pictured in
Revelation as the prayers going up to heaven it's the intercession
of the Lord Jesus Christ the intercession of him for his people
into this place went the ordinary priests every day morning and
evening fulfilling the pattern which had been revealed we saw
that back in the previous chapter, chapter eight and verse five,
see, saith he, that you make all things according to the pattern
showed to thee in the mount, in Mount Sinai. Do it exactly
according to the prescription. Verse three, and after the second
veil, well, there was a veil to go into the sanctuary, but
then there was a second veil, a thick, heavy curtain. After the second veil, the tabernacle
which is called the holiest of all. In that inside was the holiest
of all. Through that thick veil which
barred access to the symbolical presence of God which was in
that place. Access was barred, sinners couldn't
go in there, only the high priest once a year. But there is a way
through. Christ is the door. And when
Christ died on Calvary on that good friday when he died look
read the gospel account what happened the veil of the temple
because that veil was taken on into the temple the temple built
with stones that veil was torn from top to bottom when he died
access was procured into the holiest of all he as our high
priest went there with that blood from the throne of his cross
the king went with that offering of blood the king who is our
great high priest king of Salem king of peace went with his own
blood through that veil which had been opened up and his people
have that access through him into the holiest of all we come
we've already read in Hebrews elsewhere come boldly to the
throne of grace not fearfully not shrinking back boldly because
of what he has done this veil has been rent in the holiest
of all and look what it had in verse four it actually it looks
like there's a contradiction here it actually only had one
piece of furniture which was the ark of the covenant but here
it talks about the golden censer being there The golden censer,
this was a thing in which stuff was burned. It was a pot that
was able to take burning coals from off the altar. It spent
most of its time outside of the holiest of all, but on the day
of atonement, the priest with the blood of an acceptable sacrifice
would go to the altar and he would get burning coals from
off the altar put them in the censer with incense and then
using that golden censer not the ordinary silver censers for
the other work of the service of God he would then go into
the holiest of all with that golden censer. This is picturing
the sufferings of Christ, the burning coals picture the sufferings
of Christ from off the altar which pictures in the animal
sacrifices and the shedding of blood the shed blood of Christ
and in there was the Ark of the Covenant This mysterious box,
you know we read about it again and again in the Old Testament,
you know how Uzzah touched it and was struck dead, only the
priests must carry it, it shouldn't be carried on a new cart of man's
invention. All of these symbols of the gospel,
it was the symbolical thing of the gospel. This Ark of the Covenant
in verse 4, it was overlaid round about with gold. But within,
exactly the same as the other pieces of furniture. It was the
acacia wood, the shitim wood of the Old Testament temple. It was that incorruptible wood,
overlaid with gold. Again, speaking of the glorious
deity of God, covering that incorruptible humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And within it, the golden pot that had the manor, the bread
of life from heaven, Aaron's rod that budded, speaking of
the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking of the power of God,
the quickening of the Spirit of God, revealing the Christ
of God to the people of God. This is what he does. He comes
to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. He comes to those who
are children of wrath, as far as we can see, even as others,
and he gives life quickening he comes just like that dead
rod budded he comes and gives life that we hear and that we
see and that we believe the things that God has revealed and then
there were the tables of the covenant the tables of the law
the law of God the law written by the finger of God on stones
written in stone that it might be preserved but we have broken
it and over the top of it over the top of it was a solid gold
mercy seat there's this gold covering, and at either end of
it, and this box was, I forgot to say how long it is, and how
wide it is, it's difficult to put into words without having
written down the exact measurements, but I guess probably two and
a half, three feet long, I'm using old money now aren't I,
old measurements, and then probably 18 inches wide, 18 inches deep,
something like that, a box like this, with the gold and the covering
over the top, and hoops in the side of it with which rods could
be put through so that it could be carried. And the priest would
go in with blood, and he would sprinkle blood on the mercy seat.
The mercy seat is the propitiatory. It's the turning away of the
anger of God. That's what propitiation means.
When Christ died on Calvary, propitiation was made the turning
away of the wrath of God against sin because he satisfied it he
paid for it he bore it he bore the sins of his people in his
own body on the tree and there paid for them and the blood of
the sacrifice symbolizing the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
was sprinkled on the mercy seat and God said to Moses when you
sprinkle blood there then I will meet with you and I will speak
with you as a man speaks with his friend face to face and so
does God today to his people in the gospel of his grace through
the preaching of the gospel of his grace because the ark of
the covenant is all a picture of the gospel of his grace there
are places that you can go up and down this country where they
claim to have a biblically based church with a biblically based
preacher who will preach the moral lessons from the scriptures
And again and again you can go week after week, and we all know
because we've been, and you won't hear a word about Christ applied
to your soul. You will just hear law. You will
just hear religious do's and don'ts. You'll hear a lot about
Sabbath keeping. You'll hear a lot about your
need to keep the moral law. You won't hear about Christ,
not in the slightest. And because you don't hear about
Christ, do you know what it says? Do you know what's stamped over
all those places that claim to be such pillars for the truth
of Christ but never ever mention him practically in their preaching?
What's stamped across them all is Ichabod. Ichabod. when the Ark of the Covenant
was stolen in the days of Eli and Hophni and Phineas and the
Philistines stole it and the daughter-in-law of Eli said that
the child that was being born of her at that time and she died
in childbirth would be called Ichabod. Why? Departed glory. Why was it departed glory? Because
the Ark had been stolen. Why was that so bad? It was everything
that symbolized the way that a sinner is made right with God
was stolen The glory had departed. What is the glory of Israel?
It's the gospel of His grace. It's the glory of His church.
The Israel of God is the gospel of His grace. And when that gospel
isn't preached, it's Ichabod. The Ark of the Covenant has been
stolen. It's been taken away. It's lost. The glory's departed.
or by God's grace, or that we might, if we meet for no other
reason, it's this, to know and rejoice in the gospel of his
grace and know that we have peace with God through that. And you
say, well, we know it. Stop preaching again the same
thing over and over again to the people of God. Don't they
know it all by now? No, they don't know it all by
now. We need to keep hearing it. It's our constant desire
to know the Gospel of His grace. The reason that the ceremonies
were repeated often, daily, and then annually on the Day of Atonement.
Why? That we might not forget. That we might not forget. That
we might always have it in mind. the gospel of God's grace. And
in this Ark of the Covenant, the tables of the law, the pot
of manna, and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy
seat. He says in verse five, we can't speak about it now particularly,
he hasn't got time, he's going to fill out more details later.
More to be said later is basically what he's saying. And then we
could look at Romans, but we won't for the sake of time, that
this mercy seat, this propitiation is in the Lord Jesus Christ and
in his blood. Now look at verses 6 to 10. this
was what it was like this was what this tabernacle was like
this is what this blueprint of the gospel was like now when
these things were thus ordained the priests went always into
the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of God the ordinary
priests every day but into the second went the high priest alone
once every year not without blood which he offered for himself
and for the errors of the people because he was a sinner the high
priest was a sinner he had to offer an acceptable sacrifice
that which pictured the only acceptable sacrifice the holy
ghost signifying by saying the holy ghost this signifying that
the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while
as the first tabernacle was yet standing the holy spirit was
showing look you can't come in there yet christ hasn't yet died
on the cross of calvary though he's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world yet in time he had to come and die on
the cross really actually in time two thousand years ago he
had to come and do that which had been foretold it was it was
still standing because the blueprint was still there the model was
still there it was a figure verse nine for the time then present
is that not saying it was a blueprint of the reality for the time then
present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices but
they could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience they couldn't really, those things couldn't
really produced the cleansing of the conscience, the cleansing
from sin that was needed. They couldn't do it. They stood
only in external things, meats and drinks and different washings,
ceremonial washings, and carnal ordinances imposed on them until
the time of reformation. That's all they could do. Now,
look at verse 11. That was the model, that was
the blueprint, that was the pattern. It was all awaiting Christ. He
must come in time and actually die at Calvary. The model itself,
the pattern, the blueprint, couldn't actually provide access. into
the presence of God. Couldn't actually provide salvation. Couldn't actually reconcile sinners
to a holy God. It was a waiting for Christ to
come, the reality, the true high priest of his people. He must
come in time and actually die at Calvary. Now look at verses
11 to 14. But Christ being come and 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.
I think that's talking about the church. Where did Christ
come from? Revelation 12. Where did the
child come from? From the woman. The woman is
a picture of the church, the people of God in all ages. Christ
being come, a high priest of good things to come. Salvation,
eternity, glorious hope. Christ being come, a high priest
according to the order of Melchizedek. Not Levi, Melchizedek. Melchizedek,
the high priest of God, good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle. Not a tabernacle or a temple
made with hands, but the temple that's made by the living God,
out of stones that are living, flesh and blood. You and me,
if we're members of that church. This is how Christ comes. He
doesn't come by the blood of goats and of calves he doesn't
obtain eternal redemption for us by the blood of goats and
calves but verse 12 by his own blood he entered in once into
the holy place as I said on the cross the veil was rent top to
bottom and he entered in there 13 for if the blood of bulls
and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh you see it did do things
in the Old Testament order of things if somebody was defiled
they couldn't come to the worship service they couldn't participate
in the benefits of the Israel of God until they had gone through
the purification and been declared and he says those things they
had their purpose in that order the blood of bulls and of goats
they did make holy to the purifying of the flesh it was external
If they did that, he says, if the model did that, if I can
use my analogy, if my plastic model in the model house at the
submarine builder could fire some sort of torpedo or some
sort of missile, you know, it did it so far. How much more,
verse 14, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal spirit offered himself without spot, offered his human
nature, His flesh and blood, the blood, the life is in the
blood, the price of sin is the life, the life is in the blood,
who fought through the eternal spirit, offered himself without
spot to God. This was the offering. the gifts
he must have somewhat also to offer we saw last week chapter
8 verse 3 this one this second person of the Trinity must have
somewhat also to offer those Levitical priests had their gifts
our priest after Melchizedek must have somewhat also to offer
how much more who offered himself the blood of Christ, the blood
of Christ, it will purge your conscience. Purge, clean out,
scrub out, absolutely clean your conscience from dead works, from
sin works, from the defilement of sin to serve the living God. You know, Paul says to the Thessalonians
how they turned from idols to serve the living God. Not idols,
but service of the living God. Purge your conscience from dead
works dead religious works, dead works of sin, to serve the living
God in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Is it not true, as Christ said, the truth shall make you free?
If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. These
are the blessings of the reality of the Gospel of Grace. The people
of God are free indeed in our Lord Jesus Christ. The reality
is revealed. The currency of Christ's blood
has procured it, really. He had somewhat also to offer.
He paid the sin debt of his people. He purges the conscience of dead
works. He tells us that you are accepted
in the beloved. He shows us the way. Once that
submarine, that warship, was commissioned and in use, the
model was dismantled. That lovely work of art. I mean,
honestly, I tell you, I used to go and watch those guys. I
mean, there were people, they were nearly all men, They'd worked
in that workshop since they were apprentices. Now can you imagine
a better job for somebody that likes fiddling with things? They
loved it. They all wore sloppy old pullovers
with leather patches on the elbows and in those days you were allowed
to smoke in offices and they all smoked curly pipes and a
day at work was a day of hobbying. You know, what people get their
personal pastime pleasure from. making models of things, oh they
must have had a whale of a time absolutely loved it, work of
art but when it was finished when the reality was commissioned
you know what they did with that beautiful work of art it was
so big they couldn't do anything else, they took it to pieces
there was nowhere else to store it it was dismantled and all
the little bits and pieces if they could be used they'd be
used again on the next model it was taken to pieces is it
not true? with the gospel there's no place
now for anything imitating the Levitical order of priesthood
and of approaching God. I really don't know how it is
I wouldn't judge any of our forebears you know there's some great men
who wrote great things and Anglicanism has got a lot that is good in
it but this idea of high altars and priestly robes and it's all
trying to imitate Levitical priesthood And really, there's just no place
for it. You read the scriptures. These scriptures have been around
for the best part of 1930 years, something like that, I would
think. There's no place for it at all,
no place for imitating Levitical order because we now have the
reality, the gospel, no longer a blueprint but the gospel in
reality. We're no longer as they were
before Christ looking forward to acceptance with God through
the blueprint of the Old Testament tabernacle rather we're looking
back remembering the finished work of Christ. not typical animal
sacrifices, but remembering the precious blood, the benefits
now of salvation accomplished. And that's what we remember when
we partake of the bread and the wine that reminds us of the broken
body and the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, our real High
Priest after the order of Melchizedek.